In the preceding chapter it was shown that the first and most necessary consequence of creation, as far as man is concerned, is his absolute dependence on the Creator. It is a dependence that is much more universal and absolute than that of the new-born babe on the loving care of father and mother, or of others who may take their place. The child depends on its parents only partially, and for a limited period of its life; whereas the creature depends on the Creator for all it is and has and can accomplish, and at every moment of its existence. The child may, in course of time, become independent of father and mother; but the creature can never become independent of the Creator, for its very being spells dependence.
From this absolute and universal dependence of man on his Creator, we deduced the necessity of religion, on the ground that the very essence of religion consists in a free and practical acknowledgment of man's dependence -- an acknowledgment that finds concrete expression in a life of worship and virtue. Even as the child must reverence and love and obey the authors of its being and the preservers of its youthful life, so must man, as a creature, show reverent submission and render loving obedience to the God Who called him out of nothingness, Who sustains him in being, and Who helps him in all his undertakings. He must pay to God "with advantages" all the affections and signs of reverence which children pay to their parents; for he is the child of God, made indeed out of nothing, yet begotten of divine goodness and love.
If we now take this general conclusion of the preceding chapter, and view matters somewhat more in detail, we find that religion is both objective and subjective. The fact of man's dependence necessarily gives rise to certain duties, which he owes to God. These duties are manifold, as is the dependence from which they arise. Thus man depends on God as his sovereign lord, his benefactor, his father, the source of his being and the term towards which he must tend; hence he owes Him obedience, gratitude, love and adoration. These and similar duties, taken collectively, constitute objective religion, which, therefore, may be defined as the sum total of duties which man owes to God. This same dependence, to which objective religion owes its existence, requires in man a certain readiness to comply with his religious obligations -- an intrinsic disposition affecting both his intellect and will, and prompting him to act in accordance with his various relations to God; and this readiness, this promptitude, is subjective religion, which is commonly defined as a virtue that inclines man to give God the homage and service which are His due.
Hence religion, in its true and adequate sense, does not consist merely in feeling, as so many falsely suppose; nor does it consist in objective dependence as such; nor yet exclusively in knowing and believing: but it comprises all these various elements, and finds proper expression, as stated before, in a life of worship and virtue. It is an objective reality supplemented by a subjective condition. It is at once theoretical and practical. Theoretical, because it implies certain fundamental truths upon which its very existence depends; practical, because it must of its own nature enter as a principle of action into man's daily life.
Distinct from objective and subjective religion, though presupposing both, is religious practice, or the exercise of religion. This may be considered as religion reduced to act; or, taking it in the concrete, as human life itself shaped by the influence of religious principles, its nature is determined by the objective element in religion, or the duties which man owes to God; whereas for its perfection it depends upon the subjective element, or the virtue of religion, affecting man's intellect and will. This exercise of religion must proceed along two lines, which are interwoven, indeed, yet constitute distinct elements in human life. The reason for this is found in the fact that objective religion implies a twofold law, namely, the law of divine worship, and the law of morality. The former enjoins certain actions that have for their immediate end the veneration of God as the Supreme Being, such as prayer in its various forms, acts of faith, hope and love, and especially adoration and sacrifice; the latter bears reference to human actions in general, demanding that they be in harmony with the will of God, which is the supreme law governing all rational activity.
Reserving the discussion of the law of morality for the next chapter, we shall at present consider the law of divine worship, both in its theoretical aspect and in its practical bearing upon man's life.
Divine worship, as already stated, consists in acts that have for their immediate end the veneration of God as the Supreme Being, whether these acts be performed in accordance with a definite ritual established by competent authority, or whether they flow spontaneously from the private devotion of individuals, In the popular mind this worship is always more or less identified with prayer; nor is this view in any way erroneous, in as much as prayer is the very soul of worship.{1} Strictly speaking, however, the distinctive feature of worship is an expression of love and loyalty, which differentiates it from other acts of a religious nature.
To understand this important matter clearly, we must, at the very outset of our discussion, distinguish between the different kinds of worship, as conditioned by human nature. Man is a compound being, consisting of a visible body and an invisible soul. In virtue of his composite nature, he is capable of originating two different kinds of acts. Some of his acts remain entirely in the mental faculty from which they proceed, as thought and volition; others find outward expression in the body to which they are communicated, as speaking and singing. The former are internal, the latter external acts. Corresponding to these different acts, there are two kinds of worship; the one is internal, and consists in the unspoken affections of the soul, as she leans in humble yet confiding reverence upon the bosom of divine love; the other is external, and translates these same affections into vocal prayer, the singing of sacred songs, or into the imposing ceremonies of the Church's ritual service. Again, man is by nature both an individual and a social being. Though he has an independent existence as a rational nature, yet he is at the same time a member of society, on which he depends in a thousand different ways. Under both aspects he has duties to God, Who is the author of society no less than of the individual. Hence there results a second division of divine worship, which is either private or public, according as it proceeds from man as a private individual or as a member of society.
