The Soul's Upward YearningSince the early twentieth century, scientific materialism has so undermined our belief in the human capacity for transcendence that many people find it difficult to believe in God and the human soul. The many signs of the widespread loss of confidence in our ability to soar upward were validated in 2004 by a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry that linked the absence of religion with a marked increase in suicide, meaninglessness,