ABSTRACT
Religion is one of the great driving forces in human activity, both individually and socially. Not only does it give occasion for elaborate institutional assemblies, it also gives sanctions for a wide range of conduct. It provides a referent for the explanation of many events in human life which seem obscure and demand a meaning. It can even be appealed to for basic principles of interpretation of history and the existence of the world itself. It constitutes a system parallel to and in many ways opposed to the logical-empirical systems of science. Yet at many points it is gripped by human interest into situations which man attempts to handle by scientific techniques—for example, into those of illness, where medicine and the consolations of religion may meet. Historically, religion has been a source of obscurantism, of persecution, of cruelty, and of war. Yet with it have been associated some of the finest flowers of art. It has promoted philosophy through humility, self-examination, and the desire to push back the bounds of knowledge. It has led many men to do much for their fellows by the charity and love it may enjoin.
