TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
PART 11.
A COMPARISON OF ALL RELIGIONS.
BY /
JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.
He who only knows one religion can no more understand that religion than he who
only knows one language can understand t/iat language.
Ttloe. Primitive Culture, vol. i., p. 421.
BOSTON:
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY.
New York : 11 East Seventeenth Street.
(ar?)e fiitoersibe prcsa, CamtriDflC.
1883.
Copyright, 1883,
By JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge :
Electrotypcd and Printed by H. 0. Houghton and Company.
To
J. PETER LESLEY and SUSAN L LESLEY,
IN MEMORY OF
MANY HOURS OF HAPPY INTERCOURSE,
(STfeis *Soofi
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
■ t-C. NOV 1883 ^
PEEFACE.
The first part of "Ten Great Religions" was
published in 1871. The success it has met with
is probably due to the fact that it contains in a
compendium an account of the principal religions
of the world, sufficiently full for the wants of
those who are not special students of this subject.
There exist many works on the separate religions,
much more thorough, and which enter into a
greater detail. But I suppose it would be diffi-
cult, even now, to find the chief facts in relation
to all of them brought together elsewhere in a
sing^le volume.
The present work (based on twelve lectures
given in the Lowell Institute in the winter of
1881-2) is on a different plan. Instead of de-
scribing and discussing each of the great faiths of
mankind separately, it attempts to show what
they all teach on the different points of human
belief. We ask what each declares concerning
VI PREFACE.
God, the Soul, the Future Life, Sin and Salvation,
Human Duty, Prayer and Worship, Inspiration
and Art. We consider what is the Idea of God
in all religions, and ask how it began and in what
way it was developed. In the same manner we
seek to trace other phases of the religious life,
from their simplest beginnings to their fullest
outcome.
In pursuing this course of thought I have been
often called upon to discuss the religions of the
primitive or childlike races, a department of the
subject not treated in the first volume. The im-
portance and value of researches in this direction
have of late years been more fully recognized
than formerly. " The time has long since passed,"
says Brinton,^ " at least among thinking men,
when the religious legends of the lower races
were looked upon as trivial fables, or as the in-
ventions of the Father of Lies. They are neither
the one nor the other. They express, in image
and incident, the opinions of these races on the
mightiest topics of human thought, on the origin
and destiny of man, his motives for duty and his
grounds for hope, and the source, history, and
fate of external nature. Certainly the sincere
expressions on this subject of even humble mem-
* American Ilero-Mijtls, by David G. Brinton, 1882.
PEEFACE. VU
bers of the human race deserve our most respect-
ful heed, and it may be that we shall discover in
their crude or coarse narratives gleams of a men-
tal light which their proud Aryan brethren have
been long in coming to, or have not yet reached."
This class of primitive or childlike religions I
have called Tribal, because they are usually de-
veloped by each tribe, and have not the charac-
ters of Ethnic or National relio^ions, nor of Catho-
lie or Universal religions. They show the first
dawnings of the religious life with a singular uni-
formity, whether in the heart of Africa, among
the islands of Polynesia, or within the Arctic
Zone. The special race developments have not
yet begun, and these primitive sentiments have
not been differentiated under the formative influ-
ences of national life. As yet human nature is in
its cradle, and the cry of the infant is the same
all over the world. All this indicates that the
law applies to religion which we find elsewhere,
and that here too the progress of the race will be
from monotony, through variety, to ^,n ultimate
harmony.
The present volume contains, as far as I know,
the first attempt to trace these doctrines through
all the principal religions of mankind. It is only
an attempt, but it indicates at least, what I be-
Vm PREFACE.
lieve to be the best way of understanding the
value of any behef, that of comparative theol-
ogy. How much light has been thrown on human
culture by the works of Tylor, Lubbock, Waitz,
Brinton, Bastian, Lecky, and others who have
adopted to a greater or less extent the methods of
comparison !
I cannot expect that the views taken in this
book in regard to different religions will be uni-
versally accepted. Most of the questions treated
in it are still subjects for inquiry, and specialists
differ amono; themselves on some of the most
essential points. Was the system of Zoroaster
fundamentally a monotheism ? Haug says it was ;
Lenormant and others tell us, that though on his
way to this conception, he did not reach it. Was
Buddhism a reaction against Brahmanism, as
most writers suppose ? Or was it a development
of Brahmanism, as Oldenberg and Kuenen tell us ?
Probably it was both. If it did not seek to abol-
ish castes in India, it ignored them, and admitted
men of all castes to its order. If it did not re-
ject the Gods of the Hindu Pantheon, it passed
them by. It developed an entirely new side of
life. It taught humanity instead of piety ; it
ascribed salvation, not to sacrifices and sacra-
ments, but to the sight of the truth. I therefore
PREFACE. IX
think I was right, when in the First Part of this
work, I called Buddhism the Protestantism of the
East.
In Chapter VI. I have suggested that there
may be essential truth in the doctrine of Trans-
migration, once so generally believed. The mod-
ern doctrine of the evolution of bodily organisms
is not complete, unless we unite with it the idea of
a corresponding evolution of the spiritual monad,
from which every organic form derives its unity.'
Evolution has a satisfactory meaning only when
we admit that the soul is developed and educated
by passing through many bodies, and not only
accept the theory that our ancestors may have
been apes or fishes, but the larger doctrine that
we ourselves were probably once apes or fishes,
and that we learned much in those conditions
which is useful to us in our present forms.
I have added a list of some of the principal
books on the subjects here treated, which have
been published since the index of authors was
prepared for the first part of this work.
This list begins with recent works on Buddhism.
Then follow those on the Parsis and the Zend-
Avesta ; next a few titles on Brahmanism ; then
on the Religions of Assyria and Babylon. The
list ends with titles of books lately issued on Prim-
X PREFACE.
itive Religions, the Beliefs of China, the origin
and growth of all Religions, and works bearing on
the general subject.
In selecting the titles on Assyria I have had the
assistance of Professor David G. Lyon of Harvard
College ; and in regard to Buddhism, I have been
aided by Charles R. Lanman, Professor of Sanskrit
in the same university. I have not attempted to
make any exhaustive list of references, but merely
to indicate for young students, not specialists,
some of the more important sources of informa-
tion.
Buddha, Sein Leben, Seine Lehre, Seiue Gemeinde, von Dr.
Hermann Oldenberg, Berlin, 1881.
Buddlia, his Life, his Doctrine, his Order. (The same work
translated by William Hoey), 1882.
Die Therai^eutae und ihre Stellung. By P. E. Lucius. Stras-
burg, 1880.
Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion, as illustrated
by some points in the History of Indian Buddhism. By J.
W. Rhys Davids. Being the Hibbert lectures, 1881.
The Buddhist Scriptures in Prdi. The Viuaya Pitakam. Ed-
ited by Dr. II. Oldenberg. Five vols.
The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes and Christians. By
Ernest de Bunsen. (London, 1880).
[This book is largely quoted by those who would derive the
facts in the Gospels from the Buddhist legends. Its value in
the eyes of a real scholar appears iu the following extract from
Kuenen's Hibbert Lectures : —
PEEFACE. XI
" The well-known volume on ' The Augel-Messiah, etc.,' no
doubt teems with parallels of every description ; but, alas ! it
is one unbroken commentary on Scaliger's thesis that errors
in theology all arise from neglect of philology. A writer who
can allow himself to bring the name Pharisee into connection
with Persia, has once for all forfeited his right to a voice in the
matter. The very title of the book should preserve us from
any illusion as to its contents. The 'Angel-Messiah ' of the Bud-
dhists, who know nothing either of angels or of a Messiah ! —
and of the Essenes, of whose Messianic expectations we know
absolutely nothing ! By such comparisons we could prove any-
thing."]
The Dipavamsa. In the Pali language. Edited with an
English translation, by Dr. H. Oldenberg.
[This is the most ancient historical work of the Ceylon-
ese. It gives an account of the conversion of Ceylon to Bud-
dhism.]
The Milinda Panha. Dialogues between King Milinda and
the Buddhist Sage Nagasena. Ptdi text edited by Trenck-
ner of Copenhagen.
Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen verhaltnissen zu Buddha-
saga und Buddha-lehre, von Prof. Rudolf Seydel. Leip-
zig, 1882.
[Kuenen, (Hibbert Lectures, Note, page 334) says that Prof.
Seydel divides the parallels between Buddhism and Chris-
tianity into three classes. The first class contains those which
are purely accidental. The second class consists of those which
show some dependence of one of the religions on the other.
The third are of those which Prof. Seydel thinks show decid-
edly an influence of Buddhism on the origin of the Gospels.
These last are five, and we can see by their weight, whether
those of the second class are worth considering. The resem-
XII PREFACE.
blances to which Sejdel ascribes the highest degree of eviden-
tial value are —
1. The fast of Jesus before his temptation was borrowed, he
believes, from a similar fast ascribed to Buddha. The oldest
tradition (Oldenberg, page 114 Eng. ed.) is in the Mahavagga,
and says that Buddha fasted seven days, and then went to the
fig tree. Later traditions make it twenty-eight days. Now as
fasting was a religious act in all systems, there is no necessity
of supposing one of them to have been borrowed from the
other. And if the fast of Jesus is legendary, why not rather
suppose it borrowed from the forty days' fast of Moses (Exo-
dus xxxiv. 28) than the seven days' or twenty-eight days' fast
of Buddha.
2. The next incident which Seydel thinks must have been
borrowed from Buddhism is the question " Did this man sin
or his parents, that he was born blind ? " (.John ix. 2) which
Seydel thinks unmeaning, unless explained by the Buddhist
doctrine of re-birth. On this Kuenen says that " nothing can
be more obvious than to refer this to the Jewish- Alexandrian
doctrine of preexistence, which renders the Buddhist parallel
quite superfluous."
3. The preexistence ascribed both to Buddha and to Christ,
though one of Seydel's five strongest points, he does not him-
self regard as conclusive.
4. The presentation in the temple (Luke ii. 22).
5. The sitting under a fig tree (John i. 46).
Of these last Kuenen says that " the difference seems to me
quite to overbalance the resemblance. There is no parallel
between the simple scene in the temjile and the homage ren-
dered to the Buddha-child." And in John i. it is not Christ
but Nathaniel who sits under the fig tree, as the Buddha him-
self sat under the tree of knowledge. To sit under the shade
PEEFACE. XUl
of a tree is not such an extraordinary event as to make it neces-
sary to believe it borrowed from one which happened in a far
ofE land, five centuries before. Yet these five cases are the
strongest that Prof. Seydel, after the most careful research,
can find as proving that facts in the gospel were borrowed
from Buddhism.]
Der Buddhismus und seine Geschichte in Indien. By Heinrich
Kern, (Translated from the Dutch by H. Jacobi.) Leip-
zig, 1882.
Der Buddhismus in.seinen Psychol ogie. Mit einer Karte des
buddhistischen Weltsystems. By A. Bastian, 1882.
The Dhammapada. Being one of the Canonical Books of the
Buddhists. Translated into English from Pali. By F. Max
Muller. 1881.
The Sutta-Nipata. One of the Canonical Books of the Bud-
dhists. Translated from the Pidi. By V. Fansboll. 1881.
[These two translations are contained in vol. x. of the series
called " The Sacred Books of the East " — an admirable work,
edited by Max Muller, and published at Oxford.
Of the Dhammapada Muller says, " I cannot see any reason
why we should not treat the verses of the Dhammapada, if not
as the utterances of Buddha, at least as what were believed by
the members of the council under Asoka, 242 B. c, to have
been the utterances of the founder of their religion."
Of the Sutta-Nipata the translator says, " There can be no
doubt that it contains some remnants of Primitive Buddhism.
I consider the greater part of the Mahagga, and nearly the
whole of the Attha-Kavogga, as very old."]
Buddhist Suttas. Translated from Pali by T. TV. Rhys
Davids, 1881. Vol. xi. of " Sacred Books of the East."
[This volume contains seven Suttas, which Mr. Rhys Davids
considers to come to us from the third or fourth century before
XIV PREFACE.
Christ. They are quite interesting, and give a good idea of
primitive Buddhism. Mr. Davids finds some points of resem-
blance between this literature and that of the New Testament ;
but agrees with Kuenen, in denying the latter to be in any way
derived from the former.^]
A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese. By Sam-
uel Beal. London, 1871.
The Romantic Legend of Buddha. By Samuel Beal. 1875.
[Mr. Beal has given us in these books much light on Bud-
dhism in China — though a great deal more remains to be done.
He informs us that the Buddhist Canon in Chinese consists of
1,440 distinct works, comprising 5,586 books. The monasteries
in China contain a vast number of works which have never
been collated by European scholars. As far back as the first
century after the birth of Christ, while Christian missionaries
were going West to convert Europe, Buddhist missionaries
went East as far as China.]
The Wheel of the Law. Buddhism illustrated from Siamese
Sources. By Henry Alabaster, 1871.
Buddhagosha's Parables. Translated from the Burmese, by
Captain H. T. Rogers, 1870.
Buddhist Birth-Stories. Edited by Fausboll. Translated by
Rhys Lavids.
Buddha and Early Buddhism. By Arthur Lillie.
[An interesting book, by an independent thinker.]
Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen Verhaltnissen zur Buddha
sage und Buddha-lehre. By R. Seydel. Leipzig, 1882.
Lehre der Buddha. Senart.
Legend of the Burmese Buddha. (Life or Legend of Gaudama.
By Bishop Bigandet. Rangoon, 18GG.)
Lectures on the Science of Religion, with a paper on Buddhist
^ See Appendix.
PREFACE. XV
Nihilism and a translation of the Dhammapada. By Max
Miiller. New York, Scribner, 1872.
'• The Parsis." (Article in the " Nineteenth Century," March,
1881.) "The Religion of Zoroaster." ("Nineteenth Cen-
tury," January, 1881.) By Mouier Williams.
Zoroaster und die Religion des Altiranischen Volkes. By Karl
Geldner.
[Not yet published, but sure to be good.]
The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. (Sacred
Books of the East, vol. iv.)
The Bundahis. Bahman Yast, and Shayast la Shayast. Trans-
lated by E. W. West. (Sacred Books of the East, vol. v.)
The Supreme God in the Indo-European Mythology. By James
Darmesteter. (Contemporary Review, October, 1879.)
Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the
Parsis, by Martin Haug. (English and Foreign Philosoph-
ical Library.) Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston.
Indian Wisdom. By Monier Williams. 1875.
Hinduism. By Monier Williams. 1877.
History of India from the Earliest Ages. By J. Talboys
Wheeler.
Manual of Hindu Pantheism. (Jacob.)
Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity. By Rev. J. Rob-
son.
Der Rig- Veda. By Adolf Kaegi. Leipzig, 1881.
[" An admirable book," Professor Lanman.]
The Religions of India. By Auguste Barth. (Translated from
the valuable " Encyclopedic des Sciences religieuses, Paris,"
by Wood, London, 1882.)
XVI PEEFACE.
The Upanishads. Translated by Max Miiller. (Sacred Books
of the East, vol. i.)
The Sacred Laws of the Aryas. Translated by George Buhler.
(Sacred Books of the East, vols. ii. and xiv.)
The Institutes of Vishnu. Translated by Prof. Julius Jolly.
(Sacred Books of the East, vol. vii.)
The Bhagavadgita, etc. (Sacred Books of the East, vol.
viii. )
A Manual of the Ancient History of the East. By F. Lenor-
mant and E. Chevallier. London, 1879.
Histoire Comparee des anciennes Religions de 1' Egypte et des
Peuples Semitiques. Par C. P. Tiele. Paris, 1882.
The Chaldaean Account of Genesis. By Geo. Smith. (New
edition by A. H. Sayce, 1882.)
The Records of the Past. (Vols. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.)
[These contain numerous translations (one of which is given
in the Appendix). Prof. Lyon, of Harvard University, informs
me that though these contain mistakes, yet they have enough of
accuracy to give a good general view of the literature.]
Babylonian Literature. By A. H. Sayce.
On the Religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians. By Sir
H. C. Rawlinson, in George Rawlinson's " Herodotus,"
vol. i.
Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament. Von E, Schrader.
Giessen, 1883.
Wo lag das Paradies ? Von Friedrich Delitzsch. Leipzig,
1881.
Avesta, Livre sacre du Zoroasterisme traduit du Texte Zend,
par C. D. Harlez. (Bibliotheque Orientale, vol. v.) Second
edition. Paris, 1881.
PREFACE. XVll
Origin of Primitive Superstitious, etc., among the Aborigines
of America. By Rushton M. Dorman. Philadelphia, 1881.
The Vicissitudes of Aryan Civilization in India. Kunte. Bom-
bay, 1880.
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief. By T. Bar-
ing Gould. 1870.
