CHAPTER I

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HANDBOOKS

ON THE

HISTORY OF RELIGIONS

EDITED BY

MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH.D.

_Late Professor of Semitic Languages in the_

_University of Pennsylvania_

VOLUME IV

LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Handbooks on the History of Religions

INTRODUCTION TO THE

HISTORY OF RELIGIONS

BY

CRAWFORD HOWELL TOY

LATE PROFESSOR IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

CAMBRIDGE

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1924

COPYRIGHT, 1913

BY CRAWFORD HOWELL TOY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

_Third Impression_

PRINTED AT THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A.

PREFACE

The object of this volume is to describe the principal customs and ideas

that underlie all public religion; the details are selected from a large

mass of material, which is increasing in bulk year by year. References

to the higher religions are introduced for the purpose of illustrating

lines of progress.

The analytic table of contents and the index are meant to supplement

each other, the one giving the outline of the discussion, the other

giving the more important particulars; the two together will facilitate

the consultation of the book. In the selected list of works of reference

the titles are arranged, as far as possible, in chronological order, so

as to indicate in a general way the progress of investigation in the

subjects mentioned.

My thanks are due to the publishers for the care they have taken in the

printing of the volume, and to their proofreaders, particularly to the

chief proofreader, for not a few helpful suggestions.

C. H. T.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

CONTENTS

(The Arabic figures in the chapter summaries refer to paragraphs)

PAGE

CHAPTER I. NATURE OF RELIGION 1

Science and religion coeval, 1; Man's sense of dependence on

mysterious Powers, 2; Early man's feeling toward them of a

mixed nature, 3; mainly selfish, 4; Prominence of fear, 6;

Conception of natural law, 7; Sense of an extrahuman

Something, 9; Universality of religion, 10; Its development

parallel to that of social organization, 12; Unitary

character of human life, 14; External religion, 15; Internal

religion, 16.

CHAPTER II. THE SOUL 10

NATURE OF THE SOUL. Universal belief in an interior

something, 18; its basis, 19; from observation of breath,

21; of shadow, 22; of blood, 23; Its form a sublimated

double of the corporeal man, 24; or of an animal, 25; The

seat of the soul, 26; Localization of qualities, 27;

Consequences of the soul's leaving the body, 29; The hidden

soul, 31.

ORIGIN OF THE SOUL. Not investigated by savages, 32;

Creation of man, 33; Theories of birth, 34; Divine origin of

the soul, 36; Mysteriousness of death, 38.

POLYPSYCHISM. Early views of the number and functions of

souls, 39; Civilized views, 43.

FUTURE OF THE SOUL. Belief in its death, 46; This belief

transient, 51-53; Dwelling-place of the surviving soul in

human beings, beasts, plants, or inanimate objects, 55-59;

or near its earthly abode, 60-63; or in some remote place in

earth, sea, or sky, 64-66; or in an underground world,

67-69; Occupations of the dead, 70; Retribution in the

Underworld, 71; Nonmoral distinctions, 72-75; Moral

retribution, savage, 76-78; Civilized, 79-80; Local

separation of the good from the bad, 81; Reward and

punishment, Hindu, 82; Egyptian, 83; Greek, 84; Jewish and

Christian, 85, 86; Purgatory, 87; Resurrection, 88-90.

POWERS OF THE SEPARATED SOUL. Prayers for the dead, 95, 96.

GENESIS OF SPIRITS. Functions of spirits (souls of nonhuman

objects), 97-100.

CHAPTER III. EARLY RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES 48

Predominance of ceremonies in early religious life, 101,

102; They are communal, 103; and sacred, 104.

EMOTIONAL AND DRAMATIC CEREMONIES. Religious dances and

plays, 106-108; Connected with the worship of gods, 109; Are

means of religious culture, 110; Processions, 111;

Circumambulation, 112; Magical potency, 113.

DECORATIVE AND CURATIVE CEREMONIES. Decoration of the body,

114-118; of houses, 119; of official dress, 120; Symbolism

in decoration, 121.

ECONOMIC CEREMONIES. Propitiation of hunted animals,

122-125; Taboos, 126; Rules about eating, 127-128; Magical

means of procuring food, 129-131; Use of blood, 132; to

fertilize soil, 133; Sacrifice of first-born animals,

including children, 134; Raising and housing crops, 135;

Rain, 136; Survivals in civilized times, 137.

APOTROPAIC CEREMONIES. Early methods, 138-139; Expulsion of

spirits, 140-141; Transference of evil, 142, 143; Expulsion

by sacrifice, 144; The massing of such observances, 145.

CEREMONIES OF PUBERTY AND INITIATION. Training of the young,

146; Tests of endurance, 147; Seclusion of girls, 148;

Rearrangement of taboos, 149; Supernatural machinery, 150;

Mutilation of the body, 151, 152; Circumcision of males, its

wide diffusion, 153; not a test of endurance, 154; nor

hygienic, 155; nor to get rid of magical dangers, 156; nor

to increase procreative power, 157; not religious in origin:

not a form of phallic worship, 158; nor a sacrifice, 159,

160; nor a provision for reincarnation, 161; Circumcision of

females, 162; Object of circumcision probably increase of

sensual enjoyment, 163, 164; The symbolical interpretation,

165-168; Ceremonies of initiation to secure union with the

clan, 169; Feigned resurrection of the initiate, 170; The

lonely vision, 171; Instruction of youth, 172, 173;

Initiation into secret societies, 174.

