THE ORIGIN OF MAN 



WHEN the mainspring is broken a watch 

 ceases to be useful as a timekeeper. A 

 handsome case may make it still an orna- 

 ment and the parts may have a market value, but it 

 cannot serve the purpose of a watch. There is that 

 in each human life that corresponds to the mainspring 

 of a watch — that which is absolutely necessary if the 

 life is to be what it should be, a real life and not a 

 mere existence. That necessary thing is a belief in 

 God. Religion is defined as the relation between God 

 and man, and Tolstoy has described morality as the 

 outward expression of this inward relationship. , 



If it be true, as I believe it is, that morality is de- 

 pendent upon religion, then religion is not only the 

 most practical thing in the world, but the first es- 

 sential. Without religion, viz., a sense of depend- 

 ence upon God and reverence for Him, one can play 

 a part in both the physical and the intellectual world, 

 but he cannot live up to the possibilities which God 

 has placed within the reach of each human being. 



A belief in God is fundamental; upon it rest the in- 

 fluences that control life. 



First, the consciousness of God's presence in the life 

 gives one a sense of responsibility to the Creator for 

 every thought and word and deed. 



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