166 THE LIGHT OF DAT 



the theological explanation, and he is left with the 

 other alternative, "There is no God." His piety 

 takes this impious form. His belief is best expressed 

 by a denial ; he will be an atheist rather than name 

 the unnamable. Newman finds his God when he 

 looks into his own conscience, and probably this is 

 the only way he is to be found. !From this sanc- 

 tuary the universe, with its suns and systems, and 

 the world, with its horrors and failures, are shut out. 

 We see a God made more or less in our own image ; 

 he is human and mindful of us ; he is a necessity of 

 thought and of our moral nature. But with the 

 man of science the visible universe is paramount, 

 and he will probably always ask, " Is there a God 

 here ? " 



" Howbeit, every nation made gods of their own." 

 Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. It 

 has been the most serious and significant occupation 

 of his sojourn in the world. Nearly every race and 

 people have tried their hand at making a god of 

 some kind around which their religious aspirations 

 and superstitions could cluster, and on all occa- 

 sions they have found the material for their deities 

 near at hand. 



As man arrives at consciousness, he soon recog- 

 nizes a Power greater than himself, over which he has 

 no control, and of which he is either an object of 

 sport or solicitude. This power is what we call 

 Nature, the nearest and greatest fact of all. This 

 is the mountain out of which, or some fragment of 

 which, all peoples have carved their gods, giving 



