The Churches and Modern Thought

249

We learn this from reliable sources—for example, from W. M. Flinders Petrie and Gaston Camille Charles Maspéro, the celebrated English and French Egyptologists.

250

The Religion of Woman.

251

These remarks are quoted on p. 15 of The Religion of Woman from vol. iii., p. 290, of Mrs. Cady Stanton’s History of Women’s Suffrage.

252

The Religion of Woman, pp. 105, 107, 111.

253

Pinchwife, it will be remembered, is the anxious husband (in Wycherley’s comedy, The Country Wife) who held that a woman is innocent in proportion to her lack of knowledge. There are, of course, other reasons why a wife’s ignorance is deemed desirable. Cf. “And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.”

254

In his sermon at St. Crantock’s on August 27th, 1905.

255

The Religion of Woman, p. 78. This work embodies a complete refutation of the assertion which we have cursorily examined. The truth-seeker desirous of studying other aspects of the Christian contention is strongly recommended to peruse also Mr. McCabe’s brilliant essay, The Bible in Europe (Watts, 1907).

256

See his Notes on Popular Rationalism.

257

Anti-Theistic Theories, Lecture 5, on Comte’s Positivist Philosophy.

258

Approximately 300,000 copies by the end of January, 1907.

259

In the Nineteenth Century and After, November, 1904.

260

See Gibbon’s Rome, vol. iii., p. 27 (ed. 1809).

261

Ibid., vol. iii., p. 27.

262

Ibid., vol. iv., p. 21.

263

Among his victims were: his father-in-law (A.D. 310); sister’s husband (314); nephew (319); wife (320); former friend (321); sister’s husband (325); own son (326).

264

Gibbon’s Rome, vol. ii., p. 337 (ed. 1809).

265

The death-bed baptism of Constantine is described by Eusebius, the Bishop of Cæsarea, in his Life of Constantine, bk. iv., chaps. 61, 62, 63, and 64. The Bishop assumes the salvation of Constantine with the utmost confidence, and says: “He was removed about mid-day to the presence of his God, leaving his mortal remains to his fellow-mortals, and carrying into fellowship with God that part of his being which was capable of understanding and loving Him.”

266

It has been urged upon me by my Christian friends that the enormous funds at the disposal of the various Christian propagandist societies testify to the growth, not the decay, of the Christian faith. If these funds were chiefly derived from the small donations of the many, there would be something in this argument. Such, however, is not the case.

267

Ammian. Marcell. 1. xxvii. c. 3.

268

Cod. Theodos., Lib. xvi. tit. ii. 1. 20.

269

Lib. xvi. tit. x. 1. 20, and tit. v. legg. 43, 52, 57, 65.

270

See pp. 58–9 of the Beneficial Influence of the Ancient Clergy (the title under which the Hulsean Prize Essay for 1850 was subsequently published in book form), by the late Henry Mackenzie, B.A., scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. Other quotations are given in the Appendix.

271

The Gods of the Egyptians, Preface, p. xv.

272

Ibid.

273

Huxley’s Essays on Controverted Questions, p. 9, Prologue.

274

Gibbon’s Rome, vol. ii., p. 257 (ed. 1809). In 1638, forty thousand Japanese Christians were put to death in the great Castle of Hara, the Dutch traders at Nagasaki supplying cannon and gunpowder to be used against their fellow-Christians. (Mentioned in The Christian Faith in Japan, p. 19, a book published by the S.P.G.) This wholesale butchery, however, marked the destruction, not the introduction, of Christianity.

275

Quoted from page 543 of The Martyrdom of Man, seventeenth edition (1903).

276

Are we not liable to forget that the most brilliant geniuses may make mistakes sometimes, either from want of knowledge of facts, or from a psychological unwillingness to accept them? May not the very subtlety of their intellects aid the work of their own self-deception?

277

Liddon’s Some Elements of Religion, p. 48.

278

Flint’s Anti-Theistic Theories.

279

See address to the Royal Naval Volunteers by their hon. chaplain, the Bishop of London, reported in the Church Times for June 23rd, 1905.

280

Anti-Nunquam, p. 80.

