The Essence of Religion (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910. Excerpt: ... fact that truths which bear on practice become vague and shadowy when abstracted from practice. They must be translated into conduct before they become real or acquire any power over us. From the form of human development the intellectual belief must begin with hearsay and verbal assent; and the problem for the individual is to transfer these assents to hearsays into living personal convictions. This can be done only as the beliefs are wrought into life, or as life is built around them. The living conviction is not a product of speculation; it has to be achieved or conquered in life itself. Even faith in God is largely an assent rather than a real conviction; as appears from the little practical hold it often has on men, whether as lawgiving or as a source of inspiration. We begin our religious life by saying, "I believe in God the Father Almighty." That is formal faith. When we work this confession into life, and believe when hope is deferred and the heart is sick, believe in the face of the hard and bitter things of life and the sinister and despairprovoking aspects of history, and trust him though he slay us--that is real faith. Thus we see that the relation of belief and life is no simple thing' to be solved by any academic and rationalistic reflection; it is rather something which takes us into the depths of our life and being. Our real faith is not the formula we repeat, but the principles by which we live. We may be practical atheists while professing faith in God, and veritable heathen while claiming to be Christians. And when the theological formula is correct, we may miss the spiritual truths. In the deepest sense truth is revealed only when it is' understood; and this is possible only to the prepared heart. The truth is hidden by blindness, or ...