den away under things excellent in themselves, yet
not essential; and difference of view about these unessential things led
to fierce and bitter controversy, and later to open strife and war.

We take religion, in its human aspect, to mean the growth of a new and
wider consciousness above the keen, self-assertive consciousness of the
individual; a superseding of the personal by the humane; a change from
egotism to a more universal understanding; so that each shall act, not
in order to gain an advantage over others, but rather to attain the
greatest good for himself and others equally; that one shall not
dominate another for his own profit, but shall rather seek to draw forth
in that other whatever is best and truest, so that both may find their
finest growth. Carried far enough, this principle, which makes one's
neighbor a second self, will bring to light in us the common soul, the
common life that has tacitly worked in all human intercourse from the
beginning. Individual consciousness is in no way effaced; something new,
wider and more humane, something universal, is added to it from above;
something consciously common to all souls. And through the inspiration
of that larger soul, the individual life for the first time comes to its
true power--a power which is held by all pure souls in common.

We can see that something like this was the original inspiration of the
religious orders. Their very name of Friars or Brothers speaks of the
ideal of a common life above egotism. They sought a new birth through
the death of selfishness, through self-sacrifice and renunciation. All
their life in common was a symbol of the single soul inspiring them, the
very form of their churches bearing testimony to their devotion. More
than that, the beauty and inspiration which still radiate from the old
abbey buildings show how often and in how large a degree that ideal was
actually attained.

Nevertheless we can very well see how the possession of large wealth and
costly offerings might be a hindrance to that spirit, fanning back to
life the smouldering fires of desire. We can see even more clearly that
the division between the secular and the religious life would tend to
raise a moral barrier, hardening that very sense of separation which the
humane and universal consciousness seeks to kill. Finally, we should see
what the world has often seen: the disciples of the Nazarene dwelling in
palaces, and vying with princes in the splendor of t