Calvinism - pagina 55

CALVINISM AND RELIGION. real object of adoration is

and remains a

— in

;

these different forms

all

religion fostered for

And

triumph over death.

at his

of this kind has developed

whom

god

it

in

order

and

and partly

who

order to secure good

in

the State, to furnish

for

also

monotheism, the

worships, remains invariably a god

tranquillity

it

even when a religion

itself into

order to help man,

exists

I

man's sake, aiming

his safety, his liberty, his elevation,

at

5

assist-

ance and deliverance in time of need, or to strengthen the nobler

and higher impulse of the human heart

ceaseless

its

struggle with

The consequence

sin.

thrives

among

in

time

is

and

that

feeble; but it

fails

to

all

such religion

pestilence,

the poor and oppressed, and

days of prosperity, it

of this

humble and the

the

degrading influences of

the

of famine

it

it

expands among

pines

attract

flourishes

it

away

the

As soon

as the

more

civilized classes

in the

well-to-do,

abandoned by those who are more highly

is

in

cultured.

enjoy tranquillity

and comfort, and by the progress of science

feel

more

and more delivered from the pressure of the cosmos, they

throw away the crutches of

religion,

and with a

sneer at everything holy, go stumbling forward on their

own poor

This

is

the fatal end of egoistic reli-\

becomes superfluous and disappears as soon This was the the egoistic interests are satisfied.

g4on; as

—

legs.

it

course

of religion

earlier

times,

itself

in

our

among

all

non-Christian nations, in

and the same phenomenon

own

century,

is

among nominal

repeating Christians

of the higher, more properous and more cultured classes

of society.

Now

the position of Calvinism

is

diametrically opposed

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