281

See his inaugural address at the Church Congress, October, 1906.

282

See Anti-Theistic Theories, Lecture vii., “Are there Tribes of Atheists?”

283

The Descent of Man, pp. 394–5.

284

Quoted by Dr. Flint in the lecture above referred to.

285

See The Living Races of Mankind, pp. 721–3.

286

The Living Races of Mankind, pp. 721–3.

287

Ibid.

288

In a letter to Dr. Frazer. See the Fortnightly Review, July, 1905, p. 171.

289

The Golden Bough, p. 73, note 1. See also (as there noted) Mission Scientifique du Cap Horn, vii., “Anthropologie, Ethnographie,” par P. Hyades et J. Deniker (Paris, 1891), pp. 253–257.

290

The Golden Bough, p. 61.

291

Ibid.

292

In the Preface to the second edition of The Golden Bough.

293

The Golden Bough, p. 61.

294

Ibid.

295

In his little book called Magic and Fetishism (Constable, 1906).

296

The Golden Bough, p. 74.

297

See Preface to the second edition of The Golden Bough.

298

In his interesting and standard work, Chinese Characteristics, ch. xxvi.

299

Chinese Characteristics, p. 289.

300

Ibid., p. 306.

301

Chinese Characteristics, p. 291.

302

Ibid., pp. 292–3.

303

Ibid., p. 313.

304

Chinese Characteristics, pp. 294 and 295.

305

Also if she heard of General Chaffee’s remarks to an American Methodist audience in New York not long ago. While praising the work of the missionaries, he told his audience that he met many of the most prominent Chinamen while at Pekin, and he was obliged to say that he did not meet a single intelligent Chinaman who expressed a desire to embrace the Christian religion. (Reported in the Hong Kong Daily Press of May 9th, 1903.)

306

The classical quotation commonly seen over the door of a temple is: “Worship the gods as if they were present.”

307

Chinese Characteristics, pp. 299–300.

308

Ibid., p. 305.

309

Chinese Characteristics, p. 288.

310

See p. 78 of Anti-Nunquam.

311

See p. 164 of Science and Education Essays, by T. H. Huxley (Macmillan & Co.; 1895).

312

The Christian Faith in Japan, pp. 42, 43.

313

The Christian Faith in Japan, pp. 128–9.

314

See chapter ii. of Conventional Lies of our Civilisation, by Max Nordau.

315

Ibid.

316

P. 439 of the Proceedings of the S. P. R.

317

P. 441 of the Proceedings of the S. P. R.

318

See p. 477 of The Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, by A. J. Mason, D.D. (Longmans.)

319

At a men’s service held in St. Mary Bredin’s Church, Canterbury, on December 4th, 1904.

320

One phase of this failure was well shown by “Oxoniensis,” in his letters which started and ended the “Do We Believe?” correspondence in the Daily Telegraph. On the other hand, we find pronounced unbelievers taking a leading part in wise reforms, and devoting their lives to researches that will benefit humanity.

321

This statement is made on the authority of Darwin and of all our modern naturalists. The theory is established, and its important message to the human race elaborated, in such works as Darwin’s Descent of Man (see vol. i., chap. v., “The Development of the Intellect and Moral Faculties”), Huxley’s Ethical Lectures (“Science and Morals,” 1886; “Evolution and Ethics,” the Romanes’ lecture for 1893, etc.), Clodd’s Story of Creation (chap. xi., on “Social Evolution”), Winwood Reade’s Martyrdom of Man, and Prince Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid.

322

P. 264 of Japan by the Japanese, edited by Alfred Stead.

323

Pp. 147–8 of Lafcadio Hearn’s book, Kokoro.

324

In the Japan Times. Quoted by Mr. Moore in his book, The Christian Faith in Japan, p. 131.

325

The Christian Faith in Japan, pp. 53–4. Explanations regarding the shortcomings of the Japanese in the matter of commercial morality will be found in Professor Nitobe’s Bushido, pp. 64–70, and also, as there mentioned, in Knapp, Feudal and Moral Japan, and in Ransome, Japan in Transition, ch. viii.

326

The Nineteenth Century and After, February, 1905, art. “Moral Teaching in Japan.” Regarding their native virtues, see Appendix.

