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Day by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by day, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning enthusiasm, the quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, never to return. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is fading out of the human heart. The worn-out arguments fail to convince, and denunciations that once blanched the faces of a race, excite in us only derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the miracles grow mean and small, and the evidences our fathers thought conclusive utterly fail to satisfy us.

Robert G. Ingersoll#2

ReligionBeliefMiracles

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About this quote

What does it mean?
Ingersoll claims that religious fervor and belief in miracles are declining as people become less convinced by old arguments and ceremonies.
In plain terms
Religious zeal and belief in miracles are fading away as old arguments stop convincing people.
What can you take from it?
Religious enthusiasm wanes when traditional proofs fail to satisfy the modern mind.

Where it applies

  • analyzing religious trends
  • discussing secularization
  • critiquing religious practices

Putting it to work

  • evaluating religious claims
  • promoting critical thinking
  • observing cultural shifts

Questions to consider

  • Why do religious beliefs change over time?
  • What replaces faith when it fades?

Another view

It ignores the resurgence of religious belief in many modern contexts.

More from Robert G. Ingersoll

  1. An honest God is the noblest work of man.

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  2. While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the hopeful, loving and …

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  3. Reason, Observation and Experience - the Holy Trinity of Science - have taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is now, and the wa…

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