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RELIGION: DOES IT MAHER?

Its Meaning, Nature

and Value

By

Rev. John A. O’Brien, Ph.D., LL.D.

The University of Notre Dame

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that

national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious

principle.

George Washington,

Farewell Address.

*

New York

THE PAULIST PRESS

401 West 59th Street



TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Meaning of Religion 3

II. The Universality of Religion 12

III. The Origin of Religion IS

IV. Religious Worship— Duty 20
V. Religion and Society 30

VI. Religion and Morality 40

VII. The Value of Religion 51

VIII. Questions for Discussion 62

Nihil Obstat:

Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D.,

Censor Lihrorum.

Imprimatur:

Francis J. Spellman, D.D.,

Archbishop of New York,

New York, September 2, 1944.

Copyright, 1944
,
by

The Missionary Society or St. Paul the Apostle

IN THE State of New York

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A.

BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK 19 , N. Y.

Deaeliaied



CHAPTER I

THE MEANING OF RELIGION

Religion^ pure and undefiled before God and the Father, is

this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to

keep one^s self unspotted from this world. James i. 27

No force in human history has exercised so potent an influence

upon the life, thought and civilization of mankind as has religion.

Whether the civilization be rudimentary or highly advanced, the

influence of religion is paramount and all-pervasive. It puts its

imprint upon man’s laws, colors his art, creates the atmosphere

for his literature. It shapes his ethical codes, filters through into

his philosophy and embeds itself in the innermost conscience of

the individual and in the corporate mind of the society in which

he lives.

It supplies the answers to man’s deepest questionings: Whence

have I come? Whither am I going? What is the meaning and

the purpose of human life? How can I achieve my ultimate des-
tiny? Thus religion concerns itself with man’s deepest values.

It gives him guidance in his relations with his Creator and with

his fellow man. It enables him to walk safely along the path of

reverence and obedience to his God and of justice and kindliness

to his neighbor. When that light is extinguished, man gropes about

in the darkness, and life becomes a game of blindman’s buff. Rob

man of his religious belief, and he sinks to a level one step re-

moved from the beasts of the field. An attack upon God is an

attack upon the dignity of man and upon the sacredness of the

human personality. This is the truth which has been painted in

tragic and flaming colors upon the canvas of the world’s history.

Mankind has no stronger bulwark for the protection of his own

freedom and dignity than the teachings of religion concerning the

essential equality of all men in the eyes of God and of their ac-

countability to Him for their treatment of one another. “What

doth the Lord, thy God demand of thee,” thundered the prophet

Micheas, “but that thou love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly

with thy God.” For the right of men and women everywhere to

walk humbly and freely with their God, without the club of a

dictator over their heads, America has poured out her treasure

and her blood in two World Wars.

[ 3 ]



Importance of Religion

Because religion plays so far-reaching a role in the life of indi-

viduals and of nations, it is of paramount importance for every

person to understand the real meaning of religion. For how can a

person properly appreciate this great treasure if he does not under-

stand what it is? How can he go out to fight and die for some-
thing which he does not really understand? Yet, are there not

millions of people in our land, to whom religion is not much more

than a word, and a confused word at that? To many it conjures

up the thought of Sunday school, of preaching, of restrictions and

taboos, of denominational rivalry, and of other such notions which

blur or caricature the real nature of religion.

Accordingly we shall undertake to present the essential nature

of religion, its universality, its reasonableness, its various kinds,

its relation to morality, and the values it renders to the individual

and to society. Without sacrificing any of the values of scholar-

ship, we shall discuss the subject in popular language, seeking to

carry to the general reader the fruits of scientific and philosophic

research. We shall treat of religion in its broadest and most uni-
versal sense, embracing not only Judaism and Christianity, but

the religion of all believers in a Supreme Being. We cherish the
hope that the treatment will bring to the citizens of our land not

only a better understanding of religion but a deeper appreciation

of its powerful assistance in enabling them to live richer, nobler

and more godlike lives.

From such increased understanding should result a renaissance

of religion in America so that its wholesome influence will envelop

every home in our land. Such an effect will, we are confident, be

no small contribution to the morale of the American people. More

important than that, the revival of religion will enthrone God in

the life of the individual, of the family, and of the nation. By

making us humble, charitable and obedient to His divine com-

mands, it will merit for us in the stern hour of crisis the divine

assistance, without which we cannot succeed, and with which we

cannot fail.

Its Roof Meaning

What is the meaning of religion? By tracing a word to its

root or roots we can secure an insight into its original and basic

meaning. The etymology of religion, however, has been a matter

of dispute from ancient times. In his De Natura Deorum, Cicero

derives religion from relegere, to treat carefully, saying: ^‘Those

who carefully took in hand all things pertaining to the gods were

[ 4 ]



called religiosi, from relegerer
^

This is the view favored by Max

Muller. As religion is an elementary notion, however, long ante-

dating the time of complicated ritual presupposed in this explana-

tion, we must look elsewhere for its etymology.

In his City of God,^ St. Augustine derives religion from religere,

in the sense of recovering. He says: ‘‘Having lost God through

neglect (negligentes), we recover Him (religentes) and are drawn

to Him.^^ Inasmuch as this explanation implies the notion of Re-

demption, it is not suited to the primary idea of religion.

Lactantius, a renowned Father of the Church who lived in the

late third and early four centuries, derives religion from religare,

to bind. In his Divinae Institutes, he writes: “We are tied to God

and bound to Him (religati) by the bond of piety, and it is from

this, and not as Cicero holds, from careful consideration (rele-

gendo) that religion has received its name.’’ ^ Here we have most

likely the true origin of the term, religion. For in its simplest

form, religion implies the idea of being bound to God. This same

idea is uppermost in the word religion in its most specific sense,

as applied to the life of poverty, chastity, and obedience, to which

individuals bind themselves by vows. Hence, those who are thus

bound are called religious,

St. Augustine later came to espouse the explanation of Lactan-

tius. “He has certainly seized the broad popular sense of the

word,” observed Canon Liddon, “when he connects it with the idea

of an obligation by which man is bound to an invisible God.” ^

This brief discussion of the root meaning of religion will not

be without fruit, if it leaves in the mind of the reader the basic

and indisputable truth, conveyed by the term religion, that man is

bound by the bond of devotion, obedience and love to God, the

Heavenly Father, to Whom he owes his very existence. When-
ever the word religion is uttered, let it remind man of that ever-

lasting and unbreakable bond which is designed to draw him ever

closer in reverence, love and service to the Father from Whom he
has come and to Whose all-embracing arms he is destined ulti-

mately to return.

Essence of Religion

“Whatever be the truth about the origin of the name,” ob-

serves St. Thomas Aquinas, “religion as a reality indicates the re-

1 Qui, omnia, quae ad cultum deorum pertinerent, diligenter retractarent et tamquam
religerent, sunt dicti religiosi ex relegendo. II, 28.

2X. 3.
3 vinculo pietatis Deo religati sumus, unde ipsa religio nomen accepit, non, ut Cicero

interpretatus est, a relegendo, IV, 28.

A Some Elements of Religion, Lecture I, 19.

[S]



lationship of man towards God.’’ This relationship is the volun-

tary subjection of the creature to his Creator in acknowledgment

of his complete and abiding dependence upon Him and of God’s
absolute and sovereign dominion over him. This sense of depend-

ence upon God, this keenly felt need of divine assistance, coupled

with the conviction that he can place himself in friendly and help-

ful communion with the deity along with the efforts to do so,

constitute the very essence of religion. At the very heart of reli-

gion then lie two ideas: the consciousness of man’s need of God,

and the conviction that the appropriate expression of the need for

divine aid can and will be answered.

The felt needs of the individuals vary with the tribes and so-

cieties in which they live, and with their own development. In

lower stages of development the solicitude is more for material wel-

fare than for moral perfection, though the latter is not neglected.

The emphasis would seem, however, to be upon material prosperity

and bodily comfort. In the higher religions the perfection sought

in religion becomes increasingly that of moral goodness. In Chris-

tianity, the highest of religions, the individual aims at communion

with God through the achievement of high spiritual perfection.

This entails a participation in the supernatural life of grace as

children of God. In the Christian there is a clear perception of

God’s sovereignty and a consequent recognition of our duty to

acknowledge that sovereignty by appropriate acts of praise, adora-

tion, propitiation, and thanksgiving.^ The crown of such acts of

filial homage is the love of God for His own sake, inasmuch as

He is the infinitely perfect being, in Whom truth, beauty and good-
ness are realized in their highest possible degree.

A Personal God

From what has been said thus far it is evident that the con-

cept of a deity required for religion is that of a jree personality,

possessing intelligence and will. Where the deity is identified with

the earth and the sky, with sticks and stones, as in pantheism, and

is thus devoid of all consciousness, religion ceases to exist. For the

essential acts of religion, prayer, adoration, propitiation, suppli-

cation imply the power to hear and the power to respond. What

would be the sense of talking to a rock or a clod of earth?

A deity without personality, and hence without consciousness,

is no more capable of awakening the sense of religion in the heart

5 Hence St. Thomas Aquinas defines religion as “the virtue which prompts man to

render to God the worship and reverence which is His by right” {virtm per quam homines

Deo dehitum cvltum et reverentiam exhibeni)^ II-II, Q. 81, a. 1.

[ 6 ]



of man than is the all-pervading air or the universal force of gravi-

tation. Hence all attempts to substitute the cosmos or nature

—

even when written with capitals— for a personal deity are so
many arrows aimed at the heart of religion. Man can admire the
autumnal coloring of a tree, the fragrance of a rose, the beauty

of a sunset. He can no more talk to them, however, than he can

to a stick or a stone. Personality, consciousness, intelligence, the

power to hear and the power to answer, constitute then the core

of the concept of a deity required for religious purposes.

Religion is thus seen to be essentially a personal relation. It

is the relation of the creature to his Creator, of the subject to his

Sovereign, of man to his God. In that relationship man turns with

outstretched arms, seeking to clasp the hand reached down from

on high. He opens his lips to a listening ear. He pours out the

love of his heart to a heart which reciprocates with an overwhelm-

ing love. Religion is not a one directional line. It is not talking

to a deaf-mute. Reciprocation is of its very essence. God both

listens and replies. Says James Russell Lowell:
®

God is not dumb, that He should speak no more;
If thou hast wanderings in the wilderness

And find’st not Sinai, ’tis thy soul is poor.

Those who train their ears to catch the answering echoes from
the mind and the heart of God hear a message which carries cour-
age and inspiration, and feel a love which fills them with a rapture

which transcends all the pleasures of earth and sense. It is this

union of the soul with God in perfect love which constitutes the
end of all religious striving. A union which is approximated in
this life by high moral perfection, and which is achieved in the

next life by the soul which experiences a joy which no tongue can

describe. ^‘Eye hath not seen,” says the Apostle Paul, ^^nor ear

heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things

God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

Expression of Whole Personolity

Religion is not the stunted expression of a single faculty. It

calls forth the expression of man^s whole personality with all its

powers and faculties. It brings into play not merely the intellect,

but the will, the imagination, and the emotions. The envisag-

6 Bibliolatres.

7 1 Cor. ii. 9.

[ 7 ]



ment of the unseen world kindles the imagination. The conscious-

ness of an offense against God elicits sorrow and stirs the will to

amendment. The perception of the need of divine aid in times of

perplexity and crisis intensifies the fervor of our supplications and

bring us in humility to His feet.

Our hearts go out in paeans of joy and gratitude in times of

deliverance from suffering and danger. We exhaust the powers
of the painter, the musician, and the poet in seeking to express the

varied sentiments which fill our minds and the emotions which

tug at our hearts as we turn to God in all the changing vicissitudes

of human life. Hence we see how far off the mark are those

writers who seek to limit religion to the exercise of a particular

faculty, or to identify it exclusively with ritual or ethical conduct.

Hegel describes religion as ‘^the knowledge acquired by the

finite spirit of its essence as absolute spirit.’’ 'Max Muller terms

it ‘‘the perception of the infinite.” Schleiermacher refers to it as

“a determination of man’s feeling of absolute dependence.*^’ Kant

speaks of it as “the recognition of all our duties as divine com-

mands.” Matthew Arnold characterizes it as “morality touched

with emotion.” John Stuart Mill defines it as “the earnest direc-

tion of the emotions and desires toward an ideal object recognized

as the highest excellence and as rightly paramount over selfish

objects of desire.”

These are, however, but fragmentary descriptions. They are

but slender strands in the rich and varied tapestry of religion.

Distortion and deformation can only result from the effort to limit

religion to a single activity or faculty. Recognizing his depend-

ence upon Almighty God for every sinew and fiber and faculty of

his nature, man strives to render to God a full-orbed expression of

his dependence, his gratitude, and his love, by pulling every ele-

ment of his being into that acknowledgment. Hence religion in-

volves the expression of the whole man, mind and heart and soul.

If any element of his nature fails to participate in that manifesta-

tion, the homage is correspondingly incomplete.

Natural and Supernatural

Religion may be considered subjectively or objectively. Viewed

subjectively, that is as resident in the person or subject who prac-

tices it, religion may be defined as the disposition prompting the

individual to acknowledge through appropriate acts of homage,

praise and love his dependence upon Almighty God.

Viewed objectively, that is as something external to the per-

son or subject, religion may be defined as a system of truths, laws

[ 8 ]



and practices which direct and regulate the rendering of homage

and worship to God.

The most important division of religion is that which classi-

fies it as natural and supernatural. Natural religion may be de-

fined as the sum of man^s duties to God in so far as they can be

ascertained by the light of reason alone. In other words, it is the

worship of God as prescribed by reason unaided by revelation.

The duties of natural religion may be epitomized in the three

great commandments which man’s rational nature makes known

to him, namely, to honor God, to subdue his passions, and to do

unto others as he would have others do unto him.

The principal duties of man according to the law of nature

find expression in the Ten Commandments with the excq)tion

that in the third, the day of designation would not necessarily

be the Sabbath. Men would be obliged by the law of natural re-

ligion to set aside a day from time to time for the public worship

of God, but the choice of a particular day would be at the option

of each State or community. Prompting man to observe these

commandments would be the twofold motive, the love of God and

the fear of His judgment in the life to come.

Supernatural religion is the sum of man’s duties to God as

known by divine revelation. Thus there are certain truths, such

as the Incarnation and the Blessed Trinity, which transcend man’s

capacity to discover and which, if they are to be known at all,

must be revealed to him. There are other truths which man could

arrive at by his reason, such as, that God is one, necessary, eternal

and infinite. Many such truths of natural religion are also divine-

ly revealed. They are supernatural only in the manner in which

they have been made known to us.

