24 HAS SCIENCE DISCOVERED GOD? 



this statement, I am endeavoring to say just as posi- 

 tively and emphatically as I can, that the credentials 

 of Jesus are found wholly in his teachings and in his 

 character as recorded by his teachings, and not at all 

 in any real or alleged historical events. And in mak- 

 ing that affirmation, let me also emphasize the fact 

 that I am only paraphrasing Jesus' own words when 

 he refused to let his disciples rest his credentials on a 

 sign. 



My conception, then, of the essentials of religion, 

 at least of the Christian religion, and no other need 

 here be considered, is that those essentials consist in 

 just two things : first, in inspiring mankind with the 

 Christlike, that is, altruistic ideal, and that means spe- 

 cifically, concern for the common good as contrasted 

 with one's own Individual impulses and Interests, 

 wherever In one's own judgment the two come Into 

 conflict; and second. Inspiring mankind to do, rather 

 than merely to think about his duty, the definition of 

 duty for each individual being what he himself con- 

 ceives to be for the common good. In three words, 

 I conceived the essential task of religion to be "to 

 develop the consciences, the Ideals and the aspirations 

 of mankind." 



It is very Important to notice that In the definitions 

 T have given, duty has nothing to do with what some- 

 body else conceives to be the common good, for in- 

 stance, with morality in the derivative sense of the 

 mores of a people. Endless confusion and an appal- 

 ling amount of futility gets Into popular discussion 

 merely because of a failure to differentiate between 

 these two conceptions. As I shall use the words then, 

 moral and immoral, or moral right and wrong, are 



