nd Characteristic religion become necessary. And it is not
always true that the Universal mode ceases once the Characteristic mode
is partially realised. The soul has to descend from the heights into the
ordinary world below. And as it now sees the world with new eyes, it
sees much more to be condemned than was previously possible for it to
see. There comes the constant need of certifying the validity of its
experience on the heights, and of getting others who have never
attempted the experiment to do so. The man possessed of something of the
vision within his own soul proclaims his "gospel," and conceives of all
kinds of ways and means by which humanity can be drawn towards the same
goal.

This is the meaning which Eucken attaches to the origin and development
of the union of universal and specific religions as these have been
revealed in human history. The intellectual grounds of religion as well
as something of the actual spiritual experiences are presented by the
founders. Every kind of [p.169] religion has originated in this manner.
They are all attempts at showing that a _here and now_ and a _beyond_
have united and become potencies of life, and can become actualities.
The _here and now_ always points to a _beyond_, and the _beyond_, when
it is realised, returns to the _here and now_ and always transforms it.
Thus, we are in the midst of two worlds which are continuous with one
another just as the valley is continuous with the base of the mountain.

Such historical religions do not, then, originate in the collective
experiences of humanity, but in what has actually happened in the life
of unique personalities. These personalities have become, as it were,
mediators between God and man. Such religions adopt the most diverse
forms, because the personalities have given of the content of their own
personal experiences, and no two experiences view anything from
standpoints precisely identical. The historical religions may
consequently be narrow in their outlook. The personalities are dependent
upon their race, place, training, and inheritance for the particular
intellectual presentation of their religion. Thus, each historical
religion has its own view of the universe and its own morality. But the
value of no historical religion is to be judged from this standpoint
alone. Such views of the universe and such morality must have appeared
to them somehow as a good--as [p.170] ways and means to what lay
_beyond_. We may hav