s is so, a whole span of past and
present has to be taken into account. The world cannot move a step
towards the heights of the future without this. The real future is the
blend of what _was_ and _is_ forming the standard and the receptacle for
what is _to be._ We have already noticed how such a standard [p.172]
evolves; and how, when it is followed to its utmost limits, it merges
into the conception of God. But as all this is a conception spiritual in
its nature--devoid of flesh and blood as its clothing--it becomes
extremely difficult for the majority of mankind to hold fast to its
reality in a world where flesh and blood mean so much. Something more
tangible is craved for by man as a proof of an over-world and of an
over-personal life. Such proof men are able to obtain in the great
religious personalities of the world without having to go through the
intellectual processes of discovering the grounds of religion. Men are
able to view this spiritual truth as they view a picture. It becomes
easy to understand how such personalities have been raised beyond all
human valuations to a likeness to God and even to an equality with God.
Such personalities were the highest conceptions which men could possess
of the Godhead. This seems to have been a necessary stage in the
evolution of the religious life as well as of religious conceptions. And
even to-day attention is not to be diverted from such personalities. The
question whether they were or were not gods has become meaningless. What
psychology is able to fathom the soul of any individual? Every attempt
at doctrinal formulation states less than was present within the souls
of such personalities. But, on the other hand, it does seem necessary,
[p.173] according to Eucken's teaching, to avoid confusing such
personalities with the All. They were great; they possessed elements
above the world; but none of them possessed the whole that is in
existence.

The truth concerning these founders of religion seems to lie in the fact
that they realised a depth of life beyond the world, the intellect, and
the span of ordinary life. It is this fact that needs to be brought
prominently forward in our day. And such a fact becomes an experimental
proof of the presence and efficacy of the Divine within the soul and
points to an upward direction the total-movement of the world. If such a
fact does not succeed in holding for itself a primary place, other
subsidiary facts will colour and weaken it