,the ,religious ,situation   ,,by       
,,goldwin ,,smith     ,,toronto  ,,wm4  
,,tyrrell  ,,company  #aijh             
,,copyright1 #aijh  ,,by ,,the  ,,north 
,,american ,,review ,,publishing        
,,company    ,,copyright1 ,,canada1     
#aijh  ,,by  ,,goldwin ,,smith          
,transcriber's note3  ,this book was    
originally part of ,smith's ,no ,refuge 
but in ,truth4  ,it was split into a    
separate e-book because it had its own  
title and verso page4     ,,the         
,,religious ,,situation4  7,from the    
,north ,american ,review47   ,i express 
myself1 says ,bishop ,butler1 with      
caution1 lest ,i should be mistaken to  
vilify reason1 which is1 indeed1 the    
only faculty which we have to judge     
concerning anything1 even revelation    
itself2 or be misunderstood to assert   
that a supposed revelation cannot be    
proved false from internal characters4  
,the faculty of reason1 he says1 is the 
candle of the ,lord within us against   
vilifying which we must be very         

cautious4  ,what would the world be     
without religion8  ,that is the dread   
question which seems now to be          
everywhere presenting itself4  ,would   
even the social fabric remain unshaken8 
,has not its stability partly depended  
on the general belief that the          
dispensation1 with all its inequalities1
 was the ordinance of the ,creator1 and 
that for inequalities here there would  
be compensation hereafter8  ,the belief 
may not in common minds have been very  
present2 but it would seem to have had  
its influence4 ,apparently1 it is now   
departing4  ,in some places it seems to 
have fled4 ,scepticism1 with social     
unrest1 comes in its room4  ,what is now
 the position of the clergy8  ,keepers  
and ministers of truth1 as they are     
understood to be1 they alone are        
debarred by ordination vows and tests   
from the free quest of truth4  ,they are
 ecclesiastically bound not only to     
hold1 but to teach and preach1 as       
divinely revealed1 what many of them    

must feel to have been disproved or to  
have become doubtful4  ,their uneasiness
 is shown by writings1 such as ,lux     
,mundi1 struggling to reconcile         
orthodoxy with free thought4  ,it is    
shown by a growing tendency on the part 
of pastors to slide from the office of  
spiritual guide into that of leader of  
philanthropic effort and social reform4 
,it is seen1 perhaps1 even in the       
tendency to give increased prominence to
 musical attraction in the service4     
,sermons grow more secular4  ,clerical  
biographies1 such as that of ,jowett1   
sometimes reveal private misgivings4    
,the writer has even seen the pastorate 
of a large parish assumed by one who in 
private society was an evident          
rationalist and must have satisfied his 
conscience by promising to himself that 
he would do a great deal of social good4
  ,there is1 no doubt1 practically1 more
 latitude than there was2 heresy trials 
seem to have ceased1 and one of the     
writers of ,essays and ,reviews became1 

without serious outcry1 ,primate of the 
,church of ,england4  ,but ordination   
vows remain2 so does the performance of 
a religious service which includes the  
repetition of creeds and forms a        
practical confession of faith4  ,hollow 
profession cannot fail to impair mental 
integrity1 or1 if generally suspected1  
to kill confidence in our guides4  ,read
 ,canon ,farrar's ,life of ,christ and  
you will see to what shifts orthodoxy   
puts a clerical writer who was1 no      
doubt1 a sincere lover of truth4  ,the  
religious disturbance shows itself at   
the same time in the prevalence of wild 
superstitions1 such as ,spiritualism1   
rising out of the grave of religious    
faith1 and attesting the lingering      
craving for the supernatural1 somewhat  
like the mysteries of ,isis after the   
fall of national religion at ,rome4     
,the crisis has come on us rather       
suddenly1 in consequence partly of great
 physical discoveries4  ,the writer as a
 young student heard ,buckland          

