sion of
fundamental faith.

Now as this feeling is not dependent on the reasoning faculty, there
should be nothing amazing in the fact that it has been found susceptible
of being developed and led far afield in the direction of credulity. All
sorts of fairy-tales have been invented by man's imagination, in
different countries, at different periods, and imposed upon the simple
faith of the masses in order that they might be guided and controlled in
a manner that the leading spirits considered best for them. Idols,
divine revelations, oracles, prayers, sacrifices, confessionals,
priests, prophets, medicine men, sacred dances and prostrations,
awe-inspiring rites and ceremonies of almost every conceivable kind have
been resorted to, in order to attain results which were considered
beneficial.

In nearly every case, it is safe to say the effort was inspired by an
intense soul feeling on the part of an individual, however much it may
have been seasoned with shrewdness and calculation and understanding of
the people for whose good it was intended.

It is generally admitted that the age in which we live is a scientific
age. Scientific investigations, scientific explanations, scientific
inventions, scientific methods and theories, are dominant factors in the
progress to which modern civilization has been devoting so much of its
energy. In our schools, and colleges and text-books, the growing mind is
being taught to approach all subjects and questions from a reasonable,
practical and scientific point-of-view.

One of the first principles of all science is to take as little as
possible for granted, but to investigate and prove everything, without
prejudice, in strict accordance with the facts. This is the typical
attitude of to-day, encouraged and absorbed on every side and becoming
more wide-spread with each passing year.

Suppose a young man or woman, trained in this way, in school and
college, by books of science, magazine articles, newspapers and
discussions of one sort or another connected with modern progress, is
prompted one fine day to turn his attention to this question of religion
and undertake an enquiry into that? Sooner or later, this is very apt to
happen to any one, because the churches and ceremonies are all about;
and when an individual mind reaches a stage where it wants to think for
itself, it can hardly escape from arriving at some conclusion concerning
them.

A modern person so trained, is apt to perc