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I^T
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
POWER'S CENTRAL BOOK STOnr*
RELIGION AND LIFE
Dr. RLIJOLF KUCKKN
Religion and Life
BY
RUDOLF EUCKEN
PROFESSOR OF PHII.OSOHHY University of Jena
LONDON British and Foreign Unitarian Association
Bs«cv Hall, Essex Street, Strand, W.C. 1911
PRINTED BY ELSOM AND CO., MARKET PLACE, HULL
3U
A.
PREFACE
The Lecture, ' Religion and Life,' by Professor Rudolf Eucken, was delivered in German at Essex Hall, London, on Wednesday, 7 June, 191 1, and repeated at Manchester College, Oxford, on the following Friday, where it was reported by Mr. Gustav F. Beckh, Ph. D., a student of the College. After the MS. had been corrected by Professor Eucken, the translation was kindly undertaken by Dr. Beckh.
The outline of the Lecture, circulated beforehand, is here reprinted ; but Dr. Eucken departed to some extent from this outline in the actual delivery of his Lecture.
The Rev. W. Tudor Jones, Ph. D., contributed the following brief biographical sketch : Rudolf Eucken, who visits England for the first time, was born at Aurich, Ea.st Friesland, 5th January, 1846. He lost his father when quite a child. His mother, a woman of deep religious experience, was the daughter of a liberal clergyman. At the High School one of the masters — the theologian Reuter — interested him greatly in religion. Religion be- came of absorbing interest to him when quite a boy; and this interest increased in significance with his classical and
H{\()7'47
6 PREFACE
philosophical training. He studied at the Universities of Gottingen and Berlin. Lotze was Professor of Philosophy at Gottingen and Trendelenburg at Berlin. Trendelenburg influenced him deeply — indeed, settled the direction of his future course in life. After graduating as Doctor of Philo- sophy at Gottingen, he spent five years as a High School teacher. In 1871 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the University of Basel; in 1874 he succeeded Kuno Fischer at Jena. And notwithstanding several calls to larger Universities, it is in the ' little nest ' of Goethe and Schiller he has chosen to remain. His philosophical works are widely known ; his pupils are found from Iceland in the North to New Zealand in the South, from Japan in the East to Britain and America in the West. Those who have had the privilege of knowing him — and his home is always open to his students — are not quite the same ever afterwards and can never forget him.
In the year 1908 Professor Eucken was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. His books have been translated into several European languages; his greatest work — The Truth 0/ Religion — will be published by Messrs. Williams and Norgate in October, 191 1.
OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE
1. In placing Religion and Life in close mutual relation we are not concerned with practical and social life, but with life in its broadest sense, including the whole field of science. Our problem is really confined to this, whether in this life it is possible to rise above merely human existence, whether we can discern in it the activity of a Power at once encompassing and transcending the world.
2. This question we answer in the affirma- tive with entire confidence. When we survey and sum up the traits peculiar to man, we discover a life essentially different from that of sense ; this life >ve term the life of the Spirit. This spiritual life which manifests itself in the j)rogrcss of civilization, is not displayed like the life of Nature in the mutual relations of separate parts ; it forms a Whole which is common to us all, and in
8 OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE
which we reaHze our fellowship with others. The life of the soul is in this field not merely a means of physical self-preservation, it gains an independence. The products which it brings forth — Truth, Goodness, Beauty — rise into a realm of inwardness, into a sphere of reality which exists for itself and in itself. 3. This spiritual life with its new contents and relations cannot possibly be a creation of man alone. It must come to him from the universe ; it must form a new stage of reality into which man, who first belongs predominantly to Nature, is raised in the progress of his life. Whatever spiritual energy civilization displays, receives its genuine content and impelling power only when it is understood as a revelation of an independent spiritual world. At this point, however, we stand if not within the domain of religion, yet at any rate on its threshold. For henceforth all spiritual creation, all scientific and artistic production, all moral action, appear to be founded in the living presence of a higher Power. With these tasks the individual with his uncertainty and weakness cannot grapple. A higher Power,
OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE 9
a power of the Whole, must bear him on, and bring him beyond the gropings of reflection into the security of achievement. Accordingly just on the heights of spiritual production we note a consciousness of de- pendence and a feeling of deep gratitude. Indeed, the higher the spiritual task which men attempted, the more they felt themselves in labouring at it to be the instruments of a higher Power. We may thus say that all spiritual activity, when traced to its roots and recognized as independent in contrast with petty human aims, develops a kind of religion. This religion which alone imparts a soul to all culture, we may call Universal Religion.
