Ends and Means in Religious Education 35
of brotherhood derive their inclusiveness from their moral
concept of deity; they embody a universal dimension of
breadth as well as depth at the level of ultimate commitment.
Moreover, they insist that spiritual progress is not self-sustain-
ing; transition from low to high religion, as well as creative
living in difficult circumstances, requires sacrifice.
A religious appraisal of the growth and maturity of per-
sonality is not justified in minimizing the persistence of nega-
tive factors in the moral life.14 Alienation takes place at the
highest levels of man’s life as well as at the more primitive.
It appears in the∣ individual’s relation not only to the deity,
but also to his own self and the community. The problems
with which the religious tradition has attempted to deal in
the doctrine of human sin have psychological as well as onto-
logical impheations. Alienation is of singular importance in
modern society as pressures from both within and without
the self make for its disintegration. Individuals experience
alienation at the deepest levels of conscious and unconscious
fife concerning both their highest ideals and the norms of
society. It is important to note that this is the case even when
the vahdity of moral judgment is denied. Religious educa-
tion has unique resources for the reconstitution of the self
in the experience of forgiveness and reconcihation. The full-
ness of growth and maturity is not possible apart from the
vital personal apprehension of both in individual experience.
Yet, the concerns of the religious life are fundamentally
positive. Faith and devotion are not motivated simply by duty
but by joy and love of God. Integration and wholeness of
life have their inclusive context from God’s intention for the
welfare and final beatitude of his human creatures. For the
religious man, integrity is not imposed on the self as the de-
mand of an arbitrary Providence, but is a response to the