,,preaching ,,and ,,paganism   ,,by     
,,albert ,,parker ,,fitch  ,,professor  
,,of ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,religion    
,,in ,,amherst ,,college   ,,works ,,by 
,,the ,,same ,,author   ,,the ,,college 
,,course ,,and ,,the ,,preparation ,,for
 ,,life  ,,can ,,the ,,church ,,survive 
,,in ,,the ,,changing ,,order8          
,,published ,,on ,,the ,,foundation     
,,established ,,in ,,memory ,,of ,,james
 ,,wesley ,,cooper ,,of ,,the ,,class   
,,of #ahfe1 ,,yale ,,college  ,,the     
,,forty-,,sixth ,,series ,,of ,,the     
,,lyman ,,beecher ,,lectureship ,,on    
,,preaching ,,in ,,yale ,,university    
,,new ,,haven ,,yale ,,university       
,,press ,,mdccccxx  ,,copyright1 #aibj1 
,,by ,,yale ,,university ,,press        
,,first ,,published1 #aibj     ,,the    
,,james ,,wesley ,,cooper ,,memorial    
,,publication ,,fund   ,the present     
volume is the fourth work published by  
the ,yale ,university ,press on the     
,james ,wesley ,cooper ,memorial        
,publication ,fund4 ,this ,foundation   

was established ,march #cj1 #aiah1 by a 
gift to ,yale ,university from ,mrs4    
,ellen ,h4 ,cooper in memory of her     
husband1 ,rev4 ,james ,wesley ,cooper1  
,d4,d41 who died in ,new ,york ,city1   
,march #af1 #aiaf4 ,dr4 ,cooper was a   
member of the ,class of #ahfe1 ,yale    
,college1 and for twenty-five years     
pastor of the ,south ,congregational    
,church of ,new ,britain1 ,connecticut4 
,for thirty years he was a corporate    
member of the ,american ,board of       
,commissioners for ,foreign ,missions   
and from #ahhe until the time of his    
death was a ,fellow of ,yale            
,university1 serving on the ,corporation
 as one of the ,successors of the       
,original ,trustees4     ,,to ,,my      
,,wife     ,,preface   ,the chief1      
perhaps the only1 commendation of these 
chapters is that they pretend to no     
final solution of the problem which they
 discuss4 ,how to assert the eternal and
 objective reality of that ,presence1   
the consciousness of ,whom is alike the 

beginning and the end1 the motive and   
the reward1 of the religious experience1
 is not altogether clear in an age that1
 for over two centuries1 has more and   
more rejected the transcendental ideas  
of the human understanding4 ,yet the    
consequences of that rejection1 in the  
increasing individualism of conduct     
which has kept pace with the growing    
subjectivism of thought1 are now        
sufficiently apparent and the present   
plight of our civilization is already   
leading its more characteristic members1
 the political scientists and the       
economists1 to rexamine and reappraise  
the concepts upon which it is founded4  
,it is a similar attempt to scrutinize  
and evaluate the significant aspects of 
the interdependent thought and conduct  
of our day from the standpoint of       
religion which is here attempted4 ,its  
sole and modest purpose is to endeavor  
to restore some neglected emphases1 to  
recall to spiritually minded men and    
women certain half-forgotten values in  

the religious experience and to add such
 observations regarding them as may1 by 
good fortune1 contribute something to   
that future reconciling of the thought  
currents and value judgments of our day 
to these central and precious facts of  
the religious life4  ,many men and minds
 have contributed to these pages4 ,such 
sources of suggestion and insight have  
been indicated wherever they could be   
identified4 ,in especial ,i must record 
my grateful sense of obligation to      
,professor ,irving ,babbitt's ,rousseau 
and ,romanticism4 ,the chapter on       
,naturalism owes much to its brilliant  
and provocative discussions4            
,,contents                              
,,page    ,preface      #aa    ,i4 ,the 
,learner1 the ,doer and the ,seer       
#ae    ,,ii4 ,the ,children of ,zion and
 the ,sons of ,greece       #dj         
,,iii4 ,eating1 ,drinking and ,being    
,merry        #gb    ,,iv4 ,the         
,unmeasured ,gulf       #ajb    ,v4     
,grace1 ,knowledge1 ,virtue       #aca  

,,vi4 ,the ,almighty and ,everlasting   
,god       #aeg    ,,vii4 ,worship as   
the ,chief ,approach to ,transcendence  
#ahd    ,,viii4 ,worship and the        
,discipline of ,doctrine      #bji      
,,chapter ,,one  ,,the ,,learner1 ,,the 
,,doer ,,and ,,the ,,seer   ,the first  
difficulty which confronts the incumbent
 of the ,lyman ,beecher ,foundation1    
after he has accepted the appalling fact
 that he must hitch his modest wagon1   
not merely to a star1 but rather to an  
entire constellation1 is the            
delimitation of his subject4 ,there are 
many inquiries1 none of them without    
significance1 with which he might       
appropriately concern himself4 ,for not 
only is the profession of the ,christian
 ministry a many-sided one1 but scales  
of value change and emphases shift1     
within the calling itself1 with our     
changing civilization4 ,the mediaeval   
world brought forth1 out of its need1   
the robed and mitered ecclesiastic2 a   
more recent world1 pursuant to its      

genius1 demanded the ethical idealist4  
,drink-sodden ,georgian ,england        
responded to the open-air evangelism of 
,whitefield and ,wesley2 the next       
century found the ,established ,church  
divided against itself by the learning  
and culture of the ,oxford ,movement4   
,sometimes a philosopher and theologian1
 like ,edwards1 initiates the ,great    
,awakening2 sometimes an emotional      
mystic like ,bernard can arouse all     
,europe and carry men1 tens of thousands
 strong1 over the ,danube and over the  
,hellespont to die for the ,cross upon  
the burning sands of ,syria2 sometimes  
it is the ,george ,herberts1 in a       
hundred rural parishes1 who make grace  
to abound through the intimate and      
precious ministrations of the country   
parson4 ,let us1 therefore1 devote this 
chapter to a review of the several      
aspects of the ,christian ministry1 in  
order to set in its just perspective the
 one which we have chosen for these     
discussions and to see why it seems to  

stand1 for the moment1 in the forefront 
of importance4 ,our immediate question  
is1 ,who1 on the whole1 is the most     
needed figure in the ministry today8 ,is
 it the professional ecclesiastic1      
backed with the authority and prestige  
of a venerable organization8 ,is it the 
curate of souls1 patient shepherd of the
 silly sheep8 ,is it the theologian1 the
 administrator1 the prophet--who8  ,one 
might think profitably on that first    
question in these very informal days4   
,we are witnessing a breakdown of all   
external forms of authority which1 while
 salutary and necessary1 is also        
perilous4 ,not many of us err1 just now1
 by overmagnifying our official status4 
,many of us instead are terribly at ease
 in ,zion and might become less assured 
and more significant by undertaking the 
subjective task of a study in           
ministerial personality4 ,what we are1  
to paraphrase ,emerson1 speaks so loud  
that men cannot hear what we say4 ,every
 great calling has its characteristic   

mental attitude1 the unwritten code of  
honor of the group1 without a knowledge 
of which one could scarcely be an       
efficient or honorable practitioner     
within it4 ,one of the perplexing and   
irritating problems of the personal life
 of the preacher today has to do with   
the collision between the secular       
standards of his time1 this traditional 
code of his class1 and the requirements 
of his faith4 ,shall he acquiesce in the
 smug conformities1 the externalized    
procedures of average society1 somewhat 
pietized1 and join that large company of
 good and ordinary people1 of whom      
,samuel ,butler remarks1 in ,the ,way of
 ,all ,flesh1 that they would be equally
 horrified at hearing the ,christian    
religion doubted1 or at seeing it       
practised8 ,there are ministers who do  
thus content themselves with being      
merely superrespectable4 ,shall he exalt
 the standards of his calling1          
accentuate the speech and dress1 the    
code and manners of his group1 the      

historic statements of his faith1 at the
 risk of becoming an official1 a        
professional8 ,or does he possess the   
insight1 and can he acquire the courage1
 to follow men like ,francis of ,assisi 
or ,father ,damien and adopt the        
,christian ethic and thus join that     
company of the apostles and martyrs     
whose blood is the seed of the church8  
,a good deal might be said today on the 
need of this sort of personal culture in
 the ministerial candidate4 ,but1       
provocative and significant though the  
question is1 it is too limited in scope1
 too purely subjective in nature1 to    
suit the character and the urgency of   
the needs of this moment4  ,again1 every
 profession has the prized inheritance  
of its own particular and gradually     
perfected human skill4 ,an interesting  
study1 then1 would be the analysis of   
that rich content of human insights1 the
 result of generations of pastoral      
experience1 which form the background of
 all great preaching4 ,no man1 whether  

learned or pious1 or both1 is equipped  
for the pulpit without the addition of  
that intuitive discernment1 that quick  
and varied appreciation1 that sane and  
tolerant knowledge of life and the      
world1 which is the reward given to the 
friends and lovers of mankind4 ,for the 
preacher deals not with the shallows but
 the depths of life4 ,like his ,master  
he must be a great humanist4 ,to make   
real sermons he has to look1 without    
dismay or evasion1 far into the heart's 
impenetrable recesses4 ,he must have had
 some experience with the absolutism of 
both good and evil4 ,i think preachers  
who regard sermons on salvation as      
superfluous have not had much experience
 with either4 ,they belong to that large
 world of the intermediates1 neither    
positively good nor bad1 who compose the
 mass of the prosperous and respectable 
in our genteel civilization4 ,since they
 belong to it they cannot lead it4 ,and 
certainly they who do not know the      
absolutism of evil cannot very well     

understand sinners4 ,genuine satans1 as 
,milton knew1 are not weaklings and     
traitors who have declined from the     
standards of a respectable civilization4
 ,they are positive and impressive      
figures pursuing and acting up to their 
own ideal of conduct1 not fleeing from  
self-accepted retribution or falling    
away from a confessed morality of ours4 
,evil is a force even more than a folly2
 it is a positive agent busily building 
away at the ,city of ,dreadful ,night1  
constructing its insolent and scoffing  
society within the very precincts of the
 ,city of ,god4  ,he must know1 then1   
that evil and suffering are not         
temporary elements of man's evolution1  
just about to be eliminated by the new  
reform1 the last formula1 the fresh     
panacea4 ,to those who have tasted grief
 and smelt the fire such easy preaching 
and such confident solutions are a grave
 offense4 ,they know that evil is an    
integral part of our universe2 suffering
 an enduring element of the whole4 ,so  

he must preach upon the chances and     
changes of this mortal world1 or go to  
the house of shame or the place of      
mourning1 knowing that there is         
something past finding out in evil1     
something incommunicable about true     
sorrow4 ,they are not external things1  
alien to our natures1 that happen one   
day from without1 and may perhaps be    
avoided1 and by and by are gone4 ,no2   
that which makes sorrow1 sorrow1 and    
evil1 evil1 is their naturalness2 they  
well up from within1 part of the very   
texture of our consciousness4 ,he knows 
you can never express them1 for truly to
 do that you would have to express and  
explain the entire world4 ,it is not    
easy then to interpret the evil and     
suffering which are not external and    
temporary1 but enduring and a part of   
the whole4  ,so the preacher is never   
dealing with plain or uncomplicated     
matters4 ,it is his business to perceive
 the mystery of iniquity in the saint   
and to recognize the mystery of         

godliness in the sinner4 ,it is his     
business to revere the child and yet    
watch him that he may make a man of him4
 ,he must say1 so as to be understood1  
to those who balk at discipline1 and    
rail at self-repression1 and resent     
pain3 you have not yet begun to live nor
 made the first step toward             
understanding the universe and          
yourselves4 ,to avoid discipline and to 
blench at pain is to evade life4 ,there 
are limitations1 occasioned by the evil 
and the suffering of the world1 in whose
 repressions men find fulfillment4 ,when
 you are honest with yourself you will  
know what ,dante meant when he said3    
,and thou shalt see those who           
,contented are within the fire2         
,because they hope to come1   ,when e'er
 it may be1 to the blessed people4#a    
,it is his business1 also1 to be the    
comrade of his peers1 and yet speak to  
them the truth in love2 his task to     
understand the bitterness and assuage   
the sorrows of old age4 ,i suppose the  

greatest influence a preacher ever      
exercises1 and a chief source of the    
material and insight of his preaching1  
is found in this intimate contact with  
living and suffering1 divided and       
distracted men and women4 ,when strong  
men blench with pain and exquisite grief
 stirs within us at the sight and we can
 endure naught else but to suffer with  
them1 when youth is blurred with sin1   
and gray heads are sick with shame and  
we1 then1 want to die and cry1 ,o ,god6 
forgive and save them or else blot me   
out of ,thy book of life--for who could 
bear to live in a world where such      
things are the end6--then1 through the  
society of sorrow1 and the holy         
comradeship in shame1 we begin to find  
the ,lord and to understand both the    
kindness and the justice of ,his world4 
,in the moment when sympathy takes the  
bitterness out of another's sorrow and  
my suffering breaks the captivity of my 
neighbor's sin--then1 when because      
together1 with sinner and sufferer1 we  

come out into the quiet land of freedom 
and of peace1 we perceive how the very  
heart of ,god1 upon which there we know 
we rest1 may be found in the vicarious  
suffering and sacrifice called forth by 
the sorrow and the evil of mankind4     
,then we can preach the ,gospel4        
,because then we dimly understand why   
men have hung their ,god upon the ,cross
 of ,christ6  ,footnote #a3 ,the ,divine
 ,comedy3 ,hell2 canto ,i4  ,is it not  
ludicrous1 then1 to suppose that a man  
merely equipped with professional       
scholarship1 or contented with moral    
conformities1 can minister to the sorrow
 and the mystery1 the mingled shame and 
glory of a human being8 ,this is why the
 average theologue1 in his first parish1
 is like the well-meaning but meddling  
engineer endeavoring with clumsy tools  
and insensitive fingers to adjust the   
delicate and complicated mechanism of a 
,genevan watch4 ,and here is one of the 
real reasons why we deprecate men       
entering our calling1 without both the  

culture of a liberal education and the  
learning of a graduate school4 ,clearly1
 therefore1 one real task of such       
schools and their lectureships is to    
offer men wide and gracious training in 
the art of human contacts1 so that their
 lives may be lifted above ,pharisaism  
and moral self-consciousness1 made      
acquainted with the higher and          
comprehensive interpretations of the    
heart and mind of our race4 ,for only   
thus can they approach life reverently  
and humbly4 ,only thus will they revere 
the integrity of the human spirit2 only 
thus can they regard it with a          
magnanimous and catholic understanding  
and measure it not by the standards of  
temperamental or sectarian convictions1 
but by what is best and highest1 deepest
 and holiest in the race4 ,no one needs 
more than the young preacher to be drawn
 out of the range of narrow judgments1  
of exclusive standards and              
ecclesiastical traditions and to be     
flung out among free and sensitive      

spirits1 that he may watch their        
workings1 master their perceptions1     
catch their scale of values4  ,a        
discussion1 then1 dealing with this     
aspect of our problem1 would raise many 
and genuine questions for us4 ,there is 
the more room for it in this time of    
increasing emphasis upon machinery when 
even ministers are being measured in the
 terms of power1 speed and utility4     
,these are not real ends of life2 real  
ends are unity1 repose1 the imaginative 
and spiritual values which make for the 
release of self1 with its by-product of 
happiness4 ,in such days1 then1 when the
 old-time pastor-preacher is becoming as
 rare as the former general             
practitioner2 when the lines of division
 between speaker1 educator1 expert in   
social hygiene1 are being sharply       
drawn--as though new methods insured of 
themselves fresh inspiration1 and       
technical knowledge was identical with  
spiritual understanding--it would be    
worth while to dwell upon the culture of

 the pastoral office and to show that   
ingenuity is not yet synonymous with    
insight1 and that1 in our profession at 
least1 card-catalogues cannot take the  
place of the personal study of the human
 heart4 ,but many discussions on this   
,foundation1 and recently those of ,dr4 
,jowett1 have already dealt with this   
sort of analysis4 ,besides1 today1 when 
not merely the preacher1 but the very   
view of the world that produced him1 is 
being threatened with temporary         
extinction1 such a theme1 poetic and    
rewarding though it is1 becomes         
irrelevant and parochial4  ,or we might 
turn to the problem of technique1 that  
professional equipment for his task as a
 sermonizer and public speaker which is 
partly a native endowment and partly a  
laborious acquisition on the preacher's 
part4 ,such was ,president ,tucker's    
course on ,the ,making and ,unmaking of 
the ,preacher4 ,certainly observations  
on professional technique1 especially if
 they should include1 like his1 acute   

discussion of the speaker's obligation  
to honesty of thinking1 no less than    
integrity of conduct2 of the immorality 
of the pragmatic standard of mere       
effectiveness or immediate efficiency in
 the selection of material2 of the      
aesthetic folly and ethical dubiety of  
simulated extempore speaking and        
genuinely impromptu prayers1 would not  
be superfluous4 ,but1 on the other hand1
 we may hope to accomplish much of this 
indirectly today4 ,because there is no  
way of handling specifically either the 
content of the ,christian message or the
 problem of the immediate needs and     
temper of those to whom it is to be     
addressed1 without reference to the kind
 of personality1 and the nature of the  
tools at his disposal1 which is best    
suited to commend the one and to        
interpret the other4  ,hence such a     
discussion as this ought1 by its very   
scale of values--by the motives that    
inform it and the ends that determine   
it--to condemn thereby the insincere and

 artificial speaker1 or that            
pseudo-sermon which is neither as       
exposition1 an argument nor a meditation
 but a mosaic1 a compilation of other   
men's thoughts1 eked out by impossibly  
impressive or piously sentimental       
anecdotes1 the whole glued together by  
platitudes of the ,martin ,tupper or    
,samuel ,smiles variety4 ,it is         
certainly an obvious but greatly        
neglected truth that simplicity and     
candor in public speaking1 largeness of 
mental movement1 what ,phillips ,brooks 
called direct utterance of comprehensive
 truths1 are indispensable prerequisites
 for any significant ethical or         
spiritual leadership4 ,but1 taken as a  
main theme1 this third topic1 like the  
others1 seems to me insufficiently      
inclusive to meet our present           
exigencies4 ,it deals more with the     
externals than with the heart of our    
subject4  ,again we might address       
ourselves to the ethical and practical  
aspects of preaching and the ministry4  

,taking largely for granted our         
understanding of the ,gospel1 we might  
concern ourselves with its relations to 
society1 the detailed implications for  
the moral and economic problems of our  
social and industrial order4 ,dean      
,brown1 in ,the ,social ,message of the 
,modern ,pulpit1 and ,dr4 ,coffin in ,in
 a ,day of ,social ,rebuilding1 have so 
enriched this ,foundation4 ,moreover1   
this is1 at the moment1 an almost       
universally popular treatment of the    
preacher's opportunity and obligation4  
,one reason1 therefore1 for not choosing
 this approach to our task is that the  
preacher's attention1 partly because of 
the excellence of these and other books 
and lectures1 and partly because of the 
acuteness of the political-industrial   
crisis which is now upon us1 is already 
focused upon it4  ,besides1 our present 
moment is changing with an ominous      
rapidity4 ,and one is not sure whether  
the immediate situation1 as             
distinguished from that of even a few   

years ago1 calls us to be concerned     
chiefly with the practical and ethical  
aspects of our mission1 urgent though   
the need and critical the pass1 to which
 the abuses of the capitalistic system  
have brought both ,european and         
,american society4 ,in this day of those
 shifting standards which mark the      
gradual transference of power from one  
group to another in the community1 and  
the merging of a spent epoch in a new   
order1 neither the chief opportunity nor
 the most serious peril of religious    
leadership is met by fresh and energetic
 programs of religion in action4 ,in    
such days1 our chief gift to the world  
cannot be the support of any particular 
reforms or the alliance with any        
immediate ethical or economic movement4 
,for these things at best would be      
merely the effects of religion4 ,and it 
is not religion in its relations1 nor   
even in its expression in character--it 
is the thing in itself that this age    
most needs4 ,what men are chiefly asking

 of life at this moment is not1 ,what   
ought we to do8 but the deeper question1
 ,what is there we can believe8 ,for    
they know that the answer to this       
question would show us what we ought to 
do4  ,nor do our reform alliances and   
successive programs and crusades always 
seem to me to proceed from any careful  
estimate of the situation as a whole or 
to be conceived in the light of         
comprehensive ,christian principle4     
,instead1 they sometimes seem to draw   
their inspiration more from the sense of
 the urgent need of presenting to an    
indifferent or disillusioned world some 
quick and tangible evidence of a        
continuing moral vigor and spiritual    
passion to which the deeper and more    
potent witnesses are absent4 ,it is as  
though we thought the machinery of the  
church would revolve with more energy if
 geared into the wheels of the working  
world4 ,but that world and we do not    
draw our power from the same dynamo4    
,and surely in a day of profound and    

widespread mental ferment and moral     
restlessness1 some more fundamental gift
 than this is asked of us4  ,if1        
therefore1 these chapters pay only an   
incidental attention to the church's    
social and ethical message1 it is partly
 because our attention is1 at this very 
moment1 largely centered upon this      
important1 yet secondary matter1 and    
more because there lies beneath it a yet
 more urgent and inclusive task which   
confronts the spokesman of organized    
religion4  ,you will expect me then to  
say that we are to turn to some         
speculative and philosophic study1 such 
as the analysis of the ,christian idea  
in its world relationships1 some fresh  
statement of the ,gospel1 either by way 
of apologia for inherited concepts1 or  
as attempting to make a new receptacle  
for the living wine1 which has indeed   
burst the most of its ancient bottles4  
,such was ,principal ,fairbairn's       
monumental task in ,the ,place of       
,christ in ,modern ,theology and also   

,dr4 ,gordon's in his distinguished     
discussions in ,the ,ultimate           
,conceptions of ,faith4  ,here1         
certainly1 is an endeavor which is      
always of primary importance4 ,there is 
an abiding peril1 forever crouching at  
the door of ancient organizations1 that 
they shall seek refuge from the         
difficulties of thought in the          
opportunities of action4 ,they need to  
be continually reminded that reforms    
begin in the same place where abuses do1
 namely1 in the notion of things2 that  
only just ideas can1 in the long run1   
purify conduct2 that clear thinking is  
the source of all high and sustained    
feeling4 ,i wish that we might essay the
 philosopher-theologian's task4 ,this   
generation is hungry for understanding2 
it perishes for lack of knowledge4 ,one 
reason for the indubitable decline of   
the preacher's power is that we have    
been culpably indifferent in maintaining
 close and friendly alliances between   
the science and the art1 the teachers   

and the practitioners of religion4 ,few 
things would be more ominous than to    
permit any further widening of the gulf 
which already exists between these two4 
,never more than now does the preacher  
need to be reminded of what ,marcus     
,aurelius said3 ,such as are thy        
habitual thoughts1 such also shall be   
thyself2 for the soul is dyed by its    
thoughts4  ,but such an undertaking1    
calling for wide and exact scholarship1 
large reserves of extra-professional    
learning1 does not primarily belong to a
 discussion within the department of    
practical theology4 ,besides which there
 is a task1 closely allied to it1 but   
creative rather than critical1 prophetic
 rather than philosophic1 which does    
fall within the precise area of this    
field4 ,i mean the endeavor to describe 
the mind and heart of our generation1   
appraise the significant                
thought-currents of our time4 ,this     
would be an attempt to give some        
description of the chief impulses       

fermenting in contemporary society1 to  
ask what relation they hold to the      
,christian principle1 and to inquire    
what attitude toward them our preaching 
should adopt4 ,if it be true that what  
is most revealing in any age is its     
regulative ideas1 then what is more     
valuable for the preacher than to       
attempt the understanding of his        
generation through the defining of its  
ruling concepts8 ,and it is this        
audacious task which1 for two reasons1  
we shall presume to undertake4  ,the    
first reason is that it is appropriate  
both to the temperament and the training
 of the preacher4 ,there are three grand
 divisions1 or rather determining       
emphases1 by which men may be separated 
into vocational groups4 ,to begin with1 
there is the man of the scientific or   
intellectual type4 ,he has a passion for
 facts and a strong sense of their      
reality4 ,he moves with natural ease    
among abstract propositions1 is both    
critical of1 and fertile in1 theories2  

indicates his essential distinction in  
his love of the truth for the truth's   
sake4 ,he looks first to the intrinsic  
reasonableness of any proposition2 tends
 to judge both men and movements not by 
traditional or personal values1 but by a
 detached and disinterested appraisal of
 their inherent worth4 ,he is often a   
dogmatist1 but this fault is not        
peculiar to him1 he shares it with the  
rest of mankind4 ,he is sometimes a     
literalist and sometimes a slave to     
logic1 more concerned with combating the
 crude or untenable form of a           
proposition than inquiring with         
sympathetic insight into the worth of   
its substance4 ,but these things are    
perversions of his excellencies1 defects
 of his virtues4 ,his characteristic    
qualities are mental integrity1 accuracy
 of statement1 sanity of judgment1      
capacity for sustained intellectual     
toil4 ,such men are investigators1      
scholars2 when properly blended with the
 imaginative type they become inventors 

and teachers4 ,they make good           
theologians and bad preachers4  ,then   
there are the practical men1 beloved of 
our ,american life4 ,both their feet are
 firmly fixed upon the solid ground4    
,they generally know just where they    
are1 which is not surprising1 for they  
do not1 for the most part1 either in the
 world of mind or spirit1 frequent      
unusual places4 ,the finespun           
speculations of the philosophers and the
 impractical dreams of the artist make  
small appeal to them2 the world they    
live in is a sharply defined and clearly
 lighted and rather limited place4 ,they
 like to say to this man come and he    
cometh1 and to that man go and he goeth4
 ,they are enamored of offices1         
typewriters1 telegrams1 long-distance   
messages1 secretaries1 programs1        
conferences and drives4 ,getting results
 is their goal2 everything is judged by 
the criterion of effective action2 they 
are instinctive and unconscious         
pragmatists4 ,they make good cheer      

leaders at football games in their youth
 and impressive captains of industry in 
their old age4 ,their virtues are       
wholesome1 if obvious2 they are good    
mixers1 have shrewd judgment1 immense   
physical and volitional energy4 ,they   
understand that two and two make four4  
,they are rarely saints but1 unlike many
 of us who once had the capacity for    
sainthood1 they are not dreadful        
sinners4 ,they are the tribe of which   
politicians are born but1 when they are 
blended with imaginative and spiritual  
gifts1 they become philanthropists and  
statesmen1 practical servants of        
mankind4 ,they make good1 if            
conservative1 citizens2 kind1 if        
uninspiring1 husbands and deplorable    
preachers4  ,then there are those       
fascinating men of feeling and          
imagination1 those who look into their  
own hearts and write1 those to whom the 
inner dominions which the spirit        
conquers for itself become a            
thousand-fold more real than the earth  

whereon they stamp their feet4 ,these   
are the literary or the creative folk4  
,their passion is not so much to know   
life as to enjoy it2 not to direct it1  
but to experience it2 not even to make  
understanding of it an end1 but only a  
means to interpreting it4 ,they do not1 
as a rule1 thirst for erudition1 and    
they are indifferent to those           
manipulations of the externals of life  
which are dear to the lovers of         
executive power4 ,they know less but    
they understand more than their         
scholastic brethren4 ,as a class they   
are sometimes disreputable but nearly   
always unworldly2 more distinguished by 
an intuitive and childlike than by an   
ingenious or sophisticated quality of   
mind4 ,ideas and facts are perceived by 
them not abstractly nor practically1 but
 in their typical or symbolic1 hence    
their pictorial and transmissible1      
aspects4 ,they read dogma1 whether      
theological or other1 in the terms of a 
living process1 unconsciously           

translating it1 as they go along1 out of
 its cold propositions into its         
appropriate forms of feeling and needs  
and satisfactions4  ,the scientist1     
then1 is a critic1 a learner who wants  
to analyze and dissect2 the man of      
affairs is a director and builder and   
wants to command and construct2 the man 
of this group is a seer4 ,he is a lover 
and a dreamer2 he watches and broods    
over life1 profoundly feeling it1       
enamored both of its shame and of its   
glory4 ,the intolerable poignancy of    
existence is bittersweet to his mouth2  
he craves to incarnate1 to interpret its
 entire human process1 always striving  
to pierce to its center1 to capture and 
express its inexpressible ultimate4 ,he 
is an egotist but a valuable one1       
acutely aware of the depths and         
immensities of his own spirit and of its
 significant relations to this seething 
world without4 ,thus it is both himself 
and a new vision of life1 in terms of   
himself1 that he desires to project for 

his community4  ,the form of that vision
 will vary according to the nature of   
the tools1 the selection of material1   
the particular sort of native endowment 
which are given to him4 ,some such men  
reveal their understanding of the soul  
and the world in the detached serenity1 
the too well-defined harmonies of a     
,parthenon2 others in the dim and       
intricate richness1 the confused and    
tortured aspiration of the long-limbed  
saints and grotesque devils of a ,gothic
 cathedral4 ,others incarnate it in     
gleaming bronze2 or spread it in subtle 
play of light and shade and tones of    
color on a canvas2 or write it in great 
plays which open the dark chambers of   
the soul and make the heart stand still2
 or sing it in sweet and terrible verse1
 full-throated utterance of man's pride 
and hope and passion4 ,some act it      
before the altar or beneath the         
proscenium arch2 some speak it1 now in  
,cassandra-tones1 now comfortably like  
shepherds of frail sheep4 ,these folk   

are the brothers-in-blood1 the fellow   
craftsmen of the preacher4 ,by a silly  
convention1 he is almost forbidden to   
consult with them1 and to betake himself
 to the learned1 the respectable and the
 dull4 ,but it is with these that       
naturally he sees eye to eye4  ,in      
short1 in calling the preacher a prophet
 we mean that preaching is an art and   
the preacher is an artist2 for all great
 art has the prophetic quality4 ,many   
men object to this definition of the    
preacher as being profane4 ,it appears  
to make secular or mechanicalize their  
profession1 to rob preaching of its     
sacrosanctity1 leave it less authority  
by making it more intelligible1 remove  
it from the realm of the mystical and   
unique4 ,this objection seems to me     
sometimes an expression of spiritual    
arrogance and sometimes a subtle form of
 skepticism4 ,it assumes a special      
privilege for our profession or a       
not-get-at-able defense and sanction by 
insisting that it differs in origin and 

hence in kind from similar expressions  
of the human spirit4 ,it hesitates to   
rely on the normal and the intelligible 
sources of ministerial power1 to confess
 the relatively definable origin and    
understandable methods of our work4 ,it 
fears to trust to these alone4  ,but all
 these must be trusted4 ,we may safely  
assert that the preacher deals with     
absolute values1 for all art does that4 
,but we may not assert that he is the   
only person that does so or that his is 
the only or the unapproachable way4 ,no2
 he1 too1 is an artist4 ,hence1 a sermon
 is not a contribution to1 but an       
interpretation of1 knowledge1 made in   
terms of the religious experience4 ,it  
is taking truth out of its compressed   
and abstract form1 its impersonal and   
scientific language1 and returning it to
 life in the terms of the ethical and   
spiritual experience of mankind1 thus   
giving it such concrete and pictorial   
expression that it stimulates the       
imagination and moves the will4  ,it    

will be clear then why ,i have said that
 the task of appraising the heart and   
mind of our generation1 to which we     
address ourselves1 is appropriate to the
 preaching genius4 ,for only they could 
attempt such a task who possess an      
informed and disciplined yet essentially
 intuitive spirit with its scale of     
values2 who by instinct can see their   
age as a whole and indicate its chief   
emphases1 its controlling tendencies1   
its significant expressions4 ,it is not 
the scientist but the seer who thus     
attempts the precious but perilous task 
of making the great generalizations4    
,this is what ,aristotle means when he  
says1 ,the poet ranks higher than the   
historian because he achieves a more    
general truth4 ,this is1 ,i suppose1    
what ,houston ,stewart ,chamberlain     
means when he says1 in the introduction 
to the ,foundations of the ,nineteenth  
,century3 our modern world represents an
 immeasurable array of facts4 ,the      
mastery of such a task as recording and 

interpreting them scientifically is     
impossible4 ,it is only the genius of   
the artist1 which feels the secret      
parallels that exist between the world  
of vision and of thought1 that can1 if  
fortune be favorable1 reveal the unity  
beneath the immeasurable complexities   
and diversities of the present order4   
,or as ,professor ,hocking says3 ,the   
prophet must find in the current of     
history a unity corresponding to the    
unity of the physical universe1 or else 
he must create it4 ,it is this conscious
 unification of history that the        
religious will spontaneously tends to   
bring about4#b  ,footnote #b3 ,the      
,meaning of ,god in ,human ,experience1 
p4 #eah4  ,it is then precisely the     
preacher's task1 his peculiar office1 to
 attempt these vast and perilous        
summations4 ,what he is set here for is 
to bring the immeasurable within the    
scope of vision4 ,he deals with the     
far-flung outposts1 no man knows how    
distant1 and the boundless interspaces  

of human consciousness2 he deals with   
the beginning1 the middle1 the end--the 
origin1 the meaning and the destiny--of 
human life4 ,how can anyone give unity  
to such a prospect8 ,like any other     
artist he gives it the only unity       
possible1 the unity revealed in his own 
personality4 ,the theologian should not 
attempt to evaluate his age2 the        
preacher may4 ,because the theologian1  
like any other scientist1 analyzes and  
dissects2 he breaks up the world4 ,the  
preacher in his disciplined imagination1
 his spiritual intuitiveness1--what we  
call the religious temperament1--unites 
it again and makes men see it whole4    
,this quality of purified and           
enlightened imagination is of the very  
essence of the preacher's power and art4
 ,hence he may attempt to set forth a   
just understanding of his generation4   
,this brings us to the second reason for
 our topic namely1 its timeliness4 ,all 
religious values are not at all times   
equal in importance4 ,as generations    

come and go1 first one1 then another    
looms in the foreground4 ,but ,i        
sincerely believe that the most fateful 
undertaking for the preacher at this    
moment is that of analyzing his own     
generation4 ,because he has been flung  
into one of the world's transition      
epochs1 he speaks in an hour which is   
radical in changes1 perplexing in its   
multifarious cross-currents1 prolific of
 new forms and expressions4 ,what the   
world most needs at such a moment of    
expansion and rebellion1 is a redefining
 of its ideals4 ,it needs to have some  
eternal scale of values set before it   
once more4 ,it needs to stop long enough
 to find out just what and where it is1 
and toward what it is going4 ,it needs  
another ,sheridan to write a new ,school
 for ,scandal1 another ,swift1 with his 
,gulliver's ,travels1 a continuing ,shaw
 with his satiric comedies1 a ,mrs4     
,wharton with her ,house of ,mirth1 a   
,thorstein ,veblen with his ,higher     
,learning in ,america1 a ,savonarola    

with his call to repentance and         
indictment of worldly and unfaithful    
living4 ,it is a difficult and dangerous
 office1 this of the prophet2 it calls  
for a considerate and honest mind as    
well as a flashing insight and an eager 
heart4 ,the false prophet exposes that  
he may exploit his age2 the true prophet
 portrays that he may purge it4 ,like   
,jeremiah we may well dread to undertake
 the task1 yet its day and hour are upon
 us6  ,i have already spoken to this    
point at length1 in a little book       
recently published4 ,i merely add here  
that in a day of obvious political      
disillusionment and industrial revolt1  
of intellectual rebellion against an    
outworn order of ideas and of moral     
restlessness and doubt1 an indispensable
 duty for the preacher is this          
comprehensive study and understanding of
 his own epoch4 ,else1 without realizing
 it1--and how true this often is1--he   
proclaims a universal truth in the      
unintelligible language of a forgotten  

order1 and applies a timeless experience
 to the faded conditions of yesterday4  
,indeed1 ,i am convinced that a chief   
reason why preaching is temporarily     
obscured in power1 is because most of   
our expertness in it is in terms of     
local problems1 of partial              
significances1 rather than in the wider 
tendencies that produce and carry them1 
or in the ultimate laws of conduct which
 should govern them4 ,we ought to be    
troubled1 ,i think1 in our present      
ecclesiastical situation1 with its taint
 of an almost frantic immediacy4 ,not   
only are we not sufficiently dealing    
with the ,gospel as a universal code1   
but1 as both cause and effect of this1  
we are not applying it to the inclusive 
life of our generation4 ,we are         
tinkering here and patching there1 but  
attempting no grand evaluation4 ,we have
 already granted that sweeping          
generalizations1 inclusive estimates1   
are as difficult as they are audacious4 
,yet we have also seen that these grand 

evaluations are of the very essence of  
religion and hence are characteristic of
 the preacher's task4 ,and1 finally1 it 
appears that ours is an age which calls 
for such redefining of its values1 some 
fresh and inclusive moral and religious 
estimates4 ,hence we undertake the task4
  ,there remains but one thing more to  
be accomplished in this chapter4 ,the   
problem of the selection and arrangement
 of the material for such a summary is  
not an easy one4 ,out of several        
possible devices ,i have taken as the   
framework on which to hang these        
discussions three familiar divisions of 
thought and feeling1 with their         
accompanying laws of conduct1 and value 
judgments4 ,they are the humanistic or  
classic2 the naturalistic or primitive2 
and the religious or transcendent       
interpretation of the world and life4   
,one sets up a social1 one an           
individual1 and one a universal         
standard4 ,under the movements which    
these headings represent we can most    

easily and clearly order and appraise   
the chief influences of the ,protestant 
centuries4 ,the first two are largely   
prempting between them1 at this moment1 
the field of human thought and conduct  
and a brief analysis of them1           
contrasting their general attitudes1 may
 serve as a fit introduction to the     
ensuing chapter4  ,we begin1 then1 with 
the humanist4 ,he is the man who        
ignores1 as unnecessary1 any direct     
reference to1 or connection with1       
ultimate or supernatural values4 ,he    
lives in a high but self-contained      
world4 ,his is man's universe4 ,his law 
is the law of reasonable                
self-discipline1 founded on observation 
of nature and a respect for social      
values1 and buttressed by high human    
pride4 ,he accepts the authority of the 
collective experience of his generation 
or his race4 ,he believes1 centrally1 in
 the trustworthiness of human nature1 in
 its group capacity4 ,men1 as a race1   
have intelligently observed and         

experimented with both themselves and   
the world about them4 ,out of centuries 
of critical reflection and sad and wise 
endeavor1 they have evolved certain     
criteria of experience4 ,these          
summations could hardly be called       
eternal laws but they are standards2    
they are the permits and prohibitions   
for human life4 ,some of them affect    
personal conduct and are moral          
standards2 some of them affect civil    
government and are political axioms2    
some of them affect production and      
distribution and are economic laws2 some
 of them affect social relationships4   
,but in every case the humanist has what
 is1 in a sense1 an objective because a 
formal standard2 he looks without       
himself as an individual1 yet to himself
 as a part of the composite experience  
and wisdom of his race1 for             
understanding and for guides4 ,thus the 
individual conforms to the needs and    
wisdom of the group4 ,humanism1 at its  
best1 has something heroic1 unselfish1  

noble about it4 ,its votaries do not eat
 to their liking nor drink to their     
thirst4 ,they learn deep lessons almost 
unconsciously2 to conquer their desires1
 to make light of toil and pain and     
discomfort2 the true humanist is well   
aware that ,spartan discipline is       
incomparably superior to ,greek         
accidence4 ,this is what one of the     
greatest of them1 ,goethe1 meant when he
 said3 ,anything which emancipates the  
spirit without a corresponding growth in
 self-mastery is pernicious4  ,all      
humanists then have two characteristics 
in common3 first1 they assume that man  
is his own arbiter1 has both the        
requisite intelligence and the moral    
ability to control his own destiny2     
secondly1 they place the source and     
criterion of this power in collective   
wisdom1 not in individual vagary and not
 in divine revelation4 ,they assert1    
therefore1 that the law of the group1   
the perfected and wrought out code of   
human experience1 is all that is binding

 and all that is essential4 ,to be sure1
 and most significantly1 this authority 
is not rigid1 complete1 fixed4 ,there is
 nothing complete in the humanist's     
world4 ,experience accumulates and man's
 knowledge grows2 the expectation and   
joy in progress is a part of it2 man's  
code changes1 emends1 expands with his  
onward marching4 ,but the humanistic    
point of view assumes something         
relatively stable in life4 ,hence our   
phrase that humanism gives us a classic1
 that is to say1 a simple and           
established standard4  ,it is to be     
observed that there is nothing in       
humanism thus defined which need be     
incompatible with religion4 ,it is not  
with its content but its incompleteness 
that we quarrel4 ,indeed1 in its        
assertion of the trustworthiness of     
human experience1 its faith in the      
dignity and significance of man1 its    
respect for the interests of the group1 
and its conviction that man finds his   
true self only outside his immediate    

physical person1 beyond his material    
wants and desires1 it is quite genuinely
 a part of the religious understanding4 
,but we shall have occasion to observe  
that while much of this may be religious
 this is not the whole of religion4 ,for
 the note of universality is absent4    
,humanism is essentially aristocratic4  
,it is for a selected group that it is  
practicable and it is a selected        
experience upon which it rests4 ,its    
standards are esoteric rather than      
democratic4 ,yet it is hardly necessary 
to point out the immense part which     
humanism1 as thus defined1 is playing in
 present life4  ,but there is another   
law which1 from remotest times1 man has 
followed whenever he dared4 ,it is not  
the law of the group but of the         
individual1 not the law of civilization 
but of the jungle4 ,most men1 says      
,aristotle1 would rather live in a      
disorderly than a sober manner4 ,he     
means that most men would rather consult
 and gratify their immediate will1 their

 nearest choices1 their instantaneous   
desires1 than conform the moment to some
 regulated and considerate1 some        
comprehensive scheme of life and action4
 ,the life of unreason is their desire2 
the experience whose bent is determined 
by every whim1 the expression which has 
no rational connection with the past and
 no serious consideration for the       
future4 ,this is of the very essence of 
lawlessness because it is revolt against
 the normal sequence of law and effect1 
in mind and conduct1 in favor of        
untrammeled adventure4  ,now this is    
naturalism or paganism as we often call 
it4 ,naturalism is a perversion of that 
high instinct in mankind which issues in
 the old concept of supernaturalism4    
,the supernaturalist1 of a former and   
discredited type1 believed that ,god    
violates the order of nature for sublime
 ends2 that ,he breaks into ,his own    
world1 so to speak1 revealing ,himself  
in prodigious1 inexplicable1 arbitrary  
ways4 ,by a sort of degradation of this 

notion1 a perversion of this instinct1  
the naturalist assumes that he can      
violate both the human and the divine   
law for personal ends1 and express      
himself in fantastic or indecent or     
impious ways4 ,the older supernaturalism
 exalts the individualism of the        
,creator2 naturalism the egotism of the 
creature4 ,i make the contrast not      
merely to excoriate naturalism1 but to  
point out the interdependence between   
man's apparently far-separated          
expressions of his spirit1 and how      
subtly misleading are our highly prized 
distinctions1 how dangerous sometimes   
that secondary mental power which       
multiplies them4 ,it sobers and         
clarifies human thinking a little1      
perhaps1 to reflect on how thin a line  
separates the sublime and the           
ridiculous1 the saint and the           
sensualist1 the martyr and the fool1 the
 genius and the freak4  ,now1 with this 
selfish individualism which we call     
naturalism we shall have much to do1 for

 it plays an increasing rle in the      
modern world2 it is the neo-paganism    
which we may see spreading about us4    
,sophistries of all kinds become the    
powerful allies of this sort of moral   
and aesthetic anarchy4 ,its votaries are
 those sorts of rebels who invariably   
make their minds not their friends but  
their accomplices4 ,they are ingenious  
in the art of letting themselves go and 
at the same time thinking themselves    
controlled and praiseworthy4 ,the       
naturalist1 then1 ignores the group2 he 
flaunts impartially both the classic and
 the religious law4 ,he is equally      
unwilling to submit to a power imposed  
from above and without1 or to accept    
those restrictions of society1          
self-imposed by man's own codified and  
corrected observations of the natural   
world and his own impulses4 ,he jeers at
 the one as hypocrisy and superstition  
and at the other as mere middle-class   
respectability4 ,he himself is the      
perpetual ,ajax standing defiant upon   

the headland of his own inflamed        
desires1 and scoffing at the lightnings 
either of heaven or society4 ,neither   
devoutness nor progress but mere        
personal expansion is his goal4 ,the    
humanist curbs both the flesh and the   
imagination by a high doctrine of       
expediency4 ,natural values are always  
critically appraised in the light of    
humane values1 which is nearly1 if not  
quite1 the same as saying that the      
individual desires and delights must be 
conformed to the standards of the group4
 ,there can be no anarchy of the        
imagination1 no license of the mind1 no 
unbridled will4 ,humanism1 no less than 
religion1 is nobly1 though not so       
deeply1 traditional4 ,but there is no   
tradition to the naturalist2 not the    
normal and representative1 but the      
unique and spectacular is his goal4     
,novelty and expansion1 not form and    
proportion1 are his goddesses4 ,not     
truth and duty1 but instinct and        
appetite1 are in the saddle4 ,he will   

try any horrid experiment from which he 
may derive a new sensation4  ,over      
against them both stands the man of     
religion with his vision of the whole   
and his consequent law of proud         
humility4 ,the next three chapters will 
try to discuss in detail these several  
attitudes toward life and their         
respective manifestations in            
contemporary society4     ,,chapter     
,,two  ,,the ,,children ,,of ,,zion     
,,and ,,the ,,sons ,,of ,,greece   ,we  
are not using the term humanism in this 
chapter in its strictly technical sense4
 ,because we are not concerned with the 
history of thought merely1 but also with
 its practical embodiments in various   
social organizations as well4 ,so we    
mean by humanism not only those modes   
and systems of thought in which human   
interests predominate but also the      
present economic1 political and         
ecclesiastical institutions which more  
or less consistently express them4      
,hence1 the term as used will include   

concepts not always agreeing with each  
other1 and sometimes only semi-related  
to the main stream of the movement4     
,this need not trouble us4 ,strict      
intellectual consistency is a           
fascinating and impossible goal of      
probably dubious value4 ,moreover1 it is
 this whole expression of the time      
spirit which bathes the sensitive       
personality of the preacher1 persuading 
and moulding him quite as much by its   
derived and concrete manifestations in  
contemporary society as by its essential
 and abstract principles4  ,there are   
then two sets of media through which    
humanism has affected preaching4 ,the   
first are philosophical and find their  
expression in a large body of literature
 which has been moulding thought and    
feeling for nearly four centuries4      
,humanism begins with the general       
abstract assumption that all which men  
can know1 or need to know1 are natural  
and human values2 that they have no     
means of getting outside the inexorable 

circle of their own experience4  ,much1 
of course1 depends here upon the sense  
in which the word experience is used4   
,the assumption need not necessarily be 
challenged except where1 as is very     
often the case1 an arbitrarily limited  
definition of experience is intended4   
,from this general assumption flows the 
subjective theory of morals2 from it is 
derived the conviction that the         
rationalistic values in religion are the
 only real1 or at least demonstrable1   
ones2 and hence from this comes the     
shifting of the seat of religious       
authority from revelation to experience4
 ,in so far as this is a correction of  
emphasis only1 or the abandonment of a  
misleading term rather than the denial  
of one of the areas and modes of        
understanding1 again we have no quarrel 
with it4 ,but if it means an exclusion  
of the supersensuous sources of         
knowledge or the denial of the existence
 of absolute values as the source of our
 relative and subjective understanding1 

then it strikes at the heart of         
religion4 ,because the religious life is
 built on those factors of experience   
that lie above the strictly rational    
realm of consciousness just as the pagan
 view rests on primitive instincts that 
lie beneath it4 ,of course1 in asserting
 the importance of these supersensuous  
values the religionist does not mean    
that they are beyond the reach of human 
appraisal or unrelated by their nature  
to the rest of our understanding4 ,by   
the intuitive he does not mean the      
uncritical nor by the supersensuous the 
supernatural in the old and discredited 
sense of an arbitrary and miraculous    
revelation4 ,mysticism is not           
superstition1 nor are the insights of   
the poet the whimsies of the mere       
impressionist4 ,but he insists that the 
humanist1 in his ordinary definition of 
experience1 ignores or denies these     
superrational values4 ,in opposition to 
him he rests his faith on that          
definition of experience which underlies

