Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/762

742 require a collection of data which has not yet been made. It has been said that men are deterred from wrong-doing much more by the fear of immediate punishment than by the prospect of a retribution which seems indefinitely remote. . Such, certainly, appears to a superficial view to be the state of the case; a keen observer of human life long ago remarked that because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. But who can read the deeper-lying motives of men? Who knows what profounder ethical direction is given to life by the constant contemplation of recompense beyond the grave? The history of human virtue and vice has unfolded itself, almost without exception, in the atmosphere of this belief. One noted exception there is—the early Semites, the Assyrians, and the Jews prior to 300, appear to have lived practically without recognition of the future, and it does not seem that their morality was inferior to that of other nations; we ourselves indeed must acknowledge that, so far as our practical life is concerned, we have something to learn from the codes of the prophets and the law. But it must be said, on the other hand, that the Jews of that time had a powerful ethical stimulus which is wanting in our time—namely, a vivid belief in the immediateness of divine interventions in human life, An experiment of a morality supported only by human sanctions has never been tried in modern times on a large scale. Nor can it be doubted that the belief in future retribution exerts a powerful influence on men's lives. Strictly speaking, however, this belief does not belong to the domain of religion. Its precise origin is doubtful, but it has arisen from man's reflection on his own life, and not on his relation to the Deity. Its relations with both religion and ethics are close, but it can 'not properly be said to represent an influence of the former on the latter.

It appears, then, that the real substance of man's ethical code has not been affected by religion. The belief in supernatural rewards and punishments, though it influences men's conduct, is not a moral force; it has no power to change the heart. The true salutary influence of religion on human life is found in the creation of divine ideals to be loved and imitated. Such an ideal is the embodiment of man's own highest ethical conceptions. Vitalized into a person, ethical perfectness acquires an independent power, attracting and stimulating us, lifting us up above the ordinary low level of our lives, inspiring us by presenting a goal to be reached, and encouraging us with the hope of divine aid. The standard of human achievement is expressed in the exhortation of Jesus to men to be perfect as God is perfect, and the proper emotional attitude in the Old Testament declaration that men are to love God with all the heart. Such a love toward God