WHAT RELIGION

iS

BERNARD BOSANQ,UET

Jftliata,

New lorb

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND

THE GIFT OF

HENRY W. SAGE
1891

Cornell University Library

BR 125

.B74

3 1924 029 238 320

olin

WHAT RELIGION

IS

S^(^M
MACMILLAN AND
LONDON

CO., Limited BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS MBLBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK
DALLAS

BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN

CO. OF TORONTO

CANADA,

Ltd.

WHAT

RELIGION

IS

BY

BERNARD BOSANQUET
D.C.L., LL.D.

FELLOW or THE BRITISH ACADEMY

MACMILLAN AND
ST.

CO.,

LIMITED

MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1920

^So35lS
COPYRIGHT
First Edition igzo Reprinted 1920

PBEFACE
What I hope and desire to do
this Httle

in writing

book is to be helpful to persons

feeling

who, while
religion, are

the necessity

of

perplexed by the shape in

I

which

it

comes before them.

am

not
I

thinking about historical criticism.

have in mind more fundamental things.

We

may be disappointed I will once make this suggestion, which

at
is

indeed the main substance of what I

have to say
in

we

an experience

may be disappointed which we have been

taught to regard as all-important, not

because
it offers it offers

us too little, but because

not just what

we were prepared

vi
for.

RELIGION
Everything depends on the ex-

pectation and the hope with which

we
a

approach

it.

Religion

is

the knot, the

;

centre, of all

human
it

difficulties
if

it is it

many-sided thing, and

we ask

the

wrong questions
ing responses.

will give us mislead-

To

take the simplest of

all

examples

me my private and personal happiness ? To this, on the whole, I think we must answer No
Will religion guarantee
;

and

if

we approach

it

with a view to

such happiness, then most certainly and

absolutely No.

And

yet this answer

might repel many persons

quite
sincerely

who

are

inclined

to

religion.

They might perhaps

if

rejoin, "

Well, but
esteem
if it

not that, then what?

We
how

the thing as good and great, but

simply does nothing for

us,

is it

to

be anything to us

"

But the answer

RELIGION
was the answer
to the question
;

vii

and

it

might be that to a question sounding

but shghtly difFerent a very different

answer would be returned.

ask, for instance,
life

We might
it

"Does
is

make my

more worth

living ?"

And the answer

the only thing

to this might be, " It

that makes

life

worth living at aU."

Now
if I

I should think it a great thing

could help ever so humbly in guiding

right type of exin

some minds to the

pectation, the true

and open attitude

fair

which they wiU have a

chance to

feel their religion in its fulness

and

its

simplicity.

I insist

on two expressions

in this
;

last sentence.

" Their religion "

my

hope

is

not to suggest or advocate a new

It
is

religion to them.

to help

them

to reach the full value of their own.

No man

is

so poor, I believe, as not to

viii

RELIGION
religion,

have a

though he
"
;

may
is

not, in
it

every case, have found out where

Hes.

And

" simplicity

for it

a familiar

paradox, that in the highest and deepest

things, centres

though they are of

"

all

complexity, yet

we go wrong mostly by

not being simple enough.

child
.

As

little

."
;

that has been the motto, as of

the saints, so of the wisest

kind.

among mankeep

Your mind is a good instrument

it

only keep

free

and sincere

away from

selfishness, self-conceit,

from

the vanity of learning, and from the

vanity of resentment against learning.

Open
of

it

to experience, and take that as

largely as

you
It

can.

We know the type

It
is,

man who on
is

the whole gets nearest

to truth.

not the cleverest.

I think, the sincerest. I

have nothing to say that has not

been better said by thousands of better

RELIGION
men.

ix

But every

crisis

has

its

own
word
httle

demand
is

for the right question

and the

right answer.

And
it it is

even

if

the

quite old,

makes perhaps a
your

difference

when

repeated in your
side.

ear

by a comrade

at

BERNARD BOSANQUET.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
The Peace of
tion BY Faith
I
PAOB

God SalvationJustifica-

CHAPTER n
Freedom and Power
. .

.15

CHAPTER

HI
. .

Unity with God, Man, and Nature

23

CHAPTER

IV
.

Hope and Progress for Humanity

35

CHAPTER V
The Nature
of Sin
xi

.....

43

xii

RELIGION

Suffering

.....
CHAPTER Vn
.

CHAPTER

VI

PAGE

51

Pkayer and Worship

.65

CHAPTER Vm
The
Religious Temper
.

.73

CHAPTER

THE PEACE OF GODSALVATIONJUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

CHAPTER
THE PEACE OF GOD

SALVATION

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
" What must I
I

do to be saved ? "

BEGIN, then, with what I take to be

the central knot and need of all religion, " What must I do to be saved ? " The
old monosyllable,

which has sounded

so clearly since the

coming of Christ
it

the S.O.S. call of humanity, utters,

would seem, an ultimate need. And Saved from what ? yet, what is it ? The old word does not say and this,
;

I think, is

very

significant.

We are to
"

understand without telling, and I suppose

we

do.

" Saved from pain and danger

?

and hazardous enterprise

No, that

4
will

RELIGION
not do at
all.

Salvation

is

the

and the thorny path. Saved from sin ? That is more like it, but if we dwell much on
entrance to the strait gate
it,

soon becomes too narrow. seem to stumble as soon as we try to

it

We

explain.
strict

We

begin to qualify, to. re-

our meaning.
is

The

old absolute

word

the right one.

We
we

cry out to

be " saved."

We

gather our meaning best from

the answer.

When

are

saved and

how? Commonly we feel safe when we have nothing to fear. But safe and
saved are not quite the same.
thing has happened.
safe,

Some-

We
are.
;

were not

but

now we

And how?

Nothing outside will do it no strength, no prosperity. Something has changed

within
least,

us.

We

are

different,

or at

awakened.

saved, absolutely,

what.

We

And now we are we need not say from are at home in the universe.

RELIGION

and, in principle and in the main, feeble

and timid creatures as we are, there is nothing anywhere within the world or
without
it

that can

In other words,
rest.

make us afraid. we are at peace,

itself is

at

Not

that

we have not

to fight

but

now

the battle

the victory.

