perfect-of which I shall say more in a following chapter -gradually led to the notion that materiality is a quality which is not becoming to a god; hence men endeavoured, to the best of their ability, to grasp the idea of a purely spiritual being, endowed with a will and even with human emotions, but without a material body. Like Xenophanes in Greece, the Inca Yupangui in Peru protested against the prevailing anthropomorphism, declaring that purely spiritual service was befitting the almighty creator, not tributes or sacrifices.1 In the Bible we notice a successive transformation of the nature of the deity, from crude sensuousness to pure spirituality. According to the oldest traditions, Yahveh works and rests, he plants the garden of Eden, he walks in it in the cool of the day, and Adam and Eve hear his voice. In a great part of the Old Testament he is expressly bound by conditions of time and space. He is attached in an especial manner to the Jerusalem temple or some other shrine, and his favour is gained by definite modes of sacrifice. At the time of the Prophets the cruder anthropomorphisms of the earlier religion have been overcome; Yahveh is no longer seen in person, and by a prophet like Isaiah his residence. in Zion is almost wholly dematerialised. Yet, as Professor Robertson Smith observes, not even Isaiah has risen to the full height of the New Testament conception that God, who is spirit and who is to be worshipped spiritually, makes no distinction of spot with regard to worship, and is equally near to receive men's prayers in every place. Moslem theologians take pains to point out that God neither is begotten nor begets, and that he is without figure, form, colour, and parts. He hears all sounds, whether low or loud; but he hears without an ear. He sees all things, even the steps of a black ant on a black stone in a dark night; but he has no eyes, as men have. He speaks; but not 1 Brinton, American Hero-Myths, p. 236. 2 Goblet d'Alviella, op. cit. p. 216. Toy, Judaism and Christianity, p. 87. with a tongue, as men do.' He is endowed with knowledge, feelings, and a will. Thus the dematerialised god still retains a mental constitution modelled upon the human soul, with all its bodily desires and imperfections removed, with its higher qualities indefinitely increased, and, above all, endowed with a supernatural power of action. In following chapters we shall see how the moral ideas of men have been influenced by the attributes they ascribe to supernatural beings. 1 Risalah-i-Berkevi, quoted by Sell, op. cit. p. 166 sq. Sell, op. cit. p. 185. CHAPTER XLVIII DUTIES TO GODS MEN not only believe in the existence of supernatural beings, but enter into frequent relations with them. In every religion we may distinguish between two elements: a belief, and a regardful attitude towards the object of this belief. At the same time the assumption that supernatural beings exist is not necessarily connected with religious veneration of them. Relations may be established with some of them to the exclusion of others. If the relations between man and a certain supernatural being are of a more or less permanent character, the latter is generally called his god. As man attributes to his gods a variety of human qualities, his conduct towards them is in many respects determined by considerations similar to those which regulate his conduct towards his fellow men. He endows them with rights quite after human fashion, and imposes on himself corresponding duties. Gods have the rights to life and bodily integrity. They are not necessarily either invulnerable or immortal.1 According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the life of a god is indeed longer than that of a man, but death puts an end to the one as well as to the other. The Vedic gods were mortal at first; immortality was only bestowed upon 1 See Frazer, Golden Bough, ii. I sqq. Wiedemann, Religion of the An 2 cient Egyptians, p. 173. Cf. Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, p. 111; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 265. them by Savitr or by Agni, or they obtained it by drinking soma, or by practising continence and austerity, or by the performance of certain ceremonies. Nor were the Greek gods eternal by nature; they secured immortality by feasting on nectar and ambrosia. The Scandinavian gods had in Idun's apples a means of preserving perpetual freshness and youth; but for all that they were subject to the encroachments of age, and their death is spoken of without disguise.3 Though liable to death, the invisible anthropomorphic gods generally run little risk of being killed by men. But the case is different with such supernatural beings. as live on earth in a visible and destructible shape. They may be, and occasionally are, slain by human hands, although in this case killing hardly means absolute destruction, the soul surviving the death of the body. But to kill such a being is in ordinary circumstances looked upon as a dangerous act. We have noticed above that people are often reluctant to slay animals of certain species for fear lest either the disembodied spirit of the slain animal or others of its kind should avenge the injury;* and the danger is naturally increased when the victim and its whole species are regarded as divine. Savages as a rule avoid killing animals of their own totem, and various statements imply that the act is disapproved of." It has been suggested that this regard for the life of a totemic animal is due to the notion that a man is akin to his totem. But the various taboos imposed upon him with reference to it, and the nature of the penalties. incurred by the taboo-breaker, indicate that the relation between a human individual and the animal members of his totem are after all somewhat different from that between cousins. It seems that the totemic animal is in 1 Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 17. Oldenberg, Religion des Veda, p. 176. 2 Iliad, v. 339 sqq. Odyssey, v. 199. Cf. Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, i. 317 sq. 3 Grimm, op. cit. i. 318 sqq. 4 Supra, ii. 491. 5 See Frazer, Totemism, p. 7 sqq. 6 Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 285. Cf. Frazer, Totemism, P. 7. 7 See Frazer, Totemism, p. 11 sqq.; Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 322, 324 sq. CHAPTER XLVIII DUTIES TO GODS MEN not only believe in the existence of supernatural beings, but enter into frequent relations with them. In every religion we may distinguish between two elements: a belief, and a regardful attitude towards the object of this belief. At the same time the assumption that supernatural beings exist is not necessarily connected with religious veneration of them. Relations may be established with some of them to the exclusion of others. If the relations between man and a certain supernatural being are of a more or less permanent character, the latter is generally called his god. As man attributes to his gods a variety of human qualities, his conduct towards them is in many respects determined by considerations similar to those which regulate his conduct towards his fellow men. He endows them with rights quite after human fashion, and imposes on himself corresponding duties. Gods have the rights to life and bodily integrity. They are not necessarily either invulnerable or immortal.1 According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the life of a god is indeed longer than that of a man, but death puts an end to the one as well as to the other. The Vedic gods were mortal at first; immortality was only bestowed upon See Frazer, Golden Bough, ii. I sqq. Wiedemann, Religion of the An 2 cient Egyptians, p. 173. Cf. Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, p. 111; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 265. |