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Lectures XIV and XV







THE VALUE OF SAINTLINESS







We have now passed in review the more important of the phenomena



which are regarded as fruits of genuine religion and



characteristics of men who are devout。  Today we have to change



our attitude from that of description to that of appreciation; we



have to ask whether the fruits in question can help us to judge



the absolute value of what religion adds to human life。  Were I



to parody Kant; I should say that a 〃Critique of pure



Saintliness〃 must be our theme。







If; in turning to this theme; we could descend upon our subject



from above like Catholic theologians; with our fixed definitions



of man and man's perfection and our positive dogmas about God; we



should have an easy time of it。  Man's perfection would be the



fulfillment of his end; and his end would be union with his



Maker。  That union could be pursued by him along three paths;



active; purgative; and contemplative; respectively; and progress



along either path would be a simple matter to measure by the



application of a limited number of theological and moral



conceptions and definitions。  The absolute significance and value



of any bit of religious experience we might hear of would thus be



given almost mathematically into our hands。







If convenience were everything; we ought now to grieve at finding



ourselves cut off from so admirably convenient a method as this。 



But we did cut ourselves off from it deliberately in those



remarks which you remember we made; in our first lecture; about



the empirical method; and it must be  confessed that after



that act of renunciation we can never hope for clean…cut and



scholastic results。  WE cannot divide man sharply into an animal



and a rational part。  WE cannot distinguish natural from



supernatural effects; nor among the latter know which are favors



of God; and which are counterfeit operations of the demon。  WE



have merely to collect things together without any special a



priori theological system; and out of an aggregate of piecemeal



judgments as to the value of this and that experiencejudgments



in which our general philosophic prejudices; our instincts; and



our common sense are our only guidesdecide that ON THE WHOLE



one type of religion is approved by its fruits; and another type



condemned。  〃On the whole〃I fear we shall never escape



complicity with that qualification; so dear to your practical



man; so repugnant to your systematizer!







I also fear that as I make this frank confession; I may seem to



some of you to throw our compass overboard; and to adopt caprice



as our pilot。  Skepticism or wayward choice; you may think; can



be the only results of such a formless method as I have taken up。



A few remarks in deprecation of such an opinion; and in farther



explanation of the empiricist principles which I profess; may



therefore appear at this point to be in place。







Abstractly; it would seem illogical to try to measure the worth



of a religion's fruits in merely human terms of value。 How CAN



you measure their worth without considering whether the God



really exists who is supposed to inspire them?  If he really



exists; then all the conduct instituted by men to meet his wants



must necessarily be a reasonable fruit of his religionit would



be unreasonable only in case he did not exist。  If; for instance;



you were to condemn a religion of human or animal sacrifices by



virtue of your subjective sentiments; and if all the while a



deity were really there demanding such sacrifices; you would be



making a theoretical mistake by tacitly assuming that the deity



must be non…existent; you would be setting up a theology of your



own as much as if you were a scholastic philosopher。







To this extent; to the extent of disbelieving peremptorily in



certain types of deity; I frankly confess that we must be



theologians。  If disbeliefs can be said to constitute a theology;



then the prejudices; instincts; and common sense which I chose as



our guides make theological partisans of us whenever they make



certain beliefs abhorrent。







But such common…sense prejudices and instincts are themselves the



fruit of an empirical evolution。  Nothing is more striking than



the secular alteration that goes on in the moral and religious



tone of men; as their insight into nature and their social



arrangements progressively develop。  After an interval of a few



generations the mental climate proves unfavorable to notions of



the deity which at an earlier date were perfectly satisfactory: 



the older gods have fallen below the common secular level; and



can no longer be believed in。  Today a deity who should require



bleeding sacrifices to placate him would be too sanguinary to be



taken seriously。  Even if powerful historical credentials were



put forward in his favor; we would not look at them。  Once; on



the contrary; his cruel appetites were of themselves credentials。







They positively recommended him to men's imaginations in ages



when such coarse signs of power were respected and no others



could be understood。  Such deities then were worshiped because



such fruits were relished。







Doubtless historic accidents always played some later part; but



the original factor in fixing the figure of the gods must always



have been psychological。  The deity to whom the prophets; seers;



and devotees who founded the particular cult bore witness was



worth something to them personally。 They could use him。  He



guided their imagination; warranted their hopes; and controlled



their willor else they required him as a safeguard against the



demon and a curber of other people's crimes。  In any case; they



chose him for the value of the fruits he seemed to them to yield。







So soon as the fruits began to seem quite worthless; so soon as



they conflicted with indispensable human ideals; or thwarted too



extensively other values; so soon as they appeared childish;



contemptible; or immoral when reflected on; the deity grew



discredited; and was erelong neglected and forgotten。  It was in



this way that the Greek and Roman gods ceased to be believed in



by educated pagans; it is thus that we ourselves judge of the



Hindu; Buddhist; and Mohammedan theologies; Protestants have so



dealt with the Catholic notions of deity; and liberal Protestants



with older Protestant notions; it is thus that Chinamen judge of



us; and that all of us now living will be judged by our



descendants。  When we cease to admire or approve what the



definition of a deity implies; we end by deeming that deity



incredible。







Few historic changes are more curious than these mutations of



theological opinion。  The monarchical type of sovereignty was;



for example; so ineradicably planted in the mind of our own



forefathers that a dose of cruelty and arbitrariness in their



deity seems positively to have been required by their



imagination。  They called the cruelty 〃retributive justice;〃 and



a God without it would certainly have struck them as not



〃sovereign〃 enough。  But today we abhor the very notion of



eternal suffering inflicted; and that arbitrary dealing…out of



salvation and damnation to selected individuals; of which



Jonathan Edwards could persuade himself that he had not only a



conviction; but a 〃delightful conviction;〃 as of a doctrine



〃exceeding pleasant; bright; and sweet;〃 appears to us; if



sovereignly anything; sovereignly irrational and mean。  Not only



the cruelty; but the paltriness of character of the gods believed



in by earlier centuries also strikes later centuries with



surprise。  We shall see examples of it from the annals of



Catholic saintship which makes us rub our Protestant eyes。 



Ritual worship in general appears to the modern



transcendentalist; as well as to the ultra…puritanic type of



mind; as if addressed to a deity of an almost absurdly childish



character; taking delight in toy…shop furniture; tapers and



tinsel; costume and mumbling and mummery; and finding his 〃glory〃



incomprehensibly enhanced thereby:just as on the other hand the



formless spaciousness of pantheism appears quite empty to



ritualistic natures; and the gaunt theism of evangelical sects



seems intolerably bald and chalky and bleak。







Luther; says Emerson; would have cut off his right hand rather



than nail his theses to the door at Wittenberg; if he had



supposed that they were destined to lead to the pale negations

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