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203 HISTORIC GROWTH OF MAN.
Inspiration, standing alone, is not sufficient to guide man. It requires Science to interpret its symbols, to formulate its laws and to show their practical connection with the material things of earth, and science has needed long centuries for its development up to that point where it could deal with spiritual laws and their physical embodiments. It was not until our own day, until the nineteenth century, that it became possible to study religion in connection with the laws of man's constitution, laws of the brain and the body. And that study has placed the whole subject of religion in a new and practical light.
In the first advent of modern science, many of its leaders tried to do negative work; tried to destroy ancient beliefs by reducing them all to primitive myths or the vain dreams of savages. Yet these same scientific men knew so little of the inner machinery of mental life that they could not for the life of them explain wherein a dream differed frown a waking experience, or how the will, through the brain, did so much as lift the little finger
The business of science is to explain, not to reason things out of existence; its work is constructive, not destructive.
We know through science that religion is connected with a definite part of the brain, at the middle of the top-head, as shown in the various charts. The great bundle of fibers reaches down from this and enters both of the brain centers, the motus and the sensus. Here in these centers the currents of nerve-force from the religious faculties meet and mingle with the currents which have come from reason, science,
SCIENCE AND RELIGION. 203
memory, art, appetite, commerce, rulership and all parts of the brain. And the returning currents carry all these varied forces back to religion. It follows as a necessary law of the brain that all of these faculties are affected by those of religion and that in turn religion is affected by all of them.
We therefore have no right to sunder the interests of religion from the other interests and work of society. We would violate a fundamental law of nature in doing that. The German socialists would separate religion, would have the general government not meddle with or touch it in any way. To prove their position right, they must show that rulership in the brain is not connected with the religious faculties.
The church, both Catholic and Protestant, has long taught that reason and science cannot deal with the questions of religion. If this is true, then God made a mistake ;-,lien lie connected these in every human
brain. If we adopt honest methods we can reason as successfully about the problems of religion as we can about those of food or of art, of commerce or government or any other questions that concern our life. In taking the ground it did, the church opposed not only positive science, but also the clear and direct language of the Bible.
in the royal arch
of the brain. It is located at the upper end of the minor axis, the great balancing line for all of the faculties. The major and the minor axis are the two
RELIGION IS THE KEYSTONE