[The merit of this work is that it is an honest attempt on the
part of a High Churchman to see and accept all the facts of
science and human experience, without flinching. Its defect
appears to be that it does not succeed in reducing these facts to
unity.]
Die Religion, ihr "Wesen, und ihre Geschichte. By O. Pfleid-
erer. Leipzig, 1869.
The origin of Religion considered in the light of the Unity of
Nature. By the Duke of Argyll. (Papers published in the
Contemporary Review.)
Man's Origin and Destiny sketched from the platform of the
Physical Sciences. By Prof. J. Peter Lesley. Second edi-
tion, enlarged. 1881.
[A work full of information and suggestion.]
Pre-historic Times and Origin of Civilization. By Sir John
Lubbock.
Auti-theistic Theories. By Prof. Flint.
From Whence, What, Where ? By James R. Nichols. 1882.
Finalite. Par Paul Janet. Paris.
Outlines of Primitive Belief among the Indo-European Races.
By Charles Francis Keary, of the British Museum. 1882.
Hibbert Lectures, 1878. Lectures on the Origin and Growth
of Religion, as illustrated by the Religions of India. By F.
Max Muller.
b
XVIU PKEFACE.
Hibbert Lectures, 1879. Lectures on tbe Origin and Growth
of Religion, as illustrated by the Religion of Ancient Egypt.
By P. Le Page Renouf.
Hibbert Lectures, 1880. Influence of the Institutions, etc., of
Rome on Christianity. By Ernest Renan.
Hibbert Lectures, 1881. Lectures on the Origin and Growth
of Religion, as illustrated by Buddhism. By T. W. Rhys
Davids.
Hibbert Lectures, 1882. Lectures on National Religions and
Universal Religions. By A. Kuenen,
Brahmo Year-Book. Brief Records of Work and Life in the
Theistic Churches in India. 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880.
Prolegomenes de I'Histoire des Religions. By A. Reville.
The Faiths of the World. St. Giles' Lectures, Edinburgh,
1882.
Primitive Culture. By Ed. B. Tylor. 2 vols. 1871.
Researches into the Early History of Mankind. By E. B. Ty-
lor. 1870.
The Myths of the New World.
The Religious Sentiment.
The Maya Chronicles.
American Hero Myths.
The above four works are by Daniel G. Brinton, M. D., of
Philadelphia.
The Sim-King, the Shi-King, the HsiCio-King. By James Legge.
(Sacred Books of the East, vol. iii.)
The Chinese Classics. The Analects, Great Learning and Doc-
trine of the Mean, by Confucius. By James Legge. Worces-
ter and Chicago.
[See also a series of excellent Manuals by Legge, Rhys Davids,
and other eminent scholars, in a series publislicd by the Church
PREFACE. XIX
of England Missionary Society, called " Non-Christian Religious
Systems." This series includes Confucius, Hinduism, Islam,
Buddhism, etc. ; and does not include any narrow or prejudiced
bias against these religions.
See, also, articles on Brahmanism, Buddhism, China, etc., in
the ninth edition of the Encyclopasdia Brittanica. Also, numer-
ous articles of value in recent numbers of the Contemporary
Review, Nineteenth Century, Fortnightly Review and other
periodicals. Those on the Religious Prospects of Islam (by
Rev. Malcom Malcoll, Prof. Monier "Williams, etc.) ; on Ancient
Egypt, by R. S. Pool (Contemporary Review, 1881) ; on the
New Development of the Brahmo-Somaj (by Wm. Knighton,
Contemporary Review, October, 1881, answered by Sophia D.
Collet, Contemporary Review, November, 1881), The Baby-
lonian Account of the Deluge (Nineteenth Century, February,
1882), may be quoted as examples of the ability and learning
which go into these periodicals.]
Oriental Religions, and their Relation to Universal Reli-
gion. By Samuel Johnson. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin &
Co.
[In three volumes, on India, China, and Persia ; the last vol-
ume not yet published.]
Philosophical Library. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Vol. IX. Outlines of the History of Religion. By C. P.
Tiele.
Vol. X. Religion in China. By Joseph Edkins.
Vol. XII. The Dhammapada. Translated from the Chi-
nese by Samuel Beal.
Vol. XVI. Selections from the Koran. By E. W. Lane.
Vol. XVII. Chinese Buddhism. By Joseph Edkins.
Philosophy of Religion. By John Caird.
XX PREFACE.
The Native Eaces of the Pacific States. By Hubert Howe
Bancroft. '
[An important work of great extent, and full of valuable
information.]
In the Appendix to this volume will be found interesting ex-
tracts from some of the works above referred to.
(JO^TJi^iNrt?.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION. — DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION.
§ 1. Object of the present volume ...... 1
§ 2. The Science of Religion 4
§ 3. Religious Aspect of the World, b, c. 1100. Egypt. India.
Greece. Persia. Buddliism ...... 5
§ 4. Definition of Religion ....... 15
§ 5. Religion is Universal. Exceptional cases examined by Mr.
Tylor 17
§ 6. Religious statistics of the World 21
§ 7. False Classifications of the Religions of the World . . 23
§ 8. A better method of Classification. Tribal, Ethnic, and
Catholic o ........ 26
§ 9. Ethnic religions are confined to special races, are not
founded by a prophet, are polytheisms, and do not lay
stress on morality. Catholic religions spread beyond the
boundaries of race, are founded by a single prophet, are
monotheisms, and inculcate morality . . . .29
CHAPTER IT.
SPECIAL TYPES. — VARIATIONS.
§ 1. Every religion has its own special type. Two false theories 33
§ 2. Race and Nationality 36
§ 3. Increased knowledge of Ethnic Religions during the last
century 39
§ 4. Unity and persistence of type in each religion . . .44
XXll COXTE^'TS.
§ 5. The typical ideas of Brahmaiiism, Buddhism, the Zend-
Avesta, and the religion of Egypt .... 51
§ 6. Corruptions and degradations of each religion, forei'^n to
its original type 61
§ 7. Affirmations true, negations false 62
§ 8. Simplistic systems are short-lived. Coordinated antago-
nisms necessary for continued development , . 64
CHAPTER IILtC
ORIGIX AXD DEVELOPMENT OF ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Two ways in which Religions begin ; suddenly under the
influence of a prophet ; or gradually, out of a national
tendency 70
§2. Religions derived from previous religions, by imitation or
reaction. Influence of the Greek upon the Roman The-
ology ; of the doctrines of Egypt on the teaching of Mo-
ses ; of Buddhism on Christianity; of Judaism and Chris-
tianity on Mohammedanism 72
§ 3. Origin of all religion. Three answers. Transformed sen-
sations cannot give to us the idea of the Infinite . . 75
§ 4. Belief in disembodied spirits the first form in which the re-
ligious nature manifests itself 78
§ 5. Tlie world of dreams, and its influence .... 80
§ G. Why do primitive races fear ghosts ? 81
§ 7. Demoniacal possession and exorcism .... 83
§ 8. In all childlike races religion is the same. Animism the
first step in religion 86
§ 9. The next step upward gives Polytheism. The Vedic
hymns. The character of Polytheism . . . .87
§ 10. Arrested and progressive development. The point of re-
ligious development reached by Zoroaster . . .90
§ 11. When Polytheism degenerates it becomes Idolatry. The
relapse of Brahmanism. That of Egypt. How religions
decay 92
§ 12. The I\Iexican religion at the time of the conquest was the
degenerate form of an anterior IMonotheism. Its mix-
ture of pure moral teaching and terrible superstitions . 96
CONTENTS. XXIU
CHAPTER IV.
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS, ANIMISM, POLYTHEISM,
PANTHEISM.
§ 1. Analysis of the Idea of Deity. God as Creator, Supreme
Being, Infinite Being, Providence, Justice, Holiness,
Unity . 101
§ 2. Animism, as the lowest form of religious belief. The Idol
or fetich in all religions . . ' 107
§ 3. Polytheism in all religions. Origin of Polytheism . . 112
§4. Pantheism in all religions. Evils of Pantheism . .116
§ 5. The truth in Polytheism. Latent Monotheism in Polythe-
ism 119
§ 6, Truth in Pantheism 124
§ 7. The imperfect Monotheism of the Buddhists . . .126
§ 8. The conception of God the important matter ; the name
given to him unimportant 128
CHAPTER V.
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. — DITHEISM, TRITHEISM, AND
MONOTHEISM.
§ 1. Ditheism in all Religions 130
§ 2. The Triads in all Religions 135
§ 3. Monotheism in all Religions 141
§ 4. Origin of our belief in Spirit, in a First Cause, in an Intel-
ligent Creator, in a Supreme and Infinite Being . .156
§ 5. The Christian idea of God is a combination of the other
conceptions of Deity, with that of Infinite Love . .160
CHAPTER VL
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS, IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Universal faith in the independent existence and survival
of the human soul. The belief in ghosts a proof of it . 162
§ 2. Double souls and a double consciousness. Is there any
evidence of this ? Soul and Shadow . . • .165
1/
XXiv cONJrENTS.
§3. Does Buddhism deny tlie ^'^istence of the soul? . .168
§4. The Philosophical basis of^ belief in a soul . . .171
§5. The objections of Materiajlism 173
§ 6. Preexistence and Transmigration. The doctrine of Brah-
manism and of the ancient Egyptians . . . .176
§7. Transmigration among tPe Buddhists . . . -182
§ 8. Foundation of this belief 185
§ 9. Human traits in primitive organisms. Chief distinction
between the human ar^d animal soul . . . .187
§ 10. The evolution of the so-^l as an improvement on the doc-
trine of Darwin 190
ClIAPTER VII.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WO'^^^) ^^ ^^L RELIGIONS. EVOLUTION,
EMANA^'ION, AND CREATION.
SI
Different theories concerning the origin of the Cosmos.
All races of men believe it had a beginning, and has
not existed always The primeval chaos . . .193
§ 2. Doctrine of evolutP"- Ifs antiquity. The world-egg.
Orphic poets. L'^s of Manu. Aristophanes. Hesiod.
Ovid. America! Indians. Eddas. The Polynesian
theology . . • » • 196
§ 3. Doctrine of Emana 'on- Source of this view. The Vediis.
The Gnostics, ^^leir problem 204
§4. Doctrine of Creadon- Different forms of this doctrine.
The Hebrew B'j^e, the Zend-Avesta, the Assyrian tab-
lets, the philoPP^ers. Objection to the doctrine of
Creation by mo ^rn thinkers 209
§5. Darwin and Nati-al Selection . . . . .213
§ 6. Theory of Creati « by beings above man, but below God.
This theory wr-ld harmonize the doctrines of Evolution,
Emanation, ar' Creation 217
CONTENTS. XXV
/<:
CHAPTER Vni.
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IX ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Prayer and worship to invisible powers universal . . 222
§ 2. Prayer among the primitive races. Zulus. North Amer-
ican Indians. Races of Asia. Islands of the Pacific.
The principal element of this prayer is supplication for
outward good 224
§ 3. Prayer in Ethnic Religions. Adoration the principal ele-
ment in these j^rayers. The Vedic Hymns. China.
The Greeks. Mexicans 228
§ 4. Prayer in the Catholic Religions. Desire for moral good-
ness now appears. The Zend-Avesta. Buddhism.
Mohammedanism 235
§ 5. The universality of Sacrifices. Their origin . . . 239
§ 6. Jewish Prayers. The Book of Psalms. God spoken to as
a friend. Christian Prayer. No liturgy in the New
Testament. The prayer of love . . . . .241
§ 7. Imprecatory prayer in all religions. Improvement in the
spirit and method of prayer ...... 244
§ 8. Decay of prayer at the present time. Divine personality
doubted. The Future of prayer 246
CHAPTER IX.
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Inspiration in its most general form 251
§ 2. Different Kinds of Inspiration 253
§ 3. Religious Inspiration ........ 254
§ 4. Inspiration of the Bible. In lower religions. Inspiration
as frenzy. Possession and Self-possession . . .256
§ 5. The Bible compared with the Vedas and Koran . . 259
§ 6. Peculiarity of the Inspiration of the New Testament . 262
§ 7. Art the child of Religion. Egyptian architecture . . 265
§ 8. Buddhist architecture 268
§ 9. Jewish and Christian architecture 271
XXVI CONTEXTS.
§ 10. Mohammedan art 272
§ 11. Greek art 274
§ 12. Religion in painting and poetry 278
CHAPTER X. f^
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS.
The moral sentiment in man. First element — the Idea
of Right and Wrong 280
Second element. Knowledge of what is right and wrono-.
Third element. Habits of virtue .... 283
The basis of Ethics immutable. Primal convictions.
Truth and Love. The place of utility in ethics . , 285
Manly and Womanly virtues 288
Morality among primitive races 289
The races of Africa 292
Development of moral impulse in character. Romans and
Greeks. Soci-ates. The Stoics 294
Ethics of Buddhism ....... 305
Ethics in ancient Egypt. The oldest book of the world . 308
Influence of Religion on Morality .... 314
CHAPTER XI.
IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Universal belief in a Future State of existence . . .318
§ 2. Notions concerning it among the childlike races . . 322
§ 3. Belief of the ancient Etruscans 324
§ 4. Of the Egyptians . . . . . • . .326
§ 5. Of Brahmanism ........ 330
§ 6. Of Buddhism. Meaning of Nirvana .... 332
§ 7. Of the Jews. The argument of Jesus with the Sadducees 334
§ 8. How religion produces faith in Immortality . . . 335
§ 9. The poets and philosophers ...... 336
§ 10. Two sources of belief in a future existence . . . 339
§ 11. Modern scientific unbelief. Spiritualism, and its eviden-
ces ...••••.. . . 341
§1-
§2.
§3.
§4.
§5.
§6.
§7.
§8.
§9.
§10,
CONTENTS. XXVll
c
CHAPTER XII.
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND.
§ 1. Man a religious being. His continued interest in religious
questions ......•••• 346
§ 2. Religious faith necessary to progress in science, literature,
and art. Individualism insufficient .... 350
§ 3. The essence of Christianity 352
§ 4. Christianity the religion of civilized man . . . 353
§ 5. Progress and power of Christian nations . . . 354
§ 6. Chief of the three Catholic Religions . . . .359
§ 7. Its fullness of life 361
§ 8. Its corruptions. Their origin in its power of assimilation.
Persecution. Monasticism ..... 363
§ 9. Will the basis of the church of humanity be a ritual, a creed,
or a person ?......... 366
§ 10. The personality of Jesus. Examples of the influence of
prophets on national life ...... 368
§ 11. Will the world outgrow the teaching of Jesus? Future
prospects . . . 373
APPENDIX.
NOTE.
1. The Nirvana, view taken by Oldenberg .... 377
2. Mohammedanism. As viewed by Osborn . . .379
3. Chaldean account of Creation . . . . . .382
4. Buddhism in Siam. Alabaster ..... 384
5. Buddhism and Christianity. Kuenen .... 388
6. Buddhism and the New Testament. Rhys Davids . 390
7. Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys 391
8. Religion of Zoroaster. Vendidad ..... 395
" 9. Transmigration in Brahmanism ...... 396
10. Japan and the Japanese.- Baron Hiibner . . . 398
11. Ethics of Buddhism. Spence Hardy .... 401
12. Buddhist Ascetics before Christ. From Wilson's " Hindu
Drama ".......-. 404
TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
SECOND PART.
CHAPTER I.
INTEODUCTION. DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFI-
CATION.
§ 1. Object of the present Volume. § 2. The Science of Re-
ligion. § 3. Religious Aspect of the World b. c. 1100.
Egypt. India. Greece. Persia. Buddhism. § 4. Definition
of Religion. § 5. Religion is Universal. Exceptional Cases
examined by Mr. Tylor. § 6. Religious Statistics of the
World. § 7. False Classifications of the Religions of the
World. § 8. A better Method of Classification. Tribal, Eth-
nic, and Catholic. § 9. Ethnic Religions are confined to
Special Races, are not founded by a Prophet, are Polythe-
isms, and do not lay Stress on Morality. Catholic Religions
spread beyond the Boundaries of Race, are founded by a
Single Prophet, are Monotheisms, and inculcate Morality.
§ 1. Object of the present volume.
npHE first part of this work, published some
-^ years since, was chiefly analytical and de-
scriptive. It endeavored to give a distinct account
2 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
of the character and history of the Ten Great Re-
ligions of the World. The purpose of the present
volume is to compare them with each other, in
order to learn what each teaches concerning God,
the Soul, the Origin of the World, Worship, In-
spiration, Right and Wrong, and the Future Life.
We shall consider this important, interesting, but
complex and difficult subject — the Comparison of
the Religions of Mankind — to see wherein they
agree and wherein they differ ; to learn, if we
may, something of their origin, whether from
earth or heaven ; to see what measure of truth
each may contain, and what is likely to be the
future religious history of our race.
Everything becomes more intelligible when com-
pared with something else of the same sort. It
has been well said that " he who only understands
one language does not understand any language."