struggling to reconcile geology with    
,genesis4  ,now the struggle is to      
reconcile ,genesis with geology4        
,before this wonderful advance of       
science and criticism combined1 there   
had been comparatively little of avowed1
 still less of popular1 scepticism4     
,rousseau was a sentimental theist2     
,voltaire erected a church to ,god4     
,this vast ,modernism1 as the poor1     
quaking ,pope rather happily calls the  
ascendancy of science and criticism1 has
 changed all4  ,it is conceivable that1 
now as on some former occasions1 the    
range of discovery may have been        
overrated and the pendulum of opinion   
may consequently have swung too far4    
,evolution1 apparently1 has still a wide
 space to traverse1 even in what may be 
assumed to be the material sphere4      
,what can it make of the marvellous     
stores of memory or of the apparently   
boundless play of the imagination1 which
 by its working in sleep1 sometimes with
 no assignable materials for the fancy1 

seems almost to show creative power8    
,has ,deity directly revealed itself to 
man8  ,it has if the ,bible is inspired4
  ,otherwise1 apparently1 it has not4   
,about the ,koran or the ,zendavesta it 
is hardly necessary to speak4  ,the     
,bible we call the ,old ,testament and  
the ,new bound up together1 as though   
they contained the two halves of the    
same dispensation and the moral ideal of
 both were the same4  ,the historical   
importance of the ,old ,testament can   
hardly be overrated2 nor can the        
literary grandeur of parts of it1 or the
 advance made in social character and in
 law4  ,when in connection with the     
question of ,american slavery attention 
was specially directed to the social law
 of ,moses1 no careful reader could fail
 to be greatly struck by its advanced   
humanity and civilization4              
,nevertheless1 the morality of the ,old 
,testament is tribal1 while that of the 
,new ,testament is universal4  ,the     
tribal character of the ,old ,testament 

morality is seen in the destruction of  
the first-born in ,egypt in order to    
force ,pharaoh to let the ,chosen       
,people go2 in the invasion of ,canaan  
and the slaughter of the ,canaanites2 in
 the murder of ,sisera2 in the approval 
of the treason of ,rahab2 in ,david's   
putting to torture the inhabitants of a 
captured city4  ,the attempt to         
reconcile all this with universal       
morality by styling it the course of    
,evolution can hardly avail1 since the  
spirit of tribal separatism dominates in
 the latest books of the ,old           
,testament1 ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 where  
,israelites are not only forbidden for  
the future to marry with ,gentiles1 but 
bidden to put away ,gentile wives4  ,it 
is true there are glimpses of a         
universal dominion of the ,god of       
,israel1 and of the happiness to be     
enjoyed by all nations under it4        
,still1 ,jehovah is ,israel's ,god4     
,were the ,old ,testament a ,divine     
revelation it would certainly be free   

from error concerning the works of      
,deity1 which plainly it is not4  ,the  
narrative in ,genesis of creation1      
compared with other primitive           
cosmogonies1 is rational as well as     
sublime4  ,but if ,professor ,buckland  
could persuade his hearers he could not 
persuade himself4  ,largely good the    
influence of the ,old ,testament has no 
doubt been2 largely also it prepared the
 way for the ,new4  ,that its influence 
has been wholly good cannot be said4    
,it has furnished fanaticism with       
aliment and excuse4  ,it has found      
mottoes for the black flag of religious 
war4  ,is it possible to believe1 in    
face of doubtful authenticity1          
contradictions as to fact1 and traces of
 local superstition1 that the ,new      
,testament any more than the ,old was   
dictated by ,deity8  ,inspired by the   
creative power1 in common with the other
 works of creative beneficence1 as a    
part of the general plan1 the ,new      
,testament may have been4  ,its morality

 is not tribal1 but universal4  ,god is 
a ,spirit2 and they that worship him    
must worship him in spirit and in truth1
 this beside the well of ,samaria by the
 ,founder himself was proclaimed4 ,if   
there is any privilege it is in favour  
not of race1 but of class1 the class    
being the poor1 whose poverty seems     
counted to them as virtue1 perhaps      
rather to the disparagement of active   
goodness4  ,had the ,new ,testament been
 divinely inspired1 would not its       
authority have been clearly attested8   
,would not the authorship of its books  
have been made known8  ,would the       
slightest error or self-contradiction   
have been allowed to appear in it8      
,what is the fact8  ,the authenticity of
 a large portion of the ,epistles of    
,st4 ,paul seems admitted by critics2 of
 other books of the ,new ,testament the 
authorship is regarded as doubtful4     
,the three ,synoptic ,gospels have a    
large element common to them all1 and   
are evidently grafts upon a single      

