AGNOSTICISM.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 83, 14 May 1914, Page 6

AGNOSTICISM.

To the Editor of THE SUN. Sir,: —It is a pity if any bones are broken, over this subject. * The term is humble and inoffensive, and means the knowing of. little .or nothing. The man, of reading, travel and reflection must' be forced to the conclusion that man in all ages and climes has been impress-, ed with a feeling of awe at the mysteries of this life —Job is only one of thousands : whose. min,d has ; been exercised , in oi-der to solve the problem. Conse- " quently, having received no information from; outside; man is bound to construct' a theory. What that will, be depends simply on the power of consecutive - thought possessed by the individual v coupled with experience; But every man in one way ■ or anothei; the attempt and that, which ,i$ nothing niore than' a' guess, is his religion. In other words, • our' rfeligioh 'is : jUst the reflex of our aspirations,-, and, man being structe.d—though of great variety—on the"same basis, it comes, as a. matter ! of course his must -be very similar. This was very ably shown in a ; series •of Articles appearing 7 every " month ; iii:, the., American Be-: view';'/not i]iany,years ago on the great religions of, the' world, written by the ablesi of those religions. I give a few of the resemblances alluded : to:—(1) There rwas ..a consensus of expression that it . was impossible to conceive of . the mysterious Beipg > who created fh'e world : and its inhabitants; (2) That there Wa-S I ' sfnnething wrong, ' and being done wrong, and that ■it was ■ difficult to escape , the idea . th,at. punishr ment must follow v (3) the. meiat could be lessened, if riot altogether . •averted, by 1 That sb iawfill '' and august was-the Supreme Power that an Ambassador was 'absolutely necessary in order to keep in touch with Him. I. , say these, are only a few of the semblances mentioned, but they are sufficient to allow us to assume that as our religions come from our breasts and not - from the heavens, we are warranted , in saying there is no true ..religion , amongst all these guesses, and that we may safely say that the only true religion is that which keeps us in good, health, and makes us [and those .around, us happy. v v, This is sensible, and would remove, all that bitterness which is shown w. between the professors .of different -religions. Mr Toots was not far wrong when he said' I '' There's nothing new and nothing true, and it don't signify, "-tv I am, etc., , : UNTVERSALIST. ;

[Letters to tha Editor -will also be found on page B.]