The same thing, to some extent, may be said
about religion. We cannot look on any religion
with indifference.
It is thought by many, I know, that science, in
its immense activity, large sweep, and vast de-
mands upon our intelligence, has permanently
called away the attention of thinking men from
the world within to the world without. But
science in its deepest sense includes all knowl-
edge ; it cannot be confined to the study of the
outward world. It takes for its domain the whole
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 6
range of phenomenal existence, the entire circuit
of hmnan experience. It is compelled, by the ne-
cessity of its nature, to observe and analyze all
phenomena, and endeavor to bring them under
law. Positive knowledge includes the facts of
the soul as well as those of senses, — and Auguste
Comte, having begun by declaring that all ques-
tions of theology must be repudiated as insoluble,
ended by constructing a private theology of his
own.
For a time many scientific men may stand aloof
from religion, but the same immortal nature is in
them as in all other men. The same questions
must arise in their souls as in others to whom
knowledge has never unrolled her ample page,
rich with the spoils of time. Blame no honest
man for his doubts. Better than blind assent is
conscientious denial ; better than the passive ac-
ceptance of the most important truth is the loy-
alty to truth which refuses to speak until it can
see. "There is more faith," says Tennyson, "in
honest doubt than in half our creeds;" and Milton
said long before that if a man believes only be-
cause his pastor or his church says so, though his
belief be true, he himself is a heretic, so that the
very truth he holds becomes a heresy. Still, the
soul of man is not fed by doubt, but by belief;
the intellect lives by faith, not by denial. Agnos-
ticism may be an important medicine for a tempo-
4 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
rary condition, but knowledge is the food by which
we grow.
§ 2. The Science of Religion.
Is there such a department of knowledge as
" The Science of Religion," or such a method as
" The Scientific Study of Religion " ? If there is
such a method, it must consist in the faithful
study of the facts, and a careful generalization
from those facts. It must be free from prejudice
for or against any system. Instead of condemning
a religion for its polytheism, its idolatry, or its su-
perstitious practices, it must endeavor to find the
source of those practices in human nature, or in
the environment. Thus only can we reach what
may deserve to be called a " Science of Religion."
Phvsical Science has been described as consistinar
of three steps : (1.) Observation of facts; (2.) In-
duction of laws from those facts; (3.) Verification
of these laws by experiment. Observation of facts
alone does not constitute science. Induction and
observation without verification do not constitute
science. If these three factors are applicable in
religious investigation, then religion can become a
science, but not otherwise.
The facts of consciousness constitute the basis
of religious science. These facts are as real, and
as constant as those which are perceived through
the senses. Faith, Hope, and Love, are as real
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 5
as form, sound, and color. The moral Icms also,
which may be deduced from such experience are
real and permanent, and these laws can be veri-
fied iu the daily course of human life. If this is
so it will make the Science of Religion possible.
The Science of Religion is equally hostile to two
opposite assumptions. One is the assumption that
nothing is real and certain, but that which can be
verified by sensible experience. Spiritual experi-
ences are as much facts as those which are per-
ceived by the senses. The other assumption is
that of the Theologians, who attempt to build a
science of religion on the authority of the Church
or the Scripture. There may be, and no doubt is,
a legitimate authority belonging to both ; but this
is not to be assumed, but to be demonstrated.
The whole realm of spiritual exercises ; the
sense of sin and pardon; prayer and its answer;
the convictions, trusts, motive-powers, illumina-
tions, inspirations of holy souls, may and ought
to be carefully examined, analyzed, and verified.
Then it will be seen what part are illusion, and
what part reality. When this is accomplished, but
not sooner, there will be a Science of Religion.
§ 3. Religious Aspect of the World about 1100 B. C.
Egypt^ India, Greece, Persia, Buddhism.
In order the better to see what the problem be-
fore us is, let us take a brief glance at the religious
history of the race.
6 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Let us suppose ourselves, about 1100 years be-
fore Christ, to be making a visit to Egypt. It is
before the time of the Trojan war — of course.
Ions: before the time of Homer, to whom that war
was a tradition. It was before the time \Vhen Da-
vid founded the Hebrew monarchy. Tlie largest
part of Europe was sunk in barbarism. But the
land of Egypt had been a highly civilized nation
for several thousand years. Suppose ourselves to
be ascendino; the Nile in one of the numerous ves-
sels which then navigated it.
We find its banks crowded with villao;es ; and ves-
sels covering the water, propelled by sails and oars,
and carrying corn or building-stone, from one part
of the country to another. Splendid buildings, the
walls covered with carved figures and hieroglyphic
inscriptions, rise successively along its shores, one
vast city after another coming in sight. Groups of
pyramids appear, rising out of the plain like moun-
tains, not, as now, ragged and torn, but covered
with polished slabs of glittering marble, red gran-
ite, or yellow limestone. As we continue to as-
cend the yellow river, now at the height of its
annual inundation, we at last reach Thebes, the
capital of the Upper Empire. It stands on a cir-
cular plain ten miles across, surrounded by a belt
of hills, a vast collection of temples, palaces, obe-
lisks, and majestic tombs. Two colossal statues
rise above the river shore, their feet covered with
DESCRIPTIO?^" AND CLASSIFICATION. 7
the water of the inundation. Karnak, on the east-
ern bank, is a city of temples. While we gaze at
these marvellous buildings, we see processions of
priests passing along the avenues. We ask the
meaning of the ceremony, and are told that Egypt
is the land of religion. Every day has its festival,
every town its god and temple. Sacrifices, prayers,
incense, processions, begin and"" close the year.
The deities, we discover, are innumerable. Great
triads of gods, superior to the rest, are worshipped
under different names in the different provinces.
Every year the Festivals of Osiris and Isis renew
the mourning for the Divine Sufferer, and joy at
his resurrection. The tombs are resplendent with
mosaics and brilliantly colored paintings. The
dead are more cared for than the living: their
resting-places are carved out of solid rock and
filled with rich furniture and ornaments. One su-
preme being, above all other deities, is worshipped
as the maker and preserver of all things. The
hymns and ritual of the dead, the belief in the
transmigration of souls, in the day of judgment,
in the trial of the soul before Osiris, make the fu-
ture life almost as real as the present. But with
these grand ideas, and their inspiring truths, are
mingled strange notions, which cause the Egyp-
tian worship to be looked upon with astonishment
and contempt by other nations. In the. holiest
place in some temple, when the rich golden or
8 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
purple hanging was withdrawn, you would find a
cat, a crocodile, or a dog as the apparent object of
worship. But before you indulged your scorn for
their puerile adoration, you might listen to the sol-
emn priest, who would say, "Do not think we wor-
ship these animals. Each of them is a symbol of a
divine thouo-ht of the Creator. We reverence the
Creator in his work. We dare not make a statue
in the likeness of God ; we take the creatures of
his hand as signifying his character. It is to avoid
idolatry, to avoid making anything in the image of
God, that we place these creatures in the shrine."
Such was the religion of Egypt during thousands
of years, running back into the darkness of prehis-
toric times. Let us now suppose ourselves trans-
ported across the continent of Asia and dropped
into Northern India. Here, we meet with another
race, speaking a different language, worshipping
other gods. Here, descending from the great pla-
teau of Asia, they have brought into the Punjaub
their sacred hymns to Varuna, to Indra, to Agni ;
to the Sun, the Heavens, the Dawn ; to Fire, Air,
and all the elements. Here also has grown up a
vast priesthood, temples, sacrifices, prayers. Here
ascetics torture their bodies in hopes of getting an
ecstatic glimpse of God. Here they retire into the
desert, forget the world, immerse themselves in
long contemplation, and commune with the Spirit
of the Universe. Time disappears — Eternity is in
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 9
their mind and heart. They are hoping to escape
from themselves and to be absorbed in God. Such
was, and such in its essence has continued to be,
the faith of the Hhidus to this hour.
Once more change the scene. It is 670 years
later, 430 before Christ, and now we are in Greece,
assisting at Athens at the Pan-Athenaic Festival.
All Greece has come to worship the Virgin God-
dess in this fair city of her choice.
The city of Athens, the eye of Greece, is in its
glory. It is the age of Pericles. That age had
made Athens the centre of the highest civilization
of the world (b. c. 445-431). The three great
tragic poets, ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides,
are all Athenians, and their plays are performed
every day before the people. The greatest of ar-
chitects and sculptors, Phidias, has just completed
the noble buildings and statues which crown the
Acropolis. Socrates, thirty-eight years old, is
teaching and conversing with all whom he meets
in the streets of Athens. Anaxagoras, one of the
philosophers who first taught in Greece the doc-
trine of one Supreme Being, of one passionless Di-
vine mind who formed the world out of chaos, has
just been accused of impiety for denying the gods
of Olympus. On the hill of Areopagus, opposite
the Acropolis, Pericles has recently, with consum-
mate eloquence and pathos, defended Aspasia from
the same charge.
10 TEN, GREAT RELIGIONS.
And now we stand and view the procession as it
passes : old men leading the way, carrying green
branches of olives ; then a band of soldiers with
shields and spears ; then strangers from other
lands, each with a boat in his hand, to show that
he came from far ; next the women with pots
of sacred water on their heads; then a choir of
yomig men singing hymns ; next to them, select
virgins of noble families, carrying in baskets the
sacred implements of sacrifice ; then other girls
bearing umbrellas. So the procession winds its
way up to the Acropolis, the sacred hill, covered
with temples, all bright in the sunshine, gleaming
with polished marble, in fair proportion and match-
less beauty. And now we stand before the Par-
thenon, with its unapproached majesty, its long
colonnades, its pediment covered with noble stat-
ues of superhuman size, all enriched with vivid col-
ors, giving it an air of festive gayety.
On our left, raised on a high base, is the grand
Phidian statue of Pallas, seventy feet high, with
long lance and lofty helmet, looking far away over
the ^Egean Sea. The procession moves up the
steps, encircles the temple, walking around it be-
hind the columns ; then the virgins take the pe-
plos, the dress they have woven for Pallas, and put
it on the recumbent statue of the goddess, with its
ivory limbs and golden robes, in the Erectheum.
The Egyptian worship was sombre and mysteri-
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION". 11
ous, making death and another world its central
ideas. But how bright and joyous was that of the
Greeks, bringing dow^n their gods to enjoy with
them the happy festivals which rounded their
cheerful year !
Ao-ain the scene chano;es. We now o;o back to
the East and come to Persia, where we find still an-
other form of relio-ion.
The great monarchy of Persia, founded by Cy-
rus 100 years before, is now at this period, 430
years before Christ, already tending toward its de-
cline. A hundred years later, it is to fall before
the triumphant march of Alexander and his Mace-
donians. But now it still retains the ancient faith
of Zoroaster, though modified by the developments
of a thousand years. Herodotus describes it as it
existed at the period of which we speak. In his
insatiate desire for knowledge, he had gathered up
all that he could learn of Persia, and says : " It is
not customary for the Persians to have idols, tem-
ples, or altars. They offer sacrifices on the sum-
mits of mountains, not erecting altars or kindling
fires, but they carry the animal to a pure spot, and
there the sacrificer prays for the prosperity of the
empire, the king, and all others." " The Persians
believe fire to be a god."
Herodotus we find to be correct. Here are no
temples, no altars, no idol worship of any kind.
The Supreme Being is worshipped by one symbol,
12 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
fire, which is pure and purifies all things. The
prayers are for purity, the libation the juice of a
plant. Oruiazd has created everything good, and
all his creatures are pure. Listen to the priest
chanting the litany thus : " I invoke and celebrate
Ahura Mazda, brilliant, greatest, best. All-perfect,
all-powerful, all-wise, all-beautiful, only source of
knowledge and happiness ; he has created us, he
has formed us, he sustains us." '■'■ He belongs to
those who think good ; to those who think evil he
does not belong. He belongs to those who speak
good ; to those who speak evil he does not belong.
He belongs to those who do good ; to those who
do evil he does not belong." This is the religion of
the great race who founded the Persian Empire.
To these worshippers life did not seem to be a
gay festival, as to the Greeks, nor a single step on
the long pathway of the soul's transmigration, as
to the Egyptians ; but a field of battle between
mighty powers of good and evil, where Ormazd
and Ahriman meet in daily conflict, and where the
servant of God is to maintain a perpetual battle
against the powers of darkness, by cherishing good
thoughts, good words, and good actions.
After other centuries have passed, if we come
again into Asia, we find a new religion which, born
in India and afterward expelled from thence, has
converted by its zealous missionaries nearly the
whole of the East. Buddhism is a religion which
DESCRIPTION" AND CLASSIFICATION. 13
has been said to believe neither in God, nor the
soul, nor in a future life. We shall examine these
charo-es hereafter. But now o-o into the heart of
Tartary and you will find thousands of monks liv-
ing peacefully among the fierce tribes of the des-
ert, kind, self-denj^ng, engaged in daily worship
and prayer. Their monasteries extend through
Bm'mah, Thibet, China, and Japan. They teach
their simple faith to millions of human beings,
seeking to escape from the evils of time into the
perfect rest of an eternal world.
Come down still later, to the sixth century after
Christ. We are now in Arabia. It is mostly peo-
pled by wandering tribes, divided from each other,
roaming among the deserts of the vast peninsula,
in search of pasture for their flocks. So they had
roamed for a thousand years, hardly known to the
civilized world, exercising no influence upon it. So
they might have roamed for a thousand years
longer. But a man appears among them with a
fixed idea, a religious conviction, faith in one Su-
preme Being, one great master, and with an abhor-
rence for all inferior worship. His belief, after
years of toil, he succeeds in spreading. He unites
these children of the desert into mighty armies.
They pour out like a flood, and sweep across Af-
rica to the Atlantic, sweep over Syria and Persia
into India, and at last as far as China. It seems
to the world that its day of doom has come. But,
14 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
after this outbreak of conquest, follows an out-
break of invention, thought, study. Great schol-
ars arise among them, wonderful artists, who carve
stone till it looks like lace. Scientific inventions
follow in all directions. Europe goes to school to
Asia, it reads Aristotle in Arabic, it learns astron-
omy, chemistry, and medicine at Cordova. The
whole of this mighty flame which lit up the world
during many centuries was kindled in the thought
of one man, who really believed in God with all
his soul. Such is the power of religious ideas.
Thus everywhere on the surface of the earth,
from the earliest times, we find religions; each
great nation and race, Egypt, India, Persia, Greece,
Arabia, having its own special faith. Where did
they come from ? What is their value ? Wherein
do they differ ? Wherein do they agree ? Such
are some of the questions we shall try to answer
in this work.
Besides the religions I have specified there are
of course many others, such as that of China, Ju-
daism, the Scandinavian belief and worship, the
state religion of ancient Rome, the strange forms
and faith of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoeni-
cians, Carthaginians, the religion of the Druids,
and those found on the continent of America when
it was discovered, the worship of the Mexican and
Peruvian Empires. Lower down are the more
primitive forms of religion, the tribal worship of
desceiptio:n' and classification. 15
ghosts, evil spirits, genii. Thus we see the whole
world from the earliest times engaged in the wor-
ship of Unseen Powers.
How shall we brins; this chaos into order ? How
extricate some system out of this confusion ? Our
first attempt must be to classify these varieties
under some more general form. Then we can
compare them together to find wherein they agree,
and wherein they differ, and learn what there is of
truth or error in each.
§ 4. Definition of Religion.
But first let us look for some simple, yet com-
prehensive definition of religion. Passing by oth-
ers, I will for the present take this : "' Religion is
the worship and service by man of Invisible Pow-
ers, believed to be like himself, yet above himself."
This definition includes what is called " Animism,"
or the worship of departed human souls, and also
at the other extreme many forms of Pantheism.
Spiritual Pantheism personifies the All of Things,
making the universe full of feeling, consciousness,
vitality, and purpose. Spinoza, the arch-Pantheist,
declares that we must " love God as our supreme
good," that " we love God and are blessed." Shel-
ley, another Pantheist, has a hymn to " The Spirit
of Intellectual Beauty," which he addresses as a
being who can hear and answer ; " an awful love-
liness, which can give more than words express."
16 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
He says : " Let thy power supply calm to the life
of one who worships thee." Even Fetichism is in-
cluded in our definition, for the savage believes
that the rude stone or block which he looks on
with superstitious reverence, has an unseen spirit
acting through it. It is the spirit which is feared
or propitiated, and not the block. So we say that
" Religion is the tendency in man to worship and
serve invisible beings, like himself, but above him-
self." This supposes and includes the belief that
there is a communication between the worshipper
and the being worshipped, by which good or evil
may come ; that these beings can hear prayer and
receive service, and in turn can send down help or
hindrance, as they are pleased or displeased with
their worshipper. Dr. Hedge says that " Fetich-
ism is not materialism ; but it is one of the first
proofs of a spirit in man akin to the divine, that
he can thus invest inferior and even inanimate
creatures with the attributes of Deity." And
through all the long ascent of thought from these
humble idolaters to the worshipper of Him who is
" above all, through all, and in all," " in whom we
live, and move, and have our being," there is this
one element in common, the faith in unseen pow-
ers above us, but not far from us, with whom we
can speak, who can hear and answer prayer. No
matter how much these thousand religions of the
world may differ, they agree in this testimony ;
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 17
that man has a natural inborn faith in supernatu-
ral powers with whom he can commune, to whom
he is related, and that this life and this earth are
not enough to satisfy his soul.