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. Simple forms, 176-178; The bride

hiding, 179; Prenuptial defloration, 180; Introduction of a

supernatural element, 181; View that all marriage-ceremonies

are essentially religious, 182.

CEREMONIES AT BIRTH. Parental care, 184; The couvade, 185;

Child regarded as a reincarnation, 186; Ablutions and

naming, 187; Child regarded as child of God, 188.

BURIAL CEREMONIES. Natural grief, 189; Propitiation of the

dead by offerings at grave, 190; Ban of silence, 191; The

dead regarded as powerful, 192; Social value of these

ceremonies, 193.

CEREMONIES OF PURIFICATION AND CONSECRATION. Occasions of

purification, 194-196; Methods: by water, sand, etc.,

197-199; by sacrifice, 200; Purification of a whole

community, 201; Consecration of private and official

persons, 202, 203; Fasting, 204; its origin, 205-207; its

religious effects, 208; Result of massing these ceremonies,

209.

CEREMONIES CONNECTED WITH SEASONS AND PERIODS. Calendars,

210, 211; Lunar festivals, 212-214; Solar festivals, 215;

Solstitial and stellar festivals, 216; Importance of

agricultural festivals, 217; Joyous, 218; Licentious, 219;

Offering of first fruits, 220; Sadness, 221; The eating of

sacred food, 222; Long periods, 223; Social value of these

ceremonies, 224.

CHAPTER IV. EARLY CULTS 99

Savage treatment of superhuman Powers discriminating,

225-228; Charms and fetish objects, 229, 230; Life-force

(mana), 231-233; not an object of worship, but enters into

alliance with religion, 234, 235; Nature of sacredness, 236,

237; Luck, 238; The various objects of worship, 239, 240.

ANIMALS. Their social relations with men, 241, 242;

Transformation and transmigration, 243; Two attitudes of men

toward animals, 244-248; What animals are revered, 249, 250;

Regarded as incarnations of gods or of spirits, 251; Those

sacred to gods generally represent old beast-cults, 252,

253; Survivals of reverence for animals, 254; Beasts as

creators, 255, 256; Worship rarely offered them, 257, 258;

Coalescence of beast-cults with other religious observances,

259; Whether animals ever became anthropomorphic deities,

260; Historical significance of beast-cults, 261.

PLANTS. Their economic 'rôle', 262-264; Held to possess souls,

265; Their relations with men friendly and unfriendly, 266,

267; Sacred trees, 268, 269; Deification of soma, 270;

Whether corn-spirits have been deified, 271; Sacred trees by

shrines, 272; Their connection with totem posts, 273;

Blood-kinship between men and trees, 274, 275; The cosmic

tree, 276; Divinatory function of trees, 277; Relation of

tree-spirits to gods, 278-285.

STONES AND MOUNTAINS. Stones alive and sacred, 286-288; have

magical powers, 289, 290; Relation between divine stones and

gods, 291-295; Magna Mater, 291; Massebas, 293; Bethels,

294; Stones cast on graves, and boundary stones, 296; Stones

as altars: natural forms, 297; artificial forms, 298; High

pillars by temples, 299; Images of gods, 300, 301;

Folk-stories and myths connected with stones, 302; Sacred

mountains, 303-305.

WATERS. Why waters are regarded as sacred, 306-308; Ritual

use of water, 309; Water-spirits, 310, 311; Water-gods,

312-314; Rain-giving gods, 315; Water-myths, 316; Gods of

ocean, 317.

FIRE. Its sacredness, 318, 319; Persian fire-cult, 320;

Ritual use of fire, 321-323; Its symbolic significance, 334;

Light as sacred, 325.

WINDS. Their relation to gods, 327.

HEAVENLY BODIES. Anthropomorphized, 328; Cosmogonic myths

connected with them, 329, 330; Sex of sun and moon, 331;

Whether they ever became gods, 332, 333; Thunder and

lightning not worshiped, 334.

WORSHIP OF HUMAN BEINGS. Their worship widespread, with

distinction between the living and the dead, 335.

THE CULT OF THE LIVING. Worship to be distinguished from

reverence, 336; Worship of the living by savages, 337; by

civilised peoples, 338; in Egypt, 339, 340; in Babylonia,

341; but there probably not Semitic, 342; not by Hebrews and

Arabs, 343, 344; in China, 345; in Japan, 346; Whether by

Greeks and Romans, 347; Not in India and Persia, 348; Cults

of the living rarely important, 349.

THE CULT OF THE DEAD. Of historical persons: noncivilized,

351; civilized: in Egypt, 352; in Greece and Rome, 353; in

China, 354; of the Calif Ali, 355; Greek and Roman worship

of mythical ancestors, 356, 357; Dedivinization of gods,

358; Euhemerism, 359; Worship of the dead kin, 360, 361;

Ghosts friendly and unfriendly, 362; Savage customs:

mourning, 363; funeral feasts, 364; fear and kindly feeling,

365, 366; Definite cult of ghosts: savage, 367-370;

civilised, 371-373; Greek and Roman state cults, 374;

Chinese, 375; Divine functions of the venerated dead,

376-378; Ethical power of ancestor-worship, 379-383.

