There  are  many  things  which,  at  first,  seem  to  lend
support  to  the  view  of  Professor  Max  Miiller  that
religion  rests  on  or  starts  from  the  conception  of
the  Infinite,  as  the  '  Beyond '  or  negative  of  the
finite.  Such  at  least  may  be  admitted  to  be  the
first  reflective,  form  in  which  the  idea  presents  itself
to  our  minds.  We  first  discover  the  Infinite  in  the
impossibility  of  being  satisfied  with  the  finite,  or  limiting
our  thoughts  to  it.  Just  because  the  idea  of  an  infinite
or  unconditioned  principle  of  unity  which  underlies
all  the  differences  of  the  objects  we  apprehend,  is  the
silent  presupposition  of  all  our  thought,  we  are  unable
finally  to  rest  in  any  one  of  these  objects  as  an  absolute
reality,  i.e.,  a  reality  which  does  not  need  to  be  referred
to  anything  else  as  its  source  or  explanation.  Hence,
even  before  any  general  idea  of  the  Infinite  makes
its  appearance,  we  find  traces  of  the  tendency,  of
which  Professor  Max  Miiller  speaks,  to  select  objects
of  worship  which  cannot  be  completely  grasped  by
the  senses  or  the  imagination.  The  physical  vast-
ness  of  the  heavens,  the  irresistible  strength  of  the
elemental  forces  of  nature,  may  awe  and  elevate  the
soul  that  is  not  yet  able  to  attach  its  emotion
except  to  some  outward  form.  Hence  the  worship
of  such  objects  may  indicate  a  stage  of  religious
experience  in  which  the  thought  of  God  is,  so  to
speak,  outgrowing  the  possibility  of  being  confined
to   any   object   whatsoever.      And   when   this   is   the


THE  IDEA  OF  THE  INFINITE.  99

case,  the  development  of  religion  may  be  expected
soon  to  bring  with  it  a  consciousness  that  even  such
forms  are  measurable  and  limited,  and  that  neither
they  nor  any  other  objective  forms  are  fit  to  receive
the  stamp  of  divinity.  The  divine  presence  vanishes
from  the  outward  world,  and  the  religious  consciousness
is  driven  out  upon  the  '  vague  and  formless  infinite,'
which  is  merely  the  negative  counterpart  of  the  finite
reality.  Thus  nothing  is  left  to  which  the  religious
sentiment  can  attach  itself  but  the  dim  idea  of  some-
thing 'beyond,'  to  which  no  form  or  name  can  be  given,
because  the  moment  we  attempt  to  define  it,  we  lose  it.
