The Empire was a political organisation, resting on military force.

The Church was a social organisation, made vital by a conviction.

The greatest fact in the intellectual history of the eighteenth century is the decisive revolution that overtook that sustaining conviction.

The movement and the men whom we are studying owe all their interest to the share that they had in this immense task.

The central conception, that the universe was called into existence only to further its Creator's purpose towards man, became incredible.