4. But however important it is to dis- cover and recognize in the whole expanse of life a connexion with religion, this Universal Religion is not what is generally understood by Religion. It rather accom- panies the general life than constitutes a separate field from which it exerts a peculiar influence. We are thus carried beyond Uni- versal Religion to one that is Characteristic. This is first reached through the experiences,
10 OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE
the checks, the shocks, which human Mfe exhibits. Spiritual activity, especially on its moral side, does not advance among us from victory to victory ; it encounters the most stubborn resistance, not only from without but in our own soul as well. Such opposition is powerful enough to threaten to bring all life and endeavour to a standstill. In reality, however, life is not cut short by such a check. A new depth is revealed beyond all entangle- ment, issuing, however, out of an immediate relation of the soul to a life which at once constitutes and transcends the world — only such a life can escape from the world's entanglements. Thus the spiritual life is roused to the conception of Deity, and in developing its relation to the Divine en- genders a Characteristic Religion. At the summit of this development the approach of the Deity to man is not limited to occasional points of contact, it makes man a partaker of the fulness of his own life. The union of the divine and human nature is the fundamental truth of religion, and its deepest mystery consists in the fact that the Divine enters into the compass of the
OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE II
Human without impairing its Divinity. With this new phase life is completely renewed and elevated. Man becomes im- mediately conscious of the infinite and eternal, of that within him which transcends the world. For the first time the love of God becomes the ruling motive of his life, and brings him into an inner relation with the whole scope of reality. But while this Characteristic Religion unveils new deeps in life, it must still remain within the sphere of human experience, and must in particular seek a friendly union with the Universal Religion. If it cuts itself off and prides itself on being a ' specific ' religion and evolving a specific piety, it easily sinks into narrowness and rigidity, and is even in danger of pharisaic conceit.
5. Religion thus understood is judged by the new life which it brings forth. It is the task of thc)!ight to make this life clear and set it vividly before our eyes. It cannot, however, produce it by itself. The true demonstration of religion is one of the spirit and of power. The historical religions, how- ever, have their essence in the life peculiar to
12 OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE
each, in their unique type of spiritual Ufe. This is what severally distinguishes them, and renders one superior to others. Such life of course needs definite forms. Religion cannot become an historical power and unite men together without forming its own world of ideas, and also without the practice of a cultus which presents the new life to men in visible form. But dogmas and rites have no value except as expressions of the spiritual life of which they are the servants. They must continually be referred back to it or they become lifeless. Further, from this point of view it appears legitimate and indeed necessary, whenever great transforma- tions take place in the world of thought, to exercise an impartial criticism upon them, and reshape them in the interest of the life which they express. Such criticism does not lead to disintegration when it proceeds from the kernel of religion itself instead of from the outside.
6. Such is the situation at the present day. In every field of life penetrating changes have set in, and religion cannot pos- sibly escape them. But while we practise
OUTLINE OF THE LECTURE I3
an open and honest criticism on traditional foiTOS, it is needful to develop the essence of religion the more vigorously. Freedom should not diminish but increase its depth. This, however, will be possible if we bring the new life which unfolds itself in religion, into full action, and transform it into our own life. This will protect us against all paralysing doubt, and give us a sure foothold in the storms of the age. Life and its activity alone can produce a Religion of Life.
