CHAPTER VII 



THE ETHICS OF REVELATION 



Now that we have learnt to change our opinions rapidly, 

 God is slowly opening to our mind's eye a panorama of 

 revelation undreamt of in the past. At the bottom of all 

 religions and dormant within our souls are a few dogmas of 

 revelation awaiting the evolution of our minds to a suffici- 

 ently high standard to be able to receive and understand 

 them. When we can thoroughly understand these in their 

 purity and integrity, religion as we now understand it, 

 or as it now exists, will have performed its duty, and will 

 have to make place for some more enlightened form of self- 

 control, based on sound common-sense, for as mankind 

 acquires the spirit of wisdom his conscience will have so 

 evolved that each man will become a religion unto himself, 

 one more perfect than any present form of religion. All reli- 

 gions are alike inspired by God, though I doubt that they have 

 been inspired in the fabulous way that we have been brought 

 up to believe. This appears to me to be only a relic of the 

 custom in past ages of superstitious government, both civic 

 and religious, of trading upon the credulity of the ignorant ; 

 nevertheless, every religion of note has, and does, contain 

 all the essential truths of revelation that are really necessary 

 for the right guidance of every man who is really desirous 

 of the good of others rather than his own advantages. 



But as in the past the mind of man has been and is at 

 present insufficiently advanced to understand the truths of 

 revelation (except perhaps in the case of one or two persons 

 in a thousand) who are so far developed that it is almost im- 

 possible to tempt them to do or think wrong, and to whom, 

 even at present, no religion that ever has been could be of 

 any help to enable them to lead a better life than they are in 

 the habit of leading with the present limited evolution of 

 their minds and souls, and whose ideals are even now higher 



