,,history ,,of ,,religion ,a ,sketch of ,primitive ,religious ,beliefs and ,practices1 and of the ,origin and ,character of the ,great ,systems by ,,allan ,,menzies1 ,d4,d4 ,professor of ,biblical ,criticism in the ,university of ,st4 ,andrews ,known unto ,god are all his works from the beginning of the world4--,,acts xv4 #ah4 ,new ,york ,charles ,scribner's ,sons #eig-eii ,fifth ,avenue #aiag ,,first ,,edition 4 4 4 ,april #ahie ,,second ,,edition 4 4 ,september #ahie ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,march #ahig ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,june #aijj ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,january #aijb ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,march #aijc ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,october #aije ,,third ,,edition 4 4 4 ,january #aijh ,,fourth ,,edition 4 4 ,september #aiaa ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,june #aiad ,reprinted 4 4 4 4 ,october #aiah ,,preface ,this book makes no pretence to be a guide to all the mythologies1 or to all the religious practices which have prevailed in the world4 ,it is intended to aid the student who desires to obtain a general idea of comparative religion1 by exhibiting the subject as a connected and organic whole1 and by indicating the leading points of view from which each of the great systems may best be understood4 ,a certain amount of discussion is employed in order to bring clearly before the reader the great motives and ideas by which the various religions are inspired1 and the movements of thought which they present4 ,and the attempt is made to exhibit the great manifestations of human piety in their genealogical connection4 ,the writer has ventured to deal with the religions of the ,bible1 each in its proper historical place1 and trusts that he has not by doing so rendered any disservice either to ,christian faith or to the science of religion4 ,it is obvious that in a work claiming to be scientific1 and appealing to men of every faith1 all religions must be treated impartially1 and that the same method must be applied to each of them4 ,in a field of study1 every part of which is being illuminated almost every year by fresh discoveries1 such a sketch as the present can be merely tentative1 and must soon1 in many of its parts1 grow antiquated and be superseded4 ,and where so much depends on the selection of some facts out of many which might have been employed1 it will no doubt appear to readers who have some acquaintance with the subject1 that here and there a better choice might have been made4 ,the writer hopes that the great difficulty will not be overlooked with which he has had to contend1 of compressing a vast subject into a compendious statement without allowing its life and interest to evaporate in the process4 ,for a fuller bibliography than is given in this volume the reader may consult the works of ,dr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,tiele1 and of ,dr4 ,chantepie de la ,saussaye4 ,it will readily be believed that the writer of this volume has been indebted to many an author whom he has not named4 ,,st4 ,,andrews1 #ahie4 ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,third 7,,revised7 ,,edition ,since this book first appeared twelve years ago it has been several times reprinted without change4 ,advantage has now been taken1 however1 of a call for a fresh issue1 to introduce into it some alterations and additions1 such as its stereotyped form allows4 ,some mistakes have been corrected1 the names of recent books have been added to the bibliographies1 and in some chapters1 especially those dealing with the ,semitic religions1 considerable changes have been made4 ,in going over the book for this purpose1 ,i have seen very clearly that if it had been called for and written at this time instead of twelve years ago1 some things which are in it need not have appeared1 and additions might have been made which are not now possible4 ,the last twelve years have made a great change in the study of religions2 the prejudices with which it was regarded have almost passed away1 powerful forces have been enlisted in its service1 and admirable works have appeared dealing with various parts of the vast field4 ,yet ,i am glad to think that the attempt made in this book to furnish a simple introduction to a deeply important study1 and especially to promote the understanding of the religions of the ,bible by placing them in their connection with the religion of mankind at large1 may still prove useful4 ,,st4 ,,andrews1 ,june #aijg4 ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,fourth ,,edition ,this book is now being reprinted in a somewhat larger type1 and an opportunity is given1 less restricted than the last1 for making changes in it4 ,it is impossible for me at present to re-write it2 it appears substantially as it was4 ,some alterations and additions have been made in the earlier chapters1 and the bibliographies have been brought more nearly up to date4 ,i would take this opportunity of directing the attention of readers of this book to the published ,proceedings of the ,oxford ,congress of the ,history of ,religion1 held in ,september #aijh4 ,they will there see how large this field of study has now grown1 and what varied life and movement every part of it contains4 ,i have given references only to the addresses of the ,presidents of the ,sections of the ,congress1 in which a fresh review will be found of recent progress in the study of each of the great religions4 ,,st4 ,,andrews1 ,july #aiaj4 ,,contents ,,part ,i ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,early ,,world ,,chapter ,i ,,introduction ,,page ,position of the science--,unity of all religion--,the growth of religion continuous--,preliminary definition of religion-- ,criticism of other definitions--,fuller definition--,religion and civilisation advance together 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #a-ah ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,religion ,origin of civilisation--,it was from the savage state that civilisation was by degrees produced--,the religion of savages--,all savages have religion--,it is a psychological necessity 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ai-bh ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,earliest ,,objects ,,of ,,worship ,nature-worship--,ancestor-worship--,fet ish-worship--,a supreme being--,which gods were first worshipped8--,fetish-gods came first--,spirits1 human or quasi-human1 came first--,theories of ,mr4 ,spencer and ,mr4 ,tylor--,animism--,the minor nature-worship came first--,theories of ,mr4 ,m4 ,mller and of ,ed4 von ,hartmann--,the great nature-powers came first--,both nature-worship and the worship of spirits are sources of early religion--,conclusion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bi-ej ,,chapter ,,iv ,,early ,,developments--,,belief ,growth of the great gods--,polytheism--,kathenotheism--,the minor nature-worship--,the worship of animals--,trees1 wells1 stones--,the state after death--,growth of the great religions out of these beliefs 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ea-fe ,,chapter ,v ,,early ,,developments--,,practices ,sacrifice--,prayer--,sacred places1 objects1 persons--,magic-- ,character of early religion--,early religion and morality 4 4 #ff-gh ,,chapter ,,vi ,,national ,,religion ,classifications of religions--,rise of national religion--,it affords a new social bond--,and a better ,god--,example--,the ,inca religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #gi-ij ,,part ,,ii ,,isolated ,,national ,,religions ,,chapter ,,vii ,,babylon ,,and ,,assyria ,people and literature--,worship of spirits--,worship of animals--,the great ,gods--,mythology--,the state religion 4 4 4 #ia-aje ,,chapter ,,viii ,,china ,history of ,china--,the literature of the religion--,the state religion of ancient ,china--,heaven--,the spirits--,ancestors-- ,confucius--,his life--,his doctrine--,taoism--,buddhism in ,china #ajf-abe ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,ancient ,,egypt ,history and literature--#a4 ,animal worship--,theories accounting for it--#b4 ,the great ,gods--,they also are local-- ,mythology--,dynasties of gods--,ra--,osiris--,ptah--,was the earliest religion monotheistic8--,syncretism--,pantheism-- ,worship--#c4 ,the doctrine of the other life--,treatment of the dead--,the spirit in the under-world--,the ,book of the ,dead-- ,conclusion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #abf-aeg ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,semitic ,,group ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,semitic ,,religion ,home of the ,semites--,character of the race--,their early religious ideas--,difference between ,semitic and ,aryan religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #aei-afi ,,chapter ,,xi ,,canaanites ,,and ,,phenicians ,the ,religion of the ,canaanites--,the ,phenicians--,their gods-- ,astral deities of ,phenicia--,influence of ,phenician art 4 4 4 #agj-agh ,,chapter ,,xii ,,israel ,the sacred literature--,the people--,jehovah--,the early ritual was simple--,contact with ,canaanite religion--,danger of fusion--,religious conflict--,the monarchy--,religion not centralised--,the ,prophets--,the old religion national-- ,criticism of the old religion by the prophets--,appearance of ,universalism--,ethical monotheism--,individualism of the prophetic teaching--,the reforms--,deuteronomy--,earlier codes-- ,the exile--,the return2 the reform of ,ezra--,character of the later religion--,heathenish elements of ,judaism--,spiritual elements--,the ,psalms--,the ,synagogue--,the national hopes--,the state after death 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #agi-baf ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,islam ,arabia before ,mahomet--,the old religion--,confusion of worship--,allah--,judaism and ,christianity in ,arabia--,mahomet1 early life--,his religious impressions--,the revelations--,his preaching--,persecution--,trials2 decides to leave ,mecca-- ,mahomet at ,medina--,new religious union--,breach with ,judaism and ,christianity--,domestic--,conquest of ,mecca--,mecca made the capital of ,islam--,spread of ,islam--,the duties of the ,moslem-- ,the ,koran--,islam a universal religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bag-bdb ,,part ,,iv ,,the ,,aryan ,,group ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,aryan ,,religion ,the ,aryans1 their early home--,their civilisation described-- ,little known of their gods--,their worship was domestic 4 4 4 #bdc-bee ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,teutons ,the ,aryans in ,europe--,the ancient ,germans--,the early ,german gods--,the working religion--,later ,german religion--,iceland-- ,the ,eddas--,the gods of the ,eddas--,the twilight of the gods 4 #bef-bgc ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,greece ,people and land--,earliest religion2 functional deities-- ,growth of ,greek gods--,stones1 animals1 trees--,greek religion is local--,artistic tendency--,early ,eastern influences-- ,homer--,the ,homeric gods--,worship in ,homer--,omens--,the state after death--,hesiod--,the poets and the working religion--,rise of religious art--,festivals and games--,zeus and ,apollo-- ,change of the ,greek spirit in sixth century ,b4,c4--,new religious feeling2 the mysteries--,religion and philosophy 4 4 #bgd-cjd ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,rome ,roman religion was different from ,greek--,the earliest gods of ,rome are functional beings--,the worship of these beings--,the great gods--,sacred persons--,roman religion legal rather than priestly--,changes introduced from without--,etruria--,greek gods in ,rome--,the ,graeco-,roman religion--,decay and confusion #cje-cbc ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,the ,,religions ,,of ,,india ,i4 ,the ,vedic ,religion ,relation of ,indian to ,aryan religion--,the ,rigveda--,the ,vedic gods--,hymns to the gods--,to what stage does this religion belong8--,it is primitive--,it is advanced--,in spite of many gods1 a tendency to ,monotheism 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cbd-ccg ,,chapter ,,xix ,,india ,,ii4 ,brahmanism ,the caste system3 the ,brahmans--,the growth of the sacred literature--,sacrifice--,practical life--,philosophy-- ,transmigration--,later developments 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cch-ceb ,,chapter ,,xx ,,india ,,iii4 ,buddhism ,the literature--,was there a personal founder8--,the story of the founder--,is ,buddhism a revolt against ,brahmanism8--,the ,buddha--,the doctrine--,buddhist morality--,nirvana--,no gods-- ,the order--,buddhism made popular--,conclusion--,buddhism is not a complete religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cec-chj ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,persia ,sources--,the contents of the ,zend-,avesta are composite-- ,zoroaster--,primitive religion of ,iran--,the call of ,zarathustra--,the doctrine--,its inconsistencies--,man is called to judge between the gods--,this religion is essentially intolerant--,growth of ,mazdeism--,organisation of the heavenly beings--,the attributes of ,ahura--,ancient testimonies to the ,persian religion--,the ,vendidad3 laws of purity--,how this doctrine entered ,mazdeism--,influence of ,mazdeism on ,judaism and in other directions 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cha-djh ,,part ,v ,,universal ,,religion ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,christianity ,state of ,jewish religion at the ,christian era--,the teaching of ,jesus--,his person and work--,universalism of ,christianity-- ,the ,apostle ,paul--,what ,christianity received from ,judaism-- ,and from the ,greek world--,the different religions of ,christian nations and the common ,christianity 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #dji-dbe ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,conclusion ,tribal1 national1 and individual religion--,this the central development--,has to be studied in nations--,periods of general advance in religion--,conditions of religious progress 4 4 4 4 #dbf-dcd ,,index 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #dce-ddj ,,part ,i ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,early ,,world ,,chapter ,i ,,introduction ,the science to which this little volume is devoted is a comparatively new one4 ,it is scarcely half a century since the attention of ,western ,europe began to fix itself seriously on the great religions of the ,east1 and the study of these ancient systems aroused reflection on the great facts that the world possesses not one religion only1 but several1 nay1 many religions1 and that these exhibit both great differences and great resemblances4 ,the agitation of mind then awakened by the thought that other faiths might be compared with ,christianity1 has to a large extent passed away2 and on the other hand fresh fields of knowledge have been opened to the student of the worships of mankind4 ,by new methods of research the religions of ,greece and ,rome have come to be known as they never were before2 and all the other religions of which we formerly knew anything have been led to tell their stories in a new way4 ,a new study--that of the earliest human life on the earth--has brought to light many primitive beliefs and practices1 which seem to explain early religious ideas2 and the accounts of missionaries and others about savage tribes now existing in different parts of the world1 are seen to be full of a significance which was not noticed formerly4 ,we are thus in a very different position from our fathers for studying the religion of the world as a whole4 ,to them their own religion was the true one and all the others were false4 ,calvin speaks of the immense welter of errors in which the whole world outside of ,christianity is immersed2 it is unnecessary for him to deal with these errors1 he can at once proceed to set forth the true doctrine4 ,the belief of the early fathers of the ,church1 that all worships but those of ,judaism and ,christianity were directed to demons1 and that the demons bore sway in them1 practically prevailed till our own day2 and it could not but do so1 since no other religions than these were really known4 ,that ignorance has ceased1 and we are responsible for forming a view of the subject according to the light that has been given us4 ,the science of religion1 though of such recent origin1 has already passed beyond its earliest stage1 as a reference even to its earlier and its later names will show4 ,comparative ,religion was the title given at first to the combined study of various religions4 ,what had to be done1 it was thought1 was to compare them4 ,the facts about them had to be collected1 the systems arranged according to the best information procurable1 and then laid side by side1 that it might be seen what features they had in common and what each had to distinguish it from the others4 ,work of this kind is still abundantly necessary4 ,the collection of materials and the specifying of the similarities and dissimilarities of the various faiths will long occupy many workers4 ,unity of all ,religion4--,but recent works on the religions of the world regarded as a whole have been called histories4 ,we have the well-known ,history of ,religion of ,m4 ,chantepie de la ,saussaye1 now in its third edition1 and the ,comparative ,history of the ,religions of ,antiquity of ,m4 ,tiele4 ,a history of religion may be either of two things4 ,the word history may be used as in the term ,natural ,history1 to denote a reasoned account of this department of human life1 without attempting any chronological sequence2 or it may be used as when we speak of the ,history of the ,romans1 an attempt being made to tell the story of religion in the world in the order of time4 ,in either case the use of the term history indicates that the study now aims at something more than the accumulation of materials and the pointing out of resemblances and analogies1 namely1 at arranging the materials at its command so as to show them in an organic connection4 ,this1 it cannot be doubted1 is the task which the science of religion is now called to attempt4 ,what every one with any interest in the subject is striving after1 is a knowledge of the religions of the world not as isolated systems which1 though having many points of resemblance1 may yet1 for all we know1 be of separate and independent growth1 but as connected with each other and as forming parts of one whole4 ,our science1 in fact1 is seeking to grasp the religions of the world as manifestations of the religion of the world4#a ,footnote #a3 ,the above statement is criticised by ,mr4 ,l4 ,h4 ,jordan in his excellent work1 ,comparative ,religion1 p4 #dhe1 but is in the main a true account of what has taken place4 ,mr4 ,jordan strongly holds that ,comparative ,religion is a science by itself1 and ought to be distinguished from the ,history of ,religion1 though the latter is1 of course1 its necessary foundation4 ,in rising to this conception of its task1 the science of religion is only obeying the impulse which dominates every department of study in modern times4 ,what every science is doing is to seek to show the unity of law amid the multiplicity of the phenomena with which it has to deal1 to gather up the many into one1 or rather to show how the one has given rise to the many4 ,in the study of religion1 if it be really a science1 this impulse of all science must surely be felt4 ,here also we must cherish the conviction that an order does exist amid the apparent disorder1 if we could but find it4 ,we must believe that the religious beliefs and practices of mankind are not a mere chaos1 not a mere incessant outburst of unreason1 consistent only in that it has appeared in every age and every country of the world1 but that they form a cosmos1 and may be known1 if we take the right way1 as a part of human life from which reason has never been absent1 and in which a growing purpose has fulfilled and still fulfils itself4 ,some theories1 it is true1 from which the world formerly hoped much1 are not now relied on1 and the present tendency is to abstain from any general doctrine of the subject1 and to be content with careful collection and arrangement of the facts in special parts of the field4 ,caution is no doubt most needful in the attempt to form a view of this great study as a whole4 ,yet something of this kind is possible1 and is beyond all doubt much called for4 ,it is the aim of this little work not only to describe the leading features of the great religions1 but also to set forth some of the results which appear to have been reached regarding the relation in which these systems stand to each other4 ,the ,growth of ,religion ,continuous4--,we shall not pretend to set out on this enterprise without any assumptions4 ,the first and principal assumption we make is that in religion as in other departments of human life there has been a development from the beginning1 even till now1 and that the growth of religion has gone on according to the ordinary laws of human progress4 ,this is a position which1 begin the study at whatever point he may1 the student of this subject will find himself compelled to take up1 if he is not to renounce altogether the idea of understanding it as a whole4 ,to understand anything means1 to the thought of the present day1 to know how it has come to be what it is2 of any historical phenomenon at least it is certain that it cannot be understood except by tracing its history up to the root4 ,we assume1 therefore1 until it be disproved1 that in this as in other departments of human activity1 growth has been continuous from the first4 ,in every other branch of historical study1 this assumption is made4 ,the history of institutions is traced back in a continuous line to an age before there was any family or any such thing as property4 ,the methods by which men have earned their subsistence on the earth are known equally far back2 and there is no break in the development from the hooked stick to the steam plough4 ,and should it not be the same in religion8 ,here also shall we not assume1 until we find it proved to be incorrect1 that there has been no break in the growth of ideas and practices from the earliest days till now1 and that the highest religion of the present day is organically connected with that religion which man had at first8 ,it is1 indeed1 in many ways far removed from the earliest religion1 but what was most essential in the earliest belief still lives in it1 and what was fittest to survive of its earliest motives1 still prompts its worship4 ,should we adopt this view1 we shall find many of the difficulties disappear which have frequently stood in the way of this study4 ,when1 according to the new tendency that seems to govern all modern thought1 institutions and beliefs are regarded not as fixed things1 but as things growing from something that was there before1 and tending towards something that is coming1 they cease to arouse contempt1 or jealousy1 or hatred4 ,if we can regard religions as stages in the evolution of religion1 then we have no motive either to depreciate or unduly to extol any of them4 ,the earlier stages of the development will have a peculiar interest for us1 just as we look with affection on the home of our ancestors even though we should not choose to dwell there4 ,we shall not divide religions into the true one1 ,christianity1 and the false ones1 all the rest2 no religion will be to us a mere superstition1 nor shall we regard any as unguided by ,god4 ,feeling that we cannot understand our own religion aright without understanding those out of which it has been built up1 we shall value these others for the part they have played in the great movement1 and our own most of all1 without which they could not be made perfect4 ,in the light of this principle of growth we shall find good in the lowest1 and shall see that the good and true rather than the evil and false1 furnish the ultimate meaning of even the poorest systems4 ,we start then with the assumption that religion is a thing which has developed from the first1 as law has1 or as art has2 and the best method we can follow1 if it should prove practicable1 will be to follow its movement from the beginning4 ,we must not presume to hope that everything will be made clear1 or that we shall meet with no religious phenomena to which we cannot assign their place in the development4 ,we must remember that ground is often lost as well as won in human history1 and that in religions as in nations degeneration frequently occurs as well as progress4 ,we must not be too sure that we shall be able to find any plain path leading through the immeasurable forests of man's religious sentiments and practices4 ,yet we may at least expect to find evidence of the direction which on the whole the growth of religion has followed4 ,preliminary ,definition of ,religion4--,but1 before we can set out on this inquiry1 we are met by the question1 ,what is it that we suppose to have been thus developed8 ,in order to trace any process of evolution it is necessary to define that which is evolved2 for it belongs to the very idea of evolution that the identity of the subject of it is not changed on the way up1 but that the germ and the finished product are the same entity1 only differing from each other in that the one has still to grow while the other is grown4 ,futile were it indeed to sketch a history of religion with the savage at one end of it and the ,christian thinker at the other1 if it could be said that in no point did the religion of the savage and that of the ,christian coincide1 but that the product was a thing of entirely different nature from the germ4 ,it seems necessary1 therefore1 in the first place1 to say what that is1 of which we are to attempt the history2 or in other words1 to say what we mean by religion4 ,it must not be forgotten that an adequate definition of a thing which is growing can only be reached when the growth is complete4 ,during its growth it is showing what it is1 and its higher as well as its lower manifestations are part of its nature4 ,the world has not yet found out completely1 but is still in the course of finding out1 what religion is4 ,any definition propounded at this stage must1 therefore1 be of an elementary and provisional character4 ,i propose then as a working definition of religion in the meantime1 that it is ,the worship of higher powers4 ,this appears at first sight a very meagre account of the matter2 but if we consider what it implies1 we shall find it is not so meagre4 ,in the first place it involves an element of belief4 ,no one will worship higher powers unless he believes that such powers exist4 ,this is the intellectual factor4 ,not that the intellectual is distinguished in early forms of religion from the other factors1 any more than grammar is distinguished by early man as an element of language4 ,but something intellectual1 some creed1 is present implicitly even in the earliest worships4 ,should there be no belief in higher powers1 true worship cannot continue4 ,if it be continued in outward act1 it has lost reality to the mind of the worshipper1 and the result is an apparent or a sham religion1 a worship devoid of one of the essential conditions of religion4 ,this is true at every stage4 ,but in the second place1 these powers which are worshipped are higher4 ,religion has respect1 not to beings men regard as on a level with themselves or even beneath themselves1 but to beings in some way above and beyond themselves1 and whom they are disposed to approach with reverence4 ,when objects appear to be worshipped for which the worshipper feels contempt1 and which a moment afterwards he will maltreat or throw away1 there also one of the essential conditions is absent1 and such worship must be judged to fall short of religion4 ,there may no doubt be some religion in it2 the object he worships may appear to the savage1 in whose mind there is little continuity1 at one moment to be higher than himself and the next moment to be lower2 but the result of the whole is something less than religion4 ,and in the third place these higher powers are worshipped4 ,that is to say1 religion is not only belief in the higher powers but it is a cultivating of relations with them1 it is a practical activity continuously directed to these beings4 ,it is not only a thinking but also a doing2 this also is essential to it4 ,when worship is discontinued1 religion ceases2 a principle indeed not to be applied too narrowly1 since the apparent cessation of worship may be merely its transition to another1 possibly a higher form2 but religion is not present unless there be not only a belief in higher powers but an effort of one kind or another to keep on good terms with them4 ,criticism of other ,definitions4--,what has now been said will enable us to judge of several of the definitions of religion which have been put before the world in recent years4 ,without going back to the definitions offered by philosophers who wrote before the scientific study of our subject had begun1 and limiting ourselves to those which have been propounded in the interests of our science1 we notice that several make religion consist in an intellectual activity4#b ,thus ,mr4 ,max ,mller#c says that ,religion is a mental faculty or disposition which independent of1 nay1 in spite of1 sense and reason1 enables man to apprehend the ,infinite under different names1 and under varying disguises4 ,without that faculty 444 no religion would be possible4 ,to this definition there are various strong objections4 ,it implies that there is only one way in which men come to believe in higher beings2 they arrive at that belief by finding something which transcends them and which they cannot understand2 i4e4 by an intellectual process4 ,it may be doubted whether the sense of disappointment with the finite is the only road1 or even a common road1 to belief in gods4 ,mr4 ,mller's omission1 moreover1 from his definition1 of the practical side of religion1 of the element of worship1 is a fatal objection to it4 ,belief and worship are inseparable sides of religion1 which does not come fully into existence till both are present4 ,in a later work#d ,mr4 ,mller admits the force of this objection1 urged by several scholars1 to his definition1 and modifies it as follows3 ,religion consists in the perception of the infinite under such manifestations as are able to influence the moral character of man4 ,in this form the definition recognises that worship1 the practical activity in which man's moral character shows itself in fear1 gratitude1 love1 contrition1 is an essential part of religion1 and that perceptions of the infinite apart from this are only one side of it4 ,his original definition1 however1 has played too large a part in the history of our subject to be left without careful notice4 ,the same objection applies to ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer's account of the matter4 ,mr4 ,spencer finds the basis of all religion in the inscrutableness of the ,power which the universe manifests to us4 ,the belief common to all religions1 he holds1 is the presence of something which passes comprehension4 ,the idea of the absolute and unconditioned he regards as accompanying all our consciousness of things conditioned and limited1 and as being not a negative notion1 not merely the denial of limits1 but a positive one4 ,the unconditioned is that of which all our thoughts and ideas are manifestations1 but which we never can know1 with regard to which we cannot affirm anything but that it exists4 ,this definition like that last noticed traces religion to the defects in man's knowledge1 and rather to a negative than a positive element in his experience4 ,it also comes under the objection that it traces religion rather to an intellectual than a practical motive1 and omits the element of worship4 ,footnote #b3 ,though ,mr4 ,tylor defines religion as the belief in spiritual beings1 he is not to be charged with making it too much a matter of the intellect4 ,he uses the word belief in a wide sense as including the practices it involves4 ,in the word spiritual1 however1 ,mr4 ,tylor brings into the definition his theory of ,animism1 and thus makes it unserviceable for those who do not adopt that theory4 ,footnote #c3 ,introduction to the ,science of ,religion1 #ahhb1 p4 #ac4 ,the definition was put forward in the year #ahgc1 and in his lectures on the ,origin of ,religion1 #ahhb1 ,mr4 ,mller adhered to it as being in the main sound 7p4 #bc74 ,footnote #d3 ,natural ,religion1 #ahhh1 pp4 #ahh1 #aic4 ,other scholars have explained religion as the action of the curiosity of the human mind1 of that impulse which prompts man to investigate the causes of things1 and specially to seek for the first cause of all things4 ,here we touch what is certainly to be recognised as an invariable feature of religion2 it always professes to explain the world1 and to bring unity to man's mind by clearing up the problems which perplex him1 and affording him a commanding point of view1 from which he may see all the parts of the world and of life fall into their places4 ,this1 however1 does not tell us what religion itself is4 ,this curiosity1 this impulse to know1 are not specifically religious2 they belong rather to philosophy4 ,other motives than those connected with knowledge entered from the first into man's worship4 ,curiosity impelled him to seek the first cause of things2 in religion he saw something that promised to explain the world to him1 and to explain him to himself4 ,but it was something more than curiosity that made him regard that cause1 when found1 as a god1 and pay it reverence and sacrifice4 ,what is the motive of worship8 ,wonder1 no doubt1 is always present in it1 but what is there in it beyond wonder8 ,no definition of religion can be regarded as complete in which the motive of worship is left undetermined4 ,that is of the essence of the matter4 ,there must be a moral as well as an intellectual quality which is characteristic of religion4 ,what is religion morally8 ,acts of worship may be specified in which every conceivable moral quality seeks to express itself4 ,the most contradictory motives1 pride and anger and revenge1 as well as fear or hunger or contrition1 enter into such acts4 ,but if religion is a matter of sentiment as well as of outward posture1 these acts of worship cannot all be equally entitled to the name1 and something is wanted to complete our definition4 ,fuller ,definition4--,let us add what seems to be wanting2 and say that religion is the worship of higher powers from a sense of need6 ,this will remind the reader of ,schleiermacher's definition--a sense of infinite dependence4 ,it was always objected to that definition1 that it made religion no more than a sentiment1 a mood1 but that besides this1 it is both belief and action4 ,but the truth ,schleiermacher urged was one of essential importance to the matter4 ,belief in gods and acts of worship paid to them do not constitute religion unless the sentiment1 the sense of need1 be also there4 ,these three together1 feeling1 belief1 and will expressing itself in action1 constitute religion both in the lowest and in the highest levels of civilisation4 ,a belief must exist1 to take a step farther1 that the being worshipped is capable of supplying what the worshipper requires4 ,men do not pray nor bring offerings to beings they suppose to be incapable of attending to them1 or powerless to do them any good or evil4 ,it is implied in every act of worship that the being addressed is a power who is able to do for the worshipper what he cannot do for himself4 ,it is his inability to help himself or to supply his own needs that sends the worshipper to his god1 who has a power he himself has not4 ,if he could help himself he would not need religion1 if his life were either perfectly prosperous and even1 so that there was nothing left to wish for1 or perfectly miserable and unsuccessful1 so that there was no room for hope1 he would not resort to higher powers2 but neither of these two being the case1 his life on the contrary being a mixed lot of good and evil1 in which there are blessings his own forces cannot secure1 and dangers from which no efforts of his own can save him1 and the belief having arisen within him1 in what way we need not now inquire1 that higher powers exist who can1 if they will1 defend and prosper him1 in this way he has religion1 he keeps up intercourse with higher powers4 ,and thus religion is not necessarily1 even in its most primitive form1 a manifestation of mere selfishness4 ,though gifts are offered which are expected to please the higher beings1 and though benefits are asked of which the worshipper is urgently in need1 such transactions are not necessarily sordid any more than similar applications between human beings1 between two friends1 or between a parent and a child4 ,even the savage living in entire isolation1 at war with every one and conscious of no needs but those of food and shelter1 will not seek benefits from his god without some feeling of attachment1 nor without some sense of strengthened friendship should the benefit be granted him4 ,when once this sense of friendship has arisen1 religion is present1 the man has come to be in living relation with a higher power1 whom he conceives1 no doubt1 after his own likeness1 but nevertheless as greater than he is4 ,this then is what we conceive to be the essence of religion--the worship of higher powers1 from a sense of need2 and it is of this that we are to trace the history though only in the barest outlines4 ,the definition itself suggests in what way the development may be expected to work itself out4 ,according as the needs change their character1 of which men are conscious1 so will their religion also change4 ,the gradual elevation and refinement of human needs1 in the growth of civilisation1 is the motive force of the development of religion4 ,the deities themselves1 their past history and their present character1 the sacrifices offered to them1 and the benefits aimed at in intercourse with them1 all must grow up as man himself grows1 from rudeness to refinement and from caprice to order4 ,at its lowest1 religion is perhaps an individual affair between the savage and his god1 and has to do with material individual needs4 ,at a higher stage 7not always nor even commonly later in time7 it is the affair of a family1 of a tribe1 or of a combination of tribes1 and with each of these extensions the requests grow broader and less personal which have to be presented to the deity2 the religion becomes a common worship for public ends4 ,the needs of the nomad are other than those of the settled agriculturist1 and those of the countryman differ from those of the citizen1 and those of the ,laplander from those of the ,negro1 and these differences will be reflected in the aspect of the deities and in the observances celebrated in their honour4 ,when art begins to stir within a nation1 the gods have to adapt themselves to the new taste4 ,as society grows more humane1 cruel and sanguinary religious observances1 though they may long keep a hold of the ignorant and excitable1 lose their support in the public conscience and are sentenced to change or to extinction4 ,and when a new consciousness of personal human dignity springs up1 and men come to feel the infinite value and the infinite responsibility of personal life1 the old public religion is felt to be cold and distant1 and religious services of a more personal and more intimate kind are sought for4 ,thus religion and civilisation advance together2 according as the civilisation is in any people1 so is its religion4 ,it is vain1 broadly speaking1 to look for the combination of primitive manners and customs with a lofty spiritual faith4 ,the converse it is true may often seem to take place4 ,religion1 or rather religious creeds and practices1 often seem to lag behind civilisation and to maintain themselves long after the reason and the conscience of a people has condemned them4 ,that is because religion is what man values most in his life1 and he is loath to change observances in which his affections are powerfully engaged4 ,but religion must reflect the ideals of the society in which it exists2 the needs which the society feels at the time must be the burden of its prayers2 its sacrifices must be such as the general sentiment allows2 its gods1 to retain the allegiance of the community1 must alter with time and prove themselves alive and in touch with their people4 ,and if it be the case that civilisation has on the whole advanced upwards from the first2 if1 as ,mr4 ,tylor assures us1#e man began with his lowest and has1 in spite of occasional declines1 on the whole been improving ever since1 then of religion also the same will be true4 ,it also will be found to begin with its rudest forms and gradually to grow better4 ,religion in fact is the inner side of civilisation1 and expresses the essential spirit of human life in various ages and nations4 ,the religion of a race is the truest expression of its character1 and reflects most faithfully its attitude and aims and policy4 ,the religion of an age shows what at that time constituted the object of man's aspiration and endeavour1 as older hopes grew pale and new hopes rose on his sight4 ,thus the study of the religions of the world is the study of the very soul of its history2 it is the study of the desires and aspirations which throughout the course of history men have not been ashamed1 nay1 which they have been proud and determined to confess4 ,no more fascinating study could possibly engage us4 ,it is true that the requirements for the adequate treatment of the subject are such as few indeed can hope to possess4 ,he who would treat the history of religion aright ought to know thoroughly the whole of the history of civilisation2 he should have explored the vast domain of savage life and thought that has recently been opened up to us1 and he should be at home in every century of every nation from the beginning of history4 ,at a time like this1 when new light is being poured every year on every part of our subject1 no statement of it can be more than tentative and partial4 ,the student will be directed at each step to sources of fuller information4 ,footnote #e3 ,primitive ,culture1 chap4 ii4 ,,books ,,recommended 7,,general7 ,outlines of the ,history of ,religion to the ,spread of the ,universal ,religions4 ,by ,dr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,tiele4 ,translation4 ,in ,trbner's ,oriental ,series4 ,very condensed and in somewhat technical language2 but the work of one of the greatest masters of the subject4 ,a full ,bibliography is appended to the various chapters4 ,lehrbuch der ,religionsgeschichte1 von ,p4 ,d4 ,chantepie de la ,saussaye4 ,freiburg1 #ahhg4 ,the ,english translation has an altered title1 viz4 ,manual of the ,science of ,religion1 ,longmans1 #ahia4 ,the ,third ,edition 7#aije7 is practically a different book1 and consists of studies1 each by an expert1 of the various religions4 ,religious ,systems of the ,world 7,sonnenschein1 #ahib7 is a full collection of descriptions of the various religions1 by persons specially acquainted with them2 of very unequal merit4 ,mr4 ,max ,mller's works cited above1 also his more recent volumes of ,gifford ,lectures1 contain a number of general discussions4 ,see also the ,gifford ,lectures of the late ,mr4 ,ed4 ,caird1 and the late ,prof4 ,tiele4 ,pfleiderer's ,philosophy of ,religion1 #d vols4 ,pnjer1 ,geschichte der christl4 ,religionsphilosophie1 #b vols4 #ahhj-hc4 ,rauwenhoff1 ,wijsbegeerde van den ,godsdienst1 #b vols4 #ahhg 7also in ,german74 ,m4 ,jastrow1 ,the ,study of ,religion1 #aija4 ,l4 ,h4 ,jordan1 ,comparative ,religion1 its ,origin and ,growth1 #aije4 ,revue de l'histoire des religions1 edited by ,m4 ,j4 ,rville4 ,archiv fr ,religionswissenschaft1 edited by ,alb4 ,dieterich4 ,reinach1 ,orpheus1 ,histoire ,gnrale des ,religions1 #aiji4 ,hastings1 ,encyclopedia of ,religion and ,ethics1 vol4 i4 ,a-,art1 #aijh4 ,the ,new ,schaff-,heizog ,encyclopedia of ,religious ,knowledge has excellent articles on the various religions4 ,louis ,h4 ,jordan1 ,comparative ,religion1 #aije4 ,an account of the progress of our study1 with extensive bibliography4 ,galloway1 ,the ,principles of ,religious ,development1 a psychological and philosophical study1 #aiji4 ,proceedings of the ,oxford ,international ,congress of the ,history of ,religions1 #aijh4 #b vols4 ,the addresses of the ,presidents of the ,sections give a record of the most recent progress in every part of our study4 ,of these see1 for this chapter1 ,count ,goblet d',alviella1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #cfe sqq4 on the ,method and ,scope of the ,history of ,religion4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,religion ,origin of ,civilisation4--,every inhabited country1 we are assured by ethnologists1 was once peopled by savages2 the stone age everywhere came before the age of metals4 ,antecedent to every civilisation that has sprung up on the earth is this dim period1 the period of the cave dwellers and afterwards of the lake dwellers4 ,there can be no chronology nor any exact knowledge of these early men who lived by hunting1 with stone weapons1 animals which are now extinct4 ,how from his earliest and most helpless state man came in various ways to help himself2 how he discovered fire1 how he improved his weapons and invented tools1 how he learned to tame certain of the animals on which he had formerly made war1 and instead of wandering about the world came to settle in one place and till the soil1 and how family life came to be instituted1 and the father as well as the mother to act as guardian to the children2 all that is a vast history1 which must be read in its own place4 ,immense1 indeed1 were the labours early man had to undergo1 in wrestling his way up from a life like that of the brutes to a life in which his own distinctive nature could begin to display itself4 ,it was from the savage state that civilisation was by degrees produced4 ,the theory that man was originally civilised and humane1 and that it was by a fall1 by a degeneration from that earliest condition1 that the state of savagery made its appearance1 is now generally abandoned4 ,there may be instances of such degeneration having taken place2 but on the whole1 the conviction now obtains that civilisation is the result of progressive development1 and was the result man conquered for himself by his age-long struggles with his environment4 ,that development did not take place in all lands alike4 ,in some it proceeded faster than in others1 and its advances were due oftener to propagation from without1 than to unaided growth from within2 as one race came in contact with another new ideas were aroused of the possibilities of life in various directions4 ,in some lands the development has scarcely taken place at all4 ,there remain to this day races who are judged to be still in the primitive condition4 ,not all savage tribes are thought to be in that condition4 ,the bushmen of ,australia1 the ,andaman ,islanders1 and others1#a are found to be in such a state in point of habits and acquirements that they must be considered as races which have fallen from a higher position1 and present instances of degeneration4 ,but a multitude of savage tribes remain in all quarters of the globe who do not appear to have been thus enfeebled1 and who are held to be still in that state in which the dwellers in all parts of the earth were before what we now call civilisation began4 ,they are races among whom civilisation did not spring up1 as it did in ,china or in ,peru4 ,from these races we may learn in a general way1 though in this great caution is required1 what the ancestors of all the civilised nations were4 ,it confirms this conclusion that we find in every civilised nation a number of phenomena1 practices1 beliefs1 stories1 which the mental condition of the nation as we know it does not account for1 which manifestly are not outgrowths of the civilisation1 but relics of an older state of life1 which civilisation has not entirely obliterated2 and that these practices1 beliefs1 and stories can be exactly matched by those of the savage races4 ,the inference is drawn that civilisation has sprung from savage life1 that1 as ,mr4 ,tylor says1 the savage state represents the early condition of mankind1 out of which the higher culture has gradually been developed by causes still in operation4 ,to trace the history of civilisation1 therefore1 it is necessary to go back to the earliest knowledge we have of human life upon the earth1 and to ask what germs and rudiments can be discovered among savages of law1 of institutions1 of arts and sciences4 ,such works as ,maine's ,ancient ,law1 ,tylor's ,primitive ,culture1 ,lubbock's ,origin of ,civilisation1 show how fruitful this method is1 and what floods of light it pours on the history of society4 ,footnote #a3 ,instances in ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 chap4 ii41 where the theory of degeneration is fully discussed4 ,now what is true of civilisation generally will be true also of religion1 which is one of its principal elements4 ,if every country was once inhabited by savages1 then the original religion of every country must have been a religion of savages2 and in the later religion there will be features which have been carried on from the earlier one4 ,this1 indeed1 we must in any case expect to find4 ,no new religion can enter on its career on a soil quite unprepared1 on which no gods have been worshipped before4 7,that would imply that there had been races in the world without religion1 on which we shall speak presently47 ,a new faith has always to begin by adjusting itself to that which it found in possession of the soil1 and it always adopts what it can of the old system4 ,we should expect then that the great religions of the world should exhibit features which do not belong to their own structure1 but which they inherited1 with or against their will1 from their uncivilised predecessors4 ,and that is the case1 as we shall see afterwards1 with all the great religions4 ,they are all full of survivals of the savage state4 ,the old religious associations cling to the face of a land and refuse to be uprooted1 whatever changes take place among the gods above4 ,superstitious practices continue among a race long after a truth has been preached there with which they are entirely inconsistent4 ,stories are long told about the gods1 quite out of keeping with their character in the theology of the new faith1 pointing to a time when not so much was expected of a god4 ,in ,mr4 ,lang's ,myth1 ,ritual1 and ,religion1 the reader will find an admirable collection of material showing how the popular elements of an old religion survive in a new one in which they are quite out of place4 ,there is none of the great religions to which this does not apply4 ,now1 if it be the case that each of the great religions has been built upon a primitive religion formerly occupying the same ground1 it might appear that we must1 in order to understand any of the great religions1 study first1 in each case1 the savage system which it superseded4 ,it would be a serious prospect for the student if he had to make a separate study of a set of savage beliefs as an approach to each of the ten or twelve great religions4 ,but this1 as we shall see afterwards1 is not the case4 ,there is a great family likeness in the religions of savages1 and we may even allow ourselves to speak not of the religions but of the religion of early races4 ,in the next chapter an attempt will be made to describe that religion2 but we may say here that there are some features which are generally1 though by no means always found in it1 and that these features may be regarded for practical purposes as the religion of the primitive world1 which everywhere was the forerunner of the great systems4 ,this is the jungle1 as it were1 overspreading all the early world1 out of which like giant trees the great religions arose1 and from which they derived and still derive a nourishment they cannot disown4 ,indeed1 we may go much farther4 ,in some of their leading doctrines1 the great religions show the most striking affinity with one another4 ,china and ,egypt have some doctrines in common which are also found in the religion of the ,incas2 the ,aryan and the ,semitic religions know them too4 ,should these doctrines be found in the religion of savages1 it will at least be a question whether the great religions all alike borrowed and developed them from that source1 or whether any other explanation of the case can be found4 ,evidently we cannot make any progress with our subject till we have taken a general view of this religion of savages and come to some conclusions regarding it4 ,a few words must be said1 by way of preface to this subject1 on the mental habits of early races4 ,we cannot hope to understand the thoughts of those people without knowing how they came to have such thoughts1 how they were accustomed to think4 ,now of the savage we may say that he is just like a child who has not yet learned to think correctly1 or to know things truly4 ,he is making all kinds of experiments in thought1 and being led into all sorts of errors and confusion2 and if the child takes years1 the savage may take millenniums1 to get free from these4 ,he does not know the difference between one thing and another1 between himself and the lower animals1 or between an animal and a water-spout4 ,he does not know how far things are away from him1 nor what makes them move and act as they do2 why1 for example1 the sun and moon go round the sky1 or why the wind blows4 ,he cannot tell why things have this or that peculiar appearance2 why1 for example1 the rabbit has no tail1 why the sky is red in the morning1 why some stones are like men4 ,and he wants to know all these things1 and is for ever asking questions4 ,but almost any answer will do for him1 the first explanation that turns up is accepted2 and while a child finds out pretty soon if he has been told wrong1 the savage is so ignorant that he cannot see the absurdest explanation to be false1 but sticks to it seriously and goes on using it4 ,there is no consistency in the contents of his mind1 and inconsistency does not distress him4 ,he has no classes and orders of things1 but considers each thing by itself as it occurs1 without putting it in its place with reference to other things4 ,he has no idea of what is possible and what is impossible2 these words in fact would have no meaning for him1 since he is not aware of any laws by which events are governed4 ,his imagination1 accordingly1 is not under any restraint2 he hits upon all kinds of grotesque theories1 and1 having no critical faculty to test them1 he repeats them and seriously believes them4 ,the stories of the nursery1 in which there are no impossibilities1 in which a man may visit the sun and the winds in their homes and find them at their broth1 in which the beasts can speak1 in which the witch or the fairy knows at any distance what is going on and can turn up just at the nick of time1 in which ghosts walk1 in which anything can be changed into anything1 a hero going through half a dozen transformations to escape from so many dangers1--these are to the savage not incredible nor foolish tales1 to him they are very real1 and very serious matters4 ,he lives1 in fact1 we are told by the authorities on the subject1 in the myth-making period of the world2 in the period when such incidents as occur in the tales of fairyland and in the stories of mythology are matter of common belief1 and even1 it is thought1 of common experience1 so that when the story is put in a good form1 it lives and is believed as a true record of what has actually taken place4 ,on one feature of the savage imagination in particular we must fix our attention4 ,the savage regards all things as animated1--as animated with a life like his own4 ,of his own life he has no very exalted idea2 he has no notion how different he really is from anything around him2 as he is himself1 so he supposes other beings to be also1 not only the animals but the trees and all that moves and even what does not move1 even rocks and stones4 ,he is living himself2 he regards all these as living too4 ,he imagines them like himself1 and supposes them to have feelings and passions like his own1 to reason as he does1 and even if he is told they speak as he does1 that is not incredible to him4 ,thus he lives in a world of infinite confusion1 in which there are no laws1 no classes of beings1 no means of knowing what may happen1 or of verifying any statement1 where every effort of fancy may be believed4 ,the mental world of savages has been compared to the ravings of a whole world turned lunatic4 ,we survey it1 however1 without horror1 because we know that reason is not unseated there1 but striving towards her kingdom4 ,that is the experience that had to be gone through1 these are part of the experiments1 such as every child has still to make1 by which the knowledge of the world is gradually arrived at4 ,amid this apparent universal confusion a certain consistency of view is to be observed4 ,it might be expected that the savage habit of thought1 acting independently in different parts of the world1 would lead to an infinite number of divergent and inconsistent views of the nature of things and of man's place in the world4 ,but this is not found to be the case4 ,mr4 ,lang accounts as follows for the diffusion of the same stories all over the world3 ,an ancient identity of mental status1 and the working of similar mental forces at the attempt to explain the same phenomena1 will account without any theory of borrowing1 or of transmission of myth1 or of original unity of race1 for the world-wide diffusion of many mythical conceptions4 ,mr4 ,tylor says that the same imaginative processes regularly recur1 that world-wide myths show the regularity and the consistency of the human imagination4 ,m4 ,rville1 in his ,religions des peuples non-civiliss1 remarks that the character of savage religions is everywhere the same2 that only the forms vary4 ,now of the things that all savages possess1 certainly religion is one4 ,it is practically agreed that religion1 the belief in and worship of gods1 is universal at the savage stage2 and the accounts which some travellers have given of tribes without religion are either set down to misunderstanding1 or are thought to be insufficient to invalidate the assertion that religion is a universal feature of savage life4 ,how did it get there8 ,how comes it that men so near the lowest human state1 so devoid of all that has been since acquired1 should yet be found to have this mode of thought universally diffused among them8 ,it has been ascribed to a primitive revelation4 ,at the beginning1 it is said1 ,god1 with the other gifts ,he gave to man1 gave him religion2 that is to say1 gave him not only a disposition for reverence and piety1 but a certain amount of religious knowledge1 so that he set out with a stock of religious ideas which were not elaborated by his own efforts1 but bestowed on him ready made4 ,it is impossible1 however1 to conceive how this could be done4 ,if the religion given at first was a lofty and pure one1--and no other need be thought of in such a connection1--then it implies a condition of human life far above the struggles and uncertainties of savage existence2 and both the civilisation and the religion must have been lost afterwards4 ,but how could all mankind forget a pure religion8 ,mankind in that case cannot have been fit for the possession of it2 it was given prematurely4 ,no4 ,the history of early civilisation is the history of a struggle in which man has everything to conquer1 and in which he is not remembering something he had lost1 but advancing by new routes to a land he never reached before4 ,and if civilisation was won for the first time1 so was religion4 ,we may also put aside the theory that man had religion from the first as an innate idea1 that he found information all ready and prepared in his mind of what it was proper to do in this direction1 and how it was to be done4 ,there was indeed a suggestion from within2 but it was due not to any special faculty lying outside the essential structure of human nature1 but to the constitution of the human mind itself4 ,we cannot go into the philosophical question of the basis of religion in the human mind4#b ,it would seem to be a psychological necessity4 ,at all stages of his existence the world of which man is aware outside him1 and the world of feelings and desires within him are in conflict4 ,but the conviction lives within him that in some way they can be brought into harmony1 and that a power exists which rules in both of these discordant realms and in which1 if he can identify himself with it1 he also will escape from their discord4 ,if this be so1 then this necessity to seek after a higher power must have begun to operate as soon as human consciousness appeared4 ,the savage certainly was never unacquainted with the discrepancy between what he wanted and what the world would give him1 between the inner man so full of desires and plans1 and that outward nature which denied him his desires and thwarted his plans1 and before which he felt so feeble and insecure4 ,he also could not but be driven1 if his life was to go on at all on any tolerable basis1 to believe in something that had to do both with the world outside him and with the world of his heart1 in a being which both had sympathy with his desires and power to give effect to them outwardly4 ,footnote #b3 ,see on this subject ,prof4 ,edward ,caird's ,gifford ,lectures1 ,the ,evolution of ,religion1 #ahic4 ,galloway1 ,the ,principles of ,religious ,development4 ,the whole of the early world did entertain such a belief4 ,this is the first and the most important instance of uniformity of thought at a stage through which every nation once passed2 all men at that stage believe in gods4 ,we will not refuse the name of religion to this side of savage life1 even should the needs be low and material which send the savage to his god1 though his god be a being who in us would excite the very opposite of reverence1 and though his treatment of his god be far from what to us seems worthy1 or even though he strove to appease a multitude of spirits which he conceived as flitting about him1 before he came to form a settled relation of confidence with one being whom he took for his own god4 ,where the sense of need has sent a human being to hold intercourse with a higher power1 there we hold religion is making its appearance4 ,and if this is universally the case among men at the savage stage1 then religion is universal among the ancestors of all nations2 it did not need to be invented when kings and priests appeared and wanted it as an instrument for their own purposes2 it was there before there were any kings or priests1 and is an inheritance which has come down to all mankind from the time when human intelligence first turned to the effort to understand the world4 ,,books ,,recommended ,for this and the three following chapters ,j4 ,b4 ,tylor1 ,anthropology1 ,third ,edition1 #ahia4 ,j4 ,b4 ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 ,fourth ,edition1 #aijc4 ,frazer1 ,the ,golden ,bough1 ,third ,edition1 #aijj4 ,a new edition is now appearing in parts4 ,a4 ,lang1 ,myth1 ,ritual1 and ,religion1 new edition1 #ahii4 ,th4 ,achelis1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,waitz und ,gerland1 ,anthropologie der ,naturvlker1 #ahei-gb4 ,brinton1 ,religions of ,primitive ,peoples1 #ahig4 ,the reports of travellers and missionaries are1 of course1 important4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,earliest ,,objects ,,of ,,worship ,we must now make some attempt to set forth the principal features of the religion of savages4 ,it is an attempt of some difficulty2 for savage religion is an immense and bewildering jungle of all manner of extraordinary growths4 ,it is described in detail in large books and if we try to sum it up in a short statement1 we may be told that essential features have been omitted4 ,no one set of savages has anything that can be called a system1 and different sets of savages are not alike4 ,for the present purpose we are obliged to include under the name1 tribes who occupy various positions in the scale of human advancement1 and tribes in all sorts of geographical positions1 in hot climates and in cold1 both rude savages and those who are nobler2 and these will1 of course1 have a variety of ideas and needs1 and in so far1 different religions4 ,after reading such a book as ,mr4 ,frazer's ,golden ,bough1 or turning over the pages of ,waitz and ,gerland's ,anthropologie der ,naturvlker1 one is inclined to regard it as a hopeless task to reduce savage religion to any compact statement4 ,mr4 ,tylor's orderly collections1 in his great book ,primitive ,culture1 of materials bearing on different features of early religion are a help for which the student cannot be sufficiently thankful4 ,after all1 it is not the whole of savage religion that we are responsible for here1 but only those parts of it that grew and survived in higher faiths4 ,remembering what has been said as to the uniformity of savage thought amid its great variety of forms1 and looking for those parts of it which have proved to have life in them1 rather than for what is merely curious and grotesque1 we may venture on our task not without hope4 ,in the present chapter we shall inquire what beings savages worship as gods4 ,of these we shall find that there are several classes2 and it will be necessary to notice the great discussions which have arisen on the question which of these classes of deities was first worshipped by man4 ,the objects worshipped by men in low stages of civilisation may be arranged in four classes1 viz4-- #a4 ,parts of nature 7a7 great1 7b7 small4 #b4 ,spirits of ancestors and other spirits4 #c4 ,objects supposed to be haunted by spirits 7fetish-worship74 #d4 ,a ,supreme ,being4 #a4 ,nature-worship4--,it is not difficult to realise why early man turned to the great elements of nature as beings who could help him1 and whom he ought1 therefore1 to cultivate4 ,the farther we go back in civilisation1 the less protection has man against the weather1 the more do his subsistence and his comfort depend on the action of the sun1 the winds1 the rain4 ,if1 according to the habits of early thought1 he conceived these beings as living like himself and as guided by feelings and motives similar to his own1 he could not fail to wish to open up communication with them4 ,that simple view1 that they were living beings with feelings like his own1 was enough to go upon4 ,in his anxieties for food or warmth he could not fail to think of the beings who1 he had observed1 had power to supply him with these comforts1 of the rain which he had noticed was able to make food grow1 of the sun whose warmth he knew4 ,the thunderstorm was a being who had power to put an end to a long drought2 the winds could break the trees1 could dry up the wet earth1 or could bring rain4 ,heaven was over all1 and the ,earth was the supporter and fertile producer of all2 from her all life came4 ,the moon as well as the sun was a friendly power1 nay1 in some climates1 more friendly4 ,fire was a living being certainly1 on whom much depended2 and so was the great lake or the ocean4 ,this is what ,m4 ,rville calls the great ,nature-worship1 in comparison with the minor ,nature-worship to be noticed presently4 ,we do not now enter on the subject of mythology2 that is to say1 of the names men very early began to give to the great natural objects of worship1 the characters they ascribed to them1 the stories they told about them4 ,that process of myth-making began very early1 and is to be found at work in every part of the world4 ,but at first it was simply the natural being itself1 conceived as living1 that was worshipped1 not a spirit or a person thought to dwell in it4 ,of this1 abundant evidence has survived in the great religions4 ,jupiter is just the sky1 the ,greek god ,helios is just the sun1 and the goddess ,selene the moon4 ,in ,china heaven itself is worshipped to this day4 ,the ,babylonians worshipped the stars4 ,the ,vedic gods are primarily the elements4 ,from savage life examples of this earliest state of matters can also be quoted1 though mythology has nearly everywhere greatly confused it4 ,the ,mincopies adore the sun as a beneficent deity1 the moon as an inferior god4 ,to the ,natchez the sun is the supreme god2 with some tribes of ,north ,america the chief god is heaven blowing1 the sky with a wind in it1 what ,longfellow calls the ,great ,spirit or blowing4 ,the ,incas invoked together the ,creator and the ,sun and ,thunder4 ,thunder was one of the great gods of the ,germans4 ,the ,samoyede bows to the ,sun every morning and every evening and says4 ,when thou arisest ,i also arise2 when thou settest ,i also betake myself to rest4 ,to the ,ojibways ,fire is a divine being1 to be well entertained1 with whom no liberties must be taken4 ,in every land men are to be found who worship the ,earth as a great deity1 calling her by her own name and serving her with suitable rites4 ,in the ,prometheus of schylus the hero addresses his appeal as follows to the beings he regards as gods of old race who will sympathise with him against the upstart ,zeus3-- ,ether of ,heaven and ,winds untired of wing1 ,rivers whose fountains fail not1 and thou ,sea1 ,laughing in waves innumerable6 ,o ,earth1 ,all-mother6--,yea and on the ,sun ,i call1 ,whose orb scans all things2 look on me and see ,how ,i1 a god1 am wronged by gods4 ,lewis ,campbell1 line #he sq4 ,the minor ,nature-worship has to do with rivers and springs1 with trees and groves1 with crops and fruits1 with rocks and stones1 and with the lower animals4 ,here also we must bear in mind the habit of mind of early man1 who regarded all things as animated and as like himself4 ,it was not necessary for one who thought in this way to suppose that the spring was haunted by a nymph or the oak inhabited by a dryad1 before he felt that the spring or the oak had a claim on him1 and brought offerings to secure their friendship4 ,the ,nile and the ,ganges did not become sacred by having a mythical being added to them as their spirit2 they were themselves sacred beings4 ,every country is studded with names which reveal to the scholar the primeval sanctity of the spots they belong to2 the mountain1 the grove1 and the individual tree1 the rocky gorge1 the rock1 the grassy knoll1 each was once an object of reverence4 ,britain is full of sacred wells1 which once received prayers and offerings4 ,there is no animal that has not once been worshipped4 ,a marked feature of primitive life also is the worship of nature not in its particular objects but in its living processes4 ,in a multitude of curious rites1 some of which still survive in local usages1 and have only recently been explained1 primitive man brought himself into relations with nature in its growth1 decay1 and resurrection4 ,he sympathised with it and imitated it1 and he thus sought to make himself sure of the benefits which he saw bestowed by some power which he apprehended in its processes and believed able to further him4 #b4 ,ancestor-worship4--,a set of beings of a very different kind comes next4 ,if man found in the world which he beheld outside him a number of objects he could make gods1 his domestic experience forced him to consider certain beings of a different kind1 of whom the outward world could tell him nothing4 ,the worship of the dead1 of ancestors1 is diffused throughout nearly the whole of antiquity1 it is practised by most savages4 ,man at an early stage does not fully realise the meaning of death4 ,he interprets death after the analogy of dreams1 in which he judges that the spirit leaves the body and traverses distant regions1 coming back to the body again when the journey is ended4 ,a vision is to him an instance of the same thing4 ,he sees a friend1 who1 he afterwards learns1 was far from him at the time1 and he judges that it was the spirit of his friend which visited him4 ,thus there arises in his mind the conception of a human spirit which is able to leave the body and dwell at a distance from it4 ,it is called by various names1--the shade1 the image1 the heart1 as perhaps when ,elisha says his heart went with ,gehazi when he went to meet ,naaman the ,syrian 7#b ,kings v4 #bf71 the breath1 the soul4 ,when the breath or spirit goes away and stays away 7in spite of efforts made to bring it back7 the man dies4 ,but the spirit is not dead4 ,it has gone away and is staying somewhere else4 ,the spirit resembles the body in shape1 but it is of a thin and light consistence1 and is able to move about and to pass through the smallest openings1 to make unpleasant noises1 and to cause its presence to be felt in a variety of ways4 ,in the very earliest times1 the savage regards the spirit which has left the house as an enemy1 and uses a variety of precautions to keep it from coming back to trouble him 7vampires1 ghosts1 lemures74 ,whether from such fear or from more liberal motives1 much is done to please the spirits of the departed and to increase their comfort in the abodes to which they have gone4 ,at their burial or cremation all they may be supposed to want where they are going1 i4e4 the things they used on earth1 are made to accompany them2 food and weapons are placed beside them2 servants are killed whose spirits are to wait on them1 even a wife1 voluntarily or without being asked1 gives up her earthly life to accompany her husband4 ,offerings of food and drink are made to them afterwards1 prayers are addressed to them1 memorials of them1 of various kinds1 are preserved in the houses they occupied4 ,it was the universal belief of the early world that the person continued to exist after the death of the body2 and this furnished the materials for a religion which was more widely prevalent in antiquity than the worship of any god4 ,in some forms of it1 indeed1 the spirit appears to have been treated as an enemy1 and this worship might be judged to fall short of religion1 which is the cultivation1 not the avoidance1 of intercourse with higher powers4 ,the savage has no hope from the spirit1 and does not seek his intercourse4 ,but in most forms of the belief in the continued life of the departed1 other sentiments than fear prevail2 natural affection is felt for the lost relative2 the ancestor represents the family1 to which the individual is called to subordinate and to some extent even to sacrifice himself2 the spirit of the dead is the upholder of a family tradition which the living must hold sacred4 ,even in those cases in which nothing but fear is apparent1 these latter sentiments may also be to some extent operative4 #c4 ,fetish-worship4--,the early world has still another kind of deity4 ,in the case of all those we have considered1 the god stands in some respect above the worshipper2 man reverences the sun1 spirit1 or animal1 for some quality in them that is admirable or that gives them a hold over him2 they are in some ways beyond him4 ,among certain sets of savages1 however1 notably in ,south ,africa1 this feature of religion partially disappears1 and objects are reverenced not for any intrinsic quality in them that makes them worthy of regard1 but because of a spirit which is supposed to be connected with them4 ,stones1 trees1 twigs1 pieces of bark1 roots1 corn1 claws of birds1 teeth1 skin1 feathers1 articles of human manufacture1 any conceivable object1 will be held in reverence by the savage and regarded as embodying a spirit4 ,anything that strikes his fancy as being out of the common he will take up and add to his museum of objects1 each of which has in it a hidden power4 ,that power1 be it repeated1 is not connected with the natural quality of the object1 but is due to a spirit which has come to reside in it1 and which may very possibly leave it again4 ,having chosen this deity and set it up for worship1 the man can use it as he thinks fit4 ,he addresses prayers to it and extols its virtues2 but should his enterprise not prosper1 he will cast his deity aside as useless1 and cease to worship it2 he will address it with torrents of abuse1 and will even beat it1 to make it serve him better4 ,it is a deity at his disposal1 to serve in the accomplishment of his desires2 the individual keeps gods of his own to help him in his undertakings4 ,the name fetishism1 by which this kind of worship is known1 is of ,portuguese origin2 it is derived from feitio1 made1 artificial 7compare the old ,english fetys1 used by ,chaucer72 and this term1 used of the charms and amulets worn in the ,roman ,catholic religion of the period1 was applied by the ,portuguese sailors of the eighteenth century to the deities they saw worshipped by the negroes of the ,west ,coast of ,africa4 ,de ,brosses1 a ,french savant of last century1 brought the word fetishism into use as a term for the type of religion of the lowest races4 ,the word has given rise to some confusion1 having been applied by ,comte and other writers to the worship of the heavenly bodies and of the great features of nature4 ,it is best to limit it1 as has been done above1 to the worship of such natural objects as are reverenced not for their own power or excellence but because they are supposed to be occupied each by a spirit4 ,can this be called religion8 ,in the full sense of the term it cannot4 ,we should remember that it is not the casual object1 but the spirit connected with it that the savage worships2 but even then we shall be obliged to hold that the fetish worshipper is rather seeking after religion than actually in possession of it4 #d4 ,a ,supreme ,being4--,is it necessary to add another class of deity to these three1 and to say that besides nature-gods and spirits early man also worshipped a ,supreme ,being above all these8 ,in most savage religions there is a principal deity to whom the others are subordinate4 ,but if we carefully examine one by one the supreme gods of these religions1 we shall find reason to doubt whether they really have a common character so as to form a class by themselves4 ,many of them are nature gods who have outgrown the other deities of that class and come to occupy an isolated position4 ,the ,north ,american ,indians1 as we saw1 worship the ,great ,spirit1 the heaven with its breath1 to whom sun and moon and other ordinances of nature act as ministers4 ,in many cases heaven is the highest god4 ,in others again the sun is supreme4 ,ukko the great god of the ,finns is a heaven- and rain-god4 ,perkunas the god of the ,lithuanians is connected with thunder4 ,on the other hand there are instances in which the supreme god appears to be a different being from the nature-god4 ,the ,samoyedes worship the sun and moon and the spirits of other parts of nature2 but they also believe in a good spirit who is above all4 ,the ,supreme ,being of the islands of the ,pacific bears in ,new ,zealand the name of ,tangaroa1 and is spoken of in quite metaphysical terms as the uncreated and eternal ,creator4 ,here we may suspect ,christian influence4 ,with the ,zulus ,unkulunkulu the ,old-old one might be supposed to be a kind of first cause4 ,but on looking nearer we find he is distinctly a man1 the first man1 the common ancestor2 beyond which idea speculation does not seem to go4 ,among many ,north ,american tribes it is usual to find an animal the chief deity1 the hare or the musk-rat or the coyote4 ,it is very common to find in savage beliefs a vague far-off god who is at the back of all the others1 takes little part in the management of things1 and receives little worship4 ,but it is impossible to judge what that being was at an earlier time2 he may have been a nature-god or a spirit who has by degrees grown faint and come to occupy this position4 ,we cannot judge from the supreme beings of savages1 such as they are1 that the belief in a supreme being was generally diffused in the world#a in the earliest times1 and is not to be derived from any of the processes from which the other gods arose4 ,we shall see afterwards how natural the tendency is which1 where there are several gods1 brings one of them to the front while the others lose importance4 ,for a theory of primitive monotheism the supreme gods of savages certainly do not furnish sufficient evidence2 they do not appear to have sprung all from the same source1 but to have advanced from very different quarters to the supreme position1 in obedience to that native instinct of man's mind which causes him1 even when he believes in many gods1 to make one of them supreme4 ,footnote #a3 ,cf4 ,a4 ,lang1 ,the ,making of ,religion 7#ahih72 ,galloway1 ,studies in the ,philosophy of ,religion 7#aijd71 p4 #abc1 sqq4 ,which ,gods were ,first ,worshipped8--,if then early man formed his gods from parts of nature and from spirits of departed ancestors or heroes1 and even1 should the more backward races now existing represent a stage of human life belonging to the early world1 from spirits residing in outward objects1 which of these is the original root of all the religions of the world8 ,the claim has been made for each of these kinds of religion1 that it came first4 #a4 ,fetish-gods came ,first4--,till recently the view prevailed that all the religion of the world has sprung out of fetishism4 ,first the savage took for his god some casual object1 as we have described1 then he chose higher objects1 trees and mountains1 rivers and lakes1 and even the sun and stars4 ,the heavens at last became his supreme fetish1 and at a higher level1 when he had learned about spirits1 he would make a spirit his fetish1 and so at last come to ,monotheism4 ,this view is attractive because it places the beginning of religion in the lowest known form of it and thus makes for the belief that the course of the world's faith has been upward from the first4 ,but it presents the gravest difficulties2 for why should the savage make a god of a stick or a stone1 and attribute to it supernatural powers8 ,who told him about a god1 that he should call a stick god1 or about supernatural powers1 that he should suppose a stick to work wonders8 ,there is nothing in the stick to suggest such notions2 that he should make gods in this way1 that the belief in wonderful powers should originate in this way1 is surely quite incredible4 ,much more likely is it1 surely1 that he got the notion of ,god from some other quarter and applied it in his own grotesque and degraded way2 than that the notion of ,god was taken first from such poor forms and applied afterwards to objects better suited to it4 ,religion and civilisation go hand in hand1 and if civilisation can decay 7and leading anthropologists declare that the debased tribes of ,australia and ,west ,africa show signs of a higher civilisation they have lost7 then religion also may decay4 ,a lower race may borrow religious ideas from a higher and adapt them to their own position1 i4e4 degrade them4 ,and the progress of religion may still have been upwards on the whole1 although retrograde movements have taken place in certain races4 ,on these and other grounds it is now held with growing certainty that fetishism cannot be the original form of religion1 and that the higher stages of it are not to be derived from that one4 ,the races among whom fetishism is found exhibit a well-known feature of the decadence of religion1 namely that the great god or gods have grown weak and faint1 and smaller gods and spirits have crowded in to fill up the blank thus caused4 ,worship is transferred from the great beings who are the original gods of the tribe and whom it still professes in a vague way to believe1 to numerous smaller beings1 and from the good gods to the bad4 #b4 ,spirits1 ,human or ,quasi-human1 came ,first4--,is the worship of spirits then the original form of religions4 ,this has been powerfully maintained in this country by ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer and ,mr4 ,tylor4 ,according to ,mr4 ,spencer the rudimentary form of all religion is the propitiation of dead ancestors4 ,men concluded1 as soon as they were capable of such reasoning1 that the life they witnessed in plants and animals1 in sun and moon and other parts of nature1 was due to their being inhabited by the spirits of departed men4 ,with all respect for the splendid exposition given by ,mr4 ,spencer#b of the early beliefs of mankind regarding spirits1 it is impossible to think that he has made out his case when he treats the gods of early ,india and of ,greece as deified ancestors4 ,if the natural incredulity we feel at being told that ,jupiter1 ,indra1 the sun1 the sacred mountain1 and the stars all alike came to be worshipped because each of them represented some departed human hero1 is not at once decisive1 we have only to wait a little to see whether some other theory cannot account for these gods in a simpler way4 ,footnote #b3 ,sociology1 vol4 i4 ,also ,ecclesiastical ,institutions1 p4 #fge2 ghost-propitiation is the origin of all religions4 ,mr4 ,tylor also derives all religion from the worship of spirits1 but in a different way4 ,his is the most comprehensive system of ,animism1 using that term in the narrower sense of soul-worship4 ,starting from the doctrine of souls1 reached by early man in the way described above 7p4 #cc1 sqq471 he argues that when once this notion was reached it would be applied to other beings as well as man4 ,not having learned to distinguish himself clearly from other beings1 man would judge that they had souls like his own2 and so every part of nature came to have its soul1 and everything that went on in the universe was to be explained as the activity of souls4 ,it was in this way1 according to ,mr4 ,tylor1 that the view of the universal animation of nature1 characteristic of early thought1 was reached4 ,as the human body was held to live and act by virtue of its own inhabiting spirit-soul1 so the operations of the world seemed to be carried on by other spirits4 ,at this point the soul is an unsubstantial essence inhabiting a body1 it has its life and activity only in connection with the body2 but the step was easily taken to the further belief in spirits like the souls1 but not attached to any body4 ,the spirits moved about freely1 like the genii1 demons1 fairies1 and beings of all kinds1 with whom to the mind of antiquity the world was so crowded4 ,three classes of spirits we have up to this point3 those of ancestors1 those attached to the various parts of the life of nature1 and those existing independently4 ,can the higher nature-deities be accounted for by this theory as well as the minor spirits of the parts of nature8 ,mr4 ,tylor considers that they can2 he declares that the higher deities of polytheism have their place in the general animistic system of mankind4 ,he acknowledges that1 with few exceptions1 great gods have a place as well as smaller gods in every non-civilised system of religion4 ,but in origin and essence he holds they are the same4 ,the difference is rather of rank than of nature4 ,as chiefs and kings are among men so are the great gods among the lesser spirits4 ,the sun1 the heavens1 the stars1 are living beings1 because they have spirits as man has a soul1 or as a spring has a spirit that haunts it4 ,thus in the doctrine of souls is found the origin of the whole of early religion4 ,mr4 ,tylor confesses1 however1 that it is impossible to trace the process by which the doctrine of souls gave rise to the belief in the great gods4 ,the weakness of this view is that it involves a denial that the great powers of nature could be worshipped before the process of reasoning had been completed which led to the belief that they had souls or spirits4 ,but how did early man regard these great powers before this8 ,did they not appear to him adorable by the very impressions they made upon his various senses8 ,did he really need to argue out the belief that they had souls1 before he felt drawn to wonder at them1 and to seek to enter into relations with them8 ,animism4--,the word ,animism1 it should here be noticed1 is used in the study of religions in a wider sense than that of ,mr4 ,tylor4 ,many of the great religions are known to have arisen out of a primitive worship of spirits and to have advanced from that stage to a worship of gods4 ,the god differs from the spirit in having a marked personal character1 while the spirits form a vague and somewhat undistinguishable crowd2 in having a regular clientle of worshippers1 whereas the spirit is only served by those who need to communicate with him2 in having therefore a regular worship1 while the spirit is only worshipped when the occasion arises2 and in being served from feelings of attachment and trust1 and not like the spirits from fear4 ,when gods appear1 some writers hold1 then and not till then does religion begin2 before that point is reached magic and exorcism are the forms used for addressing the unseen beings1 but when it is reached we have worship2 intercourse is deliberately sought with beings who hold regular relations with man4 ,the word ,animism is best employed to denote the worship of spirits as distinguished from that of gods4 ,whether or not early man derived his belief in the multitude of spirits by which he believed himself to be surrounded1 from his belief in the separable human soul1 there is no doubt that he did consider himself to be so surrounded4 ,animism in this sense is undoubtedly the beginning of some at least of the great religions4 #c4 ,the ,minor ,nature-worship came ,first4--,m4 ,rville holds#c that the tree and the river and other such beings were the first gods1 and that the deification of the great powers of nature came afterwards as an extension of the same principle4 ,mr4 ,max ,mller seems to share this view when he says that man was led from the worship of semi-tangible objects1 which provided him with semi-deities1 to that of intangible objects1 which gave him deities proper4 ,the ,germans1 as a rule1 hold the view that the great nature-worship came first1 and that the sanctity of the tree and the river came to them from above1 these objects being regarded as lesser living beings deserving to be worshipped as well as the greater ones4 ,the ,english school let the sanctity of these objects come to them as it were from below2 when man has come to believe in spirits1 he concludes that they have spirits too1 and worships the spirits he supposes to dwell in them4 ,it does not seem that these theories are entirely exclusive of each other4 ,french writers suppose that the minor nature-worship first sprang up of itself1 half-animal man respecting the animals as rivals1 the trees as fruit-bearers for his hunger1 and so on1 and that spirits were added to these beings when the great animistic movement of thought in which these writers believe took place1 of course at a very early period4#d ,footnote #c3 ,rville1 ,histoire des religions des peuples non-civiliss1 ii4 #bbe4 ,footnote #d3 ,this view is the basis of ,m4 ,andr ,lefvre's ,la ,religion4 ,paris1 #ahib4 #d4 ,the ,great ,nature-powers came ,first4--,we come in the last place to that class of deities which we spoke of first--the powers of nature4 ,by several great writers it is held that the worship of these is the original form of all religion4 ,we shall give two of the leading theories on the subject1 that of ,mr4 ,max ,mller and that of ,ed4 von ,hartmann4 ,mr4 ,max ,mller has written very strongly against the view that fetishism is a primary form of religion1 and holds that the worship of casual objects is not a stage of religion once universally prevalent1 but is1 on the contrary1 a parasitical development and of accidental origin4 ,he does not tell us what the original religion of mankind was4 ,the work in which he deals most directly with this question#e is concerned chiefly with the ,indian faith1 the early stages of which he regards as the most typical instance of the growth of religion generally4 ,he does not1 however1 tell us definitely out of what earlier kind of religion that of the ,aryans grew1 which ,india best teaches us to know1 or what religion they had before they developed that of the ,vedic hymns4 ,we may infer1 however1 what his view on this point is from the very interesting sketch he draws of the psychological advance man could make1 in selecting objects of reverence1 from one class of things to another 7p4 #agi1 sqq474 ,first1 there are tangible objects1 which1 however1 ,mr4 ,max ,mller denies that mankind as a whole ever did worship2 such things as stones1 shells1 and bones4 ,then second1 semi-tangible objects2 such as trees1 mountains1 rivers1 the sea1 the earth1 which supply the material for what may be called semi-deities4 ,and third1 intangible objects1 such as the sky1 the stars1 the sun1 the dawn1 the moon2 in these are to be seen the germs of deities4 ,at each of these stages man is seeking not for something finite but for the infinite2 from the first he has a presentiment of something far beyond2 he grasps successive objects of worship not for themselves but for what they seem to tell of1 though it is not there1 and this sense of the infinite1 even in poor and inadequate beliefs1 is the germ of religion in him4 ,when he rises after his long journey to fix his regards on the great powers of nature1 he apprehends in them something great and transcendent4 ,he applies to them great titles2 he calls them devas1 shining ones2 asuras1 living ones2 and1 at length1 amartas1 immortal ones4 ,at first these were no more than descriptive titles1 applied to the great visible phenomena of nature as a class4 ,they expressed the admiration and wonder the young mind of man felt itself compelled to pay to these magnificent beings4 ,but by giving them these names he was led instinctively to regard them as persons2 he ascribed to them human attributes and dramatic actions1 so that they became definite1 transcendent1 living personalities4 ,in these1 more than in any former objects of his adoration1 his craving for the infinite was satisfied4 ,thus the ancient ,aryan advanced1 from the visible to the invisible1 from the bright beings that could be touched1 like the river that could be seen1 like the thunder that could be heard1 like the sun1 to the devas that could no longer be touched or heard or seen4444 ,the way was traced out by nature herself4 ,footnote #e3 ,lectures on the ,origin of ,religion1 #ahhb4 ,this famous theory is1 when we come to examine it1 rather puzzling4 ,it does not account for the first beginnings of religion except by inference1 and it does so in two contradictory ways2 for1 on the one hand1 ,mr4 ,max ,mller enumerates tangible objects first as those from which men rose to higher objects1 and on the other he denies that fetishism is a primitive formation4 ,he suggests that there were earlier gods than the devas1 but he tells us nothing about them1 except that they were not fully deities2 they were only semi-deities1 or not deities at all4 ,the worship of spirits he leaves entirely out of consideration2 religion did not1 in his view1 begin with ,animism4 ,when he does tell us of the beginnings of religion1 what is his view8 ,the religion of the ,aryans began1 and it is a type--the other religions presumably began in the same way1 e4g4 those of ,china and of ,egypt--by the impression made on man from without by great natural objects co-operating with his inner presentiment of the infinite1 which they met to a greater degree than any objects he had tried before4 ,religion was due accordingly to sthetic impressions from without1 answering an sthetic and intellectual inner need4 ,those needs1 then1 which led men to make gods of the great powers of earth and heaven were not of an animal or material nature1 but belonged to the intellectual part of his constitution4 ,those who framed such a religion for themselves must have been raised above the pressing necessities and cares of savage life2 they were not absorbed in the task of making their living1 but had leisure to stand and admire the heavenly bodies1 and to analyse the impressions made on them by the waters and the thunder4 ,nay1 they had sufficient power of abstraction to form a class of such great beings1 to bestow on them a common title1 not only one but several progressive common titles1 each expressing a deeper reflection than the last4 ,thus did they reflect on the nature of the cosmic powers1 taken as a class4 ,this1 evidently1 is not the beginning of religion4 ,it is the religion of a comparatively lofty civilisation2 lower stages of civilisation1 and of religion also1 must have preceded this one4 ,even the heavenly bodies1 it appears to many scholars1 must have been worshipped by men who regarded them not with sthetic admiration and intellectual satisfaction only1 but in the light of more pressing and practical interests4 ,we take ,edward von ,hartmann as the representative of those who1 like ,mr4 ,max ,mller1 trace the origin of religion to the worship of the heavenly powers1 but who carry back that worship to the earliest stage4 ,writers who disagree with his philosophy take grave exception to his treatment of religion1 for he regards religion1 as he considers consciousness itself1 not as an original and inseparable element of human nature1 but as a thing acquired by man on his way upwards2 and he finds the original motive of religion to have lain in egoistic eudmonism1 in the selfish desire of happiness1 which at that stage of man's life determined all his actions4 ,the account1 however1 given by ,von ,hartmann of the beginning of religion in the adoration of the powers of nature is of singular freshness and power1 and we can deduct from it1 after stating it1 the peculiarities arising out of his philosophical system4 ,the first religion that existed in the world had for its objects the heavenly powers4 ,the objects worshipped are known1 indeed1 before religion begins2 the illusions of early thought have settled on the heavenly powers before they are worshipped2 on the outward object the mind has conferred the character of a living and acting being1 which it is henceforth to wear4 ,this transformation1 poetic fancy1 not mere logic and not merely utilitarian considerations1 has brought about4 ,but religion only begins when man sets himself to worship these beings1 and to this he is driven by his material needs4 ,religion begins in a being as yet without religion and without morality4 ,the need for food is the motive that brings about the change1 for that pure egoist early man has seen that the powers of nature are able to help or hinder him in his search for a living2 the sun can set his plants growing or can burn them up1 and the thunderstorm can revive them4 ,his happiness depends on these powers1 and he seeks to set up relations with them4 ,he seeks to gain as an ally the heavenly power who is so able to further or to thwart his aims2 he makes known to it his wishes by calling upon it1 and he offers presents to it4 ,he worships the heavenly powers1 and religion has begun4 ,worship lends to these powers1 though they were known before1 a fixity and reality they did not formerly possess4 ,von ,hartmann is inclined to trace all the various worships of these powers1 which have prevailed in the most different parts of the earth1 to the same original centre1 while at the same time he maintains that even if all the instances of this worship cannot be referred to any common origin1 it must have arisen in this way1 wherever men of the same nature dwelt2 the psychological necessity of this development accounts for the appearance of this same religion in different lands and among dissimilar races4 ,the worship of the heavenly powers1 accordingly1 is with this writer the original religion4 ,while admitting that the worship of domestic spirits grew up in the way described by the ,english anthropologists1 he denies that ,animism is ever a religion by itself without being combined with higher beliefs4 ,he denies also that fetishism could ever be an original religious product1 or that men could ever pass from having no religion to the religion of fetishism4 ,wherever it appears1 it is a religion of decay4 ,all the religion in the world has come from the worship of nature1 which1 whether arising at one centre or at several1 spread over the world1 and is to be recognised1 clearly or dimly1 in the religions of all lands4 ,this view of the origin of religion is shared in the main by ,otto ,pfleiderer1#f and other ,german writers4 ,it was from the impressions made on man by the powers of nature1 these scholars hold1 and not from his belief in spirits1 that his religion came4 ,but it was not necessarily due to pure egoism1 as ,von ,hartmann represents2 the earliest religions need not1 they hold1 have been a mere attempt at bribery4 ,the motives which first caused man to worship the heavenly powers surely arose from other needs than that for food alone4 ,the intellectual craving1 the desire to know the nature of the world he lived in1 and to refer himself to the highest principle of it1 as far as that could be attained2 the sthetic need1 the desire to have to do with objects which filled his imagination2 the moral need1 the desire not to occupy a purely isolated position1 but to place himself under some authority1 and to feel some obligation1 these also1 though in the dimmest way1 as matters of presentiment rather than clear consciousness1 entered into the earliest worship of the heavenly powers4 ,this view has the great advantage over that of ,von ,hartmann1 that it makes the development of religion continuous from the first1 instead of representing it as being originally a purely selfish thing1 into which the character of affection and devotion only entered at some subsequent stage4 ,if man's nature is essentially religious1 then all that constitutes religion must have been with him from the first1 in however unconscious and undeveloped form4 ,footnote #f3 ,philosophy of ,religion1 vol4 iii4 chap4 i4 ,conclusion4--,we have enumerated the different kinds of gods worshipped by early man--fetishes1 spirits1 the powers of nature4 ,we have found a general agreement that fetishism is not an original form of religion1 but a product of the decay of higher forms in unfavourable conditions4 ,as to the other two kinds of deities1 it is impossible to deny that gods have been formed from the very first in each of these two ways4 ,the domestic worship of the early world cannot be derived from nature-worship1 but grew out of the belief awakened in early man1 by the familiar experiences mentioned above4 ,that the greater nature-worship1 on the other hand1 can be derived from the belief in spirits is an assertion which can never be proved1 or even made probable2 that it arose from the impressions produced on early man by the great objects and forces of nature1 is a thing we can understand and believe4 ,the minor nature-worship is also a very intelligible thing1 even without ,mr4 ,tylor's theory of souls to explain it4 ,what more natural than that the savage should worship the great oak or the waterfall1 or should think himself surrounded by invisible beings1 even if he did not frame the latter on the model of the human soul8 ,we arrive therefore at the conclusion that with the exception of the doctrines about death and the abode of spirits1 we must regard the worship of nature as the root of the world's religion4 ,we must beware1 however1 of imputing to the thoughts of early men about their gods1 any such qualities as consistency or regularity4 ,the power of holding at one and the same time religious beliefs which are inconsistent with each other1 is one which even in the most developed religions is by no means wanting2 and how much more was this the case among men who lived before there was any exact thought6 ,the savage could have a variety of gods of very different natures1 who formed in his mind quite a happy family4 ,when he found a new god1 that did not oblige him to part with any old one2 it was one god he was seeking1 but he could not settle on one god as yet1 when there were so many beings with a good claim to the position4 ,he made his gods not out of nothing1 but out of a great variety of experiences and impressions1 and they acted and reacted on each other in an endless variety of ways4 ,one god came to the front here and another there2 an object was deified here from one reason and there from another2 new gods in time turned old and were less thought of while forgotten gods of former days came back to memory and were worshipped once more4 ,endless change1 endless recurrences of growth and of decay filled up those great spaces and periods1 measureless and trackless almost as the expanses of the ocean1 that were covered by the prehistoric life of mankind4 ,,books ,,recommended ,jevons1 ,introduction to the ,history of ,religion1 #ahif4 ,e4 ,s4 ,hartland1 in ,proceedings of ,oxford ,congress of the ,history of ,religion1 p4 #ba1 sqq4 ,of the large class of books reporting the manners and beliefs of special savage races we may specify-- ,d4 ,g4 ,brinton1 ,the ,myths of the ,new ,world1 #ahif4 ,w4 ,w4 ,gill1 ,myths and ,songs from the ,south ,pacific1 #ahgf4 ,kingsley1 ,miss1 ,west ,african ,studies1 #ahii4 ,callaway1 ,the ,religious ,system of the ,amazulu1 #ahfc-gb4 ,duff ,macdonald1 ,africana1 the ,heart of ,heathen ,africa1 #ahhb4 ,g4 ,grey1 ,journals of ,two ,expeditions of ,discovery in ,north-,western and ,western ,australia1 #ahda4 ,spencer and ,gilpen4 ,native ,tribes of ,central ,australia1 #ahii4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,early ,,developments--,,belief ,we have seen from what materials early man made his gods4 ,as the gods differed in their origin1 they differed also from the very first in the mode of their development4 ,the great nature-gods gave rise to one kind of religion1 and the minor nature-gods to another1 the thought of the departed members of the household to a third4 ,but these various religions could not develop side by side without influencing each other4 ,these different worships began in the very earliest times to get mixed up together2 there is none of the great religions which we do not find to be a combination of them4 ,it will be well to consider them in the first place separately4 #a4 ,growth of the ,great ,gods4--,taking them in the order we have already followed1 we come first to the great nature-worship1 of which heaven1 the sun1 the moon1 the stars1 dawn and sunset1 and then the phenomena of the weather1 rain1 storm1 and thunder and lightning1 are the objects4 ,it cannot be too clearly borne in mind that what was worshipped was originally the natural object itself1 regarded1 after the earliest habit of thought1 as living4 ,to heaven itself1 to the sun as he rose or set1 to the storm itself1 men addressed prayers and made offerings2 and in many quarters1 both among savages and in the great religions1 the same thing occurs to this day4 ,but it was impossible for man to stop here1 his imagination would not allow him to do so4 ,in some races1 imagination was more active than in others1 but nowhere was it quite inoperative2 and so it happened that man was led1 here to a greater there to a less extent1 beyond the direct and simple adoration of the powers of nature4 ,when he began to give them names1 a first and a great step was taken in advance of the original simplicity4 ,a name is a power2 if it is anything more than a mere title or label1 and all primitive names are more than this1 it brings with it associations of its own1 and thus men are led to ascribe to the object indicated by the name1 a new character and new powers4 ,they proceed to argue about the name and draw conclusions from it as to the nature of the being they worship1 and so come to think of their deity in quite a different manner4 ,even to classify objects together and give them a common title1 the bright ones1 or the living ones1 as the early ,aryans did1 gives them an independent position of their own1 and tempts the imagination to go further in describing them4 ,striving to find names for those beings he worships and thinks about so much1 early man gives them the names of living creatures with whom he is familiar1 and in this way he brings them much nearer to himself1 and at the same time appears to himself to know a great deal more about them4 ,the moon1 for example1 has horns1 the moon is a cow4 ,heaven is over all1 heaven is a father4 ,and as he knows all about a cow1 and all about a father1 he at once has these deities made much more real to him1 they have an independent existence to him4 ,but1 on the other hand1 he has got something more in his deity than there is in the natural object4 ,it is no longer the mere naked heaven or the mere moon he worships2 but these beings with additions made to them by his own imagination4 ,as time goes on the additions grow more and more4 ,having got living persons for his deities1 early man readily goes on to weave their histories and their relations4 ,if the moon is a cow1 the sun is a bull chasing her round the sky4 ,this is an instance of a principle which obtains in many at least of the early religions and which it is important to remember1 viz4 that the powers of nature were first identified with animals4 ,the zoomorphic stage of the nature-gods comes before the anthropomorphic 7cf4 the signs of the zodiac71 and in many savage tribes it still survives4 ,but it is when the gods begin to be thought of after the likeness of human beings that the decisive step is made in their development4 ,if heaven is a father1 it is easy to go on from that4 ,earth will be the corresponding mother 7an idea found all over the world72 and all men will be their children4 ,if the sun is invested with a name of masculine gender 7but the sun is frequently feminine71 he must do feats becoming such a character4 ,if the storm is a male god1 he will be a warrior or a huntsman4 ,thus the god acquires a personal character and an independent movement2 what is told about him has reference1 of course1 to the natural object he sprang from1 or the season with which he is connected2 but the deity is becoming more and more separate from the natural object1 and acquiring a character and history of his own4 ,the stories connected with the god vary according to the habits and the imaginations of different peoples2 in some cases the gods remain pure and exalted beings1 in others savage and indecent myths are accumulated around them1 and these primitive myths adhere to their persons long after they themselves have felt an upward tendency and acquired a civilised character with the moral elevation of their peoples4 ,we shall see in many instances how the nature-gods were personified1 made into beasts1 made into men1 and surrounded with myths and legends4 ,that is the natural history of the nature-gods2 the process through which they must pass if they grow at all4 ,polytheism4--,another general feature of the worship of the great natural objects has to be mentioned4 ,each god has a history of his own2 he has grown up separately as men concentrated their attention upon him4 ,but as one god grows up after another1 or as the gods who grow up in two countries are afterwards brought together1 it comes to pass that there are many of them1 and none of them is necessarily supreme4 ,what is the worshipper to do8 ,the least reflection will convince us that in any act of worship man fixes his attention on one object only4 ,that belongs to the very nature of religion2 as a child could not treat several men at once as its father1 nor a servant be equally faithful to several masters1 so man naturally tends to have one god4 ,he turns to the highest he knows1 who is most likely to be able to help him1 and there cannot be two highests1 but only one4 ,but man's position in the early world does not allow him to be true to this religious instinct4 ,as he sees one aspect of the world to-day1 and another to-morrow1 he cannot1 when his god is a power of nature1 always see the same god before him4 ,but can he not worship another god when the first one is out of sight and out of mind8 ,though he worshipped heaven yesterday1 can he not worship the sun to-day1 or the storm1 or the great sea8 ,and though the former generation worshipped one of these beings in the foremost place1 may not the existing generation devote itself principally to another8 ,that power does not cease to be a deity which is not immediately before his mind4 ,it is still a deity1 and in a while he will turn to it again1 and make it first4 ,thus it comes about by inevitable logic that when man gets his gods from nature1 he has a number of them4 ,when he gets a new god he does not deny the god he had before2 he is not yet in a position to conclude that there can only be one god4 ,when he is worshipping he feels as if there were only one2 but this feeling applies at different times to a number of different beings1 and from such inconsistency he lacks the power to free himself4 ,the other is a god too2 all the gods he has ever worshipped he may on occasion worship again4 ,nor can he refuse to recognise the gods of others2 to them no doubt they are gods1 if not to him2 they are beings of the same class with his god4 ,and thus early man is a polytheist4 ,polytheism is a complex product2 it is the addition to each other of a number of cults which have grown up separately4 ,in ,polytheism1 however1 very different religious positions are possible4 ,men may feel that the whole set of the gods in whose existence they believe have claims on them1 and may regard themselves as worshippers of them all1 resorting1 as feeling and old association moves them1 now to one and now to another1 or defining the places or occasions at which each of them is to be sought1 or in some other way adjusting their various claims2 or1 on the other hand1 while believing in the existence of many gods1 they may confine their worship to one4 ,a man knows that there are many gods1 but says that he has only to do with one of them4 ,this is a religious position very frequently met with in antiquity4 ,a circle of gods is believed in1 but one of them comes into prominence at a time and is worshipped as supreme4 ,this is called ,kathenotheism3 the worship of one god at a time4 ,the title was invented by ,mr4 ,max ,mller1 who also gives the title of ,henotheism to that position in which many gods are believed in as existing1 but worship is given to only one4 ,the following are examples of the various positions3-- ,the language of ,polytheism is--,father ,zeus that rulest from ,ida1 most glorious1 most great1 and thou sun that seest all things1 and ye rivers and thou earth1 and ye that in the underworld punish whosoever sweareth falsely--be ye witnesses4--,iliad1 iii4 #bhj4 ,the ,jews at the time of ,josiah were accomplished polytheists1 as we may see from the catalogue of the worships suppressed at ,jerusalem by that monarch1 #b ,kings xxiii4 ,the gods of each of the surrounding tribes appear to have been worshipped there1 and the old gods of the separate tribes and families of ,israel appear to have been kept up4 ,kathenotheism4--,the ,vedic poets1 as we shall see1 speak of the god they are immediately addressing as supreme1 and heap upon him all the highest attributes1 while not thinking of denying the divinity of other gods4 ,the language of ,henotheism is--,thou1 ,o ,jehovah1 art far above all the earth2 thou art exalted far above all gods 7,ps4 xcvii4 #i74 ,there is none like unto ,thee among the gods1 ,o ,lord6444 ,thou art great1 and doest wondrous things3 ,thou art ,god alone 7,ps4 lxxxvi4 #h1 #aj74 ,here the other gods are recognised as existing1 but only one is worshipped4 ,compare also ,st ,paul3 ,there are gods many1 and lords many1 but to us there is one ,god 7#a ,cor4 viii4 #e1 #f74 ,the language of ,monotheism is--,all the gods of the peoples are idols3 but ,jehovah made the heavens 7,ps4 xcvi4 #e71 and ,thou shalt have no other god before ,me4 ,a further religious position to be noticed here is that of ,dualism4 ,not all dualism comes from nature-worship1 but in a land where a beneficent and a harmful natural force are in striking antagonism to each other1 this may take place4 ,man1 when he interprets the kindly influences of nature as the blessings of the good god1 naturally interprets the agencies which blight or ruin as being also the manifestation of a living power1 but of an evil one4 ,thanks to the good god alternate1 in this case1 with efforts to counteract or to appease the bad one2 if the two appear to be nearly balanced1 then neither is supreme1 and both overawe the mind and receive worship4 ,but in general we may remark that the greater nature-worship is of an elevating tendency4 ,it brings man into relations with powers which are truly great1 and places him even physically in the position of looking up1 not down4 ,where the nature-power is a harsh one1 a scorching sun1 a tempestuous sea1 the self-command and self-sacrifice called out by the worship of them may be1 if not carried to extremes1 a bracing discipline2 but with some exceptions the nature-gods are good1 and have to do with light and with kindness4 #b4 ,the ,minor ,nature-worship4--,the worship of the great powers of nature has a universal character2 it can be carried on anywhere2 wandering tribes carry it with them2 heaven and the sun and the winds can be addressed in every land4 ,the minor nature-worship differs from it in this respect3 an animal is only worshipped in the country where it occurs1 and the worship of the tree1 the well1 the stone1 is altogether local4 ,with this local nature-worship the world was1 in early times1 thickly overspread2 and manifold survivals of it are still to be found even in lands where the primitive religion has been longest superseded4 ,this is the religion of local observance and local legend1 which clings to the face of a country in spite of public changes of creed1 and1 when the old religion has departed1 is found to have secured a shelter for itself in the new one4 ,in this minor nature-worship which spreads its network over all the early world1 the character of primitive society is clearly represented2 the small communities have their small local worships--each clan1 almost each kraal1 has its shrine1 its god1 and limits itself to its own sacred things4 ,religion is a bond connecting together the members of small groups of men1 but separating them from the members of other groups4 ,the following are some of the more important developments of this4 7a7 ,the ,worship of ,animals4--,primitive man had to hold his own against the animals by force of strength and cunning2 and he was well acquainted with them4 ,he respected them for the qualities in which they excelled him1 the hare for his swiftness1 the beaver for his skill1 the fox for his craftiness4 ,what he worshipped1 however1 was not the individuals of a species1 but the species as a whole1 typified perhaps in a great hare or a great fox1 the mythical first parent of the species1 and possessing its qualities in a supreme degree4 ,it happened apparently over the whole world1 with the exception of most branches of the ,aryan family1 that men at a very early stage regarded themselves as related by the tie of descent1 some to one species of animals or of plants and some to another4 ,from this belief tribes took their names1 each member tattooing the figure of his animal ancestor on his person4 ,the ,bechuanas1 for example1 are divided into crocodile-men1 fish-1 ape-1 buffalo-1 elephant-1 and lion-men1 and so on4 ,the hairy or scaly ancestor is the totem of the tribe1 and they consider that animal sacred1 and will not eat the flesh of it4 ,all who bear the same totem regard each other as of kindred blood1 as descended from the same ancestor4 ,the totem may also be a vegetable1 in which case no member of the stock will gather or eat it4 ,totemism is to be seen in operation at the present day in various parts of the world4 ,north ,america is1 perhaps1 its classic land in modern times4 ,it is1 however1 a stage of society through which all races have at one time or another passed4 ,according to the latest investigations totemism is not to be regarded as itself a religion2 the totem being regarded not as a superior but as an equal4 ,its influence on the early growth of religion1 however1 was great1 and widely ramified4#a ,from this two important consequences follow which will meet us again and again in our study of the great religions4 ,the first is animal-worship1 a phenomenon of frequent occurrence and of perplexing import4 ,mr4 ,mc,lennan has shown that much at least of the widespread worship of animals is to be traced to an early totem-stage of society1#b when animals were held sacred as the ancestors of men4 ,in the second place1 totemism explains the view taken in the early world of the nature of religious fellowship4 ,in modern times people regard each other as brothers in religion when they believe the same doctrines4 ,it is belief1 an intellectual or spiritual agreement1 that binds them together4 ,the ancient religious union was of a quite different nature4 ,people then regarded each other as brothers because they were of the same blood1 descended from the same ancestor4 ,in the ,bible the ,hebrews are all descended from ,abraham1 the ,edomites from ,esau1 etc4 ,that is the necessary condition of brotherhood in early times2 only those could join in a religious rite who were of the same blood4 ,for men of another blood there was another worship1 another god4 ,it is an earlier stage of this view1 when men are of the same worship because they are descended from the same animal1 and when they worship that animal4 ,footnote #a3 ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,totemism1 in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 vol4 xxiii41 and now his ,totemism and ,exogamy4 ,it was formerly held that the ,semites were an exception1 having never passed through the totemistic stage4 ,mr4 ,robertson ,smith1 in his ,religion of the ,semites1 maintains that1 though they are past that stage when we first know them1 the traces of it are apparent in their institutions1 and that their sacrifices especially are based on ideas belonging to it4 ,wellhausen does not agree with him in this4 ,footnote #b3 ,fortnightly ,review1 #ahfi-gj4 ,see also ,mr4 ,lang's ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion in many passages4 7b7 ,trees1 ,wells1 ,stones4--,the worship of each of these three is in itself a great subject1 and we can do no more than mention the leading views which appear to have entered into them4 ,mannhardt in his ,feld- und ,waldkulte and ,frazer in ,the ,golden ,bough have studied the survivals of tree-worship in the local customs of the peasantry of ,europe4 ,early man appears to have worshipped trees as wonderful living beings2 but his thought soon advanced to the conception of a tree-spirit1 of which the tree itself was either the body or the dwelling1 and which possessed various powers1 such as that of commanding rain1 or that of causing fertility in plants or in animals4 ,from the tree-spirit1 again1 the tree-god was further formed1 a being who was able to quit the sacred tree or who presided over many trees4 ,of these beliefs the fast-decaying usages of the ,maypole and the ,harvest ,may still remind us4 ,the well1 in a similar manner1 may first have been worshipped in and for itself1 and then a nymph may have been added to it4 ,the worship of wells consisted in throwing precious articles into them1 or hanging such offerings on the surrounding trees1 and asking some boon from the deity4#c ,rivers and lakes were also held sacred4 ,the worship of stones1 that is of stones not treated by art1 but regarded as sacred in the form in which they were found1 was widely diffused among early races2 but this is a subject on which light is still called for4 ,the ,caaba of ,mecca and the stone of the temple of ,diana at ,ephesus are famous isolated instances of it2 but it has been suggested that the standing stones or menhirs which are found in every part of ,europe1 and in the south and west of ,asia1 were objects of this worship4 ,in ,palestine these stones are not found1 though they occur in the neighbouring lands2 and this is attributed by ,major ,conder#d to the zeal of the orthodox kings1 who1 we know from the ,bible1 destroyed all the monuments of idolatry in their territory4 ,footnote #c3 ,in ,mr4 ,g4 ,a4 ,gomme's ,ethnology in ,folklore many sacred wells are mentioned which are still1 or were lately1 frequented in ,england4 ,st4 ,wallach's well and bath1 in the parish of ,glass1 ,morayshire1 was much resorted to within living memory4 ,footnote #d3 ,scottish ,review1 #ahid1 vol4 xvii4 p4 #cc1 ,rude ,stone ,monuments in ,syria4 ,what is common to these cults1 and cannot be disregarded1 is their local nature4 ,this gives its colour to all the religion of early man4 ,the god of the sacred tree cannot be worshipped anywhere else than where the tree stands1 and he who would have his wishes granted by the well must come to it4 ,the deity of this kind of religion has his abode at a certain spot1 and he is a fixed1 not a movable deity4 ,there is a story1 or a set of stories1 connected with his shrine1 and there are observances of one kind or another to be done there2 and this goes on from age to age4 ,now a deity who is fixed to one spot will be worshipped by the people who dwell around that spot4 ,the god will have his own people and dwell among them1 and they alone will be his worshippers4 ,and thus the surface of the earth comes to be parcelled out among a number of deities1 each seated1 like a little prince1 at his own court among his own people4 ,in passing from his own home to a distant spot1 a man will leave the territory of his own god and enter on that of another1 and as the god can only be worshipped at his own shrine1 the man will leave his religion when he leaves his home1 and either be compelled to serve the gods of strangers1 or to perform no religious duties at all4#e ,thus the ideas connected with totemism meet and harmonise in many old countries with those connected with local shrines4#f ,those dwelling around the shrine form a kindred of one blood1 of which the local god is both the progenitor and the living head4 ,religion is thus both strictly tribal and strictly local4 ,it is for his brethren of the tribe1 for those in whose veins the blood of the same divine ancestor runs1 that a man's enthusiasm is kindled in acts of worship2 it is his duty to his clan that he then realises1 the prosperity of his clan that he desires4 ,to those of other stems no religious bond unites him1 they are men of another blood1 of another worship4 ,his religious duty is to love his neighbour1 or fellow-tribesman1 to hate his enemy1 the man of another tribe4 ,and on the other hand1 as religion consists in approaches to a particular spot and the performance of certain rites1 it is left behind when these rites are accomplished1 and the man is away from his god4 ,the sanctuary is regarded with extreme veneration1 often with shrinking and terror1 but distance makes a change1 the religion alters with travel1 and is left behind4 ,this religion was on the whole a more exciting and intense thing than that of the great nature powers2 and was far more interwoven with social life2 but it also presented the greatest obstacles to progress1 limiting men's affections to their own kin and their own land1 and confining them in an inveterate conservatism4 ,footnote #e3 ,as illustrating this circle of ideas1 compare the following passages in the ,bible3 ,genesis xxviii42 ,ruth i4 #af2 #a ,sam4 xxvi4 #ai2 #b ,kings v4 #ag2 and of a later period1 ,psalm xlii4 ,footnote #f3 ,see on this whole subject ,mr4 ,robertson ,smith's ,religion of the ,semites4 #c4 ,the ,state after ,death4--,the belief that the human spirit was not extinguished at the death of the body1 but entered on an existence without the body somewhere else1 opened the door to a wide range of speculation2 and the ideas arrived at by early man as to the place of spirits and the life beyond1 are a principal part of that antique religion of which the great systems are the heirs4 ,the funeral practices of prehistoric times1 when various articles were placed in the tomb along with the body of the departed hero or father1 and various sacrifices made to him at his burial or cremation and at anniversary festivals afterwards1 show that the spirits of the dead were conceived as carrying on the same kind of existence as they had led here1 though an existence unsubstantial and of little power2 strengthless heads ,homer calls them4 ,food and drink were of use to them2 for the finer part of it was supposed to reach them4 ,the taste of blood revived them2 and various pleasures were possible to them4#g ,this belief1 it will be seen1 differs from all the modern doctrines of a continued existence4 ,it is not the resurrection of the body that the savage believes in4 ,he knows well enough that the body does not rise2 but he also knows that the spirit can exist and move and do a number of things that were done in life1 without the body4 ,nor can he be said to believe in the immortality of the soul4 ,that term describes a free and unfettered existence after death1 but to the savage the spirit after death has but a troubled and frail existence2 it is tethered to certain spots on the earth1 known to it formerly2 it cannot do much1 it lives under many limitations and constraints4 ,nor1 again1 can it be said that retribution after death is a true designation of the early belief4 ,that may be found here and there in early times1 but generally the other life is less under a divine government than this one2 death takes a man away from his god as well as from his family1 and the dead are left to themselves4 ,footnote #g3 ,on this subject compare ,mr4 ,tylor's ,primitive ,culture1 twelfth and thirteenth chapters4 ,while1 however1 this is the general background of primitive belief about the other life1 imagination is at work on the subject very early1 and various features of that life are touched with more vivid colours1 here in one way and there in another4 ,the place where the departed stay1 their occupations1 their delights1 are variously described2 the land where they dwell is modelled on a land that is known1 with the addition of ideal features2 they do very much what they did on earth1 hunt or feast1 make music or carry on discussions4 ,in some cases there is a judgment-seat before which the soul appears for its trial1 and here of course the spirit-world must be divided into two parts or more1 for the reception of those who are approved and of those who are condemned4 ,the detailed description of the abodes of the blest and of the damned1 by no means peculiar to ,christianity1 are later developments in the early world4 ,hell1 ,mr4 ,tylor says1 is unknown to savage thought4 ,the doctrine of transmigration1 however1 whether into plants or into lower animals1 is of early growth4 ,growth of the ,great ,religions out of these ,beliefs4--,these various developments of thought about the gods did1 as a matter of fact1 take place in primitive times1 and that is almost all that can be said4 ,in the religion of savages the various elements we have so briefly indicated cross and recross each other1 in endless combinations2 none of them is to be found entirely by itself4 ,there is no fetish worship which is not accompanied by traces of an early belief in great gods2 there is no belief in great gods which is not accompanied by a belief in lower spirits4 ,with regard to every savage religion the student has to ask what the constituent elements of it are1 in what way the various beliefs of the early world1 beliefs arising from such different sources1 meet in it and combine with one another4 ,in each of the higher religions1 too1 the same questions have to be asked4 ,the beliefs which we have sketched are the materials out of which they also arose4 ,they did not originate the belief in high gods with power over nature1 nor the belief in the lesser spirits which busy themselves with man's affairs4 ,they did not originate the belief in a life after death1 nor was it left to them to appoint sacred seasons in the year1 or to consecrate the spots to which worship has always clung4 ,all these beliefs are prehistoric1 and what remained for the great religions was not to bring them forward for the first time1 but to surround them with a new kind of authority1 and to establish as a matter of positive ordinance or revelation what had formerly grown up without any ordinance by the unconscious work of custom4 ,it was not left for any of the great founders to plant religion in the world as a new thing1 but only to add to the old religion new forms and new sanctions4 ,it may be said that if these are the elements of which religion as a whole is made1 then religion arose at first out of illusions4 ,that is no doubt true1 in a sense4 ,it was an illusion on the part of early man to suppose that the powers of heaven were animated beings who could be his allies and answer his appeals2 it was an illusion to think that the tree or the stone contained a spirit1 and an illusion to think that men's spirits can go and wander about the earth by themselves1 leaving their bodies untenanted4 ,but these illusions were after all only the outward and inadequate expression in which the spirit of religion then clothed itself4 ,religion must always express itself in terms of the knowledge which exists in the world at a particular time2 and if the knowledge is defective to which the world has attained1 religious beliefs must share in its defects4 ,but1 on the other hand1 religion is something more than knowledge2 it is also faith and communion1 and these can be deep and true1 even when the knowledge which provides their forms of expression is greatly mistaken4 ,and when the forms of knowledge in which religion has clothed itself are found to be mistaken1 religion has power to leave them behind and to adopt other forms1 as the tree is clothed with fresh leaves in place of those which are withered4 ,yet it would be wrong to admit that even in its character as knowledge early religion was illusion and no more4 ,the poetic faculty1 the faculty which prompts us to find outside us what we feel to be within us and to assert its reality1 led man right and not wrong4 ,what he worshipped was not the bare object which met the eye and ear1 but the thing as he conceived it4 ,he conceived that there was without him that of which his inner consciousness bore witness1 an ideal1 a being not grasped by the senses1 which could help him1 with which he could hold intercourse1 which had the power he himself had not4 ,this1 not the faulty outward expressions in which the sentiment clothed itself1 was the living and growing element of his religion4 ,in addition to the books cited in this chapter1 we may mention-- ,c4 ,btticher1 ,der ,baumkultus der ,hellenen1 #ahef4 ,j4 ,ferguson1 ,tree and ,serpent ,worship1 #ahfh4 ,j4 ,ferguson1 ,rude ,stone ,monuments in all ,countries1 #ahgb4 ,j4 ,g4 ,fraser1 ,totemism and ,exogamy1 #d vols4 #aiaj4 ,an immense collection of material on the subject of totemism1 with fresh conclusions as to the origin and meaning of the system4 ,,chapter ,v ,,early ,,developments--,,practices ,in early religion it is important to remember that belief counted for much less than it now does2 a man's religion consisted in the religious acts he did1 and not in the beliefs or thoughts he cherished about his god4 ,worship1 moreover1 is that element of religion which in all ages and lands is apt to advance most slowly4 ,even in times of ferment of ideas and change of belief1 we often see that the worship of a former time1 be it simple or stately1 goes on in its old forms1 as if it were a thing that could not change4 ,men alter their beliefs more readily than their habits1 especially the habits connected with their faith4 ,if this is the case generally1 it was much more the case in the early world than it is now4 ,the religion of a shrine in old times consisted of a certain story about the god1 and certain acts done before or near the object which represented him4 ,there was no compulsion1 however1 to believe the story if a man did the acts or took part in them4 ,as to his private beliefs no one inquired2 if he took part in the proper acts of worship he counted as a religious man1 unless he went so far as openly to flout the current opinions of his time4 ,nor were the acts which went to make up religion of an elaborate or difficult nature4 ,no minute ritual regulated in early times the approaches to the deity2 they were a matter of common knowledge1 and were fixed not by law1 which did not yet exist in any form1 but by public custom and public opinion4 ,the manner in which a god is to be served is known of course to his own people who dwell around him2 others do not know it4 ,the immigrants from ,assyria had to send for a ,hebrew to teach them the ritual of the ,god of ,palestine1 as they were on his ground and did not know the right way to worship ,him 7#b ,kings xvii4 #bd sqq474 ,it is later that the rite becomes a mystery1 known only to the professional guardian of the shrine or to the initiated few4 ,sacrifice is an invariable feature of early religion4 ,wherever gods are worshipped1 gifts and offerings are made to them of one kind or another4 ,it is in this way that1 in antiquity at least1 the relation with the deity was renewed1 if it had been slackened or broken1 or strengthened and made sure4 ,sacrifice and worship are in the ancient world identical terms4 ,the nature of the offering and the mode of presenting it are infinitely various1 but there is always sacrifice in one form or another4 ,different deities of course receive different gifts2 the tree has its roots watered1 or trophies of battle or of the chase are hung upon its branches2 horses are thrown into the sea4 ,but of primitive sacrifice generally we may affirm that it consists of such food and drink as men themselves partake of4 ,whether it be the fruit of the field or the firstling of the flock that is offered at the sacred stone1 whether the offering is burnt before the god or set down and left near him1 or whether he is summoned to come down from the sky or to travel from the far country to which he may have gone1 it is of the materials of a meal that the sacrifice consists4 ,in some cases it appears to be thought that the god consumes the offering1 as when ,fire is worshipped with offerings which he burns up1 or when a fissure in the earth closes upon a victim2 but in most cases it is only the spirit or finer essence of the sacrifice that the god enjoys2 the rest he leaves to men4 ,and thus sacrifice is generally accompanied by a meal4 ,the offering is presented to the god whole1 but the worshippers help to eat it4 ,the god gets the savour of it which rises into the air towards him1 while the more material part is devoured below4 ,every sacrifice is also a festival4#a ,if this be the case it is unnecessary to spend much time in considering a number of theories formerly regarded with favour as to the original meaning and intention of sacrifice4 ,the view that it is originally simply a bribe to the deity to induce him to afford some needed help1 receives a good deal of countenance from primitive expressions4 ,do ut des1 ,i give to thee that thou mayest give to me4 ,here is butter1 give us cows6 ,by gifts are the gods persuaded1 by gifts great kings4 ,was early sacrifice then simply a business transaction1 in which man bringing a prayer to the deity brought a gift too1 as he was accustomed to do to the great ones of the earth1 in order that the deity might be well disposed towards him and grant his petition8 ,even if this was the case1 if sacrifice were offered with the direct and almost the avowed intention of getting good value for it1 yet if it takes the form of a meal1 it is lifted above the most sordid form of bribery4 ,there is a difference between slipping money into a man's hand and asking him to dinner1 even if the object aimed at be in both cases the same2 and when the invitations are numerous and formal1 there must be a moral1 not an immoral1 relation between the two parties4 ,where the sacrifice is a meal1 intercourse is sought for2 a certain sympathy exists between worshipper and worshipped2 they stand to each other not only in the relation of briber and bribed1 buyer and seller1 but in that of patron and client1 or of father and son4 ,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,tylor 7,prim4 ,cult4 vol4 ii4 p4 #cig7 states that sacrifices to deities1 from the lowest to the highest levels of culture1 consist1 to the extent of nine-tenths or more1 of gifts of food and sacred banquets4 ,but granting that early sacrifice was for the most part a meal1 an observance1 with a social element in it1 between the god and the worshipper1 what was the object of this meal1 what was the motive for holding it8 ,in some cases it looks as if the intention had been to strengthen the god1 and to make him more vigorous1 so that he might be able to do what was wanted of him4 ,in the ,vedic hymns this motive undeniably is to be met with4 ,the notion is by no means unknown in early thought1 that not only does man need ,god1 but that ,god is also dependent on man1 and capable of being aided and encouraged4 ,in rites which are not strictly sacrifices1 we notice men seeking to sympathise with their gods in what the gods are doing1 and to take a share in it by doing similar things themselves4 ,the ,christmas and ,easter fires in pagan times connected with the worship of the sun1 are examples of this1 and many other instances might be cited4 ,this1 however1 is not the principal motive of early sacrifice4 ,all the incidents of it suggest that it is not merely a thing offered to the deity1 but a thing in which man takes part2 if it is a meal1 it is one of which the god and the worshippers partake in common4 ,in ,china the ancestors are invited to the family feast2 their place is set for them2 their share in the feast is placed before them4 ,in the ,iliad1#b we have an account of a solemn religious act3 after prayers the victims were slaughtered1 choice slices were cut from them and cooked at the fire by the worshippers1 who then ate and drank their fill2 after this all day long they worshipped the god with music1 singing the beautiful pan to ,apollo1 and his heart was glad to hear4 ,in the ,bible we know that the blood is poured out for the ,deity1 and in various sacrifices the parts ,he is to have are specified1 while the rest is to be eaten by the priests4 ,in the earlier sacrifices of the ,hebrews there are no priests2 those who present the sacrifice consume it after the act of presentation1 and the occasion is one of mirth and jollity1 as at a banquet 7#a ,sam4 ix4 #ab1 #ac1 and the following description2 see also ,exod4 xxxii4 #e1 #f74 ,in fact it is a banquet4 ,this is specially plain in the sacrifices of the ,semites1 as ,mr4 ,robertson ,smith has shown4 ,early ,semitic usage exhibits clearly how sacrifice was an act of communion1 in which the god and his human family proclaimed and renewed their unity with each other4 ,the details may differ in other races1 but in general it may be said that early sacrifice was an act done not by an individual1 though plenty of individual sacrifices are also to be met with1 but by a tribe1 in which all the partakers of the blood of the tribe took part before the god who was their common ancestor1 and who1 as it were1 presided over and shared in their feast4 ,in some cases of totem-clans the totem animal is sacrificed1 and all the members of the clan eat their animal ancestor 7only on such a solemn occasion could the totem be eaten71 and so renew their bond of membership and brotherhood4 ,a covenant is made by sacrifice1 to which the deity and all the members of his people are parties4 ,footnote #b3 ,i4 #deg sqq4 ,to these primitive conceptions others no doubt should be added4 ,the mood was not always the same which prevailed when the tribe renewed its union with its god2 that depended on circumstances4 ,in general the sacrifice of early days is a joyous thing1 but to a fierce god cruel rites belonged4 ,when cannibalism was practised it also was such a primitive sacrifice1 and the most powerful means1 no doubt1 of cementing the union of the god with the members of the tribe4 ,when the god was noted for suffering1 a tragic tone prevailed1 and the sacrifice might have a dramatic character and represent the leading incident in the history of the god4 ,if we trace the history of sacrifice in any particular people we find two opposite tendencies at work in connection with it4 ,on the one hand there is a disposition to smooth matters1 to drop the harsher practices1 to let an animal victim suffice where a man used to be sacrificed1 to let the man off with some slight mutilation1 such as circumcision2 or to allow poor people to offer a less costly victim than the former custom claimed--the rite1 in fact1 becomes civilised1 and adapts itself to the feelings of a humaner period4 ,on the other hand there is a tendency to add to the value of the offerings1 and to reckon the efficacy of sacrifice by its cost and painfulness4 ,in periods of outward distress sacrifice attains a deeper earnestness1 nothing is to be left undone1 and no cost to be spared to bring the deity back to his people2 darker customs which had become obsolete are revived again1#c the ceremonial is made more elaborate1 new kinds of sacrifice are introduced4 ,the old social aspect of sacrifice grows faint2 it becomes a propitiation or a trespass-offering2 the notion is entertained that sacrifice is the more efficacious the more it has cost1 or the more magnificent and awful its mode of presentation4 ,footnote #c3 ,an instance of human sacrifice has just taken place in a remote part of ,russia4 ,prayer is the ordinary concomitant of sacrifice2 the worshipper explains the reason of the gift1 and urges the deity to accept it1 and to grant the help that is needed4 ,the prayers of the earliest stage are offered on emergencies1 and often appear to be intended to attract the attention of the god who may be engaged in another direction4 ,the requests they contain are of the most primary sort4 ,food is asked for1 success in hunting or fishing1 strength of arm1 rain1 a good harvest1 children1 etc4 ,the prayers have a ring of urgency2 they state the claims the worshipper has on the god1 and mention his former offerings as well as the present one2 they praise the power and the past acts of the deity1 and adjure him by his whole relationship to his people 7and also to their enemies7 to grant their requests4 ,as life grows more secure1 the note of immediate urgency fades out of prayer2 being a feature not of an occasional worship arising from some pressing need1 but of a worship statedly offered at set times1 it tends to run into forms1 and to become fixed and to have the nature of a liturgy4 ,then it comes about that the words themselves are regarded as sacred1 and that the efficacy of the sacrifice is supposed to be partly dependent on them4 ,they are incantations which the deity cannot resist1--charms which in themselves have virtue to secure the desired result4 ,sacred ,places1 ,objects1 ,persons4--,the early world had no temples1 nor idols1 nor priests4 ,the worship of nature does not suggest the enclosing of a space for religious acts4 ,the natural object itself being the sacred thing1 worship is brought to it where it stands2 the gift is carried to the tree or to the well1 and if the deities are conceived as being above the earth1 then the tops of hills are the spots where man can be nearest to them4 ,high places are sacred in all lands4 ,groves and remote spots are also sacred4 ,when man was carrying on his struggle with the wild beasts he would regard with terror the places where they had their lairs and strongholds2 it was in this form that the feeling of mystery with which moderns regard places where they are cut off from all human intercourse1 first appealed to man4 ,after this earliest stage had passed1 and the grove had come to be regarded as the dwelling of a deity1 it became a place man did not dare to approach except with the necessary precautions4 ,we may here explain a notion which plays a great part in early religion1 but is not specially connected with any one institution of it1 the notion1 namely1 of taboo4 ,taboo is a ,polynesian term1 and indicates that which man must not use or touch1 because it belongs to a deity4 ,the god's land must not be trodden1 the animal dedicated to the god must not be eaten1 the chief who represents the god must not be lightly treated or spoken of4 ,these are examples of taboo where the inviolable object or person belongs to a good god1 and where the taboo corresponds exactly with the rule of holiness4#d ,but instances are still more numerous among savages of taboo attaching to an object because it is connected with a malignant power4 ,the savage is surrounded on every side by such prohibitions2 there is danger at every step that he may touch on what is forbidden to him1 and draw down on himself unforeseen penalties4 ,the nature of the early deities also excludes idolatry in connection with them2 there is no need for a representation of a being who is visibly present1 and can be extolled and worshipped in his own person4 ,it was at a later stage1 when the god came to be personified and separated in thought from his natural basis1 that the need arose to make representations of him to aid the imagination4 ,the stones of early religion are not idols4 ,they are natural1 not artificial stones2 they are not images of the god1 but the god himself1 or at least that in which the divine spirit dwells1#e or with which it associates itself for the purpose of worship4 ,and1 further1 the earliest time knows no priests2 there is no special class to whom alone the celebration of sacrifice is entrusted4 ,it would be quite inconsistent with the whole view of sacrifice which then prevailed1 to suppose that it could be done by proxy4 ,it was a man's own act1 by which he identified himself with his god and with his tribe1 and that could only be done by a personal service4 ,we often find kings and chiefs sacrificing4 ,agamemnon does so1 ,abraham and ,saul do so1 though the sacrifice of the latter is disapproved of by the priestly writer4 ,david does so without being rebuked for it4 ,the king or chief does this as the natural head of his clan2 some one must take the leading part in the transaction4 ,as religion is the principal part of politics1 and the first business of the state is to keep itself right with the gods1 the head of the state is its most natural representative on such an occasion4 ,the head of a household also sacrifices for his house1 not only to the spirits of the house1 but in cases like that of ,job1 where there is no question of ancestor-worship4 ,early custom did not fix in any uniform manner by whose hands a sacrifice was to be made4 ,footnote #d3 ,religion of the ,semites1 by ,w4 ,r4 ,smith1 p4 #adb1 sqq4 ,footnote #e3 ,religion of the ,semites1 by ,w4 ,r4 ,smith1 p4 #aib4 ,magic4--,in another direction1 however1 we see in the earliest times the growth of a class of persons with religious functions and attributes4 ,while the ordinary worship of the gods does not require the services of any special class1 there is everywhere found the man of special knowledge and gifts1 to whom men resort for needs lying outside the scope of that worship4 ,every savage religion contains a certain amount of magic1 of practices1 that is to say1 by which it is thought possible to influence or to foretell outward events4 ,early man is not limited in his views of what may happen by any accurate knowledge of natural laws1 or of the sequence of cause and effect1 and he imagines it possible to influence nature in various ways4 ,he imitates what he supposes to be the causes of things1 judging that the effect will also follow2 or he uses such powers as he may have over spirits1 to induce or compel them to accomplish his wishes2 or he manipulates objects he believes to have a hidden virtue1 in a way he believes calculated to bring about the desired result4 ,magic is thus related both to the cult of spirits and to that of casual objects1 both to animism and to fetishism4 ,there is generally a special person in a tribe who knows these things1 and is able to work them4 ,it may be the chief or king1--there are many instances in which the chief is believed to have power to bring rain1--or it may be a separate functionary1 medicine-man1 sorcerer1 diviner1 seer1 or whatever name be given him4 ,he has more power over spirits than other men have1 and is able to make them do what he likes4 ,he can heal sickness1 he can foretell the future1 he can change a thing into something else1 or a man into a lower animal or a tree1 or anything2 he can also assume such transformations himself at will4 ,he uses means to bring about such results2 he knows about herbs1 he has stones or other objects endowed with special virtues1 he also has recourse to rubbing1 to making images of affected parts of the body1 and to various other arts4 ,very frequently he is regarded as inspired4 ,it is the spirit dwelling in him which brings about the wonderful results2 without the spirit he could not do anything4 ,while the details of course vary infinitely in different tribes1 the figure of the worker of magic is an essential feature of any general sketch of early religion4 ,he is often a person of great political importance2 being supposed to be in closer alliance than any one else with spiritual beings1 he has a power which is much dreaded1 and which even the chief cannot disregard4 ,of ,sacred ,seasons there can be but few in the earliest human life1 when there is no fixed measure of time1 nor any notion of regularity1 but all depends on the occurrence of need and of danger4 ,as soon as agriculture was engaged in1 however1 attention must have been fixed on the recurrence of the seasons1 and the measures of time afforded by the moon must1 at least1 have been observed4 ,the summer and the winter solstice1 the equinoxes1 the new moons1 these were to the early cultivator epochs to be observed2 and certain annual feasts are found to have come into use in very early times1 epochs of man's simplest and earliest calendar1 and occasions for tribal gatherings and for such fixed religious observances as we have described4 ,a private religious emergency arising in the interval between two feasts is dealt with by means of a vow2 the help of the deity1 that is to say1 is claimed at once1 but the payment of the due consideration for it on man's part is deferred till the time of sacrifice comes round4#f ,footnote #f3 ,genesis xxviii4 #bj2 ,judges xi4 #cj2 #b ,sam4 xv4 #h4 ,character of ,early ,religion4--,we have now passed in review the principal observances and usages of primitive religion2 but before concluding this chapter some remarks have to be made as to the position religion held in the life of ancient times1 and as to the spirit and temper which it exhibited4 ,in the first place1 as we remarked above1 religion was in these times the most important branch of the public service4 ,every uncommon occurrence had to be laid before the god1 and no important step could be taken without consulting him2 and it was a principal duty of the head of the state to keep the god on good terms with the tribe1 and to apply to him for all the aid and protection the tribe required from him4 ,in attending to this1 however1 the chief was acting for his tribesmen2 where there was no chief these matters were not neglected1 but were looked after by common spontaneous action by the members of the tribe4 ,the god was their lord1 their father1 and they must always take him along with them4 ,this identification of the god with the interests of his subjects is so close that the latter are troubled with no doubts as to whether or not their god is with them4 ,if they observe the customary rules for cultivating his friendship1 he must be with them2 they never imagine that he can be estranged from them4 ,it is the habitual attitude of early religion to take it for granted that the god goes with his people 7he generally has no other people to go with7 and helps them against their adversaries4 ,to doubt this and to resort to sacrifices of atonement to bring him back from his estrangement is a later stage of religion4 ,but if religion is in this way a public matter1 a matter of the tribe and its concerns1 what place is there in it for the individual8 ,individual cares and needs may form the subject of prayers and vows1 but religion on the whole has to do with the tribe1 not with the individual1 or with the individual only as a member of the tribe4 ,it is the duty of every one to take his part in the public approaches to the god2 he must either do so or be cut off from his tribe4 ,for his own griefs there is little comfort in the tribal worship2 indeed1 personal sorrows and perplexities meet with but little consideration in early religion4 ,as the tribe is in no doubt of the goodwill of its god1 and regards him as a firm ally not easily turned away1 old religion has a confident and joyous air1 strongly contrasting with the doubts and the contrition of modern faith4 ,the acts of worship are feasts at which the members of the tribe rejoice and make merry before their god4 ,to the delights of feasting those of dance and song are added 7,the people sat down to eat and drink1 and rose up to play71 and frequently the merrymaking goes to the pitch of frenzy2 the worshippers dance themselves into an ecstasy2 they feel the god taking possession of them1 and are hurried along by the sacred inspiration to behaviour they would not dream of at any other time4 ,early ,religion and ,morality4--,how did this early religion bear upon morality8 ,in how far was it a power for righteousness8 ,there are two sides to this question4 ,in the first place1 the religion of the infant world was a strong influence for the restraint of individual excess4 ,the god being the parent of the tribe1 its customs had his sanction1 he had no higher interest than its welfare1 he was identified with all its enterprises1 its battles were his battles also4 ,the worship of the god therefore made strongly for loyalty to the tribe1 and for the observance of its customs2 it caused a man to forget his own interest where that of the tribe was concerned1 and unhesitatingly to sacrifice himself for the public cause4 ,but1 on the other hand1 primitive religion was an intensely conservative force2 it subjected the whole life to the customs of the tribe1 and discouraged spontaneity and independence in moral action4 ,the duties it prescribed were of a conventional order2 a man had no duties to those beyond his tribe1 and to his fellow-tribesmen religion bade him rather walk by rule than consult his own feelings4 ,of the morality which consists in discipline and subordination to the community1 early religion was an efficient school2 to the higher morality1 the law of which is found written in the heart1 and which aims at rendering higher services than those of custom1 it did not attain4 ,the worship of the higher nature-powers1 the heavenly powers of light and kindness1 tending as it did to transcend the limits of place and of nationality1 was destined powerfully to foster a more generous morality than that of the tribal worship1 and this tendency was no doubt dimly felt by early man long before it was possible for him to follow it4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,national ,,religion ,we now leave behind us the beliefs and practices of savage and barbarous tribes1 and turn to those of mighty empires4 ,the gulf which lies between these two parts of our subject is obviously a wide one2 and in many instances there is no bridge by which the student can pass from one to the other4 ,often it is a matter of inference rather than of direct proof that the great systems are built out of the materials accumulated1 as we have seen1 in the prehistoric period4 ,but the inference is sufficiently strong to rest upon2 in some cases we are able to see quite clearly how the religion of the empire arose by an uninterrupted growth out of that of the tribe2 and in the cases where this cannot be so fully made out1 we yet judge that the result came about in a similar way4 ,we pause therefore at this point to ask what is the nature of the transition at which we have arrived1 or1 in other words1 what constitutes the difference between the primitive and the later religions8 ,the difference is probably not one of magnitude only2 it consists not merely in the fact that the religion of the empire is that of a much larger number of people than that of the tribe2 there is a difference in character as well as in dimensions4 ,with a view to the examination of this point it will be found convenient to consider some of the proposed classifications of religions1 as most of these1 though for different reasons1 place the religions of the early world in a different category from those known to us historically4 ,the old-fashioned ,classification of ,religions was that of the true and the false4 ,this our principle forbids us to accept1 since we regard the various faiths of the world as stages in the development of religion1 and therefore all relatively true4 ,another division which has done good service is that into natural and revealed religion4 ,by natural religion has generally been understood such religion as human reason could attain to without supernatural aid4 ,but this description does not apply to any religious system that ever prevailed largely in any country2 the actual religions have all been the work of custom and age-long tradition1 not of the deliberate operation of reason4 ,natural religion therefore is a term which is of no use to us in classification2 since none of the actual religions which we have to study answers to that title4 ,nor is revealed religion a term we can conveniently use in such a work as this4 ,many religions claim to be the result of revelation1 but few make it at the outset of their career4 ,the title tells us nothing about the original character of a religion1 but only that at some period in its career the claim was made for it that its origin was supernatural4 ,if we grouped the revealed religions together we might find that the members of the group had no similarity to each other beyond the accidental circumstance that the claim of revelation had been made for them4 ,besides1 science cannot possibly take the revealed character of any religion for granted1 but must examine each such faith to see if its growth cannot be accounted for without that assumption4 ,the term natural religion has1 however1 other meanings than that just mentioned1 and some of these we may find to be of more service4 ,it is proposed to divide religions into natural and positive1 or into those which have grown up and those which have been founded4 ,the earlier religions were not due to the personal action of outstanding individuals 7at least if they were1 as surely they must have been in part1 the individuals and their struggles are unrecorded71 but were the work of unconscious growth1 and were produced by forces1 which1 as they were at work in every part of the early world1 may be called natural4 ,these religions do not appeal to the authority of any founder1 but are borne forward by custom and tradition4 ,some of the later systems1 on the contrary1 bear the names of their founders1 and are said to have been introduced into the world at a certain time and place4 ,their beginning is fixed1 and they have a body of beliefs and practices which belong to their original constitution1 and possess authority for all subsequent generations of believers4 ,this classification promises well at first1 but it is difficult to apply it2 some religions pass imperceptibly from the stage of custom to that of statute1 and in many religions both elements are so largely present that it is difficult to strike the balance between them4 ,we are led to the conclusion that the real difference between the earlier and the later religions is a more vital one than any of these classifications would indicate4 ,the authority and the positive character of the later systems is a symptom of the change which has produced them1 but the change itself lies deeper4 ,the higher form of religion is due to a great step which has been taken in civilisation2 it is one of the features of the advance of society to a new stage4 ,rise of ,national ,religion4--,it is an immense step in human progress when a set of barbarous tribes unite to form a nation4 ,under the strong hand of some chief or under the pressure of some great necessity1 they give up the isolation which is both the weakness and the strength of the tribal state of society1 they choose some strong place for their centre1 they submit to a common government1 and while still remembering their separate tribal traditions and usages1 they learn to act as members of a greater community than the tribe4 ,this is the beginning of civilisation proper4 ,law takes the place of custom2 the state undertakes to punish crime1 and private vengeance is discouraged2 the state also undertakes the protection of the weak1 so that humane sentiment appears1 and a security is engendered in which the arts and sciences can spring up and flourish4 ,when this takes place a new type of religion also makes its appearance4 ,while each of the tribes may long retain its own gods1 and its peculiar rites1 some one god1 perhaps the god of the strongest tribe1 assumes a higher position than the rest2 his worship becomes the central religion of the community1 round which the other worships arrange themselves by degrees1 until there comes to be a system embracing them all1 but itself possessing a new character4 ,in this way a national religion comes into existence4 ,the details of this process are in every case beyond our observation4 ,it is not perhaps for centuries after the national religion has come into operation1 that reflection is turned towards it2 not till the art of writing has come to some perfection is it described and formulated and made statutory2 and by that time all accurate memory of its beginnings has faded away1 and its origin is explained instead by a set of legends4 ,but though its beginnings1 like all beginnings1 are obscure1 the national religion is there4 ,it has its history2 the great man who brought the tribes together1 or who first devised for them a higher form of worship1 is remembered as its founder2 the foundation is ascribed to the inspiration of the chief god himself2 its sacred forms are written down and obtain the force of divine laws1 the will of the deity is a thing clearly known and expressed in positive terms4 ,it is not asserted that this description will apply to the origin of all the national religions2 the character and the circumstances of one nation differ from those of another1 and it need not be supposed that they all reached their state worships in the same way4 ,some religions have become national by conquest rather than growth2 while some which may truly be called national never attained to any national organisation4 ,the process we have described1 however1 may be regarded as the typical one for the rise of a national out of tribal religions1 and indicates to us what we may regard as the real and substantial difference between the stage with which we have been occupied and that to which we are now to turn4 ,all other differences between the prehistoric and the historical religions may be traced to this one4 ,before the religion of a nation has systematised its doctrine and its ritual so as to merit the name of positive1 before it has provided itself with a detailed ritual or a fixed creed1 or a regular priesthood1 or a set of sacred books1 the momentous step has already been taken1 the new form of religious consciousness has appeared4 ,men have begun to believe not only in the tribal but in the national god or gods1 and a national religion has come into existence4 ,the advance from tribal to national worship is one of the most momentous in the whole history of religion4 ,the nature of the change involved in it may be summed up as follows4 #a4 ,men obtain a ,greater ,god than they had before4 ,formerly a man believed in the god of his tribe1 one deity among many1 as his tribe was one among many1 each having its own god2 but now he comes to know a god who is higher than the other tribal gods1 as the king whom the tribes have united to obey is greater than the tribal chiefs4 ,the god stands at a greater distance than before from the worshipper2 familiarity is lessened1 and religion becomes capable of a deeper reverence and adoration4 ,although the worship of the tribal god is still kept up1 yet if the new-born national consciousness is strong1 the national form of religion rather than the tribal will determine the religious sentiment of the individual4 #b4 ,new ,social ,bond4--,the nature of the social force exerted by religion is altogether changed4 ,in tribal religion the tie of the worshippers both to their god and to each other is that of blood2 the god is their common lineal ancestor1 whose blood is in the veins of all the tribesmen4 ,the social bond supplied by such a religion is limited to the members of the tribe2 a man's fellow-tribesmen are his brothers1 but all other men are his enemies2 with them he is at war as his god is4 ,social duty is a matter of blood relationship1 and extends only to the kindred4 ,when a national religion is arrived at1 a social obligation of a new kind will evidently make its appearance4 ,the national god is related by blood to only one of the tribes composing the nation2 the bond between him and the other tribes must be of another nature4 ,he has conquered their gods or they have voluntarily accepted him as their chief god2 in any case it is not the tie of blood that binds them to him1 but some more ideal tie1 like that between a king and his subjects1 or between a patron and his clients4 ,and they now have a religious connection also with men who are not their kindred4 ,the national worship is inconsistent with the gross materialism of the system of kinship1 and places instead of it the belief in a god further above the world1 and therefore more spiritual1 and obligations to men which1 as they are not derived from a common blood1 are somewhat more purely moral4 #c4 ,a ,better ,god4--,the new god of the nation as he is higher above the world is a being of higher and better character4 ,he belongs to all the tribes1 and is not the mere partisan of any2 like the king1 he is above tribal jealousies1 and is interested in checking the violence of all1 and securing justice to all4 ,he may be appealed to by those who have suffered violence and who have no earthly helper2 and thus he tends to become an ideal of justice and fatherly kindness1 and to reflect in the world above the sentiments springing up in the world below1 in favour of the repression of violence and the administration of even-handed justice4 ,in these directions the religion of the nation tends to rise above that of the tribe4 ,the tribal worships may continue almost as they were1 the tribal gods may still be worshipped1 the tribal jealousies and conflicts still be carried on in spite of the new union1 and all the superstitions of early religion may long survive2 yet a new religious force has appeared which will in time produce a complete new system4 ,the true principle of classification1 therefore1 must be drawn from the difference between tribal and national religion1 as this is the most vital difference1 and that from which all the others which we mentioned may be derived4 ,the transition thus sketched took place at widely different periods in different parts of the world2 it began early and has taken place even in modern times1 while very many tribes in various parts of the globe have not yet arrived at it4 ,it is a transition of which it is manifestly impossible to exhibit the detail2 in most cases the detail is not known1 and it were a profitless task to trace how primitive religions met1 united or remained apart1 and how their crossings in one case led to a national religion1 and in many others led to no such result4 ,much1 no doubt1 is to be found on such points in special works1 and much still remains to be discovered4 ,various instances of the formation of national religions will meet us in our subsequent chapters4 ,the ,inca ,religion4--,we give1 however1 at this point an example of the transition we have described1 drawn from a quarter remote from the great movements of history1 and in which the facts are plain and uncontested4 ,of the two great civilised communities of the ,new ,world1 discovered by the ,spaniards in the sixteenth century1 ,mexico presents a worship compounded of many elements1 which1 along with high and lofty morality and great magnificence of ritual1 yet retains an extraordinary amount of cruelty and savage horror4 ,in ,peru1 however1 we find a state religion which superseded savage cults still remembered in the country1 and from the ,royal ,commentaries of the ,incas1 written by the ,inca ,garcilaso de la ,vega in the beginning of the seventeenth century1#a we are able to describe the religion of ,peru both before and after the ,inca reformation4 ,footnote #a3 ,printed by the ,hakluyt ,society4 ,before the ,incas1 this writer tells us1 each province1 each nation1 and each house had its own gods1 different from one another1 for they thought that a stranger's god could not attend to them but only their own4 ,they worshipped all manner of deities2 of these are mentioned herbs1 plants1 flowers1 all kinds of trees1 high hills1 great rocks1 and the chinks in them2 caves1 pebbles1 emeralds4 ,they also worshipped animals2 the tiger1 the lion1 and the bear for their fierceness1 and the monkey for his cunning2 these they did not kill1 but went down on the ground to worship them and would even suffer themselves to be devoured by them1 since they regarded these animals as their own ancestors4 ,all kinds of animals they treated in this way2 there was not an animal1 how filthy and vile soever1 so the quaint words tell us1 they did not look on as a god4 ,other ,indians1 again1 worshipped things from which they derived benefit1 such as great fountains and rivers2 some worshipped the earth1 and called it mother1 because it yielded their fruits2 some the sea1 calling it ,mamacocha2 and a great number of other objects of adoration are mentioned4 ,they sacrificed animals and maize1 but also men and women1 and these not only captives taken in war but also their own children1 smearing the idol with the blood4 7,in other quarters of the globe this is a symbolic act showing that the idol and the worshippers all partake in the same life47 ,some tribes were fiercer than others1 and practised cannibalism more extensively4 ,they were also well provided with sorcerers and witches4 ,all this the ,incas altered4 ,they were a princely family1 regarding whose origin and accession to power various legends are told2 the god they worshipped was the sun1 and they considered and called themselves the children of the sun4 ,their father the sun1 they said1 had sent their forefathers to teach the tribes various things they very much needed to learn2 to cultivate the fields1 to breed flocks1 to live in peace1 to respect the wives and daughters of others1 and to have no more than one wife4 ,the ,incas knew better1 it was said1 than the rest how to choose a god1 and they declared that men should worship the sun1 who gave light and heat and made things grow2 they should be grateful for his benefits1 and he would reward them if they were obedient4 ,the ,indians accordingly took the sun for their god without father or brothers2 they considered the moon to be his sister and wife1 but did not worship her4 ,besides this1 we hear the ,incas sought a supreme god1 and called him ,pachacamac1 that is soul of the world4 ,this being gave life to the world and supported it1 but they did not build temples to him or offer him any sacrifice2 they worshipped him in their hearts as an unknown god4 ,the practice of the ,inca religion as described to us by several ,spanish writers falls a good deal short of this doctrine4 ,many beings were worshipped besides the sun2 a number of prayers were addressed to the ,creator and the sun and thunder4 ,many sacred objects also were adored1 such as embalmed bodies of ancestors and various idols4 ,they practised all kinds of magic1 and1 worst of all1 many boys and girls were offered in sacrifice1 even before the ,incas and on great public occasions4 ,the reformation of the ,incas is evidently not complete2 if it had not been arrested by the arrival of the ,spaniards it may be that the purifying agency of the new religion would have found much still to do4 ,enough1 however1 is seen to afford strong confirmation of the principle that religion gains infinitely in elevation when a national worship appears4 ,the ,incas were no doubt the heads of a tribe which had conquered others1 and imposed its religion on them4 ,the lesser conquered worships do not die out at once1 but continue along with the central one4 ,but the latter expresses the national spirit and aspirations2 and1 as settled life fosters the growth of intelligence and of public spirit1 the central worship must more and more supersede the others1 while itself casting off its superstitious and backward elements and becoming reasonable and elevating4 ,it will be convenient to indicate at this stage the further line of study to be followed in this volume4 ,as it is our aim to trace1 however inadequately1 the growth of the religion of the world as a whole1 it is necessary that we should confine ourselves to those parts of religious history which lie in the line of that growth1 or which serve in a conspicuous manner to illustrate the principles according to which it has taken place4 ,it is by no means our purpose to give an account of all the religions of the world1 nor do we seek to form a complete magazine of the curious phenomena with which this vast field of study is in every part so well supplied4 ,if we have interposed the foregoing brief account of the religion of the ,incas1 it is not because of its own intrinsic importance1 but because it supplies within so brief a compass such an apt example of that process which occurs so often in the growth of religion1 by which the unorganised rites of a multitude of clans and families give way when the nation comes into being1 to the higher and better religion of the state4 ,in the same way the great religions of which we must next speak have1 no doubt1 only a loose connection with the central line of the world's religious progress4 ,no work professing to deal ever so cursorily with our subject could omit to deal with the religion of ,china nor with that of ,egypt2 yet neither of these faiths perhaps has permanently enriched the religious consciousness of mankind4 ,the religion of ,babylonia1 with which each of these is connected1 was also of isolated and independent growth1 and is far away from us both in time and in historical connection4 ,like great and solitary mountains of ancient formation1 each on a continent distant from ours1 these faiths attract us not because we depend on them1 but because they are interesting in themselves4 ,it was out of the same jungle of primitive beliefs and rites1 out of which our own religion has at length grown1 that each of these lifted its head to such heights as it attained4 ,after disposing of these great systems we come to the developments1 much later in point of time1 which have led to the highest religion yet attained4 ,and here two great races or groups of peoples have to be considered1 each in its own way singularly gifted and each contributing in a distinctive manner to the growth of religion4 ,these are the ,semitic and the ,indo-,european families4 ,under each of these heads we find several well-marked religions2 and the nature of the case itself points out our further procedure4 ,taking up first the ,semitic group1--including ,islam1--since this part of the subject lies at a greater distance from ourselves1 we shall inquire whether there is any common element in the various religions it comprises1 or1 in other words1 if there is a ,semitic religion which may be regarded as the origin from which the ,semitic religions alike sprang1 and which gave them a common character2 and we shall then proceed to discuss the ,semitic religions each by itself4 ,we shall then discuss the common belief of the ,aryans1 and go on to the religions of the more important ,aryan nations4 ,our last chapters will deal with ,christianity and will point out the nature of development which our study as a whole may have taught us to recognise in the religion of mankind4 ,,books ,,recommended ,on the classification of ,religions see ,tiele's article on ,religion in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 ,ninth ,edition4 ,alb4 ,reville1 ,lectures on the ,origin and ,growth of ,religion as illustrated by the ,native ,religions of ,mexico and ,peru4 ,hibbert ,lectures1 #ahhd4 ,de la ,saussaye1 ,third ,edition1 pp4 #e-af1 gives a good conspectus of the various classifications which have been proposed4 ,,part ,,ii ,,isolated ,,national ,,religions ,,chapter ,,vii ,,babylon ,,and ,,assyria ,the religion of ,babylonia1 of which that of ,assyria is a late form1 as the ,assyrians appropriated all they could of the religion and the literature of this southern empire which they conquered1 cannot be classed along with any other without some inconvenience4 ,in point of remoteness in time it takes precedence even of the religions of ,china and of ,egypt2 like these great faiths it also is1 in its earlier stage1 a growth by itself in a land and people of its own1 where apparently it grew up independently from rude beginnings4 ,it is undoubtedly one of the ,semitic religions2 but it had a character of its own which other ,semitic religions did not share1 and of the simple and early ,semitic religious attitude which will be set forth in another chapter it retained but little4 ,it had an immense influence4 ,its ideas entered the religion of the ,old ,testament by several roads4 ,abram came to ,canaan through ,haran from ,ur of the ,chaldees2 and in ,canaan the religious ideas1 myths1 and legends of ,babylon must have been well known4 ,the discovery of this code of ,hammurabi has shown that many of the laws of ,moses were laws of ,babylonia long before ,moses4 ,in a later period the tread of ,babylonian soldiery was heard in ,palestine many a time before the great captivity1 in which ,israel sat down and wept remembering ,zion by the waters of ,babylon4 ,in ,greece also we find that ideas which came from ,babylon had become known1 by way of ,phenicia1 at a very early period4 ,recent discoveries1 however1 seems to make it impossible to assign to the religion of ,mesopotamia any other place than the first among the great faiths of the world4 ,the ancient connection between ,mesopotamia and ,egypt1 surmised till now rather than known1 is coming to light1 and it appears1 at least1 possible that the first of these countries may have to be regarded as the source of all the civilisations of antiquity4 ,the pantheon of ,egypt has striking similarities to that of ,babylonia1 and some of the ,egyptian temples show traces of derivation from the lands of the ,tigris and ,euphrates4 ,the similarities in the case of ,china are not so marked1 but they are substantial4 ,in ,babylonia1 therefore1 we may be dealing not with one of three isolated religions1 but with the mother of the other two4 ,if1 as ,mr4 ,lockyer holds1#a ,egypt borrowed astronomy from ,babylon in connection with temple-building1 more than #ejjj years ,b4,c41 the religion of ,babylon must indeed be carried far into the past4 ,footnote #a3 ,dawn of ,astronomy1 #ahid4 ,people and ,literature4--,certain parts of ,babylonian religion are much ruder and more superstitious than the exalted star-worship which is its central feature1 and these have been ascribed to peoples who dwelt in ,babylonia before the supposed ,semitic conquest1 viz4 the ,accadians in the north and the ,sumerians to the south1 peoples not related to the ,semites in blood or in language1 but generally called ,turanian1 and thought to be perhaps akin to the ,chinese4 ,the cuneiform writing which remained in use for millenniums after the ,semitic immigration as the sacred literary form1 was supposed to have been the invention of these peoples1 who had also made some progress in plastic art4 ,there is1 however1 no direct evidence of the alleged early ,semitic invasion1 and the ,sumerian hypothesis of which it is a feature is now regarded by some with less confidence4 ,it is based on linguistic phenomena4 ,hammurabi1 #bbej ,b4,c41 reigned over a realm whose subjects were of different tongues1 and entrusted his records to two methods of writing4 ,the old ,sumerian language1 which cannot1 in the opinion of the best scholars1 be shown to have affinity with any language of the ancient world1 came to be confined to matters of religion and magic1 and was superseded by the ,assyro-,babylonian1 which was ,semitic4 ,but the feeble ray of the ,sumerian hypothesis can be dispensed with in the light which is shining on ancient ,babylonia from other quarters4 ,for its information about that ancient land the world was formerly dependent on the scanty notices of ,greek and ,latin writers1 but within the last half-century astonishing new sources of information have been opened up4 ,explorations carried on by scholars of many lands have made us acquainted with ,babylonian and ,assyrian temples and palaces1 and with many a great royal inscription4 ,great libraries1 made of brick tablets1 have been discovered buried under the ruins of the cities1 and the gradual decipherment and arrangement of this old literature is proceeding as fast as able and devoted workers can overtake it4 ,those who know the subject best declare that no complete history of ,babylonian religion can yet be written4 ,the texts now in our possession embody many documents of much more remote age1 yet the information is as yet too fragmentary and often of too doubtful interpretation1 while the proportion it bears to the whole of ,babylonian life is too little known to supply a solid foundation for history4 ,with this caution we proceed to state the results which are considered likely to prove well founded4 ,as we saw1 several features remain in the religion in later times which appear to throw light back upon its early condition1 and it may be best to begin with these before describing the noble structure presented on the whole by this religion4 #a4 ,worship of ,spirits4--,the ,babylonians1 like the ,chinese1 believed the world to be thickly peopled with spirits of all kinds2 and saw in each movement in nature the action of a zi or spirit4 ,these spirits could be to some extent controlled2 though their character was not known1 yet certain charms and incantations were believed to have power over them1 and communication with the unseen world took1 therefore1 the form of magic4 ,the earliest portions of the sacred literature consist of spells or charms believed to possess this virtue1 and these were never displaced from the collection2 on the contrary1 new spells were written even after higher spiritual beings were known and more ethical forms of addressing them had been devised4 ,especially were all pains and diseases ascribed to the agency of spirits or of sorcerers and witches1 their human allies1 and the sick person naturally sent for an exorcist to expel the spirit which was tormenting him4 ,some spirits were more powerful than others1 and the stronger spirit was invoked to rebuke and drive out the weaker4 ,the spirit of heaven and the spirit of earth were adjured to conjure the plague-demon1 the demon who was afflicting the eye1 the heart1 the head1 or any other part of the body4 ,assertions are not wanting in the cuneiform literature that beliefs and practices of this kind formed no part of the true religion of ,babylonia1 and some scholars regard it as a late degeneration4 ,the analogy of similar cases points1 however1 to the conclusion that magic is everywhere an early form of religion which is only overshadowed1 not killed1 when a great religion arises1 and which tends to reappear4 ,it may be said that there is no evidence of any break in ,babylonian religion2 if the ,sumerians yielded to the ,semites1 this led to no religious revolution2 the religion is ,semitic from first to last4 #b4 ,animals4--,a step above this trafficking with spirits is the worship of animals1 which ,mr4 ,sayce considers to have been an early form of ,babylonian religion1 and to afford an explanation of various features in it4 ,like the gods of ,egypt and those of ,greece1 many of the gods of ,babylon have animal emblems2 this appears both in the representations of them and in their legends4 ,the winged bulls and eagle-headed men of ,babylonian art represent the same rise of the gods which we know to have taken place in ,egypt1 from the animal to the semi-human1 and then to the fully human form4 ,an intermediate stage in ,babylonia is that the god stands on the back of the animal with which presumably he was formerly identified4 ,we have an ,assyrian ,dagon whose head and shoulders are covered with a fish's skin2 we have gods and goddesses who are human figures with the exception of their wings2 we have winged dragons2 we have the great bulls with human head and wings which stood as guardian deities to ward off evil spirits at the portal of a palace4 ,the following animals were also connected with gods3 the antelope1 the serpent1 which came to be the embodiment of cunning and wickedness1 the goat1 the pig1 the vulture4 ,we thus see that the rise from zoomorphism to anthropomorphism which the ,greeks afterwards carried to the highest point attainable by the resources of art1 began in ,babylonia4 ,like all early religions1 that of ,babylonia is broken up into a multiplicity of local worships4 ,there is no common system1 but each place has its own god or gods and its own sacred rites4 ,in ,egypt we shall find reason to believe that this state of matters had its origin in an early totemistic arrangement of society2 whether the same was the case in ,babylonia or not1 it is vain to speculate4 ,babylonian religion as we see it has risen far above the direct worship of animals4 ,each god comes before us in a certain local connection and with a special character1 but they tend to grow like each other1 and their worship is organised on the same plan4 ,the gods of ,babylonia undoubtedly belonged to different towns1 and though attempts were made in later times to bring them all together in an imperial ,babylonian religion1 and to settle their relations to each other1 these attempts led to no system which was finally accepted4 ,the number of the recognised great gods varied1 and there was always a large number of minor gods4 ,each god has his own early history2 here as everywhere it is the case that the individual gods are earlier than the system which seeks to connect them together4 ,the ,great ,gods4--,the great gods of ,babylonia belong to the elements and to the heavenly bodies4 ,when we first see them1 they are not1 like the gods of the western ,semites1 lords and masters1 characters taken from human families2 they are not husbands and fathers but creators and universal powers4 ,another mark about them is that they have originally no wives4 ,when they come to have wives1 these are simply doubles of themselves with no special character4 ,a consort is given to the god by adding a feminine termination to his name1 thus ,bel receives ,belit1 ,anu has ,anat4 ,finally ,babylonian religion is more and more directed to the heavenly bodies4 ,it is ,astral religion carried to its furthest point4 ,this fixed the arrangement of its temples1 the occupations of its priests4 ,we rapidly pass in review the principal ,gods4 ,one of the oldest is ,ea of ,eridu1 a town which stood in old times at the head of the ,persian ,gulf4 ,he is a god of the deep1 whether it was that he was considered to have come over the water from another land1 or whether he is connected with the belief which was held in ,babylonia as elsewhere1 that all things originally arose out of the abyss4 ,in later forms of the legend his name appears as ,oannes1 and he is an amphibious being1 half-fish1 half-man1 who rises from the deep and instructs men in arts and sciences4 ,works were preserved bearing his name1 for he was an author4 ,he continues1 even when little direct worship is addressed to him1 one of the greatest of the gods4 ,ana the sky1 is the god of ,erech on the lower ,euphrates4 ,like the ,chinese1 the men of ,erech regarded the sky itself as the highest god1 and the maker and ruler of all things4 ,in ,babylonia1 however1 the notion became spiritualised more than in ,china2 at first we hear that his dwelling became the refuge of the gods during the ,deluge1 but in later times he is regarded as a being quite above heaven and all created beings1 and even all the gods4 ,a third great god is ,bel of ,nippur1 not the later ,bel of ,babylon1 but an older one1 identical with the ,accadian ,mullilla1 the lord of the under-world4 ,the earliest gods of this religion are those of the sea1 the earth1 and the sky4 ,as they belong to different districts of the country1 they can scarcely be called a trinity4 ,a better approach to a trinity is formed by ,ea of ,eridu1 ,davkina his wife who is the earth1 and the sun-god ,dumuzi1 their offspring4 ,the son of ,ea1 also named ,miri-,dugga or ,merodach 7,marduk71 is identified with the ,egyptian ,osiris2 they have the same symbol1 each is a sun-god1 and each has a sister who is also his wife1 ,merodach has ,istar1 and ,osiris1 ,isis4 ,in ,sergul the principal deity was the fire-god1 sometimes called ,savul2 in ,cutha they worshipped ,nergal the god of death1 the strong one who had his throne beneath4 ,cutha was a favourite place of sepulture with the ,babylonians4 ,rimmon was a god of wind1 ,matu of storms4 ,there is a dragon ,tiamat1 with whom the great gods have to contend4 ,the sun and the moon were worshipped everywhere2 each city had its own sun-god and its own moon-god4 ,the preference generally shown by nomads for the moon1 since their journeys are made by night1 is kept up in early ,babylonia1 where the moon-god is regarded as the father of the sun-god1 and as the greater being4 ,in ,ur of the ,chaldees the moon was the principal deity4 ,there were also towns such as ,larsa and ,sippara1 where the sun was the chief god2 and many of the great gods of later times were originally sun-gods4 ,the ,chaldeans1 moreover1 were proverbially star-watchers1 and a zigurrath or observatory1 a building of seven spheres corresponding to those of the planets as they pass through the signs of the zodiac1 and like them rising up to the seat of ,god at the ,north ,star1 was a regular part of the later ,babylonian temple4 ,to ,babylonia is due the practice of the orientation of temples2 that is to say1 the arrangement of the building in such a way that its principal axis shall point exactly in a desired direction4 ,some of the ,babylonian temples were oriented so that the sun should shine to the western end of them on the day of the spring equinox when the inundation of the rivers began on which the prosperity of the country so much depended4 ,the temple was thus an astronomical instrument of a high degree of accuracy1 and the priests who directed its building and served in it when built were men of science and learning4 ,a religion which is connected with the heavenly bodies1 though it does not fully supply the needs of the lower orders and has too little energy to cope with superstition1 tends to produce a priesthood who form centres of enlightenment and civilisation throughout the country4 ,this was in the highest degree the case in ,babylonia4 ,to these old astronomers the world owes the signs of the zodiac1 which were fixed not later than in the fifth millennium ,b4,c41 and in which we see how early man beheld in the nightly heavens the creatures which on earth he regarded as divine1 so that he worshipped them in both regions4 ,the institution of the ,sabbath is also ,babylonian2 whether it was connected with the changes of the moon1 or with a week of days named after the seven planets1 is not certain4 ,seven is a sacred number in ,babylonia1 as we find in many a connection4 ,mythology4--,we come lastly1 in our attempt to enumerate those parts of ,babylonian religion which have entered deeply into human thought1 to the myths4 ,the heroic legends and romances are the most interesting and the best-known portions of the newly-recovered literature4 ,we have already noticed some fragments of mythology1 such as the story of the fish-god who comes up daily from the sea1 the moon being the father of the sun1 and the family history of ,ea and ,davkina1 with the sun their child4 ,the two latter are evidently inconsistent with each other4 ,but the story about the son of ,ea and ,davkina has an important further development4 ,his name is ,duzu or ,dumuzu1 and he is the ,tammuz of whom we hear in the ,bible 7,ezekiel viii4 #ad71 who is adored by women raising lamentations for him4 ,he is said to be the sun-god of spring1 to whom the heat of summer is fatal1 and who dies in ,june4 ,it is when moisture is failing from the ground that he is bemoaned4 ,his home is in ,eden1 for ,eden belongs to ,babylonian legend1 which places it near ,eridu4 ,there grows the great world-tree which the gods love2 it rises from the centre of the world1 and is nourished from springs which ,ea himself replenishes4 ,it is a cedar 7,yggdrasil1 the ash-tree1 we shall find1 occupies the same position with the ,northern ,teutons72 it is sometimes found in a highly conventional form with the figure of a cherub at each side of it1 each of whom holds in his hand a fruit4 ,in this tree scholars recognise both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge with which we are familiar4 ,the knowledge of the priests in ,babylonia was not for every one1 but was jealously guarded1 and kept for the initiated alone4 ,from ,tammuz we naturally pass to ,istar1 one of the few goddesses of old ,babylonia1 and by far the most famous of them4 ,istar was originally the goddess of the earth1 and both mother and sister of the sun-god1 for we are led to believe that she is at first the same as ,davkina4 ,the great myth of the descent of ,istar describes how she goes down to the kingdom of the shades to seek the waters that shall give life again to her bridegroom ,tammuz4 ,the poem in which the narrative is preserved gives a description of the house of darkness1 where they behold no light1 and then tells how1 at the orders of ,ninkigal or ,allat1 queen of ,hades1 ,istar is deprived1 successively1 in spite of her remonstrances1 of all her ornaments1 and how the plague-demon ,namtar is bidden to strike her with all manner of diseases4 ,the result of ,istar's disappearance under the earth is that all love and courtship cease both among men and the lower animals1 and ,ea himself is appealed to1 to bring to an end so unnatural a state of affairs4 ,a messenger is sent to the lower regions to cause the release of ,istar and the reascent of ,tammuz4 ,this goddess1 however1 is known not only from this legend2 she has many forms1 and passed through various fortunes4 ,the ,istar of ,erech herself lures ,tammuz to his destruction4 ,in early times ,istar is also the evening star1 the bright companion of the moon4 ,her leading character1 however1 seems to be that of a goddess of love4 ,fertility depends on her2 she goes under the earth to find her lover4 ,in this character she attracted in ,babylonia a worship noted for impurity1 which under the name of ,ashtoreth is found also in ,phenicia and in ,syria4 ,there is also1 however1 a warlike ,istar1 a strict goddess served by ,amazons1 and capable of identification with the ,greek ,artemis1 as the ,istar of love is identified with ,aphrodite4 ,much more primitive than the legend of ,istar are some parts of the ,babylonian accounts of the creation4 ,there are several of these accounts1 some newly discovered4 ,in one the old god ,ea peoples the original chaos with a variety of strange monsters4 ,in another the birth of the gods is narrated as well as that of the world2 we find also that chaos is itself conceived as a female monster1 a dragon of evil1 and the god has to do battle with this power of darkness and evil1 and to bring light and the habitable world up from its realm4 ,it is certainly true that the ,babylonian legends of the creation are crude and inconsistent with each other1 and that the account in ,genesis belongs to a much higher order of thought4 ,the ,babylonian account of the deluge and the ark is more closely parallel to the ,bible narrative2 the two cannot possibly be independent of each other1 and there may be no impropriety in holding that the ,hebrew writers were acquainted with myths of general diffusion in the world they lived in4 ,the ,state ,religion4--,the ,babylonian and ,assyrian religion of which we hear in the ,bible 7cf4 ,isa4 xl4-lxvi47 is the splendid worship of mighty empires2 it has forgotten its humble beginnings1 and under the guidance of large priestly and learned corporations has grown much in depth and purity4 ,of its outward magnificence the monuments furnish ample proof4 ,the temple of ,bel-,merodach at ,babylon was a wonder of the world4 ,being the god of the prevailing city of the empire1 ,merodach was the greatest of all the gods1 and was reverenced and extolled as befitted the friend and patron of the greatest of monarchs4 ,his son ,nebo was a prophet and a god of wisdom4 ,what ,merodach was to ,babylon1 ,assur was to ,assyria2 in fact1 he was the only god peculiar to ,assyria4 ,the rule that as religion grows in outward splendour it also gains in inward strength and spirituality is strikingly exemplified in the case before us4 ,the gods have come to be moral powers1 who really care for men1 not only for the king1 their earthly representative1 but for their worshippers in general4 ,merodach is praised for his mercy2 he not only accompanies the king in his wars1 of which the inscriptions give us so many a wearisome catalogue1 but he heals the sick1 he brings relief to him who is mourning for his transgressions1 and he brings life out of death and receives the soul committed to his mercy to a blessed dwelling above4 ,perhaps we pass here somewhat beyond the early period of the religion and touch on its ultimate phase4 ,the penitential hymns of the later literature form a strong contrast to the magical incantations1 which fill so much space in the ,babylonian sacred literature4 ,the confessions they contain are not very spiritual2 the supplicant bewails his sufferings rather than his sins4 ,indeed1 he rather infers from his sufferings that he has sinned1 trodden1 it may be1 where he ought not to have trodden1 or eaten what he should not have eaten1 than confesses that he deserved to suffer for sins of which he is aware4 ,what is implored is outward redress or ease1 not inward peace4 ,the removal of outward ills is taken as forgiveness4 ,there can be no comparison between these hymns and those of the ,bible4 ,but what they do show is the rise in ,babylonia of a religion for the individual4 ,the gods are sought not only officially by the state or for state ends1 but by the individual4 ,they are believed to have regard to individual sufferings2 and the friends of a dying person believe that the gods care for and will receive his soul4 ,our knowledge of the religion of these lands is too imperfect to admit of wide conclusions being drawn from it4 ,we know what the higher religion of ,babylonia was2 and we also see that the higher worship never entirely prevailed in this land2 the god1 like ,bel or ,assur1 who bore the character of a human over-lord1 never drove out the old set of spirits1 nor brought the service of them to an end4 ,as in the case of ,egypt1 so here the attempts made in the direction of a pure and spiritual worship met with no ultimate success4 ,babylon and ,assyria never came so near to ,monotheism as did ,egypt three millenniums before ,christ4 ,nabonidos1 the last king of ,babylon1 collected all the gods together in his capital1 and endeavoured to organise them in a system under ,merodach as their head2 but this led to religious discord rather than to peace1 since the minor deities vehemently resented the removal of their images from their accustomed shrines1 and were understood to refuse their aid to the state on the new conditions4 ,the religion of ,babylon was too much broken up into independent local cults to admit of such a unification4 ,the highest that was reached was that one great god was adored in one city1 another in another1 with some depth and spirituality4 ,to nations which had attained a higher faith1 that of ,babylon appeared to be an idolatrous worship of many gods4 ,that is a harsh judgment4 ,this religion also had life in it and advanced from a lower to a higher stage2 from a timid trafficking with spirits to a service of gods who were ideal heads of human communities1 and friends of individual men4 ,it was not a mere system1 as the world has been accustomed to think1 of astrology and of divination of other kinds4 ,but when ,babylon and ,assyria ceased to be independent powers1 and became provinces of ,persia1 ,bel bowed down and ,nebo stooped1 not to rise again4 ,the world of that day had no need of them4 ,it had already attained in more than one country to a higher religion than that of these deities4 ,,books ,,recommended ,the ,histories of ,antiquity1 viz4-- ,maspro1 ,histoire ancienne des ,peuples de l',orient4 ,duncker1 ,the ,history of ,antiquity1 from the ,german1 by ,evelyn ,abbott4 ,rawlinson1 ,the ,five ,great ,monarchies of the ,ancient ,eastern ,world3 ,chaldea1 ,assyria1 ,babylonia1 ,media1 and ,persia4 ,ed4 ,meyer1 ,geschichte des ,alterthums1 #ahhd4 ,the first volume embraces the ,history of the ,east to the foundation of the ,persian ,empire4 ,schrader1 ,die ,keilinschriften und das alte ,testament1 #aijc4 ,hilprecht1 ,old ,babylonian ,inscriptions chiefly from ,nippur1 #ahic4 ,records of the ,past1 #a1 #c1 #e1 #g1 #i1 #aa4 ,sayce's ,hibbert ,lectures1 #ahhg4 ,tiele1 ,egyptische en ,mesopotamische ,godsdiensten4 ,jastrow1 ,the ,religion of ,babylonia and ,assyria1 #ahih4 ,the most complete account of the whole subject4 ,jastrow1 ,religion of ,babylonia1 in ,dictionary of the ,bible1 vol4 v4 ,jastrow1 ,on the ,religion of the ,semites1 in ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 i4 p4 #bbe1 sqq4 ,f4 ,jeremias in ,de la ,saussaye1 pp4 #bdf-cdg4 ,bezold1 ,niniva and ,babylon1 #aijc4 ,e4 ,h4 ,w4 ,johns1 ,the ,oldest ,code of ,laws in the ,world1 #aijc4 ,on the ,code of ,hammurabi4 ,e4 ,h4 ,w4 ,johns1 in ,dictionary of the ,bible1 vol4 v4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,china ,the ,chinese have always been a world in themselves1 remote from other races of men2 yet they developed a civilisation which is in many respects worthy to be compared with that of ,india or of the ,west4 ,the people who made gunpowder and paper and who printed books1 long before any of these things were done in ,europe1 might naturally think themselves the foremost nation of the earth4 ,their civilisation1 however1 has exercised no influence on the world outside of ,china1 nor has it advanced to the higher achievements of the human mind4 ,as their great wall secludes them from other nations1 so do their mental habits prevent them from a free interchange of ideas with foreigners4 ,the ,mongolian race1 indeed1 from which1 like the ,hungarians and the ,finns1 they are descended1 is so different from other races in many respects that some anthropologists suppose it to have a separate origin4 ,phlegmatic and matter-of-fact by nature1 exact and careful in practical matters1 and to a high degree imitative and industrious1 the ,chinese are singularly devoid of imagination and indisposed to philosophy4 ,their monosyllabic and uninflected language1 belonging to one of the earliest strata of human speech1 and ill fitted to express abstract or poetical ideas1 is an index to their whole nature4 ,if an awakening1 as various signs appear to indicate1 is now at hand for them1 no one can tell how fast it will proceed1 or what the final issue of it may be4 ,china has at present three religions1 all recognised by the state and represented in every part of the country--viz4 ,confucianism1 ,taoism1 and ,buddhism4 ,for our purpose the first of these is very much the most important1 as ,taoism1 originally a philosophy1 quickly degenerated into a system of magic1 and ,buddhism is imported into ,china1 and has to be spoken of elsewhere4 ,confucianism1 being the direct descendant of the old state religion of ,china1 is the native growth of the mind of the nation4 ,like the ,chinese language1 the state religion belongs to a very early formation1 and presents the symptoms of a development which was rapid at first but was early arrested4 ,history of ,china4--,legend goes back to very remote antiquity and tells in a shadowy way of the arrival of the ,chinese from the ,west 7which scholars are agreed in regarding as a fact71 and of early potentates1 patterns to all their successors1 who treated the people as their children1 and invented for them the arts on which life in ,china most depends4 ,history proper begins about #bjjj ,b4,c41 though the ,chinese had the art of writing a thousand years before that4 ,researches1 however1 which are now being made by several scholars1 seem likely to lead to the conclusion that ,china received at least the seeds of civilisation and some religious ideas from ,mesopotamia4 ,that ,chinese religion resembles in some respects that of ,babylonia was mentioned in the last chapter4 ,in a work like this and in the present state of knowledge it is necessary to deal with the religion of ,china as an isolated one4 ,when the history of the country opens1 the character1 manners1 and institutions of the people are already fixed4 ,they are already civilised and have an organised religion1 though how all this came about we cannot tell4 ,the early kings are men of piety1 inventors of arts1 and authors of fundamental maxims of policy2 but as time went on the kings grew worse and lost the affections of their people4 ,in the twelfth century ,b4,c4 the ,chow dynasty came into power and gave ,china some of its best rulers1 but it also soon fell off2 the country broke up into a number of separate feudal principalities over which the central government lost all control1 and in the sixth century ,confucius is found wandering from one independent state to another4 ,this confusion led in the third century ,b4,c4 to the displacement of the ,chow by the ,tsin dynasty4 ,shi-,hoang-,ti1 fourth ruler of this line1 one of the