36 APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 



That one should rejoice in the good man, forgive 

 the bad man, and pity and help all men to the best of 

 one's ability, is surely indisputable. It is the glory 

 of Judaism and of Christianity to have proclaimed 

 this truth, through all their aberrations. But the 

 worship of a God who needs forgiveness and help, 

 and deserves pity every hour of his existence, is no 

 better than that of any other voluntarily selected 

 fetish. The Emperor Julian's project was hopeful 

 in comparison with the prospects of the Comtist 

 Anthropolatry. 



The Cleric asserts that it is morally wrong not to 

 believe certain propositions, whatever the results of 

 a strict scientific investigation of the evidence of 

 these propositions. He tells us " that religious error 

 is, in itself, of an immoral nature." He declares 

 that he has prejudged certain conclusions, and looks 

 upon those who show cause for arrest of judgment 

 as emissaries of Satan. It necessarily follows that, 

 for him, the attainment of faith, not the ascertain- 

 ment of truth, is the highest aim of mental life. 

 And, on careful analysis of the nature of this faith, 

 it will too often be found to be, not the mystic pro- 

 cess of unity with the Divine, understood by the 

 religious enthusiast ; but that which the candid 

 simplicity of a Sunday scholar once defined it to be. 

 " Faith," said this unconscious plagiarist of Tertul- 

 lian, " is the power of saying you believe things 

 which are incredible." 



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