 ,aristotle's statement that the        
intellect is dependent upon intuition   
for knowledge both of what is below and 
what is above itself4  ,now it is this  
first set of factors which are the more 
important4 ,for the cause1 as           
distinguished from the occasions1 of our
 present religious scale of values is1  
like all major causes1 not practical but
 ideal1 and its roots are found far     
beneath the soil of the present in the  
beginnings of the modern age in the     
fourteenth century4 ,it was then that   
our world was born2 it is of the essence
 of that world that it arose out of     
indifference toward speculative thinking
 and unfaith in those concepts regarding
 the origin and destiny of mankind which
 speculative philosophy tried to express
 and prove4  ,from the first1 then1     
humanistic leaders have not only frankly
 rejected the scholastic theologies1    
which had been the traditional          
expression of those absolute values with
 which the religious experience is      

chiefly concerned1 but also ignored or  
rejected the existence of those values  
themselves4 ,thus ,petrarch is generally
 considered the first of modern         
humanists4 ,he not only speaks of       
,rome--meaning the whole semi-political1
 semi-ecclesiastical structure of       
dogmatic supernaturalism--as that       
profane ,babylon but also reveals his   
rejection of the distinctively religious
 experience itself by characterizing as 
an impudent wench the ,christian church4
 ,the attack is partly therefore on the 
faith in transcendent values which fixes
 man's relative position by projecting  
him upon the screen of an infinite      
existence and which asserts that he has 
an absolute1 that is1 an                
other-than-human guide4 ,again ,erasmus1
 in his ,praise of ,folly1 denounces    
indiscriminately churches1 priesthoods1 
dogmas1 ethical values1 the whole       
structure of organized religion1 calling
 it those foul smelling weeds of        
theology4 ,it was inevitable that such  

men as ,erasmus and ,thomas ,more should
 hold aloof from the ,reformation1 not1 
as has been sometimes asserted1 from any
 lack of moral courage but because of   
intellectual conviction4 ,they saw      
little to choose between ,lutheran1     
,calvinistic and ,romish dogmatism4     
,they had rejected not only mediaeval   
ecclesiasticism but also that view of   
the world founded on supersensuous      
values1 whose persistent intimations had
 produced the speculative and scholastic
 theologies4 ,to them1 in a quite       
literal sense1 the proper study of      
mankind was man4  ,it is hardly         
necessary to speak here of the attitude 
towards the old supernatural religion   
taken by the ,english ,deists of the    
last half of the seventeenth and first  
half of the eighteenth century4 ,here   
was the first definite struggle of the  
,english church with a group of thinkers
 who1 under the leadership of           
,shaftesbury1 ,bolingbroke and others1  
attempted to adapt humanistic philosophy

 to theological speculation1 to         
establish the sufficiency of natural    
religion as opposed to revelation1 and  
to deny the unique significance of the  
,old and ,new ,testament ,scriptures4   
,the ,english ,deists were not deep or  
comprehensive thinkers1 but they were   
typically humanistic in that their      
interests were not mainly theological or
 religious but rather those of a general
 culture4 ,they were inconsistent with  
their humanism in their doctrine of a   
personal ,god who was not only remote   
but separated from his universe1 a deus 
ex machina who excluded the idea of     
immanence4 ,while less influential in   
,england1 they had a powerful effect    
upon ,french and ,german thinking4 ,both
 ,voltaire and ,rousseau were           
rationalists and ,deists to the end of  
their days and both were unwearied foes 
of any other-than-natural sources for   
our spiritual knowledge and religious   
values4  ,in ,germany the humanistic    
movement continued under ,herder and his

 younger contemporaries1 ,schiller and  
,goethe4 ,its historical horizon1 racial
 and literary sympathies1 broadened     
under their direction1 moving farther   
and farther beyond the sources and areas
 of accepted religious ideas and        
practices4 ,they led the revival of     
study of the ,aryan languages and       
cultures2 especially those of the       
,hellenes and the inhabitants of the    
,indian peninsula4 ,they originated that
 critical and rather hostile scrutiny of
 ,semitic ideas and values in present   
civilization1 which plays no small part 
in the dilettante naturalism of the     
moment4 ,thus the nature and place of   
man1 under the influence of these       
uninspired literatures and cultures1    
became more and more important as both  
his person and his position in the      
cosmos ceased to be interpreted either  
in those terms of the moral             
transcendence of deity1 or of the       
helplessness and insignificance of his  
creatures1 which inform both the        

,jewish-,christian ,scriptures and the  
philosophic absolutism of the ,catholic 
theologies4  ,but the humanism of the   
eighteenth century comes most closely to
 grips with the classic statements and  
concepts of religion in the critical    
philosophy of ,kant4 ,it is the         
intellectual current which rises in him 
which is finding its last multifarious  
and minute rivulets in the various      
doctrines of relativity1 in pragmatism1 
the subjectivism of the neo-realists1   
and in the superior place generally     
ascribed by present thinking to value   
judgments as against existential ones4  
,his central insistence is upon the     
impossibility of any knowledge of ,god  
as an objective reality4 ,speculative   
reason does indeed give us the idea of  
,god but he denies that we have in the  
idea itself any ground for thinking that
 there is an objective reality          
corresponding to it4 ,the idea he admits
 as necessitated by the very nature of  
reason but it serves a purely           

harmonizing office4 ,it is here to give 
coherence and unity to the objects of   
the understanding1 to finish and crown  
the whole of human knowledge4#c         
,experience of transcendence thus       
becomes impossible4 ,as ,professor      
,mc,giffert in ,the ,modern ,ideas of   
,god says3 ,subjectively considered1    
religion is the recognition of our      
duties as commands of ,god4 ,when we do 
our duty we are virtuous2 when we       
recognize it as commanded by ,god we are
 religious4 ,the notion that there is   
anything we can do to please ,god except
 to live rightly is superstition4       
,moreover1 to think that we can         
distinguish works of grace from works of
 nature1 which is the essence of        
historic ,christianity1 or that we can  
detect the activity of heavenly         
influences is also superstition4 ,all   
such supernaturalism lies beyond our    
ken4 ,there are three common forms of   
superstition1 all promoted by positive  
religion3 the belief in miracles1 the   

belief in mysteries1 and the belief in  
the means of grace4#d ,so prayer is a   
confession of weakness1 not a source of 
strength4  ,footnote #c3 ,see ,the      
,critique of ,pure ,reason 7,mller1     
tr471 pp4 #ege ff4  ,footnote #d3       
,harvard ,theo4 ,rev41 vol4 ,i1 no4 #a1 
p4 #af4  ,kant is more than once        
profoundly inconsistent with the extreme
 subjectivism of his theory of ideas as 
when he says in the ,practical ,reason3 
,two things fill the mind with ever new 
and increasing admiration and awe the   
oftener and the more steadily we reflect
 on them3 the starry heavens above and  
the moral law within4#e ,again he       
remarks1 ,the belief in a great and wise
 ,author of the world has been supported
 entirely by the wonderful beauty1 order
 and providence1 everywhere displayed in
 nature4#f ,here the objective reality  
both of what is presented to our senses 
and what is conceived of in the mind1   
is1 as though unconsciously1 taken for  
granted4 ,thus while he contends for a  

practical theism1 the very basis of his 
interest still rests in the conviction  
of a ,being external to us and existing 
independent of our thought4  ,footnote  
#e3 ,the ,critique of ,practical ,reason
 7tr4 ,t4,k4 ,abbott71 p4 #bfj4         
,footnote #f3 ,the ,critique of ,pure   
,reason1 p4 #gjb4  ,but his intention of
 making right conduct the essence of    
religion is typical of the limits of    
humanistic interests and perceptions4   
,in making his division of reason into  
the theoretical and the practical1 it is
 to the latter realm that he assigns    
morality and religion4 ,clearly this is 
genuine rationalism4 ,i am not          
forgetting ,kant's great religious      
contribution4 ,he was the son of devout 
,german pietists and saturated in the   
literature of the ,old ,testament4 ,it  
is to ,amos1 who may justly be called   
his spiritual father1 that he owes the  
moral absoluteness of his categorical   
imperative1 the reading of history as a 
moral order4 ,he was following ,amos    

when he took ,god out of the physical   
and put ,him into the moral sphere and  
interpreted ,him in the terms of        
purpose4 ,but the doctrine of ,the      
,critique of ,practical ,reason is      
intended to negate those transcendent   
elements generally believed to be the   
distinctive portions of religion4 ,god  
is not known to us as an objective      
being1 an entity without ourselves4 ,he 
is an idea1 a belief1 which gives       
meaning to our ethical life1 a          
subjective necessity4 ,he is a postulate
 of the moral will4 ,to quote ,professor
 ,mc,giffert again3 ,we do not get ,god 
from the universe1 we give ,him to the  
universe4 ,we read significance and     
moral purpose into it4 ,we assume ,god1 
not to account for the world1 but for   
the subjective need of realizing our    
highest good4444 ,religion becomes a    
creative act of the moral will just as  
knowledge is a creative act of the      
understanding4#g ,thus there are no     
ultimate values2 at least we can know   

nothing of them2 we have nothing to look
 to which is objective and changeless4  
,the absolutism of the ,categorical     
,imperative is a subjective one1 bounded
 by ourselves1 formed of our substance4 
,religion is not discovered1 but        
self-created1 a sort of sublime         
expediency4 ,it can carry1 then1 no     
confident assertion as to the meaning   
and destiny of the universe as a whole4 
,footnote #g3 ,h4,t4,r41 vol4 ,i1 no4   
#a1 p4 #ah4  ,here1 then1 the nature of 
morality1 the inspiration for character1
 the solution of human destiny1 are not 
sought outside in some sort of cosmic   
relationship1 but within1 either in the 
experience of the superman1 the genius  
or the hero1 or1 as later1 in the       
collective experience and consciousness 
of the group4 ,thus this1 too1 throws   
man back upon himself1 makes a new      
exaltation of personality in sharpest   
contrast to the scholastic doctrine of  
the futility and depravity of human     
nature4 ,it produces the assertion of   

the sacred character of the individual  
human being4 ,the conviction of the     
immeasurable worth of man is1 of course1
 a characteristic teaching of ,jesus2   
what it is important for the preacher to
 remember in humanism is the source1 not
 the fact1 of its estimate4 ,with ,jesus
 man's is a derived greatness found in  
him as the child of the ,eternal2 in    
humanism1 it is1 so to speak1           
self-originated1 born of present worth1 
not of sublime origin or shining        
destiny4  ,so man in the humanistic     
movement moves into the center of his   
own world1 becomes himself the measuring
 rod about whom all other values are    
grouped4 ,in the place of inspiration1  
or prophetic understanding1 which       
carries the implications of a           
transcendent source of truth and        
goodness1 we have a sharply limited1    
subjective wisdom and insight4 ,the thus
 saith the ,lord of the ,hebrew prophet 
means nothing here4 ,the humanist is1 of
 course1 confronted with the eternal    

question of origins1 of the             
thing-in-itself1 the question whose     
insistence makes the continuing worth of
 the absolutist speculations4 ,he begs  
the question by answering it with an    
assertion1 not an explanation4 ,he meets
 it by an exaltation of human genius4   
,genius explains all sublime            
achievements and genius is1 so to speak1
 its own fons et origo4 ,thus ,diderot  
says3 ,genius is the higher activity of 
the soul4 ,genius1 remarks ,rousseau in 
a letter1 makes knowledge unnecessary4  
,and ,kant defines genius as the talent 
to discover that which cannot be taught 
or learned4#h ,this appears to be more  
of an evasion than a definition6 ,but   
the intent here is to refer all that    
seems to transcend mundane categories1  
man's highest1 his widest1 his sublimest
 intuitions and achievements1 back to   
himself2 he is his own source of light  
and power4  ,footnote #h3               
,anthropologie1 para4 #hg c4  ,such an  
anthropocentric view of life and destiny

 in exalting man1 of course1 thereby    
liberated him1 not merely from          
ecclesiastical domination1 but also from
 those illusive fears and questionings1 
those remote and imaginative estimates  
of his own intended worth and those     
consequent exacting demands upon himself
 which are a part of the religious      
interpretation of life4 ,humanistic     
writing is full of the exulting sense of
 this emancipation4 ,these              
superconsiderations do not belong in the
 world of experience as the humanist    
ordinarily conceives of it4 ,hence1 man 
lives in an immensely contracted1 but a 
very real and tangible world and within 
the small experimental circumference of 
it1 he holds a far larger place 7from   
one viewpoint1 a far smaller one from   
another7 than that of a finite creature 
caught in the snare of this world and   
yet a child of the ,eternal1 having     
infinite destinies4 ,the humanist sees  
man as freed from the tyranny of this   
supernatural revelation and laws4 ,he   

rejoices over man because now he stands1
          self-poised on manhood's solid
 earth   ,not forced to frame excuses   
for his birth1   ,fed from within with  
all the strength he needs4  ,it is this 
sense of independence which arouses in  
,goethe a perennial enthusiasm4 ,it is  
the greatest bliss1 he says1 that the   
humanist won back for us4 ,henceforth1  
we must strive with all our power to    
keep it4  ,we have attempted this brief 
sketch of one of the chief sources of   
the contemporary thought movement1 that 
we may realize the pit whence we were   
digged1 the quarry from which many      
corner stones in the present edifice of 
civilization were dug4 ,the preacher    
tends to underestimate the comprehensive
 character of the pervasive ideas1      
worked into many institutions and       
practices1 which are continually        
impinging upon him and his message4     
,they form a perpetual attrition1       
working silently and ceaselessly day and
 night1 wearing away the distinctively  

religious conceptions of the community4 
,much of the vagueness and              
sentimentalism of present preaching1 its
 uncritical impressionism1 is due to the
 influence of the non-religious or1 at  
least1 the insufficiently religious     
character of the ruling ideas and       
motives outside the church which are    
impinging upon it1 and upon the rest of 
the thinking of the moment4  ,now1 this 
abstract humanism of the seventeenth and
 eighteenth centuries had a considerable
 influence upon early ,american         
preaching4 ,the latter part of the      
eighteenth century marked a breaking    
away from the ,protestant scholasticism 
of the ,reformation theology4 ,the      
,french ,revolution accented and made   
operative1 even across the ,atlantic1   
the typical humanistic concepts of the  
rights of man and the sovereignty of the
 individual person4 ,skepticism and even
 atheism became a fashion in our infant 
republic4 ,it was a mark of             
sophistication with many educated men to

 regard ,christianity as not worthy of  
serious consideration4 ,college students
 modestly admitted that they were       
infidels and with a delicious navet     
assumed the names of ,voltaire1 ,thomas 
,paine and even of that notorious and   
notable egotist ,rousseau4 ,it is said  
that in #agie1 on the first ,sunday of  
,president administration in ,yale      
,college1 only three undergraduates     
remained after service to take the      
sacrament4 ,the reasons were partly     
political1 probably1 but these          
themselves were grounded in the new     
philosophical1 anti-religious attitude4 
,of course1 this affected the churches4 
,there was a reaction from ,protestant  
scholasticism within them which1 later  
on1 culminated in ,unitarianism1        
,universalism and ,arminianism4 ,the    
most significant thing in the ,unitarian
 movement was not its rejection of the  
,trinitarian speculation1 but its       
positive contribution to the reassertion
 of ,jesus' doctrine of the worth and   

dignity of human nature4 ,but it        
recovered that doctrine much more by the
 way of humanistic philosophy than by   
way of the teaching of the ,new         
,testament4 ,i suppose the thing which  
has made the weakness of the ,unitarian 
movement1 its acknowledged lack of      
religious warmth and feeling1 is due not
 to the place where it stands1 but to   
the road by which it got there4  ,yet1  
take it for all in all1 the effect upon 
the preaching of the supernatural and   
speculative doctrines and insights of   
,christianity1 was not in ,america as   
great as might be expected4 ,kant died  
in #ahjd1 and ,goethe in #ahcb1 but only
 in the last sixty years has the        
preaching of the evangelical churches   
been fundamentally affected by the      
prevailing intellectual currents of the 
day4 ,this is due1 ,i think1 to two     
causes4 ,one was the nature of the      
,german ,reformation4 ,it found         
preaching at a low ebb4 ,every great    
force1 scholastic1 popular1 mystical1   

which had contributed to the splendor of
 the mediaeval pulpit had fallen into   
decay1 and the widespread moral laxity  
of the clergy precluded spiritual       
insight4 ,the ,reformation1 with its    
ethical and political interests1 revived
 preaching and by the nature of these   
same interests fixed the limits and     
determined the direction within which it
 should develop4 ,it is important to    
remember that ,luther did not break with
 the old theological system4 ,he        
continued his belief in an authority and
 revelation anterior1 exterior and      
superior to man1 merely shifting the    
locus of that authority from the ,church
 to the ,book4 ,thus he paved the way   
for ,zwingli and the ,protestant        
scholasticism which became more rigid   
and sterile than the ,catholic which it 
succeeded4 ,we usually regard the       
,reformation as a part of the           
,renaissance and hence included in the  
humanistic movement4 ,politically and   
religiously1 it undoubtedly should be so

 regarded1 for it was a chief factor in 
the renewal of ,german nationalism and  
its central doctrines of justification  
by faith1 and the right of each separate
 believer to an unmediated access to the
 ,highest1 exalted the integrity and    
dignity of the individual4              
,inconsistently1 however1 it continued  
the old theological tradition4 ,in the  
,lutheran system1 says ,paul de         
,lagarde1 we see the ,catholic          
scholastic structure standing untouched 
with the exception of a few loci4 ,and  
,harnack1 in the ,dogmengeschichte calls
 it a miserable duplication of the      
,catholic ,church4  ,now1 ,new ,england 
preaching1 it is true1 found its chief  
roots in ,calvinism2 ,calvin1 rather    
than ,luther1 was the religious leader  
of the ,reformation outside ,germany4   
,but his system1 also1 is only the      
continuation of the ancient philosophy  
of the ,christian faith originating with
 ,augustine4 ,he reduced it to order1   
expounded it with energy and            

consistency1 but one has only to recall 
its major doctrines of the depravity of 
man1 the atonement for sin1 the         
irresistible grace of the ,holy ,spirit1
 to see how untouched it was by the     
characteristic postulates of the new    
humanism4 ,and it was on his theology   
that ,new ,england preaching was        
founded4 ,it was ,calvin who1 through   
,jonathan ,edwards1 the elder and the   
younger1 ,joseph ,bellamy1 ,samuel      
,hopkins1 ,nathaniel ,emmons1 ,nathaniel
 ,n4 ,taylor1 determined the course of  
the ,new ,england pulpit4  ,the other   
reason for our relative immunity from   
humanistic influence is accidental and  
complementary merely4 ,it is the mere   
fact of our physical isolation1 which1  
until the last seventy-five years1 quite
 largely shut off thinkers here from    
continental and ,english currents of    
thought and contributed to the          
brilliant1 if sterile1 provincialism of 
the ,new ,england theology4  ,it is1    
therefore1 to the second set of media1  

which may be generally characterized as 
scientific and practical1 that we now   
turn4 ,these are the forces which       
apparently are most affecting ,christian
 preaching at this moment4 ,but it is   
important to remember that a large part 
of their influence is to be traced to   
the philosophic and ethical tendencies  
of the earlier humanistic movement which
 had set the scene for them1 to which   
they are so sympathetic that we may     
assert that it is in them that their    
practical interests are grounded and by 
them that their scientific methods are  
reinforced4 ,i divide this second group 
of media1 for clearness1 under three    
heads4  ,first comes the rise of the    
natural sciences4 ,in #ahei1 ,darwin    
published the ,origin of ,species and   
gave to the world the evolutionary      
hypothesis1 foreshadowed by ,goethe and 
other eighteenth-century thinkers1      
simultaneously formulated by ,wallace   
and himself4 ,here is a theory1 open to 
objections certainly1 not yet           

conclusively demonstrated1 but the most 
probable one which we yet possess1 as to
 the method of the appearance and the   
continuance of life upon the planet4 ,it
 conceives of creation as an            
unimaginably long and intricate         
development from the inorganic to the   
organic1 from simple to complex forms of
 life4 ,like ,kantianism and the        
humanistic movement generally1 the      
evolutionary hypothesis springs from    
reasoned observation of man and nature1 
not from any a priori or speculative    
process4 ,with this theory1 long a      
regulative idea of our world1 preaching 
was forced to come to some sort of an   
understanding4 ,it strikes a powerful   
blow at the scholastic notion of a      
dichotomized universe divided between   
nature and supernature1 divine and      
human4 ,it reinforced humanism by       
minimizing1 if not making unnecessary1  
the objective and external source and   
external interpretations of religions4  
,it pushes back the initial creative act

 until it is lost in the mists and chaos
 of an unimaginably remote past4        
,meanwhile1 creative energy1 the very   
essence of transcendent life1 is1 as we 
know it1 not transcendent at all1 but   
working outward from within1 a part of  
the process1 not above and beyond it4   
,the inevitable implication here is that
 ,god is sufficiently1 if not           
exclusively1 known through natural and  
human media4 ,science recognizes ,him in
 the terms of its own categories as in  
and of ,his world1 a part of all its    
ongoings and developments4 ,but ,his    
creative life is indistinguishable from1
 if not identical with1 its expressions4
 ,here1 then1 is a practical            
obliteration of the line once so sharply
 drawn between the natural and the      
supernatural4 ,hence the demarcation    
between the divine and human into       
mutually exclusive states has           
disappeared4  ,this would seem1 then1 to
 wipe out also any knowledge of absolute
 values4 ,christian theism has          

interpreted ,god largely in static1     
final terms4 ,the craving for the       
absolute in the human mind1 as witnessed
 by the long course of the history of   
thought1 as pathetically witnessed to in
 the mixture of chicanery1 fanaticism   
and insight of the modern mystical and  
occult healing sects1 is central and    
immeasurable4 ,but ,god1 found1 if at   
all1 in the terms of a present process1 
is not static and absolute1 but dynamic 
and relative2 indefinite1 incomplete1   
not final4 ,and man's immense difference
 from ,him1 that sense of the           
immeasurable space between creator and  
created1 is strangely contracted4 ,the  
gulf between holiness and guiltiness    
tends also to disappear4 ,for our life  
would appear to be plastic and          
indefinite1 a process rather than a     
state1 not open then to conclusive moral
 estimates2 incomplete1 not fallen2 life
 an orderly process1 hence not perverse 
but defensible2 without known breaks or 
infringements1 hence relatively normal  

and sufficiently intelligible4  ,a      
second factor was the rise of the humane
 sciences4 ,in the seventh and eighth   
decades of the last century men were    
absorbed in the discovery of the nature 
and extent of the material universe4    
,but beginning about #ahij1 interest    
swerved again toward man as its most    
revealing study and most significant    
inhabitant4 ,anthropology1 ethnology1   
sociology1 physical and functional      
psychology1 came to the front4          
,especially the humane studies of       
political science and industrial        
economics were magnified because of the 
new and urgent problems born of an      
industrial civilization and a           
capitalistic state4 ,the invention and  
perfection of the industrial machine had
 by now thoroughly dislocated former    
social groupings1 made its own ethical  
standards and human problems4 ,in the   
early days of the labor movement        
,william ,morris wrote1 we have become  
slaves of the monster to which invention

 has given birth4 ,in #ahec1 shortly    
after the introduction of the cotton gin
 into ,india1 the ,viceroy wrote3 ,the  
misery is scarcely paralleled in the    
history of trade4 7,a large statement   
that67 ,the bones of the cotton workers 
whiten the plains of ,india4  ,but the  
temporary suffering caused by the       
immediate crowding out of cottage       
industry and the abrupt increase in     
production was insignificant beside the 
deeper influence1 physical1 moral1      
mental1 of the machine in changing the  
permanent habitat and the entire mode of
 living for millions of human beings4   
,it removed them from those healthy     
rural surroundings which preserve the   
half-primitive1 half-poetic insight into
 the nature of things which comes from  
relative isolation and close contact    
with the soil1 to the nervous tension1  
the amoral conditions1 the airless1     
lightless ugliness of the early factory 
settlements4 ,here living conditions    
were not merely beastly2 they were often

 bestial4 ,the economic helplessness of 
the factory hands reduced them to       
essential slavery4 ,they must live where
 the factory was1 and could work only in
 one factory1 for they could not afford 
to move4 ,hence they must obey their    
industrial master in every particular1  
since the raw material1 the plant1 the  
tools1 the very roof that covered them1 
were all his6 ,in this new human        
condition was a powerful reinforcement1 
from another angle of approach1 of the  
humanistic impulse4 ,man's interest in  
himself1 which had been sometimes that  
of the dilettante1 largely imaginative  
and even sentimental1 was reinforced by 
man's new distress and became concrete  
and scientific4  ,thus man regarded     
himself and his own world with a new and
 urgent attention4 ,the methods and     
secondary causes of his intellectual1   
emotional and volitional life began to  
be laid bare4 ,the new situation        
revealed the immense part played in     
shaping the personality and the fate of 

the individual by inheritance and       
environment4 ,the ,freudian doctrine1   
which traces conduct and habit back to  
early or prenatal repressions1          
strengthens the interest in the physical
 and materialistic sources of character 
and conduct in human life4              
,behavioristic psychology1 interpreting 
human nature in terms of observation and
 action1 rather than analysis and value 
judgments1 does the same4 ,it tends to  
put the same emphasis upon the external 
and sensationalistic aspects of human   
experience4  ,that1 then1 which is a    
central force in religion1 the sense of 
the inscrutability of human nature1 the 
feeling of awe before the natural       
processes1 what ,paul called the mystery
 of iniquity and the mystery of         
godliness1 tends to disappear4 ,wonder  
and confident curiosity succeed humility
 and awe4 ,that which is of the essence 
of religion1 the sense of helplessness  
coupled with the sense of               
responsibility1 is stifled4 ,whatever   

else the humane sciences have done1 they
 have deepened man's fascinated and     
narrowing absorption in himself and     
given him apparent reason to believe    
that by analyzing the iron chain of     
cause and effect which binds the process
 and admitting that it permits no       
deflection or variation1 he is making   
the further questions as to the origin1 
meaning and destiny of that process     
either futile or superfluous4 ,so that1 
in brief1 the check to speculative      
thinking and the repudiation of central 
metaphysical concepts1 which the earlier
 movement brought about1 has been       
accentuated and sealed by the humane    
sciences and the new and living problems
 offered them for practical solution4   
,thus the generation now ending has been
 carried beyond the point of combating  
ancient doctrines of ,god and man1 to   
the place where it has become           
comparatively indifferent1 rather than  
hostile1 to any doctrine of ,god1 so    
absorbed is it in the physical          

functions1 the temporal needs and the   
material manifestations of human        
personality4  ,finally1 as the natural  
and humane sciences mark new steps in   
the expanding humanistic movement1 so in
 these last days1 critical scholarship1 
itself largely a product of the         
humanistic viewpoint1 has added another 
factor to the group4 ,the new methods of
 historical and literary criticism1 of  
comparative investigation in religion   
and the other arts1 have exerted a vast 
influence upon contemporary religious   
thought4 ,they have not merely completed
 the breakdown of an arbitrary and fixed
 external authority and rendered finally
 invalid the notion of equal or verbal  
inspiration in sacred writings1 but the 
present tendency1 especially in         
comparative religion1 is to seek the    
source of all so-called religious       
experience within the human             
consciousness2 particularly to derive it
 all from group experience4 ,here1 then1
 is a theory of religious origins which 

once more turns the spirit of man back  
upon itself4 ,robertson ,smith1 ,jane   
,harrison1 ,durkheim1 rejecting an      
earlier animistic theory1 find the      
origin of religion not in contemplation 
of the natural world and in the         
intuitive perception of something       
more-than-world which lies behind it1   
but in the group experience whose       
heightened emotional intensity and      
nervous energy imparts to the one the   
exaltation of the many4 ,smith1 in the  
,religion of the ,semites1#i emphasizes1
 as the fundamental conception of       
ancient religion1 the solidarity of the 
gods and their worshipers as part of an 
organic society4 ,durkheim goes beyond  
this4 ,there are not at the beginning   
men and gods1 but only the social group 
and the collective emotions and         
representations which are generated     
through membership in the group4        
,footnote #i3 ,p4 #cb4  ,here1 then1 is 
humanism again carried to the very heart
 of the citadel4 ,religion at its source

 contains no real perceptions of any    
extra-human force or person4 ,what      
seemed to be such perceptions were only 
the felt participation of the individual
 in a collective consciousness which is 
superindividual1 but not superhuman and 
always continuous with the individual   
consciousness4 ,so that1 whatever may or
 may not be true later1 the beginning of
 man's metaphysical interests1 his      
cosmic consciousness1 his               
more-than-human contacts1 is simply his 
social experience1 his collective       
emotions and representations4 ,thus     
,durkheim3 ,we are able to say1 in sum1 
that the religious individual does not  
deceive himself when he believes in the 
existence of a moral power upon which he
 depends and from which he holds the    
larger portion of himself4 ,that power  
exists2 it is society4 ,when the        
,australian feels within himself the    
surging of a life whose intensity       
surprises him1 he is the dupe of no     
illusion2 that exaltation is real1 and  

it is really the product of forces that 
are external and superior to the        
individual4#aj ,yes1 but identical in   
kind and genesis with himself and his   
own race4 ,to ,leuba1 in his            
,psychological ,study of ,religion1 this
 has already become the accepted        
viewpoint4 ,whatever is enduring and    
significant in religion is merely an    
expression of man's social consciousness
 and experience1 his sense of           
participation in a common life4         
,humanity1 idealized and conceived as a 
manifestation of creative energy1       
possesses surprising qualifications for 
a source of religious inspiration4      
,professor ,overstreet1 in ,the         
,democratic ,conception of ,god1        
,hibbert ,journal1 volume ,,xi1 page    
#dji1 says3 ,it is this large figure1   
not simply of human but of cosmic       
society which is to yield our ,god of   
the future4 ,there is no place in the   
future for an eternally perfect being   
and no need--society1 democratic from   

end to end1 can brook no such radical   
class distinction as that between a     
supreme being1 favored with eternal and 
absolute perfection1 and the mass of    
beings doomed to the lower ways of      
imperfect struggle4  ,footnote #aj3 ,les
 ,formes lmentaires de la vie           
religieuse1 p4 #cbb4  ,there is         
certainly a striking immediacy in such  
language4 ,we leave for later treatment 
the question as to the historical       
validity of such an attitude4 ,it       
certainly ignores some of the most      
distinguished and fruitful concepts of  
trained minds2 it rules out of court    
what are to the majority of men real and
 precious factors in the religious      
experience4 ,it would appear to be      
another instance1 among the many1 of the
 fallacy of identifying the part with   
the whole4 ,but the effect of such      
pervasive thought currents1 the more    
subtle and unfightable because indirect 
and disguised in popular appearance and 
influence1 upon the ethical and         

spiritual temper of religious leaders1  
the very audacity of whose tasks puts   
them on the defensive1 is vast and      
incalculable4 ,at the worst1 it drives  
man into a mechanicalized universe1 with
 a resulting materialism of thought and 
life2 at the best1 it makes him a       
pragmatist with amiable but immediate   
objectives1 just practical results as   
his guide and goal4 ,morality as1 in    
,antigone's noble phrase1 the unwritten 
law of heaven sinks down and disappears4
 ,there is no room here for the ,job who
 abhors himself and repents in dust and 
ashes nor for ,plato's ,one behind the  
,many2 no perceptible room1 in such a   
world1 for any of the absolute values1  
the transcendent interests1 the ethics  
of idealism1 any eschatology1 or for    
,christian theodicy4 ,that which has    
been the typical contribution of the    
religious perceptions in the past1      
namely1 the comprehensive vision of life
 and the world and time sub specie      
aeternitatis is here abandoned4         

,eternity is unreal or empty2 we never  
heard the music of the spheres4 ,we are 
facing at this moment a disintegrating  
age4 ,here is a prime reason for it4    
,the spiritual solidarity of mankind    
under the humanistic interpretation of  
life and destiny is dissolving and      
breaking down4 ,humanism is ingenious   
and reasonable and clever but it is too 
limited2 it doesn't answer enough       
questions4  ,before going on1 in a      
future chapter1 to discuss the question 
as to what kind of preaching such a     
world-view1 seen from the ,christian    
standpoint1 needs1 we are now to inquire
 what the effect of this humanistic     
movement upon ,christian preaching has  
already been4 ,that our preaching should
 have been profoundly influenced by it  
is inevitable4 ,religion is not apart   
from the rest of life4 ,the very        
temperament of the speaker makes him    
peculiarly susceptible to the           
intellectual and spiritual movements    
about him4 ,what1 then1 has humanism    

done to preaching8 ,has it worked to    
clarify and solidify the essence of the 
religious position8 ,or has preaching   
declined and become neutralized in      
religious quality under it8  ,first3 it 
has profoundly affected ,christian      
preaching about ,god4 ,the contemporary 
sermon on ,deity minimizes or leaves out
 divine transcendence2 thus it starves  
one fundamental impulse in man--the need
 and desire to look up4 ,instead of this
 transcendence modern preaching         
emphasizes immanence1 often to a nave   
and ludicrous degree4 ,god is the being 
who is like us4 ,under the influence of 
that monistic idealism1 which is a      
derived philosophy of the humanistic    
impulse1 preaching lays all the emphasis
 upon divine immanence in sharpest      
contrast either to the deistic          
transcendence of the eighteenth century 
or the separateness and aloofness of the
 ,god of the ,hebrew ,scriptures1 or of 
the classic ,greek theologies of        
,christianity4 ,god is1 of course2 that 

is1 ,he is the informing principle in   
the natural and human universe and      
essentially one with it4 ,present       
preaching does not confess this         
identification but it evades rather than
 meets the logical pantheistic          
conclusion4 ,so our preaching has to do 
with ,god in the common round of daily  
tasks2 with sweeping a room to ,his     
glory2 with adoration of ,his presence  
in a sunset and worship of ,him in a    
star4 ,every bush's aflame with ,him2   
there are sermons in stones and poems in
 running brooks4 ,before us1 even as    
behind1 ,god is and all is well4 ,we are
 filled with a sort of intoxication with
 this intimate and protective company of
 the ,infinite2 we are magnificently    
unabashed as we familiarly approach     
,him4 ,closer is ,he than breathing2    
nearer than hands or feet4 ,not then by 
denying or condemning or distrusting the
 world in which we live1 not by         
asserting the differences between ,god  
and humanity do we understand ,him4 ,but

 by closest touch with nature do we find
 ,him4 ,by a superb paradox1 not without
 value1 yet equally ineffable in        
sentimentality and sublime in its       
impiety we say1 beholding man1 that     
which is most human is most divine6     
,that there is truth in such comfortable
 and affable preaching is obvious2 that 
there is not much truth in it is        
obvious1 too4 ,to what extent1 and in   
what ways1 nature1 red with tooth and   
claw1 indifferent1 ruthless1 whimsical1 
can be called the expression of the     
,christian ,god1 is not usually         
specifically stated4 ,in what way man1  
just emerging from the horror1 the      
shame1 the futility of his last and     
greatest debauch of bloody              
self-destruction1 can be called the     
chief medium of truth1 holiness and     
beauty1 the matrix of divinity1 is not  
entirely manifest4 ,but the fatal defect
 of such preaching is not that there is 
not1 of course1 a real identity between 
the world and its ,maker1 the soul and  

its ,creator1 but that the aspect of    
reality which this truth expresses is   
the one which has least religious value1
 is least distinctive in the spiritual  
experience4 ,the religious nature is    
satisfied1 and the springs of moral     
action are refreshed by dwelling on the 
specialness of ,god2 men are brought    
back to themselves1 not among their     
fellows and by identifying them with    
their fellows1 but by lifting them to   
the secret place of the ,most ,high4    
,they need religiously not              
thousand-tongued nature1 but to be kept 
secretly in ,his pavilion from the      
strife of tongues4 ,it is the difference
 between ,god and men which makes men   
who know themselves trust ,him4 ,it is  
the otherness1 not the sameness1 which  
makes ,him desirable and potent in the  
daily round of life4 ,a purely ethical  
interest in ,god ceases to be ethical   
and becomes complacent2 when we rule out
 the supraphenomenal we have shut the   
door on the chief strength of the higher

 life4  ,second3 modern preaching1 under
 this same influence and to a yet       
greater degree1 emphasizes the principle
 of identity1 where we need that of     
difference1 in its preaching about      
,jesus4 ,he is still the most moving    
theme for the popular presentation of   
religion4 ,but that is because ,he      
offers the most intelligible approach to
 that very otherness in the person of   
the godhead4 ,his healing and           
reconciling influence over the heart of 
man--the way the human spirit expands   
and blossoms in ,his presence--is moving
 beyond expression to any observer1     
religious or irreligious4 ,each new     
crusade in the long strife for human    
betterment looks in sublime confidence  
to ,him as its forerunner and defense4  
,to what planes of common service1      
faith1 magnanimous solicitude could ,he 
not lift the embittered1 worldlyized men
 and women of this torn and distracted  
age1 which is so desperately seeking its
 own life and thereby so inexorably     

losing it6 ,but why is the heart        
subdued1 the mind elevated1 the will    
made tractable by ,him8 ,why1 because   
,he is enough like us so that we know   
that ,he understands1 has utter         
comprehension2 and ,he is enough        
different from us so that we are willing
 to trust ,him4 ,in what lies the       
essence of the leadership of ,jesus8 ,he
 is not like us3 therefore1 we are      
willing to relinquish ourselves into    
,his hands4  ,now1 that is only half the
 truth4 ,but if ,i may use a paradox1 it
 is the important half1 the primary     
half4 ,and it is just that essential    
element in the ,christian experience of 
,jesus that modern preaching1 under the 
humanistic impulse1 is neglecting4      
,indeed1 liberal preachers have largely 
ceased to sermonize about ,him1 just    
because it has become so easy6 ,humanism
 has made ,jesus obvious1 hence1        
relatively impotent4 ,with its unified  
cosmos1 its immanent ,god1 its exalted  
humanity1 the whole ,christological     

problem has become trivial4 ,it drops   
the cosmic approach to the person of    
,jesus in favor of the ethical4 ,it does
 not approach ,him from the side of     
,god2 we approach nothing from that side
 now2 but from the side of man4 ,thus   
,he is not so much a divine revelation  
as ,he is a human achievement4 ,humanity
 and divinity are one in essence4 ,the  
,creator is distinguished from ,his     
creatures in multifarious differences of
 degree but not in kind4 ,we do not see1
 then1 in ,christ1 a perfect isolated   
,god1 joined to a perfect isolated man1 
in what were indeed the incredible terms
 of the older and superseded            
,christologies4 ,but rather1 ,he is the 
perfect revelation of the moral being1  
the character of ,god1 in all those ways
 capable of expression or comprehension 
in human life1 just because he is the   
highest manifestation of a humanity     
through which ,god has been forever     
expressing ,himself in the world4 ,for  
man is1 so to speak1 his own cosmic     

center2 the greatest divine             
manifestation which we know4 ,granted1  
then1 an ideal man1 a complete moral    
being1 and ipso facto we have our       
supreme revelation of ,god4  ,so runs   
the thrice familiar argument4 ,of       
course1 we have gained something by it4 
,we may drop gladly the old dualistic   
philosophy1 and we must drop it1 though 
,i doubt if it is so easy to drop the   
dualistic experience which created it4  
,but ,i beg to point out that1 on the   
whole1 we have lost more religiously    
than we have gained4 ,for we have made  
,jesus easy to understand1 not as ,he   
brings us up to ,his level1 but as we   
have reduced ,him to ours4 ,can we      
afford to do that8 ,bernard's mystical  
line1 ,the love of ,jesus1 what it is1  
none but ,his loved ones know1 has small
 meaning here4 ,the argument is very    
good humanism but it drops the word     
,saviour out of the vocabulary of faith4
 ,oh1 how many sermons since1 let us    
say1 #ahij1 have been preached on the   

text1 ,he that hath seen me1 hath seen  
the ,father4 ,and how uniformly the     
sermons have explained that the text    
means not that ,jesus is like ,god1 but 
that ,god is like ,jesus--and we have   
already seen that ,jesus is like us6    
,one only has to state it all to see    
beneath its superficial reasonableness  
its appalling profanity6  ,third3 we may
 see the influence of humanism upon our 
preaching in the relinquishment of the  
goal of conversion4 ,we are preaching to
 educate1 not to save2 to instruct1 not 
to transform4 ,conversion may be gradual
 and half-unconscious1 a long and normal
 process under favorable inheritance and
 with the culture of a ,christian       
environment4 ,or it may be sudden and   
catastrophic1 a violent change of       
emotional and volitional activity4 ,when
 a man whose feeling has been repressed 
by sin and crusted over by deception1   
whose inner restlessness has been       
accumulating under the misery and       
impotence of a divided life1 is brought 

into contact with ,christian truth1 he  
can only accept it through a volitional 
crisis1 with its cleansing flood of     
penitence and confession and its blessed
 reward of the sense of pardon and peace
 and the relinquishment of the self into
 the divine hands4 ,but one thing is    
true of either process in the ,christian
 doctrine of conversion4 ,it is not     
merely an achievement1 although it is   
that2 it is also a rescue4 ,it cannot   
come about without faith1 the will to   
believe2 neither can it come about by   
that alone4 ,conversion is something we 
do2 it is also something else1 working  
within us1 if we will let it1 helping us
 to do2 hence it is something done for  
us4  ,now1 this experience of conversion
 is passing out of ,christian life and  
preaching under humanistic influence4   
,we are accepting the ,socratic dictum  
that knowledge is virtue4 ,hence we blur
 the distinction between the ,christian 
and the non-,christian4 ,education      
supplants salvation4 ,we bring the boys 

