The present age or epoch is not one of darkness, but of light; not of discouragement, but of hope. It is neither retrograde nor stagnant, but progressive to a degree never before witnessed in the history of man on so large a scale and involving all classes and so many people at one time.
Organized or institutional religion alone is on the wane. Evidence and utility are everywhere demanded. Nothing is sacred simply because it is old; nor true merely because it is dogmatically asserted so to be.
Holy books, holy men, and holy days are matters of evidence, and not of blind credence.
What will the new religion—the new revelation—be? and whence will it come?
CHAPTER XIII
THE SEPARABLE SOUL IN FOLKLORE
Belief in a separable soul in man is virtually universal. Such belief is found amongst the lowest races, and in the few instances where it has not been clearly discovered it is admitted that it may still exist and be disguised by the native meaning of words or signs that escape the explorer.
The universality of this belief has often been urged as an evidence of its validity and proof of the soul’s existence.