strongest rulers ,china ever had1 assumed the title of ,universal ,emperor4 ,he beat back the enemies of ,china beyond the frontier1 began the building of the great wall1 and broke down the power of the feudal rulers4 ,it was found1 however1 that the feudal system still lived in the affections of the people1 and as it was the religious books which mainly kept the past in veneration1 the emperor ordered their destruction and enforced the edict with great rigour4 ,the ,house of ,han1 however1 which replaced that of ,tsin in #bjf ,b4,c41 recovered the ancient literature of the country from the hiding-places where copies of the books had been preserved1 and established in accordance with them the very conservative constitution which has lasted to this day4 ,sources4--,the books thus condemned and thus recovered supply us with our knowledge of ancient ,china and of its religion4 ,they are political rather than religious in their nature4 ,china has no ,bible1 no book guarded by the ministers of religion as the basis of the system they conduct2 the religious teachers of ,china1 if there are any1 are the literati1 the books they preserve and study are the ,classics4 ,these are connected with the name of ,confucius1 who collected or edited them1 and himself wrote one of them4 ,they are not thought to be inspired1 but are revered because of their immemorial antiquity4 ,no people was ever more completely under the influence of a book1 or set of books1 than the ,chinese4 ,the learned class1 who constitute the only nobility of ,china1 receive their whole education from the books ascribed to ,confucius2 which1 like other authoritative literatures1 contain matter of various kinds4 ,the ,chinese collection consists of the five ,classics 7,king7 and the four books 7,shu74 ,the former were edited by ,confucius2 the latter are by the disciples of that sage or by ,mencius1 a distinguished teacher in his school about a century after him4 ,the five ,classics are the most sacred of all4 ,they are as follows3-- ,i4--#a4 ,the ,yih-king1 or ,book of ,changes4 ,this is a divining book2 it consists of a set of interpretations by princes of the twelfth century ,b4,c41 of a set of lineal figures4 ,the system is in itself of childlike simplicity1 but use and age have collected mysteries about it4 ,it was exempted from the proscription of ,shi-,hoang-,ti4 #b4 ,the ,shu-king1 or ,book of ,history1 contains speeches and documents of the early princes from the twenty-fourth to the eighth century ,b4,c4 #c4 ,the ,shi-king1 or ,book of ,poetry1 consists of a collection of #cjj songs1 selected by ,confucius from a mass ten times as great4 ,some of these pieces are extremely old4 #d4 ,the ,le ke1 or ,record of ,rites4 ,this book is said to have been composed by the duke of ,chow in the twelfth century ,b4,c41 and is the principal source of information about the ancient state religion of ,china4 ,it contains precepts not only for religious ceremonies1 but also for social and domestic duties1 and is the ,chinaman's manual of conduct to the present day4 #e4 ,chun ,tsew1 ,spring and ,autumn1 contains the annals of the principality of ,loo1 of which ,confucius was a native1 from #gba-dhj ,b4,c4 ,they are extremely dry2 and if we could understand the statement of ,mencius that ,confucius by writing them 7for they are his own work7 produced a great effect on the minds of his contemporaries1 many things about ,chinese religion and manners would be clearer to us than they unfortunately are4 ,to these five ,classics is sometimes added1 as a sixth1 the ,hsiao-king1 or ,book of ,filial ,piety1 a conversation on that subject between ,confucius and a disciple4 ,it is impossible to tell how much ,confucius did for these old books4 ,some hold that he did not change them much1 nor put into them much of his own1 and that1 in fact1 he was himself indebted to these books for all he is reported to have taught4 ,on the other hand1 it is declared that he made the ancient books teach his own doctrine1 and left out all that did not suit him2 and1 in confirmation of this view1 the fact is pointed out that while these books as we have them teach pure ,confucianism1 another religion of a different spirit was growing up in ,china in ,confucius's own day1 which must have had some support in the old system4 ,it may be that ,confucius did not care to report to us all the features of the old religion1 but only those of which he approved4 ,but the information given us about that old religion is admittedly correct so far as it goes2 and there is little doubt that what ,confucius thought best in it1 and what passed through him into the subsequent religion of ,china1 was its most characteristic and most important part4 ,,ii4--,the ,classics of the second order comprise four books3-- #a4 ,the ,lun ,yu1 or ,digested ,conversations of the ,master2 or1 as ,dr4 ,legge calls it1 ,the ,confucian ,analects4 ,it is from this book that we derive our information about the sage2 it was compiled probably by the disciples of his disciples4 #b4 ,the ,ta-,heo1 or ,great ,learning1 and #c4 ,the ,chung ,yung1 or ,doctrine of the ,mean1 are smaller works1 giving a more literary form to the doctrine of the sage4 #d4 ,the ,mang-tsze contains the teachings of ,mencius4 ,the ,state ,religion of ,ancient ,china4--,confucius never imagined himself to be a reformer of the religion of his country4 ,the religion of ,china is in the main the same to this day#a as it was before he appeared1 and what is called ,confucianism is simply that old system4 ,that the worship of ,confucius himself has been added to it does not involve any change of its structure4 ,it is already well developed when we first see it1 and what is very peculiar1 it has already parted with all savage and irrational elements4 ,there is no mythology2 the universal legend of the marriage of heaven and earth is dimly recognisable1 but there is no set of primitive stories about the gods4 ,of human sacrifice there is only one ancient instance2 there are no rites with anything savage or cruel about them4 ,everything is proper1 dignified1 and well arranged4 ,the deities are beings worthy to be worshipped1 and they exact no meaningless services4 ,there is nothing in any part of the religion to disturb the propriety of the worshipper or to suggest any doubts to his mind4 ,in no other religion of the world do we find everything in such excellent order4 ,footnote #a3 ,the working religion of the present day is fully described by ,prof4 de ,groot in ,de la ,saussaye1 ,lehrbuch1 ,third edition4 ,on the other hand1 it is not a highly-developed religion4 ,its beliefs are those of extremely early times1 and represent a stage of thought at which no other national religion stood still4 ,the organisation common to developed systems is entirely wanting2 there is no idol1 no priestly class1 no ,bible1 no theology2 the most important doctrines are left so vague and undetermined that scholars interpret them in opposite ways4 ,it is a religion in which1 just as in the primitive stage1 outward acts are everything1 the doctrine nothing1 and which is not regulated by an organised code but by custom and precedent4 ,all these marks point to a formation in very early times1 and to a very early arrest of growth1 before the ordinary developments of mythology and doctrine1 priesthood1 ritual1 and sacred literature had time to take place4 ,they also point to the operation of some powerful cause1 which1 when the religion had developed its main features1 was able to suppress older beliefs and practices1 and lead the nation to devote itself altogether to the newer faith4 ,how this took place we can only conjecture1 but certainly it could never have been done unless the new faith and the national character had fitted each other perfectly4 ,the classical religion may1 as ,prof4 de ,groot says1 have come into existence along with the classical constitution set up by the ,han dynasty #bjjj years ago4 ,but it must have been ready to enter into this position4 ,the objects of worship in the ,chinese religion arrange themselves in three classes4 ,the ,chinaman of old worshipped and his descendant of to-day worships still-- #a4 ,heaven4 #b4 ,spirits of various kinds1 other than human4 #c4 ,the spirits of dead ancestors4 #a4 ,heaven 7,thian7 is the principal ,chinese deity2 in strictness we must say the sole deity1 for there is no family of upper gods2 heaven receives all the worship that is directed aloft4 ,it is the clear vault1 the friendly ever-present and all-seeing blue that is meant1 not the windy nor the rainy sky1 but that which is above all agitations1 and which all beings of the air or of the earth look up to and serve4 ,it is conceived as living4 ,it is not a separable spirit1 not a power behind1 that is worshipped1 but heaven itself1--the living heaven of that early thought1 which has not yet come to distinguish between matter and spirit1--the living heaven which is over all1 knows all1 orders and governs all4 ,to this heaven other names are given1 even in the oldest writings--,ti1 ,ruler2 or ,shang-ti1 ,supreme ,ruler4 ,did the ,chinese conceive this ruler as identical with heaven1 or as a personality dwelling in it or above it8 ,it has been held that the two beliefs are not the same2 that the ,chinese of the earliest times worshipped the ,supreme ,ruler1 i4e4 the one ,god1 ,ti1 and afterwards fell away from that position of pure monotheism and declined to the worship of the material object1 heaven4 ,the early ,catholic missionaries argued that the ,chinese ,shang-ti was equivalent to the ,christian ,god1 and signified a being other than the sky1 the ,supreme ,power of the universe4 ,the ,chinese1 however1 generally denied that they made any such distinction1#b and even declared that they could not understand it4 ,the names ,heaven and ,supreme ,ruler are used by them indiscriminately3 one notices that ,confucius does not use the personal form1 but only speaks of heaven2 heaven1 he says1 when feeling distressed1 is destroying me4 ,we have here1 therefore1 an early form of nature-worship4 ,footnote #b3 ,dr4 ,legge1 while admitting that the ,chinese originally worshipped the vault of heaven itself1 maintains that they got past the early mode of thought which considers every natural object as animated1 before the dawn of history1 and became pure theists1 believers in a supreme spiritual being4 ,confucius he considers to have held a lower religious position than his countrymen had already attained to4 ,he also regards the worship of spirits and of ancestors as a later perversion and degradation of the original religion of one god4 ,in these positions he is followed by ,professor ,giles1 ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 i4 p4 #aje1 sqq4 ,the ,supreme ,power directs all things1 and is an ever-present governor both in the natural and in the moral sphere4 ,these two spheres indeed are not regarded as distinct4 ,nature reveals in all its changes the mind of its ruler1 and human conduct is regarded as an outward thing1 as a phenomenon on the same plane with the movements of nature2 the two are supposed to be part of one system and to act directly on each other4 ,as ,heaven both governs the weather and looks after men's actions1 for every day heaven witnesses our actions and is present in the places where we are1 these two aspects of providence are closely blended and are in fact the same4 ,heaven makes its will known in a natural way4 ,it is one of the most peculiar features of ,chinese religion that it knows no revelation1 no miracles1 no divine interferences4 ,it has a belief in destiny1 ,ming2 every one has his ,ming1 but it is only known when it is accomplished4 ,does ,heaven plainly declare its ,ming8 ,confucius is asked2 and he replies1 ,no1 heaven speaks not2 by the order of events its will is known1 not otherwise4 ,man learns by the external occurrences how ,heaven is disposed towards him4 ,when there is excessive rain or long drought1 this shows that the harmony between ,heaven and the earth is disturbed4 ,it belongs to the emperor to put this right4 ,he alone is entitled to offer sacrifice to ,heaven2 he stands in the closest relation to ,heaven1 who is the ancestor of his house2 and when ,heaven is seen to be displeased1 the emperor must restore the harmony by governing his subjects better or by sacrifices4 ,in an extreme case1 when the emperor is seen to have fallen under the displeasure of ,heaven1 the conclusion is drawn that he must no longer be emperor4 ,the people then are entitled to depose him and to set up a new ruler1 through whom the necessary transactions with ,heaven can be carried on4 ,the belief has always been held in ,china1 at least theoretically1 and is operative to this day1 that it can be known when ,heaven has rejected a ruler1 and that it belongs to the people to carry out that sentence4 #b4 ,the ,spirits4--,the worship of the spirits is a primary religious duty for the ,chinaman4 ,the spirits1 however1 are an ill-defined set of beings2 they are generally spoken of in the plural number1 and sacrifice was offered to them as a body1 no particular spirits being named4 ,the spirits are connected with natural objects1 every part of nature has its spirit4 ,the sun1 the moon1 the five planets1 clouds1 rain1 wind1 the five great mountains1 but also every smaller mountain1 the rivers1 each district1 and a thousand other things1 all have their spirits4#c ,the spirits are not flitting about capriciously1 but have been collected together and organised in a hierarchy1 and this has loosened their connection with natural objects4 ,they are spoken of as a set of beings who may be addressed as a body4 ,a prince alone may sacrifice to the spirit of the earth1 and to those of the mountains and rivers of his territory4 ,but to the spirits in general all may and should pray2 they assist those who pay them reverence and sacrifice to them4 ,it will be seen that the worship of heaven and that of the spirits are kept separate4 ,the former is the imperial worship2 the emperor alone is competent to attend to it4 ,the latter is the official worship of minor states4 ,nor are the two sets of deities wrought into a homogeneous system2 we hear that the spirits1 while subordinate to ,shang-ti1 are not his messengers4 ,the surmise is not to be avoided that these two worships came originally from different circles of ideas1 and have not been perfectly blended4 ,the worship of heaven belongs to the higher nature-worship1 that of the spirits to the lower2 the latter is animistic1 it is a worship of detached spirits1 while the former is a worship of the natural object itself4 ,the spirits are all good2 there are scarcely any bad spirits in ,chinese belief4 ,footnote #c3 ,the ,japanese official religion1 ,shin-to 7way of the gods1 as distinguished from ,butsudo1 way of ,buddha1 i4e4 ,japanese ,buddhism71 an easy worship of numberless spirits1 without sacrifices and without any moral doctrine1 is allied to this branch of the religion of ,china2 as also is the religion of ,corea4 ,shin-to is not ancestral worship1 and recognises no life after death4 #c4 ,ancestors4--,the worship of ancestors is that which is assigned to the private individual4 ,he does not approach ,shang-ti any more than he would address the emperor on earth2 his working religion is directed to his ancestors4 ,the ,chinese believed in the continuance of the soul after death1 and addressed solemn invitations to it to return to the body it had forsaken4 ,their belief can scarcely be described as that in personal immortality2 it is the continuance of the family rather than of the person that is thought of4 ,the individual does not look forward to his own future life or allow that to influence him2 there is little trace of any belief in future rewards and punishments4 ,china has no heaven and no hell4 ,it is the past1 not the future1 that influences the present2 the departed members of the family are believed to be still attached to it1 and to have become its tutelary spirits4 ,in every house there is a hall of ancestors1 where worship and sacrifice is offered to them1 and many even of the details of this worship remind us strongly of the way in which the ,romans served their family heroes4 ,tablets belonging to the ancestors are placed in this hall2 and to these they are supposed to come when properly invoked1 so as to be present with the family4 ,at every important family event they are summoned to attend4 ,this worship has to be rendered by husband and wife jointly1 so that marriage is necessary for its performance1 and an early marriage is a religious duty4 ,the family sacrifice1 like all sacrifices in ,china1 is of the nature of a banquet1 at which the living members of the family1 and the spirits who have been summoned1 eat and drink together4 ,to heighten the illusion1 the grandson was sometimes dressed in the clothes of the departed head of the house and made the principal figure of the celebration-- ,the dead cannot in form be here1 ,but there are those their part who bear2 ,we lead them to the highest seat ,and beg that they will drink and eat3 ,so shall our sires our service own1 ,and deign our happiness to crown ,with blessings still more bright4#d ,footnote #d3 ,shi-king1 ,,ii4 vi4 #e4 ,it is not only in the family that ancestors are adored4 ,the emperor sacrifices in a public capacity to all the ancestors of his own line1 and also to all his predecessors on the throne2 a magistrate to all who have occupied his office before him4 ,ancient ,china possessed an elaborate ritual1 and occasions of sacrifice were frequent4 ,every change of season1 every portent of nature1 every important step either in public or in private life1 required its consecration4 ,it is in accordance with the genius of the people that the sacrifices are not of the nature of propitiation1 but expressions of gratitude and devotion merely4 ,asceticism has no place in this religion2 everything in it is bright and sensible4 ,he who is to offer a sacrifice prepares himself by prayer and retirement to do so worthily2 but beyond this reasonable measure there is no afflicting of the soul1 and in the prayers belonging to the occasion self-humiliation and confession have no place1 but only thanksgivings and petitions4 ,the petitions are for worldly benefits and furtherance2 the sacrifices are means of procuring these from the heavenly powers4 ,they consist chiefly of animal victims1 but fruits are also used1 and with the importance of the occasion the variety and costliness of the offerings increase4 ,elaborate music also accompanies great sacrifices1 and is thought to be very acceptable to the heavenly powers4 ,religion is not separated from life in ,china4 ,there is no special class to take care of it2 every one has to attend himself to those sacrifices which are incumbent on him2 this is a natural1 matter-of-course part of a man's duty4 ,as there is no ,bible1 there is no religious instruction1 and the doctrine is quite vague and undefined4 ,the ritual1 however1 is fixed by tradition in every detail1 and if a man attends to it he does his duty2 religion is a set of acts properly and exactly done1 the proper person sacrificing always to the proper object in the proper way4 ,confucius was not a man who tried to change the religion of his country2 indeed1 he disliked to talk of religious subjects1 and he practised reverently the religion which had long prevailed in ,china4 ,his conversation was chiefly about what we should call worldly matters1 and it is hard to see why the religion of ,china1 the same after him as it had been before him1 should be called by his name4 ,what led to the connection was3 7#a7 ,that he taught in a clear and simple way1 as had never been done before1 the theory of government and morals which lies at the root of ,chinese religion1 and thus did something1 though unconsciously1 to provide that religion with a doctrine4 ,and 7#b7 that he collected and edited the books which are the only literary documents the religion has1 and which have formed ever since the study of the ruling classes in ,china4 ,receiving these books at his hands1 they have naturally looked to him as the prophet of their faith4 ,his ,life4--,kung-fu-tsze 7i4e4 ,master ,kong2 the name was ,latinised by the ,jesuits7 is better known to us than most other religious founders4 ,he lived to the age of seventy-three1 surrounded by admiring disciples1 who remembered what they saw in him and heard from his lips2 and this tradition is preserved in the ,lun ,yu1 ,digested ,conversations1#e a work compiled1 as we observed1 by disciples of the second generation4 ,the supernatural element which in other cases gathered so quickly round a venerated figure1 is here entirely absent2 in ,china such growths do not take place4 ,there may be some tendency to idealise the moral greatness of the sage1 but there are also passages in which this tendency evidently has not been at work2 both in its candour and in the homeliness of much that is reported1 the book invites confidence as a genuine record4 ,we see the sage as the diligence of students in the present generation enables us to see ,kant or ,wordsworth2 we hear his opinions on a great variety of subjects2 we see how he behaved on occasions of state and at his meals in private1 towards princes and towards common men2 we laugh at his jokes and sigh with him at his privations4 ,footnote #e3 ,dr4 ,legge1 ,confucian ,analects4 ,he was born in #eea ,b4,c4 in a good rank of society1 but was brought up in poverty1 and owed all his success to his own merits4 ,the bent of his mind showed itself early2 as a child he amused himself with playing at ceremonies2 at thirteen1 he tells us1 he bent his mind to learning1 the subject of his studies being history and poetry1 the ceremonies and the music of the empire4 ,he early arrived at the views he always afterwards held as to the proper way to govern a people1 and he believed with all the faith of an enthusiast that a vast improvement of society would follow the adoption of his method4 ,it was to public employment that he aspired from an early period of life2 but he did not readily find it in the unquiet times in which his lot was cast4 ,he did enjoy office for certain brief periods1 and marvellous things are told of the reformation of manners which at once attended his efforts as a governor4 ,all got their due2 there was no thieving1 and there was no occasion to put the penal laws in execution1 for no offenders showed themselves4 ,what was the method which was held to have had such results8 ,in the counsels which he gave to various rulers who applied to him this is set forth4 ,he believed the power of example to be capable of effecting all that a ruler should desire4 ,punishments might be dispensed with1 and excessive pains need not be bestowed on the machinery of government1 but a prince who has rectified himself will soon have his people rectified too4 ,the first task of a ruler is to rectify names2 i4e4 there is good government when the prince is really a prince and the minister a minister1 when the father is a real father and the son a real son4 ,the perfect order consists of the due observance by each rank of the duties belonging to it2 there is to be a well-regulated hierarchy in which each understands his function and acts it out4 ,the people are naturally good and docile1 he held1 and if they are well governed they will not do wrong even though rewards be offered for it4 ,thus by docile respect to tradition and authority1 which all men are willing to pay if properly guided towards it1 the pillars of the state are established4 ,his ,doctrine4--,this is the truth which ,confucius preached most earnestly4 ,he spoke of heaven but seldom1 and of the spirits he professed no certain knowledge2 he declared towards the end of his life that he had not prayed for many years4 ,he was a diligent frequenter of all religious ceremonies and a strong upholder of the old order1 but his interest in these things was not speculative or mystical1 but entirely practical4 ,he regarded himself as a teacher of virtue1 not of religious doctrine2 his watchword was propriety1 the dutiful observance of all right and customary rules of conduct4 ,yet there is not wanting an ideal element in his doctrine4 ,he enounces the theory1 of which the whole of ,chinese religion is the outward expression1 that the universe in all its parts1 in nature and in man1 is an order2 that that order is declared to man alike in the ordinances of outward nature1 in the constitution of society with its various ranks and classes1 and in the ritual of religion2 and that it is the whole duty of man to know that order and to conform himself to it4 ,the theory is one in which the state is all1 the individual nothing1 and in which the present is entirely crushed under the dead hand of the past1 and all originality and progress condemned even before they appear4 ,if religion has been delivered from all that is unseemly and irrational1 it has also1 at least to ,western eyes1 lost much of its interest2 the enthusiasms and excitements of its early stages have departed1 and no new enthusiasm has come in their place2 no great god-wrought deliverance thrills the memory of posterity1 no local cults excite exceptional devotion1 no divine historical figure attracts to itself personal affection4 ,religion has cast off fear but has not yet risen to the inspiration of love4 ,the domestic worship came nearest to this1 for the other worships are cold and distant indeed2 but that worship was a powerful influence for the prevention of progress4 ,the ,christian text which hallows individual daring and innovation1 by bidding a man put his convictions above his father and mother1 would be a shocking impiety to ,chinese ears4 ,a temple was built to ,confucius after his death and his worship was added to the state religion4 ,the attempt made by the emperor ,shi-,hoang-,ti in the third century after his death to suppress his memory and the books connected with his name1 was1 though conducted with great vigour1 unsuccessful4 ,the teaching of ,mencius 7#cga-bhh ,b4,c471 the most distinguished of his disciples1 added no new element to that of ,confucius4 ,two movements1 however1 have to be noticed1 which in different ways aimed at giving something richer and deeper than ,confucianism1 and to which ,china owes the two additional religions of ,taoism and ,buddhism4 ,taoism looks to ,lao-tsze as its founder2 but it has no personal founder and is composed of older elements4 ,lao was a philosopher who lived at the same time with ,confucius1 though half a century older2 ,confucius met him1 as we hear in the ,analects1 and spoke of him with great respect4 ,his work1 the ,tao-te-king1 has been preserved1 and though few profess to understand it1 a general idea of his thought may be gathered from it4 ,lao1 like ,confucius1 founds on the existing system2 he quotes largely from older works1 and there are sayings common to both the sages4 ,metaphysical thought1 however1 which with ,confucius was implied rather than reasoned out1 here stands in the forefront4 ,lao's system is a philosophy applied practically4 ,tao1 the ruling idea of the system1 from which both it and the religion which followed it are named1 is variously rendered ,reason1 ,nature1 the ,way2 the last is the nearest1 though by no means a full rendering of it4 ,by the manifold operations attributed to it1 it reminds us of the ,indian ,brahma1 and the riddle of ,lao's obscurity has been proposed to be solved by the supposition that he was dealing with a doctrine imported from ,india which ,chinese forms of speech could but imperfectly express4#f ,tao is not personal1 but something that precedes all persons1 all particular beings4 ,it was there before heaven was2 all things are from it and return to it at last4 ,it is the principle at the root and the beginning of all things1 by which they move1 without haste or struggle1 ambition or confusion4 ,existing first absolute and undeveloped1 it has now been expressed2 men can know it1 and the secret of all goodness1 all success both for the individual and for the state1 is to know ,tao and live in it4 ,this makes a man superior to all rules and conventions2 at home with himself he is superior to the world2 he does not dissipate his energies in learning a great number of outward things1 but acts spontaneously from an inner impulse4 ,in this way the philosopher looked for a return of society to simpler manners2 he even imagined that men might consent to put away the material arts of which they thought so much1 and content themselves with living according to wisdom and being governed by the wisest4 ,footnote #f3 ,lao-,tzeu et le ,brahmanisme1 by ,e4 ,guimet in the ,verhandlungen of the ,basal ,conference1 #aijd4 ,the moral precepts of ,lao are often of singular beauty and show a much deeper insight than the cold teaching of ,confucius4 ,lao taught the golden rule3 ,recompense injury1 he said1 with kindness4 ,confucius1 on being asked about this1 did not agree with ,lao1 but declared that kindness ought to be recompensed with kindness1 but injury with justice1 as if private morality ought not to rise higher than public policy4 ,resent it not when you are reviled1 ,lao teaches2 and ,he who overcomes others is strong2 he who overcomes himself is mighty4 ,he who knows when he has enough is rich4 ,the weakest things in the world subjugate the strongest4 ,the ,book of ,recompenses1 which is the practical manual of ,taoists and is universally read in ,china1 sets up a high ideal of goodness1 and claims to be studied with devotion and earnestness4 ,the task of self-discipline is represented as one requiring faith and courage1 the continuous efforts of a lifetime1 and unceasing watchfulness4 ,if we judge ,taoism either by its philosophy or by its morals1 we must assign it a high rank among the efforts which have been made to guide men in the way of wisdom4 ,as a religion1 however1 it is a dismal failure1 and shows how little philosophy and morals can do without a historical religious framework to support them4 ,taoism was not at first a religion1 and was not fitted to become one1 as it neither offered any sacred objects of its own for pious sentiment to cling to1 nor1 like ,confucianism1 leant upon the state system4 ,the religion which looks to ,lao as its chief figure is not based on his teaching2 at most it is connected with some of his less important doctrines4 ,it did not take a place in the world till five centuries after the philosopher's death1 and its rise was due partly to the emperor named above1 who was opposed to ,confucius1 and partly to teachers who brought forward isolated doctrines of ,lao's system which admitted of a popular application4 ,when the religion appears it is a system not of philosophy but of magic4 ,lao had spoken of immortality as the portion of those who lived according to ,tao2 under the ,chin dynasty 7#bbj ,b4,c47 ,taoism is engaged in a search for the fairy islands1 where the herb of immortality is to be found2 in the first century of our era the head of ,taoism is devising a pill which shall renew his youth4 ,when ,buddhism enters ,china1 in the same century ,taoism borrows from it the apparatus of religion1 temples1 monasteries1 and liturgies1 and sets out on its career as a church4 ,it was not without reason that ,buddhism was sent for1 if we are truly informed1 by the rulers of ,china1 or that it spread over the country1 in the first century of our era4 ,neither ,confucianism nor ,taoism is a religion1 in the full sense of the term1 as supplying by intercourse with higher beings an inspiration for life4 ,the former is regulative and no more2 the latter is a mere set of devices for obtaining benefits from mysterious powers4 ,buddhism1 on the contrary1 appeals1 as we shall see when we consider it in connection with ,india1 to unselfish motives1 and insists on the solemn responsibilities of individual life in such a way as to raise the value of the human person4 ,as it appeared in ,china it is richer than we shall find it in ,india2 it has a god1 unknown to southern ,buddhism1 and it has a goddess ,kouan ,yin1 the being who hears the cries of men1 sometimes represented with a child on her knee1 just like a ,western ,madonna4 ,while still essentially monastic1 it offers salvation and a way of life to all4 ,to faith in ,buddha the merciful one is also added a belief in the paradise in which he receives believers4 ,thus a popular worship is provided1 which neither of the older beliefs supplied4 ,it remains true that ,china has no religion worthy of the name4 ,the phenomenon may there be witnessed1 which is seen with certain differences also in ,japan1 that several religions exist side by side1 all of which are supported by the state and live together without rivalry1 and to all of which a man may belong at the same time4 ,this could not be the case if any of the three appealed strongly to patriotic sentiment1 or gave full expression to the ideals of the nation4 ,,books ,,recommended ,in the ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 vols4 iii41 xvi41 xxvii41 and xxviii4 contain translations of ,chinese ,classics1 by ,dr4 ,legge4 ,the same writer has published three convenient volumes of his own1 containing3 #a4 ,the ,life and ,teachings of ,confucius1 #b4 ,the ,life and ,works of ,mencius1 #c4 ,the ,shi-,king4 ,dr4 ,legge has also written a popular work1 ,the ,religions of ,china1 #ahhj4 ,also ,the ,notions of the ,chinese concerning ,god and ,spirits1 #aheb4 ,the best account of the old ,state ,religion is that of ,j4 ,h4 ,plath1 ,die ,religion und der ,cultus der alten ,chinesen1 #ahfb4 ,rville1 ,la ,religion chinoise 7#ahhi74 ,the third volume of his ,history4 ,r4 ,k4 ,douglas1 ,confucianism and ,taoism1 #ahgf4 ,s4,p4,c4,k4 ,de ,groot1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,de ,groot1 ,the ,religious ,system of ,china1 vols4 i4-iv41 #ahib-aija4 ,also a small book1 ,the ,religion of the ,chinese1 #aiaj4 ,beal1 ,buddhism in ,china1 #ahhd4 ,murray's ,guide to ,japan4 ,j4 ,edkins' ,religion in ,china1 #ahgh1 the account of a modern missionary1 may be consulted4 ,on ,taoism1 ,pfizmaier1 ,die ,lsung der ,leichname und ,schwerter1 #ahgj2 and ,die ,tao-lehre von dem wahren ,menschen und den ,unsterblichen1 #ahgj4 ,julius ,grill1 ,lao-tsze's ,buch vom hchsten ,wesen und vom hchsten gut4 ,tao-te-,king1 #aiaj4 ,vols4 xxxix4-xl4 of the ,s4,b4,e4 give ,taoist ,texts4 ,revon1 ,le ,shintoisme1 #aijg4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,ancient ,,egypt ,egypt is a land of still more ancient civilisation than ,china1 and its civilisation is of more interest to us1 since from it the nations of the ,west obtained in part the seeds of their arts and sciences4 ,even to antiquity everything ,egyptian appeared venerable and mysterious1 and the air of mystery is not yet removed from the country of the ,nile4 ,we have discovered the sources of the river and have learned to read the writing on ,egyptian monuments2 but the sphinx has other riddles than these--riddles not yet solved4 ,who are the ,egyptians1 and where did they come from8 ,in ancient times they were thought to have descended from the interior of ,africa2 now the opinion gains ground that they were at a very early period connected with the ancestors of the ,semitic races2 their language is thought to show signs of this remote relationship4 ,how1 by whom1 and when were they formed into a nation8 ,no one can tell2 they come before us four thousand years before ,christ1 a fully-formed nation1 with an elaborately organised public service1 and with a civilisation both broad and rich4 ,and lastly1 ,what is the religion of ,egypt8 ,what are the earliest gods of the land1 and in what relation do the various gods which were worshipped in it stand to each other8 ,that question cannot at the present time be fully answered4 ,even should it be proved1 as it appears likely to be1 that ,egyptian civilisation was derived originally from ,mesopotamia1 much will still be dark and enigmatical4 ,the foremost scholars in ,egyptology confess that no history of ,egyptian religion can as yet be written4 ,those who have tried to sketch it differ from each other as widely as possible1 some alleging monotheism as its starting-point1 and some the worship of animals4 ,the religion also comes into view at the early period we have mentioned as a fully-formed and stately public system1 whose youthful struggles1 if it had any1 are long past4 ,what is most peculiar in that religion is1 that it embraces elements which appear at first sight to have nothing whatever in common1 nay1 to be quite irreconcilable with each other4 ,we shall do well not to attempt any construction of ,egyptian religion as a whole1 but to content ourselves with examining one after another the various elements1 almost amounting to different religions1 which are found in it side by side4 ,we shall no doubt learn something of the relations in which they stood to each other1 but it may prove that we shall find ourselves unable to adopt any of the theological theories by which ,egyptian priests or ,greek philosophers sought to combine them in one system4 ,history and ,literature4--,the principal thing to be remembered1 in order to understand the history of ancient ,egypt1 is that the country was divided into a number of provinces or nomes1 which1 there is every reason to think1 were originally independent of each other4 ,of these nomes there were about twenty in ,upper ,egypt--that is1 in the long gorge of the ,nile from ,elephantine in the south to ,memphis in the north2 and about the same number in ,lower ,egypt--that is1 in the flatter country from ,memphis to the sea4 ,king ,mena or ,menes1 founder of the first dynasty1 whose date1 if he was a historical character at all1 and not a mythic founder like ,minos of ,crete1 ,manu of ,india1 or ,mannus of ,germany1 cannot be later than #cbjj ,b4,c41 is said to have united for the first time the two crowns of ,upper and ,lower ,egypt4 ,but though they became united under one ruler1 the nomes never forgot their independence1 nor did they cease to maintain their separate existence as states within the empire1 each having its own army1 its own ruler1 its own system of taxation1 its own worship4 ,the supreme power resided now in one nome and now in another4 ,the first two dynasties belonged to that of ,abydos2 the succeeding dynasties1 to which the earliest monuments belong1 so that ,egypt here begins its real history1 had their seat at ,memphis4 ,the twelfth dynasty1 which is known to us1 but is both preceded and followed by a gap of half a millennium in ,egyptian history1 made ,thebes the capital4 ,thebes was also the seat of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties1 which came after the foreign domination of the shepherd kings1 and under which ,egypt was at the summit of its power4 ,ramses ,,ii4 and his successors1 the ,pharaohs of the book of ,genesis1 belong to the nineteenth dynasty4 ,how splendid the ,imperial ,court of ,egypt was at various periods1 the monuments tell us2 these palaces1 temples1 and tombs are in proportion to a power which considered itself to have the world at its feet1 and to be the manifestation of the greatest gods4 ,literature is at the same high level of development with the other arts1 and writing is used for every branch of the public service4 ,this1 the most ancient of the literatures of the world1 is spread over the immense surfaces of ancient temples and tombs1 and stored up in masses of papyrus rolls1 much of which is still to be explored4 ,our knowledge of ancient ,egypt and its religion is still in its infancy4 ,the story of the decipherment of the various characters and of the recovery of the early language of ,egypt is one of the most wonderful triumphs of scholarship4 ,only one remark1 however1 do we now make in connection with ,egyptian writing1 namely1 that it illustrates in a singular manner the conservatism of the ,egyptian people1 a feature of their character which is strikingly manifested in their religion also4 ,the ancient ,egyptian did not cast away an old usage when a new one1 even a very superior one1 had been introduced4 ,long after metals had come into use1 he still employed for various purposes1 especially those connected with religion1 implements of stone4 ,the flint knives found in mummy-cases are connected with the work of embalming1 and show the retention of an archaic usage4 ,the same is true of the matter of writing4 ,the earliest ,egyptian writing was that which is called hieroglyphic1 or picture-writing4 ,in this system what is written down does not represent the sounds of words the writer uses1 but the ideas in his mind2 it is writing without words2 a clumsy system we should say1 and presenting the greatest possible difficulties to the reader4 ,at a very early time1 however1 what is called hieratic writing was invented1 in which the symbols used represent not things but sounds1 though the symbols used are adapted from those of the earlier picture-writing4 ,it is in this hieratic character that the great mass of ,egyptian literature is preserved to us2 but here again we find that the new system did not banish the old one from use4 ,especially in religious inscriptions and documents1 the matter is given both in the newer writing and in the older2 the piece is written twice1 first in hieroglyphic1 the old and sacred form1 and then in hieratic1 the new form1 which could be easily read4 ,in the matter of different objects of worship1 too1 it may perhaps be found that the same aversion to discard anything old and sacred manifests itself1 the same disposition rather to carry on the old and the new together4 ,i4 ,,animal ,,worship ,we begin with that element in ,egyptian religion which is to our eyes least rational4 ,in the ages before and after the ,christian era1 when a number of ,greek and ,latin writers tell us about ,egypt1 we find that the religion of the country is described as consisting mainly in the worship of animals4 ,this excited the wonder of these writers in no small degree4 ,herodotus asserts that the ,egyptians counted all animals sacred1 and gives a list of those which were specially worshipped4 ,the hippopotamus1 he says1 is sacred at ,papremis1 the crocodile at ,thebes2 and some animals are sacred all over the country4 ,he has much to tell of the manner in which the sacred animals are fed and tended1 and of the honours paid to them at their death4 ,lucian says3 ,in ,egypt the temple is a building of great size and splendour1 adorned with precious stones and decorated with gold and with inscriptions2 but if you go in and look for the god1 you find an ape or an ibis or a goat or a cat4 ,the same statement is made by ,clement of ,alexandria2 and ,celsus1 the early ,roman assailant of ,christianity1 speaks to the same effect4 ,thus the popular religion of ,egypt1 before and after the ,christian era1 had animals for its principal objects4 ,a representative of the sacred species sat or crawled or hopped in the temple1 and in that nome that animal was not eaten4 ,in the nome in which the cat was sacred all cats were inviolable2 any insult offered to a cat roused the whole population to frenzy1 and one who killed a cat1 even though he was a stranger in the place and unacquainted with its manners1 forfeited his own life4 ,in the next nome the cat was not sacred but some other animal2 and these local differences of religion might occasion war between one nome and another4 ,juvenal gives in his fifteenth satire an account of a religious war of old standing between two neighbouring nomes1 each of which hated and insulted the animal which was worshipped in the other4 ,this may explain why it was impossible for the ,israelites to offer sacrifice to ,jehovah in ,egypt4 ,they had to go out into the wilderness1 off ,egyptian soil1 before they could sacrifice animals ,egypt held sacred4 ,the worship of a sacred animal in its own nome1 a member of the species dwelling in the temple and the others enjoying respect and protection throughout that nome1 this is the normal state of affairs4 ,sometimes an individual animal acquires sacredness for ,egypt generally1 as the bull ,apis of ,memphis1 the bull ,mnevis of ,heliopolis1 or the goat of ,mendes4 ,these1 though originally local deities1 might obtain a wider reverence if the nome they belonged to rose to greater power4 ,animals of every size and kind were worshipped in ,egypt4 ,besides the large animals we have mentioned1 the ape1 the dog1 the little shrew-mouse1 each had its local sacredness2 also snakes1 frogs1 and various kinds of fishes4 ,the beetle 7scarab7 can by no means be left without mention2 and a number of trees and shrubs were also sacred1#a but1 very curiously1 not the palm4 ,footnote #a3 ,a very complete list of the sacred animals and trees will be found in ,wilkinson's ,ancient ,egyptians1 vol4 iii4 p4 #beh1 sqq4 ,it will be observed that our account of ,egyptian animal worship is drawn from very late sources and applies to a late period of the religion4 ,the religion of the earlier ages of ,egypt is of quite a different kind2 the kings and priests who wrote the inscriptions of the monuments tell us nothing about animal worship4 ,is that because such worship did not flourish in their day8 ,not necessarily4 ,perhaps they knew it well1 but were not interested in it1 or did not wish to encourage it4 ,the ,egyptians certainly did not believe the worship of animals to have been a late innovation4 ,manetho1 an ,egyptian priest who wrote in the third century ,b4,c41 says that the worship of animals was introduced under the second king of the second dynasty4 ,that is as if we should say that an old custom of which we did not know the origin was introduced into ,britain in the days of ,king ,arthur4 ,the priests of ,manetho's day wished animal worship to be considered a corruption of the original religion of their country1 but they could not specify the time at which it had come in1 and placed its origin in the mythical period of history4 ,the story of ,manetho therefore goes to prove that the origin of animal worship is anterior to written records4 ,but we have other evidence to the same effect4 ,the earliest representations of the deities of ,egypt on the monuments testify in a way which can scarcely be mistaken that these great beings had originally some connection with members of the animal kingdom4 ,the great gods of ,egypt are designated on the monuments in three ways4 ,their ultimate form is human1 the god is a man or woman1 and as the human figures of all the deities are drawn after one conventional male and one conventional female pattern1 a symbol is added to the head to show which god or goddess is meant4 ,hathor is a woman with a cow's horns on her head1 ,seb has a duck on his head1 and so on4 ,but an earlier form of the written symbols of the deities is that which represents them partly in human and partly in animal form4 ,horus appears as a man with the head of a hawk1 ,hathor as a woman with the head and horns of a cow1 ,bast is a woman with the head of a cat1 ,osiris has the head of a bull or of an ibis1 ,chnum of a ram1 ,amon has the head now of a ram now of a hawk4 ,deities also occur with human bodies and the heads of mythical animals such as the phoenix4 ,but along with these semi-human1 semi-animal figures there are found still simpler symbols for the deities2 they are drawn as animals4 ,it is only about the twelfth dynasty that the change to the higher form takes place1 but even after the step was made of representing the gods as half-human1 the older pictures of them were not discarded1 but placed side by side with the new ones4 ,thus we find on the same stone two representations of ,horus1 one of which gives him as a man with a hawk's head1 while the other makes him simply a hawk2 and similar double representations of the other gods occur4 ,if the gods of ,egypt were thus conceived and represented in the earliest times1 then the animal worship described by the ,greek and ,roman writers was not the invention of a late age of decadence1 but had its roots at least far back in the past4 ,the early gods of ,egypt were animals1 whatever else1 whatever more they were4 ,it may be that the animal worship of the later and weaker ,egyptian periods was a revival1 such as takes place in weak periods1 of a style of worship which in earlier centuries had to a large extent disappeared in favour of a more spiritual faith4#b ,of this only an ,egyptologist can judge1 but at any rate animal worship was not a new thing in ,egypt1 but a very old thing4 ,footnote #b3 ,this is held by ,le ,page ,renouf1 in his ,hibbert ,lectures1 ,on the ,origin and ,growth of ,religion1 as ,illustrated by the ,religion of ,ancient ,egypt4 ,theories ,accounting for ,animal ,worship4--,what did this worship mean8 and how are we to account for it8 ,the ,egyptians themselves1 and the ancient writers who turned their attention to ,egypt1 accounted for it by a variety of theories2 and various theories are still held on the subject4 ,we can only enumerate the principal ones4 7#a7 ,the beasts were worshipped for their qualities1 as is said to have been the case in ,peru before the ,incas 7chapter vi472 each was reverenced for that divine excellence or virtue which appeared to be manifestly resident in it4 ,thus the dog was worshipped for his watchfulness and faithfulness2 the hawk for its darting flight through the upper air1 like the flashing of the sunlight or of the sun-god himself2 the cow as a great kind mother2 the beetle for that wonderful procedure in the reproduction of his kind1 in which he so strikingly brings life out of decay4 7#b7 ,the beasts are not worshipped themselves2 they are only the emblems of the deities with whom they are connected1 and it is the deity who is worshipped1 not the animal4 ,this may be quite true of later practice1 but is by no means a satisfactory explanation of its origin2 for how was it arranged1 and who was it that ordained at first1 that the jackal should be the emblem of ,anubis1 the cat of ,bast1 the crocodile of ,sebak1 and so on8 7#c7 ,various mythological and quasi-historical accounts of the origin of the practice are given1 such as that men long ago chose different animals for their standards in war1 or that some early king1 wishing to keep his subjects disunited1 ordered that each nome should serve a different animal4 ,it is also told as a story of early times that the gods when they walked on earth assumed the forms of various animals2 thus the gods are still in the animals4 ,the gods hid in the beasts in order to be near men and see how they did4 ,but men found them out and worshipped them in the disguise they had assumed4 7#d7 ,the gods cannot be present in the world and cannot be satisfactorily worshipped unless they have bodies to dwell in--that is involved in ,egyptian psychology2 and as the gods would be too much alike if they all occupied human bodies1 they chose the bodies of different animals4 ,these theories of animal worship are evidently later inventions1 to account for a state of matters the real origin of which was not known4 ,philosophical priests could not accommodate themselves to the animal worship of the temples without a doctrine to justify it to their minds4 ,but those who resorted to such theories about animal worship could have nothing to do with calling the system into existence4 ,we may be sure that a refined and cultivated people did not take up animal worship and cling to it1 in spite of its repulsive features1 with such tenacity as the ,egyptians did1 because of a speculative idea of the likeness of certain beasts to certain gods1 or to express pantheistic views of the emanations of deity in animal forms4 ,the system1 in fact1 cannot have sprung up after the ,egyptians became civilised1 and could not continue to exist among a civilised people1 if it was not hallowed by an immemorial antiquity4 ,only as a mystery1 a thing of which the origin was not known1 could such a worship continue among such a people4 ,a new explanation of ,egyptian animal worship has been put forward in recent times by the ,anthropological school of students of religion1#c and is rapidly gaining ground4 ,the religious circumstances of ,egypt as narrated by ,juvenal and ,diodorus have the strongest resemblance to the totemistic state of society described above 7chapter iv474 ,here1 as in ,peru before the ,incas1 or among the ,north ,american ,indians of to-day1 we have a number of communities each with its special sacred animal1 which it does not eat1 but reverences and defends4 ,other traces of totemistic arrangements may be suspected here and there in ,egyptian observances1 but even did the analogy extend no further than to the facts just mentioned1 there would be a case for considering whether the nomes were not first peopled by a set of totemistic clans1 who1 even after they were united in one people1 preserved their early separate traditions4 ,the sacred animals of the nomes would then be the totems of the clans which first settled in these localities4 ,later developments of religion never displaced these venerable emblems1 if this be so1 of tribal life4#d ,footnote #c3 ,see ,a4 ,lang1 ,myth1 ,ritual1 and ,religion1 ,second ,edition4 ,frazer's ,totemism4 ,most of the modern ,egyptologists incline to the theory that animal worship1 though not the only1 was one of the chief sources of ,egyptian religion4 ,pietschmann first took up this ground4 ,footnote #d3 ,compare the worship of animals in ,babylonia1 chapter vii4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,great ,,gods ,a very different set of gods are those made known to us by the monuments and books4 ,it is the principal problem of this religion to explain how1 along with the sacred animal1 the cat or ibis or crocodile1 there was worshipped in the ,egyptian temple the celestial being1 the god of heaven or of the sun1 whose nature is light1 who is righteous and good1 and who more and more fills the mind of the worshipper with noble adoration1 and leads him towards the high truths of theism4 ,these high gods of ,egypt were represented1 as we have seen1 from the earliest times of which we have any knowledge1 under animal forms4 ,as far back as we can see1 ,hathor is a cow1 and ,horus a hawk1 and ,anubis a jackal4 ,did beast worship spring by a process of degradation from the worship of the high gods8 ,we have seen how difficult it is to maintain such a view4 ,did the higher worship then spring by a process of development out of the lower8 ,that also would be hard to prove1 for the high gods of ,egypt are not beasts1 however magnified and spiritualised1 but beings of a different order2 they are the sky1 the sun1 the moon1 the dawn4 ,and as in our opening chapters we saw reason to believe that the worship of the great powers of nature is an original thing with early man1 and explains itself without being derived from lower forms of religion1 so we must judge with regard to ,egypt too4 ,even if some of the great gods came from ,mesopotamia1 that helps us but little to understand their history after they arrived in ,egypt4 ,in this field also we are driven to recognise two religions1 different in nature and of independent origin1 existing side by side1 and seeking to come to terms with each other2 and the combination of the two is a process in ,egyptian religion which took place before the period of which we have knowledge4 ,it is prehistoric4 ,it was formerly considered that the nature-gods of ,egypt had very little mythology connected with them2 only one considerable story of their doings was known2 most of them had no history beyond the few phrases applied by primitive thought to the great natural phenomena to qualify them to be regarded as living and active beings4 ,but as more inscriptions are read1 more divine myths are coming to light1 and further discoveries of the same kind may be still in store for us4 ,these different myths1 however1 are formed after the same pattern4 ,the great gods of ,egypt are simple beings and easy to understand1 and they were never formed into an organised system like the gods of ,greece1 but remain in separate dynasties or families1 and are very like each other4 ,many of them are sun-gods1 or gods of the morning and evening1 and their stories cannot differ very widely from each other1 but they belong to different districts of the country2 that is what constitutes their difference from each other1 and keeps them separate4 ,the ,great ,gods also are ,local4--,the nature-god as well as the animal-god was worshipped in his own nome1 where he dwelt in the midst of his own community of worshippers2 he was not recognised in other nomes unless there were special reasons for it4 ,but at the earliest period of our knowledge of ,egypt this simple early arrangement has already undergone many modifications4 ,each nome has its own special deity4 ,set is the god of ,oxyrhynchus1 ,neith of ,sais1 but more gods than one are worshipped in each nome4 ,generally there are three2 in many places there is an ennead1 a nine of gods1 but the nine is a round number2 there might be one or two less or more4 ,the god of a nome which had risen to a commanding position extended his influence beyond his own nome1 and came to share the temples of other gods1 so that he was at home in a number of places4 ,ra is said to have fourteen persons--that is1 fourteen views of his person have been developed in so many different districts4 ,but if one god could thus be divided into several1 the converse also took place2 two or more gods were combined1 by the simple addition of their names together1 to form a new god4 ,we have ,ra-harmachis1 ,amon-ra1 ,ptah-,sokar-,osiris1 and some even more elaborately compounded deities4 ,thus there was a constant tendency to the production of new deities2 even the attempts to combine existing deities only add to the number4 ,no attempt in the direction of a system of gods had any success2 local deities could not be suppressed2 the nomes retained their separate deities and religious establishments to the end4 ,there never was a religious organisation of ,egypt generally2 a priest could in some cases pass from the religion of one nome to that of another1 but there was never a high priest of ,egypt as a whole1 however much a king might wish to organise all the worships of the country in one system4 ,this local character of the ,egyptian high gods was a source of weakness in these great beings1 and never ceased to check their upward movement4 ,the temple of a nome had1 as a rule1 three gods1 and these formed a family1 the chief god having his consort and the third being their son4 ,of these triads we may mention some3-- ,amen-,mut-,chonsu are the triad of ,thebes4 ,ptah-,sechet-,imhotep ,memphis4 ,osiris-,isis-,horus ,abydos 7,phil74 ,sebak-,hathor-,chonsu ,ombos4 ,har-hat-,hathor-,har-sem-ta ,edfu4 ,the son is the successor of his father1 and it is his destiny in turn to marry his mother and so to reproduce himself1 that is his own successor2 and so though constantly dying he is ever renewed4 ,the mother1 not being a sun-god1 does not die4 ,if we remember that the gods have to do with the sun these things need not shock us1 nor need we wonder at the statement which is very frequently met with1 that a god is self-begotten1 or that he produces his own members4 ,mythology4--,a few words may be said about ,egyptian mythology in general before we speak of some of the principal gods4 ,the usual stories of the beginning of things are not wanting1 as when the principal god is said to have been born from a primeval egg1 or a whole family of gods to be the children of ,seb and ,nut2 ,seb1 the earth1 being in ,egypt the male1 and ,nut1 heaven1 the female1 of these earliest parents of all things4 ,more than one god1 moreover1 is held to have been an earthly king1 and to be the founder of the royal house which now pays him homage4 ,the days of ,ra1 for example1 are spoken of as a golden age in which perfect justice and happiness prevailed4 ,many stories too may be found which profess to furnish an explanation of some feature of nature or some institution of society1 to account for the names of places or of animals1 or for the presence of the five days which were added to the twelve lunar months in ,egypt to produce a satisfactory solar year4 ,many old stories of the gods have magical efficacy when told in certain situations2 one is good against poison1 but must be told in a certain way to produce the effect4 ,after these stories of the gods' early reign of peace1 come those relating to less happy periods1 when the old god grew weak and began to have enemies1 when gods and men became disobedient to him1 when a war broke out among the gods1 which is not yet brought to an end but breaks out ever afresh2 or when the old god succumbed to his enemies1 and his successor had to set out to avenge him4 ,in some of these stories very primitive and savage traits appear1 which show that they originated in a rude state of society4 ,but they are about men1 not about beasts1 as we might have expected of ,egyptian mythology1 and the men are undoubtedly solar heroes2 it is the fortunes of the daily 7not the yearly7 sun1 his splendid and beneficent reign1 his decline1 his conflict with the powers of darkness1 his decease and his resurrection1 or the vengeance exacted on his behalf by his successor1 that are spoken of1 in connection now with one god and now with another4 ,dynasties of ,gods4--,in the history of ,egyptian religion one set of such gods succeeds another as the prevailing dynasty1 according as the seat of empire in the country shifts to a new nome4 ,these religious changes could take place without great convulsions4 ,it was only the attempt to extinguish old established worships that was fiercely resisted1 not the addition of a new god1 even as superior to those already seated in the temple4 ,in the earliest times known to us ,ra of ,heliopolis is the chief god of ,egypt2 ,osiris of ,thinis 7,abydos7 is also a great god1 but the most characteristic development of ,osiris-worship belongs to a later period4 ,ptah of ,memphis comes to the front in the earliest dynasties4 ,much later is the rise of ,amon to the first place1 which he held when the ,greeks and ,romans had to do with ,egypt4 ,a very short account only can be given of the sets of gods of which these are the heads4 ,ra4--,ra means sun2 his seat is ,heliopolis or ,on1 where ,joseph's master ,potiphera1 or ,priest of ,ra1 lived4 ,heliopolis is the house of the obelisk1 the obelisk being a representation of the sun4 ,first a kindly old king1 he is later a warrior2 he has to contend with the serpent ,apep1 the dragon of darkness who appears pierced by the shafts of ,ra4 ,but as ,ra sinks in the conflict he is comforted by ,hathor1 the goddess of the western sky1 and avenged by ,horus1 the ever young and ever victorious winged sun4#e ,but ,ra is a god of the under as well as the upper world4 ,king ,pi'anchi1 of the twenty-second dynasty1 entered into the great temple of ,ra at ,heliopolis and penetrated to the inmost chamber of it1 afterwards sealing it up again4 ,we are told what he saw there4#f ,he looked upon his father ,ra1 and saw the two boats intended for the daily journey of the god4 ,ra travels in his boat through the sky1 but also at night through the under-world1 of which also he is lord4 ,the progress of the god of light through the world of darkness is a theme which was worked out later in much detail in connection with ,osiris2 but it forms part of the earliest known religious conceptions of the ,egyptians1 and ,ra's voyage through the ,am ,duat or under-world1 is described in considerable detail4 ,many figures accompany him in this voyage1 and many are the obstacles to be overcome during the successive hours of night before he reaches again the gates of day4 ,the souls of men who have died are also led by him through those nether spaces2 by a hidden knowledge1 if they have been at pains to possess themselves of it1 they are able to keep close to ,ra on the perilous journey4 ,he gives them fields to cultivate in the plains beneath1 and they are made glad by his appearance at the appointed hour in the nights that follow4 ,footnote #e3 ,there are in ,egyptian religion several gods called ,horus2 this1 the oldest one1 is fused with ,ra1 the first sun-god1 in the double name ,ra-,harmachis1 a being to whom the highest attributes are given4 ,the symbol of this god is a recumbent lion with a man's head1 the figure in which also the kings of ,egypt are represented4 ,footnote #f3 ,see the inscription in ,records of the ,past1 ii4 #ih4 ,osiris1 the sun-god of ,abydos1 is also reported to have been a human being who was exalted to divine honours4 7,the god of the under-world and judge of the dead1 who bears the same name1 is a different figure2 of him we shall speak afterwards47 ,he is the most interesting and the best known of the gods of ,egypt2 his myth is found at length in ,plutarch1 with the mystical interpretations proposed for it in ancient times2 he is also the god in whom the affinity of ,egyptian with ,babylonian religion appears most clearly3 cf4 chapter vii4 ,born1 according to the myth we mentioned above1 at one birth with four other gods1 of the venerable parents ,seb and ,nut 7see above71 he from the first has ,isis for his wife and sister1 and his brother ,set is also born along with him1 with whom he lives in perpetual hostility4 ,neither can quite overcome the other1 and many are the incidents of their warfare4 ,as a rule the gods of ,egypt are serene and good beings2 here only dualism shows itself4 ,osiris is the good power both morally and in the sphere of outward nature1 while ,set is the embodiment of all that the ,egyptian regards as evil1--darkness1 the desert1 the hot south wind1 sickness1 and red hair4 ,it is not the case that ,set was an imported god and belonged to ,semitic invaders1 but these invaders found him more suited to their notions of deity than any other god of ,egypt1 and sought to make him supreme1 in which1 however1 they could not succeed4 ,the story of the dismemberment of ,osiris and of the search of ,isis for his loved remains1 which she buried in fourteen different places where she found them1 is one which is found connected with other names in other lands4 ,horus is the avenger of his father4 ,here we have this deity in three stages--,horus the child in his mother's arms1 ,horus the avenger1 and ,horus the successor of his father1 the complete sun-god4 ,this family of gods is more human and living to us than that of ,ra or than any other set of ,egyptian deities4 ,it was also more taken up in other lands1 when the gods of older peoples began to find acceptance in the ,west4 ,we see with special clearness in this case the operation of the principle according to which the contrast of light and darkness when represented in the gods passes into that of moral good and evil1 so that the god of light becomes the great upholder of righteousness and dispenser of beneficence4 ,the good god of ,egyptian religion1 moreover1 is accompanied by a goddess who is somewhat more than the pale reflection of the male god1 as most ,egyptian goddesses are4 ,the incidents of the legend also lend to the divine characters a tragic depth in which the prosperous and happy gods of ,egypt do not generally share4 ,ptah is the god of ,memphis1 and adjoining his temple is the chapel of the bull ,apis1 who is called the second life of ,ptah4 ,if these two resided side by side1 some theory of their relationship was needed1 and the bull became the earthly representative of the unseen deity4 ,each had a worship of prehistoric antiquity1 and it is vain to theorise on their original relation to each other4 ,as for ,ptah1 his name means he who forms1 and the ,greeks called him by the name of their own ,hephaistos1 the artificer4 ,in later times he came to be identified with the sun1 and was called the honourable1 golden1 beautiful1 and of comely face2 but earlier he seems rather to have to do with the hidden source of the world's heat1 the elemental warmth which is at the beginning of all life4 ,he also is1 like ,ra and ,osiris1 a god of the under-world to which men go after death4 ,he is said to open the mouth of the dead--that is to say1 that he hears them and judges them4 ,but in the upper-world too he has to do with justice2 he is called the ,lord of the ,ell1 a title connecting him with measurements and boundaries1 matters of the greatest importance in ,egypt4 ,his son is ,imhotep1 he who comes in peace2 the ,greeks regarded this god as a physician1 and called him ,asclepios4 ,the goddess of the triad is ,sechet1 who was also worshipped at ,bubastis under the name of ,bast1 and whose symbol is a cat4 ,ptah1 it will be seen1 is a less distinct figure than either ,osiris or ,ra1 and he very readily passes into combinations with other gods4 ,ptah-,sokari and ,ptah-,sokar-,osiris are found much more frequently than ,ptah alone4 ,these are the chief gods of the old kingdom--that is to say1 of the first six dynasties4 ,when we come to the great twelfth dynasty1 after the gap in the monuments which extends from #bejj-bjjj ,b4,c41 we find that these gods have become faint and new gods have become supreme1 namely1 the local gods of ,thebes1 and of the adjoining nomes4 ,of these1 ,amon1 god of ,thebes1 has the most distinguished history1 though ,chem1 the agricultural god of ,coptos1 and ,munt of ,hermonthis were originally as important4 ,amon1 the hidden1 i4e4 the hidden force of nature1 like ,ptah1 is seldom found alone2 he is generally combined with some other god1 especially with ,ra4 ,the gods of agriculture bow their heads by degrees before the sun-gods who tend to draw to themselves all ,egyptian worship2 rude country representations connected with the idea of fertility being discredited before the religion of the royal temples which was directed mainly to the god of light4 ,was the ,earliest ,religion ,monotheistic8--,we have mentioned only some of the chief gods of ,egypt1 out of a countless number4 ,these are the gods favoured by kings and city priesthoods1 who1 we cannot doubt1 desired the religious elevation of the people4 ,the gods they praised were of a nature to promote that end4 ,it will be granted that the worship of the light-gods of ,egyptian religion was fitted to lead the minds of the ,egyptians to theism4 ,in illustration of this statement extracts may be here given from hymns1 which date as we have them from the eighteenth dynasty #aeij ,b4,c41 but which are probably much older4 ,,to ,,horus ,the gods recognise the universal lord4444 ,he judges the world according to his will2 heaven and earth are in subjection to him4 ,he giveth his commands to men1 to the generations present1 past1 and future2 to ,egyptians and to strangers4 ,the circuit of the solar orb is under his direction2 the winds1 the waters1 the wood of the plants1 and all vegetables4 ,a god of seeds1 he giveth all herbs and the abundance of the soil4 ,he affordeth plentifulness1 and giveth it to all the earth4 ,all men are in ecstasy1 all hearts in sweetness1 all bosoms in joy1 every one in adoration4 ,every one glorifieth his goodness1 his tenderness encircles our hearts1 great is his love in all bosoms4 ,,to ,,tehuti ,,or ,,ptah ,to him is due the work of the hands1 the walking of the feet1 the sight of the eyes1 the hearing of the ears1 the breathing of the nostrils1 the courage of the heart1 the vigour of the hand1 activity in body and in mouth of all the gods and men1 and of all living animals2 intelligence and speech1 whatever is in the heart and whatever is on the tongue4 ,,to ,,ptah-,,tanen ,o let us give glory to the god who hath raised up the sky and who causeth his disk to float over the bosom of ,nut1 who hath made the gods and men and all their generations1 who hath made all lands and countries and the great sea1 in his name of ,let-the-earth-be4 ,,to ,,amon-,,ra ,hail to thee1 maker of all beings1 lord of law1 father of the gods2 maker of men1 creator of beasts2 lord of grains1 making food for the beast of the field4444 ,the one without a second4444 ,king alone1 single among the gods2 of many names1 unknown is their number4 ,there is a beautiful hymn addressed to the ,nile1 who is also conceived as the chief deity and the ruler1 nourisher1 and comforter of all creatures4 ,from these hymns and others like them1 important conclusions have been drawn as to the nature of the earliest ,egyptian religion2 namely1 that those who wrote such pieces must have been acquainted with the one true god and addressed him under these various names1 so that the true origin of ,egyptian religion would be a primitive monotheism4 ,there are some texts indeed which seem to point even more strongly than those cited to the conclusion that ,egyptian religion started from the belief in one supreme deity4 ,mr4 ,le ,page ,renouf quotes along with the passages above1 one from a ,turin papyrus1 in which words are put into the mouth of the ,almighty ,god1 the self-existent1 who made heaven and earth1 the waters1 the breaths of life1 fire1 the gods1 men1 animals1 cattle1 reptiles1 birds1 etc4 ,this being speaks as follows3-- ,i am the maker of the heaven and the earth4444 ,it is ,i who have given to all the gods the soul which is within them4 ,when ,i open my eyes there is light1 when ,i close them there is darkness4 ,i am ,chepera in the morning1 ,ra at noon1 ,tum in the evening4 ,m4 de la ,roug maintains that ,egyptian religion1 monotheistic at first1 with a noble belief in the unity of the ,supreme ,god and in ,his attributes as the ,creator and ,law-giver of man1 fell away from that position and grew more and more polytheistic4 ,it is more than #ejjj years since in the valley of the ,nile the hymn began to the unity of ,god and the immortality of the soul1 and we find ,egypt arrived in the last ages at the most unbridled ,polytheism4 ,the sublimer part of ,egyptian religion is demonstrably ancient1 as ,mr4 ,le ,page ,renouf says2 yet we are not shut up to the conclusion that ,egyptian religion as a whole is nothing but a backsliding and a failure4 ,if we were obliged to regard that monotheism which ,egypt had at first but failed to maintain1 as a gift conferred from above1 which human powers proved unequal to conserve1 then the opening of the history of this religion would be indeed most melancholy4 ,but though monotheism appeared in ,egypt so early1 there is no necessity to think that it was not attained by human powers4 ,for all we know1 it was not an early but a mature product of thought1 and was reached after a long development4 ,it is not impossible for the human mind1 starting from the works of ,god1 to rise by its own efforts to the belief in ,his invisible power and ,godhead4 ,the beginnings of this rise of thought may be witnessed among savages1 and the ,egyptians in their secluded valley had an opportunity such as no other nation had1 to work out1 as their civilisation grew up from rude beginnings to its unequalled splendour1 a noble view of the ,deity whose works they adored4 ,the god ruling from his heaven of light over the great empire of a monarch who knew no equal in the world1 possessing for his earthly abode a temple of unsurpassed magnificence1 uniting perhaps under his sway districts long at war and extending his influence over remote continents as the armies of ,egypt prospered1 such a being drew to himself from his worshipping retinue of priests and nobles1 the highest praise and adoration1 was exalted far above all other powers in heaven and earth1 and extolled even as the ,creator and ,ruler of all4 ,monotheism is thus approached in thought1 but only in a prophetic and anticipatory way2 the circumstances of the country forbade its realisation as a general belief or as a working system4 ,even in the highest flights of those early thinkers1 when they seem to be speaking of a god quite universal and supreme1 it is a local deity that lies at the basis of their speculations1 a being who has his temple in a certain place1 who is symbolised in a certain animal1 who has a local legend and a limited popular worship4 ,these are the facts that clog the wings of ,egyptian monotheistic speculation and bring it to the earth again4 ,pure monotheism accordingly1 the belief in a god beside whom no other god exists1 it might be hard to find in ,egypt at all4 ,the last extract given above comes nearest to it2 but the last line of that extract cannot be called monotheistic4 ,an attempted religious reformation at the end of the eighteenth dynasty may be mentioned here1 as it appears to have aimed at concentrating all the worship of ,egypt on a single object4 ,the object chosen1 however1 was a material one1--the sun's disk1 ,aten1--and though all ,egyptian gods tended to become sun-gods1 some sun-gods1 no doubt1 were better than others1 and ,aten was not the finest of them4 ,king ,chut-en-,aten1 or ,glory of the ,sun-disk1 the royal fanatic who made this attempt at unity1 went great lengths to accomplish his object1 but the attempt was a failure1 and was abandoned after his death even by the members of his own family4 ,what ,chut-en-,aten tried to introduce perhaps came nearer true monotheism than anything that ever existed in ,egypt4 ,he made war on other gods and wished to establish one only god in the land1 but this exclusiveness the ,egyptians could not understand4 ,the ,egyptian believed in many gods1 and while worshipping one god with fervour1 by no means denied the existence or the power of others in other places4 ,even foreign deities were in his eyes real and potent beings1 each in his own territory4 ,it is henotheism1 not monotheism1 that we see in this most religious land2 the worship of one god at a time while other gods are also believed to exist and act4 ,the one god who is before the mind of the worshipper is exalted above the rest1 and spoken of as if no other god required to be considered2 but the worshipper does not dream as yet of questioning the existence of other gods1 or feel himself debarred from worshipping them if he should visit their country4 ,syncretism4--,the hymns contain several other speculative positions about the gods 7chapter iv471 and we may briefly mention these4 ,syncretism1 as we saw1 is very largely represented in ,egyptian thought1 and enters1 indeed1 into its very bone and marrow4 ,in the ennead of a city the great gods may be arranged together after the fashion of a court where one or two rule over the rest2 but in numberless passages we find the relations of gods adjusted in another way1 by making them one4 ,ra comes as ,tum1 the god is known here under one name or aspect and there under another4 ,the names of two deities being added together1 a new deity is produced2 and in later times these gods with double1 treble1 or multiple names are among the most important4 ,raharmachis and ,amonra are national gods1 and have left much evidence of themselves4 ,it is a little step from syncretism to pantheism4 ,let the gods once lose the individual character that keeps them separate from each other1 and it is possible for one god1 who grows strong and great enough1 to swallow up all the rest1 till they appear only as his forms4 ,in the position which they occupied in ,egypt the various gods could not disappear1 their local connections kept them alive2 but they were so like one another that one of them could be regarded as a form of another1 and a multitude of them as forms of one4 ,the god who did most in the way of swallowing up the rest was ,ra1 the great sun-god of ,thebes4 ,the ,litany of ,ra#g represents that god as eternal and self-begotten1 and sings in seventy-five successive verses seventy-five forms which he assumes2 they are the forms of the gods and of all the great elements and parts of the world4 ,the separate gods are reduced from the rank of independent potentates to shapes of ,ra1 and thus a kind of unity is set up in the populous ,egyptian ,pantheon4 ,but ,ra is not strong enough to get the better of these shapes1 and to rule a sole monarch by his own right1 in his own way4 ,he is the god1 but he is not an independent god2 it is pantheism1 not theism1 to which he owes his exaltation4 ,the one in ,egypt cannot govern the many2 the pure exaltation of ,ra as a supreme and absolute god does not prevent the worship of a different being in each different town4 ,the one sole god is for the priests alone1 not for the people2 and this belief in him does not even lead to attempts to root out the worship of animals1 or to concentrate the service of the temples on him alone4 ,and in the absence of such attempts we read the sentence condemning a religion which produced most noble fruits of thought1 to grow worse and not better as time went on1 and to pass away without bringing any permanent contribution to the development of the religion of the world4 ,footnote #g3 ,records of the ,past1 viii4 #aje4 ,worship4--,the ,egyptian temple was constructed rather to afford the god a splendid residence among his people than to accommodate a large congregation at an act of worship4 ,the temple was the public place of the community1 its point of meeting 7for the ,egyptian town has no market-place71 and its fortress when attacked 7for the town is not fortified74 ,but while the courts of the temple were open to the people1 there was a holy place which only the priests might enter1 where the sacred ark1 the symbol of the god1 remained1 and where sacrifices were offered4 ,the images about the temple were not placed there to be worshipped1 but were votive offerings meant to provide the god with a body which he might enter when he chose4 ,the obelisk is such a symbol or incorporation of the sun4 ,on certain days the sacred objects and animals were taken in procession through the temple grounds1 or made voyages on the lake belonging to the temple1 or were even taken through the nome among the fields and dwellings of their people2 and on these occasions representations took place symbolising the principal events in the history of the god4 ,it was thus that the private individual came to know the god2 it was a great festival and an occasion of the utmost joy when the divine protectors and benefactors of the nome1 who generally remained in their splendid retirement1 came forth to mingle for a brief space with the faithful community4 ,the worship of the gods was in ,egypt1 as in every nation of the ancient world1 a matter of state1 not of individual concern4 ,it is the chief branch of the public service2 the state is under the direct rule of the gods2 never was there a more absolute theocracy4 ,the king is a child of the god1--a conception often treated in the most material way1--and being thus of more than human race1 becomes himself the object of worship1 and even offers sacrifice to himself4 ,it is one of the king's chief cares to provide a stately dwelling for the god2 the king himself offers sacrifice on the most important occasions4 ,the god in his sacred ark goes with his people when they are at war and fights along with them1 so that every war is a holy war4 ,the priests are public officials1 and often exercise immense influence4 ,the king institutes them into their functions2 they are exempt1 as we may read in ,genesis1 from public burdens2 every function involving learning or art is in their hands4 ,framed in such institutions religion is not likely to have any free growth2 the time is far distant here when men will form voluntary associations of their own for spiritual ends4 ,yet1 no doubt1 the lay ,egyptian had a private religion of his own as well as his share in the great public acts he witnessed4 ,though the gods of ,egypt are nearly all good1 the evil power ,set was much worshipped1 and would be approached in private as well as in the public acts depicted on the monuments1 by all who had anything to fear from him--that is to say1 by all4 ,every one had to treat with kindness and respect the animal species sacred in his nome1 and other sacred animals4 ,the belief in magic was strong2 hidden powers had to be reckoned with on manifold occasions2 sickness was imputed to the agency of evil spirits1 and treated by exorcism1 by persons duly trained and learned in such arts4 ,lucky and unlucky days1 and days suitable or unsuitable for particular undertakings1 filled the calendar2 the belief in amulets and charms was universal4 ,such things we expect to find among the people1 even where religious thought has risen highest4 ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,the ,,other ,,life ,most of our knowledge about ancient ,egypt is drawn from the tombs4 ,no other nation ever bestowed so much care on the dead as the ,egyptians did1 nor thought of the other world so much4 ,the living had to prepare for his further existence after death1 and the dead claimed from his successors on earth elaborate offices of piety4 ,it is in this part of the religion that there is most growth1 and this part of it in its ultimate form is best known4 #a4 ,treatment of the ,dead4--,the doctrine of the other world takes its rise with the ,egyptians in the belief common to all early races1 which was described above 7chapter iii474 ,the spirit still lives when the body dies1 and it comes back to the body1 and is affected by the treatment the body receives4 ,to care for the dead is the first duty of the living1 and a man must marry in order to have offspring who will pay him the necessary attention after his death4 ,various things are buried with the corpse for the use of the spirit1 and offerings are made to it from time to time afterwards4 ,this is no more than the common primitive belief1 but the ,egyptians carried it out more fully in practice than any other people4 ,they sought to make the body incorruptible1 embalming it and restoring to it all its organs1 so that the spirit should be able to discharge every function of life4 ,they placed the mummy if possible in such a situation that it should never be disturbed to the end of time2 the grave they called an eternal dwelling4 ,they even instituted endowments to secure due offerings to the dead in all coming time4 ,cultivated as this part of religion was in ,egypt1 it could not fail to assume a special character4 ,for one thing1 there is a variety of names for what survives of man after death2 we hear of his heart1 his soul1 his shade1 his luminosity2 and in the later doctrine these are all combined and made parts of one theory2 all the different parts of the man have to come together again after their dispersion at death before his person is complete4 ,the principal term1 however1 is the ka1 image1 or1 as we say1 genius1 of the man1 a non-substantial double of him which has journeys and adventures to make1 and to which the offerings are addressed4 ,the ka needs food1 and regular gifts are made to it of all it can require2 it needs guidance and instruction1 and these can be conveyed to it by pictures and writings on the walls of the tomb or in the mummy-case2 even its amusement and its need of society and of ministration can be to some extent met in this way4 ,it is not peculiar to ,egypt that the advantages of wealth and rank are continued after death1 and that the rich can do much more1 or cause much more to be done for his eternal welfare1 than the poor4 ,the king's mummy lies in a pyramid1 where it will never be moved2 that of the noble in a rock-tomb or a stately edifice or mastaba2 the poor man has to be content with an inferior kind of embalming1 and a tomb of tiles if he gets any at all2 and no priest can be retained to pray for him4 #b4 ,the ,spirit in the ,under-world4--,before history opens1 this common belief and practice in regard to the dead had come to be combined in ,egypt with the worship of a solar deity2 a step of immense importance1 which added immeasurably to the pathos and the moral power of this kind of religion4 ,milton says in ,lycidas-- ,so sinks the daystar in the ocean bed2 ,and yet anon repairs his drooping head1 ,and tricks his beams1 and with new-spangled ore ,flames in the forehead of the morning sky2 ,so ,lycidas sank low1 but mounted high4 ,but what to ,milton was a poetic imagination was to the early ,egyptian a serious belief4 ,if the sun was his god1 he did not say like ,wordsworth in his early period-- ,our fate how different from thine1 blest star1 in this1 ,that no to-morrow shall our beams restore1 but he was convinced that the history of his god1 who sank under the ,western horizon1 and after a period of darkness came back again to light and triumph1 was an undoubted indication of what he himself had to look for after death4 ,the mummy was carried across the ,nile and deposited in the west land1 which is also the under-world1 to share in the repose and in the further progress of the dead4 ,as the jackal pervades that region1 the dead is left to the care of ,anubis1 the jackal-headed deity1 who opens paths to him for further travel1 and leads him into the presence of the gods4 ,the under-world is elaborately portioned out into various parts and scenes1 and manifold are the shapes of evil and mischief with which it is peopled4 ,on the other hand1 it contains abundance of blessings1 which the departed may secure if the proper means have been taken by himself and by his friends surviving him4 ,the earthly life is there repeated with all its occupations and enjoyments1 but free from fear and from decay4 ,the doctrine of the dead accompanying the sun-god to the under-world1 and living under his protection1 is very old in ,egypt2 we saw it in an early form in connection with the god ,ra4 ,it was in connection with ,osiris1 however1 that it attained its widest diffusion2 to the whole ,egyptian people ,osiris was the lord of the world below1 with whom the departed were4 ,the identification of the departed with ,osiris was thorough and complete2 he becomes ,osiris1 takes the name of the deity1 and is known in the inscriptions as ,osiris ,n4 ,n4 ,isis is his sister1 ,horus his defender1 ,anubis his herald and guide1 and having shared the god's eclipse1 he is also to share his triumph and revival4 #c4 ,the ,book of the ,dead1 the most famous relic of ,egyptian literature1 is a collection of pieces many of which are very ancient1 bearing on the passage of the soul through the under-world4 ,the book has also been called the ,funeral ,ritual2 a better translation of the title is1 ,book of ,coming out from the ,day4 ,the earthly life is the day from which the deceased comes forth into the larger existence of the world beyond4 ,the book 7or such parts of it as may be used in each case7 is the soul's vade mecum for the under-world1 and contains the forms the soul must have at command in order to ward off all the dangers of that region1 and to secure an easy and happy passage through it4 ,how the person is to be reconstructed1 the different parts coming back to be built up again in one1 how he is to know the spirits he meets1 how he is to get the gates opened for him1--such are the subjects of various chapters2 and the soul's success in its passage depends on its knowledge of these4 ,the words they contain are not merely information1 they have magic power to smooth away obstacles and to open doors4 ,hence it is important for a man to have learned them when alive1 and1 to assist his memory1 a few chapters are written on papyrus or linen1 and the rolls placed with the mummy in its case1 or they are written on the walls of the tomb4 ,no other ,egyptian work1 in consequence1 has been preserved in so many copies1 but one roll or set of inscriptions contains one set of chapters and another another set4 ,does the fate of the individual after death depend then entirely on magic2 is it a question of how many of these formul he is able to remember1 or how many his relatives have got written out for him8 ,do no doubts intrude on his mind lest1 even if he has all the requisite knowledge at command1 he himself should be found unworthy to live with the immortals8 ,for the most part the ,book of the ,dead stands on the earlier position at which man never thinks of doubting the favour of his god1 and trusts to overcome what is hostile by having his magic ready1 not by having his heart pure4 ,but in several chapters a deeper tone is heard4 ,there is a form for having the stain rubbed away from the heart of the ,osiris1 and if there are abundant directions for outward purification1 there are also directions for having his sins forgiven4 ,in the great #abeth chapter the deceased enters the ,hall of the two ,truths1 and is separated from his sins after he has seen the faces of the gods4 ,here he stands before forty-two judges 7compare the number of the nomes of ,egypt7 styled ,lords of ,truth1 each of whom is there to judge of a particular sin1 and to each he has to profess that he did not when on earth commit that sin4 ,i have not stolen1 he has to say2 ,i have not played the hypocrite1 ,i have not stolen the things of the gods1 ,i have not made conspiracies1 ,i have not blasphemed1 ,i have not clipped the skins of the sacred beasts1 ,i have not injured the gods1 ,i have not calumniated the slave to his master2 and so on4 ,the line is not yet clearly drawn between moral and ritual or conventional offences2 and moral duty is expressed in a negative form1 and appears as a shackle1 not as an inspiration4 ,yet the very great advance has been made here1 that divine law watches not only over specially religious matters but over social life1 and even over the thoughts of the individual heart4 ,the gods enjoin on a man not only to offer sacrifice and to respect the sacred beasts1 but also to do his duty as a citizen and as a neighbour1 and to keep his own lips unpolluted and his own heart pure4 ,it is to the same effect when we find that a man's justification depends on the state of his heart at death4 ,his heart is weighed against the truth1 and if it is found defective1 he cannot live again2 if it turns out well1 then he is justified and goes to the fields of ,aalu1 the place of the blessed of ,osiris4 ,,conclusion ,this doctrine of the life to come1 like the theistic doctrine the ,egyptians at one time attained1 might have seemed destined to lead to a pure spiritual faith1 from which superstition should have disappeared4 ,but in neither case is that result attained4 ,the later history of ,egyptian religion is that of the increase of magic1 and of the rise of a priestly class absorbing to itself1 as the older priests who were closely connected with the civil life of the nation had never done1 all the functions of religion4 ,doctrine grows more pantheistic and more recondite1 mysteries and symbols are multiplied1 all to the increase of the influence of the priesthood1 and to the infinite exercise of ingenuity in coming times4 ,popular religion1 on the other hand1 comes to be more taken up with such matters as charms and amulets and horoscopes2 and while morals did not decline from the high level they had gained from the reign of the gods of light1 the spirit of the nation lost vigour under the growth of religiosity at the expense of patriotism1 and healthy reform grew more and more impossible4 ,what of the religion of ,egypt lived on in other lands which felt her influence1 it is hard to say4 ,the religious art of ,egypt1 and with it no doubt some tincture of the ideas it embodied1 undoubtedly went northwards to ,phenicia2 and ,greece owed to ,phenicia1 as we shall see1 many a suggestion in religious matters4 ,long before ,isis and ,serapis were introduced in ,rome in their own persons1 the legend of ,osiris had flourished in ,greece under new names1 and the ,greek doctrine of the life to come1 taught in the mysteries1 has suggested to some scholars an ,egyptian origin4 ,to the ,greeks and ,romans this religion afforded an infinity of puzzles and mysteries2 to the modern world it affords the greatest example of a religion the early promise of which was not fulfilled1 the splendid moral aspirations of which were stifled amid the superstitions they were too weak to conquer4 ,,books ,,recommended ,for general information ,wilkinson's ,egyptians4 ,e4 ,a4 ,w4 ,budge1 ,history of ,egypt1 vols4 i4-viii41 #aijb-jc4 ,e4 ,a4 ,w4 ,budge1 ,the ,mummy2 chapters on ,egyptian funeral archology1 ,cambridge1 #ahic4 ,e4 ,a4 ,w4 ,budge1 ,the ,book of the ,dead1 ,english ,translation of the ,theban ,recension1 #c vols41 #aiaj4 ,flinders ,petrie1 ,a ,history of ,egypt4 ,flinders ,petrie1 in ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 i4 p4 #ahd1 sqq4 ,the ,histories of ,antiquity of ,duncker1 ,maspero1 and especially ,ed4 ,meyer4 ,erman1 ,life in ,ancient ,egypt1 #ahid4 ,maspero1 ,manual of ,egyptian ,archology1 ,second ,edition1 #ahie4 ,renouf's ,hibbert ,lectures4 ,tiele1 ,history of the ,egyptian ,religion1 translated by ,ballingal4 ,wiedemann1 gyptische ,geschichte1 #ahhd-hh2 ,die ,religion der alten ,aegyptier1 #ahij2 also ,egyptian ,religion1 in ,hastings' ,bible ,dictionary1 vol4 v4 ,a4 ,o4 ,lange1 ,die gypter in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,records of the ,past1 ,first ,series 7#ahgc-ha71 vols4 ii41 iv41 vi41 viii41 x41 xii4 ,second ,series1 #ahhh-ib1 vols4 ii4-vi4 ,benson and ,gourlay1 ,the ,temple of ,mut in ,asher1 #ahii4 ,naville1 ,the ,old ,egyptian ,faith1 translated by ,colin ,campbell1 #aiji4 ,colin ,campbell1 ,two ,theban ,queens1 #aiji4 ,a study of the inscriptions in two royal tombs4 ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,semitic ,,group ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,semitic ,,religion ,as used by the modern scholar1 the term ,semites or ,semitic races includes the ,arabs1 the ,hebrews1 the ,canaanites and ,phenicians1 the ,syrians or ,arameans1 the ,babylonians and the ,assyrians4 ,this enumeration differs from that of the tenth chapter of ,genesis1 where the children of ,shem include ,elam1 or the dwellers in ,susiana1 and ,lud or the ,lydians1 while the tribes who dwelt in ,canaan before the ,hebrews are placed in another and a lower division of the human family4 ,the principle of the enumeration in ,genesis is probably that of geographical neighbourhood2 the modern principle is that of linguistic affinity4 ,the peoples mentioned above spoke1 or still speak1 languages which belong to the same family of human speech4 ,the inference from affinity of language to affinity of blood is in this case a strong one1 so that the peoples using the ,semitic tongues are considered to be of the same race4 ,to the question1 where the cradle of the ,semitic race is to be sought1 most scholars now answer that we must seek it in ,arabia4 ,from this isolated land the ,semitic dispersion spread in every direction1 till ,semitic language and customs filled the earth from the south of ,arabia to the north of ,syria1 and from the mountains of ,iran to the ,mediterranean1 and far along the northern shores of ,africa2 of ,babylonia and ,assyria1 where ,semitic culture and religion assumed at the dawn of human history a very special and peculiar form1 we have already spoken4 ,we have now to speak of ,semitic religion as found in the lands bordering on the eastern ,mediterranean in a more original form4 ,the ,semitic peoples outside of ,babylonia founded no lasting empires1 and showed no great aptitude for art or for literary style2 but1 in point of religion1 they communicated to the world impulses of immeasurable force1 which will act powerfully on the world as long as the ,prophet is named or ,christ preached4 ,it is possible to define to a certain extent the typical religion of the ,semites4 ,the ,burnett lectures of the late lamented ,professor ,robertson ,smith#a profess to do this2 a book in which great learning and bold speculation are remarkably combined1 and which forms one of the most important contributions to the early history1 not of ,semitic religion only1 but of early religion in general4 ,the writer was keenly interested in the study of prehistoric man and of primitive institutions1 and much of his book refers to an earlier period in the growth of religion than that of the formation of the ,semitic type4 ,on the question of the specific character of ,semitic as distinguished from other religions1 it is one of our principal authorities4 ,footnote #a3 ,lectures on the ,religion of the ,semites4 ,first ,series4 ,the ,fundamental ,institutions1 #ahhi4 ,the ,semitic races differ from the ,indo-,european1 with whom alone we need compare them1 in their greater intensity of disposition and a corresponding poverty of imagination4 ,the ,semite has a smaller range of ideas1 but he applies them more practically and more thoroughly4 ,he has1 indeed1 an intensely practical turn1 and does not touch philosophy except under an irresistible pressure of great practical ideas2 while for plastic art he has no native inclination4 ,from this it follows that the religious views he entertains appear to him less as ideas than as facts1 which must be reckoned with to their full extent as other common facts of life must1 and from which there is no escape4 ,his religious convictions1 therefore1 are apt to be carried out to their utmost extent1 even at the cost of great and painful sacrifices4 ,religion admits with the ,semite of less compromise1 and is less affected by fancy1 than with the ,aryan2 it is1 in fact1 a more practical matter4 ,the result proves to be that the ,semitic mind brings religious ideas to bear on life and conduct with the greatest possible force2 the substance is more1 the form less1 than is the case elsewhere4 ,when we ask for the common type of working ,semitic religion1 where are we to look for it8 ,not in ,babylonia2 the characteristic ,babylonian religion is ,semitic1 but late ,semitic2 it has received the impress of high civilisation and of empire4 ,nor need we look for it in the town life of ,phenicia4 ,it is in the seclusion of the ,arabian peninsula that we find it1 in the district1 as we saw1 now regarded as the cradle of the ,semitic race1 where life continues to this day little changed from what it was before the days of ,abraham4 ,there the type of society still exists with which scholars like ,wellhausen and ,smith consider the earliest ,semitic religion to be connected4 ,it is a society of nomad clans1 which own no allegiance to any central authority1 which have no king and do not yet form a nation4 ,this is a stage of social growth which in every ancient people precedes the rise of the nation and of monarchy4 ,the ,hebrews are rising out of this stage when we first see them4 ,their neighbours the ,moabites and ,canaanites have already passed beyond it4 ,but all these peoples alike have their root in a state of society when there was no large and orderly community1 but only a multitude of small and restless tribes1 when there was no written law1 but only custom1 and when there was no central authority to execute justice1 but it was left to a man's fellow-clansmen to avenge his murder4 ,now the religion of the clan1 the ideas of which determine the character of later ,semitic systems1 may be briefly described as follows4 ,each clan has its own god1 perhaps he was originally an animal1 at any rate he is the father or ancestor of the clan1 he is of the same blood with them1 he belongs to them and to no other clan4 ,so far the assertion that the ,semites are naturally monotheists is true2 but the same is true of all totemistic or clannish communities4 ,a man is born into a community with such a divine head1 and the worship of that god is the only one possible to him4 ,should he be expelled from his clan he is driven away from his god1 and he cannot obtain access into another clan except by a formal adoption as a stranger client4 ,the link1 on the other hand between the god and his clansmen is of the strongest4 ,he joins in all their enterprises1 after being consulted on the subject1 and having a sacrifice offered to him1 which renews the union of the clansmen to him and to each other4 ,their wars are his wars2 when any of them is injured or slain he joins in their necessary acts of retaliation2 it is a religious duty for each of them to be faithful to the others1 and to keep up the tribal customs1 of which the god approves4 ,thus the ,semites have as many gods as they have clans2 and these gods do not greatly differ from each other4 ,as long1 moreover1 as the clans are at constant feud1 no single god can grow very great4 ,it is only when one clan conquers others1 that a king-god can arise to rule over all alike as a monarch rules over his nobles and their provinces4 ,but in this type of deity the genius of ,semitic religion is already expressed4 ,the god of the ,semite is not a nature-power who bears the same aspect to all men1 but a member of a particular clan1 a person to whom the clansman occupies the same position of natural subordination as he does to his father or his chief4 ,the god takes his name not from a part of nature but from a human relationship4 ,he is ,baal1 master or owner1 he is ,adon1 lord2 in later circumstances he is ,melech1 king4 ,el1 mighty one1 hero1 is a more generic term2 like our ,god1 it is applied to any divine being4 ,these deities1 it will be noticed1 are all masculine2 but it is not to be supposed that the ,semites had no goddesses4 ,not to speak of the goddesses of ,babylonia1 mere doubles of the gods whose names they bore 7chapter vii471 the earliest ,semites are believed by several great scholars to have had a goddess but no god4 ,the matriarchal state of society1 in which the mother alone ruled the family1 came before the patriarchal1 and so the reign of the goddess came before that of the god4 ,each community has its own ,al-lat1 ,the ,lady1 as she is called in ,arabia1 a strict and exacting lady1 not to be confounded with the licentious goddesses of later times2 