
|
|
|
"The religions of authority
can only divide men and set them in conscientious array against each other;
the religion of the spirit will progressively draw men together and cause
them to become understandingly sympathetic with one another."
"And all live religions
encourage human friendship, conserve morality, promote neighborhood welfare,
and facilitate the spread of the essential gospel of their respective messages
of eternal salvation."
"And even today, Jesus'
teaching stands apart from all religions, as such, albeit it is the living
hope of every one of them."
"And for a long time
there will live on earth those timid, fearful, and hesitant individuals
who will prefer thus to secure their religious consolations, even though,
in so casting their lot with the religions of authority, they compromise
the sovereignty of personality, debase the dignity of self-respect, and
utterly surrender the right to participate in that most thrilling and inspiring
of all possible human experiences: the personal quest for truth, the exhilaration
of facing the perils of intellectual discovery, the determination to explore
the realities of personal religious experience, the supreme satisfaction
of experiencing the personal triumph of the actual realization of the victory
of spiritual faith over intellectual doubt as it is honestly won in the
supreme adventure of all human existence -- man seeking God, for himself
and as himself, and finding him."
|
(Click on image for source)
|
|