§ 5. Religion is U^iiversal. Exceptional Cases examined.
Religion is so universal a phenomenon, that it
may safely be said to belong to human nature.
Though there may be tribes so debased as to man-
ifest little or no religious tendency, we still call
man a religious being. It would not affect our ar-
gument if such entire absence of the supernatural
faculty should be verified in certain instances of
depressed organizations.-^ As a matter of fact, how-
ever, no such instance has been found, certainly
not verified. Mr. Tylor, in his work on " Primi-
tive Culture," asks whether there have been any
^ See, among other works, Das ReUyionsioesen der rohesten NatuV'
volker, von Gustave Roskoff. Leipzig: BrocJchaus, 1880.
In this work we find that Waitz considers the lowest races to be
the Australians, Bushmen, Hottentots, and the inhabitants of Terra
del Fuego. Peschel (Volkerkunde) regards some of the Indians of
Brazil (Botucuden) as the lowest. Darwin, Fitzroy, and Wallis say-
that the people of Terra del Fuego ar,e below all others. Burchell
is of opinion that the Bushmen, D'Urville that the Tasmanian and
Australian, Darapier and Forsterthat the people of Mallicollo, Owen
that the people of the Andaman Islands (in the Bay of Bengal) are at
the bottom. Lubbock gives this place to the Lapps. Others give it
to the "Digger Indians." For authorities and references see also
PJieiderer's neligions Pkilosophie,Waitz Antkropologie, Sir John Lub-
bock's Prehistoric Times, Quatrefages' Human Race, Livingstone's
Journeys in South Africa.
18 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
tribes of men so low in culture as to have no relig-
ious conceptions whatever ? He replies by saying
that no evidence has been brought forward of the
existence of such tribes. He adds that the very
writers who assert the non-existence of religious
ideas among certain savages not unfrequently give
evidence themselves to the contrary} He quotes Dr.
1 For Bushmen, see Burchell and Campbell (Second Journey in
Africa). Livingstone is satisfied that the Bushmen worship a male
and female deity. Arbousset says (Arbousset et Danmas, Voyage
d' Exploration, etc.) that they believe in an invisible man in heaven,
to whom they pray before going to war. As to the Hottentots, Sir J.
Lubbock quotes Le Veillant, who says, " they have nothing which
approaches the idea of an avenging or rewarding deity." But Waitz
declares that Nott and Gliddon's comparison of the Bushmen to the
Ourang outang is a " shameless exaggeration, made in the interest of
slavery." Waitz thinks it is unjust to say they have no idea of relig-
ion; they worship the moon with dances and songs, etc. Kolb (Jour-
ney to Cape of Good Hope, 1719) declares they have religious ideas,
believe in a divine creator and ruler, and call liiui " the great Cap-
tain." The moon is their visible God, but their invisible God they
name " Jouma Tik-quoa," or " God of Gods."
As to the people of Terra del Fuego, Darwin (Descent of Man) says
they have no religion. But he describes their blowing into the air to
keep away evil sjiirits. Phillips, a missionary, complained of the
heat of the sun, and a native exclaimed : " Do not say that; he will
hide himself, and it will be cold."
As to the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands (see Uncivilized
Races) they also are said to have no trace of religion. But Quatre-
fages informs us that the authors who assert this on the strength of
Mowatt's testimony (The Andaman Isla7iders), overlook the evidence
of Michael Symes and Day. The first reports what was told him by
Captain Hockoe. Day tells us what he himself saw. Both state that
tlie Rlincopies worship the sun and moon, and the genii of the woods,
waters, and hills as agents of those higher powers; that they believe
DESCEIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 19
Lang as declaring that the aborigines of Australia
have no idea of a divinity, no object of worship, no
idol, " in short, that they have nothing whatever
of the character of religion or religions observance
to distinguish them from the beasts that perish."
This statement of Dr. Lang has often been quoted
as of high authority and as proof that men may
exist with no trace of relio-ion. But Dr. Lans; him-
self states that these very tribes attribute small-
pox to the influence of an evil spirit; that they
propitiate him by an offering of honey, and some-
times by human sacrifices. Another traveller
among these same savages, Mr. Ridle}^, says that
he everywhere found among them definite tradi-
in an evil spirit who sends the storms; and that they believe in a fu-
ture life.
The Tasmanians are denied, by Nidon and Dove (Lubbock), to have
any religion. But Tylor quotes opposite oijinions. Bonwick, Daily
Life of the Tasmanians, describes various religious ceremonies, and
says they believe in the ghosts of the departed. The Esquimaux and
Greenlanders are classed by Sir J. Lubbock as people with no relig-
ion. But it is certain that they believe iu a great number of spirits.
One is called an Innua, or possessor of the air, who also commands
the people through sorcerers, as to what they must not do. There
are also " Spirits of the Sea," " Spirits of the Fire," " Spirits of the
Mountains," ""War-spirits," and a mighty "Wind-spirit."
The religion of the Lapps is described by Klemm {History of Cul-
ture). They have Gods of the Sky, of the Thunder, and other ele-
mentary deities. They also worship the sun, and water.
The North American Indians are said, by Sir John I,ubbock, to
" have no religion, nor any idea of God." This is fully contradicted
by many writers, and the opinion is now known to be without foun-
dation. See, for example, the careful investigations of Brinton and
Bancroft.
20 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
tions concerning supernatural beings, of whom one
is the creator of all thino-s and another the source
of evil. Mr. Moifat, while declaring that the tribes
of South Africa have no conception of a future life,
himself gives the name used by them for the ghost
or shade of the departed. In regard to South
America, anotlier writer, Felix de Arana, declares
that the native tribes have no religious notion of
any kind, and then presently states that the Paya-
guas bury arms and clothing with their dead to be
used by them in another life, and that the Guavas
believe in a being who rewards good and punishes
evil. Evidently when these writers assert that
such tribes have no religion, they mean they have
no highly developed and organized religion, no
systematic theology. They call them irreligious,
just as the early Christians were called atheists by
the Romans, because they had no public religion
like that of Greece or Rome, no temples, altars, or
sacrifices. We are too apt to say that a man has
no religion who has a religion different from our-
selves, that a man has no Christ who believes in
another form of Christianity than ours, and that a
man is without God who worships the Deity by
other forms than our own. Socrates was called an
atheist because his conception of the Deity was
higher than that of his contemporaries. Spinoza
was called an atheist because he believed there
was nothing except God in the universe of being.
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 21
A similar narrowness of judgment is shown by
those who assert that certain savage nations are
wholly destitute of religion.
After examining these statements, Mr. Tylor
concludes thus : " So far as I can judge from the
immense mass of accessible evidence, we have to
admit that the belief in spiritual beings appears
amono; all low races with whom we have attained
to thoroughly intimate acquaintance."
§ 6. Religious Statistics of the World.
Look at the map of the world. The popula-
tion of our earth is supposed to amount to about
1,392,000,000. Of these about 100,000,000 are
what are called Pagan or Heathen, by which is
meant the lowest order of religious belief. Next
to these is the chief surviving Polytheistic Re-
ligion, that of the Brahmans, numbering about
175,000,000. Then comes the religion of Buddha,
which, with the system of Confucius, embraces
some 420,000,000. The Mohammedans number
201,000,000, and the Christians, including Roman
Catholic, Greek Church, Protestant, and smaller
bodies, amount to about 388,000,000, — in all
1,284,000,000. The whole of Eastern Asia is oc-
cupied by the Buddhists, India by the Brahmins,
large parts of Africa, Australia, and the South Sea
Islands by the Pagan tribes, parts of Europe, Asia,
and Africa by the Mohammedans, the largest part
22 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
of Europe and America by Christians. The two
monotlieistic religions — Christianity and Islam —
are -believed by nearly half of the populations of
the earth.
It may be said, however, that man outgrows all
supernatural religion as he becomes more fully
unfolded intellectually; that then, science, art, lit-
erature, humanity, take the place of God as the
object of devotion and service. To see if there is
any pronounced tendency in this direction, let us
take the instance of the United States, — a coun-
try in wdiich intellectual development has been
carried further among the masses than anywhere
else, unless we except parts of Germany. In 1850
there were in the United States 38,000 church
buildings; in 1860 there were 54,000; in 1870
there were 63,000 (and 72,000 active organiza-
tions). In 1850 the buildings would accommodate
14,000,000 of persons; in 1860, 19,000,000; in
1870, 21,000,000. The value of church property
in the United States in 1850 was $87,000,000; in
1860 it was $171,000,000; and in 1870 it was
$354,000,000. The property had more than
doubled in ten years, and these years included
the whole Civil War. This would not be so re-
markable in those States where there is a relig-
ious establishment, and where churches are built
and supported by taxation. But in the United
States church accommodations were provided by
DESCRIPTION A^D CLASSIFICATION. 23
the free act of the people themselves for more
than half the population, which was then less
than 39,000,000, including the young and old,
the sick, and those kept from church by all
other causes. For this 39,000,000, 21,000,000
of church sittings were provided, and this in the
land where 70 per cent, of the youth go to
school, and in which over 1500 millions of copies
of newspapers are published annually. Thus far
the progress of education has not hindered the
progress of religion. If anything can show that
man in the highest state of culture yet attained
continues to be a religious being, as he was in the
lowest — these statistics wdll go far in that direc-
tion. Thus a survey of the history of the world
brings us to the same conclusion with that of the
Apostle, that God " has made of one blood all na-
tions of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,
having determined their appointed times and the
bounds of their habitation, that they should seek
the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and
find him."
§ 7. False Classifications.
Paul here intimates that the Creator has not
only implanted in man the tendency to feel after
God, but also the capacity of finding him. It
would much diminish our confidence in this state-
ment if we were compelled to believe that the
vast majority of the race had utterly failed of
24 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
finding their Maker. Such, however, until re-
cently, with few exceptions, has been the teach-
in o* of Christian theology. Christianity, we were
told, is the only true religion ; all others are
wholly false, as bad as atheism or worse. Mo-
hammedanism is a soul-destroying imposture ;
Buddhism is a denial of God and immortality ;
the idolatries of the poor heathen are the wor-
ship of devils ; the heathen are not feeling their
way upward to God, but downward to eternal ruin.
Of course, when we had thus divided the faiths
of mankind by making one true and all the rest
false, these false religions were deemed hardly
worth studying, and were deprived of interest.
Who cares much for the difference between one
kind of falsehood and another ? Nor can Ave say
that man has a religious nature, if the vast ma-
jority of human beings have never found God.
We could hardly assert that sight was a natural
human function, if the greatest number of men
were born blind. How much more large, gener-
ous, and just, how much more full of inspiration
is the faith of Paul, that God has made all men
to feel after him and find him, and that he has
never left himself without a witness anywhere in
the world ?
Tlie old classifications of the religions of the
world were such as these :
True and False Religions.
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 25
Natural and Supernatural.
Paganism and Revealed Religion.
Spiritual Religion and Superstitions.
But such is not a scientific method ; for, instead
of beginnino; with the facts, it sets out from a
theory. It judges every question beforehand. It
also destroys our interest in the study, if we assume
that the peculiarities of the great majority of the
religions of the world are errors and falsehoods,
having no special meaning or significance. But if
we believe with Paul, that all the races of men are
seeking after God, the case is different. Then the
whole of the religions of mankind become at once
full of interest to us; they all contain some ele-
ments of divine faith. At all events, in the study
before us, we have only one interest, that is, to find
what they really are, and to compare them together
to discover their relations. Within a few years the
opportunity for such study has vastly increased.
Great progress has been made in the knowledge
of the oldest religions. The writings on the As-
syrian and Egyptian monuments have been deci-
phered, translated, and published. Many of the
sacred books of the Brahmins, Buddhists, Chinese,
and ancient Persians have become accessible by
the labors of European scholars.
In beginning this study it is desirable, after
defining religion, to find the true way of classi-
fying the religions. This will be our first step
26 TEN GREAT RELIGlOlSrS.
I
out of confusion, comparing them in order to dis-
tribute them into classes. The old classification,
as we have seen, was to divide them into true and
false, — Judaism and Christianity being true, and
all the rest false. But this classification assumes
at the beginning the very fact which should ap-
pear, if at all, as the result of an inquiry. We
wish now to find out what there is true, and what
false in each. This classification, therefore, will
not suffice. The same thing may be said of the
division into natural and supernatural religion, —
rational and inspired, and the like. All these as-
sume at the beginning what ought to come out at
the end, if it comes out at all.
§ 8. J. better Classification. Tribal, Ethnic, and CatJioUc.
The only true method of classification is to base
it on observed facts. If we look at the facts we
shall immediately see that the less highly organ-
ized religions, which show an undeveloped ritual,
priesthood, and creed, without sacred books, with
no religious architecture or music, and which ex-
ercise little influence on the worshipers, belong to
the undeveloped races, — those whom we usually
call savages. I do not like the word savage, for
it carries with it a touch of contempt and the ab-
sence of sympathy. Let us call them childlike or
primitive races. They have not yet attained to
national existence ; they exist in tribes. The first
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 27
class of religions, then, will be PrimUive Religions
or Tribal Religions.
Next we shall discover that many of the great
religions of the world are confined to nations,
each religion belonging to one nation, and never
going beyond its limits. Thus, the religion of
Egypt for many thousand years was confined to
Egypt alone ; the Assyrian religion to Assyria ;
that of Greece to the Hellenic race ; that of Rome
to the Roman people ; that of Confucius to China ;
that of Brahmanism to India ; that of the Eddas
to the Scandinavian or Teutonic races. They never
went beyond their boundaries, nor w^ished to go
beyond them. You never hear of missionaries
from Egypt trying to make converts in Europe to
Osiris or Isis. Egyptian temples were to be fcund
in Rome in later times, but they were for the use
of the Egyptians living there. Indeed, it was a
maxim in antiquity that each man ought to wor-
ship according to the religion of his nation, for
religion was a cult, not a beliefo
Therefore the second division in our classifica-
tion will comprise the Religions of Races or Na-
tions. I say races or nations, to meet the fact that
sometimes two or three nations of the same race
would hold the same religion, as, for example, the
Lacedemonians and Athenians, both belonging to
the same Hellenic race, and both adopting one
Pan-Hellenic religion. We will call our second
28 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
class Ethnic Beligions, from the Greek word eth-
nos, which means nation, and also race.
But now we find another order of religions
which manifest a tendency to overpass the bound-
aries of race, and to make converts outside. These
are religions which have a belief, and in which
worship follows faith. Such was the Jewish re-
ligion, which had confidence that the world must
at last worship Jehovah, and that all the Gentiles
would come to believe in him. Hence it was a
missionary religion, compassing sea and land to
make proselytes. ^ Such also, as we know, is Chris-
tianity, which believes in converting the world to
Christ. Such also is the religion of Mohammed,
which, beginning as an Arab religion, has con-
verted the Turks, the Persians, the Egyptians,
Hindus, and many other races. Such, too, is the
religion of Buddha, which sent out missionaries
very early, and converted the people of Nepaul,
Ceylon, Persia, Thibet, China, Japan, and other
countries. There is reason to believe that the sys-
tem of Zoroaster was also a missionary religion,
and part of the strength of Cyrus consisted in the
zeal of the conquering race to spread its religion
among other nations.
These missionary religions, then, we will call
catholic, that is, having a tendency to universal-
ity. Of the ten principal religions of the world,
five are ethnic and five catholic. The religions of
DESCRirTIOJ^ AND CLASSIFICATION. 29
Egypt, Greece, Hindostan, Rome, and Scandinavia
are ethnic ; those of Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster,
Mohammed, and Jesus are cathohc.
§ 9. Other distinctions bettveen Ethnic and Catholic Re-
ligions.
We observe at once that another distinction ap-
pea,rs, — the ethnic rehgions all grew up without
any prophet as their founder ; the catholic were
each founded by a prophet. The first class were
evolved out of the national life ; the second class
were taught by an inspired soul. This distinction
also is worth noticing, for it can hardly be acci-
dental.
