ABSTRACT
Human obligation must have one of three objects— God, Oneself, One’s fellow-creatures. To these obligations we refer when we speak of moral duties, or, more shortly, of morality or ethics. It is possible, however, for morality to exist without Religion. There are schemes of human duty, which leave belief in God altogether out of account. The religionist believes that goodness is a link between him and God ; that it is a fulfilment of the destiny assigned to him with his spiritual nature ; that, created in the Divine image, he is brought by every just and tender and loving deed nearer in being to Him who is his example. Morality, then, gains in depth from the Religious idea. But it gains also in fulness. The morality that is based upon Religion must necessarily have one department exclusively its own. For the religionist, moreover, goodness is the Divine choice, an image of the Divine will and character.
