422 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE : PERSONAL 



itself, therefore, objectively, the one in ceremonies, the other in moral 

 conduct. 



Some religions, conspicuously Buddhism, have suppressed and 

 enervated the will by exaggerating the doctrine of self-effacement, 

 and teaching the utter loss of self as the highest blessedness. But 

 this is exceptional. Even the very idea of self-abnegation has been 

 a powerful educator of the will, enabling men without flinching to 

 give themselves for their religious ideals, and count it joy! Certainly 

 it is true that, as with every step of religion toward purer and more 

 rational ideals, the more elevated it has grown, the purer the conduct 

 has become, the saner the cult. 



Once holiness was but a name for a ceremonial condition. In the 

 development of the religious ideals holiness at length comes to mean 

 wholeness, symmetry of character, purity of soul, to have an intensely 

 ethical meaning. A perpetual problem of religion has been to dis- 

 close and to maintain morality in its rightful place in human life. 

 Aside from the underlying principles of religion, morality has no 

 fundamental justification. It is religion alone that speaks of an 

 ideal standard and can furnish a rational ground for obligation in 

 moral conduct. 



Consider the value to personal life of some of the most universal 

 expressions of the religious consciousness, such as the rites of purifica- 

 tion, of sacrifice, and of prayer. 



Some form of purification is almost as widespread as religion itself. 

 From the lower ideals of bodily cleanliness to the higher spiritual 

 conception, such as that of the Hebrew poet when he exclaimed: 



" Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? 

 Or who shall stand in his holy place? 

 He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; 

 Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, 

 Nor sworn deceitfully," 



this determination to have fellowship with God has made quick the 

 conscience of men, fostered the sense of sin and the need of being 

 reconciled to the Infinite One. The value of this prompting to 

 personal life and conduct has been incalculable. 



Some form of sacrifice is coextensive with religion itself. The 

 sense of obligation to Deity, of gratitude for past blessings, of desire 

 for present fellowship and future happiness, have thus been led out 

 to their own best meaning; by this the springs of generosity and 

 unselfishness have been opened. Take the sacrificial idea out of 

 human life and human history, and the world would be poor indeed. 

 Without it the best in mother-love, in patriotic devotion, as well as 

 in religious achievement, is stricken down. This idea finds widest 

 and best expression in the familiar words " God so loved the world 