Comparing again the ethnic and catholic relig-
ions, we notice yet another striking distinction be-
tween them. The religions founded by Moses,
Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, and Christ all
teach with more or less distinctness the unity of
God, recognizing one supreme power as the object
of worship. On the other hand, the ethnic or
evolved religions, as those of India, Egypt, Greece,
Rome, and Germany, were polytheisms, with very
little tendency toward unity. That the three re-
ligions of the great Semitic family, namely, those
of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism,
teach the unity of God there can be no doubt.
But this is also true in a less degree of the doc-
trines of Buddha and Zoroaster.
30 TEX GREAT RELIGIONS.
Another distinction between ethnic and catholic
religions is the greater morality and humanity in
the latter. In ethnic religions there is very little
connection between the service of God and that of
man. Religion, in them, is divorced from moral-
ity. But in the catholic religions the opposite
tendency is very apparent, though in different de-
grees, some of them showing much more of it than
others.
Thus in the mythology of Greece, as found in
its poets, there is no evidence that the gods re-
quired or expected righteousness and mercy from
their votaries. Not possessing these qualities them-
selves, they could hardly demand them of others.
Capricious, willful, jealous, envious, revengeful,
licentious, as they are represented to be by the
poets, having their favorites in whom they take
an interest, but indifferent to the general welfare
of mankind ; interfering only occasionally in hu-
man affairs, usually from some personal motive,
there is little moral influence to be derived from
their worship.
The religion of Rome was essentially a state re-
ligion, concerning itself very slightly with the vir-
tues of private life. That of Scandinavia made
salvation to depend on courage : the brave sol-
dier would go to Valhalla, and the rest of the
world to Nifelheim, or the under world. Of the
essentially moral defects of Brahmanism, and the
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION. 31
exceptional moral merits in this regard of the re-
ligion of ancient Egypt, we will speak hereafter.
It is certain, however, that religion and morality
are much more closely united in the prophetic or
catholic relio-ions than in the ethnic. Moses and
the Prophets, Mohammed, Buddha, Zoroaster, Con-
fucius, all inculcate a serious personal law of good-
ness. This connection reaches its full harmony in
Christ's placing together in one formula the duty
of love to God and love to man, making these two
forms of the same essential love.
All of these systems have their roots, however,
in humanity and its needs ; all have contributed
to the education of man, and all, as we may hope,
are finally to be reconciled and harmonized in that
ultimate synthesis of faith, the universal religion.
It will be one object of this work to endeavor
to see how this universal relio;ion shall arrive ;
whether by a further evolution of existing relig-
ions till they meet on a common plane, or by the
substitution of some new faith wholly different
from them all.
I shall accomplish what I wish to do in this
book if I can bring myself and my readers into
fuller sympathy with all forms of human nature
and all shades of human belief. Without losing
sight of the difference between Truth and Error,
we may sympathize with all our fellow-men who
32 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
are feeling after God. We shall have the spirit
described by the poet when he speaks of the
man : —
*' Slave to no sect, who takes no private road,
But looks through Nature up to Nature's God;
Pursues that chain which links the immense design,
Joins Heaven and Earth, joins Mortal and Divine.
Sees that no being any bliss can know
But touches some above, and some below;
And knows where Faith, Law, Morals, all began.
All end, in love to God and love to man.
For him alone, Hope leads from goal to goal,
And opens still, and opens on the soul.
Grasps the whole world of Reason, Life, and Sense
In one close system of Benevolence.
Wide and more wide, the o'erflowing of the mind
Takes every creature in, of every kind.
Earth smiles around, with boundless bounty blest,
And heaven beholds its image in his breast."
SPECIAL TYPES. 33
CHAPTER n.
SPECIAL TYPES. LAW OF DEYELOPMEN^T.
§ 1. Every Religion has its own Special Type. Two false
Theories. § 2. Race and Nationality. § 3. Increased
knowledge of Ethnic Religions during the last Century.
§ 4. Unity and Persistence of Type in Each Religion.
"^ § 5. The Typical ideas of Brahmanism, Buddhism, the
Zend-Avesta, and the Religion of Egypt. § 6. Corruptions
and Degradations of each Religion foreign to its original
Type. § 7. Affirmations true ; Negations false. § 8. Sim-
plistic Systems are Short-Lived. Coordinated antagonisms
necessary for continued Development.
§ 1. Each Religion has its own Special Type. Two false
Theories.
^T^HE subject of this chapter will be the special
character, or type of each religion ; that which
distinguishes it from every other, and enables it
to do a special work, different from every other ;
that which constitutes its power and its weakness,
makes it acceptable to some and distasteful to
others, develops a polar force which attracts or
repels ; its one special note which allots it a place
in the great harmony of the coming universal re-
ligion of mankind.
3
34 TEN GREAT EELIGIOXS.
I wish to show that each rehgion has this type
of its own, to which it adheres as long as it lives
and acts effectually, and also how we determine
what this type is.
Each religion has a type of its own, to which it
adheres during its whole growth and development.
Two views are opposed to this: (1.) The old
Christian theological division, which put in one
category all gentile or ethnic religions, calling
them pagan, heathen, idolatries, superstitions.
Because of this view no attempt was made to
discover the character of each, as they were ac-
counted equally false and worthy only of con-
tempt. They were regarded, not as natural
growths of the religious nature, but as mon-
strous deformities, proceeding from sin, and con-
taining only error. (2.) In the reaction from this
extreme some minds have gone to the opposite
extreme. The reaction from the view which
made all systems of faith outside of Christendom
equally false, has produced the doctrine that they
are all equally true. Similarities and resem-
blances have been found, and diversities ignored.
The ethnic scriptures have been searched for par-
allels ; these have been put side by side, and the
conclusion has been easily drawn that all these
faiths are essentially one, — possibly some a little
better than others, — but all teaching the same
essential truths concerning God and nature, man
SPECIAL TYPES. 35
and morality, sin and pardon, immortality and
retribution.
A scientific study of the faiths of the world will
show both these two theories to be false. It will
show that the same law applies to religions which
is found to prevail in the other departments of
nature ; that the law of development is from the
homogeneous to the heterogeneous ; from chaos
to cosmos ; from monotony to variety ; and that
the great order and harmony of the universe re-
sults always from the concord of these varieties
in mutual adaptation and cooperation. It would
be a very poor concert in which there were fifty
instruments all striking the same note and playing
the same part. The harmony of the universe,
like that of a chorus or a symphony, consists in
the consentino; varieties which accord in one divine
union of agreeing though different parts.
That this is so can be only proved by extensive
study, by collecting and comparing facts, and
making the induction when all these facts have
been ascertained.
The law of man's progress, in all the depart-
ments of human activity, has been from monotony
to diversity, and by combined diversities to final
cooperation and union. (1.) Monotony; (2.) Di-
versity; (3.) Harmony, — these are the three steps
of human progress, in the development of races,
nations, industries, literature, science, art, mental
and moral character.
36 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
§ 2. Race and Nationality.
Some philosophical historians, like Buckle, have
ignored wholly the fact and influence of race, and
attributed all the varieties of mankind to the in-
fluence of climate, soil, and external conditions.
Others, like Knox, have said that " race is every-
thing." The two views must be combined. The
power of climatic conditions is no doubt great;
but many facts show that it never succeeds in
breaking down the original type of a human
family. The Jews, Arabs, Teutons, Kelts, Ne-
groes, Mongols, preserve the same characters for
thousands of years, under wholly different exter-
nal circumstances. This shows that there was an
unexplained divergent tendency implanted in man,
which caused manhood to branch into races just
as the tree branches into limbs, and then subdi-
vides again into other smaller limbs. History
shows us the original Aryan race in Central Asia,
differentiating itself, according to this law, into
seven great branches, which have continued to
this day, viz. : the Hindu, Persian, Latin, Greek,
Keltic, Teutonic, and Slavonic varieties. Another,
the Turanian, has divided itself into the Mongols,
Tartars, Turks, Magyars. Another, the Semitic,
has branched into the Assyrian, Babylonian, Phoe-
nician, Jewish, Carthaginian, and Arab tribes. All
this has been proved by linguistic affinities.
SPECIAL TYPES. 37
But the law of differentiation does not exhaust
itself in the lower ethnological divisions. It works
on into the production of nationalities. The growth
of national character is something which belongs
even to modern history. We may be said to have
seen this differentiation going on under our own
eyes. We can observe in modern history the de-
velopment of such distinct human types as the
Italian, Spaniard, Frenchman, Englishman. A
mixture of races, under new conditions, results in
a new, distinct style of character — different from
either — as when oxygen and hydrogen unite and
produce water. The Englishman and Frenchman
have characters of their own, and by some pro-
cess of assimilation each citizen takes on more
or less of his persistent national type. Here, in
America, we see an American type gradually tak-
ing form, which, a hundred years hence, will have
become another distinct and self-maintaining na-
tional type of character.
And so, too, within any race or nation, every
new access of inward life shows itself in a new
opening out of divergent forms of mental activity.
So it was in Greece, when the wonderful Hellenic
life-impulse suddenly developed such original forms
of art and literature. Greek architecture, with its
different orders, arrived. Greek statuary came,
and rose to a sudden perfection. Plato and Aris-
totle developed systems of philosophy which have
38 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
persistently dominated human belief to this hour.
Homer invented the Epic. Herodotus and Thucyd-
ides discovered History ; Pindar the Ode ; jEschy-
lus and Sophocles, the Tragedy ; Aristophanes,
the Comedy; Demosthenes and others, Oratory.
What a branching out of the mind was here, and
how these forms of literature, having been once
developed, have persisted to this hour !
The same may be said of human arts and occu-
pations. In this direction we call it " the division
of labor." But it is the same law at Avork here.
All the trades and professions of civilized society
are differentiations of the homogeneous life of the
savage, who does a little of everything, into the
classified life of society, where each man works in
his own branch of industry and so cooperates with
the rest toward the harmony of the whole. Look
at a great city, and see the whole combination
which has grown up, not by any will of man, but
by the working of a steadfast social law, which
brings together just so many mechanics, so many
tradesmen, so many professional men, so many
bankers, engineers, writers ; and so builds up a
system of harmonious united cooperation.
I have gone over this rather detailed description
of the unfolding of human life from monotony to
diversity, and from diversity to harmony, to show
that there is nothing to surprise us if we find that
religion also pursues the same course, and that
each one develops a style of its own.
SPECIAL TYPES. 39
But every religion has its accretions of incon-
gruous material, its temporary relapses and revi-
vals, its corruptions and reformations ; and we
must therefore inquire how we are to find that
one special quality which belongs to it through all
these chano-es. How shall we know what is a sren-
uine development of the religion, and what is an
addition from some outside influence ?
§ 3. Increased knowledge of Ethnic Religions.
Fifty years ago, it would have been almost im-
possible to compare the religions of the world so
as to detect their difTerence and resemblance. At
that time little interest had been taken in this
study. And yet it would seem evident, that Chris-
tianity which proposes to preach the Gospel to
every creature, ought to be interested in know-
ino; the beliefs and habits of the nations which it
attempts to convert. In fact the growing interest
of human beings in each other, is one of the most
striking; marks of modern civilization. The im-
mense impulse given to the progress of our race
in modern times by the invention of printing, the
discovery of America, the Renaissance, and the
Reformation itself, came from a growing interest
of man in man. Printins; was invented because
writers wished to be read by larger multitudes;
they no longer said with Horace : " I hate the
profane vulgar, and beg them not to read my
40 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
poems." America was discovered, because of the
dim desire in the human soul to know all that
belonged to the globe. The old world was large
enough for the ancients; the greater heart of
mankind in the fifteenth century sent explorers
round the Cape of Good Hope, and across the
stormy Atlantic to seek new lands and new men.
The Renaissance meant the intense desire which
pervaded Europe to know what men thought, said,
wrote in the old world. Every one studied Greek
that he might read Homer, Plato, Sophocles, De-
mosthenes. The Reformation was a revelation of
the worth of every man as man, in the sight of
God. It taught that every soul could go directly
to God, without priest, ritual, or altar standing
between. The discoveries and inventions of our
time have not only brought men nearer to each
other, but have themselves been indications of the
desire of men to be brought nearer to each other.
The steamship, railway, telegraph, testify that man
every day becomes more interesting to man. On
every such invention might be written the words,
" Sacred to man."
Not the least among these discoveries have been
those made in the direction of human lauLiruao-e.
The linguistic discoveries of the last century have
added a new world to the domain of knowledge.
The whole world of Sanskrit literature was a
sealed book to Western scholars, till the time of
SPECIAL TYPES. 41
Sir William Jones.^ He was a good lawyer and
writer on law. He published a work on " The
Law of Bailments," which alone, according to
Judge Story, " would have given him a name
unrivaled in the common law for accuracy, learn-
ing, and power of analysis." When appointed a
judge in Bengal, in 1783, he plunged with ardor
into Sanskrit studies, and revealed to mankind the
magnificent literature of ancient India. Since his
time a succession of European scholars have fol-
lowed in this path, till now, by their translations
and commentaries, we can know as much of Brah-
manism as of the Religion of the Jews.
As Sir William Jones led the way in the study
of Sanskrit, Anquetil du Perron in like manner
opened to Europe the ancient religion of Zoro-
aster.^ The Zend-Avesta, which he was the first
to translate into any European language, has since
been studied by a multitude of scholars, like Spie-
gel, Haug, and others; and we are now able to
understand the character and type of this system,
which, through the great Persian Empire, exer-
cised so great an influence in human history.
" In the same way the languages which contain
the Sacred Books of Buddhism have become known
^ See, for the account of Sir William Jones and his work, Ten
Great Religions, Part I., page 78,
'-J See for an account of Anquetil du Perron, Ten Great Religions,
Part I., page 178.
42 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
to Europe, and this system also, in its origin and
development can now be understood. And out
of all these linguistic studies has arisen the mod-
ern science of comparative philology, which has
thrown so much light on the relationship of races
and nations. We now know more about the source
of the Greek and Latin languages than the Greeks
and Romans themselves knew. The same roots
and grammatic constructions being in the Sanskrit,
ancient Persian, Greek, Latin, Keltic, Teutonic,
and Slavic languages, show that these seven are
all branches of one original tongue ; that this an-
cient tongue, which long ago perished, was spoken
by a people inhabiting the high plateau of Central
Asia; that this primitive race (who have left no
other monument of their existence but these lan-
guages derived from that mother speech) were a
pastoral people, but not nomadic ; that they had
houses, oxen, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, and do-
mestic fowls ; that they possessed the plow, the
corn-mill and various tools, the decimal numera-
tion, doors, windows, and fire-places in their homes,
and that their year was of three hundred and sixty-
five days.
How do we know all this, and much more than
this, concerning this ancient Aryan race ? They
have left no record of their existence, except the
unwritten airy sounds, the fugitive and winged
words, which afterwards were found hidden in
SPECIAL TYPES. 43
later languages, like fossils in some old strata of
antediluvian rock. We know it by the modern
science of comparative philology. That shows us
certain things which have the same or similar
names in the seven derived types of language.
Thus, when we learn that house is in Sanskrit
dama, in Zend demana, in Greek domos, in Latin
domus, in Irish dahm, in Slavonic domu, from
which root also comes our English word domes-
tic, we may be pretty sure that the primitive
Aryans lived in houses, and called them by a
root-word from which all these have been de-
rived. When we learn that boat was in Sanskrit
nau, in Zend nawah, in Greek naus, in Latin navis,
in old L'ish nai, in old German nawa, we learn
that they knew something of what we call in
English ^laz^tical matters, or ?iayigation.
Li the same way we have learned about their
emigrations, — that the two oldest branches of the
Aryans left the high plateaus, east of the Caspian
Sea, and descended from Aryana ; the Hindus into
the valleys of the Indus ; the old Persians into
Northern Persia ; that the Latins preceded the
Greeks, both passing south of the Caspian and
Black Seas, and poured along the northern shores
of the Mediterranean ; that another flood of emi-
gration went north of the Caspian, and entered
Europe through Russia ; that the Keltic races led
the way, followed by the Teutonic and Scandina-
44 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
vian tribes, and finally by the Slavic people. All
this, of which the ancients knew nothing, has been
made known to us, during the last half century,
by European scholars. If you had asked an an-
cient Greek the derivation of the Greek word
thugateer, daughter, he could not have told you.
But we could tell him, for we find in the Sanskrit
its congener, thuckteer, which means both daughter
and milkmaid, — showing that among that people
it was the custom of the daughters of the house to
milk the cows.
All this and much more has come from the stud-
ies in which Sir William Jones led the way.
§ 4. Unity and Persistence of Type in each great
Religion,
We have spoken of the type of each great re-
ligion. Is there any rule by which to ascertain
that type ? In every faith there is something
transient, and something permanent; something
essential, and much that is accidental. But, in
order to compare two or more systems of religion,
it is necessary to be able to distinguish that which
is essential in it from that which is non-essential.