RELIGION AND LIFE
New problems are always arising, chal- lenging human endeavour. ' Each new morn offers new tasks.' Now one of these new tasks undoubtedly is involved in the * Prob- lem of Religion.' In years gone by people used to discuss this problem with special reference to the nature of their proofs and the particular ideas contained in them. At the present day we must go to the very root of the problem. The danger has increased. Religion in its entirety is being attacked, and we are compelled to give evidence of its absolute justi-
l6 RELIGION AND LIFE
fication and necessity. Various lines have been followed out, and our apology for Religion, I believe, must be based on Life. Life and Religion are things to be defined more closely at the outset. Life, as we take it, means more than practical life. It is more than a mechanical application of laws and doctrines to our daily work. For us, life comprehends every possible kind of activity (including the understanding), superior in its entirety to all its particular branches.
Rehgion, on the other hand, is not merely a belief in some supreme Power, nor do I consider it to be the establishment of rela- tions of any kind between this supreme Power and ourselves. It is an inner identifica-
RELIGION AND LIFE 1/
tion with it and the creation of a new life through it. The problem may be therefore defined in this way : Does man in the whole- ness of his being experience an impulse to acknowledge a divine element, and if so, can he identify himself with it and rise to its lofty height without transforming his previous condition ? And it is to this form of the problem that we must turn our attention first.
Now, even a slight examination of the nature of life will show that it is more than mere existence ; that it contains two distinct stages of development.
These stages are —
(a) The stage of natural life. (6) The stage of spiritual life.
B
l8 RELIGION AND LIFE
Nobody can deny that to a certain extent we are creatures of nature. It is not only our physical organization that belongs to this department. By means of sensation and impulse nature has a firm hold on our souls as well, and its laws sway our inner life.
In this stage of development there is no inclination towards religion, or towards the creation of an ' all-comprehensive ' life, controlling, as it were, the world of experi- ence from within. For this natural life is constituted merely of cause and effect, of single organic processes, whose sole purpose it is to exist in opposition to their environ- ments. There is no such thing as a Unity pervading and comprehending the Many, or causing successive experiences to react
RELIGION AND LIFE I9
on each other on the basis of a spiritual principle. All the single elements and pro- cesses exist alongside of each other, forming a merely causal net of relations.
But human life is more than that. We can rise above the limitation of the par- ticular, and can view the ' Whole of life.' Our mind is fit to deal with humanity at large and with the very infinitude of the universe. The whole of reality is our problem. Man strives after greater things than mere self-preservation in this struggle for life. He is capable of establishing a communion with all men and all things. He can place himself in their position. He can find his truest self in others, yea, even in the whole of the universe. The result
20 RELIGION AND LIFE
is an almost instantaneous liberation of his life from the limitation of the particular ; he expands and grows above himself.
This progress beyond himself is particularly manifest in the new turn his spiritual hfe now takes, and in the altered nature of his new problem. In the state of nature his mental life had been but a means and an instrument of self-preservation. All the cleverness and acuteness of animals serve merely to prolong the existence of individuals, or the whole species, and mental life in this case is but a secondary issue. In man, how- ever, the spiritual life attains to independent existence in the course of his evolution in history. It evolves its own characteristic contents and valuations in the ideas of the
RELIGION AND LIFE 21
True, the Good, and the Beautiful. It expands and becomes a new world within the soul, and in this new world each par- ticular action is inspired by the idea of the whole. This unifying idea of the whole of life may be applied to each particular point of life, and present in it.
