Religion: Santayana's Testament

George Santayana, a wit once said, "believes that there is no God and that Mary is His mother." Last week the suavest living philosopher further compounded the paradox. At 82, he published The Idea of Christ in the Gospels (Scribner; $2.75), probably his most important book. It is also probably the most devout book ever written by an unbeliever: it suggests that' Santayana is a far better Christian, and scarcely less orthodox, than the vast majority of believers.

With it as its end product, Santayana's six decades of philosophizing may remind Christians of those tedious scientific experiments which in the end...

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