Now it would doubtless be easy to find elsewhere than in Cambridge
mathematicians of the first order who in our own generation are, or have
been, professedly anti-Christian in their beliefs,--although certainly
not so great an array of such extraordinary powers. But, be this as it
may, the case of Cambridge in my own time seems to me of itself enough
to prove that Christian belief is neither made nor marred by the highest
powers of reasoning, apart from other and still more potent factors.


_Faith and Superstition._

Whether or not Christianity is true, there is a great distinction
between these two things. For while the main ingredient of Christian
faith is the moral element, this has no part in superstition. In point
of fact, the only point of resemblance is that both present the mental
state called _belief_. It is on this account they are so often
confounded by anti-Christians, and even by non-Christians; the much more
important point of difference is not noted, viz. that belief in the one
case is purely intellectual, while in the other it is chiefly moral.
_Qua_ purely intellectual, belief may indicate nothing but sheer
credulity in absence of evidence; but where a moral basis is added, the
case is clearly different; for even if it appears to be sheer credulity
to an outsider, that may be because he does not take into account the
additional evidence supplied by the moral facts.


Faith and superstition are often confounded, or even identified. And,
unquestionably, they are identical up to a certain point--viz. they both
present the mental state of _belief_. All people can see this; but not