and in all ,semitic lands traces of her early prevalence are found4#b ,as the male god came to the front1 the female became a less definite figure1 till she was generally a mere counterpart of the male god1 with little character of her own4 ,with gods of this type there is little scope for mythology4 ,the history of the god is that of the tribe2 the gods are too little independent of their human clients to form a society by themselves1 or to give rise to stories about their doings4 ,footnote #b3 ,see ,robertson ,smith's ,kinship and ,marriage in ,early ,arabia4 ,this is one side of the natural history of the ,semitic gods2 but that history has another side4 ,the lands in which the ,semites dwelt were full from the first of sacred spots2 and we have to notice that the god of a clan is also the god of a certain piece of earth where he is supposed to dwell1 which is regarded as his property1 and the fertility of which is ascribed to his beneficence4 ,in the ,bible we read of sacred trees1 of sacred wells1 of sacred stones or mounds1 and of stones or pillars which were connected with sacrifice4 ,in various ,semitic lands there are also sacred streams and sacred caves4 ,the ,semites in fact had their share of the inheritance the whole world has derived from the earliest times1 of prehistoric religious sites and objects4 ,a spirit spoke in the rustling of the branches of the tree1 counsel could be procured at the spring2 wherever there appeared to be something mysterious in nature1 a spirit was believed to dwell2 and especially in woods and fertile spots1 where wild beasts originally had their lair1 a spirit was thought to reside1 which was approached with fear4 ,many of these superstitions the various branches of the ,semites long continued to hold2#c but the race superseded in the main this world of spirits by a set of gods1 and the magic addressed to spirits by religious observances addressed to gods4 ,the genius or jinn haunting the thicket1 who had no regular worshippers1 but was an object of fear to all1 and had to be propitiated or controlled by mysterious arts1 gave way to the god of a clan1 who took up his residence there1 and received the regular worship of his clansmen2 the stone became the symbol of a deity who had been asked and had consented to become identified with it for the purpose of the stated rites of the clan4 ,in this way the clan gods became localised as the clans tended to acquire fixed settlements1 and each sacred spot was occupied by the deity of the clan who dwelt around it4 ,the view was held that each god was to be found at the spot where1 on some marked occasion1 he had given evidence of his power1 and he who wished to enquire of that god had to go there4 ,it might happen that the god manifested his power at another spot to one of his dependents on a journey1 as ,jehovah did to ,jacob at ,bethel 7,genesis xxviii474 ,then that spot also was recognised as a holy one where communication could be had with the deity1 and the apparatus of worship was erected there so that the intercourse might be suitably carried on1 as ,jacob is reported to have done4 ,in time also it came to be thought that each god had his land which belonged to him1 on which alone his worship was possible1 and so the earth was parcelled out among a number of deities2 and ,naaman1 who wishes to worship ,jehovah in his ,syrian home1 carries off two mules' burden of ,jehovah's soil1 to make in the midst of ,syria a little piece of the land of the ,god of ,israel 7#b ,kings v474 ,footnote #c3 ,the late ,professor ,ives ,curtius in a paper read to the ,basel ,congress 7#aije1 ,verhandlungen1 p4 #aed71 on ,traces of ,early ,semitic ,religion in ,syria1 gives details of local sanctuaries still resorted to in that country4 ,one circumstance remains to be mentioned which constitutes a marked difference between the ,semitic and the ,aryan religions4 ,aryan religion has its centre in the household2 the hearth is its altar1 and the gods of the domestic cult are the departed ancestors of the family4 ,semitic religion is without this cult2 the hearth is not an altar2 the religious community is not the family but the clan4 ,the worship of ancestors1 if1 as there is reason to believe1 it had once been practised by the ,semites 7the ,arabs tied a camel to the grave of the dead chief71 lost at a very early period all practical importance4 ,while the early ,semites believed in the continued existence of the departed1 they thought of them as beings quite destitute of energy1 as shades laid in the ground1 and did not worship them4 ,the other world occupied1 therefore1 a very small space in ,semitic thought4 ,religion confined itself to this life2 after death1 it was held1 even religion came to an end4 ,a man must enjoy the society of his god in this life2 after death he could take part in no sacrifice1 and could render to his god no thanks nor service4 ,from what has been said the character of sacrifice among the ,semites is readily understood4 ,sacrifice is not domestic but takes place at the spot where the god is thought to reside1 or where the symbol stands which represents him4 ,usually this was an upright monolith1 such as is found in every part of the world1 and the central act of the sacrifice consisted in applying the blood of the new-slain victim to this stone4 ,the blood was thus brought near to the god1 the clansmen also may have touched the blood at the same time2 and the act meant that the god and the tribesmen1 all coming into contact with the blood1 which originally perhaps was that of the animal totem of the clan1 declared that they were of the same blood1 and renewed the bond which connected them with each other4 ,a further feature of early ,semitic sacrifice is also that the slaughter and the blood ceremony are succeeded by a banquet1 at which the god is thought to sit at table with his clients1 his share being exposed for him on the stone or altar4 ,when he came to be believed to dwell aloft1 his share was burned with fire so that the smell or finer essence of it might ascend to him4 ,many examples may be collected in the early historical books of the ,old ,testament of sacrifices which are at the same time social and festive occasions2 in fact1 in early ,israel every act of slaughter was a sacrifice1 and every sacrifice a banquet4 ,the people dance and make merry before their god1 of whose favour they have just become assured once more by the act of communion they have observed4 ,the undertaking they have on hand is hallowed by his approval1 so that they can boldly advance to it2 the corporate spirit of the tribe is quickened by renewed contact with its head2 all thoughts of care are far away2 the religious act makes the worshippers simply and unaffectedly happy1 if it does not even fill them with an orgiastic ecstasy4 ,this careless happiness1 in connection with religious acts1 is found also in ,babylonian sacrifice4 ,it is not1 however1 peculiar to the ,semites1 but is characteristic of the religion of the early world in general4 ,nor is it peculiar to this race that religion does not address the individual as such1 but only as a member of his tribe1 and that it provides small comfort for private sorrows or longings4 ,the sad face is out of place in the presence of the god4 ,religion is essentially a happy thing2 sin is not yet thought of1 and if things go wrong1 the tribe never entertains any doubt but that with proper sacrifices and promises the god will show them his favour again and renew their prosperity4 ,all this is not specially ,semitic1 but simply early religion4 ,what is specially ,semitic is1 to repeat that with which we set out1 that gods are worshipped whose relations to their worshippers are borrowed from existing forms of society4 ,the god is the father or the master or the champion1 of the circle of worshippers2 he is of their kindred1 he is their greatest and strongest clansman1 he belongs to them and to none but them4 ,this1 whether it is derived--as ,professor ,robertson ,smith thinks--from the ideas of totemism or not1 leads to a religion which is exclusive and intense1 and cannot be trifled with4 ,the god who is a man's master1 and the head of his clan1 stands in a more imperative position towards him than the god of the sky1 or than a departed ancestor4 ,he does not change with the seasons or the weather1 nor is there any doubt as to his intentions and demands4 ,semitic religion1 even at this stage1 is a very real thing1 and may easily1 in favouring circumstances1 become a force of overmastering energy4 ,,books ,,recommended ,hommel1 ,die ,semitischen ,vlker und ,sprachen4 ,semites1 by ,mc,curdy1 in ,hastings' ,bible ,dictionary1 vol4 v4 ,cumont1 ,les ,religions orientales dans la ,paganisme ,romain1 #aijg4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,canaanites ,,and ,,phenicians ,when the ,children of ,israel crossed the ,jordan and settled in ,palestine1 they found that country inhabited by a race of men who spoke the same language as themselves1 and who were much further advanced than they in civilisation4 ,the letters of ,el-,amarna which belong to this period show ,syria to have been full of small theocratic states1 all pervaded1 though now under the power of ,egypt1 by ,babylonian culture1 each with a god and a settled worship of its own4 ,the ,israelites of a later time regarded the ,canaanites with such disdain that they reckoned them 7,genesis x4 #f1 #ae7 as belonging to an inferior race2 but the two peoples belonged to the same race1 and had many common ideas and practices4 ,in religion they resembled each other1 or ,israel could never have been tempted so strongly1 and for so long a period1 to adopt the rites of the people they conquered4 ,the ,israelites were not the only people who invaded the land of the ,canaanites and stayed in it4 ,three such invasions took place3 those of the ,phenicians1 of the ,philistines1 and of the ,hebrews--the first and third being ,semitic peoples1 and perhaps the second also4 ,the ,philistines1 settling on the south-eastern corner of the ,mediterranean1 had a ,semitic religion1 of which the fish-god ,dagon1 the ,fly-,baal of ,ekron1 and the ,ashtoreth1 probably of ,ascalon1 are known figures4 ,the ,philistines1 however1 lost ultimately their separate character1 and ceased to exist as an independent people4 ,it will not be necessary for us to mention them again4 ,the ,phenicians1 settling on the northern sea-board of ,syria1 where great trade routes to ,east and ,west converged1 and where good harbours could be made1 became a nation of merchants1 and kept up active communication with the great kingdoms of the ,east1 with ,egypt1 and with the islands and the distant shores of ,western ,europe4 ,the carriers of the ancient world1 they transmitted to ,europe not only the spices and the fabrics but also the ideas and the practices of ,asia1 and rendered to the world the inestimable service of awaking the slumbering energies of the ,aryan peoples to new life4 ,a short chapter may be devoted to the religion of the ,canaanites and to that of the ,phenicians1 not because these were important in themselves1 for in neither was there anything original or anything destined to survive1 but because of the light they throw on other religions which were to have a great career4 ,it was in conflict with the ,canaanite religion that the faith of ,israel first realised its true nature and was led to organise itself in a manner befitting its character4 ,and from ,phenicia both ,israel and ,greece accepted many a suggestion1 both in external matters connected with worship and in matters of a deeper nature4 ,the religion of the ,canaanites is well known to us from the ,old ,testament4 ,it is such a system as we found that of the ,semites to be1 with certain peculiar developments1 of which we have already seen something in our chapter on ,babylonia4 ,a local community recognises an invisible head1 with whom it meets at the sacred spot1 whom it regards as overlord or master1 of whose favour it is in no doubt1 and whom it serves with sacrifices and with lively manifestations of joy at certain fixed periods4 ,the god is called ,baal4 ,this1 however1 is not a proper name but a title2 it means lord1 master1 and the ,baal may have a name of his own in addition3 we hear of ,baal ,peor1 the lord of ,peor1 and of many another4 ,baals are spoken of in the plural2 we read in ,judges ii4 #aa and in other passages that the ,israelites followed the ,baals1 that is the gods of the ,canaanites4 ,each place has its own ,baal1 who is worshipped at the local sanctuary4 ,the sanctuary is at an elevated spot outside the town or village1 either on a natural eminence or on a mound artificially made for the purpose2 these are the high places of the ,old ,testament2 originally ,canaanite places of worship1 they drew to themselves also the worship of ,israel4 ,the apparatus of worship at these shrines is of a very simple nature4 ,an upright stone represents the god2 it is not a statue of him1 being unhewn and having no resemblance to the human figure4 ,he was supposed to come to the stone when meeting with his worshippers2 and in the earliest times of ,semitic religion this stone served the purpose of an altar3 the gifts1 which were not originally burned1 were laid upon it1 or the blood of the victim was applied to it4 ,but besides the altar and the upright stone or massebah the ,canaanite shrine had another piece of furniture4 ,a massive tree-trunk1 fixed in the ground and with some of its branches perhaps still remaining1 represented the female deity who is the invariable companion of the ,baal4 ,this is the ,ashera of ,canaan1 a word which in the ,authorised ,version is translated grove1 after an error of the ,vulgate1 but which in the ,revised ,version is rightly left untranslated4 7,judges iii4 #g1 vi4 #be2 #b ,kings xxiii4 #f1 there is one in the ,temple at ,jerusalem2 etc47 ,the word ,ashera is in such passages the designation of the tree which stood to represent the goddess2 whether it is ever the proper name of the goddess herself is doubtful4 ,at any rate ,ashera1 like ,baal1 is not the name of one historic deity1 but a name applied to the goddess of each place all over the country4 ,the character of ,canaanite religion is clearly revealed in its apparatus of worship4 ,we saw that the ,babylonians added to many of the gods of their country a female counterpart1 turning the name of the god into a feminine form 7chapter vii41 also chapter x474 ,in ,canaan we find that ,semitic worship is addressed to pairs of deities2 there is a god and a goddess at each shrine4 ,while it would be wrong to regard this as the general type of ,semitic religion1--our chapter on that subject points to a different conclusion1 and the great gods of ,phenicia1 of ,moab1 and of ,israel are solitary beings1--we must recognise that the worship of god and goddess was widespread in ,semitic peoples4 ,in ,canaan it is not difficult to understand it4 ,we have here the worship of an agricultural community2 and as the ,baal is the lord of the soil and the author of its fertility1 who is entitled to receive the first-fruits1 so the ,ashera is the fertile matron who represents the principle of increase4 ,the ,old ,testament leaves us in no doubt as to the kind of worship which was carried on at these shrines4 ,the festivals were those of the farmer's calendar2 the ,baal is presented with the first-fruits of corn and wine and oil1 in the midst of general feasting and boisterous merry-making4 ,his consort1 on the other hand1 is served with rites applying in the most direct manner the principle she represents4 ,the shrine has a staff of female attendants for this part of the service of religion4 ,the rustic worship of ,palestine thus shows us a side of the religion of ,western ,asia which we know from other sources to have been widely diffused4 ,a female deity like the ,babylonian ,ishtar 7chapter vii471 is served with impure rites in great cities as well as in country districts1 and her worship spread westwards with other ,eastern products4 ,she is found as ,baalit1 as ,mylitta1#a as ,astarte2 the ,greeks call her ,aphrodite1 and her horrid worship found entrance in various ,greek cities4 ,footnote #a3 ,herod4 i4 #aii4 ,to the ,israelites the worship of ,canaan proved a great temptation 7,numbers xxv471 but they gradually rose above it4 ,the ,phenicians also came to have gods of a much higher character1 and of these also we must speak4 ,the ,phenicians were not original in their religion any more than in their art2 their religion began with the ordinary ,semitic notions as these had been applied by the older population in ,syria1 and they improved it by borrowing from various parts of the world with which they trafficked4 ,so various were their borrowings that it is impossible to draw up a consistent system of their gods4 ,one town has one set of gods1 another town another1 and the same deity wears different and even opposite characters in different places4 ,all that can be done is to single out a few features which we can see to have been on the whole characteristic of ,phenician religion1 and to have enabled it to influence the worship of other peoples4 ,the ,phenicians were very much in earnest about the maintenance of state and of religion4 ,in their successive city-states of ,sidon1 ,tyre1 and ,carthage1 we see them exhibiting an intense devotion to the commonwealth1 and very much under the influence of their priesthood4 ,semitic religion tends to grow more sombre and intense as it develops2 and the ,phenicians1 while still holding the principle of a god and goddess1 concentrate their worship more and more on a single divine figure1 and come to regard that figure from a greater distance and with greater awe4 ,the liberal and easy-going ,baals and ,asheras of agricultural life are not suited to the temple of a great commercial city2 a figure of more dignity is wanted4 ,and thus above the crowd of ,baals there appears the ,moloch or king1 a much greater being and requiring a much statelier service4 ,moloch also is not originally a proper name2 there are various ,molochs or king-gods who rise above the ,baals1 and the individuals have special designations1 as ,melcarth1 king of the city4 ,this type of deity occurs not with the ,phenicians only1 but with several other ,syrian peoples about the same time4 ,the ,moloch of ,sidon and ,tyre is a being of the same character as the chief gods of ,moab1 ,ammon1 and ,israel4 ,he has to do not only with the blessings of agricultural life1 but with state and government4 ,he is the founder of a state2 he is the inventor of navigation and of purple2 he is the first king2 when a colony is sent out1 it goes with his approval1 and he himself leads the expedition2 he is the dread ruler whom none must disobey2 the majesty1 the power1 and the enterprise of the state are all embodied in him4 ,and as the king-god is far above the landlord-god in power1 he is infinitely removed from him in character also4 ,the chief gods of ,sidon and ,tyre have nothing luxurious or effeminate about them4 ,they are strict and awful beings1 and must not be incautiously approached4 ,they retain their primitive character as sources of life1 but they are destroyers of life as well4 ,pure and holy themselves1 they require purity and holiness in all who draw near to them4 ,their priests are celibates1 their priestesses virgins4 ,they require sacrifices of a very different nature from those of the ,baals1 more costly and more dreadful4 ,human sacrifices appear to have been a regular feature of their worship3 when the ,israelites turn to the worship of ,phenician gods1 or when they copy ,phenician practices1 we hear of their making their children pass through the fire--that is1 offering them up as burnt-sacrifices4 ,the ,moloch requires what is most costly as a sacrifice1 or what will cause the strongest thrill of terror in his worship4 ,even the first-born child is not to be kept back from him 7#b ,kings xxiii4 #aj1 ,jerem4 vii4 #ca1 cf4 ,micah vi4 #g74 ,so far the origin of the ,phenician gods is simple4 ,they are purely ,semitic deities1 formed on the pattern of human rulers and deriving their attributes from that character4 ,when a state becomes highly organised before it is quite civilised in other respects1 its religion is apt to be stern and cruel2 of this various instances may be found in the history of religion1 and the present is one of them4 ,the ,phenician gods were of such a character as to favour the survival of savage practices2 the ,semite1 as we saw1 is extremely matter-of-fact and practical in his religion1 and a god who was a king would receive the same kind of offerings as the king of ,sidon or of ,tyre was accustomed to4 ,a strict and dreadful religion thus survives beyond the savage state2 pleasure is taken in trampling on natural feelings and in setting forth shocking spectacles at the bidding of the deity4 ,astral ,deities of ,phenicia4--,it is not possible to arrange in a system the remaining phenomena of ,phenician religion4 ,in the historical period the gods have another character besides that of being heads and rulers of communities4 ,they are connected with the heavenly bodies4 ,the chief god1 whatever name he bears1 ,el1 ,baal1 ,moloch1 ,rimmon1 or ,adonis1 is always the sun4 ,a sun-god may have come from ,egypt or ,babylon1 but there is no reason why the ,phenicians may not have had a sun-god from the first1 whose character spread to their other deities4 ,and in accordance with the tendency above spoken of1 the sun-god has a consort4 ,sometimes his consort is the earth2 and then we have a sensuous and immoral worship such as that of the ,canaanites4 ,sometimes it is the moon2 her name is ,astarte or ,ashtoreth1 and she is a very different being from the ,ashera of ,canaan2 the names are not the same1 and the characters are opposite4 ,ashtoreth1 like the primitive ,semitic goddess 7chapter x471 is a chaste matron2 she is represented robed and in stately attitude1 and is a fit companion for the strict ,moloch of the cities4 ,her worship is described to us by ,jeremiah1 in whose time the matrons of ,jerusalem made cakes for her and poured out drink-offerings and burned incense to her as the queen of heaven2 all this was done with the knowledge and co-operation of their husbands1 so that the worship had nothing immoral about it4 ,this strict goddess is not to be identified with ,istar of ,babylonia1 although the names are alike4 ,istar is not a moon-goddess like ,ashtoreth2 in ,babylonia1 in fact1 the moon is masculine1 and the characters of the two goddesses are opposite4 ,the ,sidonian ,astarte and the ,canaanite ,ashera represent two opposing types of female deity1 both of which may possibly have their reflections in ,greece--the latter in the lower forms of the worship of ,aphrodite1 and the former in the figures of such strict maiden goddesses as ,artemis and ,athene4 ,another worship which prevailed in ,phenicia should not be left unnoticed--that of the ,cabiri4 ,there were temples of the ,cabiri in several of the towns2 their worship1 however1 was secret1 and little was known of it even in antiquity4 ,we know at all events that the ,cabiri were seven in number1 and the number is thought to be connected1 not with the seven planets1 but with the seven heavenly spheres of early astronomy4 ,they have a head called ,eshmun1 who is the god of the eighth or highest sphere4 ,the ,cabiri are beings of a moral character2 they are not only mighty ones and creators1 but they are the children of ,sydyk--that is1 of ,righteousness2 and they give counsel4 ,it is here that the tendency to speculative exaltation of the deity appears in ,phenicia2 but there is little of it1 and neither in this direction nor in that of morals was the religion destined to have any remarkable growth4 ,the service of the gods was so closely identified with the service of the state1--for either the priest and the king were one1 as in ,israel after the exile1 or nothing could be done without the priesthood1--that no independent religious development was possible4 ,in a theocracy religion cannot grow1 at least it cannot be openly acknowledged to do so2 and the prophet and reformer finds every influence arrayed against him4 ,how greatly ,israel was indebted to ,phenician art is known to all4 ,it was by artificers from ,tyre that ,solomon's royal buildings were planned and executed1 when he had married a daughter of ,egypt and was compelled to aim at some magnificence4 ,a royal temple formed part of these buildings1 and was necessarily erected according to the ideas which prevailed in the more advanced neighbouring kingdoms4 ,it was from the same source that the ,greeks a century or two later drew suggestions for their sacred architecture2 and thus we find that the ground-plan of ,solomon's temple and that of the ,greek temple are closely similar4 ,both are to be traced ultimately to the model derived by the ,phenicians from ,egypt4 ,and those who borrowed from ,phenicia the form of their temple1 borrowed many other things too4 ,in the porch of ,solomon's temple stood two great pillars of bronze1 which were called ,jachin and ,boaz2 they were simply the symbols which stood at the entrance to every ,phenician temple of the sun-god worshipped there4 ,the priests of ,israel were dressed like those of ,tyre and ,sidon2 they offered the same animals as sacrifices1 they received the same dues for their maintenance4 ,when so much apparatus was borrowed1 it is no wonder that the gods of ,phenicia were at times worshipped at ,jerusalem4 ,we see from this whole chapter that the religion of ,israel was not so much apart from that of the other ,syrian peoples as we have been wont to imagine4 ,even in his religion ,israel owed something to his neighbours2 his religion came to be better than theirs1 but it was the result of a movement in which they also had taken part4 ,,books ,,recommended ,the ,histories of ,antiquity4 ,e4 ,meyer1 ,duncker 7see p4 #aja74 ,tiele's ,egyptische en ,mesopotamische ,godsdiensten4 ,book ,,ii43 ,phenicia and ,israel4 ,the ,histories of ,israel1 especially ,kuenen1 ,the ,religion of ,israel4 ,f4 ,jeremias1 in ,de la ,saussaye1 vol4 i4 pp4 #cdh-chc4 ,e4 ,meyer1 ,phenicia1 in ,encyclopdia ,biblica4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,israel ,it is a circumstance of the greatest value for the science of religion that the ,old ,testament is so well known4 ,that book is the most valuable literary storehouse we possess of the facts and ideas connected with the early religion of mankind2 it is the best text-book of the earlier portion of our subject4 ,in our chapters on primitive worship1 as well as in that on the ,semites1 we have drawn largely from this source1 and for the earlier stages of the religion of ,israel we may refer to these chapters4 ,we have now1 however1 to deal specially with the religion of the ,old ,testament1 and to endeavour to show1 as has been done in other cases1 what was its specific character1 and how its character determined its history4 ,the story to be told in this chapter is1 even apart from our special interest in it1 as fascinating as any in this volume2 it was through a mental movement of unparalleled grandeur1 as well as through an outward history of tragic and entrancing interest1 that the ,jews came to possess the religion which was the desire of all nations1 and the chief preparation for ,christianity4 ,we have to begin1 however1 with repeating in this case what has been and will be the burden of our opening paragraphs in many chapters of this book1 namely that the traditional ideas about the nature of this religion require to be corrected1 and that its sacred books as they now stand do not accurately represent its history4 ,the ,old ,testament literature has suffered in a high degree what seems to be the predestined fate of every set of sacred books4 ,old materials and new are mixed up together in it2 many works have been revised by later editors1 and so much changed1 that laborious critical processes are necessary before they can be used by the historian4 ,in forming his first impressions as to the relations the books bear to each other1 and as to the purport of the whole1 the reader is naturally guided by the order in which he finds them2 but the order in which the sacred books of the ,jews stand in the ,old ,testament was fixed from a peculiar point of view at a late age in ,jewish history1 and is in many respects quite unnatural and misleading4 ,to come to particulars2 the ,old ,testament as it stands suggests that the ,law was the earliest product of ,jewish literature1 and that all the details of ritual1 as well as of moral and social duty1 were fixed for the ,jews at the very outset of their history2 and it suggests that the books of the prophets were written last4 ,this1 till quite recently1 was generally believed to be the case1 but by the labours of a series of illustrious scholars of the ,old ,testament the conclusion has been reached1 which is now less and less disputed1 that the earlier prophetic books come first in chronological order1 and that the law1 which is not all of one piece1 but contains a number of codes of different periods1 together with a collection of legends and traditions drawn from various quarters and subjected to editorial treatment1 did not assume the form in which we have it till after the exile4 ,the historical books1 in which no doubt various ancient pieces are embodied1 were written under the inspiration of prophetic ideas2 and the latest books of all are those which stand in the centre of the ,old ,testament in the ,english ,bible2 the ,psalter1 which had been growing during a long period before it came to contain its present number of pieces1 the books of morals and philosophy1 and the book of ,job4 ,daniel belongs to the period of the ,maccabees4 ,the historian1 therefore1 starts from the age of the prophets of the eighth century ,b4,c4 ,the writings of these great men afford a graphic picture of their time1 and an entirely trustworthy account of the mental furniture ,israel then possessed4 ,from this fixed point the student is able to infer what happened to ,israel in earlier times1 and to judge of the spirit in which the early history of the people was afterwards written and edited4 ,the history of ,israel which the student arrives at after these critical processes differs1 it is true1 in very important respects from that which appears at first sight on the face of the ,bible4 ,but the same thing has occurred in the case of other nations4 ,the sacred books of ,persia also have to be turned outside in before they furnish the historian with an account he can accept4 ,even of the speeches of ,mohammed the same is true4 ,those who undertake the task of codifying sacred literatures have to consider the purpose to which the books are to be put in the community1 and to arrange them so as best to serve that purpose2 they do not ask1 ,how must they be arranged so as to exhibit the true sequence of the history8--that interest only arises much later--but1 ,how will they best serve the needs of the community8 ,the order of books in sacred collections is1 therefore1 fixed by practical considerations1 now of one kind and now of another1 and not according to the requirements of the student of history4 ,we now proceed to give the outline of the history of the religion of ,israel as it appears in the light of recent critical investigation4 ,israel consisted originally of a group of tribes1 bound together by the memory of a great deliverance they had experienced in common1 and of battles in which they had fought side by side4 ,accustomed to the free life of shepherds1 they had been enslaved in ,egypt and held to intolerable tasks2 but they had made their escape in a wonderful manner under a leader who had known how to kindle them to heroic efforts by reminding them of their religious traditions4 ,under his leadership they had visited the ,sinaitic peninsula after leaving ,egypt1 and had wandered in the regions to the north of ,sinai1 till at last they conquered territory to the east of ,jordan1 on which some of them settled1 while others crossed the ,jordan1 and took up their abodes among the ,canaanite tribes whom they found there4 ,the nation and the religion came into the world at the same time4 ,although the tribes retained their separate gods and religious observances1 and families among them also had their own family cults1 the bond by which they had been formed into a people and made capable of common action was stronger than these earlier ties2 the ,god whom ,moses proclaimed as their head inspired in them an enthusiasm and vigour unknown before4 ,his name was ,yahweh1 and is said to have a metaphysical meaning1 and to designate the god as more really existing than any other4 ,this is doubted2 what is certain is that ,moses declared that ,yahweh promised to be with the tribes1 and that they took him for their ,god4 ,jehovah1 to use the more familiar form of the name1 was perhaps the ,god of the most powerful of the tribes2 he was probably a nature-god1 and connected with storms and thunder1 and he had his seat at ,mount ,sinai4 ,thither the tribes repaired to hold a solemn meeting with him2 from there he was afterwards represented as coming forth when about to do any mighty act for his people4 ,he is thought of as a being who cannot be seen1 since he dwells in clouds and darkness4 ,he utters his voice in thunder and storm2 he is possessed of irresistible energy which he unfolds in battle1 and in which he causes his people to share when he goes before them to war4 ,but he is also a god of counsel1 and takes the greatest interest in the moral and social life of his people4 ,his human representatives1 aided by his spirit1 settle disputes which are laid before them1 and pronounce authoritative counsels on difficult matters4 ,this kind of guidance is constantly going on1 so that ,jehovah is felt to be watching over the conduct of his people1 and to be an effective helper and guide in their domestic concerns1 which not every god attends to1 as well as in their meetings with their enemies4 ,the ,early ,ritual was ,simple4--,in all this we have a very apt example of the advance which1 as we saw in a former chapter1 religion makes when it becomes national instead of merely tribal2 when the great god of the nation takes his place above the gods of the tribes4 ,in ,israel1 however1 it is not the case that the national religion1 when it appears1 at once develops a higher style of worship1 and draws attention to itself by greater pomp and deeper solemnity of form4 ,the priestly legislation of ,exodus and ,leviticus1 indeed1 represents this as having been the case4 ,here the tribes have scarcely adopted the service of ,jehovah1 when an army of thousands of priests is called into being1 for whose maintenance elaborate provision is made1 and a splendid and highly-organised worship is arranged4 ,this directory of worship1 however1 most scholars are agreed1 never was in operation till after the exile3 we see in it the worship which ,ezra and his fellow-scribes aimed at introducing in the second temple at ,jerusalem4 ,the worship of the wilderness and of the early period of ,israel in ,canaan was of a very different nature4 ,the leading features and principles of it differed little from what we have described in former parts of this book 7chapter v41 chapter x474 ,it was conducted according to custom rather than statute1 and its leading characteristic was that it was a common meal at which the god was present along with his worshippers1 and assurances were given that the good understanding still continued which bound the tribesmen to their god and each other4 ,it was by the person of his god rather than by a more elaborate worship1 or a more numerous priesthood1 that ,israel was distinguished from ,moab and ,ammon4 ,contact with ,canaanite ,religion4--,after being delivered out of ,egypt by the power of ,jehovah1 and entering ,canaan1 ,israel was placed in a position in which it is wonderful1 indeed1 that the national character and the national religion were not merged in those of the surrounding population4 ,bringing with them the few ideas and the scanty appliances of the wilderness1 they found themselves dwelling amid a people whose civilisation was fully formed1 and who possessed a comparatively elaborate worship4 ,the tribes of ,canaan spoke the same language1 and were of the same race with themselves1 but had advanced to the higher life of agriculture and of cities4 ,their worship was the same in principle as that of ,israel1 but it had a higher organisation4 ,the land was studded with sacred places1 the sanctity of which ,israel could not deny1 and which formed centres of pilgrimage and worship4 ,the worship of the ,canaanites was described in last chapter 7chapter xi472 the reader will remember the upright stone 7masseba7 representing the ,baal1 and the tree-trunk 7ashera71 if there was no living tree1 representing the goddess4 ,if all this or most of it was new to the ,israelites1 so was the sacred year which fixed the seasons of worship in ,canaan4 ,minor festivals were fixed by the appearance of the new moon1 or by the regular return of the seventh day 7it is doubtful if the ,sabbath was observed in the wilderness1 it is connected with agriculture1 and is scarcely compatible with pastoral life72 greater ones by the epochs of the year1 such as harvest and vintage4 ,the worship connected with agriculture in the early world is of a noisy and frantic order2 and where gods are worshipped who are connected with fertility1 it is apt1 as we saw1 to be marked by sexual features4 ,danger of ,fusion4--,the ,israelites were naturally prompted to adopt what they could of the religion of the ,canaanites4 ,the old sacred places of the land1 whether connected with their own ancestral traditions or not1 they could not help adopting2 it would have been strange1 indeed1 if1 when they became agriculturists1 they had not adopted the agricultural festivals2 and if1 as was natural1 they regarded the ,baal of the ,canaanite as the lord of the land and the giver of its fertility1 their thanks for the harvest would be addressed to him 7,hosea ii4 #h74 ,their worship of ,jehovah could not be left poorer than that which their neighbours addressed to ,baal2 for it also they erected asheras and made use of standing stones1 and of ,jehovah also they had images4 ,one of these1 which was destroyed by ,hezekiah1 was in the form of a serpent3 in other places ,jehovah was worshipped under the form of a bull4 ,where an image of him was kept1 he could be consulted by means of lots or in other ways4 ,the ark or chest which was kept at one of the more important shrines1 represented him most fully2 it was carried into battle1 and he was thought to go with it4 ,religious ,conflict4--,but the more developed worship thus paid to ,jehovah after the settlement in ,canaan1 as it had not grown out of the religion of ,jehovah1 did not truly express its spirit1 and was felt by those who believed most thoroughly in the national god1 to be a wrong way of serving him4 ,if1 moreover1 the ,israelites1 who lived scattered and far apart from each other among the older inhabitants1 went so far in adopting ,canaanite practices1 there was a danger that ,israel would forget the faith which had made him a nation1 and thus part entirely with his character and nationality4 ,a contest thus arose1 which continued during the whole of ,israelite history down to the exile1 between the few who cared for ,jehovah only1 and desired to see the principles of his religion carried out purely and without reserve1 and the many who1 while also professing to follow ,jehovah1 saw no harm in worshipping him as other gods were worshipped1 or even in addressing other gods as well as him4 ,this struggle is represented in the histories as if ,israel had from time to time become entirely apostate from its own faith4 ,but it is clear that ,israel never forgot ,jehovah so far as to be incapable of being called back to him4 ,the call was generally a call to war4 ,the people1 having forgotten the true source of their strength1 and so lost spirit and became a prey to their enemies1 were summoned by one in whom the spirit of ,jehovah was burning freshly1 to follow him to battle against their enemies4 ,the spirit of ,jehovah1 thus applied anew to the hearts of his people1 did not fail of its effect4 ,the wave of courage and of martial ardour spread from place to place1 from tribe to tribe1 and soon an army stood in the field which struck with the old vigour1 and soon shook off the yoke of the oppressor4 ,jehovah thus proved himself to be ,jehovah ,sebaoth1 i4e41 in the most probable rendering of the phrase1 the ,god of the armies of his people4 ,a religion which proved itself in this way could never cease to be a power in the heart of the nation2 even if the tribes1 dispersing again after a victory1 soon seemed to lose touch of each other1 and to be sinking deeper than ever in the surrounding tide of ,canaanite life1 yet the faith1 which was associated with all the highest moments of their past history1 and was the secret of all their victories1 could not die4 ,the ,monarchy4--,it was a great advance1 however1 in the history of the religion of ,israel1 when the judges or heroes who appeared1 at distant intervals of time and in different parts of the country1 to summon ,israel to fight for freedom in the name of ,jehovah1 were succeeded by the monarchy4 ,this was a step which those most zealous for the national faith warmly approved1 and1 indeed1 themselves brought about2 the monarchy was founded1 in the case of the first two kings1 on religious enthusiasm4 ,the religion of ,jehovah at once became the state religion1 and a more satisfactory worship was formed at the court4 ,the permanent union of the tribes under the monarchy soon showed ,israel to be possessed of much greater force than could have been imagined1 and within a century the people of ,jehovah formed a considerable power1 which was heard of in all ends of the earth4 ,instead of a set of scattered tribes they were now a homogeneous people1 conscious of a great past and looking forward to a still greater future4 ,as they passed rapidly from barbarism to civilisation1 ,jehovah shared their rise4 ,his energy had always been undoubted1 but he now put on in addition all the settled attributes of kingly power--he was a great god1 and a great king1 a just judge1 a liberal friend--all his doings were wonderful4 ,he had chosen ,israel for his people1 and by a series of mighty acts had guided and preserved them1 and made them great4 ,his people stood in a peculiar position in the world2 with such a god they must rise higher still1 there could be no limit to what he could do for them4 ,religion not ,centralised4--,we must not1 however1 suppose that the rise of ,jehovah to a great position1 and the institution of his worship at the court1 made any great or sudden change in the religious arrangements of the people at large4 ,while the worship of the monarch went on at ,gibeon or at ,jerusalem1 the great shrines at ,bethel1 at ,dan1 and at ,beersheba were still frequented1 and the sacred places throughout the land remained in honour4 ,stories indeed were told to show that they had been founded by the patriarchs for the worship of their god1 so that there need be no scruple in frequenting them4 ,the worship of ,baal and that of ,jehovah went on at these places side by side1 and neither could fail to be influenced by the other4 ,sacrifice was guided by more than one principle3 on the one hand it was a common meal with the deity2 and as ,jehovah was thought to have his dwelling in ,heaven1 his part of the banquet was burned1 so that it might ascend to him in the column of smoke4 ,the sacrifice of agriculturists1 however1 naturally turns to the idea of presenting to the god1 with joy and thankfulness1 a part of the gifts1 or the first or best part of the gifts1 which1 as lord of the soil1 he has bestowed4 ,the idea of propitiation or atonement does not enter into the ordinary sacrifices at this time4 ,jehovah in his sterner moods may demand more awful offerings4 ,as we see from the story of ,abraham offering up ,isaac1 it was thought that ,jehovah might demand human sacrifice1 and instances of such sacrifice actually occur in the records4 ,jephthah dedicates his daughter2 after a war the best of the booty is offered to ,jehovah1 and ,samuel hews ,agag in pieces before him4 ,but such occurrences lie quite apart from ordinary worship1 which is of a joyful character and is accompanied by merry-making of various kinds4 ,no fixed ritual prevailed throughout the country2 the attempt to introduce uniformity came much later4 ,every one knew how to sacrifice1 as the stories of ,manoah and of ,gideon show2 it was by no means necessary that a priest should be present4 ,the functions of the priest indeed were often connected with other matters than sacrifice1 and might be of a humble description4 ,eli with a few attendants was the guardian of the ark which was the symbol of the presence of ,jehovah4 ,a young priest was engaged by ,micah for ten pieces of silver yearly to take charge of his collection of idols4 ,but the most important duty of the priesthood1 and that on which their influence mainly depended1 was that of consulting ,jehovah and ascertaining his will4 ,this was done by some sacred object in the charge of the priest1 and various objects are named 7,ephod and ,teraphim are images of deities2 ,urim and ,thummim are the lots used on such occasions7 which possessed this virtue4 ,the priest also acted as a judge in matters brought to him for decision1 and thus was in a position to form the unwritten law of the people1 and to set up principles of conduct which came in course of time to be regarded as sacred4 ,the priests' torah or law is the beginning of the ,jewish legislation1 and we see from the humane and kindly provisions of the earliest codes that this important function was discharged in no unworthy way4 ,it was thus that ,jehovah acted as the living lawgiver of his people1 long before any written law existed4 ,with his character as a warrior1 a mighty lord1 and a giver of rich gifts1 he combines from the first that of one who watches over the conduct of his people1 checks their excesses1 and is willing and able to lead them on to better living4 ,this fact will be of much importance when the mind of the people expands and seeks to understand more clearly his being and character4 ,the ,prophets4--,israel1 like other nations of antiquity1 had1 in addition to the priests who were professionally connected with religion1 a class of men who were organs of the deity not on account of their position but by a special personal gift4 ,the inspiration of ,jehovah appeared in early times in somewhat crude forms4 ,bands of fervid devotees were seen1 who produced in themselves by dance and song an ecstatic enthusiasm1 in which they were thought to become the organs of the deity4 ,these men lived in societies or guilds1 which were found in ,israel for several centuries4 ,there were such prophets of ,baal as well as of ,jehovah1 so that the phenomenon is not specifically ,israelite4 ,what we hear of them does not always give us a lofty idea of their character4 ,they are found practising magical tricks1 and when they prophesy they all say the same thing2 sometimes they are willing to prophesy what a king wishes to hear4 ,the greater prophecy of ,israel arose out of such beginnings as these4 ,israel was accustomed to expect to hear the will of ,jehovah declared by a speaker of whom the spirit had laid hold1 and among those who came forward to meet this expectation there appeared from time to time men of commanding insight and of great intensity of character4 ,the name seer indicates the nature of this kind of prophecy4 ,the seer is one to whom ,jehovah communicates his intentions personally1 perhaps without any steps having been taken on his part to place himself in the way of the god4 ,he sees visions while awake and in his ordinary frame of mind1 he also hears what others do not hear2 and the vision and the message have reference to the future4 ,things are intimated which are shortly to come to pass1 and they are things concerning the state or the monarchy3 the fate of ,israel is the burden of the prophet's intimation4 ,samuel's seeing led him to institute the monarchy under ,saul4 ,the prophet ,abijah declared for the division of the kingdom into two2 and his prophecy was not vain4 ,elijah foretold the downfall of the house of ,omri1 and ,elisha saw to the accomplishment of that prediction4 ,the prophets we see were a great power in public affairs1 and were able in important crises to determine the course of the nation's history4 ,often the prophet stands quite alone1 and in opposition to the court and apparently to the nation1 and yet his words have a tendency to get themselves fulfilled2 ,jehovah's word does not return to him void4 ,at other times the prophet seems to have many sympathisers among the nation1 and to speak as the mouthpiece of the most earnest section of the community1 the section most devoted to ,jehovah2 and in these cases it is less wonderful that his words come true4 ,when1 however1 we speak of the prophets as a whole1 the expression is a loose one2 the prophets are not a party that always acts together1 nor a school in which the leader is always sure of a following4 ,a great voice sounds1 perhaps once in a century or a half-century2 and these voices represent the true tradition of ,israelite religion1 and develop it further4 ,in the time of ,elijah we notice that there is a puritan movement in ,israel2 a number of men are agreed together in detestation of the foreign worships which are practised at court1 and are heartily agreed in wishing to bring back the good old ways and the pure worship of ,jehovah only4 ,and when ,elijah speaks1 he gives voice to this tendency2 he claims that everything should be determined by religion2 no considerations of state should for a moment stand in the way of the pure faith of ,jehovah1 by which everything should be decided2 and whatever stands in the way of this policy is dedicated to destruction4 ,this1 broadly speaking1 is the keynote of ,hebrew prophecy4 ,when we come to the canonical prophets1 however1 we feel that there is a great deal more in their teaching than the bare demand that everything must give way to the requirements of religion4 ,a great change has taken place in their world of thought4 ,it is no less than that a new god and a new religion have announced themselves in the thinking of these men4 ,they do not say so2 they are not aware of it1 and yet it is so4 ,the ,old ,religion ,national4--,the religion of ,israel during the monarchy is1 in the full sense of the term1 a national one4 ,from a cluster of tribes ,israel has become a nation1 and has begun to think of itself as a unity4 ,it has its national history1 its national rulers1 as other nations have4 ,in their nationality it cannot be denied that the ,israelites had much to be proud of2 nor did their rapid growth in wealth and power1 which gave them several centuries of prosperity1 tend to lesson that pride4 ,now as they have their own king1 they have also their own god4 ,jehovah is the god of ,israel2 ,israel is the people of ,jehovah1 on this they were all agreed4 ,that ,jehovah was their god did not prevent them from believing in the existence of other gods3 ,chemosh was the god of ,moab1 a being not very unlike ,jehovah1 the ,baals were the old gods of ,canaan4 ,jehovah1 of course1 was the greatest and strongest1 and an ,israelite should worship him1 in ,canaan at least2 but there was no great harm if he worshipped other gods too1 when it came in his way to do so4 ,he might join in the worship of ,baal in country places2 and the king might1 without doing any harm1 set up the images of the gods of his wives beside the images of ,jehovah in the capital1 and if many of his subjects joined in these other worships1 it was but natural4 ,in this way a great variety of gods was in some reigns brought together from different countries4 ,jehovah1 however1 was the special god of ,israel1 there could be no doubt of that2 ,israel was specially pledged to him2 and he on his side was pledged to ,israel1 who was entitled to look to him for help in every emergency4 ,jehovah had no other people2 he was entirely bound up with ,israel1 he must1 if only for his own honour1 come to the aid of his own people when they needed him4 ,he never could permit ,israel to suffer any fatal injury1 such as deportation to a foreign country4 ,religious faith forbade the thought that such a thing was possible2 if ,israel was destroyed1 where would ,israel's religion be8 ,it was utter impiety1 therefore1 to doubt that ,israel was safe1 that ,jehovah watched over his own land and his own people1 or that he would guard them from any fatal harm4 ,if1 on the other hand1 as was too often the case1 ,israel had to submit to injury and insult from other peoples1 there could be no doubt that ,jehovah took notice of the fact1 and that in due time he would set things right4 ,it might be some time before his attention was sufficiently directed to the case2 he might be waiting till more of the same kind of occurrences took place before he finally interposed2 but the time would come1 the ,day of the ,lord would arrive in due season1 when the spoilers and insulters of ,israel would be dealt with according to their deserts1 and ,israel set on high in full deliverance and peace4 ,criticism of the ,old ,religion by the ,prophets4--,the prophets1 impressed more deeply than the people by the moral character of ,jehovah1 and under the pressure of great national dangers and calamities1 attained to views of ,god and of his ways so different from those current at the time as to appear1 when first produced1 most unpatriotic and even impious4 ,in their character of seers they foresaw with clearness the terrible catastrophes which were about to burst upon their people4 ,amos prophesies that ,israel will be carried away captive out of his land2 ,isaiah announces the same thing in the southern kingdom1 and declares that only a remnant shall return4 ,these men are in no doubt as to the impending political annihilation of ,israel1 and they set themselves to find some reason for an occurrence so portentous1 so impossible to harmonise with ordinary religious faith4 ,they account for it by a view of the nature of ,jehovah far exalted above that of their people4 ,he is punishing them for their iniquities1 they say1 he is so righteous that he must punish sin1 and he must punish the sin of ,israel his beloved people not less strictly1 but more strictly than that of other peoples4 ,as a husband whose wife has gone astray must subject her to discipline before he can receive her again to his favour1 so ,hosea1 made a prophet by such a domestic affliction1 contends that ,jehovah cannot but deal strictly with ,israel4 ,this theory of the meaning of the impending calamities is supported by the prophets by those denunciations of the national sins which give so gloomy a complexion to their works4 ,among the national delinquencies the disorganisation and apparent wilfulness shown in worship have a prominent place4 ,worship is not what the service of ,jehovah ought to be4 ,other beings than he are sought after2 heathenish festivals are kept1 the indecent practices of heathen worship are introduced into that of ,jehovah3 there is no seriousness1 no dignity1 no worthy order1 in the acts of worship that are done4 ,any place does for them1 and many of the places used are quite unfit1 from their associations1 for the service of ,jehovah4 ,they are celebrated more as wild orgies than as solemn approaches to the deity4 ,the interests of the prophets1 however1 do not centre in ritual4 ,the worship of other gods than ,jehovah1 or the service of ,jehovah in unfitting ways1 they could not but denounce1 but they have no positive instructions to give about worship4 ,when the people have apparently given up the wrong worships1 and are applying themselves with zeal to that of ,jehovah1 seeking his favour by austerities1 or by costly offerings1 the prophets are no less severe on this line of conduct4 ,every one is familiar with the passages in which they apparently denounce sacrifice altogether as a thing ,god has never asked1 and by which ,israel cannot hope to win his favour4 ,these passages do not prove that the prophets desired the entire discontinuance of sacrifice2 they merely compare sacrifice with another line of duty which is said to be vastly more important4 ,not sacrifice but mercy1 not sacrifice but to do justly1 and love mercy1 and walk humbly with ,god1--is the burden of these utterances4 ,even more than by the irregularities of worship1 the prophets are shocked by the more directly moral shortcomings of their people4 ,the people are accused of all the acts that are forbidden in the decalogue of ,exodus xx41 and of many offences not there named4 ,especially are the prophets indignant at the hardheartedness of the rich towards the poor1 and at the frequent disregard of faith and truth2 oppression and bribery1 gluttony and other luxurious excesses1 are frequently their mark4 ,these most of all are the sins which have called down the divine judgments2 these are the transgressions which make it impossible for ,jehovah to turn away the punishment of ,israel and of ,judah4 ,he is1 above all things1 a righteous god1 who loves judgment and mercy1 and a people which so manifestly fails to practice justice and mercy cannot continue to be his people2 he must destroy them4 ,the prophets therefore declare that ,jehovah has decided on the rejection of his people4 ,this shows that they have advanced to a new conception of what ,jehovah is4 ,to them he is something more than the mere national deity indissolubly linked to the fortunes of his people1 pledged to advance them in the world1 and doomed when they fall to fall himself along with them4 ,he is first of all a moral ruler2 the maintenance and promotion of righteousness is far more to him than the prosperity of any single people1 even of ,israel4 ,he loves ,israel it is true2 ,israel is his son1 whom he loves1 the wife of his youth1 the people of his covenant4 ,but that makes it the more and not the less necessary that ,israel should not be allowed to go on in iniquity4 ,jehovah can be no partisan of a people that does not walk according to his laws4 ,thus the prophets have arrived at a new conception of ,jehovah's character1 which necessarily unfits him1 though they do not yet see this1 for the rle of a national god4 ,they have identified him with the ideal of righteousness and mercy1 and in so doing they have made the great step1 at least in principle1 from national to universal religion1 from the religion that is bound up with the history of one particular people1 and cannot pass beyond them1 to the religion which is capable of being understood by all men1 and fit to be preached to all men of whatever race4 ,appearance of ,universalism4--,to the deeper view which they have gained of the character of ,jehovah the prophets add a wider and higher view of his relation to the world1 and to the various nations in it4 ,they frankly state that ,jehovah has relations to other nations than ,israel4 ,he might if he had chosen have taken some other race to be his people2 they were all at his disposal and he regarded none of them as hostile4 ,he is not dependent on ,israel1 and the inference is clear1 that if he could have done without ,israel at first1 he could do without ,israel still1 were he driven to that4 ,israel is not indispensable to the continuance of the true religion4 ,jehovah indeed has a position far above that which ,israelite national thought ascribed to him4 ,he is lord not of one nation only1 but of all the nations4 ,he can use any of them as his instrument when and as he chooses4 ,it is he who has brought each of them to its present seat1 it is he who is directing their movements now4 ,and for what end does he wield this mighty rule8 ,he is governing the world not in the interests of one nation only1 but in the interests of righteousness4 ,he is guiding the destinies of nations so as to bring about an end which he has fixed1 namely the establishment of a world-wide kingdom of truth4 ,the day is indeed coming as the ,israelites believed when he would hold a judgment over the world1 only let ,israel beware lest that day should be darkness and not light to them2 it will bring about the punishment of sinners of whatever race4 ,an end is to be made of sin both in ,israel and in other nations1 that a new world may begin4 ,the position thus given to ,jehovah is clearly one which lifts him high above the rank of a national deity4 ,the prophets understand with growing clearness that ,jehovah is the creator of the world1 and the author of all the glories1 both of the celestial and of the terrestrial frame4 ,the ,maker of the ends of the earth1 and the ,governor of all the nations1 though he has chosen to reveal himself to one particular race1 cannot be limited to them4 ,the position of ,monotheism has been attained4 ,the earlier prophets speak of the gods of other nations as if they really existed1 though for ,israel ,jehovah is the only god1 but by degrees the advance is made to the position that these beings do not exist at all1 and are simply vanities or nothings4 ,instead of saying that ,jehovah is the greatest among the gods1 and that there is none like him1 these preachers say that ,jehovah alone is god1 and that he is the author of all that exists and of all that takes place in the universe4 ,a god has been unveiled whom all beings exist to glorify1 and whom all the nations of the earth can confidently be summoned to praise4 ,ethical ,monotheism4--,these results were reached gradually3 there is a great difference between the teaching of ,amos and that of ,jeremiah4 ,and it must be remembered that they were attained not as other monotheisms have been1 by philosophical speculation1 but by purely moral ways4 ,it is because ,jehovah is supremely just and holy1 that he grows so great4 ,the justice and holiness which are seen in him are the strongest of all2 the world exists for nothing else but to realise them1 and everything that stands opposed to them1 whether in ,israel or in any other nation1 must go down before them4 ,it is in this way that the conclusion is reached that ,jehovah is the only ,god4 ,the moral ideal must be one4 ,the whole of the religion of the prophets is governed by moral considerations4 ,god asks from man nothing but goodness2 the true sacrifices are those of the heart and conduct4 ,man's intercourse with ,god is to be kept up as that of an affectionate human relationship1 into which no motives either of force or of commerce enter4 ,although ,god is so just and holy1 he is perfectly placable1 and ready to greet the approaches which are made to him4 ,it is absurd to spend so much money and toil on sacrifice1 when the happiest relations with ,god can be attained so much more simply4 ,god forgives without any sacrifice2 his love and his desire to meet with love surpass all that human relationships can show2 his constancy is like that of the returning seasons1 or of the stars4 ,he yearns over ,israel as a father over a wayward son1 and will leave nothing undone that he can do to bring his son back to him4 ,he will alter all his former plans to bring about that result4 ,he will change man's nature1 and give him a new heart1 if nothing short of that will suffice2 or he will change his own procedure entirely1 and deal with man not by way of commandments1 but by way of inspiration1 placing his law in man's inward part1 writing it in his heart1 so that the great union of ,god and man may be attained1 which he desires4 ,individualism of the ,prophetic ,teaching4--,here we must pause to notice another great advance which the prophets have been led to make in religious knowledge4 ,their view of ,jehovah as a purely moral being1 and of man's relation to him as a moral relation1 like that between two human beings who have to live together1 such as a husband and wife or a father and son1 makes religion less a matter for the people as a body1 more a matter for the individual4 ,when religion is carried on by public sacrifices and stately festivals and ceremonies1 then it is the people as a whole that transacts with ,god1 and the individual need feel no great weight of responsibility in the matter4 ,but if ,god asks for love1 if he says he does not care for sacrifice1 but insists on love and devotion1 and rather than not have it will work a miracle on man's nature1 then the individual is addressed4 ,every one who has any love to offer feels himself appealed to4 ,only in his own heart can any one know whether or not ,god's desire is met2 every one1 therefore1 who understands the appeal becomes personally responsible for the answer1 and religion becomes a matter1 not only between ,god and the people1 but between ,god and the individual as well4 ,personal religion1 therefore1 makes its appearance among the ,jews at this time4 ,jeremiah carries on dialogues with ,god2 prayer is met with1 as the outpouring1 not of public needs alone1 but of private feeling2 the soul has learned that it is called to a life of its own with ,god1 and not merely to a share in the life of the nation with him4 ,we have dwelt at some length on the ideas of the prophets2 not at such length1 indeed1 as to satisfy any of those who love their writings1 for we have thrown together in one view what belongs historically to different centuries1 while to the personalities of the prophets1 to their sublime certainty and their stupendous courage1 we have given no attention4 ,we have stated the outlines also of the great movement of thought in which advances of such transcendent importance were made in religion4 ,they are advances which have not been lost1 but which we still enjoy4 ,if it is the gift of the ,semitic race to bring the thought of ,god to bear on life with such direct practical force as ,aryan religion never by itself exerted1 we must look with profound veneration on those ,semitic thinkers who applied this great force in the service of a ,god1 who has no other nature and property but that of justice and love4 ,religion thus became to them and to all they influenced an engine for the direct promotion of justice and love among men2 and we do not think the less of the prophets that the harvest of which they sowed the seed could not be reaped in their day4 ,prophecy leads to no ,immediate ,reform4--,the message of the prophets seems at first sight to have been delivered long before the world was ready for it4 ,even the practical measures which can be traced to their influence are far from being in accordance with their ideas4 ,the causes of this we have already to some extent seen4 ,the prophets were not practical reformers4 ,the amendment they called for was one to be realised in individual lives rather than in public policy1 and they do not bring forward schemes of reform which they urge the people as a whole to adopt2 they rather fling great ideas upon the mind of their nation1 and leave it to others to find out how practical effect may be given to their teaching4 ,to the very end of the ,jewish state the prophets and their sympathisers appear to be in a small minority of their nation4 ,the people as a whole is unconverted1 the worship of idols goes on1 and so does the worship of other gods1 even in the temple at ,jerusalem4 ,it has seemed to some great scholars that ,israel1 as a whole1 was a heathen people up to the time of the exile1 and still needed to be converted to the religion of ,jehovah4 ,kuenen shows#a in a convincing way that this is an exaggeration1 and that people and prophets alike held the religion of ,jehovah to be the true religion of ,israel2 but up to the exile that religion was not reformed in the way the prophets desired4 ,footnote #a3 ,hibbert ,lectures1 ii4 ,the ,reforms4--,yet the word of ,jehovah had not returned to him void even during this period4 ,a considerable series of reforms are narrated in the histories1 and attested by successive codes of law now embodied in the ,pentateuch4 ,these show that the prophetic ideas had gained for themselves a strong party among the people1 and that in several reigns the court was under their influence4 ,these reforms show progress in two directions4 ,there is a growing desire to make the worship of ,jehovah correspond to the exalted new conceptions of his character as a being of incomparable majesty and holiness2 and there is1 on the other hand1 a rapid growth of moral sentiment2 justice and kindness to others are placed more and more in the forefront of the divine requirements4 ,we can do little more than name the passages where the details of these matters may be found4 ,the reforms of ,hezekiah 7#a ,kings xviii47 did not last long4 ,he destroyed a celebrated image of ,jehovah1 a fate which other images may have shared1 and he remodelled the worship of the holy places throughout ,judah1 so as to remove its more heathenish features1 and concentrate it on ,jehovah alone4 ,manasseh1 ,hezekiah's successor1 pursued the opposite policy4 ,in his reign a large collection of strange cults1 some of them perhaps those of the individual tribes1 were brought back into use2 even the barbarous rite of human sacrifice was established at ,jerusalem1 and the worship of ,jehovah became more intense and darker4 ,the shadow of the ,assyrian is upon ,israel1 and as generally happens in times of public anxiety1 rites long disused are imagined to have a specially national character and a peculiar potency1 and are fetched back from oblivion4 ,the reform of ,josiah 7#b ,kings xxii41 xxiii47 was more thorough-going than that of ,hezekiah4 ,he made an end of all the unseemly worships his predecessor had encouraged at ,jerusalem1 so that nothing but the direct worship of ,jehovah was left4 ,the strongest step he took1 however1 was that he attempted to put an end altogether to the shrines at which local worship had hitherto been conducted1 thus making a clean sweep of the idolatry of the rural districts4 ,all this was done1 we are told1 in accordance with a law-book which had been found in the temple by certain high officials1 and which1 after duly consulting a prophetess about the matter1 ,josiah brought into operation1 and solemnly pledged himself and his people to observe4 ,we are in no doubt as to the nature of this book4 ,the book of ,deuteronomy prescribes just such reforms as ,josiah carried out1 and is generally allowed to have been the written law which was promulgated on this occasion4 ,now ,deuteronomy1 while incorporating no doubt many old laws1 is in spirit and effect a work of the prophetic school4 ,its moral teaching and its exhortations to love ,jehovah1 and to be true to him alone1 are quite in the manner of ,jeremiah1 who was living in the reign of ,josiah4 ,and the principal reform of ,josiah1 namely1 the suppression of the local worships1 and the concentration of all worship at the temple of ,jerusalem alone1 stands in the forefront of the special laws in ,deuteronomy4 ,those who aimed at the reform of religion1 according to the ideas of the prophets1 had thought this out4 ,the worship of the one supreme ,god should take place1 they had concluded1 at one place only1 and should be national in its character2 the whole people should worship the one ,god at its capital4 ,provision was made that this should not imply the deprivation of the dwellers in country districts of the use of flesh meat4 ,formerly1 every act of slaughter was a sacrifice1 and it was only in connection with a sacrifice that this food could be enjoyed4 ,but in future1 animals may be slaughtered at a distance from ,jerusalem for food only1 apart from any connection with sacrifice4 ,the promulgation of ,deuteronomy is an important epoch in the religion of ,israel4 ,that work is the first sacred book of ,israel2 from this time forward ,israel knows the will of ,jehovah1 not only from the prophet's living voice1 but from a book which is regarded as having divine authority4 ,this principle once introduced could not fail to develop2 to ,deuteronomy other books were afterwards added as part of the same law1 though in reality they superseded it1 and it thus proved the nucleus of the whole ,jewish canon4 ,earlier ,codes4--,deuteronomy was not the earliest law drawn up under prophetic influence4 ,leviticus xvii4-xxvi4 is recognised as being a code by itself1 and is an earlier attempt in the same direction as ,deuteronomy4 ,the decalogue contained in ,deuteronomy v41 identical in the main with that of ,exodus xx41 is of earlier origin than ,deuteronomy itself1 but is also a prophetical work4 ,it deals with ritual only to the extent of removing certain obstacles to a right worship of ,god1 and places the chief weight of his requirements in the fulfilment of the natural duties4 ,an earlier decalogue which deals principally with ritual1 and which contains an early prophetic attempt to free the worship of ,jehovah from heathen abuses1 is found in ,exodus xxxiv4 #aj-bf4 ,the oldest legislation of all is the code found in ,exodus xx4 #bb to xxiii4 #cc1 which goes by the name of the ,book of the ,covenant4 ,it is true that in form and in many of its precepts it is identical with the ,code of ,hammurabi 7#bbej ,b4,c471 and so bears strong testimony to ,babylonian influence4 ,it is1 however1 much more humane than that old code1 and in many particulars is independent of it4 ,as it appears in ,exodus it belongs to the times of the early canonical prophets1 and as it scarcely deals with ritual at all1 it shows the just and humane spirit cultivated by the religion of ,jehovah in an agricultural community4 ,the ,exile4--,the reformation of ,josiah was quickly undone by his successor on the throne1 and there was no further opportunity for a reform while the people remained in ,palestine4 ,but the exile did not cause the friends of reform to abandon their ideas4 ,the prophets had foretold the exile1 and had maintained that the religion of ,israel would not be destroyed but rather would be saved by it1 and the event proved that they were right in this point also4 ,the exile cured the people definitely of idolatry1 and gave them a strong grasp of the idea that they were a peculiar people1 called to a work which no other people could accomplish or indeed understand1 namely to hold aloft in the world1 and for the benefit of the world1 the true religion4 ,this conviction forms the burden of the prophecy of the ,unknown prophet of the exile 7,isaiah xl4-lxvi474 ,he exalts still more highly than his predecessors the name and power of ,jehovah4 ,he is the ,creator of the ends of the earth1 to whom the nations1 including even that great ,babylon1 are as a drop of the bucket1 to be flung whither one will2 it is he who has chosen ,israel for his people and who now comforts ,israel for the sorrows of the exile4 ,in the great drama he is unfolding in the earth ,israel has a principal part to play4 ,israel is called to make known to the nations who do not know him1 the true ,god4 ,it had been prophesied before that the heathen nations would come to ,mount ,zion to ask counsel of the ,god of ,judah1 and that ,jehovah should become law-giver and judge over them4 ,the ,unknown enlarges on this theme with splendid imagery1 and strives to persuade the people to make this cause their own1 and to rise to the responsibility it involves4 ,israel is to be a prince1 a leader and commander1 of the peoples4 ,the ,gentiles are to come from far bringing their treasures and doing homage to the people of the true faith4 ,if ,israel as a whole is not fit as yet to discharge this duty for the world1 yet there is an inner ,israel1 a faithful elect of the people who sympathise entirely with ,jehovah's purposes and are entirely devoted to his will4 ,this ,servant of ,jehovah1 at least1 has risen to the height of his calling2 ,jehovah's spirit is in him4 ,he will not fail nor be discouraged till the true religion is established in the earth4 ,at another part of the prophecy the fate of the ,servant is seen in darker colours4 ,he is subject to ill-treatment and misrepresentation of all sorts2 even when he is suffering for the sake of others he is derided and despised2 nay1 more1--he is called to suffer martyrdom1 and die for sins not his own4 ,but even so1 the ,servant will conquer in the end4 ,he will know that his sufferings have not been in vain2 he will be the means of leading many to righteousness and will be the instrument of ,jehovah to bring in the true religion4 ,the ,return4 ,the ,reform of ,ezra4--,such utterances could not fail of effect on the nation to whom they were addressed1 and when the ,jews came back to ,palestine they were undoubtedly inspired with a new sense of their peculiar national mission4 ,they at once proceeded to show that they were to be a people apart from others1 by separating themselves rigorously and even cruelly from entanglements with the surrounding population4 ,they also at once set up the worship of ,jehovah as the sole ,god who had his one shrine at ,jerusalem4 ,their early experiences in ,palestine were not encouraging4 ,for a century they remained a struggling and poor community1 and it might seem doubtful if they would prove strong enough to maintain their separate position1 and to hold up their special testimony to the world4 ,but at that time the ,jews who had remained in ,babylon came to their aid4 ,these men had never ceased to labour along with their brethren in ,palestine for the advancement of their nation2 and in particular they had laboured earnestly at the problem of worship1 and the result of their labours was a religious constitution so rigid in its ideas1 so logically worked out in detail1 and so skilfully incorporating and appropriating to itself all the past traditions and usages of the race1 that it might almost be said to be strong enough to stand by itself1 and would certainly afford to the people1 if they adopted it1 the support and the discipline they needed4 ,this constitution was introduced by ,ezra1 the priest and scribe1 in the year #ddd ,b4,c41#b when he read in the ears of the people at ,jerusalem 7,nehemiah viii41 ix47 the new law he had brought with him from ,babylon fourteen years before1 and had waited all that time to promulgate4 ,the new law of this period was what is called the ,priestly ,code2 it occupies the latter part of ,exodus and a large part of ,leviticus and ,numbers2 and the older writings are skilfully interwoven with it1 but in general it may easily be distinguished by its tone from the work of earlier periods4 ,deuteronomy1 the earliest law-book1 is simply tacked on to it as if it were a part of the same code1 though in reality it is often inconsistent with the latter law4 ,the result is the ,torah or law1 or1 as we call it1 the ,pentateuch1 or the five books of ,moses 7,moses being regarded by a convenient fiction as the source of all ,jewish laws74 ,this was thenceforward the law of the ,jews4 ,footnote #b3 ,this date and many features of the story of ,ezra and the return have of late been much questioned4 ,see ,ezra in ,encyclopdia ,biblica4 ,the account given above follows ,wellhausen4 ,the ,jewish religion1 of which this is the code1 is generally distinguished from the religion of ,israel which prevailed down to the exile2 and several important new principles undoubtedly make their appearance at this point4 ,this chapter may fittingly conclude with an enumeration first of the features of ,jewish religious life connected with the law or the priestly system1 and then of those features of it which lie outside that system4 #a4 ,the priestly religion is founded on a sentiment which forms but little part of the faith of early peoples1 namely the sense of sin4 ,the prophetic denunciations of ,israel's backslidings have at last found entrance1 and the people is found submitting to a system which implies that the whole of its past history was sinful and mistaken1 and that there is a constant need for supplicating forgiveness4 ,every prayer begins with a long confession of national sin1 in which the present generation also shares4 ,we have sinned with our fathers1 they say4 ,this view is spread over the historical books in the sweeping judgments passed on individual monarchs1 on periods of the national life1 and especially on the whole of the ,northern ,kingdom 7cf4 ,nehemiah ix474 ,the old confidence in the presence of ,jehovah with his people has now departed4 ,the earlier ,israelites never doubted that ,jehovah was in the midst of them2 that could be taken for granted except when events proved the contrary4 ,but now ,jehovah has grown greater and more awful1 while the people have become painfully aware of their deficiencies and cannot assume that he is with them1 but must take steps to secure his presence4 ,this is no doubt connected with the growing sense of an individual position and responsibility in religion4 ,to the nation or the tribe it is natural to feel that its cause is just and that its ,god is with it2 but the individual1 thrown upon his own inner world for his alliances1 is less apt to feel that confidence4 ,now the religion preached by the prophets is essentially one for the individual4 ,ezekiel especially felt himself responsible for the fate of individuals1 and laboured to awaken his fellow-countrymen one by one to a sense of their danger and responsibility2 he taught that each man had to see to his own salvation1 that each man would receive the fruit of his own acts4 ,all this tends to a deeper feeling and a more anxious mood in religion1 and helps to explain how the sense of sin1 on which religious progress at its higher stages depends so much1 was fixed so strongly in the ,jewish mind4 ,that the ,jews underwent a radical change in their disposition is proved by the fact that they submitted to the yoke of the law3 for it may be questioned if any people ever sacrificed their natural liberty for the sake of their religion to such an extent as this people did4 #b4 ,the divine will is now received by the people in the shape of a sacred book4 ,they cease to look for the living voice of prophecy1 and come to think that ,god has given them in the ,torah a perfect and complete revelation4 ,the book takes the place of the prophet1 and in time also to some extent of conscience4 ,a man ceases to think for himself what is right and good1 and only asks1 ,what does the law say8 ,it is true that a great part of the book is taken up with ritual1 with which the ordinary individual has not much to do1 but he also believes that the whole of his own duty is to be found there in it1 as is no doubt the case4 ,we see from the #aaith ,psalm how beautiful a form religion may assume even under these terms1 when the book in question is felt to be a spiritual treasure1 and to speak the words of a living ,god2 but the system of a book-religion has in it the germs of very different fruits4 ,the sacred book is believed to be an exhaustive directory of conduct2 but to make it apply to the various cases that arise in practical life it has to be interpreted1 and deductions have to be drawn from it4 ,it thus comes to give many a direction which does not appear on the surface4 ,the secondary law1 or tradition1 is thus founded1 a system which calls for the services of a special class of students4 ,the scribes1 who interpret the law and apply it to life1 obtain great influence and become the virtual rulers of the nation4 ,while no doubt guided in the main by the noble spirit of their religion1 they are led by their system into many absurdities1 and their casuistry even becomes at times immoral4 ,they afford the classical example of the results which flow from the doctrine of verbal inspiration1 thoroughly worked out2 and the life of the ,jews under them becomes highly unnatural and artificial1 and tends to occupy itself with the husk instead of the kernel of religion4 #c4 ,the principal part of the divine will1 as expressed in the law1 is that connected with sacrifice4 ,sacrifice occupies the central place in the book1 and in the history it records4 ,in this book the temple service1 thinly disguised as the service of the tabernacle in the wilderness1 is set forth as the great end and aim for which ,god created the world1 settled the nations in it1 and called ,israel to be a people4 ,the ritual which was observed from the exile to the destruction of ,jerusalem may be studied in ,exodus and ,leviticus4 ,we read of orders and companies of priests who offer daily and other sacrifices according to a rule in which the smallest details are carefully arranged1 sacrifices in which little of the old cheerful common meal now lingers1 but which are mostly of a purificatory or piacular character4 ,the ritual of sacrifice would not appear to an outward observer to differ very much from that in use among the ,greeks or ,romans2 the ,jews certainly conducted it on a larger scale4 ,what end precisely was aimed at in it1 the ,jew would have found it perhaps hard to say4 ,it was done1 he would say1 because the law so ordered it1 and the law must be obeyed even if one did not quite understand what was enjoined4 ,the daily sacrifice removed the impurity of the temple staff1 and enabled the people to be sure that the favour of the deity continued with them4 ,many sacrifices aimed at the removal of particular sins2 thankfulness also was expressed in them1 and other feelings may also have ascended with the smoke from the altar4 ,to ,jews living at a distance the sacrifice1 which could be offered nowhere but at ,jerusalem1 was the chief symbol1 the great mystery1 of their faith4 #d4 ,the notion of holiness is closely connected with worship4 ,things and persons are holy which belong to ,jehovah1 and are withdrawn from common use4 ,these it is dangerous to touch unwarily4 ,jehovah is an unapproachable being2 the high priest may come into the innermost part of the temple1 but only once a year1 and no one else may come there2 the priests may enter the ,holy ,place1 but not the people4 ,to speak lightly of the temple was a crime the ,jews could not forgive4 ,the ,sabbath was the ,lord's day2 man must not attend on it to his own worldly concerns4 ,the deity is surrounded with dread to an unparalleled extent2 all that belongs to him is to be regarded with awe4 ,connected with the notion of holiness is that of purity4 ,in the later ,persian religion the distinction has always to be anxiously remembered by the believer between what belongs to the good spirit and what has fallen under the power of the evil spirit4 ,the ,jew1 also1 who is called to be holy and separate from other men1 lives in constant dread lest he should touch something unclean1 and so forfeit his own purity4 ,there are clean animals1 and unclean ones which he must not eat2 various washings of the hands and of domestic utensils are needed in order to keep up the state of purity2 many trades involve contact with substances which make purity almost impossible4 ,above all1 it is defiling to eat what a heathen has cooked1 or to sit at the same table with heathens4 ,thus the ,jew was confirmed in the belief of his own superiority to men of other races2 and was prevented by many barriers from mingling with them1 or even regarding them as brethren4 ,his circumcision1 his ,sabbath1 his laws of purity1 his peculiarities of diet1 the absolute impossibility of his eating along with ,gentiles1 kept him separate1 and helped to nourish in him the spirit of haughtiness and exclusiveness4 ,the accepted worshipper of ,jehovah is1 with the early prophets1 the man who is morally sound1 who has curbed his passions and his selfish impulses2 with the later ,jew that may still be the case1 but there are also a number of indispensable preliminaries of which the prophets certainly did not dream4 ,the man who would go up to the hill of ,jehovah must be one who has not eaten shell-fish or pork1 nor opened his shop on the ,sabbath1 nor touched a dead body1 nor used a spoon handed to him by a ,gentile without washing it4 ,how all this unfitted the ,jewish people to be a missionary of the pure religion1 and how adverse the whole ,levitical system was to the earnest apprehension of that religion no less than to its diffusion1 the ,new ,testament amply shows4 ,but it kept the people separate from the world and constant to their faith amid even the greatest temptations and the severest persecutions1 and so enabled them to preserve the precious treasure committed to them till the time should come when the world was to receive it from their hands4 ,heathenish ,elements of ,judaism4--,in the system we have sketched1 in which the prophetic teaching was hardened into a ritual and a law1 there are various elements which do not belong to an advanced stage of religious progress4 ,while the sacrificial ritual1 not outwardly exalted above heathenism1 is to some extent redeemed by the motives which enter into it1 the great system of clean and unclean rests on no rational basis1 and resembles the set of taboos1 which no one can explain1 of a savage tribe2 and the reduction of daily life under a set of minute and troublesome rules1 shows the devotion more than the enlightenment of those who submitted to it4 ,there was a necessity that the vessel should be so narrow and so hard which was to keep the wine of ,jewish religion from being mixed with other liquids1 but the vessel itself belongs to the rude and early world4 ,in the ,jewish religion of this time there are far different elements1 which point forward and not backward1 and in which the future course of religious progress is clearly anticipated4 ,if his temple ritual was crude1 and if his law pursued him into every one of his actions1 the thoughts of the ,jew were free2 the truths which were unfolding their riches in his mind were sufficient compensation for much outward restraint1 and the fair world of imagination was open to him in which the past clothed itself with legend and the future with splendid hopes4 ,spiritual ,elements4--,the period after the exile is that of the composition of the ,psalms4 ,many of these poems may have been written earlier2 many were undoubtedly written at this time1 and the belief gains ground that the ,psalmist came after the prophet1 and adopted for popular use the prophet's ideas4 ,in the ,psalter we hear the thrill of joy and triumph as the great truths of theism come to be grasped as certainties4 ,the congregation now utters in song what1 when the prophet first announced it1 so few had courage to believe1 that ,jehovah is king1 that he rules over the nations1 that he is far above all the gods1 nay1 that there is no other ,god than he4 ,the joy of having embraced this thought1 of having escaped from all confusion with regard to the powers that rule the world1 and of seeing all things in this splendid light1 finds manifold expression4 ,the believers delight themselves anew in the worship of ,jehovah1 and see fresh beauties in his courts1 and in the service of him there2 they delight in his word in connection with every part of their experience4 ,they understand the world as they never did before1 since it is his work1 and praise the ,creator as they follow the whole process of creation4 ,new lights open to them on the history of their race1 new solutions occur to them of the moral difficulties they have felt1 as they saw the wicked prosper and the good cast down4 ,there is very little about ritual in the ,psalms2 it is regarded chiefly as an offering of thanks and praise to ,jehovah for his wonderful works1 and for his mercies2 and it is viewed ideally as an act of homage in which not only the immediate worshippers1 but all nations on the earth may be conceived as taking part4 ,on the other hand1 the observance of ,jehovah's moral requirements1 and implicit trust in him while one seeks to do his will1 is insisted on again and again1 as the true method to please him1 and to obtain his protection against all dangers4 ,there are few moods of the religious life that are not represented in the ,psalms3 penitence1 intellectual perplexity1 domestic sorrow1 feebleness1 loneliness1 the approach of death1 the excitement of great events1 the agony of persecution1 quiet contemplation of nature1 each has its word4 ,the imprecations of some of the ,psalms show a trait of the national character without which the picture would be incomplete4 ,it may be in part extenuated by the consideration that in these ,psalms it is the community that speaks1 and that the enemy of the good cause deserves less forbearance than the private adversary4 ,whether the ,psalms in general are to be conceived as uttered by the community rather than as private outpourings1 is a question not yet decided4 ,in either sense the ,psalms have been used and are still used as the hymn-book of ,christendom1 as well as of the ,jews2 and it will always be a wonderful feature in the religion of ,israel1 that so soon after the truth of the one ,god was discovered by the prophets1 it received a form of expression which has proved fitted for the use of every nation in the world4 ,the ,jews after the exile are in possession of a new form of religious association which belongs to a high stage of growth4 ,the temple worship is one in which the ordinary layman has no part1 or only an occasional part to play4 ,the priest does everything in it2 even the singing of ,psalms is done by choirs of priests4 ,and the dweller in the country might rarely be a witness of these great solemnities4 ,but we know that in the ,maccabean period the country was covered with synagogues3 with buildings1 that is to say1 where the surrounding population met on the ,sabbath1 and perhaps on other days as well1 to join in common prayer1 and to hear lessons of ,scripture and exhortations4 ,some local religious meeting was necessary2 an earnest people could not do without it1 and the local sacrifices were now of the past4 ,but the synagogue service marks a great advance in the religious position of the ,jews4 ,they can now meet without any act or sacrament which they have to do in common1 to engage in purely intellectual religious exercises4 ,the same advance1 as we shall see1 took place in ,greece about the same time2 what moral or religious furtherance they wanted1 the earnest there began to seek from the lectures of philosophers4 ,the synagogue1 however1 was a territorial institution2 all the ,jews in the neighbourhood came to its services4 ,it kept them acquainted with the law which otherwise they might have forgotten1 and also with the writings of the prophets1 which were regularly read1 and thus strengthened the bonds which held all ,jews together1 in the past history and in the growing hopes of their race4 ,the ,national ,hopes4--,judaism becomes more and more1 as befits a faith of which prophets are the principal exponents1 a religion of hope4 ,debarred by their subjection under successive heathen powers from political activity1 and keenly aware of their outward humiliation1 the ,jews turn to an ideal world in which they are free4 ,the prophets had spoken of a judgment in which ,jehovah would judge the whole world1 of a happy time when ,israel would be at peace from all his enemies1 and ,god and people would dwell together in full communion2 and when the land of ,israel would become the religious capital of the world4 ,they had added to their picture features even more ideal1 and had declared that the conflicts of external nature would cease1 the wild animals would grow tame and friendly1 all physical as well as all moral evil would disappear4 ,it was in this world1 not in a remote region or in the land beyond death1 that all this was to be realised4 ,jerusalem is the centre of the picture and the ,jewish nation stands in the foreground of it as the chosen people of the ,god of all the world4 ,now these predictions1 which with the prophets are vague and idealised1 were taken by the ,jews always more seriously and worked out in detail4 ,after the prophet comes the apocalyptic writer1 such as ,daniel 7the ,apocalypse of the ,new ,testament belongs to the same class of literature71 who is able to give the exact course of the history which is to lead up to the final judgment1 to fix its precise date1 and to give many details of the ultimate state of affairs4 ,these revelations1 which were written generally to comfort the ,jews in their trials and to encourage them to steadfastness in persecution1 were very popular4 ,it is true that they nourished the national pride1 and enabled the ,jew to feel himself superior to a world in which he occupied outwardly no great position2 but on the other hand the hopes they fed were not necessarily unspiritual2 at the ,christian era we find it to be a mark of the most genuine piety that one should be waiting for the redemption of ,israel4 ,at this period the national hope was occupied with the figure of a ,messiah1 a ,god-sent ,deliverer1 whose coming was to be the prelude to the establishment of the divine kingdom4 ,we learn from the ,gospels what various ideas were entertained by the ,jews of the first century about this coming one1 and how little ,jesus ,christ was felt to answer to the common expectation4 ,a few words must be said of ,jewish beliefs concerning the other world4 ,while there are traces of an old ancestor-worship in the earlier parts of ,jewish history1 no belief of the kind had much importance in ,israel4 ,the ,jews shared the general belief of the early world that the dead continued in a shadowy existence without any power for action4 ,they have an under-world1 ,sheol1 where the dead are2 ,isaiah has a magnificent description of the dead kings sitting on thrones together in ,sheol and rising up to greet a newcomer who was a great potentate on earth1 with the words ,art thou also become weak as we8 ,art thou become like unto us8 ,the dead are conceived as continuing in a weak and unsubstantial reflection of their former selves4 ,they can be fetched up to the earth by magic arts to tell the future1 but this was strictly forbidden at a very early time4 ,the ,psalms and other later books contain many plain denials that man has any continuance to look for after death4 ,the religion of the ,old ,testament1 as has often been said1 is for this life4 ,god's rewards are to be looked for before death2 once gone to the grave one can no more enjoy ,god's bounty or give him thanks4 ,god's kingdom of the future is also a kingdom of this world2 ,jerusalem is its capital1 and nature is to be transformed for it4 ,in the later period of ,jewish history1 however1 the hope of the future which has been so entirely abandoned1 which ,job1 for example1 in an early chapter puts so peremptorily away from him1 creates itself afresh in a new form4 ,in the time of ,christ the ,jews believe1 as a matter of course1 that men will rise again4 ,it has been contended that the ,jews derived their later doctrine of a future life from their contact with ,persia1 but it is not necessary to account for it in this way4 ,it arose naturally among the ,jews in more ways than one4 ,the individual believer like ,job1 entirely sure of his own innocence1 and feeling that he was doomed to die of his disease without any vindication in this life1 claimed that an opportunity should be found beyond the grave to pronounce the sentence which a just ,god could not omit to give4 ,in ,daniel xii4 it is foretold that men of conspicuous virtue and men of conspicuous wickedness will have a resurrection--the former to share the glories of the kingdom from which as teachers and martyrs they could not be wanting1 the latter to receive their punishment4 ,and as prophets who have been long dead are expected to return to the earth1 the gate of death is not so firmly closed as formerly and the belief in a future life easily became current4 ,thus ,judaism comes to be a religion full of contradictions1 and could not as a whole pass to other nations4 ,the temple and the synagogue represent opposite principles of worship4 ,the ,jew feels himself to be entrusted with a world-religion1 and yet shuts himself up in such exclusiveness as to draw upon himself the hatred of all peoples1 and to be charged in turn with hatred of the human race4 ,a religion of faith and love consorts with a religion of rules and limitations4 ,if the faith of ,israel was to fulfil its mission to the world it was necessary that some one should come who could purge this threshing-floor1 burning the chaff and gathering up the wheat to be the seed of the progress of mankind4 ,,books ,,recommended ,the ,books of the ,old ,testament1 including the ,apocrypha1 in the ,revised ,version4 ,the ,histories of ,israel2 ,ewald1 ,kuenen1 ,wellhausen1 ,stade4 ,robertson ,smith's ,the ,old ,testament in the ,jewish ,church1 and articles in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica4 ,smend's ,alttestamentliche ,religionsgeschichte4 ,stade1 ,biblische ,theologie des ,alten ,testaments1 #aije4 ,for a criticism of the critical historians the reader may consult ,the ,early ,religion of ,israel1 by ,prof4 ,james ,robertson4 ,prof4 ,valeton1 ,die ,israeliten1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,schrer1 ,history of the ,jewish ,people in the ,time of ,christ1 #ahhe-ij4 ,kantzsch1 ,religion of ,israel1 in ,dictionary of the ,bible1 vol4 v4 ,e4 ,j4 ,foakes-,jackson1 ,the ,biblical ,history of the ,hebrews1 ,second ,edition4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,islam ,in chronological order ,islam stands last of all the great religions2 it appeared six centuries after ,christianity1 and ,christian ideas enter into it4 ,it is1 however1 so essentially ,semitic that it can only be understood aright if studied in connection with the group now occupying our attention4 ,in ,islam ,semitic religion opens its arms to embrace mankind1 and accomplishes1 in a fashion1 the destiny to which ,judaism was invited1 but which ,judaism failed to realise till it was transformed in ,christianity4 ,in ,islam ,semitic religion is not transformed1 but enters in its own stern and uncompromising character into the position of a universal faith4 ,this religion sprang up and entered on its career of conquest with startling suddenness and even1 some scholars hold1 without any natural preparation for its coming in the country of its birth4 ,the ,arabs called the period before ,islam the time of ignorance2 in that period they considered their race had no history2 the new religion1 when it arose1 had made a clean sweep of all that had gone before1 and had caused a new world to begin4 ,the labours of ,arabic scholars have1 however1 done something to dispel the mists which hung over early ,arabia1 and it is possible both to give a much more satisfactory sketch than formerly of the earlier religion of the ,arabs1 and to discern to some extent the processes which had unconsciously been preparing for the advent of a higher and stronger faith4 ,arabia before ,mahomet4--,the ,arabs of the central peninsula in the times before ,mahomet were not a nation but a set of tribes--mostly nomadic1 but some of them settled in cities1 who1 while united by language1 custom1 and traditions1 had no central government or organisation4 ,the desert which they inhabited1 as it admitted no cultivation1 kept human life uniform and unprogressive2 external influences penetrated slowly into this corner of the world1 and society was still arranged as it had been for thousands of years4 ,the strongest tie was that of blood4 ,a man's fellow-tribesmen were bound to avenge his murder2 and so one slaughter led to another1 and from generation to generation the land was filled with a perpetual series of blood-feuds4 ,twice a year1 however1 a cessation of these feuds took place2 a month came round in which there was a universal truce4 ,men who were enemies then made the same pilgrimage to a distant shrine2 at such a time trade caravans could set out and travel in safety2 and the great markets or festivals then took place1 which1 while based at first on religious ideas1 had in most part ceased to have any religious character4 ,some of these markets were1 at the time of ,mahomet1 national occasions3 men of every tribe met and came to know each other there2 the poetry which had been composed during the preceding months was publicly recited1 so that the rise of a new poet was known to all ,arabia2 the news of all the tribes circulated1 and foreign ideas and doctrines were also to be heard4 ,in proportion as the face of nature was hard and forbidding1 social life was bright and gay2 wine1 women1 wit1 and war provided the themes of poets and the ordinary aims of life4 ,the ,old ,religion4--,it has generally been said that the ,arabs before ,islam were irreligious4 ,they themselves contrasted the sternness of the new period with the gaiety of the old one4 ,the truth is1 as ,wellhausen has admirably shown1#a that the working religion of the country had become before the period of ,islam entirely effete4 ,arab religion was based on the ideas and usages which have been described in chap4 x4 of this book2 it is mainly from ,arabia1 indeed1 that the original character of ,semitic religion is known to us4 ,each tribe had its god1 whom it regarded as a magnified master or ruler1 and with whom it held communion by sacrifice1 the blood being brought in contact with the god and the victim devoured by the tribesmen4 ,the god is represented sometimes by a tree1 generally by a stone2 a piece of fertile land belongs to him1 within which the plants and animals are sacred2 the religious meeting can be held in no