Another important distinction ought to be made here : Man in the state of mere nature is but a part of his environment and owes everything to his impressions. In the higher stage, however, he begins to dis- tinguish subject and object, holds them apart, and finally succeeds in transcending this distinction altogether. Science, in a way, accomplishes this transcendence by enabhng us to think ourselves into the
22 RELIGION AND LIFE
nature of the object. The work of the artist, his mode of creating things and looking at them, has a similar effect. His work of art represents an inseparable unity of inward soul and outward form, of spiritual and tangible elements. In almost every department we observe this growth of Life, which in its all-comprehensive nature trans- cends all scattered elements and petty contrasts, and is best defined as ' Universal, or Cosmic Life.*
We cannot come to realize this, however, without perceiving at the same time that this new turn of development involves a great antinomy, which throws us into almost intolerable difficulties. The new life is there, in our souls, but it is, as yet, by no means
RELIGION AND LIFE 23
identical with our being and will. It seems to be produced by us rather than to be a part of ourselves. The natural limitation of man remains, he still is but ' a series of single points,' and lacks the power to com- prehend and explicate this new life. Man proves to be no match for this new task and he cannot attain to this independent ' World of the Spirit.'
The conditions ensuing from this situation are most disconcerting, as already stated. A merely natural self-preservation does not satisfy him at all. That task he finds to be too small. And yet he cannot rise to the higher stage. The actuating spirit wanes to a shadow without disappearing entirely. Man feels an estrangement towards his
24 RELIGION AND LIFE
inward life. Something separates his present existence from that 'mysterious Being.' And, what is more fatal still, this conflict produces dualism and ambiguity, which can be traced in the culture and civihzation of all peoples, and which penetrate into the very depth of every human soul. How are we to get out of this conflict ?
It is absolutely impossible that man in his limitation should be able to break through this wall of separation. Some higher power must do it for him, and more than that, become part of his own life. It must transfer him into this new world, the Life Universal, and identify his truest self with it. A spiritual hfe deserving that name is not the activity of a single force but the reaUza-
RELIGION AND LIFE 2$
tion of Life in its entirety on this particular point of action ; it is the tangible experience of being supported and uplifted by this divine power. AU productive geniuses have felt that most distinctly. Goethe expresses it in this way : ' In artistic production we may collect the fagots and pile them up. But to see them on fire we must wait for the flash of lightning from above.'
Great thinkers, in a similar way, have experienced this inward necessity, whenever they opposed the current opinions of their time. A statesman hke Gladstone, for ex- ample, once said he could eiisily conceive of theoretical doubts of the existence of a higher Being, but a statesman, standing at the helm, certainly could never experience such
26 RELIGION AND LIFE
doubts. For without this consciousness of being led by a higher Power, the innumerable responsibilities of his position would be more than human nature could bear.
But as soon as man acknowledges the manifestation of this divine element and participates in this new creation through divine power and grace, life will be altogether transformed. Now at last we are standing in the great river of Life, of which we were allowed to touch no more than the brink in our first stage of development ; it is here that we find a new self, our true Spiritual Life. The cleavage in the depth of our souls is bridged over at last. That inner estrange- ment, so often felt, has disappeared and the whole universe is now part of regenerate
RELIGION AND LIFE 2/
man's experience. Now we may justly say, ' All things are yours, but ye are God's.* Now true love may be developed and the joys of life experienced to their fullest ex- tent. That feeling of isolation disappears, which has so often depressed us, and we are conscious of partaking in that ' inner life * common to all of us. And this autonomous creation of a true spiritual hfe is the great wonder, and the only certain evidence on behalf of religion.
This kind of religion, the source of all spiritual life, we may venture to call ' Universal Religion.'
Without this Religion no true civilization is possible. A civilization declining all con- tact with a supernatural life and refusing
28 RELIGION AND LIFE
to establish those mysterious ' inner rela- tions ' gradually degenerates into a mere human civilization, and becomes a ' Kultur komodie ' (parody of civilization) as Pesta- lozzi has called it.
The life of every individual person is affected by this ' Problem of Religion.' I cannot conceive of the development of a powerful personality, a deep-rooted and profound mind, or a character rising above this world, without his having experienced this divine life. And as surely as we can create in ourselves a life in contrast to pure nature, growing by degrees and extending to the heights of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, we may have the same assur- ance of that religion called Universal.
