e bosom
of faith."

Until some better argument is produced, we may be well content not
merely to flee but to rest there.

{239}

CHRISTIANITY

The subject dealt with in this lecture will be the place of
Christianity in the evolution of religion; and I shall approach it by
considering the place of religion in the evolution of humanity. It
will be therefore advisable, indeed necessary, for me to consider what
is meant by evolution; and I wish to begin by explaining the point of
view from which I propose to approach the three ideas of evolution, of
the evolution of humanity and the evolution of religion.

The individual exists, and can only exist, in society. Society cannot
exist without individuals as members thereof; and the individual cannot
exist save in society. From this it follows that from one point of
view the individual may be regarded as a means--a means by which
society attains its end or purpose: every one of us has his place or
function in society; and society thrives according as each member
performs his function and discharges his duty. From another point of
view {240} the individual may be regarded as an end. If man is a
social animal, if men live in society, it is because so alone can a man
do what is best for himself: it is by means of society that he realises
his end. It is then from this proposition, viz. that the individual is
both a means and an end, that I wish to approach the idea of evolution.

I will begin by calling attention to the fact that that proposition is
true both statically, that is to say, is true of the individual's
position in a community, and is also true dynamically, that is to say,
is true of his place in the process of evolution. On the former point,
that the proposition is true statically, of the position of the
individual in the community, I need say but little. In moral
philosophy it is the utilitarian school which has particularly insisted
upon this truth. That school has steadily argued that, in the
distribution of happiness or of the good, every man is to count as one,
and nobody to count as more than one--that is to say, in the community
the individual is to be regarded as the end. The object to be aimed at
is not happiness in general and no one's happiness in particular, but
the happiness of each and every individual. It is the individual and
his happiness which is the {241} end, for the sake of which society
exists and to which it is the means; o