something of the nature of
the higher reality has touched the soul and will of man. We _know_ in
what we have believed. This is a stage which must be passed through, for
we can never feel certain upon a higher altitude unless we are certain
of what had led to it. And although, on the higher altitude, there is
the merging of intellectual truth in something higher than itself, still
what is discovered on this higher level is richer in content if we can
call up at times intellectual affirmations for its support.

But "Universal" religion has its limitations, and has to pass into
something more characteristic, specific, and personal. The over-personal
norms, which are spiritual in their very nature, [p.150] have not only
to be interpreted, they have also to be appreciated and reverenced. The
_How_ of their appearance, after it is settled, takes a secondary place,
and the norms in their own value and subsistence are attended to. Thus,
they become not merely ideas having some kind of reality of their own,
but also become revelations of the very nature of the world; they become
the source of all creation; the one spring of all being. In other words,
they are made to mean the Godhead; they mean the creation and sustaining
power of all life. A communion with the Godhead now takes place, and man
finds himself in possession of experiences brought about without the
intervention of the world. Thus "Universal" religion culminates in a
"Characteristic" or personal religion. And to this culmination, as it is
presented by Eucken, we now turn.

* * * * *

CHAPTER IX [p.151]

CHARACTERISTIC RELIGION

On the level of "Universal" religion great changes have taken place in
life. The consciousness and conviction of the reality of a new kind of
world have arisen; the sensuous, and even partially the intellectual,
domains have been relegated to a secondary place: other values, higher
in their nature and more universal in their scope, have attracted the
attention of mind and soul. In all this a change has taken place in the
disposition as well as in the will. Prior to this change the character
had not become conscious of its own inwardness, but remained subservient
to the norms of social and moral inheritance. Some amount of morality
and good will have issued forth in this manner, and, indeed, the gain
cannot be overestimated. But it is evident that something further has to
happen if the movement of soci