RELIGION AND LIFE 2g
But this great turning-point in our de- velopment naturally brings us into contact with new difficulties and grave problems. We expect from a religious point of view that the Divine element should be omnipotent in this world, that it should expel the powers of darkness, accomplish the definite victory of good over evil, and turn this world of sensible reality into a world of reason. This is by no means the case. Our experience soon tells us that sorrow and suffering, weakness and wickedness, are still all- powerful. For nature seems to take little notice of our spiritual interests and purposes : earthquakes, floods, and tempests are con- tinually nipping the buds of life, and we arc every one of us exposed to these crude
30 RELIGION AND LIFE
powers of destruction. Of a still graver nature are the antinomies of our inner life. * The Good ' fails to predominate in human nature, spiritual powers are employed for very unspiritual ends, and a kind of egotism arises, such as the world has never seen before, opposing the whole of life and making it a means to an end rather than an end in itself ; an egotism, which delights in opposing ' the Good,' and warring against the divine element. How will our universal religion fit in with this power of evil ? Are we not inevitably led to doubt the power and reality of the Divine ?
This problem has occupied man's mind for thousands of years, and continually disturbed and harassed it. Many solutions have been
RELIGION AND LIFE 3I
attempted, of which the following are more or less typical. Optimism tries to explain away evil by adopting a standard of criticism broad enough even to allow the power of evil as being in harmony with a higher order of the universe. But this solution of the problem of evil is impossible for the simple reason that we are not merely reflective, but sensitive and active beings in this world-process, and therefore cannot simply ' reason ' sufferings out of the way.
Stoicism is another of these typical attempts. It found the purpose and great- ness of life in keeping suffering and passion at a distance, and by crushing the emotional side of our nature. Fate has placed us in this or that dangerous and exposed position.
32 RELIGION AND LIFE
In spite of the darkness around us we are to persevere like brave soldiers. Alas, by- crushing the emotional side, the virtues of love and charity were exiled and an isolation of the soul ensued. Besides, to persevere in the battle of life is no satisfactory ideal of life. We must know for what the battle is fought, to what results it will lead, and whether we shall achieve ' new things.*
Another typical solution, and to my mind the only remaining one, lies in the narrowing down of ' Universal Religion * to ' Charac- teristic Religion.'
By ' Characteristic Religion ' I mean a rehgion, which allows of conflict, suffering, and sin, as opening new doors, leading into greater depths, and creating a life of pure
RELIGION AND LIFE 33
* inwardness,' a life drawing its strength from the relation of an individual soul to the ' Spring of all Life.'
It is often said that ' Suffering makes a man better and refines his nature.' But that is not the inevitable consequence. Experience proves that people often become narrow, petty, and envious through suffering.
Sorrow in itself does not help man ; but under its stress we may develop and gain a new life, which may mean the opening up of a divine life, given by the grace of a divine power outside of us, creating in us a new centre of spiritual life, lifting us above material toil, and imbuing us with an inward power transcending the world of things.
We Germans have the proverb, ' A man
34 RELIGION AND LIFE
is worth more than his work.' This * more,' however, is only attained by means of a Characteristic Religion. On that basis we can understand the great saying of Jesus, ' What shall a man be profited, if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul ? '
I have not claimed that in this discovery of the new depths of life our old conflicts and antinomies disappear. Darkness there still is ; but our struggle is not in vain, if we gain a new hfe through it, and are bom a second time. This struggle through harsh negation to a cheerful ' yea,' this ascent above our suffering through acknowledging it, is the fundamental truth of Christianity as I under- stand it. Through developing this idea and working it out fully it has attained its pecuhar
RELIGION AND LIFE 35
characteristics. Only on the basis of this conception could it make the cross its symbol and carry it victoriously through the world. This fundamental truth is beauti- fully expressed by the greatest German poet :
Those who have not understood ' Die, and rise to-morrow ! ' They are but as passing shades In this world of sorrow.