document which is lost1 and which the   
critics generally seem inclined to place
 not earlier than the latter part of the
 first century4  ,the ,synoptics all    
tell us that when ,jesus expired the    
veil of the ,temple was rent4  ,one adds
 that there was preternatural darkness2 
a third that the earth quaked1 that the 
rocks were rent1 that the graves opened1
 and many bodies of the saints which    
slept arose1 came out of the graves     
after the resurrection of ,jesus1 went  
into the holy city1 and appeared to     
many4  ,such apparitions plainly must   
have produced an immense sensation2 such
 a sensation1 it may be assumed1 as     
would have brought scepticism to its    
knees4  ,this surely must be legendary1 
and the legend must have had time to    
grow4  ,though grafts on the same       
original stock1 the ,gospels are often  
at variance with each other2 as in the  
case of the genealogy of ,jesus1 upon   
which the harmonists labor in vain2 in  
that of the marvels attending his birth2

 in that of his ,last ,supper2 in that  
of the resurrection1 which again baffles
 the skill of the harmonists4  ,here1   
surely1 is proof that the pens of the   
narrators were not guided by            
,omniscience4  ,concerning the miracles 
of the casting out of devils generally1 
and in particular of the casting out of 
a legion of devils into a herd of two   
thousand swine at ,gadara1 what is to be
 said8  ,are these not clearly cases of 
human imagination set at work by a      
,jewish superstition8  ,is it possible  
that they should have had a place in a  
divine narrative of the life of the     
,saviour of the world8  ,the ,fourth    
,gospel omits them4 ,orthodoxy would    
fain persuade itself that this was to   
avoid unnecessary repetition4  ,satan   
from the top of a mountain shows ,jesus 
all the kingdoms of the earth4  ,this   
seems to imply belief that the earth is 
a plane4  ,the movement of the star of  
the ,nativity seems to imply belief in  
the rotation of the heavens4  ,about the

 authorship of the ,fourth ,gospel1 and1
 consequently1 about its title to       
belief1 there has been endless          
controversy among the learned4 ,but     
there are pretty plain indications1 in  
the shape of the omission of demoniac   
miracles and some lack of local         
knowledge1 that it is not the work of a 
,palestinian ,jew4  ,opening with a     
reference to the ,logos1 it strikes the 
key of ,alexandrian philosophy4  ,it is1
 indeed1 rather theological than        
historical1 so that it has been not     
inaptly compared to the ,platonic1 in   
contrast to the ,xenophontic1 account of
 ,socrates1 the theology seems like that
 of a post-evangelical era4             
,martineau's conclusion is that the only
 ,gospel which is composed and not      
merely compiled and edited1 and for     
which1 therefore1 a single writer is    
responsible1 has its birthday in the    
middle of the second century1 and is not
 the work of a witness at all4          
,historically1 this ,gospel is at       

variance with the others in its         
narrative of the ,last ,supper4  ,the   
incidents1 says the highly orthodox     
,speaker's ,commentary1 are parallel    
with sections of the ,synoptic ,gospels2
 but there are very few points of actual
 correspondence in detail between the   
narratives of the ,synoptists and of    
,st4 ,john4  ,there appears to have been
 much disputation among critics and     
commentators1 but no room for           
disputation surely would have been left 
concerning narratives1 equally authentic
 and inspired1 of a momentous crisis in 
the life of the ,saviour4  ,at this     
point1 that is to say the beginning of  
the ,galilean ministry1 we are again met
 by difficulties in the chronology1     
which are not only various1 but to the  
certain solution of which there appears 
to be no clue4  ,if we follow           
exclusively the order given by one      
,evangelist we appear to run counter to 
the scattered indications which may be  
found in another4  ,that it should be so

 will cause no difficulty to the candid 
mind4  ,the ,evangelists do not profess 
to be guided by chronological sequences4
  ,so writes ,dean ,farrar in despair4  
,is it likely that such confusion would 
be found in a ,divine revelation8 ,would
 not the narratives have been as well   
arranged and clear as1 by the admission 
of orthodoxy1 they are the reverse8     
,would the names of the authors of the  
,gospels1 their warrants and the sources
 of their information1 have been        
withheld8  ,providence surely was not   
there4  ,if there was a miraculous      
revelation on which salvation depended1 
why was it not universal8  ,why has it  
all this time been withheld from nations
 even more in need of it than those to  
whom it was given8  ,are we to suppose  
that the salvation of these myriads was 
a matter of indifference to their       
,creator1 or that ,heaven preferred the 
slow and precarious working of the      
missionary to the instantaneous action  
of its own fiat8  ,this is the question 

