Meanwhilethepracticalneedsandexperiencesofreligionseemtomesufficientlymetbythebeliefthatbeyondeachmanandinafashioncontinuouswithhimthereexistsalargerpowerwhichisfriendlytohimandtohisideals。Allthatthefactsrequireisthatthepowershouldbebothotherandlargerthanourconsciousselves。Anythinglargerwilldo，ifonlyitbelargeenoughtotrustforthenextstep。Itneednotbeinfinite，itneednotbesolitary。Itmightconceivablyevenbeonlyalargerandmoregodlikeself，ofwhichthepresentselfwouldthenbebutthemutilatedexpression，andtheuniversemightconceivablybeacollectionofsuchselves，ofdifferentdegreesofinclusiveness，withnoabsoluteunityrealizedinitatall。[364]Thuswouldasortofpolytheismreturnuponus——apolytheismwhichIdonotonthisoccasiondefend，formyonlyaimatpresentistokeepthetestimonyofreligiousexperienceclearlywithinitsproperbounds。[Comparep。130above。]
SuchanotionissuggestedinmyIngersollLectureOnHumanImmortality，BostonandLondon，1899。
Upholdersofthemonisticviewwillsaytosuchapolytheismwhich，bytheway，hasalwaysbeentherealreligionofcommonpeople，andissostillto-daythatunlesstherebeoneall-inclusiveGod，ourguaranteeofsecurityisleftimperfect。
IntheAbsolute，andintheAbsoluteonly，ALLissaved。Iftherebedifferentgods，eachcaringforhispart，someportionofsomeofusmightnotbecoveredwithdivineprotection，andourreligiousconsolationwouldthusfailtobecomplete。Itgoesbacktowhatwassaidonpages129-131，aboutthepossibilityoftherebeingportionsoftheuniversethatmayirretrievablybelost。Commonsenseislesssweepinginitsdemandsthanphilosophyormysticismhavebeenwonttobe，andcansufferthenotionofthisworldbeingpartlysavedandpartlylost。Theordinarymoralisticstateofmindmakesthesalvationoftheworldconditionaluponthesuccesswithwhicheachunitdoesitspart。Partialandconditionalsalvationisinfactamostfamiliarnotionwhentakenintheabstract，theonlydifficultybeingtodeterminethedetails。Somemenareevendisinterestedenoughtobewillingtobeintheunsavedremnantasfarastheirpersonsgo，ifonlytheycanbepersuadedthattheircausewillprevail——allofusarewilling，wheneverouractivity-excitementrisessufficientlyhigh。Ithink，infact，thatafinalphilosophyofreligionwillhavetoconsiderthepluralistichypothesismoreseriouslythanithashithertobeenwillingtoconsiderit。Forpracticallifeatanyrate，theCHANCEofsalvationisenough。Nofactinhumannatureismorecharacteristicthanitswillingnesstoliveonachance。Theexistenceofthechancemakesthedifference，asEdmundGurneysays，betweenalifeofwhichthekeynoteisresignationandalifeofwhichthekeynoteishope。[365]Butallthesestatementsareunsatisfactoryfromtheirbrevity，andIcanonlysaythatI
hopetoreturntothesamequestionsinanotherbook。