CHAPTER IV 



THE BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCE OF RELIGION 



No chapter in the history of the religious experiences 

 of mankind, when that book comes to be written, will 

 be of greater importance than the one which deals with 

 their biological significance and endeavours to assess the 

 true selective value of the religious systems that have 

 held sway in the imaginations of the human race. 



However, the work is not yet written, nor is the 

 material for it collected in any accessible form. But 

 since the subject cannot be left out of our present 

 survey, we are compelled to make some sort of effort 

 necessarily most halting and imperfect to indicate 

 the class of results that might be forthcoming from 

 such an inquiry. 



The essence of religion seems to be a recognition of 

 the mystery that surrounds man's relationship to the 

 Universe, an acceptance of the impossibility of obtain- 

 ing a satisfactory explanation on any materialistic basis. 

 The instinct of awe, which such an attitude involves, 

 is the natural outcome of a sentient being surrounded 

 by the forces of Nature, and so the religion of the 

 homestead and the forest has always been of a simpler, 

 stronger, more enduring character than any ritual of 



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