,making of ,america collection of the   
,university of ,michigan ,libraries     
7http3_/_/www4hti4umich4edu_/m_/moagrp_/
7    ,note3 ,images of the original     
pages are available through the ,making 
of ,america collection of the           
,university of ,michigan ,libraries4    
,see                                    
http3_/_/www4hti4umich4edu_/cgi_/t_/text
_/text-idx8cmoa2idno,,ajf#bici4jjja4jja 
,a ,,comparative ,,view ,,of            
,,religions4  ,translated from the      
,dutch of  ,j4 ,h4 ,,scholten1          
,professor at ,leyden1  by ,francis ,t4 
,washburn4        ,reprinted by         
permission from ,the ,religious         
,magazine and ,monthly ,review4 ,boston3
 ,crosby  ,damrell1 #ajj ,washington    
,st4 #ahgj4     ,a ,,comparative ,,view 
,,of ,,religions4     ,,introduction4#a 
,the conception of religion presupposes1
 a1 ,god as object2 b1 man as subject2  
c1 the mutual relation existing between 
them4 ,according to the various stages  
of development which men have reached1  

religious belief manifests itself either
 in the form of a passive feeling of    
dependence1 where the subject1 not yet  
conscious of his independence1 feels    
himself wholly overmastered by the      
deity1 or the object of worship1 as by a
 power outside of and opposed to        
himself2 or1 when the feeling of        
independence has awakened1 in a         
one-sided elevation of the human1       
whereby man in worshiping a deity       
deifies himself4 ,in the highest stage  
of religious development1 the most      
entire feeling of dependence is united  
in religion with the strongest          
consciousness of personal independence4 
,the first of these forms is exhibited  
in the fetich and nature-worship of the 
ancient nations2 the second in          
,buddhism1 and in the deification of the
 human1 which reaches its full height   
among the ,greeks4 ,the true religion1  
prepared in ,israel1 is the ,christian1 
in which man1 grown conscious of his    
oneness with ,god1 is ruled by the      

divine as an inner power of life1 and   
acts spontaneously and freely while in  
the fullest dependence upon ,god4 ,since
 ,christ1 no more perfect religion has  
appeared4 ,what is true and good in     
,islamism was borrowed from ,israel and 
,christianity4  ,although it is probable
 that every nation passed through       
different forms of religious belief     
before its religion reached its highest 
development1 yet the earlier periods lie
 in great part beyond the reach of      
historical investigation4 ,the history  
of religion1 therefore1 has for its task
 the review of the various forms of     
religion with which we are historically 
acquainted1 in the order of             
psychological development4     ,,chapter
 ,i4  ,,fetichism4 ,,the ,,chinese4     
,,the ,,egyptians4   #a4 ,,fetichism4   
,the lowest stage of religious          
development is fetichism1 as it is found
 among the savage tribes of the polar   
regions1 and in ,africa1 ,america1 and  
,australia4 ,in this stage1 man's needs 

are as yet very limited and exclusively 
confined to the material world4 ,still  
too little developed intellectually to  
worship the divine in nature and her    
powers1 he thinks he sees the divinity  
which he seeks in every unknown object  
which strikes his senses1 or which his  
imagination calls up4 ,in this stage1   
religion has no higher character than   
that of caprice and of love of the      
mysterious and marvelous1 mixed with    
fear and a slavish adoration of the     
divine4 ,the worship and the priest's   
office 7,shaman1 ,shamanism7 consist    
here chiefly in the use of charms1 to   
exorcise a dreaded power4 ,from this    
savage fetichism the nature-worship     
found among the ,aztecs in ,mexico1 and 
the worship of the sun in ,peru1 are    
distinguished by the greater            
definiteness and order of their         
religious conceptions and usages4 ,in   
them the gods have names1 and an        
ordained priesthood cares for the       
religious interests of the people4 ,the 

highest form to which fetichism has     
attained is the worship of ,manitou1 the
 great spirit1 which is found among the 
ancient tribes of ,north ,america4   #b4
 ,,the ,,chinese4  ,when man reaches a  
higher development1 caprice and chance  
disappear from religion4 ,having        
outgrown fetichism1 man begins1 as is   
the case among the ,chinese1 to         
distinguish in the world around him an  
active and a passive principle1 force   
and matter 7,yang and ,yn71 heaven and  
earth 7,kien and ,kouen74 ,we have here 
nature-worship in its beginnings4 ,in   
this stage1 even less than in fetichism1
 is there a definite idea of ,god1 much 
less a conception of him as personal and
 spiritual lord4 ,the ,chinese1 from the
 practical1 empirical point of view     
peculiar to him1 recognizes the         
spiritual only in man and chiefly in the
 state4 ,his religion1 therefore1 is    
confined exclusively to the faithful    
keeping of the laws of the state 7the   
,celestial ,kingdom71 in which he sees  

the reflection of heaven1 to the        
recognition of the ,emperor as the son  
and representative of heaven1 and to the
 worship of the forefathers1 especially 
of the great men and departed emperors1 
to whose memory the ,chinese temples1 or
 pagodas1 are dedicated4 ,the origin of 
this religion dates1 according to the   
tradition1 from ,fo-hi 7#biej ,b4,c471  
the founder of the ,chinese state4 ,in  
the fifth century before ,christ1       
,kong-tse1 or ,kong-fu-tse 7,confucius71
 appeared as a reformer of the religion 
of his countrymen1 and gathered the     
ancient records and traditions of his   
people into a sacred literature1 which  
is known by the name of the ,king 7the  
books71 ,yo-,king 7the book of nature71 
,chu-,king 7the book of history71       
,chi-,king 7the book of songs74 ,the    
contents of the ,king became later with 
the ,chinese sages ,meng-tse 7#cfj      
,b4,c47 and ,tschu-tsche 7#abjj ,a4,d47 
an object of philosophical speculation4 
,the doctrine of ,lao-tse1 the younger  

contemporary of ,kong-tse1 which lays   
down as the basis of the world1 that is 
of the unreal or non-existent1 a supreme
 principle1 ,tao1 or ,being1 corresponds
 with the ,brahma doctrine of the       
,indians1 among whom he lived for a long
 time2 but this doctrine never became   
popular in ,china4   #c4 ,,the          
,,egyptians4  ,the worship of nature1   
which is seen in its beginnings among   
the ,chinese1 exhibits itself among the 
,egyptians in a more developed form as  
theogony4 ,here also the reflecting mind
 rose to the recognition of two         
fundamental principles1 the producing   
and the passive power of nature1 ,kneph 
and ,neith1 from which sprang           
successively the remaining powers of    
nature1 time1 air1 earth1 light and     
darkness1 personified by the fantasy of 
the people into as many divinities4 ,the
 ,egyptian mythology also 7none has as  
yet been discovered among the ,chinese7 
exhibits a like character4 ,fruitfulness
 and drought1 the results of the ,nile's

 overflowing and receding1 are imaged in
 the myth of ,osiris1 ,isis1 and        
,typhon4 ,the visible form under which  
the divine was worshiped in ,egypt was  
the sacred animal1 the bull ,apis1      
dedicated to ,osiris1 the cow1 dedicated
 to ,isis1 as symbols of agriculture2   
the bird ,ibis1 the crocodile1 the dog  
,anubis1 and other animals1 whose       
physical characteristics impressed the  
as yet childish man1 who saw in them the
 symbol1 either of the beneficent power 
of nature which moved him to            
thankfulness1 or of a destructive power 
which he dreaded and whose anger he     
sought to avert4 ,the religion of ,egypt
 was not of a purely spiritual          
character4 ,to the man whose eye is not 
yet open to the manifestation of the    
spiritual around him and in him1 the    
divine is not spirit1 but as yet only   
nature4 ,the animal1 although in the    
form of the sphinx approaching the      
human1 holds in ,egyptian art a place   
above the human as symbol of the divine4

