First among these characteristic features of religious thought in the
West I would place faith in the solidarity of mankind. The origin of
this faith probably passes beyond our analysis. I should suspect that
there is a universal impulse stimulating this belief which I should be
inclined to regard as instinctive. Yet it has certainly found fuller
expression in the West than in the civilization of India or China. It is
possible to point to traditions, to philosophies, and to particular
events which have carried this faith in human solidarity deep into the
consciousness of the West. Dr. Prichard, whose scientific labours, we
were told in an earlier lecture, refuted the heresy of polygenism, was
moved to undertake his inquiries by a desire to maintain the accuracy of
the Mosaic tradition as to the common origin of mankind. It is a little
curious to reflect that illusory anthropology, accepted on the authority
of Moses and of Rousseau, the belief in Adam, and the belief in the free
and happy savage, have perhaps done more than scientific research into
primitive culture to maintain our faith in human brotherhood and
equality. We must not, however, attach too much weight to the story of
Adam. The Western sense of the dignity of ordinary manhood owes much
more to the great Stoic conception of humanity, as Mr. Barker reminded
us in his lecture on the Middle Ages. Perhaps even more significant is
the feeling for humanity engendered by regarding all men as the objects
of a common redemption. The poorest of men have been protected from
their fellows where they have been recognized as brothers for whom
Christ died. It would be worth while, if one had the time and the
knowledge, to follow the growth of this sentiment in modern times, to
trace the influence of the doctrine of Natural Rights, of the French
Revolution, of the philosophy of Comte, and of the Evangelical Revival,
upon its development. But whatever the sources and phases of its growth,
the existence and strength of this faith in humanity are undeniable. It
is this faith which compels us to refuse to think of Western
civilization as merely Western. For we believe that the West holds in
trust for mankind, not only a right knowledge of nature, not only a
correct scientific method, but also an essential conception of the worth
and unity of human life. Whatever we are to gain from the East, this is
one of the gifts we bring to the other half of the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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