CULTS OF GENERATIVE POWERS. Nature's productivity, 384-386;

Not all customs connected with generation are religious,

387; Cult of generative organs, 388-406; widespread, 388;

Nonreligious usages, 389, 390; Phallic cults hardly to be

found among the lowest peoples, 391, 392; Well developed in

West Africa, 393; in modern India, 394; in Japan, 395; Most

definite in some ancient civilized religions, 396; In Egypt,

397; Whether in Semitic communities, 398; Hierapolis, 399;

Babylonia and Palestine, 400; Extensively practiced in Asia

Minor, Ionia, and Greece, 401; Priapos, 402, 403; The Roman

Mutunus Tutunus, 404; Phalli as amulets, 405; The female

organ, 406; Androgynous deities, 407-418; Supposed Semitic

figures: Ishtar, 408; Ashtart, 409; Tanit, 410; The Cyprian

goddess, 411, 412; The Phrygian Agdistis, 413;

Hermaphroditos, 415, 416; Androgynous deities not

religiously important, 417; Origin of the conception, 418;

Animals associated with phallic deities, 419; Christian

phallic cults, 420.

CHAPTER V. TOTEMISM AND TABOO 176

The contrasted rôles of the two, 431.

TOTEMISM. Social protective clan customs, 422; Control of

marriage by exogamic organization, 423-428; Theories of the

origin of exogamy (scarcity of women, primitive promiscuity,

absence of sexual attraction between persons brought up

together, patriarch's jealousy, horror of incest, migration

of young men) and criticism of them, 429-435; Diffusion and

function of exogamy, 436-440; Definition of totemism, 441;

Customs and beliefs associated with it, 442: exogamy, 443;

names and badges, 444-448; descent from the totem, 449-451;

refusal to kill or eat it, 452-459; magical ceremonies for

increasing supply of food, 460, 461; Stricter definition of

totemism, 462-465; Geographical distribution of totemic

usages, 466-513; Australia, 468-473; Torres Straits Islands,

474, 475; British New Guinea, 476; Melanesia, 477-483;

Micronesia and Polynesia, 484, 485; Indonesia, 486; India,

487; North America, 488-506; Africa, 507-513; Supposed

traces in civilized peoples, 514-519; The permanent element

in totemism, 520, 521; Conditions favorable and unfavorable

to totemistic organization, 522; economic, 523-528;

individualistic institutions (secret societies, guardian

spirits), 529-537; political, 538; religious, 539, 540; The

lines of progress to which totemism succumbs, 541.

THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF TOTEMISM, 542-559:

INDIVIDUALISTIC THEORIES. Confusion between names and

things, 544; Animal or plant held to be the incarnation of a

dead man, 545; Body of an animal as magical apparatus, 546;

Animals as places of deposit of souls, 547; An object that

influences a mother at conception, of which the child may

not eat, 548; Animals and plants as incarnations of the

souls of the dead, 549; Criticism, 550-552.

THEORIES BASED ON CLAN ACTION. A clan chooses an animal or

plant as friend, 553, 554; The totem a clan badge, 555-557;

Coöperation of groups to supply particular foods, 558; The

totem a god incarnate in every member of a clan, 559;

Summing-up on origin of totemism, 560-562; Social function

of totemism, 563; Whether it produced the domestication of

animals and plants, 564-569; Its relation to religion,

570-580; The totem as helper, 570-575; Whether a totem is

ever worshiped, 576; or ever becomes a god, 577-580.

TABOO. Its relation to ethics, 581-584; It has to do with

dangerous objects and acts, 585, 586; Classes of taboo

things, 587: those connected with the conception of life

(parents and children), 588, 589; with death, 590, 591; with

women and the relation between the sexes, 592-594; with

great personages, 595-597; with industrial pursuits,

598-600; with other important social events (expulsion of

spirits, sacred seasons, war, etc.), 601-604; with the moon:

fear of celestial phenomena, 605; observation of lunations,

606; new moon and full moon, 607; Whether the Hebrew sabbath

was originally a full-moon day, 608, 609; The seven-day

week, 610; Prohibitions connected with lucky and unlucky

days, 611-613; Punishment of violation of taboo, 614, 615;

Removal of taboos, 616, 617; Taboo and magic, 618, 619;

Modification of taboo by civil law, 620; Despotism of taboo,

621; Duration of taboo periods, 622; Diffusion of taboo

customs, 623, 624; Traces in ancient civilized communities,

625; Indications of former general prevalence, 626, 627;

Causes of disappearance, 628, 629; Rôle of taboo in the

history of religion, 630-634.

CHAPTER VI. GODS 265

How gods differ from other supernatural beings, 635, 636;

Early mythical founders of culture, 637-643.

CLAN GODS (including divinized men). In lower tribes,

644-647; In civilized nations, 648-651; One class of Greek

"heroes," 652, 653; Historical importance of clan gods, 654.

