72 Making of the Complete Citizen
to throw away, lest in their fall they should tear away some-
thing more with them.” By the application of the valid
method of scientific enquiry the religious consciousness has
become more untrammeled. That in the educated world
the nature of religion has become better understood intel-
lectually can hardly be doubted; whether among average
people religion is as powerful a motive as ever in conduct
is a question which it is more difficult to answer, perhaps
indeed it is unanswerable. The churches certainly have a
strong hold upon all classes of society in the English-speak-
ing world, and, in spite of the usual recurrent lamentations
within and without, they do not seem to have lost their
vitality. It is therefore important to consider briefly what
the Church does for the making of the complete citizen.
Just as the spirit of science, of beauty, of learning is em-
bodied in institutions which propagate it and afford oppor-
tunities for fellowship among those in whom the relevant
spirit is a controlling influence, so the Church in principle
is the universal fellowship of those who accept the Christian
faith. But this is an ideal which has never been realized.
Since the disruption of the sixteenth century, which we call
the Reformation, the ideal has been less visible than be-
fore. After that time national churches arose, but disintegra-
tion went further as in almost all countries dissent appeared,
and now in most European countries the divorce between
Church and State has become so absolute that recognition
has been refused by the State to any Church as being na-
tional. In a few cases even public worship has been either
disallowed or supervised, on the ground that the Church
had been exercising inconvenient political influence. But
in general, states have come to realize the difference be-
tween the Church as an institution, which if it interferes in
political affairs does so illegitimately, and as a society of