We are certain in our

are convinced of the

own mind.

We

that

it is

supreme good, and one with the supreme power.

this experience in
it is

We

have

innumer-

able degrees, and

a matter of words

where you begin to caU it reUgion. Obviously there must be grades of the religious experience. I do not believe
that a

human being can be wholly

for

without it. Wherever a man is so carried

beyond himself whether

any other

being, or for a cause or for a nation,

that his personal fate seems to

him

as

nothing in comparison of the happiness

'

or triumph of the other, there

you have
of

the universal

basis

and structure

6
religion.

RELIGION
Power and
perfection united,

or such perfection as must,

we

are con-

vinced beyond contradiction, be in the

end a clue to power,

flag

as in the beautiful

weak,^ or in the lost cause with whose

we

are

content to go down, are

that to which in religion

we have

given

our heart away.

And now we
are saved,

can see from what

we

and how.

We are saved, if we
;

must have a word, from isolation we are saved by giving ourselves to something which we cannot help holding
supreme.

You
said,
is

can trace this structure, I have

throughout

human life,

for

no

man

Every man, we must hope and believe, has somewhere an allegiance that binds him, some disloyalty which he would rather die than commit. And if you know what this is, then you know where his rehgion
really isolated.
'

Compare,

e.g.,

Rossetti's "Staff

and Scrip."

RELIGION
lies.

7
is

"

Where your
special

treasure

"

it

is

a true saying.

But the

and intensest mean-

ing of the words "salvation," "the peace

of God," "religion," indicates, as

we

saw, something unqualified and complete,

something which involves that

is

the root of our certainty

very thor-

oughly present,
an attitude.
fact

if

not before our minds

as a doctrine, then at least in

them

as

What
its

is

the nature of the

which we have been describing,

stated at

when
est,

simplest and strong-

and recognised, or felt, as the centre

?

of our hfe and being

There
to

is

a traditional phrase intended the whole point and meaning

;

sum up

of religion

and

it

utters

all

those

characteristics

we have insisted on quite

It
is

simply and
expression

plainly.

the

old

"Justification
practice

by
or

Faith."

And

whatever

doctrine

enables us to realise this in

our

life is

RELIGION
religion
;

so far a religion, for it does the essential

work of a
realise it

whereas whatever

theory or practice does not enable us to

may be

a very fine or exalted

is

or ingenious thought or custom, but

not,

I think, in

the

strict

sense,

matter of religion at
in the end,

am

Every man, all. must judge for himself, and not preaching any particular form
I

of religion, nor intentionally criticising

any,

am

only trying to help people

the point and

to get the full good,

spirit,

of the religion which they profess,

or which I

am

sure they really have,

whether they profess one or not. The situation which this expression
embodies is simple, though fundamental, the knot or centre, as we said, in which
the open secret of
all

human

nature

is

bound

up.
;

We
to

cannot be " saved " as

cease to be

we
are

are
;

we cannot

what we

we can

only be saved by giving

ourselves

something in which

we

RELIGION
remain what we
something new.
in
are,

and yet enter into

peculiar attitude

The

which

this is effected is religious faith.

is,

And

this

as I see the matter, just

what we mean by religion

more, but nothing
less.

this,

and no
faith

It

is

which

is

contrasted, not with knowledge,

sight.

but with

All the resources of

contribute
to
faith.

knowledge

may

But

faith is contrasted with sight, beit is

cause

essential to

it

that

we

rise

into another world while remaining here.

Religious faith has two inseparable

sides of

wUl and of judgement.

it.

They
in

are hardly indeed sides, for each has the

other in

Both mean absorption

else
is real.

a good such that nothing else matters

and nothing
It does

This

is

why
man.

religion "justifies" the religious

not abolish his finiteness

his sin.

his

weakness and
is

But what it does

make him deny that they are real 'to make his whole being, as he accepts
to

10

RELIGION
it,

and affirms
real.

a denial that they are

This

is

the very crux and test of

its

combined simplicity and profundity are here most plain. Nothing is so simple, nothing is so impossible. It is the cry from the heart of religion for all time, " Only believe." It is here that you must leave the distinctive ground of morality, while carrying with you its demands, and the social atmosphere which make it a halfway house to religion. For in the social whole the good is partly real, and partly, therefore, we are saved from the condemning " ought to be." But, in principle, mere rnorality says, "You
religion,

and

ought

to

be equal to

the

situation."

The good is imperative on you here and now, and you are to make it real in and by your wiU. Fail in doing this, in showing yourself perfectible in and by yourself, and to all conceivable ages you
are a moral failure, even
if

you claim a

RELIGION
life

11

continued for ever in which to com-

plete the work.

Out

of every moral

success the further " ought " springs

inevitably to

up

condemn you once more.

ReUgion religious faith is different. For it, the good is indeed real, as morality claims that it should be but there is something more for in the end nothing And so you can be good, else is real. though you are not good, because as you are and as you stand, you yourself are not By worship and self - surrender real. you repudiate and reject your badness, and will and feel yourself as one with "Hear again the supreme goodness. the vehement expression of mysticism.
; ;

thee " thou art outside God," then answer thou, " No, I
'

When reason tells

in

am

God, I am in heaven, in it, in him, and for eternity will never leave him. The devil may keep my sins,
and the world
God's

my

flesh

live
life,

in his

will, his life shall

be

my

12
will

RELIGION
my
will;

will

be dead in

my
all

reason that he

may
be

live in

me, and
" '"

my deeds

shall

his deeds.

Where does all this come how do^*I know it is true ?

without hesitation,
religious
it

from, and
I

answer

comes from the

in it speaks
if

experience, which

with a single voice.

And

more

is

wanted, as an inchned plane for the

common-sense intelhgence,I say thatany

one

who

considers

human

nature in the

hght of the

community, will see that the character which in religion comes to a climax, is its very
facts of love, loyalty,

essence or centre or vital knot.

is

Nobody

anything except as he joins himself

to something.

a whole."
unless

"Be a whole or join "You cannot be a whole

is

you join a whole."

rehgion.
further.

