Religion and culture in Arnold

Post-Enlightenment Culture: Decorum, History, Value. 'Religion says: The kingdom of God is within you; and culture, in like manner, places human perfection in an internal condition, in the growth and predominance of our humanity proper, as distinguished from our animality.' (Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy) To what, in your opinion, does Matthew Arnold give primacy: 'culture' or 'religion'? Arnold gives primacy to 'culture' in Culture and Anarchy, especially in the chapter entitled 'Sweetness and …

…this ideal ever be reached if the desire for expansion is endless? Surely it is paradoxical because if Arnold believes in the capability of infinite improvement, then there can be no end. We can always get better, but never be the best. This, however, is still no bad thing, as it means we should never stop progressing and evolving. BIBLIOGRAPHY Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, ed, J. Dover Wilson, (Cambridge University Press: London, 1969.) WORD COUNT: 1,521