The Penn's Grove record., 1915-03-05
WHAT IS RELIGION?
Minister Traces Development
Along Mans Evolution in
Ethics.

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~prehensixe and unlimited that it Is
impossible more than to make an in
PRODUCTION. 1t has been the theme
of the worlds greatest writer's. preach
ers, philosophers, poets and musicians.
If l were to confine myself to the
Christian religion or n other spe-
cific system the task might be easier.
But | am going to talk about re-
ligion in general. Ethics and religion
are almost ~inseparably woven togeth.
er. 1t is true that the gods men have
created have invariably reflected the
ethical standard of the creators. To
derive a clear idea of the field of re-
ligion it is necessary for us to go
back to nan in the period Of his
early development.
Ethics began with mans first per-
ception of the value of a right per-
sonal conduct. Back of this idea is
that bugbear of all past theology
and philosophy, Where and how did
evil originated" The moment man
first awakened to a realization of the
fact that there was a blending OF a
good and an evil tendency in his con-
seriousness just at that moment was
the germ of a religious nature gen.
Grated in his mind.
The evolution of religion thus has
gone hand in hand with the evolution
of ethics. The explanation that the
philosophers have given to this origin
of evil is much more valuable and l
think nearer the truth than the cher
ished idea of the theologians. A God
never swooped down into the hearts
of men and in a flash of lightning
or peal of thunder revealed to man the
facts of good and evil.
Learn by Own Evolution.
Man learned them by his own evolu-
ton. He learned them with the same
process that has taught him the
science of human duty. In fact the
three causes, the Kantian theory of
the Categorical imperative" the util-
itarian and the mechanistic theories
that are usually attributed by thinkers
as the explanation of mans evolution
in the realm of ethics can be used
with the same degree of force and
logic for his religious development as
well.
Man had a religion, be it wor-
Shipping the sun or a Christ, until he
had made some progress in his evolu-
ton of ethics.
Perfection is the ultimate aim of all
life. Every flower that cheers the
lonely and oppressed of life and sends
its fragrance into a sordid world de-
velops into the most perfect flower it
possibly can under the environment
and opportunity given to it. So with
man. AS he advanced in ethics, as
the ages gave him a keener and clear
er conscience, he kept on longing and
struggling for a higher plane.
He started to look out of himself
and out of his own immediate range
for a still higher plane. The inherent
idea of ultimate perfection was driv-
ing his thoughts out of himself into
the world that he did not know and
never could see. The process kept
working on. Soon he left his stone
god for many gods more diversified
and more wonderful. Then his many
gods grew unsatisfactory and made
quate and he left his ~polytheism and
became monotheistic.
Formulating a Religion.
All this time he has been formulat-
inY N ro1ioian Rr1k n c11;:o,-4zx-
tenn or ecclesiasticism. but a religion.
Ethics deal with human conduct, with
mans relationship with man, but re-
ligion attempts to approach the inf
mite. 1t goes on after the purely
ethical ground has been deserted.
Mans desire to live on forever has
gradually reacted upon himself to
such an extent that it has given this
inherited predisposition toward a God
and immortality to every heart.
The problem of religion is for man
to find his relationship with Coda
principle and a force. The revealed
religions are unsatisfactory in this re-
spect to the philosopher and the sci
enlist.
Every man has a religion. The mere
process of evolution and his desire for
still greater and better things are a
religion. In the broader sense there
is no unbelief. Men may question,
and justly so, Jehovah and Zeus. The
religion with a man-god will ultimate
ly have a fatal attack. But the real
religion of man, religion Of the heart
and of love, of growth, expansion and
evolution, all centered around a great
cause in the original constitution of
things, will bring peace and happiness
to mankind everywhere.
Then the songs of the poets, the
conclusions of the philosophers, will
all reveal to us and enable US to expe-
rience the joy of freedom contained in
a verse from a very old book: "Ye
shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free" A man has given
proof of the power of his religion
when that religion teaches him the
art of living.-Rev. Preston Bradley.
According to His Will.
Let us Dray him. therefore to shad