XI. PHASES OF UNREAL RELIGION. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. - ST. JAMES i. 26. IT is very evident that St. James, in this pas It is sage, gives us only one token of unreal religion. An unbridled tongue is certainly a mark of a frivolous or a venomous heart. well that we should keep this in mind. But, on the other hand, the man who keeps his mouth shut is not necessarily a saint. He may have nothing to say; or he may be simply astute, or a coward, or a gentleman. There are many marks of the hypocrite besides an unbridled tongue; and it is worth while to sketch some of the phases of unreal religion which are most current among men, and which, in many cases, are such good imitations that they readily pass as genuine coin. The relig ion of a man, if it be real, is such an allimportant feature of his character, such an all-compelling force in his life, the best things are so easily counterfeited, and our hearts are such subtle traitors, that we all have need to study the various forms in which unreality creeps into, and vitiates the religious life. Let me classify them under six heads, as follows: religion as a mask; religion as merchandise; religion as a decoration; religion as etiquette; religion as a caprice; religion as a question. I will not dwell upon the first class. I have too much faith in human nature to believe that religion is often used consciously and deliberately as a mask. Men continually veil their failings with fair names, but they are not apt to wear their religion simply as a "cloak of maliciousness." Even the Pharisees, whom Christ scourged, and immortalized into infamy, honestly believed that they were supremely and exclusively the righteous men of Jerusalem. They were actors, but they played their part so well that they deceived even them |