DEPARTMENTAL GODS. In half-civilised communities, 658-662;

In Maya, Mexican, and Peruvian religions, 663-665; Among

Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, 666-670; Supposed Semitic

instances, 671; Tutelary deities of individuals, cities, and

nations, 672, 673; Classes of departmental gods, 674:

Creators, 675-679; Gods of the other world, 680-682: Good

and bad Powers, 683-694; Conflict and adjustment, 684-688;

Ethical dualism, 689; Man's attitude toward demons, 690-694;

Gods of abstractions, 695-697: Semitic, 698-700; Egyptian,

701; Roman and Greek, 702; Aryan, 703; Absorption of

specialized deities by great gods, 704-706.

NATURE GODS. Their characteristics, 707, 708; Cult of the

sun, 709-713; of the moon, 714; of stars, 715-718.

THE GREAT GODS. Their genesis, 719, 720; Divine dynasties,

721-723; The supremacy of a particular god determined by

social conditions, 724; Origin of composite figures, 725.

Illustrations of the growth of gods, 725 ff.:

EGYPTIANS. Horus, 726; Ra, 727; Osiris, 728; Hathor, Neith,

Isis, 729.

HINDU. Varuna, 730; Indra, 731; Soma, 732; Vishnu and Çiva,

733; Dyaus and Prithivi, 734; Ushas (and Çaktism), 734;

Yama, 735, 736.

PERSIAN. Ahura Mazda and Angro Mainyu, 737, 738; Mithra and

Anahita, 739; Character of the Zoroastrian reform, 740-745.

CHINESE. Feeble theistic development, 746; Confucianism and

Taoism, 747-749.

JAPANESE. No great god, 750.

Nature of Semitic theistic constructions, 751-755.

BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN. Ea, 756; Enlil (Bel), 757; Marduk,

758; Ashur, 759; Female deities, 760; Bau, 761; Ishtar, 762,

763.

PHOENICIAN AND ARABIAN. Melkart, Eshmun, Dusares, Al-Lât,

Al-Uzza, 764.

HEBREW. Yahweh, 765; The titles Ilu (El), Elohim, 766.

GREEK. The pantheon, 767; Zeus, 768, 769; Apollo, 770;

Poseidon, 771; Hermes, 772; Pan, 773, 774; Ares, 775;

Dionysus, 776-778; Hades, 779, 780; Female deities, 781:

Hera, 782, 783; Demeter, 784; Maiden goddesses, 785: the

Kore, 786; Hestia, 787; Artemis, 788, 789; Hekate, 790;

Athene, 791, 792; Aphrodite, 793, 794; Breadth of the Greek

theistic scheme, 795.

ROMAN. Nature gods, 796, 797; Jupiter, 798; Janus, 799;

Mars, 800; Saturn, 801; Deities of obscure origin, 802;

Female deities, 803; Juno, 804; Vesta, 805; Diana, 806;

Minerva, 807; Venus, 808, 809.

Characteristics of the great ancient national religions,

810-818.

CHAPTER VII. MYTHS 359

Their historical value, 819, 820; Duration of the

mythopoeic age, 821; Period of origination of myths, 832;

Similarity of myths throughout the world, 823-826; Classes

of myths, 827:

_Cosmogonic._ Creation of the world, 838-831; of man, 832,

833; Man originally not mortal, 834; Macrobiotes, 835;

Primeval paradise, 835; Final destruction of the world,

etc., 836-838.

_Ethnogonic_, 839-841.

_Sociogonic_, 842: Arts and ceremonies, 843-845; Relation

between myth and ritual, 846; Social reforms, 847; Sacred

places, 848.

_Astronomical, procellar, vegetation_: astrological, 849,

850; Storm myths, 851; Certain heroes, 852, 853; Decay and

revival of vegetation, 854, 855; Literary mythical

histories, 856; Antagonism between light and darkness, 857,

858.

Mingling of myth and legend, 859, 860; Original nature of a

god given in popular observances, 861; Interpretation of

myths, 862; Ancient, 863; Recent, 864-879; Influence of

myths on dogmas and ceremonies, 880; Fairy lore, 881.

CHAPTER VIII. MAGIC AND DIVINATION 392

Difference between their functions, 882.

MAGIC. Science of magic, 883-885; Its methods, 886, 887;

Relation between magic and religion, 888-890; Magic a social

product, 891; Magicians, 893-894; Families, 895; Women, 895,

896; Tribes, 897; Power of the magician, 898; His methods,

899, 900; Attitude of civilised religions toward magic, 901,

902; Its persistent hold on men, 903; Its historical rôle,

904.

DIVINATION. Its nature and organization, 905, 906; Prophetic

ecstasy, 907; Relations between magician, diviner, and

priest, 908.

Divinatory signs, 909, 910; Signs without human initiation:

omens, 911, 912; Prodigies, 913: Astrology, 914, 915; Words

and acts of men, 916; Parts of the human body, 917; Signs

arranged for by men: lots, 918; Haruspication, etc., 919,

920; Oneiromancy, 921-923; Ordeals, 924-926; Oracles and

necromancy, 927; Development of the office of diviner,

928-932; Sibyls and Sibylline books, 933-940; Religious and

ethical influence of divination, 941, 942.