other spot4 ,hence the ,arabs are said to be stone worshippers2 but the phrase is an awkward one3 what they worshipped was not the stone but a god connected with it4 ,and the early gods of ,arabia are a motley company2 it is only in their relations to their worshippers and in the order of the worship paid them that they have some uniformity4 ,the greatest and oldest deity of the ,arabs is ,allat or ,alilat1 the ,lady4 ,like the female deity found in all primitive ,semitic religions1 she is a stately and commanding lady4 ,she is not the wife of a god1 nor are unseemly ideas connected with her4 ,she belongs to the early world in which motherhood was synonymous with rule1 since the family had no male head2 she has a character but no history3 mythology has not gathered round her4 ,arabia has also certain nature-gods4 ,the stellar deities are mostly female2 there is a male sun-god ,dusares4 ,heaven is worshipped by some1 not the blue but the rainy heaven1 which is a source of blessings4 ,there are no gods belonging to the region under the earth4 ,the serpent is the only animal that receives worship4 ,footnote #a3 ,reste ,arabischen ,heidenthums1 p4 #ahh4 ,but the gods of ,arabia belong mostly to another class than that of nature-gods2 or at least if they ever were connected with nature1 they have parted with such associations4 ,they are uncouth figures1 with vague legends and miscellaneous attributes4 ,one set of them is said to have been worshipped by the contemporaries of ,noah2 they are big men1 and it is their property to drink milk4 ,hubal was the chief god of ,mecca4 ,it was his property to bring rain4 ,vadd was a great man1 with two garments1 and a sword and spear1 bow and quiver4 ,jaghuth1 the ,helper1 was a portable god1 not a stone probably1 since he was carried into battle by his tribe1 as the ark was by the ,israelites4 ,another god is called the ,burner1 no doubt from the sacrifices offered to him4 ,each tribe has its god or set of gods1 and certain sacred objects connected with its gods4 ,one god is found by those who kiss or rub a certain black stone1 another in connection with a white stone1 another with a tree4 ,and of many of them there are images2 the stone has some work done on it1 or there is a wooden block roughly hewn4 ,the ,caaba is originally a black stone which is kissed or rubbed at ,mecca4 ,the name was given1 however1 to the cube-shaped building1 in one of the walls of which the black stone had been fixed4 ,in this building there stood in old days images of ,abraham and ,ishmael1 each with divining arrows in his hand4 ,of such idols a large number existed in ,mahomet's time1 and were destroyed by him4 ,in some cases the image had a house1 and a person was needed to guard it2 this functionary also kept some simple apparatus for casting lots or otherwise obtaining counsel from the deity1 and oaths and vows were made before him1 to which the deity became a witness4 ,to these beliefs of early ,arabia must be added a lively belief in jinns1 spirits who are not gods1 since the gods are above the earth1 but the jinn is compelled to haunt some part of the earth's surface4 ,the jinns can assume any form they choose1 and are often met with in the shape of serpents4 ,wellhausen surmises that the seraphs of the ,jews are to be traced to some such origin4 ,they infest desert places1 and are nocturnal in their habits4 ,what they do is often not observed till afterwards4 ,they spy upon the gods1 and may bring information from above to men whom they haunt or with whom they are in league4 ,of the magic of ,arabia1 the signs and omens drawn from birds1 from dreams1 and other occurrences1 it is not necessary to speak2 and we need only say1 in concluding this rough sketch of the ideas of the early ,arabs1 that the belief in a life beyond was very faint2 they set out food for the dead1 whom they professed to think of as still existing1 but the belief1 if they entertained it1 was perfunctory and had no influence4 ,confusion of ,worship4--,at the period of ,islam the worship of ,arabia had fallen into great confusion4 ,the gods were stationary1 but the tribes wandered2 and the consequence was that the wandering tribe left its shrine behind it to be cared for by its successors in that piece of country1 and itself also1 when it gained a new seat1 succeeded to the guardianship of a new god4 ,thus1 on the one hand1 the worship of each shrine was constantly gathering new associations1 as each tribe which had been there left behind it some new legend or practice2 and on the other hand1 pilgrimage became universal1 since each tribe had to pay periodical visits to its gods whom it had left behind4 ,at ,mecca we read of hundreds of idols2 a hundred tribes have left there something of their own4 ,thus ,mecca became a sacred place for tribes far and near1 and rose into national importance2 and the same was the case to a less degree in other places also4 ,but as this process went on1 it inevitably led to the weakening of religion4 ,the tie of blood1 which was felt always1 was a far stronger thing than the tie of a common worship for which the tribe had to go to another part of the country1 and to come in contact with a multitude of other cults4 ,worship therefore became more and more a superstition3 a thing1 that is to say1 whose real sacredness was in the past1 and which was only kept up from pious habit2 it did not supply the inspiration of ordinary life nor guide the more active minds among the people4 ,we have not yet spoken of ,allah1 who is understood to be the god par excellence of ,arabia4 ,but for this there is a good reason4 ,allah is not1 like the other beings we have spoken of1 a historical god1 with a legend1 a shrine1 a tribe all to himself4 ,he is not a historical personage1 but an idea consolidated1 no doubt at an early period1 into a god4 ,wellhausen traces the rise of ,allah for us in a most interesting way4 ,the name1 he shows1 is not a proper name that belonged to one particular figure in the pantheon of ,arabia2 it is the title which the ,arab conferred on his god1 whatever the proper name of that being might be4 ,whatever god he worshipped1 he called him ,allah1 ,lord2 and thus every ,arabic god was ,allah1 as every head of a household has the name of father and every monarch that of king4 ,and as every tribal god was ,allah1 the thought arose1 no doubt in very early times1 of one god who was common to the tribes4 ,language paved the way for thought2 while the tribal gods were still believed in and adored1 this figure rose above them--a being who has no special worship of his own1 who does not ask for it nor need it1 but who yet fills1 as none of the lesser beings does1 the character of deity4 ,allah was the god of all the tribes2 and as his figure grew in the mind of the country1 it was inevitable that the worship of the historical gods should still further lose its importance1 till only the women and children really cared for it4 ,a monotheism of a grave and earnest kind thus made its way beside the old belief in many gods4 ,mahomet found that his fellow-countrymen did not really believe in the minor gods2 when they were in danger or in urgent need of any blessing1 it was to ,allah that they called4 ,the fall of the idols1 when it came about1 took place very easily2 they were no longer needed4 ,the ,arabs had come to believe in a god who dwelt in heaven and was the creator of the world1 who ordained man's life with an irreversible decree1 by whom the bitter and the sweet1 both the hitting of the mark and the missing it1 were alike fixed4 ,the moral character of ,allah was not markedly in advance of that of his people4 ,what a man gains by robbery he calls the gift of ,allah1 while what is gained by industry is called by another name4 ,yet ,allah is also felt by some to keep them back from robbery2 he powerfully upholds the moral standards which have been reached4 ,he is the defender of strangers1 the avenger of treason4 ,his moral influence is negative1 however1 rather than positive4 ,he does not inspire with ideals of goodness2 but he holds back from evil4 ,he is not a being who is ever likely to enter1 like the ,god of the ,jews1 into intimate and affectionate relations with men2 he is too abstract and has too little history to be capable of such unbending2 his religion1 when it comes to be fully formed1 will be one of puritans and fanatics rather than of the meek and lowly4 ,he is the one great instance of a god without any natural basis who has come to exercise rule4 ,he is a god of whom reason can thoroughly approve--no absurd legends cling to him2 he is from the first great1 mighty1 and moral2 and he rules the world in righteousness by inflexible standards4 ,this religion is coming to the surface even in the time of ignorance4 ,judaism and ,christianity in ,arabia4--,the question has been much discussed whether the new religion of ,arabia was due to contact with ,judaism or with ,christianity4 ,both of these faiths were known in ,arabia before the time of the ,prophet4 ,there was a large ,jewish population at ,medina1 and synagogues existed in many other places2 and there were ,christians in ,arabia1 though their ,christianity was that only of small sects and of lonely ascetics1 and had failed to convert the country as a whole4 ,to the ,arabs the ,jews were the people of the ,book1 the book in the traditions of which they also had some share4 ,ignorant themselves for the most part of the arts of reading and writing1 and divided among a multitude of petty worships which they were ceasing to respect1 they looked up with envy to those whose faith had been fixed for so many ages in a literary standard4 ,but while the ,jews were respected in ,arabia1 they were far from popular4 ,the qualities which have drawn down on them the bitter hatred of modern peoples among whom they dwell1 acted there in the same way2 their pride and exclusiveness1 their keenness in business1 their profession as money-lenders1 made them detested in ,arabia as in modern ,germany4 ,on the other hand1 the ascetic view of life which the ,christians represented had attractions even for some of the higher minds among the ,arabs4 ,a set of men called ,hanyfs were well known in ,mahomet's time1 who were seeking for a better religion than the ,arab worships afforded1 and a better life than that of eternal feud4 ,the meaning of the name is controverted2 those to whom it was applied had not attached themselves to ,judaism nor to ,christianity2 they were people in earnest about religion who had not reached any definite position4 ,even where1 as with ,mahomet himself1 the facts of ,judaism and of ,christianity were most inaccurately known1 the view of ,god held in these religions and the moral standard they set up could not fail to exercise much influence4 ,if in ,arab thought itself a god like ,allah was rising to definite personal character and to a position of great superiority over the old gods1 then the inner movement was in the same direction as the influence of older religions from without1 and the time was ripe for a new faith4 ,it was not to be expected that a people like the ,arabs should accept a religion which had its origin in another country1 or which threatened like ,christianity to bring to an end the old tribal system2 a new growth from within was needed1 and this was ready to appear4 ,the beginnings of most religions are wrapt in obscurity2 but the rise of ,islam is known to us with perfect certainty and in considerable detail4 ,the only difficulties in the way of understanding it are of a psychological nature2 we have to account for the foundation of a religion which spread with lightning speed over many lands1 and which still continues to spread1 by one whose character was in some respects far from noble1 and who was capable of stooping to compromise and to the darkest treachery in order to gain his ends4 ,how a religion fitted for many races and many generations of men could be founded by a barbarian and by the aid of barbarous means--that is the problem of this religion4 ,the materials for solving it lie open before us4 ,the ,koran is undoubtedly the authentic work of ,mahomet himself3 the suras or chapters are arranged in a wrong order1 and if they are read as they stand do not tell any intelligible story2 but when placed1 as has now been done by scholars1#b in the true historical order1 they show the history of ,mahomet's mind with great clearness4 ,after the ,koran came the traditions4 ,from the immense volume of these the industry of the scholars of ,islam as well as others has succeeded in sifting out what is most to be relied on4 ,in no other case is the separation of the mythical from the historical element in the early traditions so easily made1 and the religion comes into view in the full light of day4 ,footnote #b3 ,s4 ,lane-,poole1 ,the ,speeches of ,mohammad1 #ahhb2 the most important parts of the ,koran chronologically arranged with a very useful introduction4 ,mahomet4 ,early ,life4--,mahomet was born about #egj ,a4,d41 of a family belonging to the ,mecca branch of the ,coreish1 a powerful tribe1 who carried on a large caravan trade with ,syria1 and who were the guardians of the sanctuary which was the central point of ,arabian religion4 ,he entered therefore from his birth into the centre of the faith of his country4 ,he was early left an orphan1 and was brought up by relatives1 who were kind to him but who were very poor4 ,he had to make his living at an early age by herding sheep1 an occupation which conduced in his case1 as it has done in others1 to contemplation and thought4 ,in early manhood he entered the service of ,khadija1 a rich widow2 and he made journeys in her affairs to ,syria and ,palestine1 where he may have seen places famous in ,jewish history and may also have come in contact with ,christianity4 ,at the age of twenty-five he married ,khadija1 who was fifteen years older than himself2 the marriage was a happy one1 and there were several children4 ,he is described as a man of middle height1 with a fair skin1 a pleasant countenance1 and pleasing manners2 and he had proved his ability in business4 ,some years after his marriage he began to think deeply about religious subjects4 ,he came into connection apparently with some of those ,hanyfs or penitents1 mentioned above1 who1 without being formed into a sect1 were at one in seeking for a more satisfactory religious position4 ,the religion to which they were feeling their way was a monotheism1 a service of the one ,god of ,abraham1 but not that of ,judaism with its exaltation of the ,jewish race1 nor that of ,christianity1 in which ,god had a ,son for his companion4 ,submission to the one ,god was to them the essence of religion4 ,islam means submission1 and the ,moslem is the person who thus submits himself to the one sole ,god1 whether he be ,jew or ,christian or neither4 ,the ,hanyfs also held the belief of the ,christians in a coming judgment2 and the effect of their beliefs on their lives was that they practised austerities and often retired from the world4 ,his ,religious ,impressions4--,mahomet at this part of his life began also to withdraw himself1 and to go apart to lonely spots for meditation4 ,what he meditated we see from his sayings and doings afterwards4 ,the contrast between the pure religion of ,allah1 as held by the ,hanyfs1 and the popular religion of ,mecca with which his birth connected him1 with its trade associations1 its idols1 its unintelligible rites1 was certainly a tremendous one2 and if a judgment was impending over all but the believers in ,allah1 it was a terrible prospect4 ,for many years1 however1 ,mahomet was simply a ,hanyf4 ,he was one who had surrendered himself1 with a tender and impressionable soul1 to the divine will and guidance1 and was filled with the sense of ,allah's presence and power1 and of his own accountability to him in the great and tremendous realities of life4 ,in addition to this1 however1 we have to mention a circumstance which is generally thought to have had a determining influence in ,mahomet's production of ,islam4 ,he had a peculiar temperament2 mental excitement led in him to inner catastrophes which1 whether they are classed under epilepsy or hysteria1 caused him to see visions and to believe that certain words had been addressed to him by heavenly visitants4 ,the new religious movement in ,arabia had secured an adherent in whom its teachings would be felt with tremendous intensity1 and would possibly break forth with irresistible force4 ,the ,revelations4--,mahomet was forty years of age when the thoughts which had long been working within him burst into open expression4 ,this took place by means of a vision4 ,an angel appeared to him as he slept on ,mount ,hira on one of his nightly wanderings1 and held a scroll before him which he bade him read4 ,he had not learned to read1 but the angel insisted1 and so he read2 and what he read was the earliest revealed piece of the ,koran 7sura #if73-- ,read1#c in the name of thy ,lord who created1 created man from a drop4 ,read1 for thy ,lord is the ,most ,high1 who hath taught by the pen1 hath taught to man what he knew not4 ,nay1 truly man walketh in delusion when he deemeth that he sufficeth for himself2 to thy ,lord they must all return4 ,all men1 i4e41 however they may think1 as the ,arabs were given to think1 that they need no help but that of their own right arm1 must come before ,allah's judgment and render an account to him3 this is the doctrine by which ,mahomet first appealed to his fellow-countrymen4 ,it is a revelation4 ,allah teaches it by sending down a copy of what is written in the ,book in heaven1 the mother of the ,book from which all revelations1 ,jewish1 ,christian1 or ,mahomet's own1 are alike derived4 ,mahomet has thus begun to prophesy4 ,the first outburst of revelation threw him into great agitation2 he thought he was possessed by a jinn2 and it tended to his further distress that an interval of two or three years elapsed before another vision took place4 ,then the vision came again4 ,rise up and warn6 it said to him2 and thy ,lord magnify1 and thy garments purify1 and abomination shun1 and grant not favours to gain increase2 and wait for thy ,lord4 ,the revelations now began to come in rapid succession1 and ,mahomet now believed in his own inspiration4 ,in this conviction he never wavered afterwards2 and there can be no doubt that the earlier revelations were felt by him as if they came from without and were dictated by a power he could not resist4 ,his fellow-countrymen naturally took another view2 like other prophets1 ,mahomet was said to be mad and to be possessed by a spirit2 and these accusations stung him1 because he himself had at first apprehended something of the kind4 ,the later pieces were of a different character2 he had the power afterwards of producing a revelation to suit any situation which arose2 but the contents of the earlier ones were not unworthy of being revelations1 and such he felt them to be4 ,footnote #c3 ,or1 ,preach6--loud reading or repetition being the mode of claiming attention for the divine word4 ,his ,preaching4--,he preached the new truth at first to those with whom he was intimate4 ,it was not new but old2 it was the religion of ,abraham that he preached1 that of the ,book of which both ,jews and ,christians had counterparts2 he did not think of founding a new religion4 ,he called his own household and his relatives to submit themselves to ,allah1 the supreme ,lord and the righteous ,judge1 before whose judgment they must soon stand4 ,they were to put away heathen vices and to practise the duty of regular prayer1 of giving alms without hoping for any advantage from it1 and of temperance4 ,after a time he is encouraged by new suras to preach publicly1 and does so4 ,the ,meccans1 however1 do not listen to him4 ,the prophet's preaching acquires by this opposition a sternness it did not possess at first1 and he proceeds to attack the popular worship in a way fitted to stir up against him the bitterest hostility4 ,the ,meccans hear from him that the religion to which all ,arabia flocks together1 and without which they would do little trade1 is not only a vanity but a thing abhorrent to ,allah1 and undoubtedly drawing down damnation on all who partake in it2 and that their forefathers are unquestionably in hell4 ,such preaching could not be tolerated2 ,mahomet's friends are appealed to to stop his mouth1 but in vain1 and his fellow-tribesmen1 though they do not believe in him1 yet protect him1 as the laws of kindred require4 ,persecution4--,mahomet suffers as other prophets have done2 he is ridiculed1 misjudged1 threatened4 ,on the other hand he has his consolations2 when depressed he receives encouraging messages from above4 ,his enemies will perish2 his cause will succeed2 the day will come when men will flock to his doctrine in crowds4 ,persecution1 however1 is not without effect on him3 on one occasion he attempted to compromise matters with idolatry2 in a sura recited at the ,caaba he allowed himself to use certain complimentary expressions about the three daughters of ,allah1 in whom the ,meccans put their trust4 ,the ,meccans were much pleased with this1 but ,mahomet had to suffer the reproaches of the angel ,gabriel after he went home1 and the concession was erelong withdrawn4 ,if1 as appears likely1 the compromise had been deliberately planned1 a strange light is thrown on the nature of the revelations at a time not long after they had begun to flow4 ,but there is no approach to compromise after this4 ,the position of the prophet naturally grew worse after this display of weakness1 and the persecution of the townsmen more embittered2 for two years ,mahomet and his followers were rigorously cut off from intercourse with their fellow-citizens4 ,on the other hand the prophet's tone became harder and more sombre as he saw that no turning back was possible4 ,never were the terrors of hell preached with more intensity2 it makes one's blood run cold to read the denunciations of the ,mecca unbelievers1 men personally known to the prophet1 and to hear him forecast the words with which they will be bidden to take their place for ever in the fire4 ,personal irritation gives edge to the denunciations of fanaticism4 ,examples are sought in ,jewish history of those who rejected prophets1 ,moses or ,noah1 and suffered a prompt and terrible judgment for so doing4 ,the ,meccans were little moved by such threats2 they had no real belief in a future life1 and scoffed at the idea of a resurrection of the body2 and for this scepticism also parallels are found by the prophet in history1 which show what fate the doubters may expect4 ,from reading the ,koran we should judge ,mahomet to have been a disagreeable fanatic2 but he also possessed very different qualities4 ,those who knew him best were most devoted to him4 ,his followers adhered to him with a faith which was proof against all persecutions2 we find him even ordaining that slaves who are converts may dissemble their connection with him in order to avoid the cruel treatment it drew down on them4 ,such attachment could only have been inspired by a noble nature2 his followers felt him to be indeed a teacher sent by ,allah1 and were enthusiastically convinced of the truth of his doctrine4 ,trials4 ,he decides to leave ,mecca4--,in spite of this his position was a precarious and trying one4 ,his wife ,khadija1 to whom he had been most faithful1 died2 so did his most powerful protector4 ,the cause1 moreover1 was not advancing at ,mecca1 and was not likely to do so2 and ,mahomet began to consider the propriety of transferring it to new ground4 ,the first attempt to do so was not successful2 at ,taif1 where he asked to be received and to be allowed to preach1 he was rudely repulsed1 so that he came back to ,mecca in deep dejection4 ,the new opening which he sought was1 however1 about to present itself in another quarter4 ,among the visitors to one of the feasts he met a company of pilgrims from ,medina1 who both addressed him with respect and showed that they understood his doctrines4 ,medina was well acquainted with ,jewish ideas1 and presented a more favourable soil for the prophet to work on2 it is even suggested that the ,arabs of ,medina1 having heard of the ,jewish expectation of a ,messiah1 considered that it would be an advantage for them if the ,messiah should be of their own race1 and that ,mahomet might possibly be ,he4 ,the transference of the cause to ,medina was1 however1 brought about with great deliberation4 ,those who wished ,mahomet to come preached his doctrine at ,medina for a year1 and with encouraging success4 ,pledges were given and repeated by his friends there1 that they would have no god but ,allah1 that they would withhold their hands from what was not their own1 that they would flee fornication1 that they would not kill new-born infants1 that they would shun slander1 and that they would obey ,god's messenger as far as was reasonable3--these are the practical reforms which ,islam at this time demanded4 ,the result of these proceedings was that ,mahomet advised his followers to go to ,medina4 ,he himself waited till nearly all had gone1 and did not set out till a plot had been laid by his enemies the ,coreish to assassinate him4 ,the ,hegira or flight took place on #afth ,june #fbb ,a4,d4 ,the flight1 not the birth of the prophet1 forms the era of ,mohammedan chronology1 since it was from the moment of the flight that ,islam entered on its victorious career4 ,mahomet at ,medina4--,from this point onwards the prophet is seen in a different position and a different character4 ,at ,mecca he is a persecuted1 struggling1 and unsuccessful preacher1 but at ,medina he rapidly becomes the most powerful person in the commonwealth4 ,he organises the service of religion1 but he also gives new life to the community in other ways1 terminating its feuds1 uniting all its forces in the service of ,allah1 and by his decisions in the cases which are brought to him laying the foundation of a new jurisprudence4 ,a pure theocracy was set up at ,medina1 and he as the prophet was its sole organ and administrator4 ,in this capacity he displayed consummate ability4 ,alike in religious and in civil matters he showed the most perfect comprehension of his countrymen4 ,he resorted freely to compromise in order to make his religion and policy suitable to the masses of his people and to secure their adhesion4 ,in this way he soon secured for himself an absolute authority4 ,the new religion thus became the cement by which a strong commonwealth was formed out of elements formerly at variance4 ,mahomet's first care on reaching ,medina was to organise the service of the faith4 ,a place was built where the congregation could meet for prayer and exhortation2 the prophet's house beside it1 or rather the apartments of his wives1 for he now had two1 and was soon to have more4 ,the mosque1 which all over the world is the local habitation of ,islam1 may have been derived from the synagogue or the ,christian church4 ,the service which takes place in it is not a sacrifice1 but consists of intellectual exercises which nourish in the hearers the spirit of the religion4 ,in the ,mosque of ,medina ,mahomet taught his converts the practices and duties which were required of them4 ,he taught this with great precision1 and himself set an example how each exercise was to be done2 so that1 as ,wellhausen says1 the mosque became the exercise ground where the people were drilled in the requirements of the new faith4 ,there the ,moslems acquired the esprit de corps and the rigid discipline which distinguish their armies4 ,new ,religious ,union4--,a new bond of union thus took the place of the old tie of blood1 which had been by far the strongest in ,arabia4 ,every ,moslem regarded every other ,moslem as his brother1 even though belonging to a different tribe4 ,the claims of religion came to supersede all others2 all natural tastes1 all family affections1 were taught to yield to them4 ,within a few years of his coming to ,medina ,mahomet had forbidden the use of wine and the pursuit of art1 and had imposed on all women who adhered to him the use of the veil4 ,in every way the community was taught to regard itself as separated from the former life of the country and from all who did not share the new faith4 ,it was represented as the duty of believers to fight against all unbelievers3 in this way the universal prevalence of the religion was to be brought about4 ,the courage of the faithful was stimulated by the promise of rich booty and by the assurance that those who fell in battle would go straight to the joys of ,paradise2 and the wars they waged acquired in consequence a relentless character which was new in ,arabia4 ,they were allowed to fight in the sacred month1 in which ancient custom ordained a universal truce4 ,they fought with a gloomy determination1 and used their victories with a relentless cruelty1 which excited the consternation and horror of all witnesses4 ,they did not scruple1 as other ,arabs did1 to fight against their kinsmen4 ,islam has rent all bonds asunder1 ,islam has blotted out all treaties1 they said1 when reproached with their disregard of old understandings4 ,the prophet himself was foremost in this unrelenting policy4 ,captives taken in battle were slaughtered2 a whole tribe was massacred which had joined the enemy1 and had surrendered after a siege in the hope of merciful treatment4 ,breach with ,judaism and ,christianity4--,as ,mahomet thus freed himself1 in spreading the faith of the most merciful ,god1 from all considerations of mercy and of honour1 he also shook off1 as his position grew strong1 relations which might have proved embarrassing with other religions4 ,in his earlier teaching he speaks of his own religion as being substantially the same as ,judaism and ,christianity4 ,all three have the ,book2 the ,koran is a continuation and supplement of the ,jewish and ,christian revelations1 and he is only the last figure in the great line of prophets who had appeared in these religions4 ,like other founders1 he did not at first intend to found a new religion1 but only to bring to light again and restore to authority the original truths of these faiths1 which had become obscured4 ,his attitude at first1 therefore1 was friendly to both ,jews and ,christians1 and his friendly feelings for the former were likely to be strengthened by the circumstances of his coming to ,medina4 ,not long after his arrival1 however1 his attitude towards the ,jews was changed4 ,his followers had at first prayed with their faces turned in the direction of ,jerusalem2 but the prophet ordained that this should be altered1 and that they should pray with their faces turned not towards ,jerusalem but towards ,mecca4 ,this setting of a new kiblah as it is called1 declared that ,islam was a different religion from ,judaism1 and had an ,arab not a ,jewish centre4 ,the hostility to the ,jews1 of which this was a symptom1 grew more intense2 quarrels were sought with them which ended in the utter annihilation of the ,jewish power at ,medina4 ,from ,christianity also ,mahomet was careful to distinguish his religion4 ,the ,christians of ,arabia were less tenacious of their faith than were the ,jews1 and easily accepted ,islam1 so that the hostility was not in this case so intense4 ,the doctrines of the ,trinity and of the ,incarnation were of course denounced as intolerable blasphemies against the sole deity of ,allah4 ,domestic4--,the history of ,mahomet during the ,medina period is taken up to some extent with the various marriages into which he entered1 and with the scandals of his household4 ,on several occasions he produced revelations to warrant a step in this connection which he felt to require justification1 and the modern reader is forced to wonder how his credit survived some of those proceedings4 ,while it is undoubtedly the case that he did much to improve the position of women in ,arabia1 the absence of any high ideal in this matter is very apparent4 ,conquest of ,mecca4--,in giving his followers a new kiblah and bidding them turn their faces towards ,mecca at their prayers1 ,mahomet declared that city to be the religious capital of ,arabia4 ,though he had left ,mecca in anger1 he could not forget or ignore the city which held this place in his eyes4 ,at first his thoughts of ,mecca were those of vengeance2 he had a score to settle with the ,coreish1 who had scorned and persecuted him1 and had driven him forth4 ,for several years there was war between ,medina and the ,coreish2 the ,moslems plundered the rich caravans of ,mecca2 in the great battle of ,bedr 7,a4,d4 #fbc7 ,mahomet defeated his enemies and compelled them to respect and fear him2 and they afterwards attacked and besieged him at ,medina1 with no decisive result4 ,the next step was that ,mahomet made use of the sacred month to attempt a pilgrimage to ,mecca1 from which he had been absent for six years 7#fbh72 and though he was prevented from performing his devotions at the ,caaba on this occasion1 the ,coreish found it good to make a treaty with him1 thus recognising him as a potentate1 and to promise that he should be allowed to make the pilgrimage on a future occasion4 ,that pilgrimage took place2 and so quickly was ,mahomet's power increasing in the rest of ,arabia that the ,meccans began to feel that they could not long resist him4 ,in the year #fcj he moved against ,mecca with a large army1 and met with but faint opposition4 ,mecca fell into his hands4 ,he used his victory nobly3 only four persons were put to death4 ,it was at once shown that no injury was to be done to the city4 ,the old worship and its various ceremonies were preserved4 ,all idols1 of course1 were destroyed1 both those about the ,caaba1 of which there are said to have been one for each day in the year1 and those in private houses4 ,mecca made the ,capital of ,islam4--,in fact ,mecca gained new importance from this conquest4 ,it was constituted by the irresistible power of ,mahomet the central sanctuary of the true religion4 ,a year after the victory ,mahomet again visited ,mecca1 and performed the pilgrimage with all its rites in his own person1 setting the correct pattern in every detail1 which all pilgrims were to observe in all time coming4 ,those who wish to know what the rites of ,mecca are1 will find them graphically and minutely described in ,captain ,burton's ,pilgrimage to ,el-,medinah and ,mecca2 that gallant officer was one of the three ,europeans who1 during the nineteenth century1 assumed the disguise of pilgrims and took part in the observances4 ,the kissing of the sacred black stone in the wall of the ,caaba1 the sevenfold circuit of the building1 the drinking of the water of the well ,zem-zem1 the race from one hill-top to another in the neighbourhood of ,mecca1 the throwing of seven stones at a certain spot1 and the sacrifice of an animal in a certain valley--these form a collection of rites each of which had probably a separate origin1 and of some of which the original meaning can scarcely be made out4#d ,this block of heathenism ,mahomet made part of his religion4 ,he could not have abolished it1 and by adopting it in an improved form as a part of his own system he served himself heir to the national religious traditions1 and acquired for his own religion the authority of a national faith4 ,this day have ,i appointed your religion unto you1 are his words after fixing the forms of the pilgrimage1 and applied ,islam for you to be your religion4 ,islam adopts the ,mecca rites1 and thereby becomes the national religion of ,arabia4 ,hubal1 the chief god of the ,caaba1 disappears2 ,allah becomes the sole god of the shrine4 ,the legend that ,abraham founded it is put in circulation1 and it is thus connected with the supposed earliest ,arabian religion1 the religion before idolatry1 the ,islam before ,islam4 ,as ,paul appeals to the faith of ,abraham as being a ,christianity before ,christ1 so ,mahomet claims the ,caaba for the pure worship of ,allah in primeval times4 ,it is sacred henceforth to him alone4 ,the rule was set up that no idolater should be admitted to the pilgrimage1 and it thus lost its character as a heathen1 and became instead a ,moslem1 institution4 ,footnote #d3 ,see for this ,wellhausen's ,reste arabischen ,heidenthums1 pp4 #fd-ih4 ,spread of ,islam4--,mecca once converted1 the rest of ,arabia could not long remain outside4 ,there was reluctance in various places to make the change which ,mahomet now required of all his countrymen4 ,but the penalty of refusing it was the prophet's wrath1 with its terrible attendants1 war and rapine1 and none of the ,arabs cared enough for their old gods to brave such terrors for their sake4 ,the inhabitants of ,taif endeavoured to make terms1 so that the change might be less abrupt4 ,their ambassadors urged that fornication1 usury1 and the use of wine might be allowed them1 but this could not be granted2 the ,taifites must accept the deprivations to which all the ,moslems had agreed4 ,then they asked that their ,rabba1 their goddess1 might be spared to them for three years1 and as this was refused1 for two years1 a year1 a month4 ,but the only concession they could obtain was that they should not be obliged to destroy their goddess with their own hands4 ,the ancient paganism1 it will be seen1 fell easily and without any tragedy4 ,mahomet did not long survive the national acceptance of his religion2 he died on #hth ,june #fcb4 ,but he did not die without having opened up to his followers very wide views for the future of his cause1 and started them on a career of religious war and conquest which was not soon to be arrested4 ,from a comparatively early period of his career he had considered that ,islam was destined to prevail not only in ,arabia but in other lands4 ,starting with the idea that his revelation was only a later stage of that which had taken place in ,judaism and ,christianity1 he had advanced to the position that these were false religions1 and his own the only true one4 ,wherever he looked in the world he could see no true religion but his own2 it must therefore take the place of all others4 ,accordingly he sent embassies from ,medina to ,heraclius the emperor of the ,east1 to the king of ,persia1 to the governor of ,egypt1 and to other potentates1 announcing himself to be the ,prophet of ,god1 and calling upon them to give up their idolatrous worships and return to the religion of the one true ,god4 ,these embassies had small effect2 but ,mahomet was prepared to take much more forcible measures in order to spread the faith4 ,war against infidels being one of the standing duties of the faithful1 various regulations were laid down for the treatment of captives and the disposal of booty in such wars4 ,god1 who is said in every verse to be forgiving and merciful1 encourages the faithful in such passages to slay and rob1 and to make concubines of women taken in sacred wars4 ,at the moment of his death an expedition1 not the first1 was ready to start against the ,greek power4 ,it is in this guise that ,islam assumes the rle of a universal religion4 ,the ,duties of the ,moslem4--,the missionary of ,islam requires of his converts nothing very difficult either in the way of belief or in the way of action4 ,his demands are brief and precise4 ,they consist of the following five points3--#a4 ,the profession of belief in the unity of ,god and the mission of ,mahomet4 ,the formula runs3 ,there is no ,god but ,allah1 and ,mahomet is the prophet of ,allah4 #b4 ,prayer4 ,this consists of the repetition of a certain form of words at five separate times each day1 the worshipper standing up with his face towards ,mecca4 ,the mosques are always open for prayer1 and there is a special service on ,friday1 the day of the week chosen by ,mahomet in contradistinction to the ,jewish ,sabbath and the ,christian ,sunday4 #c4 ,almsgiving4 ,this is done on a fixed scale1 and the contributions were1 in ,mahomet's time1 devoted to the support of war against infidels4 #d4 ,fasting4 ,this takes place during the month of ,ramadan1 and the fast is very strictly observed4 #e4 ,the ,hagg or pilgrimage to ,mecca4 ,the ,koran is the sacred book of ,islam4 ,the name means reading2 see above in this chapter4 ,like other sacred books1 the ,koran is arranged in such an order that he who reads it as it stands finds it very confused1 and fails to grasp its historical meaning4 ,the claim to divine inspiration is made in every chapter and every line of it2 ,god himself is the speaker4 ,but the divine oracles refer to very various matters4 ,all sorts of legal decisions1 military orders1 injunctions about religious affairs1 legends and speculations1 have a place in it4 ,of prediction of the future1 indeed1 there is but one instance2 the prophet disclaimed the power to work miracles1 and held that no wonders beyond those of the splendid order of the universe are necessary to faith2 and similarly he does not pose as a foreteller1 but as an organ of the divine will for the present4 ,as the ruler of a theocracy1 the leader of armies1 the judge in many a civil case1 the guardian of the manners of the people1 the officiating minister in public worship1 and1 let it also be mentioned1 the head of a very peculiar domestic establishment1 he has a hundred matters of immediate concern to attend to2 and when he has formed his decision on any of these matters1 it takes its place in the ,koran4 ,the book thus produced is far from being an attractive one2 even in the translation of ,professor ,palmer#e it can afford pleasure to no reader4 ,the translation1 it is true1 loses the poetry and music of the original1 which are highly spoken of2 but the main obstacle to reading the ,koran is its want of arrangement4 ,the earliest suras 7chapters2 literally courses of bricks7 stand mostly towards the end of the collection2 the long ones in the beginning and middle are later1 and many of them are composite3 two or several chapters have been joined into one4 ,when read in their historical order1 the suras can be read with pleasure by the student as showing the growth of the prophet's ideas and of his cause4 ,the earliest ones are short1 poetical1 and intense4 ,these are the suras which threw the prophet into such excitement and distress that his hair turned white4 ,they are full of the wonders of ,god in nature and in history1 of fiery denunciation of idolatry1 and of fearful threatenings4 ,in later pieces we come to long legends taken chiefly from the ,jewish ,haggadah and the ,christian ,apocrypha1 in which the prophet displays much ignorance of the commonest facts of the ,bible history2 and as his power increases and his functions multiply1 we come to the miscellaneous matters spoken of above4 ,the style1 at first poetic and exalted1 becomes afterwards prosaic and diffuse2 it is not the inspired seer who speaks1 but the statesman or the judge2 and the placing of these later utterances in the mouth of ,god could not deceive the original hearers4 ,the ,koran1 like the ,vedas and the ,gathas and the ,jewish ,scriptures1 was exalted in later stages of the religion to the highest conceivable honours2 and one of the greatest controversies of ,islam raged round the question whether it had existed from eternity and was uncreated4 ,footnote #e3 ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 vols4 vi4 and xi4 ,islam a ,universal ,religion4--,what is most remarkable about ,islam is the rapidity of its growth4 ,mahomet begins life a poor and lowly herdsman1 and at his death bequeaths to his successors a kingdom which he has formed1 and which is shortly to prevail over all its neighbours4 ,in the same way his doctrine1 confined at first to a small circle and bitterly opposed1 becomes within half a century the faith of his nation1 and not only of his nation1 but of many other lands4 ,within that brief space it has entered on the career of a national religion1 and has also passed beyond the national into the universal stage1 at which only two other religions have arrived at all4 ,the progress which ,christianity took centuries to accomplish1 ,islam accomplished in so many decades4 ,the title of a universal religion cannot be denied to it4 ,the truth which it declared--the doctrine of the unity and the omnipotence of ,god1 and of the responsibility of every human being to his ,creator and ,judge--is one which does not belong to any particular race of men1 but to all men4 ,the attitude of soul which is called ,islam--that of implicit surrender to the great ,god1 of entire acquiescence in his decrees and entire obedience to his will--is good for all4 ,all should be called to take an earnest view of their life and to realise their deep responsibilities2 and the idea expressed by the title given to ,god on every page of the ,koran1 ,the ,merciful and ,compassionate1 that ,god sympathises with the aspirations and efforts of his servants1 and that they may look up to him with love as well as fear1 is one which all can understand and feel helpful4 ,especially at the stage when the world is given up to idolatry1 ,islam may well rank as a universal religion2 when each place has its idol1 each nation its greater idols1 religion divides instead of uniting1 and the frivolous and senseless service of such petty deities prevents men from realising their solemn obligations to the great ,god before whom they are all alike1 since he is the ,governor and ,judge of all4 ,islam is an admirable corrective of heathenism2 it brings the scattered and bewildered worshippers of idols together in one lofty faith and one simple rule4 ,the weakness of ,islam is that it is not progressive4 ,its ideas are bald and poor2 it grew too fast2 its doctrines and forms were stereotyped at the very outset of its career1 and do not admit of change4 ,its morality is that of the stage at which men emerge from idolatry1 and does not advance beyond that stage1 so that it perpetuates institutions and customs which are a drag on civilisation4 ,mahomet's ,paradise1 in which the warrior is to be ministered to by beauteous houris 7the number of whom is not mentioned71 may not have been an immoral conception in his day2 but it is so now1 and apparently cannot be left behind4 ,an admirable instrument for the discipline of populations at a low stage of culture1 and well fitted to teach them a certain measure of self-restraint and piety1 ,islam cannot carry them on to the higher development of human life and thought4 ,it is repressive of freedom1 and the reason is that its doctrine is after all no more than negative4 ,allah is but a negation of other gods2 there is no store of positive riches in his character1 he does not sympathise with the manifold growth of human activity2 the inspiration he affords is a negative inspiration1 an impulse of hostility to what is over against him1 not an impulse to strive after high and fair ideals4 ,he remains eternally apart upon a frosty throne2 his voice is heard1 but he cannot condescend4 ,he does not enter into humanity1 and therefore cannot render to humanity the highest services4 ,,books ,,recommended ,the ,life of ,mahomet1 by ,sir ,w4 ,muir1 #aheh4 ,mohammed1 by ,wellhausen1 and ,the ,koran1 by ,nldeke1 in ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 vol4 xvi4 ,the ,preliminary ,discourse prefixed to ,sale's ,koran2 and ,professor ,palmer's ,introduction in ,s4 ,b4 ,e41 vol4 vi4 ,islam1 by ,j4 ,w4 ,h4 ,stobart1 in the ,non-,christian ,religious ,systems ,series of the ,s4,p4,c4,k4 ,der ,islam1 by ,houtsma1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,hughes1 ,a ,dictionary of ,islam 7#ahhe1 #ahif74 ,sell1 ,the ,faith of ,islam1 ,second ,edition1 #ahif4 ,stanley ,lane-,poole1 ,the ,speeches and ,table-talk of ,mohammad1 #ahhb2 the most important parts of the ,koran1 chronologically arranged1 with a very useful introduction4 ,margoliouth4 ,mohammed and the ,rise of ,islam1 #aije4 ,,part ,,iv ,,the ,,aryan ,,group ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,aryan ,,religion ,the science of language has placed it beyond dispute that the languages of the leading ,european peoples are genealogically related to each other1 and that the languages of ,india and of ,persia also belong to the same family of speech4 ,the ,indo-,european languages1 those1 namely1 of the higher race in ,india1 and of the ,persians1 and those of the ,greeks1 ,italians1 ,celts1 ,germans1 ,slavs1 ,letts1 and ,albanians1 approach each other always more nearly as they are traced upwards4 ,sanscrit is not the source of these tongues but an older sister of the group2 the mother language1 which the facts prove to have at one time existed1 was a highly-inflected speech1 and is perhaps more nearly represented by ,lettic than by ,sanscrit2 but it can now be known only by a study of the common features of its surviving children4 ,the fact that the peoples named above are related to each other in point of language led at once1 when it was discovered1 to the conclusion that they were also of the same race1 and must have come originally from the same quarter of the world4 ,where1 then1 was the early home of the undivided ,aryan#a race1 from which the swarms first issued which were to conquer and rule the various lands8 ,at first it was found in the ,east2 the fact that ,indian civilisation was much earlier in time than that of any other ,aryan people1 naturally suggested this4 ,professor ,max ,mller described in a very poetical way how the ,european as well as the ,indian must find in the ,east the cradle of his race4 ,from the high tableland of ,asia1 it was held1 the superior races came who were to rule nearly the whole of ,europe1 while another migration descended towards ,persia and the plains of ,india4 ,footnote #a3 ,aryan was the name of the conquering race of ,india4 ,the title ,indo-,european tells us that the race now dwells in ,india and in ,europe4 ,indo-,germanic describes the group by its ,eastern1 and what is supposed to be its principal ,western1 member4 ,the theory1 however1 which placed the home of the ,aryans on the inhospitable steppes1 the high ,pamere1 of ,asia1 did not long command assent2 and attempts were made to place that home elsewhere1 in the valley of the ,danube1 on the south shores of the ,baltic1 or even in the ,scandinavian peninsula4 ,the conquest1 it is argued1 cannot have come from the ,east2 it is much more probable that ,aryan speech and custom originated in the ,west1 where it has the larger number of representatives1 and that it spread eastward4 ,the more extreme step has also been taken of denying that the ,aryans are related to each other at all in point of race4 ,unity of language1 it is argued1 is no proof of unity of race--a glance over the ,british ,empire or even the ,british ,islands is enough to show this4 ,it is maintained1 therefore1 that the relationship of the ,aryan peoples is not one of race but only of language and of culture2 the word ,aryan denotes no more than a certain type of speech1 and of accompanying civilisation1 which spread over all the peoples in question at a very early time4 ,aryan language and civilisation laid hold of a number of races not otherwise related to each other4 ,the view1 however1 still prevails that the various lands where ,aryan speech and culture prevail were settled from one centre4 ,when society was in the nomadic stage1 it may naturally be presumed that a superior civilisation which had established itself in any one quarter of the world would be carried by wandering hordes in various directions1 and that the bearers of the new civilisation would become the conquerors and masters of the countries to which their wanderings led them4 ,and there is now some agreement on the part of leading authorities as to the quarter of the world from which the migrations of the ,aryans proceeded4 ,in the ,southern ,steppes of ,russia1 in the great plains north of the ,black ,sea1 the ,caspian1 and the ,sea of ,aral1 there dwelt1 we are told1 in times far before the dawn of history1 hordes rather than tribes of men1 who1 though they had originally spoken the same language1 were coming to differ from each other in speech and culture4 ,these hordes were peoples in the process of formation4 ,it was natural to them to wander1 and as each wandered farther from the centre1 it came to differ more markedly from the common type4 ,some of these went southwards and eastwards to ,persia and ,india2 others went westward1 to conquer and possess the countries of ,europe4#b ,footnote #b3 ,prehistoric ,antiquities of the ,aryan ,peoples2 ,schrader and ,jevons 7,griffin1 #ahij74 ,this is the ,english of ,schrader's ,sprachvergleichung und ,urgeschichte4 ,compare ,dr4 ,e4 ,meyer's ,history of ,antiquity1 vol4 i4 book vi4 ,dr4 ,isaac ,taylor's ,origin of the ,aryans gives a compendious account of the question1 concluding against the unity of the ,aryans in point of race4 ,the ,aryan question lies at the threshold of the history of each of the ,aryan peoples1 and has to be met in the study of each of the religions4 ,it must be confessed that the world now knows less on this point than it thought it did a generation ago4 ,the difference between the ,semitic and the ,aryan spirit is real and substantial1 as will appear from the study of the ,aryan religions1 but it is more important as well as more possible to know these well in their individual character than to have a correct theory of their historical relation to each other4 ,the student ought1 however1 to be informed as to the course of a deeply interesting enquiry4 ,the civilisation of the ,aryans was primitive enough4 ,the following is from ,dr4 ,taylor3-- ,the undivided ,aryans were a pastoral people1 who wandered with their herds as the ,hebrew patriarchs wandered in ,canaan4 ,dogs1 cattle1 and sheep had been domesticated1 but not the pig1 the horse1 the goat1 or the ass2 and domestic poultry were unknown4 ,the fibres of certain plants were plaited into mats1 but wool was not woven1 and the skins of beasts were scraped with stone knives1 and sewed together into garments with sinews by the aid of needles of bone1 wood1 or stone4 ,their food consisted of flesh and milk1 which was not yet made into cheese or butter4 ,mead1 prepared from the honey of wild bees1 was the only intoxicating drink1 both beer and wine being unknown4 ,salt was unknown to the ,asiatic branch of the ,aryans1 but its use had spread rapidly among the ,european branches of the race4 ,in winter they lived in pits dug in the earth and roofed over with poles covered with turf1 or plastered with cow dung4 ,in summer they lived in rude waggons or in huts made of the branches of trees4 ,of metals1 native copper may have been beaten into ornaments1 but tools and weapons were mostly of stone4 ,bows were made of the wood of the yew1 444 trees were hollowed out for canoes by stone axes1 aided by the use of fire4 ,according to ,hehn1 the old or sick were killed1 wives were obtained by purchase or capture1 infants were exposed or killed4 ,after a time1 with tillage1 came the possession of property1 and established custom grew slowly into law4 ,their religious ideas were based on magic and superstitious terrors1 the powers of nature had as yet assumed no anthropomorphic forms1 the great name of ,dyaus1 which afterwards came to mean ,god1 signified only the bright sky4 ,they counted on their fingers1 but they had not attained to the idea of any number higher than one hundred4#c ,footnote #c3 ,origin of the ,aryans1 p4 #ahh4 ,these sketches of the early ,aryan certainly attest more vigour than refinement2 and it takes some effort to realise that those who lived in this way had already made much progress1 and that these early arts and institutions were full of promise4 ,savage as the early ,aryan is1 he is better than his neighbours1 and has made a good start in the way of civilisation4 ,his family arrangements1 especially1 are fitted to survive and to develop4 ,the early domestic architecture of the ,aryan countries1 while it belongs to a much later period1 yet gives good evidence that the patriarchal ideal of the family was part of the common inheritance4 ,in every country they conquered the ,aryans lived in large patriarchal households4 ,the sons1 with their wives and children1 remained under their father's roof1 the father being judge and priest of this domestic community4 ,we can specify other features of the society connected with this type of household4 ,as the family increases and becomes too large to dwell under one roof1 another house is built1 in which son or grandson1 with his wife1 founds a new family4 ,thus a group of families arises1 all related to each other by blood1 and in a position of equality1 but looking to the original house as their centre4 ,this type of society must have been carried to ,india by the ,aryan invaders1 who there set up patriarchal establishments in houses which are similar in arrangement to those of ,north ,holland1 of ,iceland1 or of early ,england4 ,the men who lived in this way were not agriculturists1 they were shepherds and huntsmen1 and when they settled in a district they were wont to force the former dwellers in it to till the land for them as their inferiors4#d ,footnote #d3 ,see two recent works by ,mr4 ,g4 ,l4 ,gomme1 ,the ,village ,community and ,ethnology in ,folklore2 also ,hearn's ,aryan ,household4 ,it is this type of civilisation which overspread the lands in early times1 and by its coming created in most instances a new world4 ,some of the ,aryan peoples made more rapid progress than others4 ,they passed early into the age of metals1 and appear before us at the dawn of history with fully-formed institutions1 which bear the impress of patriarchal ideas4 ,others remained longer in the stone age1 and only in historic times received the impulse which caused them to advance to the rank of nations4 ,the arts and inventions which are found in many or in all of them are not necessarily a common inheritance from the undivided ,aryan age4 ,many of them may have come into being in each of the lands independently1 or one ,aryan people may have borrowed them from another at a later time4 ,starting from the common stock of civilisation1 the various races worked it out each in a way of its own1 and often1 as we shall see1 with wonderful similarities4 ,is it possible to give any description of the religion the ,aryans had in common before they developed it in different ways in their various lands8 ,we can no longer1 following ,mr4 ,max ,mller1 look to ,india to tell us what was the common ,aryan religion4 ,indian religion1 when we first become acquainted with it1 has already grown into an elaborate priestly system1 and is evidently at a much later stage of ,aryan development than the rustic cults1 with which we have a good deal of acquaintance1 in various ,european lands4 ,if1 however1 we cannot follow the great ,german scholar in this1 we gladly use his words on another aspect of the subject1 when he is showing the etymological identity of the chief god of the ,aryan peoples4 ,in his ,lectures on the ,science of ,language1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dfh1 he tells us that ,zeus1 the most sacred name in ,greek mythology1 is the same word as ,dyaus in ,sanscrit1 ,jovis or ,ju in ,jupiter in ,latin1 ,tiw in ,anglo-,saxon1 preserved in ,tiwsdg1 ,tuesday1 the day of the ,eddic god ,tyr2 ,zio in old ,high-,german4 ,this word was framed1 he says1 once and once only2 it was not borrowed by the ,greeks from the ,hindus1 nor by the ,romans and ,germans from the ,greeks4 ,it must have existed before the ancestors of those primeval races became separate in language and religion2 before they left their common pastures to migrate to the right hand and to the left4444 ,here1 then1 in this venerable word1 we may look for some of the earliest religious thoughts of our race4#e ,footnote #e3 ,see also ,mr4 ,mller's ,hibbert ,lectures1 and his ,biographies of ,words4 ,in this instance etymology admittedly points out one of the principal features of the common ,aryan religions4 ,but if we hope that etymology will reveal to us many further instances of the same kind1 and introduce us to the whole ,pantheon of the ,aryans1 we shall be disappointed4 ,there are one or two more cases of etymological agreement between the gods of ,india and those of ,europe1#f but the agreement is in some of these cases no more than etymological4 ,the ,tiw or ,tyr of the ,teutonic mythology does not correspond in office or character with ,zeus or ,jupiter1 though the names are etymologically akin4 ,the agreement does not extend to all the religions in question1 nor does it extend in any two religions to all their gods2 most of the gods of ,europe have no parallels in ,india4 ,the evidence of etymology1 therefore1 tells us but little of that early religion of which we are in search4 ,but if we consider the views and habits of the barbarous shepherd-huntsman1 who is now seen to be the typical figure of common ,aryanism1 we need not seek long before we find something that was common to all the ,aryan faiths4 ,the patriarchal household has a religion which belongs to itself1 and which is the working bond of union of its members4 ,the hearth is its altar1 because the forefathers of the house lie buried under it1 or for another reason4 ,these forefathers certainly are its gods4 ,this hearth-cult has for its priest the father of the family2 he in his turn will be gathered to his fathers if he has a legitimate son to do the last rites for him4 ,no one but members of the family can partake in the domestic worship1 all unconnected with the family by blood must be kept at a distance from these rites4 ,this is not a religion in which the individual counts anything for his own sake1 any more than totemistic religion is2 in both it is the community alone that serves the deity1 in the one case1 those acknowledging the same totem1 in the second1 those united by blood in the same family4 ,in totemism the individual sacrifices himself to the tribe2 here he is nothing apart from his family4 ,aryan piety is family religion pure and simple4 ,it fosters sentiments which have been the strength of ,aryan society in all lands4 ,it makes family life a sacred thing1 lends to all domestic ties the highest sanction1 and causes the mere mention of hearth and home to be the strongest incentive to valour and self-denial4 ,even in the wild-beast ferocity with which early men defend their homes against the intrusion of strangers1 the germs of lofty domestic and patriotic virtues may be seen4 ,thus ancestor-worship1 which is a part of the very beginnings of human religion1 is a more effective force among the ,aryans than anywhere else4 ,in ,egypt and ,china that worship is a highly artificial thing1 and has lost much of its original force4 ,in ,egypt it is the fortunes of the dead that are most thought of2 in ,china the cult has been smoothed down and deprived1 according to the character of the people1 of its intenser motives4 ,among the ,aryans it combines actively with strong family feeling1 causing them to cling with an extreme tenacity to their own gods and their own worship4#g ,footnote #f3 ,the principal are the following3-- #a4 ,dyaus1 god of the sky1 see above4 #b4 ,sans4 ,ushas1 goddess of dawn2 ,gr4 ,greek3 hs2 ,lat4 aurora2 ,lith4 auszra2 ,a4-,s4 eostra4 #c4 ,sans4 ,agni1 fire1 god of fire2 ,lat4 ignis2 ,lith4 ugnis2 ,o4-,s4 ogni4 #d4 ,sans4 ,surya1 sun2 ,lat4 sol2 ,gr4 ,greek3 helios1 also ,greek3 ,seirios2 ,cymr4 seul4 #e4 ,sans4 ,ms1 moon2 ,gr4 ,greek3 mn2 ,lat4 mena2 ,lith4 menu4 ,mars,maruts1 ,manu,minos,mannus1 ,varuna,ouranos1 and other equations formerly brought forward1 are not now relied on by etymologists4 ,footnote #g3 ,the comparative absence of ancestor-worship among the ,greeks leads ,dr4 ,schrader to doubt whether their religion is ,aryan4 ,the ,semites and the ,greeks occupy the same position in this respect 7see chapter x41 chapter xvi474 ,but those of whom we are speaking worshipped other gods besides those of the household4 ,the second great characteristic of ,aryan religion is its adoration of gods who are neither local nor tribal1 but universal4 ,dyaus1 the sky1 the heaven-god1 can be worshipped anywhere2 so can the earth1 so can the heavenly twins1 who were objects of early ,aryan religion1 so can the sun and moon4 ,not that the ,aryans always remembered that these beings were not local or tribal4 ,the god of heaven could be the god of a particular place too1 having a special name there2 or he could be appropriated by a tribe who gave him a title as their own particular patron4 ,each family could have its own heaven-god as well as its own hearth-god4 ,nor are we to think that when they worshipped beings who could be found in every place1 the ,aryans overlooked the sacred places1 and the sacred objects worshipped formerly4 ,they had themselves risen out of savagery1 and still held many of the ideas of savages4 ,though they had a few great gods they could still believe in a large number of smaller ones4 ,the tree1 the stream1 still had its spirit for them1 the cave or the dark fissure its bad demon4 ,and many a piece of magic did they practise1 such as the rain-charm which would cause even the highest god to send what was needed4 ,the world was well peopled with gods1 and to keep on good terms with them all was1 no doubt1 a matter that required much attention and skill4 ,other features which have been stated to be characteristic of ,aryan religion are its non-priestly character1 and the fact that its gods are generally arranged in a monarchical pantheon4 ,but neither of these constitutes a specific difference of the kind we are in search of4 ,all primitive religions are non-priestly2 a religion becomes priestly at a certain stage of its growth1 when it is organised separately from the state4 ,the monarchical pantheon1 too1 such as that of ,homer and of the ,eddas1 is an indication1 not of the genius of a religion1 but of its having reached the systematising stage1 and of the political ideas according to which the system is drawn up4 ,the ,aryan religions1 it is true1 arrange their gods when the time comes to do so1 after the pattern of an ,aryan patriarchal establishment1 the father at the head1 his sons and daughters near him1 the servants in attendance1 the unorganised host of spirits1 nymphs and elves1 outside4 ,but to know the original character of the religion it is less important to ask how the pantheon is arranged1 than what gods are worshipped1 and how they are related to man4 ,and the point which stands out clearly is that while ,semitic religion is purely tribal and local1 there is an element in ,aryan religion which naturally transcends these limits4 ,on ,semitic ground the body with whom the god transacts is the tribe1 the link is that of blood which connects all the members of the tribe with their divine head or ancestor4 ,in ,aryan religion also blood counts for much4 ,the family altar is the seat of worship1 and he who has been cast out of his own family cannot worship anywhere4 ,the family gods are most thought of1 no doubt1 and exercise immense power in the ways we have mentioned4 ,but the worship of which blood is the tie is not to the ,aryan1 as to the ,semite1 the whole of religion4 ,there are beings aloft as well as beings on the earth and under the earth1 and the worship of these beings is wider than the family4 ,the family may address ,heaven by a special private name1 or at a particular spot1 but ,heaven itself was above all these titles and places4 ,the spirits of the household made1 as all the ,semitic gods do1 for separation1 but the gods above made for union1 and as any community grew1 the upper gods1 who were worshipped by all its members alike1 became more lofty and more important4 ,thus we may agree with ,mr4 ,gomme when he speaks 7,ethnology of ,folklore1 p4 #fh7 of the emancipation of the ,aryans from the principle of local worship1 and says that the rise of the conception of gods who could and did accompany the tribes wheresoever they travelled1 was the greatest triumph of the ,aryan race4 ,farther than this it may be dangerous to go in a field so full of uncertainty4 ,in all ,aryan worships there are sacrifices of various kinds and degrees of importance4 ,the horse sacrifice appears in several of the nations as one of distinction1 but human sacrifice was most important of all1 though in each of the ,aryan lands commutations are made for it at a very early stage4 ,the strife of ,aryan with non-,aryan religions gave rise to many superstitions2 after the conquest the gods of the latter often became the bad gods or demons of the former1 the ministers of the defeated cult were regarded as sorcerers or witches1 the dethroned gods made many an attempt to come back to their seats1 and to revive disused practices4 ,but a religion based1 as we have seen the ,aryan to be1 in the family affections is destined to rise as civilisation advances4 ,it will be found that the ,aryan draws a less absolute distinction than the ,semite between the human and the divine4 ,to the ,semite ,god is1 broadly speaking1 a master1 or ,lord1 whose word is a command1 in regard to whom man is a subject1 a slave4 ,to the ,aryan the relation is a freer one4 ,his god is more human1 and art and imagination can do more in his service4 ,,books ,,recommended ,e4 ,siecke1 ,die religion d4 ,indogermanen1 #ahig4 ,c4 ,f4 ,keary1 ,outlines of ,primitive ,belief among the ,indo-,european ,races1 #ahhb4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,teutons ,the ,aryans in ,europe4--,there is more than one ,european people which before it was touched by ,roman civilisation had remained for an indefinite period--a period to be measured probably rather by millenniums than by centuries--in the state of society described in last chapter 7see above7 as occurring when the ,aryans dwelt among those whom they had conquered4 ,in various lands alike we meet with the combination of the patriarchal household with the village1 the combination of agricultural with pastoral life1 to which the ,aryans early settled down among non-,aryan populations4 ,this type of society1 which is the basis of feudalism1 is recognised alike in ,india and in ,germany4 ,it stretches far back into the past1 and may even be recognised in some quarters at the present day4 ,as with civilisation so with religion4 ,the early faith of the ,slavs1 the ,celts1 and the ,teutons is now generally regarded as best representing that of the ,aryans4 ,it was a religion in which rite and belief were indefinite and variable compared with those of the later ,aryan faiths of ,india and of ,southern ,europe1 there being neither a regular priesthood nor the use of writing to impart fixity to religious forms4 ,the river1 the fountain1 and the aged oak1 each had its legend and its observance of unknown antiquity4 ,the pre-,aryan and the ,aryan elements of religion acted and reacted on each other1 the ,aryan1 no doubt1 being the element of progress1 but blending with the other in indistinguishable mixture4 ,the spirits of ancestors lived in the belief and the practice of posterity2 a thousand unseen agents in the sky1 and in the earth1 and under the earth were believed in and treated according to tradition1 fed or flouted1 bribed or exorcised1 as occasion suggested4 ,new gods appeared1 or old ones were combined into new1 or a god migrated from one province to another4 ,here also myths and rituals were formed by various processes4 ,but a more constant growth of belief took place in connection with some gods as larger social organisms came into existence1 village communities combining into tribes1 tribes into nations4 ,the great gods of heaven1 whatever the history of their early growth1 proved specially fitted to unite together clans and peoples4 ,these beings received different names in different countries4 ,their early history1 no doubt1 was not the same in all1 yet in each mythology there were figures and stories which occurred also in others1 whether in consequence of parallel growth out of similar circumstances in each land1 or from a process of borrowing at a later time1 or from both1 we need not try to decide4 ,we give a short account of the religion of the ,germans4 ,that of the ,celts1 which may be studied in the ,hibbert ,lectures of ,professor ,rhys1#a or that of the ,slavs 7of which there is an excellent short summary by ,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,morfill in ,religious ,systems of the ,world71 would have equally well served the purpose of exhibiting an ,aryan religion at a low stage of development1 and held by a people not thoroughly compacted into a nation4 ,the religion of the ,teutons has the advantage for our study over these others1 that it remained longer unsuppressed by ,christianity1 and in its ,scandinavian branch put forth a vigorous original growth in comparatively recent times4 ,the latest paganism which flourished in ,europe1 it is also the religion of our ancestors1 on which the ,christianity of the ,northern lands was grafted1 and many a survival of which may still be recognised in our own land4 ,it therefore possesses for us even in itself considerable interest4 ,footnote #a3 ,lectures on the ,origin and ,growth of ,religion as illustrated by ,celtic ,heathendom1 #ahhf4 ,of the ancient ,germans1 of the dwellers in the basins of the ,rhine and the ,danube1 we have accounts by ,csar and by ,tacitus4#b ,after this there is a dearth of information2 the ,christian missionaries to the ,germans thought it their duty to cover the former beliefs and rites of their converts in oblivion1 and abstained from giving information about them4 ,what we know is drawn from ,church writers4 ,the ,eddas belong to a much more developed stage of ,teutonic life2 they tell their own tale1 which will be noticed in its turn4 ,footnote #b3 ,csar1 ,b4 ,gall4 vi4 #ba4 ,tacitus1 ,germania4 ,the early ,germans dwelt in scattered settlements surrounded by the great forests and marshes which then covered ,central ,europe4 ,every one has read the description of the brave and warlike people of whom the ,romans justly stood so much in awe1 and knows about their fierce blue eyes and their fair hair1 their tall stature1 their battle-cries and charges1 their hardy habits and strict morals4 ,as the ,roman writers describe them1 they are by no means savages4 ,they do not live in towns1 but migrate from one spot to another1 the community cultivating the land it takes possession of1 on a system of common ownership with rotation of occupants4 ,the women did the hard work1 ,tacitus says2 the men spent their time in the chase and in fighting4 ,they had an organisation beyond that of the village1 being arranged in what we may call hundreds and shires1 each district having to furnish so many men for war1 electing its own heads and holding meetings for various purposes4 ,amidst these local and tribal divisions they did not forget that they were a nation different from other nations1 and invasion found them a united people4 ,the religious expression of this is to be found in the legend which represents the three great divisions of the nation as descended alike from the god ,mannus1 son of the earth-born ,tuisco2 hymns were sung to the latter as the father of the ,german race4 ,it was by hymns that this people remembered things which were important4 ,the ,early ,german ,gods4--,there is a national god1 then2 and other gods of whom ,tacitus tells us are national too1 not local or tribal4 ,the tribes to the south of the ,baltic worship ,herthus1 which1 ,tacitus says1 is their name for ,terra ,mater1 ,mother ,earth4 ,the other gods he mentions are called by ,roman names4 ,they worship ,mercury1 he says1 as their principal god2 on certain days they worship him with human sacrifices4 ,they also worship ,mars and ,hercules with animal victims2 and a particular tribe1 the ,suevi1 worship ,isis4 ,csar says the ,germans worship the sun1 and ,vulcan1 and the moon4 ,tacitus mentions other ,german gods2 the two statements are both true4 ,tacitus gives the ,german gods ,roman names according to a common practice of antiquity1 which has been the source of much confusion2 we shall see afterwards how the ,romans identified the gods of ,greece also with those of ,rome4 ,the equation which ,tacitus gives of the ,german gods with ,latin ones is still in daily use in the names of the days of the week4 ,the ,romans applied the names of the planets1 which were the names of their own gods1 to the days of the week as early as the first ,christian century2 and in ,germany the days were called after the ,german gods supposed to answer to the ,roman gods in question4 ,half ,europe to this day calls the days of the week after the ,roman1 and the other half after the ,german gods4 ,we give the ,latin names with the modern ,french and over against them the ,english1 in which the names of the ,german gods appear more clearly than in modern ,german3-- ,dies ,solis1 the ,sun's day,sunday4 7,the ,french ,dimanche is from ,dominicus1 the ,lord's ,day47 ,dies ,lun 7,lundi7,monday or ,moon's day4 ,dies ,martis 7,mardi7,tuesday1 the day of ,tiw or ,ziu4 ,dies ,mercurii 7,mercredi7,wednesday1 the day of ,wodan4 ,dies ,jovis 7,jeudi7,thursday1 the day of ,thor4 ,in ,german this is ,donnerstag1 the day of ,donar,thor4 ,dies ,veneris 7,vendredi7,friday1 the day of ,freya4 ,dies ,saturni retains the ,latin god's name in our ,saturday4 7,the ,french ,samedi is derived from ,sabbath47 ,these ,teutonic names for the days of the week are common to all the branches of ,teutonic speech1 and must have a high antiquity4 ,they tell us what gods the ,germans had in early times1 and to what ,roman gods these were believed to correspond2 but it would be a vain endeavour to attempt to deduce from this1 or indeed from any early information we possess on the subject1 the origin and nature of these gods4 ,from ,grimm's laborious study of the question 7,german ,mythology1 vol4 i47 we gather that it is a matter mainly of speculation what it was in ,wodan that led the ,romans to identify him with their ,mercury4 ,thor1 who is identified with ,jupiter1 was probably a sky-god1 while ,tiw or ,ziu 7whom etymology identifies with ,zeus1 not ,mars7 was a god of war1 and ,freya1 like ,venus1 had to do with female beauty4 ,we come to know more of these gods when we find them in the ,eddas1 but it is scarcely legitimate to fill in the ,south ,german gods of the first century from the ,north ,german gods of the same names of the eleventh or twelfth4 ,we reserve1 therefore1 our description of the ,german gods till we come to the ,northern mythology4 ,the ,roman writers do not furnish any accurate idea of the working religion of the ,germans of their day4 ,csar says they were not so much under the guidance of priests as the ,gauls were1 and that they were not greatly addicted to sacrifice2 neither statement can be received without scrutiny4 ,tacitus idealises the untutored savage as ,rousseau does1 in order to rebuke the vices of a luxurious civilisation2 but his statements of actual facts may be trusted4 ,knowledge recently acquired of early forest-cults disposes us to trust him when he speaks1 as he does more than once1 of the peculiar sacredness the ,germans attached to woods and groves4 ,he is idealising when he says1 ,they did not confine their gods in walls nor represent them under the likeness of men1 being led thereto by considering the greatness of the heavenly beings4 ,a few centuries later at least we find ,christian bishops busy destroying temples of ,german heathenism and burning images found in them4 ,undoubtedly1 however1 the great sanctuary of a district was frequently1 as he represents1 in the recesses of a wood4 ,under a mighty tree a tribe would hold its meetings and sit in judgment and in council2 and there were sacred groves in which no human foot might stray1 where the god was supposed to dwell1 where great sacrifices both of animal and of human victims took place1 where the boughs were hung with the bones of former sacrifices which in war were carried forth at the head of the tribe as its sacred standards4 ,this was done by the priests1 who accompanied the host to battle1 and were charged at such a time with the infliction of all necessary punishments1 since they represented the god who was supposed to be personally present as commander4 ,the priests had to work the auguries when consulted on matters of state2 on private matters the paterfamilias might do this himself4 ,the priests also had charge of the sacred white horses1 by whose neighing the will of the deity became known4 ,several women are also mentioned as having enjoyed the reputation of sacred personages2 and even in their wives they considered that there was a certain holiness and inspiration4 ,to judge from ,tacitus and from other writers of the first ,christian centuries1 there was little system in the religion of ,germany in those days2 the gods were not organised in a divine family1 the priests were not a caste like the ,druids of ,france and ,britain1 and religious practice was loose and variable4 ,it must also be remembered that what foreign writers reported on the subject was connected rather with national and official cults than with popular local observances4 ,of the latter there was an abundant growth2 a distinguished foreign writer might not know about it1 but the evidence of it survives in various forms which are only now being seriously studied4 ,to know the practical religion of early ,germany we have to consult the village festival and legend 7as has been done by ,mannhardt in his ,wald- und ,feld-kulte and ,mr4 ,frazer in ,the ,golden ,bough1 and many a student of folklore71 which1 though now apparently meaningless1 were once the serious religious observance and doctrine of the peasantry4 ,the peasant carried his wishes and prayers to the familiar wishing-well1 and presented offerings to the spirit of the well by throwing them into the water or hanging them on the surrounding trees4 ,the fairy rather than far-off ,wodan was looked to for good fortune2 the rite of the fabulous village hero1 with its quaint immemorial usages1 roused more enthusiasm than the stately public ceremonial4 ,another side of the mind of early ,germany is to be gathered from the heroic legends and the fairy tales1 many of the elements of which1 we are assured1 were even then in existence4 ,were these legends formed by a process of degradation2 did they begin with telling about the gods1 and were they afterwards applied to heroes and princes and common men8 ,or was the process in the opposite direction from this2 were the stories1 first of all1 those of human warriors1 their wars and loves1 and did they then become mixed up with solar and celestial ideas8 ,were the fairy tales originally stories of the gods1 and did they by popular and familiar treatment fall below the dignity of their original themes till they came to be a debased and broken-down mythology8 or were they at first stories about beasts and about clever tricks1 such as savages love to tell1 and did they rise to something more dignified1 till in some of them we may trace the stories of the gods8 ,it is not necessary that we should answer these questions1 which carry us back to an earlier time than that with which we are concerned2 but any one who knows the tales1 and will try to realise the state of mind of those who received them not as fancy but as serious fact1 will know something of the religion of early ,germany2 of the strange beings1 fairies1 dwarfs1 magicians1 talking animals1 animated sun and moon and winds1 by which the ,german believed himself to be surrounded4 ,later ,german ,religion4--,in ,southern ,germany the introduction of ,christianity early put an end to any development of ,teutonic religion which might have taken place there4 ,the old faith1 however1 still maintained itself in more ,northern latitudes4 ,it was brought to ,britain by the ,german invaders1 continued there till the seventh century1 and was brought in again in a more ,northern form by the ,norsemen1 who in their turn gradually deserted ,thor and ,odin for the white ,christ4#c ,bede tells hardly anything of the paganism which had been the religion of ,england a century before he wrote2 in this he is like other ,christian teachers who might have told but did not4 ,but though it came to an end in ,england1 ,teutonic religion continued to prevail in the countries from which the invaders had come4 ,in ,frisia in the eighth century we hear of a goddess ,hulda1 a kind goddess1 as her name implies1 who sends increase to plants and is a patroness of fishing4 ,a god called ,fosete1 or ,forsete 7,forseti in modern ,icelandicchairman71 identified both with ,odin and with ,balder1 was worshipped in ,heligoland2 he had a sacred well there1 from which water had to be drawn in silence4 ,there are temples1 often in the middle of a wood1 with priestly incumbents1 and rich endowments1 both of lands and treasure2 and human sacrifice in various forms is said to have been in use4 ,idols are mentioned1 even 7at ,upsala in ,sweden7 a trinity of idols2 but this is what ,church writers would naturally impute to heathens1 and the statement is discredited4 ,no ,teutonic idol has survived2 the loss to art may not be great1 but such a relic would have settled the controversy4 ,footnote #c3 ,kingsley's ,hereward the ,wake4 ,iceland4--,teutonic paganism reached its highest development in ,iceland4 ,of this branch of it alone is there a literature1 for many of the sagas are the fruit of a literary movement in ,iceland anterior to the establishment of ,christianity2 and the historian ,ari1 who wrote within a century after that event1 gives careful information of the earlier state of affairs4 ,the reader of ,burnt ,njal sees that among the ,icelanders life was short and precarious4 ,with the spirit of adventure1 which led them to be constantly setting out on warlike and piratical expeditions1 they combined a strong tendency to local quarrels1 which filled up their life at home with a constant series of blood-feuds4 ,these latter are gone about in a methodical and business-like way2 custom sanctions them1 the meetings of the popular assembly do not seek to suppress or punish them if only they are conducted according to the rules4 ,no public authority had as yet arisen to carry out the law between one household and another2 the avenger has his recognised place and duty4 ,society is patriarchal as in other ,aryan communities2 each family is a community of blood-kindred for mutual defence and also for worship4 ,the leading cult of ,icelandic religion was the domestic worship of ancestors1 conducted by the head of the household4 ,the dead were buried in knolls or burrows near the dwelling1 and their spirits were thought to inhabit these places2 they are said to die into the hill4 ,altars are erected and sacrifices offered there2 the blood of the victim poured out upon the ground is supposed to be enjoyed by them4 ,these knolls became the sacred places of their district1 and many a belief existed about these quiet neighbours and the help they afforded to the living4 ,elves they were called1 and they were thought of as a cleanly and kindly race4 ,the spirits of bad men1 on the contrary1 lived an uneasy life1 as demons1 and were the workers of mischief4 ,along with this belief in the spirits of the dead as inhabiting the burial hill of the household1 there is another conception1 namely1 that the dead go to a distant region of the unseen world4 ,in ,homer also these two conceptions are combined4 ,the ,icelandic burial rites are founded on the latter view4 ,the departed is going on a long journey1 and his friends escort him as far as they can2 shoes are bound on his feet1 the ,hel-shoes1 for ,hel is the name of the region of the dead4 ,gifts are given to him2 horses1 male and female attendants1 hawks and hounds1 are burned with him on the pyre1 and his wife voluntarily accompanies him2 all these he is to have with him in the country beyond4 ,in addition to the domestic cult we have that of local objects2 holy wells1 waterfalls1 groves1 stones are worshipped4 ,mother ,earth is called on1 so is ,thunder1 so is ,heaven4 ,but besides these minor worships there is the public one1 connected with a large tribe or with a king's court4 ,a temple on the same plan as a large dwelling-house forms a place of meeting and of sacrifice1 an asylum1 and a place of oaths and covenants4 ,on a table in front of the high seat stands the bowl which1 filled with blood and along with certain sticks1 forms a means of divination4 ,a gold ring also lies there1 which a man puts on when he is about to swear an oath1 and which the priest puts on at meetings4 ,the priest has the duty of keeping up the building and property of the temple and of maintaining the sacrifices4 ,at the latter various rites are done with the blood of victims1 and those present feast on the flesh and drink toasts4 ,the first cup is for ,wodan1 various other gods are celebrated1 and there is a cup of remembrance for the departed4 ,sacrifices are offered for the crops1 for victory1 for any great object on which the community is bent4 ,in this ritual there is no evidence of any idols4 ,though the ,icelanders are not without art1 the great gods have not yet perhaps assumed to their minds such definite figures as to be thus set forth3 no ,homer has placed them clear before the inward eye4 ,the rites are bloody1 the altar has ever anew to be made to shine with the blood of victims4 ,human sacrifices are only resorted to in times of great common danger1 as a terrible last resort2 the god to whom the human victim is devoted is moved by the bloodshed to avert his anger1 or to make greater exertions for his people4 ,bloodshed forms the strongest of all bonds4 ,to link themselves together in an indissoluble brotherhood1 two friends mingle their blood on the ground and then each of them treads on it4 ,the shedding of human blood at the launching of a ship or at the laying of the foundation of a building is also known4 ,savage and cruel as this religion is1 there are signs that it is softening1 and that some of its darker rites are beginning to admit of commutation4 ,when ,christianity approaches1 the ,icelanders feel that it must make a great change1 and that some of the cruelties which they regard as the good old customs1 will have to be laid aside4 ,we hear of the stipulation being made that if they receive baptism they shall not be required to give up the removal of unpromising children nor the eating of horseflesh4 ,the ,eddas1 in which ,scandinavian mythology reaches its ultimate form1 seem to belong to a higher plane of human life than the religion we have described1 and it has appeared to many scholars of late years that they cannot be regarded as a pure product of paganism1 but are in great part influenced by ,christianity both in matter and in sentiment4 ,the older ,edda1 written in verse1 is said to have been collected by ,smund ,sigfusson the learned1 one of the early ,christian priests of ,iceland1 who lived about the eleventh century4 ,the other ,edda is in prose2 it is a collection made about two centuries later4 ,the form given to the myths in these collections is due to the ,skalds1 who flourished in ,iceland in the early ,middle ,ages2 but the legends themselves are older4 ,nothing is known precisely about their origin or early diffusion4 ,the ,eddas may be compared in many respects with the ,homeric poems4 ,as in the latter1 the gods form a family1 the members of which come together to a certain place for meetings1 while individually they have their own adventures1 their loves1 their jealousies1 their jokes1 their tricks4 ,in the ,eddas too we find that the gods are not1 strictly speaking1 eternal2 they succeeded an older race of gods1 and their turn too may come to pass away4 ,they are called sir1 which is the plural of ,as4 ,the etymology of this is uncertain2 compare the ,sanscrit ,asura1 said to mean the living or breathing one4 ,the sir are spoken of in later times1 not in the ,eddas1 as if they had been a race of warriors2 they are said to have come in to ,scandinavia and got the better of those who lived there before1 because they worshipped a superior set of gods4#d ,an historic reminiscence may lurk here4 ,before the sir there were giants1 and the earth with all its parts is made of the body of one of these giants1#e whom the new race superseded as governors of the world4 ,but the giants are still there and their spirit is unchanged2 there is a danger of their interfering to subvert the rule of their successors4 ,footnote #d3 ,see a similar statement about the ,incas1 chapter vi4 ,footnote #e3 ,compare ,purusha in the ,rigveda4 ,there are other cosmogonic myths besides that of the division of the giant ,ymir4 ,one is on this wise4 ,ere this world began1 there was on one side ,niflheim1 the land of mist and cold1 on the other side ,muspelheim1 the region of fire2 between these two lay ,ginnungagap1 the north side of it frozen1 the south side glowing hot1 and life originated by the meeting1 in one way or another1 of the heat and cold4 ,there are very primitive myths of the shaping of man out of two pieces of wood1 of ,night and ,day as drivers of chariots and horses1 of the sun and moon fleeing from wolves1 and so on4 ,a more poetic conception is the division of the world into ,asgard1 the garden of the sir2 ,midgard1 the world of man2 and ,utgard1 the world outside4 ,in the first ,odin has his seat ,hlidskjalf2 when he sits in it he can see and understand whatever is happening in any part of the broad world 7is he the sun1 then874 ,the third region is generally called ,jtunheim1 the home of the giants1 an icy region at the extreme part of the habitable world4 ,a bridge exists from the dwelling of men to that of the gods2 it is called ,bifrst1 and is the rainbow4 ,the gods have various places of meeting2 but their principal seat is under a great tree1 the ash4 ,yggdrasil#f is a tree worthy of the gods2 it is a world-tree2 its roots extend to all the worlds2 its branches spread even over heaven4 ,under it is the fountain ,mimir1 spring of wisdom1 from which ,odin drinks daily4 ,near it is the dwelling of the ,norns1 fates or weird sisters1 who establish laws and uphold them by their judgments1 and allot to every man his span of life4 ,they are named ,urd the past1 ,verdandi the present1 and ,skuld the future4 ,daily do they water the ash from the spring to keep its leaves fresh1 and help it to contend with its numerous foes1 for a great serpent is continually gnawing at its root1 and it has also other troubles4 ,this myth of ,yggdrasil is the apotheosis of ,teutonic tree-worship1 and is richly suggestive4#g ,footnote #f3 ,yggdrasil,odin's horsethe gallows4 ,is it the cross8 ,footnote #g3 ,carlyle in his ,heroes1 p4 #ah1 draws out the spiritual significance of it and of ,norse mythology generally4 ,the ,gods of the ,eddas4--,we now come to the gods of the system4 ,odin is in the ,eddas the founder of the world as now constituted4 ,he has displaced the old formless race of gods1 and is the leader of a new and vigorous race now ruling in their stead4 ,the old scholars rationalised ,odin into a chief who had led a migration from ,asia to ,norway in early times4 ,he is the inventor of the art of writing by runes and the founder of poetry2 thus he has the aspect of a culture-hero2 that is to say1 of a man of advanced views who1 for the benefits he conferred on his people1 was exalted first to a hero and then to a god4 ,but the worship of ,odin or ,wodan is one of the earliest things we know about the ,german race4 ,he is the god of the ,south-,germans from the very first4 ,his earliest character is that of a storm-god4 ,whether his name is connected with the ,german wthen1 rage 7,scot4 wud7 or with the ,vedic ,vata1 who is a god of storm1 he is from the first an impetuous being4 ,the early myth of him is scarcely dead at this day2 the peasant hears him rushing through the woods at night4 ,that is the wild hunt of ,wodan1 he says2 the god is out with his followers1 and woe to him who gets in his way6 ,the early ,germans thought of him as a kind being who fulfilled the wishes of men1 and it was probably this side of his character that caused him to be identified with ,mercury4 ,in the ,eddic theology he is a patron of war1 as becomes the chief god of a warlike people4 ,he arranges battle and dispenses victory2 the heroes who fall in battle he receives into his heavenly army2 they live with him in ,valhalla or ,valhll1 the hall of choice4 ,odin chooses those who are to go there2 he is assisted in this by the ,valkyries or choice-maidens4 ,life in ,valhalla is a constant round of fighting1 the wounds of which are healed at once1 and feasting1 the materials for which are ever renewed4 ,odin1 like other great gods1 bears traces of low surroundings1 as if he had once lived among savages4 ,he can turn himself into an eagle or other animal to gain his object1 and he has engaged in disreputable adventures4 ,but he tends to improve1 and the ,eddas show him at his best4 ,here he is called the ,all-father1 the ,ruler of all1 who gave man a soul that shall never perish2 and we hear that he needs no food and takes no share himself in the feasts of the heroes4 ,all the righteous shall be with him in ,vingolf 7the same as ,valhalla71 but the wicked shall go to ,hel1 the kingdom of ,hel or ,hela1 the goddess of the under-world4 ,thor or ,donar1 ,thunder1 is said to be the mightiest of the gods2 he is identified1 as we saw1 with ,jove1 but he is a rougher and more primitive deity4 ,he drives in a chariot drawn by two goats1 and is possessed of three things which have wonderful properties4 ,the first is the hammer ,mjlnir1 which the ,frost- and ,mountain-giants cannot resist when he throws it2 the second is the belt of strength1 which makes him twice as strong when he puts it on2 and the third a pair of gauntlets with which he grasps his mallet4 ,many stories are told of his prowess1 of his conflicts with the giants1 who1 however1 give him a good deal of trouble with their cunning2 and of his catching the ,midgard serpent which surrounds the world at the bottom of the sea4 ,being a god of storm1 he forms a connection with agriculture1 and thus gains a more sedate aspect2 he has also to do with marriage1 and a hammer is used symbolically at ,icelandic weddings4 ,thor is only half-brother to the other sons of ,odin2 his mother was ,firgyn1 the earth2 the worships of ,odin and ,thor1 originally distinct1 seem to have been united at an early period4 ,the god ,tyr1 son of ,odin by a giantess1 is the ,eddic figure of the ,german ,tiw or ,ziu1 etymologically equivalent to ,zeus or ,jupiter1 but identified by the ,romans with ,mars4 ,his greatness belongs to early times2 he was then a sword-god1 and had an extensive worship in various parts of ,europe4 ,in the ,eddas he has scarcely any character1 and seldom takes a prominent part in the legend4 ,loki1 by etymology a fire-god 7,germ4 ,lhe1 ,scot4 ,lowe71#h is in one account the brother of ,odin1 in another his son by a giantess4 ,his character is fitful2 sometimes he acts a brotherly part by the gods and helps them out of their difficulties by clever devices1 and sometimes he provides entertainment for them2 but for the most part he is an embodiment of cunning and mischief2 his course is downwards1 he tends to become a being purely evil1 setting himself heartlessly against the wishes of the other gods1 and acting so as to imperil them and their world till they are obliged to cast him out of heaven4 ,he is thus a kind of ,lucifer or ,satan1 and like the ,christian devil1 his ultimate fate is to be bound till the end of the world shall arrive4 ,baldur1 the son of ,odin and ,frigga1 is the best and brightest of the gods4 ,like ,apollo1 he has to do with light1 and no pollution can come near him2 he has also to do with the administration of justice1 and pronounces sentences which can never be reversed4 ,heimdall also is a light and gracious god2 he is the warder of the sir1 and stays near the bridge ,bifrst4 ,of him it is told that he wants less sleep than a bird1 sees a hundred miles off by night or day1 and hears the grass grow on the ground and the wool on the sheep's back4 ,bragi is the god of poetry and eloquence1 the best of all skalds4 ,footnote #h3 ,the etymology is not perhaps correct1 but it suggested itself and influenced the view taken of this god1 in very early times4 ,of the goddesses1 ,frigga1 wife of ,odin1 stands first1 an august matron of mysterious knowledge1 whom even gods consult1 and by whom men swear2 she has also to do with marriage1 and the childless appeal to her4 ,etymologically she is scarcely to be distinguished from ,freya1 wife of ,odur1 who1 however1 is lighter in character1 and is rather a goddess of love4 ,the goddesses in the ,eddas are more shadowy figures than the gods2 there are others1 and an attempt is made to reckon up twelve of them to answer to the twelve chief gods1 but their names are taken from the qualities they represent1 and they have little reality4 ,the story of the death of ,baldur1 brought about by the evil mind of ,loki in defiance of the whole divine family1 sounds the note of tragedy in the divine family of the ,eddas4 ,the gods themselves suffer1 and are unable to retrieve the misfortune which has come upon them4 ,with one accord they try to get ,baldur brought back from the under-world1 but they are foiled by the same agency of evil which carried him off4 ,with the death of ,baldur the gods feel that their rule1 which1 we saw1 had a beginning1 and with it the world they govern1 for the two are inseparably bound up with each other1 is coming to an end4 ,the gods perish in the ruin of the world2 and this is well1 for sin cleaves to them and to their house1 and they are not fit to endure4 ,ragnark1 the twilight of the gods1 comes on2 the universe is burnt up in a mighty conflagration1 and while there are abodes of bliss and abodes of misery where some survive1 the universe as a whole is entirely changed1 and a milder race of gods will rule over a better world4 ,if this mythology were found to be of native ,scandinavian growth1 it would prove that ,teutonic religion was capable of lofty development1 and would throw back an interesting light upon its previous history4 ,here1 it has been maintained1 we see the ,teutonic faith rising to monotheism4 ,odin has among his other titles that of ,all-father2 he is rising above the other gods to a position of supremacy1 which will fit him1 if the process were allowed1 as it was not1 to advance somewhat further1 to represent pure deity and to attract to himself an undivided reverence4 ,here also we find a religion which was formerly a rude intercourse between barbarous men and savage gods1 clothing itself with an ideal element4 ,as the ,greeks found religion in beauty and the ,romans in utility1 so did the ,germans find it at last in pathos4 ,they attain to the conception of suffering deity2 in ,baldur a god falls victim to malice and wickedness1 and the sorrow of his fall takes possession of the whole of heaven4 ,thus pain and sacrifice are hallowed1 for man by the history of the gods1 and his intercourse with them leads him into heights and depths unknown before4 ,but the conviction is now establishing itself that this phase of ,teutonic religion is borrowed from ,christianity1 which was then seriously menacing the existence of the old faith1 and that it is the shadow of their approaching extinction by the new religion1 which occasions among the ,northern gods this feeling of sadness4 ,they feel themselves falling from their position2 they are to be gods no longer1 but are to yield to the world-order1 based on a deeper law than theirs1 which called them into being and now is preparing their dismissal4 ,distinctly ,christian ideas enter the old world of gods2 the ideas of sin1 of sacrifice1 of a final judgment1 of a good god who dies1 of an evil spirit who1 after prevailing for a time1 is chained up to await his doom4 ,that a sense of guilt rests on the gods shows that they are abandoning their rule1 and they acknowledge that their successors will be better than they have been4 ,,books ,,recommended ,grimm's ,german ,mythology1 translated by ,stallybrass1 #d vols4 ,grimm's ,fairy ,tales4 ,mr4 ,lang writes an ,introduction to the ,english translation in ,bell's edition4 ,mannhardt1 ,germanische ,mythen1 #aheh1 and ,wald- und ,feld-kulte1 #ahge1 #gg4 ,for the later ,northern section1 ,vigfusson and ,powell's ,corpus ,poeticum ,boreale1 especially the ,excursus on ,religion1 i4 #dja4 ,dasent1 ,burnt ,njal2 or ,life in ,iceland at the end of the tenth century4 ,mallet's ,northern ,antiquities4 ,thorpe1 ,northern ,mythology4 ,de la ,saussaye1 ,the ,religion of the ,teutons1 #aijb1 the most comprehensive statement of the whole subject4 ,ralston1 ,songs of ,russian ,people1 and ,russian ,folk ,tales4 ,simrock1 ,handb4 der deutschen ,mythologie4 ,r4 ,m4 ,meyer1 ,altgermanische ,religionsgeschichte1 #aiaj4 ,sir ,john ,rhys1 ,oxford ,proceedings1 p4 #bja1 sqq4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,greece ,the history of ,europe begins in ,greece4 ,it is there that the ,aryans in ,europe first feel the touch of the arts and civilisation of the ,east1 and are stirred up to new activities2 and the life thus quickened in ,greece transmitted its spark to ,italy1 and so to the whole of ,europe4 ,people and ,land4--,there is no direct evidence that the ,greeks came to their country from elsewhere2 and the theory of a ,grco-,italic period1 in which the future inhabitants of ,greece and ,italy lived together somewhere to the north of both these countries and made common