WHAT IS RELIGION? 305
as a labourer J an artisan^ an official,, or a merchant, he does his work. Just so do men in general, who, one way or other, have defined their position in the world, necessarily and naturally act in accord with that defini- tion (which sometimes is rather a dim consciousness than a definition). Thus, for instance, a man having defined his position in the world as that of a member of a nation chosen by God, which in order to enjoy God's protection must fulfil His demands, will live in such a way as to fulfil those demands ; another man, having defined his position on the supposition that he has passed and is passing through various forms of existence, and that on his actions more or less depends his better or worse future, will be guided in life by that defini- tion ; and the conduct of a third man, who has defined his position as that of a chance combination of atoms, in which a consciousness has been temporarily kindled which must be extinguished for ever, will diflfer from that of the two first.
The conduct of these men will be quite different, because they have defined their positions differently — that is to say, they have different faiths. Faith is the same thing as religion, only with this difference : that by the word religion we imply something observed out- side us, while what we call faith is the same thing, only experienced by man within himself. Faith is a relation man is conscious of towards the infinite universe, and from this relation the direction of his activity results. And, therefore, true faith is never irrational or incom- patible with present-day knowledge, and it cannot be its characteristic to be supernatural or absurd, as people suppose, and as was expressed by a Father of the Church who said : ' Credo quia absurdum ' (I believe because it is absurd). On the contrary, the assertions of true faith, though they cannot be proved, never con- tain anything contrary to reason, or incompatible with human knowledge, but always explain that in life which, without the conception supplied by faith, would appear irrational and contradictory.
Thus, for instance, an ancient Hebrew, believing in
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