e and the same with these. Man without these faculties of
thought, reason and will would not be man at all, but a brute. So
without this _inner urge_, and the faculty of _aspiration upward_,
which I have defined as the very fundamental essence of religion, man
would still only be a brute. He would not be man at all. Religion is
one in its origin because it is an essential characteristic of all
human nature.

All religion is one in that it recognizes SOMETHING above man. I use
this word advisedly. If I had said, "Because all men recognize the
existence of God, or a Supreme Being," I would have been misunderstood
and the statement challenged. Men have become so habituated to calling
all other men atheists who do not accept their particular definition of
God, that I omit the word entirely until I can further define my
meaning. Because Voltaire did not believe in the God of Moses and the
Pope, he was dubbed an atheist, altho he was a devoutly religious man,
and built a chapel at his own expense on his estate and dedicated it
"to the worship of God." Man instinctively recognizes _something_
above him. It is immaterial by what name this may be called; whether
Jehovah, Elohim, Allah, Heaven, Nirvana, or Jove; nor what attributes
we give it, whether we call it Person or Principle, the Great Unknown
or the Ultimate Cause; or whether it be a mere abstract Ideal, the
creation of one's own fancy; it is still that "_Something_" which man
recognizes as above him, toward which he aspires and hopes to attain.

Man also instinctively recognizes that he sustains some sort of
personal relationship to this "Something," that for want of a better
name, we call God. It is necessary in this connection to repeat what
we have already said: That very early in the history of the human race
man was led to this conclusion, concerning his relationship and
obligation to God, thru his effort to interpret and solve the problem
of evil, or his own sufferings from it, and his ultimate death. The
only possible method he had of interpreting these problems was drawn
from his own nature and experience. He knew himself as being alive, as
a conscious individual, capable of exercising will and exerting force.
Thus when he heard the roaring thunders, saw the clouds floating
overhead, and the flashes of lightning among them, felt the force of
the wind and the falling rain; in fact all the phenomena of nature and
life about him, including his own ache