Religion and Science
9. A Last Word
~ 137 ~
powers of imagination. But if we are to judge by the
force and intensity with which religion has made its
way into the minds of the people, it is unthinkable
that it is purely a thing of the imagination. The
distinguished contemporary historian, Arnold
Toynbee writes:
If we set out to make a survey of the religions
that have been practised at different times and
places by the numerous human societies and
communities of whom we have some
knowledge, our first impression will be one of
a bewilderingly infinite variety. Yet, on
consideration and analysis, this apparent
variety resolves itself into variation on Man’s
worship or quest of no more than three
objects or objectives: namely, Nature; Man
himself; and an Absolute Reality that is not
either Nature or Man but is in them and at the
same time beyond them (p.16).
2
That is, history shows that from time immemorial
man has been pursuing the ultimate reality. Is it
possible that a totally imaginary notion can pervade
the whole of human history? Can any other idea be
