52 HEREDITY AND SOCIETY 



nations, it has been difficult for it to become associated 

 with any strong racial instinct. It has certainly acted 

 frequently as a solvent force on conflicting ideals, but 

 how far it has been successful in replacing what it has 

 destroyed by a permanent and acceptable system of its 

 own in many cases remains yet to be seen. Its very 

 aspiration after universality has prevented the formula- 

 tion of a code dealing with the minutiae of custom and 

 morality, which, if biologically sound, would un- 

 doubtedly possess great survival value. But a socio- 

 logical system suited to one race or climate cannot 

 effectively be applied to different circumstances. To 

 take an instance : where Christianity has laid down the 

 law on social observances, its insistence on monogamy 

 is a definite stumbling-block to its spread among 

 many communities whose social organisation requires 

 a polygamous basis. 



It is probable that Christianity suffered much in its 

 second stages from the fact that it developed and 

 crystallized out among towns of hybrid population, 

 where its dogmas were subject to the influence of pre- 

 existing sects and were laid down in accordance with views 

 prevalent in the cities of the eastern Mediterranean. 

 Thus it became associated with statements which were 

 in no way inherent to it, and have always prevented the 

 easy absorption of new knowledge. Time after time, a 

 mass of experience and sound learning has accumulated 

 outside the officially received body of orthodox tradi- 

 tion, and the ensuing uneasy process of digestion has 

 resulted in a series of breaches, which have sapped 

 the strength both of the defence and the attack. 

 Thus we see the great difficulties that lie before a 



