sometimes adverse,
sometimes friendly, but always jealous. Man became their slave. As
man became less of a savage, these gods of his fancy became nobler.
But they still acted like magnets to draw his attention away from his
own problems. The coming phase of religion will reflect man's power
over nature and his moral courage in the face of the facts and
possibilities of life. It will be a religion of action and passion, a
social religion, a religion of goals and prospects. It will be a free
man's religion, a religion for an adult and aspiring democracy.

A book must in the main carry its own credentials. But there may be
those who will wish to carry the quest further and deeper. To those
interested in my share in this larger work I may mention my _Critical
Realism_ and _The Next Step in Democracy_.

R. W. SELLARS.

Ann Arbor, Michigan,
August 5, 1918.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I SUGGESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II THE AGE OF MYTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
III STORIES OF CREATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
IV MAGIC AND RITUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
V THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
VI THE PROPHET OF NAZARETH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
VII THE EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIANITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
VIII THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY . . . . . . . . 98
IX THE LIMITS OF PERSONAL AGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
X DO MIRACLES HAPPEN? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
XI THE SOUL AND IMMORTALITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
XII THE PROBLEM OF EVIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
XIII RELIGION AND ETHICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
XIV THE CHURCH AS AN INSTITUTION--THE CATHOLIC CHURCH . . . . 187
XV THE CHURCH AS AN INSTITUTION--PROTESTANTISM . . . . . . . 198
XVI THE HUMANIST'S RELIGION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

{1}

THE NEXT STEP IN RELIGION

CHAPTER I

SUGGESTIONS

More than people are consciously aware, a new view of the universe and
of man's place in it is forming. It is forming in the laboratories of
scientists, the studies of thinkers, the congresses of social workers,
the assemblies of reformers, the studios of artists and, even more
quietly, in the cir