This, I beheve,

Strictly

speaking,
is

we need go no

Here

peace, victory, salvation. If your creed

1

Bradley, Ethical Studies, p. 293, note.

RELIGION
effectually gives

13

you

this,

you have

all

you want. But from

this great centre, so extra-

ordinarily simple, as

from a knot or
life

fulcrum, the

whole of

depends.

And

becomes also extraordinarily many-sided and if we

so, as I said, religion
;

could be helpful in keeping some of

sides in their true place
it

its

and connection,

would be worth doing. When we get away from this simple basis of rehgion, we are very apt to go further and fare worse. We add and explain and define to meet particular needs, pressures, troubles, doubts, and we insist on our explanations and perhaps lose contact,

whoUy

or partially, with the centre.

fall

am

only too hkely to

into this fault

myself.

But

I will

make

the hazard,

and try to hint at the true proportions in which certain needs may be seen.

CHAPTER

II

FREEDOM AND POWER

16

CHAPTER

II

FREEDOM AND POWER

" Out of weakness were made strong

..."

When

we speak

in the tone

we have
one

been using, of a
that
is

spiritual

being absorbed
led to ask

in or surrendered to a greater or to

supreme,

we may be

questions arising from certain aspects

of the experience.
curious to
possible.

We
we

are apt to be

know how any such

thing

is

So
so

in this case

raise a question

perhaps about the freedom of a being

absorbed or devoted
is

suspect,

at the

and this, I bottom of our hearts

;

a question about power.

17

How

can a
C

18

RELIGION

being be said to do anything of himself

if his

whole Tightness and effectiveness depends on a unity in which he seems

to be subordinate? It

might be

idle

curiosity to ask whether he could have but we done otherwise than he did may be assailed by doubts whether
;

as described

he can be said to do anyshould hardly be troubled

if

thing.

We
this

about
power.

freedom

we were

sure

of

Now

is,

for rehgion,

merely a

side issue, a question of description

and
asks

formulation, within
experience.

the great central

religion

And what
is

you to do

to keep your eye on that

it

experience, and enter into

as fully as

you
else,

can.

For

it is

not like anything

itself.

except the degrees of

"Out
is

of weakness are

made strong "that

love and loyalty,

the story of

all

all

worship, devotedness, aspiration.

Life

and mind can do nothing by themselves.

RELIGION
Their

19

whole structure and way of working is to throw themselves into something greater, something inclusive.
"

As

little child," this

word

will

meet
are

us on every side in religion. take

We

to remain in the great experience, and

it

simply, and not to allow subtle

reasonings and clamours for explanation

to distort our vision of
says, "
it.

And
?

if

one
are

But how

is

it

possible

"

we

to look at the

facets

of

human

nature,

and
is

reply, " Because, in the end, there

is

nothing else that

possible."

We
love

are

human
trust.

only in as far as
It
is

we

and

no use to compare ourselves with other things, which we understand but imperfectly, and ask

whether we can be isolated or united in modes which apply to them. possess the mode which applies to us, and

We

for religion that

aU we want. If we are to argue and define, we must not stop short of philosophy, which just
is

20

RELIGION
cerdiffi-

means keeping hold of the main

tainty, while
culties.

going into
is all

all

the

But that
and
it

not our business

here

we cannot
were.

sophers,
if

be trained philowould be a queer world

Our business is to see where and how you can really get the

we

good which you

to bring you.

trust in

your religion

In the unity of love and will with

the supreme good you are not only
" saved,"

but

you

are

" free "

and
even

"strong."

Action,

initiative,

courage, flow from

you

like a spring

from

its

source.

The

source

may be
its

fed from a deep reservoir in the hills

but none the

less its

flow

is

own.

You

divide

be helped by trying to up the unity and tell how much comes from " you " and how much from
will not

" God."
self in

You have

got to deepen your-

it, or let it deepen itself in you, whatever phrase expresses the fact best

RELIGION
to,

21

your mind.

The

fact, as
is

we

said,

taken altogether simply

religion.

If

you could break it up and arrange it in parts you would have destroyed it.

CHAPTER

III

UNITY WITH GOD, MAN, AND NATURE

23

CHAPTER
" In

III

UNITy WITH GOD, MAN, AND NATURE

Him we live, and move, and have
spirit as I
is

our being.''

Plainly such a
trying to describe

have been
with God,
in all the

in unity

Man, and Nature.

clearer

Nothing
is

consequences of religion

simpler or
again,

than
easily

this.

Nothing,

more

tempts us to draw out

particular conclusions in which

lose our

we may

way.

and our life is one with that of the Spirit which is the whole and the good. Then, surely, we and, one way or another, are eternal
are spirits,
;

We

your religion gives you

this conviction.

Now
for

no matter for argument, or trying to take away from you what

this is
25

26

RELIGION
believe
is

you love to
strength.

and what gives you

I will cite a

It

only a matter for hold-

ing fast to the centre.

few words from a clever popular book and I will not argue upon them, but
will ask the reader just to

turn them in

his

mind, and place them beside the

of religion
it

essence
describe

as I

we

tried

to

at

first.

do not for a

moment
from

say that the talented writer

it is

whom

cited

meant

it

other-

wise than as a dramatic utterance by

one of his characters, which need not

in the least represent his
tions.

Quite probably

own conviche may have

"
It's chiefly

felt in it

something

like the difficulty

which
life

it

presents to me.

after death that

you

are thinking
is

of,

which,

come

to bedrock,

the only
interest,
all

religious question that has

any

and

is

virtually the

origin

of

re-

ligion."^
^

It has been said, too,

"We

The Tender Conscience, by Bohun Lynch,

p. 120.

RELIGION
feel

27

and experience that we are eternal." We should fairly set these two attitudes of mind side by side with each other and with the full religious temper which simply rests on its oneness with what is deeper than anything temporal. When we begin to restrict and define, do we not begin to omit and to diminish?