and girls into the church because they  
are safer there than outside it2 and on 
the whole it is a good thing to do and  
really they belong there anyway4 ,the   
church member is a man of the world1    
softened by ,christian feeling4 ,he is a
 kindly and amiable citizen and an      
honorable man2 he has not been saved4   
,but he knows the unwisdom of evil2 if  
you know what is right you will do it4  
,intelligence needs no support from     
grace4 ,it is strange that the church   
does not see that with this             
relinquishment of her insistence upon   
something that religion can do for a man
 that nothing else can attempt1 she has 
thereby given up her real excuse for    
being1 and that her peculiar and        
distinctive mission has gone4 ,it is    
strange that she does not see that the  
humanism which1 since it is at home in  
the world1 can sometimes make there a   
classic hero1 degenerates dreadfully and
 becomes unreal in a church where       
unskilled hands use it to make it a     

substitute for a ,christian saint6 ,but 
for how many efficient parish           
administrators1 ,y4,m4,c4,a4            
secretaries1 up-to-date preachers1      
character is conceived of as coming not 
by discipline but by expansion1 not by  
salvation1 but by activity4 ,social     
service solves everything without any   
reference to the troublesome fact that  
the value of the service will depend    
upon the quality of the servant4        
,salvation is a combination of          
intelligence and machinery4 ,sin is pure
 ignorance or just maladjustment to     
environment4 ,all we need is to know    
what is right and wrong2 the humane     
sciences will take care of that2 and1   
then1 have an advertising agent1 a      
gymnasium1 a committee on spiritual     
resources1 a program1 a conference1 a   
drive for money1 and behold1 the        
,kingdom of ,god is among us6  ,fourth1 
and most significant3 it is to the      
humanistic impulse and its derived      
philosophies that we owe the            

individualistic ethics1 the relative    
absence of the sense of moral           
responsibility for the social order     
which has1 from the beginning1 maimed   
and distorted ,protestant ,christianity4
 ,it was1 perhaps1 a consequence of the 
speculative and absolute philosophies of
 the mediaeval church that1 since they  
endeavored to relate religion to the    
whole of the cosmos1 its remotest and   
ultimate issues1 so they conceived of   
its absoluteness as concerned with the  
whole of human experience1 with every   
relation of organized society4 ,under   
their regulative ideas all human beings1
 not a selected number1 had1 not in     
themselves but because of the ,divine   
,sacrifice1 divine significance2        
reverence was had1 not for supermen or  
captains of industry1 but for every one 
of those for whom ,christ died4 ,there  
were no human institutions which were   
ends in themselves or more important    
than the men which created and served   
them4 ,the ,holy ,catholic ,church was  

the only institution which was so       
conceived2 all others1 social1          
political1 economic1 were means toward  
the end of the preservation and         
expression of human personality4 ,hence1
 the interest of the mediaeval church in
 social ethics and corporate values2    
hence1 the axiom of the church's control
 of1 the believers' responsibility for1 
the economic relations of society4 ,an  
unjust distribution of goods1 the       
withholding from the producer of his    
fair share of the wealth which he       
creates1 profiteering1 predatory        
riches--these were ranked under one term
 as avarice1 and they were counted not  
among the venial offenses1 like         
aberrations of the flesh1 but avarice   
was considered one of the seven deadly  
sins of the spirit4 ,the application of 
the ethics of ,jesus to social control  
began to die out as humanism            
individualized ,christian morals and as1
 under its influence1 nationalism tended
 to supplant the international          

ecclesiastical order4 ,the cynical and  
sordid maxim that business is business2 
that1 in the economic sphere1 the       
standards of the church are not         
operative and the responsibility of the 
church is not recognized--notions which 
are a chief heresy and an outstanding   
disgrace of nineteenth-century religion1
 from which we are only now painfully   
and slowly reacting--these may be traced
 back to the influence of humanism upon 
,christian thought and conduct4  ,in    
general1 then1 it seems to me abundantly
 clear that the humanistic movement has 
both limited and secularized ,christian 
preaching4 ,it dogmatically ignores     
supersensuous values2 hence it has      
rationalized preaching hence it has made
 provincial its intellectual approach   
and treatment1 narrowed and made        
mechanical its content4 ,it has turned  
preaching away from speculative to      
practical themes4 ,it was1 perhaps1 this
 mental and spiritual decline of the    
ministry to which a distinguished       

educator referred when he told a body of
 ,congregational preachers that their   
sermons were marked by intellectual     
frugality4 ,it is this which a great    
,new ,england theologian-preacher1 ,dr4 
,gordon1 means when he says an          
indescribable pettiness1 a mean kind of 
retail trade has taken possession of the
 preachers2 they have substituted the   
mill-round for the sun-path4  ,the whole
 world today tends toward a monstrous   
egotism4 ,man's attention is centered on
 himself1 his temporal salvation1 his   
external prosperity4 ,preaching1        
yielding partly to the intellectual and 
partly to the practical environment1 has
 tended to adopt the same secular scale 
of values1 somewhat pietized and        
intensified1 and to move within the same
 area of operation4 ,that is why most   
preaching today deals with relations of 
men with men1 not of men with ,god4 ,yet
 human relationships can only be        
determined in the light of ultimate     
ones4 ,most preaching instinctively     

avoids the definitely religious themes2 
deals with the ethical aspects of       
devotion2 with conduct rather than with 
worship2 with the effects1 not the      
causes1 the expression1 not the essence 
of the religious life4 ,most college    
preaching chiefly amounts to informal   
talks on conduct2 somewhat idealized    
discussions of public questions2        
exhortations to social service4 ,when   
sermons do deal with ultimate sanctions 
they can hardly be called ,christian4   
,they are often stoical2 self-control is
 exalted as an heroic achievement1 as   
being self-authenticating1 carrying its 
own reward4 ,or they are utilitarian1   
giving a sentimentalized or frankly     
shrewd doctrine of expediencies1 the    
appeal to an exaggerated self-respect1  
enlightened self-interest1 social       
responsibility4 ,these are typical      
humanistic values2 they are real and    
potent and legitimate4 ,but they are not
 religious and they do not touch        
religious motives4 ,the very difference 

between the humanist and the ,christian 
lies here4 ,to obey a principle is moral
 and admirable2 to do good and be good  
because it pays is sensible2 but to act 
from love of a person is a joyous       
ecstasy1 a liberation of power2 it alone
 transforms life with an ultimate and   
enduring goodness4 ,genuine ,christian  
preaching makes its final appeal1 not to
 fear1 not to hope1 not to future       
rewards and punishments1 not to reason  
or prudence or benevolence4 ,it makes   
its appeal to love1 and that means that 
it calls men to devotion to a living    
,being1 a ,transcendence beyond and     
without us4 ,for you cannot love a      
principle1 or relinquish yourself to an 
idea4 ,you must love another living     
,being4 ,which amounts to saying that   
humanism just because it is             
self-contained is self-condemned4 ,it   
minimizes or ignores the living ,god1 in
 ,his world1 but not to be identified   
with it2 beyond it and above it2 loving 
it because it needs to be loved2        

blessing it because saving it4 ,in so   
doing1 it lays the axe at the very root 
of the tree of religion4 ,francis       
,xavier1 in his greatest of all hymns1  
has stated once for all the essence of  
the ,christian motive and the religious 
attitude3    ,o ,deus1 ego amo te   ,nec
 amo te ut salves me   ,aut quia non    
amantes te   ,aeternis punis igne4      
,nee praemii illius spe   ,sed sicut tu 
amasti me   ,sic amo et amabo te        
,solem1 quia ,rex meus est4  ,what1     
then1 has been the final effect of      
humanism upon preaching8 ,it has tempted
 the preacher to depersonalize religion4
 ,and since love is the essence of      
personality1 it has thereby stripped    
preaching of the emotional energy1 of   
the universal human interests and the   
prophetic insight which only love can   
bestow4 ,over against this              
depersonalization1 we must find some way
 to return to expressing the religious  
view and utilizing the religious power  
of the human spirit4     ,,chapter      

,,three  ,,eating1 ,,drinking ,,and     
,,being ,,merry   ,we ventured to say in
 the preceding chapter that1 under the  
influences of more than three centuries 
of humanism1 the spiritual solidarity of
 mankind is breaking down4 ,for humanism
 makes an inhuman demand upon the will2 
it minimizes the force of the           
subrational and it largely ignores the  
superrational elements in human         
experience2 it does not answer enough   
questions4 ,indeed1 it is frankly       
confessed1 particularly by students of  
the political and economic forces now   
working in society1 that the new freedom
 born in the ,renaissance is1 in some   
grave sense1 a failure4 ,it destroyed   
what had been the common moral authority
 of ,european civilization in its denial
 of the rule of the church4 ,but for    
nearly four centuries it has become     
increasingly clear that it offered no   
adequate substitute for the supernatural
 moral and religious order which it     
supplanted4 ,john ,morley was certainly 

one of the most enlightened and humane  
positivists of the last generation4 ,in 
his ,recollections1 published three     
years ago1 there is a final paragraph   
which runs as follows3 ,a painful       
interrogatory1 ,i must confess1 emerges4
 ,has not your school held the civilized
 world1 both old and new alike1 in the  
hollow of their hand for two long       
generations past8 ,is it quite clear    
that their influence has been so much   
more potent than the gospel of the      
various churches8 ,circumspice4 ,is not 
diplomacy1 unkindly called by ,voltaire 
the field of lies1 as able as ever it   
was to dupe governments and governed by 
grand abstract catchwords veiling       
obscure and inexplicable purposes1 and  
turning the whole world over with blood 
and tears1 to a strange ,witch's        
,sabbath8#aa ,this is his conclusion of 
the whole matter4  ,footnote #aa3       
,recollections3 ,,ii1 p4 #cff ff4  ,but 
while the reasons for the failure are   
not far to seek1 it is worth while for  

the preacher to dwell on them for a     
moment4 ,in strongly centered souls like
 a ,morley or an ,erasmus1 humanism     
produces a stoical endurance and a      
sublime self-confidence4 ,but it tends1 
in lesser spirits1 to a restless        
arrogance4 ,hence1 both those lower     
elements in human nature1 the nature and
 extent of whose force it either cloaks 
or minimizes1 and those imponderable and
 supersensuous values which it tends to 
ignore and which are not ordinarily     
included in its definition of           
experience1 return to vex and plague it4
 ,indeed the worst foe of humanism has  
never been the religious view of the    
world upon whose stored-up moral        
reserves of uncompromising doctrine it  
has often half-consciously subsisted4   
,humanism has long profited from the    
admitted truth that the moral restraints
 of an age that possesses an            
authoritative and absolute belief       
survive for some time after the doctrine
 itself has been rejected4 ,what has    

revealed the incompleteness of the      
humanistic position has been its        
constant tendency to decline into       
naturalism2 a tendency markedly         
accelerated today4 ,hence1 we find      
ourselves in a disintegrating and       
distracted epoch4 ,in #aiab ,rudolph    
,eucken wrote3 ,the moral solidarity of 
mankind is dissolved4 ,sects and parties
 are increasing2 common estimates and   
ideals keep slipping away from us2 we   
understand one another less and less4   
,even voluntary associations1 that form 
of unity peculiar to modern times1 unite
 more in achievement than in            
disposition1 bring men together         
outwardly rather than inwardly4 ,the    
danger is imminent that the end may be  
bellum omnium contra omnes1 a war of all
 against all4#ab  ,footnote #ab3        
,harvard ,theo4 ,rev41 vol4 ,v1 no4 #c1 
p4 #bgg4  ,that disintegration is       
sufficiently advanced so that we can see
 the direction it is taking and the     
principle that inspires it4 ,humanism   

has at least the value of an objective  
standard in the sense that it sets up   
criteria which are without the          
individual2 it substitutes a collective 
subjectivism1 if we may use the term1   
for personal whim and impulse4 ,thus it 
proclaims a classic standard of         
moderation in all things1 the golden    
mean of the ,greeks1 ,confucius' and    
,gautama's law of measure4 ,it proposes 
to bring the primitive and sensual      
element in man under critical control2  
to accomplish this it relies chiefly    
upon its amiable exaggeration of the    
reasonableness of human nature4 ,but the
 ,socratic dictum that knowledge is     
virtue was the product of a personality 
distinguished1 if we accept the         
dialogues of ,plato1 by a perfect       
harmony of thought and feeling4         
,probably it is not wise to build so    
important a rule upon so distinguished  
an exception6  ,but the positive defect 
of humanism is more serious4 ,it        
likewise proposes to rationalize those  

supersensuous needs and convictions     
which lie in the imaginative1 the       
intuitive ranges of experience4 ,the    
very proposal carries a denial of their 
value-in-themselves4 ,its inevitable    
result in the humanist is their virtual 
ignoring4 ,the greatest of all the      
humanists of the ,orient was ,confucius4
 ,i venture to ask about death1 said a  
disciple to the sage4 ,while you do not 
know life1 replied he1 how can you know 
about death8#ac ,even more typical of   
the humanistic attitude towards the     
distinctively religious elements of     
experience are other sayings of         
,confucius1 such as3 ,to give oneself   
earnestly to the duties due to men1 and 
while respecting spiritual beings1 to   
keep aloof from them may be called      
wisdom4#ac ,the precise area of         
humanistic interests is indicated in    
another observation4 ,the subjects on   
which the ,master did not talk were 444 
disorder and spiritual beings4#ac ,for  
the very elements of experience which   

humanism belittles or avoids are found  
in the world where pagans like ,rabelais
 robustly jest or the high spaces where 
souls like ,newman meditate and pray4   
,the humanist appears to be frightened  
by the one and repelled by the other2   
will not or cannot see life steadily and
 whole4 ,that a powerful primitivistic  
faith1 like ,taoism1 a sort of religious
 bohemianism1 should flourish beside    
such pragmatic and passionless          
moderation as classic ,confucianism is  
inevitable2 that the worship of ,amida  
,buddha1 the ,buddha of redemption and a
 future heaven1 of a positive and       
eternal bliss1 should be the ,chinese   
form of the ,indian faith is equally    
intelligible4 ,after a like manner it is
 the humanism of our ,protestant        
preaching today from which men are      
defecting into utter worldliness and    
indifference on the one hand and        
returning to mediaeval and ,catholic    
forms of supernaturalism on the other4  
,footnote #ac3 ,analects1 ,,xi1 ,,cxi2  

,,vi1 ,,cxx4  ,for the primitive in man 
is a beast whom it is hard to chain nor 
does humanism with its semi-scientific1 
semi-sentimental laudation of all       
natural values produce that exacting    
mood of inward scrutiny in which        
self-control has most chance of         
succeeding4 ,hence here1 as elsewhere on
 the continent1 and formerly in ,china1 
in ,greece and in ,rome1 a sort of      
neo-paganism has been steadily          
supplanting it4  ,to the study of this  
neo-paganism we now address ourselves4  
,it is the third and lowest of those    
levels of human experience to which we  
referred in the first lecture4 ,the     
naturalist1 you may remember1 is that   
incorrigible individual who imagines    
that he is a law unto himself1 that he  
may erect his person into a sovereign   
over the whole universe4 ,he perversely 
identifies discipline with repression   
and makes the unlimited the goal both of
 imagination and conduct4 ,oscar        
,wilde's epigrams1 and more particularly

 his fables1 are examples of a          
thoroughgoing naturalist's insolent     
indifference to any form of restraint4  
,all things1 whether holy or bestial1   
were material for his topsy-turvy wit1  
his literally unbridled imagination4 ,no
 humanistic law of decency1 that is to  
say1 a proper respect for the opinions  
of mankind1 and no divine law of        
reverence and humility1 acted for him as
 a restraining force or a selective     
principle4 ,an immediate and significant
 example of this naturalistic riot of   
feeling1 with its consequent false and  
anarchic scale of values1 is found in   
the film dramas of the moving picture   
houses4 ,unreal extravagance of         
imagination1 accompanied by the debauch 
of the aesthetic and moral judgment1    
frequently distinguishes them4 ,in      
screenland1 it is the vampire1 the      
villain1 the superman1 the saccharine   
angel child1 who reign almost           
undisputed4 ,noble convicts1 virtuous   
courtesans1 attractive murderers1 good  

bad men1 and ridiculous good men1 flit  
across the canvas haloed with cheap     
sentimentality4 ,opposed to them1 in an 
ever losing struggle1 are those         
conventional figures who stand for the  
sober realities of an orderly and       
disciplined world2 the judge1 the       
policeman1 the mere husband4 ,these     
pitiable and laughable figures are      
always outwitted2 they receive the fate 
which indeed1 in any primitive society1 
they so richly deserve6  ,how deeply    
sunk in the modern world are the roots  
of this naturalism is shown by its long 
course in history1 paralleling humanism4
 ,it has seeped down through the        
,protestant centuries in two streams4   
,one is a sort of scientific naturalism4
 ,it exalts material phenomena and the  
external order1 issues in a             
glorification of elemental impulses1 an 
attempted return to childlike           
spontaneous living1 the identifying of  
man's values with those of primitive    
nature4 ,the other is an emotional      

naturalism1 of which ,maeterlinck is at 
the moment a brilliant and lamentable   
example4 ,this exchanges the world of   
sober conduct1 intelligible and         
straightforward thinking for an         
unfettered dreamland1 compounded of     
fairy beauty1 flashes of mystical and   
intuitive understanding intermixed with 
claptrap magic1 a high-flown            
commercialism and an etherealized       
sensuality4  ,rousseau represents both  
these streams in his own person4 ,his   
sentimentalized egotism and bland       
sensuality pass belief4 ,his sensitive  
spirit dissolves in tears over the death
 of his dog but he bravely consigns his 
illegitimate children to the foundling  
asylum without one tremor4 ,in his      
justly famous and justly infamous       
,confessions1 he presents himself       
,satan-wise before the ,almighty at the 
last ,judgment1 these ,confessions in   
his hand1 a challenge to the remainder  
of the human race upon his lips4 ,let a 
single one assert to ,thee1 if he dare3 

,i am better than that man4 ,but his    
preachment of natural and spontaneous   
values1 return to primitive conditions1 
was equally aggressive4 ,if anyone wants
 to inspect the pit whence the          
,montessori system of education was     
digged1 let him read ,rousseau1 who     
declared that the only habit a child    
should have is the habit of not having a
 habit1 or his contemporary disciple1   
,george ,moore1 who says that one should
 be ashamed of nothing except of being  
ashamed4 ,there are admirable features  
in the schooling-made-easy system4 ,it  
recognizes the fitness of different     
minds for different work2 that the      
process of education need not and should
 not be forbidding2 that natural science
 has been subordinated overmuch to the  
humanities2 that the imagination and the
 hand should be trained with the        
intellect4 ,but the method which        
proposes to give children an education  
along the lines of least resistance is1 
like all other naturalism1 a            

contradiction in terms1 sometimes a     
reductio ad absurdum1 sometimes ad      
nauseam4 ,as long ago as #ahic1 when    
,huxley wrote his ,romanes lecture on   
,evolution and ,ethics1 this identity of
 natural and human values was explicitly
 denied4 ,teachers do not exist for the 
amusement of children1 nor for the      
repression of children2 they exist for  
the discipline of children4 ,the new    
education is consistently primitivistic 
in the latitude which it allows to whim 
and in its indulgence of indolence4     
,there is only one way to make a man out
 of a child2 to teach him that happiness
 is a by-product of achievement2 that   
pleasure is an accompaniment of labor2  
that the foundation of self-respect is  
drudgery well done2 that there is no    
power in any system of philosophy1 any  
view of the world1 no view of the world1
 which can release him from the         
unchanging necessity of personal        
struggle1 personal consecration1        
personal holiness in human life4 ,that  

wherein a man cannot be equaled1 says   
,confucius1 is his work which other men 
cannot see4#ad ,the humanist1 at least1 
does not blink the fact that we are     
caught in a serious and difficult world4
 ,to rail at it1 to deny it1 to run     
hither and thither like scurrying rats  
to evade it1 will not alter one jot or  
one tittle of its inexorable facts4     
,footnote #ad3 ,doctrine of the ,mean1  
ch4 xxxiii1 v4 #b4  ,following ,rousseau
 and ,chateaubriand come a striking     
group of ,frenchmen who passed on this  
torch of ethical and aesthetic          
rebellion4 ,some of them are wildly     
romantic like ,dumas and ,hugo2 some of 
them perversely realistic like ,balzac1 
,flaubert1 ,gautier1 ,zola4 ,paul       
,verlaine1 a near contemporary of ours1 
is of this first number2 writer of some 
of the most exquisite lyrics in the     
,french language1 yet a man who floated 
all his life in typical romantic fashion
 from passion to repentance1 passing    
from lust of the flesh to sorrow for sin

 in perpetual alternation4 ,guy de      
,maupassant again is a naturalist of the
 second sort1 a brutal realist2 de      
,maupassant1 who died a suicide1 crying 
out to his valet from his hacked throat 
,encore l'homme au rancart6--another    
carcass to the dustheap6  ,in ,english  
letters ,wordsworth in his earlier verse
 illustrated the same sentimental       
primitivism4 ,it would be unfair to     
quote ,peter ,bell1 for that is         
,wordsworth at his dreadful worst1 but  
even in ,tinlern ,abbey1 which has      
passages of incomparable majesty and    
beauty1 there are lines in which he     
declares himself3    444 well pleased to
 recognize   ,in nature1 and the        
language of the sense   ,the anchor of  
my purest thought1 the nurse1   ,the    
guide1 the guardian of my heart1 and    
soul   ,of all my moral being4  ,byron's
 innate sophistication saves him from   
the ludicrous depths to which           
,wordsworth sometimes fell1 but he1 too1
 is ,rousseau's disciple1 a moral rebel1

 a highly personal and subjective poet  
of whom ,goethe said that he respected  
no law1 human or divine1 except that of 
the three unities4 ,byron's verse is    
fascinating2 it overflows with a sort of
 desperate and fiery sincerity2 but1 as 
he himself says1 his life was one long  
strife of passion with eternal law4 ,he 
combines both the romantic and the      
realistic elements of naturalism1 both  
flames with elemental passion and       
parades his cynicism1 is forever        
snapping his mood in ,don ,juan1        
alternating extravagant and romantic    
feeling with lines of sardonic and      
purposely prosaic realism4 ,shelley is a
 naturalist1 too1 not in the realm of   
sordid values but of ,arcadian fancy4   
,the pre-,raphaelites belong here1      
together with a group of young          
,englishmen who flourished between #ahij
 and #aiad1 of whom ,john ,davidson and 
,richard ,middleton1 both suicides1 are 
striking examples4 ,poor ,middleton     
turned from naturalism to religion at   

the last4 ,when he had resolved on      
death1 he wrote a message telling what  
he was about to do1 parting from his    
friend with brave assumption of         
serenity4 ,but he did not send the      
postcard1 and in the last hour of that  
hired bedroom in ,brussels1 with the    
bottle of chloroform before him1 he     
traced across the card's surface a      
broken and a contrite spirit thou wilt  
not despise4 ,so there was humility at  
the last4 ,one remembers rather grimly  
what the clown says in ,twelfth ,night1 
,pleasure will be paid some time or     
other4  ,this same revolt against the   
decencies and conventions of our        
humanist civilization occupies a great  
part of present literature4 ,how far    
removed from the clean and virile       
stoicism of ,george ,meredith or the    
honest pessimism of ,thomas ,hardy is   
,arnold ,bennett's ,the ,pretty ,lady or
 ,galsworthy's ,the ,dark ,flower4      
,finally1 in this country we need only  
mention1 if we may descend so far1 such 

naturalists in literature as ,jack      
,london1 ,robert ,chambers and          
,gouverneur ,morris4 ,one's only excuse 
for referring to them is that they are  
vastly popular with the people whom you 
and ,i try to interest in sermons1 to   
whom we talk on religion6  ,of course1  
this naturalism in letters has its      
accompanying and interdependent         
philosophic theory1 its intellectual    
interpretation and defense4 ,as ,kant is
 the noblest of the moralists1 so ,i    
suppose ,william ,james and1 still      
later1 ,henri ,bergson and ,croce are   
the chief protagonists of unrestrained  
feeling and naturalistic values in the  
world of thought4 ,to the neo-realists  
the thing given is alone reality4       
,james' pragmatism frankly relinquishes 
any absolute standard in favor of       
relativity4 ,in the ,varieties of       
,religious ,experience1 which ,professor
 ,babbitt tells us someone in ,cambridge
 suggested should have had for a        
subtitle ,wild ,religions ,i ,have      

,known1 he is plainly more interested in
 the intensity than in the normality1 in
 the excesses than in the essence of the
 religious life4 ,indeed1 ,professor    
,babbitt quotes him as saying in a      
letter to ,charles ,eliot ,norton1 mere 
sanity is the most ,philistine and at   
the bottom most unessential of a man's  
attributes4#ae ,in the same way         
,bergson1 consistently anti-,socratic   
and discrediting analytical intellect1  
insists that whatever unity may be had  
must come through instinct1 not         
analysis4 ,he refuses to recognize      
,plato's ,one in the ,many1 sees the    
whole universe as a perpetual gushing   
forth of novelties1 a universal and     
meaningless flux4 ,surrender to this    
eternal flux1 he appears to say1 and    
then we shall gain reality4 ,so he      
relies on impulse1 instinct1 his elan   
vital1 which means1 ,i take it1 on man's
 subrational emotions4 ,we call it      
,intuitionism1 but such philosophy in   
plain and bitter ,english is the        

intellectual defense and solemn         
glorification of impulse4 ,time1 says   
,bergson1 is a continuous stream1 a     
present that endures4#af ,time          
apparently is all4 ,life can have no    
purpose in the human sense of the       
word4#ag ,essentially1 then1 ,james1    
,bergson and ,croce appeal from         
intellect to feeling4 ,they return to   
primitivism4  ,footnote #ae3 ,letter to 
,c4,e4 ,norton1 ,june #cj1 #aijd4       
,footnote #af3 ,le ,perception de       
,changement1 #cj4  ,footnote #ag3       
,l'evolution creatrice1 #ee4  ,here is a
 philosophy which obviously may be both 
as antihumanistic and as irreligious as 
any which could well be conceived4 ,here
 is license in conduct and romanticism  
in expression going hand in hand with   
this all but exclusive emphasis upon    
relativity in thought4 ,here is         
disorder1 erected as a universal        
concept2 the world conceived of as a    
vast and impenetrable veil which is     
hiding nothing2 an intricacy without    

pattern4 ,obviously so ungoverned and   
fluid a universe justifies uncritical   
and irresponsible thinking and living4  
,we have tried thus to sketch that      
declension into paganism on the part of 
much of the present world1 of which we  
spoke earlier in the chapter4 ,it denies
 or ignores the humanistic law with its 
exacting moral and aesthetic standards2 
it openly flouts the attitude of        
obedience and humility before religious 
mandates1 and1 so far as opportunity    
offers or prudence permits1 goes its own
 insolently wanton way4 ,our world is   
full of dilettanti in the colleges1     
anarchists in the state1 atheists in the
 church1 bohemians in art1 sybarites in 
conduct and ineffably silly women in    
society1 who have felt1 and occasionally
 studied the scientific and naturalistic
 movement just far enough and           
superficially enough to grasp the idea  
of relativity and to exalt it as        
sufficient and complete in itself4 ,many
 of them are incapable of realizing the 

implications for conduct and belief     
which it entails4 ,others of them1 who  
are of the lesser sort1 pulled by the   
imperious hungers of the flesh1 the     
untutored instincts of a restless       
spirit1 hating ,hellenic discipline no  
less than ,christian renunciation1      
having no stomach either for            
self-control or self-surrender1 look out
 on the mass of endlessly opposing      
complexities of the modern world and    
gladly use that vision as an excuse for 
abandoning what is indeed the ever      
failing but also the ever necessary     
struggle to achieve order1 unity1 yes1  
even perfection4  ,to them1 therefore1  
the only way to conquer a temptation is 
to yield to it4 ,they rail nonsensically
 at all repression1 forgetting that man 
cannot express the full circle of his   
mutually exclusive instincts1 and that  
when he gives rein to one he thereby    
negates another2 that choice1 therefore1
 is inevitable and that the more        
exacting and critical the choice1 the   

more valuable and comprehensive the     
expression4 ,so they frankly assert     
their choices along the lines of least  
resistance and abandon themselves1 at   
least in principle1 to emotional chaos  
and moral sentimentalism4 ,very often   
they are of all men the most            
meticulously mannered4 ,but their       
manners are not the decorum of the      
humanist1 they are the etiquette of the 
worldling4 ,chesterfield had these folk 
in mind when he spoke with an           
intolerable1 if incisive1 cynicism of   
those who know the art of combining the 
useful appearances of virtue with the   
solid satisfactions of vice4  ,such     
naturalism is sometimes tolerated by    
those who aspire to urbane and liberal  
judgments because they think it can be  
defended on humanistic grounds4 ,but1 as
 a matter of fact1 it is as offensive to
 the thoroughgoing humanist as it is to 
the sincere religionist4 ,they have a   
common quarrel with it4 ,take1 for      
example1 the notorious naturalistic     

doctrine of art for art's sake1 the     
defiant divorcing of ethical and        
aesthetic values4 ,civilization no less 
than religion must fight this4 ,for it  
is as false in experience and as unclear
 in thinking as could well be imagined4 
,its defense1 so far as it has any1 is  
based upon the confusion in the pagan   
mind of morality with moralizing1 a     
confusion that no good humanist would   
ever permit himself4 ,of course1 the end
 of art is neither preaching nor        
teaching but delighting4 ,for that very 
reason1 however1 art1 too1 must         
conform--hateful word6--conform to fixed
 standards4 ,for the sense of           
proportion1 the instinct for            
elimination1 is integral to art and     
this1 as ,professor ,babbitt points out1
 is attained only with the aid of the   
ethical imagination4#ah ,because without
 the ethical restraint1 the creative    
spirit roams among unbridled emotions2  
art becomes impressionism4 ,what it then
 produces may indeed be picturesque1    

melodramatic1 sensual1 but it will not  
be beautiful because there will be no   
imaginative wholeness in it4 ,in other  
words1 the artist who divorces          
aesthetics from ethics does gain        
creative license1 but he gains it at the
 expense of a balanced and harmonious   
expression4 ,if you do not believe it1  
compare the ,venus de ,milo with the    
,venus de ,medici or a ,rubens fleshy1  
spilling-out-of-her-clothes ,magdalen   
with a ,donatello ,madonna4 ,when       
ethical restraint disappears1 art tends 
to caricature1 it becomes               
depersonalized4 ,the ,venus de ,milo is 
a living being1 a great personage2      
indeed1 a genuine and gracious goddess4 
,the ,venus de ,medici has scarcely any 
personality at all2 she is chiefly      
objectified desire6 ,the essence of art 
is not spontaneous expression nor naked 
passion2 the essence of art is critical 
expression1 restrained passion4         
,footnote #ah3 ,rousseau and            
,romanticism1 p4 #bjf4  ,now1 such      

extreme naturalism has been the         
continuing peril and the arch foe of    
every successive civilization4 ,it is   
the reversion to type of the scientist1 
the natural depravity of the older      
theology1 the scoffing devil1 with his  
eternal no6 in ,goethe's ,faust4 ,it    
tends to accept all powerful impulses as
 thereby justified1 all vital and novel 
interests as ipso facto beautiful and   
good4 ,nothing desirable is ugly or     
evil4 ,it pays no attention1 except to  
ridicule them1 to the problems that vex 
high and serious souls3 ,what is right  
and wrong8 ,what is ugly and beautiful8 
,what is holy and what is profane8 ,it  
either refuses to admit the existence of
 these questions or else asserts that1  
as insoluble1 they are also negligible  
problems4 ,to all such stupid moralizing
 it prefers the click of the castanets6 
,the law1 then1 of this naturalism      
always and everywhere is the law of     
rebellion1 of ruthless self-assertion1  
of whim and impulse1 of cunning and of  

might4  ,you may wonder why we1 being   
preachers1 have spent so much time      
talking about it4 ,folk of this sort do 
not ordinarily flock to the stenciled   
walls and carpeted floors of our        
comfortable1 middle-class ,protestant   
meeting-houses4 ,they are not attracted 
by ,tiffany glass windows1 nor the      
vanilla-flavored music of a mixed       
quartet1 nor the oddly assorted         
enrichments we have dovetailed into a   
once puritan order of worship4 ,that is 
true1 but it is also true that these are
 they who need the ,gospel2 also that   
these folk do influence the time-current
 that enfolds us and pervades the very  
air we breathe and that they and their  
standards are profoundly influencing the
 youth of this generation4 ,you need    
only attend a few college dances to be  
sure of that6 ,one of the sad things    
about the ,protestant preacher is his   
usual willingness to move in a strictly 
professional society and activity1 his  
lack of extra-ecclesiastical interests1 

hence his narrow and unskillful         
observations and perceptions outside his
 own parish and his own field4          
,moreover1 there are other forms in     
which naturalism is dominating modern   
society4 ,it began1 like all movements1 
in literature and philosophy and        
individual bohemianism2 but it soon     
worked its way into social and political
 and economic organizations4 ,now1 when 
we are dealing with them we are dealing 
with the world of the middle class2 this
 is our world4 ,and here we find        
naturalism today in its most brutal and 
entrenched expressions4 ,here it        
confronts every preacher on the middle  
aisle of his ,sunday morning            
congregation4 ,we are continually       
forgetting this because it is a common  
fallacy of our hard-headed and          
prosperous parishioners to suppose that 
the vagaries of philosophers and the    
maunderings of poets have only the      
slightest practical significance4 ,but  
few things could be further from the    

truth4 ,it is abstract thought and pure 
feeling which are perpetually moulding  
the life of office and market and       
street4 ,it has sometimes been the dire 
mistake of preaching that it took only  
an indifferent and contemptuous interest
 in such contemporary movements in      
literature and art4 ,its attitude toward
 them has been determined by            
temperamental indifference to their     
appeal4 ,it forgets the significance of 
their intellectual and emotional        
sources4 ,this is1 then1 provincialism  
and obtuseness and nowhere are they by  
their very nature more indefensible or  
more disastrous than in the preacher of 
religion4  ,let us turn1 then1 to those 
organized expressions of society where  
our own civilization is strained the    
most1 where it is nearest to the        
breaking point1 namely1 to our          
industrial and political order4 ,let us 
ask ourselves if we do not find this    
naturalistic philosophy regnant there4  
,that we are surrounded by widespread   

industrial revolt1 that we see obvious  
political decadence on the one hand1 and
 a determination to experiment with     
fresh governmental processes on the     
other1 few would deny4 ,it would appear 
to me that in both cases the revolt and 
the decadence are due to that fierce1   
short creed of rebellion against humane 
no less than religious standards1 which 
has more and more governed our national 
economic systems and our international  
political intercourse4 ,let me begin    
with business and industry as they      
existed before the war4 ,i paint a      
general picture2 there are many and     
notable exceptions to it1 human idealism
 there is in plenty1 but it and they    
only prove the rule4 ,and as ,i paint   
the picture1 ask yourselves the two     
questions which should interest us as   
preachers regarding it4 ,first1 by which
 of these three laws of human           
development1 religious1 humanistic1     
naturalistic1 has it been largely       
governed8 ,secondly1 by what law are men

 now attempting to solve its present    
difficulties8  ,the present industrial  
situation is the product of two causes4 
,one of them was the invention of       
machinery and the discovery of steam    
transit4 ,these multiplied production4  
,they made accessible unexploited       
sources of raw material and new markets 
for finished goods4 ,the opportunities  
for lucrative trading and the           
profitableness of overproduction which  
they made possible became almost        
immeasurable4 ,before these discoveries 
western society was generally           
agricultural1 accompanied by cottage    
industries and guild trades4 ,it was    
largely made up of direct contacts and  
controlled by local interests4 ,after   
them it became a huge industrial empire 
of ramified international relationships4
  ,the second factor in the situation   
was the intellectual and spiritual      
nature of the society which these       
inventions entered4 ,it was1 as we have 
seen1 essentially humanistic4 ,it       

believed much in the natural rights of  
man4 ,the individual was justified1 by  
the natural order1 in seeking his       
separate good4 ,if he only sought it    
hard enough and well enough the result  
would be for the general welfare of     
society4 ,thus at the moment when       
mechanical invention offered unheard-of 
opportunities for material expansion and
 lucrative business1 the thought and    
feeling of the community pretty         
generally sanctioned an individualistic 
philosophy of life4 ,the result was     
tragic if inevitable4 ,the new          
industrial order offered both the       
practical incentive and the theoretical 
justification for institutional         
declension from humane to primitive     
standards4 ,it is not to be supposed    
that men slipped deliberately into      
paganism2 the human mind is not so      
sinister as it is stupid nor so cruel as
 it is unimaginative nor so brutal as it
 is complacent4 ,for the most part we do
 not really understand1 in our daily    

lives1 what we are about4 ,hence society
 degenerated1 as it always does1 in the 
confident and stubborn belief that it   
was improving the time and doing ,god's 
service4 ,but ,he that sitteth in the   
heavens must have laughed1 ,he must have
 had us in derision6  ,for upon what    
law1 natural1 human1 divine1 has this   
new empire been founded8 ,that it has   
produced great humanists is gratefully  
conceded2 that real spiritual progress  
has issued from its incidental          
cosmopolitanism is manifest2 but which  
way has it fronted1 what have been its  
characteristic emphases and its         
controlling tendencies8 ,let its own    
works testify4 ,it has created a world  
of new and extreme inequality1 both in  
the distribution of material1 of        
intellectual and of spiritual goods4    
,here is a small group who own the land1
 the houses1 the factories1 machinery   
and the tools4 ,here is a very large    
group1 without houses1 without tools1   
without land or goods4 ,at this moment  

only #g per cent of our #aaj1jjj1jjj of 
,american people have an income of      
#c1jjj or more2 only #a per cent have an
 income of #e1jjj or more6 ,what law    
produced and justifies such a society8  
,the unwritten law of heaven8 ,no4 ,the 
law of humanism1 of ,confucius and      
,buddha and ,epictetus and ,aurelius8   
,no4 ,the law of naked individualism2 of
 might2 force2 cunning8 ,yes4  ,here in 
our ,american cities are the overwealthy
 and the insolently worldly people4     
,they have their palatial town house1   
their broad inland acres2 some of them  
have their seaside homes1 their fish and
 game preserves as well4 ,here in our   
,american cities are the alien1 the     
ignorant1 the helpless1 crowded into    
unclean and indecent tenements1         
sometimes #a1jjj human beings to the    
acre4 ,what justifies a                 
pseudo-civilization which permits such  
tragic inequality of fortune8           
,inequality of endowment8 ,no4 ,first1  
because there is no natural inequality  

so extreme as that2 secondly1 because no
 one would dare assert that these       
cleavages in the industrial state even  
remotely parallel the corresponding     
cleavages in the distribution of ability
 among mankind4 ,what justifies it1     
then8 ,the unwritten law of heaven8 ,no4
 ,the law of humanism8 ,no4 ,the law of 
the jungle8 ,yes4  ,now for our second  
question4 ,by what law1 admitting many  
exceptions1 are men on the whole trying 
to change this situation at once        
indecent and impious8 ,this is a yet    
more important query4 ,our world has    
obviously awakened to the rottenness in 
,denmark4 ,but where are we turning for 
our remedy8 ,is it to the penitence and 
confession1 the public-mindedness1 the  
identification of the fate of the       
individual with the fate of the whole   
group which is the religious impulse8   
,is it to a disinterested and           
even-handed justice1 the high legalism  
of the ,golden ,rule1 which would be the
 humanist's way8 ,or is it to the old   

law of aggression and might transferring
 the gain thereof from the present      
exploiters to the recently exploited8   
,it would appear to be generally true   
that society at this moment is not      
chiefly concerned with either love or   
justice1 renunciation or discipline1 not
 with the supplanting of the old order1 
but with perpetuating the naturalistic  
principle by means of a partial         
redivision of the spoils1 a series of   
compromises1 designed to make it more   
tolerable for one class of its former   
victims4 ,thus in capital we have the   
autocratic corporation1 atoning for past
 outrages on humanity by a              
well-advertised benevolent paternalism1 
calculated to make men comfortable so   
that they may not struggle to be free1  
or by huge gifts to education1 to       
philanthropy1 to religion4 ,in labor we 
see men rising in brute fury against    
both employer and society4 ,they deny   
the basic necessities of life to their  
fellow citizens2 they bring the bludgeon

 of the picket down upon the head of the
 scab2 by means of the closed shop they 
refuse the right to work to their       
brother craftsmen2 they level the       
incapable men up and the capable men    
down by insisting upon uniformity of    
production and wage4 ,thus they replace 
the artificial inequality of the        
aristocrat with the artificial equality 
of the proletariat1 striving to organize
 a new tyranny for the old4 ,it is      
significant that our society believes   
that this is the only way by which it   
can gain its rights4 ,that betrays our  
real infidelity4 ,for between the two1  
associated capital and associated labor1
 what is there to choose today8 ,by what
 law1 depending upon what sort of power1
 is each seeking its respective ends8   
,by the unwritten law of heaven8 ,no4   
,by the humane law1 some objective      
standard of common rights and inclusive 
justice8 ,no6 ,by the ancient law that  
the only effectual appeal is to might   
and that opportunity therefore justifies

 the deed8 ,on the whole it is to this  
question that we must answer1 yes6      
,turn away now from national economics  
and industry to international politics4 
,does not its real politik make the     
philosophical naturalism of ,spencer and
 ,haeckel seem like child's play8 ,for  
long there has been one code of ethics  
for the peaceful penetration of         
commercially desirable lands1 for       
punitive expeditions against peoples    
possessed of raw materials1 for         
international banking and finance and   
diplomatic intercourse1 and another code
 for private honor and personal         
morality4 ,there has been one moral     
scale of values for the father of his   
family and another for the same man as  
ward or state or federal politician2 one
 code to govern internal disputes within
 the nation2 another code to govern     
external disputes between nations4 ,and 
what is this code that produced the     
,prussian autocracy1 that long insisted 
on the opium trade between ,india and   