Divine Revelation

Divine revelation is a beautiful and striking expression of

God’s solicitude and love for mankind. For if left entirely to

himself, man would fall into many errors and abominations, as the

history of pagan antiquity abundantly discloses. The gods of the

pagans were often patrons of theft, lying and lust. Licentious

orgies were publicly performed in honor of Bacchus and Eros.

With such depraved notions of the deity, they lacked a fixed

and unalterable standard of right and wrong. Even Plato (428-

347 B. c.), one of the master minds of ancient Greece, favored a

community of wives and the destruction of weakly and deformed

8 Rep. Book V.

[ 9 ]



children.® His great disciple, Aristotle (384-322 b. c.), who sys-

tematized so many branches of knowledge, entertained the same

lax views in regard to infant life. Lacking a proper conception of

human dignity, he regarded slaves as mere beasts who could be

beaten, tortured or put to death by their masters without in-

justice.®

Seneca, one of the leading Stoic philosophers of ancient Rome,

was emphatic in his approval of suicide. Even Marcus Aurelius,

its last and noblest representative, was uncertain, now condemning,

now approving the crime of self-destruction. In short, the best

minds of pagan antiquity fell into grievous errors, while the masses

were engulfed in sensual and licentious practices, destructive of

the integrity of the home and of the dignity of the individual.

The light of divine revelation not only pointed the way out of

these abominations but also gave mankind the necessary f help to

follow that path. For it spoke to mankind not in the faltering and

uncertain tones of human reason but in the unfaltering and clear

language of divine wisdom.

Reyeiation Affords Certainty

This is of great importance. For without that divine assur-

ance of truth, mankind would be forever paralyzed by doubt.

Thus, let us suppose that in some community there exists a master

mind who devotes his whole life to the discovery of all the truths

of natural religion and finally arrives at all of them. Then he

undertakes to impart them to his fellow men. What chance of

success would he have? Little or none.

The man, tempted to sin, might well say: “How do I know
he is right? He is a man like myself. All his reasoning may be
wrong. He is a hopeless minority, with no credentials of his au-
thority to teach me the truth. I want and I need the assurance
from God that this is wrong. Then only can I act with certainty.’’

Thomas Carlyle said of Robert Burns: “His religion at best is

an anxious wish—like that of Rabelais, a great Perhaps.” Man
cannot, however, resist a driving passion nor prepare himself to

face the martyr’s fire on the strength of a mere Perhaps. He needs
a certainty—an unequivocal Yea, uttered in the clear tones of the
divine Revealer. Then all doubt and uncertainty are washed

away forever. Thus vividly and impressively do the mercy, the

goodness, and the love of God shine forth through the revelation

which He vouchsafed to man.

^Pol. IV (VII) 16; 17, i. S.

[ 10 ]



This deposit of supernatural truths, along with those discover-

able by unaided human reason, form a beautiful and harmonious

mosaic of religious truth. There is a fundamental unity to all

truth. For they all come from the same ultimate fountain. The

supernatural truths buttress and reinforce those discovered by

reason alone.

The human mind follows, as far as its finite tether will per-

mit, the illimitable reaches of divine truth, and when reason fal-

ters and stumbles at the twilight of mystery, faith takes over and

follows all the way. Faith rides on the donkey of human reason

and when the latter falters, it rides the remaining distance in the

chariot of divine revelation. It is a lovely virtue which, like the

beloved disciple, John, leans its head upon the bosom of the Lord

and hearing the throbbing of His beating heart, knows that all is

well. Faith is a genuflection of the will before the tabernacle of

God 'S revealed truth, a gesture of love whereby the heart of man

answers a cry from the heart of God.

[ 11 ]



CHAPTER II

THE UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGION

There is no race so wild and untamed as to be ignorant of the

existence of GodT Cicero, De Natura Deorum

As the belief in God has existed among all the races of mankind

from the earliest times down to the present, so the practice of

religion has been likewise universal. This is as true today as it

was at the dawn of history. Whether the race be comparatively

primitive or highly civilized, religion will be found to play an

important role. The practice of religion would seem to follow

as a direct and immediate consequence of the recognition of the

existence of a Supreme Being. Man expresses that acknowledge-
ment through prayer, sacrifice and ceremonial of varied kinds.

‘^Nature herself,” declares Cicero, “teaches us that God is to be

venerated, and of her law in this matter no man is free.”

The findings of modern historic research corroborate the truth

expressed by Cicero. Reflecting the conclusions of investigators

in this field. Prof. C. H. Toy of Harvard declares: “As far as our

present knowledge goes, religion appears to be universal among

men. There is no community of which we can say with certainty

that it is without religion.”
^

Similar is the way Professor Tiele in his History of Religion

sums up the findings of the researchers: “The statement that there

are nations or tribes which possess no religion rests either on in-

accurate observations or on a confusion of ideas. No tribe or

nation has yet been met with destitute of a belief in any higher

being, and travelers who have asserted their existence have been

afterwards refuted by facts. It is legitimate, therefore, to call

religion, in its most general sense, the universal phenomenon of

humanity.”

Granting then that religious worship has been universal among

all the tribes and races in the past, the question may be raised:

Have we any assurance that it will persist in the future? Has not

the advance of modern science been characterized by a progres-

sive substitution of mechanical for personal agency in nature, with

the inevitable result, as a skeptic has expressed it, that God will

be escorted to the limits of His universe and then politely bowed

out as no longer needed?

To this we may reply: The advance of modern science is fatal

1 Introduction to the History of Religions, pp. 5 f.

[ 12 ]



to all polytheistic forms of religion, in which the secondary causes

are, through ignorance, mistaken for personal agents. The truth

of the unity of nature’s forces, so well established by modern sci-

ence, is in perfect harmony with the monotheistic interpretation

of nature. It is the polytheist, and not the Christian, who has a

particular deity for thunder, another for lightning, and another

for the earthquake. The monotheist recognizes all these phe-

nomena as due to secondary or natural causes operating within

the framework of universal law.

Far from being inconsistent with true science, Christian mono-

theism is necessary to supplement and complete the fragmentary

interpretation of nature afforded by science. Being based on

observation and experiment, science has for its legitimate field

of study only secondary causes of nature. It can tell us nothing

about origins, nothing about the great First Cause, from which

nature with its network of myriad laws has come.

Science Deciphers God's Hondwriting

In substituting physical laws for what was formerly thought

to be the direct action of God, science has not accounted for the

intelligent' purposive action of nature. It has simply pushed the

question farther back. But the demand for an Intelligent Cause,

a Supreme Mind, remains as persistent and importunate as ever.

Like the ghost of Banquo, it will not down. Dispense with Thor,

explain thunder by physical laws, and you make not less neces-

sary the need for the Legislator of such laws. ‘Xet the chain of

second causes be ever so long,” observes George Lavington, ‘‘the

first link is always in God’s hand.”

The discovery by science that thunder, lightning, torna-

does, earthquakes are due to the operation of physical laws,

prompts us to seek to know more about such laws. They show

that we live in a law-abiding universe. On the basis of the regu-

larity of the operations of the laws and forces of nature, we build

the edifice of all our sciences, and chart the position of stars

whose light has not yet reached our earth. In changing the pic-

ture of the universe from a fitful, capricious one, such as primi-

tive man envisaged, to one characterized by the universal reign

of law, science reveals the universe to be not less but more won-

derful, more awe-inspiring than ever our forebears dreamed.

By the same logic, the Author of such a law-abiding universe

is correspondingly enhanced. The adjectives, omnipotent, omnis-

cient, infinite, which were becoming somewhat anemic, are now

seen to be filled with the red corpuscles of vital and startling

[ 13 ]



reality. Far from dwarfing the expression of God’s power, mod-

ern science aggrandizes it. Far from elbowing God out of the

universe, science shows His omnipresence, through the power of

His laws in the whirling electrons within a tiny atom and in the

swing of Betelgeux through the vastness of immeasurable space.

Far from outmoding the worship of God, science confirms its

reasonableness with ever more impressive evidence of His divine

dominion over the whole vast universe. He has written His name,

as Lord and Sovereign, in the nuclear structure of every throbbing

atom, upon the heart of every flower, and upon the illuminated

manuscript of the skies. The whole of creation mirrors His in-

telligence and His power. As long as man can see and reason,

he will not fail to acknowledge the sovereign dominion of God

over himself and all creation. In such an acknowledgment, reli-

gion finds its most basic and essential expression—an expression
that is as universal and enduring as mankind itself.

[ 14 ]



CHAPTER III

ORIGIN OF RELIGION

There is in the nature of man a desire to know the cause of

the effects that he sees, St. Thomas Aquinas

Prescinding for the moment from the testimony of Holy Scrip-

ture, we ask: What was the natural origin of religion? For reli-

gion, like morality, has a natural basis or origin. It is the out-

come of the use of reasoning whereby man concludes from the

observations of the forces of nature that there must be some

great Power, some supreme Intelligence to account for them.

Observing the unfailing sequence of day and night, the regular

order of the seasons, and other such evidences of power, order and

plan, it was possible for primitive man to conclude by the light

of human reason alone that there must be a Being, possessing

intelligence and power, somewhere in the universe. In the absence

of positive, historic data concerning the natural origin of religion,

we can only give a speculative answer.

The process by which primitive man arrived naturally at a

theistic interpretation of the world seems to have been a simple,

spontaneous application of the principle of causality. So basic

and far-reaching is this principle in enabling us to arrive at the

existence of causes, which often lie beyond the range of our im-

mediate vision, that it may be said to constitute the spinal column

of the body of our scientific and philosophic knowledge of man

and of the universe. It is the spinal column likewise of the phi-

losophy of religion which seeks by reason alone to establish the

basis of natural religion and to formulate its fundamental truths.

What was primitive man’s view of nature? There is every

reason to believe that it was to a large extent similar to that held

by tribes and peoples who have not yet risen to a scientific knowl-

edge of the laws of nature. The causes best known to him are

living, personal ones, namely, himself and his fellow men. He

has not penetrated to an understanding of secondary, mechanical

causes of natural events. The result is that he attributes all the

striking phenomena of earth, air and sky to personal agencies.

Personal Forces of Nature

His experience with lifeless objects, sticks and stones, utensils

and weapons, shows him that they move and exercise force only

when a person imparts energy to them. Consequently whenever

[ 15 ]



he perceives a phenomenon showing movement and energy out-

side his limited experience of mechanical causation, he is prompted

spontaneously to attribute it to some mysterious person. Thus,

the thunder suggests the thunderer. He thinks of the sun and
moon either as living things or as the instruments of an invisible

living agency. It was easy for primitive man to perceive in and

behind the phenomena of nature the operation of mind and will.

To perceive in the vast diversity of these phenomena the oper-

ation of but one supreme person was, however, far from easy.

While such an inference was indeed possible, it was not a likely

one. This becomes evident when we consider the enormous diffi-

culty confronting primitive man in attempting in his inexperience

to co-ordinate the widely different phenomena of nature and to

trace them to one and the same source of intelligence and power.

The more likely tendency would have been to attribute different

phenomena to distinct personalities. This is what was done by

the peoples of antiquity. In fact this is still done by savage and

uncivilized tribes everywhere.

Dr. Charles F. Aiken thus sums up the situation: ^Teoples,

whose ignorance of the physical laws of nature has not been com-

pensated by revealed teaching, have invariably personalized the

forces of nature, and, feeling that their welfare depended on the

beneficent exercise of these powers, have come to divinize them.

From this danger of falling into a polytheistic interpretation of

nature, primitive man was saved by Divine Revelation. Such,

it would seem, was the simple philosophy forming the natural

basis of religion in primitive times. It was theoretically capable

of leading to a monotheism like that of the ancient Hebrews, who

viewed clouds, rain, lightning, and tempest as the signs of God’s

immediate activity. But, apart from revelation, it was very liable

to degenerate into polytheistic nature-worship. Its defect was

primarily scientific—ignorance of the secondary causes of natural
events; but it rested on a sound principle, namely, that the phe-

nomena of nature are in some way the outcome of intelligent

volition. This principle commends itself to the Christian phi-

losopher and scientist.”
^

Conclusions Which Don't Follow

Religion did not have its origin in' fear, as a few modern

writers assert. They picture early man as frightened by the

thunder, lightning, tempests and earthquakes, and calling upon

1 Catholic Encyclopedia, art. “Religion,” Vol. 12, p. 744.

[ 16 ]



the deity for protection. The fallacy underlying this theory is

that fear is a feeling, and no mere feeling can account for the idea

of personality which may or may not be associated with a danger-

ous or terrifying object. It is true that fear may stimulate man

to call upon the deity for aid and protection. But such supplica-

tion presupposes belief in such a deity. When a man is attacked

by a thug, his fear may prompt him to shout/Help! Police! ” But

he calls for the police only because he already knows of their

existence and their willingness to come to his aid, when attacked

by a robber.

Here we should advert to the attempts of other writers to dis-

credit religion by calling attention to the large admixture of su-

perstition and error found in the religious practices of savage and

barbarous peoples. Volumes have been written, piling up instances

of the use of magic, fetishes, totems and other superstitious prac-

tices. Let all that be frankly admitted. What conclusion follows

therefrom?

‘‘Religion,’’ they reply, “is without any rational foundation.

Present day religion is but the refinement of the worship, suppli-

cations, propitiation and thanksgiving of primitive man. Since

those practices were infested with superstition and error, all reli-

gion is without a solid basis and is valueless.”

^The conclusion is, however, too wide for the premises. If that
line of reasoning were to prevail there would not be left in the

world today a single valid science. For in their early stages all

branches of science were infested with error. Medicine is a

capital example. How many false potions, treatments and reme-

dies were mixed up with the early practice of the healing art.

Up until a few centuries ago it was the custom to bleed people

to relieve fever and to cure other ailments for which it was no

remedy at all. Does it follow that the whole modern science of

medicine is without any solid basis and is utterly valueless?

In its early days chemistry was entangled with many errors,

not the least of which were the methods used in attempting to

change the baser metals into gold and silver. Do those errors

vitiate modern chemistry?

In past ages astronomers often engaged in astrological prac-

tices, seeking to foretell events by the position of the stars. Does

it follow that the modern science of astronomy is without any

%olid foundation and that every textbook on the subject is as

valueless as a fairy tale? To ask these questions is to answer

them. Thousands of years ago Cicero punctured the fallacy of

those who sought to discredit religion by pointing to the super-

[171



stitions encumbering it, when he said: Religion is not removed

by removing superstition,^* ^

The Principle of Causality

The simple fact is that the basis of primitive man’s theistic

interpretation of nature and therefore of his religious worship is

the mighty principle of causality which constitutes likewise the

enduring and rational basis of all the sciences. Far from scrap-

ping that far-reaching principle, by which man reduces the frag-

mentary and discrete phenomena of the universe to the marvelous

unity of universal law, the findings of both science and philosophy

reinforce its validity and extol it as a principle more potent than

the lever for which Archimedes searched to move the earth. By

the application of that principle, man has found truth and reality

in all the domains of intellectual questing—in science, philosophy
and religion.

‘Without having recourse,” observes Prof. James Fox, “to

psychological analysis of doubtful value, and contested assump-

tions as to the conditions which surrounded primeval man, we per-

ceive an obvious inherent characteristic of the human mind com-

mon to all stages of development, which is amply sufficient to

account for the appearance of religious beliefs and practices.

This characteristic is the impulse of ascribing every perceived

effect to some cause.”
®

St. Thomas Aquinas likewise calls attention to this inherent

characteristic of the human mind. “There is,” he says, “in the

nature of man a desire to know the cause of the effects that he

sees. ... If the understanding of a rational creature cannot reach

at the first cause of things, the desire of its nature will remain

unsatisfied.” So man is forever climbing up the ladder of sec-

ondary causes to the First and Supreme Cause—God Himself.
In the breast of every human being there is an echo of the words

of the Psalmist: “He has made us, not we ourselves.”

The conviction of early man that the universe can not account

for itself, that it demands an adequate cause, a Supreme Intelli-

gence, is as true today as it was untold thousands of years ago.

True, somewhat different and more enlightened expressions are

given to that fundamental conviction, but its basic core is still

the same. That core is the principle of causality by which we

arrive at the conclusion that the earth, its phenomena, its order,

2 De Divinatione, II.

3 Religion and Morality, James Joseph Fox.

[ 18 ]



and the myriad forms of life thereon must have an' adequate

cause. That Cause mankind has called from time immemorial

by the venerable name of God.

'^Don't Cut Down the Tree^^

The errors which were mixed up in primitive man’s religious

worship no more invalidate religion than the presence of a few

bad apples destroys the value of the whole tree. Reason dictates

that we pluck off the infected apples, but it does not ask us to

cut down the tree. Yet that is precisely what a few writers on

the religious practices of early man would have us do—cut down
the whole tree of religion. The simple truth is that when the

myriad customs, rituals and practices followed by early man in

religious worship are carefully studied and properly interpreted,

they emphasize in an impressive manner the basic fact that man-

kind always and everywhere has felt the duty of rendering hom-

age to God and the need of asking His divine aid and guidance in

all the vicissitudes of life.

Thus do the facts unearthed by painstaking research in the

history of religion and by studies in comparative religion add

their own distinctive undertones to man’s age-old and unceasing

cry for God—the creative womb from which he issued and the
all-embracing arms to which he is destined ultimately to return.

Far then from tending to undermine religious faith, the data sup-

plied by these two branches of knowledge, -when properly inter-

preted, afford a new and a striking reinforcement. They accent

the universality of such faith, and show that for mankind as a

whole it is a necessary and inescapable consequence of the capacity

to think.

Theism is thus seen to be the inevitable conclusion from the

application of the principle of causality to the phenomena of na-

ture and to the order and harmony of the universe. The name of

God is written on the silver lining of the cloud that veils our

world andjdie radiance of that name is glimpsed ever and anon

by all those who penetrate with seeing minds and understanding

hearts beneath that mystic veil which we call the phenomena of

nature. Look with reverent eyes, clear mind and pure heart and

you will not fail to see the handwriting of God and to catch some-

thing of the shining glory of His countenance.

[ 19 ]



CHAPTER IV

RELIGIOUS WORSHIP—A DUTY

/ am the Lord, thy God. . . . Thou shalt not have strange gods
before Me. Exodus xx. 2

We come now to the consideration of the important question:
Is there a duty upon all mankind to render homage and worship

to God? “No/^ reply some, ‘‘that is a privilege which may be

exercised or not according to the whim or option of the individ-

ual.” True, man is physically free to worship God or not. Like-

wise the legislation of virtually every State grants its citizens the

right to engage in religious worship, but refrains from any enact-

ment compelling them to do so.

The fact is, however, that there exists a stern moral obliga-

tion upon every human being to render homage and adoration to

God. Why? Since man owes his very existence to the Creator,
and is dependent upon Him for both body and soul, it follows

that man should acknowledge this dependence upon God, pro-

claim his gratitude to Him, and express by appropriate action

God’s sovereign and absolute dominion over him. This is a law

of nature. This is a dictate of reason. This is a command of

God. The failure to make such an acknowledgment constitutes

a serious violation of the whole moral order.

Let us illustrate man’s dependence upon God. A newborn
babe is cradled in its mother’s arms, drawing nourishment from

her breasts. It is a picture of complete helplessness. Unable to

ward off a hostile blow, unable to take a single step, unable to

speak a word, unable to provide for a single one of its many needs,

it is a perfect S3onbol of sheer and utter helplessness. Dependent

upon its parents for its life, it is likewise dependent upon them

for its maintenance. Deprive that tiny newcomer of the loving

care of mother and father, and quickly will the spark of life

flicker and die.

Our Dependence on God

Similarly are we dependent upon the Creator from Whom all
life proceeds. Our dependence is, however, even more absolute

and universal. We are dependent upon God for body and soul,
for every breath we take, for every movement we make, for every

thought of our mind, for every decision of our will, and for every

aspiration of our soul. All the faculties of the soul and all the

[ 20 ]



powers of the body come to us as gifts from the Creator’s bounty.

We are indebted to the divine omnipotence not only for their
existence but for their actions as well.

Withdraw the sustaining power of God for but a moment, and

we would cease to be. Withhold the divine concursus by which

we act, and we would not so much as utter even the infant’s cry

of distress. Thus is God the ground of our being, the anchor of

our preservation, and the sustaining power of our activity. So

absolute and universal is our dependence upon Him that there

is engraven upon every fiber of our being the indelible mark of

God’s unlimited and unconditioned ownership.

We may have the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Sam-
son, the beauty of Apollo, the riches of Croesus, the imagination

of Shakespeare, and the genius of Pasteur. We may win the
plaudits of our fellow men and bask in the sunshine of popu-

larity. But we can never obliterate the birthmark proclaiming

the nothingness of our origin and the insufficiency of our being.

Sounding as overtones of the world’s applause is heard in the

soul’s inner ear the whisper of the Creator claiming the work of

His hands: “You and your talents and achievements are all Mine.

For without Me, you can do nothing.”

The little babe may in time become independent of his par-

ents, and provide for his own needs, but the creature can never

become independent of the Creator. The umbilical cord binding

the babe to its mother is severed at birth, but the cord of the

creature’s dependence upon his Creator remains forever intact.

The true picture of man is not that of the lord of the universe.

For with all his knowledge and scientific achievements, he still

finds himself like an infant enveloped in a world of fathomless

mystery. Everything he sees, hears, or touches, if pushed but a

step or two, terminates in mystery. He has not yet learned the

alphabet of nature’s language, nor trained his ear to catch the

music of the stars. Brief voyager on a planet lost in the skies, he

is born today, to pass tomorrow into the Stygian darkness of the

uncomprehending night. The true picture of man is that of an

infant crying in the night, with no language but a cry, a cry to

the God Who made him.
The title of the Creator’s dominion over us is more absolute

than any achieved by the creature. The picture painted by the

artist, the poem penned by the poet, the statue carved by the

sculptor, belong to their owners by virtue of their labor. They

must be given, however, the material and the tools upon which

they are dependent to achieve their products. Without the proper

[ 21 ]



materials there would be no paintings, no books of poetry, no

statues. God knows, however, no such dependence. Not only

does He fashion our natures but He also creates the very sub-
stance of our being. Hence God^s title of ownership or dominion

over us is as complete and absolute as the human mind can con-

ceive.

Paying Our Debt

Now it is an ordinance of nature and a dictate of our moral
nature that a debt should be acknowledged and paid. Since we

are indebted to God for both our being and our continuance in

existence, we should acknowledge that debt and seek to pay it by

appropriate actions. That fundamental obligation we fulfill by

acts of religion. For the essential element in all religious actions

consists in the acknowledgment of our dependence upon God and

His sovereignty over us.

What is the meaning of the bowed head, the folded hands, the

bent knee? What is the significance of the act of adoration, the

hymn of praise, the propitiatory striking of the breast, the song

of thanksgiving? Are not all these so many efforts of the crea-

ture to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Creator for his life,

his faculties, and for all that he may ever achieve? They are the

language of adoration spoken with the accents of gratitude and

love.

We can illustrate the duty of the creature to acknowledge his
dependence upon the Creator by citing the universally recognized

duty of a son to show honor and respect to his father. Why is he
obliged to pay such homage? Because the father begot him and

during the years of his dependence maintained him by his toil.

The duty of respect flows therefore from the twofold gift he has

received—^procreation and maintenance. Acts of kindness, obedi-
ence, gratitude and love constitute the currency wherewith the son

seeks to pay his debt. If he fail to pay his father the homage of

his respect, gratitude and love, he is universally regarded as an

ingrate of the blackest hue.

It is a debt from which the father cannot dispense his son.

For it is rooted in the very nature of a son’s relationship to his

father—the relationship of dependence for his existence and main-
tenance. Hence it does not spring from any wish or whim of the

father to be respected. It is grounded in the moral law which

binds both father and son. It binds the father to require such

respect and it binds the son to render it. That moral law is a

reflection of the mind and will of God.

[ 22 ]



What would you think of a father who did not exact such filial

respect? Suppose he were to say to his son: ^^True, I am your

father. By my toil I provided for you during the days of your
infancy and early youth. But you do not need to make any

acknowledgment. You can ignore me altogether. You can treat

me with utter indifference and neglect. You need not speak a

kind, grateful or affectionate word to me. When walking with

your friends, you need not speak or bow to me or indicate in

any way that you so much as know me. You are free to disregard

my wishes and to disobey my commands. I shall not complain
if you forget all that I have done for you, not even if you return

my love with hatred.’’
Would you not say that such a father was attempting to grant

a dispensation which he had no moral right to grant? Would

not every man and woman regard him as an unnatural father, a

monstrosity, devoid of common sense as well as the normal in-

stincts of fatherhood? The fact is that procreation begets not

only the right, but also the duty, of demanding honor, obedience

and love from children. By failing to demand such respect the

father would sin not less grievously than the son in failing to give

it.

More greatly indebted is the creature to the Creator than the

child to his father. Not only for his very being but for every act

as well is he indebted to his Creator. The father gave of what

he had received. God, however, gives of what is absolutely His

own. The creature is under a moral obligation to acknowledge

his complete and abiding dependence upon the Creator. So ab-

solute is this obligation that not even God can dispense from it.

For such a dispensation would constitute a subversion of the

whole moral order and would be equivalent to an open denial of

God’s authority over the work of His hands.

Worship—Internol ond Externol
Let us now set forth the different kinds of worship, condi-

tioned by human nature. Man is a creature composed of body
and soul. He is capable therefore of originating two different

kinds of acts. Some of his acts, such as thought and volition, may

remain entirely in the mental faculties from which they proceed.

Others, such as speaking, singing, genuflecting, find outward ex-

pression in the body. The former are internal, the latter, external.

Corresponding to these two kinds of activity are internal and ex-

ternal worship.

[ 23 ]



Internal homage consists in the inarticulate thoughts of praise

and adoration and in the unspoken affections of the soul leaning

in reverence upon the bosom of divine love and listening to the

throbbing of the divine heart. External worship expresses the

sentiments of reverence, obedience, praise, loyalty and love

through vocal prayer, the singing of h3mms, and through the

moving ceremonies of the Church’s ritual service.

Since God is the Author of soul and body, we must render to

Him the worship of both. We must give Him the love of the
former and the obeisance of the latter. Otherwise we would be

defrauding God by paying Him only half of the debt.
Thus it becomes evident that the rendering of homage to God

by acts both of internal and external worship, is not a matter of

option or caprice. It is a matter of strict obligation. It binds

every creature born into this world, whether he be white or black,

red, yellow or brown. It binds alike the rich and the poor, the

king and the beggar, the scientist in his laboratory and the un-

tutored Redman in the forest. From this universal obligation no

court can dispense.

As the debt man owes to the Creator is greater than any he

could owe to his fellow man, the obligation for its discharge rests

with correspondingly greater weight and pressure upon the con-

science of every human. It is man’s first obligation in justice,

his most important and urgent debt. Hence, St. Thomas ranks

religion as the first of all the moral virtues, since by it we pay

the first and the most important of all our creditors, our Creator,

what is due Him.

An Obligation of Justice ond Truth

The duty of rendering homage to God flows not only from

the obligation of justice but from that of truth as well. God is

the most perfect of all beings. He is wisdom, truth, goodness,

beauty and love unutterable. Out of His infinite goodness and

generosity He has lifted us from the valley of nothingness to the

mountain of being. Out of His infinite love. He vouchsafed to

us His divine Son, to die for us upon Calvary’s cross. To fail to

recognize and acknowledge such goodness and such love is not

only an offense against justice but against truth as well. It is

man’s monumental lie. In comparison with it all others are but

as pygmies.

Take the case of a soldier who fought with distinguished

bravery for his country in the South Pacific. As a pilot he risked

life scores of times by attacking the enemy in the trackless skies,

[ 24 ]



shooting dozens of them down, and thus saving the lives of

thousands of men in the troopships below. At last he himself

is shot down in flames. Badly wounded, he manages to drag

himself from the burning plane. Through the jungle he gropes his

way, suffering hunger, thirst, weariness and the stabbing pain of

his wounds.

For months he barely manages to keep alive on a few berries

and edible greens. By day the sun scorches his half-naked body.

By night he shivers as the cold rain pelts him with icy pellets.

Every nerve in his body is aching, while his mind is tortured with

the fear of impending death in a wilderness where his body would

never be found. At last when the cup of human misery is filled

to the overflowing, he drags himself, emaciated and wan, into a

settlement of friendly natives. Invalided back to America, he

has lost an arm and a limb, while an injured spine condemns him

for the rest of his life to a wheelchair.

On being returned to his native land, let us suppose that he

receives no word of recognition. No Purple Heart is pinned upon
him. No Distinguished Service Medal adorns his uniform. His

commander, his fellow officers, his countrymen utter no word of

admiration, no word of gratitude, no single acknowledgment of

all that he has done and suffered for his country.

What would be the feeling of the victim of such black in-

gratitude? Would not their failure to express a single word of

appreciation cut him to the very quick? Would it not stab him

with a pain sharper than any he had endured from wounds, or

cold or hunger or thirst in his jungle prison? Sharper than a

serpent’s tooth is black ingratitude.

Let us now consider the feeling of the American people after

they had been apprised of such a case. Would not every man,

woman, and child in the land rise up as a single man to pay hom-

age to such a hero? With a single voice they would say: Such

heroism should receive the grateful acclaim of the nation. Such

bravery under fire should be fittingly recognized. Such suffering

and sacrifice should receive the public recognition of the Ameri-

can people as long as they have any regard for justice, merit, and

truth. Indeed, if we knew that there was one single such unrecog-

nized hero in our midst, would we not be restless and unable to

sleep peacefully until we had ferreted him out and given to him

the public recognition which his heroism demanded? Why? Be-

cause both justice and truth require it. Not only would his merit

entitle him to such recognition, but truth itself would likewise

demand that we pay homage to such excellence. If we did not

[ 25 ]



do so, we would experience not only the rankling sense of injus-

tice but also the torturing guilt of participating in a public lie.

Public Worship—A Duty
God is the one infinitely perfect Being in the universe. All

the perfections, such as goodness, kindness, honesty, truth, justice,

mercy, generosity, love, which we find existing in a fragmentary

manner in creatures exist in God in an infinite degree. In giving

us our very being and all the faculties of body and soul, God has

given us more and has done more for us than any and all the

benefactors and heroes who ever lived. Therefore truth itself

demands that we give public recognition to such excellence and

such beneficence. It is a dictate of simple honesty. It is the

thunderous demand of strict justice.

This truth is well expressed by Dr. F. Hettinger: ‘^As reli-

gion consists in the recognition of God as our Creator and the end

of all creatures, so its immediate and formal expression is adora-

tion. Man naturally pays homage to real greatness, wherever
found; he is naturally attracted by goodness and love, of which

he is the object; he naturally admires genius in works which bear

its impress. But God is the plenitude of Life, of Love, and Power;

when, therefore, man reads His greatness in the marvels of cre-

ation, His love and goodness in the order of nature and the pages

of history. His providence in the ordering of his own life and in

that of others, then he falls prostrate, and exclaims with childlike

awe, ^Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbath!^ He confesses that

both himself and all things are from God, by his prayer, ^Our Fa-

ther, Who art in heaven’; that all things live and move in God,
and are sustained by His might, by the ^Hallowed be Thy Name’;

that he and all creatures are destined to serve God here, and to

share His glory, by the prayer ^Thy Kingdom come.’ And as

long as man is man, so long will religion endure, and, with it, the

obligation of worship.”
^

A Curious Myopia

There has been a curious myopia on the part of many people

concerning this obligation. People recognize instantly the malice

of theft, drunkenness, and murder. Each would be horrified to

be called a thief. Each would slink away in shame if termed a

drunkard. Every one would be aghast if called a murderer. Yet

1 Natural Religion, pp. 277, 278.

[ 26 ]



they seem to perceive little or no malice in withholding from God

the worship which is His due.

Thieves they are, nevertheless, and robbers too, not of men

but of God. If it be a sin to rob a human being of his due, how

much greater a sin it is to rob God of His due? If we judge the

malice of an offense by the dignity of the person offended, who is

there who can measure the malice of a deliberate offense against

the infinite majesty of God? Most crimes are the result of pas-

sion which blurs the reason and bends the will like a reed in a

gale. They are usually the result of a passing disorder. But the

crime of ignoring God and of withholding for a long time the

worship due Him can plead no such extenuating circumstances.

Suffice it to Say that the sin of irreligion is one of the most

grievous which a creature can commit. To those who are less

sensitive to the term, sinful, and more responsive to the term,

immoral, we add that it is one of the most profoundly immoral

acts which a creature can perform. For such a person places

himself in direct and permanent opposition to the whole moral

order because he is in opposition to the Author and Underwriter

of that order.

The anarchist aims the assassin’s bullet not at a private citizen

but at the ruler of a nation, because he wishes to destroy law

and order and thus plunge the whole nation into disorder and

strife. We look upon his dastardly deed with greater loathing
because of the more far-reaching consequences of the act. Like

the anarchist, the irreligious person points a revolver, loaded with

ingratitude and treason, at the heart of the Creator, the one Being

Who has the greatest claim upon his gratitude and love. This

may sound to worldlings and to irreligious like strong language.

It is, however, well within the margin of the facts.

Considering the vast number of people who rarely or never

darken the door of a church in our land, there is no truth that

needs to be sounded so loudly or so persistently in the ears of the

American people as that of the duty of rendering homage and

worship to the God Who made them. It is man’s first and su-
preme duty. It is absolute, universal and indispensable. Any one

who violates it should feel upon his brow the mark of Cain, in

his heart the treason of Benedict Arnold, and in his conscience

the guilt of Judas.

Why Neglect God?

The overwhelming majority of the American people believe in

God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. They possess many noble vir-

[ 27 ]



tues and qualities which provoke the admiration of mankind.

They are generous almost to a fault. With no thought of selfish

gain, they entered World War I, and sent their sons across the
sea to free the countries of the Old World from aggression. With

lavish hand they poured out their blood and treasure for the free-

dom of lands they had never previously seen. For the first time

in the history of the world, mankind saw a major power emerge

from a bloody conflict, into which that people had poured their

substance on a gigantic scale, without taking so much as a grain

of sand.

In World War II they are repeating the story, but on a larger

scale. Fighting for the freedom of the Chinese, the Filipinos and

the Australians in the Pacific, and for that of the occupied coun-

tries of Europe, they are pouring out their wealth on a scale never

witnessed before. They are sending millions of their young men

to fight in the Seven Seas, on all the battle fields, and in the skies

of all the world. All this they are doing without a thought of

gaining a penny of booty or a single inch of territory for them-

selves. It is no wonder that the oppressed peoples of the Orient

and the downtrodden countries of the Old World, thrill at the

thought of America and marvel at the feats of her people.

This is the flowering of the seed of religious faith and Chris-

tian idealism which the founding fathers planted deep in our land.

Signs are not wanting, however, that the religious faith, which was

once so sturdy in our national life, is waning through the failure

of many millions to practice it. i Religion, like all living things,

grows through use and decays through disuse. The failure to teach

religion in our public schools, because of the diversity of de-

nominational creeds, is doubtless one of the important factors in

j

the decay of religious life in our country. While it constitutes a

^ serious administrative difficulty, it is one which, we believe, Ameri-

can resourcefulness and ingenuity can overcome.

Surely a way can be found, fair and equitable to all, whereby

religion can be taught to the overwhelming majority of our chil-

dren, sons and daughters of God-fearing men and women. Other-

wise irreligion will grow by leaps and bounds, and the sturdy

faith of our pioneer forefathers will he but a nostalgic memory.

It will be a sad day for America and its future, when our children

know more about Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse than they do

about their Creator and His Son, Jesus Christ, our divine Re-

deemer. Yet that is the direction in which we are traveling at

break-neck speed today.

It is time to call a halt. It is time to put first things first.

[ 28 ]



It is time to put God on the throne of American life, to thank Him

for the blessings which He has poured out so lavishly upon our

land, to obey His divine commands, and to render to Him the
homage of adoration, propitiation, and love which are His due.

It is time for us to remember that we can kill a faith by failing

to practice it. y
^ The spiritual distemper of our day is indifferentism. This is
the first stage in the sickness that leads to decadence and death.

^^Nothing** warned Edmund Burke, so fatal to religion as in-

differentism, which is at least half infidelity,^* Similar, too, is

the admonition of Samuel Johnson: ^‘To be of no church is dan-

gerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is

animated only by Faith and Hope, will glide by degrees out of the

mind, unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordi-

nances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of

example.’’ ^ It is time for the American people to heed this warn-

ing. It is time for them to remember that while they are pour-

ing out their blood and treasure for nations all over the globe,

they must not be miserly toward the one Being in the world Who
has the first claim upon their gratitude and love, the Creator,

Who gave them their very existence and Who has showered upon
them such a multitude of blessings.

2 Lives of the Poets: Milton,

129 ]



CHAPTER V

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

The Duty of Sociol Worship

The task and triumph of religion is to make men and nations

true and just and upright in all their dealings, and to bring all law

as well as all conduct into subjection and conformity to the law

of God. Henry J. Van Dyke

Man is both an individual with a certain independence of
action and he is a member of society. He has been endowed by

God with gifts of mind, heart and will, whereby he can think his

own thought, direct his affections to whatsoever object he desires^

and make his own decisions, independently of the thoughts and

actions of others. But he has likewise been endowed with a social

nature, with gifts which enable him to co-operate with his fellows

and prompt him to associate with them in all the great enter-

prises of life. As a matter of fact, he lives and moves and has

his being in the society of which he forms a part. He has a crav-

ing for the company of others and reaches a richer and fuller life

by the use of his social endowments.

From this twofold nature of man arises the duty of private or

individual worship and of social or public worship. As we have

already presented at sufficient length the duty of internal and of

external homage on the part of the individual, we shall develop

with equal care the duty of social worship.

As man is obliged to acknowledge God^s authorship of his

body and his mind by using both these natures in conjoint acts

of adoration, so man is in duty bound to use his social nature in

rendering homage to God. This he does by uniting with his fel-

lows in acts of public prayer, praise and worship. In endowing

man with a social nature, God becomes the Author of society.

That debt therefore can be paid, not by the individual, but only

by the society which bows its corporate head in reverent acknowl-

edgment of its dependence upon God and His dominion over it.

That is why the act of public homage in which the ruler, the

civil magistrates and the private citizens join is a well-rounded

act of worship, especially pleasing to God and wholesome and

salutary to the spiritual and moral life of society. Man is pro-

foundly influenced by the example of his fellows. Social worship

stimulates and reinforces individual worship and frequently adds

[ 30 ]



order and regularity to expressions of devotion which, if left en-

tirely to the individual, might become fitful, desultory and uncer-

tain. Hence the great advantage of having one day of the week

set aside for the systematic, public worship of God by all members

of society.

In such corporate action the devotion of the individual is

greatly intensified by being blazoned forth in congregational sing-

ing, the joint recitation of prayer, and the performance of other

acts of public worship. So closely knit together are the physical

and the psychical natures of man that the external expression of

an inward sentiment serves to deepen and stabilize it and render

it easier of recall.

^^Why No Welcoming Committee?^'

Social worship is not therefore to be viewed as a superfluous

supplement to private worship, a supplement which springs merely

from fashion or convention, and not from the deeper elements of

man’s nature. It is a profound moral obligation which arises

from the social nature with which God has endowed man. We
can make this matter somewhat clearer by an illustration.

Let us suppose that the President of the United States an-

nounces his intention to pay your city a public visit. He arrives

at the depot, but alas and alack! there is no one to greet him and

his party. He looks around for the mayor, the civil officials, the

welcoming committee of prominent citizens and the usual con-

course of private ones. But he looks in vain! People are hur-

rying to and fro, intent upon their own affairs. A few idlers, who
recognize him, stare and pass on.

Finally he hails a couple of Yellow Cabs and he and his en-

tourage go to the mayor’s office. There the mayor’s attention is

divided between his cigar and the morning newspaper. Later on

when his eye lights upon the President, he lays down his paper

and says:

‘^Hello! Mr. President, welcome to our fair city.”

When the President inquires why there was no welcoming
committee, no manifestation of public respect for the Chief Ex-

ecutive of the nation. His Honor replies:

^^Oh! We don’t believe in those artificial and superfluous
expressions. I, the other officials and the citizens here keep our

esteem for you in our hearts. It would be silly and meaningless

to have any public expression of such homage and esteem.”

What do you think would be the President’s reaction to such

strange procedure? What do you think would be the sentiments

[ 31 ]



expressed in every newspaper and upon the lips of every citizen

of our land? Would they not be indignant against the magis-

trates and the citizens of that community for their gross lack of

elementary respect for the President of our country? Regard-

less of any differences of political views which might exist, the

members of that community, the nation would declare, should pay

to the President the public respect which his exalted office justly

demands. That is a debt which they owe him, and if they failed

to pay it, they would be the objects of the indignation and the

scorn of all the other citizens of the land.

From that conclusion, no citizen will dissent. Yet, if it be

universally admitted that the President is entitled to that public

expression of the respect and esteem of society, how can society

withhold the expression of the honor and reverence due to the

Creator? Is He not the God of presidents, the King of kings,

the Lord of lords? At His name should not every knee bend, of

those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth? Is not

God the source of all authority, the fountainhead of all rights?

Is it not in His name that kings rule and lawmakers issue just de-

crees? Does not the whole moral order derive its sanctions from

God? What authority is there in human society that does not

stream from God? For society to fail then in giving to the King

of kings the public expression of its reverence and homage is to

fail in its first and most important duty. This is the capital sin.

An impersonol Force?

So reasonable and obvious is this conclusion that it admits

of no equivocation or escape. Why is it then that there are so
many of our fellow countrymen who fail to give God the public

homage and worship due Him? The causes in our opinion are

fourfold. First is the tendency of many people to think of the

Deity in terms of a vague power or impersonal force far off in the

universe.^ Secondly, many wonder or doubt if God wants such

homage. Thirdly, many fail to realize that they have a strict

duty to render public worship to God. Fourthly, many are so

engrossed in their own mundane concerns as to forget about God

almost completely. Let us look briefly at these considerations.

The conception of God as a force operating throughout the

universe, without intelligence and will, and hence devoid of per-

sonality, is easily disproven. Wherever we look at nature,

whether it be at a blade of grass, a leaf on the tree, a flower, a

bird, or man, we see the evidence of plan and purpose, the blue-

1 See author’s article, God—A Blur in Modern Thought, in The American Ecclesias-
tical Review, May, 1944.

[ 32 ]



Radical

.By BR. FRANK CRANE

As a radical in good and regular standing with all my dues paid,

and with a known and open record, and having often and publicly

made full confession of faith, I want to protest against the various

groups of. loud fellows who occasionally drop in to meeting and

^claim they are the only real radicals and that the likes of me do

not belong.

Radical comes from radix or radish or something like that, mean-

ing root, and a radical, properly speaking, is one who goes to the

root of matters.

He is supposed not to stop at half-way compromises, to lodge in

no opportunisms, and not to put faith in catchwords and mob

formulae.

r am a radical in religion, far I believe in nothing short of God.

I am a radical in education, for I believe in studying the child

and bringing out what’s in him, and not in making him study a set

curriculum so as to ‘make him twofold more a humbug than we

ourselves.

I am a radical in politics, for I believe in democracy, in the U. S.

A., and in the people, and repudiate political parties—neither will
I follow nor be led by them.

I am a radical in social questions, for I believe that the social

organism is a growth, and that socialists, bolsheviks, and other

Utopian-thinkers are trying to make something by their clumsy

logic saws and theory hammers that can only be grown like a tree.

I am a radical in taxation, for I believe in single tax as the only

system which is based on honesty and not robbery and crooked

reasoning.

I am a radical in literature, for I believe there is no sense in writ-

ing anything except for the purpose of having it read. Tedious,

long, involved, inconclusive letters are of no use to me; neither is

any sort of smart aleck literature or anything else written, not to

say something, but to show off.