Now, all these different kinds of worship, internal and external, private and public, are for man a matter of the strictest obligation. It has, indeed, been contended that the duty of divine worship cannot be demonstrated, in as much as the worship of the creature is altogether useless to the Creator; yet this objection rests upon a false supposition, and is, therefore, without value. We do not worship God because we fancy that our worship is of profit to Him; such fancy would be foolish indeed, because as He is of Himself infinitely perfect and boundlessly happy, "He does not dwell within the regions of utility." The fundamental reason underlying divine worship is that to which St John pointed when he said: "Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power: because thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were, and have been created."{2} The creature's worship is indeed useless to the Creator, but this, notwithstanding, He is infinitely worthy of such worship, and therefore it must be rendered Him by the creature.
This being premised, we may now proceed to prove the proposition that divine worship is for man a matter of strict obligation. In doing this, comparatively little stress need be laid on that which is merely internal. Not that internal worship is of minor importance; on the contrary, it is most essential; for God must be worshiped in spirit and in truth; He demands the homage of faith and love and trust; but there is no special need of demonstrating such an obligation, as it is evidently implied in the general obligations of religion, which were established in the preceding chapter. If man is in duty bound, as was there shown, to submit his intellect and will to God, he must needs make acts of faith and love and trust; his mind and heart must rise in reverence and gratitude and adoration to the Author of his being: and as these acts are internal, the necessity of internal worship can evidently not be separated from the necessity of religion as such. Whosoever, therefore, admits that religion is a matter of duty, must also admit that man is in duty bound to practice internal worship.
Of course, in practice men not rarely fail to recognize even this evident obligation. There are not wanting those whose hearts never rise in gratitude to the God Who made them; whose affections never respond to the solicitations of divine love; whose minds never bow in submission to the Creator's sovereign majesty: but they are men whose moral vision has been so blurred by their absorption in worldly interests, that they have almost ceased to be human. They eat and drink and work and sleep, as do the beasts of burden that serve them, and like unto these same beasts, they limit their aspirations to the fleeting things of time. They revel in the gifts of divine bounty, and have never a thought for the Giver. Their lives are moral monstrosities, begotten of ignorance and passion.
More numerous, however, than these unsightly excrescences of human nature, are those other men and women, who, whilst they still bear God in grateful remembrance, yet fail to render Him the external worship that is His due. With some of them it seems to have become almost a fundamental principle, that God is satisfied with the heart; that He does not care about the external manifestation of religious sentiments. Hence they spend days and weeks without saying a single vocal prayer; whilst they keep the Sabbath only as a day of rest and recreation. That this class of people is very numerous, no one, who gives the matter serious thought, can fail to see. Reliable statistics show that of the ninety million inhabitants of this fair country of ours, scarcely twenty millions attend divine services on Sunday; and that the others do not make up for their neglect of public worship by private devotions, is sufficiently evident from the whole tenor of their lives. They have forgotten the prayers which they learnt in their childhood days; yes, forgotten even how to say: "Our Father, who art in heaven." And all this they try to justify by having recourse to the absurd supposition, that God is satisfied with the worship of the spirit.