advances in civilisation1 is now abandoned4 ,there are1 however1 faint indications that the ,greeks spread over their country from the north southwards4 ,what people dwelt in it before them it is impossible to say2 the ,pelasgi and ,leleges1 whom they themselves conceived to have preceded them1 left behind them no other trace than that belief4 ,when first we descry this land in the faint dawn of history1 it is tenanted by the people whose name it bears1 touched only by the ,thracians to the north1 and the ,illyrians to the west1 these also being ,aryan races4 ,though the ,greeks are on both sides of the ,egean1 which seems from the earliest times to have connected rather than divided them1 their centre of gravity is in the mainland of ,hellas1 including the ,peloponnesus4 ,in this country many a migration no doubt took place before the people was finally arranged in it2 and some of these migrations are faintly known to history4 ,when once the settlement had been accomplished1 the nature of the country did much to fix the institutions of the people and the mutual relations of their various communities4 ,large tribes coming into the narrow valleys and sequestered coasts of ,greece necessarily broke up into small cantons1 each of which1 though not cut off from intercourse with its neighbours1 was free to develop by itself4 ,the country is said by travellers to be the most beautiful in the world4 ,the branch of the ,aryans which settled in it may have brought scanty acquirements with them1 but they brought great capacities4 ,the ,greeks had an unrivalled talent for doing what they saw others do1 in a much better way1 and so making it their own4 ,they had an inborn disposition to what is reasonable4 ,that they had a deep-seated inclination to what is harmonious and beautiful is proved by their first great work of art1 their language4 ,of that language there were several dialects in the earliest times2 the principal ones being the broad ,doric of the peninsula and the colonies1 and the softer ,ionic of which the classical language is a branch4 ,but the ,greeks of all dialects could understand each other1 and regarded as barbarians those without who spoke other tongues4 ,thus from the first this people was much divided1 but was also held together by strong bonds4 ,earliest ,religion--,functional ,deities4--,the religion the ,greeks brought with them to their country was undoubtedly that which we have discussed in our chapter on the ,aryans4 ,the primitive elements of ,aryan religion all reappear in ,greece2 the combination of many small household worships with the supra-family worship of a great god or gods1 the few great gods who are surrounded by a multitude of spirits1 some of these also growing into gods1 the recognition of spiritual presences in many a natural object1 living or dead4 ,all this we find in early ,greece4 ,the whole nation believes in ,zeus2 to all he is the ,lord of heaven1 the giver of rain1 the fertiliser of mother earth1 the supreme ruler in earth as well as in heaven1 the father of the gods as well as of men4 ,this is the first bond of unity in ,greek religion4 ,but every family1 every village1 every town has its own peculiar worship which is to be found nowhere else4 ,that worship may be addressed to ,zeus with a local title2 each circle of men has its own particular ,zeus1 who is their protector and ruler2 and thus ,zeus has many forms and names4 ,in each community there is also the worship of the goddess of the hearth 7,hestia72 each household has its own ,hestia1 and carries on the worship which in other ,aryan peoples is connected with the memory of departed ancestors4 ,but the family or the township has also other objects of worship4 ,there are other gods besides ,zeus who are connected with heaven1 such as ,apollo and ,heracles4 ,there are gods connected with each activity of the people4 ,artemis is goddess of hunting1 ,aphrodite of the peaceful life of nature and of gardens1 and also of love4 ,poseidon1 the sea-god1 was also worshipped inland1 and was perhaps originally a god of horses and oxen2 ,hephstus was the god of workers in metal1 ,ares the god of battle4 ,these are in their origin what are called functional deities1 that is to say1 gods who are present in the function with which they are associated1 and of which they constitute the ideal or sacred side1 and who have no existence apart from it4 ,the gods of ,greece in fact had their origin in that view of nature as animated in every part1 which the ,greeks shared with other branches of the ,aryans1 and with early man generally4 ,like the ,latins1 the ,greeks at first saw a mystery1 a spirit1 in every part of life2 each fountain had its nymph1 each forest glade its dryad2 and they felt the gods to be returning to fresh life when spring came with its flowers4 ,each of their own activities also had its unseen genius4 ,each enclosure for flocks had its ,apollo1 him of the sheepfold1 who protected the flock and the shepherd2 and each boundary stone its ,hermes1 him of the boundary1 who also watched over flocks and took charge of marches and of paths4 ,growth of ,greek ,gods4--,such beings1 however1 are something less than gods2 and the ,greeks1 long before we know them1 had made the step which the ,romans scarcely made at all1 from the spirit to the god1 from the vague unseen power behind an object or an act1 to the free being conceived with human attributes and feelings1 who can be the patron of a community1 and afford help in all its concerns4 ,not all the spirits rise into gods2 it depends on circumstances which of them are selected for that advance2 but the choice once made1 their rise was rapid4 ,as the gods grew into personality and definite character1 though the function out of which they first sprang was not forgotten1 other functions were added to them2 and as a god grew in power and consideration1 his worship was set up in new places1 where other titles and attributes awaited him4 ,the local god might be identified with the great god from a distance4 ,the god of a powerful community1 as ,athene 7she of ,athens71 might be adopted wherever the influence of that community extended2 thus new gods arose and old ones took local form4 ,when a change took place in the habits of the people1 it was followed by a corresponding change in the character of their gods4 ,when agriculture comes in1 the gods have to take notice of it1 the pastoral god turns agricultural1 and even the huntress ,artemis becomes an encourager of fertility4 ,when navigation rises in importance1 a number of the gods1 ,poseidon at their head1 become sea-gods4 ,stones1 ,animals1 ,trees4--,in ,greece the worship of the gods soon superseded that of objects not possessing any human character4 ,traces of such lower worships survive1 it is true1 in the later religion in great abundance1 but they have no influence in its development2 they only tell their story of the otherwise forgotten past4 ,stones were worshipped in early ,greece4 ,not to speak of the cromlechs and dolmens1 which are found there as in all parts of ,asia and ,europe1 and the meaning of which is so little understood1 stones were preserved as sacred objects in various places1 even to late times1 and had no doubt originally been worshipped4 ,the god ,hermes was represented in every period by a slab of stone set upright1 a human head and other human features being indicated on it4 ,even in later ,greece1 boards or blocks of wood were in some places exhibited on rare occasions1 which were the oldest images of the ,artemis or the ,aphrodite there adored4 ,though for the public eye splendid statues had taken the place of the goddess1 the original image was still thought to have a sanctity all its own4 ,we also notice that the gods of ,greece are associated with animals4 ,zeus is a bull in ,crete2 he has also other transformations3 ,pan is a goat2 ,artemis is a bear in some provinces1 elsewhere a doe4 ,the ,athene of the ,acropolis is a serpent4 ,apollo is sometimes connected with the mouse4 ,along with these identifications of the gods with animals we may mention the animal emblems with which they are generally represented4 ,the eagle is the bird of ,zeus1 the owl of ,athene1 the peacock of ,hera1 the dove of ,aphrodite4 ,in this connection we cannot help thinking of the sacred animals of the ,egyptian nomes2 and the question may be asked whether such animals must be taken to be in ,greece also the signs of a primitive totemism8 ,of the tree-worship of ,greece much has been written of late4 ,the oak was the sacred tree of ,zeus2 he must have been conceived as living in it2 he gave oracles at ,dodona by the rustling of the branches of the tree4 ,athene has the olive1 ,apollo the palm1 and also the laurel4 ,after the introduction of agriculture rustic cults arose1 in which the inhabitants of a village followed in sympathetic rites the fortunes of the gods who live in the life of the plants in summer and die with them in autumn4 ,the god of the ,semites is generally a changeless being1 who himself conducts and orders the changes of the seasons1 but in ,greece we find gods whom man can accompany in the tragedy of their fall and the triumph of their rise4 ,we shall see afterwards that the rustic worships of ,demeter and ,proserpine were brought forward at a critical period in ,greek religion1 to supply an element which was much required in it4 ,these worships1 similar1 as ,mr4 ,frazer suggests1#a to those still kept up by our own peasantry1 were doubtless of immemorial antiquity in ,greece1 though in the earlier period they are little heard of4 ,footnote #a3 ,golden ,bough1 vol4 i4 p4 #cef4 ,thus the ,greek gods grew up in the period before ,greece was awakened to new thoughts by contact with foreign peoples4 ,many harsh and cruel rites were no doubt practised2 human sacrifice1 heard of even in later times in remote parts of the country1 was not unknown1 and practices were connected with the service of stern gods and goddesses which1 though literature is silent about them1 left their mark on custom4 ,zeus and one or two other gods are essentially moral1 and some duties were strongly encouraged by religion1 such as those of hospitality and strict regard for boundaries1 of faithfulness to pledge1 of respect for strangers4 ,but many of the gods are too closely interwoven with external nature to be very decidedly moral powers2 they are like the plants and animals1 neither good nor bad but natural4 ,greek ,religion is ,local4--,what strikes us most strongly about this early ,greek religion is its entire want of system and its local and disintegrated character4 ,every town1 every family1 has its own religion4 ,there is no central authority4 ,new gods are constantly springing up2 the old ones are constantly receiving new titles and forming new unions with each other or with newer gods4 ,the god of one place is in another only a hero2 the same god is represented in different places in entirely different ways1 and entirely different legends are attached to his name4 ,thus the ,greeks have from the first a mythology singularly extensive and inconsistent1 and their worship also varies in each place4 ,there is no general religion1 but only a multitude of local ones4 ,in story and in rite old and new are mixed up together1--what is local and what is imported1 what is savage in its nature and origin1 and what is on the side of progress4 ,this is a state of matters which lies in every land before the beginning of organised religion4 ,rites and legends are everywhere of local growth1 and the attempt to frame the various rites and legends into a consistent ritual and a systematic account of the gods1 comes later4 ,in ,greece1 as ,mr4 ,robertson ,smith observes1 the earlier state of matters continued longer and influenced the national faith more deeply than elsewhere4 ,as the ,greeks never succeeded in forming a central political system1 so they never attained to unity in worship4 ,no national temple arose1 the priesthood of which had power to frame the national religion1 to lay down rules for sacrifice1 or to edit sacred texts4 ,the ,greeks were less than any other people under the sway of religious authority4 ,while local practice was fixed1 and custom and tradition declared plainly enough what was to be regarded as religious duty1 belief was quite free to grow as circumstances or the growth of culture dictated4 ,a religion in such a position1 and among a people of lively imagination and specially gifted in the direction of art1 must necessarily receive its forms rather from the artist than the priest4 ,artistic ,tendency4--,thus we can discern from the first the direction which ,greek religion must take4 ,the ,greeks shaped their gods earlier and more freely than other peoples1 and went on shaping them till no further advance could be made in that way4 ,long before ,homer they had been making their gods such as free men1 and men endowed with a sense of beauty1 could worship4 ,they were not content to worship lifeless objects1 but must have living beings4 ,they were not content to worship beings without reason1 they must worship reasonable beings4 ,they were not inclined to regard the natural objects they worshipped with terror or self-prostration1 but rather in a spirit of genial friendliness and sympathy as being something like themselves4 ,and so they turned their gods into men4 ,the anthropomorphising tendency1 present as we have seen in other lands and at much earlier periods1 present indeed wherever religion is a growing power1 had freer play with them than with any other people4 ,thus the spirits of the fountain and the tree1 and of every part of nature that was worshipped1 took human form4 ,at first1 no doubt1 the nymph was in the fountain1 the dryad in the oak1 but as time went on the human maiden cast off her mosses and her bark and leaves1 and stood forth to imagination a being wholly human1 dwelling beside the fountain or the tree4 ,in the same way heaven becomes a great human father1 the sea an earth-shaking potentate drawn by dolphins over the waves1 the sun a mighty archer1 fire a lame craftsman 7from the flickering of flame87 whose smithy is underground where the volcanoes are4 ,and the figures once arrived at1 it was no hard task to spin out their stories and their relations with each other1 and to connect with them older tales1 as taste or fancy suggested4 ,the thorough humanisation of the gods1 the clothing of the gods in the highest types connected with free human society1 is the first great contribution made by this gifted race to the progress of religion4 ,receiving from the earlier world the same kind of gods as other nations did1 ,greece proceeded to treat them in a way of her own1 idealised and refined the parts of nature held divine1 and ascribed to them not only1 as all early races do1 human motives and human passions1 but also human beauty and wisdom and goodness4 ,whatever rude materials she received to work on1 either from the earlier dwellers on ,greek soil or from foreign lands1 she made them her own by transfiguring them into ideal men and women4 ,thus the ,greeks reached the position1 which they taught the world first in immortal poetry and then in immortal plastic art1 that man should not bow down to anything that is beneath him1 and that nature can only become fit to be worshipped by being idealised and made human4 ,an end was made to the dark imagination which was so apt to creep over all early religion1 that deity and humanity may be different and opposite2 that an object devoid of reason1 an object or an animal admired not for its goodness but for something about it which man cannot understand1 may be his god and have a claim to his allegiance4 ,god and man are of the same nature1 the ,greeks found2 to arrive at a true idea of a god we have to form1 on the basis of the natural object where he is supposed to dwell1 the image of an ideal man or woman4 ,this was a great step1 but in this conception of deity the ,greeks also laid up for themselves1 as we shall see1 many difficulties4 ,early ,eastern ,influences4--,our positive knowledge of ,greek history begins about the middle of the second millennium ,b4,c42 we have information of this period in the ruins of ,mycen and ,tiryns and other places4 ,these remains attest a political condition widely different from that of the patriarchal settlements of the period when the ,greeks were emerging from ,aryan barbarism2 very different also from the free city life which came afterwards4 ,the recent excavations have brought to light the palaces of kings1 built1 it is evident1 according to an ,eastern type1 and with arrangements for the burial and worship of dead potentates1 not unlike those of the pyramids4 ,the art is rude1 but shows large forces to have been at the command of those who directed it4 ,we have here1 therefore1 a state of matters such as that described in the ,homeric poems1 in which petty kings rule in many of the ,greek towns1 some of them being personages of great rank and power4 ,the movement in civilisation attested by these remains is admitted to be due to an impulse from the ,east2 but whether this impulse was imparted by the voyages of ,phenician discoverers and merchants1 or whether it came by land along the trade routes of ,asia ,minor and across the ,egean1 is uncertain4 ,it is in any case traceable to ,north ,syria1 where in the early part of the second millennium ,b4,c4 ,babylonian and ,egyptian influences met and gave rise to some rude civilisation4 ,greece was not conquered from the ,east1 but stirred to new life by the communication of ,eastern ideas4 ,greek religion was not much assisted1 or indeed much modified in any way1 by this movement4 ,the worship of ancestors which went on in the palaces was not contrary to ,greek sentiment1 perhaps not even much more elaborate than that sentiment required4 ,but this part of religion was not a growing thing in ,greece2 and the royal practices did not prevent it from dying gradually away in later times4 ,that any god was imported into ,greece at this time1 is not proved4 ,where ,greeks and ,phenicians met1 as in some of the islands1 a ,greek and an ,eastern god might be identified2 the worship of ,aphrodite and that of ,astarte were fused in this way in ,cyprus1 and ,aphrodite may thus have acquired some new characteristics even in ,greece4 ,this is not certain4 ,perhaps the most important thing to notice in this connection is that the new type of society at the royal courts may have furnished a model for the arrangement of the heavenly family when that arrangement came to be made4 ,the ,eastern influence came to an end in time1 and the pressure being removed1 the monarchies crumbled away1 the court worships were discontinued1 and ,greece was left free1 after this awaking to fuller life1 to pursue her own thoughts in her own fashion4 ,homer was regarded by the ,greeks who lived after him as the founder of their religion4 ,herodotus considers 7ii4 #ec7 that ,homer and ,hesiod lived four hundred years before his time1 and that it was they who framed a theogony for the ,greeks1 gave names to the gods1 assigned to them honours and arts1 and declared their several forms4 ,these writers accordingly formed a standard of religious belief2 we know that their works were the basis of the education of the ,greek1 and they thus provided an early bond of national unity4 ,the ,homeric poems are the outcome1 whether we regard them as the work of one singer or of two1 or of a whole school1 of long processes of growth4 ,the poetic art which makes them the delight of all mankind is not a first experiment1 but the ripe result of an elaborate method4 ,the stories and the wisdom they contain are brought together from many quarters by long accumulation4 ,and in the same way the accounts they give of the gods individually and of their relations to each other are not thrown together at haphazard1 but are the result of a work of unconscious art which must have been carried on for centuries before it issued in this form4 ,homer does not by any means repeat all the stories he knows about the gods4 ,he passes over many local myths1 especially those of the more repulsive order1 which were known for centuries after1 and undoubtedly existed in his day2 only what is worthy of a pious bard does he reproduce4 ,a pious bard1 however1 had considerable latitude2 and the phrase does not represent all that ,homer was4 ,he was an entertainer of the public at royal courts1 where a feast was incomplete without him 7,odyssey viii472 he had to produce his songs at banquets or in the open air at festivals2 what he gave had to be entertaining4 ,this could not but influence his choice of materials even when the gods were his theme4 ,he could not deal in what was most terrible about the gods1 nor could he enter into speculations or mysteries1 nor could he make use of a legend which1 though it had point for the locality it belonged to1 was not generally interesting4 ,what was powerful and dramatic1 what all men could understand1 what was curious and piquant1 what met the general sentiment1 that he would be led to adopt and to work up into a telling form2 he naturally sought after broad pictures1 amusing conversations1 simple and true emotions1 curious incidents connected with well-known characters4 ,religion1 it is plain1 could not gain in depth and intensity from the treatment of such poets2 many of the thoughts men had about the gods could not find expression in their lines4 ,but1 on the other hand1 we have the fact that the ,greeks accepted the ,homeric representation of their religion as the standard one2 not till it had existed for centuries were voices raised against it4 ,and this is not strange4 ,homer took away nothing from the religion of any ,greek2 no local worship was in any way infringed upon by him2 and on the other side he gave to the ,greek world1 whose belief consisted formerly in a multitude of disconnected or even inconsistent legends1 a united system of gods1 in which there was at that stage rest for the mind1 and for the imagination an inexhaustible spring of ideal beauty4 ,the ,homeric ,gods4--,what1 then1 is the religion of ,homer8 ,the gods are a set of beings not very unlike men2 they present a curious combination of human frailty with superhuman powers and virtues4 ,to speak first of the physical side of their nature1 the gods are far stronger than men1 their frame is huger1 their eye keener1 their voice louder2 like the sorcerer of savage times1 they can assume other shapes to gain their ends1 they can become invisible1 or they can travel very swiftly through the air4 ,yet1 on the other hand1 they can be wounded when they strive even with men2 accidents happen to them1 they require to eat and drink4 ,they eat1 it is true1 ambrosia1 and drink nectar1 which give immortality2 and they have in their veins not human blood but divine ichor4 ,it is the fact of their immortality that makes them different from men2 it has happened that a man obtained immortality and became thereby a god4 ,the line between gods and men may be crossed2 in former times it was crossed more frequently4 ,the gods entered into relations with mortals2 many of the heroes are of divine extraction1 and the gods are still interested in the royal houses they thus founded4 ,but such unions do not take place in the poet's time4 ,the world is growing less divine4 ,homer1 however1 looks further back than this1 and we find in him the belief1 found also in ,india and in ,iceland1 that an older and more savage race of gods once ruled1 whom the present dynasty conquered and dethroned4 ,of that older set was ,kronos1 the father of ,zeus1 and the ,titans1 who are now cast down to ,tartarus1 the nethermost region of all4 ,the world known to men was apportioned at the beginning of the present age to the three sons of ,kronos1 ,zeus obtaining the upper world1 including heaven1 which is at the top of ,mount ,olympus in ,thessaly2 ,poseidon the sea1 and ,hades the under-world1 above ,tartarus1 to which men go after death4 ,zeus rules in ,olympus4 ,he presides there over those gods who are at present in power4 ,he summons them to council1 he sits at meals with them4 ,they are a very human set of beings4 ,they are moved by ordinary human motives2 love and revenge1 jealousy and anger1 rule in their breasts4 ,they do not act from eternal principles1 but as men do1 from sudden impulses or from the desire of temporary advantages for themselves or for their favourites4 ,they even indulge in loose amours1 and are brought into ridiculous situations4 ,they laugh at each other2 the stronger god hurls the weaker out of ,olympus to the earth4 ,taking them together1 we do not find the ,olympians an impressive set of beings4 ,taking them1 however1 one by one1 we judge of them quite differently4 ,the individual gods represent lofty ideals and are not unworthy of worship4 ,whatever they were once1 powers of nature1 fetishes or men1 whatever village legends they have brought with them from their native place1 or whatever traits of savage life still cleave to them1 to the poet they are the embodiments of various moral excellences4 ,zeus1 father of gods and men1 combines in his character the attributes of righteousness and of kindness2 he is the founder of social order and the defender of suppliants1 he possesses all wisdom4 ,hera is the matron of fully unfolded beauty and matchless dignity2 ,apollo is the faithful son who carries out his father's counsel2 ,athene is the warrior-maiden skilled in battle but equipped with every kind of skill1 best counsellor and guide for the mortal whom she favours2 ,aphrodite is the goddess of love1 in whose girdle are contained all charms2 ,ares is the impetuous warrior1 ,hermes the trusty messenger1 of the heavenly circle2 ,hephstus1 the lame and awkward smith1 is the artificer for the gods of all manner of cunning work in metal4 ,around and under the ,olympians are many other deities2 such as ,hebe1 the budding girl1 and ,ganymede1 the youth born of human race but taken up to heaven for his beauty to minister to the gods at their banquets4 ,aphrodite is attended by the graces1 ,apollo by the ,muses1 and the world is not stripped by ,homer of its local deities1 although the chief deities now dwell aloft2 mountains1 rivers1 caves and isles of ocean1 all have their immortal occupants4 ,worship in ,homer4--,the gods being of such a nature1 what relations does man keep up with them1 and how do they affect his life8 ,worship follows the simple practice of the early world4 ,it is not priestly4 ,there are priests1 and they offer sacrifices regularly at the shrines of which they have charge1 but the king can sacrifice1 or the head of the house2 and while one or two temples are mentioned in the ,iliad1 sacrifice may be offered anywhere4 ,temples first appear in ,greece merely as shelters for images1 but in the ,iliad the god is generally worshipped not by means of an image but as himself directly present2 the need of temples has not yet arisen4 ,in the ,odyssey temples of the gods are spoken of as buildings no town could be without1 but this is less primitive4 ,sacrifice is a feast in which the god's portion of the viands is first offered to him1 and the worshippers then eat and drink to their hearts' content4 ,there is a detailed description of the proceedings in ,iliad i4 #def sqq4 ,here after the feast there is music2 ,all day long worshipped they the god with music1 singing the beautiful pan to the ,fardarter 7,apollo72 and his heart was glad to hear4 ,the gods appear manifest amongst us1 we read in the seventh book of the ,odyssey1 whensoever we offer glorious hecatombs1 and they feast by our side1 sitting at the same board4 ,there is nothing of the nature of an expiation about such a sacrifice2 it is simply the renewal of the bond between the god and those who look for his aid1 when a new enterprise is about to be undertaken or a solemn engagement is entered on4 ,prayers are very simple4 ,thus prays the wounded ,diomede to ,athene 7,iliad v4 #aae73 ,hear me1 daughter of gis-bearing ,zeus1 unwearied maiden6 ,if ever in kindly mood thou stoodest by my father in the heat of battle1 even so be thou kind to me1 ,athene6 ,grant me to slay this man1 and bring within my spear-cast him that took advantage to shoot me1 and boasteth over me6 ,as there are no bad gods1 good and evil are considered to be sent by the same beings4 ,thus there is a great deal of uncertainty in men's relations to the gods4 ,all men need the gods1 we read2 the ,homeric hero regards the companionship of a god as proper and necessary for his enterprises4 ,but some trouble must be taken in order to secure their favour4 ,they must not be neglected2 their signs must be attended to2 above all1 a man must be reverent and must studiously practise moderation in his conduct and in his ways of thinking2 else the gods may easily be offended or made jealous1 and withdraw their countenance4 ,and if they are to a certain extent capricious1 there is another consideration which impairs confidence in them4 ,they are not all-powerful4 ,there is a point beyond which they cannot give a man any help4 ,each man has a fate or destiny1 which the gods did not fix and with which they cannot interfere4 ,when his hour comes1 they must leave him to his doom2 indeed they may even deceive him1 and lead him into folly so that his fate shall overtake him4 ,the punishment of crime1 both in this world and afterwards1 is committed to a special set of beings1 the ,erinnyes4 ,the gods who are most worshipped do not exercise that function2 they are not immovably identified with the moral order of the world1 but frequently deviate from it themselves4 ,in the ,odyssey1 it is true1 we meet with a deeper feeling4 ,here ,zeus is a kind of providence1 in whom a man may trust when he does right1 and to all whose dispensations it behoves him humbly to submit4 ,a root of monotheism is present here1 as in all the ,aryan religions from the first1 and in ,greece it is destined to have a stately growth4 ,the ,homeric pantheon1 however1 as a whole1 shows religion at a stage in which it is rather an external ornament to life than an inner inspiration4 ,perhaps there was never a set of real men who thought of the gods and addressed them according to the fashion of ,homer4 ,if such a religion ever actually existed1 it was not a strong one4 ,these gods1 with their caprices and infirmities and their limited power1 could never exercise any strong moral influence or rouse any passion in their worshippers4 ,they are fair-weather gods2 the religion is one of children1 in whom conscience is not yet awake and the deeper spiritual needs have not yet appeared4 ,what the mind of the ,greek has done up to this stage is to discover that nature is not above him2 the powers of nature are human to him2 they are divine not because they are essentially different from himself1 but because they are matchless ideals of his own qualities4 ,it is a religion of free men4 ,but the ,greek has not yet discovered how different he himself is from all that is around him2 that element of himself which is above nature will when he discovers it make such a religion as the ,homeric for ever impossible to him4 ,omens4--,as the godhead is never far away from the ,homeric ,greek1 and is an active being who takes an interest in human affairs1 signs of his presence are not infrequent4 ,the air is the scene of them2 in the flight of birds1 in sudden noises1 the gods send messages2 lightning is a sign from ,zeus of approaching rain or hail1 it may be of approaching war4 ,there are rules for the interpretation of signs1 which1 however1 are in many cases of doubtful significance4 ,dreams also are a favourite channel for divine communications1 but they also may be interpreted wrongly4 ,there are persons who have a special gift for knowing the divine will2 the seer 7,greek3 mantis7 is enlightened by the deity not by an outward sign but inwardly2 he hears the god's voice1 and can declare the divine will directly4 ,this gift may reside in a certain family1 and may be attached to a certain spot1 where a regular oracle is open for consultation4 ,at ,dodona we read that the ,selloi or ,helloi1 a band or family of priests of ascetic habits1 interpret the rustling of the sacred oak1 and ,agamemnon consults the ,pythia1 the ,delphic priestess1 before the ,trojan war4 ,the ,state after ,death4--,with regard to the state after death1 belief is not uniform in ,homer4 ,there are elaborate funeral rites which point to the assumption that the spirit of the hero is living somewhere and needs various things4 ,but the life of the departed was not mapped out in ,greece as it was in ,egypt4 ,the ritual of ,mycen had little influence1 for the funeral celebrations in ,homer are very similar to those of other early ,aryan peoples1 and undoubtedly were not imported4 ,what then is thought of the present existence of the hero8 ,he has ceased to exist4 ,the body is the man1 the spirit when it has left the body has but a shadow-life1 without any strength or hope2 at the most it may revive a little at the taste of blood4 ,but while the worship of the departed is seen from ,homer to be decaying among the ,greeks1 imagination is seen to be occupied in more than one direction with the regions where they are1 and to be asserting for them a more real and active existence than the old beliefs allowed4 ,the subterranean kingdom of ,hades 7the ,invisible7 is acquiring clearer shape4 ,the punishments are described which certain great transgressors1 such as ,tantalus and ,ixion1 are there undergoing2 and other details are also known4 ,of a different spirit is the conception of the ,elysian plains in the far west1 whither the hero is taken by the gods when he dies1 and where there is no snow nor storm nor rain4 ,homer was not the only poet who furnished the ,greeks with a system of their gods2 nor was his system everywhere accepted without demur4 ,hesiod1 writing in the latter half of the eighth century ,b4,c41 gives a theogony or birth of the gods1 which is also a genesis or origin of the world1 for to the ,greek mind the gods and the world came into existence together4 ,he complains of those who on this subject have taught fictions which resemble truths1 referring perhaps to ,homer4 ,his own system of the world is not a light and airy fabric but a laborious work1 due no doubt to professional or priestly industry1 in which the attempt is made to treat all the divine figures or half-figured spirits the ,greeks knew1 genealogically1 and to give a complete enumeration of them4 ,myths are given1 some of them of a horrible character1 which do not occur in ,homer4 ,the battle of the gods with the ,titans occupies a large part of the poem1 and it concludes with a collection of stories showing the descent of heroes from alliances between gods and mortals4 ,this work1 as we saw1 was considered1 along with the ,homeric poems1 as a standard authority on the subject of the gods1 and was appealed to even in the early ,christian centuries as showing what the ,greeks believed4 ,the ,poets and the ,working ,religion4--,the work of these poets proves that the ,greeks in their days were anxious to arrive at clear and harmonious conceptions about the gods4 ,the movement on which ,homer and ,hesiod set their seal1 of fixing the characters and attributes of the various deities1 must have been long going on2 and it led1 as we see1 to different results in different places4 ,that labour when accomplished endowed ,greece with a new religion4 ,the local rite still went on1 which acknowledged no central authority and presented the spectacle of an infinite diversity4 ,each city carried on in grave and solemn fashion the traditional worship of its own gods1 on whose favour its prosperity depended4 ,the other gods of the ,pantheon the city did not need to worship2 and moreover local worship was addressed to a large extent to the ,chthonian or earth-gods1 as ,demeter and ,dionysus1 of whom the epic poems know but little4 ,the poets were of little assistance therefore to the working religion2 but on the other hand the happy and beautiful deities of ,homer found entrance wherever poetry was loved4 ,this was a religion for all ,greece2 these gods were national2 though some of them belonged originally to olia1 they had become national by being enshrined in poetry which the whole nation regarded as its own4 ,the ,homeric conception of deity acted therefore on the whole ,greek mind2 all gods rose in rank by the example1 a subject was set before the mind of the people1 which the closely succeeding development of religious art shows to have been studied in the noblest way4 ,rise of ,religious ,art4--,the seventh century ,b4,c4 was a period of rapid development and of great prosperity in ,greece4 ,it was the age of colonisation2 manufacture and trade were active1 and though the ,phenicians were not now in the ,egean1 ,greeks sailed to the ,east and brought home with them many ideas4 ,it was a time like the sixteenth century in ,europe1 when the world of geography was quickly opening out1 and views and sentiments were also widening4 ,worship could not fail to share in the upward movement of such a period1 and it is here that we find the appearance of the ideas in religious art which have made ,greece the envy of the world4 ,architecture received a new impulse from ,egypt and ,babylon2 dwellings were built1 not for human rulers1 as in the ,mycenan period1 but for the gods4 ,in country districts or small towns the wooden shed might still suffice to shelter the rude image1 but in large towns1 where the higher conception of the gods and the artistic impulse were both present in many minds1 temples of more durable material were built4 ,this came to be a universal practice2 among the first tasks of a new colony was always that of erecting on a commanding site in the rising town1 splendid temples to the gods of the mother city4 ,the ,greek temple is not a place to accommodate a large body of worshippers1 but a dwelling for the god4 ,it is of oblong shape1 and is placed on a raised platform which is ascended by steps4 ,it is generally surrounded by pillars1 is roofed1 and has a low gable at each end4 ,the most important chamber in it is that containing the image of the god4 ,from his dim chamber the god looks out to the east through the doorway facing him1 which opens on the pillared portico in front4 ,here the worshipper stands when praying1 his face turned westward to the god4 ,as it was essential that the smoke of the sacrifice should ascend freely to heaven1 the god's real dwelling1 the altar stood outside4 ,in some cases the roof was partly open1 and the altar could stand under the sky in the cella of the god4 ,in the building and adornment of the temples ,greek art found its highest exercise4 ,the architecture of those specimens which can still be seen or described is of a dignity and beauty never before attained2 the beings must have been lofty and reverend indeed for whom such dwellings were formed4 ,the gable spaces and the flat surfaces between the tops of the pillars and the roof gave opportunity for sculpture2 and the archologist traces on these metopes 7spaces between the beam-ends under the roof7 and friezes1 the progress of ,greek sculpture from a rude stage to that in which the sculptor has gained complete mastery over his material1 and can give an imposing representation of a myth1 or place on the marble a complete religious procession of brave men and fair women4 ,the images of the gods to be placed in the temples called forth the artist's highest skill2 even when the rude old god was retained1 a fine work of art could also find place4 ,it is the ideal gods of poetry that are coming to be worshipped2 the conception of the poet is expressed in marble4 ,sculpture1 however1 came to its highest point in ,greece somewhat later than architecture4 ,and offerings were made to the temples of just such rare and costly things as men loved then and love still to store up in their houses1--bowls and cups wrought curiously in precious metals1 statues and tapestries and all kinds of treasure4 ,festivals and ,games4--,the temple for which so much was done1 formed the centre of the city where it stood4 ,in it the town deposited its treasure and its documents2 there oaths and agreements were ratified4 ,there also at certain times1 such as the annual festival of the god or the anniversary of some happy event in the history of the town1--and as time went on such occasions tended to multiply1--the town kept holiday4 ,women escaped from their monotonous confinement and joined the procession to the holy place1 perhaps carrying a new dress for the deity4 ,a sacrifice was offered1 the god received his share of the victim or victims1 and the worshippers feasted on what remained4 ,but before this part of the proceedings arrived there was a pause1 which was filled up with various exercises all connected with the act of worship1 but tending also in a high degree to the delight of those taking part in it4 ,dancing formed a part of every rite1 accompanied of course with music1 and consisting not of a careless exercise of the limbs1 but of a measured and carefully trained set of movements expressive of the emotions connected with the occasion4 ,this part of the religious act is obviously capable of great expansion4 ,we find the art of poetry also making its contributions to religious art2 poems are recited bearing on the history of the god4 ,the sacrifice is followed by contests of various kinds2 the singers compete for a prize1 and athletic sports also take place1 the competitors for which have long been in training for them4 ,the winners are crowned with a wreath or branch of the plant sacred to the god4 ,the games of ,greece1 which thus arose out of acts of worship1 and some of which became so famous and attracted competitors from every ,greek-speaking land1 are a notable sign of the spirit of ,greek piety4 ,there is no asceticism in ,greek religion2 the god is represented as a beautiful human person1 and his worshippers appear before him naked1 in the fulness of their youthful beauty and of their well-trained vigour1 and offer him their strength and skill in highest exercise2--the whole city1 or a crowd much larger than the city1 rejoicing in the spectacle4 ,thus does ,greek religion enlist in its service all the arts1 and increase as they increase4 ,at this period irrational manifestations of piety tend to disappear1 human sacrifice and the worship of animals are heard of afterwards only in remote quarters4 ,the religion which now prevails is a bright and happy self-identification with a being conceived as a type of human beauty and excellence1 by being as far as possible beautiful oneself1 creating beautiful objects1 composing beautiful verse1 training the body to its highest pitch of strength and agility1 and displaying its powers in manly contests4 ,this conception of religion1 for a short time realised in ,greece1 still haunts the mind as a vision which once seen can never be forgotten4 ,no one whose eyes have opened to that vision can regard any religious acts in which the effort after harmony and beauty forms no part1 as other than degraded and unworthy4 ,zeus and ,apollo4--,it is impossible here to enter specially on the worship of the individual gods4 ,two of the gods1 however1 the same who even in ,homer stand above the level of the rest1 still maintain that superiority4 ,zeus draws to himself more and more all the attributes of pure deity2 his name comes more and more to stand simply for ,god1 as if there were no other4 ,he is the father of gods and men2 goodness and love are natural to him4 ,he is the supreme ,ruler and ,disposer1 whose word is fate and whose ways pious thought feels called to justify2 but he is also the ,saviour1 to whom every one may appeal4 ,he is the source of all wisdom2 all revelations come from him4 ,the other god who occupies a marked position is ,apollo1 the god of light and the prophet of his father ,zeus4 ,his oracle at ,delphi was the most important in ,greece2 it was held to be the centre of the earth1 and was a meeting-place for ,greeks from every quarter4 ,his priests exercised through the oracle a great influence on ,greek life1 and as their god required strict purity and truthfulness and was the inspirer of every kind of art and of none but noble purposes1 the worship of ,apollo is one of the highest forms of ,greek religion4 ,change of the ,greek ,spirit in the ,sixth ,century ,b4,c4--,but the time was at hand when the worship of the gods of the poets was to prove1 in spite of all that art had done for it1 inadequate to meet the spiritual needs of ,greece4 ,civilisation advances in the sixth century ,b4,c4 with immense rapidity2 the ,greeks1 no longer prompted by any foreign influence1 quickly learn to exercise their own powers1 and to apply them in new directions4 ,life grows richer and deeper1 new modes of sentiment appear1 the nation grows more conscious of its unity1 and at the same time the individual learns to value himself more highly and to assert himself more strongly4 ,on one side thought awakes to an independent career and traditional beliefs are subjected to criticism2 on the other spiritual needs are felt which the old worship does not satisfy1 and for which religion has to find new outlets4 ,it is far beyond our scope to deal with the religious movements of a people thus passing into the self-conscious stage1 and unfolding with unparalleled freshness and power all the various activities of the human mind4 ,we can only point out a few of the lines of development which become prominent at this period4 ,and firstly we notice the rise of rationalism1 that is of the impulse to criticise belief and to ask for that element in it which approves itself to the reflecting mind4 ,reason asserts its right to judge of tradition2 the doubter suggests emendations in the legend2 the piously inclined turn their attention to those parts only which are capable of lofty treatment4 ,this tendency is fatal to polytheism4 ,as reason knows not gods but only ,god1 the gods can only hold their place on condition that they are what ,god must be1 and so they all tend to become alike in their character2 attention is turned most of all to ,zeus1 the highest god1 and when others are worshipped1 it is as his prophets or delegates4 ,the poets of the fifth century reflect the conviction which all the higher minds of their country were now coming to hold1 that the world is under the rule of one god4 ,from this they are led to take up the questions of theodicy or of the principles of the divine government4 schylus and ,sophocles1 writing perhaps about the same time as the author of the ,book of ,job1 are full of problems of this nature4 ,why is ,prometheus1 though the noblest benefactor of the human race1 doomed to undergo such sufferings8 ,why does a curse cleave to a certain house1 evil producing evil from generation to generation8 ,what is the relation between the divine laws which are written in the hearts of all men1 and human laws which sometimes contradict these older ones8 ,thus to the educated ,greeks of the fifth century the old religion had in its essence passed away4 ,with unexampled rapidity had the journey here been traced which ,india made more slowly1 which ,egypt made at a very early period1 but was not able to maintain1 and which every people starting from polytheism must make if their religion is to prosper4 ,new ,religious ,feeling2 the ,mysteries4--,but the conscience as well as the mind of ,greece awakes at this period1 and ,greek religion becomes inspired with a deeper feeling4 ,the simple objectivity of the ,homeric spirit is gone in which man could frankly worship beings like himself and not very far above himself4 ,god at this time is growing greater and more awful1 and man1 less certain of himself1 is beginning to feel a new sense of mystery and of shortcoming4 ,whether it was due to the anxiety and depression felt in ,greece during the century before the ,persian wars1 or to foreign influences1 or mainly to the natural growth of the ,greek mind itself1 religious phenomena of a new kind now appear4 ,sacrifices are heard of1 which are not merely social reunions with the deity1 but are intended to expiate some guilt or to remove some pollution4 ,the sense of sin has arisen1 which the ,homeric world knows not1 and gives a new colour to man's converse with the deity4 ,another new feature is the rise into prominence of cults in which man feels himself taken possession of and inspired by his god4 ,some of these belonged to ,asia ,minor1 the great centre of worships accompanied with ecstasy and frenzy1 but some were of native growth4 ,in these the common man found a satisfaction which the stately ceremonial of the temples did not afford4 ,the official religion had grown cold and distant2 but in the worship of ,demeter or ,dionysus1 as afterwards of the ,phrygian ,cybele1 the ,great ,mother whom the ,romans imported1 the least educated could feel the joy of enthusiasm and of self-forgetting under the influence of the god1 and could be closely identified with the object of worship by performing acts in which the experience of the god was symbolically repeated4 ,the rapid rise of the worships of ,demeter and ,dionysus thus furnishes an instance of the law that a religion of intellect and of art is apt to be confronted1 even when it appears to have overcome all obstacles1 by a religion of feeling1 in which all the fair progress that was made appears to be entirely set at naught4 ,when the worship of ,zeus1 ,apollo1 and ,athene was coming to its highest splendour1 these cults began to spread rapidly4 ,they were originally peasant rites of unknown antiquity in ,attica and ,boeotia1 in which1 after the manner of rustic festivals1 the coming of spring or the dying of the year were celebrated amid jest and song1 and with certain prescribed actions in which the fortune of the god1 corresponding to the season1 was dramatically set forth4 ,in spring ,demeter1 the mother goddess1 received her daughter ,persephone1 who had left her for the winter2 or in autumn ,dionysus1 the god of vegetation1 was defeated by his enemies and driven away or torn in pieces4 ,these worships1 when developed and forming a prominent part of ,greek religion1 were called mysteries1 not because the knowledge of them was confined to few1 but because some parts of them were transacted in deep silence1 and were the objects of such awe and reverence that they were not spoken of4 ,no one1 moreover1 could assist at these rites without being solemnly initiated after a period of probation and purification4 ,of the ,eleusinian mysteries at least1 which were the most widely diffused and which formed part of the state religion of ,athens1 ancient writers agree in their report that the course of training before admission was powerfully elevating and solemnising1 so that the period of initiation was the highest point of the religious life4 ,it was a condition that the candidate should be pure in heart and not conscious of any crime4 ,there was apparently no doctrinal instruction2 everything was to be inferred from the spectacle4 ,the mind was kept in a state of intense and devout expectation1 knowledge and insight growing1 it was held1 as the time of admission came near4 ,before the final act there came a period of fasting1 then a march from ,athens to ,eleusis along the sacred way1 which was studded with shrines2 then a search for the lost goddess in the dark of a moonless night on the plains of ,eleusis1 and then at last admission to the brightly-lighted building4 ,here all the arts were enlisted to furnish a spectacle of unparalleled magnificence1 during which the candidate was allowed to touch and kiss certain sacred objects of a simple nature1 and repeated a solemn formula at his admission4 ,by partaking in these rites a man was believed to part with his former sins1 to form a special union with the deity1 in whose nature he was made to partake1 and to be started on a career in which he could not fail to grow morally better4 ,it is easy to see the immense superiority of this worship to the official rites of the temples4 ,the great point is that a new principle of religious association is here introduced4 ,the tie which binds the worshipper to his god and to his fellow-worshippers is no longer that of blood or of common political interests1 but the higher one of a common spiritual experience4 ,all ,greeks were eligible for initiation at ,eleusis4 ,a man was not born into this circle1 but entered it of his own free will and by means of voluntary effort and self-denial4 ,a community of a higher order thus makes its appearance in ,greek history1 in which the limits of race and of locality are overstepped1 and each is connected with the rest1 because all have turned of their own voluntary motion to the same ideal centre4 ,the analogies between the community formed on the mysteries and the ,christian ,church are too obvious to need to be insisted on4 ,the adversaries of ,christianity asserted that in the mysteries all the truths and the whole morality of that religion were to be found4 ,religion and ,philosophy4--,but while the mysteries met to some extent the craving for a closer union with deity1 another need which had long been growing in the ,greek mind was to be satisfied in a very different manner4 ,the ,greek religion we have described had very little to offer in the way of doctrine4 ,there are no sacred books in it1 there is no theology1 there is no religious instruction4 ,when the mind of ,greece awoke to intellectual life1 and the demand was made for an explanation of the world1 and for a view of the origin of things which should explain man to himself1 the ,greek religion was manifestly little fitted to meet such a demand4 ,but man has everywhere looked to religion to do him this service1 and a religion which is incapable of rendering it1 or which like ,buddhism explicitly refuses to take up the task1 stands in a perilous position4 ,if the shrine has no doctrine enabling man to understand the origin and the connection of things1 he will seek such a doctrine elsewhere1 and religion will have no control over it4 ,another alternative is that of ,buddhism where in default of such a doctrine man is condemned to subside into intellectual apathy4 ,this1 however1 could never be the case with the ,greeks1 and their fate in this respect proved different from that of any other people4 ,after their intellectual awakening took place1 and when they had begun to seek in every direction for a first principle of all things1 never doubting that the world was a system of reason1 but trying one key after another to unlock its secret1 we find that religion itself became aware of the need of the times1 and that the attempt was made1 late in the day but with deep earnestness and great ability1 to construct out of the myths a reasoned account of the origin of things4 ,this was the aim of the ,orphic poets4 ,orpheus1 the mythical singer of ,thrace1 who charmed men and beasts with his songs on earth1 had descended into ,hades to fetch back his wife1 who had been taken from him1 and had beheld the secrets of the under-world4 ,the school which was named after him dealt with the deepest problems1 and sought to explain both the nature of the gods and the destiny of the human soul4 ,it insisted strongly on the power and sole headship of ,zeus1 in whom ,greek religion had possessed from ,homer downwards a figure fitted for a monotheistic position4 ,zeus is the head1 ,zeus the middle1 from ,zeus are all things made4 ,he is male and female1 he is the foundation of the earth and of the starry heaven1 the breath in all1 the strength of fire1 the root of the sea1 sun1 and moon4 ,zeus is the king1 the progenitor of all things4 ,the god ,dionysus also is placed by the ,orphic writers at the head of the whole process of creation4 ,the myth of his dismemberment and of the scattering of his ashes over the whole world is made to symbolise the great thought of the connection of all things with the same source of life4 ,descriptions were also given1 answering to the growing sense of personal responsibility1 of the abodes of ,hades and of the fate of souls there1 and of the metempsychoses through which the soul must pass4 ,this teaching had an influence which it is difficult to measure2 it acted on the tragedians in their magnificent attempts to reform the beliefs of their country by making them moral2 it is to be traced in ,plato1 it also found expression in the mysteries4 ,in its own development it gave rise to a new phenomenon in ,greek religion1 that of itinerant preachers who went about appealing to individuals to take thought for the salvation of their souls1 and also1 strange to say1 offering private charms and spells to put them on the right way of salvation4 ,but ,greek religion was not thus to be reformed4 ,it was not from the priests that the growth of the higher faith of ,greece was to proceed1 but from the philosophers4 ,while much of the teaching of the philosophers was apparently negative and destructive of faith1--for ,greece had her religious sceptics who turned the shafts of ridicule on existing beliefs1 her ,agnostics who considered that nothing certain could be affirmed about the gods1 and even her secularists who held religion to be a mere invention of priests and rulers for their own purposes1--the course of ,greek philosophy was1 on the whole1 constructive1 even in matters of faith1 and laboured to provide religion with a stable foundation in thought4 ,in this great movement of the human mind the thinkers of ,greece--,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle1 to name no more--were working at the same problem which occupied the prophets of ,israel1 and building up the rule of one ,god1 a ,being supremely wise and good1 source of all beauty1 and the worker of all that is wrought in the universe1 in place of the many fickle and weak deities who formerly bore sway4 ,in many ways the schools of ,greece were the forerunners of ,christianity4 ,as the ,jews1 carried far from their temple1 form a new principle of religious association and learn to meet for the service of ,god1 without any sacrifice1 in pious mental exercises1 so the ,greeks1 for whom their temples could do so little1 form little communities of earnest seekers after truth under some teacher4 ,the philosopher's discourse is held by students of the early ,christianity of the ,west to be the model on which the ,christian sermon was formed4 ,some of the schools even developed a true pastoral activity1 exercising an oversight of their members1 and seeking to mould their moral life and habits according to the dictates of true wisdom4 ,thus there arose on ,greek soil1 after the temples had grown cold1 what may truly be called a second ,greek religion4 ,it took possession of the ,roman world1 and was1 when ,christianity appeared1 the prevailing form of religion among the more educated4 ,both in its outward forms of association1 in its doctrine of ,god1 which went through later developments very similar to those of ,judaism1 and in its concentration of thought on ethical problems and on the moral life of the individual1 it powerfully prepared for ,christianity4 ,it was not a religion1 for it had neither any historical root nor any belief and practice definite enough for the guidance of the common people4 ,yet ,christianity could not have conquered the world without it4 ,,books ,,recommended ,e4 ,meyer1 ,geschichte des ,alterthums1 vol4 ii41 contains the first attempt to deal with ,greek religion in the manner now required4 ,the ,histories of ,greece of ,grote1 ,curtius1 ,abbott1 and ,holm4 ,roscher1 ,lexikon der griechischen1 a ,rmischen ,mythologie4 ,dyer1 ,the ,gods of ,greece4 ,gardner and ,jevons1 ,manual of ,greek ,antiquities1 #ahie4 ,l4 ,r4 ,farnell1 ,the ,cults of the ,greek ,states1 #ahif-aijg4 ,ngelsbach1 die ,homerische ,theologie4 ,williamowitz1 ,homerische ,untersuchungen4 ,g4 ,anrich1 das ,antike ,mysterienwesen4 ,rohde1 ,psyche1 #ahia4 ,l4 ,campbell's ,gifford ,lectures on ,religion in ,greek ,literature1 #ahih4 ,e4 ,caird1 ,the ,evolution of ,theology in the ,greek ,philosophers1 #aijd4 ,holwerda1 in ,de la ,saussaye1 ,third ,edition4 ,ramsay on ,religion of ,greece and ,asia ,minor in ,hastings' ,bible ,dictionary4 ,s4 ,reinach1 in ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 ii4 p4 #aag1 sqq4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,rome ,the ,romans themselves at a certain period in their history identified their own gods with those of ,greece1 and borrowed largely both from ,greek ritual and ,greek mythology1 so that they came to the conclusion that the ,roman and the ,greek religions were essentially the same4 ,to the early ,christian writers the religions of ,greece and ,rome form one system2 and the world has retained the impression that there was one old pagan religion which assumed certain local differences in the two countries1 but was substantially the same in both4 ,roman ,religion was different from ,greek4--,now the fact is that while ,greek religion conquered ,rome1 ,italy had an older religion of its own1 which was not annihilated by the more brilliant newcomer1 but remained beside it and never entered into entire fusion with it4 ,the ,romans were not a thinking so much as an organising race2 in politics they were far ahead of the rest of the world1 but in thought and imagination they were children2 and so it happened that they borrowed ideas and usages from neighbours on this side and on that1 and organised the whole into a system they could use1 the organism being their own1 but only little of the contents4 ,we must therefore inquire1 in the first place1 as to the religion the ,romans had before they came under the influence of ,greek ideas4 ,their earliest religion is to be traced in the calendar of their sacred year1 in the lists of gods preserved for us in the writings of the fathers1 and in numberless usages and institutions descended from early times4 ,the sacred year of early ,rome is that of an agricultural community4 ,the festivals have to do with sowing and reaping and storing corn1 with vintage1 with flocks and herds1 with wolves1 with spirits of the woods1 with boundaries1 with fountains1 with changes of the sun and of the moon4 ,there are festivals of domestic life1 of the household fire1 and of the spirits of the storeroom1 of the spirits of the departed1 and of the household ghosts4 ,there are also festivals connected with warlike matters1 some connected with the river and the harbour at its mouth1 and some having to do with the arts of a simple population4 ,the calendar1 taken by itself1 would create the impression that the community using it began with agriculture and added to it afterwards various other activities2 there is nothing in it to contradict the supposition that ,roman religion had its beginnings in the fields and in the woods4 ,the earliest gods of ,rome also agree with this4 ,they are1 however1 a very peculiar set of gods4 ,leaving the great gods in the meantime1 we notice two of the agricultural deities2 there is a ,saturnus1 god of sowing1 and a ,terminus1 god of boundaries4 ,these are what are called functional deities1 such as we met with in ,greece1 see chapter xvi42 they take their name from the act or province over which they preside4 ,saturnus means one who has to do with sowing2 ,terminus is a boundary pure and simple4 ,the god then1 in these examples1 is not a great being who has come to have these functions placed under him as well as others4 ,he and the particular function belong together2 he owes all his deity to it4 ,now these are only examples2 the same is found to be the case with all or nearly all the distinctively ,roman gods2 they are1 broadly speaking1 all functional beings4 ,each bears the name of an object or a process2 and on the other hand there is no object and no act which has not its god4 ,it is astounding to observe how far the principle of the division of labour is carried among these beings4 ,silvanus is the god of the wood1 ,lympha of the stream1 each wood and each stream having its own ,silvanus or ,lympha4 ,seia has to do with the corn before it sprouts1 ,segetia with corn when shot up1 ,tutilina with corn stored in the granary1 ,nodotus has for his care the knots in the straw4 ,there is a god ,door1 a goddess ,hinge1 a god ,threshold4 ,each act in opening infancy has its god or goddess4 ,the child has ,cunina when lying in the cradle1 ,statina when he stands1 ,edula when he eats1 ,locutius when he begins to speak1 ,adeona when he makes for his mother1 ,abeona when he leaves her2 forty-three such gods of childhood have been counted4 ,pilumnus1 god of the pestle1 and ,diverra1 goddess of the broom1 may close our small sample of the limitless crowd4 ,it is usually said about these multitudinous petty deities that the ,roman was very religious1 and saw in every act and everything for which he had a name1 something mysterious and supernatural4 ,the ,greek1 it is said1 sees things on his own level1 and adds to them a god who is human2 it is by the human spirit that he interprets them4 ,the ,roman1 on the contrary1 sees things as mysteries and fills them with gods who are not human4 ,that is true2 but the question to be asked about these ,roman gods is1 to what stage of religious development do they belong3 do they prove a primitive or an advanced stage of religious thought8 ,it has been observed that these names of gods are all epithets1 or adjectives2 and it has been supposed that there was originally a noun belonging to them1 that they were all epithets of one great deity1 or1 as some are masculine and some feminine1 of a great male and a great female deity4 ,the noun fell out of use1 it is supposed1 but was still present to the mind of the ,roman1 and thus his regiments of divine names are not really designations of different persons1 but titles of the same person1 supposed to be present alike in all these numberless manifestations4 ,but it is not easy to conceive how1 if primitive ,italy had reached the conception of the unity of deity1 that deity became so remarkably subdivided1 nor how his own proper name and character were lost4 ,it is much more natural to suppose that the petty gods of ,rome were all the deities the early ,latins had1 and were worshipped for their own sake4 ,they represent the stage of thought called ,animism 7see chapter iii47 when every part of nature is thought to have its spirit1 and the number of invisible beings is liable to be multiplied indefinitely4 ,while other ,aryan races had passed beyond this stage when we first know them1 and advanced to the belief in great gods ruling great provinces of nature1 the ,latins1 whose mind was organising rather than productive1 made this advance more slowly1 and instead of making it organised the spiritual world of animism with a thoroughness nowhere else equalled4#a ,they had1 therefore1 no gods properly so called1 but only a host of spirits4 ,even the beings they possessed1 who afterwards became great gods1 were at first no more than functional spirits4 ,janus1 afterwards one of the chief deities of ,rome1 is originally the spirit of opening2 an abstraction capable of great multiplication2 a ,janus could be invoked for each act of that kind4 ,vesta is the spirit of the hearth2 each household had its ,vesta1 both in early and in later times4 ,juno is not one but many3 as each man had his genius1 a spiritual self accompanying or guarding him1 so each woman had--not her genius1 but her ,juno4 ,there were many ,vestas1 many ,junos2 and it is only later that the great goddess arises1 who may be looked to from every quarter4 ,others of the great gods of later ,rome have a similar early history4 ,mars was at first the spirit which made the corn grow2 ,diana was a tree-spirit1 ,jovis or ,diovis himself1 though his name connects him with the ,greek ,zeus and the ,sanscrit ,dyaus1 and though he is afterwards1 like these1 the god of the sky1 was originally in ,latin a spirit of wine1 and was worshipped1 the ,jovis of each village or each farm1 at the wine-feast in ,april when the first cask was broached4 ,thus the gods of the ,latins are not beings who have an independent existence and features of their own2 they are limited each to the particular object or process from which he derives his character1 and have no realm beyond it4 ,and the same is true of the family and house-gods1 whose worship formed perhaps the principal part of the working religion of the ,roman4 ,the ,lares represent the departed ancestors of the family2 they dwell near the spot in the house where they were buried1 and still preside over the household as they did in life4 ,they are worshipped daily with prayers and offerings of food and drink2 the family adore in them not so much the dead individuals1 though their masks hang on the wall1 as the abstraction of its own family continuity4 ,the ,penates or spirits of the store-chamber are worshipped along with the ,lares1 they represent the continuity of the family fortune4 ,a more general name for the departed is the ,manes1 the kind ones2 they are thought of as living below the earth2 it is not individuals who are worshipped at their festivals1 but the dead in the abstract1 the former upholders of the family or of the people4 ,footnote #a3 ,see on this ,mr4 ,jevons's preface to ,plutarch's ,romane ,questions 7,nutt1 #ahib72 which deserves to be published in a more accessible form4 ,the character of ,roman worship is determined by the nature of its objects4 ,as each of the gods has his basis in a material object or action1 there can be no need of any images of them2 where the object or the act is1 there is the god1 his character is expressed in it and not to be expressed otherwise4 ,nor could such gods require any temples4 ,and what need of priests for them1 when every one who knew their names 7a great deal depended on that7 could place himself in contact with them as soon as he saw the object or took in hand the action behind which they stood8 ,nor can many stories be told about gods like these1--the ,romans have no mythology4 ,the beings they worship are not persons but abstractions4 ,they have just enough character to be male or female1 but they cannot move about or act independently of their natural basis2 they cannot marry1 nor breed scandal1 nor make war4 ,nor can there be any motive for identifying with such beings a great man who has died2 where there are no true gods1 there cannot be any demi-gods or heroes4 ,only a very limited power can possibly be put forth by such beings2 all they can do is to give or to withhold prosperity1 each in the narrow section of affairs he has to do with4 ,the aim of worship where such a set of beings is concerned1 is to get hold of the spirit or god connected with the act one has in view1 and so to deal with him as to avert his disfavour1 which the ,roman always apprehended1 and gain his concurrence4 ,the house-gods are beings possessing a stated cult1 but outside the house-cult the worshipper has to face the question at each emergency which god he ought to address4 ,he might choose the wrong one1 which would make his act of worship vain4 ,if he names the god correctly he will have a hold on him2 in a case of uncertainty1 therefore1 he names a number of gods1 in the hope that one of them will be the right one2 or he invokes them all4 ,whether thou be god or goddess he will further say1 if he is in doubt on that point1 or by whatever name thou desirest to be called4 ,each god has his proper style and title1 and it is vain to approach him without these2 lists of the various gods and of their correct styles were therefore drawn up in very early times to serve as guides to the subject4 ,the ,latin word indigito1 to point out1 from digitus1 a finger1 is the term used of addressing a god2 the lists of deities with their proper appellations were called indigitamenta2 and the gods named in them ,dii indigetes4 ,the act of worship is grave and formal2 it has to be done with precision and in strict accordance with the rules2 silence is commanded2 the sacrificer repeats the prayer proper for the occasion after some one who knows it by rote2 the worshippers veil their heads4 ,in this the ,roman ritual is markedly different from the ,greek4 ,mommsen says the ,greek prayed bareheaded1 because his prayer was contemplation1 looking at and to the gods2 and the ,roman with head covered1 because his prayer was an exercise of thought2 and in this he sees a characteristic indication of the difference between the two religions4 ,a more modern interpretation of the ,roman practice is that it arose from the fear that the worshipper might see the god whom he has just summoned by name1 which would be dangerous4 ,if any mistake is made in worship1 the act is vain and has to be done over again4 ,the ,great ,gods4--,the foregoing is the logic of the system on which the ,roman religion1 as distinguished from the foreign elements afterwards added to it1 was based2 the religion1 however1 does not come into view historically till it has begun to rise above such a worship of abstractions or of petty spirits1 towards a worship of gods4 ,it was apparently by the growth of larger social organisms that the ,latin tribes advanced to the worship of greater gods4 ,while the family religions continued to the end1 the tribe had1 as in the case of other early peoples1 a larger religion than the family1 and a union of tribes produced a religion on a still greater scale4 ,the history of early ,rome consists of a succession of such fusions of tribes into a larger political whole4 ,when history opens1 ,rome is a fully-formed and united city2 but ,rome is made up of several tribes1 which maintain many separate institutions4 ,the religion of after times bears witness to these successive unions4 ,deus ,fidius1 the god of good faith1 is the sacred impersonation of an alliance4 ,mars and ,quirinus are precisely similar to each other1 and each has a flamen1 or blower of the sacrificial flame1 and a staff of twelve salii or dancers4 ,mars is the ,roman1 ,quirinus the ,sabine deity2 and we see that the two tribes had1 before they were united1 very similar worships1 which were both kept up after the union4 ,the feriae ,latinae1 or ,latin festival1 celebrated on ,mons ,albanus1 is common to the ,latin tribes and commemorates their union4 ,jovis rises into importance with the growth of city life2 he comes to be called father ,jovis1 ,jupiter2 there are many ,jupiters1 but the ,jupiter of the city of ,rome is the greatest and best of all2 he bears the title of ,optimus ,maximus4 ,he rises above ,mars1 in earlier times the first ,roman god1 after whom the first month of the year was called1 before the month of ,janus and the month of ,februus1 the purifier1 were added to it4 ,janus1 the great state-god of opening1 was the only one of whom there was a representation2 ,mars was represented symbolically by a spear1 but ,janus was figured as a man with two faces4 ,vesta1 the hearth-goddess of the state1 was of course a great deity with a very important worship4 ,here we must mention a side of ,roman religion which no doubt has its roots far back in prehistoric darkness1 but which could scarcely be organised as we find it till the greater gods had risen to some degree of power4 ,it was believed that the gods were constantly making signs to men1 especially in occurrences which take place in the air1 such as thunder and lightning1 and the flight of birds1 but also in many other ways4 ,some of the signs were simple1 so that any one could tell if they were lucky or the reverse1 but some were not to be interpreted except by men possessing a special knowledge of the subject4 ,and such men might be asked by an individual or by the state when about to enter on any undertaking1 to seek a sign from heaven concerning that business4 ,this became with the ,romans a great and important act1 and those who had it in their hands exercised great power4 ,sacred ,persons4--,the priest in the earliest times was1 in the domestic religion1 the paterfamilias1 in that of the tribe1 which was but an extended household1 the head of the leading family1 and in the city1 which was constituted after the same model1 the king4 ,religion was the principal part of the service of the state2 the king as such had to offer sacrifice1 to cause the gods to be consulted1 to prosecute and judge and punish those who had violated the laws and came under the anger of the gods4 ,but as the state grew larger1 various offices were set up to relieve the king of part of these duties2 when new worships were added to the old ones1 the care of them was in some cases committed to a special person or college2 and these priesthoods and sacred guilds of early ,rome maintained their place in the constitution for many centuries1 and carried on this part of the public service long after the words they spoke and the acts they did had become meaningless4 ,beginning with the sacred persons attached to special cults1 we have1 first1 three flamens1 one of ,mars1 one of ,quirinus1 and one of ,jovis 7fl4 ,martialis1 ,quirinalis1 ,dialis74 ,mars and ,quirinus have their dancers1 as we mentioned above4 ,other flamens of lower rank were afterwards instituted for the separate worships of the tribes4 ,very old are the fratres arvales1 field-brothers1 who served the creative goddess 7,dea ,dia7 in the country in the month of ,may1 with a view to a good growing summer1 dancing to her and addressing hymns to her which may be read now but cannot be understood1 and were unintelligible to the ,romans themselves4 ,the ,luperci 7wolf-men7 held a shepherd's festival in the month of ,february1 sacrificing goats and dogs to some rustic deity1 and running naked through the streets afterwards1 striking those they met with thongs cut from the hides of the victims4 ,the six vestal virgins are well known1 who had charge of keeping up the fire of ,vesta1 the house-fire of the state4 ,they devoted their whole lives to this office1 and enjoyed great respect4 ,these priesthoods and corporations1 instituted to secure the continuance of special cults1 are not of a nature to bring the whole of life under the influence of the priests and so to foster a priestly type of religion4 ,nor were those other religious offices of a nature to do so1 which were not attached to special cults but served the more general purpose of assisting and advising the state in matters connected with religion4 ,first among these comes the office of pontifex1 a word which is variously interpreted1 either as bridge-maker1--that being a very important and solemn proceeding1--or as leader in a religious procession4 ,there were originally five pontifices1 and the number was afterwards raised to fifteen4 ,they exercised a great variety of functions1 and had a general oversight of all religious matters1 both public and domestic4 ,they were experts in ritual and in canon law2 they advised the state as to the proper sacrifices to be offered for the public1 and1 when consulted1 would also direct the private individual4 ,funerals1 marriages1 and other domestic occurrences into which religious considerations entered1 were under their charge2 and on the occurrence of portents and omens it was their duty to indicate the steps to be taken in order to find out what the gods wished to signify4 ,they had charge of the calendar1 and had to fix what days were proper for carrying on the business of the courts 7dies fasti71 and they were the authorities on the forms of legal process4 ,the chief pontiff is called the judge and arbiter of things divine and human1 and the college had manifestly a very strong position4 ,the same is true of the augurs or experts in signs and omens4 ,though they did not consult the gods about public undertakings until the magistrate or the general asked them to do so1 they had power to stop proceedings of which they disapproved2 and this at certain periods of ,roman history they very frequently did4 ,in ,cicero's treatise on ,divination a great deal of interesting matter may be found on this subject4 ,another sacred college of somewhat later date is that of the men1 at first three in number1 afterwards fifteen1 who acted as expounders of the sacred ,sibylline books1 which ,king ,tarquin purchased from the old woman or ,sibyl1 of ,cumae4 ,roman ,religion ,legal rather than ,priestly4--,while some of these priestly colleges exercised large powers1 these powers were always regarded not as inherent but deputed4 ,the sacred offices were not hereditary but elective2 no course of training was necessary to qualify for them2 men were chosen for them by the state as for any other public office1 and those who became priests did not cease to be citizens but continued to sit in the ,senate1 and1 as it might happen1 to hold other offices at the same time4 ,the growth of a priestly caste was thus effectively prevented2 religion was precluded from having any free development of its own1 and kept in the position of an instrument for the furtherance of ends of state4 ,there is no great religion in which ritual is so much1 doctrine and enthusiasm so little4 ,all these priests and colleges exist for no end but to carry out with strict exactitude the ritual usage which is deemed necessary to keep on good terms with the gods4 ,they have no doctrine to teach1 no fervour to communicate1 they do not even tell any stories4 ,punctiliousness and anxiety attend all their proceedings4 ,to the ,roman1 ,ihne says1 religion turns out to be the fear lest the gods should punish them for neglect2 any unusual occurrence may be a sign that the gods are withdrawing their co-operation from the state1 and this must be looked into1 and the due expiations used if judged necessary4 ,ritual must always be carried out with the utmost precision2 it is not the goodwill of the worshipper but his exactitude that counts4 ,he may even cheat the gods of their due if he is formally correct in his observance4 ,for example1 if the auspices 7the signs derived from birds7 were unfavourable1 they could be repeated till a better result was obtained4 ,what we have described is the religion of ,rome in its original form1 before it accepted foreign modifications4 ,its gods are spirits of the woods and fields1 of the market1 of the foray1 of the treaty1 of all the aspects1 in fact1 which life had borne to the tribes of ,central ,italy1 especially to the ,latins and the ,sabines who combined to form the state of ,rome4 ,these gods form no family and have no history1 they do not1 like the gods of ,greece1 lay hold of the imagination1 nor1 like those of ,germany1 of the affections4 ,they are only dimly known2 but they are powerful1 and it is necessary to reckon with them2 and the only relations which can be kept up with such beings are those of business and of law4 ,it follows that this religion is one of constraint and not of inspiration4 ,in this it agrees with the ,roman character1 which is much more inclined to order than to freedom1 to law than to art4 ,the word religion has here its origin2 its primary meaning is restraint or check1 since the chief feeling with which the ,roman regarded his gods was that of anxiety4 ,not that the gods were bad2 ,vediovis1 the bad counterpart of ,jovis1 is a vanishing figure1--but they were ill-known1 and might have cause to be angry4 ,worship1 therefore1 the practical cultivation of the friendship of the gods1 swallows up here the other elements of religion as a whole4 ,religion does not free the forces of human nature to realise themselves in spontaneous activity1 but enchains them to the punctilious service of a nonhuman authority4 ,everything exciting is kept at a distance1 and men are trained in obedience and scrupulousness and self-denial4 ,they produce no beautiful works of art1 and have hardly any stories to delight in2 but they are reverent and conscientious2 private feeling is sacrificed with an austere satisfaction to the public interest1 and they accordingly build up a great power4 ,living in an atmosphere of magic1 where unseen dangers lurk on every side1 and there is virtue in words and forms correctly used to avert these dangers1 the ,roman develops to perfection one side of religion4 ,to its inspirations and enthusiasms and hidden consolation he is a stranger2 but he knows it better than others as a conservative and regulating force1 which checks passion1 calls for wary and orderly conduct1 and causes the individual to subordinate himself to the community4 ,changes introduced from without4--,the ,roman religion had1 properly speaking1 no development4 ,what it might have become had it been left to unfold itself without interference from without1 we can only guess2 but it was early brought under the influence of more highly developed religions1 and it proved to have so little power of resisting innovations that it speedily parted with much of its own native character4 ,the ,romans were not unconscious that their religion was an imperfect one2 they never claimed1 when they were conquering the world1 that their religion was the only true one1 or had any mission to prevail over others4 ,they were tolerant from the first of the religions of other peoples4 ,the gods of other peoples they always believed to be real beings1 with whom it was well for them also to be on good terms4 ,if everything in the world had its spirit1 these gods also were the spirits of their own countries and nations2 the very notion of deity which the ,romans entertained prevented them from having any exclusive belief in their own gods or from denying the right of the gods of others4#b ,when therefore they came in contact with foreign religions1 they were not protected by any profound conviction of the truth of their own1 and were exposed to the full force of the new ideas4 ,the new religions came to them along with the culture of peoples much further advanced in art and in thought than they were themselves2 at each such contact1 therefore1 they felt the foreigner to be superior to themselves in intellectual matters2 and wherever this happens1 the less highly gifted race is likely to change in its religion as well as in other things4 ,we have to note the changes which were produced by such external influences4 ,footnote #b3 ,cf4 ,celsus in ,origen1 ,contra ,celsum1 vii4 #fh4 ,in the first place1 ,rome borrowed from ,etruria4 ,etruscan religion was both more developed and more savage than that of ,rome4 ,human sacrifice was an acknowledged feature of it2 divination was carried to absurd lengths1 one great branch of it consisting in the prediction of the future from the appearance of the entrails of slaughtered animals4 ,etruria had a hell with regular torments for the departed2 in ,rome the belief in a future life was much less definite4 ,on the other hand1 ,etruria had deities who were something more than abstractions2 there was a circle of twelve gods1 who held meetings on high1 and regulated the affairs of the world4 ,above them was a power1 little defined1 to which the gods were subject1 a kind of fate4 ,greek influence1 so notably apparent in ,etruscan art1 is present1 too1 we see1 in ,etruscan religion2 it is through this somewhat dark passage that ,greek religious ideas first came to ,rome4 ,under this influence various innovations took place at ,rome4 ,before the end of the monarchy the ,romans had begun to build houses for their gods1 after being for #agj years1 we are told1 without any such arrangement4 ,the ,roman templum was not originally a building1 but a space marked off1 according to the rules of augury1 for the observation of signs4 ,a part of the sky was also marked off for such observation and contemplation4 ,on such a holy site1 on the ,capitoline hill1 there was founded by the earlier ,tarquin the temple of ,jupiter which always continued to be the principal site of ,roman religion4 ,its architecture was ,tuscan2 and it contained not only a cella or holy place for the image of ,jupiter ,optimus ,maximus1 but also a cella for ,juno and one for ,minerva4 ,the latter was both an ,etruscan and a ,roman deity1 the goddess of memory4 ,art was thus enlisted in the service of the gods2 the divine figures acquired a reality and distinctness quite wanting to the earlier divine abstractions2 and a new notion of deity was presented to the ,roman mind4 ,other temples followed1 to ,jupiter under other names than that which he had in the ,capitol1 and to other deities4 ,that of ,faith was a very early one4 ,it was a rule in temple-building that the image in the cella faced the west1 so that the worshipper1 praying towards it1 faced the east4 ,here also the ,roman custom is a departure from the ,greek2 for in ,greek temples it is the rule that the image faces the east1 and the worshipper the west4 ,the ,roman orientation of sacred buildings has passed into the practice of the ,christian ,church4 ,from ,etruria the ,romans also derived a great addition to the rules of divination2 but the more childish parts of ,etruscan divination were regarded at ,rome as superstitious1 though private persons might frequently resort to them4 ,greek ,gods in ,rome4--,while ,greek ideas thus came indirectly from the north1 the south of the peninsula was becoming more and more ,greek1 and the gods and temples of ,hellas1 established first at the sea-ports and colonies1 gradually came to ,rome4 ,this movement is connected with the ,sibylline books which were acquired by the last of the kings4 ,these books were brought to ,rome from the ,greek town of ,cumae2 they were written in ,greek1 and contained oracles which were ascribed to an old ,greek prophetess4 ,they were consulted in grave emergencies of state through the officials who had charge of them1 and what they generally prescribed was that a god should be sent for from ,greece1 and his worship set up in ,rome4 ,many foreign worships were thus imported4 ,first came ,apollo1 disguised under the ,latin name of ,aperta1 opener1 for the books contained many of his oracles2 he was received and worshipped as a god of purification1 since the state was in need of that process at the time1 as well as of prophecy4 ,in the year #dif ,b4,c4 came in the same way ,demeter1 ,persephone1 and ,dionysus1 identified with the old ,latin ,ceres1 ,libera1 and ,liber2 and1 a century later1 ,heracles1 identified with the ,latin ,hercules4 ,in the year #bia1 on the occurrence of a plague1 ,asclepios1 in ,latin ,aesculapius1 was brought from ,epidauros2 and when the crisis of the contest with ,hannibal was at hand 7#bjd ,b4,c47 ,cybele1 the great mother of the gods1 was fetched from ,pessinus in ,phrygia4 ,the people of that town generously handed over to the ,roman ambassadors the field-stone which was their image of the goddess1 and her journey to ,rome had the desired effect1 in the expulsion of ,hannibal from ,italy4 ,the ,venus of ,mount ,eryx in ,sicily arrived in ,rome about the same time2 a goddess combining the characters of ,aphrodite and ,astarte1 and quite different from the simple old ,roman ,venus1 who was a goddess of ,spring1 and presided over gardens4 ,the process of which these are the outward landmarks went on during the whole period of the ,republic1 and resulted in the substitution of what may be called with ,mommsen the ,grco-,roman1 for the old ,roman religion4 ,the change was a very profound one4 ,not only were some new gods added to the old ones1 not only did ,greek art come to be employed in ,roman temples1 not only were new rites introduced1 such as the lectisternium1 in which couches were arranged1 each with the image of a god and that of a goddess1 and tables spread to regale the recumbent deities4 ,the very notion of deity was changed2 the ,greek god1 represented by an image in human form and moving freely in the upper world1 was substituted for the ,latin god who was the unseen side of an act or process or quality1 from which he had his name1 and apart from which he was not4 ,the following is a list of the principal ,roman gods and of the ,greek ones with whom they were identified3--,jupiter 7,zeus71 ,juno 7,hera71 ,neptunus 7,poseidon71 ,minerva 7,athene71 ,mars 7,ares71 ,venus 7,aphrodite71 ,diana 7,artemis71 ,vulcanus 7,hephaestus71 ,vesta 7,hestia71 ,mercurius 7,hermes71 ,ceres 7,demeter74 ,the identifications are by no means accurate2 ,jupiter and ,vesta1 as we have seen1 are the only two ,roman gods who are really identical with ,greek gods1 the other equations are founded on accidental resemblances1 and are more arbitrary than real4 ,the result of them was1 however1 that the ,romans forgot to a large extent their own gods1 and got ,greek ones instead4 ,with the divine figures they took over the mythology of ,greece1 and thus the gods came to be well known with all their weaknesses1 instead of as before surrounded with mystery and awe4 ,the worship founded on the earlier conception of the deity1 and kept up with unwavering regularity1 was inapplicable to these new gods1 and inevitably lost all its reality4 ,this is not the only cause1 but it is one of the chief causes which prepared for the fearful spectacle presented by ,roman religion at the end of the ,republic1 when men of learning and distinction officiated as the heads of a religion in which they had no belief1 and which they scoffed at in their writings4 ,among the worships which came to ,rome from the ,east there were several which are not of ,greek1 but of ,oriental origin4 ,the worship of ,cybele belongs to ,asia ,minor1 though it had spread over ,greece2 that of ,dionysus also came to ,greece from ,asia4 ,the practice of both these cults was accompanied by excitement and self-abandonment on the part of the worshippers2 and they formed a great contrast to the staid and formal worship of the ,romans1 the only admissible passion in which was a calm passion for correctness4 ,the worship of ,cybele was carried on by eunuchs1 it had noisy processions1 and depended on begging for its support4 ,when the ,romans brought it to their city1 they ordained that ,roman citizens should not fill leading offices in it2 but it flourished so strongly1 among the numerous foreigners in the capital and among the poor1 as to show that it met a great want there4 ,the worship of ,bacchus had to be suppressed by the state2 it was carried on at nocturnal meetings1 which even citizens attended1 and it led to all kinds of irregularities4 ,as the subject of this chapter is not the religions of ,rome1 but the ,roman religion1 we do not here review the numerous foreign worships which were brought to the capital from every part of the ,empire1 and made ,rome1 towards the close of the ,republic1 the residence of the gods of every nation4 ,the ,romans as we saw were not led by any convictions of their own to deny the truth of foreign religions2 and their policy as rulers also inclined them to tolerate all worships which did not offend against civil order4 ,in the provinces it was the rule not to interfere with local religion2 at ,rome the authorities recognised not the imported religion itself1 of which the state did not feel called to judge1 but the association practising it1 which received permission to do so4 ,the worship was then protected by the state--it became a religio licita4 ,amid the meeting of all the gods and the clashing of all the creeds which were thus brought about at ,rome1 the ,roman religion itself maintained its place1 not as a doctrine which any one believed1 for the very priests and augurs laughed at the rites and ceremonies they carried on1 but as a ritual which was bound up with the whole past history of ,rome1 and believed to be necessary for the welfare of the state as well as for the satisfaction of the common people4 ,in the atmosphere of discussion and of far-reaching scepticism which then prevailed it was not to be expected that faith could again find any strong support in the historical religion of ,rome4 ,the ,emperor ,augustus made a serious attempt to reform and revive religion4 ,he selected the domestic worship of the ,lares as the most living part of the old system1 and ordained that the two ,lares should be worshipped along with the genius of the ,emperor1 and that ,rome should be divided into districts1 each with its temple of this strange trinity2 while in the provinces each district was to support a worship of ,rome and of the ,emperor in addition to its existing cults4 ,temples were rebuilt at ,rome1 new ones were raised1 sacred offices were filled which had been vacant1 religious games were instituted to carry the ,roman mind back to the sacred past4 ,livy and ,virgil treated the past from a religious point of view1 showing the sacred mission of the ,roman race1 and exhibiting the valour and piety of the founders of the state4 ,if the ,roman religion could be revived these were the proper means to do it4 ,but the religion of the future was not to be prepared in this way4 ,,books ,,recommended ,the sections on religion in ,mommsen's ,history of ,rome4 ,ramsay's ,roman ,antiquities4 ,wissowa1 ,religion und ,cultur der ,rmer4 ,holwerda1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,for the period of the ,empire1 ,boissier's ,la ,religion ,romaine4 ,see also the work of ,cumont1 cited at the end of chapter x4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,the ,,religions ,,of ,,india ,i4 ,the ,vedic ,religion ,no contrast could well be greater than that between the ,german religion and that of ,india4 ,in the one case we have a people full of vigour1 but not yet civilised2 in the other a people of high organisation and culture1 but deficient in vigour2 the former religion is one of action1 the latter one of speculation4 ,from the original ,aryan faith1 to which that of the ,teutons most closely approximates1 ,indian religion is removed by two great steps4 ,first we have as a variety of ,aryan faith the ,indo-,iranian religion1 that of the undivided ancestors of ,persians and ,indians alike1 in the dim period antecedent to the ,aryan settlement of ,india4 ,of this religion1 the common mother of those of ,persia and of ,india1 we shall give some sketch after we have made acquaintance with the gods of ,india1 at the beginning of our ,persian chapter4 ,indian religion is a variety of ,indo-,iranian1 which is a variety of the ,aryan type4 ,neither its genealogy nor its character entitles it to be taken as a typical example of the ,aryan religions4 ,in literary chronology it is the earliest of them1 inasmuch as its books are the oldest sacred literature of ,aryan faith2 but in point of development it is not an early but an advanced product4 ,the absorbing interest it offers to the student of our science is due to the fact that it presents in an unbroken sequence a growth of religious thought1 which1 beginning with simple conceptions and advancing to a great priestly ritual1 can be seen to pass into mysticism and asceticism1 and thence to the rejection of all gods and rites1 and a system of salvation by individual good conduct4 ,nowhere else can the progress of religion through what we might call its seven ages of life be seen so clearly1 nor the logical connection of these ages with each other be recognised so unmistakably4 ,the present chapter deals with the infancy and lusty youth of the religion as seen in ,vedism2 the later stages of ,brahmanism and ,buddhism will be spoken of in subsequent chapters4 ,the ,rigveda4--,the ,vedic religion takes its name from the ,rigveda1 the oldest portion of ,indian literature1 and the earliest literary document of ,aryan religion4 ,of four vedas or collections of hymns1 the ,rigveda is the oldest and most interesting4 ,it contains a set of hymns which1 with much more of their early religious literature1 the ,hindus ascribed to direct divine revelation1 but which we know to have been written by men who claimed no special inspiration4 ,most of them date from the time when the ,aryans1 having made good their entry in ,india1 but without by any means altogether subduing the former inhabitants1 were dwelling in the ,punjaub4 ,the religion of the hymns is a strongly national one4 ,the ,aryans appeal to their gods to help them against the races1 afterwards driven to the south and to the sea coasts1 who differ from themselves in colour1 in physiognomy1 in language1 in manners1 and in religion4 ,nor are these conquerors by any means an uncultivated people2 they had long been using metals2 they built houses1--a number together in a village2 they lived principally by keeping cattle1 but also by tillage1 and by hunting4 ,they drank ,sura1 a kind of brandy1 and ,soma1 a kind of strong ale1 of which we shall hear more4 ,they were1 as a rule1 monogamous1 the wife occupying a high position in the household1 and assisting her husband in offering the domestic sacrifice4 ,at the head of each state was a king1 as among the ,greeks of ,homer2 he was not1 however1 an absolute monarch2 his people met in council and controlled him4 ,the king himself offered sacrifice for his tribe in his own house1--there were no temples1--but he was frequently assisted by a man or several men of special learning in such rites4 ,the hymns of the ,rigveda were written for use at sacrifices4 ,the sacrifice consists of food and drink of which the god who is addressed is invited to come and partake1 or which are conveyed to the gods seated on their heavenly thrones1 by means of fire4 ,soma1 the intoxicating juice of the soma plant1 is an invariable feature of the banquets in these hymns2 the solid part consists of butter1 milk1 rice or cakes2 but animals were also killed1 and the horse-sacrifice was a specially important one4 ,the hymn also is an essential part of the rite2 the sacrifice would have no virtue without it4 ,it consists of praise and prayer4 ,the deity is extolled for the exploits he has done1 for his strength1 for his beauty1 for his wisdom or his goodness1 he is invoked again and again to partake of what has been provided for him1 and in return he is asked to send the worshipper food or cows1 guidance or protection1 or whatever the latter is in want of4 ,the ,vedic ,gods4--,and who are the gods who receive this worship8 ,they are parts of nature or celestial phenomena1 more or less personified4 ,worship is directed now to one divine being1 now to another2 each has a story which is dwelt on and a number of functions belonging to him1 for the sake of which he is extolled and sought after2 each god1 that is to say1 has his myth4 ,in this set of gods the myths are so clear that we can identify with perfect confidence each of the gods with that part of ,nature from which he arose4 ,m4 ,barth classifies the ,vedic gods according to the degree in which they have become detached from their natural basis4 ,there are two which are not so detached at all4 ,agni1 who is one of the chief deities of the ,rigveda1 is fire1 and ,soma1 the deity to whom all the hymns of the ninth book are addressed1 is simply the juice of the soma plant1 the liquid part of every sacrifice4 ,agni is not any particular fire1 but fire as a cosmic principle1 born in heaven1 born also daily at the sacrifice by the rubbing together of two pieces of wood1 his parents whom he consumes4 ,he is a priest carrying the offerings of men up to the gods1 but he was a priest at the first sacrifice1 the primeval heavenly sacrifice1 before he had come down to men4 ,he is also the guest and household friend of man1 a kindly and familiar being4 ,but he pervades all nature1 and all growth and energy are due to him4 ,soma1 also inseparably connected with all sacrifice1 who strengthens the gods and makes them immortal1 is likewise a universal principle2 he too came at first from heaven1 and he too is at work all through the world4 ,there are stories of his first production among the gods1 and of the first effects of his appearance2 he is the nourisher of plants1 he gives inspiration to the poet and fervour to prayer4 ,along with ,agni he kindled the sun and the stars4 ,in other gods there is a nearer approach to a human figure1 and the physical side is not so obtrusive4 ,indra is most frequently invoked of all the gods1 and may be called the national god of this period4 ,he is described as a chieftain standing in a chariot drawn by two horses4 ,he waged a great battle1 but still wages it constantly1 against the monsters of heat and drought1 ,vrittra1 the coverer1 and ,ahi the dragon1 for the deliverance of the cows1 the heavenly waters1 kept by them in captivity4 ,the contest between the god and the demon goes on for ever4 ,indra is also the giver of good things of every kind1 he keeps the heavenly bodies in their places1 he is the author and preserver of all life1 the inspirer of all noble thoughts and the answerer of pious prayers1 the rewarder of all who trust in him1 and the forgiver of the penitent4 ,it is good to sacrifice to him and to offer him soma in abundance2 for it strengthens him to take up afresh his conflicts and labours as the champion of man4 ,indra is surrounded by the ,maruts1 the storm-gods1 who are separately invoked in many hymns4 ,they drive through the sky with splendour and with mighty music1 and bring rain to the parched earth4 ,their father is ,rudra1 also a god of storms1 the handsomest of all the gods1 and1 in spite of his thunderbolts1 a helpful and kindly being4 ,wherever he sees evil done1 he hurls his spear to smite the evildoer1 but he is also a healer of both physical and moral evils1 and the best of all physicians4 ,of the same order of deities are ,vata or ,vayu1 the wind1 and ,parjanya1 the rain-storm4 ,but the loftiest of all the ,vedic gods is ,varuna1 the great serene luminous heaven4 ,the hymns addressed to him are comparatively few1 but among them are those which rise to the highest moral and