I am a radical in morals, for I believe in the whole Ten Command-

ments; and not in the seventh alone; I believe that purity is based

on intelligence and not ignorance; and I believe that most popular

moralities are concerned rather with conventions and manners than

with fundamental righteousness.

And finally my radicalism does not make me superior, cranky,

misunderstood, and different; on the contrary, it keeps me human

and makes me like nine-tenths of my readers, who are just as radi-

cal as I am.

(Copyrigh f, 1927.)



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print of means carefully arranged to secure a previsioned end.

But such a careful dovetailing of a multitude of means to achieve

a predetermined end is the unmistakable evidence of intelligence

and will. Therefore the Author of nature must be a Personal

Being, and not a blind force.

The same conclusion is reached by the following simple line

of reasoning. One of the basic principles of logic declares that

every effect must have an adequate cause, that the effect cannot

transcend the cause any more than water can rise higher than

its source. In other words there cannot be anything in the effect

which does not exist in some way in the cause. Before a sculptor

carves a statue he must have the idea or image of that statue in

his mind. Before an artist paints a picture, he must have the

picture in his mind. Since man possesses intellect and will and

personality, it follows with inescapable logic that the Creator

must possess personality. Otherwise we would have an effect

without a cause, and all possibility of logical thinking would

collapse.

Thousands of years ago the Psalmist proclaimed this mighty

truth, which all the findings of science and philosophy have but

underlined. ^^He has made us,’’ declared the Psalmist, ‘^not we

ourselves.” God is the supreme personality of the universe. We
are but tiny echoes of Him. ‘^Trailing clouds of glory do we

come,” said Wordsworth, “from God Who is our home.”

Does God Wont Our Homage?

Now in regard to the second point. Does God really want
our homage? What does He gain from it? We are so small.
God is so great. Isn’t it somewhat presumptuous to think that

the God of a million worlds and of the immeasurable spaces would

be interested and pleased by our expressions of reverence and

love? The answer is simple and direct. God does want our wor-

ship and our love. He has proclaimed that time after time in

Holy Scripture. This is the burden of the prophets and the focal

point in the Saviour’s message to mankind. This is the duty

proclaimed in the first of the ten commandments, given by God

to Moses amidst the thunders on Mount Sinai. “I am the Lord,

thy God. . . . Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.”

A doctor of the law asked Christ: “Master, which is the great
commandment in the law?”

Jesus replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy

whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.^^
^

2 Matt. xxii. 36-39.

[ 33 ]



The structure of one’s moral character rests upon the shift-

ing sands of expediency if it is not built upon the rock of compli-

ance with this, the greatest and the first commandment. One’s

whole life is topsy-turvy, if it is not ordered on obedience to God’s

primal and supreme demand. This mandate is written not only

upon the tablets of stone but also upon the fleshy tablets of the

human heart. Our whole nature reaches out to Him in aspiration

and love. He is our Father and our God.

Does a father want the love of his child? Is he indifferent

as to whether his son ever give him any expression of respect, any

tribute of love? Let us picture a father returning after the day’s

toil to his home. His three little children, aged five, seven and

nine are at the door. Instead of running to greet him, to take

his hand and welcome him with gleeful shouts of joy, they stand

motionless and silent. Entering, he holds out his arms to them.

But instead of running to them to enfold themselves in his loving

embrace, instead of struggling to be the first to climb upon his

knee and give him the tender expressions of children’s love, they

turn and walk silently away.

What would the father think of such behavior? Would it not

cut him to the quick? Would it not break his heart? What

could hurt him more? Why, the very thought of such unnatural

conduct fills you with indignation. What monstrous children

must they be, you would exclaim, who could show such ingrati-

tude to the father who begot them and who maintains them in

existence by his toil.

A Confrost

Contrast with that the opposite scene. As soon as the chil-

dren catch sight of their father, they make a mad dash for him.

They seize his hands, tackle him about the knees, and seek almost

to devour him with their greedy expression of love. His youngest,

a daughter, climbs upon his knee and tells him with the eloquence

of little arms twined tightly round his neck how much she loves

him. Go to that man as he sits there, basking in the sunshine of

his children’s love, and say to him:

“That’s all meaningless . . . silly . . . nonsense.”

“Why,” he would reply, “you amaze me. Don’t you have

any mind or any heart? Don’t you know that nothing is dearer

to a father than the expressions of his children’s love. This

means more to me than all the yellow gold in the mines of Solo-
mon. This is something which money cannot buy—the sincere
and tender expressions of children’s love.”

[ 34 ]



Yes, those expressions mean much to the father because they

are rooted in the very nature of children’s relationship to a father

—

a

relationship which demands the expressions of respect, grati-

tude and love. Not less, but more, do the expression of His chil-

dren’s homage and love mean to God, our Heavenly Father.

What a monstrous conception it would be to think that, after

creating us and endowing us with hearts to love and mouths to

speak, God would cut us adrift and have no interest in hearing

the cry of our love. Why, that would be to degrade Him to a

status below our own human fathers.

Deep Calls Unto Deep

The seashell echoes of its ocean home. Deep calls unto deep.

The creature cries out to his Creator. To that cry, which is like

the mystic radio wave heard round the earth, God turns a listen-

ing and a loving ear. Of no fact in life can we be more certain

than that God wants the expression of our gratitude and love.

This we know from reason and from divine revelation.

Indeed it is the very essence of religion. For without prayer

and worship, religion vanishes into thin air. These expressions

of trust, obedience, reverence, thanksgiving, atonement, adora-

tion, supplication and love constitute the golden bond that ties

the heart of the creature to the heart of God. This is the truth

which Tennyson expresses so beautifully:

More things are wrought by prayer

Than this world dreams of.

For what are men better than sheep or goats

That nourish a blind life within the brain.

If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer

Both for themselves and those who call them friends?

For so the whole round earth is every way

Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.

A mind greater than that of Tennyson, namely, that of St.
John, who rested his head upon the bosom of Christ and felt

the throbbing of the divine heart, gives us the basic reason why

the creature should pay homage to his God. “Thou art worthy, O
Lord our God,” declares the beloved disciple, “to receive glory

and honor and power: because Thou hast created all things, and

for Thy will they were, and have been created.” To that divine

Being there is due, he tells us, “benediction and glory, and wis-

dom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength, forever

and ever.”

[351



Don't Realize Duty

Now for the third reason why so many people fail to render
public homage to God. That reason is because they fail to real-

ize the duty of rendering such worship. This, we are convinced,

is the chief reason why so many of our fellow countrymen rarely

if ever darken a church door. Receiving scarcely any religious

education at home, they attend public schools wherein the teach-

ing of religion is forbidden by law. The result is that they know

little or nothing about religion. They do not understand the

claims that God has upon them, and not understanding, they do

not satisfy them.

Like everything else that is to be understood, religion must

be taught—and taught in a thorough and systematic manner.
How much of the history of our country would its citizens know,
if it were not taught in school? They would have but a hazy

and sketchy knowledge of the great and moving events which

brought our nation into being. So it is with religion. It is ap-

parently regarded by great numbers of our citizens as exercising

no weighty claims upon them. It is an optional affair with them.

They feel free to go once in a while, or to remain away alto-

gether. The latter alternative is unfortunately too often followed.

Only in times of crisis, of great emotional upheaval, when the bot-

tom of their world seems to be dropping out, do many of them

turn to God.

The fact that man is physically free to worship God or not,

should never be construed to mean that he is morally free to

ignore his Creator. We are physically free to commit theft or
murder. But we are under a moral restraint. So it is with the

worshiping of God. While physically free to turn our backs upon

Him, we are under the most serious and compelling moral obli-

gation to render to Him the homage of gratitude, worship and love

due Him in strict justice.

This truth perhaps above all others, needs to be driven home

to the people of America. This means that a way must be found,

and found quickly, if our nation is not to continue to fall deeper

and deeper into a form of veneered paganism, of bringing in a

systematic manner to the vast masses of our people the saving

truths of religion. This is the crying need in America today as

it will be in the days ahead. This is the appeal that should be

sounded from every pulpit, echoed in the press, flashed upon the

screens of our cinemas, and burnt into the conscience of the peo-

ple of our land.

[ 36 ]



We need to write upon the skies of America the truth, which
the experience of humanity the world over has proven to the hilt:

An education which sharpens the intellect but does nothing to
strengthen the character, to purify the heart, and to sensitize the

conscience to the undertones of the moral law, may render a
person more clever but not necessarily a better citizen. The con-

science which does not sink its roots into the subsoil of religious

faith, nor shot its antennae beyond the roof of the skies, misses

alike the music of divine inspiration and the thunder of divine

commands. To strengthen the character and to quicken the con-

science to the duties of citizenship, religion is of vital value and

of supreme importance. ‘‘Educate men without religion,’’ ob-

served the Duke of Wellington, “and you make them the creatures

of circumstance.”

Lest We Forget

A word about the fourth reason why many of our citizens fail
to give God the public homage due Him. That is because they

are so engrossed in their mundane affairs as to forget about God

and their duties to Him. Man has never been short of alibis
for busying himself with his material pursuits to the neglect of

the divine invitation to spend one hour with Him. Down through

the ages come the echoes of those who, in Christ’s parable of the

supper, spurned the king’s invitation to the banquet table: “I

have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it.” “I have

bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them.” “I have mar-

ried a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” ® Old as Ur of the

Chaldees, they are as up-to-date as this morning’s newspaper.

Especially subject to absorption in material pursuits are the

American people. Busy for a century in pushing forward the

frontiers of an expanding civilization, our people move to a tempo

which astonishes visitors from other lands. They have compared

the bustling energy of our people to bottled lightning. Only when

an American lives abroad for a year or two does he begin to

realize the abnormal speed at which our nation moves and lives.

Pep, speed, and action have become our national watchwords.

We are a nation of “go-getters,” engrossed night and day in
the frenzied pursuit of the almighty dollar. Unending streams

of autos shoot along our streets at a speed that spells danger to

the occupants and to the pedestrians. Thus have we been killing

more than 30,000 and maiming more than a million a year.

Crowds rush hither and fro in our cities. We are eternally on
the go. But where? No one seems clearly to know. Many pile

3 Luke xiv. 18-21.

[ 37 ]



up wealth which exceeds all the needs of body, mind and soul.

In a little more than a century we have become the richest and

the mightiest nation on the face of the earth. Virtually all others

now look to America for favors, help and largesses.

It is time for the American people to remember that man does

not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from

the mouth of God. It is time to remember that they have souls

as well as bodies. It is time to remember the God Who has show-

ered such riches, wealth and prosperity upon our land as no other

nation in all history has ever known. When Great Britain was

at the zenith of her imperial power, exercising a tributary sway

over one-fourth of the earth’s surface and population, Rudyard

Kipling, the poet laureate, sounded a note of warning in the famous

Recessional, lest the nation forget the Source from Whom all

power and blessings flow. He wrote:

God of our Fathers! Known of old.

Lord of the far-flung battle line

Beneath whose awful hand we hold

Dominion over palm and pine.

Lord God of hosts! Be with us yet.

Lest we forget. Lest we forget!

^ A Warning to America

That is the note that needs to be sounded in America today.

We must not forget the divine Being Who has poured out His
blessings and favors upon us with so lavish a hand. Common
decency requires us to acknowledge our indebtedness to our Cre-

ator and to return to Him the homage of our worship, gratitude
and love. That is the note that we fain would sound today

through all the sections of American life, that every man, woman

and child would fall upon their knees to thank God both for the

blessings they have received as individuals and as members of the

most favored nation on earth.

Such is the dictate of our minds. Such too is the clamorous

demand of our hearts. As America has achieved the first place

among the nations of the world for its wealth, let it now achieve

eminence for its gratitude to God. For upon the brow of a nation

distinguished for its power and influence there rests no crown so

regal as that which is composed of the gold of gratitude and the

pearl of humility.

[ 38 ]



The failure to render such homage constitutes a double sin

—

the sin of ingratitude and of injustice. Against such a sin there

is warning America today a voice mightier and more impressive

than that of Kipling. It is the voice of the great Apostle of the

Gentiles who is addressing to America today the warning he

uttered to the Romans of old: ‘^The wrath of God is revealed

from heaven against all ungodliness and the injustice of those men

that detain the truth of God in injustice: because that which is

known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it

unto them. For the visible things of him, from the creation of

the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that

are made; his eternal power also, and divinity; so that they are

inexcusable. Because that when they knew God, they have not

glorified Him as God or given thanks; but became vain in their

thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For professing

themselves to be wise, they became fools . . . who changed the

truth of God into a lie; and worshiped and served the creature

rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.” ^

4 Romans i. 18-25.

[ 39 ]



CHAPTER VI

RELIGION AND MORALITY

Christianity is the good man^s text; his life is the illustra^

tion, Charles Montesquieu

What is the relation between religion and morality? Are they

separate and independent? While there has been some confused

thinking which has pictured them as unrelated, the fact is that

they are so intimately related as to constitute but different aspects

of the same basic reality. As it is of enormous practical impor-

tance both for religion and for morality to understand their true

relation, we shall discuss this point at some length and offer a few

illustrations.

First, a definition. Morality may be defined as human con-

duct in so far as it is freely subordinated to the ideal of what is

right. It is antecedent to ethics, and denotes those concrete ac-

tions of which ethics is the science. The evolutionary, positivist

and idealist schools have brought much confusion into popular

thought by seeking to substitute an independent morality for

that based on belief in God.

Ethical Culture Societies have carried on a propaganda whose

general thesis is that people can be made good citizens by incul-

cating in them ethical ideals and standards with no reference to

God or the supernatural. In the education of the young they

would substitute discussions of codes and criteria of ethics, for

religious training. They would take the eyes of youth away from

God and place them entirely on man.

We can perhaps best show the close relationship between reli-
gion and morality by pointing out that the obligation for both

types of conduct stems ultimately from God, Thus, after Christ

had enunciated the duty of loving God with one’s whole heart and

soul as the first and the greatest commandment. He added: ^‘And

the second is like to this: Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.

On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the

prophets.” ^ To love one’s neighbor implies the duty of being

just, fair, kind and generous to him in all the relations of life.

To do this is not merely a dictate of right reason, but it is also

a divine command.

A Divine Command

In His Sermon on the Mount, Christ proclaimed the law which

may be said to be the basic rule in all human relations and the

1 Matt. xxii. 39-41.

[ 40 ]



fundamental principle of all morality. It is the famous golden

rule: ^^All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should

do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the

prophets/^
^ From these two utterances of the divine Founder

of the Christian religion it is clear that one’s relations with his

fellow man are not merely matters of expediency or of social

propriety. They are regulated by a divine command which hinds

every rational creature, regardless of race, color or creed.

