CHAPTER XXIV 



RELIGION AS A FACTOR IN HUMAN EVOLUTION 



The position of Religion and the attitude of rehgionists 

 to Science are sufficiently indicated in a general way by the 

 title of White's well-known work, "A History of the Warfare 

 of Science with Theology"; while the logically arranged in- 

 dictments which Draper (309) and he make against many 

 religious positions have possibly done more to discredit false 

 religious methods and principles than any other works. 



But it is one of the misfortunes of human investigation 

 that it often tends to swing disproportionately far in one direc- 

 tion, after having been long held in an opposite. So the very 

 dogmatisms, pretensions, and false teachings that the above- 

 named authors have exposed have inclined many to adhere 

 more rigorously than ever to the old view that Religion and 

 Science are distinct and irreconcilable; that they occupy spheres 

 and pursue methods that are largely opposed to each other. 

 This view we cannot share, and for reasons that follow. 



(1) As man has become increasingly evolved, and so has 

 become mentally elevated, he has in approximate ratio devel- 

 oped that set of phenomena which we may call collectively 

 the religious attitude. 



(2) This attitude, as we now know and accept, may show 

 gradations of elevation and complexity, frona the crude an- 

 cestralism or ancestor worship of the lowest savage, to the 

 elaborate and artificial ritual of some Christian churches. 



(3) The actions of mankind for millennia are known to have 

 been largely guided and influenced by phases of the religious 

 attitude. 



(4) Many of the wisest thinkers, and of the truest well- 

 wishers of humanity, have ranged themselves alongside the 

 religious attitude. 



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