And Luther powerfully puts it thus : ' That I call spiritual power, which can remain erect in the midst of our enemies and show its strength in a state of humiliation. And its very essence is strength in weakness, enabling us to gain salvation in all conditions, and compclhng death, yea, even the cross, to further our salvation and yield life.*
That is what I believe to be the character
36 RELIGION AND LIFE
of Christianity, It is the preservation of life in sharpest contradiction with the world. It is a triumphant progress to cheerful affirmation in spite of the spirit of negation. It is the inward extinction of sorrow through the creation of a higher life, and persists in growing through all the turmoil of strife and suffering. Human life may thus be said to set itself a noble task and to develop spiritually.
Now at last a true ' world-history ' begins, for every individual soul can now make its own history. Classical literature in all its variety and profound value contains not one ' history of a soul.' The memoirs of Marcus Aurelius, though full of noble reflections, contain no such testimony. It
RELIGION AND LIFE 37
is the imperishable merit of St. Augustine to have written the first literary biography of a soul in his Confessions. Such a bio- graphy could only be of value and interest in a time when people began to hold with Luther ' that not for the price of the whole world may we lose one single soul, however humble.'
This new life with all its contrasts and rich inner developments in spite of all external vexation, cannot be described adequately in words. The artist must do that for us, the rehgious poet, and especially the composer of sacred music, of music like that of Bach and Handel. But this acquisition is of ' world-historical ' importance, creating a spiritual reality never dreamt of before, and
38 RELIGION AND LIFE
proving Christianity to be the rehgion of all religions in the past history of this world. Not that we understand things better now. The elements of darkness may be as preva- lent as ever. But with darkness we have gained depth, and there are events in our soul's Ufe at present which leave no doubt as to the course of the future.
Fundamental truths, however, standing above the change of time, are constantly present 'monitors.' As soon as ReUgion means the sounding of new depths and the production of a new reality, we have passed beyond the sphere of Intellectualism, which would fain make religion a cosmology. But we are just as unwilling to make religion a purely emotional matter, rejecting the un-
RELIGION AND LIFE 39
deniable realities of human existence and giving full sway to subjectivism. True religion, with its new reality, must form a characteristic sphere of life for itself and produce a characteristic community of men, seeking its most active realization in the very estabhshment of this community. And here again we meet with new conflicts arising out of the relations between Divine and Human elements. Certainly the new life is altogether a gift of God. The Divine does not conform and adapt itself to Human standards. All human ' littleness ' is broken up in the process of regeneration, man is received into the fulness of divine life and partakes of its infinitude. But all the same, the formation of the new life cannot take
40 RELIGION AND LIFE
place without human endeavour, and this power is roused in the struggle of life. I admit that man can never express the Divine adequately. ' All passing things are but symbols ' (Goethe's Faust) is a truth for all times. We cannot get beyond the quest and search for truth. We may demand, however, that the Divine should be ex- pressed in the relatively highest forms, that we should always try to find the most adequate S3nTibol.
Thus we may account for changes and varieties, and it may be that the process of human history renders certain symbols in- adequate, which in times past were considered perfect. But as soon as we become aware of such a cleavage between the essence of
RELIGION AND LIFE 4I
Religion and its latest rendering in symbol, it is our most sacred duty to bridge it over and provide a more adequate rendering.
No doubt we are aware of such a cleavage at the present day. In order to preserve Christianity in all its strength and beauty we must find new forms and sjonbols for it. For since it first came into existence and received its traditional form, a tremendous change has taken place. Our world is larger than the world of those days with regard to our conceptions of nature as well as those of human history. Many forms are now but anthropomorphisms which two thousand years ago satisfied the very best of minds. And what was considered in those times to be a pure expression or reflection of the Divine
42 RELIGION AND LIFE
in Christianity, is now verging dangerously near the mythological element. Let us not forget that Christianity entered into history at a time when the old world was in a state of resignation and degeneration, when people took the sorrows and evils of their days as a kind of inevitable destiny. This is vividly illustrated by the fact that nobody ventured to combat the irrationality of their social conditions, such as poverty and slavery, and that their morality was of a purely passive nature.
