display of these qualities
always lessens our respect for men and women, and still we attribute
them to God.

The earnest, sincere heretic is one of the greatest friends true
religion can have. Heretics are among God's greatest servants. They
are among the true servants of mankind. Christ was one of the greatest
heretics the world has ever known. He allowed himself to be bound by
no established or orthodox teachings or beliefs. Christ is
preeminently a type of the universal. John the Baptist is a type of
the personal. John dressed in a particular way, ate a particular kind
of food, belonged to a particular order, lived and taught in a
particular locality, and he himself recognized the fact that he must
decrease while Christ must increase. Christ, on the other hand, gave
himself absolutely no limitations. He allowed himself to be bound by
nothing. He was absolutely universal and as a consequence taught not
for his own particular day, but for all time.

This mighty truth which we have agreed upon as the great central fact
of human life is the golden thread that runs through all religions.
When we make it the paramount fact in our lives we will find that minor
differences, narrow prejudices, and all these laughable absurdities
will so fall away by virtue of their very insignificance, that a Jew
can worship equally as well in a Catholic cathedral, a Catholic in a
Jewish synagogue, a Buddhist in a Christian church, a Christian in a
Buddhist temple. Or all can worship equally well about their own
hearth-stones, or out on the hillside, or while pursuing the avocations
of every-day life. For true worship, only God and the human soul are
necessary. It does not depend upon times, or seasons, or occasions.
Anywhere and at any time God and man in the bush may meet.

This is the great fundamental principle of the universal religion upon
which all can agree. This is the great fact that is permanent. There
are many things in regard to which all cannot agree. These are the
things that are personal, non-essential, and so as time passes they
gradually fall away. One who doesn't grasp this great truth, a
Christian, for example, asks "But was not Christ inspired?" Yes, but
he was not the only one inspired. Another who is a Buddhist asks, "Was
not Buddha inspired?" Yes, but he was not the only one inspired. A
Christian asks, "But is not our Christian Bible inspired?" Yes, but
there are other inspired scriptures. A