Now in obeying that divine ordinance we are acknowledging,
with the eloquence of deeds and not merely of words, God’s sov-

ereign dominion over us. We are rendering to Him a most pleas-
ing homage. It is a homage comparable to that which we give to

God when we praise, adore and love Him. The worship of God

is direct homage. A good moral act, such as a kindness to one’s
neighbor, is indirect homage. God exacts of His creatures not

only the direct homage of worship but also the indirect homage

of virtue and morality.

Thus the love which we bestow upon our fellow man may be

said to be the completion of the homage which we render to God

when we love Him directly and immediately. The common Fa-

therhood of God makes us all His children and therefore imposes

upon all of us the duty of loving one another as brothers.

We are to see in the countenance of the poorest and the most
afHicted of men the lineaments of the face of Christ. We are to
minister to the outcast, to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and

to those in prison as we would minister to Christ Himself. For

Christ has assured us:. ^^As long as you did it to one of these. My
least brethren, you did it to Me.” ^ It was the realization of this

truth which held St. Peter Claver at his post of duty ministering

to the Negro slaves at Cartagena with the tenderness and kindli-

ness with which he would have ministered to the wounded Christ.

It was this realization which has prompted all the saints of God to

love His children and to spend themselves in sacrificial service

for them.

''Bring Him In"

During the American assault on Attu Island, our soldiers came

across a Jap, named Ito, badly wounded in his foxhole. He and

a companion had exhausted their ammunition. Each had held his

last grenade against his stomach and pulled the pin. Ito’s proved

to be a dud. But his comrade’s grenade exploded, disemboweling

2 Matt. vii. 12.

3 Matt. XXV. 40.

[ 41 ]



him and shattering Ito’s leg. When our soldiers found him sev-
eral days later, he was still clutching his dud grenade.

His leg had now become a greenish, muddy, bloody mass of gas

gangrene. The stench was terrific.
^

“Throw that stinking mess overboard,’^ barked out a wounded

gunner on the hospital ship, “before he suffocates us all.’^

“Gimme my trench knife,’’ yelled an infantryman with a bayo-
net slash in his hip, “and I’ll operate on the . . .”

A few nights before, the Japs had broken through our lines
and slaughtered some of our unarmed medical corpsmen. The

situation was tense—loaded with the dynamite of hatred, needing
only a spark to ignite the fuse.

Lights had burned all night over the operating table. Finally

the last American had been lifted from it. Dr. Cass Stimson, the

chief surgeon, stepped forward.

Did he have the right to use the blood plasma, donated by an

American to save an American’s life, for the hated Jap? Did he

have the right to endanger his life and those of his assistants by

coming in contact with the highly infectious gas gangrene? Wasn’t

it their business to kill Japs, not to save them?

Here, too, were the passions of hatred and vengeance pounding

at the central dogma of the Christian faith, the teaching that all

men are brothers. Would religion gird him with the power to re-

sist the flaming passions of nationalism and the clamor of hatred

and vengeance?

“Bring him in,” ordered Dr. Stimson.

When the operation was over, tears of joy streamed down Ito’s

cheeks as he grasped the surgeon’s arm, and sobbed, “A-mer-

REEK-A! A-mer-REEK-A! ”

Here was the flowering of the central teaching of the Christian

religion into a deed of service, kindliness and love for one’s enemy.

So knit together are we all as members of the Mystical Body of

Christ, that we cannot unjustly harm any of our fellow men, even

the most loathesome of our enemies, without injuring ourselves.

Any cruelty inflicted upon that helpless Jap—even the refusal to
relieve his pain—^would have degraded those who inflicted it.
There is no cave deep enough for us to hide in, when the cry of

suffering is heard, even though it be the cry of our enemy. Thus

does religion stretch out her hands, full of healing, of beneficent

service, of loving kindness to all mankind.

The Homage of Virtue

Well does St. John declare: “If any man say, I love God, and

hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his

[ 42 ]



brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, Whom he seeth
not?’’ Then the Beloved Disciple sums up the case thus briefly

and simply: ^‘And this commandment we have from God, that he,

who loveth God, love also his brother.” ^

No man therefore can be said to render to God the perfect

homage of love, if that love does not extend to his fellow men and

embrace even his enemies. From all this it is clear that our moral

duties to our fellow men are based ultimately not upon the theo-

retical conclusions of ethicians, the dictates of self-interest, or

even the ordinances of human reason, but upon the express will of

God. Remove God from the scheme of human life and you re-

move the basis not only of religion but of morality as well.

The concept that religion is largely a matter of lip service to

Almighty God, of oral prayer and hymn singing, with little or no

connection with moral conduct is a grotesque caricature of Christ’s

teaching. “By their fruits,” the Master declared, “you shall know

them.” Then He reminded His hearers and all His followers in

future ages: “Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall

enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of My
Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of

heaven.”
®

This truth is central in the teachings of Christ. It is stressed

by every writer on the spiritual life. It is echoed by Thomas a

Kempis in his great masterpiece. The Following of Christ: “Sub-

lime words make not a man holy and just, but a virtuous life

maketh him dear to God.”

Hence God wants not only the worship of prayery but also the

homage of virtue. To render Him the former without the latter is

to hand Him a branch from which the fruit has been plucked. It

is like the action of the man who places on the collection plate on

Sunday an envelope, orthodox and imposing enough on the out-

side, but empty within. Religion is not an empty sham. It is a

living tree, producing the fruit of morality, and both the tree and

the fruit derive their vitality from God.

God and the Moral Law

As this point is of great practical importance, let us supple-

ment the above considerations, drawn from the revelation of

Christ, with the evidence of a philosophical character. We have
already indicated that man is indebted to God both for his exist-

4 John iv. 20.

5 Matt. vii. 20-22.

[ 43 ]



ence and his faculties. Furthermore, he is dependent upon God
for the operation of his faculties.

The nature of this dependence we may illustrate with the fol-
lowing example. A watch owes its existence to a watchmaker.
But if that watch is to operate, the watchmaker must do more than

simply put together the various parts of its mechanism. He must
convey to the spring a portion of his own energy which is there

stored up in the form of tension. It is only in virtue of this stored

up power that the watch can function.

In a somewhat similar manner, the Creator must place His

own energy at the disposal of His creatures, if they are to be able

to use the faculties with which they are endowed. Without the

divine concursus the creature could not perform a single act.

Hence God^s co-operation is essential in all our thoughts and ac-

tions. As God is infinite holiness and perfection, the action in

which He co-operates cannot be a matter of indifference to Him.
He must necessarily will that it be in accordance with His own

divine nature. Hence the Creator's will must be the ultimate norm

of all the conduct of His creatures.

This is true, irrespective of the specific natures of the crea-

tures. Whether they be living or inanimate, rational or irrational,

they are all under the Creator’s jurisdiction and must conform to

His will. The expression of the divine will is accommodated to

the specific nature of each creature. In beings devoid of reason,

God’s direction finds expression in the physical determination of

the precise manner in which they are to act, so that they cannot

swerve therefrom by so much as a hair’s breadth. In creatures

endowed with intellect and free will, the divine direction is re-

flected in the moral law, enunciated by the practical reason.

“It is a law,” observes Bernard J. Otten, S J., “written in the

intellect after the manner of knowledge, and communicated to the

will as a moral obligation.” ® While leaving man physically free,

it binds him to a type of conduct from which he may not swerve.

What is the binding force of that law? It is identical with the

binding force of the Creator’s sovereign will, since it is but the

manifestation of that will in rational nature.

Morality, like religion, is thus seen to consist essentially in the

free acknowledgment of man’s dependence on God. Both are thus

linked together in a union strong and inseparable.

Two sea shells, though of different size and color, tell by their

echo of the common ocean home from which they come. So reli-

gion and morality, differ though they may in outward form and

6 The Reason Why, B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Mo., p. 84.

[ 44 ]



expression, tell by the echo of the binding force within them both,

of the common source from which they come—God, the Ruler of
the far-flung heavens and the Moral Governor of the questing

hearts of men. The slanting rays of light, that splash the skies

at sunset with the colors of the rainbow, point like fingers to their

fountain. So religion and morality, that paint on the multicolored

canvas of human life the shining deeds of man’s love of God and

of his fellow man, point like stabbing arrows of light to the com-

mon Source of all Light, the Author of all holiness, the Fountain

of all perfection—the Light that enlighteneth every man that
cometh into this world.

The Need of Sonctions

This vital truth may be established with equal clarity by the

consideration of the need of adequate sanction to make the moral

law effective, ^ By sanction we mean a proper reward for the ob-

servance of the law, and a condign punishment for its violation.

Since the moral law extends to all rational activity, whether in-

ternal or external, it follows that its sanction must do likewise.

But most of man’s actions, whether good or bad, escape the eyes

of men. This is true of all of man’s unexpressed thoughts wherein

so much of his life consists. It is true likewise of most of his

private actions. If the only sanction is that which comes from

human justice, then most of man’s rational life would be devoid of

proper reward or punishment.

The seeds of action lie in thought. Whoever seeks to control

his action must therefore begin by shepherding his thoughts. ‘‘As

a man thinketh in his heart,” says the author of the Book of

Proverbs, “so is he.” Thoughts constitute the core of one’s mental

life, issuing forth later in words and deeds. The policeman cannot

arrest a man for murderous thoughts or larcenous desires. For

he knows nothing of them and can take therefore no cognizance

of them.

God, however, labors under no such disadvantage. He holds

a man to strict accountability for his thoughts and secret desires.

“You have heard,” said Christ, “that it was said to them of old:

Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whoso-

ever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already com-

mitted adultery with her in his heart.” ^ It is only God Who can

surround that segment of man^s rational life with adequate sanc-

tions.

Proponents of a system of morality independent of religion are

fond of quoting the adage: Virtue is its own reward; vice, its own

7 Matt. V. 27-29.

[ 45 ]



punishment. This cannot, however, stand close scrutiny. For in

this life, this is only partly true. Instances all too numerous can

be found, by any one who takes the trouble to investigate, of per-

sons who violate the moral laws and grow fat upon their ill-gotten

gains. Indulging their appetites and passions, they scarcely know

the meaning of self-denial or self-sacrifice. The just man not in-

frequently lives in penury, and the martyr dies at the stake.

Moreover such an abstracted and doubtful speculation is not

likely to deter a person from the satisfaction of an inveterate pas-

sion. Will the average person struggling with the raging passion

of anger, jealousy, hatred, revenge, or lust be aided in quelling

the tumult within him by such a consideration? All around him

he sees persons taking what they want and, in the language of the

day, “getting by” with it. Why should he be an exception? How
warm and enticing is the voice of human passion? How cold and
unappealing, if not positively unreal, is the voice of such a specu-

lation.

"Corye the Granite with a Razor • .

What such a man needs, and needs desperately, is the clear,

stern voice of God, reminding him that he cannot throw dust in the

eyes of the Almighty, and that he will be punished with unfailing

certainty for any violation of the moral law by an omniscient and

eternal God. To Him our most secret thoughts are as the pages of

an open book. Considerations of conventional propriety are no

more capable of restraining the individual in whose bosom a tumul-

tuous passion is raging than are chains of straw. No brass-but-

toned policeman is near. No prying eye of a neighbor will detect

his deed. No empty, verbal rhetoric will restrain him. Only the

thunder of God’s stern command, heard in the inner ear, is compe-

tent to encompass the whole cycle of man’s rational life, both in-

ternal and external, with sanctions that grip the muscles of his will

like bands of steel.

One may echo the words of Kipling’s poem about wishing to be

“east of Suez, where there ain’t no ten commandments.” But he

would speedily find, if he went there, that God’s commands and

His mighty sanctions embrace the globe, and know no barrier of

border, breed or race. When the storms of human passion are

beating tempestuously against our frail bark, threatening at any

moment to capsize it, it is only the divine voice commanding
^ “Peace! Be still,” that is able to save the day.

Knowledge, without religion, will no more sanctify than painted

fire will burn, or the sight of water cleanse. Mere human knowl-

edge or intellectual subtlety will not avail. No one has brought

[ 46 ]



this out more strikingly than the great scholar of Oxford, Car-

dinal Newman, when he said: ^^Carve the granite with a razor,

moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then you may hope with such

keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human

reason to contend against those giants, the passions and the pride

of men.” In that immortal utterance there is epitomized a whole

volume.

Those words came back to the writer when walking one July

day in the famous cemetery of Pere La Chaise in Paris. Here are

buried many of the notables of France. Suddenly we came upon

the grave of one we least expected to find in the soil of France.

It was that of Oscar Wilde. Poet, playwright, orator, he wrote

and spoke our language with a brilliance and an eloquence which

have rarely been surpassed. He was a symbol of refinement, learn-

ing, and culture. Yet he fell to the lowest depths of degradation

and fled in shame and disgrace to seek refuge in the alien soil of

France. The weeds, growing high and luxuriously upon his neg-

lected grave, seemed to proclaim with myriad tongues:

‘^Education, refinement, culture cannot save. Intellectual sub-

tlety, cleverness, sophistication offer little protection against the

tumultuous waves of human passion. They are but broken reeds

in a storm. A man may walk intellectually among the stars and
grovel morally among the swine. The mighty power of religion

which purifies the mind, chastens the heart, tames the passions,

and energizes the weak muscles of the will with a divine strength,

is an indispensable requisite for a life of sustained moral rectitude.

Let the nations of the world know that they are but heading the

way of Nineveh and Tyre if they seek to educate their youth with-

out the saving leaven of religious truth.”

{ True, a religious person may stumble and fall. For he is a
man and not an angel. But he will not remain complacent in the
mire. His conscience will give him no peace until he rises and with

his tears and penitence washes away his defilement. Religion

bears down upon him with its stern requirements for contrition,

purpose of amendment and penance. Not content with general

resolutions for betterment, it demands the avoidance of the proxi-

mate occasions of sin. Stay away, it thunders, from whatever has

led to your downfall in the past.

For frail mortals, perfection is achieved not by never falling,

but by rising every time we fall. It is the man who refuses to
stay down who eventually wins the fight. Religion will not let a

sincere believer remain prostrate. It lifts him up and puts his

unsteady feet upon the right path. It puts courage in his soul, and

[ 47 ]



strengthens the will for more determined effort. Peter thrice de-

nied his Lord. But tears of repentance wore furrows in his cheeks,

and he climaxed a life of heroic service in the Master^s cause by

shedding his blood for the faith of Christ.