Our age, however, has inspired us with wonderful self-confidence and manly vigour. We are convinced that there are great possi- bilities in man. We are challenged to throw in the whole of our strength and labour in
RELIGION AND LIFE 43
uprooting misery and want. We desire to make human life more rational. And in the organization of religious and devotional life we must needs demand more individual liberty and greater possibilities of free development than the ancients required. They thought but little of the strength of individuals and attempted chiefly to create a powerful organization and authority taking all responsibility from the shoulders of the individual, and preserving him from all manner of doubt and uncertainty. And fmally ; we are no longer satisfied with a traditional cult embodying the Divine in more or less tangible forms. The ideas of spiritual and material, of supernatural and physical, were not held apart in ancient
44 RELIGION AND LIFE
minds with the precision of to-day. They believed that the Divine must needs manifest himself in tangible matter, as the early teachings of the Eucharist show. We are poignantly conscious of the irremediable contrast between Spirit and Matter and resent the magical element, which seems to us to impair the purely religious. Purely rehgious it was to them. But we are inevitably confronted with new problems, which can only be solved in a state of liberty, of absolute freedom for all minds. In taking up the task of remodelling Christianity [merely in its forms) we are acting on behalf of Religion. We are not criticizing for the sake of criticism, but are longing to come to an everlasting ' yea.^
RELIGION AND LIFE 45
We do not want less, but more of religion. New social problems are awaiting their solution. Serious inroads are made on Christianity and what is of still graver im- portance, the whole of our people are making them. And I assure you that Christianity can ordy grapple with these difficulties by absorbing and employing all the results and fruits of the ' world-historical ' work of humanity at large. And its best contents, its very life-blood, can only become a possession of the civilized world if it adapts its forms and symbols to the conditions of our time. It must become altogether a religion of the moving and flowing present. Nothing ob- solete and antique can be allowed to remain in it, and it must unite and focus all our
^6 RELIGION AND LIFE
modem intellectual and spiritual aspirations. It must excise all the pusillanimous and petty elements of man's nature. In this refonning process we must carefully avoid putting our modem interpretation into old things. That leads to unhealthy results and mns counter to the saying of the greatest of the Greek Fathers : ' In the soul of a tmly religious man all elements must be absolutely genuine.' Those standing at a greater distance may object to this spiritualization of rehgion, as being nothing more than a process of dilution and evaporation, at any rate a surrender of the best. But may I be allowed to say that every single attempt in history to reform religion and spirituaHze the symbols, by rejecting its more tangible elements, has
RELIGION AND LIFE 47
been regarded by the adherents of sacred tradition as a perilous process of dissolution. The early Christians were called Atheists because they rejected all images of their godhead, and at the present day Catholics believe that the Protestant rehgion sadly lacks tangible elements of worship.
But as a matter of fact Reality is to be found not outside of the world of the Spirit, but in it. And the sooner we become aware of this in religion, and the sooner it seeks contact with the whole of life, casting its anchor in the harbour of life, the sooner will it appeal to humanity and counteract the workings of scepticism.
Is it not true that we particularly want a religion fresh and new-born, bringing forth
48 RELIGION AND LIFE
fruit of all kinds ? I admit that the waters of the surface are all against religion. But the undercurrent of man's soul is all in its favour. Modem culture has succeeded on many hnes. But it has also given us many a grave problem, for which it is no match. This yearning and craving amid the un- wholesomeness of a secular, merely human culture, this intolerable shallowness of Hfe, which cannot reach beyond its circuit, all the folly and madness of purely human activities and aims, this rush to and fro, without love and without soul — how do you account for them ? And on the other side the profound longing for greater depths, for greater stability and permanence ! This yearning to partake of a higher Hfe than that
RELIGION AND LIFE 49
which the process of natural and social self- preser\'ation will allow us ! Believe me, this incessantly growing impulse, running through all nations and all civilizations of the East and West, is in itself a proof that powers are at work in our souls, of which our critics will have to give account. Pascal justly re- marked : ' You would not have sought me, liad I not been there already.'
