TASK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION 547 



from the straight road ; it can check for a time the working of 

 natural law, as our Western civilisation is endeavouring to do 

 to-day. But the price to be eventually paid is heavy, and the 

 bill run up by the folly of the present generation must be met 

 by the generations that come after. If the rehgious organisation 

 of society be a living force, such waste of social strength will be 

 avoided ; for society will then be strongly integrated ; conse- 

 quently, it will be conscious of its solidarity with the generations 

 to come, and of its responsibiUty towards them. That society 

 will survive in the struggle for existence which is most greatly 

 conscious of this soUdarity. We may say, therefore, that the 

 environment of every society requires the development of such 

 consciousness as a condition of adaptation ; and the society 

 in which such consciousness is lacking is not fully adapted. 

 In so far as the Church embodies principles of social soUdarity 

 and obtains effective recognition of these principles from the 

 members of society, we may say that she secures the adequate 

 adaptation of society to its environment. 



The forms of the rehgious organisation vary and must neces- 

 sarily vary ; for otherwise the religious organisation would be 

 rendered useless by its failure to adapt itself to the changing 

 needs of society ; but the essence of that organisation remains 

 unchanged. At an epoch hke our own, when the fundamental 

 laws of existence are neglected and apt to be forgotten, the 

 duty devolves upon the religious organisation of bringing home 

 to Western civilisation the necessity for greater social integration 

 in the interests of the race ; and this is the task of the religious 

 organisation at all times and in all ages. 



But the nature of the rehgious organisation varies according 

 to the nature of the environment. Christianity, which is so 

 well adapted to Western needs, presents the appearance of an 

 anomaly when transported into Asiatic climes unsuited to it. 

 Buddhism is adapted to its environment in Asia, even as 

 Christianity is adapted to its environment in Europe. Never- 



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