The effect of all this upon individuals is a very interesting phenomenon
to watch. Every one of us has been touched by the pagan spirit which has
invaded our times at so many different points of entrance. It has become
an atmosphere which we have all breathed more or less. If some one were
to say to any company of British people, one by one, that they were
pagans, doubtless many of them would resent it, and yet more or less it
would be true. We all are pagans; we cannot help ourselves, for every
one of us is necessarily affected by the spirit of his generation.
Nobody indeed says, "Go to, I will be a pagan"; but the old story of
Aaron's golden calf repeats itself continually. Aaron, when Moses
rebuked him, said naively, "There came out this calf." That exactly
describes the situation. That calf is the only really authentic example
of spontaneous generation, of effect without cause. Nobody expected it.
Nobody wanted it. Everybody was surprised to see it when it came. It was
the Melchizedek among cattle--without father, without mother, without
descent. Unfortunately it seems also to have been without beginning of
days or end of life.
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