El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-13
HAS Religion a Future?-:-
By Prot. Theodore Kappetein.

law OF evolution that they are depend
ent on outside events we are uHlng AT
a time when traditional Christian re-
ngion Is ABOUT to change into the yet
unknown religion Of the future, Wnlcn
is TO give IL new life and soul. rec
Christianity is gathering all her
strength TO submit 10 this TRANSFORMS
ton In four directions its evolution
must follow certain paths. The idea OF
q personal divinity as we nave IL IN
the Jewish and Christian creeos must
merge into mOnism- The plous adora-
tion Of Christ as the Savior must come
to an understanding with historical
philosophy Christian ethics are in con
nict with our material interests and
with the virtues Of bravery ana justice
which rule the struggle for existence
Common cult Is endangered by present
indiTidualistic tendencies
what Is AIonisms
Monism is no concrete idea It ranges
from Haeckel over Hartman to Euc-
ken. but no matter how IL manifests
itself. whether as rationalism, which de-
clares unity to be an Imperative de-
mand OF reason, or as the thought OF
laws Of nature or in any other form, II
viii never rule alone, because dualism
viii always be there to dispute its
claims.
Then comes the second question: Dare
we as modern men, as disciples Of Less
ing, imagine one single individual per-
sonality as the center Of the whole his
tory Of humanity The making into a
god of any being born by man, IN Chris
tianity and other religions, we under
stand as a cult of a hero, but we DO
not recognize Il as the foundation OF
. q church in any religion but our own
Christ belongs. according TO his own
words, not in the gospel Of Gods faith
erly love, but that does not do away
with the importance Of the Nazarene
as e symbol and as an example. The
soul always builds itself body and
1a--f--a frrr RI ka
as q sym Dol and the most striking ex-
ample OF his own religious teachings,
Just as Noses and Buodhas Moses ana
COnfucius are venerated- But the
prophet must never transform himself
into a God, even when his head touches
the stars and the Christian mysticism,
which ad0res Christ as God, always
stands in need Of SOLDERING criticism of
the myth Of Christ, which even draws
his existence into doubt We need re-
1igiOus prophets 10 strengthen and build
up our religious life just as We need
leaders in all other Things to whom
we may look, but the thought OF Christ
as the center Of ali the world or all
humanity is a dream which has out
lasted its effect
Biblical Evolution Of World.
Humanity. sprung from the biological
. evolution Of the world understands It
self only IN connection with an ln1l-
niteIT much greater cosmic life. At the
side Of Christianity stand other equally
important religious centers which have
their saviors and divinities. What rea-
son is there to think that our Europ-
can Christian culture IS not to dissp
pear and give room for new equally
Important religious cults with new
prODhets2" asks TrOeltsch. Is It not
ridiculous and conceited when Chris
tians Jews or Chinese consider them
selves the sons OF Heaven and the earth
the center OF the universe? Every sys-
TEN within cosmos has its own source
Of light and Christianity is ike one
OF these solar systems, but like any Of
these it Is not eternal but will last
its allotted time and give way to other
religions Religion viii exist as long
as humanity itself but no particular
cult is immortal.