e, it
paid the penalty of abortiveness. It is not a mere accident that
Christianity has been so helpless in the present crisis.

In times of darkness, it is natural for the individual to seek ways of
escape from the crushing load which has fallen upon him. The student
of the history of religion knows that the most popular way of escape
has been in terms of spiritualism and supernaturalism. But the thinker
knows that this is a search for a sedative rather than a remedy.
Moreover, the growth of human knowledge has made such a refuge more
strained and artificial than it used to be. Those few men of standing
in the physical sciences who have lent the prestige of their name to
fields in which they have little competence have done a grave
disservice to mankind. Man must conquer his problems; he cannot find
salvation in a cowardly flight from them. The teaching of this book is
that supernaturalism has prevented man from finding himself, and that
the spiritual task of the present generation is a re-interpretation of
the spiritual to take in all the significant features of human life.
We want a religion of present use, a religion {12} not concerned with
mythological objects and hypothetical states of existence but with the
tasks and needs of human beings in society. Will not the next step in
religion be the relinquishment of the supernatural and the active
appreciation of virtues and values? It is my hope that the present
sincere discussion will assist, in some small measure, the coming of
such a religion.

[1] McGiffert, _The Rise of Modern Religious Ideas_, p. 272.

{13}

CHAPTER II

THE AGE OF MYTH

We must, perforce, admit that our ancestors awoke to consciousness of
themselves and their surroundings at a time when they knew practically
nothing, as we understand knowledge. Theirs was a world of sights and
sounds, a world of woods and streams, of moving things, of growing
things, of things to be eaten, of things good and evil. It was a
driving, fearful, fascinating world. Unconsciously and inevitably, man
interpreted his surroundings in terms of his own eager, childish life.
Force and desire peeped from every corner.

The sky was not very high above him for it seemed to touch the mountain
tops; and yet he could never hope to climb there. But he could see
very well that it was inhabited. And was it not a wonderful place,
since the heat and light of the sun and the warm, fructifying rain came
fr