all the contradictions of the world and beyond all the dialectics of knowledge.  It is a region which includes the good of all without injuring the good of any; and all the meaning of the world and of life is interpreted from this highest standpoint.  This is the essence of “characteristic “or specific religion.  On the level of “universal” religion, God was seen from the standpoint of the world; in “characteristic” religion the world is seen from the standpoint of God.  The appearance of the world is consequently different from each standpoint.  All must now be viewed and valued from the standpoint of “characteristic” religion, from the standpoint of the One—­the Godhead; and if humanity is ever to be brought to this standpoint, the nature and the meaning of the One have to be presented to it.  And it is this, as Eucken shows, which has been partially accomplished by the religions of the world.  Their founders were personalities who had scaled the heights towards the “holy of holies” of the One; they descended into the plains to reveal what they had seen and heard and experienced on the heights.  They had been able to commune with the Alone, and their natures had been completely transformed.  In passing thus from the stage of “universal” [p.157] religion to the higher stage of “characteristic,” men have discovered a further security and spiritual evolution of their whole being.  Their views of man and the world have become changed; they now long to make mankind the possessor of the “vision splendid” which has meant all for them.  Communion with the One as Infinite Love has revealed to them a peace and a power which are far beyond all the lower unities.

It is of value, in the midst of all the complexities of life, of the partial interpretations of the various branches of knowledge, to have passed through the several stages below the One.  Some must guard the highest citadel of religion and keep open the avenues to Infinity, Eternity, and Immortality.  And the greater the number who are able to do this, the better for the world and for the individual.  But a taste of this Infinite Love can be obtained without all this.  Just as some of us are able to walk without a knowledge of the bodily mechanism and to eat and digest without a knowledge of the history of our bread, so the deeper spiritual potencies inherent in man are able to find a vast amount of satisfaction by resting upon and trusting in a Love Absolute, Eternal, and Infinite.  Here, man is in a region of infinite calm beyond the distractions of the world and of knowledge.  He cannot remain here for any great length of time; he has to return to the world, but he is never [p.158] again the same being after having scaled the “mount of transfiguration.”  “Religion holds as certain and conclusive that this new inner foundation is the greatest thing of all and the wonder of wonders, because it carries within itself the power and certainty of the overcoming of the old world and the creation