     ,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,the ,,arian     
,,nations4   #a4 ,,the ,,east ,,arians4 
,,the ,,indians4  ,in the development of
 religion among the ,indians1 the       
following periods may be                
distinguished3--     a4 ,the original   
,veda-religion4     b4 ,the priestly    
religion of the ,brahmins4     c4 ,the  
philosophical speculation4     d4       
,buddhism4     e4 ,the modified         
,brahminism after ,buddha1 in connection
 with the    worship of ,vishnu and     
,siva4   a4 ,the original               
,veda-religion4  ,the original religion 
of ,arya originated in ,bactria4 ,from  
thence1 before the time of ,zoroaster1  
it was brought over1 with the great     
migration of the people1 to the land of 
the seven rivers1 which they conquered1 
and which stretched from the ,indus to  
the ,hesidrus4 ,it consisted1 according 
to the oldest literature of the ,veda1  
in a polytheistical worship of the      
divine1 either as the beneficent or the 
baneful power of nature4 ,the clear1    

blue sky1 the light of the sun1 the rosy
 dawn1 the storm that spends itself in  
fruitful rain1 the winds and gales which
 drive away the clouds1 the rivers whose
 fruitful slime overspreads the         
fields1--these moved the inhabitants of 
,india to the worship of the divine as  
the beneficent power of nature which    
blesses man4 ,on the other hand1 he     
changed under the impression of the     
harmful phenomena of nature1 the dark   
and close-packed clouds which hold back 
the rain and intercept the sunshine1 the
 parching heat of summer1 which dries up
 the rivers and hinders growth and      
fruitfulness1 and these also he erected 
into objects of awe and religious       
adoration4 ,from this view of nature    
sprang the ,indian mythology4 ,the      
oldest divinity 7,deva7 of the ,indians 
is ,varuna1 the all-embracing heaven1   
who marks out their courses for the     
heavenly luminaries1 who rules the day  
and the night1 who is lord of life and  
death1 whose protection is invoked1     

whose anger deprecated4 ,after him1 the 
great ruler of nature1 there appear1 in 
the ,veda hymns1 ,indra1 the blue sky1  
god of light and thunder1 the warrior   
who in battle stands beside the         
combatants2 ,vayu1 the god of the wind1 
the chief of the ,maruts1 or the winds2 
,rudra1 the god of the hurricane2       
,vritra1 the hostile god of the clouds2 
,ahi1 the parching heat of summer4 ,in  
the mythology of the people1 ,indra1 god
 of light1 aided by ,vayu and ,rudra1   
wages war with ,vritra1--who1 as god of 
the clouds1 holds back the rain and the 
light1--and appears as opponent of the  
destructive ,ahi4 ,the other divinities 
also which appear in the ,vedas are     
personified powers of nature1--the twin 
brothers ,aswins 7equites71 or the first
 rays of the sun1 ,ushas the maiden1 or 
the rosy dawn1 ,surya1 ,savitri1 the god
 of the sun4 ,great significance is     
given in the ,indian mythology to ,agni1
 the god of fire1 who burns the         
sacrifice in honor of the gods1 who     

conveys the offerings and prayers of men
 to gods and their gifts to men1 who    
gladdens the domestic hearth1 lights up 
the darkness of night1 drives away the  
evil spirits1 the ,ashuras and ,rakshas1
 and purges of evil the souls of men4   
,religion1 still wholly patriarchal in  
form1 and free from hierarchical        
constraint and from the later dogmatic  
narrowness1 bore in this earlier stage  
of its development the character of the 
still free and warlike life of a nomadic
 people living in the midst of a sublime
 nature1 where everything1 the clear    
sky1 sunshine1 and boisterous storm1    
mountains and rivers1 disposed to       
worship4 ,as yet the ,indian knew no    
close priestly caste4 ,worship consisted
 in prayers and offerings1 especially in
 the ,soma-offering1 which was offered  
as food to the gods4 ,no fear of future 
torment after death as yet embittered   
the enjoyment of life and made dying    
fearful4 ,yama was the friendly guide of
 the souls of heroes to the heaven of   

,indra or ,varuna1 and not yet the      
inexorable prince of hell who tormented 
the souls of the ungodly in the kingdom 
of the dead4 ,of later barbarous usages 
also1 such as the widow's sacrificing   
herself on the funeral pile of her      
departed husband1 there was as yet no   
trace2 and in the heroic poetry1 as yet 
not disfigured by later ,brahminical    
alterations and additions1 the heroes   
,krishna and ,rama appear as types of   
courage and self-sacrifice1 and not1 as 
later1 as avatars1 or human             
incarnations1 of the deity4   b4        
,brahminism4  ,when the nomadic and     
warlike life of the nations of ,india in
 the land of the seven rivers1 in       
connection with their removal to the    
conquered land of the ,ganges 7#acjj    
,b4,c471 gave place to a more ordered   
social constitution1 a priestly class   
formed itself1 which began to represent 
the people before the deity1 and from   
its chief function1 ,brahma1 or prayer1 
took the name of ,brahmins1 i4e41 the   

praying4 ,this ,brahma1 before whose    
power even the gods must yield1 was     
gradually exalted by the ,brahmins to   
the highest deity1 to whom1 under the   
name of ,brahma1 the old ,veda          
divinities were subordinated4 ,brahma is
 no god of the people1 but a god of the 
priests2 not the lord of nature1 but the
 abstract and impersonal ,being1 out of 
whom nature and her phenomena emanate4  
,from ,brahma the priest derives his    
authority2 and the system of caste1 by  
which the priesthood is raised to the   
first rank1 its origin4 ,the worship of 
,brahma consists in doing penance and in
 abstinence4 ,yama1 once a celestial    
divinity1 now becomes the god of the    
lower world1 where he who disobeys      
,brahma is tormented after death4       
,immortality consists in returning to   
,brahma2 but is the portion only of the 
perfectly godly ,brahmin1 while the rest
 of mankind can rise to this perfect    
state only after many painful new       
births4 ,the ,brahmin1 in the exclusive 

possession of religious knowledge1 reads
 and expounds the ,vedas 7knowledge71   
exalted to infallible scripture1 and on 
them constructs his doctrine4  ,thus the
 once vigorous1 natural life of the     
,indians gave place to a conception of  
the world which repressed the soul1 and 
annihilated man's personality4 ,the     
many-sidedness of the earlier theology  
resolved itself into the abstract unity 
of an impersonal ,all1 and thus the     
glory of nature passed by unmarked1 as  
nought or non-existent1 and lost its    
charm4 ,at the same time1 the old heroic
 sagas were displaced by legends of     
saints1 and the heroic spirit of the    
olden epic by an asceticism which       
repressed the human1 and before whose   
power even the gods stood in awe4 ,with 
,brahminism the religion lost its       
original and natural character1 and     
became characterized by a slavish       
submission to a priesthood1 which       
abrogated the truly human4   c4 ,the    
,speculative ,systems4  ,the doctrine of

 the ,brahmins occasioned the rise of   
various theological and philosophical   
systems4 ,to these belong1 first1 the   
,vedanta1 7end of the ,veda7 or the     
dogmatic-apologetic exposition of the   
,veda4 ,this contains 7#a7 the          
establishment of the authority of the   
,veda as holy scripture revealed by     
,brahma1 and also of the relation in    
which it stands to tradition2 7#b7 the  
proof that everything in the ,veda has  
reference to ,brahma2 7#c7 the ascetic  
system1 or the discipline4 ,to explain  
contradictory statements in the older   
and later parts of the ,veda1           
,brahminical learning makes use of the  
subtleties of an harmonistical method of
 interpretation4 ,second1 the ,mimansa  
7inquiry71 devoted to the solution of   
the problem1 ,how can the material world
 spring from ,brahma1 or the immaterial8
 ,according to this system1 there is    
only one ,supreme ,being1 ,paramatma1 a 
name by which ,brahma himself had been  
already distinguished in ,manu's book of

 law4 ,outside of this highest ,being1  
there is nothing real4 ,the world of    
sense1 or nature1 7,maya1 the female    
side of ,brahma71 is mere seeming and   
illusion of the senses4 ,the human      
spirit is a part of ,brahma1 but        
perverted1 misled by this same illusion 
to the conceit that he is individual4   
,this illusion is done away with by a   
deeper insight1 by means of which the   
dualism vanishes from the wise man's    
view1 and the conceit gives place to the
 true knowledge that ,brahma alone      
really exists1 that nature1 on the      
contrary1 is nought1 and the human      
spirit nothing else than ,brahma        
himself4 ,third1 the ,sankya 7criticism7
 originating with ,kapila1 in which1 in 
opposition to the ,mimansa1 the         
individual being and the real existence 
of nature1 in opposition to spirit1 is  
laid down as the starting-point1 and the
 result reached is the doctrine of two  
original forces1 spirit and nature1 from
 whose reciprocal action and reaction   

upon each other the union of soul and   
body is to be explained4 ,is this union 
unnatural1 then the effort of the wise  
man should be to free himself1 through  
the perception that the soul is not     
bound to the body1 from the dominion of 
matter4 ,in this system1 there is no    
room for an infinite being1 for1 if a   
material world exist1 then must ,god be 
limited by its existence1 and therefore 
cease to be infinite1 that is ,god4 ,the
 ,sankya philosophy here came in        
conflict with the orthodox doctrine of  
the ,brahmins1 and prepared the way for 
,buddhism4   d4 ,buddhism4  ,against    
,brahminism ,buddhism arose as a        
reaction4 ,siddharta1 son of            
,suddhodana1 the ,king of ,kapilavastu1 
of the family of the ,sakya1 7about #dej
 ,b4,c47 moved by the misery of his     
fellow-countrymen1 determined to examine
 into the causes of it1 and1 if         
possible1 to find means of remedying it4
 ,initiated into the wisdom of the      
,brahmins1 but not satisfied with that1 

