to resist hunting after shadows or slipping to a lower level when we are
in the very midst of the quest. And, indeed, on this very level of
"Universal" religion something besides the mere knowledge of religion
has taken place. Values which are intellectually true are bound to
exercise some influence on the life. Thus, something of the nature of
the higher reality has touched the soul and will of man. We _know_ in
what we have believed. This is a stage which must be passed through, for
we can never feel certain upon a higher altitude unless we are certain
of what had led to it. And although, on the higher altitude, there is
the merging of intellectual truth in something higher than itself, still
what is discovered on this higher level is richer in content if we can
call up at times intellectual affirmations for its support.

But "Universal" religion has its limitations, and has to pass into
something more characteristic, specific, and personal. The over-personal
norms, which are spiritual in their very nature, [p.150] have not only
to be interpreted, they have also to be appreciated and reverenced. The
_How_ of their appearance, after it is settled, takes a secondary place,
and the norms in their own value and subsistence are attended to. Thus,
they become not merely ideas having some kind of reality of their own,
but also become revelations of the very nature of the world; they become
the source of all creation; the one spring of all being. In other words,
they are made to mean the Godhead; they mean the creation and sustaining
power of all life. A communion with the Godhead now takes place, and man
finds himself in possession of experiences brought about without the
intervention of the world. Thus "Universal" religion culminates in a
"Characteristic" or personal religion. And to this culmination, as it is
presented by Eucken, we now turn.