xlii INTRODUCTION 



his day feared what ecclesiastics of all times have 

 feared — that their philosophy of life, built up with 

 extreme care and system, would be found wanting. 



But Jesus was right. The trouble has been that 

 traditional religion has been on the side of the Inquisi- 

 tion and the Synagogue. But that was not the worst of 

 It: the worst of it was, that it thought, at the same 

 time, that it was on the side of the angels. Undoubt- 

 edly the corporation of the Pharisees believed they 

 were doing Jehovah loyal service when they persuaded 

 Pilate to crucify the outcast. Undoubtedly the in- 

 quisitors believed society was being well served when 

 they silenced Galileo because his assertion that the 

 earth had diurnal rotation was "absurd in philosophy, 

 and erroneous as to faith." We have no sect of Phari- 

 sees or Holy Office to-day which could exert similar 

 pressure. But somehow the methods and deductions 

 of established religion do not inspire confidence; and 

 a cry of despair is heard in the land, the quality of 

 which no observing mind will mistake. 



The question, then, before us is — and it is exceeded 

 in importance by no question of our time — Can science 

 find God? And, equally important, can it prove to us 

 that we survive the event of death? If science suc- 

 ceeds in doing this, despite its reluctance to assume the 

 responsibility, it will confer on mankind the greatest 

 benefit it ever has conferred; and, in reality, only be 

 following out the convictions of two of its greatest 

 exponents, Thomas Huxley and Louis Pasteur. Said 

 Huxley: "Science inculcates veracity of thought and 

 action, without which there can be no alleviation to 

 the suffering of mankind." And Pasteur closely fol- 

 lows him: "The cultivation of science in its highest 