Religion—Basis of Morality
Religion is the basis of morality. If morality is to be func-

tional, it must have the sanctions which only religion can pro-

vide. This truth has been borne out by the experience of the cen-

turies. It is writ large in the history of the rise and decline of

civilizations.
’

It has been recognized by all the profound students

of society, regardless of philosophical or religious belief. “He

who destroys religion,” observes Plato, “overthrows the foundations

of human society. Recurring to this theme, he declares: “It is an

incontrovertible truth that if God presides not over the establish-

ment of a city, and if it has only a human foundation, it cannot

escape the greatest calamities. ... If a State is founded on im-

piety and governed by men who trample on justice, it has no means

of security.”
®

Long before Plato, the Royal Prophet had expressed this same

truth: “Unless the Lord build, the house, they labor in vain that

build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that

keepeth it.”
®

The social philosopher, J. J. Rousseau, voices this truth in a

brilliant passage in Emile: “Attempts have been made to constitute

reason the basis of virtue, but I find that religion is the only solid

basis for morality. Virtue, it is said, is the love of order. But am

I bound to sacrifice my happiness to this order? Granted that

wherever intelligence exists, there is a certain moral order; but the

difference is that the just man subjects himself to the whole moral

order, whilst the unjust man subordinates the whole moral order

to himself, and constitutes himself the center of all things. If

God does not exist, then the unjust man reasons rightly in thus

regarding himself.”

It will come as a surprise to most admirers of our public school

system to learn that Horace Mann, who is generally regarded as

its founder, laid down the stern warning: “If the intellect, how-

ever gifted, be not governed by a sense of justice, a love of mam
kind, and a devotion to duty, its possessor is only a more splendid,

as he is a more dangerous barbarian. For we are fully persuaded

that the salt of religious truth can alone preserve education from

abuse'' The rejection of that saving salt, unwittingly brought

8 Ibid., tom. VIII.

9 Psalm cxxvi. 1.

[ 48 ]



about by the diversity of creeds and the resulting administrative

difficulty, has caused such a decline in the morality of the youth

of our land that educators, social planners and legislators are now

struggling desperately to find a way to restore the lost leaven.

That penetrating student of political science, Edmund Burke,

proclaimed this truth to the people of Britain, when he declared:

‘True religion is the foundation of society, the basis on which all

true civil government rests and from which power derives its

authority, laws their efficacy, and both their sanction. If it is once

shaken by contempt, the whole fabric cannot be stable or lasting.’^

'^Reason and Experience Both Forbid . •
"

The voice which will strike the most responsive chord in the

hearts of the American people is that of the beloved Father of our

country, George Washington. In his Farewell Address, Wash-

ington took particular pains to warn his countrymen of the im-

portance of religion for political welfare and as a basis for public

morality. Above the portals of every school, library, and public

building, and framed on the walls of every home in our land,

should be these memorable words of our first President:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political pros-

perity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain

would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor

to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest

props of the duties of men and citizens. And let us with caution

indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without

religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined

education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience

both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in ex-

clusion of religious principles'^

Those are words of mellow wisdom, which America can afford

to neglect only at a cost of national morality and welfare. The

unfortunate circumstances, which have unintentionally issued in

the complete divorce of religion from public education, are bring-

ing youthful morality to the lowest ebb in our nation’s history.

Appearing recently before a Congressional Committee in Wash-

ington, Mr. Edgar Hoover, F. B. I. chief, testified to the alarm-

ing increase of juvenile delinquency and pleaded for remedial ac-

tion. “Return to the old-fashioned home and Church life,” de-

clared Mr. Hoover, “is essential if we are to provide an effective

remedy for the situation.”

In a recent symposium. Democracy—Will It Survive?, Walter
Lippmann sounds the same urgent note of warning. “I venture to

[ 49 ]



submit/’ he declares, “that the prevailing education is destined, if it

continues, to destroy western civilization, and is in fact destroying

it. . . . By separating education from the classical religious tradi-

tion, the school cannot train the pupil to look upon himself as an

inviolable person because he is made in the image of God. . . .

The teacher has no subject matter that even pretends to deal with

the elementary and universal issues of human destiny. The

graduate of the modern school knows only by accident and hear-

say whatever wisdom mankind has come to in regard to the na-

ture of men and their destiny.”

The testimony of careful students of society, men of every

shade of political and philosophical faith, could be piled sky high

to the effect that religion is the basis of public morality and the

foundation of good citizenship. The witnesses we have cited,

however, will suffice to carry conviction to all open minds. There

is in their testimony a note of warning, and a call for action, which

cannot longer be delayed if we are to protect our nation from the

growing tide of delinquency, lawlessness and crime.

A Reasoned Conclusion
To sum up. We have shown from the words of Christ

that man is under a divine command to love his fellow man as

well as God. In other words the obligation to be moral and the

duty to be religious stem from the same source—God Himself.
We then presented the philosophical evidence showing that since
God’s co-operation is essential for our every act. He cannot be in-

different as to the character of our conduct, but must will it to be

in accordance with His nature. Therefore the divine will consti-

tutes the norm for the conduct of all creatures. In irrational liv-

ing creatures as well as in inanimate ones that divine norm finds

expression in the physical determination of the precise method of

acting, from which no deviation is possible. In rational creatures

the divine will finds expression in the moral law, known by the

intellect and communicated to the will, resulting in moral, but not

in physical obligation.

The second philosophical consideration was drawn from the

necessity for adequate sanctions for all rational activity, which

only God and religion can provide. We then presented the testi-
mony from the history of civilization, as expressed by philosophers,

social scientists, educators and statesmen, showing that religion is

a necessary basis for public morality and good citizenship. From

all this we have seen that morality is the fruit which grows upon

the tree of religion, and that the best way of cultivating that fruit

is by nourishing the tree upon which it grows.

[ 50 ]



CHAPTER VII

THE VALUE OF RELIGION

Religion is the final center of repose; the good to which all

things tend; apart from which man is a shadow, his very exist-

ence a riddle, and the stupendous scenes of nature which sur-

round him as unmeaning as the leaves which the sibyl scatters

in the wind, Robert Hall

What is the value of religion? We can best answer this ques-
tion by indicating its values first to the individual and then to so-

ciety. Its supreme worth to the individual lies in the fact that it

answers his deepest questionings: Whence have I come? Whither

am I going? What is the meaning and the purpose of human exist-

ence? Unless these questions are correctly answered, man walks

about in a daze and life becomes a jig-saw puzzle from which es-

sential parts are missing. Uncertainty paralyzes the springs of ac-

tion, and no man can chart his course intelligently if he is ignorant

of his destination.

Religion floods our darkness with a divine light. It reveals

to us the God Who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End of our existence. Not only does it disclose to us our

ultimate destiny, but it also provides us with the means of attain-

ing it. Religion brings into the focus of attention the two supreme

values—God and the human soul. It makes clear to us that only
in the possession of God, Who is infinite Beauty, Truth and Love,
will the human soul find the answer to its ceaseless questing.

Thus does it enable us to form a true hierarchy of values by

appraising all things in accordance with the degree in which they

aid us in the achievement of eternal life. It enables us to put

first things first. It guides us in offering our supreme loyalty to

God and in putting ourselves in the right relationship to God.

J‘Tf you are not right toward God,’’ wrote Lord Chatham to his

Vnephew, ‘^ou can never be so toward man; and this is forever

Urue, whether wits and rakes allow it or not.”

Without religion we cannot be right toward God, toward man
or toward ourselves. With religion and with the faithful fulfill-

ment of all of its commands, we look out upon life and the universe

with a serene eye and a peaceful heart. Clasping His almighty

hand, we know that no evil can befall us. We can see His face in
earth and sky, His laughter in the running brook, and His voice

in every song bird’s call. For to the believer, as Hood ^ points out:

1 Thomas Hood, Ode to Rae Wilson, 1, 38 S.

[SI]



Each cloud-capped mountain is a holy altar,

An organ breathes in every grove;

And the full heart’s a Psalter,

Rich in deep hymns of gratitude and love.

Strengthens Character

Secondly, religion helps the individual in the proper formation

of his character by supplying him with adequate incentives for the

observance of the moral law. Character means that a man acts

according to principle, not on motives of expediency. But this de-

mands that the principles of morality be clothed with proper

sanctions to secure their observance even in the teeth of passion,

at the risk of unpopularity with the crowd, yes, in the face of death

itself. Religion alone, as we have pointed out previously, can sup-

ply the sanctions which are co-extensive with all man’s actions,

whether they be private or external, whether they be seen by the

eyes of our neighbor or known only to God and conscience.

There is but one rule of conduct for a man: ^‘Always do

the right thing. The cost may be high in money, in friends,

in sacrifice. The cost not to do right, however, is infinitely higher.

For a temporal gain we barter the infinities.” But how are we go-

ing to develop the character and acquire the strength to pay so

dearly in pleasure, in popularity, in life itself, if we do not sink

the roots of our being in the infinite might and wisdom of God

Himself?

Seed that is placed on rocks and stones cannot develop a har-

vest. Neither can the character that rests upon motives of oppor-

tunism develop the power necessary to fight through to victory

when money, power and good weather friends have fled. In con-

trast with the worldling’s dependence upon external factors, the

religious person knows that God and one constitute a majority,

and that with God on his side, he cannot fail. Who is there who

can hurt you, if you be zealous of good?

The importance of religion for character is thus ably set forth

by Daniel Webster: ^Tolitical and professional fame cannot last

forever, but a conscience void of offense before God and man is an

inheritance for eternity. Religion, therefore, is a necessary, an

indispensable element in any great human character. There is no

living without it. Religion is the tie that connects man with his Crea-

tor, and holds him to his throne. If that tie is sundered or broken,

he floats away a worthless atom in the universe, its proper attrac-

tions all gone, its destiny thwarted, and its whole future nothing

but darkness, desolation and death. A man with no sense of reli-

[ 52 ]



gious duty is he whom the Scriptures describe in so terse but ter-

rific a manner, as ‘living without hope and without God in the

world/ Such a man is out of his proper being, out of the circle of

all his duties, out of the circle of all his happiness, arid away, far,

far away from the purposes of his creation/’

Without the zest which only religion can give, the individual

puts up but a faint-hearted struggle. He feels bewildered, help-

less and alone. “No one,” observes Jean Paul Richter, “is so much

alone in the universe as a denier of God. With an orphaned heart,

which has lost the greatest of fathers, he stands mourning by the

immeasurable corpse of the universe.”
^

During World War II, as during the previous one, the press

has recorded thousands of instances wherein soldiers, sailors and

aviators have testified to the strength and help received from God

in circumstances of dire plight. Fighting with their backs to the

wall, at the end of their own tether, men have turned instinctively

to God for strength to endure and courage to carry on. When his

soldiers were being hemmed in on all sides, their ammunition run-

ning out, their food almost gone, their strength exhausted, and they

still fought on. General MacArthur made the significant an-

nouncement: ^^There are no atheists in the foxholes of Bataan”

No, for it takes character to fight on when all seems lost. And

character is rooted in faith in God and in His ultimate vindica-

tion of right.

Writing to his former teacher. Father R. C. McCarthy, S.J.,

at Marquette University, a young bombardier who had gone out

on repeated missions of the utmost danger over Germany, said:

“Believe me. Father, when you’re miles up in the air with flak

bursting all around and fighters spraying you with hot lead,

rockets, and 20 mm. cannon shells, it is mighty comforting to

know that there is Someone in Whom you can put your trust and
realize that He is watching you! It’s at times like that a fellow

fully realizes what his religion means to him.” In the words of

that young gladiator of the skies, there is reflected the sentiment

of the myriads of warriors who in all ages have battled at the very

brink of the abyss and knew not at what moment they might dis-

appear into its all-embracing darkness.

Sharpens Individual Responsibility

Thirdly, religion sharpens the sense of individual responsibility.

By its central teaching that God will reward or punish the individ-

ual according to his deserts, and that no one can hide behind the

2 Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces.

[S3]



skirts of his neighbor, religion quickens the sense of accountability

which the tendency to shift the blame and to forge alibis is so com-

for one^s own deeds. This is of enormous importance in a society in

mon. Since society is but an aggregate of individuals, the place at

which to begin the improvement of society is with the individual.

All social reforms, to be effective, must grip the conscience of the

individual and start him on the upward plane. Otherwise there

is noise, agitation and excitement, but no real improvement.

The answer to the Totalitarian heresy that man was made for

the State lies in the truth which Christian philosophy has taught

for twenty centuries that man, and not the State, has been endowed

with an immortal soul. “There will never be,” observes Thoreau,

“a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recog-

nize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which

all its own power and authority are derived.” Another New Eng-

land thinker, Henry Ward Beecher, expressed this truth when he

wrote:

Christ did not die for laws and governments.

He did not die to build a nation up.

He died for men, the separate souls of men.

When this basic truth of Christianity is lost sight of, man be-
comes the mere chattel of the all-powerful State which uses him

as mere cannon fodder in a war about which he has never even

been consulted. “There is something appallingly wrong,” declares

Alfred Noyes, “something tragically wrong with a world in which

hundreds of millions of those individuals for whom Christ died to

save, are hurled helplessly into bloodshed by half a dozen men

whose plans and motives have been completely hidden from all

but perhaps another half dozen; so that entire nations, which in

their general level of individual character and intelligence—not
to speak of their outstanding individuals, a Beethoven, a Pasteur,

a Shakespeare, a Galileo—have far surpassed the general level of
the half dozen manipulators of the political machinery, suddenly

find themselves helplessly slaughtering one another.”
®

Sociol Value of Religion

Now let us look at the values of religion to society. First,

religion ennobles the relations between man and man by teaching

that we are all the children of God and therefore are all brothers.

The implications of this central dogma of religion are tremendous.

3 The Edge 0} Darkness, E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1942, p. 35.

[S4]



It was the perception of these implications which was chiefly re-

sponsible for the abolition of slavery and of a thousand other

forms of blatant human injustice. How could a man enslave a

person and treat him as a beast of burden when his religion pro-

claimed in the inner citadel of his conscience that that person was

his brother and was as dear in the eyes of God as he?

It is this central teaching of Christianity that constitutes the

basis of human dignity and therefore the basis of true democracy.

When the essential dignity of the human personality is lost sight

of, men are regarded as chattel, serfs and slaves, and the evils of

dictatorship and totalitarian regimes follow apace. In vain will

we crush military dictatorships if we do not root out the ideo-

logical heresy which constitutes their spawning ground. We must

keep forever before the eyes of men the true basis of the dignity

of every man, be he peasant or king.

That basis lies in the fact that personality is the high creation

of Almighty God, Who has vested therein the dignity of a human
soul, endowed with understanding and free will. That soul is cre-

ated in the image of God, and transcends all earthly commodities

as heaven transcends earth. Since an infinite God saw fit to vest

in that temple of clay the tremendous gift of free will, by which

the creature becomes the sculptor of his own destiny and can

choose either Heaven or Hell, can obey God or defy Him, how can

a mortal man undertake to impose upon him a compulsion which

God Himself refused? If the infinite Creator thus respects the

freedom of the human personality, how can a mere creature under-

take to shackle it with the chains of slavery?