religious level4 ,in language recalling that of the psalmists and prophets of the ,bible1 they exalt ,varuna as the creator of the world and of heaven and the stars1 as the omniscient defender of the good and avenger of all evil1 as just and holy1 and yet full of compassion1 so that the conscience-stricken suppliant is encouraged to turn to him4 ,we here give a few extracts from hymns addressed to some of the gods we have spoken of4 ,the versions are those of the late ,dr4 ,john ,muir4 ,a metrical version can scarcely represent the hymns with the accuracy the scholar would desire1 but1 on the other hand1 a literal translation1 such as that of ,professor ,max ,mller in vol4 xxxii4 of the ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 gives a less true idea of the spirit of the pieces1 and is less fitted at least for a work like this4 ,,to ,,indra ,thou1 ,indra1 oft of old hast quaffed ,with keen delight1 our ,soma draught4 ,all gods delicious ,soma love2 ,but thou1 all other gods above4 ,thy mother knew how well this juice ,was fitted for her infant's use1 ,into a cup she crushed the sap ,which thou didst sip upon her lap2 ,yes1 ,indra1 on thy natal morn1 ,the very hour that thou wast born1 ,thou didst those jovial tastes display1 ,which still survive in strength to-day4 ,and once1 thou prince of genial souls1 ,men say thou drained'st thirty bowls4 ,to thee the ,soma draughts proceed1 ,as streamlets to the lake they feed1 ,or rivers to the ocean speed4 ,our cup is foaming to the brim ,with ,soma pressed to sound of hymn4 ,come1 drink1 thy utmost craving slake1 ,like thirsty stag in forest lake1 ,or bull that roams in arid waste1 ,and burns the cooling brook to taste4 ,indulge thy taste1 and quaff at will2 ,drink1 drink again1 profusely swill6 ,,another ,,to ,,indra ,and thou dost view with special grace1 ,the fair complexioned ,aryan race1 ,who own the gods1 their laws obey1 ,and pious homage duly pay4 ,thou giv'st us horses1 cattle1 gold1 ,as thou didst give our sires of old4 ,thou sweep'st away the dark-skinned brood1 ,inhuman1 lawless1 senseless1 rude1 ,who know not ,indra1 hate his friends1 ,and spoil the race which he defends4 ,chase far away1 the robbers1 chase1 ,slay those barbarians black and base4 ,and save us1 ,indra1 from the spite ,of sprites that haunt us in the night1 ,our rites disturb by contact vile1 ,our hallowed offerings defile4 ,preserve us1 friend1 dispel our fears1 ,and let us live a hundred years4 ,and when our earthly course we've run1 ,and gained the region of the ,sun1 ,then let us live in ceaseless glee1 ,sweet ,soma quaffing there with thee4 ,,to ,,agni ,great ,agni1 though thine essence be but one1 ,thy forms are three2 as fire thou blazest here1 ,as lightning flashest in the atmosphere1 ,in heaven thou flamest as the golden sun4 ,it was in heaven thou hadst thy primal birth1 ,but thence of yore a holy sage benign1 ,conveyed thee down on human hearths to shine1 ,and thou abid'st a denizen of earth4 ,sprung from the mystic pair by priestly hands1 ,in wedlock joined1 forth flashes ,agni bright2 ,but--,o ye heaven and earth ,i tell you right-- ,the unnatural child devours the parent brands4 ,,to ,,varuna ,the mighty lord on high our deeds1 as if at hand1 espies2 ,the gods know all men do1 though men would fain their acts disguise4 ,whoever stands1 whoever moves1 or steals from place to place1 ,or hides him in his secret cell1--the gods his movements trace4 ,wherever two together plot1 and deem they are alone ,king ,varuna is there1 a third1 and all their schemes are known4 ,this earth is his1 to him belong those vast and boundless skies2 ,both seas within him rest1 and yet in that small pool he lies4 ,whoever far beyond the sky should think his way to wing1 ,he could not there elude the grasp of ,varuna the king4 ,his spies1 descending from the skies1 glide all this world around1 ,their thousand eyes all-scanning sweep to earth's remotest bound4 ,whate'er exists in heaven and earth1 whate'er beyond the skies1 ,before the eyes of ,varuna1 the king1 unfolded lies4 ,the ceaseless winkings all he counts of every mortal's eyes1 ,he wields this universal frame as gamester throws his dice4 ,those knotted nooses which thou fling'st1 ,o ,god1 the bad to snare1 ,all liars let them overtake1 but all the truthful spare4 ,varuna1 the all-embracing sky1 is also in many hymns a solar deity4 ,there are also other solar deities2 ,mitra who is frequently invoked along with ,varuna2 ,surya1 ,savitri1 ,vishnu1 and ,pushan1 are all gods of this class4 ,each of these has some attributes or some story of his own4 ,surya keeps his eye on men and reports their failings to ,varuna and ,mitra4 ,savitri1 the quickener1 raises all things from sleep in the morning with his long arms of gold1 and covers them with sleep in the evening4 ,vishnu1 the active1 traverses the universe with three strides4 ,pushan is a shepherd who loses none of his flock2 a guide also1 both in the journeys of this world and in the last journey4 ,a number of the principal gods have the common title of ,adityas or children of ,aditi1 immensity1 a being too vast and undetermined to be clearly represented4 ,we should also mention ,ushas1 the dawn1 a goddess whom the sun-god is daily chasing2 the ,asvins or two heavenly charioteers1 who daily make the circuit of the heavens2 ,tvashtri1 the smith who made the thunderbolt of ,indra2 the ,ribhus1 artificers who were once men and have been admitted to the society of the gods4 ,yama is the god of the dead1 he first traversed the road to the country beyond1 and now he rules over it1 and comforts with substantial joys the spirits guided there by ,agni 7this points to cremation which was frequent but not universal7 or by ,pushan4 ,there the ,pitris or fathers sit at the same tables with the gods1 and are eternally happy4 ,brahmanaspati1 lord of prayer1 is a god of another type1 a personification of the act of ritual1 and his presence in the ,vedas1 beside the elemental deities1 shows how early speculation had begun4 ,to what ,stage does this ,religion belong8--,our sketch of this system is necessarily brief2 we have now to inquire as to the place it occupies in the religious growth of ,india4 ,it is held1 on the one hand1 that it is a primitive religious product1 that it shows us some of the very first efforts men made to have a religion2 while on the other hand it is held that the ,vedic hymns and the ,vedic system are sacerdotal1 and are due to an advanced organisation of worship and to a special set of men who were much in advance of their age4 #a4 ,it is ,primitive4--,mr4 ,max ,mller#a says that the sacred books of ,india offer the same advantages 444 for the study of the origin and growth of religion 444 which ,sanscrit has offered for the study of the origin and growth of human speech4 ,dr4 ,muir#b claims that the ,vedic hymns illustrate the natural workings of the human mind in the period of its infancy4 ,in the ,vedas1 these writers consider1 we are able to watch the process by which the earliest men rose to the belief in gods1 and the nave and simple methods by which man's first intercourse with gods was carried on4 ,the undoubted antiquity of these pieces favours this view2 the ,rigveda is admitted on all hands to be the earliest part of ,indian literature1 and many of the hymns were written about #aejj ,b4,c4#c ,the pure and simple nature of the ,vedic religion may also appear to favour this view4 ,it is a religion singularly free from the lower elements of man's early faith4 ,savage legends and especially immoral stories of the gods are markedly absent from the hymns2 they are also free from the element of magic and fetishism2 the gods are great beings1 and religion consists in intercourse with these great beings4 ,now the later religious literature of ,india1 the brahmanas or commentaries on the ,rigveda and the other later ,vedas1 contain a variety of legends and a religion by no means free from magic4 ,it may be maintained therefore that the pure religion of the ,aryans afterwards became contaminated by contact with the lower religion of the tribes the ,aryans had conquered4 ,it was from the ,dravidian and ,kolarian aborigines1 we are told1 that ,indian religion took its later corruptions4 ,the ,vedic religion has no idols1 it has no dark descriptions of hell1 the caste system on which later ,brahmanism was based is absent from it1 it has no demons to be guarded against1 and no bad deities4 ,the doctrine of metempsychosis is not found here1 except perhaps in germ4 ,the immolation of the widow on the funeral pile of her husband is not sanctioned by the ,vedas1 and of ancestor-worship only a few traces are found4 ,all these1 it may be held1 are later corruptions4 ,the ,vedic religion is a bright and happy system1 and the primitive beliefs of mankind1 less changed by the ,indians than they were elsewhere1 are here to be seen2 the hymns show the kind of faith to which a strong and happy race of men naturally came1 as their minds began to open to the wonders of the world they lived in1 the faith of primitive shepherds praising their gods as they lead their flocks to the pasture4 ,the ,indians had preserved1 longer than other peoples1 the gift of recognising deity in nature2 and the primitive beliefs of mankind survive here in something like their first integrity1 while elsewhere they were broken up and confused4 ,footnote #a3 ,origin of ,religion1 p4 #ace4 ,footnote #b3 ,sanscrit ,texts1 vol4 v4 p4 #d4 ,footnote #c3 ,according to ,mr4 ,max ,mller the ,mantra or hymn period is to be placed #ajjj-hjj ,b4,c42 but other scholars place it earlier4 #b4 ,it is ,advanced4--,on the other hand1 it is urged that the society in which the hymns arose was not a primitive one1 but one considerably advanced both in arts and institutions4 ,the ,rishis 7seers71 who composed them1 belonged to families who cultivated such an art2 and the hymns were no artless outpourings of childlike emotion1 but were written on an elaborate metrical system for a definite purpose1 namely1 to form part of great acts of worship4 ,as for the absence from them of savage myths and of immoral stories of the gods1 this fact does not prove that such things were not known to the people at the time1 but only that the poets did not put them in their hymns4 ,mr4 ,lang has collected the savage myths1 similar to those of other peoples in various parts of the world1 which are found in ,indian literature of a later date1 and has also shown that the hymns themselves were not quite ignorant of some of them4 ,the ,indians knew the myth of the marriage of heaven and earth1 with the consequent birth of the gods4 ,they had the story of the deluge4 ,they had the still more primitive story of the raising up of the earth from the bottom of the sea4 ,they had various myths of old conflicts of the gods1 and of the production of the earth and all the men in it from the dissection of an immense prototypal human monster4 ,men were of different castes1 they held1 because they came from different portions of ,purusha's body when it was cut up4 ,many stories are to be found in ,indian literature which when found elsewhere are judged to be products of savage imagination1 and the fact that the ,rigveda ignores some of them and refines others1 simply shows that the authors of that collection were on a higher level than their people in point of cultivation and of piety1 as the psalmists and the prophets of ,israel were in advance of theirs4 ,we are led1 accordingly1 towards the conclusion that during the period when the hymns were written those who took charge of the development of worship in ,india were seeking to draw away attention from the more superstitious and childish elements of religion1 and to bring to the front the pure and lofty intercourse man could have with the good gods4 ,bad gods are not cultivated2 if there are foolish stories about the gods1 they are not repeated1 everything dark and terrible1 as well as everything irrational1 is removed from the working religion4 ,ancestor-worship is not encouraged2 family rites continued1 but the worship was wider than the family1 and was not restricted to particular places4 ,the ideas connected with sacrifice are not indeed very lofty4 ,sacrifice is1 in the first place1 barter4 ,gifts are provided for the gods1 that they may give in their turn4 ,in the second place it is a social function in which the god and the worshipper both take part4 ,the food1 and especially the soma1 strengthens the god1 and man and god are thereby drawn into close sympathy4 ,but in the third place sacrifice was a piece of magic4 ,the mere accurate performance of the rite had a mystic efficacy4 ,it was believed to help to uphold the order of the world2 without it the gods would grow weak1 the ordinances of nature would fail1 and man would relapse to the state of savagery4 ,the gods themselves first sacrificed2 from sacrifice they themselves were born1 so that sacrifice is an essential principle of the universe1 was so in the beginning1 and must always be so4 ,the ,vedic leaders of religion1 therefore1 were not merely champions of enlightenment in religion2 they were also ritualists1 the rite was to them an end in itself2 the proper performance of sacrifice was their principal object4 ,this side of their work had1 as we shall see1 grave consequences4 ,but the ,rigveda did a great work for ,india in cultivating gods who were moral1 and to whom man was drawn by higher than selfish motives4 ,gods who are just and who watch man's conduct1 and do not fail to reward him according to his deeds1 must quicken the conscience of those who believe in them1 and gods who are able to help the weak and to forgive the penitent must make their people also merciful4 ,in all the aberrations of ,indian religion the high moral standard set by the ,vedic gods is never lost sight of4 ,where a plurality of gods is believed in1 these gods must stand in some relation to each other2 and it is of importance to notice how the gods of the ,veda are arranged4 ,we can see here very clearly how unstable a thing polytheism is4 ,the position of the gods is constantly changing with reference to each other4 ,we find ,agni addressed as if he were undoubtedly supreme2 he dwells in the highest heavens1 he generates the gods1 he ordains the order of the universe2 but then we find ,indra spoken of in the same way1 and ,varuna1 and ,mitra1 and others4 ,then we find pairs of gods addressed together4 ,indra and ,agni are frequently so treated2 so are ,varuna and ,mitra4 ,there is no supreme god1 or rather1 each god is supreme in turn2 the poet wants a god capable of being exalted in every way1 and does so exalt the god he has before him4 ,in this way a ,monotheism is reached2 the mind recognises a god to whom unlimited adoration can be paid4 ,but it is a monotheism1 as ,m4 ,barth well puts it1 the titular god of which is always changing2 and ,mr4 ,max ,mller gives to this partial monotheism the name of ,kathenotheism2 that is1 the worship of one god at a time without any denial that other gods exist and are worthy of adoration4 ,now this form of religion1 in which several gods are worshipped1 each of whom in turn is regarded as supreme1 is not peculiar to ,india2 we have met with it already1 we shall meet with it again4 ,but in ,india a peculiar way was found out of the difficulty4 ,the ,indian gods were too little defined1 too little personal1 too much alike1 to maintain their separate personalities with great tenacity2 nor did they lend themselves to a monarchical form of pantheon2 no one of them was sufficiently marked out from the rest or above the rest1 to rule permanently over them4 ,yet the sense of unity in ,indian religion is very strong2 from the first the ,indian mind is seeking a way to adjust the claims of the various gods1 and view them all as one4 ,an early idea which makes in this direction is that of ,rita1 the order1 not specially connected with any one god1 which rules both in the physical and the moral world1 and with which all beings have to reckon4 ,philosophy is busy from the first with the ,vedic gods2 the impulse to good conduct and that to mysticism are equally innate in this religion4 ,we can see1 even in the ,rigveda1 that ,india is to solve the problem of its many gods not in the way of ,monotheism1 by making one god rule over the others1 but in the way of ,pantheism1 by making all the gods modes or manifestations of one being4 ,agni is all the ,gods we read here4 ,and a religion which arranges its objects of worship in this way will not be a religion of action1 but of speculation and of resignation4 ,,books ,,recommended ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 xxxii4 ,vedic ,hymns4 xlvi4 ,hymns to ,agni4 ,muir's ,sanscrit ,texts4 ,m4 ,mller's ,hibbert ,lectures4 ,monier ,williams1 ,indian ,wisdom2 ,hinduism in ,non-,christian ,religious ,systems 7,s4,p4,c4,k474 ,kaegi1 ,the ,rigveda1 the oldest literature of the ,indians1 #ahhf4 ,barth1 ,the ,religions of ,india1 in ,trbner's ,oriental ,series4 ,herrmann ,oldenberg1 ,die ,religion der ,veda1 #ahid4 ,bergaigne1 ,la ,religion ,vdique1 #c vols41 #ahgh-hc4 ,e4 ,hardy1 ,die ,vedisch ,brahmanische ,periode der ,religion des alten ,indiens4 ,lehmann1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,rhys ,davids1 ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 i4 p4 #a1 sqq4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,,india ,,ii4 ,brahmanism ,the period in which the songs were collected by the ,aryans dwelling in the ,punjaub was succeeded by a period of wars and troubles1 after which the successful race is found to have spread further towards the ,east1 and to have settled on the ,ganges and its tributaries4 ,along with this change of position a great change has also taken place in the spirit of the people1 a change which is strikingly seen in their religion4 ,the priesthood has come to occupy the position of a separate class to an extent not formerly the case1 and all the phenomena are apparent which are generally found associated with a hierocracy or rule of priests4 ,the early religious writings have been formed into a sacred canon3 there is an active production of new works which explain the old ones2 the sacrifices grow more elaborate and new virtues are attributed to them2 and along with this hardening and formalising of the outward parts of religion there is a religious speculation of great volume and of great freedom of character4 ,the ,caste ,system3 ,the ,brahmans4--,the key to the whole movement is to be found in the new position of the priesthood1 or in the establishment at this period of the system of caste4 ,though this system is only once mentioned in the ,rigveda1 and that in a hymn of late date1 scholars find traces of it in the arrangement of the hymns1 and as it is found in ,persia1 the ,indians probably had it before they entered ,india4 ,it may even1 it is judged1 be traceable to the division of ranks among the primitive ,aryan families4 ,teutonic as well as ,indian legends are found explaining how mankind were divided from the first into different classes4#a ,but the primitive differences of rank must have had a great development before they took shape in the rigid caste system of ,india4 ,this system appears to be organised with a view expressly to the exaltation of the priesthood1 and must have been the result of a struggle between the priests and the warrior or ruling classes4 ,the priests have made themselves indispensable in nearly all religious acts4 ,their very title shows this4 ,while ,brahman1 as the name of a god1 means primarily growth1 and later1 devotion or prayer1 brahmana 7neut47 signifies the ritual texts according to which worship is performed1 and brahman 7mas47 is the name of those who use such texts1 and comes to stand for the highest caste of ,indian society4 ,without the brahman there can be no satisfactory worship1 because there can be no security that any rite is performed correctly2 and a rite which is not performed correctly has no efficacy4 ,religion1 therefore1 is in the hands of this caste1 whose sacredness is hereditary1 and cannot be acquired in any other way than by birth4 ,the members of that caste and they alone are qualified to superintend religious observances1 and without them the intercourse between man and the gods cannot be kept up4 ,from his birth the brahman is a being of superior holiness2 he is destined for higher ends than other men1 and the distinction between him and them must be manifested in all his acts and habits throughout his life4 ,he is the natural lord of all the classes4 ,footnote #a3 ,compare ,hans ,sachs1 ,die ,ungleichen ,kinder ,eva's4 ,if the highest caste is strictly defined1 so also are the others4 ,the second caste is that of the ,kshatriyas1 warriors or rulers1 the third that of the ,vaisyas or farmers4 ,these three have rank1 they are the twice-born classes 7their second birth answers to confirmation1 and takes place when a young man is invested with the sacred thread74 ,the ,sudras are the fourth and lowest class2 no duty is assigned to them in the law books but that of serving meekly the other castes4 ,it has been thought that the ,sudras represent the conquered aborigines1 the three classes of rank belonging to the ,aryan invaders1 but this is open to question4 ,the student of religion has to fix his attention on the ,brahmans1 who have secured themselves in the position of the leading caste4 ,we speak first of the literary movement in which they were concerned1 then of the sacrifices they conducted1 and of their gods4 ,we shall then say something of the practical operation of their religion as a rule of life1 and lastly we shall come to the speculative work of their period1 which is not1 however1 to be set down to them alone4 #a4 ,the ,growth of the ,sacred ,literature4--,the ,vedas rose in sacredness after the age which produced them passed away4 ,a few centuries after they were written they were not generally intelligible2 they needed interpretation1 but at the same time the doctrine of their inspiration rose higher and higher4 ,the brahmans had both to interpret the words of the old hymns and to explain how1 when used at the sacrifice1 they produced the effect ascribed to them4 ,this led to the production of the earliest ,indian prose1 the brahmanas or ritual treatises4 ,primarily intended to be directories of worship for the priests1 these works were enriched with all sorts of ideas about the sacrifices1 their origin1 and their effects2 points in the ritual are explained in them by mythological stories which we should not otherwise know1 and we see from them that many superstitions1 to which the ,vedas gave no encouragement1 yet lived among the people4 ,each ,samhita1 or collection of hymns1 had its ,brahmana1 and some of the collections had several4 ,these works1 though transcending in dreariness most directories of worship1 are yet of great value for the light they throw on the history of ,indian manners and ideas1 as well as on that of mythology4 ,and as it happened among the ,jews in their later period so it happened here2--the sanctity of the text was extended to the commentary1 the brahmana also was held to be god-given and inspired1 and by some was even more highly esteemed than the hymns themselves4 ,a third class of inspired writings consists of the ,upanishads1 or speculative treatises1 of which we shall speak later4 ,the ,veda in the larger sense is made up of these three bodies of compositions1 mantras1 brahmanas1 and upanishads4 ,these three belong to revelation or ,s'ruti1 i4e4 hearing2 what is contained in these is to be regarded as having been heard by inspired men from a higher source4 ,the counterpart of ,s'ruti is smriti1 i4e4 recollection1 tradition4 ,this embraces the ,sutras or works dealing with ceremonial in the way of short rules gathered from the older literature1 with the exposition of the ,vedas1 with domestic rites and conventional usages4 ,the law books1 the epics1 and the ,puranas1 or ancient legendary histories1 also belong to this class4 ,the doctrine of the ,vedas1 of their sacredness and of their virtues1 played a great part in ,indian thought4 ,they were revered not as a written word1 for they were not written but handed down by memory1--the ,brahman still knows his sacred literature by heart1--but as hymns possessing supernatural powers and of far higher than human origin4 ,they were raised to the rank of a divinity1 they were said to have had to do with the creation of the world1 or to have been among the first created beings4 ,the value of the study of them was not to be exaggerated2 he who engages in it1 we hear1 offers a complete sacrifice1 obtains for himself the world which does not pass away1 and becomes united with ,brahma4 ,the class of men who had installed themselves as the authorised interpreters of the hymns1 had evidently taken up a very strong position4 #b4 ,sacrifice4--,indian ritual is an immense subject4 ,in the ,vedic period there were several orders of sacrifice--the hymns of the ,rigveda have to do with the ,soma-sacrifice alone--and several kinds of priests1 and it stands to reason that an elaborate ritual derived from a distant age and cherished by a priestly caste which was growing in power1 could not quickly change4 ,in spite of the considerable amount of materials accessible in the ,brahmanas and ,sutras1 a history of ,indian sacrifice as a whole has still to be written4 ,it is characteristic of early ,indian sacrifice that it is not confined to a temple or to any sacred spot1 and that it does not require any image of the deity4 ,instructions are always given for choosing and preparing a place for the rite1 and for erecting an altar2 a place had to be prepared on each occasion4 ,the gods were asked to come1 or were thought to be seated in heaven looking on2 the sacrifice is in the open air4 ,while the celebration proceeded according to a certain ritual1 it lay with the worshippers to fix to what god or gods the sacrifice should be addressed4 ,there was not one ritual for ,agni and another for ,indra1 but the same would serve for either or for both4 ,the sacrifices of which we hear in the ,brahmanas are domestic rites2 they are offered by the heads of the household1 who invite ancestors also to be present4 ,a ,brahman is present to direct those who sacrifice and the inferior priests who assist them1 and the benefits of the act extend to all the dependants of the household4 ,the time was determined by natural seasons or by household events4 ,some sacrifices were greater than others1 the more elaborate ones requiring several days1 months1 or even years for their celebration4 ,among the kinds of offerings which might be made we find that of man enumerated2 human sacrifice1 however1 if it had prevailed in earlier times1 had now grown obsolete4 ,the rise of the ,brahmans into a caste changed the character of the sacrifice by making its due celebration depend more on special knowledge1 and by increasing its elaborate mystery4 ,once the hymn was recognised as an essential element of such an act1 the person who could interpret the hymn and explain its effects acquired great importance4 ,and when the explanation of all the various features of the sacrifice was once begun1 a wide door was opened to minute ingenuity4 ,it is astonishing to what trifles these priestly directories descend1 what explanations are brought from every part of earth and heaven of the most trivial circumstances1 and what sacredness is found in the very blades of grass around the altar4 ,now the effect of such a treatment of ritual is inevitably that the rite itself1 the outward mechanical performance1 comes to be regarded as important1 and that the ethical and religious end which was originally aimed at1 is lost sight of4 ,the priest and those he acts for are so intent on the minuti of their celebration that they forget about the god it is intended for4 ,and as they are quite convinced that the sacrifice1 if offered with perfect correctness and with nothing left out1 must produce its effect1 the sacrifice itself comes to appear as the agent of the desired blessing2 the god grows less but the sacrifice grows more4 ,this process1 which may be observed wherever ritualism exists1 was carried in the period of ,brahmanism to its utmost length4 ,in this period the old gods lost the strong hold they had before over the people's mind2 men ceased to look for their gods to the sky or to the tempest1 and began to look instead to the long ceremonies of the priest or to the hymn he chanted at the altar1 or to the austerities he practised4 ,gods of a new type now make their appearance4 ,as in the ,vedic period we saw that ,brahmanaspati1 lord of prayer1 had a place beside ,indra and ,varuna1 so now we see that the supreme deity is named ,brahma4 ,the prayer connected with the sacrifice has given its name to the ruler of the universe4 ,other names for the supreme are also found to be making their way to general use1 as the old historical and mythological gods fall into the background1 and an abstract divine unity is sought after4 ,prajapati1 lord of creatures1 who is little heard of in the hymns1 is frequently invoked as the head of all the gods1 and a triad of gods is heard of1 consisting of ,agni1 ,vayu1 ,surya1 fire1 the air1 the sun1 and summing up the divine energies4 ,the attributes of the gods are personified1 and a set of pale abstractions is thus added to the ,pantheon2 and spirits and goblins not heard of in the hymns1 though not therefore necessarily unknown in the former period1 make their appearance4 ,these are1 perhaps1 the gods of the aborigines1 who thus revenge themselves1 as the religion of the invaders which at first suppressed them loses its earlier vigour4 ,the strong gods retire and weak gods1 many and shadowy1 and bad as well as good1 are worshipped4 ,the ,asuras were formerly the gods generally1 now they are evil beings with whom the good gods have to contend4 #c4 ,practical ,life4--,we possess very complete pictures of ,indian life and manners in the period of ,brahmanism4 ,of the codes of ancient sages by which ,hindu society was supposed to be governed many are extant to us2 and in ,mr4 ,max ,mller's ,sacred ,books of the ,east the ,english reader may make himself acquainted with several of these4 ,the most famous and the longest1 is the laws of ,manu1 a mythical progenitor of mankind4 ,in the form in which we have it this work dates probably from the second century ,a4,d41 but the body of the work is much older4 ,originally a local collection of rules1 it extended its authority gradually over the entire ,hindu population of ,india4 ,with other collections1 also of local origin1 it represents to us the condition of ,indian society after the caste system became fixed2 but much of the law thus handed down to us must have had its origin in prehistoric times4 ,the law of ,manu hinges on the superiority of the ,brahman over the other castes4 ,the ,brahmans form the centre of the state and really control everything2 but their life1 in turn1 is framed in strict rules1 and their whole history and actions are laid down for them to the last detail from the moment of their birth4 ,the life of the ,brahman is divided into four periods4 ,for a quarter of his life he is a student living with a teacher and learning from him the sacred knowledge of the ,vedas4 ,every act of study begins with the so-called ,savitri-verse1 ,let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine ,vivifier4 ,may he enlighten our understandings4 ,this prayer1 with the mystic syllable1 ,om 7thought to have to do with the three gods of a triad1 but probably the original meaning is ,yes1 an abstract all-embracing yes1 in which nothing but pure being is affirmed71 is repeated at every return to study1 and also with great frequency at other times4 ,the teacher is more to the student than his father1 and is to be treated with the greatest deference and courtesy2 these years are a training in gentle and seemly conduct as well as in law4 ,his student days completed1 the ,brahman offers his first sacrifice1 marries1 and becomes a householder4 ,little is said of earning a living2 the ,brahman is not to be worldly1 but he is to be independent if he can4 ,he is1 however1 allowed to beg if in want4 ,but more stress is laid on the continued pursuit of knowledge1 and on the domestic sacrifices to gods and manes which are to be his daily care4 ,after he has brought up a son to take charge of his house and goods1 the third stage of his life is reached2 he may retire from the world and become a recluse1 giving himself to contemplation and austerities4 ,the fourth stage is that of the ascetic1 bhikku or sannyasin1 the aged man who having given up all possessions1 all human society1 and the practice of all rites1 and subsisting only on alms1 seeks to purge his heart of all desire and to become united by deep meditation with the supreme soul1 thus attaining union with ,brahma and final liberation4 ,in this section of the laws of ,manu an ideal of moral perfection is set forth1 which is not demanded at the earlier stages of life4 ,let him not desire to die2 let him not desire to live2 let him wait for his time as a servant for the payment of his wages4 ,let him patiently bear hard words1 let him not insult any one1 nor become any one's enemy for the sake of this perishable body4 ,against an angry man let him not in return show anger2 let him bless when he is cursed4 ,he is to be sedulously careful not to injure any living creature1 he is to meditate on the supreme soul which is present in all organisms1 both the highest and the lowest4 ,he is to give up all attachments1 and in this way1 as his body decays1 he enters even here into a state of perfect freedom and repose and union with the great spirit4 ,such ideas prove that the mind of ,brahmanism was not occupied with sacrifices alone4 ,manu speaks of the superintendence of sacrifices as only one of several careers which the ,brahman might choose2 and if he might with equal right devote himself to study or to self-discipline1 we see that another side of religion than that directing itself to external gods or occupying itself with outward acts1 was pressing itself forward4 ,the inner world of the mind is growing larger as the outward gods grow shadowy2 it is being found that salvation may be reached by inwards efforts as well as by outward rites1 that the search for wisdom and the work of self-conquest1 and a union with the deity which is quite apart from any offering or from any form of worship1 also lead to salvation4 ,it is objected to the ethics of ,manu that the ideal they set up is not an active but a suffering one2 the ascetic is placed on a higher platform than the householder1 men are encouraged to withdraw from the performance of their duties in the family and in society1 and to devote themselves to an aim which1 however lofty1 is personal and1 so far1 selfish4 ,it is certainly a weakness in the religion that it has no higher aim than this to set before its most eager minds4 ,apart from this1 life is regulated in a way we cannot but admire4 ,amid the mass of trivialities and formalities in which every action is involved there breathes a grave humane and gentle spirit1 and a sound practical morality1 and the ordinary household of the ,brahman may have been a scene of activity and cheerfulness4 ,the ,sudra1 however1 is spoken of everywhere as a being whose degradation can never be removed1 and to touch whom is to be defiled4 ,those who belonged to no caste were in a still worse plight and lived in the greatest misery4 #d4 ,philosophy4--,we have seen how both in the ritual system they administered and in the ideal they formed of the highest good1 the ,brahmans were led forward from the old ground of the ,vedic nature-worship to a more inward and subjective religious attitude4 ,the exaltation of ,brahma1 the power of prayer1 to be the supreme god1 was an advance from an external deity to a deity both external and present in man's own experience2 and the appearance of a new way of salvation1 though only permitted at first to the world-weary ascetic1 in which inner contemplation and absorption could lead to the highest consummation of life1 also showed that a new form of religion was at hand4 ,in the philosophy of the ,brahmanic period1 the transition is made from the service of gods external to man1 by the mechanism of rites1 to the acknowledgment of a divine being with whom man feels himself to be inwardly akin and to whom he draws near by his own spiritual effort4 ,in this movement1 to which we learn that members of the lay aristocracy and even women of intellectual distinction made important contributions1 and which may have appeared in its beginnings as a sceptical revolt against their own system1 the ,brahmans yet took part1 and the works in which the record of it is contained became a part of revelation4 ,the ,upanishads or communicated doctrines1 form the third branch of the sacred knowledge1 and much of this literature belongs to the period before ,buddhism4 ,these books are read still by the educated ,hindu as part of scripture1 and the philosophy of them is a part of his religion4 ,we can only point out the principal terms and notions of that philosophy4 ,seeking to escape from the confusion of many gods the ,indian mind is looking out even from the ,vedic period for some means to conceive of them all as one4 ,in the earliest period each reigned in turn as the supreme2 a god is supreme not because he is essentially the greatest of the gods1 but because circumstances have brought him to the front4 ,this is ,henotheism4 ,then we have attempts to sum them all up in one expression4 ,prajapati1 lord of creatures1 ,visvakarman1 maker of all things1 represent such attempts4 ,then we have as the supreme1 ,brahma1 the power of prayer1#b a being of a different character from all his predecessors4 ,brahma is an intellectual deity4 ,he is a thinker1 a knower1 he is the ,mahan ,atma or great spirit1 which sits in unbroken calm above the change and distraction of the universe4 ,in rendering ,mahan ,atma by great spirit1 however1 we are anticipating4 ,atma1 originally breath or life1 comes1 afterwards1 to mean the person1 the self when all that is accidental is removed from it1 the essential1 innermost self4 ,now ,brahma is the great self1 the inmost essence of all things1 which was before them1 and is unaffected by their changes4 ,but man also has an atma1 a self2 it may be very small and lodge in a part of the body where it cannot be detected1 but it is there1 and the small atma is the same as the great one4 ,by what physiological doctrines this is upheld1 cannot here be traced2 but the notion of the atma1 the great form of which in ,brahma is identical with its small form in man1 lies at the basis of ,brahmanic thought4 ,footnote #b3 ,on the etymology of ,brahma see ,mr4 ,max ,mller's ,hibbert ,lectures1 p4 #cff4 ,in ,brahma one god has been reached1 but he has been reached by thinking away from him everything concrete4 ,all predicates are unsuitable to him1 as any predicate implies a limitation2 he can only be described in negatives1 or in questionable metaphors4 ,he is meant to satisfy the religious craving for a being quite free from any imperfection and entirely supreme--and it is the penalty of this that he has no clear outline or character4 ,and how indeed is he to be related to the world8 ,this world of change and decay1 of disappointment and sorrow1 what has the perfect being to do with that8 ,did he make it1 and is he responsible for it8 ,the answer to this in ,hindu thought is that the world is due to ,maya1 illusion4 ,it was due to an aberration in ,brahma1 which is represented in various ways1 that the transition was made from the one to the many1 and this error has been productive of all that has been suffered on the earth4 ,or else it is held that it was not ,brahma who became subject to illusion1 but that the illusion resides in man's views and thoughts about the world2 and if a man could free himself from the meshes of ,maya by recognising that the world is an illusion1 and that nothing exists but ,brahma only1 then he would have done something for his own emancipation1 the ,brahma in him would be free from illusion1 and he would also have done something1 though little1 for the salvation of the world from its great error4 ,that the whole world-process is nothing but an illusion1 a confused and troubled dream passing over the mind of ,brahma1 who himself alone is real1 this is the cardinal doctrine of ,brahmanism1 from which ,buddhism also1 as we shall see1 sets out4 ,the world is really nothing but an apparent world2 and the true wisdom1 the only salvation consists in knowing this1 and in living a life in accordance with that knowledge4 ,the wise man should regard a world which he knows to be illusion1 with complete indifference2 it can do nothing to him1 he can do nothing for it2 it affects him only with an ineradicable regret that it exists at all1 and with a longing for its disappearance4 ,the practical outcome of the state of matters which he recognises is firstly negative1 that he must not allow the world to influence him at all1 and1 secondly1 positive1 that he must strive to be united with ,brahma4 ,the negative task is performed by withdrawing the mind from all particular things1 and letting it be filled with the general1 the absolute alone2 and similarly by forbidding the desires to fasten on any worldly objects1 by extinguishing desire and ceasing to be affected in any way by worldly things4 ,the positive task is performed by means of a mental process which we cannot here describe1 but by which the mind returns to the self that is within and realises it as it is1 cleared from all particular thoughts and affections4 ,these exercises cannot be called moral2 where all is illusion morality disappears4 ,there is no good1 no evil1 no effort to promote the good and lessen the evil4 ,it is not because the world is bad that it is condemned1 but because it exists4 ,the energy which in other faiths is devoted to a moral struggle1 is here poured into the ascetic discipline by which the individual looks to escape altogether from the world as it is4 ,there are no good works1 what is good is to abstain from all works2 there is no benevolence further than that the mind must be kept clear of all that confuses or degrades2 the salvation of the individual alone is sought after2 there is no desire to spread the light and save others1 since few are capable of that knowledge of the illusive nature of all things by which alone salvation is possible4 ,this1 it is plain1 could never be a popular religion4 ,brahma1 the abstract one1 does not appeal to the imagination2 he could not drive out the popular nature-gods with their definite myths and attributes4 ,nor could a religion spread among the people1 which regarded the social and the domestic state as inferior1 and could only be practised by one who had left his home and family4 ,the hermits and ascetics and begging monks may form the religious aristocracy2 but a teaching of a different nature was necessary for the people4 ,and we find1 in fact1 two religions prevailing in ,india in the period of ,brahmanism2 that which we have described for the enlightened1 who escapes in it from all law1 all creed1 all ritual1 whose whole religion more than any other which ever flourished in the world is within the mind2#c and on the other hand1 a religion in which outward gods are worshipped1 an outward law enforced which is counted sacred because a god or gods inspired it1 and in which superstitions gathered from all quarters find shelter4 ,the higher religion by no means killed the lower one1 as we see in ,india to this day4 ,on the contrary1 the withdrawal of the higher religion of the country to a region whither the people could not follow1 left the religion of the people to sink into a degradation unknown before4 ,one doctrine must here be noticed4 ,the belief in transmigration which ,buddhism received from the religion it found existing in ,india1 does not belong to the higher thought of ,brahmanism described in this section2 the atman or self1 which is identical with the supreme self1 belongs to quite a different order of thought from the soul which was formerly in some one else1 is now in me1 and may yet come to be in many another being4 ,the doctrine is thought to have been an importation into ,india about the time we are speaking of4 ,it admits of being made a powerful deterrent from vice and incentive to virtue4 ,if my present sufferings are due not to my acts1 but to the acts of the person in whom my soul dwelt before1 it is possible for me so to act that my soul's future existence may be better and not worse than this one1 and that it shall not sink but rise in the order of beings1 and draw nearer to its final deliverance4 ,of this we shall hear more in connection with ,buddhism4 ,footnote #c3 ,from the standpoint of unity with ,brahma1 the gods are no-gods1 the ,vedas no-,vedas4 ,the further development of ,indian religion1 apart from ,buddhism1 is in two directions4 ,there is a philosophical movement1 in which the ,brahmanic ideas on ,god1 the world1 the soul and its changes1 are further worked out1 and which leads to the six schools of ,hindu philosophy4 ,on the other hand1 the gods have their history4 ,brahma remains the great god1 but as his character is so undefined he is little worshipped4 ,indra1 the old national god1 yields to ,vishnu1 the old sun-god of the three steps 7heaven1 the air1 the earth71 who becomes the favourite deity4 ,the stern and destructive ,s'iva is a new figure1 and seems to be partly an adaptation of a god of the savage aborigines3 his worship is the most fanatical4 ,these three1 the ,creator1 the ,upholder1 and the ,destroyer1 form the ,trimurti1 or divine trinity of ,india1--a trinity arrived at not by unfolding the riches of the one great god1 but by compounding the claims of three gods who were rivals4 ,the doctrine of incarnation is also found here4 ,vishnu has ten avatars or incarnations in human form2 he comes down to the earth when there is a special reason for his interference4 ,in these avatars1 especially in ,krishna1 the dark god1 whose exploits as a hero are told in the great epic the ,mahabharata1 the need is to some extent met1 of which both ,buddhism and ,christianity lay hold1 of a divine figure who is not too far away from man1 and who can be regarded with personal affection4 ,,books ,,recommended ,most of the books mentioned at the end of last chapter deal also with ,brahmanism4 ,of the ,brahmanic literature given in the ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 the following may be mentioned3-- ,vols4 i4 and xv4 ,upanishads4 ,vols4 ii4 and xiv4 ,sacred ,laws of the ,aryas4 ,vol4 vii4 ,the ,institutes of ,vishnu4 ,vols4 xii41 xxvi41 and xli4 ,the ,satapatha-,brahmana 7,sacrificial ,rituals74 ,vol4 xxv4 ,manu4 ,vols4 xxix41 and xxx4 ,grihya-,sutras 7,domestic ,ceremonies74 ,vol4 xxxiv4 ,vedic ,hymns4 xlvi4 ,hymns to ,agni4 ,vols4 xlii4-xliv4 ,hymns of the ,atharva-,veda4 ,vols4 xxxiv41 xxxviii41 xlviii4 ,vedanta ,sutras4 ,muir's ,sanscrit ,texts4 ,weber1 ,indische ,skizzen4 ,haug1 ,aitareya ,brahmana4 ,,chapter ,,xx ,,india ,,iii4 ,buddhism ,in ,buddhism the great movement of ,indian religion works itself out to its ultimate conclusion and reaches a stage beyond which there can be no advance4 ,here we have a religion1 if such it may be called1 without a god1 without prayer1 without priesthood or worship2 a religion which owes its great success1 not to its theology1 nor to its ritual1 since it has neither1 but to its moral sentiment and to its external organisation4 ,originating in the centre of ,india1 and giving practical form to ,indian ideas1 it spread rapidly and widely both in the country of its birth and in neighbouring lands4 ,it is now extinct in ,india1 yet it numbers more adherents than any other religion4 ,it has been divided since the ,christian era into two great branches4 ,southern ,buddhism is the religion of ,ceylon1 of ,burmah1 and of ,siam2 while ,northern ,buddhism extends over ,tibet1 ,china1 and ,japan1 and the islands of ,java and ,sumatra4 ,the ,literature4--,these two branches of ,buddhism have different literary traditions1 though some works are common to both2 and these literatures1 differing from each other in language1 also differ widely in contents and in spirit4 ,the southern tradition1 composed in ,pali1 the literary language of ,ceylon1 has recently been opened up to scholars1 and has greatly changed their views of the origin and the true nature of this religion4 ,the ,canon of ,southern ,buddhism1 which we might call the ,pali ,bible1 is a literature about twice as large as the ,bible of ,europe1 although if the repetitions in it were removed1 it would be somewhat smaller than the ,bible4 ,it consists of three ,pitakas1 baskets or collections4 ,the first is the ,vinaya ,pitaka1 dealing with discipline1 but including the ,mahavagga1 a history of the first beginnings of the order as the founder gathered it around him4 ,the second is the ,sutta ,pitaka or collection of teachings4 ,it contains the earliest account of the later life of the founder1 books of meditation and devotion1 collections of sayings by the ,master1 poems1 fairy tales1 and fables1 stories about ,buddhist saints1 and so on4 ,the third collection1 the ,abidhamma1 contains speculations and discussions on various subjects4 ,much of these materials is not peculiar to ,buddhism1 there is much pre-,buddhistic speculation1 and there are many stories which are not peculiar even to ,india4 ,along with all this1 however1 the books give us the earliest accounts of the life and of the death of the founder1 and contain a representation written a century after his death1 of what he was considered to have taught4 ,the founder himself wrote nothing2 but the work of composing books about him and his doctrine began early1 and much of the canon is considered1 especially by ,english scholars1 to have been in existence during the first ,buddhist century4#a ,for many centuries they were preserved by memory alone4 ,footnote #a3 ,the ,buddhist literature given in the ,sacred ,books of the ,east is as follows3 ,vol4 x4 ,the ,dhammapada1 containing the quintessence of ,buddhist morality1 and the ,sutta-nipata1 giving teachings of ,buddha on religion4 ,vol4 xi4 ,buddhist ,suttas4 ,religious1 moral1 and philosophical discourses4 ,vol4 xlix4 ,buddhist ,mahayana ,sutras4 ,vol4 xiii4 ,vinaya ,texts4 ,the ,patimokha or order of discipline1 and the beginning of the ,mahavagga1 containing an account of the opening of the ministry of the founder4 ,vol4 xvii4 ,vinaya ,texts ii4 ,mahavagga continued4 ,kullavagga or discipline as established by the ,master4 ,vol4 xx4 ,kullavagga continued4 ,vols4 xxii41 xlv4 contain ,suttas of the religion of the ,jainas4 ,vols4 xxxv41 xxxvi4 ,questions of ,king ,milinda4 ,was there a ,personal ,founder8--,senart in his ,essai sur la lgende du ,buddha1 and ,kern in his ,het ,buddhisme in ,indie1 both hold that we have here to do with a sun-myth1 and interpret the various features of the legend in a very ingenious way in accordance with that theory4 ,this view has made few converts4 ,many incidents in the story are natural1 and appear to be due to a real tradition2 there is literary evidence of the early existence of the books1 and the religion can be best understood if regarded as the work of a real personality of commanding greatness4#b ,footnote #b3 ,recent archological discoveries1 of which an account is given by ,mr4 ,rhys ,davids in the ,century ,magazine1 ,april #aijb1 place it beyond doubt that the ,buddha really existed1 and that pious offices were paid to his ashes after his cremation by the members of his own clan as well as by others4 ,inscriptions brought to light in #ahih show that the ,sakhya clan1 of which he was a member1 dwelt at the time of his death in what is now a frontier district of ,nepal4 ,three years before that event they were driven from their old capital ,kapilavastu2 but they formed a new one fifteen miles further south1 just beyond the present frontier of ,nepal1 and there they erected a stupa or massive stone cairn1 to guard the portion of the ashes of the ,buddha which was committed to their keeping4 ,scholars1 however1 are agreed as to the difficulty of drawing the line between what is history and what is legend4 ,even in the early ,pali accounts the hero has become a religious figure1 he wears titles which lift him above mankind1 and he has supernatural powers at his command4 ,a laborious critical process must be undertaken1 comparing the various narratives with each other and testing them in other ways1 before the real history can be regarded as made out beyond question4 ,the slight sketch of the story which we give does not aim at such critical correctness2 we merely indicate the outline of a narrative which is one of the principal sources of the strength of the religion4 ,the ,story of the ,founder4--,the founder's family name was ,gautama1 and by that name he was commonly known during his lifetime4 ,the personal name given him as a child was ,siddartha4 ,those who wished after his death to speak of him with reverence called him ,sakya-,muni1 the ,sage of the ,sakyas4 ,these were a tribe who dwelt1 at the period of the story1 i4e4 half a millennium before ,christ1 in the country to the north of the sacred ,ganges1 a few days' journey from the city of ,benares4 ,gautama's father1 ,suddhodana1 was rajah 7chief7 of the ,sakyas2 his residence was ,kapilavastu1 near ,oude4 ,the future sage thus belonged to the ,kshatriya class1 and was accustomed to a position of rank and ease4 ,we hear little of his youth2 he had been married ten years1 and his wife1 whom he loved1 had just brought him a son1 when1 at the age of twenty-nine1 he suddenly and secretly left his home to devote himself to the religious life4 ,he was led to this step by witnessing various painful sights which caused him vividly to realise the suffering which accompanies all existence1 and made him scorn a life of luxury4 ,it was a time when many were seeking a better way1 and when a superior mind naturally turned to that retirement and absorption in which it was believed that the key to life's pains and mysteries was to be found4 ,in the ,great ,renunciation1 as this act is called1 there is nothing we cannot understand4 ,this lofty act1 however1 was followed by a temptation2 ,mara1 the spirit of evil1 urged him1 but urged him in vain1 to give up the purpose he had formed4 ,he then attached himself to ,brahmanic ascetics1 from whom he learned their philosophy2 and after this he devoted himself for six years to a life of fasting and penance1 the ,brahmanic method for drawing nearer the goal of the religious life4 ,after this period he gave up his fasting1 not having profited by it as he had expected1 and returned to an ordinary diet4 ,this change cost him the adhesion of five disciples who had become attached to him1 and had been filled with wonder at his mortifications4 ,but the loss was a small one compared with the gain which was at hand4 ,after a second great spiritual struggle and a renewal of the temptation1 he at last reached that which he had long been seeking4 ,seated under a ficus religiosa1 the tree afterwards called the tree of knowledge1 or the ,bo-tree1 he rose in contemplation above all his temptations and doubts till he beheld at length the true nature of things4 ,from this moment he was ,buddha1 ,enlightened2 he had the key of truth1 and for himself he was assured that sorrow and evil had lost all hold on him4 ,his doctrine had dawned in his mind4 ,he had discovered the cause of the sorrow which is so closely intertwined in man's life1 and had divined the way in which sorrow might be overcome4 ,the method had been found by which one could escape from the unending succession of new lives1 all painful1 to which1 according to the general belief of the time1 men were condemned4 ,the words placed in the mouth of the founder when he attained to ,buddhahood tell their own tale4 ,looking for the ,maker of this tabernacle1 ,i have to run through a course of many births so long as ,i do not find him2 and painful is birth again and again4 ,but now1 ,maker of the tabernacle1 thou hast been seen2 thou shalt not make up this tabernacle again4 ,all thy rafters are broken2 thy ridge-pole is sundered2 the mind1 approaching the eternal1 has attained to the extinction of all desires4#c ,footnote #c3 ,dhammapada1 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 x4 #db4 ,the great discovery being made1 and duly pondered and realised1 the question arose1 ,what was to be done with it8 ,the ,buddha shrinks from the work of preaching it to others4 ,brahma himself is brought into the story to encourage him to make his secret known to others1 and to assure him that many will receive it with great joy4 ,the ,blessed ,one consents1 and thus replies3 ,wide open is the gate of the ,immortal to all who have ears to hear2 let them send forth faith to meet it4 ,the teaching is sweet and good2 because ,i despaired of the task1 ,i spake not to men before4#d ,he turns his steps1 guided by his own supernatural knowledge1 to the city of ,benares1 to seek the five monks who had formerly abandoned him4 ,on his way thither he meets a naked ascetic who asks the reason of his cheerful mien2 he answers that he has overcome all foes1 has reached emancipation by the destruction of desire1 and has obtained ,nirvana4 ,to found the kingdom of ,truth ,i go to the city of the ,kasis 7,benares72 ,i will beat the drum of the ,immortal in the darkness of this world4 ,the account which follows of the opening of the kingdom of righteousness presents many analogies to the early stages of other spiritual movements4 ,the founder1 immovably sure of himself and of his doctrines1 goes from place to place1 spending the rainy season in town1 and preaching everywhere4 ,it is at ,benares that the wheel of the law is first set in motion2 there the first sermon was preached4 ,the circumstances are also narrated under which other sermons were delivered1 details being given as to time1 place1 the persons who heard them1 the incidents which occasioned them4 ,his converts at first are few and their names are recorded1 but by degrees they become more numerous4 ,the more devoted of them become members of his order1 ,bhikkus 7for ,bhikshus71 mendicants2 they forsake domestic life1 shave their heads1 adopt the yellow dress and the alms-bowl4 ,they also are sent out to preach4 ,go ye1 ,o ,bhikkus1 and wander1 for the welfare of many1 out of compassion for the world1 for the gain and for the welfare of gods and men4 ,let not two of you go the same way4 ,preach1 ,o ,bhikkus1 the doctrine which is glorious in the beginning1 glorious in the middle1 glorious in the end1 in the spirit1 and in the letter2 proclaim a consummate1 perfect1 and pure life of holiness4 ,there are beings whose mental eyes are covered with scarcely any dust1 but if the doctrine is not preached to them they cannot attain salvation4 ,the incidents narrated in this part of the story are mostly connected with persons seeking admission to the order1 or persons requiring to be convinced2 the doctrine and its spread are everything4 ,that spread takes place1 as it is desired by the ,buddha1 chiefly among the higher classes of society2 a great triumph is reached when ,bimbisara1 king of ,magadha1 becomes a patron of the order1 and some accounts tell of the conversion of the ,buddha's own father and mother4 ,the work of the mission is of a peaceful nature2 the ,buddha lives on good terms with the ,brahmans and with other teachers and their pupils4 ,the only formidable opposition he had to meet arose within the order4 ,his cousin ,dewadatta1 who had become a monk1 wished to found a new order with much stricter rules than those of the original one4 ,the ,buddha refused to attach importance1 as was proposed1 to matters of clothes and food1 or living in the open air2 to do so would have made his movement narrower and less universal than he desired4 ,footnote #d3 ,mahavagga1 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 xiii4 #hh4 ,the beginning of the ministry is told in some detail1 but of a long period of the life only a few scattered incidents are given4 ,there is a detailed account of the three last months of the life4 ,the ,buddha is now eighty years of age1 and in the ,maha-paranibbana ,sutta#e the tale of his migrations and preachings is carried on according to the same scheme as in the accounts of his early days4 ,during the rainy season1 however1 when he has reached the age of eighty1 he has an illness1 and sees he cannot live long4 ,this he tells his monks1 exhorting them with urgency to be true to the teaching and the order1 and to shed the light abroad4 ,his end is hastened by a meal of pork set before him by a goldsmith1 a man of low caste1 who hospitably entertained him4 ,after this his face shines with a heavenly radiance1 and as the end approaches many heavenly signs appear4 ,the ,buddha is fully conscious that he is about to leave the world1 and that his death is an event of supreme interest to the heavenly powers1 whom he believes to be thronging around to watch his last hours4 ,he is solicitous1 however1 to soothe the grief of his friends1 large numbers of whom also are around him1 and to give them such counsels and such incentives to a faithful upholding of the cause as he yet may4 ,they ask about his obsequies1 and he claims that the remains of such an one as he is1 of a ,tathagata1 one who has attained perfection1 should be treated as men treat the remains of a king of kings4 ,he recognises the kindness of ,ananda1 his most intimate disciple1 and tries to comfort him by encouraging him to be earnest in effort1 so that he too may soon be free from evils4 ,he directs his disciples generally not to mourn too much at his removal as if they were being deserted4 ,the truths which he has set forth1 and the rules of the order he has laid down for them1 are to be their teacher after he is gone4 ,he asks if any of them has any doubt or misgiving as to the ,buddha1 or the truth1 or the faith1 or the way4 ,if so1 they are to inquire freely1 so that they may not reproach themselves afterwards for not having consulted him while still among them4 ,the brethren1 however1 are silent1 though addressed again and again in the same way4 ,in the whole assembly there is not one who has any doubt or misgiving4 ,even the most backward of these brethren has become converted 7lit4 entered into the current72 he is no longer liable to be born to a state of suffering1 but is assured of eternal salvation4 ,footnote #e3 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 xl4 ,then the ,blessed ,one addressed the brethren and said1 ',behold now1 brethren1 ,i exhort you1' saying1 ',decay is inherent in all things that have come into being4 ,work out your salvation with diligence6' ,this was the last word of the ,tathagata6 ,his death or ,nirvana forms the era of ,buddhist chronology1 and the date has now been approximately fixed with some certainty2 it took place somewhere in the decade #dhb-dgb ,b4,c4 ,is ,buddhism a ,revolt against ,brahmanism8--,before proceeding to discuss the religion to which this somewhat monkish narrative forms the preface1 it is necessary to say a few words on the relation which that religion is now supposed to hold to the general history of ,indian piety4 ,it was customary1 till recently1 to regard ,buddha as a great reformer1 and his religion as a great revolt against that which it found prevailing in ,india4 ,he is credited with having preached atheism as a reaction against the burdensome worship of too many gods1 with having instituted a great social movement consisting in the abolition of caste1 with having openly denied the authority of the ,vedas1 till then unchallenged1 and with having rebuked the pride of ,brahmanism by making his order of mendicants the representatives of his religion4 ,none of these assertions can now be upheld4 ,instead of having been a tremendous reaction against ,brahmanism it is seen that ,buddhism was the natural outgrowth of that system4 ,the closer knowledge of both1 gained by the opening up of the sacred books of ,india1 tends to show that much that was formerly thought distinctive of ,buddhism was in reality inherited from ,brahmanism4 ,we saw in dealing with the earlier form of ,indian religion that a form of piety had been struck out in it which made the ascetic independent of sacrifice1 priesthood1 even of the gods1 all save the one ,god who is in all things4 ,in that phase of ,indian religion the authority of the ,vedas had already been impugned1 an inner discipline had taken the place of outward worship1 the saint had learned to forsake the world4 ,this turn of religious thought produced all the phenomena of ,buddhism before the period of ,gautama4 ,the sannyasin 7vide sup41 chapter xix47 of ,brahmanism is also called bhikku1 mendicant2 the rules of the older ascetics are closely similar to those of the ,buddhist monk2 their very outfit1 their cloak and alms-bowl1 are the same4 ,a circumstance which shows very clearly how far ,buddhism was from bearing the character of a revolt1 is the occurrence at the same time and in the same district of ,india of another movement of a very similar nature4 ,jainism is an ,indian religion so like ,buddhism as to have been considered by many to be a sect of the latter4 ,it also has an order of monks with robes and with a rule like those of the ,buddhist fraternity4 ,it also has a human founder on whom many of the same titles are conferred as on ,gautama1 and who is afterwards deified and worshipped4 ,mahavira1 the founder of ,jainism1 is1 like ,gautama1 the son of a royal house2 and the ,jainist and the ,buddhist legend have many features in common4 ,was the legend of ,mahavira1 then1 a sectarian version of the legend of ,gautama1 did no such person exist1 at least as the founder of a religious body8 ,so it was formerly considered2 but it has now been discovered that the ,buddhist scriptures themselves bear witness to the actual existence of ,mahavira in the lifetime of ,gautama1 who once had an encounter with him and confuted him4 ,it appears then that two similar movements were going on close together at the same time4 ,they were independent of each other2 the two rules differ in important particulars4 ,jainism carries to a much greater length than ,buddhism the ahimsa1 or prohibition of the destruction of life2 the ,jainists practise austerities which ,buddhism discards1 and in the philosophies of the two systems there are far-reaching discrepancies4 ,on the other hand1 both ,buddhism and ,jainism borrow from ,brahmanism most of their practices and institutions2 both are developments of the way of salvation struck out not by ,brahmans alone1 but by men of other castes and other views1 when faith in the old national gods was growing dim4 ,we now proceed to discuss the ,buddhist system1 taking it as it appears in the early books1 which tell us at least what was believed in the fourth century ,b4,c4 to have been the ideas and intentions of the founder4 ,the following is the formula in which the convert expressed his desire to be admitted to the order3 ,i take shelter in the ,buddha1 ,i take shelter in the ,dhamma 7doctrine71 ,i take shelter in the ,samgha 7order74 #a4 ,the ,buddha4--,this confession of faith is directed to a triad of which the ,buddha is the first member4 ,now the title ,buddha was not invented by ,buddhism1 but belongs to earlier ,indian thought1 which held that from time to time1 in a specially favoured age1 an ,enlightened ,one and ,enlightener1 an omniscient and perfect teacher1 visited the world4 ,of these there had been in former ages twenty-four1 and the followers of ,gautama held him to be the twenty-fifth1 but not the last4 ,the application to ,gautama of this title removed him1 to the believer1 from the ranks of ordinary men1 and was the signal for a constantly increasing exaltation of his person4 ,in adhering to the ,buddha1 therefore1 the convert is not bowing to a mere man1 but to one in whom a new type of deity is on the way to be realised4 ,he is a man2 there is a record of his human life1 in which he made a great renunciation1 abandoning1 out of compassion for men's sufferings1 a position of lordly ease for that of the mendicant4 ,in this way he is a saviour not too exalted for the pious heart to love and follow4 ,having found out in his own experience the way of peace1 and opened up that way for others1 he is a pattern and an encouragement as well as a lawgiver to the earnest soul2 and the personal relation which may thus be enjoyed with the founder is one great secret of the success of the religion4 ,on the other hand1 he is more than a man4 ,the belief grew up very early that he was not born in the ordinary way1 but that his birth had been his own voluntary act1 and that his great renunciation consisted in his choosing1 out of compassion for men1 to enter human life and to bear the burden of its sufferings4 ,in this way a religion which originally had no gods and no worship began to supply itself with these4 ,some scholars hold that it was among the lay community1 among men not thoroughly initiated into ,buddhist thought1 and failing to find in the new faith what their former religions had afforded1 that the deification of the ,buddha and the worship of him began2 it may certainly be doubted whether the religion could have lived long or spread far if these deficiencies had not been early supplied4 #b4 ,the ,doctrine4--,the life of the founder gives us the key to his doctrine4 ,we see at once that that doctrine was not negative but positive and constructive4 ,neither was it socially of a revolutionary character1 nor did it deny any part of the existing religion4 ,we never read that ,gautama's teaching was assailed by the ,brahmans as unsound2 it was centuries after his death that antagonism broke out between the order and the upholders of other systems4 ,nor again did the teaching put forward a new philosophy4 ,on certain points which we shall notice there is a development of thought in it2 but this was not obtruded4 ,in fact the doctrine is not a speculation at all1 but a way of salvation which is preached for its own sake1 and carefully guarded from being mixed up with speculative or religious controversy4 ,the ,buddha is one who has found out a new way to be saved1 and he comes forward to preach what he has discovered1 and that alone4 ,other matters he leaves as they are4 ,all his discourses savour of redemption as all the sea is salt4 ,other men may draw inferences as to the relation his doctrine bears to the position of the ,brahmans1 or to the sacrifices1 or to existing beliefs2 he does not draw these inferences1 he feels no need to do so4 ,the doctrine professes to be an answer to a definite problem--the problem of pain4 ,it is the most characteristic thing about both the founder and the doctrine1 that they start from the universal existence of pain1 to seek a remedy for it2 they are inspired therefore from the first by a dark view of human life1 and by the sentiment of compassion4 ,it was the impression made on the young prince1 of the general prevalence of suffering1 that drove him forth from the palace to be a sannyasin or devotee4 ,in a striking sermon he uses the figure of fire to indicate how universal is the rule of pain in all parts of nature and of human life4 ,all is burning2 the eye is burning1 and all it looks on and all it remembers of what it has seen2 so it is with each of the senses1 so also with the mind4 ,the fire is that of passion1 of malice1 of illusion1 of birth1 of age1 of death1 of pain1 despondency1 and despair4 ,but the nature of the complaint from which man suffers1 and also the remedy for it1 are described most clearly in the ,four ,noble ,truths set forth in the opening sermon at ,benares4 ,in these memorable utterances the teacher expresses himself according to the rules of the medical art1 first setting forth the nature of the disease1 then its cause1 then how it takes end1 and lastly1 the means to be adopted in order that it may do so4 #a4 ,the ,noble ,truth of ,suffering4 ,birth is suffering1 decay is suffering1 illness is suffering1 death is suffering4 ,presence of objects we hate is suffering1 separation from objects we love is suffering1 not to obtain what we desire is suffering4 ,briefly1 the fivefold clinging to existence is suffering4 #b4 ,the ,noble ,truth of the ,cause of ,suffering4 ,thirst that leads to rebirth1 accompanied by pleasure and lust1 finding its delight here and there4 ,this thirst is threefold1 namely1 thirst for pleasure1 thirst for existence1 thirst for prosperity4 #c4 ,the ,noble ,truth of the ,cessation of ,suffering4 ,it ceases with the complete cessation of this thirst1 a cessation which consists in the absence of every passion1 with the abandoning of this thirst1 with the deliverance from it1 with the destruction of desire4 #d4 ,the ,noble ,truth of the ,path which leads to the ,cessation of ,suffering4 ,the holy eightfold ,path2 that is to say1 ,right ,belief1 ,right ,aspiration1 ,right ,speech1 ,right ,conduct1 ,right ,means of ,livelihood1 ,right ,endeavour1 ,right ,memory1 ,right ,meditation4 ,in these statements there are some things which we can readily understand1 but also some things which are not so easy4 ,it is a thought with which ,christians are familiar1 that desire is the parent of all sorts of pain and disappointment1 that the assertion of the self1 the putting forward of personal wishes and claims1 involves suffering4 ,and we read in the ,gospels that the way to escape from such suffering is to cease from desire1 no longer to be anxious about what this world can give us or take from us1 and not to lay up treasures4 ,buddhist doctrine has its moral basis in the perception of the vanity of all human effort and desire1 and in the conviction that the true riches for man cannot consist in any of those goods to which the heart naturally clings4 ,where that perception does not exist1 where the first of the ,noble ,truths is not accepted as beyond all question1 ,buddhism can have no hold4 ,so far the doctrine is easy to follow4 ,but in the second of the ,truths we find that the cause of suffering is sought in the history of the human person as ,indian thought conceives it4 ,man suffers because he has been born again1 has suffered a rebirth1 and the cause of his rebirth is the thirst which has been felt or even nourished in a previous existence4 ,the thought that suffering is due to desire is not presented simply1 as it is in our ,gospels1 but in connection with a doctrine of man's life and of the connection of one generation with another1 which is quite strange to us1 but apart from which primitive ,buddhism held that its doctrine of suffering could not be understood4 ,the ,buddha1 after discovering the doctrine1 is at first in doubt whether or not he will preach it2 and the cause of his doubt is that he is not sure if men will be able to understand the law of causality and the chain of existence1 on which he himself meditated a whole night after his enlightenment1 and his discovery of which he regards as a great part of his achievement4 ,this chain of causation is stated in a long series of asserted processes1 in which the connection between one generation and another1 and the transmission from life to life of the melancholy heritage of desire and sorrow1 is obscurely and enigmatically traced4 ,the beginning of all is ignorance 7of the four truths72 from ignorance proceed the samkharas or forms of production1 from these in turn consciousness1 the senses1 contact1 sensation1 thirst1 and so on to birth and the miseries of life4 ,suffering is destroyed by tracing this sequence over again in a negative way1 so that1 the first member of it being destroyed1 each subsequent member is destroyed in turn4 ,it is no wonder that the founder doubted whether this doctrine of causation would be generally understood2 for it is in fact an attempt to reconcile two opposite views of the nature of the human person4 ,in the first place we find in early ,buddhism the thought that there is no such thing as a self in the human being2 a man is made up of various bundles of attributes and sensations called skandhas1 but he himself is none of these4 ,there is no persistent substratum of a self under these activities and forms1 any more than there is a carriage in addition to the wheels1 shafts1 nails1 etc41 of which a carriage is composed4 ,the ,buddhist is called on to give up the belief in a permanent ego2 only where the various parts come together is the man there4 ,this is the well-known denial of the soul in this religion2 the soul is nothing but the name and form of a chance collocation of elements4 ,it is hard to know where this doctrine came from2 ,kern says it is derived from the science of dissection1 others compare it with the doctrine of ,heraclitus1 taught about the same time in ,greece1 that all things are in constant flux1 nothing permanent4 ,the last words of the ,master assert that decay is universal2 and the doctrine of the skandhas is a corollary from that principle2 if all the elements of which the human person is made up are in process of decay1 then the self cannot be a substantial and persistent thing4 ,that doctrine1 however1 does not go well together with the belief in the universality and inexorableness of suffering4 ,if there is no self1 must not consciousness come to an end when the elements fall asunder which chance has brought together1 and must not the hour of death be also the hour of complete emancipation8 ,this1 however1 it was impossible to hold in ,india at the time of ,gautama2 the belief in transmigration was too firmly fixed1 he never thought of disputing it4 ,that belief indeed is what chiefly makes the suffering of the world so lamentable4 ,to ,indian eyes the pain actually in the world was magnified a hundred-fold by the dark imagination of its connection with the past and with the future4 ,what a man suffered was the result of acts done in many former lives1 all spent in the vain misery of desire2 and the sad prospect was extended before him that death would not end his pains1 but that he would be born again and again to suffer ever anew so long as desire continued4 ,but if this is the case1 then the soul would seem to be a durable and persistent thing which is able to go through many lives and much suffering without being brought to an end4 ,on the theory of transmigration the soul is not a mere shadow-name of an aggregation of qualities1 but the one durable thing which survives when all that is accidental and temporary falls away from it4 ,the doctrine of the ,skandhas and that of transmigration are thus opposed1 and the doctrine of the nidanas or the chain of causation is the bridge which satisfied ,gautama's own mind1 but which he was doubtful about presenting to others1 to bring them into harmony4 ,he aimed at showing by his catalogue of these obscure processes how the actions done in a life set up a tendency to a corresponding existence in another life which begins after the former one ends4 ,though there is no soul to be transmitted1 the moral effects of former lives are transmitted to their successors4 ,the essential doctrine of the ,buddha1 however1 is determined by the belief in transmigration4 ,his cry of triumph at the time of his enlightenment is to the effect that the long series of suffering existences through which he has passed has now come to an end1 and that he will not be born again4 ,and what he preaches with constant iteration is the misery of this awful succession of births to renewal of suffering1 and the infinite blessedness of escaping from this cycle4 ,the disciple1 when converted1 is to be able to say3 ,hell is destroyed for me1 and rebirth as an animal or a ghost or in any place of woe4 ,i am converted1 ,i am no longer liable to be reborn in a state of suffering1 and am assured of eternal salvation4 ,now it rests with a man's own acts to end his sufferings4 ,the chain of causation which ends with suffering begins with ignorance4 ,the ignorance which is meant is that of the four noble truths1 of the way of salvation4 ,let a man cease from ignorance1 let him accept the ,noble ,truths and the insight they convey into the cause of suffering1 then by ceasing to thirst1 or to burn1 or in our own language by turning his mind away from all desire1 believing that what he does will be effective for his salvation1 he sets up a chain of causation in an opposite direction1 and having destroyed ignorance he may rest assured that he has destroyed suffering too and is in the right way4 ,the burden he has inherited he will not need to carry any farther1 but will1 when he dies1 lay down for ever4 ,when we look at the fourth ,noble ,truth1 which tells what a man has to do in order to obtain this salvation1 we are at first surprised4 ,after the deep earnestness with which the nature of the disease and the cause and cure of the disease have been stated1 we expect that stronger practical measures will be asked for than these eight forms of moderation4 ,christianity speaks of cutting off the right hand1 plucking out the right eye1 in order to cut off desire3 and the ,brahmanic method of union with the ,deity was1 as we have seen1 that of the most extreme self-mortification united with contemplation4 ,this ,brahmanic method1 the yoga by which the devotee sought to escape from all the accidents of being and to make himself one with the great ,self1 the ,buddha had tried for six years2 but he had given it up for a year when the hour of his enlightenment struck1 and he explicitly condemns for others the path he had found unprofitable for himself4 ,it is one of two extremes1 both to be avoided1 ,the one extreme is a life devoted to pleasures and lusts2 this is degrading1 sensual1 vulgar1 profitless2 the other is a life given to mortifications2 this is painful1 ignoble1 and profitless4 ,by avoiding these two extremes the ,tathagata has gained the knowledge of the ,middle ,path1 which leads to insight1 wisdom1 calm1 to ,nirvana4 ,the way1 therefore1 to escape from the ,karma1 the moral retribution which works inexorably in one life the result stored up in previous lives1 is that of a careful and unintermitted self-discipline1 which does not run to extremes1 but practices1 with perfectly clear purpose and self-possession1 the needful virtues mentioned in the fourth of the ,noble ,truths4 ,what are these8 ,there is to be-- #a4 ,right belief1 without superstition or delusion4 #b4 ,right aspiration1 after such things as the thoughtful and earnest man sets store by4 #c4 ,right speech1 speech that is friendly and sincere4 #d4 ,right conduct1 conduct that is peaceable1 honourable1 and pure4 #e4 ,right means of livelihood1 i4e4 a pursuit which does not involve the taking or injuring of life4 #f4 ,right endeavour1 i4e4 self-restraint and watchfulness4 #g4 ,right memory1 i4e4 presence of mind1 not forgetting at any time what one ought to remember2 and #h4 ,right meditation1 i4e4 earnest occupation with the riddles of life4 ,this is the path2 there are four stages of it-- #a4 ,the stage of him who has entered the path4 #b4 ,the stage of him who has yet to return once to life4 #c4 ,the stage of him who returns not again1 but may be born again as a superior being2 and #d4 ,the stage of the worthy1 holy one1 the ,arahat1 who is free from desire for existence1 and also from pride and self-righteousness1 and who is saved and has obtained holiness1 even in this life4 ,an ,arahat is not equal to a ,buddha2 the former is himself saved1 but the perfect ,buddha is able by his perfect knowledge to save others4 ,of ,buddhas1 however1 there are not many4 ,one becomes an ,arahat by a life of strenuous and untiring discipline4 ,ten fetters are to be broken by which a man is kept from freedom2 self-deception is one of them1 trust in sacrifice another1 and the list embraces both sensual and intellectual weaknesses4 ,one must watch and be sober2 every act1 however trivial1 is to be done with full self-consciousness and earnestness4 ,one must remember that he is engaged in a great and a hard work1 and must resolutely swim upstream1 estimating at its proper value every affection and temptation that would hold him back4 ,the body is to be contemned1 and all natural ties2 emotion is to be uprooted from the heart so that the proper state of entire calm and undisturbedness may be maintained4 ,then one is an ,arahat1 a true ,brahman4 ,this manner of life requires withdrawal from the world2 the true salvation can only be attained by him who has left his home for the houseless life4 ,but ,buddhism has also a general moral code for those who have not taken this step2 the keeping of it will not save them directly2 from the life they are now leading that is impossible1 but it is a beginning2 it will make it easier for them to become ,arahats and attain salvation in some future existence4 ,for all it is good to be free from desire2 as all desire contains in itself a germ of death1 there is no approach to salvation except in this direction4 ,buddhist ,morality4--,towards fellow-men ,buddhist morality is based on the notion of the equality of all2 respect is to be paid to all living beings4 ,the five rules of righteousness which are binding on all followers of the ,buddha are3 #a4 ,not to kill any living being4 #b4 ,not to take that which is not given4 #c4 ,to refrain from adultery4 #d4 ,to speak no untruth4 #e4 ,to abstain from all intoxicating liquors4 ,to these are added five more for members of the order1 who are also required to refrain from all sexual intercourse1 viz43 #a4 ,not to eat after mid-day4 #b4 ,not to be present at dancing1 singing1 music1 or plays4 #c4 ,not to use wreaths1 scents1 ointments1 or personal ornaments4 #d4 ,not to use a high or a broad bed4 #e4 ,to possess no silver or gold4 ,these commandments1 like those of the ,decalogue1 are negative in form2 but in the ,buddhist scriptures a positive moral ideal is inculcated on all1 which is grave and attractive in its character1 and is sustained by a strong though quiet enthusiasm4 ,we find here a delicate conscientiousness as to the relations to be cultivated with one's fellow-men2 the widest toleration is enjoined1 a toleration extending to all beings1 to all opinions4 ,hatred is to be repaid by love1 life is to be filled with kindness and compassion4 ,the ,dhammapada and the ,sutta-nipata deserve to be read by all who care for the unseen riches of the soul4 ,by their simple earnestness1 their quaint use of parable and metaphor1 and their mingling of the homeliest things with the highest truths1 these books take rank among the most impressive of the religious books of the world4 ,we give only a few jewels from this treasury4 ,from the ,dhammapada4--,earnestness is the path of immortality 7,nirvana71 thoughtlessness the path of death4 ,those who are in earnest do not die1 those who are thoughtless are as if dead already4 ,all that we are is the result of what we have thought2 it is founded on what we have thought1 it is made up of what we have thought4 ,if a man speaks or acts with a pure thought1 happiness follows him1 like a shadow that never leaves him4 ,by oneself evil is done1 by oneself one suffers2 by oneself evil is left undone1 by oneself one is purified4 ,purity and impurity belong to oneself2 no one can purify another4 ,from the ,sutta-nipata4--,to live in a suitable country1 to have done good deeds in a former existence1 and a thorough study of oneself1 this is the highest blessing4 ,as a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child1 her only child1 so also let every one cultivate a boundless friendly mind towards all beings4 ,a ,bhikku who has turned away from desire and attachment1 and is possessed of understanding in this world1 has already gone to the immortal place1 the unchangeable state of ,nirvana4 ,nirvana4--,our account of the doctrine would appear incomplete if we did not attempt to answer the question1 ,what is ,nirvana8 ,it is1 as the last extract shows1 the state of salvation in ,buddhism4 ,as we have seen1 it is the condition of the man who has escaped from the series of rebirths1 and will never be born again4 ,it is attained even in this life by the ,arahat1 in whom all desire and restlessness have come to an end4 ,on the other hand1 it is said of such an one that he enters ,nirvana when he dies1 as if it were a state not of this life1 but of the period beyond4 ,thus it has been much debated whether the ,buddhist 7or rather ,indian1 for the notion is not peculiar to ,buddhism7 ,nirvana is extinction1 annihilation1 of which the quenching of desire in this life is the prelude1 or if it is a state of negative or quiescent blessedness1 on which the saint can enter here and now1 but which is only made perfect when he dies4 ,but there are two ,nirvanas2--that of entire passionlessness attained in this life1 and the consummate ,nirvana entered at death4 ,the saint does not need to wait for death for his redemption1 nor must he hasten his death in order to enjoy it fully2 ,buddha1 by example and by precept1 forbids any such anticipation4 ,death seals that which was already won1 there is no return from the ,nirvana of death to any further life4 ,this1 however1 does not amount to an assertion that the dead ,arahat has no life or knowledge in the beyond2 he is freed from desire1 but whether his consciousness is altogether extinguished1 ,buddhism does not decide1 and regards as a vain speculation4 ,no ,gods4--,we shall speak afterwards of this view of redemption1 which is the key to the nature of the ,buddhist religion4 ,we remark here that it is a redemption man achieves by his own efforts1 without any outward prop or aid4 ,in this system there is no occasion for any priests or sacrifices1 for any prayers1 or for any gods4 ,there is no ritual1 because there is no object of worship1 there is no sin in the sense of offending a higher being4 ,the gods are denied not because of any speculative doubt of their existence1 but because in that inner world of moral effort which man has come to feel so supremely real and important1 they have no part to play4 ,as all the gods faded away in ,indian speculation before ,brahma1 so ,brahma's own turn has come to fade away4 ,the ,buddhist speaks of the gods as if they existed1 and he makes no attack on the sacrifices2 but no living god fills his heart4 ,the ,buddha is greater than all the gods2 his teaching is for the benefit of gods as well as men4 ,but the ,buddha is not an object of worship4 ,if the ,buddhist can be said to worship any higher power1 it is the moral order which never fails to reward men according to the deeds done in this or former existences4 ,that is for him a real and tremendous1 though impersonal power1 and in contemplating it he may be said to worship after a fashion4 ,but he has no aid to look for from any power in heaven or earth in working out his salvation4 ,buddhism is the most autosoteric of all religions2 it declares more uncompromisingly than any other1 that man must save himself by his own efforts1 and that no one can possibly stand in his place or relieve him of any part of his great task4 ,all that any one1 even the ,buddha1 can do for another1 is to enlighten him1 to open his eyes to the true knowledge1 and show him the narrow path on which he must thenceforth walk4 #c4 ,the ,order4--,there were monks before ,buddhism4 ,that religion made its appearance when ,indian thought was at the stage of growth at which monastic communities may be expected to arise4 ,when religion has ceased to be regarded as the affair of the nation or the tribe1 and is cherished as the affair of the individual1 when the mind turns from the sacrifices and ritual of public religion to cultivate relations with a power known chiefly in the heart and soul1 and when religious duty has thus come to be recognised as a boundless and all-embracing thing1 not a service the hands and feet can discharge1 but the effort1 never ending1 still beginning1 to make the whole personality with all its acts and aims conform to the ideal1 then it is that men who are living for religion seek for such aid as they can give each other1 and find it in an order and a discipline4 ,the rules of the ,buddhist ,samgha or order are extant1 and so are the rules of the contemporary ,jainist fraternity4 ,the ,samgha resembled the ,franciscan more than the other great ,christian orders4 ,the ,bhikku on joining it abandoned his family and property1 assumed the yellow robe and other scanty properties of the character1 and lived thenceforth by begging1 and in strict subjection to the rules1 in which every detail of his food1 his clothing1 his residence1 and his daily walk and conversation1 were laid down4 ,the two great objects of the society were mutual help in the religious life and the preaching of the doctrine4 ,under the first head come the frequent meetings of monks and the confessions they make to each other according to a fixed form4 ,there is no vow of obedience2 the monk obeys the law1 not the human authority4 ,in preaching they are to go one by one1 and they are to preach to all4 ,to all who would hear it was the gate open to this salvation4 ,here the ,buddhist neglect of caste comes in4 ,buddhism makes no general or formal declaration of the equality of all men1 nor is there any attack on the ,brahman caste or any exaltation of the lower castes4 ,the order drew its recruits at first from the ranks of the ,brahmans4 ,but the impelling motive of the new religion was compassion1 and genuine compassion is not to be restrained in artificial limits4 ,the salvation preached was fitted for all men4 ,the disease to be cured was one from which all suffer1 and the cure was one which all could at least begin to lay hold of4 ,thus ,buddhism was fitted to break through the barriers of caste1 and to gather into one religious community men of all castes alike4 ,in the community1 it was held1 these distinctions disappeared4 ,not birth but conduct there made the true ,brahman4 ,the universalist tendency of the religion also fitted it to spread to other lands4 ,it was not limited by anything in its teaching to the soil of ,india1 nor to the territory of any particular set of gods4 ,so wide indeed is its toleration1 that a man may embrace it without giving up the faith in which he lived before4 ,one can add it without incongruity to one's former beliefs and practices4 ,the believer in ,shang-ti can be a ,buddhist as well as the believer in ,brahma4#f ,the absence of any hierarchy or centralised organisation enabled it to spread freely1 and the very meagreness of its doctrine1 and its freedom from ritual1 were also in its favour4 ,footnote #f3 ,millions of ,buddhists in ,china and ,japan are also adherents of the other religions of these countries4 ,buddhism made ,popular4--,buddhism proved able to spread over many lands because it was so simple1 and in its essence so moral and so broadly human4 ,but1 like other faiths which have spread to many lands1 it assumed very different forms in different countries1 and the later form is often very different from the early simplicity4 ,even at the outset it was not free from a strong infusion of magic2 the ,arahat1 like the ,brahmanic ascetic before him1 was believed to obtain influence over the gods by his virtues1 and thus a claim to supernatural power is brought in1 which agrees but ill with the ethical doctrine4 ,the religion1 which at first ignored the gods and bade each man trust to his own efforts for his highest good1 became1 ere long1 what a popular religion at the stage of progress prevailing at that time necessarily was1 namely1 a worship of superior beings and a method of obtaining benefits from them4 ,the national gods were discarded1 but the deification of the founder early furnished a being who could be worshipped4 ,legend grew luxuriantly round his birth and early career2 and he obtained the rank of the greatest of all the gods4 ,former ,buddhas who had lived in former ages still lived as gods2 and the divine family1 being once founded1 admitted of various additions2 even a popular deity1 such as ,indra1 could be joined to the growing circle4 ,the chief scenes of the life of the founder became holy places and objects of pilgrimage1 where relics were exposed for adoration4 ,the growth of legend and of magic proceeded more rapidly1 and went to greater lengths1 in ,northern than in ,southern ,buddhism2 but in the land of its birth1 too1 ,buddhism proved unable to serve as a working religion without additions and modifications entirely foreign to its true character4 ,the profession of ,buddhism was combined even with the savage worship of the non-,aryan tribes2 ,siva was identified with ,buddha and then worshipped instead of him1 as also was ,vishnu1 and the perversion and degradation of the religion prepared for its expulsion from the country of its birth4 ,that expulsion was probably brought about more immediately by the advance of ,mohammedanism in ,india1 and took place in the period of the early ,middle ,ages4 ,we cannot speak here of the strange guise ,buddhism has assumed in the north of ,india1 notably in ,tibet4 ,the ,lamaism of that country1 with its perpetual living incarnation of the divine ,buddha in a succession of human representatives1 its hierarchical church strongly resembling in many of its features the ,church of ,rome1 and the prayer-flags and wheels for the mechanical discharge of religious acts1 have long been the wonder of the world4 ,conclusion4--,it is not from what ,buddhism is now in any of the countries where it flourishes1 and where it has votaries who profess other religions also1 that we can judge of what it really is1 or estimate its value as a product of the human mind4 ,it is to early ,buddhism that we must look for this4 ,what are we to judge of this religion without gods1 and based on the assertion that all life is suffering1 and that the chief good is altogether to escape from life8 ,it is not true to characterise it as a religion in which there is no joy1 and which deliberately refuses to have anything to do with joy4 ,the ,arahat1 in whom desire is vanquished1 and who has no further birth to anticipate1 is filled with a deep joy and triumph as of a victor who has conquered every foe2 and those who are less advanced in the path yet have their share in this enthusiasm1 and are inspired by it to continue the struggle4 ,still ,buddhism is a sad religion4 ,it arrives in ,india when the ,deity there believed in has deserted the world1 and tells man he is alone in it4 ,there is no one to help him1 no one to assure him that the good cause in a wider sense--a cause extending beyond his own personal life--is destined to succeed2 there is no upholder of any moral order beyond that which works itself out in each individual experience4 ,the result is that the believer does not trouble himself about the world1 but only about his own personal salvation4 ,this religion is not a social force1 it aims not at a ,kingdom of ,god to be built up by the united efforts of multitudes of the faithful1 but only at saving individual souls1 which in the act of being saved are removed beyond all activity and all contact with the world4 ,buddhism1 therefore1 is not a power which makes actively for civilisation4 ,it is a powerful agent for the taming of passion and the prevention of vagrant and lawless desires1 it tends1 therefore1 towards peace4 ,but it offers no stimulus to the realisation of the riches which are given to man in his own nature3 it checks rather than fosters enterprise1 it favours a dull conformity to rule rather than the free cultivation of various gifts4 ,its ideal is to empty life of everything active and positive1 rather than to concentrate energy on a strong purpose4 ,it does not train the affections to virtuous and harmonious action1 but denies to them all action and consigns them to extinction4 ,this condemnation it has incurred by parting with that highest stimulus to human virtue and endeavour1 which lies in the belief in a living ,god4 ,by so doing it ceased to fulfil the office of a religion for men1 and though1 for historical purposes1 we may class it among the religions of the world1 a system which leaves its adherents free not to worship at all1 or to find satisfaction for their spiritual instincts in the worship of beings whom it regards with indifference1 comes short of the notion of religion1 and is not properly entitled to that name4 ,,books ,,recommended ,monier ,williams1 ,buddhism1 in its connection with ,brahmanism and ,hinduism1 and in its contrast with ,christianity1 #ahhi4 ,rhys ,davids1 ,buddhism 7,s4,p4,c4,k474 ,oldenberg's1 ,buddha1 his ,life1 his ,doctrine and his ,order1 #ahhb 7out of print74 7,third ,german ,edition1 #ahig47 ,spence ,hardy1 ,manual of ,buddhism1 #ahfj4 ,e4 ,hardy1 ,der ,buddhismus4 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,persia ,the ,aryans who entered ,india to become its dominant race came from ,central ,asia1 and left behind them there other tribes of ,aryan culture4 ,these tribes remained in what is called ,iran1 in the lands1 that is to say1 between the ,indus1 the ,caspian ,sea1 the ,black ,sea1 and the ,persian ,gulf4 ,it is from this region1 a part of which bore in ancient times the name of ,ariana1 that the word ,aryan is derived4 ,the languages of this territory are akin to ,sanscrit2 and there is ample evidence that before the ,indian invasion the progenitors of the ,indians and those of the ,iranians dwelt together there1 and enjoyed a common civilisation4 ,if the civilisation was the same the religion also was the same4 ,how the ,indo-,iranian religion was developed in ,india1 we have seen4 ,at first a worship of active and militant deities1 it became by degrees a religion of a passive type1 in which a suffering1 acquiescent1 and brooding humanity presented to heaven its needs and problems1 and received a corresponding answer4 ,the ,aryans who remained in ,iran retained their active and practical disposition4 ,while by no means wanting in sensitiveness and flexibility of mind1 they were less given to speculation and more to a robust morality than their ,indian kinsmen4 ,it has to be noted that while the religion of ,india has not influenced ,europe in any manifest degree until the present century1 that of ,persia has contributed in a marked way to form the world of thought in which we dwell4 ,sources4--,the views generally current about the ancient religion of ,persia are derived from late ,greek writers1 whose accounts will be noticed at the end of this chapter4 ,a truer knowledge is now possible1 since the sacred books of the religion are now open to the world4 ,they were only obtained from the ,parsis1 who keep up their ancient religion on the soil of ,india1 during last century1 and the study of them has been very laborious and difficult1 and has given rise to great controversies which are not yet settled4 ,these ancient books are furnished with ,eastern translations and commentaries4 ,is the ,western scholar to place himself under the guidance of these1 which no doubt are part of the historical tradition of the religion1 or may he claim that he is himself in as good a position as the ,oriental commentator for understanding the original meaning of the texts2 and will he best interpret them by comparing them with the ,vedas8 ,what is their age2 in which of the lands of ,iran were they written2 was any part of them written by ,zoroaster1 or is ,zoroaster to be regarded as an historical personage at all8 ,on all these questions and on many others1 scholars are not yet agreed2 and while so much is uncertain about the books1 there must also be great uncertainty about the history and the very nature of the religion4 ,in what follows we are guided mainly by the scholars who have taken charge of the volumes connected with ,persia in the ,sacred ,books of the ,east4#a ,in the last of these volumes 7xxxi47 a new clue is given to the subject1 of which we shall gladly avail ourselves4 ,footnote #a3 ,zend-,avesta1 ,s4 ,b4 ,e41 vols4 iv41 xxiii41 xxxi4 ,the sacred books of ,persia are known by the name of ,zend-,avesta1 which is an incorrect expression2 we ought to say ,avesta and ,zend4 ,avesta1 like the kindred word ,veda1 signifies knowledge1 and the word ,zend denotes here not the language of that name1 but the commentary afterwards added to the original knowledge or text4 ,the commentary is not written in the ,zend language1 but in ,pahlavi or ,persian4 ,the ,avesta1 which is written in the older ,zend1 the sacred language of ,persia1 is1 like other ,bibles1 a collection of books written in different ages1 and even1 it may be1 in different lands4 ,the books were brought together into one only at some period after the ,christian era4 ,the later legends as to the supernatural communication to ,zoroaster of the earlier books need not detain us2 we must notice1 however1 that the preserved books of ,persian religion are held to be no more than the scanty ruins of an extensive literature4 ,the ,avesta consisted originally of #ba ,nosks or books1 and most of these were destroyed by ,alexander when he invaded the ,east2 only one ,nosk was preserved entire4 ,as we have it1 the ,avesta is a liturgical work1 it contains some legends and some ancient hymns1 as well as a good deal of law1 but its prevailing character is that of a service-book1 and it is to this that its partial preservation both at the invasion of ,alexander1 and at that of the ,mohammedans in a later century1 is probably due4 ,it consists of