Why did Matthew Arnold regard religion as necessary for culture and education?

Matthew Arnold regarded religion as the highest form of culture and an indispensable element of human life, maintaining that without it, all secular education is in vain.1

For Arnold, religion was not merely a set of dogmas but a vital necessity for interpreting and sustaining life, especially in an age of crumbling creeds. He believed that humanity could not do without religion, even though he argued that popular religious practices required modernization to align with the scientific and historical understanding of his time. By viewing religion as a fundamental component of the "best self" and a source of moral grandeur, he sought to integrate it into his broader vision of culture—defined as "the study of perfection"—to help society overcome the "anarchy" and lack of direction he perceived in Victorian England. Ultimately, he saw religion as a necessary force to humanize society and provide the spiritual depth required for a truly educated and civilized existence.123