"Among these heretical bodies, perhaps the most prosperous and assertive is the Tenri Kyōkwai, that is say [sic], "The Church of the Heavenly Reason." Viewed from one side, it appears to represent in an intense form a reaction from the allegorizing tendency of modern Shintō scholars; but as will appear later on, it has by no means successfully resisted the influence of modern civilization. The story of the growth of this sect possesses much interest, not merely from the light it sheds upon the religious condition of the mass of the Japanese people, but also because of certain psychological phenomena which have been associated with it and which have exerted in the past and, indeed still exert, a powerful influence upon the religious life of Japan."