after years of solitary retirement and  
quiet meditation1 penetrated with the   
principles of the ,sankya1 he traversed 
the land as pilgrim 7,sakya-muni1       
,sramana1 ,gautama7 and opened to the   
people of ,india a new religious epoch4 
,the tendency of the new doctrine was to
 break up the system of caste1 and free 
the people from the galling yoke of the 
,brahminical hierarchy and dogmas4      
,while in ,brahminism man was deprived  
of his individuality1 and regarded only 
as an effluence from ,brahma1 and       
tormented by the fear of hell1 and by   
the thought of a ceaseless process of   
countless new births awaiting him after 
death1 whence the necessity of the most 
painful penances and chastisements1     
,sakya-muni began with man as an        
individual1 and in morals put purity1   
abstinence1 patience1 brotherly love1   
and repentance for sins committed above 
sacrifice and bodily mortification1 and 
opened to his followers the prospect1   
after this weary life1 no more to be    

exposed to the ever-recurring pains of  
new birth1 but released from all        
suffering to return to ,nirvana1 or     
nothingness4 ,while ,brahminism drew a  
distinction between man and man1 and    
with hierarchical pride took no thought 
of the ,sudra or lower class of the     
people1 and limited wisdom to the       
priestly caste1 ,sakya-muni preached the
 equality of all men1 came forward as a 
preacher to the people1 used the        
people's language1 and chose his        
followers out of all classes1 even from 
among women4 ,both of these opposed     
systems are one-sided4 ,in ,brahminism1 
,god is all1 and man1 as personal being1
 nothing2 in ,buddhism1 man is          
recognized as an individual1 but apart  
from ,god1 while in both systems1 the   
highest endeavor is to be delivered     
from1 according to ,brahminism a        
seeming1 according to ,sakya-muni a     
really existing individuality1 the      
source of all human woe1 and to lose    
one's self either in ,brahma or in the  

,nirvana4  ,less on account of his      
doctrine1 in which there is found       
neither a ,god nor a personal           
immortality1 than on account of the     
universal character of his words and of 
his life1 ,sakya-muni continued in honor
 after his death1 as the benefactor of  
the people and as the ,buddha1 the wise1
 pre-eminently2 and afterwards was      
deified1 and took his place in the ranks
 of the recognized gods as their        
superior4 ,thus there arose in          
,buddhism1 by a departure from the      
doctrine of the master1 a new           
polytheism4 ,this was afterwards1       
through the influence of the            
,brahminical priestly caste1 suppressed 
in ,india1 but spread over other parts  
of ,asia1 to the islands of the ,indian 
,archipelago1 and also to ,china4   e4  
,later modification of ,brahminism in   
connection with the worship of ,siva and
 ,vishnu4  ,while ,brahminism saw itself
 menaced by the steadily increasing     
influence of ,buddhism1 the former      

nature-religion1 dispossessed by the    
,brahmins1 asserted its rights in the   
worship of ,siva in the valleys of the  
,himalaya ,mountains1 and in that of    
,vishnu on the banks of the ,ganges4    
,siva is the ,rudra of the ,veda1 the   
boisterous god of storms1 the giver of  
rain and growth4 ,vishnu is the same    
divinity among other races1 conceived   
under the influence of a softer climate 
in a modified form as the blue sky4     
,both divinities1 originally belonging  
to different parts of ,india1 were      
afterwards taken1 first ,vishnu1 and    
then also ,siva1 into the theological   
system of the ,brahmins1 and formed with
 ,brahma1 but not until the fourth      
century after ,christ1 the trimurti1    
according to which the one supreme being
 ,parabrama is worshiped in the         
threefold form of ,brahma the creating1 
,vishnu the sustaining1 and ,siva the   
destroying power of nature4 ,to this    
later period of ,brahminism belongs also
 the alteration of the old epics1 the   

,ramayana and ,mahabharata1 by which the
 heroes ,rama and ,krishna are          
represented as avatars1 that is         
incarnations or human impersonations1 of
 ,vishnu4 ,in this also there is        
evidently an effort to bring the deity1 
conceived as the abstract ,one1 into    
closer union with man1 an effort which  
is likewise visible in the later ,yoga  
system of the ,brahmins1 in which1 by   
the admission of ,buddhistic elements1  
the visible world is recognized as real1
 the old rigid asceticism mitigated1    
,vishnu represented as the soul of the  
world1 and immortality taught as a      
return of the individual soul to        
,brahma4   #b4 ,,the ,,west ,,arians1   
,,iranians4  ,,the ,,bactrians1 ,,medes1
 ,,persians4  ,the ancient religion of  
the ,bactrians in the period before     
,zoroaster was patriarchal1 and         
consisted in the worship of fire1 as the
 beneficent power of nature1 and of     
,mithras1 the god of the sun1 combined  
with that of the good spirits 7,ahuras71

 among which were ,geus-,urva 7the      
spirit of the earth71 ,cpento-mainyus   
7the white spirit71 ,armaiti 7the earth1
 or also the spirit of piety71 and of   
the hero-spirits ,sraosha1 ,traetona1   
which as light and darkness are         
distinguished from ,angro 7the black    
spirit74  ,later1 as it seems1 the      
theology and worship of the neighboring 
nomadic ,arya penetrated to these       
nations1 and caused a religious conflict
 which ended with the migration of ,arya
 to the south4 ,at this period          
,zarathustra#b 7,zoroaster7 came forward
 under the ,bactrian priest and ,king   
,kava ,vistaspa1 as defender and        
reformer of the religion of the fathers 
against the encroachments of a strange  
doctrine4 ,the ,devas 7,zend1 ,dews7 or 
the gods of the ,indian ,veda appear    
with ,zarathustra as evil spirits4 ,not 
,indra1 but the hero ,traetona1 wages   
war with ,ahi 7,zend1 ,azhi71 while the 
kavis1 or priests1 are attacked by him  
as deceivers and liars4 ,from the belief

 in good spirits 7,ahuras1 i4e41 the    
living1 and ,mazdas1 i4e41 the wise71   
the ancient genii of the country1       
,zarathustra developed the belief of one
 highest ,god1 ,ahura-,mazda 7,ormuzd1  
,greek1 ,greek3 ,osompzs71 a doctrine   
which he received by divine inspiration 
through the mediation of the spirit     
,srasha4 ,ahura-,mazda1 surrounded by   
the ,amesha-,spenta 7,amshaspands71 or  
the holy immortals1 not until later     
reduced to seven1 is the creator of     
light and life4 ,the hurtful and evil1  
on the contrary1 is non-existence       
7akem71 and in the oldest parts of the  
,avesta1 the ,gathas1 which go back to  
,zarathustra and his first followers1 is
 not yet conceived as a personal being4 
,first in the ,vendidad1 written after  
,zarathustra1 does ,angro-mainyus       
7,ahriman71 or the evil one1 with his   
,dews1 although subordinated to         
,ahura-,mazda1 gain a place in the      
,iranian conception of the universe1 as 
the adversary of ,ahura-,mazda1 and as  

the cause of evil in the natural and    
spiritual world4 ,from these conceptions
 there was developed in the later       
,parsism the system of the four periods 
of the world1 each of three thousand    
years1 in the book ,bundehesh4 ,in the  
first period1 ,ahura-,mazda appears as  
creator of the world and as the source  
of good4 ,the creation1 completed by    
,ahura-,mazda in six days by means of   
the word 7,honover71 is in the second   
period destroyed by ,angro-mainyus1 who1
 appearing upon the earth in the form of
 a serpent1 seduces the first human     
pair1 created by ,ahura-,mazda4 ,in the 
third period1 which begins with the     
revelation given to ,zarathustra1       
,ahura-mazda and ,angro-mainyus strive  
together for man4 ,after this follows1  
in the fourth period1 the victory gained
 by ,ahura-,mazda4 ,sosiosh 7,saoshyas71
 the deliverer already foretold in the  
,vendidad1 appears4 ,the resurrection of
 the dead1 not taught by ,zarathustra or
 in the ,vendidad1 takes place4 ,the    

judgment of the world begins2 the good  
are received into paradise and the      
sinners banished to hell4 ,at last1 all 
is purified1 and ,angro-mainyus himself 
and his ,dews submit themselves to      
,ahura-,mazda1 whose victory is         
celebrated in heaven with songs of      
praise4  ,thus among the ,iranian races1
 out of the old patriarchal worship of  
fire and light1 on the occasion of the  
religious struggle with the ,indian     
,arya1 and under the influence of       
,zarathustra1 there was developed the   
doctrine of one supreme ,god1#c who1    
surrounded by the good spirits of       
heaven1 wages war against evil1 whence  
arose later the moral opposition between
 ,ahura-,mazda and ,angro-mainyus       
resulting in the victory of the good    
principle over the bad4 ,the old dualism
 of force and matter1 beneficent and    
destructive powers of nature1 light and 
darkness1 becomes in ,parsism moral4    
,the deity1 no longer identified with   
nature1 becomes a personal1 spiritual   

being1 the creator of mankind2 and the  
end of the world's development is       
conceived as the triumph of the good4   
,hence the high rank which the doctrine 
of ,zarathustra and its further         
development holds in the history of     
religion4   #c4 ,,the ,,greeks4  ,as man
 rises in spiritual development1 nature 
becomes to him a revelation ever more   
and more manifold of the divine4 ,to the
 ,greek 7,pelasgi1 ,hellenes7 the whole 
of nature was living1 and his           
imagination peopled her everywhere with 
divine beings1 who in wood and field1 in
 rivers and on mountains 7,oreads1      
,dryads1 ,naiads1 ,sileni1 c471 hovered 
friendly round him4 ,the ,greek was     
indeed distinguished from other nations 
by this richer and more elevated view of
 nature2 but he excelled them most of   
all in this1 that the divine object     
which he worshiped was conceived both in
 form and character after the human4    
,zeus1 ,phoebus ,apollo1 ,pallas        
,athene1 ,aphrodite1 ,ares1 ,hephaestus1