CHAPTER IX. THE HIGHER THEISTIC DEVELOPMENT 440

Groups into which the great religions fall, 943, 944.

POLYTHEISM. Differences between the polytheistic schemes of

various peoples: Egyptian, Semitic, Indo-European, Mexican,

Peruvian, 945-950; Extent of anthropomorphization of gods

measured by richness of mythology: in savage and

half-civilized communities, 952-954; Gradations of

anthropomorphization in civilized peoples, 955-964;

Religious rôle of polytheism, 965, 966; Dissatisfaction with

its discordances, and demand for simplification of the

conception of the divine government of the world, 967.

DUALISM. Belief of lower tribes in two mutually antagonistic

sets of Powers, 968-972; Of the great ancient religions it

is only Zoroastrianism that has constructed a dualistic

system, 973-976; Whether a strictly dualistic scheme has

ever existed, 977; Manichæism, 978; Problems raised by

dualism, 979.

MONOTHEISM. The general movement toward it, 980, 981; Two

theories of its origin: that it is the natural primitive

form of religion, that it is the result of a primitive

divine revelation, 982; The facts in the case: it is not now

found in low tribes, 983-985; it is not visible in the

popular cults of the great nations of antiquity, 986; But

tendency toward a unitary conception of the divine

government of the world, 987; Disposition to ascribe

absoluteness to some one deity in Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria,

India, 988-991; Chinese headship of Heaven, 992; Peruvian

cult of the sun, 993; Hebrew monolatry, 994, 995; Demand for

unity by Greek poets and philosophers, 996-1001; Judaism,

Christianity, and Islam, 1002; Cults of Isis and

Mithra--Modern reforms: Brahma-Samaj, Parsi, Babist, Shinto,

1003.

PANTHEISTIC AND NONTHEISTIC SYSTEMS. Pantheism is a revolt

against the separation of God and the world, 1004;

Perplexing ethical and religious questions make it

unacceptable to the mass of men, 1005; Nontheistic systems

attempt to secure unity by taking the world to be

self-sufficient, or by regarding the gods as otiose, 1006;

The Sankhya philosophy dispenses with extrahuman Powers, but

recognizes the soul--Buddhism ignores both, 1007; Greek

materialism, 1008.

GENERAL SURVEY OF THE THEISTIC DEVELOPMENT, 1009 ff.

Intervention of gods fixed by appeal to natural law, 1010;

Persistence of belief in miracles, 1011; Constitution of the

deity constructed by philosophy, 1012; His moral character

determined by that of his worshipers, 1013.

CHAPTER X. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION 481

The external history of religion a history of social growth,

1014-1016.

EXTERNAL WORSHIP. Establishment of relations with Powers,

1017, 1018; by processes, 1019-1021; by gifts, 1022, 1023;

by messengers, 1024, 1025; Blood is placatory as a gift of

food, 1026; Human sacrifice, 1027-1031; Dances and

processions, 1032; Preponderant importance of ordinary

sacrifices--the various kinds, 1033-1035; Elaboration of the

sacrificial ritual, 1036.

THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF SACRIFICE. Their formulation late,

1037; Bloody and unbloody offerings equal in expiatory

virtue, 1038; Two groups of theories of origin, 1039: the

offering as gift, 1040, 1041; as effecting union between

deity and worshiper, 1042: by sharing the flesh of a sacred

animal (Smith and Frazer), 1043-1047; Self-sacrifice of a

god, 1048; Union through a sanctified victim (Hubert and

Mauss), 1049, 1050; Union with the Infinite effected by all

religious acts (Tiele), 1051, 1052; Persistence of these

conceptions of sacrifice 1053, 1054.

RITUAL. Its growth in elaborateness along with the growth of

social forms, 1055-1061.

PRIESTS. Regulation of the life, physical and moral, of

priests and priestesses, 1062-1065; Origin of religious

prostitution; secular and religious explanations, 1066;

Organization and influence of the priesthood: Egyptian,

1067; Babylonian and Assyrian, 1068; Palestinian, 1069;

Hindu, 1070; Persian, 1071; Greek, 1073; Roman, 1073;

Chinese, 1074; Peruvian and Mexican, 1075; Influence for

good and for evil, 1076-1079; No priesthood in Islam or in

Judaism after 70 A.D., 1080; Its function in some Christian

churches, 1080.

WORSHIP. Early places of worship, 1081-1082; Development of

temples, 1083-1086; Forms of worship: offerings, hymns,

music, 1087, 1088; Festivals, 1089; Vows, blessings, curses,

1090; Idols: their formal development, 1091, 1092;

Conception of their personality, 1093; Religious function of

idolatry, 1094.

