equired to arrive at a general
idea of the nature and extent of this tendency.

In most Christian homes it has been the custom to teach children to say
their prayers every night before going to bed. And in teaching them to
pray, the idea has been instilled in their minds that the all-wise Lord
is listening to them and watching over them. Mothers and Fathers have
accustomed them to the belief that no act of theirs--no matter how
carefully they may conceal it from the human beings about them--can ever
escape the all-seeing eye of the Lord.

Children have believed this from time immemorial and the Sunday school
and church have encouraged and strengthened this belief, at all stages
of their growth. And along with this, as we have observed, went the idea
of divine, everlasting justice and retribution--the punishment of evil
and the regard of good, if not in this world, then surely in the greater
world beyond. Heaven and hell have for centuries been pictured as
awe-inspiring realities, established by the Bible, expounded and
thundered from pulpits.

Children found, as they grew up, that the idea was accepted and shared
by mothers, fathers, neighbors--everybody in the community entitled to
respect or consideration. In trouble or sickness, they turned to the
Lord for comfort and help and those who yielded to temptation and
ignored His commandments were in danger of eternal damnation.

When people believe such a doctrine, when it is a living conviction in
their hearts and souls, no greater influence could be imagined for
controlling their material instincts and desires. We have only to refer
back to the days of the martyrs and saints to realize what the principle
is capable of when it is fully applied. As compared to eternal salvation
and everlasting bliss--how petty and unimportant are the temporary
experiences of the body.

The great mass of normal human beings, while accepting and believing the
doctrine, have never deemed it necessary, or practical, to carry it too
far. But always in the past, so far as we know, the average individual
has been influenced to a very considerable extent by his religious
beliefs. The more deeply and intensely he _believed_ in the teachings,
the greater their influence in controlling his acts.

If we turn to the present generation, we find on all sides, evidences of
a growing notion that many of the statements contained in the Bible will
no longer hold water, when put to the test of scientif