,china1 that permitted the atrocities in
 the ,belgian ,congo1 that sent first   
,russia and then ,japan into ,port      
,arthur and first ,germany and then     
,japan into ,shantung1 that insists upon
 retaining the ,turk in ,constantinople1
 that produced the already discredited  
treaty of ,versailles8 ,what is the code
 that made the deadly rivalry of        
mounting armaments between army and     
army1 navy and navy1 of the ,europe     
before #aiad8 ,the code1 to be sure1 of 
cunning1 of greed1 of might2 the        
materialism of the philosopher and the  
naturalism of the sensualist1 clothed in
 grandiose forms and covered with the   
insufferable hypocrisy of solemn        
phrases4 ,there are no conceivable      
ethical or religious interests and no   
humane goals or values that justify     
these things4 ,international diplomacy  
and politics1 economic imperialism1     
using political machinery and power to  
half-cloak1 half-champion its ends1 has 
no law of ,christian sacrifice and no   

law of ,greek moderation behind it4 ,on 
the contrary1 what should interest the  
,christian preacher1 as he regards it1  
is its sheer anarchy1 its unashamed and 
naked paganism4 ,its law is that of the 
unscrupulous and the daring1 not that of
 the compassionate or the just4 ,in what
 does scientific and emotional          
naturalism issue1 then8 ,in this2 a man1
 if he be a man1 will stand above divine
 or human law and make it operative only
 for the weaklings beneath4 ,wherever   
opportunity offers he will consult his  
own will and gratify it to the full4 ,to
 have1 to get1 to buy1 to sell1 to      
exploit the world for power1 to exploit 
one's self for pleasure1 this is to     
live4 ,the only law is the old primitive
 snarl2 each man for himself1 let the   
devil take the hindmost4  ,there is only
 one end to such naturalism and that is 
increasing anarchy4 ,it means my will   
against your will2 my appetite for gold1
 for land1 for women1 for luxury and    
beauty against your appetite2 until at  

length it culminates in the open madness
 of physical violence1 physical         
destruction1 physical death and despair4
 ,there can be no other end to it4 ,if  
men dare not risk being the lovers of   
their kind1 then they must choose       
between being the slaves of duty or the 
slaves of force4 ,what are we reading in
 the public prints and hearing from     
platform and stage8 ,the unending wail  
for rights2 the assertion of the        
individual4 ,ceased is the chant of     
duty1 forgotten the sacrifice of love6  
,the events which have transformed the  
world since #aiad are an awful          
commentary upon such naturalism and a   
dreadful confirmation of our indictment4
 ,before the spectacle that many of us  
saw on those sodden fields of ,flanders1
 both humanist and religionist should be
 alike aghast4 ,how childish not to     
perceive that its causes1 as            
distinguished from its occasions1 were  
common to our whole civilization4 ,how  
perverse not to confess that beneath all

 our modern life1 as its dominating     
motive1 has lain that ruthless and pagan
 philosophy1 which creates alike the    
sybarite1 the tyrant and the anarch2 the
 philosophy in which lust goes hand in  
hand with cruelty and unrestrained will 
to power is accompanied by unmeasured   
and unscrupulous force4  ,it is         
incredible to me how men can take this  
delirium of self-destruction1 this      
plunging of the sword into our own heart
 in a final frenzy of competing anarchy 
and deck it out with heroic and poetic  
values1 fling over it the seamless robe 
of ,christ1 unfurl above it the banner  
of the ,cross6 ,the only contribution   
the ,world ,war has made to religion has
 been to throw into intolerable relief  
the essentially irreligious and inhumane
 character of our civilization4  ,of    
course1 the men and the ideals who      
actually fought the contest as          
distinguished from the men and ideals   
which precipitated it and determined its
 movements1 fill gallant pages with     

their heroism and holy sacrifice4 ,for  
wars are fought by the young at the     
dictation of the old1 and youth is      
everywhere humane and poetic4 ,thus1 if 
,i may be permitted to quote from a book
 of mine recently published3  ,our sons 
were bade to enter it as a 'war to end  
war1' a final struggle which should     
abolish the intolerable burdens of      
armaments and conscription4 ,they were  
taught to exalt it as a strife for      
oppressed and helpless peoples2 the     
prelude to a new brotherhood and        
cooperation among the nations1 and to   
that reign of justice which is the      
antecedent condition of peace4  ,they   
did their part4 ,with adventurous faith 
they glorified their cause and offered  
their fresh lives to make it good4      
,their sacrifice1 the idealism which lay
 behind it in their respective          
communities--the unofficial perceptions 
that they1 the fathers and mothers and  
the boys1 were fighting to vindicate the
 supremacy of the moral over the        

material factors of life--this has made 
an imperishable gift to the new world   
and our children's lives4 ,when an      
entire commuity rises to something of   
magnanimity1 and a nation identifies its
 fate with the lot of weaker states1    
then even mutilation and death may be   
gift-bringers to mankind4  ,but it is   
more significant to our purpose to note 
that the blood of youth had hardly      
ceased to run before the officials began
 to dicker for the material fruits of   
conquest4 ,not how to obtain peace but  
how to exploit victory--to wrest each   
for himself the larger tribute from the 
fallen foe--became their primary        
concern4 ,so the youth appear to have   
died for a tariff1 perished for trade   
routes and harbors1 for the furthering  
of the commercial advantages of this    
nation as against that1 for the seizing 
of the markets of the world4 ,they      
supposed they fought 'to end business of
 that sort' but they returned to find   
their accredited representatives        

contemplating universal military service
 in frank expectation of 'the next war4'
 ,they strove for the                   
'self-determination of peoples' but find
 that it was for some people1 but not   
all4 ,and as for the cooperation among  
nations1 ,judge ,gary has recently told 
us that1 as a result of the war1 we     
should prepare for 'the fiercest        
commercial struggle in the history of   
mankind6'#ai  ,footnote #ai3 ,can the   
,church ,survive8 pp4 #ad ff4  ,is it   
not clear1 then1 today that behind the  
determining as distinguished from the   
fighting forces of the war there lay a  
commercial and financial imperialism1   
directed by small and powerful          
minorities1 largely supported by a      
sympathetic press which used the        
machinery of representative democracy to
 overthrow a more naked and brutal      
imperialism whose machinery was that of 
a military autocracy8 ,motives1 scales  
of value1 methods and desired ends1 were
 much the same for all these small      

governing groups as they operated from  
behind the various shibboleths whose    
magic they used to nerve the arms of the
 contending forces4 ,the conclusion of  
the war has revealed the common springs 
of action of the professional soldier1  
statesman1 banker1 ecclesiastic1 in our 
present civilization4 ,on the whole they
 accept the rule of physical might as   
the ultimate justification of conduct4  
,they are the leaders and spokesmen in  
an economic1 social and political       
establishment which1 pretending to      
civilization1 always turns when strained
 or imperiled by foreign or domestic    
dangers to physical force as the final  
arbiter4  ,it is truly ominous to see   
the gradual extension of this           
naturalistic principle still going on in
 the state4 ,the coal strike was        
settled1 not by arbitration1 but by     
conference1 and conferences appear to be
 replacing disinterested arbitration4   
,this means that decisions are being    
made on the principle of compromise1    

dictated by the expediency of the       
moment1 not by reference to any third   
party1 or to some fixed and mutually    
recognized standards4 ,this is as old as
 ,pythagoras and as new as ,bergson and 
,croce2 it assumes that the concept of  
justice is man-made1 produced and to be 
altered by expediences and              
practicalities1 always in flux4 ,but the
 essence of a civilization is the       
humanistic conviction that there is     
something fixed and abiding around which
 life may order and maintain itself4    
,progress rests on the ,platonic theory 
that laws are not made by man but       
discovered by him2 that they exist as   
eternal distinctions beyond the reach of
 his alteration4 ,again1 an unashamed   
and rampant naturalism has just been    
sweeping this country in the wave of    
mean and cruel intolerance which insists
 upon the continued imprisonment of     
political heretics1 which would prohibit
 freedom of speech by governmental      
decree and oppose new or distasteful    

ideas by the physical suppression of the
 thinker4 ,the several and notorious    
attempts beginning with deportations and
 ending with the unseating of the ,new  
,york assemblymen1 to combat radical    
thinking by physical or political       
persecution--attempts uniformly mean and
 universally impotent in history--are as
 sinister as they are stupid4 ,the only 
law which justifies the persecution and 
imprisonment of religious and political 
heretics is neither the law of reason   
nor the law of love1 but the law of     
fear1 hence of tyranny and force4 ,when 
a twentieth-century nation begins to    
raise the ancient cry1 ,come now and let
 us kill this dreamer and we shall see  
what will become of his dreams1 that    
nation is declining to the naturalistic 
level4 ,for this clearly indicates that 
the humane and religious resources of   
civilization1 of which the church is    
among the chief confessed and appointed 
guardians1 are utterly inadequate to the
 strain imposed upon them4 ,hence force1

 not justice1 though they may sometimes 
have happened to coincide1 and power1   
not reason or faith1 are becoming the   
embodiment of the state today4  ,we come
 now to the final question of our       
chapter4 ,how has this renewal of       
naturalism affected the church and      
,christian preaching8 ,on the whole     
today1 the ,protestant church is        
accepting this naturalistic attitude4   
,in a signed editorial in the ,new      
,republic for the last week of          
,december1 #aiai1 ,herbert ,croly said1 
under the significant title of          
,disordered ,christianity3 ,both        
politicians and property owners consider
 themselves entitled to ignore          
,christian guidance in exercising       
political and economic power1 to expect 
or to compel the clergy to agree with   
them and if necessary to treat          
disagreement as negligible4 ,the        
,christian church1 as a whole1 or in    
part1 does not protest against the      
practically complete secularization of  

political1 economic and social life4    
,you may say such extra-ecclesiastical  
strictures are unsympathetic and ill    
informed4 ,but here is what ,washington 
,gladden wrote in ,january1 #aiah3 ,if  
after the war the church keeps on with  
the same old religion1 there will be the
 same old hell on earth that religious  
leaders have been preparing for         
centuries1 the full fruit of which we   
are gathering now4 ,the church must     
cease to sanction those principles of   
militaristic and atheistic nationalism  
by which the rulers of the earth have so
 long kept the earth at war4#bj ,thus   
from within the sanctuary is the same   
indictment of our naturalism4  ,footnote
 #bj3 ,the ,pacific1 ,january #ag1      
#aiah4  ,but you may say ,dr4 ,gladden  
was an old man and a little extreme in  
some of his positions and he belonged to
 a past generation4 ,but there are many 
signs at the present moment of the      
increasing secularizing of our churches4
 ,the individualism of our services1    

their casual character1 their romantic  
and sentimental music1 their minimizing 
of the offices of prayer and devotion1  
their increasing turning of the pulpit  
into a forum for political discussion   
and a place of common entertainment all 
indicate it4 ,there is an accepted      
secularity today about the organization4
 ,church and preacher have1 to a large  
degree1 relinquished their essential    
message1 dropped their religious values4
 ,we are pretty largely today playing   
our game the world's way4 ,we are       
adopting the methods and accepting the  
standards of the market4 ,in an issue   
last month of the ,inter-,church        
,bulletin was the following headline3   
,christianity ,hand in ,hand with       
,business1 and underneath the following3
  ,george ,w4 ,wickersham1 formerly     
,united ,states attorney-general1 says  
in an interview that there is nothing   
incompatible between ,christianity and  
modern business methods4 ,a leading lay 
official of the ,episcopal ,church      

declares that what the churches need    
more than anything else is a strong     
injection of business method into their 
management4 ',some latter-day ,henry    
,drummond1' he said1 'should write a    
book on ,business ,law in the ,spiritual
 ,world4'  ,in this same paper1 in the  
issue of ,march #bg1 #aibj1 there was an
 article commending ,christian missions4
 ,the first caption ran3 ,commercial    
,progress ,follows ,work of ,protestant 
,missions1 and its subtitle was ,how    
,missionaries ,aid ,commerce4 ,here is  
,business ,law in the ,spiritual ,world6
 ,here is the church commended to the   
heathen and the sinner as an advertising
 agent1 an advance guard of commercial  
prosperity1 a hawker of wares6 ,if the  
,bulletin ever penetrates to those      
benighted lands of the ,orient upon     
which we are thus anxious to bestow the 
so apparent benefits of our present     
civilization it is conceivable that even
 the untutored savage1 to say nothing of
 ,chinamen and ,japanese1 might read it 

with his tongue in his cheek4  ,such    
nave opportunism and frantic immediacy  
would seem to me conclusive proof of the
 disintegration and anarchy of the      
spirit within the sanctuary4 ,it is a   
part of it all that everyone has today  
what he is pleased to call his own      
religion4 ,and nearly everyone made it  
himself1 or thinks he did4 ,conscience  
has ceased to be a check upon personal  
impulse1 the thou shalt not of the soul 
addressed to untutored desires1 and     
become an amiable instinct for doing    
good to others4 ,the ,christian is an   
effusive creature1 loving everything and
 everybody2 exalting others in terms of 
himself4 ,we abhor religious            
conventions2 in particular we hasten to 
proclaim that we are free from the      
stigma of orthodoxy4 ,we do not go to   
church to learn1 to meditate1 to repent 
and to pray2 we go to be happy1 to learn
 how to keep young and prosperous2 it is
 good business2 it pays4 ,we have a new 
and most detestable cant2 someone has   

justly said that the natural man in us  
has been masquerading as the spiritual  
man by endlessly prating of courage1    
patriotism--what crimes have been       
committed in its name6--development of  
backward people1 brotherhood of man1    
service of those less fortunate than    
ourselves1 natural ethical idealism1 the
 common destinies of nations--and now he
 rises up and glares at us with stained 
fingers and bloodshot eyes6#ba ,in so   
far as we have succumbed to naturalism1 
we have become cold and shrewd and      
flexible2 shallow and noisy and         
effusive2 have been rather proud to     
believe anything in general and almost  
nothing in particular2 become a sort of 
religious jelly fish1 bumping blindly   
about in seas of sentiment and labeling 
that peace and brotherhood and religion6
  ,footnote #ba3 ,rousseau and          
,romanticism1 p4 #cgf4  ,here1 then1 is 
the state of organized religion today in
 our churches4 ,they are voluntary      
groups of men and women1 long since     

emancipated from the control of the     
church as such1 or of the minister as an
 official1 set free also from allegiance
 to historic statements1 traditional1   
intellectual sanctions of our faith2    
moulded by the time spirit which enfolds
 them to a half-unconscious ignoring or 
depreciation of what must always be the 
fundamental problem of religion--the    
relationship of the soul1 not to its    
neighbor1 but to ,god4 ,hence the almost
 total absence of doctrinal             
preaching--indeed1 how dare we preach   
,christian doctrine to the industry and 
politics and conduct of this age8 ,hence
 the humiliating striving to keep up    
with popular movements1 to conform to   
the moment4 ,hence the placid acceptance
 of military propaganda and even of     
vindictive exhortation4  ,is it any     
wonder then that we cannot compete with 
the state or the world for the loyalty  
of men and women8 ,we have no substitute
 to offer4 ,who need be surprised at the
 restlessness1 the fluidity1 the        

elusiveness of the ,protestant laity8   
,and who need wonder that at this moment
 we are depending upon the externals of 
machinery1 publicity and money to       
reinstate ourselves as a spiritual      
society in the community8 ,a well-known 
official of our communion1 speaking     
before a meeting of ministers in ,new   
,york ,city on ,tuesday1 ,march #bc1 was
 quoted in the ,springfield ,republican 
of the next day as saying3 ,the church  
holds the only cure for the possible    
anarchy of the future and offers the    
only preventative for the hell which we 
have had for the last five years4 ,but  
to meet this challenge the church can   
only go as far--as the money permits4   
,has not the time arrived when1 if we   
are to find ourselves again in the      
world1 we should ask1 ,what is this     
religion in which we believe8 ,what is  
the real nature of its resources8 ,what 
the real nature of its remedies8 ,do we 
dare define it8 ,and1 if we do1 would we
 dare to assert it1 come out from the   

world and live for it1 in the midst of  
the paganism of this moment8 ,is it true
 that without the loaves and the fishes 
we can do nothing8 ,if so1 then we1 too1
 have succumbed to naturalism indeed6   
,,chapter ,,four  ,,the ,,unmeasured    
,,gulf   ,you may remember that when    
,daniel ,webster made his reply to      
,hayne in the ,senate he began the      
argument by a return to first           
principles4 ,when the mariner1 said he1 
has been tossed for many days in thick  
weather and on an unknown sea1 he       
naturally avails himself of the first   
pause in the storm1 the earliest glance 
of the sun1 to take his latitude1 and   
ascertain how far the elements have     
driven him from his true course4 ,let us
 imitate this prudence and before we    
float further on the waves of this      
debate1 refer to the point from which we
 departed4 ,he then asked for the       
reading of the resolution4  ,it is to   
some such rehearsing of our original    
message1 a restatement of the thesis    

which we1 as preachers1 are set to      
commend1 that we turn ourselves in these
 pages4 ,the brutal dislocations of the 
war1 and the long and confused course of
 disintegrating life that lay behind it1
 have driven civilization from its true 
course and deflected the church from her
 normal path1 her natural undertakings4 
,let us try1 then1 to get back to our   
charter2 define once more what we really
 stand for2 view our human life1 not as 
captain of industry1 or international   
politician1 or pagan worldling1 or even 
classic hero1 would regard it1 but see  
it through the eyes of a ,paul1 an      
,augustine1 a ,bernard1 a ,luther1 the  
,lord ,jesus4 ,we have already remarked 
how timely and necessary is this        
redefining of our religious values4 ,if1
 as ,lessing said1 it is the end of     
education to make men to see things that
 are large as large and things that are 
small as small1 it is even more truly   
the end of ,christian preaching4 ,what  
we are most in need of today is a       

corrected perspective of our faith2     
without it we darken counsel as we talk 
in confusion4 ,so1 while we may not     
attempt here a detailed and reasoned    
statement of religious belief1 we may   
try to say what is the fundamental      
attitude1 both toward nature and toward 
man1 that lies underneath the religious 
experience4 ,we have seen that we are   
not stating that attitude very clearly  
nowadays in our pulpits2 hence we are   
often dealing there with sentimental or 
stereotyped or humane or even pagan     
interpretations4 ,yet nothing is more   
fatal for us2 if we peddle other men's  
wares they will be very sure that we    
despise our own4  ,we approach1 then1   
the third and final level of experience 
to which we referred in the first       
lecture4 ,we have seen that the humanist
 accepts the law of measure2 he rests   
back upon the selected and certified    
experience of his race2 from within     
himself1 as the noblest inhabitant of   
the planet1 and by the further critical 

observation of nature he proposes to    
interpret and guide his life4 ,he is    
convinced that this combined authority  
of reason and observation will lead to  
the summum bonum of the golden mean in  
which unbridled self-expression will be 
seen as equally unwise and indecent and 
ascetic repression as both unworthy and 
unnecessary4 ,it is important to again  
remind ourselves that confidence in the 
human spirit as the master of its own   
fate1 and in reason and natural         
observation as offering it the means of 
this self-control and understanding1 are
 essential humanistic principles4 ,the  
humanist world is rational1 social1     
ethical4  ,over against this reasonable 
and disciplined view of man and of his  
world stands naturalism4 ,it exploits   
the defects of the classic virtue2 it   
is1 so to speak1 humanism run to seed4  
,just as religion so often sinks into   
bigotry1 cruelty and superstitition1 so 
humanism1 in lesser souls1 declines to  
egotism1 license and sentimentality4    

,naturalism1 either by a shallow and    
insincere use of the materialistic view 
of the universe1 or by the exalting of  
wanton feeling and whimsical fancy as   
ends in themselves1 attempts the        
identification of man with the natural  
order1 permits him to conceive of each  
desire1 instinct1 impulse1 as1 being    
natural1 thereby defensible and         
valuable4 ,hence it permits him to      
disregard the imposed laws of           
civilization--those fixed points of a   
humane order--and to return in          
principle1 and so far as he dares in    
action1 to the unlimited and            
irresponsible individualism of the      
horde4 ,inevitably the law of the jungle
 is deliberately exalted1 or            
unconsciously adopted1 over against the 
humanist law of moderation and          
discipline4  ,the humanist1 then1       
critically studies nature and mankind1  
finding in her matrix and in his own    
spirit data for the guidance of the     
race1 improving upon it by a cultivated 

and collective experience4 ,the         
naturalist uncritically exalts nature1  
seeks identification with it so that he 
may freely exploit both himself and it4 
,the faith of the one is in the         
self-sufficiency of the disciplined     
spirit of mankind2 the unfaith of the   
other is in its glorification of the    
natural world and in its allegiance to  
the momentary devices and desires of the
 separate heart4 ,it will be borne in   
mind that these definitions are too     
clear-cut2 that these divisions appear  
in the complexities of human experience1
 blurred and modified by the welter of  
cross currents1 subsidiary conflicting  
movements1 which obscure all human      
problems4 ,they represent genuine and   
significant divisions of thought and    
conduct4 ,but they appear in actual     
experience as controlling emphases      
rather than mutually exclusive          
territories4  ,now1 the clearest way to 
get before us the religious view of the 
world and the law which issues from it  

is to contrast it with the other two4   
,in the first place1 the religious      
temperament takes a very different view 
of nature than either romantic1 or to a 
less degree scientific1 naturalism4     
,naturalism is subrational on the one   
hand or non-imaginative on the other1 in
 that it emphasizes the continuity      
between man and the physical universe4  
,the religious man is superrational and 
nobly imaginative as he emphasizes the  
difference between man and nature4 ,he  
does not forget man's biological kinship
 to the brute1 his intimate structural  
and even psychological relation to the  
primates1 but he is aware that it is not
 in dwelling upon these facts that his  
spirit discovers what is distinctive to 
man as man4 ,that he believes will be   
found by accenting the chasm between man
 and nature4 ,he does not know how to   
conceive of a personal being except by  
thinking of him as proceeding by other1 
though not conflicting1 laws and by     
moving toward different secondary ends  

from those laws and ends which govern   
the impersonal external world4 ,this    
sense of the difference between man and 
nature he shares with the humanist1 only
 the humanist does not carry it as far  
as he does and hence may not draw from  
it his ultimate conclusions4  ,the      
religious view1 then1 begins with the   
perception of man's isolation in the    
natural order2 his difference from his  
surroundings4 ,that sense of            
separateness is fundamental to the      
religious nature4 ,the false sentiment  
and partial science of the pagan which  
stresses the identification of man and  
beast is the first quarrel that         
religionist and humanist alike have with
 him4 ,neither of them sanctions this   
perversion of thought and feeling which 
either projects the impressionistic self
 so absurdly and perilously into the    
natural order1 or else minimizes man's  
imaginative and intellectual power1     
leveling him down to the amoral instinct
 of the brute4 ,how much more1 said     

,jesus1 is a man better than a sheep6   
,one of the greatest of ,english        
humanists was ,matthew ,arnold4 ,you    
remember his sonnet1 entitled1 alas6 ,to
 a ,preacher1 which runs as follows3    
,in harmony with ,nature8 ,restless     
fool1   ,who with such heat doth preach 
what were to thee1   ,when true1 the    
last impossibility--   ,to be like      
,nature strong1 like ,nature cool6      
,know1 man hath all which ,nature hath1 
but more1   ,and in that more lie all   
his hopes of good1   ,nature is cruel1  
man is sick of blood2   ,nature is      
stubborn1 man would fain adore2         
,nature is fickle1 man hath need of     
rest2   ,nature forgives no debt and    
fears no grave2   ,man would be mild1   
and with safe conscience blest4   ,man  
must begin2 know this1 where ,nature    
ends2   ,nature and man can never be    
fast friends4   ,fool1 if thou canst not
 pass her1 rest her slave6  ,religionist
 and humanist alike share this clear    
sense of separateness4 ,literature is   

full of the expression of it4 ,religion1
 in especial1 has little to do with the 
natural world as such4 ,it is that other
 and inner one1 which can make a hell of
 heaven1 a heaven of hell1 with which it
 is chiefly concerned4 ,who can forget  
,othello's soliloquy as he prepares to  
darken his marriage chamber before the  
murder of his wife8    ,put out the     
light1 and then put out the light4   ,if
 ,i quench thee1 thou flaming minister1 
,i can again thy former light restore1  
,should ,i repent me2 but once put out  
thy light1   ,thou cunning'st pattern of
 excelling nature1   ,i know not where  
is that ,promethean heat1   ,that can   
thy light relume4 ,when ,i have pluck'd 
the rose   ,i cannot give it vital      
growth again1   ,it needs must wither4  
,indeed1 how vivid to us all is this    
difference between man and nature4 ,i   
would to heaven1 ,byron traced on the   
back of the manuscript of ,don ,juan1   
,i would to heaven that ,i were so much 
clay1   ,as ,i am bone1 blood1 marrow1  

passion1 feeling4  ,ah me6 ,so at many  
times would most of us4 ,and in that    
sense that we are not is where the      
religious consciousness takes its       
beginning4  ,here is the sense of the   
gap between man and the natural world   
felt because man has no power over it4  
,he cannot swerve nor modify its laws1  
nor do his laws acknowledge its         
ascendency over them4 ,but what makes   
the gulf deeper is the sense of the     
immeasurable moral difference between a 
thinking1 feeling1 self-estimating being
 and all this unheeding world about him4
 ,whatever it is that looks out from the
 windows of our eyes something not      
merely of wonder and desire but also of 
fear and repulsion must be there as it  
gazes into so cruel as well as so alien 
an environment4 ,for a moral being to   
glorify nature as such is pure folly or 
sheer sentimentality4 ,for he knows that
 her apparent repose and beauty is built
 up on the ruthless and unending warfare
 of matched forces1 it represents a     

dreadful equilibrium of pain4 ,he knows1
 too1 that that in him which allies him 
with this natural world is his baser1   
not his better part4 ,this nobly        
pessimistic attitude toward the natural 
universe and toward man so far as he    
shares in its characteristics1 is found 
in all classic systems of theology and  
has dominated the greater part of       
,christian thinking4 ,if it is ignored  
today by the pseudo-religionists and the
 sentimentalists2 it is clearly enough  
perceived by contemporary science and   
contemporary art4 ,the biologist        
understands it4 ,i know of no study1    
wrote ,thomas ,huxley1 which is so      
unutterably saddening as that of the    
evolution of humanity as set forth in   
the annals of history4 ,out of the      
darkness of prehistoric ages man emerges
 with the marks of his lowly origin     
strong upon him4 ,he is a brute1 only   
more intelligent than the other brutes2 
a blind prey to impulses which as often 
as not lead him to destruction2 a victim

 to endless illusions which make his    
mental existence a terror and a burden1 
and fill his physical life with barren  
toil and battle4 ,he attains a certain  
degree of comfort1 and develops a more  
or less workable theory of life in such 
favorable situations as the plains of   
,mesopotamia or of ,egypt1 and then1 for
 thousands and thousands of years       
struggles with various fortunes1        
attended by infinite wickedness1        
bloodshed and misery1 to maintain       
himself at this point against the greed 
and ambition of his fellow men4 ,he     
makes a point of killing and otherwise  
persecuting all those who first try to  
get him to move on2 and when he has     
moved a step farther he foolishly       
confers post-mortem deification on his  
victims4 ,he exactly repeats the process
 with all who want to move a step yet   
farther4#bb  ,footnote #bb3             
,agnosticism1 the ,nineteenth ,century1 
,february1 #ahhi4  ,and no less does the
 artist1 the man of high and correct    

feeling1 perceive the immeasurable      
distance between uncaring nature and    
suffering men and women4 ,there is1 for 
instance1 the passage in ,the ,education
 of ,henry ,adams1 in which ,adams      
speaks of the death of his sister at    
,bagni di ,lucca4 ,in the singular color
 of the ,tuscan atmosphere1 the hills   
and vineyards of the ,apennines seemed  
bursting with midsummer blood4 ,the sick
 room itself glowed with the ,italian   
joy of life2 friends filled it2 no harsh
 northern lights pierced the soft       
shadows2 even the dying woman shared the
 sense of the ,italian summer1 the soft 
velvet air1 the humor1 the courage1 the 
sensual fullness of ,nature and man4    
,she faced death1 as women mostly do1   
bravely and even gayly1 racked slowly to
 unconsciousness but yielding only to   
violence1 as a soldier sabred in battle4
 ,for many thousands of years1 on these 
hills and plains1 ,nature had gone on   
sabring men and women with the same air 
of sensual pleasure4  ,impressions like 

these are not reasoned or catalogued in 
the mind2 they are felt as a part of    
violent emotion2 and the mind that feels
 them is a different one from that which
 reasons2 it is thought of a different  
power and a different person4 ,the first
 serious consciousness of ,nature's     
gesture--her attitude toward life--took 
form then as a phantasm1 a nightmare1 an
 insanity of force4 ,for the first time 
the stage scenery of the senses         
collapsed2 the human mind felt itself   
stripped naked1 vibrating in a void of  
shapeless energies1 with resistless     
mass1 colliding1 crushing1 wasting and  
destroying what these same energies had 
created and labored from eternity to    
perfect4  ,here is a vivid              
interpretation of a universal human     
experience4 ,might not any one of us who
 had endured it turn upon the pagan and 
sentimentalist1 crying in the mood of a 
,swift or a ,voltaire1 ,ca vous amuse1  
la vie8 ,the abstract natural rights of 
the eighteenth century smack of academic

 complacency before this4 ,the          
indignation we feel against the insolent
 individualism of a ,louis ,,xiv who    
cried ,l'tat c'est moi6 or against the  
industrial overlord who spills the tears
 of women for his ambition1 the sweat of
 the children for his greed1 is as      
nothing beside the indignation with the 
natural order which any biological study
 would arouse except as the scientist   
perceives that indignation is1 for him1 
beside the point and the religionist    
believes that it proceeds from not      
seeing far enough into the process4     
,this is why there is an essential      
absurdity in any naturalistic system of 
ethics4 ,even the clown can say1        
,here's a night that pities   ,neither  
wise men nor fools4  ,this common       
attitude of the religionist toward      
nature as a remote and cruel world1     
alien to our spirits1 is abundantly     
reflected in literature4 ,it finds a    
sort of final consummation in the       
intuitive insight1 the bright           

understanding of the creative spirits of
 our race4 ,what ,aristotle defines as  
the tragic emotions1 the sense of the   
terror and the pity of human life1 arise
 partly from this perception of the     
isolation always and keenly felt by     
dramatist and prophet and poet4 ,they   
know well that ,nature does not exist by
 our law2 that we neither control nor   
understand it2 is it not our friend8    
,there is1 then1 the law of identity    
between man and nature1 found in their  
common physical origin2 there is also   
the law of difference4 ,it is on that   
aspect of reality that religion places  
its emphasis4 ,it is with this approach 
to understanding ourselves that         
preachers1 as distinguished from        
scientists1 deal4 ,our present society  
is traveling farther and farther away   
from reality in so far as it turns      
either to the outside world of fact1 or 
to the domain of natural law1 expecting 
to find in these the elements of insight
 for the fresh guidance of the human    

spirit4 ,not there resides the secret of
 the beings of whom ,shelley said1      
,we look before and after   ,and pine   
for what is not1   ,our sincerest       
laughter   ,with some pain is fraught4  
,instinct is a base1 a prime factor1    
part of the matrix of personality4 ,but 
personality is not instinct2 it is      
instinct plus a different force2        
instinct transformed by spiritual       
insight and controlled by moral         
discipline4 ,the man of religion1       
therefore1 finds himself not in one but 
two worlds1 not indeed mutually         
exclusive1 having a common origin1 but  
nevertheless significantly distinct4    
,each is incomplete without the other1  
each in a true sense non-existent       
without the other4 ,but that which is   
most vital to man's world is unknown in 
the domain of nature4 ,already the      
perception of a dualism is here4  ,but  
now a third element comes into it4      
,there is something spiritually common  
to nature and man behind the one1 within

 the other4 ,this ,something is the     
origin1 the responsible agent for man's 
and nature's physical identity4 ,this   
,something binds the separates into a   
sort of whole4 ,this1 ,i suppose1 is    
what ,professor ,hocking refers to when 
he says1 the original source of the     
knowledge of ,god is an experience which
 might be described as of not being     
alone in knowing the world1 and         
especially the world of nature4#bc ,thus
 the religious man recognizes beyond the
 gulf1 behind the chasm1 something more 
like himself than it4 ,when he          
contemplates nature1 he sees something  
other than nature2 not a world which is 
what it seems to be1 but a world whose  
chief significance is that it is more   
than it seems to be4 ,it is a world     
where appearance and reality are        
inextricably mingled and yet sublimely  
and significantly separate4 ,in short1  
the naturalist1 the pagan1 takes the    
world as it stands2 it is just what it  
appears2 the essence of his irreligion  

is that he perceives nothing in it that 
needs to be explained4 ,but the         
religionist knows that the world which  
lies before our mortal vision so        
splendid and so ruthless1 so beautiful  
and so dreadful1 does really gain both  
its substance and significance from     
immaterial and unseen powers4 ,it is    
significant not in itself but because it
 hides the truth4 ,it points forever to 
a beyond4 ,it is the vague and          
insubstantial pageant of a dream4       
,behind it1 within the impenetrable     
shadows1 stands the ,infinite ,watcher  
of the sons of men4  ,footnote #bc3 ,the
 ,meaning of ,god in ,human ,experience1
 p4 #bcf4  ,in every age religious souls
 have voiced this unearthliness of      
reality1 the noble other-worldliness of 
the goals of the natural order4 ,heard  
melodies are sweet1 but unheard melodies
 are sweeter4 ,poet1 philosopher and    
mystic have sung their song or          
proclaimed their message knowing that   
they were moving about in worlds not    

realized1 clearly perceiving the        
incompleteness of the phenomenal world  
and the delusive nature of sense        
perceptions4 ,they have known a ,reality
 which they could not comprehend2 felt a
 ,presence which they could not grasp4  
,they have found strength for the battle
 and peace for the pain by regarding    
nature as a dim projection1 a           
tantalizing intimation of that other1   
conscious and creative life1 that       
originating and directive force1 which  
is not nature any more than the copper  
wire is the electric fluid which it     
carries--a force which was before it1   
which moves within it1 which shall be   
after it4  ,so poet and believer and    
mystic find the key to nature1 the      
interpretation of that alien and cruel  
world1 not by sinking to its indifferent
 level1 not by sentimental exaltation of
 its specious peace1 its amoral cruelty 
and beauty1 but by regarding it as the  
expression1 the intimation rather1 of a 
purposive ,intelligence1 a silent and   

infinite ,force1 beyond it all4 ,so the 
pagan effuses over nature1 gilding with 
his sentimentality the puddles that the 
beasts would cough at4 ,and the         
scientist is interested in efficient    
causes1 seeing nature as an unbroken    
sequence1 an endless uniformity of cause
 and effect1 against whose iron chain   
the spirit of mankind wages a foredoomed
 but never ending revolt4 ,but the      
religionist1 confessing the ruthless    
indifference1 the amorality which he    
distrusts and fears1 and not denying the
 majestic uniformity of order1          
nevertheless declares that these are not
 self-made1 that the amorality is but   
one half and that the confusing half of 
the tale4 ,the whole creation indeed    
groaneth and travaileth in pain1 but for
 a final cause1 which alone interprets  
or justifies it1 and which eventually   
shall set it free4 ,as a matter of fact1
 nearly all poets and artists thus view 
nature in the light of final causes1    
though often instinctively and          

unconsciously so4 ,for what they sing or
 paint or mould is not the landscape    
that we see1 the flesh we touch1 but the
 life behind it1 the light that never   
was on land or sea4 ,what they give us  
is not a photograph or an inventory--it 
is worlds away from such nave and lying 
realism4 ,but they hint at the          
inexpressible behind expression2 paint  
the beauty which is indistinguishable   
from nature but not identical with      
,nature4 ,they make us see that not she1
 red in tooth and claw1 but that        
intangible and supernal something-more1 
is what gives her the cleansing bath of 
loveliness4 ,no reflective or           
imaginative person needs to be greatly  
troubled1 therefore1 by any purely      
mechanical or materialistic conception  
of the universe4 ,they who would commend
 that view of the cosmos have not only  
to reckon with philosophical and        
religious idealism1 but also with all   
the bright band of poets and artists and
 seers4 ,such an issue once resolutely  

forced would therewith collapse1 for it 
would pit the qualitative standards     
against the quantitative1 the           
imagination against literalism1 the     
creative spirit in man against the      
machine in him4  ,here1 then1 is the    
difference between the naturalist's and 
the religionist's attitude toward       
,nature4 ,the believer judges ,nature1  
well aware of the gulf between himself  
and her1 hating with inexpressible depth
 of indignation and repudiating with    
profound contempt the sybarite's        
identification of human and natural law4
 ,but also he comes back to her1 not to 
accept in wonder her variable outward   
form1 but to worship in awe before her  
invariable inner meaning4 ,sometimes1   
like so many of the humanists1 he rises 
only to a vague sense of the mystic     
unity that fills up the interspaces of  
the world1 and cries with ,wordsworth3  
444 ,and ,i have felt   ,a presence that
 disturbs me with the joy   ,of elevated
 thoughts2 a sense sublime   ,of        

something far more deeply interfused1   
,whose dwelling is the light of setting 
suns1   ,and the round ocean and the    
living air1   ,and the blue sky1 and in 
the mind of man2   ,a motion and a      
spirit1 that impels   ,all thinking     
things1 all objects of all thought1     
,and rolls through all things4#bd       
,sometimes he dares to personalize this 
ultimate and then ascends to the supreme
 poetry of the religious experience and 
feels the cosmic consciousness1 the     
eternal ,i of this strange world1 which 
fills it with observant majesty4 ,and   
then he chants1    ,the heavens declare 
the glory of ,god1   ,the firmament     
showeth his handiwork4  ,or he whispers1
    ,whither shall ,i go from ,thy      
spirit1   ,or whither shall ,i flee from
 ,thy presence8   ,if ,i ascend up into 
heaven1 ,thou art there1   ,if ,i make  
my bed in hell1 behold ,thou art there1 
,if ,i take the wings of the morning    
,and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
 earth1   ,even there shall ,thy hand   

lead me   ,and ,thy right hand shall    
hold me4#be  ,indeed1 the devout        
religionist almost never thinks of      
nature as such4 ,she is always the bush 
which flames and is not consumed4       
,therefore he walks softly all his days1
 conscious that ,god is near4    ,of    
old1 he says1 ,thou hast laid the       
foundations of the earth2   ,and the    
heavens are the work of ,thy hands4     
,they shall perish1 but ,thou shalt     
endure2   ,yea1 all of them shall wax   
old like a garment2   ,as a vesture     
shalt ,thou change them1 and they shall 
be changed2   ,but ,thou art the same1  
,and ,thy years shall have no end4#bf   
,to him nature is the glass through     
which he sees darkly and often with a   
darkling mind1 the all-pervasive        
,presence2 it is the veil--the veil that
 covers the face of ,god4  ,footnote    
#bd3 ,lines composed a few miles above  
,tintern ,abbey1 stanza #c1 ll4 #cf-de4 
,footnote #be3 ,psalm cxxxix4 #g-i4     
,footnote #bf3 ,psalm cii4 #be-bg4      

,here1 then1 we have the contrasting    
attitude of worldling and believer      
toward nature1 the outward universe4    
,now we come to the contrasting attitude
 of humanist and believer toward man1   
the world within4 ,for why are we so    
sure1 first1 of the chasm between       
ourselves and ,nature and1 second1 that 
we can bridge that chasm by reaching out
 to something behind and beyond her     
which is more like us than her8 ,what   
gives us the key to her dualism8 ,why do
 we think that there is ,something which
 perpetually beckons to us through her1 
makes awful signs of an intimate and    
significant relationship8 ,because we   
feel a similar chasm1 an equal cleft in 
our own hearts1 a division in the moral 
nature of mankind4 ,we know that gulf   
between us and the outward world because
 we know the greater gulf between flesh 
and spirit1 between the natural man and 
the real man1 between the ,i and the    
other ,i4  ,here is where the humanist  
bids us good-by and we must go forward  

on our road alone4 ,for he will not     
acknowledge that there is anything      
essential or permanent in that divided  
inner world2 he would minimize it or    
explain it away4 ,but we know it is     
there and the reason we know there is   
,something without which can bridge the 
outer chasm is because we also know     
there is ,something-,else within which  
might bridge this one4 ,for we who are  
religious know that within the depths   
and the immensities of this inner world1
 where there is no space but where there
 is infinite largeness1 where there is  
no time but where there is perpetual    
strife1 there is ,something-,else as    
well as the ,i and the other ,i1 and it 
is that ,he who is the ,something-,else 
who alone can close the gap in that     
divided kingdom and make us one with    
ourselves1 hence with ,himself and hence
 with ,his world4  ,you ask how we can  
say1 ,he's there2 ,he knows4 ,we answer 
that this other1 this ,he is a constant 
figure in the experience2 always in the 

vision2 an integral part of the         
perception4 ,what is ,he like8 ,he is   
purity and compassion and               
inexorableness4 ,something fixed1       
immutable1 not to be tricked1 not to be 
evaded and oh6 all-comprehending4 ,he   
sees1 his eyes run to and fro in all the
 dark and wide1 the light and high      
dominions of the soul4 ,if we will not  
come to terms with ,him1 that eternal   
and changeless life will be the cliff   
against which the tumultuous waves of   
the divided spirit shall shatter and    
dissipate into soundless foam2 if we    
will come to terms1 relinquish1 accept1 
surrender1 then that purity and that    
compassion will be the cleansing tide1  
the healing and restoring flood in which
 we sink in the ecstasy of self-loss to 
arise refreshed1 radiant1 and made      
whole4  ,so we reckon from within out4  
,the religious view of the world is     
based upon the religious experience of  
the soul4 ,we have no other means of    
getting at reality4 ,i know that there  

is ,something-more than me and          
,something-more than the nature outside 
of me1 because we know that there is    
,something which is not me and is not   
nature1 inside of me4 ,so the man of    
religion1 like any other poet1 artist1  
seer1 looks in his own heart and writes4
 ,what he finds there is real1 or else1 
as far as he is concerned1 there is no  
reality4 ,he does not assert that this  
reality is the final and utter truth4   
,but he knows it is his trustworthy     
mediator of that truth4  ,here1 then1 is
 an immense separation between          
religionist and both humanist and       
naturalist2 a separation so complete as 
to come full circle4 ,we are convinced  
of the secondary value1 both of natural 
appearances and of the mortal1 temporal 
consciousness4 ,so we substitute for    
impertinent familiarity with ,nature1 a 
reverent regard for what she half       
reveals1 half hides4 ,we interpret her  
by ourselves4 ,we are the same compound 
of identity and difference4 ,we         

acknowledge our continuity with the     
natural world1 our intimate and tragic  
alliance with the dust1 but we also know
 that we1 within ourselves1 are         
,something-,else as well4 ,and it is    
that ,something-,else in us which makes 
the significant part of us1 which sets  
our value and place in the scale of     
being4  ,in short1 the dualism of nature
 is revealed in the dualism of the soul4
 ,there is a gulf within1 and if only   
man can span the inner chasm1 he will   
know how to bridge the outer4 ,he must  
begin by finding ,god within himself1 or
 he will never find ,him anywhere4 ,now1
 it is out of this sense of a separation
 within himself1 from himself and from  
the ,author of himself1 that there      
arises that awful sense of helplessness1
 of dependence1 of bewilderment1 which  
is the second great element in the      
religious life4 ,man is alone in the    
world2 man is helpless in the world2 man
 ought not to be alone in the world2 man
 is therefore under scrutiny and        

condemnation2 he must find              
reconciliation1 harmony1 companionship1 
somehow1 somewhere4 ,hence the religious
 man is not arrogant like the pagan1 nor
 proud like the humanist2 he is humble4 
,it is ,burke1 ,i think1 who says that  
the whole ethical life of man has its   
roots in this humility4#bg ,the         
religious man cannot help but be humble4
 ,he has an awful pride in his kinship  
with heaven1 but1 standing before the   
,lord of heaven1 he feels human nature's
 proper place1 its confusion and        
division and helplessness2 its          
dependence upon the higher ,power4      
,footnote #bg3 ,correspondence1 ,,iii1  
p4 #bac4  ,it is at this point that     
humanism and religion definitely part   
company4 ,the former does not feel this 
absolute and judging ,presence1 hence   
cannot understand the spiritual         
solicitude of the latter4 ,st4 ,paul was
 not quite at home on ,mars ,hill2 it   
was hard to make those who were always  
hearing and seeing some new thing       

understand2 the shame and humility of   
the cross were an unnecessary           
foolishness to them4 ,so they have      
always been4 ,the humanist cannot take  
seriously this sense of a transcendent  
reality4 ,when ,cicero1 to escape the   
vengeance of ,clodius1 withdrew from    
,rome1 he passed over into ,greece and  
dwelt for a while in ,thessalonica4 ,one
 day he saw ,mount ,olympus1 the lofty  
and eternal home of the deities of      
ancient ,greece4 ,but ,i1 said the bland
 eclectic philosopher1 saw nothing but  
snow and ice4  ,how inadequate1 then1 as
 a substitute for religion1 is even the 
noblest humanism4 ,true and fine as far 
as it goes1 it does not go far enough   
for us4 ,it takes too little account of 
the divided life4 ,it appears not to    
understand it4 ,on the whole it refuses 
to acknowledge that it really exists1   
or1 if it does1 it is convinced of man's
 unaided ability to efface it4 ,it isn't
 something inevitable4 ,hence the pride 
which is an essential quality of the    

humanistic attitude4  ,but the religious
 man knows that it does exist and that  
while he is not wholly responsible for  
it1 yet he is essentially so and that1  
alas1 in spite of that fact1 he alone   
cannot bridge it4 ,so he cries1         
,wretched man that ,i am1 what shall ,i 
do to be saved8 ,here is the feeling of 
uneasiness1 the sense of something being
 wrong about us as we naturally stand1  
of which ,james speaks4 ,in that sense  
of responsibility is the confession of  
sin and in the confession of sin is the 
acknowledgment of the impotence of the  
sinner4    ,the moving finger writes1   
and having writ1 moves on   ,nor all    
your wit nor all your tears1 can wash a 
line of it4  ,man cannot1 unaided1 make 
his connection with this higher power4  
,the world is at fault1 yes1 but we are 
at fault1 something both within and     
without dreadfully needs explaining4 ,so
 man is subdued and troubled by the     
infinite mystery2 and he cannot accept  
the place in which he finds himself in  

that mystery2 he is ashamed of it4      
,vivid1 then1 is his sense of           
helplessness6 ,it makes him resent the  
humanist1 who bids him1 unaided1 solve  
his fate and be a man4 ,that is giving  
him stones when he asks for bread4 ,he  
knows that advice makes an inhuman      
demand upon the will2 it assumes a      
reasonableness1 an insight and a moral  
power1 which for him do not exist2 it   
ignores or it denies the reality and the
 meaning of this inner gulf4 ,it is     
important to note that even as          
philosophy and art and literature soon  
parted company with the naturalist1 so1 
to a large degree1 they part company    
with the humanist1 too4 ,they do not    
know very much of an harmonious and     
triumphant universe4 ,few of the world's
 creative spirits have ever denied that 
inner chasm or minimized its tragic     
consequences to mankind4 ,isaiah and    
,paul and ,john and ,augustine and      
,luther are wrung with the consciousness
 of it4 ,indeed1 the antithesis between 

