God Arises
Review
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Advocates of this course tend to argue that even if
religion is necessary for the inculcation of
discipline, belief in God should not be regarded as
compulsory. They feel that a godless religion serves
the same purpose. Citing Buddhism, they maintain
that, in the present advanced age; such a form of
religious structure is more suitable to the needs of
society. To such thinkers, society, along with its
political and economic objectives is itself the God of
the modern age. ‘Parliament is the Prophet of this
God, through which He informs mankind of His
will, and dams and factories rather than mosques
and churches are His places of worship.’
6
The study of religion, by the evolutionary method
holds it to be progressing from belief in God to
denial of God (e.g. Buddhism). Scholars, who
adhere to this view first collect all the material
which has been attributed over the ages to religion,
then, independently of those, whose approach is
essentially an internal one, they arrange this
material in an evolutionary sequence, intentionally
omitting any details which might cast doubt on its
validity.
