Religion is not a popular error; it is a great instinctive truth

The words of Ernest Renan—“Religion is not a popular error; it is a great instinctive truth, sensed by the people, expressed by the people”—resound like a voice from the deep well of humanity’s collective soul. They remind us that faith is not a passing illusion, nor a trick played upon the masses, but a profound and instinctive truth woven into the very fabric of our being. For as long as men and women have walked the earth, they have lifted their eyes to the heavens, sought meaning in the stars, and whispered prayers into the silence of the night. This is no error, but a testimony of something greater than ourselves, stirring within the human spirit.

Renan, a 19th-century thinker and historian, lived in an age of skepticism, when many dismissed religion as mere superstition or the invention of the weak. Yet in this saying, he proclaimed that the persistence of faith across time and culture cannot be explained away as folly. If religion were but an error, it would have died with the empires that first bore it. Instead, it has endured, renewed itself, and risen again in every generation. Why? Because it is not imposed solely from above, but sensed by the people themselves, born of an instinct as natural as hunger or love.

Think of the ancient Egyptians, who built the pyramids not only as tombs for kings but as bridges to eternity. Consider the Greeks, who through their myths gave voice to the mysteries of nature and fate. Look to the Native peoples of the Americas, who in the dance, the song, and the offering honored the unseen spirits of the land. These were not mere “errors” of thought, but expressions of the instinctive truth that life is more than what the eye can see, that humanity longs for communion with the eternal.

History gives us another witness in the life of Joan of Arc, the humble peasant girl who believed she was called by God to lead France in its darkest hour. Learned men doubted her, powerful rulers mocked her, yet the people heard in her voice the resonance of something real, something sacred. Though she was condemned by authorities, her faith lived on in the hearts of the common folk. Centuries later she was canonized, her life a testament that what the people sense and express instinctively often proves to be the deepest truth.

Renan’s words also caution us against arrogance. The scholar or skeptic may dismiss religion as myth, but to scorn the faith of the people is to scorn the very instinct that has guided humanity’s heart through the ages. The peasant’s prayer, the mother’s hymn, the child’s whispered question about heaven—these are not errors, but glimpses of truth wrapped in the language of the soul. Religion is the people’s poetry, their philosophy, their cry for meaning, their embrace of mystery.

The lesson for us is profound: do not despise the instinct for the sacred. Within it lies a compass pointing beyond the material world, guiding us to live not only for ourselves but for something higher. If religion is sensed by the people and expressed by the people, then we too are called to give it form in our lives—through reverence, through service, through compassion. It is not the task of the elite alone, but of every soul who walks this earth.

Practically, let each of us nurture this instinctive truth. Take time to honor what is sacred, whether through prayer, meditation, or the simple act of gratitude. Listen to the voices of your ancestors, who handed down stories and symbols born of their search for meaning. Respect the faith of others, for though their forms differ, they too arise from the same human longing. And above all, let your actions—your kindness, your integrity, your courage—be the expression of the truth sensed by the people across the ages.

Thus, Renan’s words shine like a torch in the modern age: religion is not a popular error, but the heartbeat of humanity’s quest for the divine. To sense it is natural, to express it is noble, and to live by it is to join the great procession of souls who have, from the dawn of time, sought to touch eternity.