flesh and spirit is too familiar in     
religious literature to need any        
recounting4 ,it is more vividly brought 
home to us from the nonprofessional1 the
 disinterested and involuntary testimony
 of secular writing4 ,was there ever    
such a cry of revolt on the part of the 
trapped spirit against the net and      
slough of natural values and natural    
desires as runs through the sonnets of  
,william ,shakespeare8 ,we remember the 
#ajdth3    ,poor soul1 the centre of my 
sinful earth1   ,foiled by these rebel  
powers that thee array1   ,why dost thou
 pine within1 and suffer dearth1        
,painting thine outward walls so costly 
gay8   ,why so large cost1 having so    
short a lease1   ,dost thou upon thy    
fading mansion spend8   ,shall worms1   
inheritors of this excess1   ,eat up thy
 charge8 ,is this thy body's end8       
,then soul1 live thou upon thy servant's
 loss   ,and let that pine to aggravate 
thy store1   ,buy terms divine in       
selling hours of dross   ,within be fed1

 without be rich no more--  ,or turn to 
our contemporary poet1 ,james ,stephens3
    ,good and bad are in my heart   ,but
 ,i cannot tell to you   ,for they never
 are apart   ,which is the better of the
 two4    ,i am this3 ,i am the other    
,and the devil is my brother   ,and my  
father he is ,god   ,and my mother is   
the sod1   ,therefore ,i am safe1 you   
see   ,owing to my pedigree4    ,so ,i  
cherish love and hate   ,like twin      
brothers in a nest   ,lest ,i find when 
it's too late   ,that the other was the 
best4#bh  ,here1 then1 we find the next 
thing which grows out of man's sense of 
separation both from nature and from his
 own best self4 ,it is his moral        
judgment on himself as well as on the   
world outside1 and that power to judge  
shows that he is greater than either4   
,as ,dr4 ,gordon says1 ,every honest man
 lives under the shadow of his own      
rebuke4 ,we can go far with the humanist
 in acknowledging the failures that are 
due to environment1 to incompleteness1  

to ignorance2 we do not forget the      
helpless multitude who sit in darkness  
and in the shadow of death2 and we agree
 with the scientist that their          
helplessness foredooms them and that    
their fate cannot be laid to their      
charge4 ,but we go far beyond where     
scientist and humanist stop4 ,for we    
know that the deepest cause of human    
misery is not inheritance1 is not       
environment1 is not ignorance1 is not   
incompleteness2 it is the informed but  
the perverse human will4 ,just as       
unhappiness is the consciousness of the 
divided mind1 so guilt is this sense of 
the deliberately divided will4 ,jonathan
 ,swift knew that2 on every yearly      
recurrence of the hour in which he came 
into the world1 he cried lamentably1    
,let the day perish wherein ,i was born4
  ,footnote #bh3 ,songs from the ,clay1 
p4 #dj4  ,the ,lord ,jesus knew it1 too4
 ,his teaching1 unlike that of ,paul1   
does not throw into the foreground the  
divided will and its accompanying sense 

of sin and guilt4 ,but he does not      
ignore it4 ,he brought it out with      
infinite tenderness but inexorable      
clearness in the parables of the lost   
sheep1 the lost coin and the lost boy4  
,the sheep were but young and silly1    
they did not wish to be lost on the     
mountain-side2 they knew no better2     
inexperience1 ignorance were theirs1 and
 for their sad estate they were not held
 responsible4 ,for them the             
compassionate shepherd sought until he  
found them in the wilds1 took them1     
involuntary burdens1 on his heart1      
brought them back to safety and the     
fold4 ,the coin had no native affinity  
with the dirt and grime of the careless 
woman's house4 ,it was only a coin1     
attached to anklet or bracelet1 having  
no power1 no independence of its own2   
where it fell1 there must it lie4 ,so   
with the lives set by fate in the refuse
 and grime of our industrial            
civilization1 the pure minted gold      
effectually concealed by the obscurity  

and filth around4 ,for such lives1      
victims of environment1 the ,father will
 search1 too1 until they are found1     
taken up1 and somewhere1 in this world  
or another1 restored to their native    
worth4 ,but the chief of the parables1  
and the one that has captured the       
imagination and subdued the heart of    
mankind1 because it so true to the      
greater part of life1 is the story of   
the lost boy4 ,for he was the real      
sinner and he was such because1 knowing 
what he was about and able to choose1 he
 desired to do wrong4 ,it was not       
ignorance1 nor environment1 nor         
inheritance1 that led him into the far  
country4 ,it was its alien delights and 
their alien nature1 for which as such he
 craved4 ,how subtle and certain is the 
word of ,jesus here4 ,no shepherd seeks 
this wandering sheep2 no householder    
searches for this lost coin4 ,the boy   
who willed to do wrong must stay with   
the swine among the husks until he wills
 to do right4 ,then1 when he desires to 

return1 return is made possible and     
easy1 but the responsibility is forever 
his4 ,the source of his misery is his   
own will4  ,so the disposition of       
mankind is at the bottom of the         
suffering and the division4 ,there is   
rebellion and perverseness mingled with 
the helplessness and ignorance and      
sorrow4 ,no man ever understands or can 
speak to the religious life unless he   
has the consciousness of this inner     
moral cleft4 ,no man will ever be able  
to preach with power about ,god unless  
he does it chiefly in terms of ,god's   
difference from man and man's perilous  
estate and desperate need of ,him4      
,indeed1 ,god is not like us1 not like  
this inner life of ours2 this is what we
 want to hear4 ,god is different2 that  
is why we want to be able to love ,him4 
,and being thus different1 we are       
separated from ,him1 both by the inner  
chasm of the divided soul and the outer 
chasm of remote and hostile nature4     
,then comes the final question3 ,how are

 we1 being helpless1 to reach ,him8 ,how
 are we1 being guilty1 to find ,him8    
,when men deal with these queries1 with 
this range of experience1 this set of   
inward perceptions1 then they are       
preaching religiously4 ,and then1 ,i    
venture to say1 they do not fail either 
of hearers or of followers4 ,then there 
is what ,catherine ,booth used to call  
liberty of speech2 then there is power  
because then we talk of realities4 ,for 
what is it that looks out from the eyes 
of religious humanity8 ,rebellion1      
pride8 no6 ,humility1 loneliness1       
something of a just and deserved fear2  
but most of all1 desire1 insatiable1    
unwavering1 an intense desire4 ,this    
passion of the race1 its never satisfied
 hunger1 its incredible intensity and   
persistency of striving and longing1 is 
at once the tragedy and glory1 the      
witness to the helplessness1 the        
revelation of the capacity of the race4 
,the mainspring of human activity1 the  
creative impulse from which in devious  

ways all the thousand-hued motives of   
our lives arise1 is revealed in the     
ancient cry1 ,my soul thirsteth for     
,god1 for the living ,god6 ,that        
unquenched thirst for ,him underlies all
 human life1 as the solemn stillness of 
the ocean underlies the restless upper  
waves4 ,the dynamic of the world is the 
sense of the divine reality4 ,the woe of
 the world is man's inability to        
discover and appropriate that reality4  
,who that has entered truly into life   
does not perceive beneath all the       
glitter of its brilliance1 the roar of  
its energy and achievement1 the note of 
melancholy8 ,the great undertone of life
 is solemn in its pathetic uniformity4  
,the poets and prophets of the world    
have seized unerringly upon that        
melancholy undertone4 ,who ever better  
understood the futility and helplessness
 of unaided man1 the certain doom that  
tracks down his pride of insolence1 or  
his sin1 than the ,greek tragedians8    
,sophocles1 divided spirit that he was1 

heard that note of melancholy long ago  
by the gean1 wrote it into his somber   
dramas1 with their turbid ebb and flow  
of human misery4 ,sometimes the voices  
of our humanity as they rise blend and  
compose into one great cry that is      
lifted1 shivering and tingling1 to the  
stars1 ,oh1 that ,i knew where ,i might 
find ,him6 ,sometimes and more often    
they sink into a subdued and minor      
plaint1 infinitely touching in its human
 solicitude1 perplexity and pain4       
,again1 ,james ,stephens has phrased it 
for us in his verse ,the ,nodding       
,stars4#bi  ,footnote #bi3 ,songs from  
the ,clay1 p4 #fh4    ,brothers1 what is
 it ye mean1   ,what is it ye try to say
   ,that so earnestly ye lean   ,from   
the spirit to the clay4    ,there are   
weary gulfs between   ,here and sunny   
,paradise1   ,brothers6 ,what is it ye  
mean   ,that ye search with burning     
eyes1    ,down for me whose fire is     
clogged1   ,clamped in sullen1 earthy   
mould1   ,battened down and fogged and  

bogged1   ,where the clay is seven-fold4
  ,now we understand the tragic aspect  
of nature and of the human soul caught  
in this cosmic dualism without which    
corresponds to the ethical dualism      
within4 ,this perception of the ,one    
behind the many in nature1 of the       
thing-in-itself1 as distinguished from  
the many expressions of that thing1 is  
the chief theme for preaching4 ,this is 
what brings men to themselves4 ,herein1 
as ,dr4 ,newman ,smyth has pointed out1 
appears the unique marvel of            
personality4 ,it becomes conscious of   
itself as individual and it             
individualizes the world2 it is the one 
discovering itself among the many4 ,in  
the midst of uniformities of nature1    
moving at will on the plane of natural  
necessities1 weaving the pattern of its 
ideas through the warp of natural laws1 
runs the personal life4 ,on the same    
plane and amid these uniformities1 yet  
itself a sphere of being of another     
order2 in it1 yet disentangled from it1 

and having its center in itself1 it     
lives and moves and has its being1      
breaking no thread of nature's weaving1 
subject to its own law1 and manifesting 
a dynamic of its own4#cj  ,footnote #cj3
 ,the ,meaning of the ,personal ,life1  
p4 #agc4  ,the source1 then1 as we see  
it1 of all human hopes and human        
dignity1 the urge that lies behind all  
metaphysics and much of literature and  
art1 the thing that makes men eager to  
live1 yet nobly curious to die1 is this 
conviction that ,one like unto ourselves
 but from whom we have made ourselves   
unlike1 akin to our real1 if buried1    
person1 walketh with us in the fiery    
furnace of our life4 ,there is a ,spirit
 in man and the breath of the ,almighty 
giveth him understanding4 ,starting from
 this interpretation1 we can begin to   
order the baffling and teasing aspects1 
the illusive nature of the world4 ,why  
this ever failing1 but never ending     
struggle against unseen odds to grasp   
and understand and live with the        

,divine8 ,why1 between the two1 the     
absolute and the changeless spirit1     
unseen but felt1 and the hesitant and   
timid spirit of a man1 would there seem 
to be a great gulf fixed8 ,because we   
are wrong4 ,because man finds the gulf  
within himself4 ,he chafes at the       
limitations of time and space8 ,yes2 but
 he chafes more at the mystery and      
weakness1 the mingled deceitfulness and 
cunning and splendor of the human heart4
 ,because there is no one of us who can 
say1 ,i have made my life pure1 ,i am   
free from my sin4 ,he knows that the    
gulf is there between the fallible and  
human1 and the more than human2 he does 
not know how to cross it2 he says1    ,i
 would think until ,i found   ,something
 ,i can never find   ,something lying on
 the ground   ,in the bottom of my mind4
  ,here1 then1 can we not understand    
that mingling of mystic dignity and     
profound humility1 of awe-struck pride  
and utter self-abnegation1 wherewith the
 man of religion regards his race and   

himself8 ,he is the child of the        
,eternal2 he1 being man1 alone knows    
that ,god is4 ,when ,i consider the     
heavens1 the work of ,thy fingers1 the  
moon and the stars which ,thou hast     
ordained1 what is man that ,thou art    
mindful of him1 or the son of man that  
,thou visitest him8 ,here is the        
humility3 ,why so hot1 little man6 ,then
 comes the awe-struck pride3 ,yet ,thou 
hast made him a little lower than the   
angels and crowned him with glory and   
honor4 ,alone with the gods1 alone6 ,god
 is the high and lofty one which        
inhabiteth eternity1 but ,he is also    
nigh unto them who are of a broken and a
 contrite heart4  ,here we are come to  
the very heart of religion4 ,man's proud
 separateness in the universe2 yet man's
 moral defection and his responsibility 
for it which makes him know that        
separateness2 man's shame and           
helplessness under it4 ,over against the
 denial or evasion of moral values by   
the naturalist and the dullness to the  

sense of moral helplessness by the      
humanist1 there stands the sense of     
moral difference1 the sense of sin1 of  
penitence and confession4 ,no preaching 
not founded on these things can ever be 
called religious or can ever stir those 
ranges of the human life for which alone
 preaching is supposed to exist4  ,what 
is the religious law1 then8 ,it is the  
law of humility4 ,and what is the       
religious consciousness8 ,the sense of  
man's difference from nature and from   
,god4 ,the sense of his difference from 
himself within himself and the longing  
for an inner harmony which shall unite  
him with himself and with the beauty and
 the spirit without4 ,so what is the    
religious passion8 ,is it to exalt human
 nature8 ,it would be more true to say  
it is to lose it4 ,what is the end for  
us8 ,not identification with nature and 
the natural self1 but pursuit of the    
other than nature1 the more than natural
 self4 ,our humility is not like that of
 ,uriah ,heep1 a mean opinion of        

ourselves in comparison with other men4 
,it is the profound consciousness of the
 weakness and the nothingness of our    
kind1 and of the poor ends human nature 
sets its heart upon1 in comparison with 
that ,other ,one above and beyond and   
without us1 to whom we are kin1 from    
whom we are different1 to whom we       
aspire1 to reach whom we know not how4  
,this1 then1 is what we mean when we    
turn back from the language of          
experience to the vocabulary of         
philosophy and theology and talk about  
the absolute values of religion4 ,we    
mean by absolute values that behind the 
multifarious and ever changing nature1  
is a single and a steadfast cause--a    
great rock in a weary land4 ,we have    
lost the old absolute philosophies and  
dogmatic theologies and that is good and
 right1 for they were outworn4 ,but we  
are never going to lose the central     
experience that produced them1 and our  
task is to find a new philosophy to     
express these inner things for which the

 words supernatural1 absolute1 are no   
longer intelligible4 ,for we still know 
that behind man's partial and relative  
knowledge1 feeling1 willing1 is an utter
 knowledge1 a perfect feeling1 a serene 
and unswerving will2 that beneath man's 
moral anarchy there is moral            
sovereignty2 that behind his            
helplessness there is abundant power to 
save4 ,perhaps this ,other is always    
changing1 but1 if so1 it is a ,oneness  
which is changing4 ,in short1 the thing 
that is characteristic of religion is   
that it dwells1 not on man's likenesses1
 but on his awful differences from      
nature and from ,god2 sees him not as   
little counterparts of deity1 but as    
broken fragments only to be made whole  
within the perfect life4 ,it sees       
relativity as the law of our being1 yes1
 but relativity1 not of the sort that   
excludes1 but is included in1 a higher  
absolute1 even as the planet swings in  
infinite space4  ,the trouble with much 
preaching is that it lacks the          

essentially religious insight2 in       
dwelling on man's identities it confuses
 or drugs1 not clarifies and purges1 the
 spirit4 ,thus1 it obscures the gulf4   
,sometimes it evades it1 or bridges it  
by minimizing it1 and genuinely         
religious people1 and those who want to 
be religious1 and those who might be1   
know that such preaching is not real and
 that it does not move them and1 worst  
of all1 the hungry sheep look up and are
 not fed4 ,for in such preaching there  
is no call to humility1 no plea for     
grace1 no sense that the achievement of 
self-unity is as much a rescue as it is 
a reformation4 ,but this sense of the   
need of salvation is integral to        
religion2 this is where it has parted   
company with humanism4 ,humanism makes  
no organic relations between man and the
 ,eternal4 ,it is as though it thought  
these would take care of themselves6 ,in
 the place of grace it puts pride2 pride
 of caste1 of family1 of character1 of  
intellect4 ,but high self-discipline and

 pride in the human spirit are not the  
deepest or the highest notes man        
strikes4 ,the cry1 not of pride in self1
 but for fellowship with the ,infinite1 
is the superlative expression of man4   
,augustine sounded the highest note of  
feeling when he wrote1 ,o ,god1 ,thou   
hast made us for ,thyself1 and our      
hearts are restless until they rest in  
,thee4 ,the words of the ,lord ,jesus   
gave the clearest insight of the human  
mind when ,he said1 ,and when he came to
 himself1 he said1 ,i will arise and go 
to my ,father4     ,,chapter ,,five     
,,grace1 ,,knowledge1 ,,virtue   ,i hope
 the concluding paragraphs of the last  
chapter brought us back into the        
atmosphere of religion1 into that sort  
of mood in which the reality of the     
struggle for character1 the craving of  
the human spirit to give and to receive 
compassion1 the cry of the lonely soul  
for the love of ,god1 were made         
manifest4 ,these are the real goods of  
life to religious natures2 they need    

this meat which the world knoweth not   
of2 there is a continuing resolve in    
them to say1 ,good-by1 proud world1 ,i'm
 going home6 ,the genuinely religious   
man must1 and should indeed1 live in    
this world1 but he cannot live of it4   
,merely to create such an atmosphere    
then1 to induce this sort of mood1 to   
shift for men their perspectives1 until 
these needs and values rise once more   
compelling before their eyes1 is a chief
 end of preaching4 ,its object is not so
 much moralizing or instructing as it is
 interpreting and revealing2 not the    
plotting out of the landscape at our    
feet1 but the lifting of our eyes to the
 hills1 to the fixed stars4 ,then we    
really do see things that are large as  
large and things that are small as      
small4 ,we need that vision today from  
religious leaders more than we need any 
other one thing4  ,for humanism and     
naturalism between them have brought us 
to an almost complete secularization of 
preaching1 in which its characteristic  

elements1 its distinctive contribution1 
have largely faded from liberal speaking
 and from the consciousness of its      
hearers4 ,we have emphasized man's      
kinship with nature until now we can see
 him again declining to the brute2 we   
have proclaimed the divine ,immanence   
until we think to compass the ,eternal  
within a facile and finite              
comprehension4 ,by thus dwelling on the 
physical and rational elements of human 
experience1 religion has come to concern
 itself to an extraordinary degree with 
the local and temporal reaches of faith4
 ,we have lost the sense of communion   
with ,absolute ,being and of the        
obligation to standards higher than     
those of the world1 which that communion
 brings4 ,out of this identification of 
man with nature has come the preaching  
which ignores the fact of sin2 which    
reduces free will and the moral         
responsibility of the individual to the 
vanishing point2 which stresses the     
control of the forces of inheritance and

 environment to the edge of fatalistic  
determinism2 which leads man to regard  
himself as unfortunate rather than      
reprehensible when moral disaster       
overtakes him2 which induces that       
condoning of the moral rebel which is   
born not of love for the sinner but of  
indifference to his sin2 which issues in
 that last degeneration of self-pity in 
which individuals and societies alike   
indulge2 and in that repellent          
sentimentality over vice and crime which
 beflowers the murderer while it forgets
 its victim1 which turns to ouija boards
 and levitated tables to obscure the    
solemn finality of death and to gloze   
over the guilty secrets of the          
battlefield4  ,thus it has come about   
that we preach of ,god in terms of the  
drawing-room1 as though he were some    
vast ,st4 ,nicholas1 sitting up there in
 the sky or amiably informing our       
present world1 regarding with easy      
benevolence ,his minute and multifarious
 creations1 winking at our pride1 our   

cruelty1 our self-love1 our lust1 not   
greatly caring if we break ,his laws1   
tossing out ,his indiscriminate gifts1  
and vaguely trusting in our automatic   
arrival at virtue4 ,even as in          
philosophy1 it is psychologists1 experts
 in empirical science and methods1 and  
sociologists1 experts in practical      
ethics1 who may be found1 while the     
historian and the metaphysician are     
increasingly rare1 so in preaching we   
are amiable and pious and ethical and   
practical and informative1 but the      
vision and the absolutism of religion   
are a departing glory4  ,what           
complicates the danger and difficulty of
 such a position1 with its confusion of 
natural and human values1 and its       
rationalizing and secularizing of       
theistic thinking1 is that it has its   
measure of reality4 ,all these          
observations of naturalist and humanist 
are half truths1 and for that very      
reason more perilous than utter         
falsehoods4 ,for the mind tends to rest 

contented within their areas1 and so the
 partial becomes the worst enemy of the 
whole4 ,what we have been doing is      
stressing the indubitable identity      
between man and nature and between the  
,creator and ,his creatures to the point
 of unreality1 forgetting the equally   
important fact of the difference1 the   
distinction between the two4 ,but sound 
knowledge and normal feeling rest upon  
observing and reckoning with both       
aspects of this law of kinship and      
contrast4 ,all human experience becomes 
known to us through the interplay of    
what appear to be contradictory needs   
and opposing truths within our being4   
,thus1 man is a social animal and can   
only find himself in a series of        
relationships as producer1 lover1       
husband1 father and friend4 ,he is a    
part of and like unto his kind1 his     
spirit immanent in his race4 ,but man is
 also a solitary creature1 and in that  
very solitariness1 which he knows as he 
contrasts it with his social interests1 

he finds identity of self1 the something
 which makes us us1 which separates us  
from all others in the world4 ,a        
,crusoe1 marooned on a ,south ,sea      
island1 without even a black man ,friday
 for companionship1 would soon cease to 
be a man2 personality would forsake him4
 ,but the same ,crusoe is equally in    
need of solitude4 ,the hell of the      
barracks1 no matter how well conducted1 
is their hideous lack of privacy2 men   
condemned by shipwreck or imprisonment  
to an unbroken and intimate             
companionship kill their comrade or     
themselves4 ,we are all alike and hence 
gregarious2 we are all different and    
hence flee as a bird to the mountain4   
,the reality of human personality lies  
in neither one aspect of the truth nor  
the other1 but in both4 ,the truth is   
found as we hold the balance between    
identity and difference4 ,hence we are  
not able to think of personality in the 
,godhead unless we conceive of ,god as  
being1 within ,himself1 a social no less

 than a solitary ,being4  ,again1 this  
law that the truth is found in the      
balance of the antinomies appears in    
man's equal passion for continuity and  
permanency and for variety and change4  
,the book of ,revelation tells us that  
the redeemed1 before the great white    
throne1 standing upon the sea of glass1 
sing the song of ,moses and the ,lamb4  
,what has the one to do with the other8 
,here is the savage1 triumphant chant of
 the far dawn of ,israel's history1     
joined with the furthest and latest     
possible events and words4 ,well1 it at 
least suggests the continuity of the    
ageless struggle of mankind1 showing    
that the past has its place in the      
present1 relieving man's horror of the  
impermanence1 the disjointed character  
of existence4 ,he wants something       
orderly and static4 ,but1 like the jet  
of water in the fountain1 his life is   
forever collapsing and collapsing1      
falling in upon itself1 its apparent    
permanence nothing but a rapid and      

glittering succession of impermanences4 
,the dread of growing old is chiefly    
that1 as years come on1 life changes    
more and faster1 becomes a continual    
process of readjustment4 ,therefore we  
want something fixed2 like the sailor   
with his compass1 we must have some     
needle1 even if a tremulous one1 always 
pointing toward a changeless star4 ,yet 
this is but one half of the picture4    
,does man desire continuity8--quite as  
much does he wish for variety1 cessation
 of old ways1 change and fresh          
beginnings4 ,the most terrible figure   
which the subtle imagination of the     
,middle ,ages conjured up was that of   
the ,wandering ,jew1 the man who could  
not die6 ,here1 then1 we arrive at      
knowledge1 the genuine values of        
experience1 by this same balancing of   
opposites4 ,continuity alone kills2     
perpetual change strips life of         
significance2 man must have both4  ,now1
 it is in the religious field that this 
interests us most4 ,we have seen that   

what we have been doing there of late   
has been to ignore the fact that reality
 is found only through this balancing of
 the law of difference and identity1    
contrast and likeness4 ,we have been    
absorbed in one half of reality1        
identifying man with nature1 prating of 
his self-sufficiency1 seeing divinity   
almost exclusively as immanent in the   
phenomenal world4 ,thus we have not     
merely been dealing with only one half  
of the truth1 but that1 to use a        
solecism1 the lesser half4  ,for        
doubtless men do desire in religion a   
recognition of the real values of their 
physical nature4 ,and they want rules of
 conduct1 a guide for practical affairs1
 a scale of values for this world4 ,this
 satisfies the craving for temporal     
adjustment1 the sense of the goodness   
and worth of what our instinct transmits
 to us4 ,but it does nothing to meet    
that profound dissatisfaction with this 
world and that sense of the encumbrances
 of the flesh which is also a part of   

reality and1 to the religious man1      
perhaps the greater part4 ,he wants to  
turn away from all these present things 
and be kept secretly in a pavilion from 
the strife of tongues4 ,here he has no  
continuing city4 ,always while we dwell 
here we have a dim and restless sense   
that we are in an unreal country and we 
know1 in our still moments1 that we     
shall only come to ourselves when we    
return to the house of our ,father4     
,hence men have never been satisfied    
with religious leaders who chiefly      
interpreted this world to them4  ,and   
indeed1 since ,july1 #aiad1 and down to 
and including this very hour1 this      
idealizing of time1 which we had almost 
accepted as our office1 has had a       
ghastly exposure4 ,because there has    
come upon us all one of these           
irrevocable and irremediable disasters1 
for which time has no word of hope1 to  
which ,nature is totally indifferent1   
for which the ,god of the outgoings and 
incomings of the morning is too small4  

,for millions of living and suffering   
men and women all temporal and mortal   
values have been wiped out4 ,they have  
been caught in a catastrophe so ruthless
 and dreadful that it has strewed their 
bodies in heaps over the fields and     
valleys of many nations4 ,today central 
and south and northeastern ,europe and  
western ,asia are filled with idle and  
hungry and desperate men and women4     
,they have been deprived of peace1 of   
security1 of bread1 of enlightenment    
alike4 ,something more than temporal    
salvation and human words of hope are   
needed here4 ,something more than       
ethical reform and social readjustment  
and economic alleviation1 admirable     
though these are6 ,something there must 
be in human nature that eclipses human  
nature1 if it is to endure so much6     
,what has the ,god of this world to give
 for youth1 deprived of their physical  
immortality and all their sweet and     
inalienable human rights1 who are lying 
now beneath the acre upon acre of       

tottering wooden crosses in their       
soldier's graves8 ,is there anything in 
this world sufficient now for the widow1
 the orphan1 the cripple1 the starving1 
the disillusioned and the desperate8    
,what ,europe wants to know is why and  
for what purpose this holocaust--is     
there anything beyond1 was there        
anything before it8 ,a civilization     
dedicated to speed and power and utility
 and mere intelligence cannot answer    
these questions4 ,neither can a religion
 resolved into naught but the ethics of 
,jesus answer them4 ,if in this world   
only1 cries today the voice of our      
humanity1 we have hope1 then we are of  
all men the most miserable6 ,when one   
sees our ,american society of this      
moment returning so easily to the       
physical and the obvious and the        
practical things of life2 when one sees 
the church immersed in programs1 and    
moralizing1 and hospitals1 and          
campaigns1 and membership drives1 and   
statistics1 and money getting1 one is   

constrained to ask1 ,what shall be said 
of the human spirit that it can forget  
so soon8  ,is it not obvious1 then1 that
 our task for a pagan society and a     
self-contained humanity is to restore   
the balance of the religious            
consciousness and to dwell1 not on man's
 identity with ,nature1 but on his      
far-flung difference2 not on his        
self-sufficiency1 but on his tragic     
helplessness2 not on the ,god of the    
market place1 the office and the street1
 an immanent and relative deity1 but on 
the ,absolute1 that high and lofty ,one 
who inhabiteth eternity8 ,indeed1 we are
 being solemnly reminded today that the 
other-worldliness of religion1 its      
concern with future1 supertemporal      
things1 is its characteristic and most  
precious contribution to the world4 ,we 
are seeing how every human problem when 
pressed to its ultimate issue becomes   
theological4 ,here is where the fertile 
field for contemporary preaching lies4  
,it is found1 not in remaining with     

those elements in the religious         
consciousness which it shares in common 
with naturalism and humanism1 but in    
passing over to those which are         
distinctive to itself alone4 ,it has    
always been true1 but it is especially  
true at this moment1 that effective     
preaching has to do chiefly with        
transcendent values4  ,our task is to   
assert1 first1 then1 the otherness of   
man1 his difference from ,nature1 to    
point out the illusoriness of her       
phenomena for him1 the derived reality  
and secondary value of her facts4 ,these
 are things that need religious         
elucidation4 ,the phrase                
other-worldliness has come1 not without 
reason1 to have an evil connotation     
among us1 but there is nevertheless a   
genuine disdain of this world1 a sense  
of high superiority to it and profound  
indifference toward it1 which is of the 
essence of the religious attitude4 ,he  
who knows that here he is a stranger1   
sojourning in tabernacles2 that he      

belongs by his nature1 not to this      
world1 but that he seeks a better1 that 
is to say1 a heavenly country1 will for 
the joy that is set before him1 endure a
 cross and will despise the shame4 ,he  
will have a conscious superiority to    
hostile facts of whatever sort or       
magnitude1 for he knows that they       
deceive in so far as they pretend to    
finality4 ,when religion has thus       
acquired a clear-sighted and            
thoroughgoing indifference to the       
natural order1 then1 and then only1 it  
begins to be potent within that order4  
,then1 as ,professor ,hocking says1 it  
rises superior to the world of facts and
 becomes irresistible4#ca  ,footnote    
#ca3 ,the ,meaning of ,god in ,human    
,experience1 p4 #eah4  ,the time is     
ripe1 then1 first1 for the preacher to  
emphasize the inward and essential      
difference between man and nature which 
exists under the outward likeness1 to   
remind him of this more-than-nature1    
this otherness of man1 without which he 

would lose his most precious possession1
 the sense of personality4 ,faith begins
 by recognizing this transcendent       
element in man and the acceptance of it 
is the foundation of religious          
preaching4 ,what was the worst thing    
about the war8 ,not its destruction nor 
its horrors nor its futilities1 but its 
shames2 the dreadful indignities which  
it inflicted upon man2 it treated men as
 though they were not souls6 ,no such   
moral catastrophe could have overwhelmed
 us if we had not for long let the brute
 lie too near the values and practices  
of our lives1 depersonalizing thus1 in  
politics and industry and morals and    
religion1 our civilization4 ,it all     
proceeded from the irreligious          
interpretation of human existence1 and  
the fruits of that interpretation are   
before us4  ,the first task of the      
preacher1 then1 is to combat the        
naturalistic interpretation of humanity 
with every insight and every conviction 
that is within his power4 ,if we are to 

restore religious values1 rebuild a     
world of transcendent ends and          
more-than-natural beauty1 we must begin 
here with man4 ,in the popular          
understanding of the phrase all life is 
not essentially one in kind2 physical   
self-preservation and reproduction are  
not the be-all and the end-all of       
existence4 ,there is something more to  
be expressed in man without which these 
are but dust and ashes in the mouth4    
,there is another kind of life mixed in 
with this1 the obvious4 ,if we cannot   
express the other world1 we shall not   
long tolerate this one4 ,to think that  
this world is all1 leans toward madness2
 such a picture of man is a travesty1   
not a portrait of his nature4 ,only on  
some such basic truths as these can we  
build character in our young people4    
,paganism tells them that it is neither 
natural nor possible to keep themselves 
unspotted from the world4 ,over against 
it we must reiterate1 ,you can and you  
must6 for the man that sinneth wrongeth 

his own soul4 ,you are something more   
than physical hunger and reproductive   
instinct2 you are of spirit no less than
 dust4 ,how1 then1 can you do this great
 sin against ,god6  ,how abundant here  
are the data with which religious       
preaching may deal4 ,indeed1 as ,huxley 
and scores of others have pointed out1  
it is only the religious view of man    
that builds up civilization4 ,a great   
community is the record of man's        
supernaturalism1 his uniqueness4 ,it is 
built on the higher-than-self principle 
which is involved in the moral sense    
itself4 ,and this higher-than-self is   
not just a collective naturalism1 a     
social consciousness1 as ,durkheim and  
,overstreet and ,miss ,harrison would   
say4 ,the simplest introspective act    
will prove that4 ,for a man cannot      
ignore self-condemnation as if it were  
only a natural difficulty1 nor disparage
 it as though it were merely humanly    
imposed4 ,we think it comes from that   
which is above and without1 because it  

speaks to the solitary and the unique1  
not the social and the common part of   
us4 ,hence conscience is not chiefly a  
tribal product1 for it is what separates
 us from the group and in our isolation 
unites us with something other than the 
group4 ,against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have 
,i sinned and done this evil in ,thy    
sight4 ,so religious preaching          
perpetually holds us up above our       
natural selves and the natural order4   
,thus man must live by an               
other-than-natural law if he is to      
preserve the family1 which is the social
 unit of civilization4 ,its very        
existence depends upon modifying and    
transforming natural hunger by a diviner
 instinct1 by making voluntary          
repressions1 willing sacrifices of the  
lower to the higher1 the subordinating  
of the law of self and might to the law 
of sacrifice and love--this is what     
preserves family life4 ,animals indeed  
rear and cherish their young and for the
 mating season remain true to one       

another1 but no animality per se ever   
yet built a home4 ,there must be a      
more-than-natural law in the state4 ,our
 national life and honor rest upon the  
stability of the democracy and we can   
only maintain that by walking a very    
straight and narrow path4 ,for the peace
 of freedom as distinguished from       
precarious license is a                 
more-than-natural attainment1 born of   
self-repression and social discipline1  
the voluntary relinquishment of lesser  
rights for higher rights1 of personal   
privileges for the sake of the common   
good4 ,government by the broad and easy 
path1 following the lines of least      
resistance1 like the natural order1     
saying might is right1 means either     
tyranny or anarchy4 ,circumspice6 ,one  
of the glories of western civilization  
is its hospitals4 ,they stand for the   
supernatural doctrine of the survival of
 the unfit1 the conviction of the       
community that1 to take the easy path of
 casting out the aged and infirm1 the   

sick and the suffering1 would mean      
incalculable degeneration of national   
character1 and that the difficult and   
costly path of protection and           
ministering service is both necessary   
and right4 ,and why is the reformatory  
replacing the prison8 ,because we have  
learned that the obvious1 natural way of
 dealing with the criminal certainly    
destroys him and threatens to destroy   
us2 and that the hard1 difficult path of
 reeducating and reforming a vicious    
life is the one which the state for her 
own safety must follow4  ,genuine       
preaching1 then1 first of all1 calls men
 to repentance1 bids them turn away from
 their natural selves1 and1 to find that
 other and realer self1 enter the       
straight and narrow gate4 ,the call is  
not an arbitrary command1 born of a     
negative and repressive spirit4 ,it is a
 profound exhortation based upon a      
fundamental law of human progress1      
having behind it the inviolable sanction
 of the truth4 ,such preaching would    

have the authentic note4 ,it is         
self-verifying4 ,it stirs to answer that
 quality--both moral and imaginative--in
 the spirit of man which craves the pain
 and difficulty and satisfaction of     
separation from the natural order4 ,it  
appeals to a timeless worth in man which
 transcends any values of mere          
intelligence which vary with the ages1  
or any material prosperity which        
perishes with the using1 or any         
volitional activity that dies in its own
 expenditure4 ,much of the philosophy of
 ,socrates was long ago outmoded1 but   
,socrates himself1 as depicted in the   
,phaedo1 confronting death with the cup 
of hemlock in his hand1 saying with a   
smile1 ,there is no evil which can      
happen to a good man living or dead1 has
 a more-than-natural1 an enduring and   
transcendent quality4 ,whenever we      
preach to the element in mankind which  
produces such attitudes toward life and 
bid it assert itself1 then we are doing 
religious preaching1 and then we speak  

with power4 ,jesus lived within the     
inexorable circle of the ideas of ,his  
time2 ,he staked much on the coming of  
the new kingdom which did not appear    
either when or as ,he had first expected
 it4 ,he had to adjust1 as do we all1   
,his life to ,his experience1 ,his      
destiny to ,his fate4 ,but when ,he was 
hanging on ,his cross1 forgotten of men 
and apparently deserted by ,his ,god1   
something in ,him that had nothing to do
 with nature or the brute rose to a     
final expression and by its             
more-than-natural reality1 sealed and   
authenticated ,his life4 ,looking down  
upon ,his torturers1 understanding them 
far better than they understood         
themselves1 ,he cried1 ,father1 forgive 
them1 for they know not what they do4   
,that cry has no place in nature2 it has
 no application and no meaning outside  
the human heart and that which is above1
 not beneath1 the human heart1 from     
which it is derived4 ,there1 then1 again
 was the supernatural law2 there was the

 more-than-nature in man which makes    
nature into human nature2 and there is  
the thing to whose discovery1           
cultivation1 expression1 real preaching 
is addressed4 ,every time a man truly   
preaches he so portrays what men ought  
to be1 must be1 and can be if they will1
 that they know there is something here 
that leaps life's narrow bars   ,to     
claim its birthright with the hosts of  
heaven6     ,a seed of sunshine that    
doth leaven   ,our earthly dullness with
 the beams of stars1     ,and glorify   
our clay   ,with light from fountains   
elder than the ,day4#cb  ,footnote #cb3 
,j4,r4 ,lowell1 ,commemoration ,ode1    
stanza ,,iv1 ll4 #cj-ce4  ,such         
preaching is a perpetual refutation of  
and rebuke to the naturalism and        
imperialism of our present society4 ,it 
is the call to the absolute in man1 to a
 clear issue with evil4 ,it would not   
cry peace1 peace1 when there is no      
peace4 ,it would be living and active1  
and sharper than any two-edged sword1   

piercing even to the dividing of both   
joints and marrow1 quick to discern the 
thoughts and intents of the heart4      
,following this insistence upon the     
difference from nature1 the             
more-than-natural in man1 the second    
thing in religious preaching will have  
to be1 obviously1 the message of        
salvation4 ,that is to say1 reducing the
 statement to its lowest terms1 if man  
is to live by such a law1 the law of    
more-than-nature1 then he must have     
something also more-than-human to help  
him in his task4 ,he will need strength 
from outside4 ,indeed1 because religion 
declares that there is such divine      
assistance1 and that faith can command  
it1 is the chief cause and reason for   
our existence4 ,when we cease to preach 
salvation in some form or other1 we deny
 our own selves2 we efface our own      
existence4 ,for no one can preach the   
more-than-human in mankind without      
emphasizing those elements of free will1
 moral responsibility1 the need and     

capacity for struggle and holiness in   
human life which it indicates1 and which
 in every age have been a part of the   
message of ,him who said1 ,be ye        
therefore perfect1 even as your ,father1
 which is in heaven1 is perfect4        
,therefore1 as we have previously       
corrected the half truth of the         
naturalist who makes a caricature1 not a
 portrait of man1 we must now in the    
same way turn to the correcting of the  
humanist's emphasis upon man's native   
capacity and insist upon the            
complementary truth which fulfills this 
moral heroism of mankind1 namely1 the   
divine rescue which answers to its      
inadequacy4 ,man must struggle for his  
victory2 he can win2 he cannot win      
alone4 ,we must then insist upon the    
doctrine of salvation1 turning ourselves
 to the other side of the humanist's    
picture4 ,man cannot live by this       
more-than-natural law unaided4 ,for not 
only has he the power to rise above     
,nature2 the same thing gives him equal 

capacity to sink beneath her1 and1 when 
left to himself1 he generally does so4  
,the preacher does not dare deny the    
sovereignty of sin4 ,humanism hates the 
very name of sin2 it has never made any 
serious attempt to explain the          
consciousness of guilt4 ,neither        
naturalist nor humanist can afford to   
admit sin1 for sin takes man1 as        
holiness does1 outside the iron chain of
 cause and effect2 it breaks the law2 it
 is not strictly natural4 ,it makes     
clear enough that man is outside the    
natural order in two ways4 ,he is both  
inferior and superior to it4 ,he falls  
beneath1 he rises above it4 ,when he    
acts like a beast1 he is not clean and  
beastly1 but unclean and bestial4 ,when 
he lifts his head in moral anguish1     
bathes all his spirit in the flood of   
awe and repentance1 is transfigured with
 the glorious madness of self-sacrifice1
 he is so many worlds higher than the   
beast that their relationship becomes   
irrelevant4 ,so we must deal more       

completely than humanists do with the   
central mystery of our experience2 man's
 impotent idealism1 his insight not     
matched with consummation2 the fact that
 what he dares to dream of he is not    
able alone to do4  ,for the humanist    
exalts man1 which is good2 but then he  
makes him self-sufficient for the       
struggle which such exaltation demands1 
which is bad4 ,in that partial          
understanding he departs from truth4    
,and what is it that makes the futility 
of so much present preaching8 ,it is the
 acceptance of this doctrine of man's   
moral adequacy and consequently the     
almost total lack either of the         
assurance of grace or of the appeal to  
the will4 ,no wonder such exhortations  
cannot stem the tide of an ever         
increasing worldliness4 ,such preaching 
stimulates the mind2 in both the better 
and the worse preachers1 it moves the   
emotions but it gives men little power  
to act on what they hear and feel to the
 transformation of their daily          

existence4 ,thus the humanistic sense of
 man's sufficiency1 coupled with the    
inherent distrust of any notion of help 
from beyond and above1 any belief in a  
reinforcing power which a critical      
rationalism cannot dissect and explain1 
has gradually ruled out of court the    
doctrine of salvation until the         
preacher's power1 both to experience and
 to transmit it1 has atrophied through  
disuse4  ,who can doubt that one large  
reason why crude and indefensible       
concepts of the ,christian faith have   
such a disconcerting vitality today is  
because they carry1 in their outmoded1  
unethical1 discredited forms1 the truth 
of man's insufficiency in himself and   
the confident assurance of that         
something coming from without which will
 abundantly complete the struggling life
 within8 ,they offer the assurance of   
that peace and moral victory which man  
so ardently desires1 because they       
declare that it is both a discovery and 
a revelation1 an achievement and a      

rescue4 ,there are vigorous and rapidly 
growing popular movements of the day    
which rest their summation of faith on  
the quadrilateral of an inerrant and    
verbally inspired ,scripture1 the full  
deity of ,jesus ,christ1 the efficacy of
 ,his substitutionary atonement1 the    
speedy second coming of the ,lord4 ,no  
sane person can suppose that these cults
 succeed because of the ethical insight1
 the spiritual sensitiveness1 the       
intellectual integrity of such a        
message4 ,it does not possess these     
things4 ,they succeed1 in spite of their
 obscurantism1 because they do confess  
and meet man's central need1 his need to
 be saved4 ,the power of that fact is   
what is able to carry so narrow and so  
indefensible a doctrine4  ,so the second
 problem of the preacher is clear4 ,man 
asserts his potential independence of   
the natural law4 ,but to realize that1  
he must bridge the gulf between himself 
and the supernatural lawgiver to whose  
dictates he confesses he is subject4 ,he

 is not free from the bondage of the    
lower1 except through the bondage to the
 higher4 ,nor can he live by that higher
 law unaided and alone4 ,here we strike 
at the root of humanism4 ,its kindly    
tolerance of the church is built up on  
the proud conviction that we1 with our  
distinctive doctrine of salvation1 are  
superfluous1 hence sometimes            
disingenuous and always negligible4 ,the
 humanist believes that understanding   
takes the place of faith4 ,what men need
 is not to be redeemed from their sins1 
but to be educated out of their follies4
  ,but does right knowing in itself     
suffice to insure right doing8 ,socrates
 and ,plato1 with their indentification 
of knowledge and virtue1 would appear to
 think so2 the church has gone a long   
way1 under humanistic pressure1 in tacit
 acquiescence with their doctrine4 ,yet 
most of us1 judging alike from internal 
and personal evidence and from external 
and social observation1 would say that  
there was no sadder or more universal   

experience than that of the failure of  
right knowledge to secure right         
performance4 ,right knowledge is not in 
itself right living4 ,we have striking  
testimony on that point from one of the 
greatest of all humanists1 no less a    
person than ,confucius4 ,at seventy1 he 
says1 ,i could follow what my heart     
desired without transgressing the law of
 measure4#cc ,the implication of such   
testimony makes no very good humanistic 
apologetic6 ,most of us1 when desire has
 failed1 can manage to attain1 unaided1 
the identification of understanding and 
conduct1 can climb to the poor heights  
of a worn-out and withered continence4  
,but one wonders a little whether1 then1
 the climbing seems to be worth while4  
,footnote #cc3 ,analects1 ,,ii1 civ4    
,but the doctrine usually begins by     
minimizing the free agency of the       
individual1 playing up the factors of   
compulsion1 either of circumstance or   
inheritance or of ignorance1 as being in
 themselves chiefly responsible for     

blameful acts4 ,these are therefore     
considered involuntary and certain to be
 reformed when man knows better and has 
the corresponding strength of his       
knowledge4 ,but ,aristotle1 who deals   
with this ,socratic doctrine in the     
third book of the ,ethics1 very sensibly
 remarks1 ,it is ridiculous to lay the  
blame of our wrong actions upon external
 causes rather than upon the facility   
with which we ourselves are caught by   
such causes1 and1 while we take credit  
for our noble actions to ourselves1 lay 
the blame of our shameful actions upon  
pleasure4#cd ,the facility with which we
 are caught--there is the religious     
understanding there is that perversion  
of will which conspires with the perils 
and chances of the world so that        
together they may undo the soul4        
,footnote #cd3 ,ethics1 ,book ,,iii1 ch4
 ii1 p4 #fa4  ,of course1 as ,aristotle 
admits1 there is this half truth lying  
at the root of the ,socratic            
identification of virtue and knowledge  

that every vicious person is ignorant of
 what he ought to do and what he ought  
to abstain from doing in the sense that 
what he is about to do could not be     
defended upon any ground of enlightened 
self-interest4 ,and so1 while he finds  
sin sweet and evil pleasant1 these are  
delusive experiences1 which1 if he saw  
life steadily and whole1 he would know  
as such4 ,but one reason for this       
ignorance is unwillingness to know4     
,good men do evil1 and understanding men
 sin1 partly because they are misled by 
false ideas1 partly1 also1 because1     
knowing them false1 they cannot or will 
not give them up4 ,this is what ,goethe 
very well understood when he said1 ,most
 men prefer error to truth1 because     
truth imposes limitations and error does
 not4  ,and another reason is that when 
men do know1 they find a deadly and     
mysterious1 a sort of perverted joy--a  
sweet and terrible and secret           
delight1--in denying their own          
understanding4 ,thus right living calls 

for a repeated and difficult exercise of
 the will1 what ,professor ,babbitt     
calls a pulling back of the impulse to  
the track that knowledge indicates4     
,such moral mastery is not identical    
with moral perception and most          
frequently is not its accompaniment1    
unless observation and experience are   
alike fallacious4 ,thus the whole       
argument falls to the ground when we    
confess that possession of knowledge    
does not guarantee the application of   
it4 ,therefore the two things1 knowledge
 and virtue1 according to universal     
experience1 are not identical4          
,humanists indeed use the word knowledge
 for the most part in an esoteric sense4
 ,knowledge is virtue in the sense that 
it enables us to see virtue as excellent
 and desirable2 it is not virtue in the 
sense that it alone enables us to       
acquire it4  ,who1 indeed1 that has ever
 lived in the far country does not know 
that one factor in its fascination was a
 bittersweet awareness of the folly1 the

 inevitable disaster1 of such alien     
surroundings4 ,who also does not know   
that often when the whole will is set to
 identify conduct with conviction1 it   
may be1 for all its passionate and      
bitter sincerity1 set in vain4 ,in every
 hour of every day there are hundreds of
 lives that battle honestly1 but with   
decreasing spiritual forces1 with       
passion and temptation4 ,sometimes a    
life is driven by the fierce gales of   
enticement1 the swift currents of       
desire1 right upon the jagged rock of   
some great sin4 ,lives that have seemed 
strong and fair go down every day1 do   
they not1 and shock us for a moment with
 their irremediable catastrophe8 ,and we
 must not forget that before they went  
down1 for many a month or even year they
 have been hard beset lives4 ,before    
that final and complete ruin1 they have 
been drifting and struggling1 driven and
 fighting1 sin drawing nearer and       
nearer1 their fated lives urged on1 the 
mind growing darker1 the stars in their 

souls going out1 the steering of their  
own lives taken from their hands4 ,then 
there has been the sense of the coming  
danger1 the dark presentiment of how it 
all must end when the powers that tend  
the soul to help it from the death that 
cannot die1 and save it even in         
extremes1 begin to vex and plague it4   
,there has been the dreadful sense of   
life drifting toward a great crash1     
nearer and nearer to what must be the   
wreck of all things4 ,what does the     
humanist have to offer to these men and 
women who know perfectly well where they
 are1 and what they are about1 and where
 they would like to be1 but who can't   
get there and who are1 today and every  
day1 putting forth their last and somber
 efforts1 trying in vain to just keep   
clear of ruin until the darkness and the
 helplessness shall lift and something  
or someone shall give them peace6  ,now1
 it is this defect in the will which    
automatically limits the power of the   
intellect4 ,it is this which the        