which scepticism asks1 and which the    
great author of the ,analogy of         
,religion fails to answer4  ,what did   
,jesus think of himself and his mission1
 and of his relation to ,deity8  ,this  
it seems impossible without more        
authentic records clearly to decide4    
,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john1 which is the
 most theological1 would appear to be   
the least trustworthy of the four4  ,its
 author1 apparently1 sees its subject   
through a theosophic medium of his own4 
,the idea of the teacher in the mind of 
the disciples would naturally rise with 
his ascendancy2 so1 perhaps1 would his  
own idea4  ,if ,jesus is rightly        
reported he believed himself to be the  
,son of ,god1 exalted to union and      
participation in spiritual dominion with
 the ,father1 and destined together with
 the ,father to judge the world4  ,but1 
in his mortal hour of anguish in        
,gethsemane1 he prays to the ,father to 
let the cup pass from him2 an act hardly
 consistent with the doctrines of the   

,athanasian ,creed4  ,in the immortality
 of the soul and judgment after death he
 plainly believes4  ,but he does not    
substantiate the belief by any          
explanation of the mode of survival2    
nor1 in separating the two flocks of    
sheep and goats1 does he say how mixed  
characters are to be treated4           
,tribalism seems slightly to cling to   
his conception of the just gathered in  
,abraham's bosom4  ,of his apologue of  
,dives and ,lazarus1 the last part      
appears to show that the world beyond   
the grave was to him a realm of the     
imagination4  ,the ,sermon on the ,mount
 would appear1 by the strong impress of 
character it bears1 to have special     
claims to authenticity4  ,so may the    
,parables habitually employed as        
instruments of teaching and wearing     
apparently the stamp of a single        
imagination4  ,that with ,jesus of      
,nazareth there came into the world1 and
 by his example and teaching was        
introduced and propagated a moral ideal 

which1 embodied in ,christendom1 and    
surviving through all these centuries   
the action of hostile forces the most   
powerful1 not only from without1 but    
from within1 has uplifted1 purified1 and
 blessed humanity is a historical fact4 
,with the civilization of ,christendom  
no other civilization can compare4  ,but
 we have been accustomed to believe that
 there was a miraculous revelation of   
the ,deity4  ,a revelation of the       
,deity1 though not miraculous1          
,christianity may be believed to have   
been4  ,revelation1 direct and assured1 
of the nature1 will1 designs1 or        
relation to us of the ,deity through the
 ,bible or in any other way we cannot be
 truly said to have4  ,all that we      
apparently can be said to have1 besides 
the religious instinct in ourselves1 is 
the evidence of beneficent design in the
 universe2 balanced1 we must sadly      
admit1 by much that with our present    
imperfect knowledge appears to us at    
variance with beneficence2 by plagues1  

earthquakes1 famines1 torturing         
diseases1 infant deaths2 by the         
sufferings of animals preyed on by other
 animals or breeding beyond the means of
 subsistence2 by inevitable accidents of
 all kinds2 by the ,tower of ,siloam    
everywhere falling on the just as well  
as on the sinner4  ,there may be a key1 
there may be a plan1 disciplinary or of 
some other kind1 and in the end the     
mystery may be solved4  ,at present     
there seems to be no key other than that
 which may be suggested by the          
connection of effort with virtue and the
 progress of a collective humanity4  ,at
 the same time1 we may apparently       
dismiss belief in a great personal power
 of evil and in his realm of everlasting
 torture4  ,the independent origin of   
such a power of evil is unthinkable2 so 
is the struggle between the two powers  
and its end4  ,there is no absolutely   
distinct line between good and evil4    
,the shades of character are numberless4
  ,another great change1 rather of      