Of course, we are fully aware of the fact that we are seekers, that our achievements are not perfect yet. But we are convinced at the same time that we are serving a great end, which is not tlic creation of our own brains, but set up for us in the process of evolution.
And as to the attempt to reform Christian
D
50 RELIGION AND LIFE
truths, and clothe them in new symbols, let us remember what the wise Gamaliel said : (Acts 5^^,^^) 'And now I say imto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone ; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown ; but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them ; lest haply ye be found even to be lighting against God.' Let us therefore work cheerfully, every man in his own place and way ; all, however, supported by the firm conviction that we are partakers of the work of the Spirit, and that nothing can be in vain, if it has been done with a view to our great end and in the faithful fulfilment of our task.
The Essex Hall Lectures
ONE SHILLING EACH NET
'893. The Development of Theology
As illustrated in English Poetry from 1 780 to 1830. By Stopford A. Brooke, M.A., LL.D.
1894. Unitarians and the Future.
By Mrs. Humphry Ward.
1895. The Relation of Jesus to his Age and our own.
By J. EsTi.iN Cakpknter, M.A., D.Litt., D.D.
1897. The Significance of the Teaching of Jesus.
By KiCHARD Aci.AND ARMSTRONG, B.A.
1899. The Religion of Time and of Eternity. A Study of Mediaeval and Modern Thought. By Philip H. Wicksteed, M.A.
1902. Some Thoughts on Christology.
By James Drummond, M.A., LL.D., D.Litt.
1903. Emerson. By Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell, M.P.
1904. The Idea and Reality of Revelation, and Typical
Forms of Christianity. Two Lectures (1/6). , By Prof. H. H. Wendt, Ph.D., D.D., Jena.
1905. The Immortality of the Soul In the Poems of
Tennyson and Browning.
By Prof. Hknry Jones, LL.D., University of Glasgow.
1906. The Making of Religion.
By Samuel M. Crothers, D.D., Cambridge, U.S.A.
1908. Dof^m.i and History.
liy Prof. Dr. (.lsiav Kkic.ir, University of Giessen.
1909. Evolution and Religious Progress.
By Prof. F. E. Weiss, D.Sc, University of Manchester.
19J0. The Story and Significance of the Unitarian Movement. By W. G. Tarrant, P.. A., London.
BOOK ROOM. ESSEX HALL, ESSEX STREET, STRAND. W.C.
Crown 8vo, 232 pp. 3 '6 net
THE HISTORICAL JESUS AND THE THEOLOGICAL CHRIST
By J. ESTLIN CARPENTER. M.A., D.Litt.. D.D.
Contents : — I. The Historical Jesus, II. Jesus and the Kingdom of God. III. The Theological Christ. IV. The Doctrine of the Two Natures.
PRESS NOTICES.
* His account of the historical Jesus is a fine example of fearless but sane and reverent criticism. . . . We commend these studies as a most valuable contribution to the theology of the day.' — Christian World.
•The reader will find an abundance of sound learning and helpful thought in this little book. It is admirably written,' — Westminster Gazette.
' His scholarship is competent and his attitude reverent, and accordingly his book can be read with profit even by those who do not share lus theological views.' — Glasgow Herald.
' The book is likely to be provocative of many questions and a good deal of disseut. It covers a wide range and bristles with learning culled from many fields ' — Manchester Guardian.
' His reputation as a scholarly critic of the New Testa- ment is sufficiently established, and both those who agree with his view and those who do not will find what he has to say more than usually suggestive and stimulating.' — The Bookseller.
' Addresses, popular in form but learned and thoughtful in substance, which sum up in an interesting way the results of modem historical researches in the domain of Christology and refresh the lessons of traditional Christ- ianity by emphasizing its points of kinship with the doctrines of modern philosophy.' — Scotsman.
BOOK ROOM, ESSEX HALL, ESSEX STREET, STRAND, W.C.
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