WHAT IS RELIGION? 293
has been called, and is called, Religion. And there- fore religion always has been, and cannot cease to be, a necessary and an indispensable condition of the life of a reasonable man and of all reasonable humanity.
That is how religion has always been understood by men who were not devoid of the highest (that is, re- ligious) consciousness, which distinguishes man from the beasts. The word religion itself comes either from relegere, religens, revering the Gods ; or, as has been commonly supposed, from religare, to bind (in obligation to the higher powers). The oldest and most common definition of religion is that religion is the link between man and God. ' Les obligations de Vhomme envers Dieu : voild la religion' (Man's obligations to God : that is religion) says Vauvenargues.* A similar meaning is given to religion by Schleiermachert and by Feuerbach,| who acknowledge the basis of religion to be man's consciousness of his dependence on God. 'La religion est une affaire entre chaque homme et Dieu ' (Religion is a matter between each man and God). — Bayle.§ 'La religion est le resultat des besoins de Vdme et des effets de I'intelligence ' (Religion is the outcome of the needs of the soul and of the effects of intelligence). — B, Con- stant. || 'Religion is a particular means by which man
- Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747),
author of Introditction d la Oonnaissmice de V Esprit humain, and of Reflexions and Maximes.
t Friedrich E. D. Schleiermacher (1768-1834), author of Der Chrisiliche Glaube and many other theological works.
X L. A. Feuerbach (1804-1872), author of Das Wesen des Christenthums (which was translated into English by George Eliot).
§ Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), author of the Dictionnaire historique et critique, which exercised a great influence, especially on the Continent, during the eighteenth century.
II Henri Benjamin Constant de Rebeque (1767-1830), politician, and author of De la Religion.
