A very simple analogy might indeed show him that even a literature
emanating from an all-wise, beneficent, and powerful author might
not seem perfect when judged by a human standard; for he has only
to look about him in the world to find that the work which he
attributes to an all-wise, all-beneficent, and all-powerful Creator
is by no means free from evil and wrong.
But this analogy long escapes him, and the exponent of each great
religion proves to his own satisfaction, and to the edification of
his fellows, that their own sacred literature is absolutely
accurate in statement, infinitely profound in meaning, and
miraculously perfect in form. From these premises also he arrives
at the conclusion that his own sacred literature is unique; that no
other sacred book can have emanated from a divine source; and that
all others claiming to be sacred are impostures.
Still another law governing the evolution of sacred literature in
every great world religion is, that when the books which compose it
are once selected and grouped they come to be regarded as a final
creation from which nothing can be taken away, and of which even
error in form, if sanctioned by tradition, may not be changed.
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