While this takes
away the last incentive to thought on the part of the workman, degrading
him to a cunning but expensive machine, religion gives to him a new
spring of thought, vivifies his blunted mind by the power of transformed
affections, and makes him again a man.
The next derivative was lack of time, taking affection and volition from
life by dividing the duties of the individual among others. In immediate
antagonism to this, religion declares that the individual stands alone
in his duties and responsibilities before God. It recognizes no
institution of charity or social partition, but reiterates the command,
'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' which includes everything.
Religion is opposed to this tendency, not only in its causes, but in its
effects. It brings back to us the idea of a personal God. It makes no
mention of nature, but simply says: 'The heavens declare the glory of
God,' 'He sendeth his rain on the just and the unjust.' No laws of
nature are spoken of as conditioning the action of God, but He sees the
sparrow's fall and provides for it; He hears and answers the prayer of
His children. It declares man to be more than a slave driven by motives,
with every action necessitated; it declares him a creature of free
volition, whose action can neither be calculated nor controlled.
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