But again, our purpose here is not to make any man doubt his religion
it is

only to offer the suggestion that

his belief,

whatever
contact

he should take
complete
religion.
is

it

so

deeply, so in proportion, as not to lose

with

the
it

attitude

which makes

What

is

united with the eternal

eternal.

But

how, how far, how transformed, or with what kind of consciousness, if consciousness
is

the right

name

at

all,

can

we

expect to
religion,

know
it

in particular, and, for

can

very

much matter ?

We
fining

must be on our guard against down and explaining away our

28

RELIGION
we
think too hastily, of insisting on

unity with the eternal in the very act,

as
it.

We must not let go our main grasp

being in a world,
so
far

of the values which, wherever brought

into

make

heaven of that place and time, and

which

all

religion teaches us to cherish

here and

now as everywhere and always

In these our

love,
unity
is

beauty, truth.
solid

and

plain

our unity with

We

God and with

the whole of being.

into the background,

must not do anything to throw these and place our

Unity with God,
as a character

unity in remote events.

of

human
with

spirit, involves, it is plain,

unity

man.

And
offer

here

again

many

questions

themselves.

What
historical,

forms does this unity imply,

terrestrial,

beyond the grave

?

Is there

to be a millennium, a reign of peace

and

happiness on earth

What,

in truth
?

and reaUty,

is

the communion of saints

RELIGION
That spirits the end be
of religion.
in unity with in unity with

29

God must

in

one another

seems guaranteed by the very essence

mean ? and if we ask more,

end
"

But what does "in the Are we to ask more ?

is it

really asked in
?

a religious spirit and interest

People

who pray
saying

too

much it

is

an old folk-

pray themselvesthroughheaven
side,

and out on the other

ask too

and are

set

to herd the geese there.

People

who

many

questions, claiming to be

religious in asking them

it

seems

much

the same.

The shrewd

old wives felt

and saw perhaps that particularity and curiosity may harm the religious spirit. Science and Logic have their rights but we must not confuse them with
;

rehgion.

What
places

a man's religion brings

him, and what he cannot help receiving

when he
faith,

himself

humbly and
of

sincerely in the attitude

reUgious

I should venture to suggest, let

30

RELIGION
to without scruple.
It will

him hold

be the nearest thing to truth that he

can make his own.

Against fancies and

private interpretations, I

am

convinced
in the

that any great saint, any noble mystic,

will

warn him.

The

question

is

last instance for himself.

Is it really

religion

unity

of will and belief with

the supreme good

that he
is

is

thinking
is it

about in any particular doctrine, or

something
for

else ? That him to answer with

the question

all

pureness of

heart and humility.

The unity
the religious

of

man and

nature must

be thought of in the same way.

For

mind nature

is

the revela-

tion and instrument, or one revelation

and one instrument, of God's

will.

We
Here

will look at other questions afterwards,

such as the question of suffering.

I

am

only thinking of the feeling to

liable that

which we are

not nature, but

something

else, is

where we are to look

RELIGION
for the will of
this
is

31

God.

The

supernatural

what we

are apt to feel that our

spiritual life

depend s upon.

Not merely,

for instance,

truth, love,

on the values we spoke of, beauty. We do not think

supernatural
; ;

of

these as

they are,
to be to

happily, too familiar

though we might
anything
is

quite fairly do so
supernatural.

if

But they come home

us at once as our belongings, and as of

one web and tissue with our world.

if

Now
fast

we go

into ourselves,

and keep

hold of religion,
all

we
it,

shall surely feel that

these things are just sides, aspects,

ways in which the revelation of supreme will and goodness comes in our mind and heart. Then
consequences of
the seeking for a sign

for

something
natural
like

marked
ception
If

as

an exception to

occurrences, or

what looks
into

an ex-

all this falls

its

true place.

you cannot think of God without it, well and good think of Him, I believe
;

32 one must

RELIGION
say, as

you best

can.

Only,

let nothing,

no love of

striking proofs,

no yearning
citadel
in

for a short cut to a special

path of unity, oust you from the central

Mansoul possesses religion oneness with the supreme good in every facet and issue of heart inand will. This is what matters numerable outgoings arise from it, and each must certainly be pursued and grasped for a certain distance. But in any one of them, if you are allured by it, it is easy to lose yourself, and forget the one thing needful. If you are
which

offered a doctrinal certainty, ask yourself

of what

it is

a certainty.

Is it really
is

of a truth pertaining to religion, or

it

of something quite different, which

or

perhaps tradition
associated with
it ?

controversy has
one, I repeat,

Every

must judge
need
in

for himself
is

The

absolute

judging

sincerity,

pureness of

heart.

Does

this really

belong to

my

RELIGION
oneness,
in

83
the

love and will, with

supreme good ? Does it flow from this, and confirm me in it ? If not, it may be an interesting and valuable speculation
;

but

it is

not a part of religion.

CHAPTER

IV

HOPE AND PROGRESS FOR HUMANITY

35

CHAPTER
"

IV

HOPE AND PROGRESS FOR HUMANITY

He that
shall never thirst."

drinketh of the water that I shall give him Chkist.

is filled

" That which

filled."

with the more real

is

more

really

Plato.

Man

is

a creature active in the world,

and an all-absorbing faith in the supremacy of good must affect his But here again action and expectation.
in particularising

we

are very apt to

run up
it

into blind alleys.

Nowhere

is

more important
full in sight.

to keep our starting-

point

In

religion,
it is

man acessential

knowledges his
it is

finiteness ;

to the basis of the experience, though

not the whole

basis.

Religion says.

You

are victorious in the victory of

37

38
good.
in the

RELIGION
It does not say that

you

can,

world of time, cease to be and defective being.

If,

a finite

we construe the victory of the good to mean either the total sanctifithen,
cation of the finite spirit (you

and me)
fact,

by the perfecting of its or the coming about in time of a

the
ideal

morality in

state

of things which we conceive as involving

rule

of righteousness and

happiness, these are interesting speculations,

but they gain no special support

from rehgious faith. Faith, so far, is rather at one with common sense. It tells you that though your conflict is in
itself

a victory, yet
religious

it is

a conflict
trusts

still.

