Isaiah 44:17

And the residue thereof he maketh a god

Residual religion

The scene is one which we may describe as very childish indeed.

It belongs to the very earliest stage one might imagine of the thought of worship, The man who evidently lives under conditions by no means of the highest civilisation feels himself exposed to the natural inclemency of the weather, and to the pangs of hunger. He selects a tree, and because he needs food he breaks up the tree and kindles a fire and prepares his food. He then rejoices in the warmth of the fire that he has kindled, and he has satisfied two of the simple wants of nature. He has been hungry, and he has provided himself food. He is cold, and he has provided himself with warmth. But there is yet another instinct in his nature which demands satisfaction. He is conscious that he is a weak creature in the midst of a strange and wonderful world. Mysterious powers that he cannot fathom seem to float about his life, and to interpose their forces often to the derangement of his plans. And therefore, when he has satisfied those two simple physical wants, he takes the residue of the tree that he has cut down, and he makes it into a god. Thus it is that he satisfies three imperious desires and needs of his nature. Is it wholly untrue to say that there are many men who live after this fashion, that when they have supplied their own wants, when their body has been amply fed, when the conditions of their life have been cared for so that they are well provided with the warming comforts of life, then, out of the residue of their time, out of the residue of their money, out of the residue of their thought, they will, perchance, consecrate something to God? (Bp. W. B. Carpenter, D. D.)

Materials and principles of life:

There is one very common delusion which, if we will watch ourselves, we shall find that we are all of us more or less liable to. We confuse the materials of life with the principles which ought to govern life. The materials of life in this poor man’s case were very simple indeed. He is a man who can cut down a tree of the forest to make himself a habitation, and from the wood all round about him gathers what may be called the material of life, whether for the house or for the cooking of food, and these materials of life are such that you and I, looking back upon them from our refined and elevated position, say that they are very simple and very crude indeed; but he manipulates these materials after a certain principle. Given that we have different materials to deal with, and that ours is not the life of the forest and the dependence upon the forest, but that ours is the life of modern civilisation, with our railways and our telegraphs and our newspapers daily, with our opportunities of enjoyment in abundance, and with means of information in the multiplied books which are issued daily from the press. With all these things which constitute the material of our life, and with our occupations governed and guided by the principles of modern civilisation, it is possible that we may say--and we shall say truly--that the materials of life which we possess are far superior to the rude materials which belonged to that poor man’s life. But is the difference between one man and another to be judged by the materials which a man uses, or by the principles which he applies in the use of those materials? (Bp. W. B. Carpenter, D. D.)

Religion the all-comprising principle of life:

Is religion to be looked upon as a thing that you can separate? Or are you going to regard religion as a principle which is applicable to life, and applicable at every hour and in every place, and all through life? Was that old rhyme right that told us that the twenty-four hours of the day should be divided into eight hours for work, and eight for rest, and eight which are given to God; or was not that correction right of the man who said, “eight for toil, and eight for rest, and all for God”? Gounod had painted on his piano the head of the Christ, as if he would say, “Wherever I look before I compose, I look upon the head of the crucified Lord, and I know that the spirit of that Lord passes into me; and when I begin to compose my melodies, the music of His life penetrates my soul, and gives me the respiration. We should look into the face of God, understand the character of God, understand that He claims every human being as His son, and understand, therefore, that there is no bondage here, but that there is the freedom of the son, and the love of the son’s heart, and the desire of the son’s heart to advance the kingdom and the family of God. (Bp. B. W. Carpenter, D. D.)