CLAUSE XIV
People at a low stage of development are liable to think that they can arrive at truth by their unaided judgment and insight, and that they need not concern themselves with the thoughts and experiences of the past. Unconscious of any inspiration themselves, they decline to believe in the possibility of such a thing, and regard it as a fanciful notion of unpractical and dreamy people.
Great men, on the other hand, are the fingerposts and lodestars of humanity; it is with their aid that we steer our course, if we are wise, and the records of their thought and inspiration are of the utmost value to us.
This is the meaning of literature in general, and of that mass of ancient religious literature in particular, on which hundreds of scholars have bestowed their best energies: now translated, bound together, and handed down to us as the Canon of Scripture, of which some portions are the most inspired writings yet achieved by humanity. It is impossible for us to ignore the concurrent mass of human testimony therein recorded, the substantial and general truth of which has been vouched for by the prophets and poets and seers of all time. Accordingly, if we are to form worthy beliefs regarding the highest conceptions in the Universe, we must avail ourselves of all this testimony; discriminating and estimating its relative value in the light of our own judgment and experience, studying such works and criticism as are accessible to us, asking for the guidance of the Divine Spirit, and seeking with modest and careful patience to apprehend something in the direction of the truth.