impression than of conviction1 has been 
creeping over the religious scene4  ,we 
have hitherto1 largely1 perhaps1 under  
the influence of the ,bible1 been       
fancying rather than thinking that this 
little earth of ours was the centre of  
all things1 the special object of       
interest to the ,creator2 and that the  
grand drama of existence was that       
enacted on this terrestrial stage and   
culminating in ,redemption4             
,astronomical science is now making us  
distinctly feel that this world is only 
one1 and1 if magnitude is to be the     
measure1 very far from the most         
important1 of myriads of worlds governed
 by the same physical laws as ours1     
forming a system of which ours is a     
member1 while the destiny of the whole  
system is to us utterly inscrutable2    
proofs of the most sublime and glorious 
order presenting themselves on the one  
hand1 while on the other we see signs of
 disorder and destruction1 errant bodies
 such as comets and aerolites1 a moon   

without an atmosphere1 the conflagration
 of a star4  ,whether the whole is      
moving towards any end and1 if it is1   
what that end is to be1 we cannot hope  
to divine4  ,when with ,infinity we take
 into our thought ,eternity1 past and   
future1 if in ,eternity there can be    
said to be past or future1 our minds are
 completely overwhelmed4  ,is belief in 
a future life generally holding its     
ground8  ,my friend1 the late ,mr4      
,chamberlain1 was by no means alone in  
resigning it4  ,but if this life is all1
 how can we continue to hold our faith  
in divine justice8  ,mr4 ,chamberlain1  
as ,i said before1 was evidently happy  
as well as good4  ,his life1 though     
short and regarded by him as ending in  
the grave1 was to him so much gain1 and 
proved beneficence on the part of the   
,author of his being4  ,but if ,mr4     
,chamberlain's theory is true1 what is  
to be said in the case of the myriads to
 whom life has been wretchedness1 ending
 perhaps in agony1 often without the    

slightest responsibility on their part8 
,for these unhappy ones would it be     
well1 as ,mr4 ,chamberlain holds it was 
for him1 that there should be no        
hereafter8  ,is their being brought into
 existence only to suffer compatible    
with our faith in supreme benevolence8  
,is confidence in supreme justice       
compatible with the conviction that the 
tyrant and the tortured victims of his  
tyranny1 alike1 repose forever in the   
grave8 ,such1 it is true1 was the belief
 of the ,hebrew2 indication of any other
 belief1 at all events1 he has left us  
none1 unless it be a faint glimpse of   
,sheol4  ,the philosophy of ,job halts  
accordingly4  ,the ,hebrew believed that
 he would be rewarded or punished in his
 posterity4  ,bishop ,butler's grand    
argument for belief in the possibility  
of a future life goes upon the          
supposition that our conscious          
personality is distinct and separable   
from our perishable frame1 and is in    
itself indiscerptible1 so that there is 

no reason why it should not survive the 
death of the body4  ,to prove that it   
ever has survived the death of the body1
 or to show the mode of its survival1   
the ,bishop does not attempt4  ,but     
,butler lived long before ,evolution and
 the general advance of physiology in   
these later days4  ,johnson1 who was no 
sceptic1 owned that he yearned for more 
light on the spiritual world1 by which  
he apparently meant immortality4        
,positivism tenders us endless existence
 as particles in a collective humanity1 
the colossal man4  ,but would there be  
much satisfaction in existence when     
individuality and personal consciousness
 had been lost8 ,would the prospect lead
 the ordinary man to work and suffer for
 generations to come1 at all events1 for
 any beyond the circle of the immediate 
objects of his love8  ,what the end of  
the colossal man is to be seems         
undetermined4  ,the ,positivist ,church 
has produced very good and beautiful    
lives1 but its power as a religion to go

 alone would be more clearly seen were  
not ,christianity at its side4  ,is     
there or is there not after all         
something in human nature apparently    
unsusceptible of physical explanation   
and seeming to point to the possibility 
of a higher state of being8  ,evolution 
may ultimately explain our general      
frame1 emotional and intellectual1 as   
well as physical4  ,it may in time      
explain the marvels of imagination and  
memory4  ,it may explain our aesthetic  
nature with our music and art4 ,it may  
explain even our social and political   
frame and our habit of conformity to    
law4  ,but beyond conformity to law1    
social or political1 is there not1 in   
the highest specimens of our race at    
least1 a conception of an ideal of      
character and an effort to rise to it   
which seem to point to a more spiritual 
sphere8