CHURCHES. Individualism called forth voluntary associations,

1095; Savage secret societies, 1096; Greek mysteries,

1097-1099; Whether the Semites produced mysteries, 1100;

Rise of the idea of the church in the Græco-Roman world,

1101: Philosophy produced no church, 1102-1105; True

churches produced by Buddhism and Jainism, 1106, 1107; not

by Judaism and Mazdaism, 1108, 1109; Development of the

Christian idea of the church, 1110-1112; A church called

forth by the cult of Mithra, 1113; not by that of Isis or

that of Sarapis, 1114; The Manichæan church, 1115; As to

Islam and certain associations that have arisen within it

(Mahdism, Drusism, etc.), 1116; Ecclesiastical power of the

Peruvian Inca, 1117; Hindu and Persian movements, 1118-1120.

MONACHISM. Its dualistic root, 1121; India its birthplace,

1122; Trace in Egypt (the Sarapeum), 1123; Therapeutae,

1124; Essenes, 1125; Christian monachism, 1126; Religious

influence of monachism, 1127.

SACRED BOOKS. Their origin and collection, 1128; Canons:

Buddhist, 1129; Jewish, 1130; Christian, 1131; Mazdean,

1132; Islamic, 1133; Religious influence of sacred books,

1134-1136; General influence of churches, 1137-1140.

UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS. Actual diffusion the test of

universality, 1141; As to Buddhism, 1142; Judaism, 1143;

Christianity, 1144; Zoroastrianism, 1145; Islam, 1146; So

tested no existing religion is universal, 1147.

CLASSIFICATION OF RELIGIONS. Their resemblances and

differences, 1148; Points in common, 1149; Proposed systems

of classification, and objections to them: according to

grade of general culture, 1150; division into national

religions and those founded each by a single person, 1151;

religions of redemption, 1151; Religious unity, savage and

civilized, 1152; Disadvantages of tabulated classifications

of religions, 1153.

CHAPTER XI. SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGIOUS

SYSTEMS 573

Spheres of religion, science and constructive ethics

distinct, but tend to coalesce, 1154.

THE SCIENTIFIC ELEMENT. When science clashes with religion,

1155: Phases in the relation between the two: when there is

no knowledge of natural law--a crude conception of unity--no

place for the miraculous, 1156; Rise of highly personalized

deities who stand outside the world: age of miracles, 1157;

Recognition of the domination of natural law--separation

between science and religion, 1158; Higher conception of the

unity of God and the world, 1159; Scientific theories held

to be not a part of the content of religion, 1160.

THE ETHICAL ELEMENT. Religion adopts current ethical customs

and codes, 1161; Both good, 1162; and bad, 1163; Mutual

influence of religion and ethics, 1164, 1165; Religion

infuses nobility and tenderness into ethics, 1166; Religious

personalities; martyr, saint, 1167, 1168; Evil influence of

religion on ethics, 1169; Contribution of religion to the

sense of obligation to do right, 1170; Answers of religion

to questions concerning the existence of moral evil, 1171;

concerning man's moral capacity, 1172; concerning the

essential goodness or badness of the world, 1173.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 585

INDEX 625

INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS

CHAPTER I

NATURE OF RELIGION

+1+. It appears probable that primitive men endowed with their own

qualities every seemingly active object in the world. Experience forced

them to take note of the relations of all objects to themselves and to

one another. The knowledge of the sequences of phenomena, so far as the

latter are not regarded as acting intentionally on him, constitutes

man's science and philosophy; so far as they are held to act on him

intentionally, the knowledge of them constitutes his theory of religion,

and his sense of relation with them is his religious sentiment. Science

and religion are coeval in man's history, and both are independently

continuous and progressive. At first science is in the background

because most objects, since they are believed to be alive and active,

are naturally supposed by man to affect him purposely; it grows slowly,

keeping pace with observation, and constantly abstracting phenomena from

the domain of religion.[1] Religion is man's attitude toward the

universe regarded as a social and ethical force; it is the sense of

social solidarity with objects regarded as Powers, and the institution

of social relations with them.

+2+. These Powers are thought of in general as mysterious, and as

mightier than ordinary living men.[2] Ordinarily the feeling toward them

on man's part is one of dependence--he is conscious of his inferiority.

In some forms of philosophic thought the man regards himself as part of

the one universal personal Power, or as part of the impersonal Whole,

and his attitude toward the Power or the Whole is like that of a member

of a composite political body toward the whole body; such a position is

possible, however, only in a period of very advanced culture.

+3+. There being no records of initial humanity, it is hardly possible

for us to know certainly what the earliest men's feeling was toward the

animate and inanimate forces around them. Not improbably it was simply

fear, the result of ignorance of their nature and absence of social

relations with them. But in the human communities known to us, even the

lowest, the relations with extrahuman beings appear to be in general of

a mixed nature, sometimes friendly, sometimes unfriendly, but neither

pure love nor pure hatred. So refined a feeling as love for a deity is

not found among savages. As religion springs from the human demand for

safety and happiness as the gift of the extrahuman Powers, hostility to

them has been generally felt to be opposed to common sense.[3] Coercion

there has been, as in magical procedures, or to bring a stubborn deity

to terms; and occasional antagonism (for example, toward foreign gods);

but not hatred proper as a dogma, except in the great ethical religions

toward evil spirits, and in certain elaborate philosophic systems--as,

for example, in the Gnostic conception of an imperfect Demiurge, or in

the assumption of an original blind Chance or blind Will whose products

and laws are regarded as not entitled to respect and obedience.

