388 Science Religion and Reality 



religious traditions of the East. That the Gospel of Christ will 

 one day " convert the world " — that is to say, the religiously 

 minded in all nations — is not beyond the possibility of hope ; but 

 an universal institutional Church is as chimerical an idea as an 

 universal Empire. 



It is not scientific to pick out all the superiorities of Western 

 civilisation and put them down to the credit of Christianity. 

 European civilisation has been, like Hellenism, a permanent 

 enrichment of humanity, and the religion of Europe has borne 

 many exquisite flowers. But unless, like the Roman Catholic 

 Modernists, we assume that every transformation which helped 

 the Church to survive and prosper was a legitimate development of 

 the original design, we shall not find it easy to affiliate Hildebrand, 

 Oliver Cromwell, and Cardinal Manning to the Gospel as it was 

 preached to the fishermen of Galilee. Organised religion is not, 

 in modern times, one of the strongest forces in human affairs. 

 As compared with patriotism and revolutionary aims, it has shown 

 itself lamentably weak. The strength of Christianity is in trans- 

 forming the lives of individuals — of a small minority, certainly, 

 as Christ clearly predicted, but a large number in the aggregate. 

 To rescue a little flock, here and there, from materialism, selfish- 

 ness, and hatred, is the task of the Church of Christ in all ages 

 alike, and there is no likelihood that it will ever be otherwise. To 

 many the most pressing question is whether the Churches will ever 

 make it easier for students of science to profess themselves church- 

 members without doing violence to their scientific conscience. 

 What the institutions will decide is quite uncertain. But ther« are 

 already large numbers of Christians who find it possible to follow 

 Christ while accepting the conclusions of science and the scientific 

 attitude of mind. These are far more important than their 

 isolation from ecclesiastical life might lead us to suppose. It is to 

 individuals that we must look for encouraging signs, not to institu- 

 tions. Science has learned this lesson in its own sphere ; it must 

 look at religion in the same way. The right note was already 

 struck at the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci exclaims : " Let 

 bigots talk at leisure and heed them not. The study of Nature 

 is well-pleasing to God, and is akin to prayer. Learning the laws 

 of Nature, we magnify the first Inventor, the Designer of the world j 

 and we learn to love him, for the great love of God results from 

 great knowledge. Who knows little, loves little. If you love 