For the

man

in

no

strength of his own, and to be perfect

apart from that in which he trusts would
for

him be

sin

and

self-contradiction.

At the same time, his main experience

is

the clue to reality.

course of the

For the

total

detailed

world or the

RELIGION
universe he lives
sight.

39

and not byBut for his private life and action I mean, in all that he has contact with, do not mean merely in self-regarding
faith his faith.

by

matters, if such could be distinguished

he has sight continuous with

His vision and experience are not empty, but overflowingly full. He has " the water that I shall give him " he
;

is

filled

vidth

"what

is

real."

He

is

never out of reach of the world of

values,

revealed to

him and

in him.

Religion does not say, I think, that

he

is

to believe in an order of values

inter-

some day to be attained without

mixture of what seems hostile to value.

Following our simple purpose, we

not speculate about
this.

will

But what we

do know
all

is

that a simple faith finds on

sides confirmation

strangely

and reahsation, intermingled and interdedifiiculty

pendent with

and obstruction,
set.

in the world in which our feet are

40

RELIGION
enough
is

A cup holds
and
of the good

for it if it is full

for the religious spirit the witness

irrefragable.

Of Hope and
in
life,

Progress, as elements

the religious

man

has a solid

and they are rooted in the good with which he is united. He can see for here he has sight continuous with his faith he
grasp.

He

has

them

in himself,

can see the supreme values at work,

cleansing,

organising,

ordering

the

world.

Their bringers suffer or perish,

but in their
never
fail.

own

operation the values

are not just

We

now

to

philosophise on this paradox

how near
are

together are the strongest and weakest

of
all

things.

Evidently, there

different kinds of strength, and, to the

common eye, no one of them has whoUy its own way in the course of things. It
is

as if the strength of the spirit could

he,

not

be revealed, indeed, could not

except

by measuring

itself

against another type

RELIGION
of strength.
victory,
it

41

And

then,

even in
its

its

seems infected by

opposite,

and the progress breaks

itself.
is

This

certainly suggests that there

always

more to be

learned, a further

power of
least.

the values, a spiritual progress at

But we
All

are running into speculation.

we ought

to say
is

is this,

that the

needful thing
faith

to keep to our religious

it

and what

really

demands and

really gives.

It says nothing, I believe,

word like "victory," or of time. " in the end," becomes deceptive if we

press
it

as

occurrence.
I take
it,

meaning an event, an What it means to say is,

all

that through

appearances

And, saying so, it does not leave us with empty words or empty hands. It gives as much of good as our spirits can contain. It may be that all good demands for its
good
is

supreme.

realisation

a world apparently mixed.

Religion has

nothing to say against

42
this.

RELIGION
It only requires us to rise

above
is

the appearance, and keep our unhesitating grasp on the reahty which

wholly good.

Perhaps

we may

add, without strayin

ing too far from simpUcity, that

keeping up this grasp on the complex

fact of religion

we

are led to see that

" good
ate

" is

a hard thing both to apprecirealise.

and to
It

It

is

not some plain

decalogue,
black.

some
is

clear

white

against

life,

spirit,

a meaning,

to be
out.
say,

wrought out and to be fought To each of us, religion seems to it is and must be offered in our

own

individual form.

My battle is conit is

tinuous with yours, but

not quite
are sent

yours
is

yours helps

me

in mine, but it

not quite the same.

We
all

on diverse missions, and

are necessary to the good.

of

them

CHAPTER V
THE NATURE OF
SIN

43

CHAPTER V
THE NATUEE OF
" Whatsoever
is

SIN
is

not of faith

sin."

The
of

diversity or individuality of the

clearly the nature

good helps us to see

sin.

Sin, it is said, only exists for

the religious soul.

For

this soul has

given itself wholly to the good and the

and as its own particular limited self, and its own particular defective world and will. It
perfect,

but yet stUl

lives in

holds nothing to be real but the good,

but yet world

wills

its

own wicked wiU and wicked

exist.

And
it
;

both worlds and both the perfect,

belong to

which it holds to by faith, and the false and perverse, which it disowns but can4S

46

RELIGION

Thus the very working out of the good is a battle, in which our wiU actually fights against itself. The false will, which is disowned and condemned, which faith rejects and repels, none the less is there in fact, and opposes the will of faith in which
not abolish.
the soul
religion.
is

saved and at

home through
;

And

this

is

sin

for

it is

the

persistence in the religious

man

of the

very will which as religious he disowns.

Again we must avoid

plain

dissecting the

and

sure

experience.

In the

religious unity,

we

find, a contradiction

appears which would be impossible but

for that unity,

pends upon
tion,

it.

and which actually deThe same will, the same

faith

impulse to self-completion and satisfac-

which in religious
with
perfection,

is

made

one

has

detailed

existence in fact which contradicts this

perfection.

Any

experience,

enter-

tained or pursued in a

way

hostile to

RELIGION
faith embodies,
is sinful.

47

the complete service and worship which

Lists of sins

and
are

rules

about

sin

may

point out

dangers, but are no real guide.

They

no

real guide, because the object of

a sinful desire
It

may

not be a bad object.

opposition, in the

may be

only

its

what the perfect will demands, that makes it a sin. There is no sin readier at the religious man's
special
case, to

elbow than to

feel that

he has for a been

moment

achieved,

that he has

something of himself and apart from

that in which he trusts, that he has in

himself been worthy.

a sin which can easily
action.

Now this

is

not

" come of a " bad

It

is

pretty certain to spring

set

from something which we should

down

at sight as "good."
if

Obviously

we

refine

and

reflect

upon these consequences, we

of
all

shall

come
our

to matters of great subtlety

kinds.
Is not,

heresies
all

then,

48

RELIGION
On
is

righteousness as filthy rags?

the

other hand,
ours
is

if

a perfection which
it

not

the cure, does

matter what

we do ?
sin,

That we are
it,

in fact

but are somehow real

sunk in beyond and

outside

might even be a comfort-

able doctrine.
It
is

the old story.

