Religion—its root and function in human nature.

"Our own natures remind us of God. Thoughtful men are conscious of their dependence, their imperfection, their finiteness, and naturally turn to the Independent, the Perfect, the Infinite."

Theodore Parker.

"So far as I can judge from the immense mass of accessible evidence, we have to admit that the belief in spiritual beings appears among all low races with whom we have attained to thoroughly intimate acquaintance, whereas the assertion of absence of such belief must apply either to the ancient tribes, or to less or more imperfectly described modern ones."

Edward B. Tylor.

"Where there are traces of human life, there are traces of religion."

Professor Max Müller.

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"The facts of religious feeling are to me as certain as the facts of physics."

Professor J. Tyndall.

"To civilized man the idea of God arrives with instruction, which does but fructify a pre-existing germ. Without instruction, the idea is certainly not developed in the individual mind with the same inevitableness with which the mind develops the idea of self. But taking the whole of humanity, we may say that the idea of God is as proper to the race as that of self to the individual. A human being cast from infancy upon absolute solitude, might not have the idea of Divinity in any sense or shape awakened within him. If he did it would in all likelihood be not the monotheistic idea, but some low form of polytheism or fetishism. Yet even that would be impossible without an innate aptitude for Theism in the soul. Without a prepared niche in human nature, no image occupying the place of Deity and receiving divine honours would ever have been set up. It is idle to talk of fear as possessing the deific power. Fear can make Bugbears, but can never convert the bugbear into a God."

"Theological Review."

"Wherever we look, we see that all the resources of art, infantine or full-grown, are most fully employed in the service of religion. Painting, sculpture, music, the thousand minor arts of decoration and dress, all combine to do honour to the gods of the country. From the West African fetish, through the Polynesian shrines, the Indian topes, the Chinese pagodas, the Mexican and Peruvian temples, the mysterious colonnades of Egypt, the massive architecture of Babylon or Nineveh, the Hellenic Parthenons, the Italian Capitols, to the modern mosques of Islam and the towering Cathedrals of Christendom, we find the highest artistic handicraft of every age and race lavished upon the dwelling-place of the national deities. The few traces of æsthetic feeling in the Hebrew Scriptures are connected with the workmanship of the Tabernacle, the Temple, and the hieratic dress. I have pointed out elsewhere how large a part the religious sentiment has borne in the genesis of the sublime: it must here suffice thus briefly to hint at the impetus which it has given to the kindred feeling of the beautiful. Whether we look at the endless painted images of Karnak or at the stained windows of Salisbury, we must recognize the enormous influence of religion in the growth of disinterested aesthetic feeling."

Grant Allen.

"I do not hesitate to say that the first and paramount aim of religion is, not to prepare for another world, but to make the best of this world, or, more correctly stated, to make this world better, wiser, and happier. It is to be good and do the most good we can, page 72 now and here, and to help others to be and do the same. It is to seek with all our might the highest welfare of the world we live in, and the realization of its ideal greatness, and nobleness, and blessedness."

Rev. Principal Caird.

"All religions are Oriental, and with the exception of the Christian, their sacred books are all written in Oriental languages. The materials, therefore, for a comparative study of the religious systems of the world had all to be supplied by Oriental scholars. But far more important than those materials, is the spirit in which they have been treated. The sacred books of the principal religions of mankind had to be placed side by side with perfect impartiality, in order to discern the points which they shared in common, as well as those that are peculiar to each. The results already obtained by this simple juxtaposition are full of important lessons, and the fact that the truths on which all religions are agreed far exceed those on which they differ has hardly been sufficiently appreciated. I feel convinced, however, that the time will come when those who at present profess to be most disquieted by our studies, will be most grateful for our support; for having shown by evidence, which cannot be controverted, that all religions spring from the same sacred soil, the human heart; that all are quickened by the same Divine Spirit, the still small voice; and that, though the outward forms of religion may change, may wither and decay, yet, as long as man is what he is and what he has been, he will postulate again and again the Infinite, as the very condition of the Finite; he will yearn for something which the world cannot give; he will feel his weakness and dependence, and in that weakness and dependence discover the deepest sources of his hope, and trust, and strength."

Professor Max müller.

"It is a great mistake for the Christians, as a whole, to maintain that they have nothing to learn from the Hebrews, the Heathen, the Buddhists, and the Mahometans; though the Christians are in many respects superior to these other sects of the world, yet they have much to teach us. It is a mistake for the Protestant to say that he has nothing to learn from the Catholic: the Catholic—though far behind the Protestant—has many things to impart to us. And it is a mistake for the Unitarian, or Universalist, to declare that he has nothing to learn from the Trinitarian and Partialist. As yet no one of these great world sects, Christian, Heathen, Hebrew, Buddhist, Mahometan, has the whole Human truth; and in Christianity no one sect has the whole of Christian truth. But the Christian Churches have broken with Science, and are afraid of new thought. This is somewhat less true of the Protestant than of the Catholic priesthood. They have broken also with fresh Morality, and are afraid of that. And so the Christian Church to-day is page 73 very much in the same condition that Heathenism and Judaism were at the time when Paul first went to Rome."

Theodore Parker.

"Every year brings new knowledge of the religions of the world, and every step in knowledge brings out the sympathy between them. They all show the same aim, the same symbols, the same forms, the same weaknesses, the same aspirations. Looking at these points of unity, we might say there is but one religion under many forms, whose essential creed is

the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man,

—disguised by corruptions, symbolized by mythologies, ennobled by virtues, degraded by vices, but still the same. Or if, passing to a closer analysis, we observe the shades of difference, we shall find in these varying faiths the several instruments which perform what Cud worth calls 'The Symphony of Religions., . . . To say that different races worship different Gods, is like saying that they are warmed by different suns. The names differ, but the sun is the same, and so is God. As there is but one source of light and warmth, so there is but one source of religion. To this all nations testify alike. We have yet but a part of our Holy Bible. The time will come when, as in the middle ages, all pious books will be called sacred scriptures, Seripturæ Sacræ. From the most remote portions of the earth, from the Vedas and the Sagas, from Plato and Zoroaster, Confucius and Mohammed, from the Emperor Marcus Antoninus and the slave Epictetus, from the learned Alex andrians and the ignorant Galla negroes, there will be gathered hymns and prayers and maxims in which every religious soul may unite—

The Magnificent Liturgy of the Human Race."

Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

"An ably written pamphlet has lately been published by Messrs. trübner. . . . It is reverent in tone, discriminating in judgment, and catholic in spirit. ... It discusses a question of great interest and importance. . . . A hearty, inspiring religious service, one in harmony with modern thought and science, is a great want in both church and chapel."

The Inquirer.

"The compilers of this able and suggestive treatise have recognized and endeavoured to meet a manifest need of the times: that arising from the failure of reconciling the enlightenment of the nineteenth century with the culti of the sixteenth. . . . It is compiled with liberal and conscientious care from the leading minds in a variety of directions—religious, political, scientific, philosophic—as the extracts which close the treatise testify."

Sussex Daily News.

"An exceedingly interesting pamphlet. . . . Is well worthy of perusal, as it deals in a broad and healthy spirit with the most important questions that can occupy the mind of man in any age, and particularly in such a transitional age as the present"

The Echo.