পাতা:সারধর্ম্ম-রাজনারায়ণ বসু.djvu/১২

the essential religion.

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constant eye upon the essentials of religion. We are apt to lose sight of them in mists of sectarian prejudice, partiality and passion. We are apt to forget them in the heat of religious discussion, in the distraction of philosophical speculation, in the excitement of religious delight and in the engrossment of ceremonial observances. We are so bent upon thrusting our own particular opinions om nonessential points of religion on others that we consider them to be essentially necessary for salvation. We are apt to forget that we ourselves are not infallible, that our own opinions on[?] all subjects of human interest were not exactly the same twenty years ago as they are now. We are apt to forget that all members of our own sect or party, if they frankly reveal their whole minds, do not hold exactly the same opinions on all subjects concerning religion as we do. We are apt to forget that the religious opinions of man are subject to progress and they will not be the same a century afterwards as they are now. We, Theists, have as much right to say that men of other religious, less advanced in religious knowledge than we are, will not be saved, as Theists who will live centuries hence will have of saying shat we, the present Theists, will not have been saved on account of our errors. Fallible man cannot with good grace be a dogmatist. We should be more mindful of performing our religious and moral duties and drawing men’s attention to those duties than dogmatically thrusting