 ,hestia1 ,hermes1 ,artemis1 were       
originally powers of nature personified1
 as some epithets in ,homer#d still     
indicate2 but they became1 sometimes    
under the same names1 types of power and
 lordship1 science and art1 courage and 
sensuous beauty4 ,while ,dionysus1      
,demeter1 ,hades1 and ,persephone       
remained earthly1 and ,helios1 ,eos1    
,iris1 and ,hecate1 heavenly divinities1
 and ,oceanus1 ,poseidon1 ,amphitrite1  
,proteus1 and ,nereus ruled the waters1 
,zeus was conceived as the god of the   
sky and of thunder1 who hurled the      
bolts1 the great king and lawgiver1 the 
father of men1 and ,hera1 originally the
 air1 became the protecting goddess of  
married life2 ,apollo1 the god of light1
 who shot forth his arrows1 not at first
 identified with ,helios1 became the god
 of divination and poetry1 who led the  
choir of the muses2 the goddess of      
light1 ,athene1 became the contentious  
goddess of wisdom2 ,aphrodite1 born of  
the foam of the sea1 once the symbol of 

the fruitful power of nature1 later1    
encircled by the ,graces1 became the    
type of womanly beauty and charm1 to    
which the strength of man1 personified  
in ,ares1 corresponds4 ,in like manner  
in the later mythology1 ,hephaestus1 the
 god of fire1 appeared as the god of the
 forge1 ,hestia1 the goddess of fire1 as
 the protector of the household hearth1 
and ,hermes1 the god of the storm and of
 rain1 as the messenger of the gods1 the
 type of cunning and craftiness1 while  
,artemis1 the goddess of the moon1 the  
fruitful mother of nature1 took the     
character of the chaste maiden1 the     
goddess of hunting1 who with her nymphs 
and hounds nightly roamed the fields and
 woods4 ,the monsters1 the ,sphinx1 the 
,minotaur1 the ,cyclops1 the ,centaurs1 
symbols of a yet unhuman or half human  
power of nature1 were overcome by the   
,greek heroes1 ,perseus1 ,hercules1     
,jason1 ,theseus1 ,o,edipus1 the types  
of human strength and valor4 ,the       
religious festivals were enlivened by   

trials of men's strength and skill in   
games1 and the historian and poet       
offered to the gods the products of     
human genius4 ,in the religion of the   
,greeks1 however1 the moral element1    
although not passed over and in the     
,greek epic and tragedy not seldom      
expressed in grand characters1 stood    
nevertheless too little in the          
foreground1 so that the worship of the  
divine1 as in the older nature-worship1 
especially in the feasts in honor of    
,dionysus and ,aphrodite1 was marked by 
immoral practices4 ,the conception of a 
future life1 which taken in connection  
with a future retribution has a moral   
tendency1 had but little attraction for 
the ,greek1 who rejoiced in the glory of
 the earth1 and saw in nature and in man
 the kingdom of the divine4 ,the passage
 from the earlier poetical              
nature-worship to the worship of the    
divine in human form seems to be        
indicated in the war which ,olympian    
,zeus waged with ,cronos and the        

,titans4 ,the origin and development of 
the various elements and powers of      
nature1 ,chaos1 ,eros1 ,uranus1 ,ga1 the
 ,giants1 ,styx1 ,erebus1 ,hemera1 ther1
 c1 became1 with the poets and          
philosophers after ,homer1 matters of   
speculation1 of which the theogonies of 
,hesiod1 ,orpheus1 ,pherecydes1 and     
others furnish proof4   #d4 ,,the       
,,romans4  ,in the religion of the      
,greeks1 the sthetic and moral character
 of the ,grecian people was deified1 and
 in the ,romans also we see how that    
which men value most exerts an influence
 upon their worship of the divine4 ,the 
primitive religion of the ,romans1      
borrowed from the ,sabines and          
,etruscans1 bears everywhere1 in        
distinction to that of the ,greeks1 the 
marks of the practical and political    
character of the ,roman people4 ,the    
oldest national divinities are1 first1  
,jupiter or ,jovis1 the god of the      
heavens1 ,mars or ,mavors1 the god of   
the field and of war1 ,quirinus         

7,janus87 the protector of the          
,quirites1 afterwards1 together with    
,juno 7,dione7 and ,minerva1 worshiped  
in the ,capitol1 7,dii ,capitolini72    
second1 ,vesta1 and the gods of the     
house and family1 the ,lares and        
,penates2 third1 the rural divinities1  
,saturnus1 ,ops1 ,liber1 ,faunus1       
,silvanus1 ,terminus1 ,flora1           
,vertumnus1 and ,pomona2 fourth and     
last1 personifications1 in part of the  
powers of nature1 ,sol1 ,luna1 ,tellus1 
,neptunus1 ,orcus1 ,proserpina1 in part 
of moral and social qualities and       
states1 such as ,febris1 ,salus1 ,mens1 
,spes1 ,pudicitia1 ,pietas1 ,fides1     
,concordia1 ,virtus1 ,bellona1          
,victoria1 ,pax1 ,libertas1 and others4 
,peculiarly ,roman also is the          
conception of the manes1 or shades of   
the departed1 who hover as protecting   
genii about the living4 ,afterwards1    
along with the culture of the ,greeks1  
their gods also were taken1 although    
rather outwardly than inwardly1 into the

 spirit of the people1 and the original 
character of the gods of ,latium was    
modified after the new mythology4       
,notwithstanding this1 however1 the     
worship of the ,romans retained its     
political and practical character4 ,the 
priests 7sacerdotes7 ,flamines1 ,salii1 
,feciales1 the ,pontifices with the     
,pontifex ,maximus at their head1 the   
,augurs1 were likewise officers of the  
state1 and did not form a hierarchy     
apart from the state and alongside of   
it4   #e4 ,,the ,,celts4  ,among the    
,celtic tribes in ,brittany1 ,ireland1  
and ,gaul1 and on both banks of the     
,rhine1 out of an aboriginal life of    
nature characterized by wildness and    
license1 religion developed itself in   
the form of the worship of two chief    
divinities1 a male divinity1 ,hu1 the   
begetting1 and a female1 ,ceridwen1 the 
bearing1 power of nature4 ,the          
priesthood busied itself with           
speculations about the divine1 the      
origin of the world1 and the continued  

existence of man after death1 conceived 
in the form of the transmigration of    
souls4 ,nor did the people's faith lack 
the conception of good and evil spirits1
 fairies1 dwarfs1 elves1 which to the   
still childish fancy are objects of fear
 or superstitious veneration4 ,to the   
service of these divinities the         
priesthood1 the ,druids1 were           
consecrated1 and beside them the bards1 
or poets1 held a more independent place4
   #f4 ,,the ,,germans ,,and            
,,scandinavians4  ,more developed       
intellectually is the nature-religion of
 the ancient ,germans 7,teutons7 and    
,scandinavians1 which betrays thereby   
the character of the ,aryan race to     
which these nations1 like the ,celts1   
originally belonged4 ,the highest god of
 the ,germans is ,wodan1 called ,odhin  
among the ,norsemen1 the god of the     
heavens1 and of the sun1 who protects   
the earth1 and is the source of light   
and fruitfulness1 the spirit of the     
world1 and the ,all-father 7,alfadhir74 