,socratic identification ignores4 ,so   
while we might readily grant that it is 
in the essential nature of things that  
virtue and truth1 wisdom and character1 
understanding and goodness1 are but two 
aspects of one thing1 is it not trifling
 with one of the most serious facts of  
human destiny to interpret the truism to
 mean that1 when a man knows that a     
contemplated act is wrong or foolish or 
ugly1 he is thereby restrained from     
accomplishing it8 ,knowledge is not     
virtue in the sense that mere reason or 
mere perception can control the will4   
,and this is the conclusion that        
,aristotle also comes to when he says3  
,some people say that incontinence is   
impossible1 if one has knowledge4 ,it   
seems to them strange1 as it did to     
,socrates1 that where knowledge exists  
in man1 something else should master it 
and drag it about like a slave4         
,socrates was wholly opposed to this    
idea2 he denied the existence of        
incontinence1 arguing that nobody with a

 conception of what was best could act  
against it1 and therefore1 if he did so 
act1 his action must be due to          
ignorance4 ,and then ,aristotle adds1   
,the theory is evidently at variance    
with the facts of experience4#ce ,plato 
himself exposes the theoretical nature  
of the assertion1 its inhuman demand    
upon the will1 the superreasonableness  
which it expects but offers no way of   
obtaining1 when he says1 ,every one will
 admit that a nature having in          
perfection all the qualities which are  
required in a philosopher is a rare     
plant seldom seen among men4#cf         
,footnote #ce3 ,ethics1 ,book ,,vii1 ch4
 iii1 pp4 #bjf-bjg4  ,footnote #cf3     
,republic1 ,,vi1 #dia4  ,it would be    
well if those people who are going about
 the world today teaching social hygiene
 to adolescents 7on the whole an        
admirable thing to do7 but proceeding on
 the assumption that when youth knows   
what is right and what is wrong1 and why
 it is right and why it is wrong1 and   

what are the consequences of right and  
wrong1 that then1 ipso facto1 youth will
 become chaste1--well if they would     
acquaint themselves either with the     
ethics of ,aristotle or with the        
,christian doctrine of salvation4 ,for  
if men think that knowledge by itself   
ever yet produced virtue in eager and   
unsated lives1 they are either knaves or
 fools4 ,they will find that knowledge  
uncontrolled by a purified spirit and a 
reinforced will is already teaching men 
not how to be good1 but how to sin the  
more boldly with the better chance of   
physical impunity4 ,philosophy1 says    
,black1 is a feeble antagonist before   
passion1 because it does not supply an  
adequate motive for the conflict4#cg    
,there were few men in the nineteenth   
century in whom knowledge and virtue    
were more profoundly and completely     
joined than in ,john ,henry ,newman4    
,but did that subtle intellect suffice8 
could it make the scholar into the      
saint8 ,hear his own words3    ,o ,holy 

,lord1 who with the children three      
,didst walk the piercing flame2   ,help1
 in those trial hours which1 save to    
,thee1     ,i dare not name2   ,nor let 
these quivering eyes and sickening heart
     ,crumble to dust beneath the       
tempter's dart4    ,thou who didst once 
,thy life from ,mary's breast     ,renew
 from day to day2   ,o might her smile1 
severely sweet1 but rest     ,on this   
frail clay6   ,till ,i am ,thine with my
 whole soul1 and fear     ,not feel1 a  
secret joy1 that ,hell is near4  ,so1   
only when we include in the term        
knowledge understanding plus good will1 
is the humanist position true1 and this1
 ,i suppose1 is what ,aristotle meant   
when he finally says1 ,vice is          
consistent with knowledge of some kind1 
but it excludes knowledge in the full   
and proper sense of the word4#ch        
,footnote #cg3 ,culture and ,restraint1 
p4 #ajd4  ,footnote #ch3 ,ethics1 ,book 
,,vii1 ch4 v1 p4 #bae4  ,now1 so        
finespun a discussion of intricate and  

psychological subtleties is mildly      
interesting presumably to middle-aged   
scholars1 but ,i submit that a half     
truth that needs so much explanation and
 so many admissions before it can be    
made safe or actual1 is a rather        
dangerous thing to offer to adolescence 
or to a congregation of average men and 
women4 ,it cannot sound to them very    
much like the good news of ,jesus4      
,culture is a precious thing1 but no    
culture1 without the help of divine     
grace and the responsive affection on   
our part which that grace induces1 will 
ever knit men together in a kingdom of  
,god1 a spiritual society4 ,as long ago 
as the second century ,celsus understood
 that4 ,he says in his polemic against  
,christianity1 as quoted by ,origen1 ,if
 any one suppose that it is possible    
that the people of ,asia and ,europe and
 ,africa1 ,greeks and barbarians1 should
 agree to follow one law1 he is         
hopelessly ignorant4#ci ,now1 ,celsus   
was proceeding on the assumption that   

,christianity was only another          
philosophy1 a new intellectual system1  
and he was merely exposing the futility 
of all such unaided intellectualism4    
,footnote #ci3 ,origen1 contra ,celsum1 
,,viii1 p4 #gb4  ,it is1 therefore1 of  
prime importance for the preacher to    
remember that humanism1 or any other    
doctrine which approaches the problem of
 life and conduct other than by moral   
and spiritual means1 can never take the 
place of the religious appeal1 because  
it does not touch the springs of action 
where motives are born and from which   
convictions arise4 ,you do not make a   
man moral by enlightening him2 it is    
nearer the truth to say that you        
enlighten him when you make him moral4  
,blessed are the pure in heart1 said    
,jesus1 for they shall see ,god4 ,if any
 man wills to do the will1 he shall know
 the doctrine4 ,education does not wipe 
out crime nor an understanding mind make
 a holy will4 ,the last half of the     
nineteenth century made it terribly     

clear that the learning and science of  
mankind1 where they are divorced from   
piety1 unconsecrated by a spiritual     
passion1 and largely directed by selfish
 motives1 can neither benefit nor redeem
 the race4 ,consider for a moment the   
enormous expansion of knowledge which   
the world has witnessed since the year  
#ahei4 ,what prodigious accessions to   
the sum of our common understanding have
 we seen in the natural and the humane  
sciences2 and what marvelous uses of    
scientific knowledge for practical      
purposes have we discovered6 ,we have   
mastered in these latter days a thousand
 secrets of nature4 ,we have freed the  
mind from old ignorance and ancient     
superstition4 ,we have penetrated the   
secrets of the body1 and can almost     
conquer death and indefinitely prolong  
the span of human days4 ,we face the    
facts and know the world as our fathers 
could never do4 ,we understand the past 
and foresee the future4 ,but the most   
significant thing about our present     

situation is this3 how little has this  
wisdom1 in and of itself1 done for us6  
,it has made men more cunning rather    
than more noble4 ,still the body is     
ravaged and consumed by passion4 ,still 
men toil for others against their will1 
and the strong spill the blood of the   
weak for their ambition and the sweat of
 the children for their greed4 ,never   
was learning so diffused nor the content
 of scholarship so large as now4 ,yet   
the great cities are as ,babylon and    
,rome of old1 where human wreckage      
multiplies1 and hideous vices flourish1 
and men toil without expectancy1 and    
live without hope1 and millions         
exist--not live at all--from hand to    
mouth4 ,as we survey the universal      
unrest of the world today and see the   
horrors of war between nation and       
nation1 and between class and class1 it 
would not be difficult to make out a    
case for the thesis that the scientific 
and intellectual advances of the        
nineteenth century have largely worked  

to make men keener and more capacious in
 their suffering4 ,and at least this is 
true2 just so far as the achievement of 
the mind has been divorced from the     
consecration of the spirit1 in just so  
far knowledge has had no beneficent     
potency for the human race4  ,is it not 
clear1 then1 that preaching must deal   
again1 never more indeed than now1 with 
the religion which offers a redemption  
from sin8 ,this is still foolishness to 
the ,greeks1 but to those who believe it
 is still the power of ,god unto        
salvation4 ,culture is not religion4    
,when the preacher substitutes the one  
for the other1 he gives stones for      
bread1 and the hungry sheep go elsewhere
 or are not fed4 ,it is this emasculated
 preaching1 mulcted of its spiritual    
forces1 which awakes the bitterest      
distrust and deepest indignation that   
human beings know4 ,they are fighting   
the foes of the flesh and the enemies of
 the spirit1 enduring the slings and    
arrows of outrageous fortune1 standing  

by the open graves of their friends and 
kindred1 saying there1 ,i shall go to   
him1 but he shall not return to me4 ,and
 then1 with all this mystery and        
oppression of life upon them they enter 
the doors of the house of ,god and      
listen to a polite essay1 are told of   
the consolations of art1 reminded of the
 stupidity of evil1 assured of the      
unreality of sin1 offered the subtle    
satisfactions of a cultivated           
intelligence4 ,in just so far as they   
are genuine men and women1 they resent  
such preaching as an insult1 a mockery  
and an offense4 ,no1 no2 something more 
is needed than the humanist can offer   
for those who are hard-pressed          
participants in the stricken fields of  
life4  ,religious preaching1 then1      
begins with these two things3 man's     
solitary place in nature1 man's         
inability to hold that place alone4     
,hence two more things are necessary as 
essentials of great preaching in a pagan
 day4 ,the clear proclamation of the    

superhuman ,god1 the transcendent spirit
 who is able to control and reinforce   
the spirit of man1 and the setting forth
 of some way or some mediator1 through  
whom man may meet and touch that ,spirit
 so far removed yet so infinitely near  
and dear to him4 ,it is with these      
matters that we shall be occupied in the
 next chapter4     ,,chapter ,,six      
,,the ,,almighty ,,and ,,everlasting    
,,god   ,if the transcendent element in 
man which endows him with the proud if  
tragic sense of personality is the first
 message of the preacher to a chattering
 and volatile world1 and the second is  
the setting forth of what this endowment
 demands and how pitiably man fails to  
meet it1 then the third message is of   
the ,rock that is higher than he1 even  
inclusive of his all1 in whose composed 
and comprehensive ,being his baffled and
 divided person may be gathered up1     
brought to its own consummation of self4
 ,the rivers that pour tumultuously to  
their ocean bed1 the ascending fire ever

 falling backward but leaping upward to 
the sun1 are poor figures to express the
 depth and irresistible urge of the     
passion in man for completeness1 for    
repose1 for power1 for self-perception  
in self-expression1 for victory and the 
attainment of the end4 ,conscious and   
divided spirit that he is1 man turns    
away1 sooner or later1 with utter       
weariness and self-disgust from the     
nature which pleases him by betraying   
him1 which maims his person that he may 
enjoy his senses1 and reaches out after 
the other-worldly1 the supernatural1 the
 invisible and eternal ,hope and ,home  
of the ,soul4  ,humanism which bids men 
sufficiently find ,god within           
themselves1 if they think they need to  
find ,him at all1 seems not to          
comprehend this passion of pride and    
humility1 this inner perception of the  
futility and the blunder of the         
self-contained life4 ,life is so        
obviously not worth its brevity1 its    
suffering1 its withheld conclusions1 its

 relative insignificance1 if it must    
thus stand alone4 ,all that can save it1
 preserve to it worth and dignity1      
maintain its self-respect and mastery1  
is to find that abundant power without  
which confesses1 certifies and seals the
 divinity within4  ,how foredoomed to   
failure1 then1 especially in an age when
 men are surmounting life by placating  
it1 enjoying it by being easy with      
themselves--how foredoomed to failure is
 the preaching which continues in the   
world of religion this exaltation of    
human sufficiency and natural values1   
domesticating them within the church4   
,it is to laugh to see them there6 ,it  
means so transparent a surrender1 so    
pitiable a confession of defeat4 ,if    
anything can bring the natural man into 
the sanctuary it is that there he has to
 bring his naturalness to the bar of a  
more-than-natural standard4 ,if he comes
 at all1 it will not be for             
entertainment and expansion but because 
there we insist on reverence and        

restraint4 ,if church and preacher offer
 only a pietized and decorous           
naturalism1 when he can get the real    
thing in naked and unashamed brutality  
without2 if they offer him only another 
form of humanistic living1 he will stay 
away4 ,such preaching is as boresome as 
it is unnecessary4 ,such exercise of    
devotion is essentially superfluous and 
a rather humorous imposition upon the   
world4 ,the only thing that will ever   
bring the natural man to listen to      
preaching is when it insists upon       
something more-than-the-natural and     
calls him to account regarding it2 when 
it speaks of something different and    
better for him than this world and what 
it can offer4 ,take my yoke upon you is 
the attractive invitation1 make inner   
obeisance and outward obedience to      
something higher than thy poor self4    
,it is clear1 then1 that these          
observations have a bearing upon our    
preaching of the doctrine of ,god4      
,there is a certain illogicality1       

something humorous1 in going into a     
church1 of all places in the world1 to  
be told how like we are to ,him4 ,the   
dull and average personality1 the       
ordinary and not very valuable man1 can 
probably listen indifferently and with a
 slow-growing hardness and dim          
resentment to that sort of preaching for
 a number of years4 ,but the valuable1  
the highly personalized people1 the     
saints and the sinners1 the great rebels
 and the great disciples1 who are the   
very folk for whom the church exists1   
would hate it1 and they would know the  
final bitterness of despair if they     
thought that this was so4 ,either saint 
or sinner would consider it the supreme 
insult1 the last pitch of insolence1 for
 the church to be telling them that it  
is true4  ,for they know within         
themselves that it is a lie4 ,their one 
hope hangs on ,god because ,his thoughts
 are not their thoughts1 nor ,his ways  
their ways2 because ,he seeth the end   
from the beginning2 because in ,him     

there is no variableness1 neither shadow
 that is caused by turning2 because no  
man shall see ,his face and live4 ,they1
 the sinners and the saints1 do not want
 to be told that they1 within           
themselves1 can heal themselves and that
 sin has no real sinfulness4 ,that is   
tempting them to the final denial1 the  
last depth of betrayal1 the blurring of 
moral values1 the calling of evil good  
and the saying that good is evil4 ,they 
know that this is the unpardonable      
madness4 ,in the hours when they1 the   
saints and sinners1 wipe their mouths   
and say1 ,we have done no harm2 in the  
days when what they love is ugliness    
because it is ugly and shameless1 and   
reckless expression because it is so    
terrible1 so secretly appalling1 so     
bittersweet with the sweetness of death1
 they know that it is the last affront  
to have the church--the one place where 
men expect they will be made to face the
 facts--bow these facts out of doors4   
,no1 we readily grant that the religious

 approach to the whole truth and to     
final reality is like any other one1    
either scientific1 economic1 political1 
a partial approach4 ,it sets forth for  
the most part only a group of facts4    
,when it does not emphasize other facts1
 it does not thereby deny them4 ,but it 
insists that the truth of man's         
differences1 man's helplessness which   
the differences reveal1 and man's fate  
hanging therefore upon a transcendent   
,god1 are the key truths for the        
religious life4 ,it is with that aspect 
of life the preacher deals1 and if he   
fails to grapple with these problems and
 considerations1 ignores these facts1   
his candlestick has been removed4  ,the 
argument for a ,god1 then1 within ,his  
world1 but also distinct from it1 above 
its evil custom and in some sense       
untouched by its all-leveling life1 is  
essential to the preservation of human  
personality1 and personality is         
essential to dignity1 to decency1 to    
hope4 ,the clearest and simplest thing  

to be said about the ,hebrew ,god1 lofty
 and inaccessible ,being1 with whom     
nevertheless ,his purified and obedient 
children might have relationships1 or   
about the living ,god of ,greek         
theology1 far removed from us but with  
whose deathless goodness1 beauty and    
truth our mortality by some mediator may
 be endowed1 is that the argument that  
supports such transcendence is the      
argument from necessity4 ,it is the     
facts of experience1 the very stuff of  
human life1 coming down alike from      
,hebraic and ,hellenic civilization1    
which demand ,him4 ,immanence and       
transcendence are merely theistic terms 
for identity and difference4 ,through   
them is revealed and discovered         
personality1 the ,i which is the        
ultimate fact of my consciousness4 ,i   
can but reckon from the known to the    
unknown4 ,the world which produced me is
 also1 then1 a cosmic identity and      
difference4 ,in that double fact is     
found divine personality4 ,but that     

aspect of ,his ,person1 that portion of 
the fact which feeds the imaginative and
 volitional life1 is the glorious and   
saving unlikeness of ,god--,his         
unthinkable and inexpressible glory2    
,his utter comprehension and            
unbelievable compassion2 ,his justice   
which knows no flaw and brooks no       
evasion and cannot be swerved2 ,his     
power which may not be withstood and    
hence is a sure and certain tenderness2 
,his hatred of sin1 terrible and        
flaming1 a hatred which will send sinful
 men through a thousand hells1 if they  
will have them1 and can only be saved   
thereby2 ,his love for men1 which is    
what makes ,him hate their sin and leads
 ,him by ,his very nature as ,god to    
walk into hell with the sinner1         
suffering with him a thousand times more
 than the sinner is able to understand  
or know1--like the ,paul who could not  
wish himself1 for himself1 in hell1 but 
who did wish himself accursed of ,god   
for his brethren's sake2 like ,jesus1   

who1 in ,gethsemane1 would for ,himself 
avoid ,his cross1 but who accepted it   
and was willing to hang1 forsaken of    
,god1 upon it1 for the lives of men1    
identifying ,himself to the uttermost   
with their fate4 ,yes2 it is such a     
supernal ,god--that ,god who is apart1  
incredible1 awful--that the soul of     
humanity craves and needs4  ,of course1 
here again1 as throughout these         
discussions1 we are returning to a form 
of the old dualism4 ,we cannot seem to  
help it4 ,we may construct philosophies 
like ,hegel's in which thesis and       
antithesis merge in a higher synthesis2 
we may use the dual view of the world as
 representing only a stage1 a present   
achievement in cosmic progress or human 
understanding4 ,but that does not alter 
the incontestable witness of present    
experience that the religious           
consciousness is based upon1 interwoven 
with1 the sense of the cosmic division  
without1 and the unresolved moral       
dualism within the individual life4 ,it 

is important enough to remember1        
however1 that we have rejected1 at least
 for this generation1 the old scholastic
 theologies founded on this general     
experience4 ,fashions of thought change 
with significant facility2 there is not 
much of the ,absolute about them6       
,nevertheless we cannot think with      
forgotten terms4 ,therefore ours is no  
mechanically divided world where man and
 ,god1 nature and supernature1 soul and 
body1 belong to mutually exclusive      
territories4 ,we do not deny the        
principle of identity4 ,hence we have   
discarded that old view of the world and
 all the elder doctrines of an absentee 
creator1 a worthless and totally        
depraved humanity1 a legalistic or      
substitutionary atonement1 a magical and
 non-understandable ,incarnation which  
flowed from it4 ,but we are not         
discarding with them that other aspect  
of the truth1 the principle of          
separateness1 nor those value judgments1
 that perpetual vision of another       

nature1 behind and beneath phenomena1   
from which the old dualism took its     
rise4 ,it is the form which it assumed1 
the interpretation of experience which  
it gave1 not the facts themselves1      
obscure but stubborn as they are1 which 
it confessed1 that we have dropped4     
,identity and difference are still here2
 man is a part of his world1 but he is  
also apart from it4 ,god is in nature   
and in us2 ,god is without and other    
than nature and most awfully something  
other than us4  ,indeed1 the precise    
problem of the preacher today is to keep
 the old supernatural values and drop   
the old vocabulary with the philosophy  
which induced it4 ,we must acknowledge  
the universe as one1 and yet be able to 
show that the ,he or the ,it1 beyond and
 without the world1 is its only         
conceivable beginning1 its only         
conceivable end1 the chief hope of its  
brevity1 the only stay of its idealism4 
,it was the arbitrary and mechanical    
completeness of the old division1 not   

the reality that underlay the           
distinction itself1 which parted company
 with truth and hence lost the          
allegiance of the mind4 ,it was that the
 old dualism tried to lock up this1 the 
most baffling of all realities1 in a    
formula1--that was what undid it4 ,but  
we shall be equally foolish if now1 in  
the interests of a new artificial       
clearness1 we deny another portion of   
experience just as our fathers ignored  
certain other facts in the interests of 
their too well-defined systems4 ,we     
cannot hold to the old world view which 
would bend the modern mind to the       
support of an inherited interpretation  
of experience and therefore would not   
any longer really explain or confirm it4
 ,neither can we hold new views which   
mutilate the experience and leave out   
some of the most precious elements in   
it1 even if in so doing we should       
simplify the problem for the mind4 ,it  
would be an unreal simplification2 it   
would darken1 not illumine1 the         

understanding2 we should never rest in  
it4 ,nor do we need to be concerned if  
the intellect cannot perfectly order or 
easily demonstrate the whole of the     
religious life1 fit each element with a 
self-verifying defense and explanation4 
,no man of the world1 to say nothing of 
a man of faith or imagination1 has ever 
yet trusted to a purely intellectual    
judgment4  ,so we reject the old        
dualism1 its dichotomized universe1 its 
two sorts of authority1 its prodigious  
and arbitrary supernaturalism4 ,but we  
do not reject what lay behind it4 ,still
 we wrestle with the angel1 lamed though
 we are by the contest1 and we cannot   
let him go until the day breaks and the 
shadows flee away4 ,it would be easier  
perhaps to give up the religious point  
of view1 but for that ease we should pay
 with our life4 ,for that swift answer1 
achieved by leaving out prime factors in
 the problem1 we should be betraying the
 self for whose sake alone any answer is
 valuable4 ,it does not pay to cut such 

,gordian knots6 ,our task1 then1 is to  
preach transcendence again1 not in terms
 of the old absolutist philosophy1 but  
in terms of the perceptions1 the needs1 
the experience of the human heart and   
mind and will which produced that       
philosophy4  ,nor is this so hard to do4
 ,now1 as always for the genuinely      
religious temperament1 there are        
abundant riches of material lying ready 
to its hand4 ,it is not difficult to    
make transcendence real and to reveal to
 men their consummate need of it when we
 speak of it in the language of         
experience and perception4 ,what        
preaching should avoid is the           
abstractions of an archaic system of    
thought with all their provocative and  
contentious elements1 the mingled       
dogmatism and incompleteness which any  
worked-out system contains4 ,it is so   
foolish in the preacher to turn himself 
into a lay philosopher4 ,let him keep   
his insight clear1 through moral        
discipline keep his intuitions high1 his

 spirit pure1 and then he can furnish   
the materials for philosophy4  ,thus an 
almost universal trait of the religious 
temperament is in its delight in beauty4
 ,sometimes it is repressed by an       
irreligious asceticism or narrowed and  
stunted by a literal and external faith4
 ,but when the religious man is left    
free1 it is appropriate to his genius   
that he finds the world full of a high  
pleasure crowded with sound1 color1     
fragrance1 form1 in which he takes      
exquisite delight4 ,there is1 in short1 
a serene and poetic naturalism1 loosely 
called nature-worship1 which is keenly  
felt by both saints and sinners4 ,all it
 needs for its consecration and         
perfection is to help men to see that   
this naturalism is vital and precious   
because1 as a matter of fact1 it is     
something more than naturalism1 and more
 than pleasure objectified4  ,recall1   
for instance1 the splendors of the      
external world and that best season of  
our climate1 the long1 slow-breathing   

autumn4 ,what high pleasure we take in  
those hushed days of mid-,november in   
the soft brown turf of the uplands1 the 
fragrant smell of mellow earth and      
burning leaves1 the purple haze that    
dims and magnifies the quiescent hills4 
,who is not strangely moved by that     
profound and brooding peace into which  
,nature then gathers up the             
multitudinous strivings1 the myriad     
activities of her life8 ,who does not   
love to lie1 in those slow-waning days  
upon the sands which hold within their  
golden cup the murmuring and dreaming   
sea8 ,the very amplitude of the natural 
world1 its far-flung grace and          
loveliness1 spread out in rolling moor  
and winding stream and stately forest   
marching up the mountain-side1 subdues  
and elevates the spirit of a man4  ,now1
 so it has always been and so men have  
always longed to be the worshipers of   
beauty4 ,therefore they have believed in
 a conscious and eternal ,spirit behind 
it4 ,because again we know that         

personality is the only thing we have of
 absolute worth4 ,a man cannot1         
therefore1 worship beauty1 wholly       
relinquish himself to its high delights1
 if he conceives of this majestic grace 
as impersonal and inanimate4 ,for that  
which we worship must be greater than   
we4 ,behind it1 therefore1 just because 
it seems to us so beautiful1 must be    
something that calls to the hidden deeps
 of the soul1 something intimately akin 
to our own spirits4 ,so man worships not
 nature1 but the ,god of nature2 senses 
an ,eternal ,presence behind all        
gracious form4 ,for that interprets     
beauty and consecrates the spell of     
beauty over us4 ,this gives a final     
meaning to what the soul perceives is an
 utter loveliness4 ,this gives to beauty
 an eternal and cosmic significance     
commensurate to its charm and power4 ,as
 long as men's hearts surge1 too1 when  
the tide yearns up the beach2 as long as
 their souls become articulate when the 
birds sing in the dawn1 and the flowers 

lift themselves to the sun2 so long will
 men believe that only from a supreme   
and conscious ,loveliness1 a joyous and 
a gracious ,spirit could have come the  
beauty which is so intimately related to
 the spirit of a man4  ,but not all     
saints and sinners are endowed with this
 joy and insight1 this quick            
sensitiveness to beauty4 ,some of them  
cannot find the eternal and transcendent
 ,god in a loveliness which1 by         
temperament1 they either underrate or do
 not really see4 ,there are a great many
 good people who cannot take beauty     
seriously4 ,they become wooden and      
suspicious and uncomfortable whenever   
they are asked to perceive or enjoy a   
lovely object4 ,incredible though it    
seems1 it appears to them to be unworthy
 of any final allegiance1 any complete  
surrender1 any unquestioning joy4 ,but  
there are other ways in which they1 too1
 may come to this sense of              
transcendence1 other aspects of         
experience which also demand it4 ,most  

often it is just such folk who cannot   
perceive beauty1 because they are       
practical or scientific or condemned to 
mean surroundings1 who do feel to the   
full the grim force and terror of the   
external world4 ,prudence1 caution1 hard
 sense are to the fore with them6 ,very 
well2 there1 too1 in these perceptions  
is an open door for the human spirit to 
transcend its environment1 get out of   
its physical shell4 ,the postulate of   
the absolute worth of beauty may be an  
argument for ,god drawn from subjective 
necessity4 ,but the postulate of        
sovereign moral ,being behind the       
tyranny and brutality of nature is an   
argument of objective necessity as well2
 here we all need ,god to explain the   
world4  ,for we deal with what certainly
 appear to be objective aspects of the  
truth1 when we regard ourselves in our  
relation to the might of the physical   
universe4 ,for even as men feed upon its
 beauty1 so they have found it necessary
 to discover something which should     

enable them to live above and unafraid  
of its material and gigantic power4 ,we 
have already seen how there appears to  
be a cosmic hostility to human life     
which sobers indeed those who are       
intelligent enough to perceive it4 ,it  
is only the fool or the brute or the    
sentimentalist who is unterrified by    
nature4 ,the man of reflection and      
imagination sees his race crawling      
ant-like over its tiny speck of slowly  
cooling earth and surrounded by titanic 
and ruthless forces which threaten at   
any moment to engulf it4 ,the religious 
man knows that he is infinitely greater 
than the beasts of the field or the     
clods of the highway4 ,yet ,vesuvius    
belches forth its liquid fire and in one
 day of stark terror the great city     
which was full of men is become mute and
 desolate4 ,the proud liner scrapes     
along the surface of the frozen berg and
 crumples like a ship of cards4 ,there  
is a splash1 a cry1 a white face1 a     
lifted arm1 and then all the pride and  

splendor1 all the hopes and fears1 the  
gorgeous dreams1 the daring thoughts are
 gone4 ,but the ice floats on unscarred 
and undeterred and the ocean tosses and 
heaves just as it did before4  ,now1 if 
this is all1 if there is for us only the
 physical might of nature and the world 
is only what it seems to be2 if there is
 no other ,god except such as can be    
found within this sort of cosmic        
process1 then human life is a sardonic  
mockery1 and self-respect a silly farce1
 and all the heroism of the heart and   
the valor of the mind the unmeaning     
activities of an insignificant atom4    
,the very men who will naturally enter  
your churches are the ones who have     
always found that theory of life        
intolerable4 ,it doesn't take in all the
 facts4 ,they could not live by it and  
the soul of the race1 looking out upon  
this universe of immeasurable material  
bulk1 has challenged it and dared to    
assert its own superiority4  ,so by this
 road these men come back to the        

transcendent ,god without whom they     
cannot guard that integrity of          
personality which we are all set to     
keep4 ,for here there is no way of      
believing in oneself1 no way of enduring
 this world or our place in it and no   
tolerable way of understanding it except
 we look beneath this cosmic hostility  
and find our self-respect and a         
satisfying cosmic meaning in perceiving 
spiritual force1 a conscious ethical    
purpose1 which interpenetrates the      
thunder and the lightning1 which lies   
behind the stars as they move in their  
perpetual courses4 ,through it the most 
ancient heavens are fresh and strong4   
,integrity of personality in such a     
world as this1 belief in self1 without  
which life is dust and ashes in the     
mouth1 rest on the sublime assumption   
that suffusing material force is ethical
 spirit1 more like unto us than it1     
controlling force in the interest of    
moral and eternal purposes4 ,in these   
purposes living1 not mechanical1 forces 

play a major part4  ,of course1 to all  
such reasoning the ,kantians and        
humanists reply that these notions of an
 objective and eternal beauty1 of a     
transcendent and actual ,cosmic ,being  
exist within the mind4 ,they are purely 
subjective ideas1 they are bounded by   
the inexorable circle of our experience1
 hence they offer no proof of any       
objective reality which may in greater  
or less degree correspond to them4      
,however1 there must be a source of     
these ideas4 ,to which the philosophers 
reply1 ,yes1 they are primitive and     
necessary1 produced by reason only1     
without borrowing anything from the     
senses or the understanding4 ,yet there 
is no sufficient evidence that the idea 
of ,god is thus produced by any faculty 
of mind acting in entire freedom from   
external influence4 ,on the contrary1   
the idea appears to owe much to the     
operation of external things upon the   
mind2 it is not then the wholly         
unaffected product of reason4 ,it is a  

response no less than an intuition4     
,like all knowledge a discovery1 but the
 discovery of something there which     
could be discovered1 hence1 in that     
sense1 a revelation4  ,it is not        
necessary1 then1 for men to meet their  
situation in the cosmos by saying with  
,kant3 ,we will act as though there were
 a ,god1 although we are always         
conscious that we have no real knowledge
 of ,him as an external being4 ,in the  
light of the tragic circumstances of    
humanity1 this is demanding the         
impossible4 ,no sane body of men will   
ever get sufficient inspiration for life
 or find an adequate solution for the   
problem of life by resting upon mere    
value judgments which they propose1 by  
an effort of will1 to put in the place  
of genuine reality judgments4 ,indeed1  
there is a truly scholastic navet1 a    
sort of solemn and unconscious humor1 in
 seriously proposing that men should    
vitalize and consecrate their deepest   
purposes and most difficult experiences 

by hypothesizing mere appearances and   
illusions4  ,nor are we willing either  
to say with ,santayana that all our     
sense of the beauty of the world is     
merely pleasure objectified and that we 
can infer no eternal ,beauty from it4   
,we are aware that there cannot be an   
immediate knowledge of a reality        
distinct from ourselves1 that all our   
knowledge must be1 in the nature of the 
case1 an idea1 a mental representation1 
that we can never know the ,thing       
,itself4 ,but if we believe1 as we      
logically and reasonably may1 that our  
subjective ideas are formed under the   
influence of objects unknown but without
 us1 produced by stimuli1 real1 if not  
perceived apart from our own            
consciousness1 then we may say that what
 we have is a mediate or representative 
knowledge not only of an ,eternal ,being
 but formed under the influence of that 
,being4 ,nor does the believer ask for  
more4 ,he does not expect to see the    
,king in ,his beauty2 he only needs to  

know that ,he is1 that ,he is there4    
,how self-verifying and moving1 then1   
are the appeals ready to our hands4 ,as 
long as man with the power to question1 
to strive1 to aspire1 to endure1 to     
suffer1 lives in a universe of ruthless 
and overwhelming might1 so long1 if he  
is to understand it or maintain his     
reason and his dignity1 he will believe 
it to be controlled by a ,spirit beyond 
no less than within1 from whom his      
spirit is derived4 ,it is out of the    
struggle to revere and conserve human   
personality1 out of the belief in the   
indefectible worth and honor of selfhood
 that our race has fronted a universe in
 arms1 and pitting its soul against     
nature has cried1 ,god is my refuge3    
underneath me1 at the very moment when  
,i am engulfed in earthquake shock or   
shattered in the battle's roar1 there   
are everlasting arms6 ,there is         
something which is too deep for tears in
 the unconquerable idealism1 the utter  
magnanimity of the faith of the human   

spirit in that which will answer to     
itself1 as evidenced in this forlorn and
 glorious adventure of the soul4        
,sometimes we are constrained to ask    
ourselves1 ,how can the heart of man go 
so undismayed through the waste places  
of the world8  ,but1 of course1 the     
preacher's main task is to interpret    
man's moral experience1 which drives him
 out to search for the eternal in the   
terms of the other and redeeming ,god4  
,we have spoken of the depersonalizing  
of religion which paganism and humanism 
alike have brought upon the world4 ,one 
evidence of that has been the way in    
which we have confounded the social     
expressions of religion with its        
individual source4 ,we are so concerned 
with the effect of our religion upon the
 community that we have forgotten that  
the heart of religion is found in the   
solitary soul4 ,all of which means that 
we have here again yielded to the time  
spirit that enfolds us and have come to 
think of man as religious if he be      

humane4 ,but that is not true4 ,no man  
is ever religious until he becomes      
devout4 ,and indeed no man of our       
sort--the saint and sinner sort--is ever
 long and truly humane unless the       
springs of his tenderness for men are   
found in his ever widening and deepening
 gratitude to ,god6 ,hence no man was   
ever yet able to preach the living ,god 
until he understood that the central    
need in human life is to reconcile the  
individual conscience to itself1 compose
 the anarchy of the spiritual life4 ,men
 want to be happy and be fed2 but men   
must have inward peace4  ,we swing back1
 therefore1 to the native ground of     
preaching1 approach the religious       
problem1 now1 not from the aesthetic or 
the scientific1 but from the moral      
angle4 ,here we are dealing with the    
most poignant of all human experiences4 
,for it is in this intensely personal   
world of moral failure and divided will 
that men are most acutely aware of      
themselves and hence of their need of   

that other-than-self beyond4 ,the       
sentimental idealizing of contemporary  
life1 the declension of the humanist's  
optimism into that superficial          
complacency which will not see what it  
does not like or what it is not         
expedient to see1 makes one's mind to   
chuckle while one's heart doth ache4    
,there is a brief heyday1 its           
continuance dependent upon the          
uncontrollable factors of outward       
prosperity1 physical and nervous vigor1 
capacity for preoccupation with the     
successive novelties of a diversified   
and complicated civilization1 in which  
even men of religious temperament can   
minimize or ignore1 perhaps sincerely   
disbelieve in1 their divided life4      
,sometimes we think we may sin and be   
done with it4 ,but always in the end man
 must come back to this moral tragedy of
 the soul4 ,because sin will not be done
 with us when we are done with it4      
,every evil is evil to him that does it 
and sooner or later we are compelled to 

understand that to be a sinner is the   
sorest and most certain punishment for  
sinning4  ,then the awakening begins4   
,then can preaching stir the heart until
 deep answereth unto deep4 ,it can talk 
of the struggle with moral temptation   
and weakness2 of the unstable           
temperament which oscillates between the
 gutter and the stars2 of the perversion
 or abuse of impulses good in           
themselves2 of the dreadful dualism of  
the soul4 ,for these are inheritances   
which have made life tragic in every    
generation for innumerable human beings4
 ,whoever needed to explain to a company
 of grown men and women what the cry of 
the soul for its release from passion   
is8 ,every generation has its secret    
pessimists1 brooding over the anarchy of
 the spirit1 the issues of a distracted 
life4 ,we need not ask with ,faust1     
,where is that place which men call     
',hell'8 nor wait for ,mephistopheles to
 answer1    ,hell is in no set place1   
nor is it circumscribed1   ,for where we

 are--is ,hell6  ,now1 it is from such  
central and poignant experiences as     
these that men have been constrained to 
look outward for a ,god4 ,for these mark
 the very disintegration of personality1
 the utter dissipation of selfhood4     
,that is the inescapable horror of sin4 
,that is what we mean when we say       
sinners are lost2 so they are1 they are 
lost to their own selves4 ,with what    
discriminating truth the father in the  
parable of the lost boy speaks4 ,this1  
my son1 he says1 was dead though he is  
alive again4 ,so it is with us2 being is
 the price we pay for sinning4 ,the more
 we do wrong the less we are4 ,how then 
shall we become alive again8  ,it is out
 of the shame and passion1 the utter    
need of the human heart1 which such     
considerations show to be real that men 
have built up their redemptive faiths4  
,for all moral victory is conditioned   
upon help from without4 ,to be sure each
 will and soul must strive desperately1 
even unto death1 yet all that strife    

shall be in vain unless ,one stoops down
 from above and wrestles with us in the 
conflict4 ,for the sinner must have two 
things1 both of them beyond his unaided 
getting1 or he will die4 ,he must be    
released from his captivity4 ,who does  
not know the terrible restlessness1 that
 grows and feeds upon itself and then   
does grow some more1 of the man bound by
 evil and wanting to get out8 ,the      
torture of sin is that it deprives us of
 the power to express ourselves4 ,the   
cry of moral misery1 therefore1 is      
always the groaning of the prisoner4    
,oh1 for help to break the bars of my   
intolerable and delicious sin that ,i   
may be myself once more6 ,oh1 for some  
power greater than ,i which1 being      
greater1 can set me free6  ,but more    
than the sinner wants to be free does he
 want to be kept4 ,along with the       
passion for liberty is the desire for   
surrender4 ,again1 then1 he wants       
something outside himself1 some ,being  
so far above the world he lives in that 

it can take him1 the whole of him1 break
 his life1 shake it to its foundations1 
then pacify1 compose it1 make it anew4  
,he is so tired of his sin2 he is so    
weary with striving2 he wants to        
relinquish it all2 get far away from    
what he is2 flee like a bird to the     
mountain2 lay down his life before the  
,one like whom he would be4 ,so he wants
 power1 he wants peace4 ,he would be    
himself1 he would lose himself4 ,he     
prays for freedom1 he longs for         
captivity4  ,now1 out of these depths of
 human life1 these vast antinomies of   
the spirit1 has arisen man's belief in a
 ,saviour-,god4 ,sublime and awful are  
the sanctions upon which it rests4 ,out 
of the extremity and definiteness of our
 need we know that ,he must be and we   
know what ,he must be like4 ,he is the  
,one to whom all hearts are open1 all   
desires known1 from whom no secrets are 
hid4 ,who could state the mingling of   
desire and dread with which men strive  
after1 and hide from1 such a ,god8 ,we  

want ,him1 yet until we have ,him how we
 fear ,him4 ,for that inclusive         
knowledge of us which is ,god1 if only  
we can bear to come to it1 endows us    
with freedom4 ,for then all the barriers
 are down1 there is nothing to conceal1 
nothing to explain1 nothing to hold     
back4 ,then reality and appearance      
coincide1 character and condition       
correspond4 ,i am what ,i am before     
,him4 ,supreme reality from without     
answers and completes my own1 and makes 
me real1 and my reality makes me free4  
,but if ,he thus knows me1 and through  
that knowledge every inner inhibition   
melts in ,his presence and every damning
 secret's out1 and all my life is spread
 like an open palm before ,his gaze1 and
 ,i am come at last1 through many weary 
roads1 unto my very self1 why then ,i   
can let go1 ,i can relinquish myself4   
,the dreadful tension's gone and in     
utter surrender the soul is poured out1 
until1 spent and expressed1 rest and    
peace flood back into the satisfied     

life4 ,so the life is free2 so the life 
is bound4 ,so a man stands upon his     
feet2 so he clings to the ,rock that is 
higher than he4 ,so the life is cleansed
 in burning light2 so the soul is hid in
 the secret of ,god's presence4 ,so men 
come to themselves2 so men lose         
themselves in the ,eternal4 ,there is   
perfect freedom at last because we have 
attained to complete captivity4 ,there  
is power accompanied by peace4 ,that is 
the gift which the vision of a ,god1    
morally separate from1 morally other    
than we1 brings to the inward strife1   
the spiritual agony of the world4 ,this 
is the need which that faith satisfies4 
,it is1 ,i suppose1 in this exulting    
experience of moral freedom and         
spiritual peace which comes to those men
 who make the experiment of faith that  
they1 for the most part1 find their     
sufficient proof of the divine reality4 
,who ever doubted ,his existence who    
could cry with all that innumerable     
company of many kindreds and peoples and