Thus idolatry has prevailed, both in Brahmanism,
Judaism, and Christianity ; but it would be unfair
to contend that in either instance these were the
natural and legitimate outcome of the faith. No
support for idol-worship can be found in the sa-
SPECIAL TYPES. 45
cred books of either sect; neither in the Old or
New Testament, nor in the Vedas. It is an ex-
traneous accretion, not a natural outgrowth. On
the other hand, there may be a logical develop-
ment of what, in the origin of the faith, was only
a germ. Thus Christianity is essentially a mis-
sionary religion, though the Church at Jerusalem
was at first reluctant even to receive the Gen-
tiles into their body. It seems to have had lit-
tle sympathy with Paul's efforts. And yet it is
on record that the founder of the religion, on
many occasions, expressed his interest in the out-
side world, and directed his disciples to go and
preach the Gospel to every creature. The same
spirit appeared in the successful attempts to con-
vert the German tribes ; and in the more dis-
tant missionary efforts undertaken, both by the
Eoman Catholic and Protestant branches of the
church, which are kept up to the present day.
The rule, therefore, which may be laid down for
determining the typical character of each religion
can be thus stated : " Whatever marks are found
in the system at its origin, and which continue with
it through all its changes, may be regarded as be-
longing to its idea, and as a part of its essence." ^
Thus considered, it will be found that each of
the great faiths which we are considering has its
^ This corresponds to the famous definition of Catholic Unity by
Vincentius Lirinensis: Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ah omnibus.
46
TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
one essential and central idea, to which every-
thing else is subordinate. All that persists in
the religion is in harmony with this idea, and
seems to grow naturally from it.
In the First Part of this work, I have placed
opposite to the title-page a diagram intended to
indicate in a general way the special type of each
of the " Ten Great -Religions." Eight are ar-
ranged around a circle, showing how they fill up
the rounded circumference of religious tendency.
They stand opposed and related thus : —
Brahmanism.
Spirit.
Substance.
Unity.
Zoroaster.
Freedom.
Right and Wrong.
Struggle.
Scandinavia.
Nature as Force.
Independence.
Battle.
Buddhism.
The Individual.
Nature as Law.
Progress.
Egypt.
Body.
Form.
Variety.
Islam.
Fate.
Divine Will.
Submission.
Greece.
Man.
Beauty.
Development.
Confucius.
Society.
The Past.
Conservatism.
This, however, is a suggestion, which is liable to
SPECIAL TYPES. 47
be altered and corrected on further study. Thus,
it might be more accurate to consider the Teutonic
faith as opposed to Buddhism, and the activity of
the Greek mind to the quiet of China. These last
misht then stand thus : —
Scandinavia.
Buddhism.
Nature as Force.
Nature as Law.
Individualism.
Association.
Struggle.
Repose.
Greece.
China.
Development from within.
Discipline from without,
Progress.
Conservatism.
Beauty.
Order.
These differences originate in race, and are as
permanent as race. There is no more persistent
factor in human affairs than that of race. Nation-
alities grow and decay, but the social tendencies
remain. After the Roman empire had fallen, the
race tendency to strenuous organization reap-
peared in the- Roman Catholic Church. It was
Roman imperialism revived, with the Pope for an
emperor. The vast Keltic emigration from Asia,
which had swept over all of Europe before the ar-
rival of the Teutonic tribes, had impressed their
qualities on all the nations derived from them.
One of these qualities was readiness to submit to a
chief, a tendency which resulted in Cassarism and
the Papacy, and is seen at this time in loyalty to
48 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
leaders in politics and religion. Wherever the
Keltic blood is found to-day, these traits manifest
themselves. On the other hand, the Teutonic
race, in all its ramifications, tended to independ-
ent thought and action, to individual rights and
personal freedom. Hence Protestantism origi-
nated with the German races, and holds its own
now only among those nations who are descended
from that stock. The strength of Protestant-
ism is in Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, England, and the United States. In
these nations the German blood predominates.
The strength of the Roman Catholic Church is in
these other nations who are most permeated by
the Keltic blood : France, Ireland, the Latin
states, and their descendants in South America.
Ancient Greece had a much smaller tincture of
this blood than Italy, and thus it offered a con-
stant resistance to Roman imperialism ; and the
Greek Church of modern times, next to Protestant-
sm, is the chief antagonist to the Roman Papacy.
How races originate no one is able to say, nor
is it important to decide. This differentiation of
mankind into tribes may have come from some law
of variation originally implanted by the side of the
law of heredity. All the members of the great
Aryan stock, Hindus, Persians, Greeks, Romans,
Kelts, Germans, and Slavs, have some common
marks in which they agree. All the Semitic vari-
1
SPECIAL TYPES. 49
eties are united by similar common resemblances.
This appears in their social customs, their personal
qualities, and their religions. Among the Semitic
nations God is seen as a personal unity of will.
Among the Aryans he appears as unity in variety.
Among the Turanians, the unity is lost in the va-
riety. The Turanians (Mongols, Tartars, etc.)
have therefore never succeeded in founding any
great religion, for they have borrowed Buddhism
from the Hindu-Aryans. Pure polytheism can-
not hold together; it is naturally disintegrated into
a multitude of separate modes of worship, in which
each God is independent of every other. The
polytheism of Egypt was rooted in a mysterious
unity behind the variety. The polytheism of
Greece had a supreme council of deities on Olym-
pus, among whom Zeus was the omnipotent chief.
The tendency of Aryan piety was away from
polytheism toward pantheism ; that of the Tura-
nian belief was in the opposite direction, from
polytheism toward atheism. The first of these
tendencies is seen among the Hindus and Greeks ;
the last in the systems of Confucius and Buddha.
Judaism and Mohammedanism regard the Deity as
the one alone, the Supreme Will, above nature as
its maker and ruler. Christianity was able to be-
come a universal religion by effecting a harmony
between Aryan and Semitic thought, in its doc-
trine of the Trinity. The meaning of the Trinity
4
60 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
is unity in variety, the unity of spirit in the vari-
ety of nature ; God, not only above all, but also
through all, and in us all. The Father was re-
garded as the creative power above nature, the Son
as the divine intelligence within nature, and the
Spirit as the life in the soul of man. The practical
object of this doctrine was to make possible a
union of Semitic and Aryan thought. As a formu-
lated doctrine it is now outworn, and its need is
gone. But at the time when it came, it no doubt
met a want, and did an important work. By modi-
fying the strict unity of Judaism, it satisfied the
needs of Aryan thought. But if we apply to this
doctrine our rule, as stated above, we shall see that
it is no essential part of Christianity, since it was
not found in the system in its origin in the teach-
ings of Jesus and his Apostles, and has never been
universally accepted by the church.
Four great religions, which a century ago were
virtually unknown to Western scholars, have in our
time been fully revealed. The work of Sir William
Jones, of Anquetil du Perron, of Champollion, and
of Burnouf, has been continued by a host of schol-
ars. We now are prepared to examine and under-
stand the religions of India, of Persia, the Bud-
dhism of the East, and the teachings so long hid-
den in the hieroglyphics of Egypt.
But unless we can obtain some clue to the ger-
minal and radical idea of each system, our minds
SPECIAL TYPES. 51
will be dissipated in a vast multitude of details.
Somehow we must find our way to the centre, and
seen from that point all will become clear and har-
monious.
§ 5. The Typical ideas of Brahmanism, Buddhism^ the
Zend-Avesta, and the Religion of Egypt.
(a.) The Essential Idea in Brahmanism. It
seems impossible to doubt that the most funda-
mental conviction in Brahmanism is the reality of
spirit, and that spirit is the only reality. All ex-
istence is phenomenal, and is rooted in spirit, which
is essence. Spirit is substance ; it is one ; it is the
Para-Brahm : above all things, through all things,
the reality in all things.
In the "Ten Great Religions," Part I., pages
116-123, I have quoted from the ancient Hindu
philosophy passages which support this view. In-
numerable others might be found to the same ef-
fect. The Vedanta philosophy makes the Deity
say, " I am the great Brahma, eternal, pure, free,
one, constant, happy, existing without end. He
who ceases to contemplate other things, retires
into solitude, annihilates his own life ; he under-
stands that spirit is the one and the eternal. The
wise man annihilates all the things of sense, and to
him they do not exist." "' The world," says San-
kara, " is Not-Being. It is appearance without re-
ality, a delusive show." The Vedanta says : "From
52 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
the highest state of Brahma to the lowest condi-
tion of a straw, all is illusion." The soul is a part
of God himself.
Such was ancient Brahmanism ; it was faith in
pure spirit. Its worship was contemplation and ad-
oration. The idolatry and polytheism which came
afterward make no essential part of it, though they
came by a natural reaction from an extreme spir-
itualism.
It was the worship of spirit, spirit as seen in all
nature. Its hymns and prayers, its epics, its phi-
losophy, were all intensely spiritual. The joy of a
Hindoo in the beginning was worship ; and his joy
to-day is Avorship. The tendency of the system
has always been towards pantheism, making God
the only reality, and absorption in him the highest
good. Hence it has run largely into abstract
thought and contemplation. It produced the first
anchorites, who wished to shuffle off the flesh by
the most extreme mortification of the body.
The same tendency to spiritual worship exists
unchanged in the Hindu mind to-day. That
curious phenomenon, the Brahmo sect, is a testi-
mony to the permanence of this type. This body
originated with Ram-Mohun-Roy, a very noble
Hindu reformer. His object was to persuade his
countrymen to forsake idolatry and become mono-
theists, and he appealed to their ancient scriptures
to prove that their uncorrupted religion was a pure
monotheism.
SPECIAL TYPES. 53
An offshoot of this system is that of which Chim-
der Sen is the head. His doctrine is that all the
great religions of the world are one. He speaks
with profound respect of Jesus Christ, as the chief
teacher of the human race, above all other proph-
ets. I quote a passage from a recent discourse of
Chunder Sen : —
" Remember your creed, one God, one Scripture,
and one family of prophets. Love the one true
God, and worship him every day. By daily wor-
ship make your lives holy. Attain communion
with the saints of heaven inwardly in your minds.
Eat their flesh and drink their blood, and turn
your bodies into vessels of holiness. In your lives
show the reconciliation of perfect wisdom, perfect
asceticism, perfect love, perfect devotion, perfect
conscience, perfect joy, and perfect holiness. Be
not satisfied with the fraction of any one virtue.
Do not covet the prosperity and pleasure of this
world. Preserve your lives with the food that
comes from mendicancy. Be happy in others' hap-
piness, and sorry in others' sorrow. Regard all
mankind as one family. Hate not, nor regard as
aliens, men of other castes and other religions. Be
ascetics, but live in the world in the midst of other
men, and let them live in you. And let both them
and yourselves live conjointly in God. There is
salvation in nnity, and peace in unity. Go in all
directions, east and west, north and south, and
54 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
preach the New Dispensation. Let no regard for
men cause you to mix with the dispensation what
does not belong to it. If any men meet you as
enemies, let the peace of your prayers descend on
their heads. Be poor and patient in spirit. Con-
quer contention with peace. Let peace and purity
flow into the place where you go."
The following " Garland of a Hundred Names "
is a list of titles of the Almighty adopted by the
New Dispensation as suitable to their theistic wor-
ship, the titles of the Creator as taught by eclecti-
cism : —
God, Lord, Holy, Great, Father, First Cause,
Supreme Spirit, Almighty, All-Merciful, Saviour,
Friend of the Poor, Moral Governor, Deliverer of
the fallen. Absolute Substance, Primary Force, Life
of life. Bodiless, Formless, Divinity, Adorable, An-
cient, Giver of success. Dispenser, Triumphant,
Heavenly King, Master, Eternal, Infinite, Self-
caused, Self-existent, Resplendent, Excellent, Om-
nipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Ocean of Love,
Fountain of Joy, Captain of the vessel of life. De-
stroyer of danger. Extinguisher of sorrow. Lord of
hosts. Abode of Beauty, Charmer of the soul.
Awful, Conqueror of Death, Providence, Teacher,
Creator, Preserver, Immaculate, One, All-witness,
Smiling Mother, Light of Truth, Sea of Nectar,
Necklace of the devotee, Crown of the martyr,
Glory of the saint, All-Seeing, Beautiful Eye, De-
SPECIAL TYPES. 55
fender of the weak, Blissful, Self-manifest, Con-
soler of the distressed. Healer of the soul diseased,
Everlasting, Chastiser of the wicked. Perfect, Inex-
orable Judge, Light of the eye. Supreme Intelli-
gence, Guide, Priceless treasure. Heaven of peace,
Without a second. Enchanter of the world, Queen
of the Universe, True, Gratifier of pure desires,
Household Deity, Bread of life. Endless Space,
Supporter of the ascetic. Infinite Love, Water of
the thirsty heart, Sovereign of all nations, Joy of
the worshipper. Sender of prophets. Eternal scrip-
ture. Harmony, Inspirer, Matchless, Ever-living,
Immanent, Invisible, Unfathomable, Comforter, Ar-
chitect, Sun of Righteousness, I am.
In our time, when so much of Western Philos-
ophy has committed itself to a sensationalism
which makes the very idea of the Infinite and
Eternal world an impossibility, it is a refreshment
to find this majestic Indian literature, beginning a
thousand years before our era, raising its solemn
and venerable voice in testimony that eternity is
the great realitj^, and that the human soul is made
to believe in the living God. This faith is not any-
thing artificial, but a native instinct. The great
Hindu race stands in the world to testify, through
thousands of years, that man belongs not only to
time and sense, but to that also which transcends
all the things which are seen and temporal. This
is the place of India and of the great Brahmanic
beliefs in the history of religion.
56 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
(b.) The Essential Idea in the Worship) of Egypt.
The ancient Egyptians covered the walls of their
temples and tombs with pictures and carved in-
scriptions. They also wrote down the details of
their lives on innumerable rolls made of papyrus.
They carved on the marble casings of the pyra-
mids, on the walls of public buildings, on the obe-
lisks and columns, the deeds of their kings, the
writings of their poets, and their Sacred Hymns ;
every spot of wall was covered with this indelible
writing. The Hindus, hving for eternity, cared
little for the events of time, and had no historical
records. The Egyptians, with an exactly opposite
tendency of thought, seemed to consider every
earthly event as providential and therefore sacred.
So they recorded everything. But their writing
was unintelligible to all but themselves. Neither
the Greeks nor Romans, while masters of Egypt,
were able to read this writing. It appeared to
them an unattainable secret, a hopeless mystery.
And so it continued till the younger ChampoUion,
born in 1790, made the greatest discovery of mod-
ern times in the domain of history, by decipher-
ing and translating the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Numerous scholars have followed in the path
opened by him ; and now the hieroglyphics of
ancient Egypt may be translated with as much
certainty as the writings of the classic authors.
The religion of India saw God pervading all
SPECIAL TYPES. 57
nature, but especially to be found dwelling in the
soul of man. Union with him was union with
Infinite Spirit, — the substance of the Universe,
the only reality. Time and the things of earth
are of no account, — only Eternity is true.
But the Egyptian religion looked for God in the
opposite direction ; in time and space ; in bodily
organization ; in the w^onder and mystery of all
forms of life ; in the instincts of animals. Animal-
worship merely meant the sight of God's thoughts
as embodied in each creature. Embalming was
preserving the body to receive the soul once more
after its long transmigration ; at least, such is the
opinion of some competent judges. No nation
ever laid such stress on the hereafter as the
Egyptians. Their whole religion seemed to re-
volve in a circle around the life to come.
This life to come was a continuation of bodily
existence, an extension of time and space relations
into another world. It involved a loug series of
transmigrations into various animal forms ; a long
struo-srle with a succession of demoniac enemies;
a kind of Pilgrim's Progress toward a final Para-
dise.
Every organized existence was to the ancient
Egyptian a manifestation of the Divine Idea. If
India saw God wholly above Nature, as an abso-
lutely Supernatural Being, — Egypt beheld him
immersed in Nature, — a perpetual Creator, pour-
58 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
inc'" life and beauty into all visible things. And
the mission of Egypt in religious history was to
develop this idea of the one Divine Life in all
natural existence.
No doubt the conception of one Supreme Spirit-
ual Being, above time and space, made a part of
this system. But it was the esoteric element, the
hidden mystery, the secret belonging to the inner
circle of adepts. From the popular worship it was
reserved by the priests, as something too abstract
for the sensuous temperament of the people. In
this race the African element predominated so
largely that their religion tended constantly to
embody itself in outward facts and forms ; in
temples, processions, pictures, and the worship of
Gods with human qualities.
(c.) The Essential Idea in the Worship of Zoro-
aster. The radical thought with the great prophet
of Persia is that of the eternal distinction between
right and wrong,^ and the duty of contending for
the right against wrong. The Gods and good men
are on one side in this great battle of time, the
demons and bad men on the other. The soldier
of Ormazd contends against Ahriman by good
thoughts, good words, and good actions.
