In this short “meditation” published in the North American Review, I highlight Robert Green Ingersoll’s sensible suggestions for The Church of the Future

“The church says, ‘He that hath ears to hear let him hear.’ I say: ‘He that hath brains to think, let him think.’ . . . .

Music is taking the place of creed, and there is more real devotional feeling summoned from the temple of the mind by great music than by any sermon ever delivered. . . .

Astrology was displaced by astronomy. Alchemy and the black art gave way to chemistry. Science is destined to take the place of superstition. In my judgment, the religion of the future will be Reason.”

from “The Tendency of Modern Thought,” Works of Robert Green Ingersoll, Vol 8.