,from the union of heaven and earth1    
there springs the god ,thunar or ,donar 
among the ,germans1 ,thor among the     
,norsemen1 the bold god of thunder who  
wages war against the enemies of gods   
and men4 ,besides these there are the   
sons of ,wodan1 ,fro 7,german71 ,freyx  
7,norse71 the god of peace1 ,zio        
7,german71 ,tyx 7,norse71 the god of    
war1 ,aki 7,german71 ,oegir 7,norse71   
god of the sea1 ,vol 7,german71 ,ullr   
7,norse71 god of hunting1 and others1 to
 whom are joined female divinities1 such
 as ,nerthus 7,german71 ,jrdh 7,norse71 
the fruitful goddess of the earth1      
,holda 7,german71 ,freiya 7,norse71 the 
goddess of love1 ,nehalennia1 goddess of
 plenty1 ,frikka 7,german71 ,frigg      
7,norse71 the wife of ,wodan1 mother of 
all the living1 ,hellia 7,german71 ,hel 
7,norse71 the inexorable goddess of the 
lower world4 ,opposed to these          
divinities 7,asen and ,asinnen7 stands  
,loko 7,german71 ,loki 7,norse71 enemy  
of the divine4 ,in addition to these    

there appear in the ,norse and ,german  
,sagas1 besides the heroes1 a multitude 
of spirits1 good and hostile1 giants1   
elves1 ,elfen 7,german71 ,alfen         
7,norse71 white spirits of light1 and   
black dwarfs1 house1 forest1 and water  
spirits4 ,the worship was most simple1  
and1 as was the case with the ancient   
,semites1 the ,indians of the ,veda1 and
 the ,greeks1 as yet independent of     
temple service and priestly constraint4 
,the holy places of the ,germans were   
woods1 and hills1 and fountains1 and in 
the mysterious rustling of the leaves   
and in the murmuring of the waters the  
pious spirit caught the breathing of the
 deity4#e ,the father of the house is   
priest1 and the recognition by these    
races more than elsewhere of worth in   
woman is apparent also in their         
religion4 ,in the description of the    
kingdom of the dead in the              
,german-,norse mythology1 ,walhalla is  
the abode of the heroes1 hell the       
gathering place of the other dead4      

,notwithstanding these still childish   
conceptions1 there was revealed in the  
moral character and heroic spirit of the
 ,german forefathers the germ of a      
higher development1 which makes the     
nations of ,germany and ,northern       
,europe capable beyond others of a      
constantly higher conception and        
estimation of the ,christian religion4#f
     ,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,the ,,religion 
,,of ,,the ,,semites4   ,i4 ,,the       
,,phoenicians1 ,,syrians1 ,,babylonians1
 ,,carthaginians1 ,,and ,,arabians4  ,in
 the ,semitic races the religious spirit
 rose above nature-worship in the effort
 to separate ,god from nature1 and to   
elevate him above nature as ,lord1 ,baal
 7plural ,baalim1 either from the       
different places where he was worshiped1
 or the various names under which he was
 worshiped71 ,bel1 ,el1 ,adon 7,adonis74
 ,thus ,bel among the ,babylonians1     
,baal among the ,ammonites and          
,moabites1 was the god of light1 the    
lord of heaven1 the creator of mankind1 

who had his throne above the clouds and 
was invoked on mountains4#g ,also the   
title ,molech and ,baal ,molech to      
designate the ,supreme ,being among the 
ancient ,phoenicians and ,carthaginians1
 and the nations nearest related to     
,israel1 the ,moabites and ,ammonites1  
as well as the derived names ,milcom    
7,kamos7 ,chemosh1 ,eng4 ver41 among the
 ,ammonites1 and ,melkartht at ,tyre and
 ,carthage1 indicate1 like ,baal1 an    
original effort to conceive ,god as the 
ruler of nature4 ,agreeing with this    
conception of the ,deity1 there is      
manifest1 as well in the worship of     
,baal as of ,molech and the female      
,astarte 7,melecheth7#h ,ashtaroth1     
,eng4 ver41 worshiped with him1 partly  
in the abstinence from marriage1 partly 
in the human sacrifice1 especially the  
sacrifice of the first-born1 the aim1   
through abnegation of the life of sense1
 and through the sacrifice1 even though 
unnatural1 of what is dearest to man1 to
 appease a divinity who as lord and     

governor rules and subjects to himself  
the power of nature and every propensity
 of sense4#i  ,in spite of the effort to
 elevate the ,deity as ,lord and ,king  
above nature1 most of the ,semitic      
nations gradually sank back into the old
 nature-worship1 and1 uniting with the  
worship of the highest ,god1 ,baal and  
,bel1 that of a female divinity under   
the names of ,baaltis1 ,beltis1         
,aschera1 ,mylitta1 they made religion  
to consist in the sacrifice of chastity 
to the will of the ,deity1 as the       
fruitful1 productive power of nature1   
and thus fell into gross immorality4#aj 
,religion appears in another form among 
the ,semites in the worship of the stars
 among the ,babylonians and ancient     
,arabians4 ,this astrolatry1 originally 
a kind of fetichism1 became             
nature-worship1 and gradually rose to   
the worship of the intelligence         
manifested to our contemplation in the  
movement of the heavenly luminaries4    
,astrology arose1 and religion no longer

 expressed itself in passive            
acquiescence1 but was united with the   
effort to guide the life by the         
knowledge to be drawn1 as men imagined1 
from the motion of the stars4           
,,israelitish ,,religion4   a4 ,its     
origin4 ,the patriarchal religion4      
,mosaism4 ,prophetism4  ,while most of  
the ,semitic nations1 in opposition to  
the effort to elevate ,god above nature 
as lord and governor1 returned to the   
old nature-religion with its grossly    
sensual worship of the divine1 and      
others got no farther than to the       
conception of a deity1 who1 like a      
consuming fire1 stood opposed to nature1
 and was to be appeased and propitiated 
by human sacrifices1 there was developed
 among the ,israelitish people1         
gradually and in constantly higher      
measure1 in connection with a higher    
moral and religious disposition1 the    
worship of ,god as a being who1 though  
distinct from nature1 is yet not opposed
 to it1 and thus no longer demands human

 sacrifices1 but obedience and moral    
consecration4  ,the common origin of the
 religion of the ,israelites and that of
 their ,semitic relations1 though hardly
 evident even in the oldest monuments of
 the ,hebrew literature1 appears from   
the following facts and particulars3    
firstly1 the composition of ,israelitish
 names not only with ,el1 but also with 
,baal1 such as ,jerubbaal 7adversary of 
,baal71 7,gideon71#aa ,esbaal1#ab       
,meribbaal1#ac names which afterwards1  
on account of the aversion which the    
ever-increasing distance in religion    
between the ,israelitish nation and the 
nations related to it must1 from the    
nature of the case1 have inspired       
against the name of ,baal1 are changed  
into ,jerubboseth1#ad ,isboseth1#ae and 
,mephiboseth#af1 as also the            
interchanging of ,el and ,baal1#ag of   
,baal-jada#ah and ,eljada1#ai seem to   
point to an ancient period when the name
 ,baal 7,lord7 was used1 like ,el1      
,elohim1 ,el ,eljon1 ,el ,schaddai1     

,adonai1 even among the ,israelites1 to 
designate the ,supreme ,being4          
,secondly1 the ,god of ,abraham         
7,elohim71 although he desires no human 
sacrifices1 nevertheless praises the    
willingness of the father to offer up   
his first-born1 and sees in that the    
highest proof of devotedness and        
obedience4#bj ,thirdly1 circumcision1   
already before ,moses#ba the bloody     
symbol of consecration to ,god1#bb and  
also the right of ,jahveh to the        
first-born1 and the necessity of        
ransoming them from him1#bc imply an    
earlier conception of the deity as a    
being1 who1 although on a higher        
development of the religion he is not   
indeed any longer thought to desire     
human sacrifice1 nevertheless has a     
right to such a sacrifice1 and thus     
demands indemnity for remitting it4     
,fourthly1 the later conception1 of     
,jahveh as a destroying fire1 and the   
way in which the ,god of ,israel is     
conceived in connection with fire1 and  

as manifesting himself in fire1#bd      
betray1 even in the midst of a more     
advanced religious development1 an      
original relationship with the like     
conceptions of the other ,semites4      
,fifthly1 even in the orthodox          
,jahveh-worship1 some symbols1 as the   
twelve oxen in the porch of the         
temple1#be the horns of the altar for   
burnt-offerings1#bf perhaps also the in 
part oxlike form of the cherubim1#bg    
point to an earlier worship of the deity
 under the form of an ox1 the symbol of 
the highest might1 especially among the 
,semitic races4#bh  ,in confirmation of 
the supposition thus suggested of a     
community of origin in the religion of  
the ,israelites and in that of the      
nations related to them1 there is also  
to be remarked1 firstly1 the sympathy   
always felt among the people of ,israel 
for the worship of ,baal and ,molech1 in
 face of the strongest opposition on the
 part of the prophets2#bi secondly1 the 
statement of ,amos1#cj that even in the 

wilderness the ,israelites worshiped    
,molech2 thirdly1 the fact that in the  
time of the ,judges1 ,jephthah offered  
his daughter to ,jahveh1#ca and still   
later the feeling1 not driven out even  
by ,mosaism1 that the wrath of ,jahveh  
must be appeased by human blood1#cb a   
necessity which ,david recognizes2#cc   
fourthly1 the ancient custom in ,israel1
 as in the nations related to them1 of  
worshiping the deity on mountains and   
heights1#cd against which the priestly  
legislation strove in the interest of   
the pure worship of ,jahveh2#ce fifthly1
 the heterodox worship of ,jahveh in the
 kingdom of the ten tribes under the    
form of a calf4#cf  ,from all this it   
seems fair to conclude that the religion
 of the oldest forefathers of ,israel   
had its root originally in one and the  
same soil with the religion of the other
 ,semites4 ,out of an earlier           
nature-religion there developed among   
the ,semites the conception of ,baal1   
the lord of nature1 and of ,molech with 

