r 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 religion--it 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
psych