We are refining,
Bona fides is the
fides.

and losing touch. Here is perhaps a plain though prosaic way of bringing

home the simple fact.

ultimate need in
all

matters of conduct,

and

religion

is

the supreme bona

Your heart is really given to the best you can conceive. But your actual life
is

narrow and confused, and while

faith,

will-

ing the object of

you

will, also,

things that as you will them (for they

need not be "bad") are

its

enemy. Then
saved.
I.

we

see the religious significance of faith,

it

and what
which
I

means to be
is

This,

am,

not reaUy
this self,

fide other,

and

though

am bona I am it.

RELIGION
I reject

49
is

and disown.

Sin

thus the

very detail of the conflict

religious faith asserts the

in which supremacy of

the good.
tion,

It

is

a deep self-contradicfaith,

which, but for the supreme

dissolve It
is

would
being.
flat

and destroy

my

actual

the

embodiment of the

contradiction, the rise in which

we
is

stay here.
actually

The good,
out,

take

it,

worked
will
is

and

has

the

substance of its victory, in this struggle,

where the

fairly

and

clearly

occupied in re-creating

itself.

Compare once more the

morality.

position of

In pure morality, not allowhalf a religion, the individual

ing for the social ethical observance

which

is

must always count as bad. In rehgion also he is always bad, but yet he is This depends really and truly good. on the nature of faith, and a religion
which gives you
need to see what
this gives
is

you all you meant by sin. E

CHAPTER
SUFFERING

VI

61

CHAPTER
SUFFEUING
"The whole
together."
creation groaneth

VI

and

travaileth

Suffering seems a very much wider fact than sin. What bewilders us most
in
it,

I suppose,

is its

extension over the

whole conscious world independently of goodness or badness. It seems as if it

followed from any independence, any
separateness or self-assertion in things.

If things apparently indifferent to one

another's interests assert themselves in

the same world, there must be conflict,

and, with consciousness, suffering.

Religious

faith

does

not

seem to

promise exemption from suffering.

the contrary,
it
S3

On

almost seems to suggest

54
that
it is

RELIGION
inevitable.

We

saw what a

tremendous working contradiction faith involves between the true reality and
the actual appearance.

This seems to

imply the possibility at least of a very fiery trial, though different no doubt
for different natures

and circumstances.
fact.

It

is

important, here as ever, to keep

our attention on the central

are

We
make
for

very apt to generalise, to

conception
of

human

nature,

example, by leaving out special features

which we think exceptional, and then to infer " This, and a world to suit, is

and so religious faith, which takes the perfect good to be real, must be presupposed to promise
'
'

what ought to

exist

this

at

least."

But

all

this

seems

groundless, and to be losing touch with

what the facts suggest. We saw that what we find is individual spirits, aU marked by different qualities and conditions,

each apparently set to fight his

RELIGION
battle

55

and work out

his line or

grow his

fibre of

the good, in his particular and

peculiar case of the whole striving world.

There
special

is

nothing to suggest that any

or privation or deprivation

mark
is

in

him

a sort of

mistake in the
life

universe, superfluous to the

of the

good, and due to be set right as something without spiritual significance.

fact
is

that the attempt to

The recommend

for adoption as it

were a sort of typical

typical complete life

complete
must.

man and

has always broken down, as Plato showed

it

You

cannot train a perfect

perfectly sane

healthy animal man, and then complete

him by adding a
his

sound body.
let

mind to work out You must

his

and

him work out

unique kind of

health and his unique spiritual develop-

view of each other and of what he has to do and be. And you cannot

ment

in

put your finger on

this or that condition,

privation, deprivation,

and

say,

This

56
is

RELIGION
dead
spiritual loss

and ought not to

be.

You may

rightly try to hinder

what you think hardship or defect. But it is far beyond the facts to say
is

This or that privation or deprivation abnormal, an injustice, a necessary

spiritual loss.

The man,

say, is blind.

Is he so far less than a man should be ? Would Mr. Fawcett have been less or

more
can

if

he had had his sight

?

Who
if

tell

And

Mr. Kavanagh,
?

he

had had
will

his limbs

a bad son.

How

can

One has a bad wife, we say what he

?

make

of the burden

We are not

entitled to

judge that the unique being

and equipment which the universe lays upon each individual is such as to impair and defeat the possibihties of
good.

We must not assume that things

man

would be better if we could make him and his conditions over to suit our
smoothed conception of what a and his Ufe should be.

RELIGION
Here
is

57

a simple case of the principle If

in question.

we take

as our standard

a complete

eiSciency of
are

our animal

system,

we

evolution as

tempted to condemn its awkwardly managed. Its

appear
to

arrangements

have

been

primarily adapted to other ends than

those they serve to-day, and to have

been modified, not too successfully,

in

the interest of man's spiritual functions.

Now

if

we

grant that this

is so,

does

it

follow that in this characteristic the

universe is on the
is

wrong track ?
which
it

There

a reticence in English treatment of

intimate

experience
ill

would
life

probably be

service to the higher

to violate or impair.
it

Else I believe that

might not be

difficult to

show in more

than one actual particular example

distresses

how

the whole connected set of physical

which sprang from one of these evolutionary maladaptations was

a definite originating cause of the only

58

RELIGION
which
little,

seriously valuable production to

certain lives

gave

rise.

In matters so be pronounced

complex, a particular case goes for

and
that
this

it

might always

"exceptional."
it

Nevertheless I believe
feasible

would be
as

kind to produce a

by analyses of good deal of

conviction

to the positive values

life

contributed to

by what commonly
rid of that

pass for negations, privations, deprivations.^

Thus we might get

good
at a

tendency to standardise

all finite spirits

and
and

their

somewhat commonwhich implies

as

place or average level,

is

implied in the pretension to set

so

down

much and such

what they

ought to have, and again so much and such as what is abnormal and they ought to be spared. Of course, health
is

we have a right to good things general if we can. make But health, as we saw, itself is relative,
a good thing, and
'

The

line of

thought of course

is

affected

by

Spinoza.

RELIGION
besides that spiritual creativeness
is

59
not

The fact seems to be that the ways and conditions of

confined to health.
spiritual

productiveness are infinitely

various and in each case unique.