+4+. Instead of complete friendliness and unfriendliness in early tribes

we find more commonly between the two a middle ground of self-regarding

equipoise. The savage, the half-civilized man, and the peasant often

deal with superhuman Powers in a purely selfish commercial spirit,

courting or neglecting them as they seem likely to be useful or not.

The Central Australian (who may be credited with a dim sense of the

superhuman) conducts his ceremonies, intended to insure a supply of

food, apparently without the slightest emotion of any sort except the

desire for gain.[4] The Italian peasant, who has vowed a wax candle to a

saint in return for a favor to be shown, does not scruple to cheat the

saint, after the latter has performed his part of the agreement, by

offering tallow instead of wax, if he thinks he can do so with impunity.

A recusant deity is sometimes neglected or even kicked by way of

punishment or to force him to give the desired aid, and a god or a saint

is valued and sought after in proportion to his supposed ability to be

useful.

+5+. And this naïvely utilitarian point of view is by no means confined

to the lowest forms of religion; in the Old Testament, for example, the

appeal to Yahveh is generally based on his assumed power to bestow

temporal blessings,[5] and this is a widespread attitude at the present

day in religious communities, where salvation is commonly the end had in

view by the worshiper. Love toward the deity simply on account of his

personal moral character, without regard to the benefit (namely

happiness) to be got from him, is found, if found at all, only in highly

cultivated natures, and is rare in these. And, in truth, it is difficult

if not impossible to justify religion except on the ground that it

brings satisfaction (that is, happiness through and in perfection of

nature) in the broadest and highest sense of that term, for otherwise it

could not be regarded as a good thing.

+6+. On the other hand, fear of the superhuman Power is a common

feeling, recognizable everywhere, at all times, and in all stages of

social and intellectual development. By many it is regarded as the

original and essential attitude of the religious mind.[6] To this view

it is sometimes objected that religion could never have arisen from

fear--that religion, as a cult, of necessity involves amicable relations

between man and the deity. The objection, however, is based on an

arbitrary and incorrect definition of religion; it is quite conceivable

that man might cultivate the deity through fear of the latter's

displeasure, and that an elaborate system of ceremonies and beliefs

might arise from the desire to avert his anger. Such a conception--which

is certainly not a lofty one--is not unnatural in the presence of a

great Power whose dispositions and purposes are not well understood;

numerous examples of such an attitude might be cited from various

religions, savage and civilized.

+7+. But, on historical grounds, as in the examples given above, it

seems better to say that the earliest known attitude of man toward the

superhuman Power is one of interested observation and fluid emotion--the

feeling is determined by experience of phenomena. The man is pleased,

displeased and afraid, suspicious or careless, according as he sees

things to be helpful, harmful, doubtful, or resultless. In process of

time, by observation and reflection, he succeeds in tabulating

phenomena, and more or less definitely fixing his emotional attitude

toward their assumed cause. A tradition is gradually established, and

men are trained from infancy to welcome certain things, to fear others,

and to accept certain others as meaningless; from time to time strange

things will appear, and these will be treated according to established

principles or will remain mysterious. A germinal conception of natural

law will arise from the observation of periodically occurring phenomena

(such as the rising and setting of the sun, periodic rains, tides) and

familiar facts of everyday life, as, for example, the habits of men and

other animals. Everything outside this sphere will be ascribed to

extrahuman agency--so sickness, death, and sometimes birth.[7]

+8+. The history of religion, which is a part of the history of thought,

necessarily shows, as is observed above, a constant enlargement of the

domain of natural law, and a consequent contraction of the direct action

of the supernatural, though this does not always or generally lessen the

conviction that the Supernatural Power, acting through natural law,

controls all things. In this process, also, the conception of the

attitude of the Supernatural Power is more or less definitely fixed; a

formulation of signs is accomplished, whereby it is known whether the

deity, at particular moments, is pleased or displeased, and whether a

given deity is generally friendly or hostile. This method of determining

the attitude of the deity continued into late stages of social life, and

still exists even in professedly Christian communities.[8]

+9+. As the basis of the religious feeling we must suppose a sense and

conception of an extrahuman Something, the cause of things not otherwise

understood. All things were supposed to have life, and therefore to be

loci of force; man's sense of social relation with this force

constituted his religion. This sense was at first doubtless vague,

ill-defined, or undefined, and in this form it is now found in certain

tribes.[9] Gradually, as the processes of human life and of the external

world become better known, and the vastness of the extrahuman control

becomes evident, the Something is conceived of as great, then as

indefinitely great, and finally, under the guidance of philosophic

thought, as infinite. Thus the sense of the infinite may be said to be

present in man's mind in germinal form at the beginning of truly human

life, though it does not attain full shape, is not formulated, and is

not effective, till the period of philosophic culture is reached.[10]

+10+. As far as our present knowledge goes, religion appears to be

universal among men. There is no community of which we can say with

certainty that it is without religion. There are some doubtful

cases--for example, certain Australian tribes reported on by Spencer and

Gillen, among whom it is difficult to discover any definite religious

feeling: they offer no sacrifices or petitions, and appear to recognize

no personal relations with any supernatural Power, beyond the belief

that the spirits of the dead are active in their midst, causing

sickness, death, and birth; nor is there any sign that they have lost

earlier more definite beliefs.[11] Yet they have solemn ceremonies in

which human blood plays a great part, and these may have reference to

the intervention of supernatural beings, the term "supernatural" being

taken as expressing any mysterious fact lying outside of the common

course of things. A mysterious being called Twan is spoken of in

initiation ceremonies, chiefly, it seems, to frighten or train the boys.