his inhuman worship4 ,while1 however1   
the other ,semites remained in this     
lower stage1 or rather sank back more   
and more into the immorality of the     
nature-religion1--an hypothesis         
suggested by a comparison of the        
religious state of the nations of       
,canaan in ,abraham's time with their   
state at the time of the conquest of the
 land by ,joshua and afterwards1--in the
 family of ,abraham1 religious          
consciousness rose to the recognition of
 a deity1 who1 although he had a right  
to human sacrifices1 yet did not claim  
such sacrifices1 but was satisfied with 
men's willingness to bring them to him4 
,with this higher development of        
religion1 the names of the ,supreme     
,being1 ,baal and ,molech1 originally   
common to the whole race1 came more and 
more into contempt1 and were regarded as
 the expression of abominable           
idolatry1#cg while even the worship of  
,jahveh under the form of a calf1       
originally permitted1 was later branded 

by the prophets as heresy4  ,though it  
was in the family of ,abraham that even 
in ,mesopotamia#ch the beginning of this
 higher development of the ,semitic     
religion showed itself1 which1 after his
 migration to ,canaan became the        
heritage of his family1 yet the         
patriarch of ,israel did not stand alone
 in this respect among the ,semites4    
,the old ,canaanitish chieftains also of
 the patriarchal period1 ,melchizedek   
and ,abimelech1 worship the same ,god as
 he1#ci while on the other hand in his  
own family not all traces of            
polytheistic superstition have          
disappeared1#dj and these traces are    
also visible still later in ,israel4#da 
,the patriarchal religion1 which        
afterwards with the great majority fell 
into oblivion1 was recalled afresh to   
men's minds by ,moses1 and the ,god of  
the fathers was preached by him under   
the name before unknown of ,jahveh1#db  
to whom1 with the exclusion of all other
 gods1 religious worship is due4#dc ,the

 ,jahveh of ,moses1 like the ,el ,eljon 
of the patriarchs1 is the one only      
object of worship 7,deus ,unus71 yet    
without excluding the possibility of    
other gods existing4#dd ,not until later
 did the more developed conception of   
,jahveh arise as the one only ,god      
7,deus unicus71#de who is throned in    
heaven1 and like the ,elohim of the     
patriarchs1 encircled by celestial      
beings 7,bene ,elohim1 ,malakim1        
,angels71 who execute his commands1 yet 
are not objects of religious adoration4 
,the religious standpoint of ,moses is  
the legal4 ,jehovah stands related to   
his people as the ,holy1 as lawgiver and
 judge2 and the true moral consecration 
to ,god is symbolically expressed in the
 ritual1 especially in the sacrifice1   
while the relation of the people to ,god
 is based upon the mediation of the     
priests4 ,along with this1 and out of   
,mosaism1 after the time of ,samuel1    
prophetism was developed1 in which      
independent religious conviction1       

outside the limits of the priesthood1   
and without distinction of rank or      
birth1#df awoke among the people4       
,prophetism1 in the domain of religion1 
is the development of the religious     
spirit to individual independence and   
freedom4 ,the prophet1 rising above the 
legal standpoint and outward ceremonial1
 puts the essence of true worship in    
morality1#dg but recognizes also along  
with the deepest feeling of dependence  
upon ,god1 in the independence#dh and   
spontaneity of the religious and moral  
life1 the irresistible power of the     
divine spirit1 by which the ,most ,high1
 though apart from the world and throned
 in heaven1 puts himself into the       
closest and most intimate communion with
 the true worshiper4 ,thus the gulf     
which divided ,jahveh1 as a ,god afar   
off1 from the world and his worshipers1 
closed up more and more4 ,with the      
conviction of the pureness and truth#di 
of her religion1 ,israel felt the       
calling to raise it to the religion of  

the world1 and in the realization of    
this she saw the ideal of the future4#ej
   b4 ,the ,israelitish religion after  
the ,captivity4  ,the free character    
which distinguished prophetism in the   
religion of ,israel changed1 after the  
return of the people from captivity1    
especially with the party of the        
,pharisees1 to literalness and          
formalism4 ,the prophets gave place to  
the synagogue1 the living proclamation  
of the truth to scriptural erudition1   
the spirit of freedom to slavish        
subjection to ,scripture and tradition4 
,as the ancient productions of the      
,indian literature1 originally the      
expression of the popular thought of    
,india1 were elevated by the ,brahmins  
into ,veda1 holy1 inspired scripture1 so
 also the religious literature of       
,israel took on the character of a      
closed ,canon1 so that what was once the
 expression of religious life became now
 rule of faith4 ,the standpoint of the  
law which prophetism had already        

overcome was again strongly maintained1 
the law enriched with a number of new   
ordinances1 and the essence of religion 
made to consist partly in dogmatic      
speculation1 partly in a merely outward 
service1 devoid of inner life4 ,the     
,messianic prediction1 or the           
expectation that the kingdom1 divided in
 ,rehoboam's reign1 once more united    
under a prince of the house of ,david1  
should be exalted to new bloom and      
lustre1--which in the older prophets was
 the natural and historically explicable
 form in which the ideal of ,israel's   
future presented itself to the seer1 but
 which1 under the influence of the      
changed political conditions1 had       
already been replaced in the later      
prophecy by the more general conception 
of a future triumph of the true religion
 of which ,israel was the               
bringer1--#eareturned1 yet not as the   
ideal of the prophetic spirit1 but as a 
dogma1 the product of scriptural        
interpretation4 ,the pure monotheism1 by

 which formerly a place in the          
,providence of ,god had been allotted to
 everything1 even to moral evil1#eb     
became corrupted1 under the influence of
 ,parsism1 by the conception of two     
kingdoms1 of ,god and of the ,devil4    
,the angels1 originally the messengers  
of ,providence1 became under            
mythological names1 ,gabriel1 ,raphael1 
,michael1 c41 so many middle beings who 
filled the space between the ,deity1    
existing apart from the world1 and the  
world4 ,the lower world 7sheol1 ,greek3 
aids71 formerly the general abode of the
 dead1 of bad and good without          
distinction1 was split into two parts1  
paradise and gehenna1 and became a place
 of recompense1 and1 along with this1   
religion1 once an end1 became the means 
of warding off a dreaded punishment1 or 
of gaining a future of bliss4 ,the      
doctrine of immortality1 as the         
continuation of man's moral development1
 which was formerly unknown in ,israel1 
appeared1 as in the later ,parsism1 in  

the form of a bodily resurrection of the
 dead1 at first of the righteous only1  
but afterwards in the form of a general 
resurrection1 by mediation of the       
,messiah1 at whose appearing1 which was 
expected just before the end of the     
present state of things1 the great      
judgment of the world1 of living and    
dead1 was to be held1 heaven and earth  
renewed1 and the kingdom of ,god        
founded4 ,beside the learned party of   
the ,pharisees stood the ,sadducees1 who
 subordinated religion to politics1     
rejected the ,messianic idea and the    
authority of tradition1 and1 in denying 
immortality in the form of a bodily     
resurrection1 failed to perceive the    
truth of immortality1 for whose         
recognition the premises and germs      
existed in the religion of ,israel1     
though not as yet developed4 ,the third 
party1 that of the ,essenes1 was marked 
by quiet piety1 and in many respects    
also by excessive asceticism4 ,in the   
midst of the ,pharisaic formalism1 the  

unbelief of the ,sadducees1 and the     
pietism of the ,essenes1 there was yet  
in ,israel a seed of true worshipers1   
who1 though not above the dogmatic      
prejudices of their time1 had heart and 
mind open for the true religion1 and who
 set the true blessing to be looked for 
from the ,messiah in the satisfying of  
their religious and moral needs4   #c4  
,,the ,,christian ,,religion4  ,the     
,israelitish religion1 which reached its
 highest stage of development in        
prophetism1 but which among the later   
,jews after ,ezra degenerated1 with the 
,pharisees into formalism and worship of
 the letter1 with the ,essenes into     
mysticism and asceticism1 and which with
 the ,sadducees1 along with the         
sacrifice of the prophetic ideal of the 
future1 was subordinated to politics1   
developed in ,christianity1 but freed   
from once cherished national            
expectations and outward forms1 into a  
purely spiritual knowledge and worship  
of ,god4 ,jesus fathomed the deep       