The
is

good

is

obviously a highly vitalised and

various world.

And

in all this there

universally present the general form or

structure of suffering

beings prima

facie indifferent to each other and to

themselves, with an underlying unity

which forces them into transformations.

Rejoice that

man

is

hurled

From change
His

to

soul's

change unceasingly, wings never furled.

conflict that
faith, realis-

It

is

in

and through such a

is

the good

triumphant for

ing the vitality which

is its

nature in

continual origination within and against

the dazzle of plausible satisfactions.

Thus

it

seems to follow from the

simple fact of religion that suffering

belongs on the one hand to the religious

60
spirit,

RELIGION

and on the other to the finite world. I do not mean, or believe, that
pain can be the sole feature of
is

life,

or
it

often the predominant one.

But

does seem to

me

that

we

are losing

sight of religious experience if

we

assign

to

it

an ideal in which there shall be no

place for pain even as a condition which

may

be suppressed, but

is

always im-

minent.

A finite world of appearances,

issue with itself
be,
it

prima fade at
reality,

and with

may

would seem, the

natural and normal arena for rehgious

faith to dominate.

Now if so, what we call the reciprocal

indifference of beings in time,

and the maladaptations of evolution, may be no

hindrance to the spiritual
essential counterpart.
life,

but

its

Try to say what you think ought to be removed from any given private life in order to
furnish
its

possessor with the conditions

religious
faith to

which you consider

RELIGION
presuppose, and, though you
certain

61

may

feel

at

first

about extremes from

which you
unreality,

start,

you
all

will

very shortly

find yourself in a region of

extreme
circumor at

almost

definite

stances being condemned.

least

War,

modern war, you would remove

grinding
poverty.
?

and

And
too.

irre-

sponsible

wealth

That

And

commonplace
stances
all.
?

mediocrity

of

circum-

The worst
?

starting-point of

A cruel mother excluded. A devoted

Certainly to be
self-sacrificing

mother ? The subtlest of moral dangers. You very soon find that you leave nothing standing. There is no normal. All is individual and every pushing fibre and tendril of the good is unique, and has its own root to start from and It is crude and its own issue to find. pagan, perhaps, to say that all good comes
;

by

suffering,

religious

and I do not say it. But faith seems to mean a going out

62

RELIGION
may be
exultant, but
fail

of oneself, which

can hardly

at times to

put the

finite

being on the rack.

We
for

have approached too

near to

argument.
himself
trust

But

let

the reader consider

how

a supreme love and

felt
all

Dante's lovemust be
It cannot

by a

finite creature.

be

simple

receiving.

It

demand.

And

must make a severe if we might choose our

own

conditions, should

we not
?

rule out

most things worth doing

In a word, religion is just the weld of finite and infinite. Such an experience may be triumphant, but can it be
costless
?

"

The whole
see

creation

."

and yet

we do not
religion.

how
it

it

can aU share in
:

Yet

has been written

the sod

The

spirit

of the

worm beneath

'

In love and worship blends

itself

with God.

Religion says nothing against

that I

this

know

of.

At any

rate

the

RELIGION
apparently
necessary
values
;

63

finite

world seems to be a

arena

and

instrument

of

and as better insight comes, it does not approximate to a fabric of

pure blank preciousness, as the

New

Jerusalem does to a fabric

of mere

gems, but rather to more intimate and poignant realisations, united with a
deeper
victory.

perfection
It
is

and

profounder
this

something of

kind

that the religious experience offers as

the simple and inward fact about suffering.

And I

believe

we must take

it so,

and not try to reason or explain

away.

it

CHAPTER

VII

PRAYER AND WORSHIP

65

CHAPTER
" After
be done."
this

VII

PRAYER AND WORSHIP

manner therefore pray ye
. . .

Thy

will

Prayer and worship seem

just for this reason,

to be of the

most intimate essence of religion.

And
all

when

separately

argued about and insisted on, above

its

other features they tend to become

Prayer,
I

distorted.

suppose,
is,

is

the

very meditation which

least

or at the very

which enables us to reaUse and enter into, the unity which is religious
Worship, inward or outward,
It
is
is

faith.

in principle the same.

some

direc-

tion of feeling, thought, or ritual which

67

F2

68

RELIGION
fortifies,

renews and
aid
faith

perhaps with the

the

of

sympathetic communion,
will

and Every
its

which

is

religion.
it,

religion, I take

intends to
It wishes

help

votaries in this way.

to maintain and to reinforce in

them

the strictly religious

spirit.

But here
curiosity,

as

elsewhere rationalism,

metaphor, and deduction from

metaphor, operate by

way

of distortion.

When
spirit

faith

weakens, the unity of the

tends to sever itself into ideas of

persons in relation with

each

other,

and the common conceptions of persons

begin to react
experience,
together,
;

the sides of the central

which prayer was to hold

begin to faU apart, and the

meditation

and

inspiration

of unity

cannot but be transformed accordingly.

"Father," "King," "Lord," "Creator,"
all

these words

may

help our sluggish

imaginations in certain ways.

of

But

all

them

offer

by-paths for practical

RELIGION

69

ceremony and for reflective inquisitiveness, in which the religious mind may
lose
itself.

If prayer,

we

argue,

can

keep us

assured of the supreme triumph and of

unity with the ultimate power, what

can

it

not do

What

can faith not

do

From

securing our daily bread to

any miracle we chance to set our hearts on, aU seems possible to it. Here is an example of what we must come to

we stray along we run up against

if

roads like these

till

sense.

sanity and common " Mr. John Scrimgeour, minister

of Kinghorn,

who, having a beloved

child sick to death of the crewels,

free to expostulate with his

was
and

Maker with
length

such

impatience

of displeasure,

complaining so
it

bitterly, that at

was

said

unto him, that he was heard

but that he was requested
the

for this time,

to use no such boldness in time coming

so that

when he returned he found

70
child sitting
fair.
. .

