acts to which he had become
accustomed. He added a creed to his cult. He did not associate his
moral ideas and habits with his religious obligations; these ideas and
habits grew out of the customs that had been found to work best in
social relations. Pagan religions were slow to develop any kinship
between religion and morals. It was among the Hebrews that the loftier
idea of a God of holiness and justice, who demanded right and kindly
conduct among men, came into prominence, and a few religious prophets
went so far as to declare that sacrifice was less important than
conduct. The fundamental teachings of Christianity were based on the
same conception of social duty and on the religious conception of God
as benevolent and loving, calling out loving fealty of heart rather
than external rite and sacrifice. In Christian times religion has
become a spiritual and moral motive power throughout the world.

304. =Church Organization.=--Throughout its long history society has
adjusted the organization of its religious activities to social custom
and social need. The church in any country is a name for an organized
system, with its nerve-centres and its ganglia ramifying into the
remotest localities. In the local community it binds together its
members in mutual relations, even though they live on different sides
of a city, or even in the suburbs. It has its relations to young and
old, and plans for the spiritual welfare of human beings of every age
through its boards and committees, classes and clubs. It presents a
variety of group types to match the inclinations and opinions of
different types of mind. One type is that of a closely knit,
centralized organization, claiming ecclesiastical authority over
individual opinions and practices on the principle that religion is a
static thing, a law fixed in the eternal order, and not to be improved
upon or questioned. Another type is that of loosely federated
ecclesiastical units, flexible in organization and creed, cherishing
religion as a dynamic thing, suiting itself to the changing mind of
man and adjusting itself to individual and social need. It is a social
law that both theology and organization conform in a degree to the
prevailing social philosophy and constitution, and therefore no type
can remain unchanged, but relatively one is always conservative and
the other always liberal, with a blending of types between the two
extremes. Denominational divisions are due partly to vari