This is the warlike element which reappears
from time to time in all religions. According to
this view religion is not rest, but battle. But it is
* See Ten Great Religions, Part I., pp. 132, 133.
SPECIAL TYPES. 59
a battle with invisible foes, fought with no earthly
weapons, but with the free power of a righteous
soul.
(d.) The Essential Idea of Buddhism. The sys-
tem of which Sakya-Muni was the founder, is at
present a vast mass of metaphysics, ritual, and out-
ward forms. But its central idea is very simple.
It is as moral in its way as that of Zoroaster. But
it is not a moral struggle for right against wrong,
in the hope of a triumph of good. It is simple
obedience to natural law. It is first discovering
and then submitting to the laws of the universe.
In this system the nature of things is the supreme
power, and this nature of things is on the side of
goodness. Every good act is rewarded, every bad
one punished, with inevitable certainty. Every
time one does right he goes up, whenever he does
wrong he goes down.
To sum up briefly these types, we may say : —
1. Brahmanism is faith in spirit, as the only sub-
stance, — a substance which gives unity to all phe-
nomena.
2. The faith of ancient Egypt was at the oppo-
site pole of thought. It saw the divine in variety,
not unity ; in body, not spirit ; in form, not sub-
stance.
3. The Scandinavian religion saw the divine in
nature, appearing as force, making life a battle
and placing morality in self-reliance.
60 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
4. The antagonist system to this was that of
Greece, which saw the divine manifested, not in
nature, but in man, having its essence in the beau-
tiful and its moraUty in natural human develop-
ment.
5. The system of Zoroaster was the worship of
free will in the creator and the created, and its
moralitv consisted in the free stru<»:o;le of rio-ht
with wrong, inspired by the hope of an ultimate
triumph of good over evil.
6. I find the opposite j)ole to this system in that
of Mohammed. Islam means the worship of one
God as supreme will, whose law is fate, and whose
service is submission.
7. Buddhism is the deification of the human
soul, saved by the knowledge of the laws of na-
ture. Buddhism makes morality consist in prog-
ress, by obedience to natural law as revealed by
Buddha.
8. The religrion of Confucius is reverence for the
past, and his morality is conformity to the highest
proprieties and conventions, as established by supe-
rior persons.
9. The essence of Judaism is the worship of one
Supreme Spiritual Being, the Maker and Lord of
all things. Its morality is obedience to his law,
which consists in lovins: and servinoj God and
man.
SPECIAL TYPES. 61
§ 6. Corruptions and Degradations of each Religion^ for-
eign to its original type.
When we succeed in grasping and holding the
radical motive of each system of belief, we are
able to see that much historically connected with
it is an adventitious accretion. Such phenomena
are either not to be found in the religion in its
origin ; or else have not continued to belong to
it during its subsequent development. No doubt
there is a reason why they came. They are not
to be considered as accidental. Nevertheless they
do not belong to the type, but are corruptions or
unessential additions to it.
Thus I do not consider as essential to Brahman-
ism the caste system, idolatry, the Indian Triad,
the incarnations of Vishnu or its developed poly-
theism. None of these appear in the Vedas. The
powers of Nature are there worshipped, but as
manifestations of something deeper, namely, the
spirit which pervades all Nature. These may be
shown to be the loo-ical errowths out of an extreme
and one-sided spiritualism, but do not belong to its
essential character.
In fact, we may say, generally, that the corrup-
tions and degradations of each religion are not the
natural outcome of its type, but of the one-sided
and exclusive development of that type. Monas-
ticism belongs to the type neither of Buddhism
62 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
nor Christianity, but consists in making the sav-
ing of the individual the end of all being. So the
caste system and hierarchal authority in Brah-
manism, in the religion of Egypt and in mediaBval
Christianity belong not necessarily to either sys-
tem ; but they are the logical result of making the
worship of God the main duty of man ; that is, of
the assumption that man was made for religion,
and not religion for man. For as soon as we yield
to this assumption, the all-important question be-
comes this : " What is the right service of God ? "
And this throws all the power into the hands of
the priesthood, whose business it is to see that
worship is ritualistically correct.
§ 7. Affirmations True; Negations False.
Of all the systems of belief which have had a
widespread hold on mankind, this may be posited :
that they are commonly true in what they affirm ;
false in what they deny. The error in every theory
is usually found in its denials, that is, in its limita-
tions. What it sees, is substantial and real ; what
it does not see is a mark only of its own limited
vision. The ground of this principle is that what
we affirm is usually the result of our knowledge ;
while what we deny merely indicates our igno-
rance.
The best illustration of this principle of the
essential truth of the affirmative side of any sys-
SPECIAL TYPES. 63
tern of thought, and that errors are usually in
denials, may be found in the ideas of the relio-ions
which we are examining.
Brahmanism, as we have seen, is faith in spirit
as the only substance, which gives unity to all
thinsrs.
In asserting this, it bears witness to a great and
eternal truth. The substantial reality of spirit, as
below all things, — substance in all forms, unity
in all variety, — this is the great reality which it
was the mission of the Hindoo mind to discover
and declare, and which it knows and declares
to-day with as strong a conviction as at first.
Through all its sacred and profane literature, —
in the Vedas and the Upanishads, the Baghavat-
geeta and Sakoontala, the great epics and the great
philosophies, — there runs forever this stream of
faith in the absolute and supreme reality of spirit.
But when Brahmanism left this safe ground of
assertion and affirmation, and went on to deny the
reality of time and space, soul and body, nature
and human personality — calling all these Maya or
illusion — it committed its fatal error, from which
many evil consequences have proceeded. In the
interest of piety, it lost the basis of morality ; in
its aspiration toward the unseen and eternal it
weakened the springs of human energy, and pre-
pared the way for that effeminacy of temperament
which has now, during many hundreds of years,
64 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
made this great race the slaves first of native
tyrants, and afterward of Mohammedan or Euro-
pean rulers.
Buddhism was a reaction from this one-sided
Hindu spiritualism. It came to assert the reality
of the human soid,^ and of the external universe.
These two assertions, or affirmations, are its great
merit. Like Brahmanism it is true in what it
sees; false in what it omits to see. It is right
in asserting nature, wrong in omitting spirit;
right in affirming time, wrong in denying eter-
nity; right in positing the finite form, wrong in
neglecting the infinite essence ; wise in its sight
of creation, foolish in its ignorance of a Creator;
and as Brahmanism generated an imperfect civili-
zation by its ultra-spiritualism, so Buddhism gen-
erates an imperfect civilization by its ultra-natu-
ralism. Both of them are arrested civilizations,
lacking ' the principle of continued progress.
§ 8. Simplistic systems are short-lived in their vital en-
ergy. Antagonisms necessary for a long-continued
development.
A single, one-sided view of life soon exhausts its
power of developing character. Antagonisms of
thought are necessary to progress; and the most
wonderful developments of national power and in-
^ The current opinion, that Buddhism denies the reality of the
soul, will be considei'od hereafter.
SPECIAL TYPES. 65
tellect are brief and evanescent if not sustained by
this continued antagonism of opposing but not
contradictory ideas.
This, for example, appears again in two other
forms of rapid national development, both won-
derfully exuberant for a time, though springing
from very opposite religious ideas, I mean those
of Greece and of Islam. I have already spoken of
the rapid rise and sudden decline of the Hellenic
genius. During about two hundred years this
splendid fire flamed up, and then faded away. So
it was with the equally wonderful, though not so
original, blossoming-out of Arab art, science, and
literature. The passage of two or three centuries
saw the beginning and the end of this strange phe-
nomenon.
The idea in the Greek religion, which was one
source of Greek development, was the sight of
something divine in human nature. The Greek
gods were men, human beings, divine men and wo-
men, living only a little way off, on the summit of
Olympus, occupied with human loves and hatreds,
f eastings and jests, wars, contrivances, deceptions.
They were in no sense supernatural, hardly alarm-
ing. They interfered but seldom in human af-
fairs, and if one of them became angry with a
mortal, some other god was sure to step in and be-
friend him. Each one represented some human
quality carried to its perfection : human wisdom.
66 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
courage, beauty, skill, adroitness, genius, geniality ;
these found their apotheosis in Pallas- Athene, in
Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaistos, Dionusos, Phoebus-
Apollo.
In this anthropomorphism there is something
true. There is a divine element in human nature ;
there is something godlike in man. Besides the
instincts which he shares with the animals, that
which is essentially human is something which
makes him akin to Deity. Man is the son of God,
and amid all his sin, folly, ignorance, and weak-
ness, the sparks of the divine fire are never wholly
quenched. He is capable of aspiration, generosity,
courage to defy death in a good cause, capable of
devoting himself to truth, and to the worship of
the infinite beauty. This fact of the divine ele-
ment in humanity, the Greeks saw ; and this was
the chief source of that wonderful development of
human faculties which came between the time of
the battle of Marathon, b. c. 490, and the reign of
Philip of Macedon, b. c. 360, or in about one hun-
dred and thirty years.
This sigrht of the capacities of human nature was
the great inspiration of Grecian development,
which was made possible by the liberty belonging
to Greek institutions, and the favorable position
of the race as to climate and geographical condi-
tions. But why, then, was the period of develop-
ment so brief, and so soon arrested ? Climate and
SPECIAL TYPES. 67
geography have remained the same till to-day ;
the race remains the same. What has become of
the Greek genius?
" Eternal summer gilds tliem yet ;
But all, except their sun, is set ! "
The cause of the rapid decline of Greek civiliza-
tion is to be found in the perpetual internecine
struggles and wars of the Hellenic tribes. Out-
ward force failed to destroy them while they were
united — want of union was their ruin. Freedom
without union was their danger. The human
polytheism of Greece secured their freedom, but
left them without union. The Pan-Hellenic festi-
vals were not enough. They needed to be bound
together as the Jews and Mohammedans and Chris-
tians have been bound together by the worship of
one supreme God. They had in their faith the
forces of humanity and freedom ; they needed
those of unity and order, — some common law,
some binding morality. This is my explanation
of the rapid fall of Greek civilization.
It may be said that Islam, which possessed this
unity, had an equally brief career of progress.
That is true. The religion of Mohammed is the
exact opposite to that of Greece. If the Greek
faith was inspired by humanity, variety, and free-
dom, that of Islam taught unity, submission, and
the absolute sovereignty of one God. Every Mo-
/
68 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
hammedan was the servant of the one true God,
and his mission was to convert the world to Allah,
and to his prophet. This great hope inspired and
united the tribes of Arabia, and is the only ex-
planation we have of that prodigious development
of art, science, literature, which followed the con-
quests of the Saracens. These Arab races had
been sleeping in their deserts for a thousand years,
a nullity in the affairs of the human race. A relig-
ious idea awakened them, and vitalized them into
amazing activity. They ran their strange career
for a couple of centuries, and then faded again into
apathy.
We perceive that Islam, like the Greek religion,
like those of India and Persia and Rome, like Bud-
dhism and the system of Confucius, has seen one
side of truth, — but failed to see the opposite. Is-
lam saw God, but not man ; saw the claims of de-
ity, not the rights of hmnanity ; saw^ authority,
failed to see freedom, — therefore hardened into
despotism, stiffened into formalism, and sank into
death.
The chief superiority of Christianity to other re-
ligions, as I shall hope hereafter to show, is not
that it taught what had never been known before ;
not that it contains only truth, while all the rest
contain only error ; but that it is all-sided, all-em-
bracing, hospitable to all truth. It is not exclu-
sive but inclusive. Each of the other great relig-
SPECIAL TYPES. 69
ions give us one side of truth. Christianity, by a
deeper inspiration, alUes itself with all truth.
But we shall be in the fullest sympathy with the
spirit of Jesus, if in these studies of other religions
we look for truth rather than error, for good rather
than evil. We shall not be able to understand
them, so long as they seem to us only the work of
priestcraft ; only an outbreak of superstition ; only
the exhibition of human weakness and error. The
larger view is the truer view. Each represents the
aspirations of the soul toward God ; each comes
from the highest, not the lowest part of man's na-
ture ; each contains some essential truth ; and each
has conferred on the world some lasting blessings.
They have all been, and all are, indispensable to
the development of mankind. They make a part
of the education of the world. We need them all ;
God needed them all ; they have been His prop-
erty since the world began. Every earnest seeker,
every sincere thought, is a blessing to the world.
The moral of our study is that of Mr. Emerson's
beautiful poem, "Each and All" : —
" All are needed by each one,
Nothing is fair or good alone."
70 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
CHAPTER III.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Two ways in which religions begin : suddenly, under the
influence of a Prophet ; or gradually, out of a national tend-
ency. § 2. Eeligions derived from previous religions, by im-
itation or reaction. Influence of the Greek upon the Roman
Theology; of the doctrines of Egypt on the teaching of
Moses ; of Buddhism on Christianity ; of Judaism and Chris-
tianity on Mohammedanism. § 3. Origin of all religions.
Three answers. Transformed sensations cannot give to us
the Idea of the Infinite. § 4. Belief in disembodied spirits
the first form in which the religious nature manifests itself.
§ 5. The world of Dreams, and its influence. § 6. Why do
Primitive Races fear Ghosts ? § 7. Demoniacal Possession
and Exorcism. § 8. In all childlike races religion is the
same. Animism the first step in religion, § 9. The next
step upward gives Polytheism. The Vedic Hymns. The
Character of Polytheism. § 10. Arrested and progressive
Development. The point of religious development reached
by Zoroaster. § 11. When Polytheism degenerates, it be-
comes Idolatry. The relapse of Brahmanism. That of Egypt.
How Religions Decay. § 12. The Mexican Religion at the
Time of the Conquest was the degenerate form of an ante-
rior Monotheism. Its mixture of pure moral teaching and
terrible superstitions.
§ 1. Tlie two ivays in which Religions begin.
rpiIE origin of religion is a question which
has been much discussed of late. Three
courses of the Hibbert Lectures in England
OEIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 71
have taken this for their subject. The first was
by Max Mliller, the second by Renouf, the third
by Rhys Davids, all eminent Oriental scholars.
The last work of Herbert Spencer examines the
same subject.
This question, however, is really two questions.
One asks wherein is the root and source of Relig-
ion ; the other inquires how each special religion
began ; in what movement it had its origin.
Looking" for a moment at the second of these
topics, we find that Religions begin very differ-
ently. Some are slowly unfolded by a gradual
process out of the life of a nation or race. This is
the fact with what we have called Ethnic religions,
as those of Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, Scandi-
navia. So far as we can see, these all gradually
took form, in accordance with the character of the
nation or race.
But the other class, which we have called Cath-
olic religions, come more abruptly ; not so much
by development as by a kind of crisis. These all
proceed from the personal influence of some in-
spired soul. They are prophetic religions. Thus
arose, not slowly, but in a few years, the systems
of faith and worship taught by Zoroaster, Buddha,
Moses, Christ, Mohammed. The beginnings of re-
ligions, therefore, greatly differ, according as they
grow out of a national tendency, or are taught by
some inspired prophet.
72 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
§ 2. How religions are derived fro77i previous religions ?
Another question in regard to the beginnings of
specific rehgions is this : Are they ever derived
from each other ? Does one ever originate in an-
other ? It is certain that one national form of be-
hef or worship may be greatly indebted to another.
Thus the religion of Rome was largely borrowed
from that of Greece. Creuzer affirms as a promi-
nent fact that there was a concourse of Oriental,
Pelasgic, Samothracian, and Hellenic elements in
the religion of Rome. The Romans were, no
doubt, an imitative people, with very little origi-
nality. They borrowed and begged their stories
about the gods, from Greece or elsewhere. Jupi-
ter was a transformed Zeus, Apollo was Phoebus
under another name, Venus was Aphrodite, Mer-
cury was Hermes, and so on. But, as Hegel long
ago remarked, these resemblances are superficial ;
the two religions were radically different. The
Roman gods were prosaic persons, with little char-
acter of their own ; in fact, servants of the state
and performing various useful offices. There was
a Jupiter Pistor, presiding over bakers. There
was a goddess of ovens ; another, Juno Moneta,
who took care of the Roman coin. There was a
goddess who presided over doing nothing, Tran-
quillitas Vacuna. So that, after all, the Roman re-
ligion and worship had each a character of its own,
wholly diffei'cnt from that of Greece.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 73
It is sometimes asserted that Moses borrowed his
monotheism and the Jewish ritual from Egypt, be-
cause he was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptian^.
The sacred books of Egypt taught the unity and
spirituality of God, the immortality of the soul, and
a future judgment, besides a morality of justice
and mercy. The Jewish priesthood was in some
respects like that of Egypt, and the two rituals
had some analogy with each other. But here
aorain the resemblances are on the surface, the dif-
ferences are radical. The doctrine of the divine
unity was a secret doctrine in Egypt, but it was
made by Moses the public faith of the nation.