Is there an indication that the tribal leaders have risen above the

popular belief in such a being? Experience shows that it is difficult

for civilized men to get at the religious ideas of savages; and it is

possible, in spite of the careful investigations thus far made, that the

last word on Central Australian beliefs has not yet been spoken. A

similar reserve must be exercised in regard to reports of certain other

tribes, whose ceremonies and institutions have appeared to some European

and American observers to be without a religious element.[12]

+11+. There is at present no satisfactory historical evidence (whatever

psychological ground there may be, or whatever deduction from the theory

of evolution may seem necessary) of the existence of a subreligious

stage of human life--a stage in which there is only a vague sense of

some extrahuman power affecting man's interests, without definition of

the power, and without attempt to enter into social relations with

it.[13]

+12+. True, in the great mass of existing savage humanity we find social

and religious customs so definite that we are forced to suppose a long

preceding period of development. It has even been held that traces of

religious conceptions are discernible in the first surviving records of

"prehistoric" man, the contemporary of the cave bear--a period separated

from the earliest clear historical records by many millenniums;[14] but,

though the existence of such conceptions is by no means improbable, the

alleged traces are too dim to build a theory on. The supposition of a

continuous religious development from the earliest times is in accord

with all that we know of human history, but, until more facts come to

light, it will be prudent to reserve opinion as to the character of

prehistoric religion.[15]

+13+. In general, religious development goes hand in hand with social

organization. Those groups which, like the Rock Veddas of Ceylon

(described by Sarasin) and the Yahgans of Tierra del Fuego (described by

Hyades and Deniker), have scarcely any clan organization, have also

scarcely any religion. In most of the lowest communities known to us we

find well-constituted clans and tribes, with strict (and usually

complicated) laws of relationship and marriage, and a somewhat developed

form of religion.[16] Here again it is evident that we see in the world

only the later stages of a long social process; the antecedent history

of this process belongs to sociological science, and does not concern us

here;[17] its later history is inseparably connected with the

development of religion.

+14+. It is in this social process that science, philosophy, art, and

ethics are constructed, and these, though distinct from the religious

sentiment, always blend with it into a unity of life. Religion proper is

simply an attitude toward a Power; the nature and activity of the Power

and the mode of approaching it are constructed by man's observation and

reflection. The analysis of the external world and of man's body and

mind, the discovery of natural laws, the history of the internal and

external careers of the human race--this is the affair of science and

philosophy; rules of conduct, individual and communal, grow up through

men's association with one another in society, their basis being certain

primary instincts of self-assertion and sympathy; art is the product of

the universal sense of beauty. All these lines of growth stand side by

side and coalesce in unitary human life.

+15+. The external history of religion is the history of the process by

which the religious sentiment has attached itself to the various

conceptions formed by man's experience: ritual is the religious

application of the code of social manners; the gods reflect human

character; churches follow the methods of social organization;

monotheism springs from the sense of the physical and moral unity of the

world. Ideas concerning the nature and functions of the deity, the

nature of the soul and of conscience, and future life are all products

of scientific thought and might exist if religion did not exist, that

is, if men did not recognize any practical relations between themselves

and the deity. But, as a matter of fact, the religious sentiment,

coexisting with these ideas, has always entered into alliance with them,

creating nothing, but appropriating everything. Supernatural sanctions

and emotional coloring are products of general experience and feeling.

The intellectual and ethical content of religion varies with the

intellectual and ethical culture of its adherents; we may speak properly

of the philosophy and morals, not of a religion, but of the people who

profess it.

+16+. The internal history of religion is the history of individual

religious emotional experience (a phenomenon that hardly appears at all

in the records of early life), and becomes especially interesting only

in periods of advanced culture. It is true that this experience is

based on the whole reflective life of man, whose beginnings go back to

the earliest times. Aspirations and ideals, connected especially with

man's religious life, spring from the long line of experiences with

which men have always been struggling. The central fact of the higher

religious experience is communion and union with the deity, and the

roots of this conception are found in all the religious ideas and usages

that have been formulated and practiced in human history. The study of

such ideas and practices is thus important for the understanding of the

later more refined spiritual life, as in turn this latter throws light

on its crude predecessors. It is no disparagement to the higher forms of

thought that they have grown from feeble beginnings, and it does not

detract from the historical value of primitive life that we must decline

to credit it with depth and refinement. Every phase and every stadium of

human experience has its value, and the higher stages must be estimated

by what they are in themselves. In the history of religion the outward

and the inward elements have stood side by side in a unitary experience.

But, though the deeper feeling is necessarily more or less closely

connected with the external history, it is an independent fact requiring

a separate treatment, and will be only occasionally referred to in the

present volume.