To prove that any supposition which eliminates exterior expression of religious sentiments is absurd, and that therefore external worship is of strict obligation, it would be sufficient to call attention to the fact that it is practically impossible to separate internal and external worship. Soul and body are so intimately united that the affections of the one are almost of necessity communicated to the other. Can you rejoice or be sad, love or hate, be humble or proud, without giving some exterior sign of what takes place in the sanctuary of your hearts? Does not the human countenance interpret with unmistakable clearness feelings of shame and fear and anger? Yet fear and anger and love and hatred are affections of the soul, and find expression in the body only because of the close union that makes of the two component elements but one complete being. A mere thought, or simple resolve, may indeed be concealed from human eyes, but any internal act that appeals to human affections overflows spontaneously the source whence it took its rise. Now, can there be religious sentiments without affections of some kind? Or are religious sentiments essentially different from such as are merely human? Under given conditions they are indeed of a higher order, but that does not interfere with their effects upon the human compound. If love of father and mother can kindle the eye of the child, has not the love of God the same power in regard to His reasonable creatures, who are in very deed the children of his predilection? If human excellence inspires visible admiration and reverence, must not the greater excellence of the Divinity do the same? If inferiority of condition can give rise to humble deportment in human affairs, is there no room for exterior expression of humility when reference is made to divine Majesty? Common sense would make short work of such foolish suppositions, but the trouble is that in religious matters common sense is too often sacrificed upon the altar of passion. Men who say that they are satisfied with the worship of the heart are not likely to do much worshiping of any kind. They are too proud or too sensual to bend the knee before the altar of God on earth, and too earthly minded to raise their hearts to His throne in heaven. All their talk about the sufficiency of internal worship is but a sop to their outraged consciences. A certain wit very aptly expressed the moral value of all such proceedings, when he said: "These men simulate the nature of angels, so that they may with impunity live after the manner of beasts."
Whilst internal worship thus almost necessarily finds its complement in that which is external, it is in its turn wondrously intensified "by being blazoned forth in vocal utterance, singing, bending of knees," and other exterior signs of reverence. As a modern writer on the subject has well expressed it: " 'Worship mostly of the silent sort,' worship that finds no expression in word or gesture, -- worship away from pealing organs and chants of praise, or the simpler music of the human voice, where no hands are uplifted, nor tongues loosened, nor posture of reverence assumed, becomes with most mortals a vague, aimless reverie, a course of distraction and dreaminess and vacancy of mind."{3} It is for this reason that the Catholic Church, for example, has introduced such grandeur and pomp into her ritual ceremonies. The lighted taper, the curling smoke of incense, the inspiration of her solemn chant, and the organ's rapturous peal, carry the faithful soul upon angel's wings to the throne of God, "to whom," as St. John words it, be "benediction and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength, forever and ever."
Aside, however, from all psychological and physiological conditions, there are certain fundamental reasons that make the obligation of external worship quite clear to every unbiased mind. The nature of religious worship is determined by the objective element in religion, or, what comes ultimately to the same, by the nature of man's dependence on God. Now man depends on God not merely as a spirit, but as a compound being, consisting of soul and body; hence both elements must contribute to divine worship. Man's body is not so much inert matter, but is vivified by the rational soul, and, in virtue of this, is made to share in the privileges and duties of that same soul. It cannot, indeed, render homage to God independently of its vivifying principle, but conjointly with the same, it can contribute in a subordinate manner to such homage. Do not the folded hands and the bowed head and the bent knee speak of reverence for God and of submission to His sovereign Majesty. Is not the voice of His wandering children, as it rises in petition or praise to His throne of mercy, sweet music to the ears of the Heavenly Father? Ask a mother what she thinks of the fondling caresses of her child. Ask her whether she values the light of love that flashes from the eye of her child to her own. Ask her whether she feels no thrill of sweetest joy when her child utters that mystic name, Mother. Why, it is the very sunshine of her life. And yet the heart of the mother was fashioned to the image and likeness of God's own heart. Its longings and joys are but the sympathetic throbbings of God's boundless love. What a mother values in the conduct of her child, that God esteems in the worship of His creatures. Hence man is able to worship God by means of his body; he is able to render God external worship; and if able, he is also in duty bound: because the creature must glorify the Creator in accordance with its own nature; man must pay tithe to God for soul and body, by offering Him the love of the one and the obeisance of the other.
Again, the obligation of external worship follows necessarily from the fact that man is a social being. As God is the author of the individual, so is He also the author of society. It is because the Creator fashioned man in such wise that he can attain his perfect development only through communication with his fellow beings, that the family and the state and other social institutions took their rise. From God comes the authority that leads human society to its appointed end. He is the primary source of all just laws, and from Him they have their binding force and final sanction. On God, therefore, society depends, and that dependence it must acknowledge; yet such acknowledgment can be made only when citizen associates with citizen, and subjects with their rulers, in the solemn function of public worship. This public worship of its very nature postulates certain external rites and ceremonies, whereby all the members of society are enabled to act in concert, and thus pay tribute to the common Lord and Ruler. Hence even if man were not obliged to worship God externally as a private individual, he would still be in duty bound to render Him such worship as a member of society.