RELIGION
up
in the

bed hale and

:"
religious unity of spirit
is

The
broken

and

its

maintenance

thus
the

coming to
influence

be

of up various demands construed according

under

to analogies imported into the matter

by natural
terpret.

efforts

to explain and in-

With the growing distinction and remoteness of the human and divine factors the whole nature of prayer and worship transforms itself. It comes to be modelled on the normal relations between an inferior and a superior in
the asking of favours and the rendering
of honour.

Now

here as throughout

it is for

the

sincere mind to judge what incidents of

hope and belief

in his religion.

what

shapes of the
really involved

answer to prayer

are

We are only concerned

and

to note the warning that prayer

Heart of Midlothian.

RELIGION
as

71

worship certainly change their nature

and metaphor along paths which lead us away from what religious faith most strictly implies.
curiosity

we pursue

What we
is

essentially want, I suppose,

to be helped to realise and hold fast

faith,

our religious

including,

as

we

have seen throughout, our religious will.

To

this

end "religions," systems of

ritual, or,

creed and
feeling

more

generally, of

and

practice,

have their ways of

being instrumental.
ligious in

And what
it,

is

re-

them, I take

is

all

that

which contributes to keep true religion Praise and supplicaalive in the heart. tion, so far as they do not help in this,

seem not to be

religious at

all.

CHAPTER

VIII

THE RELIGIOUS TEMPER

73

CHAPTER
" As a
Uttle child

VIII

THE RELIGIOUS TEMPER

.

."

Here

is

a sentence worth considering

"It is customarj- ... to contrast the humihty required by the Gospel with the supposed arrogance and self-suflficiency of the philosophical spirit. Yet
if

we

take

men

so different and so
differences
as

representative
Plato,

in their

Bacon,

and

Spinoza,

we

find

them
tive
its
'

all

agreeing, not in a glorification

of the

human mind, but in the imperademand that it should shake off

chains
that
'

and turn to receive the

it

light,

should
76

surrender

its

76
'idols'

RELIGION
and 'become
eternity,'
its

as a little child,'
'

that

it

should look at things

under the
^

form of

not through the vague

imagination."

confusion of

own

This substantive agreement between

the language of religion and that of

wisdom
pose
it

is

a remarkable thing.

I sup-

points to

what we have dwelt

total simplicity

upon throughout, the

of supreme experiences, and the impossibility of entering into

them except
;

by a total sincerity and candour. Humility no doubt is demanded but humility taken by itself may be an obsession and distraction, just like vanity, amour propre, curiosity, the charm of contrivance and ingenuity. What is aimed at is rather not to be preoccupied
with yourself at
all;

not to be preor

occupied with your

littleness,

own weakness
The
1, 152.

any more than with your

or cleverness.
feel-

own goodness
'

Nettleship in Sellenica, ed.

RELIGION
ing and admission of defect
is,

77
I imagine,

but it should not, surely, be reflectively predominant so as to

;

presupposed

divert attention to itself and impair the

simple

spirit
is

of trust and surrender.

Now this

same time the spirit of complete appreciation, which alone can seize the whole fact in its due shape and proportion. This is what in any
at the

matter of
say, only

common

life

we

get, as

we

from those "who

better

really care."

"

Love speaks with

knowledge
love."

and knowledge with dearer

The
for

artist, too,

we

are told, covets

"the innocence of the eye"; the gaze

which the whole impression

is

single,

unbroken, and unrationalised.

To

illustrate a little further.

less

It

is

one of the

noted advantages

in the

succession of fresh lives which death

and birth maintain, that the worn and patched and piece-meal experience of
the aged scholar or statesman, perhaps

78

RELIGION
is

even of the saint,

for ever with the

not perpetuated
of the

full traces

mode

in which

was painfully acquired. In being swept away along with its possessor, it makes room for the fresh and
it

total

contemplative

activity

of

new

minds, no longer seamed and wrinkled

by the hardships and accidents which

attended acquisition.
While he smites, how can he but remember, So he smote before, in such a peril. When they stood and mocked, " Shall smiting help us?"

O'erimportuned brows becloud the mandate.

Carelessness or consciousness the gesture.

For he bears an ancient wrong about him.

In the gaze of the rising generation all this is wiped away. It comes, or should come, dehghted and unwearied,
to seize directly and vigorously

on

its

actual merits and in

its

total contours
it,

the treasure that

is

offered to

and so

RELIGION
to accept the experience in
real proportions.
its

79

fuU and

Something of this kind is what the religious temper demands. Here even the veteran expert in life must stand to his own mature experience somewhat as the younger generation stands to its
predecessor's.

He

finds himself neces-

sarily negligent of its entanglements,

its history, its

controversy, and trying

it
is

to take

it

at its centre simply as

and

for its

own

sake.

To
;

be one with
is

the supreme good in the faith which

also will

that

is

rehgion

and to be
is

thus wholly and unquestioningly

religious temper.

the

Then

all

the riches

of the spirit

may add

themselves to the

mood, on condition that nothing in them

stands out to impair or to violate
it.

For they
right
tions
;

aU, as

we

saw, belong to

it

of

only their intricacies and distracto lose our

as a little

make it so easy for us way among them. To be

80
child

RELIGION
means to keep
;

hold, so to speak, of
;

the direct handclasp

to remain in touch

with the centre

not to go wandering

after this clever notion

and

that.

If one could maintain this simplicity,

supreme bona fides, sincerity of mood and temper, and care about one's religion mainly and especially with reference to those features in it which are truly and
strictly

religious,

believe

the gain

would be

great.

And

gradually and

would come about a certain discrimination between what is necessary in religion, and what is more or less superfluous, and, if emnaturally, I suppose, there

phatically insisted

on, tends

even to
sincere

become harmful.
believe that to
religious
self

But

most firmly

a sound and

temper much that

fall

may
its

in

it-

be superfluous can

into

place

and be in no way dangerous.

think controversy
chievous.
is

useful,

do not but misI

Yet a

sense of sanity and

RELIGION
proportion,
if it

81

could be promoted by

concentrating attention on the simple

essence of religion, would, I believe, be
of very great religious value.

THE END

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