 tongues3    ,he brought me up also out 
of an horrible pit1 out of the miry     
clay2   ,and he set my feet upon a rock1
 and established my goings4   ,and he   
hath put a new song in my mouth1 even   
praise unto our ,god4  ,here1 then1 is  
the preaching which is religious4 ,how  
foolish are we not to preach it more6   
,how trivial and impertinent it is to   
question the permanence of the religious
 interpretation of the world6 ,what a   
revelation of personal insignificance it
 is to fail to revere the majesty of the
 devout and aspiring life6 ,that which a
 starved and restless and giddy world   
has lost is this pool of quietness1 this
 tower of strength1 this cleansing grace
 of salvation1 this haven of the        
,spirit4 ,belief in a transcendent deity
 is as natural as hunger and thirst1 as 
necessary as sleep and breathing4 ,it   
was the inner and essential needs of our
 fathers' lives which drove them out to 
search for ,him4 ,it will be the inner  
and essential needs of the lives of our 

children that shall bring them to the   
altar where their fathers and their     
fathers' fathers bowed down before them4
 ,are we going to be afraid to keep its 
fires burning8  ,and so we come to our  
final and most difficult aspect of this 
transcendent problem4 ,we have talked of
 the man who is separate from nature1   
and who knows himself as man because    
behind nature he sees the ,god from whom
 he is separate1 too4 ,we have seen how 
he needs that otherness in ,god to      
maintain his personality and how the    
gulf between him and that ,god induces  
that sense of helplessness which makes  
the humility and penitence of the       
religious life4 ,we must come now to our
 final question4 ,how is he to bridge   
the gulf8 ,by what power can he go      
through with this experience we have    
just been relating and find his whole   
self in a whole world8 ,how can he dare 
to try it8 ,how can he gain power to    
achieve it8  ,perhaps this is the       
central difficulty of all religion4 ,it 

is certainly the one which the old      
,greeks felt4 ,plato1 the father of     
,christian theology1 and all            
neo-platonists1 knew that the gulf is   
here between man and ,god and they knew 
that something or someone must bridge it
 for us4 ,they perceived that man1      
unaided1 cannot leap it at a stride4 ,we
 proceed1 driven by the facts of life1  
to the point where the soul looks up to 
the ,eternal and confesses the kinship1 
and knows that only in ,his light shall 
it see light1 and that it only shall be 
satisfied when it awakes in ,his        
likeness4 ,but how shall the connection 
be made8 ,what shall enable us to do    
that mystic thing1 come back to ,god8   
,we have frightful handicaps in the     
attempt4 ,how shall the distrust that   
sin creates1 the hardness that sin      
forms1 the despair and helplessness that
 sin induces1 the dreadful indifference 
which is its expression1--how shall they
 be removed8 ,how shall the unfaith     
which the mystery1 the suffering1 the   

evil of the world induce be overcome8   
,being a sinner ,i do not dare1 and     
being ignorant ,i do not believe1 to    
come4 ,god is there and ,god wants us2  
like as a father pitieth his children so
 ,he pitieth us4 ,he knoweth our frame1 
,he remembereth that we are dust4 ,we   
know that is true2 again we do not know 
it is true4 ,all the sin that is in us  
and all which that sin has done to us   
insists and insists that it is not true4
 ,and the mind wonders--and wonders4    
,what shall break that distrust2 and    
melt away the hardness so that we have  
an open mind2 and send hope into        
despair1 hope with its accompanying     
confidence to act2 change unfaith to    
belief1 until1 in having faith1 we      
thereby have that which faith believes  
in8 ,how amazing is life6 ,we look out  
into the heavenly country1 we long to   
walk therein1 we have so little power to
 stir hand or foot to gain our entrance4
 ,we know it is there but all the facts 
of our rebellious or self-centered life1

 individual and associated alike1 are   
against it and therefore we do not know 
that it is there4  ,philosophy and      
reason and proofs of logic cannot       
greatly help us here4 ,no man was ever  
yet argued into the kingdom of ,god4 ,we
 cannot convince ourselves of our souls4
 ,for we are creatures1 not minds2      
lives1 not ideas4 ,only life can        
convince life2 only a ,person but1 of   
course1 a transcendent person that is   
more like ,him than like us1 can make   
that ,other-who-lives certain and sure  
for us4 ,this necessity for some        
intermediary who shall be a human yet   
more-than-human proof that ,god is and  
that man may be one with ,him2 this     
reinforcing of the old argument from    
subjective necessity by its verification
 in the actual stuff of objective life1 
has been everywhere sought by men4      
,saviours1 redeemers1 mediators1 then1  
are not theological manikins4 ,they are 
not superfluous figures born of a       
mistaken notion of the universe4 ,they  

are not secondary gods1 concessions to  
our childishness4 ,they1 too1 are called
 for in the nature of things4 ,but to   
really mediate they must have the       
qualities of both that which they       
transmit and of those who receive the   
transmission4 ,most of all they must    
have that other quality1 so triumphant  
and self-verifying that seeing it       
constrains belief4 ,a mediator wholly   
unlike ourselves would be a meaningless 
and mocking figure4 ,but a mediator who 
was chiefly like ourselves would be a   
contradiction in terms6  ,so we come    
back again to the old problem4 ,man     
needs some proof that he who knows that 
he is more than dust can meet with that 
other life from whose star his speck has
 been derived4 ,something has got to    
give him powerful reinforcement for this
 supreme effort of will1 of faith4 ,if  
only he could know that he and it ever  
have met in the fields of time and      
space1 then he would be saved4 ,for that
 would give him the will to believe2    

that would prove the ultimate2 give him 
the blessed assurance which heals the   
wounds of the heart4 ,then he would have
 power to surrender4 ,then he would no  
longer fear the gulf1 he would walk out 
onto it and know that as he walked he   
was with ,god4  ,some such reasoning as 
this ought to make clear the place that 
,jesus holds in ,christian preaching and
 why we call ,him ,saviour and why      
salvation comes for us who are of ,his  
spiritual lineage1 through ,him4 ,of    
course it is true that ,jesus shows to  
all discerning eyes what man may be4    
,but that is not the chief secret of    
,his power2 that is not why churches are
 built to ,him and ,his cross still     
fronts1 defeated but unconquerable1 our 
pagan world4 ,jesus was more-than-nature
 and more-than-human4 ,it is this other 
quality1 operative and objectified in   
,his experience within our world1 which 
gives ,him the absoluteness which makes 
,him indispensable and precious4 ,the   
mystery is deepest here4 ,for here we   

transfer the antinomy from thought to   
conduct2 from inner perception to one   
,being's actual experience4 ,here1 in   
,him1 we say we see it resolved into its
 higher synthesis in actual operation4  
,here1 then1 we can almost look into it4
 ,yet when we do gaze1 our eyes dazzle1 
our minds swerve1 it is too much4 ,it is
 not easy1 indeed1 at the present time  
it seems to be impossible to reconcile  
the ,christ of history with the ,christ 
of experience4 ,yet there would be      
neither right nor reason in saying that 
the former was more of a reality than   
the latter4 ,and all the time the heart 
from which great thoughts arise1 the    
heart which has its reasons of which the
 mind knows nothing1 says1 ,here in ,him
 is the consummate quality1 the absolute
 note of life4 ,here the impossible has 
been accomplished4 ,here the opposites  
meet and the contradictions blend4 ,here
 is something so incredible that it is  
true4  ,of course1 ,jesus is of us and  
,he is ours4 ,that is true and it is    

inexpressibly sweet to remember it4     
,again1 to use our old solecism1 that is
 the lesser part of the truth2 the      
greater part1 for men of religion1 is   
that ,jesus is of ,god1 that ,he belongs
 to ,him4 ,his chief office for our     
world has not been to show us what men  
can be like2 it has been to give us the 
vision of the ,eternal in a human face4 
,for if ,he does reveal ,god to man then
 ,he must hold1 as ,president ,tucker   
says1 the quality and substance of the  
life which ,he reveals4  ,here is where 
,he differs immeasurably from even a    
,socrates4 ,what men want most to       
believe about ,jesus is this1 that when 
we commune with ,him1 we are with the   
infinite2 that man's just perception of 
the ,eternal ,spirit1 his desire to     
escape from time into reality1 may be   
fulfilled in ,jesus4 ,that is the       
,gospel3 ,come unto ,him1 all ye that   
labor and are heavy laden1 for ,he will 
give you rest4 ,whosoever drinketh of   
this water shall thirst again4 ,but     

whosoever drinketh of the water that ,i 
shall give him shall never thirst2 but  
the water that ,i shall give him shall  
be in him a well of water springing up  
into everlasting life4 ,if the ,son     
therefore shall make you free1 you shall
 be free indeed4  ,now1 if all this is  
true1 what is the religious preaching of
 ,jesus1 what aspect of ,his person     
meets the spiritual need8 ,clearly1 it  
is ,his transcendence4 ,it is not worthy
 of us to evade it because we cannot    
explain it4 ,surely what has hastened   
our present paganism has been the       
removal from the forefront of our       
consciousness of ,jesus the ,saviour1   
the divine ,redeemer1 the absolute      
,meeter of an absolute need4 ,of such   
preaching of ,jesus we have today very  
little4 ,the pendulum has swung far to  
the left1 to the other exclusive        
emphasis1 too obviously influenced by   
the currents of the day4 ,it was perhaps
 inevitable that ,he should for a time  
drop out of ,his former place in        

,christian preaching under this combined
 humanistic and naturalistic movement4  
,but it means that again we have        
relinquished those values which have    
made ,jesus the heart of humanity4  ,of 
course1 ,he was a perfected human       
character inspired above all men by the 
spirit of ,god1 showing the capacity of 
humanity to hold ,divinity4 ,this is    
what ,mary celebrates in her paean1 ,he 
that is mighty has magnified me and holy
 is his name4 ,but is this what men have
 passionately adored in ,jesus8 ,has    
love of ,him been self-love8 ,is this   
why ,he has become the sanctuary of     
humanity8 ,i think not4 ,we have for the
 moment no good language for the other  
conception of ,him4 ,he is indeed the   
pledge of what we may be1 but how many  
of us would ever believe that pledge    
unless there was something else in ,him1
 more than we1 that guaranteed it8      
,what1 as ,president ,tucker asks1 is   
this power which shall make maybe into  
is for us8 ,without doubt the trend of  

modern thought and faith is toward the  
more perfect identification of ,christ  
with humanity4 ,we cannot overestimate  
the advantage to ,christianity of this  
tendency4 ,the world must know and feel 
the humanity of ,jesus4 ,but it makes   
the greatest difference in result       
whether the ground of the common        
humanity is in ,him or in us4 ,to borrow
 the expressive language of ,paul1 was  
,he 'created' in us8 ,or are we         
'created' in ,him8 ,grant the right of  
the affirmation that 'there is no       
difference in kind between the divine   
and the human'2 allow the interchange of
 terms so that one may speak of the     
humanity of ,god and the divinity of    
man2 appropriate the motive which lies  
in these attempts to bring ,god and man 
together and thus to explain the        
personality of ,jesus ,christ1 it is    
still a matter of infinite concern      
whether ,his home is in the higher or   
the lower regions of divinity4 ,after   
all1 very little is gained by the       

transfer of terms4 ,humanity is in no   
way satisfied with its degree of        
divinity4 ,we are still as anxious as   
ever to rise above ourselves and in this
 anxiety we want to know concerning our 
great helper1 whether ,he has in        
,himself anything more than the possible
 increase of a common humanity4 ,what is
 ,his power to lift and how long may it 
last8 ,shall we ever reach ,his level1  
become as divine as ,he1 or does ,he    
have part in the absolute and infinite8 
,this question may seem remote in result
 but it is everything in principle4 ,the
 immanence of ,christ has its present   
meaning and value because of ,his       
transcendence4#dj  ,footnote #dj3 ,the  
,satisfaction of ,humanity in ,jesus    
,christ1 ,andover ,review1 ,january1    
#ahic4  ,preaching today is not moving  
on the level of this discussion1 is     
neither asking nor attempting to answer 
its questions4 ,great preaching in some 
way makes men see the end of the road1  
not merely the direction in which it    

travels4 ,the power to do that we have  
lost if we have lost the more-than-us in
 ,jesus4 ,humanity1 unaided1 cannot look
 to that end which shall explain the    
beginning4 ,and does ,jesus mean very   
much to us if ,he is only ,jesus8 ,why  
do we answer the great invitation1 ,come
 unto me8 ,because ,he is something     
other than us8 ,because ,he calls us    
away from ourselves8 back to home8 ,most
 of us no longer know how to preach on  
that plane of experience or from the    
point of view where such questions are  
serious and real4 ,our fathers had a    
world view and a philosophy which made  
such preaching easy4 ,but their power   
did not lie in that world view2 it lay  
in this vision of ,jesus which produced 
the view4 ,is not this the vision which 
we need8     ,,chapter ,,seven          
,,worship ,,as ,,the ,,chief ,,approach 
,,to ,,transcendence   ,whatever becomes
 the inward and the invisible grace of  
the ,christian community such will be   
its outward and visible form4 ,those    

regulative ideas and characteristic     
emotions which determine in any age the 
quality of its religious experience will
 be certain to shape the nature and     
conduct of its ecclesiastical           
assemblies4 ,their influence will show1 
both in the liturgical and homiletical  
portions of public worship4 ,if anything
 further were needed1 therefore1 to     
indicate the secularity of this age1 its
 substitutes for worship and its        
characteristic type of preaching would1 
in themselves1 reveal the situation4 ,so
 we venture to devote these closing     
discussions to some observations on the 
present state of ,protestant public     
worship and the prevailing type of      
,protestant preaching4 ,for we may thus 
ascertain how far those ideas and       
perceptions which an age like ours needs
 are beginning to find an expression and
 what means may be taken to increase    
their influence through church services 
in the community4  ,we begin1 then1 in  
this chapter1 not with preaching1 but   

with worship4 ,it seems to me clear that
 the chief office of the church is      
liturgical rather than homiletical4 ,or1
 if that is too technical a statement1  
it may be said that the church exists to
 set forth and foster the religious life
 and that1 because of the nature of that
 life1 it finds its chief opportunity   
for so doing in the imaginative rather  
than the rationalizing or practical     
areas of human expression4 ,even as     
,michael ,angelo1 at the risk of his    
life1 purloined dead bodies that he     
might dissect them and learn anatomy1 so
 all disciples of the art of religion   
need the discipline of intellectual     
analysis and of knowledge of the facts  
of the religious experience if they are 
to be leaders in faith4 ,there is a     
toughness of fiber needed in religious  
people that can only come through such  
mental discipline4 ,but anatomists are  
not sculptors4 ,michael ,angelo was the 
genius1 the creative artist1 not because
 he understood anatomy1 but chiefly     

because of those as yet indefinable and 
secret processes of feeling and         
intuition in man1 which made him feel   
rather than understand the pity and the 
terror1 the majesty and the pathos of   
the human spirit and reveal them in     
significant and expressive line4        
,knowledge supported rather than rivaled
 insight4 ,in the same way1 both saint  
and sinner need religious instruction4  
,nevertheless they are what they are    
because they are first perceptive rather
 than reasoning beings4 ,they both owe1 
the one his salvation1 the other his    
despair1 to the fact that they have seen
 the vision of the holy universe4 ,both 
are seers2 the saint has given his      
allegiance to the heavenly vision4 ,the 
sinner has resolved to be disobedient   
unto it4 ,both find their first and more
 natural approach to religious truth1   
therefore1 through the creative rather  
than the critical processes1 the        
emotional rather than the informative   
powers4  ,there are1 of course1 many in 

our churches who would dissent from this
 opinion4 ,it is characteristic of      
,protestantism1 as of humanism in       
general1 that it lays its chief emphasis
 upon the intelligence4 ,if we go to    
church to practice the presence of ,god1
 must we not first know who and what    
this ,god is whose presence with us we  
are there asked to realize8 ,so most    
,protestant services are more           
informative than inspirational4 ,their  
attendants are assembled to hear about  
,god rather to taste and see that the   
,lord is good4 ,they analyze the        
religious experience rather than enjoy  
it2 insensibly they come to regard the  
spiritual life as a proposition to be   
proved1 not a power to be appropriated4 
,hence our services generally consist of
 some preliminary exercises1 as we      
ourselves call them1 leading up to the  
climax--when it is a climax--of the     
sermon4  ,here is a major cause for the 
declension of the influence of          
,protestant church services4 ,they go   

too much on the assumption that men     
already possess religion and that they  
come to church to discuss it rather than
 to have it provided4 ,they call men to 
be listeners rather than participants in
 their temples4 ,of course1 one may find
 ,god through the mind4 ,the great      
scholar1 the mathematician or the       
astronomer may cry with ,kepler1        
,behold1 ,i think the thoughts of ,god  
after him6 ,yet a service which places  
its chief emphasis upon the appeal to   
the will through instruction has        
declined from that realm of the         
absolutes where religion in its purest  
form belongs4 ,for since preaching makes
 its appeal chiefly through reason1 it  
thereby attempts to produce only a      
partial and relative experience in the  
life of the listener4 ,it impinges upon 
the will by a slow process4 ,sometimes  
one gets so deadly weary of preaching   
because1 in a world like ours1 the      
reasonable process is so unreasonable4  
,that's a half truth1 of course1 but one

 that the modern world needs to learn4  
,others would dissent from our position 
by saying that service1 the life of good
 will1 is a sufficient worship4 ,the    
highest adoration is to visit the widows
 and the fatherless in their affliction4
 ,laborare est orare4 ,what we do speaks
 so loud ,god does not care for what we 
say4 ,true3 but the value of what we do 
for ,god depends upon the godliness of  
the doer and where shall he find that   
godliness save in the secret place of   
the ,most ,high8 ,and the greatest gift 
we can give our fellows is to bring them
 into the divine presence4 ,there is1   
says ,dr4 ,william ,adams ,brown1 a     
service that is directed to the         
satisfaction of needs already in        
existence1 and there is a service that  
is itself the creator of new needs which
 enlarge the capacity of the man to whom
 it would minister4 ,to this larger     
service religion is committed1 and the  
measure of a man's fitness to render it 
is his capacity for worship4 ,but no one

 can give more than he has4 ,if we are  
to offer such gifts we must ourselves go
 before and lead4 ,to create the        
atmosphere in which the things of       
righteousness and holiness seem to be   
naturally exalted above the physical1   
the commercial1 the domestic affairs of 
men2 to lift the level of thought and   
feeling to that high place where the    
spiritual consciousness contributes its 
insights and finds a magnanimous        
utterance--is there anything that our   
world needs more8 ,there are noble and  
necessary ministries to the body and the
 mind1 but most needed1 and least often 
offered1 there is a ministry to the     
human spirit4 ,this is the gift which   
the worshiper can bring4 ,knowledge of  
,god may not be merely or even chiefly  
comprehended in a concept of the        
intelligence2 knowledge of ,him is that 
vitalizing consciousness of the         
,presence felt in the heart1 which opens
 our eyes that we may see that the      
mountain is full of horses and chariots 

of fire round about us and that they who
 fight with us are more than they who   
fight with them4 ,this is the true and  
central knowledge that private devotion 
and public worship alone can give2      
preaching can but conserve and transmit 
this religious experience through the   
mind1 worship creates it in the heart4  
,edwards understood that neither thought
 nor conduct can take its place4 ,the   
sober performance of moral duty1 said   
he1 is no substitute for passionate     
devotion to a ,being with its occasional
 moments of joy and exaltation4  ,we    
should then begin with worship4 ,a      
church which does not emphasize it      
before everything else is trying to     
build the structure of a spiritual      
society with the corner stone left out4 
,let us try1 first of all1 to define it4
 ,an old and popular definition of the  
descriptive sort says that worship is   
the response of the soul to the         
consciousness of being in the presence  
of ,god4 ,a more modern definition1     

analyzing the psychology of worship1    
defines it as the unification of        
consciousness around the central        
controlling idea of ,god1 the prevailing
 emotional tone being that of adoration4
 ,evidently we mean1 then1 by worship   
the appeal to the religious will through
 feeling and the imagination4 ,worship  
is therefore essentially creative4      
,every act of worship seeks to bring    
forth then and there a direct experience
 of ,god through high and concentrated  
emotion4 ,it fixes the attention upon   
,him as an object in ,himself supremely 
desirable4 ,the result of this unified  
consciousness is peace and the result of
 this peace and harmony is a new sense  
of power4 ,worship1 then1 is the        
attainment of that inward wholeness for 
which in one form or another all        
religion strives by means of            
contemplation4 ,so by its very nature it
 belongs to the class of the absolutes4 
,many psychologies of religion define   
this contemplation as aesthetic1 and    

make worship a higher form of delight4  
,this appears to me a quite typical     
non-religious interpretation of a       
religious experience4 ,there are four   
words which need explaining when we talk
 of worship4 ,they are3 wonder1         
admiration1 awe1 reverence4 ,wonder     
springs from the recognition of the     
limitations of our knowledge2 it is an  
experience of the mind4 ,admiration is  
the response of a growing intelligence  
to beauty1 partly an aesthetic1 partly  
an intellectual experience4 ,these      
distinctions ,coleridge had in mind in  
his well-known sentence ,in wonder all  
philosophy began2 in wonder it ends2 and
 admiration fills up the interspace4    
,but the first wonder is the offspring  
of ignorance2 the last is the parent of 
adoration4 ,awe is the sense-perception 
of the stupendous power and magnitude of
 the universe2 it is1 quite literally1 a
 godly fear4 ,but it is not ignoble nor 
cringing1 it is just and reasonable1 the
 attitude1 toward the ,whole1 of a      

comprehensive sanity4  ,thus ,i would   
love ,thee1 ,o ,god1 if there were no   
heaven1 and if there were no hell1 ,i   
would fear ,thee no less4 ,reverence is 
devotion to goodness1 sense of          
awe-struck loyalty to a ,being          
manifestly under the influence of       
principles higher than our own4#da ,now 
it is with these last two1 awe and      
reverence1 rather than wonder and       
admiration1 that worship has to do4     
,footnote #da3 ,for a discussion of     
these four words see ,allen1 ,reverence 
as the ,heart of ,christianity1 pp4 #bec
 ff4  ,hence the essence of worship is  
not aesthetic contemplation4 ,without   
doubt worship does gratify the aesthetic
 instinct and most properly so4 ,there  
is no normal expression of man's nature 
which has not its accompanying delight4 
,the higher and more inclusive the      
expression the more exquisite1 of       
course1 the delight4 ,but that pleasure 
is the by-product1 not the object1 of   
worship4 ,it itself springs partly from 

the awe of the infinite and eternal     
majesty which induces the desire to     
prostrate oneself before the ,lord our  
,maker4 ,i have heard of ,thee by the   
hearing of the ear3 but now mine eye    
seeth ,thee4 ,wherefore ,i abhor myself1
 and repent in dust and ashes4 ,it also 
springs partly from passionate devotion 
of a loyal will to a holy ,being4       
,behold1 as the eyes of servants look   
unto the hand of their masters and as   
the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her 
mistress2 so our eyes wait upon the     
,lord4 ,thus reverence is the high and  
awe-struck hunger for spiritual         
communion4 ,my soul thirsteth for ,god1 
for the living ,god4 ,when shall ,i come
 and appear before ,god8  ,there is a   
noble illustration of the nature and the
 uses of worship in the ,journals of    
,jonathan ,edwards1 distinguished       
alumnus of ,yale ,college1 and the      
greatest mind this hemisphere has       
produced4 ,you remember what he wrote in
 them1 as a youth1 about the young woman

 who later became his wife3 ,they say   
there is a young lady in ,new ,haven who
 is beloved of that great ,being who    
made and rules the world1 and that there
 are certain seasons in which this great
 ,being in some way or other invisible  
comes to her and fills her mind with    
exceeding sweet delight1 and that she   
hardly cares for anything except to     
meditate on ,him4 ,therefore if you     
present all the world before her1 with  
the richest of its treasures1 she       
disregards and cares not for it and is  
unmindful of any pain or affliction4    
,she has a strange sweetness in her     
mind1 and singular purity in her        
affections1 is most just and            
conscientious in all her conduct1 and   
you could not persuade her to do        
anything wrong or sinful if you would   
give her all the world1 lest she should 
offend this great ,being4 ,she is of    
wonderful calmness and universal        
benevolence of mind1 especially after   
this great ,god has manifested ,himself 

to her mind4 ,she will sometimes go     
about from place to place singing       
sweetly and seems to be always full of  
joy and pleasure1 and no one knows for  
what4 ,she loves to be alone1 walking in
 the fields and groves1 and seems to    
have some one invisible always          
conversing with her4  ,almost every     
element of worship is contained in this 
description4 ,first1 we have a young    
human being emotionally conscious of the
 presence of ,god1 who in some way or   
other directly but invisibly comes to   
her4 ,secondly1 we have her attention so
 fixed on the adoration of ,god that she
 hardly cares for anything except to    
meditate upon ,him4 ,thirdly1 as the    
result of this worshipful approach to   
religious reality1 we have the profound 
peace and harmony1 the summum bonum of  
existence1 coupled with strong moral    
purpose which characterize her life4    
,here1 then1 is evidently the           
unification of consciousness in happy   
awe and the control of destiny through  

meditation upon infinite matters1 that  
is1 through reverent contemplation of   
,god4 ,is it not one of those ironies of
 history wherewith fate is forever      
mocking and teasing the human spirit1   
that the grandson of this lady and of   
,jonathan ,edwards should have been     
,aaron ,burr8  ,clearly1 then1 the end  
of worship is to present to the mind1   
through the imagination1 one idea1      
majestic and inclusive4 ,so it presents 
it chiefly through high and sustained   
feeling4 ,worship proceeds on the       
understanding that one idea1 remaining  
almost unchanged and holding the        
attention for a considerable length of  
time1 so directs the emotional processes
 that thought and action are harmonized 
with it4 ,if one reads the great prayers
 of the centuries they indicate1 for the
 most part1 an unconscious understanding
 of this psychology of worship4 ,take1  
for instance1 this noble prayer of      
,pusey's4  ,let me not seek out of ,thee
 what ,i can find only in ,thee1 ,o     

,lord1 peace and rest and joy and bliss1
 which abide only in thine abiding joy4 
,lift up my soul above the weary round  
of harassing thoughts1 to ,thy eternal  
presence4 ,lift up my soul to the pure1 
bright1 serene1 radiant atmosphere of   
,thy presence1 that there ,i may breathe
 freely1 there repose in ,thy love1     
there be at rest from myself and from   
all things that weary me1 and thence    
return arrayed with ,thy peace1 to do   
and bear what shall please ,thee4  ,this
 prayer expresses the essence of worship
 which is the seeking1 through the      
fixation of attention1 not the delight  
but rather the peace and purity which   
can only be found in the consciousness  
of ,god4 ,this peace is the necessary   
outcome of the indwelling presence4 ,it 
ensues when man experiences the radiant 
atmosphere of the divine communion4     
,the same clear expression of worship is
 found in another familiar and noble    
prayer1 that of ,johann ,arndt4 ,here1  
too1 are phrases descriptive of a       

unified consciousness induced by        
reverent loyalty4  ,ah1 ,lord1 to whom  
all hearts are open1 ,thou canst govern 
the vessel of my soul far better than   
can ,i4 ,arise1 ,o ,lord1 and command   
the stormy wind and the troubled sea of 
my heart to be still1 and at peace in   
,thee1 that ,i may look up to ,thee     
undisturbed and abide in union with     
,thee1 my ,lord4 ,let me not be carried 
hither and thither by wandering         
thoughts1 but forgetting all else let me
 see and hear ,thee4 ,renew my spirit1  
kindle in me ,thy light that it may     
shine within me1 and my heart burn in   
love and adoration for ,thee4 ,let ,thy 
,holy ,spirit dwell in me continually1  
and make me ,thy temple and sanctuary1  
and fill me with divine love and life   
and light1 with devout and heavenly     
thoughts1 with comfort and strength1    
with joy and peace4  ,thus here one sees
 in the high contemplation of a         
transcendent ,god the subduing and      
elevating of the human will1 the        

restoration and composure of the moral  
life4 ,finally1 in a prayer of ,st4     
,anselm's there is a sort of analysis of
 the process of worship4  ,o ,god1 ,thou
 art life1 wisdom1 truth1 bounty and    
blessedness1 the eternal1 the only true 
,good4 ,my ,god and my ,lord1 ,thou art 
my hope and my heart's joy4 ,i confess  
with thanksgiving that ,thou hast made  
me in ,thine image1 that ,i may direct  
all my thoughts to ,thee and love ,thee4
 ,lord1 make me to know ,thee aright    
that ,i may more and more love and enjoy
 and possess ,thee4  ,one cannot        
conclude these examples of worshipful   
expression without quoting a prayer of  
,augustine1 which is1 ,i suppose1 the   
most perfect brief petition in all the  
,christian literature of devotion and   
which gives the great psychologist's    
perception of the various steps in the  
unification of the soul with the eternal
 ,spirit through sublime emotion4       
,grant1 ,o ,god1 that we may desire     
,thee1 and desiring ,thee1 seek ,thee1  

and seeking ,thee1 find ,thee1 and      
finding ,thee1 be satisfied with ,thee  
forever4  ,i think one may see1 then1   
why worship as distinct from preaching1 
or the hearing of preaching1 is the     
first necessity of the religious life4  
,it unites us as nothing else can do    
with ,god the whole and ,god the        
transcendent4 ,the conception of ,god is
 the sum total of human needs and       
desires harmonized1 unified1 concretely 
expressed4 ,it is the faith of the      
worshiper that this concept is derived  
from a real and objective ,being in some
 way corresponding to it4 ,no one can   
measure the influence of such an idea   
when it dominates the consciousness of  
any given period4 ,it can create and set
 going new desires and habits1 it can   
minish and repress old ones1 because    
this idea carries1 with its transcendent
 conception1 the dynamic quality which  
belongs to the idea of perfect power4   
,but this transcendent conception1 being
 essentially of something beyond1       

without and above ourselves can only be 
realized through the feeling and the    
imagination1 whose province it is to    
deal with the supersensuous values1 with
 the fringes of understanding1 with the 
farthest bounds of knowledge4 ,these    
make the springboard1 so to speak1 from 
which man dares to launch himself into  
that sea of the infinite1 which we can  
neither understand nor measure1 but     
which nevertheless we may perceive and  
feel1 which in some sense we know to be 
there4  ,so1 if we deal first with      
worship1 we are merely beginning at the 
beginning and starting at the bottom4   
,and1 in the light of this observation1 
it is appalling to survey the           
non-liturgical churches today and see   
the place that public devotion holds in 
them4 ,it is not too much1 ,i think1 to 
speak of the collapse of worship in     
,protestant communities4 ,no better     
evidence of this need be sought than in 
the nature of the present attempts to   
reinstate it4 ,they have a navet1 an    

incongruity1 that can only be explained 
on the assumption of their impoverished 
background4  ,this situation shows first
 in the heterogeneous character of our  
experiments4 ,we are continually        
printing on our churches' calendars what
 we usually call programs1 but which are
 meant to be orders of worship4 ,we are 
also forever changing them4 ,there is   
nothing inevitable about their order2   
they have no intelligible1              
self-verifying procedure4 ,anthems are  
inserted here and there without any     
sense of the progression or of the      
psychology of worship4 ,glorias are sung
 sometimes with the congregation        
standing up and sometimes while they are
 sitting down4 ,there is no lectionary  
to determine a comprehensive and orderly
 reading of ,scripture1 not much        
sequence of thought or progress of      
devotion either in the read or the      
extempore prayers4 ,there is no         
uniformity of posture4 ,there are two   
historic attitudes of reverence when men

 are addressing the ,almighty4 ,they are
 the standing upon one's feet or the    
falling upon one's knees4 ,for the most 
part we neither stand nor kneel2 we     
usually loll4 ,some of us compromise by 
bending forward to the limiting of our  
breath and the discomfort of our        
digestion4 ,it is too little inducive to
 physical ease or perhaps too derogatory
 to our dignity to kneel before the     
,lord our ,maker4 ,all this seems too   
much like the efforts of those who have 
forgotten what worship really is and are
 trying to find for it some comfortable 
or attractive substitute4  ,second3 we  
show our inexperience by betraying the  
confusion of aesthetic and ethical      
values as we strive for variety and     
entertainment in church services2 we    
build them around wonder and admiration1
 not around reverence and awe4 ,but we  
are mistaken if we suppose that men     
chiefly desire to be pleasantly         
entertained or extraordinarily delighted
 when they go into a church4 ,they go   

there because they desire to enter a    
,holy ,presence2 they want to approach  
,one before whom they can be still and  
know that ,he is ,god4 ,all enrichments 
of a service injected into it here and  
there1 designed to make it more         
attractive1 to add color and variety1 to
 arrest the attention of the senses are1
 as ends1 beside the point1 and our     
dependence upon them indicates the      
unhappy state of worship in our day4    
,that we do thus make our professional  
music an end in itself is evident from  
our blatant way of advertising it4 ,in  
the same way we advertise sermon themes1
 usually intended to startle the pious  
and provoke the ungodly4 ,we want to    
arouse curiosity1 social or political   
interest1 to achieve some secular       
reaction4 ,we don't advertise that      
tomorrow in our church there is to be a 
public worship of ,god1 and that        
everything that we are going to do will 
be in the awe-struck sense that ,he is  
there4 ,we are afraid that nobody would 

come if we merely did that6  ,what      
infidels we are6 ,why are we surprised  
that the world is passing us by8 ,we say
 and we sing a great many things which  
it is incredible to suppose we would    
address to ,god if we really thought ,he
 were present4 ,yet anthems and         
congregational singing are either a     
sacrifice solemnly and joyously offered 
to ,god or else all the singing is less1
 and worse1 than nothing in a church    
service4 ,but how often sentimental and 
restless music1 making not for restraint
 and reverence1 not for the subduing of 
mind and heart but for the expression of
 those expansive and egotistical moods  
which are of the essence of romantic    
singing1 is what we employ4 ,there is a 
great deal of truly religious music1    
austere in tone1 breathing restraint and
 reverence1 quietly written4 ,the       
anthems of ,palestrina1 ,anerio1        
,viadana1 ,vittoria among the ,italians2
 of ,bach1 ,haydn1 ,handel1 ,mozart     
among the ,germans2 and of ,tallis1     

,gibbons and ,purcell among the         
,english1 are all of the truly devout   
order4 ,yet how seldom are the works of 
such men heard in our churches1 even    
where they employ professional singers  
at substantial salaries4 ,we are        
everywhere now trying to give our       
churches splendid and impressive        
physical accessories1 making the        
architecture more and more stately and  
the pews more and more comfortable6     
,thus we attempt an amalgam of a        
mediaeval house of worship with an      
,american domestic interior1 adoring    
,god at our ease1 worshiping ,him in    
armchairs1 offering prostration of the  
spirit1 so far as it can be achieved    
along with indolence of the body4  ,so  
we advertise and concertize and have    
silver vases and costly flowers and     
conventional ecclesiastical furniture4  
,but we still hold a small-and-early in 
the vestibule before service and a five 
o'clock in the chapel afterward4 ,sunday
 morning church is a this-world function

 with a pietized gossip and a decorous  
sort of sociable with an intellectual   
fillip thrown in4 ,thus we try to make  
our services attractive to the secular  
instincts1 the non-religious things1 in 
man's nature4 ,we try to get him into   
the church by saying1 ,you will find    
here what you find elsewhere4 ,it's     
rather illogical4 ,the church stands for
 something different4 ,we say1 ,you will
 like to come and be one of us because  
we are not different4 ,the answer is1 ,i
 can get the things of this world better
 in the world1 where they belong1 than  
with you4 ,thus we have naturalized our 
very offices of devotion6 ,hence the    
attempts to revive worship are          
incongruous and inconsistent4 ,hence    
they have that sentimental and          
accidental character which is the sign  
of the amateur4 ,they do not bring us   
very near to the heavenly country4 ,it  
might be well to remember that the      
servant of ,jahweh doth not cry nor lift
 up his voice nor cause it to be heard  

in the streets4  ,now1 there are many   
reasons for this anomalous situation4   
,one of them is our inheritance of a    
deep-rooted ,puritan distrust of a      
liturgical service4 ,that distrust is   
today a fetish and therefore much more  
potent that it was when it was a reason4
 ,puritanism was born in the            
,reformation2 it came out from the      
,roman church1 where worship was        
regarded as an end in itself4 ,to       
,catholic believers worship is a        
contribution to ,god1 pleasing to ,him  
apart from any effect it may have on the
 worshiper4 ,such a theory of it is1 of 
course1 open to grave abuse4 ,sometimes 
it led to indifference as to the effect 
of the worship upon the moral character 
of the communicant1 so that worship     
could be used1 not to conquer evil1 but 
to make up for it1 and thus sin became  
as safe as it was easy4 ,inevitably also
 such a theory of worship often         
degenerated into an utter formalism     
which made hyprocrisy and unreality     

patent1 until the hoc est corpus of the 
mass became the hocus-pocus of the      
scoffer4  ,here is a reason1 once valid 
because moral1 for our present          
situation4 ,yet it must be confessed    
that again1 as so often1 we are doing   
what the ,germans call throwing out the 
baby with the bath1 namely1 repudiating 
a defect or the perversion of an        
excellence and1 in so doing1 throwing   
away that excellence itself4 ,it is     
clear that no ,protestant is ever       
tempted today to consider worship as its
 own reason and its own end4 ,we are1 in
 a sense1 utilitarian ritualists4       
,worship to us is as valuable as it is  
valid because it is the chief avenue of 
spiritual insight1 a chief means of     
awakening penitence1 obtaining          
forgiveness1 growing in grace and love4 
,these are the ultimates2 these are     
pleasing to ,god4  ,a second reason1    
however1 for our situation is not       
ethical and essential1 but economic and 
accidental4 ,our fathers' communities   

were a slender chain of frontier        
settlements1 separated from an ancient  
civilization by an unknown and dangerous
 sea on the one hand1 menaced by all the
 perils of a virgin wilderness upon the 
other4 ,all their life was simple to the
 point of bareness2 austere1 reduced to 
the most elemental necessities4         
,inevitably the order of their worship  
corresponded to the order of their      
society4 ,it is certain1 ,i think1 that 
the white meeting-house with its naked  
dignity1 the old service with its heroic
 simplicity1 conveyed to the primitive  
society which produced them elements    
both of high formality and conscious    
reverence which they could not possibly 
offer to our luxurious1 sophisticated   
and wealthy age4  ,is it not a dangerous
 thing to have brought an ever          
increasing formality and recognition of 
a developed and sophisticated community 
into our social and intellectual life   
but to have allowed our religious       
expression to remain so anachronistic8  

,largely for social and economic reasons
 we send most of our young men and young
 women to college4 ,there we            
deliberately cultivate in them the      
perception of beauty1 the sense of form1
 various expressions of the imaginative 
life4 ,but how much has our average     
non-liturgical service to offer to their
 critically trained perceptions8 ,our   
church habits are pretty largely the    
transfer into the sanctuary of the      
hearty conventions of middle-class      
family life4 ,the relations in life     
which are precious to such youth1 the   
intimate1 the mystical and subtle ones1 
get small recognition or expression4 ,a 
hundred agencies outside the church are 
stimulating in the best boys and girls  
of the present generation fine          
sensibilities1 critical standards1 the  
higher hungers4 ,our services1 chiefly  
instructive and didactic1 informal and  
easy in character1 irritate them and    
make them feel like truculent or        
uncomfortable misfits4  ,a third reason 

for the lack of corporate or public     
offices of devotion in our services lies
 in the intellectual character of the   
,protestant centuries4 ,we have seen how
 they have been centuries of            
individualism4 ,character has been      
conceived of as largely a personal      
affair expressed in personal            
relationships4 ,the believer was like   
,christian in ,bunyan's ,pilgrim's      
,progress4 ,he started for the ,heavenly
 ,country because he was determined to  
save his own soul4 ,when he realized    
that he was living in the ,city of      
,destruction it did not occur to him    
that1 as a good man1 he must identify   
his fate with it4 ,on the contrary1 he  
deserted wife and children with all     
possible expedition and got him out and 
went along through the ,slough of       
,despond1 up to the narrow gate1 to     
start on the way of life4 ,it was a     
chief glory of mediaeval society that it
 was based upon corporate relationships4
 ,its cathedrals were possible because  

they were the common house of ,god for  
every element of the community4 ,family 
and class and state were dominant       
factors then4 ,but we have seen how1 in 
the ,renaissance and the ,romantic      
,movement1 individualism supplanted     
these values4 ,now1 ,protestantism was  
contemporary with that new movement1    
indeed1 a part of it4 ,its growing      
egotism and the colossal egotism of the 
modern world form a prime cause for the 
impoverishment of worship in ,protestant
 churches4  ,and so this brings us1     
then1 to the real reason for our        
devotional impotence1 the one to which  
we referred in the opening sentences of 
the chapter4 ,it is essentially due to  
the character of the regulative ideas of
 our age4 ,it lies in that world view   
whose expressions in literature1        
philosophy and social organizations we  
have been reviewing in these pages4 ,the
 partial notion of ,god which our age   
has unconsciously made the substitute   
for a comprehensive understanding of    

