ame false assumption that it
implies that men are governed solely by their economic _interests_, that
individual conduct is never inspired by anything higher than the
economic interest of the individual. These are misconceptions of the
theory, due, no doubt, to the overemphasis placed upon it by its
authors--a common experience of new doctrines--and, above all, the
exaggerations of too zealous, unrestrained disciples. There is a wise
saying of Schiller's which suggests the spirit in which these
exaggerations of a great truth--exaggerations by which it becomes
falsehood--should be regarded: "Rarely do we reach truth, except through
extremes--we must have foolishness ... even to exhaustion, before we
arrive at the beautiful goal of calm wisdom."[68] When it is contended
that the "Civil War was at bottom a struggle between two economic
principles,"[69] we have the presentation of an important truth, the key
to the proper understanding of a great historical event. But when that
important fact is exaggerated and torn from its legitimate place to suit
the propaganda of a theory, and we are asked to believe that Garrison,
Lovejoy, and other abolitionists were inspired solely by economic
motives, that the urge and passion of human freedom did not enter into
their souls, we are forced to reject it. But let it be clearly
understood that it forms no part of the theory, that it is even
expressly denied in the very terms in which Marx and Engels formulated
the theory, and that its authors repudiated such perversions of it.

In no respect has the theory been more grossly exaggerated and
misrepresented than in its application to religion. True philosopher
that he was, Marx realized the absurdity of attempting "to abstract
religious sentiment from the course of history, to place it by
itself."[70] He recognized that all religion is, fundamentally, man's
effort to put himself into harmonious relation with, and to discover an
interpretation of, the forces of the universe. The more incomprehensible
those forces, the greater man's need of an explanation of them. He could
not fail to see that the religion of a people always bears a marked
relation to their mental development and their special environment. He
knew that at various stages the Yahve of the Hebrews represented very
different conceptions, answering to changes in the social and political
conditions of the people. To the primitive Israelitish tribes, Yahve
was, as Professor Rausche