Be it noted, however, that man’s essential dignity stems ulti-

mately from God, Whose image and superscription he bears. Re-

move God from the scheme of human life and you remove the basis

of man’s unique dignity. Man becomes a chattel, a beast of
burden. Dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, which ride rough-

shod over the individual and enslave him, are the ruthless tracing

out in society of the logical implications of the banishing of God

from human life. Remove the sun and you extinguish the re-

flected glory of the moon. Remove God and you strip from man

every vestige of that reflected glory wherein his unique dignity lies.

Elevates Fomily Life

Secondly, religion elevates and ennobles the family life. It

emphasizes the sacredness of the marriage contract and stands

steadfast for the permanence of the Christian home. It proclaims

to both husband and wife their solemn obligation to shoulder the

[ 55 ]



responsibilities of marriage and bids them to pass on in a generous

manner the precious heritage of life. It stresses the duty of par-

ents to set a good example to their children and to train them in

virtue and holiness of life. Offering uncompromising opposition to

marital infidelity, religion constitutes the strongest bulwark for

the life-long union of husband and wife.

It reminds a married couple that the observance of that solemn

vow which they make, when they take one another ‘^for better or

for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until

death,’^ is an obligation which transcends all considerations of

pleasure or expediency. It is the test of character and the hall-

mark of honor. Only in homes where children have the care and

guidance of both father and mother do they get that well-balanced

upbringing which is so important a factor in the development of

good citizens.

If children see their own parents breaking their solemn vow of

life-long love and loyalty and entering into new unions, how can

the offspring of such broken vows and broken homes escape the

demoralizing influence of such examples? All too often they are

thrown out to shift for themselves, soon to appear in courts as

delinquents, incorrigibles and criminals. Religion raises its voice

against such marital delinquents and warns them in stem tones

that Almighty God will demand a strict accounting for the pre-

cious souls entrusted to their charge.

She points out that there would rarely, if ever, be juvenile de-

linquents if parents did their full duty and were careful to rear

their children in the fear and love of God. Religion is the strong-

est cement holding together the members of a family. It safe-

guards the sanctity of the family fireside and converts it into a

house of God and a gateway to Heaven. The home is the solid

bedrock upon which civilization rests. In safeguarding the home,

therefore, religion constitutes the strongest bulwark for the pro-

tection of society against inward decay and the mightiest rampart

for the preservation of human civilization itself.

Renders Morality Functionol

Thirdly, religion provides society with the most effective sane-

tions for the observance of law and the fulffUment of duty. The

performance of one’s duty is in the last analysis a matter of con-

science. If conscience does not prompt one to fulfill his duty to his

his fellow man, what force can compel him? Policemen, you say,

and constables. But if the voice of conscience be stilled, who will

[ 56 ]



police the policemen, and who will watch the constables? The

simple fact is that no external guardian of the law can take the

place of that internal monitor which touches off the springs of ac-

tion and holds the reins of conduct.

Quickly would society fall into the abyss of anarchy and strife

if conscience did not curb the rapacity, restrain the animosities,

and hold in leash the tumultuous passions of men. But what is

the agency which quickens the conscience and keeps it responsive

to the gentle tug of the moral law? That agency is religion. To

seek to quicken conscience without an appeal to God and the

sanctions which religion provides is like a person seeking to lift

himself by pulling at his bootstraps.

Convince a citizen of the existence of a Divine Legislator, the

Supreme Source of all law, by Whom ^^Kings reign, and lawmakers
decree just things.’’ ^ Convince him of the truth of the inspired

utterance of St. Paul that ‘There is no power but from God, and

that those that are, are ordained of God, and that, therefore, he

who resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God.” ® Con-

vince him that an incorruptible Judge, Who knows all his thoughts^
words, and deeds, will mete out to him, with unfailing accuracy

the rewards or the punishments which are his dues. Convince him

of these truths and you place within him a guardian of law and a

sentinel of duty, which never sleeps but which walks with him in

the sanctuary of the home, in the crowded market place, in the

arena of public life and in the loneliest mountain pass.

Because religion convinces us of these great truths, it provides

us with the strongest incentives for the observance of law and the

fulfillment of all the duties of good citizenship. Thus does religion

constitute the firm foundation of society and its best insurance

against the corrosive influence of vice and crime. Thousands of

years ago the author of the Book of Proverbs proclaimed this

truth when he said: “Righteousness exalteth a nation.”® Only

that nation is great which is great in justice, in generosity, in

truth—in short, in righteousness, the offspring of religion.

Chompions Social Justice

Fourthly, religion is the champion of social justice. The spe-

cial objects of its predilection, as of Christ’s as well, are the poor,

the downtrodden, the underprivileged, and the afflicted. It is not

the sycophant of kings or of the rich and powerful. It is the one

4 Prov. viii. 15.

5 Romans xiii.

6 Prov. xiv. 34.

[ 57 ]



voice which proclaims fearlessly to the king his duty to his sub-

jects and threatens him with divine punishment if he treats un-

justly the lowliest in his realm.

It warns the employer, who defrauds his laborers, of the divine

wrath which shall come upon him. ‘‘Behold the hire of the la-

borers,’^ says St. James, “who have reaped down your fields, which

by fraud has been kept back by you, crieth: and the cry of them

has entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” ^ It admon-

ishes the servant to discharge his duties faithfully and well, “not

serving to the eyes as it were pleasing men, but as the servants of

Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” ®

By championing the rights of all classes and emphasizing that

the welfare of society is best attained by giving every man his due,

religion renders a powerful service in removing the grounds of

class warfare and in promoting the unity and the brotherhood of

all. No agency is so effective in sterilizing the grounds of antago-

nism and strife between employer and employees as social justice.

This is the medicine which religion uses to heal the wounds in the

social organism and to promote the harmonious growth of all its

members.

Promotes Stability of Government

Fifthly, religion promotes the stability of government. This

is no small benefaction. For the welfare of society is safeguarded

by a stable and responsible government, hedged round with consti-

tutional limitations, and responsive to the will of the people.

Anarchy is the enemy of law, order and civilization. By teaching

that all just authority comes from God, and by stressing the duties

of civic obedience, religion rears a mighty bulwark against law-

lessness and strife. “Render therefore to Caesar,” it ordains, “the

things that are Caesar’s; and to God, the things that are God’s.”
®

The terrors of the French Revolution, when the junta in power

rushed their enemies to the guillotine only to be rushed there

themselves when they fell from power, remain as a blood-stained

page in history to warn posterity of the bloodshed, ruin and de-

struction which the apostles of anarchy never fail to inflict upon a

country. The scaffold becomes their altar. The shrieks of vic-

tims become their incense. Ribald songs are made their hymns.

Lust, rapine, and bloodshed become the idols at whose shrines

they worship with a cruel and bloody fanaticism. During the few

7 James v. 4.

8 Eph. vi. 6.

9 Matt. xxii. 21.

[ 58 ]



months of the reign of terror in France, the apostles of anarchy

accumulated, as De Lamennais observes, ^‘more ruin than an army

of Tartars could have left after a six years invasion/’

Neither they, however, nor the Bolsheviks in Russia were able

to stamp out religion. They could kill religious people. But they

could no more kill religion than they could extinguish the sun.

‘^Religion,” says Thomas Carlyle, “cannot pass away. The burn-

ing of a little straw may hide the stars of the sky, but the stars

are there, and will reappear.”

Anterior to society and more enduring than political parties,

religion is the focus of the social virtues of patriotism, obedience

and respect which underlie all governments and give them stability

and endurance. “Every philosopher and statesman,” points out

Cardinal Gibbons, “who has discussed the subject of human gov-

ernments, has acknowledged that there can be no stable society

without justice, no justice without morality, no morality without

religion, no religion without God.” The recognition of God as

the Fountainhead of rights and the ultimate Source of the author-

ity of governments runs like a thread of gold through the warp and

woof of our own Constitution and Bill of Rights and is responsible

in no small degree for the marvelous stability of our American

system of government.

Founds Institution of Charity

Sixthly, religion brings into existence the institutions of char-

ity
,
mercy, and philanthropy which pour such a mighty stream of

healing and benediction upon society. Up until comparatively re-

cent times the Christian Church bore almost alone the entire

burden of establishing and maintaining such institutions as hos-

pitals, asylums, orphanages, homes for the aged, homes for the in-

curably afflicted, and many other institutions to minister to the

poor and the afflicted. “The highest flights of charity, devotion,

trust, patience, bravery,” observes William James, “to which the

wings of human nature have spread themselves have been flown

for religious ideals.”

Similar is the note sounded by Theodore Parker: “Silence the

voice of Christianity, and the world is well-nigh dumb, for gone is

that sweet music which kept in order the rulers of the people,

which cheers the poor widow in her lonely toil, and comes like light

10 Essai sur VIndifference, p. 431.

11 Our Christian Heritages, p. 467.

12 Varieties of Religious Experiences, p. 259.

[ 59 ]



through the windows of morning to men who sit stooping and

feeble, with failing eyes and a hungering heart.’’ The Church

is a tender and a loving mother who has reached her arms out

through society in every age and has gathered to her nourishing

breasts the poorest and the most afflicted of all God’s children.

Mother of Educotion

Seventhly and lastly, religion is the mother of education, en-

lightenment, scientific progress, and the most zealous worker for

the outlawry of war and the organization of international institu-

tions for the stabilizing of the peace of the world. For many cen-

turies the Church bore alone the burden of education. She founded

many of the great universities of the world. She has taught in all

ages the holiness of wisdom and the wisdom of holiness. She has

been the generous and munificent Patroness of art. She has in-

spired many of the world’s masterpieces in painting, sculpture,

music and poetry. ‘‘Religion,” observes A. E. Haydon, “is the

mother of dreams. Over the gray world, ruined by deluge and

death, it has sought ever, and found the arching rainbow of

hope.”

She honors those who push back the frontiers of our darkness

and give us new glimpses of nature and of her marvelous network

of law, wherein we see the handwriting of nature’s God. For God

reveals Himself to us not only through the inspired books of the

Bible but also through His handwriting in the vast book of nature

from tiny atom to the farthest star. All truth streams from Him

and all truths lead us back to Him.

Religion and science walk hand in hand in giving us a deeper

appreciation and a greater reverence for the Supreme Architect of

the imiverse and the Ordainer of its every law. This truth finds

expression in the words of Asa Gray, inscribed beneath his bust in

the Hall of Fame: “I confidently expect that in the future even

more than in the past, faith in an order, which is the basis of sci-

ence, will not be dissevered from faith in an Ordainer, which is the

basis of religion.”

The greatest evil that plagues humanity with ever increasing

devastation and death is war. By teaching that all men are

brothers and that the human race constitutes one family, religion

has provided mankind with a principle which ultimately will secure

the eradication of the vicious institution of war. She fights against

the narrow nationalism which would blind one to the virtues of

peoples of other lands.

13 Discourse of the Transient and Permanent in Christianity.

14 The Quest of the Ages, p. 205.

[ 60 ]



She proclaims in clarion tones to all mankind that the time has

come when nations must build the framework of those juridical

institutions which will settle by reason and conscience the disputes

which arise between nations. Likewise does she insist upon the

necessity of sanctions which will secure the enforcement of those

decisions. When her voice is hearkened to by the nations of the

world, war will become but an ugly nightmare of the race’s past.

Thus ‘‘religion is,” in the words of Homer, “the golden chain

which suspends the earth from the throne of the eternal.” Not

less striking are the words of Eugene Savage, Professor of Art at

Yale University: “All that separates the white man from bar-

barism is the Christian Church.” In short, religion offers to both

the individual and to society the highest values of life. On the

rungs of her divine commandments, the individual climbs up the

golden ladder of service to humanity and of love toward the Crea-

tor, till he reaches the very throne of God. For religion is the

golden bond that binds the heart of man to the heart of God.

[ 61 ]



QUESTIONS

CHAPTER I

1. Discuss the importance of religion.

2. What is its root meaning?

3. What is the essence of religion?

4. Why is a personal God necessary?

5. How is religion an expression of the whole personality?

6. What is natural religion?

7. What is supernatural religion?

8. What is meant by divine revelation?

9. How does it afford certainty?

10.

Is there a fundamental unity to all truth? Why?

CHAPTER II

1. What does Cicero say about the universality of religion?

2. State the conclusion of Professor Toy.

3. State the finding of Professor Tiele.
*

4. Why is modern science fatal to polytheism?

5. How does science decipher God’s handwriting?

CHAPTER III

1. What was the natural origin of religion?

2. What is meant by the principle of causality?

3. State Dr. Aiken’s conclusion.

[ 62 ]



4. Is fear the origin of religion?

5. Do early superstitions invalidate all religion? Why?

6. State the observation of Professor Fox.

7. What does St. Thomas say is a characteristic of the human

mind?

8. What do the findings of comparative religion really prove?

CHAPTER IV

1. Is religious worship a duty? Why?

2. How are we dependent upon God?

3. How should we pay our debt to God? Why?

4. Could God dispense us from worship? Why?

5. Differentiate between internal and external worship.

6. Prove that worship is an obligation of justice.

7. Prove that it is an obligation of truth.

8. Compare the sin of irreligion with other sins.

9. Why do many neglect to worship God?

10.

What is the spiritual distemper of our day? Why?

CHAPTER V

1. Differentiate between individual worship and social worship.

2. Why is there a duty of social worship?

3. Illustrate by an example from civil life.

4. Is God an impersonal force?

5. Does God want our homage?

6. What is the greatest Commandment? Why?

[63]



7. What is the essence of religion? Why?

8. Why must religion be taught in a systematic manner?

9. Why are Americans particularly apt to forget God?10.

What warnings need to be sounded for America?

CHAPTER VI

1. What is the difference between religion and morality?

2. How do both the obligation of religion and of morality stem
from God?

3. What is the Golden Rule?

4. How does morality complete the homage of worship?

5. Relate the incident of the wounded Jap.

6. State the teachings of St. John on the duty of loving others.

7. What duty follows from the dependence of man’s faculties
upon God?

8. Explain the need of sanctions for morality.

9. How is religion the basis of morality?

10.

State the opinion of our leaders on the necessity of religion

for sound morality.

CHAPTER VII

1. What is the first value of religion for the individual?

2. How does religion strengthen character?

3. How does religion sharpen individual responsibility?

4. What is the first social value of religion?

5. How does religion elevate the family life?

6. Why does religion render morality functional?

7. Is religion the champion of social justice? Why?

8. How does religion stabilize government?

9. What institutions of charity has religion inspired?

10. Show how religion is the mother of education.

[64]



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