three parts4 ,the oldest is the ,yasna1 a collection of liturgies1 which admit and indeed invite comparison with those of early ,christianity3 along with these are found the ,gathas or hymns1 the only part of the ,avesta composed in verse1 and written in an older dialect4 ,the ,visperad is a collection of litanies for the sacrifice2 and the ,vendidad is a code of early law1 but contains also various religious legends4 ,besides these works1 which constitute the ,avesta proper1 there is the ,khorda 7or small7 ,avesta containing devotions for various times of the day1 for the days of the month1 and for the religious year2 these are for the use not of the priests alone but of all the faithful1 and many of them are still so used4 ,the ,contents of the ,zend-,avesta are ,composite4--,in these works the student soon observes that he has before him not one religious system only but several4 ,in one place we find a worship of one god1 as if there were no others to be considered2 some of the litanies on the other hand contain lengthy and elaborate lists of objects of worship4 ,in some parts the religion is personal and immediate2 in others it is priestly4 ,parsism is often called fire-worship1 and the elements of earth and water also obtain extreme sanctity in it1 but of this also there is in the oldest books little trace4 ,the variety in the literature no doubt reflects a variety in the religion of ,iran4 ,iran in fact had not one religion but several1 and thus the problem is to trace how these successively entered into contact with ,mazdeism or ,zoroastrianism1 which is the religion most native to ,iran1 and were embodied in it4 ,the different religions belonged to a certain extent to different provinces4 ,we know that ,persia1 the conqueror of ,media1 was conquered in turn by the ,median religion2 we also know that the religion of the ,persian kings as read in their inscriptions#b does not correspond to any of the religious positions held in the ,avesta4 ,the ,magi1 from whom also the religion as a whole derives one of its names1 belonged to ,media and passed from there to greater power in ,iran as a whole4 ,from the ,scythians on the north and from ,babylonia on the south1 ideas and practices were imported2 and in these and other ways1 forms of religion arose as different from the faith of ,zoroaster as later forms of ,christianity from the simplicity of ,christ1 yet looking to him as their founder and the giver of their law4 ,footnote #b3 ,records of the ,past1 i4 #ajg4 ,zoroaster4--,we begin with the teaching of ,zoroaster4 ,dr4 ,e4 ,meyer in his ,geschichte des ,alterthums1 vol4 i41 and ,mr4 ,darmesteter in his admirable introduction to the ,avesta 7,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 iv47 both treat ,zoroaster as a mythical personage1 a figure-head of the official class of the religion1 who give currency to their edicts under his name4 ,weighty authorities may1 however1 be quoted for the historical reality of ,zoroaster1 and what appears to us most important of all1 the editor of the ,gathas1 in the ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 xxxi41 departing from his collaborateur1 ,mr4 ,darmesteter1 has treated these hymns1 which give an account of the founder's acts and experiences when first proclaiming the true doctrine1 in such a way as to produce on the mind of the reader the strongest impression of the historical reality of the prophet and of his mission4 ,they introduce us to a religious movement actually in progress in the poet's time1 a movement in which a pure and lofty faith is struggling to establish itself against prevailing superstitions4 ,the doctrine placed in the mouth of the reformer is that which is most central in ,persian religion2 and only by such deep earnestness and devotion as is here ascribed to him1 could it have attained that position4 ,we start1 then1 with ,zoroaster and his work2 and first of all we ask what was his date1 where did he live1 and what kind of religion did he find existing in his country8 ,the date of ,zoroaster or ,zarathustra--the former is the ,greek1 the latter the old ,iranian form of the name1 contracted in ,persian to ,zardusht--can only be fixed very approximately4 ,he stands at the very beginning of the ,avesta literature1 and the developments in religion to which that literature testifies must have occupied a long period4 ,on the other hand no one proposes to place ,zarathustra before the departure of the ,indian ,aryans from the ,indo-,iranian stock4 ,from such vague data he may be assigned perhaps to somewhere about #adjj ,b4,c4 ,as to his province1 there is considerable agreement among scholars that his doctrine spread from the east of ,iran westwards2 and though tradition gives him a birthplace in ,media1 his mission lay nearer to ,india1 in ,bactria4 ,primitive ,religion of ,iran4--,he did not preach to men unacquainted with religion4 ,many of the religious ideas and figures of the ,vedas occur also in ,persia1 and by the study of these it is possible to form certain inferences as to the mental history of ,persia before ,zarathustra4 ,mithra the sun-god belongs to ,persia as well as ,india4 ,the heaven-god known in ,india as ,varuna grew into the principal deity of ,persia4 ,a fire-god1 wind- and rain-gods1 and the serpent hostile to man1 on whom these made war1 are common to both countries4 ,the institution of sacrifice1 in which the deities are served with offerings and with hymns1 is markedly alike in both countries4 ,in both alike sacrifice is at first the affair not of a priesthood but of laymen1 especially of princes1 and is not confined to temples but is performed in the open air1 on a spot judged to be suitable4 ,the most imposing sacrifice is that of the horse1 and an offering of constant occurrence is that of the intoxicating liquor1 in ,india ,soma1 in ,persia by a recognised transliteration ,homa1 which is itself viewed as a cosmic principle of life1 and addressed as a deity4 ,and in both countries alike the view of sacrifice prevails in early times1 that the gods come to it to take their part in a banquet which their worshippers share with them1 and that they are strengthened and encouraged by it4 ,these similarities1 and others which might be mentioned1 show that the religion of ,india and that of ,persia started from a common stock of ideas and usages4 ,a further circumstance of great importance shows not only the original identity of the two systems1 but also perhaps how they came to diverge from each other4 ,two generic titles for deities occur in ,india4 ,the first of these--deva1 is said to signify the bright or shining one1 the second--asura1 the living one4 ,now these titles are also found in ,persia2 but the use of the terms is different in the two countries4 ,in ,india both are at first titles for deity1 but by degrees1 while deva continues to denote the gods who are worshipped1 asura assumes a less favourable meaning1 until at length it comes to stand for a second order of beings1 inferior to the devas1 and including such powers as are malignant and hostile4 ,in ,persia the fortunes of the two words are reversed4 ,ahura becomes the god par excellence1 the supreme god2 while deva1 the title which in ,india remained in honour1 is in the ,avesta that of evil gods who are not to be worshipped4 ,in this some scholars consider that we may hear the watchwords of the conflict which led to the separation of the two religions2 there was a schism between the followers of the ,ahuras and those of the ,devas1 which led to the entire separation of the two parties4 ,this is the latest form of the old view which makes ,zoroastrianism the outcome of a religious conflict1 of a reaction against the gods afterwards worshipped in ,india4 ,there is no direct evidence of such a conflict1 and the difference we have described may be due to the natural development of the ,indo-,iranian religion in different sets of circumstances and among different peoples4 ,zarathustra in the ,gathas finds the antithesis fully formed between the good and the evil deities2 he appeals to his countrymen on that matter as one which he does not need to teach them1 but with which they have long been familiar4 ,in speaking of his date this has to be remembered4 ,we proceed now to describe from the ,gathas the work and teaching of ,zarathustra4 ,the ,gathas are poems written in metres which occur also in the ,vedas1 and intended1 like the ,indian hymns1 to be used in worship4 ,the account which they furnish of the mission and the teaching of the sage are thus clothed in a poetical dress1 and do not narrate bare facts as they occurred1 but the facts as interpreted and treated for religious use4 ,they are in the mouth of ,zarathustra himself2 he writes them for use at sacrifice1 and remembering how they are to be rendered1 he sometimes puts in the mouth of the celebrants the words1 ,zarathustra and we4 ,these words do not prove that the hymns are not by him4 ,as explained by ,dr4 ,mills1 the hymns are seen to be very fully charged with meaning and with sentiment4 ,uncouth and inartistic in expression1 and demanding an immense amount of patience and ingenuity to trace their connection of thought1 they surprise the reader when once he seizes their meaning1 by the depth and spirituality of their contents1 and force him to acknowledge that they are a worthy document of the birth of a great religion4 ,the ,call of ,zarathustra4--,the hymns give a vivid picture of that early world in which the prophet lived4 ,it was a world distracted with conflict4 ,on one side there is an agricultural community bent on industry1 and1 like the ,hindus1 even at this day1 valuing as most sacred the cattle which form their chief substance4 ,on the other hand1 there are men who dwell on the outskirts between the tilled land and the wilderness1 who are constantly making raids on the farms1 driving off and killing the cattle for sacrifice and for food1 and ruining the fields by destroying the irrigating works on which their fertility depends4 ,and there is a religious difference as well as a difference in culture between these two sets of people4 ,the agriculturists are worshippers of ,ahura2 the contemners of the cattle worship beings called in the ,gathas daevas4 ,this schism was not of ,zarathustra's making1 he found it going on1 and being a priest was entitled to come forward and seek to guide others with regard to it4 ,such is the situation which the hymns present to us4 ,we will try to state the substance of some of those hymns4 ,the naked words of them1 even when we are sure of the correctness of the translation1 are barely intelligible without lengthy commentary2 and on the other hand1 no short statement in modern terms can convey the force and solemnity of these struggling utterances4 ,as we are dealing with the original revelation of ,zarathustra1 the source of the ,persian religion1 we shall give the story with some degree of detail4 ,the first hymn in the arrangement presented to us in ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 deals with what we may term the call of ,zarathustra4 ,it sums up in a poetic and dramatic form the religious result of the movement which led him to come forward4 ,the ,soul of the ,kine first speaks2 it is the impersonation of the agricultural community1 to whom their cattle are most sacred4 ,she raises a complaint to ,ahura and ,asha 7the righteousness which is an attribute of ,ahura1 and like his other attributes often appears as an independent person7 of the insolence and highhanded devastation and robbery she has to suffer4 ,for whom did ye fashion me1 she says2 wherefore was ,i made8 ,she appeals to the ,immortals for instruction in tillage with a view to security and welfare4 ,ahura then speaks and asks ,asha what guardian has been appointed for the kine to lead and to defend her2 and ,asha answers that no one1 himself free from passion and violence1 could be found who was capable of being an adequate guardian4 ,the causes of these evils lie at the roots of the constitution of things1 and therefore those seeking success in any enterprise must approach ,ahura himself and not any subordinate being4 ,zarathustra speaks1 and confirms the utterances of ,asha2 it is in ,ahura himself that he and the kine place their confidence2 to his will they submit themselves2 the doubts and questions arising from their outward insecurity1 they refer to him4 ,ahura speaks and answers his own question4 ,it is true that no lord of the kine is to be found1 who in himself is quite equal to that position1 but he appoints ,zarathustra as head to the agricultural community4 ,a chorus speaks1 consisting of a company of the faithful supposed to be present1 or of the ,ameshospends1 the personified attributes of ,ahura1 and praise the ,lord for his bounty and for the wisdom he makes known2 but asks whom he has endowed with the ,good ,mind1 or1 as we might say1 the ,holy ,spirit1 to make known to mortals his doctrine4 ,the call of ,zarathustra1 intimated in the foregoing verse1 is overlooked1 as if it were impossible that such a one as he could undertake the office4 ,ahura replies1 repeating his commission to ,zarathustra1 here called also by his family name of ,spitama1 and promising to establish him and make him successful in his work4 ,the ,soul of the ,kine speaks1 lamenting still that no adequate lord has been assigned her4 ,zarathustra is a feeble and pusillanimous man1 not one of royal state who is able to bring his purpose to effect4 ,the ,ameshospends join in the cry for the true lord to appear4 ,zarathustra then speaks1 accepting the mission in an address to ,ahura1 whom he entreats to send his blessings of peace and happiness1 since none but he can give them1 and to set up in the minds of the disciples of the cause that joy and that kingdom which1 though it first comes inwardly1 yet brings with it also all outward blessings4 ,for himself also he prays that the ,good ,mind and the ,sovereign ,power 7another of the attributes7 of the ,lord may hasten to come to him and strengthen him for his mission4 ,this poetical rendering of the call of ,zarathustra is free both from miraculous embellishment and from undue exaltation of the person of the prophet1 and forms a great contrast to later statements in the ,avesta1 where the prophet is placed in secret conclave with ,ahura1 asking him questions and receiving detailed replies which at once rank as revelation4 ,in the ,gathas1 allowing for the theological and poetic form1 everything is human and natural4 ,we are strongly reminded of the accounts of the calls of prophets in the ,old ,testament--there is the same choice by the deity of an apparently weak instrument to accomplish a work urgently called for by the times1 the same sense of insufficiency on the part of the prophet1 but the same absolute confidence on his part in the power of the deity1 and hence the same absolute assurance1 once the mission is accepted1 that the cause which he has been called to carry forward must succeed4 ,in many of the following ,gathas the same parallel is strongly impressed on the mind of the reader4 ,the sense of weakness is expressed again and again--the prophet has no victorious career1 but is exposed to much gainsaying1 which he feels acutely4 ,yet he never doubts that his god is with him1 and is working for him4 ,to him he commits his doubts and fears1 of his goodness he is joyfully assured1 and his aid he expects with confidence4 ,he is entirely devoted to ,ahura and his cause1 and offers himself up with his whole powers to work out the divine will4 ,he will teach1 he says1 as long as he is able1 till he has brought all the living to believe4 ,he is conscious of a divine power working in him4 ,nothing in himself1 he is strong by the divine grace which ,ahura sends him3 his words have efficacy to keep the fiends at a distance1 and to advance in men's minds the divine kingdom2 like ,st4 ,paul he feels his message to be to some a savour of life unto life1 to others a savour of death unto death4 ,the ,doctrine4--,and what is the message he proclaims8 ,it is a philosophy of the origin of the world1 but a philosophy the acceptance of which involves immediate and strenuous action4 ,the distracted condition of the world before him requires to be explained1 so that a remedy for it may be found2 and ,zarathustra prays1 when he is about to bring forward his doctrine1 that ,ahura would help him to explain how the material world arose4 ,the explanation when it appears is not quite new1 it has been shaping itself already in the mind of his people1 but he sets it forth as a dogma1 and draws from it at once all its practical consequences4 ,in the third hymn of the first ,gatha he solemnly brings forward his doctrine before the people1 and appeals to them1 not as a people1 but as individuals1 each for himself1 with a full sense of his responsibility1 to consider it1 and adopt it1 and act upon it4 ,it is the doctrine of dualism1 not in the fully developed later form in which two personal potentates divide the universe between them from the first1 but as yet in a form more speculative and vague4 ,there are two primeval principles1 spirits1 things1 as is well known--the expression is indefinite--the counterparts of each other1 independent in their action1 a better and a worse1 and ,zarathustra calls on his audience to choose between them1 and not to choose as do the evildoers4 ,the world1 as it is1 was made by the joint action of the two principles1 and they also fixed the alternative fates of men1 for the wicked1 ,hell--the worst life2 and for the holy1 ,heaven--the best mental state4 ,after the creation was accomplished1 the two principles drew off from each other1 the evil one making choice of evil and of evil works1 and the bounteous spirit choosing righteousness1 making his strong seat in heaven1 and taking for his own those who do good and who believe in him4 ,the ,daevas and their followers are incapable of making a just choice between the good and the evil2 they have surrendered themselves from the outset to the ,worst ,mind1 the demon of fury1 and to all evil works4 7,there are vague suggestions here of a temptation and a fall1 but only of the evil spirits and their followers47 ,from this point onwards the world is filled with a great struggle4 ,on the one side is ,ahura1 the only god worshipped by name in the ,gathas4 ,ahura is a heaven-god1 he is1 in fact1 the bright heaven1 and then the good and beneficent being who dwells in brightness4 ,in the hymns he is losing his definite character and becoming an abstraction1 a god of dogmatics rather than of history4 ,he is the good principle personified1 and as becomes a god of such transcendent character1 he does not act directly1 but through his satellites4 ,his attributes personified1 do his bidding1 aid the saints in spiritual ways1 and prepare for the better order of things4 ,on the other hand are the ,daevas with the demon of wrath1 who propagate everywhere lies and mischief1 and heap up vengeance for themselves against the final judgment4 ,for the good there is nothing better than to aid1--for they can aid1 in bringing on the renovation1 dwelling with ,ahura even now1 and by his attributes which work in them as well as in him1 reinforcing the righteous order1 and preparing themselves to dwell where wisdom has her home4 ,in the end the ,demon of the ,lie will be rendered harmless and delivered up to ,righteousness as a captive4 ,inconsistencies4--,as it happens in every such reform1 the new teaching is not quite consistent with itself2 old views are taken up into the new teaching1 although they do not harmonise with it2 the spiritual way of looking at things alternates with a more worldly way4 ,the following are some examples of this3--,the great doctrine of ,heaven and ,hell as inner states1 as being simply the best and the worst state of mind1 is clearly announced2 but the traditional view of future abodes of happiness and misery also appears4 ,the ,kinvat-bridge is mentioned several times in the ,gathas1 over which ,iran conceived that the individual had to pass after death4 ,if he was righteous the bridge bore him safely over to the sacred mountain1 where the good lived again2 if he was wicked1 he fell off the bridge and found himself in the place of torment4 ,it is another inconsistency that ,zarathustra expects1 on the one hand1 to convert the world by his preaching1 while on the other hand his sense of the antagonism between the good and the evil spirits and their followers often hurries him into violent methods4 ,one hymn concludes with a summons to his adherents to fall on the unbelievers with the halberd1 and he is constantly predicting their sudden overthrow4 ,along with this1 we may mention that he sought to ally himself with powerful families for the sake of the support they would bring the cause4 ,the name of ,vishtaspa1 king we know not of what realm1 is always associated with the prophet as that of his royal patron2 other influential friends are also mentioned4 ,another point1 in which we notice accommodation to existing usage1 is that of sacrifice4 ,the ,gathas have several noble passages describing the true sacrifice man has to offer to ,god for his goodness1 as consisting simply in the offering of self1 in the devotion to the deity of all a man is1 and all he can do4 ,at the same time ,zarathustra has not a word to say in disparagement of the sacrifice of victims4 ,he prays for guidance in this part of religious duty2 he desires to have everything connected with sacrifice done in the best way and with the most effective hymns4 ,thus the spiritual life is not left to stand alone4 ,there is a personal walk with ,god1 our piety is said to be ,god's daughter in us1 his righteousness is working in us and moulding us for his purposes2 both will and deed of the good man are attributed to him1 and the processes are described with true insight by which the soul is sanctified and wedded to her task and her true destiny2 but at the same time there is an intent looking to that sacred ,fire which is an outward representative of deity2 there is the offering of victims1 even of horses1 when the prophet's mind is bent on war 7the ,homa-offering does not occur1 and we may suppose the prophet rejected this service of the deity by intoxication72 there is the smiting of the demons with prayer1 and imprecations1 similar to those in the ,psalms1 against adversaries of the cause4 ,it is no proof of unspirituality that the welfare of the ,kine1 with whose wail the call of the prophet began1 is steadily kept in view during his mission4 ,the agriculturists are on the side of the righteous being1 good and ever-better tillage is a means of pleasing him2 it is his will that the kine should be freed from alarms and should prosper2 and he may be appealed to to give lessons with a view to that end4 ,the doctrine passes far beyond its first occasion2 yet the occasion which called for it is never lost sight of4 ,the ,gathas1 taken alone1 tell us hardly anything of the religion in which ,zarathustra's fellow-countrymen believed4 ,they believed undoubtedly in many gods2 in those parts of the ,avesta which come next to the hymns in time1 polytheism is in full force4 ,that ,zarathustra only speaks of one god1 ,ahura 7though he also speaks of the ,immortals generally71 may be due to the limited extent and special purpose of the hymns1 but it may also be taken as an indication that the prophet did not needlessly interfere with the beliefs of his people3 content to preach the doctrine with which he was charged1 and which was to him the sum and substance of all religion1 he1 like several other religious founders1 stirred up no strife he could avoid4 ,the doctrine he preached was not unprepared for in the mind of his country1 and continued to be the leading feature of ,persian religion in subsequent periods4 ,it is a momentous step in religious progress1 which the prophet of ,iran calls on his countrymen to take4 ,we notice the main features of the advance4 #a4 ,man is ,called to ,judge between the ,gods4--,zarathustra1 like ,elijah1 puts before his people the choice between two worships4 ,various distinctions between the two cases might be drawn4 ,in the ,scripture case ,baal is not a bad god1 but simply the wrong god for ,israel to worship4 ,in the case of our reformer the difference between the two worships is a deeper one4 ,the individual is to choose his god1 he is to declare of his own motion that one god is better than others1 and that no worship whatever is to be paid to these others4 ,this was a new departure in antiquity2 the early world loved to think of many gods1 all alike divine and worshipful1 each race or clan having its god whom it naturally served1 or each part of the earth being portioned out to a divine lord of its own4 ,neither ,greece nor ,rome ever thought of making the individual man the arbiter among the unseen beings whom he knew1 and requiring him to decide which of them he should consider divine1 and which he should disown4 ,in the case before us1 moreover1 the choice is to be made on moral grounds4 ,men are called to judge of the character of the beings who are called gods1 they are told that there is no necessity to acknowledge those of whom they disapprove1 they are emancipated from the fear of hurtful and evil beings4 ,there is war in heaven1 and men are encouraged to take part in that war1 and to cast off allegiance to such powers as do not make for righteousness4 ,how there came to be such strife among the gods1 and how it became necessary that men should judge of it1 we have no clear information2 we only know that the momentous step was called for and was taken4 ,the belief1 however1 remains even after the decision that there are unseen evil beings1 who had influence in forming the constitution of things1 and who have influence still over the government of the world4 ,the position taken up is not monotheism4 ,the good god is not sole creator or sole governor of the world1 he is a limited being2 from the outset he has only in part got his own way1 and he has adversaries in the very constitution of things1 whom he cannot get rid of4 ,persian thought is dualistic2 the conception of an ,evil ,creator and ,governor co-ordinate with the good one differentiates it from the thought of ,india1 which always tends to a principle of unity4 #b4 ,in the second place1 this religion is essentially intolerant and persecuting4 ,having chosen his side in the great war which divides the universe1 man can only prosecute that war with all his force2 he must regard the ,daevas and their followers as his enemies1 and try to weaken and extinguish them4 ,the general feeling of the ancient world about differences in religion was that all religions were equally legitimate1 each on its own soil4 ,the ,jews1 we know1 shocked the ,greeks and ,romans greatly by denying this1 and maintaining that there was only one true religion1 namely1 their own1 and that all the others were worships of gods false and vain4 ,but the ,persians came before the ,jews in this2 the ,gathas preach persecution1 and the insults offered by ,persian kings in later times to the religions of ,egypt and ,greece were no doubt justified by their convictions4 ,in ,persia1 as in ,israel1 religion had come to entertain the notion of false gods4 ,and a religion which entertains that notion must be exclusive4 ,those who have refused to worship beings hitherto deemed gods1 on the ground that they ought not to be worshipped and are not truly gods1 cannot but desire to bring the worship of such beings entirely to an end1 and to make the worship of the true ,god prevail instead1 by rude or by gentle means1 as the stage of civilisation may in each case suggest4 ,growth of ,mazdeism4--,after the ,gathas proper we have other hymns written in the ,gathic dialect1 from which the history of the religion after its foundation may be to some extent inferred4#c ,these show that the ,zarathustrian religion was regarded1 after the departure of the founder1 as a great divine institution1 and was worked out on the lines he had laid down4 ,the forms of it became of course more fixed4 ,the god it serves is now called ,ahura ,mazda1 the ,all-,knowing ,lord 7the name is afterwards contracted into the ,greek ,oromazdes1 the ,persian ,hormazd2 and the religion is called from it ,mazdeism72 he is still implored for spiritual blessings both for this and for the future life1 and for furtherance in agriculture4 ,there is1 however1 a tendency to address prayer not only to ,ahura himself but to beings connected with him4 ,as if the mind wearied of dwelling on the one supreme1 the ,bountiful ,immortals are associated with him1 the parts of his holy creation are invoked1 the fire which is most closely identified with him1 the stars which are his body1 the waters1 the earth1 all good animals and plants4 ,the kine's soul receives sacrifice1 and not only the kine's soul which we have met before1 but the souls of just men and holy women1 the ,fravashis or spirits not only of the departed but of the living also1 the service of which continues and increases henceforward in ,persian religion4 ,these are invented deities and have a shadowy character2 but gods of more substance1 and more historical reality also came into view at this point4 ,zarathustra becomes a god1 the hymns themselves are adored2 the ,homa-offering reappears1 ,mithra is often coupled with ,ahura1 other old gods creep back and are mentioned along with the moral abstractions1 which also increase in number2 in one passage there are said to be thirty-three objects of worship1 a number which also occurs in ,india4 ,footnote #c3 ,yasna ,haptanghaiti1 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 xxxi4 p4 #bah1 sqq41 and others following4 ,organisation of the ,heavenly ,beings4--,with all this multiplication there is1 as we shall see1 no compromise of the supreme claims of ,ahura4 ,in some of the hymns1 all beings1 all attributes1 all places1 and all times of a sacred nature are heaped indiscriminately together1 in interminable catalogues4 ,but this apparent confusion is corrected by a remarkable tendency to organisation4 ,the ,persian religion ultimately came to have a very simple and very striking theology2 and that theology was made up by transforming the abstractions in which the founder dealt1 into persons1 and arranging them after the pattern of ,oriental society4 ,in the later ,yasnas 7liturgies7 a figure rises into view which the ,gathas do not mention2 that of ,angra ,mainyu1 later ,ahriman1 the ,bad ,spirit4 ,in this counterpart of ,spenta ,mainyu1 the ,good ,spirit 7who is not at first identified with ,ahura1 but proceeds from him71 the demons obtain a personal head1 and the dualism which appears in all nature and all human society is thus brought to a personal expression4 ,ahura and ,ahriman confront each other as the good power and the evil4 ,both alike had part in making the world what it is4 ,in every part of the world1 and in all that is felt and done they are at strife4 ,ahura1 to quote ,mr4 ,darmesteter1 is all light1 truth1 goodness1 and knowledge2 ,angra ,mainyu is all darkness1 falsehood1 wickedness1 and ignorance4 ,whatever the good spirit makes1 the evil spirit mars2 he opposes every creation of ,ahura's with a plague of his own1 it is he who mixed poison with plants1 smoke with fire1 sin with man1 and death with life4 ,the ,attributes of ,ahura4--,each of these beings has his retinue4 ,that of ,ahura was formed first2 it consists of his attributes4 ,even in the hymns the attributes are regarded as persons1 inseparable companions of ,ahura2 appeals are made to one or another of them1 according as the worshipper seeks help from one side or the other of the divine being4 ,by a process which frequently occurs in religious thought1 they afterwards come to be more formally arranged and defined2 there are six of them1 and each is charged with a province of the divine economy4 ,they are as follows3 ,vohu ,mano 7,bahman7 ,good ,mind2 he is the head and the guardian of the living creation of ,ahura4 ,asha ,vahista 7,ardibehesht71 ,excellent ,holiness2 he is the genius of fire4 ,kshathra ,vairya 7,shahrevar71 ,perfect ,sovereignty2 he is the lord of metals4 ,spenta ,armaiti 7,spendarmat7 divine piety1 conceived as female1 the goddess of the earth4 ,haurvatat 7,khordat7 health4 ,ameretat 7,amerdat7 immortality4 ,the last two are a pair1 and have charge conjointly of waters and of trees4 ,ahura is himself one of these spirits2 thus there are seven supreme spirits4 ,retinue of ,ahriman4--,angra ,mainyu on his part comes to have a corresponding retinue of six daevas1 each being the evil counterpart of one of the good spirits4 ,evil ,mind1 ,sickness1 and ,decay are the names of some of them4 ,the whole spiritual world is ranged on the side of the good or of the evil deity4 ,the ,izatas 7,izeds7 or angels consist of gods of immemorial worship in ,iran1 some of whom are the same as gods worshipped in ,india2 but the title also applies to gods1 heavenly and earthly1 of later creation1 so that the class is a very wide and elastic one4 ,it comprises some beings who have been reduced by the operation of the new ideas from the first to the second rank of deities1 such as ,verethragna1 who corresponds to the ,vedic ,indra1 and ,mithra1 the sun-god4 ,these now appear in the same rank as gods of the newer style1 such as ,sraosha1 ,obedience1 and survivals of early superstition1 such as the ,curse of the wise1 a very powerful ,ized4 ,zarathustra himself belongs to this class of deities1 a miscellaneous one indeed4 ,another class of sacred beings of world-wide extent is that of the ,fravashis spoken of above4 ,if the good spirits are many and various1 so are the evil4 ,of these are the great demon-serpent ,azhi who plays a great part in ,persian mythology1 as ,vrittra does in ,indian4 ,aeshma1 later ,asmodeus1 may be named2 he is one of the ,drvants1 or storm-fiends4 ,gahi1 an unfaithful goddess1 has fallen to a demon of unchastity2 the ,pairikas 7,peris7 are female tempters2 the ,yatu are demons connected with sorcery4 ,the firm organisation of these hosts of spiritual beings1 and the sense of a great conflict in which they are all engaged from the greatest to the least of them1 preserve ,mazdeism from the weakness and absurdity which are apt to creep over religion when the population of the upper and the nether regions is unduly multiplied4 ,the faithful never forget ,ahura in favour of the minor deities1 nor do they forget that morals and industry are the chief ends of religion1 and that in cultivating these they hasten the coming of the kingdom4 ,the following is the formula1 the ,praise of ,holiness1 with which every act of worship begins in the ,yasts#d 7liturgies of the ,izeds73 ,may ,ahura ,mazda be rejoiced6 ,holiness is the best of all good6 ,i confess myself a worshipper of ,mazda1 a follower of ,zarathustra1 one who hates the daevas and obeys the laws of ,ahura4 ,footnote #d3 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 xxiii4 ,ancient ,testimonies to the ,persian ,religion4--,it is at this stage1 while it is still in a state of vigour1 that we hear of the ,persian religion from various quarters in ancient records4 ,the chapters in the latter half of ,isaiah1 which so vigorously denounce idolatry1 hail the approach of ,cyrus towards ,babylon1 and claim unity of religion between him and the ,jews 7,isaiah xliv4 #bh sq474 ,he is the shepherd who is to lead ,jehovah's people back to their own land1 and to cause their temple to be rebuilt4 ,and this claim that the ,jewish and the ,persian religions were the same1 that the ,jews and the ,persians were alike worshippers of the one true ,god1 while all the surrounding nations were polytheists and idolaters1 was admitted on the side of ,persia4 ,after his conquest of ,babylon1 ,cyrus at once permitted the exiles to return to their own land4 ,the ,persian monarchs of the following century1 ,darius and ,artaxerxes1 continued to take a friendly interest in the worship of ,jehovah1 whom they apparently regarded as a form of their own god1 the ,god of heaven1 ,hormazd 7,ezra vii4 #ba74 ,they accordingly took measures for the rebuilding of the temple at ,jerusalem1 and for the introduction there of the new religious constitution which had been prepared at ,babylon4 ,this could not have happened if the religion of the ,persian kings had not been a pure service of one god1#e and the other information we have on the subject shows that the ,mazdeism of ,persia at this period was a very elevated form of the religion4 ,the inscriptions of ,darius do not mention the spread of the worships of ,mitra and ,anahita1 which1 however1 make their appearance in the later inscriptions of ,artaxerxes2 in none of them is ,ahriman spoken of4 ,this1 of course1 does not prove that he was not believed in2 when the ,jewish prophet proclaims that ,jehovah makes both light and darkness1 that he both wounds and heals1 there may be a reference to ,persian dualism4 ,yet ,mazdeism was capable of appearing1 and did appear to the foreigner1 as a lofty worship of a god of light and goodness4 ,the same impression is produced by the descriptions of the ,greek writers4 ,herodotus 7i4 #aca1 #acb7 writes as follows2 he is a contemporary of ,ezra3 ,the following statements as to the customs of the ,persians is to be relied on4 ,they do not fashion images of the gods1 nor build temples1 nor altars--they consider it wrong to do so1 and count it a proof of folly2 their reason for this being1 as ,i think1 that they do not believe the gods to be beings of the same nature with men as the ,greeks do4 ,they are accustomed to offer sacrifices to ,zeus on the summits of mountains2 they call the whole circle of heaven ,zeus4 ,they sacrifice also to the sun1 and the moon1 and the earth1 and to fire1 and to water1 and to the winds4 ,these are the ancient parts of their ritual1 but they have added the worship of the ,queen of heaven1 ,aphrodite2 it was from the ,assyrians and the ,arabs that they acquired this4 ,the ,assyrian name for ,aphrodite is ,mylitta1 the ,arabs call her ,alilat1 the ,persians1 ,anahita4#f ,such being their gods the ,persians sacrifice to them on this wise4 ,they have no altar1 and do not use fire in sacrifice1 nor do they have libations nor flutes1 nor wreaths nor barley4 ,he who wishes to sacrifice takes his victim to a clean spot and there calls on the deity1 his turban wreathed1 as a rule1 with myrtle4 ,he does not think of praying for benefits for himself individually in connection with his sacrifice2 he prays for the welfare of the ,persian people and king2 he himself is one of the ,persian people4 ,he then cuts up the victim1 boils the pieces and spreads them out on the softest grass he can find--if possible1 on clover4 ,this done1 one of the ,magians who has come to assist1 sings a theogony1#g as they call the accompanying hymn2 no sacrifice is allowed to be offered without one of the ,magi being present4 ,after a short pause the sacrificer takes up the pieces of flesh and does with them whatever he likes4 ,footnote #e3 ,these two religions1 ,kuenen says1 were more like each other than any other two religions of antiquity4--,religion of ,israel1 iii4 #cc4 ,footnote #f3 ,herodotus says ,mitra2 but this is a mistake1 whether of the father of history or of a transcriber4 ,footnote #g3 ,one of the ,yashts in praise of the particular deity4 ,in other passages ,herodotus tells us of the extreme sanctity attributed by the ,persians to waters1 to fire1 and to the sun4 ,he also tells us that they regarded lying as the worst possible offence1 and next to it falling into debt1 since the debtor is tempted to tell lies4 ,plutarch writes as follows1 quoting from an earlier ,greek writer of the third century ,b4,c43 ,zoroaster the ,magician1#h who was #ejjj years before the war of ,troy1 named the good god ,oromazes and the other ,arimonius 444 ,oromazes is engendered of the clearest and purest light1 ,arimonius of deep darkness2 and they war one upon another4 ,the former of these created six other gods 7here follow the ,amshaspands71 but the latter produceth as many other in number1 of adverse operation to the former4444 ,there will come a time when this ,arimonius1 who brings into the world plague and famine1 shall of necessity be rooted out and utterly destroyed for ever 444 then shall men be all in happy estate1 they shall need no more food1 nor cast any shadow from them2 and that god who hath effected all this shall repose himself for a time1 and rest in quiet4 ,footnote #h3 ,holland's translation4 ,the ,vendidad3 ,laws of ,parity4--,these extracts show the growth of certain ideas which we have not noticed before4 ,the dualism is being worked out more in detail1 other gods are coming in1 and the doctrine of the sanctity of the elements has made its appearance4 ,that doctrine is the basis of a new set of ideas and practices which we have now to consider1 those namely which are contained in the ,vendidad1 one of the later works of the ,persian canon4 ,to pass from the ,gathas to the ,vendidad is like passing from ,isaiah to ,leviticus1 and the laws of purity of ,persian religion bear a strong analogy to those of ,judaism4 ,the ,vendidad#i is composed principally of laws and rules designed to direct the faithful in the great task of maintaining their ritual purity4 ,the whole of life is dominated in this work by the ideas of purity and defilement2 the great business of life is to avoid impurity1 and when it is contracted to remove it in the correct manner as quickly as possible4 ,purity here is not primarily sanitary or even moral2 though such considerations were no doubt indirectly present4 ,impure is what belongs to the bad spirit1 whether because he created it1 as he did certain noxious animals1 or because he has established a hold on it as he does on men at death4 ,a man is impure1 not because he has exposed himself to the infection of disease1 not because he has contracted a stain on his conscience1 but because he has touched something of which a ,daeva has possession1 and so has come under the influence of that ,daeva4 ,purification1 therefore1 and the act of healing consist of exorcisms of various kinds4 ,this notion of purity plays a great part in other old religions also2 it is here that we see its original meaning most clearly4 ,another great feature of the doctrine of purity in the ,vendidad is that the elements1 fire1 earth1 and water1 are holy1 and to defile them in any way is the most grievous of sins4 ,as everything which leaves the body is unclean1 a man must not blow up a fire with his breath1 and bathing with a view to cleanliness is not to be thought of4 ,the disposal of the dead was a matter of immense difficulty1 since corpses1 being unclean1 could be committed neither to ,fire nor to the ,earth4 ,they are ordered to be exposed naked on a building constructed for that purpose on high ground1 so that birds of prey may devour them2 and a great part of the ,vendidad is taken up with directions for purification1 after a death has taken place1 of the persons who were in the house1 of the house itself1 of those who carried the corpse1 and of the road they travelled1 etc4 ,footnote #i3 ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vol4 iv4 ,how this ,doctrine ,entered ,mazdeism4--,this system was not in force in the time of ,darius and ,artaxerxes 7when the dead were buried or1 as in the case of ,croesus1 burned7 though the ideas were appearing at that period on which it is founded2 and it is plain that it has no necessary or vital connection with the religion of ,zarathustra4 ,but in later ,mazdeism there are many such importations4 ,this religion1 in its course from east to west1 came in contact with beliefs and usages with which1 though foreign to its own nature1 it yet came to terms4 ,mazdeism is not originally a markedly priestly religion2 it is thought that it became so when planted in ,media4 ,no doubt there were germs in the early ,iranian religion of a priestly system4 ,zarathustra himself was a priest and was favourable to due religious observances4 ,but it is quite contrary to his spirit that life should be governed entirely by ritual law4 ,it was in ,media that this came to be the case4 ,the name of ,magi1 originally perhaps that of a tribe1 became in ,media the name of the priesthood1 and so furnished an additional title for ,mazdeism4 ,it is to this stage of the religion that the priestly legislation of the ,vendidad1 with all its puritanical regulation of life1 is to be ascribed4 7,the practice of exposing the bodies of the dead to be devoured by birds of prey is probably of ,scythian origin47 ,in this period also1 remote from the origin of the religion1 we find a new view of ,zarathustra himself and of his revelation4 ,in the earlier sources ,zarathustra composes his hymns in a natural manner2 he is not an absolute lawgiver1 but depends on princes for the carrying out of his views4 ,in the later works the revelation takes place in a series of private interviews between ,ahura and ,zarathustra2 the prophet puts questions to the god1 and the god dictates in reply sentences which are at once promulgated as sacred laws4 ,mazdeism1 like other religions1 has its wooden age1 its verbal inspiration1 and its priestly code4 ,to trace the lines by which the influence of the religion of ,persia asserted itself in the wider world would be a large enterprise3 only a few indications can be given here4 ,one great service which that religion did to the world was undoubtedly that it had sympathy with the ,jews1 and enabled ,jewish monotheism to take a fresh start on its way to become a religion for mankind4 ,mazdeism itself had a tinge of universalism2 ,zarathustra expected his religion to spread beyond his own land1 and it did spread over all the provinces of ,iran4 ,it never became a world-religion1 but it might have done so had it not become swathed and choked in ,magism or had any new movement arisen in it to assert the supremacy of its purely human over its artificial elements4 ,but ,ahura himself1 perhaps1 was too abstract and philosophic a god to inspire missionary ardour2 it needed a being more firmly rooted in history1 a god who had done more to prove the energy and intensity of his nature1 and1 further1 a god more undoubtedly omnipotent than ,ahura1 to establish a universal rule4 ,the interesting inquiry remains1 how far the ,jewish religion was modified by its contact with the ,persian4 ,the laws of purity in the ,jewish priestly code find a close parallel in the ,vendidad2 but with the ,israelites the notion of religious purity existed1 and was worked out in considerable detail1 as we see from ,deuteronomy1 before the exile1 and therefore long before the period of the ,vendidad4 ,the belief in the resurrection1 found among the ,jews after the exile1 and not before it1 has been maintained by many to be a loan from ,persia1 where the belief in future reward and punishment was a settled thing from the time of ,zarathustra4 ,but the ,jews do not appear to have grasped this belief all at once or fully formed4 ,they arrived at it gradually1 many ,old ,testament scholars affirm1 and by spiritual inferences timidly put forth at first1 from their own religious consciousness4 ,a belief which the ,jewish religion was capable of producing of itself need not1 without clearer evidence than we possess1 be regarded as borrowed4 ,we are not on much surer ground when we come to ask whether the angels and demons of ,judaism are connected with those of ,persia4 ,this belief also arises naturally in ,judaism1 where ,god came to be thought of as very high and very inaccessible1 and intermediate beings were therefore needed4 ,some of the figures of the ,jewish spirit-world are1 no doubt1 due to ,persia2 the ,ashmodeus of the book of ,tobit is a ,persian figure4 ,later ,judaism is like ,parsism in arranging the heavenly beings in a hierarchy1 and assigning to the chief angels special functions in the administration of ,god's kingdom1 and still more so when the upper hierarchy is confronted by a lower one with a great adversary and father of lies at its head4 ,but this takes place long after the ,persian contact4 ,the ,persian deities had1 as a rule1 too little legend to enable them to be received in other countries4 ,ahura does not travel4 ,anaitis is thought to have passed into ,greece1 changing her name to ,aphrodite1 but also to the severer ,artemis2 but she is perhaps not original in ,persia4 ,the ,persian god best known in other lands was ,mithra1 the sun-god and god of wisdom4 ,he was a favourite with the ,roman armies in the early empire1 and representations of him as a hero in the act of slaying a bull in a cave have been found in many lands4 ,there were also mysteries connected with him1 in which the candidates had to pass through a great series of trials and hardships4 ,persia influenced ,europe and the west of ,asia at the same period in another way4 ,manicheism1 a system which was one of the three great universal religions of that time1 and had a worship and a priesthood and a sacred literature of its own1 was founded by a native of ,persia4 ,he laboured at a distance from his own country1 and the doctrines he propounded came more from ,chaldea than from ,persia1 and consisted of great histories1 like those of the ,gnostics1 of the doings and sufferings of cosmic and other persons2 a great struggle between the powers of light and those of darkness was one of its principal features4 ,the worship of this church was spiritual2 its morals were in theory of the purest and most ascetic kind1 being founded on a principle of dualism in the material world1 and requiring much self-denial and long fasts4 ,the higher virtue of the system was not1 however1 required of the ordinary member4 ,later ,parsism1 both in ,iran and in ,india1 has shown a disposition to cast off dualism1 and to become1 both philosophically and practically1 a monistic system4 ,,books ,,recommended ,s4 ,b4 ,e4 vols4 iv41 xxiii4 7,darmesteter72 xxxi4 7,mills74 ,the ,zendavesta1 vols4 v41 xviii41 xxiv41 xxxvii41 xlvii4 ,pahlavi ,texts 7,e4 ,w4 ,west74 ,the ,histories of ,antiquity of ,duncker1 ,maspero1 and ,ed4 ,meyer4 ,haug's ,essays on the ,sacred ,language1 ,writings1 and ,religion of the ,parsis4 ,second ,edition1 #ahgh1 ,f4 ,windischmann1 ,zoroastr4 ,studien1 #ahfc4 ,geldner1 ,zoroaster1 in ,encyclopdia ,britannica2 ,zoroastrianism1 in ,encyclopdia ,bibl4 ,mills1 ,a ,study of the ,five ,zarathustrian ,gathas1 #ahib-id4 ,lehmann1 in ,de la ,saussaye4 ,dadhabai ,naoroji1 ,the ,parsee ,religion4 ,on ,mithraism1 ,dieterich ,eine ,mithras-liturgie4 ,cumont1 ,the ,mysteries of ,mithra1 #aijc4 ,,part ,v ,,universal ,,religion ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,christianity ,the writer is aware that in offering a chapter on ,christianity at the conclusion of this work1 he attempts a difficult task4 ,if treated at all1 ,christianity must be dealt with in the same way as the other religions1 and no assumptions must be made for it which were not made for them4 ,and a view of our own religion written1 not from the standpoint of the faith and love we feel towards it but of scientific accuracy1 must appear to many pious ,christians to be cold and meagre4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,christianity is the key of the arch we have been building1 the consummating member of the development we have sought to trace1 and to withhold any estimate of its character would be to leave our work most imperfect4 ,it seems better1 therefore1 that some hints at least should be offered on this part of the subject4 ,christianity cannot indeed be dealt with in the same proportion as the other religions2 that would far exceed our space4 ,but some views are offered regarding its essential nature1 which the writer believes to be so firmly founded in fact that even those who are not ,christians cannot deny them1 and thus to afford a valid criterion for the comparison of ,christianity with other faiths4 ,in the chapter on the religion of ,israel we saw how the prophets before and during the exile began to cherish the idea of a new relation between ,god and man1 which would not depend on sacrifice nor be confined to ,israel4 ,god1 they declared1 was preparing a new age1 in which he would receive man to more intimate communion than before2 and man would be guided in the right path1 not by covenants and laws1 but by the constant inspiration of a present deity4 ,the new religion would be one which all nations could share4 ,jerusalem1 the seat of the true faith1 would attract all eyes2 all would turn to her because of the ,lord her ,god4 ,but1 alas1 instead of growing broader to realise its universal destiny1 the religion of ,israel grew narrower after the exile1 and seemed to forget the prospects thus opened up to it4 ,judaism1 though immeasurably enriched in its inner consciousness by the teaching of the prophets1 maintained its earlier semi-heathenish forms of worship1 only surrounding them with new stateliness and new significance2 and clothed itself in a hard shell of public ritual and personal observance4 ,the ,jews separated themselves rigorously from the world1 and cultivated an exclusive pride2 as if their religion had been given them for themselves alone1 and not for mankind4 ,under the ,maccabees they displayed the most heroic courage and tenacity1 maintaining their own beliefs and rites amid the flood of ,hellenism which at one time almost swept them away4 ,that they carried their nationality unimpaired through this period is one of the most wonderful achievements of the ,jewish race4 ,in the succeeding period1 however1 many signs appeared showing that their religion was losing energy4 ,the rule of the priests and scribes extended more and more over the whole of life1 tradition and observance grew more and more extensive1 but the moral judgment lost its elasticity4 ,the sense of the divine presence grew faint1 and multitudes of spirits filled the air instead1 oppressing human life with a sense of vague anxiety4 ,as political independence was lost1 the people became less happy and more easily excited4 ,but while formalism held increasing sway over their actions1 imagination was free1 and surrounded both the past history of ,israel and its future triumphs with manifold embellishments4 ,in such a condition was the religion of the ,jews when ,jesus appeared in ,palestine and created a new order of things4 ,christianity was at first a movement within ,judaism4 ,like all the religions which trace their history to personal founders1 it grew from very small beginnings2 but its doctrine was of such a nature1 that if circumstances favoured1 it could not fail to spread beyond ,judaism1 to men of other lands and other tongues4 ,the doctrine consisted primarily in a declaration that that great religious consummation1 the kingdom of ,god1 which the prophets had foretold1 which was regarded by the fellow-countrymen of ,jesus as a far-off hope1 and which had just been heralded by ,john the ,baptist as being immediately at hand1 had actually taken place4 ,the perfect state was announced to have arrived1 and to be a thing not of the future but of the present4 ,the long-expected intercourse of ,god and man on new terms of perfect agreement and sympathy1 had come into operation2 any one who chose could assure himself of the fact4 ,the title by which ,jesus described the intimate relationship of man and ,god which he announced1 sufficiently shows its character4 ,god is the ,father in heaven2 men are his children1 and all that men have to do is to realise that this is so1 to enter the circle and begin to live with ,god on such terms4 ,the great ,god seeks to have every one living with him as his child2 and religion is no more1 no less1 than this communion4 ,father and child dwell together in perfect love and confidence2 no outward regulations are needed for their intercourse1 no bargains1 no traditions1 no ritual1 no pilgrimage1 no sacrifice4 ,the intercourse can be carried on by any one1 anywhere4 ,it is not a matter of apparatus1 but a purely moral affair1 an affair of love4 ,the ,father knows all about the child1 is able to give him all he needs1 even before he asks it2 is willing to forgive his sins when he repents of them2 is anxious above all to reinforce his efforts after goodness4 ,the child knows that the ,father is always near him1 carries every need and wish to him in prayer1 even though knowing that he is aware of them beforehand2 regards all that happens1 either good or ill1 as sent by him for the best ends1 and seeks in every case to know his will and to submit to it sweetly1 and execute it faithfully4 ,nothing could be simpler1 or deeper1 or broader4 ,religion is here presented free from all local or accidental or obscuring elements2 religion itself is here revealed4 ,accepted in this form1 it does for man all that it can4 ,the relation between ,god and man is made purely moral2 the link is not that of race1 nor does it consist in anything external4 ,the individual--every individual who will pause to hear--is assured that there exists between ,god and him a natural sympathy1 and is urged to allow that sympathy to have its way4 ,it is easy to see what effect such a belief must have4 ,the individual1 bidden to seek the principle of union with ,god not in any external circumstance or arrangement1 but in his own heart1 becomes conscious of an inner freedom from all artificial restraints4 ,he finds in his own heart the secret of happiness1 and is raised above all fears and irritations2 and hence the forces of his nature are encouraged to unfold themselves freely4 ,he sees clearly what as a human person he is called to be and to do1 and feels a new energy to realise his ideals4 ,as ,god has come down to him1 he is lifted up to ,god2 a divine power has entered his life1 which is able to do all things in him and for him4 ,it may be said that what we have described are the effects of religious inspiration generally1 and may take place in connection with any faith4 ,but the divine impulse communicated to mankind in ,christianity differs from that of any other religion in two important respects4 ,in the first place1 the ,god who here enters into union with man possesses full reality and a character of the utmost energy4 ,it is ,jehovah with whom we have to do here1 changed1 indeed1 but still the same2 a ,god of real and irresistible power1 on whom speculation has not laid its weakening hand4 ,the union of man with ,god is not secured by making ,god abstract and vague1 nor is his infinite kindness and forgivingness purchased at the expense of his intensity and awfulness4 ,with ,jesus1 ,god is still the power who has actual control over everything that goes on1 and who is able to do even what appears to be most impossible4 ,he is a ,god of strict justice and holiness2 though he is so kind1 his judgments have not ceased1 but are still impending over guilty men and a guilty people4 ,it is he who can cast both soul and body into hell4 ,it is a ,god of such energy1 such zeal1 who yet offers himself as the willing benefactor and defender1 and the loving guide and helper of the humblest of his human creatures4 ,in the second place1 the terms of the union here formed between ,god and man are such as can be found nowhere else4 ,the deity inspires man not to any particular kind of acts1 not to sacrifices1 nor to withdrawal from the world1 but inspires him simply to realise himself4 ,man is assured of the sympathy of this great ,god1 and is then left in freedom as to the mode in which he should serve him4 ,no rules are prescribed2 human life is not pressed into an artificial mould1 as is the case in so many great religions2 no preference is accorded to any one pursuit over others4 ,this religion is not a yoke to coerce men and to make them less1 but an inspiration capable of entering into every kind of life1 and of making men greater and better in whatever occupation4 ,even religious duties are left to form themselves naturally2 all that is insisted on is that the child shall have living and real intercourse with the ,father4 ,prayer is necessary1 and so is the practice of good works2 the child must keep in sympathy with the ,father by doing as he does4 ,further than this1 the forms of the religious life are not prescribed4 ,with regard to morals1 it is the same4 ,the moral life is to build itself up freely from within2 goodness is not to be a matter of rule1 but the spontaneous and happy development of a principle which lives and speaks deep in the centre of the heart4 ,jesus is not a lawgiver1 save in a metaphorical sense3 the law which he sets up is nothing more than that which every man1 when he turns away from all that is artificial1 can find in his own breast4 ,it is one feature of the spontaneity and spirituality of the religion of ,jesus1 that it has no constitution4 ,jesus regarded himself as the founder not of a new religion1 but only of an inner circle of more devoted believers inside the old religion of his country2 he did not therefore feel called to draw up rules for a new faith1 and the result of this is that the mechanism of the religion is of later growth4 ,the authority of the founder can be appealed to for a direct and constant intercourse with ,god as of a child with his father1 and for the conduct of men towards each other1 which such intercourse with ,god necessarily implies1 but for hardly anything more4 ,here1 as in no other historical religion1 man is free4 ,the religion of ,jesus1 therefore1 is one of love alone4 ,the divine nature consists in love1 and the impulse which religion communicates1 is simply that which proceeds from being loved and loving4 ,and a religion of love finds the way1 as no other can1 to make man free1 to unseal his energies1 and to lead him upwards to the best life4 ,the appearance of such a religion forms the most momentous epoch of human history4 ,he who brought it forward must occupy a unique position in the estimation of mankind4 ,it can never be superseded4 ,it is no doubt the case that the doctrine of ,jesus was not in all respects new4 ,the ideas of the prophets live again in him2 his followers have always found many of the ,jewish ,psalms to be perfectly suited to their experience4 ,jesus lived in the faith of ,israel1 and considered that he had come only to make that faith better understood1 and to free it from improper accretions4 ,what was new was his own person4 ,his great work was that he embodied his teaching in a life which expressed it perfectly4 ,it is far short of the truth to say that there was no inconsistency between what he taught and his own conduct4 ,his life is a demonstration1 in every detail1 of the effects of his religion2 all flows with the utmost simplicity1 and even as a matter of necessity1 out of the truth he taught4 ,what he preached was1 in fact1 himself2 he was himself living in the kingdom of ,god1 to which he called others to come2 he knew in his own experience what it was to live as a child with the ,father in heaven1 and to view all persons1 all things1 all duties1 in the light of that intercourse4 ,all his acts and words flowed from the same spring in his own inner experience4 ,in no other way could his life shape itself than as it did1 and he saw with perfect clearness what men must be1 and on what terms they must live together when ,god and they were as ,father and children to each other4 ,what he thus knew he lived1 as if no laws but those of the kingdom of heaven had any authority for him1 and so he presented to the world that living embodiment of the true religion1 which has been the main strength of ,christianity4 ,jesus announces a new union of ,god with man1 a union in which he himself is the first to rejoice1 but which all may share along with him2 and hence his person counts for more in his religion than that of any other religious founder in his1 and necessarily becomes an object of faith to all who enter the communion4 ,the doctrine does not produce its specific effect apart from the person of ,jesus4 ,because in him alone they know the truth which brings them peace1 his followers regard him1 in a way which has no parallel in any other religion1 as their ,saviour4 ,but this name is given to him by his followers1 as it is claimed by himself1 for another reason also4 ,jesus was more than a teacher4 ,he felt a power to be present in him which was able to supply all needs and to comfort all sorrows2 he did not shrink from summoning all who were weary and heavy laden to come to him1 nor from undertaking to give them rest4 ,keenly alive to the sufferings of others1 and able to perceive even those sufferings of which they were not themselves conscious1 he felt it to be his mission to deal with the sadder side of human life2 he was a physician sent to the sick1 a shepherd seeking the lost sheep4 ,it was among the poor and the sick1 and even among the outcasts of society1 in whom the sense of need was strongest1 that he felt himself most at home and most able to fulfil his calling4 ,thus the motive of compassion enters strongly into all he said and did3 but the compassion is not hopeless in this case as in the similar case of ,gautama 7see chapter xx471 nor is the cure recommended for the ills of humanity that of withdrawal from mankind or of forgetfulness4 ,here there is a belief in ,god4 ,the compassion from which the religion flows is not as in the case of ,gautama1 that of a preacher who has ceased to trust in any heavenly power2 it is announced as existing first of all in the heart of ,god ,himself4 ,god can do all things1 and in his yearning pity for his children has sent his representative to assure them of his sympathy and to comfort them in their sorrows4 ,with ,jesus therefore no evil is so great as not to admit of a positive cure2 he feels the remedy of all human ills to be present in his own heart1 and so he appears as the ,messiah1 not such a ,messiah as his countrymen looked for1 but as the true ,messiah1 in whom all human wants are met1 and all human hopes fulfilled4 ,the cure which he announces for all ills consists in devotion to the will of the ,father in heaven4 ,to give oneself unreservedly to the labour of realising the purposes of the heavenly ,father in one's own heart and in the world1 is to rise above all cares and sorrows2 enthusiasm in the ,father's service is the sovereign remedy4 ,to one who believes in the ,father1 and seeks to live as his child1 no despair is possible4 ,to be engaged in his business is at all times the highest happiness1 and his kingdom is assuredly coming1 though man has still the privilege of working for it1--the kingdom in which all darkness and evil will be put away4 ,we have indicated the chief points which in a scientific comparison of ,christianity with other religions appear to constitute its distinctive character2 and we have sought to make our statement such as the reasonable adherent of other religions will feel to be warranted4 ,the points are these4 ,christianity is a religion of freedom1 it is a system of inner inspiration more than of external law or system1 it is embodied in the living person of its founder1 in which alone it can be truly seen2 and the founder is one who is living himself in the relation to ,god to which he calls men to come1 and feels himself called and sent to be the ,saviour of men4 ,it is impossible in this work to treat ,christianity on the same scale as the other religions2 but the question of its universalism must necessarily receive attention4 ,jesus himself did not expressly say that his religion was for all men4 ,it was his immediate aim to bring about the renewal of the faith of his countrymen1 and to give it a more spiritual character2 and some of his followers considered that he had aimed at nothing more than this4 ,but he formed a circle of disciples and adherents1 which afterwards came to be the ,christian ,church1 and he attached no ritual condition whatever to membership in that community4 ,nay1 more2 by his repudiation of the ,jewish system of tradition he showed that the ,jewish laws of ritual purity were not binding upon his disciples1 and the further inference could readily be drawn1 that one could enter the ,kingdom without being a ,jew at all4 ,the strong missionary impulse of the infant religion brought it very early in contact with ,gentile life1 and the question soon arose1 whether those who refused to become ,jews could yet claim a share in the ,messiah4 ,it was the task of the ,apostle ,paul to work out the theory of the universalism of ,christianity1 and after some conflict the principle was recognised that in the ,church all racial differences disappear2 in ,christ there is neither ,jew nor ,greek4 ,this controversy once settled--and a few years sufficed to settle it--the new religion was free to spread in all directions4 ,it spread rapidly2 the gospel was very simple and imposed no burdensome conditions1 and it soon proved itself to be capable of striking root in any country4 ,the ,apostle ,paul was the first great theologian of the ,church2 but his doctrine1 as will happen in such a case1 does not in all points spring out of the nature of the religion itself4 ,the ,pauline theology is an attempt to reconcile the facts of ,christianity and especially that great stumbling-block to the ,jews1 the death of the ,messiah1 with the requirements of ,jewish thought4 ,instead of seeing in the death of ,christ1 as the older apostles at first did1 a perplexing enigma1 ,st4 ,paul saw in it the principal manifestation of the compassion of the ,saviour1 and the great purpose for which he had come into the world4 ,he concentrated attention on ,christ's death and made the cross rather than the doctrine of the ,messiah the burden of his teaching4 ,to understand ,paul we must distinguish between his religion and his theology4 ,his religious position is essentially the same as that of ,jesus himself2 with him1 too1 the new religion is that of father and child1 and of the consequences which inevitably flow from such a union4 ,but the movement of thought which began at the moment of the crucifixion1 the concentration of ,christian faith and love on the person of the ,saviour1 was now complete4 ,the figure of the ,crucified with its powerful tragic attraction1 and with its deep lessons of conquest by self-surrender1 of life by dying1 remained from ,st4 ,paul onwards1 in the centre of the faith4 ,the world of the early centuries was in great need of a religion1 and ,christianity supplied the place which was vacant4 ,brought in contact1 in the great ocean of the ,roman ,empire where all currents met1 with religions and philosophies of every kind1 it proved best suited to the task of supplying an inspiration for life1 uniting together different classes of men and schools of thought4 ,but in the wide arena of the ,empire it received as well as gave1 and in its encounters with strange rites and doctrines it also put on many a strange aspect4 ,it became the heir of the thoughts and aspirations of a hundred empires2 all the pious sentiments that flowed together from every quarter of the world helped to enrich its doctrine1 and to make it the great reservoir it is of all the tendencies and views1 even those most contrary to each other1 which are connected with religion4 ,its institutions are of diverse origin4 ,from the ,jews it received its earliest ,bible1 for the ,christians had at first no sacred books but those of the old covenant1 and its weekly festival1 though the day was changed4 ,its ,god was the ,god of the ,old ,testament1 and its ,saviour was the ,messiah of ,jewish prophecy1 so that it was a continuation of the ,jewish religion1 and the attempts which were made by early ,gnostics to dissolve this tie were soon forgotten4 ,from ,greece it received much4 ,the world it had to conquer was ,greek1 and the conquest could only take place by an accommodation to ,greek thought and to ,greek ways4 ,in the end of chapter xvi4 we spoke of the second ,greek religion which arose under the influence of philosophy1 and found its way wherever ,greek culture spread4 ,in this great movement1 ,christianity found a preparation for its coming in the ,greek world1 without which its spread must have been much more doubtful4 ,in the ,graeco-,roman religion the advances which appear in ,christianity are already prefigured4 ,thought has been busy in building up a great doctrine of ,god1 such a ,god as human reason can arrive at1 a ,being infinitely wise and good1 who is the first cause and the hidden ground of all things1 the sum of all wisdom1 beauty1 and goodness1 and in whom all men alike may trust4 ,greek thought also found much occupation in the attempt to reach a true account of man's moral nature and destiny4 ,both in theory and in practice many an attempt was made to build up the ideal life of man1 and thus many minds were prepared for a religion which places the riches of the inner life above all others4 ,the ,greek philosopher's school was a semi-religious union1 the central point of which was1 as is the case with ,christianity also1 not outward sacrifice but mental activity4 ,it is not wonderful therefore if ,christian institutions were assimilated to some extent to the ,greek schools4 ,it has recently been shown that the celebration of the ,eucharist came very early to bear a close resemblance to that of a ,greek mystery1 and that there is an unbroken line of connection between the discourse of the ,greek philosopher and the ,christian sermon4 ,in some of the ,greek schools pastoral visitation was practised1 and the preacher kept up an oversight of the moral conduct of his adherents4 ,while ,christianity certainly had vigour enough to shape its own institutions1 and may even be seen to be doing so in some of the books of the ,new ,testament1 the agreement between ,greek and ,christian practices amounts to something more than coincidence4 ,it was towards the end of the second century that the alliance between ,christianity and the ,greek world was finally ratified4 ,till then belief and practice were determined mainly by custom and tradition2 but now these were to give way to definite laws and settled institutions4 ,there came to full development1 about the period we have mentioned1 a highly-organised system of church government1 a canon of sacred books of ,christian origin1 and a creed in which the beliefs of ,christians were drawn together in one statement4 ,it cannot be denied that the elaborate external forms with which the religion of ,jesus was thus invested went far to change its spirit also4 ,but this happens to every religion which reaches the stage of organising itself in order to continue in the world and to rule permanently in human thought and in human society4 ,no external forms can adequately express living religious ideas2 and yet there must be external forms in order that religious ideas may be perpetuated4 ,the ministers of the new truth inevitably rise in dignity till they grow into a hierarchy4 ,that truth inevitably seeks to establish itself as scientifically true1 and with the aid of the ruling philosophical tendency of the day clothes itself in a view of the universe and in a creed4 ,thus the essence of ,christianity came to consist not in loving the ,master and following him in faith and love1 but in upholding the authority of the ,church1 receiving her sacraments1 and believing various metaphysical and transcendental statements4 ,here also a hard shell is formed round the spiritual kernel of the religion which1 if it is fitted to preserve the latter in rude and stormy times1 is also fitted to confuse and also apt to conceal it4 ,in each of the countries to which it came1 ,christianity adopted what it could of the religion formerly existing there4 ,the old religions of these lands were not all alike1 and hence it came to pass that as the language of ,rome was transformed in various ways1 and passed into the different yet cognate tongues of the ,romance nations1 so the religion of the ,empire1 combining with various forms of heathenism1 passed into several national religions1 the differences of which are at least as conspicuous as their similarity4 ,in ,italy ,christianity appears to be a system of local deities1 each village worshipping its own ,madonna or saint4 ,in ,holland worship consists almost entirely of preaching4 ,in other countries the ritual and the intellectual elements of religion are blended in varying proportions2 and the former heathenism of each land is also to be traced in many a popular observance and belief4 ,so great is the variety of the religions of ,europe1 not to mention that of the negroes or the ,shakers of ,america1 that many have doubted whether they ought all to be considered as branches of one faith1 or whether they would not more fitly be regarded as so many national religions which have all alike connected themselves with ,christianity4 ,against this there is to be urged in the first place that as a matter of history they are all undoubtedly offshoots of the religion of ,jesus4 ,it may also be urged that wherever the name of ,jesus is named1 his ideas must to some extent be present1 however much they are obscured and prevented from operating by lower modes of view4 ,the ,christianity of no country ought to be judged by the attitude of its most ignorant or even of its average adherents2 and in every land where ,christianity prevails1 an influence connected with religion is at work1 which makes for the emancipation and elevation of the human person1 and for the awakening of the manifold energies of human nature4 ,this1 as we saw1 is the immediate and native tendency of the religion of ,jesus2 it opens the prison doors to them that are bound2 it communicates by its inner encouragement an energy which makes the infirm forget their weaknesses1 it fills the heart with hope and opens up new views of what man can do and can become4 ,it is this that makes it the one truly universal religion4 ,islam1 it is true1 has also proved its power to live in many lands1 and ,buddhism has spread over half of ,asia4 ,but ,buddhism is not a full religion1 it does not tend to action but to passivity1 and affords no help to progress4 ,islam1 on the other hand1 is a yoke rather than an inspiration2 it is inwardly hostile to freedom1 and is incapable of aiding in higher moral development4 ,christianity has a message to which men become always more willing to respond as they rise in the scale of civilisation2 it has proved its power to enter into the lives of various nations1 and to adapt itself to their circumstances and guide their aspirations without humiliating them4 ,a religion which identifies itself1 as ,christianity does1 with the cause of freedom in every land1 and tends to unite all men in one great brotherhood under the loving ,god who is the ,father of all alike1 is surely the desire of all nations1 and is destined to be the faith of all mankind4 ,a bibliography of the recent study of ,christianity would be far too extensive for this book4 ,an excellent statement on the subject will be found at the hands of ,professor ,sanday in the ,oxford ,proceedings1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bfc1 sqq4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,conclusion ,it will not be expected that the result of the great movement traced in the chapters of this work can be summed up in a few words4 ,we set out with a definition of our subject which we said could only be fully verified after religion had accomplished its growth and had fully unfolded its nature4 ,we also set out with the assumption that all the religion of the world is one1 and that it exhibits a development which is in the main continuous1 from the most elementary to the highest stages4 ,we shall not now attempt to justify by argument that definition or that assumption4 ,the history which we have sought to place before the reader must itself be the proof of them4 ,all that can be done in bringing this work to a close is to point out one great line of development1 which may be recognised more or less distinctly in the growth of each religion1 and may therefore be held to be characteristic of religion as a whole4 ,no doubt the growth of religion1 as of other human activities1 has many sides and aspects1 but perhaps it may be possible to specify the central line of growth in which the explanation of all the subsidiary and parallel forward movements is to be found4 ,it was stated in our first chapter that religion is the expression of human needs with reference to higher beings who are supposed to be capable of fulfilling men's desires1 and it was also stated as an inference from this1 that the growth of human needs is the cause of religious change and progress4 ,if this is true1 then the key to the progress of religion is to be found in the successive emergence in human experience of higher and still higher needs4 ,if we can discover the order in which higher aspirations successively emerge in the growth of humanity1 then we shall possess the chief clue to the course of religious advance4 ,now while there is infinite variety in the needs and desires of men1 every land and each nation having ideals all its own1 we can yet discern1 on a broad view of human progress1 an advance from lower to higher needs which is common to the human race1 and manifests itself in the history of each nation4 ,three successive conditions of human life stand out before us as markedly distinct1 and as occurring wherever civilisation continues to advance4 ,the first is that in which material needs are all-absorbing2 the second that in which freedom from material needs has been to some extent attained1 and the highest aspirations are directed to the safety and advancement of the nation in which men find themselves united and secure2 and the third is that in which the individual realises his own value apart from the state1 and develops a personal ideal which is thenceforward his chief end4 ,to these three stages of human existence three types of religion correspond1 and the growth of religion consists in the main in its passage from the lower to the higher of these stages4 ,the religion of the tribe belongs to that stage of man's existence in which his energies are entirely occupied in the struggle against nature and against other tribes4 ,the conditions of his life do not allow his higher faculties to grow1 and while he is not without many glimpses and anticipations of higher things1 his religion1 as a whole1 is a mass of childish fancies1 and of fixed traditions which he cannot explain1 but does not venture to criticise or change4 ,his gods are petty and capricious beings1 and his modes of influencing them1 though used with zeal and fervour1 have little to do with reason or with taste or with morality4 ,it is in this kind of religion that magic of all sorts is at home4 ,the advance from the religion of the tribe to that of the nation was briefly described above 7chapter vi474 ,the leading classes of the state at least having gained some measure of security and leisure1 ideas of a nobler order spring up in their minds4 ,the service of the great gods of the state is organised with befitting dignity and splendour2 the best minds contribute to it all they can in the way of art1 of poetry1 of purified legend1 of stately ceremonial4 ,patriotism and religion are one1 the offices of worship are upheld by the whole power of the state1 and the gods speak with new authority to the spirit of the worshipper4 ,now it is that great religious systems arise1 so powerful1 so highly organised1 so splendidly adorned1 and surrounded with such venerable traditions1 that they seem to be destined for eternity4 ,the priesthood becomes a very powerful class1 and acquires a personal holiness which marks out its members as different from other men2 the sacrifices acquire the character of divine mysteries1 every detail of which1 even the most trivial1 has a sacred meaning2 religious books are compiled or written1 which by and by are regarded as inspired1 and as possessing absolute authority4 ,it is to be observed that the older style of religion is not at once driven out by the growth of the new1 but continues to flourish beside it and under its shadow4 ,the tribes of whom the nation is composed still cherish and adore their own special deities4 ,that older worship is often thought to bring blessings which the new worship of the state does not command1 and many a piece of ancient magic1 many a practice which has no connection with the state religion1 still goes on1 especially among those who are not cultivated enough to appreciate the nobler faith which has arisen4 ,this1 however1 does not keep the national faith from growing in riches and consistency2 and religion appears1 as this growth proceeds1 to have attained the highest degree of power and authority at which it can possibly arrive4 ,commanding as it does all the resources of the nation1 enriched by all that can be brought to it of material or intellectual riches1 placed in a position of absolute exaltation and inviolableness1 to what further conquests can it still look forward8 ,yet when a national religion appears to be most firmly established1 the forces are most certainly at work which must ere long lead to a far-reaching change4 ,while the national worship has been growing up to its highest splendours1 the lives of the citizens have also been growing richer and deeper1 and the individual soul has become aware of wants and longings which cannot be satisfied in the national temple4 ,the further progress of religion is apt to appear as a revolt against the system which has grown so strong4 ,the individual sets out to seek a consistent intellectual view1 and so figures as a sceptic4 ,he aims at a higher moral law than that of the priestly system1 and is accused of undermining public morality4 ,he feels a new call to personal goodness1 a new need for personal atonement with the ideal holiness which he has learned to apprehend2 and as the public ritual does not meet these needs1 he seeks for new religious associations and perhaps appears to preach a doctrine contrary to patriotism1 as it is subversive of the established religion of his country1 and to be wilfully destroying what his countrymen revere1 and wilfully breaking through old ties and obligations4 ,thus the individualist stage of religion succeeds the national4 ,but the individualist stage is also1 in part at least1 the universal stage4 ,what the thinking mind and the pious heart seeks and cannot find in the national worship1 is a religion free as the seeker himself has become free1 from all that is unreasonable and artificial1 a religion therefore in which every thinking mind and every pious heart can have a share4 ,what is gained by individuals in this direction is capable1 therefore1 if circumstances favour1 of proving an acquisition not only for the individual reformer or his nation1 but for all men4 ,but as the rise of national religion does not bring to an end the ruder worships of the tribes1 which still go on beside it1 so neither does the rise of individualism1 even in its purest form1 bring to an end the national worship4 ,in the long run this may follow1 but it does not take place at once4 ,all three forms of religion go on together2 the religion of magic1 that of stately public sacrifices and ceremonials1 and that of intellectual effort and pious meditation and prayer4 ,each no doubt influences to some extent the others1 and is influenced by them in turn4 ,the movement thus indicated from tribal to national1 and from national to individual and to universal religion1 is the central development of religion1 and all the minor developments which might be traced1 as that of sacrifice from rude to spiritual forms1 of the functions of the sacred class1 of the morality dictated by religion at its various stages1 or of the literature connected with piety1 may be explained by reference to this one4 ,this movement has taken place in every nation2 we have seen something of it in each of our chapters4 ,in some nations it has been early arrested1 so that no important contribution has there been brought to the general religion of mankind1 in others it has run its full course1 and like a great river has arrived at the ocean at last1 to mingle its waters with those of other mighty streams4 ,the story of the growth of the world's religion has therefore to be told in a number of parallel narratives1 each dealing with the experience of a separate nation4 ,there can scarcely be any general history of the religion of the world1 in addition to those special histories4 ,some epochs1 it is true1 stand out as having witnessed simultaneous religious movements in many lands1 as if the mind of the whole human race had then been passing through the same crisis of thought4 ,the sixth century ,b4,c4 is the age of ,confucius and of ,laotsze in ,china1 of ,gautama in ,india1 of ,jeremiah1 ,ezekiel and the ,unknown ,prophet of the ,exile1 of ,pythagoras1 ,heraclitus1 and ,xenophanes1 and also of the rise into prominence of the ,greek mysteries4 ,widely different as the movements are which thus took place contemporaneously in these lands1 we may discern in all of them alike the tendency to plant religion in the mind and heart1 and to create a deeper union than the old external one1 a union based on common intellectual effort and spiritual sympathy4 ,the period immediately before and after the ,christian era might also appear to be one in which the mind of the world as a whole made a great step forward4 ,the union of many nations under the sway of ,rome1 and the universal diffusion of the ,greek language as a means of general communication1 made men conscious at this time as they had never been before1 of the unity of mankind in spite of all differences of race and speech4 ,a philosophy also was popular at this time which was cosmopolitan in its character1 and occupied itself with the great problems1 which are the same for all1 of man's relation to the gods and of his moral duty4 ,if we add to this the combination which took place at ,rome and wherever different races met1 of various rites and creeds1 we see that the age was one singularly disposed to the breaking down of artificial barriers between men1 and singularly fitted to promote the growth of a belief in which men of all nations might unite and feel themselves to be brethren4 ,in these two periods we may recognise important steps in that great ,education of the ,human ,race which the ,apostle ,paul refers to in a bold philosophy of history 7,galat4 iv471 and which later thinkers have striven to set forth in detail4 ,after the long servitude of mankind to irrational practices and to gods who were no gods1 there comes first the period when men recognise that the true ,god is to be found not merely outside them but within their hearts and minds1 and then the period when they find that the true ,god is the same to all men1 that they are all children of the same ,father4 ,but while these general movements of the human mind may be acknowledged1 the education of the human race proceeds for the most part in nations4 ,as each nation has to elaborate its own art1 its own literature1 its own system of law1 so each nation has to perfect its own religion4 ,even after a universal faith has appeared1 religion does not cease to be a national thing4 ,each people moulds the universal religion which it has adopted into a special form1 continues by means of it the rites and traditions of the past1 and expresses through it its own national character and aspirations4 ,each nation as well as each individual must necessarily have a faith specially its own1 arising out of its own character and experience and in great part incommunicable to others4 ,no two nations could possibly exchange religions4 ,but on the other hand every nation contains within itself forms of religion which differ from each other as widely as those of two separate nations4 ,it has been said that no religious belief or usage which has once lived can ever be destroyed2 and the proof of this may be witnessed in every nation4 ,even after that religion has come which has its main seat in the heart and soul1 the ruder forms of piety live on1 and even at times aggressively assert themselves4 ,if there are classes for whom the struggle against material hardships still continues1 no lofty religion can be attained by them any more than by savage tribes4 ,as the conditions of their life forbid the growth of their higher faculties1 their religion cannot be one of thought or of refinement1 but must be one which promises palpable benefits or an escape from immediate dangers4 ,at a somewhat higher stage is the class of those who1 while partly escaped from the struggle against want1 have not yet fully realised themselves as thinking and spiritual beings1 and to whom the benefits of religion still lie outside1 rather than in the inner life4 ,when the benefits of religion are thus conceived1 its processes must be of a mechanical nature4 ,hence the various systems of apparatus for connecting the worshipper with a source of good distant from him in time or space1 and for fetching as it were from another region1 with certainty and accuracy1 needed supplies of grace4 ,the further development of religion in a community so mixed must depend on the progressive education and elevation of the people4 ,as more and more of them are freed first from distracting wants and cares1 and then from sordid and materialistic views1 their spiritual nature will expand4 ,the need for ,god himself rather than for his gifts1 will arise and increase in their hearts1 and they will grow capable of that highest religion which is the life of the soul with ,god2 they will feel its beauty and will drink of the deep springs which it contains1 of strength and peace4 ,to attain this true religion the human race has had to travel far and to make many experiments4 ,many temples were built and fell to ruin before the true temple of the soul was reached in which1 as each finds what he as an individual requires1 there is also room for all mankind4 ,even after this highest religion has been made known to men1 it has often been obscured and lost1 and many a struggle has been needed to vindicate its claims and help it to retain its rightful place4 ,but with growing experience the world becomes more assured that the simplest and broadest religion ever preached upon this earth is also the best and the truest1 and that in maintaining ,christianity as at first preached1 and applying it in every needed direction1 lies the hope of the future of mankind4 ,to those who agree in this conclusion the history of the religion of the world1 full of errors and of grievous failures as it has been seen to be1 cannot appear to have been a vain and purposeless excursion in a land of shadows4 ,not without a divine call1 and not without divine guidance did man set out so early1 and persevere so constantly in spite of all his disappointments1 in the search for ,god4 ,,index ,aesir1 #bfg ,ahura ,mazda1 #chg1 #cia1 #cig1 #cih1 #dje ,allah1 #bbb ,allat1 ,the ,lady1 #afe1 #agc1 #bai ,amartas1 #dd ,anaitis1 #djg ,ancestor-worship1 primitive1 #cc1 #dj ,china1 #aae ,aryan1 #bej ,india1 #cch ,angels and demons1 ,persia1 #djj1 #djg ,animals1 worship of1 #bi1 #eg in ,peru1 #hf in ,babylonia1 #if in ,egypt1 #acj how accounted for1 #acc in ,arabia1 #bai in ,greece1 #bgg ,animation of ,nature in savage thought1 #bd ,animism1 meaning of1 #dj1 #if1 #cjh in ,roman religion1 #cjh ,anthropomorphism1 #ec ,babylonia1 #if ,egypt1 #acb ,greece1 #bha ,apocalypse1 #bac ,arabia1 before ,mahomet1 #bah gods of1 #bai ,judaism and ,christianity in1 #bbc ,art1 ,phenician1 #agd ,egyptian1 #acb ,greece1 #bhj1 #bib ,aryans1 the1 #bde description of1 #bdh in ,europe1 #bef religion1 #bej etymology of names of gods1 #bej ,ascetics1 ,brahmanic1 #cej ,ashera1 ,canaanite goddess1 #agb ,ashtoreth1 #agf ,association1 forms of religious1 ,totem-,clan1 #gj nation1 #hd ,greek mysteries1 #bih ,greek schools1 #cjc new form in ,israel1 #bab new form in ,islam1 #bcc ,asuras1 #dd ,baal1 ,canaanite god1 #aga1 #ahi ,babylon and ,assyria1 religion of1 #ic connection with ,egypt1 #id1 #if1 #ig connection with ,china1 #ic1 #ih mythology of1 #ajj ,belief1 an essential part of religion1 #i1 #ac less important than rite in primitive religion1 #ff ,brahman1 etymology of1 #cci ,brahmanism1 #cch ,buddhism1 #cec1 sqq4 in ,china1 #abc ,burnt ,njal1 #bfd ,burton1 ,captain1 ,pilgrimage to ,el-,medinah and ,mecca1 #bcf ,caaba1 #bbj1 #bcf ,cabiri1 #agg ,canaanites1 #agj religion of1 #aga1 #aia ,caste1 #cch ,celts1 #beg ,china1 #ajf connection with ,babylonia1 #ajg state religion of1 #aaa ,christianity1 #daa1 sqq4 ,civilisation and religion advance together1 #ae origin of1 #ai ,classification of religions1 #hj ,confucius1 #ajg1 #aag1 sqq4 ,continuity of growth in religion1 #f ,curiosity1 an element of religion1 #ab ,daniel1 #bac ,decalogues1 #bjb ,definition of religion1 preliminary1 #h fuller1 #ac ,degeneration in civilisation1 #ai in religion1 #ch ,deuteronomy1 #bja ,devas1 #dd1 #cif ,development of religion1 #h1 #ea1 sqq41 #dcj1 sqq4 ,domestic worship1 origin of1 #cc ,china1 #aae ,aryans1 #bea ,iceland1 #bfd ,greece1 #bge ,rome1 #caa ,brahmanic1 #cdb ,dualism1 #ef ,eddas1 #bff ,egypt1 religion of1 #abf1 sqq4 ,elijah and ,elisha1 #aij ,elves1 #bfe ,ephod1 #ahh ,etruria1 religion of1 #cah ,exile of ,israel1 #bjb ,ezra1 #bjd ,fairy ,tales 7,german71 #bfb ,fate1 #bhi ,festivals1 ,greek1 #bid ,fetish-worship1 #ce ,fetishism1 #ch ,fire1 #ca ,frazer1 ,mr41 #eh1 #ei2 ,golden ,bough1 #bh1 #bgi ,frisia1 religion in1 #bfc ,functional deities1 ,greece1 #bge ,rome1 #cjh ,funeral practices1 #fb ,egypt1 #adi ,icelandic1 #bfd ,greece1 #bhb1 #bij ,india1 #ccb ,persian1 #dje ,games1 ,greek1 #bid ,gautama ,buddha1 #cef his death1 #cfa ,germans1 the ancient1 #beh their gods1 #bei their gods identified with ,roman1 #bfj working religion of1 #bfj later religion1 #bfc ,ghosts1 #cd ,gods1 the great1 in ,babylonia1 #ih in ,egypt1 #acg of the ,aryans1 #beb ,german1 #bei ,icelandic1 #bff of ,homer1 #bhe ,roman1 #caa ,indian1 #cbf ,gomme1 ,ethnology in ,folklore1 #fj1 #bdi1 #bed ,greece1 #bgd ,grimm1 ,german ,mythology1 #bfj ,hades1 #bia ,hammurabi1 #ic1 #ie1 #bjb ,hanyfs1 #bbd ,hartmann1 ,edward von1 #df ,heaven1 #eb an object of primitive worship1 #ca1 #ec ,babylonia1 #ic ,china1 #aab ,arabia1 #bai ,india1 #cah1 #cbf1 #ccc ,hegira1 #bca ,hell1 #bbi1 #bfe1 #cib ,henotheism1 #ef ,heroic legends1 ,babylonian1 #ajj ,german1 #bfb ,hesiod1 #bia ,homer1 #bhc worship in1 #bhg ,homeric gods1 #bhe ,hymns1 ,babylonian1 #aja ,egyptian1 #add ,vedic1 #cbh ,persian1 #chc4 ,see ,psalms ,iceland1 #bfd decay of old religion of1 #bgb ,idols1 none in primitive religion1 #gc ,arabia1 #bai1 #bbj ,german8 #bfd ,immortality1 ,china1 #aae ,egypt1 #aeb ,incas1 the religion of1 #he-hh ,india1 #cbd ,individual1 the1 not considered in primitive religion1 #gf ,individual religion1 ,babylonia1 #ajd ,israel1 #bje ,greece1 #cjj ,india1 #cdf a high stage of religion1 #dbi the porch to universalism1 #dcj ,see ,buddhism ,indo-,europeans4 ,see ,aryans ,isaiah xli4-lxvi41 #bjc ,islam1 #bag4 ,see ,mahomet meaning of1 #bbf spread of1 #bcg a universal religion1 #bdj weakness of1 #bda ,israel1 #agi ,israel and ,canaanites1 #ahd ,prophets1 #ahi reforms of religion1 #bjj exile1 #bjb the return1 #bjd ,istar1 #aja ,jainism1 #cfb ,japan1 #aae ,jehovah1 #ahb ,jesus ,christ1 #dac1 sqq4 ,jewish religion1 #bje spiritual elements of1 #bji heathenish elements of1 #baj ,persian influence on8 #bae ,jinns1 #bbj ,job1 #bae ,judaism1 #bje sqq4 ,hellenistic period of1 #dab at time of ,christ1 #dac ,kathenotheism1 #ee1 #ccf ,koran1 #bbe1 #bbg1 #bci ,lang1 ,andrew1 #be1 #ei2 ,myth1 ,ritual1 and ,religion1 #bb ,legge1 ,dr41 #aaj1 #aac ,literatures1 sacred1 #agi ,babylonia1 #ic1 #ajj ,buddhist1 #cec ,china1 #ajh ,eddas1 #bff ,egypt1 #abg1 #aed ,koran1 #bbe1 #bbg1 #bci ,israel1 #agi1 #bjg ,sibylline books1 #cai ,vendidad1 #djf ,zend-,avesta1 #chb ,local nature of early religion1 #fj ,local observances1 ,aryan1 #bec old ,german1 #bfb ,icelandic1 #bfd ,lockyer1 ,dawn of ,astronomy1 #id ,magi1 #dje ,magic1 #gd ,babylonia1 #ie ,egypt1 #aee ,mahomet1 #bbe1 sqq4 preaching1 #bbh leaves ,mecca1 #bca at ,medina1 #bcb breach with ,judaism and ,christianity1 #bcd domestic1 #bce ,manicheism1 #djh ,mannhardt1 ,feld- und ,waldkulte1 #ei1 #bfb ,manu1 law of1 #cdd ,massebah1 #agb ,maya1 #cdi ,mc,lennan1 #ei ,mecca1 #bbj becomes capital of ,islam1 #bce ,meyer1 ,e41 #bdg ,mithra1 #djg ,moloch1 #agd ,monarchical ,pantheon of the ,aryans1 #bec ,monotheism1 not primitive1 #cg1 #ef in ,egypt8 #add emergence of1 in ,israel1 #aif in ,india1 #cdh ,morality1 in primitive religion1 #gg ,egyptian religion1 #aee ,greece1 #bgi ,vedic religion1 #cce ,brahmanism1 #cde of ,buddhism1 #cgb ,moslem1 meaning of1 #bbf duties of the1 #bch ,mller1 ,mr4 ,max1 #aj1 #db1 #bdf1 #bej1 #ccb his theory of the origin of religion1 #dc ,mycen1 #bhb ,mysteries1 the ,greek1 #bih ,mythology1 origin of1 #ea ,babylonia1 #ajj ,egypt1 #ach ,greece1 #bhj ,icelandic1 #bfg ,indian1 #ccc ,national religion1 how different from earlier form1 #ha1 #dbh ,israel1 #aia ,natural religion1 #hj ,nature gods1 growth of1 #ea ,nature-worship1 the greater1 #cj1 #dc the minor1 #cb1 #db1 #eg ,nirvana1 #cfa1 #cgc ,omens1 #bij ,roman1 #cab ,orientation1 of temples1 #ajj ,origin of religion1 7#a7 ,primitive revelation1 #bf 7#b7 ,innate idea1 #bf 7#c7 ,psychological necessity1 #bg ,orphism1 #cjb ,other ,world1 the in ,egypt1 #aea with the ,semites1 #afg ,jewish beliefs about1 #bad ,arabia1 #bbj ,iceland1 #bfe1 #bff ,homer1 #bhc ,pantheism1 in ,egypt1 #adh ,india1 #ccf1 #cdh ,patriarchal society and religion of ,aryans1 #bdh ,perkunas1 #cf ,persia1 #cha primitive religion1 #che contact of ,jews with1 #dja1 #djf ,pfleiderer1 ,otto1 #dg ,phenicians1 #agj religion of1 #agf influence on ,greece1 #bhb ,philistines1 #agj ,philosophy1 ,greek1 #cja ,indian1 #cdg ,polytheism1 origin of1 #ec ,indian1 #cce ,prayer1 primitive1 #ga ,israel1 #aih1 #bab ,indian1 #cci ,persian1 #chb1 #cid ,priestly code1 #bjb1 #djc ,priests1 none in the earliest religion1 #gb not necessary in early ,israel1 #ahg ,roman1 #cac ,brahmans1 #cch ,primitive religion1 the1 #ba difference between it and later forms1 #gi ,prophets1 in ,israel1 #ahi their criticism of the old religion of ,israel1 #aib ,psalms1 #baj4 ,see ,hymns ,purity1 laws of1 ,israel1 #bji ,persia1 #djd ,rationalism1 ,greece1 #big ,india1 #cej ,reforms1 of ,israelite religion1 #bjj of ,augustus1 #cbb ,renouf1 ,le ,page1 #ade ,revealed religion1 #hj ,rville1 ,m41 #be1 #ca1 #db ,resurrection1 #bad ,retribution1 after death1 in ,egypt1 #aee ,mahomet1 #bbi ,israel1 #bad ,rig-veda1 the1 #cbe ,ritualism1 ,brahmanic1 #cdc ,roman1 #cad ,persian1 #djc ,jewish1 #bjd1 #bjh ,rome1 #cje1 sqq4 ,roug1 ,m4 de la1 #ade ,sacred places1 #ei ,semitic1 #afe ,canaanite1 #ahd1 #bjj ,arabia1 #bai ,germany1 #bfa ,sacred seasons1 #ge ,sacrifice1 primitive1 generally a meal1 #fg in ,china1 #aad ,semitic1 #afd human 7,phenician71 #age human 7,israel71 #ahg human 7,icelandic71 #bfe early ,israelite1 #ahc denounced by ,o4 ,t4 prophets1 #aic ,jewish1 #bjg ,icelandic1 #bfd ,homeric1 #bhg ,persia1 #cid ,saussaye1 ,p4 ,d4 ,chantepie de la1 #ag ,savage elements in all the great religions1 #ba ,savages1 their religion falls short of the definition1 #h represent the original state of mankind1 #ai mental habits of1 #bc all have religion1 #be the religion of1 described1 #bi1 sqq4 their beliefs furnish the elements of the great religions1 #fc ,schrader 7,aryans71 #bdg1 #beb ,semites1 #afa religion of1 #afb gods of1 #afd1 #agc goddess of1 #ii1 #afe1 #bai ,seraph1 #bbj ,shin-to1 #aae ,sin1 ,babylon1 #ajc ,israel1 #bje ,slavs1 #bef ,smith1 ,robertson1 #fa2 ,religion of the ,semites1 #eh1 #gj1 #afb ,spencer1 ,mr4 ,h41 #aa1 #ci ,spirit1 the great1 #cf ,spirits1 of dead persons1 #cc worship of1 the origin of all religion8 #ch in ,babylonia1 #ie in ,china1 #aad in ,arabia1 #bbj in ,greece1 #bge in ,persia1 #cih ,standing stones1 #fj ,sun1 #cj ,sun-gods1 ,babylonia1 #ii ,egypt1 #adj1 #adh ,phenician1 #agf ,arabian1 #bai ,supreme ,being1 an object of primitive worship8 #cf ,survival of savage state in the great religions1 #ba ,synagogue1 #bab ,syncretism1 of gods in ,egypt1 #adh ,taboo1 #gb ,taoism1 #aba ,taylor1 ,dr4 ,i41 #bdg1 #bdh ,temples1 not primitive1 #gb ,babylonia1 #ii ,egyptian1 #abh1 #acj1 #acf ,phenician and ,jewish1 #agh ,greek1 #bib ,roman1 #cah1 #cbc ,teraphim1 #ahh ,teutons1 #bef4 ,see ,germans ,thunder1 #cj1 #bfe1 #bgj ,tiele1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,p41 #ae ,totemism1 #eh1 #ace1 #bgg ,transmigration1 #cjb1 #cea1 #cfh ,tree-worship1 primitive1 #cb1 #ei1 #bgh ,babylonia1 #aja ,canaanites1 #agb ,arabia1 #bai ,greece1 #bgh ,tribal religion1 #eg1 #gg1 #dbg ,tylor1 ,mr41 ,primitive ,culture1 #aj1 #bj1 #be1 #bi1 #ci1 #fb1 #fc1 #fh ,under-world1 the1 ,babylonia1 #ajj1 #ajb ,egypt1 #adj1 #adb1 #aeb ,unity of all religion1 #d ,universal deities of the ,aryans1 #beb ,universalism1 in ,o4 ,t4 prophets1 #aie in ,islam1 #bdj in ,christianity1 #dai ,urim and ,thummim1 #ahh ,vedic hymns1 #cbh ,vedic religion1 #cbd1 sqq4 its gods1 #cbf is it early or late8 #cca ,vow1 original meaning of1 #ge ,waitz and ,gerland's ,anthropologie der ,naturvlker1 #bi ,wellhausen1 ,j41 #afc1 #bah ,wells1 sacred1 #cb1 #eg1 #ei ,worship1 an essential element of religion1 #i primitive1 #ff ,chinese1 #aab ,egyptian1 #adg ,canaanite1 #agc ,israelite1 #ahg ,jewish1 #bjg ,roman1 #cji ,see ,sacrifice ,zeus1 etymology of1 #bej1 #bhf1 #bif ,zoomorphism1 #ec ,zoroaster1 #chd his call1 #chh his doctrine1 #cia ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,edinburgh ,,press1 #i ,,and #aa ,,young ,,street4