meaning of the religion of his people1  
and its original fitness to become1     
through higher development1 the religion
 of the world4 ,jesus devoted himself to
 the end of forming the human race into 
one great society 7the kingdom of       
heaven71 of which religion should be the
 soul and life1 and1 convinced of his   
calling1 proclaimed himself as the ,son 
of man1 who1 as such1 belonged not to   
,israel alone1 but to mankind4 ,jesus   
combated both the formalism and         
exclusiveness of the ,pharisees1 and the
 unbelief of the ,sadducees1 and with   
word and deed preached a religion which1
 independent of all outward form1 took  
hold of the human heart1 and which1     
developing into an independent principle
 in man1 was to find its commission1 not
 in the authority of ,scripture or      
tradition1 not even in that of his name1
 but in its own power and truth4 ,in him
 religion appeared as the power of      
self-sacrificing love1 which fears not  
even death1 and to which dying is not   

the losing of life1 but the development 
of life4 ,in distinction from other     
religions1 in which either ,god and man 
are strangers to each other1 and opposed
 to each other1 or man's personality is1
 as it were1 sunk in ,god1 ,christianity
 is the religion by which man1 in the   
full enjoyment of individual            
development1 and with the sense of his  
own strength1 lives in the consciousness
 of the most entire dependence upon     
,god4 ,religion in its highest form1    
conceived as the oneness of man with    
,god1 is realized in ,christianity4#ec  
#d4 ,,islamism4  ,the religion of the   
ancient nomadic tribes of the ,arabian  
peninsula originally exhibited a        
polytheistical character1 in the form of
 the worship1 in part of sacred stones1 
in part of the powers of nature1        
especially of the stars1 whose position 
and motion were thought to exert an     
influence1 beneficent or baneful1 upon  
the destinies of men4 ,with these       
conceptions was combined a certain      

leaning toward monotheism1 which        
manifested itself especially in the     
common worship of ,allah taala          
7equivalent to ,el ,eljon71 which was   
afterwards quickened and strengthened by
 association with the ,jewish tribes1   
with whom they held themselves to be    
related by descent from ,abraham4 ,the  
,parsee doctrine of demons1 also1 was   
not unknown in ,arabia1 after the       
conquest of the ,persians in the fifth  
century4 ,after the third1 fourth1 and  
fifth centuries1 ,christianity also1    
though in a corrupt form1 or1           
definitely1 in the form of              
,monophysitism and ,nestorianism1 which 
had been condemned by the church1 became
 established in ,arabia4  ,amid such    
diverse elements1 there was need of     
unity in the domain of religion1 a need 
for which ,mohammed1 after the example  
of others of his family1 sought to      
provide4  ,he was born at ,mecca 7#ega7 
of an honorable family1 belonging to the
 ,koreish tribe4 ,finding no            

satisfaction for his restless spirit in 
the trade to which after his parents'   
death he had at first devoted himself1  
he gave himself up1 in solitary         
retirement1 to quiet meditation1 and    
became more and more convinced of his   
calling to put an end1 by means of a    
better religion1 to the confusion       
existing among his countrymen with      
regard to religion4 ,the religious idea 
which overmastered him presented itself 
to his powerful ,oriental imagination in
 the form of a vision as a revelation of
 ,allah taala1 made to him in the       
fortieth year of his life by mediation  
of the angel ,gabriel4 ,his conviction1 
thus acquired1 was confirmed by         
revelations afterwards received2 and1   
shared at first with a small circle of  
trusted friends1 gradually spread wider1
 until at last ,mohammed came forward in
 the ancient sanctuary1 the ,kaaba1 at  
,mecca1 as prophet of ,allah4 ,for this 
he was pursued by his countrymen1 and   
fled from thence to ,medina1 in the year

 #fbb1 the beginning of the ,moslem era4
 ,the number of his followers           
increasing1 he had recourse to arms4 ,he
 conquered ,mecca in #fcj1 and made the 
,kaaba1 after destroying the idols in   
it1 the sanctuary of the new religion4  
,the doctrine of ,mohammed 7,islam1     
submission to ,god1 whence his followers
 take the name of ,moslems71 is         
contained in the ,koran4 ,the various   
,suras1 or divisions1 originally the    
revelations received by the prophet at  
different periods of his life reduced to
 writing1 were1 soon after his death1   
united by ,abu ,bekr into one holy book1
 under the name of the ,koran 7al       
,kitab1 the book71 which1 like the      
,bible among the later ,jews and        
,christians1 was clothed with divine    
authority4 ,the central doctrine of     
,mohammed is the belief in one ,god1    
,allah1 who1 as the ,creator and ,lord  
of all things1 in strictest isolation   
from the world1 is throned in heaven4   
,all that takes place upon the earth    

befalls according to the eternal decree 
of ,god1 a conception in which1 at least
 among the ,orthodox ,moslems1 the      
,sunnites1 who are distinguished in this
 respect1 as in others1 from the        
dissenting ,shiites1 there is no place  
left for human freedom4 ,this ,god has  
from the earliest times revealed himself
 to some privileged men1 ,adam1 ,noah1  
,abraham1 ,moses1 ,jesus 7,isa74 ,to the
 last is due the honor of having been   
the reformer of degenerate ,judaism4 ,he
 is not1 as the ,christians of          
,mohammed's time taught1 the ,son of    
,god in a metaphysical sense1 much less 
,god himself1--,allah is one1 he neither
 begets nor is begotten1--but a prophet 
of human descent4 ,the greatest and last
 prophet is ,mohammed himself1 in whom  
prophetism reached its fulfillment4     
,along with the doctrine regarding ,god 
and his relation to the world1 prayer1  
hospitality1 and benevolence occupy a   
prominent place in the teaching of      
,mohammed1 looked at from its practical 

side1 and also the belief in a future   
life1 in the ,jewish-,parsee form of the
 resurrection of the dead1 the judgment 
of the world1 future reward and         
punishment1 paradise and hell4 ,the     
truth of this divine revelation rests   
upon the very fact of its having been   
revealed1 and1 according to ,mohammed1  
it no more needs scientific proof than  
confirmation by miracles1 to which      
,islamism did not appeal until later4   
,the opinion which formerly prevailed   
among ,christians that ,mohammed was an 
impostor1 a false prophet1 was bound up 
with the conception that ,god1 to the   
exclusion of other nations1 had revealed
 himself immediately and supernaturally 
first to ,israel1 and afterwards through
 ,christ to all mankind4 ,hence it      
followed that ,christianity was not     
prized as the highest religion1 existing
 along with less developed forms of     
religion1 but was opposed as the only   
true religion to all others1 which were 
regarded as the fruit of imposture and  

error1 an opinion to which the religious
 and political struggles in which ,islam
 and ,christendom have been involved    
also richly contributed4 ,mohammed was  
seer and prophet1 filled with fiery zeal
 for religion1 and1 while he stands     
indeed in this respect1 both personally 
and with regard to the contents of his  
preaching and the means by which he     
sought to gain admission for his        
doctrine1 below the seers of ,israel1   
and far below the founder of            
,christianity1 yet1 on the other hand1  
his monotheism1 abstract as it is1 must 
be regarded as a wholesome reaction     
against the ever-increasing             
polytheistical superstition to which in 
his time the ,christian church of the   
,east especially had sunk4 ,islamism    
stands1 however1 below original         
,christianity1 the religion of ,jesus   
and the ,apostles1 in that1 by          
separating ,god1 as the abstract one    
,supreme ,being1 from the world1 it     
leaves no place for the doctrine of     

,god's immanence1 or the indwelling of  
the ,spirit of ,god in man4 ,hence in   
,islamism the divine revelation remains 
purely mechanical1 with no natural point
 of connection in man1 and therefore    
there is no possibility of an enduring  
prophetism1 which is the fundamental    
principle of ,christianity4 ,from this  
separation of ,god and man1 the         
,mohammedan doctrine of predestination1 
in distinction from the ,christian1     
acquires its abstract and fatalistic    
character1 whereby man1 instead of being
 regarded as a being in whose free      
activity ,god's power and life are      
glorified1 is conceived as a passive    
instrument of a higher power4 ,to true  
moral independence1 therefore1 the      
,moslem does not attain4 ,his religion  
is legal and external1 and therefore    
intolerant and exclusive2 and when      
,islamism1 led by excited passion and a 
heated imagination1 disregarded the     
sanctity of marriage1 and held up as a  
reward before the faithful ,moslem a    

paradise characterized by sensual       
enjoyment1 it missed at once the deep   
moral and spiritual character of        
,christianity4 ,to these defects must be
 ascribed the fact that ,islamism1      
adapted to the need of the ,east1 and   
therefore spread over a large part of   
,asia and ,africa1 has not1 with the    
exception of the empire of ,turkey1 and 
for a time also of ,spain1 penetrated   
,europe2 and1 overshadowed by a higher  
development of humanity1 has reached its
 highest bloom1 while ,christianity1    
brought back to its original purity1    
remains the religion of the civilized   
world4   ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #a3    
,translated from the ,dutch of ,prof4   
,j4,h4 ,scholten1 by ,f4,t4 ,washburn4  
,this constitutes the first part of     
,prof4 ,scholten's ,history of ,religion
 and ,philosophy4 7,geschiedenis der    
,godsdienst en ,wijsbegeerte47 ,third   
edition4 ,leyden1 #ahfc4 ,of this work  
there is a translation in ,french by ,m4
 ,albert ,rville 7,paris1 #ahfa72 but   

