Religion and Science
9. A Last Word
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pointed out which has made the same impact,
which has, in spite of being ‘unreal’, influenced
human psychology in such a thorough-going
manner?
2. If we were to abide by this interpretation, it
would be but natural if religion were the name of
not just one creed, but had a thousand
manifestations. If we regarded religion as the name
of a particular form of intellectual activity, then
every individual would discover it to the degree
that his own innate capabilities, his temperament,
his environment, and so on, made it possible for
him to do so. But if we take religion to be the word
of God, then we must concede that it has a definite
form, quite independent of subjective consideration,
on the basis of which the thoughts, words and
deeds of all mankind are judged in terms of right
and wrong. Thus the difference in the
conceptualization of religion makes for a
fundamental difference in its reality. On this aspect
of the question, Toynbee has this to say:
Different people’s convictions will differ,
because Absolute Reality is a mystery of
