The Basis of Morality

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Basis of Morality by Annie Wood Besant, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Annie Wood Besant ISBN: 9781465538215
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Annie Wood Besant
ISBN: 9781465538215
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
I. REVELATION Must religion and morals go together? Can one be taught without the Other? It is a practical question for educationists, and France tried to answer it in the dreariest little cut and dry kind of catechism ever given to boys to make them long to be wicked. But apart from education, the question of the bedrock on which morals rest, the foundation on which a moral edifice can be built that will stand secure against the storms of life—that is a question of perennial interest, and it must be answered by each of us, if we would have a test of Right and Wrong, would know why Right is Right, why Wrong is Wrong. Religions based on Revelation find in Revelation their basis for morality, and for them that is Right which the Giver of the Revelation commands, and that is Wrong which He forbids. Right is Right because God, or a hi or a Prophet, commands it, and Right rests on the Will of a Lawgiver, authoritatively revealed in a Scripture. Now all Revelation has two great disadvantages as a basis for morality. It is fixed, and therefore unprogressive; while man evolves, and at a later stage of his growth, the morality taught in the Revelation becomes archaic and unsuitable. A written book cannot change, and many things in the Bibles of Religion come to be out of date, inappropriate to new circumstances, and even shocking to an age in which conscience has become more enlightened than it was of old. The fact that in the same Revelation as that in which palpably immoral commands appear, there occur also jewels of fairest radiance, gems of poetry, pearls of truth, helps us not at all. If moral teachings worthy only of savages occur in Scriptures containing also rare and precious precepts of purest sweetness, the juxtaposition of light and darkness only produces moral chaos. We cannot here appeal to reason or judgment for both must be silent before authority; both rest on the same ground. "Thus saith the Lord" precludes all argument
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
I. REVELATION Must religion and morals go together? Can one be taught without the Other? It is a practical question for educationists, and France tried to answer it in the dreariest little cut and dry kind of catechism ever given to boys to make them long to be wicked. But apart from education, the question of the bedrock on which morals rest, the foundation on which a moral edifice can be built that will stand secure against the storms of life—that is a question of perennial interest, and it must be answered by each of us, if we would have a test of Right and Wrong, would know why Right is Right, why Wrong is Wrong. Religions based on Revelation find in Revelation their basis for morality, and for them that is Right which the Giver of the Revelation commands, and that is Wrong which He forbids. Right is Right because God, or a hi or a Prophet, commands it, and Right rests on the Will of a Lawgiver, authoritatively revealed in a Scripture. Now all Revelation has two great disadvantages as a basis for morality. It is fixed, and therefore unprogressive; while man evolves, and at a later stage of his growth, the morality taught in the Revelation becomes archaic and unsuitable. A written book cannot change, and many things in the Bibles of Religion come to be out of date, inappropriate to new circumstances, and even shocking to an age in which conscience has become more enlightened than it was of old. The fact that in the same Revelation as that in which palpably immoral commands appear, there occur also jewels of fairest radiance, gems of poetry, pearls of truth, helps us not at all. If moral teachings worthy only of savages occur in Scriptures containing also rare and precious precepts of purest sweetness, the juxtaposition of light and darkness only produces moral chaos. We cannot here appeal to reason or judgment for both must be silent before authority; both rest on the same ground. "Thus saith the Lord" precludes all argument

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Cross of Berny by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book Life of Mary Queen of Scots (Complete) by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Kickleburys on the Rhine by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Transmigration of the Seven Brahmans by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book La maniere d'amolir les os, et de faire cuire: toutes sortes de viandes en fort peu de temps & à peu de frais by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book Our Changing Constitution by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book Yama: The Pit by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book Witty Toasts by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book A Forgotten Small Nationality: Ireland and the War by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book Wanderings in Ireland by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book His Life: A Complete Story in the Words of the Four Gospels by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Mastery of the Air by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Man Who Played to Lose by Annie Wood Besant
Cover of the book The Irish Sketch-Book by Annie Wood Besant
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy