THE STABILITY OF TRUTH. 345 
paper, from the word “religion.” The essence of “be- 
lief” is the categorical statement of propositions. These 
may be built into a creed, which word is the Latin syno- 
nym of “belief.” 
“Religion” implies rather a condition of the mind 
and heart, an attitude, not a formula. Faith, hope, 
charity do not rest on logic or obser- 
vation. Religion implies a reverent at- 
titude toward the universe and _ its 
forces—a tender feeling toward one’s fellow-mortals. 
“Pure religion and undefiled” has never formulated a 
“creed,” has never claimed for itself orthodoxy. It has 
no stated ritual and no recognised cult of priests. Much 
that passes conventionally as religious belief among 
men has no such quality or value. It is simply the 
débris of our grandfathers’ science. While religion and 
belief become entangled in the human mind, so as not to 
be easily separable, the one is not necessarily a product 
of the other. 
Most that is considered vital in religious belief does 
not involve objective propositions. It is rather associ- 
ated with personal character or temperament, and its 
generalizations must be expressed in terms more or less 
metaphorical or poetical, for their origin is largely sub- 
jective, and no terms of purely human experience are 
adequate for their definition. Such, for example, is the 
statement of belief that “the heart of the universe is 
sound,” that “ God is Love,” that ‘‘ Love is the greatest 
thing in the world,” or that “there is a force outside 
ourselves that makes for righteousness.” Such expres- 
sions imply the perfect harmony of natural laws. Such 
laws—as Agassiz has expressed it—are “the thoughts 
or operations of the highest powers in the universe— 
the highest Something, however we may choose to re- 
gard it.” With belief of this sort science has no quarrel, 
Religion and 
belief. 