327

The Independent Review, December, 1905, art. “The Religions of Japan.”

328

See p. 221 of Dr. Lydston’s book, The Diseases of Society.

329

In his book, A Modern Utopia, p. 144. See also Appendix to this work.

330

It may not be out of place to mention here that various Ethical Societies in England (and her Colonies), Europe, and America are doing all they can to meet the ethical needs of Agnostics, and their efforts deserve far greater support than they have yet received from the wealthy. For this want of sympathy there are many obvious reasons—reasons, fortunately, that will disappear in the near future. It will be urged that the truly pious and honest believer finds prayer of the greatest help towards right conduct, while the unbelieving ethicist is destitute of this aid. I do not propose now to discuss the ethical value of prayer, or consider the causes of its success and failure; but I would ask the reader to refer to my remarks in Chapter VI. on the psychology of prayer. Personally, I am of opinion that the practice of auto-suggestion may prove useful to those in need of such assistance, and that one day (let us hope at no distant date) psychical research will lead to the discovery of a complete and scientific method for the toughening of our moral fibres. See also further note in the Appendix.

331

Mr. H. G. Wells furnishes us with some novel ideas on this point in his book, A Modern Utopia, chap. vii., §§ 2–5. If we cannot prevent degenerates from marrying, at least we can abolish an environment that assists heredity in their production. See also Appendix.

332

See pp. 25–6 of Stanley de Brath’s The Foundations of Success.

333

See Prince Kropotkin’s articles in The Nineteenth Century and After (August, 1904, and March, 1905), entitled “The Ethical Need of the Present Day” and “The Morality of Nature.” Anyone wishing to know why we must lead the moral life should not fail to read these instructive articles, and also Dr. Saleeby’s Evolution: The Master-Key.

334

Prince Kropotkin in The Nineteenth Century and After.

335

“Rationalism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable by experience and independent of all arbitrary assumptions or authority” (from the Memorandum of the Aims and Objects of the Rationalist Press Association).

336

Closing words of Professor Huxley’s essay, Science and Morals.

337

Essay entitled “An Episcopal Trilogy,” p. 312 of Essays on Controverted Questions (Macmillan & Co.).

338

Art. “Why Live a Moral Life?” in the Agnostic Annual, 1895.

339

Art. “Why Live a Moral Life?” in the Agnostic Annual, 1905.

340

Art. “Why Live a Moral Life?” in the Agnostic Annual, 1895.

341

Ibid.

342

Quoted from his Autobiography, entitled My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions (Chapman & Hall).

343

Art. “Why Live a Moral Life?” in the Agnostic Annual, 1895.

344

Ibid.

345

P. 121 of The Story of Creation (R. P. A. Cheap Reprint).

346

The Nineteenth Century and After, August, 1904, art. “The Ethical Need of the Present Day.”

347

Quoted from a little volume recently published, entitled The Japanese Spirit. (Constable.)

348

Cited by Mr. L. Gulick, an American missionary organiser, in his work on The Evolution of the Japanese.

349

Quoted from a leaflet of the Moral Instruction League. (See Appendix.)

350

Quoted from p. 507, Vol. II., of The History of English Rationalism in the Nineteenth Century, by A. W. Benn (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906).

351

In his masterly work, On Compromise.

352

See p. 55 of The Bible and the Child.

353

Bishop Diggle, the President of the Church Congress of 1906, in his opening address.

354

Ibid.

355

Recorded in The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, as Told by Herself. (Sonnenschein.)

356

See § 3 of the last Chapter and § 2 of the present.

357

P. 392 of The Independent Review, December, 1904.

358

Browning’s Funeral, a poem by Mrs. Huxley. The last three lines were inscribed, at Prof. Huxley’s request, upon his grave-stone (in St. Marylebone Cemetery, East Finchley).

359

See Chapter I., p. 30.

360

See Appendix.

361

An Agnostic’s Apology, pp. 131, 133, 138, of the R. P. A. Reprint.

362

Spencer’s Principles of Sociology, p. 98, “The Data of Sociology.”

363

In his book, The Hearts of Men.