this translation1 which was made from an
 earlier edition1 is very defective in  
the first part1 ,prof4 ,scholten having 
added a great deal in his last edition4 
,there is also a translation of it in   
,german1 by ,d4,e4,r4 ,redepenning      
7,elberfeld1 #ahfh74 ,this ,german      
translation has been revised and        
enlarged by ,prof4 ,scholten1 and is    
therefore superior in some respects to  
the original ,dutch4 ,the present       
translation has been revised upon it4   
,footnote #b3 ,according to ,buusen     
#cjjj or #bejj ,b4,c41 ,haug #bjjj      
,b4,c41 ,max ,mller #abjj ,b4,c41 ,max  
,duncker #acjj or #abej ,b4,c41 and     
according to ,roeth4 ,i4 p4 #cdh1 who   
still puts ,vistaspa before ,darius     
,hystaspes1 between #ehi and #eab ,b4,c4
  ,footnote #c3 ,the doctrine of the    
,zervana akarana 7infinite time7 as the 
original ,one1 from which the opposition
 between ,ormuzd and ,ahriman was held  
to spring1 dates from a later period4   
,footnote #d3 ,greek3 ,zeus kelainephs1 

ahidheri nahin1 nephelgerheta ,zeus1    
,her bohpis1 glaukhpis ,hathhn4         
,footnote #e3 ,of the ,germans ,tacitus 
writes1 ,germ41 c4 #i1 ,eos nec cohibere
 parietibus ,deos neque in ullam        
humanioris speciem assimilare1 ex       
magnitudine coelestium arbitrantur4     
,lucos ac nemora consecrant deorumque   
nominibus appellant secretum illud1 quod
 sola reverentia vident4  ,footnote #f3 
,among the ,roman writers who furnish us
 with information upon the religion of  
the ,germans1 ,tacitus deserves mention1
 in his ,germania1 as well as in his    
,annales passim4 ,the chief source with 
regard to the ,norse religion is the    
older ,edda1 under the title ,edda      
,smundar hin ,froda4  ,footnote #g3     
,numb4 xxii4 #da2 xxiii4 #bh2 #b ,kings1
 xxiii4 #e4  ,footnote #h3 ,judges1 ii4 
#ac2 #a ,sam4 vii4 #d2 xii4 #aj2 #a     
,kings1 xi4 #e1 #g1 #cc2 #b ,kings1     
xxiii4 #ac2 ,jer4 vii4 #ah2 xliv4 #ag1  
#ai4  ,footnote #i3 ,levit4 xviii4 #ba2 
xx4 #b2 #b ,kings1 iii4 #bf1 #bg2 xvi4  

#c2 xxiii4 #aj2 ,ps4 cvi4 #ch2 ,jer4    
vii4 #ca2 xix4 #e2 xxxii4 #ce2 ,micah1  
vi4 #g2 ,ezek4 xv4 #d1 #f2 8 xvi4 #bj1  
,comp4 ,i ,kings1 xviii3 #bh4  ,footnote
 #aj3 ,numb4 xxv4 ,i1 et seq2 ,josh4    
xxii4 #ag2 ,baruch1 vi4 #da1 #dc4       
,footnote #aa3 ,judges1 vi4 #cb4 and    
elsewhere4  ,footnote #ab3 #a ,chron4   
viii4 #cc2 ix4 #ci4  ,footnote #ac3 #a  
,chron4 viii4 #cd2 ix4 #dj4  ,footnote  
#ad3 #b ,sam4 xi4 #ba4  ,footnote #ae3  
#b ,sam4 ii4 #h1 and elsewhere4         
,footnote #af3 #b ,sam4 iv4 #d1 and     
elsewhere4  ,footnote #ag3 ,judges1     
viii4 #cc2 ix4 #d4 ,comp4 with ix4 #df4 
,footnote #ah3 #a ,chron4 xiv4 #g4      
,footnote #ai3 #a ,chron4 iii4 #h2 #b   
,sam4 v4 #af4  ,footnote #bj3 ,gen4     
xxii4  ,footnote #ba3 ,gen4 xvii4       
#bc-bg4  ,footnote #bb3 ,ex4 iv4 #bd-bf4
  ,footnote #bc3 ,ex4 xiii4 #b1 #ab-af2 
xxii4 #bh1 #bi2 xxx4 #aa-af2 xxxiv4 #ai1
 #bj4  ,footnote #bd3 ,gen4 xv4 #ag2    
,ex4 iii4 #b2 xix4 #af-ah2 xxiv4 #ag2   
xl4 #ch2 ,levit4 x4 #b2 ,numb4 xvi4 #ce2

 ,deut4 iv4 #ae1 #bd2 v4 #bd1 #be4      
,footnote #be3 #a ,kings1 vii4 #be1 #bi4
  ,footnote #bf3 ,ex4 xxvii4 #b4        
,footnote #bg3 ,comp4 ,ezek4 i4 #aj2 x4 
#ad4  ,footnote #bh3 #a ,kings1 xviii4  
#bc4  ,footnote #bi3 #a ,kings1 xi4 #e2 
#b ,kings1 xvi4 #c2 xxi4 #c2 xxiii4 #d1 
et seq2 #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 #c2 ,ezek4   
xvi4 #bj1 #ba2 ,jer4 xix4 #e4  ,footnote
 #cj3 ,amos4 v4 #be1 #bf4  ,footnote    
#ca3 ,judges1 xi4 #cj-dj4  ,footnote    
#cb3 ,ex4 xxxii4 #bg-bi2 ,numb4 xxv4 #d4
  ,footnote #cc3 #b ,sam4 xxi4 #a-ad4   
,footnote #cd3 #a ,kings1 iii4 #b2 xi4  
#g2 #b ,kings1 xii4 #c2 xiv4 #d2 xvii4  
#aa2 xviii4 #d2 xxiii4 #e1 #ai2 #b      
,chron4 xxi4 #aa4  ,footnote #ce3 #b    
,chron4 xxxiv4 #c2 ,ezek4 vi4 #c2 xx4   
#bh4  ,footnote #cf3 #a ,kings1 xii4    
#bh1 #cc4 ,comp4 ,ex4 xxxii4 #d1 #ai4   
,footnote #cg3 ,levit4 xviii4 #ba2 xx4  
#b2 ,deut4 xii4 #ca4  ,footnote #ch3    
,gen4 xxiv1 xxviii4  ,footnote #ci3     
,gen4 xiv4 #ah-bj2 xx4 #c1 #d4          
,footnote #dj3 ,gen4 xxxi4 #ai1 #cj1 et 

seq2 xxxv4 #b-d2 ,joshua1 xxiv4 #b1 #ad4
  ,footnote #da3 ,judges1 xviii4 #ad1 et
 seq2 #a ,sam4 xix4 #ac2 #b ,kings1     
xviii4 #d2 ,ezek4 xx4 #g4  ,footnote    
#db3 ,ex4 iii4 #ac1 et seq2 vi4 #b4     
,footnote #dc3 ,ex4 xx4 #b1 #c4         
,footnote #dd3 ,ex4 viii4 #aj2 xv4 #aa2 
xviii4 #aa2 xx4 #c4  ,footnote #de3     
,deut vi4 #d2 iv4 #bh1 #ce2 xxxii4 #ci2 
,isaiah1 xliv4 #f1 #h2 xlv4 #e1 #f4     
,footnote #df3 ,amos1 vii4 #ad4         
,footnote #dg3 ,isa4 i4 #aa-ah2 ,jer4   
vii4 #ba-bc4  ,footnote #dh3 ,dutch1    
zelfstandigheid1 literally1             
self-existence2 without an equivalent1  
as far as ,i know1 in vernacular        
,english4--,tr4  ,footnote #di3         
,zelfstandigheid1 again1 expressing     
objective existence1 reality1           
independent of subjective thought or    
feeling4--,tr4  ,footnote #ej3 ,jer4    
xxxi4 #ca1 et seq2 ,isa4 ii4 #b-d2      
,amos1 ix4 #ab2 ,isa4 xxv4 #f2 lii4 #ae2
 lvi4 #f1 #g2 lxvi4 #bc2 ,zech4 viii4   
#bc2 xiv4 #i1 #af4  ,footnote #ea3 ,isa4

 liii4  ,footnote #eb3 ,job i1 ii4--,tr4
  ,footnote #ec3 ,the most original     
sources of the ,christian religion are  
the ,synoptic ,gospels1 in which1       
however1 criticism must distinguish     
between the older and later portions4   
,the fourth ,gospel is marked by a more 
profound speculation upon the person and
 the work of ,christ1 by which the      
,christian mind freed itself entirely   
from the ,jewish forms in which ,jesus1 
as a popular teacher in ,israel1 had set
 forth his doctrine4