Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page xxv
Introduction xxv with the spread of the light of secular knowledge, the so-called ‘light of religious beliefs’ gradually diminished into comparative darkness. In the early period of the Renaissance (15th Century), the activities of scientists generally remained confined within their own enlightened circles. A broad contact between them and the general public, as witnessed today, had not been established. Thus, their atheism did not much influence the society as a whole. However, when universal education was made available to the youth of advanced nations, things began to swiftly change in the wrong direction for religion. There followed an age of philosophy and rationality. Along with the sciences, new social and psycho- logical philosophies began to proliferate rapidly, particularly in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. As the new materialistic philosophies mingled with secular de- velopment and thought, they played havoc with the very founda- tion of religion, i. e. the belief in God. Morality is always governed and safeguarded by his belief in God. If this belief is weak and deficient or there is something amiss in it, then morality is influenced to the same degree. If for instance, the belief in God clashes with the secular understanding of nature and the dictates of common sense, then slowly and progressively the quality of people’s faith in God erodes with a correspondingly negative effect on their morals. For all practical purposes a society is then transformed into an atheistic one, however much individuals may remain believers in God. It is not difficult to determine this issue and to ascertain the quality of a society’s belief in God. The weaker the belief or the more deficient it is, the feebler its hold