"[53]
Religion being subjective, according to Schleiermacher, there can be
interminable varieties of it. As we look at the universe in numerous
lights, and thereby derive different impressions, so do we acquire a
diversity of conceptions of religion. Hence it has had many forms among
the nations of the earth. There is in each breast a religion derived
from the object of intellectual or spiritual vision. Christianity is the
great sum resulting from the antagonism of the finite and the infinite,
the human and divine. The fall and redemption, separation and reunion,
are the great elements from which we behold Christianity arise. Of all
kinds of religion this alone can claim universal adaptation and rightful
supremacy. Christ was the revelator of a system more advanced than
Polytheism or Judaism. Only by viewing his religion in the simple light
in which he places it can the mind find safety in its attempts to seek
for a basis of faith. But, important as Christianity is, it will avail
but little unless it become the heart-property of the theoretical
believer.
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