,him is essentially to blame4 ,for since
 the contemporary doctrine is of ,his   
immanence1 it therefore follows that it 
is chiefly through observation of the   
natural world and by interpretation of  
contemporary events that men will       
approach ,him if they come to ,him at   
all4 ,moreover1 our humanism1 in        
emphasizing the individual and exalting 
his self-sufficiency1 has so far made   
the mood of worship alien and the need  
of it superfluous4 ,the overemphasis    
upon preaching1 the general passion of  
this generation for talk and then more  
talk1 and then endless talk1 is         
perfectly intelligible in view of the   
regulative ideas of this generation4 ,it
 seeks its understanding of the world   
chiefly in terms of natural and tangible
 phenomena and chiefly by means either  
of critical observation or of analytic  
reasoning4 ,hence preaching1 especially 
that sort which looks for the divine    
principle in contemporary events1 has   
been to the fore4 ,but worship1 which   

finds the divine principle in something 
more and other than contemporary        
events--which indeed does not look      
outward to events at all--has been      
thrown into the background4  ,it seems  
to me clear1 then1 that if we are to    
emphasize the transcendent elements in  
religion2 if they represent1 as we have 
been contending1 the central elements of
 the religious experience1 its creative 
factors1 then the revival of worship    
will be a prime step in creating a more 
truly spiritual society4 ,i am convinced
 that a homilizing church belongs to a  
secularizing age4 ,one cannot forget    
that the ultimate1 ,i do not say the    
only1 reason for the founding of the    
non-liturgical churches was the rise of 
humanism4 ,one cannot fail to see the   
connection between humanistic doctrine  
and moralistic preaching1 or between the
 naturalism of the moment and the       
mechanicalizing of the church4 ,the     
,christian congregation1 said ,luther1  
child of the humanistic movement1 should

 never assemble except the word of ,god 
be preached4 ,in other countries1 says  
old ,isaac ,taylor1 the bell calls      
people to worship2 in ,scotland it calls
 them to a preachment4 ,and one         
remembers the justice of ,charles       
,kingsley's fling at the ,dissenters    
that they were creatures who went to    
church to hear sermons6 ,it would seem  
evident1 then1 that a renewal of worship
 would be the logical accompaniment of a
 return to distinctly religious values  
in society and church4  ,what can we do1
 then1 better for an age of paganism    
than to cultivate this transcendent     
consciousness8 ,direct men away from    
,god the universal and impersonal to    
,god the particular and intimate4       
,nothing is more needed for our age than
 to insist upon the truth that there are
 both common and uncommon1 both secular 
and sacred worlds2 that these are not   
contradictory2 that they are            
complementary2 that they are not        
identical4 ,it is the church's business 

to insist that men must live in the     
world of the sacred1 the uncommon1 the  
particular1 in order to be able to      
surmount and endure the secular1 the    
common and the universal4 ,it is her    
business to insist that through worship 
all this can be accomplished4 ,but can  
worship be taught8 ,is not the devotee1 
like the poet or the lover or any other 
genius1 born and not made8 ,well1       
whether it can be taught or not1 it at  
least can be cultivated and developed1  
and there are three very practical ways 
in which this cultivation can be brought
 about4  ,one of them is by paying      
intelligent attention to the physical   
surroundings of the worshiper4 ,the     
assembly room for worship obviously     
should not be used for other purposes2  
all its suggestions and associations    
should be of one sort and that sort the 
highest4 ,quite aside from the question 
of taste1 it is psychologically         
indefensible to use the same building1  
and especially the same room in the     

building1 for concerts1 for picture     
shows1 for worship4 ,here we at once    
create a distracted consciousness2 we   
dissipate attention2 we deliberately    
make it harder for men and women to     
focus upon one1 and that the most       
difficult1 if the most precious1 mood4  
,for the same reason1 the physical form 
of the room should be one that does not 
suggest either the concert hall or the  
playhouse1 but suggests rather a long   
and unbroken ecclesiastical tradition4  
,until the cinema was introduced into   
worship1 we were vastly improving in    
these respects1 but now we are turning  
the morning temple into an evening      
showhouse4 ,i think we evince a most    
impertinent familiarity with the house  
of ,god6 ,and too often the church is   
planned so that it has no privacies or  
recesses1 but a hideous publicity       
pervades its every part4 ,we adorn it   
with stenciled frescoes of the same     
patterns which we see in hotel lobbies  
and clubs2 we hang up maps behind the   

reading desk2 we clutter up its platform
 with grand pianos4  ,it is a mere      
matter of good taste and good psychology
 to begin our preparation for a ministry
 of worship by changing all this4 ,there
 should be nothing in color or ornament 
which arouses the restless mood or      
distracts the eye4 ,severe and simple   
walls1 restrained and devout figures in 
glass windows1 are only to be tolerated4
 ,descriptive windows1 attempting in a  
most untractable medium a sort of nave  
realism1 are equally an aesthetic and an
 ecclesiastical offense4 ,figures of    
saints or great religious personages    
should be typical1 impersonal1 symbolic1
 not too much like this world and the   
things of it4 ,there is a whole school  
of modern window glass distinguished by 
its opulence and its realism4 ,it ought 
to be banished from houses of worship4  
,since it is the object of worship to   
fix the attention upon one thing and    
that thing the highest1 the room where  
worship is held should have its own     

central object4 ,it may be the ,bible1  
idealized as the word of ,god2 it may be
 the altar on which stands the ,cross of
 the eternal sacrifice4 ,but no church  
ought to be without one fixed point to  
which the eye of the body is insensibly 
drawn1 thereby making it easier to      
follow it with the attention of the mind
 and the wishes of the heart4 ,at the   
best1 our ,protestant ecclesiastical    
buildings are all empty6 ,there are     
meeting-houses1 not temples assembly    
rooms1 not shrines4 ,there is apparently
 no sense in which we are willing to    
acknowledge that the ,presence is on    
their altar4 ,but at least the attention
 of the worshiper within them may focus 
around some symbol of that ,presence1   
may be fixed on some outward sign which 
will help the inward grace4  ,but       
second3 our chief concern naturally must
 be with the content of the service of  
worship itself1 not with its physical   
surroundings4 ,and here then are two    
things which may be said4 ,first1 any   

formal order of worship should be       
historic2 it should have its roots deep 
in the past2 whatever else is true of a 
service of worship it ought not to      
suggest that it has been uncoupled from 
the rest of time and allowed to run     
wild4 ,now1 this means that an order of 
worship1 basing itself on the devotion  
of the ages1 will use to some extent    
their forms4 ,i do not see how anyone   
would wish to undertake to lead the same
 company of people week by week in      
divine worship without availing himself 
of the help of written prayers1 great   
litanies1 to strengthen and complement  
the spontaneous offices of devotion4    
,there is something almost incredible to
 me in the assumption that one man can1 
supposedly unaided1 lead a congregation 
in the emotional expression of its      
deepest life and desires without any    
assistance from the great sacramentaries
 and liturgies of the past4 ,christian  
literature is rich with a great body of 
collects1 thanksgivings1 confessions1   

various special petitions1 which gather 
up the love and tears1 the vision and   
the anguish of many generations4 ,these1
 with their phrases made unspeakably    
precious with immemorial association1   
with their subtle fitting of phrase to  
insight1 of expression to need1 born of 
long centuries of experiment and        
aspiration1 can do for a congregation   
what no man alone can ever hope to      
accomplish4 ,the well of human needs and
 desires is so deep that1 without these 
aids1 we have not much to draw with1 no 
plummet wherewith to sound its dark and 
hidden depths4  ,i doubt if we can      
overestimate the importance of giving   
this sense of continuity in petitions1  
of linking up the prayer of the moment  
and the worship of the day with the     
whole ageless process so that it seems a
 part of that volume of human life      
forever ascending unto the eternal      
spirit1 just as the gray plume of smoke 
from the sacrifice ever curled upward   
morning by morning and night by night   

from the altar of the temple under the  
blue ,syrian sky4 ,we cannot easily give
 this sense of continuity1 this prestige
 of antiquity1 this resting back on a   
great body of experience1 unless we know
 and use the language and the phrases of
 our fathers4 ,it is to the ,god who    
hath been our dwelling place in all     
generations1 that we pray2 to ,him who  
in days of old was a pillar of cloud by 
day and of fire by night to ,his        
faithful children2 to the ,one who is   
the ,ancient of ,days1 ,infinite        
,watcher of the sons of men4 ,only by   
acquaintance with the phrases1 the      
petitions of the past1 and only by a    
liberal use of them can we give         
background and dignity1 or anything     
approaching variety and completeness1 to
 our own public expression and          
interpretation of the devotional life4  
,if anyone objects to this use of formal
 prayers on the ground of their         
formality1 let him remember that we1    
too1 are formal1 only we1 alas1 have    

made a cult of formlessness4 ,it would  
surprise the average minister to know   
the well-worn road which his supposedly 
spontaneous and extempore devotions     
follow4 ,phrase after phrase following  
in the same order of ideas1 and with the
 same pitiably limited vocabulary1      
appear week by week in them4 ,how much  
better to enrich this painfully         
individualistic formalism with something
 of the corporate glories of the whole  
body of ,christian believers4  ,but1    
second3 there should be also the        
principle of immediacy in the service1  
room for the expression of individual   
needs and desires and for reference to  
the immediate and local circumstances of
 the believer4 ,a church in which there 
is no spontaneous and extempore prayer1 
which only harked backward to the past1 
might build the tombs of the prophets   
but it might also stifle new voices for 
a new age4 ,but extempore prayer should 
not be impromptu prayer4 ,it should have
 coherence1 dignity1 progression4 ,the  

spirit should have been humbly and      
painstakingly prepared for it so that   
sincere and ardent feeling may wing and 
vitalize its words4 ,the great prayers  
of the ages1 known of all the           
worshipers1 perhaps repeated by them all
 together1 tie in the individual soul to
 the great mass of humanity and it moves
 on1 with its fellows1 toward salvation 
as majestically and steadily as great   
rivers flow4 ,the extempore and silent  
prayer1 not unpremeditated but still the
 unformed outpouring of the individual  
heart1 gives each man the consciousness 
of standing naked and alone before his  
,god4 ,both these1 the corporate and the
 separate elements of worships are      
vital2 there should be a place for each 
in every true order of worship4  ,but1  
of course1 the final thing to say is the
 first thing4 ,whatever may be the means
 that worship employs1 its purpose must 
be to make and keep the church a place  
of repose1 to induce constantly the life
 of relinquishment to ,god1 of reverence

 and meditation4 ,and this it will do as
 it seeks to draw men up to the         
otherness1 the majesty1 the aloofness1  
the transcendence of the ,almighty4 ,to 
this end ,i would use whatever outward  
aids time and experience have shown will
 strengthen and deepen the spiritual    
understanding4 ,i should not fear to use
 the cross1 the sacraments1 the kneeling
 posture1 the great picture1 the        
carving1 the recitation of prayers and  
hymns1 not alone to intensify this sense
 in the believer but equally to create  
it in the non-believer4 ,the external   
world moulds the internal1 even as the  
internal makes the external4 ,if these  
things mean little in the beginning1    
there is still truth in the assertion of
 the devotee that if you practice them  
they will begin to mean something to    
you4 ,this is not merely that a meaning 
will be self-induced4 ,it is more than  
that4 ,they will put us in the          
volitional attitude1 the emotional mood1
 where the meaning is able to penetrate4

 ,just as all the world acknowledges    
that there is an essential connection   
between good manners and good morals1   
between military discipline and physical
 courage1 so there is a connection      
between a devotional service and the    
gifts of the spiritual life4 ,such a    
service not merely strengthens belief in
 the ,high and ,holy ,one1 it has a real
 office in creating1 in making possible1
 that belief itself4  ,we shall sum it  
all up if we say in one word that the   
offices of devotion emphasize the cosmic
 character of religion4 ,they take us   
out of the world of moral theism into   
the world of a universal theism4 ,they  
draw us away from religion in action to 
religion in itself2 they give us1 not   
the ,god of this world1 but the ,god who
 is from everlasting to everlasting1 to 
whom a thousand years are but as        
yesterday when it is past and as a watch
 in the night4 ,thus they help us to    
make for ourselves an interior refuge   
into whose precincts no eye may look1   

into whose life no other soul may       
venture4 ,in that refuge we can be still
 and know that ,he is ,god4 ,there we   
can eat the meat which the world knoweth
 not of1 there have peace with ,him4 ,it
 is in these central solitudes1 induced 
by worship1 that the vision is          
clarified1 the perspective corrected1   
the vital forces recharged4 ,those who  
possess them are transmitters of such   
heavenly messages2 they issue from them 
as rivers pour from undiminished        
mountain streams4 ,does the world's sin 
and pain and weakness come and empty    
itself into the broad current of these  
devout lives8 ,then their fearless      
onsweeping forces gather it all up1     
carry it on1 cleanse and purify it in   
the process4 ,over such lives the things
 of this world have no power4 ,they are 
kept secretly from them all in ,his     
pavilion where there is no strife of    
tongues4     ,,chapter ,,eight          
,,worship ,,and ,,the ,,discipline ,,of 
,,doctrine   ,if one were to ask any    

sermon-taster of our generation what is 
the prevailing type of discourse among  
the better-known preachers of the day1  
he would probably answer1 ,the          
expository4 ,expository preaching has   
had a notable revival in the last three 
decades1 especially among liberal       
preachers2 that is1 among those who like
 ourselves have discarded scholastic    
theologies1 turned to the ethical       
aspects of religion for our chief       
interests and accepted the modern view  
of the ,bible4 ,to be sure1 it is not   
the same sort of expository preaching   
which made the ,scottish pulpit of the  
nineteenth century famous4 ,it is not   
the detailed exposition of each word and
 clause1 almost of each comma1 which    
marks the mingled insight and literalism
 of a ,chalmers1 an ,alexander          
,maclaren1 a ,taylor of the ,broadway   
,tabernacle4 ,for that assumed a        
verbally inspired and hence an inerrant 
,scripture2 it dealt with the literature
 of the ,old and ,new ,testaments as    

being divine revelations4 ,the new      
expository preaching proceeds from      
almost an opposite point of view4 ,it   
deals with this literature as being a   
transcript of human experience4 ,its    
method is direct and simple and1 within 
sharp limits1 very effective4 ,the      
introduction to one of these modern     
expository sermons would run about as   
follows3  ,i suppose that what has given
 to the ,old and ,new ,testament        
,scriptures their enduring hold over the
 minds and consciences of men has been  
their extraordinary humanity4 ,they     
contain so many vivid and accurate      
recitals of typical human experience1   
portrayed with self-verifying insight   
and interpreted with consummate         
understanding of the issues of the      
heart4 ,and since it is true1 as ,goethe
 said1 ',that while mankind is always   
progressing man himself remains ever the
 same1' and we are not essentially      
different from the folk who lived a     
hundred generations ago under the sunny 

,palestinian sky1 we read these ancient 
tales and find in them a mirror which   
reflects the lineaments of our own time4
 ,for instance1444  ,then the sermonizer
 proceeds to relate some famous ,bible  
story1 resolving its nave ,semitic      
theophanies1 its pictorial narration1   
its primitive morality1 into the terms  
of contemporary ethical or political or 
economic principles4 ,take1 for         
instance1 the account of the miracle of 
,moses and the ,burning ,bush4 ,the     
preacher will point out that ,moses saw 
a bush that burned and burned and that1 
unlike most furze bushes of those upland
 pastures which were ignited by the hot 
,syrian sun1 was not consumed4 ,it was  
this enduring quality of the bush that  
interested him4 ,thus ,moses showed the 
first characteristic of genius1 namely1 
capacity for accurate and discriminating
 observation4 ,and he coupled this with 
the scientific habit of mind4 ,for he   
said1 ,i will now turn aside and see    
why6 ,thus did he propose to pierce     

behind the event to the cause of the    
event1 behind the movement to the       
principle of the movement4 ,what a      
modern man this ,moses was6 ,it seems   
almost too good to be true6  ,but as yet
 we have merely scratched the surface of
 the story4 ,for he took his shoes from 
off his feet when he inspected this new 
phenomenon1 feeling instinctively that  
he was on holy ground4 ,thus there      
mingled with his scientific curiosity   
the second great quality of genius1     
which is reverence4 ,there was no       
complacency here but an approach to life
 at once eager and humble2 keen yet     
teachable and mild4 ,and now behold what
 happens6 ,as a result of this          
combination of qualities there came to  
,moses the vision of what he might do to
 lead his oppressed countrymen out of   
their industrial bondage4 ,whereupon he 
displayed the typical human reaction and
 cried1 ,who am ,i1 that ,i should go   
unto ,pharoah or that ,i should lead the
 children of ,israel out of ,egypt6 ,my 

brother ,aaron1 who is an eloquent      
person--and as it turned out later also 
a specious one--is far better suited for
 this undertaking4 ,thus he endeavored  
to evade the task and cried1 ,let       
someone else do it6 ,having thus        
expounded the word of ,god 767 the      
sermon proceeds to its final division in
 the application of this shrewd and     
practical wisdom to some current event  
or parochial situation4  ,now1 such     
preaching is indubitably effective and  
not wholly illegitimate4 ,its technique 
is easily acquired4 ,it makes us realize
 that the early ,church ,fathers1 who   
displayed a truly appalling ingenuity in
 allegorizing the ,old ,testament and   
who found types of ,christ and ,his     
,church in frankly sensual ,oriental    
wedding songs1 have many sturdy         
descendants among us to this very hour6 
,such preaching gives picturesqueness   
and color1 it provides the necessary    
sugar coating to the large pill of      
practical and ethical exhortation4 ,to  

be sure1 it does not sound like the     
preaching of our fathers4 ,the old      
sermon titles--,suffering with ,christ  
that we may be also glorified with ,him1
 for instance--seem very far away from  
it4 ,nor is it to be supposed that this 
is what its author intended the story we
 have been using to convey nor that     
these were the reactions that it aroused
 in the breasts of its original hearers4
 ,but as the sermonizer would doubtless 
go on to remark1 there is a certain     
universal quality in all great          
literature1 and genius builds better    
than it knows1 and so each man can draw 
his own water of refreshment from these 
great wells of the past4 ,and indeed    
nothing is more amazing or disconcerting
 than the mutually exclusive notions1   
the apparently opposing truths1 which   
can be educed by this method1 from one  
and the same passage of ,scripture6     
,there is scarcely a chapter in all the 
,old ,testament1 and to a less degree in
 the ,new ,testament1 which may not be  

thus ingeniously transmogrified to meet 
almost any homiletical emergency4  ,now1
 ,i may as well confess that ,i have    
preached this kind of sermon lo6 these  
many years ad infinitum and ,i doubt not
 ad nauseam4 ,we have all used in this  
way the flaming rhetoric of the ,hebrew 
prophets until we think of them chiefly 
as indicters of a social order4 ,they   
were not chiefly this but something     
quite different and more valuable1      
namely1 religious geniuses4 ,first-rate 
preaching would deal with ,amos as the  
pioneer in ethical monotheism1 with     
,hosea as the first poet of the divine  
grace1 with ,jeremiah as the herald of  
the possibility of each man's separate  
and personal communion with the living  
,god4 ,but1 of course1 such religious   
preaching1 dealing with great doctrines 
of faith1 would have a kind of large    
remoteness about it2 it would pay very  
little attention to the incidents of the
 story1 and indeed1 would tend to be    
hardly expository at all1 but rather    

speculative and doctrinal4  ,and that   
brings us to the theme of this final    
discussion4 ,for ,i am one of those who 
believe that great preaching is         
doctrinal preaching and that it is      
particularly needed at this hour4 ,the  
comparative neglect of the ,new         
,testament in favor of the ,old in      
contemporary preaching2 the use and     
nature of the expository method--no less
 than the unworshipful character of our 
services--appear to me to offer a final 
and conclusive proof of the unreligious 
overhumanistic emphases of our          
interpretation of religion4 ,and if we  
are to have a religious revival1 then it
 seems to me worshipful services must be
 accompanied by speculative preaching   
and ,i doubt if the one can be nobly    
maintained without the other4 ,for we   
saw that worship is the direct          
experience of the ,absolute through high
 and concentrated feeling4 ,even so     
speculative and1 in general1 doctrinal  
preaching is the same return to first   

principles and to ultimate values in the
 realm of ideas4 ,it turns away from the
 immediate1 the practical1 the relative 
to the final and absolute in the domain 
of thought4  ,now1 obviously1 then1     
devout services and doctrinal preaching 
should go together4 ,no high and        
persistent emotions can be maintained   
without clear thinking to nourish and   
steady them4 ,there is in doctrinal     
preaching a certain indifference to     
immediate issues2 to detailed           
applications4 ,it deals1 by its nature1 
with comprehensive and abstract rather  
than local and concrete thinking2 with  
inclusive feeling1 transcendent         
aspiration4 ,it does not try to pietize 
the ordinary1 commercial and domestic   
affairs of men4 ,instead it deals with  
the highest questions and perceptions of
 human life2 argues from those sublime  
hypotheses which are the very subsoil of
 the religious temperament and          
understanding4 ,it deals with those     
aspects of human life which indeed      

include1 but include because they       
transcend1 the commercial and domestic1 
the professional and political affairs  
of daily living4 ,we have been insisting
 in these chapters that it is that      
portion of human need and experience    
which lies between the knowable and the 
unknowable with which it is the         
preacher's chief province to deal4      
,doctrinal preaching endeavors to give  
form and relations to its intuitions and
 high desires1 its unattainable longings
 and insights4 ,there is a native       
alliance between the doctrine of        
,immanence and expository preaching4    
,for the office of both is to give us   
the ,god of this world in the affairs of
 the moment4 ,there is a native alliance
 between expository preaching and       
humanism which very largely accounts for
 the latter's popularity4 ,for          
expository preaching1 as at present     
practiced1 deals mostly with ethical and
 practical issues1 with the setting of  
the house of this world in order4 ,there

 is also a native and majestic alliance 
between the idea of transcendence and   
doctrinal preaching and between the     
facts of the religious experience and   
the content of speculative philosophy4  
,not pragmatism but pure metaphysics is 
the native language of the mind when it 
moves in the spiritual world4  ,but ,i  
am aware that already ,i have lost my   
reader's sympathy4 ,you do not desire to
 preach doctrinal sermons and while you 
may read with amiable patience and      
faintly smiling complacency this        
discussion1 you have no intention of    
following its advice4 ,we tend to think 
that doctrinal sermons are              
outmoded--old-fashioned and             
unpopular--and we dread as we dread few 
other things1 not being up to date4     
,besides1 doctrinal preaching offers    
little of that opportunity which is     
found in expository and yet more in     
topical preaching for exploiting our own
 personalities4 ,some of us are young4  
,it is merely a polite way of saying    

that we are egotistical4 ,we know in our
 secret heart of hearts that the main   
thing that we have to give the world is 
our own new1 fresh selves with their    
corrected and arresting understanding of
 the world4 ,we are modestly yet eagerly
 ready to bestow that gift of ours upon 
the waiting congregation4 ,one of the   
few compensations of growing old is     
that1 as the hot inner fires burn lower1
 this self-absorption lessens and we    
become disinterested and judicial       
observers of life and find so much      
pleasure in other people's successes and
 so much wisdom in other folk's ideas4  
,but not so for youth2 it isn't what the
 past or the collective mind and heart  
have formulated3 it's what you've got to
 say that interests you4 ,hence it is   
probably true that doctrinal preaching1 
in the very nature of things1 makes no  
strong appeal to men who are beginning  
the ministry4  ,but there are other     
objections which are more serious1      
because inherent in the very genius of  

doctrinal preaching itself4 ,first3 such
 preaching is more or less remote from  
contemporary and practical issues4 ,it  
deals with thought1 not actions2        
understanding rather than efficiency2   
principles rather than applications4 ,it
 moves among the basic concepts of the  
religious life2 deals with matters      
beyond and above and without the        
tumultuous issues of the moment4 ,so it 
follows that doctrinal preaching has an 
air of detachment1 almost of seclusion  
from the world2 the preacher brings his 
message from some pale world of ideas to
 this quick world of action4 ,and we are
 afraid of this detachment1 the abstract
 and theoretical nature of the thinker's
 sermon4  ,i think the fear is not well 
grounded4 ,what is the use of preaching 
social service to the almost total      
neglect of setting forth the            
intellectual and emotional concept of   
the servant8 ,it is the quality of the  
doer which determines the value of the  
deed4 ,why keep on insisting upon being 

good if our hearers have never been     
carefully instructed in the nature and  
the sanctions of goodness8 ,has not the 
trouble with most of our political and  
moral reform been that we have had a    
passion for it but very little science  
of it8 ,how can we know the ways of     
godliness if we take ,god ,himself for  
granted8 ,no3 our chief business1 as    
preachers1 is to preach the content     
rather than the application of the      
truth4 ,not many people are interested  
in trying to find the substance of the  
truth4 ,it is hated as impractical by   
the multitude of the impatient1 and     
despised as old-fashioned by the        
get-saved-quick reformers4 ,nevertheless
 we must find out the distinctions      
between divine and human1 right and     
wrong1 and why they are what they are1  
and what is the good of it all4 ,there  
is no more valuable service which the   
preacher can render his community than  
to deliberately seclude himself from    
continual contact with immediate issues 

and dwell on the eternal verities4 ,when
 ,darwin published ,the ,descent of ,man
 at the end of the ,franco-,prussian    
,war1 the ,london ,times took him       
severely to task for his absorption in  
purely scientific interests and         
hypothetical issues4 ,when the          
foundations of property and the         
established order were threatened with  
the fires of the ,paris ,commune2 when  
the ,tuileries were burning--how could a
 ,british subject be occupying himself  
with speculations in natural science in 
no wise calculated to bring aid or      
comfort to those who had a stake in the 
country6 ,well1 few of us imagine today 
that ,darwin would have been wise to    
have exchanged the seclusion and the    
impractical hours of the study for the  
office or the camp1 the market or the   
street4  ,yet the same fear of occupying
 ourselves with central and abstract    
matters still obsesses us4 ,at the      
,quadrennial ,conference of the         
,methodist ,episcopal ,church held      

recently at ,des ,moines1 thirty-four   
bishops submitted an address in which   
they said among other things3 ,of       
course1 the church must stand in        
unflinching1 uncompromising denunciation
 of all violations of laws1 against all 
murderous child labor1 all foul sweat   
shops1 all unsafe mines1 all deadly     
tenements1 all excessive hours for those
 who toil1 all profligate luxuries1 all 
standards of wage and life below the    
living standard1 all unfairness and     
harshness of conditions1 all brutal     
exactions1 whether of the employer or   
union1 all overlordships1 whether of    
capital or labor1 all godless           
profiteering1 whether in food1 clothing1
 profits or wages1 against all          
inhumanity1 injustice and blighting     
inequality1 against all class-minded men
 who demand special privileges or       
exceptions on behalf of their class4    
,these are all vital matters1 yet ,i    
cannot believe that it is the church's  
chief business thus to turn her energies

 to the problems of the material world4 
,this would be a stupendous program1    
even if complete in itself2 as an item  
in a program it becomes almost a        
reductio ad absurdum4 ,the ,springfield 
,republican in an editorial comment upon
 it said3 ,it fairly invites the        
question whether the church is not in   
some danger of trying to do too much4   
,the fund of energy available for any   
human undertaking is not unlimited2     
energy turned in one direction must of  
necessity be withdrawn from another and 
energy diffused in many directions      
cannot be concentrated4 ,count the      
adjectives--'murderous1' 'foul1'        
'unsafe1' 'deadly1' 'excessive1'        
'profligate1' 'brutal1' 'godless1'      
'blighting'--does not each involve      
research1 investigation1 comparison1    
analysis1 deliberation1 a heavy tax upon
 the intellectual resources of the      
church if any result worth having is to 
be obtained8 ,can this energy be found  
without subtracting energy from some    

other sphere8  ,the gravest problems of 
the world are not found here4 ,they are 
found in the decline of spiritual       
understanding1 the decay of moral       
standards1 the growth of the vindictive 
and unforgiving spirit1 the lapse from  
charity1 the overweening pride of the   
human heart4 ,with these matters the    
church must chiefly deal2 to their      
spiritual infidelity she must bring a   
spiritual message2 to their poor        
thinking she must bring the wisdom of   
the eternal4 ,this task1 preventive not 
remedial1 is her characteristic one4 ,is
 it not worth while to remember that the
 great religious leaders have generally 
ignored contemporary social problems8   
,so have the great artists who are      
closely allied to them4 ,neither        
,william ,shakespeare nor ,leonardo da  
,vinci were reformers2 neither ,gautama 
nor the ,lord ,jesus had much to say    
about the actual international economic 
and political readjustments which were  
as pressing in their day as ours4 ,they 

were content to preach the truth1 sure  
that it1 once understood1 would set men 
free4  ,but a second reason why we      
dislike doctrinal preaching is because  
we confound it with dogmatic preaching4 
,doctrinal sermons are those which deal 
with the philosophy of religion4 ,they  
expound or defend or relate the         
intellectual statements1 the formulae of
 religion4 ,such discourses differ      
essentially from dogmatic sermonizing4  
,for what is a doctrine8 ,a doctrine is 
an intellectual formulation of an       
experience4 ,suppose a man receives a   
new influx of moral energy and spiritual
 insight1 through reading the ,bible1   
through trying to pray1 through loving  
and meditating upon the ,lord ,jesus4   
,that experience isn't a speculative    
proposition1 it isn't a faith or an     
hypothesis2 it's a fact4 ,like the man  
in the ,johannine record the believer   
says1 ,whether he be a sinner ,i know   
not3 but one thing ,i know1 that1       
whereas ,i was blind1 now ,i see4  ,now1

 let this new experience of moral power 
and spiritual insight express itself1 as
 it normally will1 in a more holy and   
more useful life1 in the appropriate    
terms of action4 ,there you get that    
confession of experience which we call  
character4 ,or let it express itself in 
the appropriate emotions of joy and awe 
and reverence so that1 like ,ray        
,palmer1 the convert writes an immortal 
hymn1 or a body of converts like the    
early church produces the ,te ,deum4    
,there is the confession of experience  
in worship4 ,or let a man filled with   
this new life desire to understand it2  
see what its implications are regarding 
the nature of ,god1 the nature of man1  
the place of ,christ in the scale of    
created or uncreated ,being4 ,let him   
desire to thus conserve and interpret   
that he may transmit this new           
experience4 ,then he will begin to      
define it and to reduce it1 for brevity 
and clearness1 to some abstract and     
compact formula4 ,thus he will make a   

confession of experience in doctrine4   
,doctrines1 then1 are not arbitrary but 
natural1 not accidental but essential4  
,they are the hypotheses regarding the  
eternal nature of things drawn from the 
data of our moral and spiritual         
experience4 ,they are to religion just  
what the science of electricity is to a 
trolley car1 or what the formula of     
evolution is to natural science1 or what
 the doctrine of the conservation of    
energy is1 or was1 to physics4          
,doctrines are signposts2 they are      
placards1 index fingers1 notices summing
 up and commending the proved essences  
of religious experience4 ,two things are
 always true of sound doctrine4 ,first3 
it is not considered to have primary    
value2 its worth is in the experience to
 which it witnesses4 ,second3 it is not 
fixed but flexible and progressive4     
,someone has railed at theology1        
defining it as the history of discarded 
errors4 ,that is a truth and a great    
compliment and the definition holds good

 of the record of any other science4    
,now1 if doctrines are signposts1 dogmas
 are old and now misleading milestones4 
,for what is a dogma8 ,it may be one of 
two things4 ,usually it is a doctrine   
that has forgotten that it ever had a   
history2 a formula which once had       
authority because it was a genuine      
interpretation of experience but which  
now is so outmoded in fashion of        
thought1 or so maladjusted to our       
present scale of values1 as to be no    
longer clearly related to experience and
 is therefore accepted merely on        
command1 or on the prestige of its      
antiquity4 ,or it may be a doctrine     
promulgated ex cathedra1 not because    
religious experience produced it1 but   
because ecclesiastical expediencies     
demand it4 ,thus1 to illustrate the     
first sort of dogma1 there was once a   
doctrine of the ,virgin ,birth4 ,men    
found1 as they still do1 both ,god and  
man in ,jesus2 they discovered when they
 followed ,him their own real humanity  

and true divinity4 ,they tried to       
explain and formalize the experience and
 made a doctrine which1 for the circle  
of ideas and the extent of the factual  
knowledge of the times1 was both        
reasonable and valuable4 ,the experience
 still remains1 but the doctrine is no  
longer psychologically or biologically  
credible4 ,it no longer offers a tenable
 explanation2 it is not a valuable or   
illuminating interpretation4 ,hence if  
we hold it at all today1 it is either   
for sentiment or for the sake of mere   
tradition1 namely1 for reasons other    
than its intellectual usefulness or its 
inherent intelligibility4 ,so held it   
passes over from doctrine into dogma4   
,or take1 as an example of the second   
sort1 the dogma of the ,immaculate      
,conception1 promulgated by ,pius ,,ix  
in the year #ahed1 and designed to      
strengthen the prestige of the ,papal   
,see among the ,catholic powers of      
,europe and to prolong its hold upon its
 temporal possessions4 ,de ,cesare      

describes the promulgation of the dogma 
as follows3  ,the festival on that day1 
,december #h1 #ahed1 sacred to the      
,virgin1 was magnificent4 ,after        
chanting the ,gospel1 first in ,latin1  
then in ,greek1 ,cardinal ,macchi1      
deacon of the ,sacred ,college1 together
 with the senior archbishops and bishops
 present1 all approached the ,papal     
throne1 pronouncing these words in      
,latin1 ',deign1 most ,holy ,father1 to 
lift your ,apostolic voice and pronounce
 the dogmatic ,decree of the ,immaculate
 ,conception1 on account of which there 
will be praise in heaven and rejoicings 
on earth4' ,the ,pope replying1 stated  
that he welcomed the wish of the ,sacred
 ,college1 the episcopate1 the clergy1  
and declared it was essential first of  
all to invoke the help of the ,holy     
,spirit4 ,so saying he intoned in ,veni 
,creator1 chanted in chorus by all      
present4 ,the chant concluded1 amid a   
solemn silence ,pius ,,ix's finely      
modulated voice read the following      

,decree3  ',it shall be ,dogma1 that the
 most ,blessed ,virgin ,mary1 in the    
first instant of the ,conception1 by    
singular privilege and grace of ,god1 in
 virtue of the merits of ,jesus ,christ1
 the ,saviour of mankind1 was preserved 
from all stain of original sin4' ,the   
senior cardinal then prayed the ,pope to
 make this ,decree public1 and1 amid the
 roar of cannon from ,fort ,st4 ,angelo 
and the festive ringing of church bells1
 the solemn act was accomplished4'#db   
,here is an assertion regarding ,mary's 
,conception which has only the most     
tenuous connection with religious       
experience and which was pronounced for 
ecclesiastical and political reasons4   
,here we have dogma at its worst4 ,here1
 indeed1 it is so bad as to resemble    
many of the current political and       
economic pronunciamentos6  ,footnote    
#db3 ,the ,last ,days of ,papal ,rome1  
pp4 #abg ff4  ,now1 nobody wants        
dogmatic preaching1 but there is nothing
 that we need more than we do doctrinal 

preaching and nothing which is more     
interesting4 ,the specialization of     
knowledge has assigned to the preacher  
of religion a definite sphere4 ,no      
amount of secondary expertness in       
politics or economics or social reform  
or even morals can atone for the        
abandonment of our own province4 ,we are
 set to think about and expound religion
 and if we give that up we give up our  
place in a learned profession4          
,moreover1 the new conditions of the    
modern world make doctrine imperative4  
,that world is distinguished by its free
 inquiry1 its cultivation of the        
scientific method1 its abandonment of   
obscuranticisms and ambiguities4 ,it    
demands1 then1 devout and holy thinking 
from us4 ,who would deny that the       
revival of intellectual authority and   
leadership in matters of religion is    
terribly needed in our day8 ,sabatier is
 right in saying that a religion without
 doctrine is a self-contradictory idea4 
,harnack is not wrong in saying that a  

,christianity without it is             
inconceivable4  ,and now ,i know you are
 thinking in your hearts1 ,well1 what   
inconsistency this man shows6 ,for a    
whole book he has been insisting on the 
prime values of imagination and feeling 
in religion and now he concludes with a 
plea for the thinker4 ,but it is not so 
inconsistent as it appears4 ,it is just 
because we do believe that the          
discovery1 the expression and the       
rewards of religion lie chiefly in the  
superrational and poetic realms that    
therefore we want this intellectual     
content to accompany it1 not supersede  
it1 as a balancing influence1 a         
steadying force4 ,there are grave perils
 in worshipful services corresponding to
 their supreme values4 ,mystical        
preaching has the defects of its virtues
 and too often sinks into that vague    
sentimentalism which is the perversion  
of its excellence4 ,how insensibly      
sometimes does high and precious feeling
 degenerate into a sort of religious    

hysteria6 ,it needs then to be always   
tested and corrected by clear thinking4 
,but we in no way alter our original    
insistence that in our realm as         
preachers1 unlike the scientist's realm 
of the theologians1 thought is the      
handmaid1 not the mistress4 ,our great  
plea1 then1 for doctrinal preaching is  
that by intellectual grappling with the 
final and speculative problems of       
religion we do not supersede but feed   
the emotional life and do not diminish  
but focus and steady it4 ,it is that you
 and ,i may have reserves of            
feeling--indispensable to great         
preaching--sincerity and intensity of   
emotion1 that disciplined imagination   
which is genius1 that restrained passion
 which is art1 and that our             
congregations may have the same1 that we
 must strive for intellectual power1    
must do the preaching that gives people 
something to think about4 ,these are the
 religious and devout reasons why we    
value intellectual honesty1 precision of

 utterance1 reserve of statement1       
logical and coherent thinking4  ,we are 
come1 then1 to the conclusion of our    
discussions4 ,they have been intended to
 restore a neglected emphasis upon the  
imaginative and transcendent as         
distinguished from the ethical and      
humanistic aspects of the religious     
life4 ,they have tried to show that the 
reaching out by worship to this         
otherness of ,god and to the ultimate in
 life is man's deepest hunger and the   
one we are chiefly set to feed4 ,i am   
sure that the chief ally of the         
experience of the transcendence of ,god 
and the cultivation of the worshipful   
faculties in man is to be found in      
severe and speculative thinking4 ,i     
believe our almost unmixed passion for  
piety1 for action1 for practical        
efficiency1 betrays us4 ,it indicates   
that we are trying to manufacture       
effects to conceal the absence of       
causes4 ,we may look for a religious    
revival when men have so meditated upon 

and struggled with the fundamental ideas
 of religion that they feel profoundly  
its eternal mysteries4  ,and finally1 we
 have the best historical grounds for   
our position4 ,sometimes great religious
 movements have been begun by unlearned 
and uncritical men like ,peter the      
hermit or ,john ,bunyan or ,moody4 ,but 
we must not infer from this that        
religious insight is naturally repressed
 by clear thinking or fostered by       
ignorance4 ,dr4 ,francis ,greenwood     
,peabody has pointed out that the great 
religious epochs in ,christian history  
are also epochs in the history of       
theology4 ,the ,pauline epistles1 the   
,confessions of ,augustine1 the         
,meditations of ,anselm1 the ,simple    
,method of ,how to ,pray of ,luther1 the
 ,regula of ,loyola1 the ,monologen of  
,schleiermacher1 these are all manuals  
of the devout life1 they belong in the  
distinctively religious world of        
supersensuous and the transcendent1 and 
one thing which accounts for them is    

that the men who produced them were     
religious geniuses because they were    
also theologians4#dc  ,footnote #dc3    
,see the ,call to ,theology1 ,har4      
,theo4 ,rev41 vol4 ,i1 no4 #a1 pp4 #a   
ff4  ,it is to be remembered that we are
 not saying that the theologian makes   
the saint4 ,i do not believe that4      
,devils can believe and tremble2        
,abelard was no saint4 ,but we are      
contending that the great saint is      
extremely likely to be a theologian4    
,protestantism1 ,methodism1             
,tractarianism1 were chiefly religious  
movements1 interested in the kind of    
questions and moved by the sorts of     
motives which we have been talking      
about4 ,they all began within the       
precincts of universities4 ,moreover1   
the ,lord ,jesus1 consummate mystic1    
incomparable artist1 was such partly    
because ,he was a great theologian as   
well4 ,his dealings with scribe and     
,pharisee furnish some of the world's   
best examples of acute and courageous   

dialectics4 ,his theological method     
differed markedly from the academicians 
of ,his day4 ,nevertheless it was noted 
that ,he spoke with an extraordinary    
authority4 ,he gave1 as ,dr4 ,peabody   
also points out1 new scope and          
significance to the thought of ,god1 to 
the nature of man1 to the destiny of the
 soul1 to the meaning of the world4 ,he 
would have been reckoned among the      
world's great theologians if other      
endowments had not given ,him a higher  
title4#dd  ,footnote #dd3 ,call to      
,theology1 ,har4 ,theo4 ,rev41 vol4 ,i1 
no4 #a1 p4 #h4  ,it is a higher title to
 have been the supreme mystic1 the      
perfect seer4 ,all ,i have been trying  
to say is that it is to these sorts of  
excellencies that the preacher aspires4 
,but the life of ,jesus supremely       
sanctions the conviction that preaching 
upon high and abstract and even         
speculative themes and a rigorous       
intellectual discipline are chief       
accompaniments1 appropriate and         

indispensable aids1 to religious insight
 and to the cultivating of worshipful   
feeling4 ,so we close our discussions   
with the supreme name upon our lips1    
leaving the most fragrant memory1 the   
clearest picture1 remembering ,him who  
struck the highest note4 ,it is to ,his 
life and teaching that we humbly turn to
 find the final sanction for the        
distinctively religious values4 ,who    
else1 indeed1 has the words of ,eternal 
,life8         99       99       99     
99       99      ,,lyman ,,beecher      
,,lectureship ,,on ,,preaching  ,,yale  
,,university    #ahga-gb ,beecher1      
,h4,w41 ,yale ,lectures on ,preaching1  
first series4           ,new ,york1     
#ahgb4    #ahgb-gc ,beecher1 ,h4,w41    
,yale ,lectures on ,preaching1 second   
series4           ,new ,york1 #ahgc4    
#ahgc-gd ,beecher1 ,h4,w41 ,yale        
,lectures on ,preaching1 third series4  
,new ,york1 #ahgd4    #ahgd-ge ,hall1   
,john1 ,god's ,word through ,preaching4 
,new ,york1 #ahge4    #ahge-gf ,taylor1 

,william ,m41 ,the ,ministry of the     
,word4 ,new ,york1           #ahgf4     
#ahgf-gg ,brooks1 ,p41 ,lectures on     
,preaching4 ,new ,york1 #ahgg4          
#ahgg-gh ,dale1 ,r4,w41 ,nine ,lectures 
on ,preaching4 ,new ,york1 #ahgh4       
#ahgh-gi ,simpson1 ,m41 ,lectures on    
,preaching4 ,new ,york1 #ahgi4          
#ahgi-hj ,crosby1 ,h41 ,the ,christian  
,preacher4 ,new ,york1 #ahhj4           
#ahhj-ha ,duryea1 ,j4,t41 and others    
7not published74    #ahha-hb ,robinson1 
,e4,g41 ,lectures on ,preaching4 ,new   
,york1 #ahhc4    #ahhb-hc 7,no          
lectures47    #ahhc-hd ,burton1 ,n4,j41 
,yale ,lectures on ,preaching1 and other
           writings4 ,new ,york1        
#ahhh499    #ahhd-he ,storrs1 ,h4,m41   
,the ,american ,preacher 7not           
published74    #ahhe-hf ,taylor1 ,w4,m41
 ,the ,scottish ,pulpit4 ,new ,york1    
#ahhg4    #ahhf-hg ,gladden1 ,w41 ,tools
 and the ,man4 ,boston1 #ahic4          
#ahhg-hh ,trumbull4 ,h4,c41 ,the ,sunday
 ,school4 ,philadelphia1 #ahhh4         

#ahhh-hi ,broadus1 ,j4,a41 ,preaching   
and the ,ministerial ,life 7not         
published74    #ahhi-ij ,behrends1      
,a4,j4,f41 ,the ,philosophy of          
,preaching4 ,new ,york1           #ahij4
    #ahij-ia ,stalker1 ,j41 ,the        
,preacher and ,his ,models4 ,new ,york1 
#ahia4    #ahia-ib ,fairbarn1 ,a4,m41   
,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern       
,theology4           ,new ,york1 #ahic4 
#ahib-ic ,horton1 ,r4,f41 ,verbum ,dei4 
,new ,york1 #ahic499    #ahic-id 7,no   
lectures47    #ahid-ie ,greer1 ,d4,h41  
,the ,preacher and ,his ,place4 ,new    
,york1 #ahie4    #ahie-if ,van ,dyke1   
,h41 ,the ,gospel for an ,age of ,doubt4
 ,new ,york1           #ahif99          
#ahif-ig ,watson1 ,j41 ,the ,cure of    
,souls4 ,new ,york1 #ahif4    #ahig-ih  
,tucker1 ,w4,j41 ,the ,making and the   
,unmaking of the ,preacher4             
,boston1 #ahih4    #ahih-ii ,smith1     
,g4,a41 ,modern ,criticism and the ,old 
,testament4 ,new           ,york1 #aija4
    #ahii-jj ,brown1 ,j41 ,puritan      

,preaching in ,england4 ,new ,york1     
#aijj4    #aijj-ja 7,no lectures47      
#aija-jb ,gladden1 ,w41 ,social         
,salvation4 ,new ,york1 #aijb4          
#aijb-jc ,gordon1 ,g4,a41 ,ultimate     
,conceptions of ,faith4 ,new ,york1     
#aijc4    #aijc-jd ,abbott1 ,l41 ,the   
,christian ,ministry4 ,boston1 #aije4   
#aijd-je ,peabody1 ,f4,g41 ,jesus       
,christ and the ,christian ,character4  
,new ,york1 #aije499    #aije-jf ,brown1
 ,c4,r41 ,the ,social ,message of the   
,modern ,pulpit4 ,new           ,york1  
#aijf4    #aijf-jg ,forsyth1 ,p4,t41    
,positive ,preaching and ,modern ,mind4 
,new           ,york1 #aijh499          
#aijg-jh ,faunce1 ,w4,h4,p41 ,the       
,educational ,ideal in the ,ministry4   
,new           ,york1 #aijh4    #aijh-ji
 ,henson1 ,h4,h41 ,the ,liberty of      
,prophesying4 ,new ,haven1 #aiaj499     
#aiji-aj ,jefferson1 ,c4,e41 ,the       
,building of the ,church4 ,new ,york1   
#aiaj4    #aiaj-aa ,gunsaulus1 ,f4,w41  
,the ,minister and the ,spiritual ,life4

 ,new           ,york1 ,chicago1 #aiaa4 
#aiaa-ab ,jowett1 ,j4,h41 ,the          
,preacher2 ,his ,life and ,work4 ,new   
,york1           #aiab4    #aiab-ac     
,parkhurst1 ,c4,h41 ,the ,pulpit and the
 ,pew4 ,new ,haven4 #aiac499    #aiac-ad
 ,home1 ,c4 ,silvester1 ,the ,romance of
 ,preaching4 ,new ,york1                
,chicago1 #aiad4    #aiad-ae ,pepper1   
,george ,wharton1 ,a ,voice from the    
,crowd4 ,new ,haven1           #aiae499 
#aiae-af ,hyde1 ,william ,de,witt1 ,the 
,gospel of ,good ,will as ,revealed     
in ,contemporary ,scriptures4 ,new      
,york1 #aiaf4    #aiaf-ag ,mc,dowell1   
,william ,fraser1 ,good ,ministers of   
,jesus ,christ4           ,new ,york and
 ,cincinnati1 #aiag4    #aiag-ah        
,coffin1 ,henry ,sloane1 ,in a ,day of  
,social ,rebuilding4 ,new               
,haven499    #aiah-ai ,kelman1 ,john1   
,the ,war and ,preaching1 ,new ,haven499
    #aiai-bj ,fitch1 ,albert ,parker1   
,preaching and ,paganism4 ,new ,haven499
   99,also published in ,london4        

,,printed ,,by ,e4,l4 ,,hildreth        
,,company ,,brattleboro1 ,,vermont1     
,u4,s4,a4