This matter may perhaps become somewhat clearer if we view it in the concrete. Let us suppose that the President of the United States were to visit this city in his official capacity as the Head of the nation. There is not one of our good citizens who does not recognize the Ruler's supreme authority, or who does not have the greatest respect for the bearer of that authority. However, on the plea that interior respect and reverence for superiors is sufficient, all agree that there is to be no public demonstration of any kind. Official notice of the coming visit is received; the papers publish it as any other news-item; but no arrangements whatever are made for the President's reception. At the specified time the distinguished visitor and his followers arrive, expecting to find the city officials and other representative men gathered in the station to bid them welcome. But no, there is no sign of any gathering. People are hurrying to and fro, as is always the case in important railway stations, but no one seems to concern himself about the President and his party; except perhaps to stare at them through idle curiosity. Then some of the visitors become indignant, and inquire what may be the meaning of it all? Why is there no formal welcome extended to the nation's Chief? They are told very politely, that the citizens are exceedingly grateful for the President's visit; he is most welcome to their fair city -- any one will tell him so: but as to public demonstrations, they seem entirely superfluous. The affections of the heart suffice, and every heart in the city beats for the nation's Head.
Do you think that such an explanation would satisfy the visitors? Why, they would consider it an insult to the whole nation, and the entire country would view it in the same light. Every newspaper in the land would issue extra editions to pour out its wrath upon the delinquent city. The mayor and high functionaries and leading citizens would be compared to savages of darkest Africa, but only to be ranked below them in matters of politeness and propriety. And yet why so much ado about nothing? Can the President expect to receive more consideration than the God whose servant he is? Surely the servant is not above the master. If external and public worship need not be rendered to God, how can the President of a nation presume to demand popular demonstrations? You may say that he represents the people, and in the slight put upon him the majesty of the nation has been outraged. That is very true; but is the sovereignty of a nation above the sovereignty of the God Who called that nation into being? Is not God the King of kings, and the Lord of lords? From whom does the authority emanate that makes the nation what it is, if not from God, Who is the source of all authority in heaven and on earth? Why, it is sheer folly, and involves the most glaring contradiction, to pay homage to earthly potentates and at the same time to set aside the worship of God. If God need not be worshiped by individuals and by society, then Anarchists and Nihilists are right when they refuse to recognize the authority of kings and rulers. They start out, indeed, with a false supposition, but in the application of their own principles they are perfectly logical. Take away the sovereign authority of God, and you destroy the very foundation of all authority on earth; refuse to worship God, and you stultify yourselves by paying homage to man.
Nor will it do to fall back upon the foolish notion of an absentee God, Who sits upon His throne of splendor in the high heavens, and leaves this poor, struggling world of ours to its own devices. He is more intimately present to the individual heart and to human society than ever earthly ruler was or can be to his subjects; for in Him we live and move and have our being. He is more interested in our welfare than the most loving mother can be interested in the welfare of her only child; though a mother should forget the son of her sorrow, yet will He not forget us; for lo, in His hands has He written us. He desires more ardently the worship of His creatures than the blushing bride longs for the caresses of her youthful lover; for He created us for Himself, and His glory He will not give to another. No, He is not an absentee God; He has not abandoned the works of His hands: but it is man who has turned away from his Creator; it is the child who has forgotten the love of his Father.
The duty, therefore, of worshiping God, is a plain and necessary demand of right reason. It is only gross ignorance or the sway of passion that can account for its neglect. Hence to the men of our own day are applicable those terrible words of the Apostle, uttered against the infidel and idolatrous Gentiles: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice: because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them. For the visible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable. Because that when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."{4}
{1} Regarding this, Dr. F. Hettinger has some very pertinent remarks. He says: "As religion consists in the recognition of God as our Creator and the end of all creatures, so its immediate and formal expression is adoration. Man naturally pays homage to real greatness, wherever found; he is naturally attracted by goodness and love, of which he is the object; he naturally admires genius in works which bear its impress. But God is the plenitude of Life, of Love, and Power; when, therefore, man reads His greatness in the marvels of creation, His love and goodness in the order of nature and the pages of history, His providence in the ordering of his own life and in that of others, then he falls prostrate, and exclaims with childlike awe, 'Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth!' He confesses that both himself and all things are from God, by his prayer, 'Our Father, Who art in heaven'; that all things live and move in God, and are sustained by His might, by the 'Hallowed be Thy Name'; that he and all creatures are destined to serve God here, and to share His glory, by the prayer 'Thy Kingdom come.' And as long as man is man, so long will religion endure, and, with it, the obligation of worship." Natural Religion, pp. 277, 278.
{2} Apoc. V, 9.
{3} Joseph Rickaby, Moral Philosophy, p. 193.
{4} Rom. I, 18-25.