364

See art. “Is Man by Nature Religious?” by H. Dundas, in The Agnostic Annual for 1906.

365

We are speaking now, remember, of a religion such as the Christian faith, one involving a belief in the supernatural, and not of religion as Professor Huxley defined it—“a reverence and love for the ethical ideal, and the desire to realise that ideal in life.” We are not speaking of a mere ethical “binding” between man and man, of a religion free from all theology, such as Comte’s “Positivism.”

366

Quoted from pp. 169–171 of A Reply to Dr. Lightfoot’s Essays.

367

An Agnostic’s Apology, p. 137.

368

In Chap. VII., pp. 311, 315–16, and in Chap. VIII., § 2 and § 3 (3) and (4).

369

Quoted from p. 27 of The Agnostic Annual for 1906.

370

Canon Scott Holland, in a sermon preached in St. Paul’s Cathedral, May, 1906.

371

These are the concluding words of a lecture delivered in the Central Hall, Manchester. The lecture is incorporated with others in a book entitled Is Christianity True? (Charles H. Kelly, 26, Paternoster Row, E.C.; 6d.).

372

See Appendix.

373

This view is confirmed by such standard works as Lecky’s Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe, Buckle’s History of Civilisation in England, Robertson’s Short History of Freethought, and Benn’s History of Rationalism in the Nineteenth Century.

374

Quoted from a sermon preached by the Rev. Charles Voysey at the Theistic Church, October 22nd, 1905. See also Appendix.

375

See Gibbon’s Rome, p. 257, vol. ii. (ed. 1809).

376

This warning was pronounced by Canon Henson on November 16th, 1905, when commenting, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, upon the Russian atrocities.

377

P. 352, Vol. I., of his History of Civilisation in England (Longmans, Green, & Co.; 1891).

378

See also Chap. VII., p. 281, note.

379

On Sunday, April 13th, 1890.

380

At a gala banquet at Dresden, October 25th, 1905.

381

Taken from the emperor’s speech at the opening of the Reichstag, November 28th, 1905. N.B.—Christian nations distrust one another’s righteousness even when the State and the Church are united and the rulers are defenders of the Faith. It may be noted also that at the swearing-in of the recruits of the Potsdam garrison on November 14th, 1905, they were told to make the Crucifix their Generalissimo!

382

In his book, The Peace of the Anglo-Saxons, with an Introduction by Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, K.G. (Watts & Co.) Observations suggested by this warning will be found in the Appendix.

383

Apart from the extra burden on the workers, does the Church, I wonder, ever thoroughly realise the inevitable effect on public morality of keeping a large body of men from living a normal domestic life? Does she realise that diseases hurtful to the race are more prevalent than ever, and that nowadays prostitution has spread from the garrison towns to the villages? Does she realise that her “purity” campaigns fail to strike at the root of the evil?

384

Held in Lucerne on September 19th–23rd, 1905.

385

See Appendix.

386

See Mr. (now the Right Hon.) Augustine Birrell’s suggestive article, “Patriotism and Christianity,” in the Contemporary Review, February, 1905.

387

The Tsar is probably sincere in his professions, and is the helpless tool of his advisers. Can we make the same excuse for another potentate—for him of the “mailed fist”?

388

See Appendix.

389

Butler, Analogy, pt. ii., 3.

390

In Literature and Dogma. See p. 21 of the R. P. A. Reprint.

391

See p. 183 of The Hibbert Journal, October, 1905.

392

Compounds of cyanogen have a close resemblance to living matter. As cyanogen is only produced at an intense heat, it is surmised that the living substance may have been produced once and for all when the earth was incandescent.

393

P. 387 of The Independent Review, December, 1904.

394

To those willing to be instructed I suggest a perusal of Doane’s Bible Myths and their Parallels in Other Religions (New York: The Commonwealth Company), where they will find some intensely interesting information which has been laboriously gathered from innumerable volumes, ancient and modern. The few inaccuracies occurring in it are of a trivial nature; besides, as the author invariably quotes his authorities, his statements can be verified and the trustworthiness of his authority for them ascertained. I may add that I found this work of considerable assistance at the commencement of my study of Comparative Mythology.