reformation, or, at the very least, of religious transformation:
Buddhism is a memorable example of this; but it is not a return towards
the pure traditions of India or of Egypt which has caused us to know the
God whom we adore. Has the veil been lifted by reflection, that is to
say by the labors of philosophers? Philosophy has rendered splendid
services to the world. It has combated the abominations of idolatry; it
has recognized in nature the proofs of an intelligent design; it has
discerned in the reason the deeply felt need of unity; it has indicated
in the conscience the sense of good, and shown its characteristics; it
has contemplated the radiant image of the supreme beauty--still it is
not philosophy which has restored for humanity the idea of God. Its
lights mingled with darkness remained widely scattered, and without any
focus powerful enough to give them strength for enlightening the world.
To seek God, and consequently to know Him already in a certain measure;
but to remain always before the altar of a God glimpsed only by an
_élite_ of sages, and continuing for the multitudes the unknown God:
such was the wisdom of the ancients. It prepared the soil; but it did
not deposit in it the germ from which the idea of the Creator was to
spring forth living and strong, to overshadow with its branches all the
nations of the earth. And when this idea appeared in all its splendor,
and began the conquest of the universe, the ancient philosophy, which
had separated itself from heathen forms of worship, and had covered
them with its contempt, contracted an alliance with its old adversaries.
It accepted the wildest interpretations of the common superstitions, in
order to be able to league itself with the crowd in one and the same
conflict with the new power which had just appeared in the world. And
this sums up in brief compass the whole history of philosophy in the
first period of our era.

The monotheism of the moderns does not proceed historically from