THE MODERN MIND 367
numbers they are not insignificant, and they are an exceed ingly important factor in their influence upon the intellectual life of the rising generation. In this group the tendency is toward vagueness and indefiniteness in their conception of the divine nature. God is regarded as a great influence or principle, the soul of goodness, truth, righteousness, beauty. But He is not clearly personalized. Perhaps there has been no more succinct expression of this idea of God than Matthew Arnold s memorable phrase " a power not our selves that make 3 for righteousness." To such minds the attribution of definite personality to God seems to belittle Him, and also to involve too many rational difficulties. So the idea hangs in the background of their minds as a sort of semi-luminous cloud beautiful but indefinite.
We can see now, I think, how there has come to be a class of men who exhibit a high ethical and social enthusiasm, while disclaiming attachment to any form of organized Christianity and any definite theological belief. It may be true, and probably is, that ethical enthusiasm involves implicitly a conception of and an attitude toward the uni verse which is essentially religious. However that may be, it is certain that under modern conditions there are to be found many ethical idealists whose religious presuppositions are too indefinite to receive an intelligible theological for mulation. This type constitutes an interesting psychological phenomenon of our present-day life. They are not " the moralists" who were the objects of such severe warnings from the old-time preachers. They are not men who are looking for individual salvation on the ground of negative goodness, or a formal correctness of life an attitude of mind which has certain fairly definite theological presup positions. The men of whom we now are speaking are striving for social salvation rather than complacently cal culating upon individual salvation ; and have as little patience with a negative and formal goodness as the preacher who is passionately pointing out the delusive character of " mere morality." They are enthusiasts, idealists, altruists. Their
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