The polytheistic idolatry, which constituted the
public worship of the Egyptians, Moses made a
crime. And the doctrine of a future life, which
played so large a part in Egyptian faith, is no-
where distinctly taught in the Books of Moses.
The strikino: fact in reg;ard to the two relio-ions is
not that they resemble each other, but that they
differ so essentially.
The resemblances between Buddhism and medi-
aeval Christianity are so great that it seems at first
as if one must have copied from the other. We
find, in both, monks living in monasteries, mendi-
cant orders taking the three vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience, telling their beads on a
rosary, going about begging, with bare feet, shaven
74 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
crowns, and a rope round the body. We find in
Buddhism and mediaeval Christianity, bells, images,
and holy water, a service in a dead language,
choirs, priests, processions and incense, abbots,
monks and nuns, the worship of saints and angels,
confession, fasts and purgatory, reverence for a di-
vine mother and child, relic-worship, pilgrimages
to the shrines of saints, and even a pope in each,
with his triple tiara. And yet history shows us
that neither could have borrowed from the other,
that there was no contact or intercourse between
the two systems, but each developed these remark-
able coincidences of ritual independently of the
other, out of common human needs and human
tendencies. This proves how unwise it is to infer
from similarity of form in any two systems that
one was derived from the other.
Islam, perhaps, more than any other faith, de-
rived its essential doctrines from preceding relig-
ions. Nearly every dogma in the Koran is taken
from Judaism or Christianity. And yet Moham-
medanism came, not as a continuation of these,
but as a reaction against them. It was a revolt
against the narrowness of Judaism and the laxity
of the Christianity of that region. Especially, it
was a declaration of the unity of God against the
saint-worship of the East in those days.
In fact, a new religion is much more likely to
come by a reaction against an old one than an im-
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 75
itation of it. Christianity was a reaction against
the dead formaUsm of Judaism. Islam was a reac-
tion asrainst the dead formalism of Eastern Christi-
anity. Protestantism was an anti-sacerdotal and
anti-ritual reaction against the formalism of medi-
aeval Christianity. And so, Buddhism was a reac-
tion ag-ainst the sacerdotalism and ritualism of
Brahmanism. It rejected the whole system of
caste and salvation by a priesthood. It taught, as
Luther taught, salvation by faith. It made all
men equal before God, as Protestantism made
them equal. Its ritual came later, after its early
energy of faith had begun to decay. For as spirit-
ual life goes out, forms come in. When the ship
of faith can no longer pursue its voyage over the
storm-tossed sea of life, it comes to anchor in the
quiet harbor of ritualistic worship.
Special religions, therefore, begin either as
growths out of a national life and national charac-
ter, by the original influence of some great pro-
phetic soul, or by a reaction against something
one-sided and extreme in an existing: faith.
'O
§ 3. Origin of all religion.
But when we come to the origin of all religion,
and ask whence religion itself arose, there are
three answers : an original Supernatural Reve-
lation; a Natural Revelation by religious ideas
planted in human nature ; or the transformation of
76 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
the experience of the senses into something higher
by a process of evolution. Of the first we shall
not speak, but briefly cout^ider the two others.
The philosophical theory that there is nothing
in the human consciousness beside transformed
sensations, is obliged to deny to man a religious
nature. It has even led a certain school of thouorht
to deny that we possess ideas which certainly ap-
pear to be not only universal but necessary —
such as Cause, Substance, the Soul, the Infinite.
Nothing which cannot be derived from sensation
is allowed to exist as knowledge. There are two
things which all mankind think that they know,
namely, their own existence, and the existence of
an outward world. But since these are not de-
rived from sensation, it has been thought neces-
sary to deny their existence. We certainly do
not and cannot know the reality of an outside
world by sensation alone ; all that sensation re-
veals is its phenomena : form, color, resistance,
and so forth. Therefore John Stuart Mill, faithful
to his sensationalistic philosophy, has defined our
knowledge of the outside world to be merely " a
permanent possibility of sensation," giving us not
even sensation, but only " a possibility of sensa-
tion " in place of a real universe. Herbert Spen-
cer denies that we have, or can have, in our mind,
any conception of the Infinite, or of Creation, or
of a First Cause. These three are all, he says, un-
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 77
thinkable. I do not stop to answer his argument,
which has been sufficiently refuted by Mr. Marti-
neau and others. I merely call attention to his
philosophical position, to show how absolutely nec-
essary it was that he should trace the origin of
religions to some outward perception, coming
throuo-h the senses. He therefore derives them
from dreams. A savage dreams, he says, and his
dream seems real. He gets the notion of another
world, and of his own possible existence therein,
and of his existence apart from his body. Hence
the belief in ghosts, ancestral spirits, ancestral
worship and the like.
The truth in this view I shall attempt presently
to show. Meantime I merely remark that we cer-
tainly have in our minds note the conception of a
Supreme Power, of an Infinite Creator, a First
Cause, a just, holy, benevolent being — all- wise,
all-good, all-powerful. These ideas are not de-
rived from sensation ; then they must have come
some other way. The brook does not rise higher
than its fountain. No sensation of hardness, color,
smell, taste, form, can by any transformation be-
come thought, will, memory, love. Something
must be added to it not there before. There is no
objection to the theory which assumes that every-
thinc: in natm^e and the soul was evolved from a
nebula, provided we grant either that everything
evolved was first involved, or else that everything
\
1
78 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
not there has been added since. Assuming that un-
developed man has in his soul the germs of a re-
ligious nature, just as he has the germs of a ra-
tional, moral, and social nature, let us inquire next
how they are unfolded, in what way they first
manifest themselves, and through what processes
they pass to their highest manifestations.
§ 4. Belief in disembodied Spirits the lowest form in
which Religion manifests itself.
Those w^ho have searched most deeply into the
nature of tribes in the lowest state of development
can generally trace a belief in one Supreme God.
But this monotheism is latent, not active. The
active prominent form of religion among such sav-
ages is dread of ghosts, and fear of malignant
powers. The idea of a ghost comes to them from
the instinctive consciousness that the soul within
them is independent of the bodily life, and will
survive it. Ghosts are supposed to be souls with-
out bodies — beings who can see without eyes, hear
without ears, strike without a hand — who can
think, feel, love, hate, remember, be angry. In
short, they are men minus the body, and ^;Zz^s the
power of suddenly appearing and disappearing,
going and coming with rapidity through far dis-
tances. This belief is universal among the lower
races. How did it come ? The so-called modern
Spiritualists will say, " From the fact that there
V
OEIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 79
are ghosts, and that they have been seen by these
people." But putting aside this explanation as
thus far unverified, how could this universal belief
arise ? The explanation is easy enough if we be-
lieve that man is conscious of an immaterial and
immortal soul, which is his real self, his ego. That
this ego is not body is proved to him because he
knows, it, not through his bodily sense, but by his
consciousness ; because this ego, or soul, thinks,
feels, loves, hates, remembers and foresees, hopes
and fears; that this ego thus exercises certain
powers which are separated by an impassable gulf
from physical sensations. Though wholly unac-
quainted with the simplest philosophic or meta-
physical definitions, every man is quite sure that
his soul and its phenomena cannot be described in
terms of matter ; that a thought cannot be said to
be white or black, hard or soft ; that pain cannot
be weighed in scales, nor pleasure measured by a
foot-rule ; that you cannot say of hope, memory,
or love that they are squares or triangles, fragrant
or odorless ; that you cannot attribute the taste of
sweet or sour to the imagination. These distinc-
tions may be hidden from the wise and prudent,
but are certainly known to babes.
Knowing thus the essential character of soul and
its distinction from body, the primitive or childlike
man assumes that death, which dissolves the body,
does not destroy the soul. His soul continues to
80 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
exist as a disembodied spirit. Until he obtains
some theory of a distant Heaven, or underground
Hades, or Tartarus, he very naturally supposes
that the disembodied spirits remain near by. They
are believed to appear by night, because in the dim
shadows of darkness many objects may assume the
aspect of a human form. They disappear at day,
because in the daylight no such error is possible.
§ 5. The world of Dreams and its influetice .
Thus primitive religion begins with a belief that
we are surrounded by an unseen world of sj)irits
like ourselves. Then the wonderful phenomena
of dreams suggestjf another step of belief. Dream-
ing is so common that we do not often consider
what a very strange fact it is in our life. We
spend nearly a third of our life in a world of im-
agination, not reality. We walk in an imaginary
world, see and converse with imaginary beings,
encounter and escape imaginary dangers. We
awake convulsed with terror, glad with mysterious
joy, troubled by forebodings. If we did not for-
get the largest part of this experience, we should
probably find that our sleeping life is much more
rich in excitement, adventure, and suggestion than
our waking hours. To the child-man, to whom
the outward order of the visible universe is so im-
perfectly known, the realm of dreams seems prob-
ably more real than it does to us. Dreamland is a
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF EELIGIONS. 81
vast domain, close by, which he enters every night
with his soul, leaving his body behind. When he
leaves his body wholly behind at death, he natu-
rally believes that his soul enters some such world
as that of dreams. Hence, in addition to his be-
lief in spirits, comes a conception of a spirit-land.
As he enters the dreamland every night, and comes
from it to his earth-world every morning, he can
see no reason why the spirits should not some-
times leave their dream-home and enter his wak-
ing-world.
§ 6. Why should primitive races he afraid of disembodied
spirits.
But why should primitive man Ire afraid of
ghosts ? Why should supernatural beings be con-
ceived as more often malignant than beneficent.
For the same reason that he distrusts strangers.
Most primitive peoples imagine the strangers
who first come to their shores to be enemies,
bent on rapine and devastation. Their unhappy
experience has taught them that most strangers
are their enemies. The condition of chronic want
in which these people so often live — exposed to
hunger, cold, poverty — leads them to invade
each other's territory for plunder. But there is
another and perhaps more potent reason for their
fear of spirits. A universal intuition of the rea-
son gives to all men, as soon as the intelligence
82 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
awakens, some conception of cause and effect, —
in other words, assures them that nothing can
take place without a cause. Now all causes are
divided into physical and spiritual,;^— those which
act through the great machine of nature, and
those which originate in will, whether human or
superhuman. The progress of knowledge tends to
releg-ate more and more of the causes workino;
around us, to the realm of nature. When an epi-
demic breaks out, we do not ascribe it to a malig-
nant spirit, but to imperfect drainage or bad air.
When a tornado sweeps away a town in Iowa or
Kansas, we do not say that a demon of the air has
done it, but explain it by some meteorological an-
tecedents. The great fires which desolated Michi-
gan are not ascribed to the anger of Agni, but to
the long previous drought. But to the mind of
the uncivilized man, unstored with these explana-
tions, which are our commonplaces of knowledge,
every unusual, sudden, unexplained disaster is
supposed to be the immediate work of an evil
spirit. As a man, he must believe that every
event has its cause ; as an uneducated man, he is
unacquainted with physical causes, and so assumes
spiritual causes for any uncommon event. Com-
mon events do not disturb him. When he throws
a stone into the air and it falls again, he neither
thinks of this as the work of a spirit, nor as the re-
sult of gravitation ; but he simply says, " It falls
OEIGm AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 83
because it is heavy." The causes for common
events in the outward world he finds in the nature
of things. But strange, unexpected events he as-
scribes ' to the spirit-world ; and, as these are
mostly disasters and misfortunes, he believes in
malignant spirits more than in good ones. The
supernatural, invisible beings around him are like
the men around him, capricious, irritable, violent.
These characteristics he finds even in men of his
own tribe, but every time he meets a stranger he
is apt to encounter an enemy. The supernatural
world is full of such strangers, hence he fears
more than he hopes from their interference in his
affairs. But how can he ward off these dangers ?
Who can tell what can placate the hostile invisi-
bles ? Some of his tribe think they know what
ought to be done, hence sorcery and sorcerers.
Amono; the childlike races these are universal. It
is exactly the same motive which leads so many
among ourselves to take quack medicine and call
in quack doctors. An ignorant man, in his dis-
tress, will believe any one who declares with great
confidence that he can certainly help him. That
is all that the child-man does. He believes in his
sorcerer or medicine-man.
§ 7. Demoniacal possession and exorcism.
The same belief in evil spirits and their power
we find in the time of Christ among the Jews,
84 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
with whom some forms of disease, as epilepsy and
insanity, were supposed to be the work of demons.
And no wonder, for such diseases seem to show a
kind of possession. A change of mental and moral
character is a well-known symptom in cerebral
disease. The generous man becomes avaricious,
the peaceable man quarrelsome, the cheerful man
gloomy, a sweet temper grows morose and suspi-
cious ; hence the notion of demoniacal possession.
In malarial disease, a man may be helpless from
fever every third day, and apparently well during
the two intervening days. Does not this diaboli-
cal periodicity naturally suggest that an evil spirit
comes and goes on these occasions ? The man,
among the undeveloped races, who knows how to
drive away such demons, is the sorcerer. Hence
the universal practice of sorcery among the child-
like races.
Belief in demoniacal possession and sorcery has
continued until a recent period, even in the Chris-
tian Church. The sorcerer in Christendom re-
ceived another name, and was called an exorcist.
The change of name certainly marked a develop-
ment of the idea into a higher form. The sor-
cerer among ethnic races uses magical processes,
and not only casts out evil spirits, but invokes
them in order to injure an enemy, or to destroy
the life of his foe. The Jews, who were the prin-
cipal exorcists in ancient times, professed to cast
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 85
out demons partly by adjuration and partly by the
use of a certain root called Baaras.^ After Chris-
tianity prevailed, the Christian exorcists were con-
sidered the most powerful. By the name of Jesus,
and the sign of the cross, they thought they could
cast out the demons who had resisted the enchant-
ments of the Pagan exorcists. All the early Chris-
tian fathers believed in this power. Tertullian, in
the midst of a fierce Pagan persecution, makes a
deliberate offer to test the whole question between
the two religions by the ability of the Christians
to cast out any demon who may have taken pos-
session of a sufferer. He declares " If we Chris-
tians cannot make the demons confess aloud their
diabolical character, we will consent to be put to
death on the spot." Abuses of this custom caused
a council in the fourth century to limit the exer-
cise of exorcism to an order in the church called
exorcists, who were regularly ordained. Every
heathen, at his conversion, was supposed to be
possessed by an evil spirit, which must be cast
out before he could be baptized. The exorcist
breathed on him, made the sign of the cross on
his forehead and breast, and said : " Exi, immunde
spiritus, et da locum spiritui Sancto Paraclito."
" Go out, evil spirit, and make room for the Holy
Spirit, the Comforter." In the Roman Catholic
Church exorcism is still practiced, not only on
^ Josephus, Antiquities, viii. 2. § 5.
86 TEN GREAT RELIGION'S.
enurgumens (or possessed persons), but the oil
and water are exorcised before being blessed, in
the baptism of infants. The exorcist is the third
of the minor orders in the Roman Cathohc Church.
Exorcism in the Christian Church was, however,
never used, as in ethnic reHgions, to torture and
kill one's enemies ; it was not connected with mys-
terious magical operations, and it has now nearly
passed out of Christianity, lingering in the Catho-
lic Church rather as a tradition than as a living
belief.
§ 8. Religion not differentiated in childlike raees. It is
Animism.
We see that in all childlike races relio-ion is the
same. It is not as yet differentiated. Though
these races are widely separated, and have never
come in contact with each other, nor with edu-
cated man, they hold a uniform faith. This uni-
versal religion which embraces the tribes of Aus-
tralia, the Hottentot and Bushman of South Africa,
the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, the tribes of
North America and South America, and the Esqui-
maux of Greenland, is Animism. All these races
believe in a soul, which exists after the body dies,
and in a world of spirits, from which departed
souls may return to earth ; in beneficent or malig-
nant influences from the supernatural world, in
conjurors and sorcerers, and the power of magic.
ORIGIX AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 87
Apart from all theory about the origin of religion,
this we see, as a matter of observation, to be the
beginning of religion. The first supernatural no-
tion of the undeveloped man is of the continuance
into a supernatural world of that mysterious entity
which we call soul. It is a very natural inference
that not only the souls of ancestors are m that
world, but that other kindred and more powerful
spirits are there too. Hence the universal primal
belief in superhuman and supernatural powers,
who interfere for good and evil, occasionally or
constantly, in human affairs.
This primitive belief evidently comes from
within, not from without. All undeveloped races
believe in ghosts j but whether ghosts are ever
actually seen or not continues very doubtful. The
belief, therefore, which is so universal and so
strong, does not arise from any outward facts
known to be certain and universal. It is devel-
oped from within, from the supernatural element
in man, the power of soul, which, even in the low-
est state, is above nature, — the power of thought,
contrivance, energetic will, persistent desire, which
can bend and alter outward things to serve its
purpose.
§ 9. Polytheism is the next step upward from Animism.
The next stage in the historic development of
religion takes us out of Animism into Polytheism.
r
88 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Two changes now appear : first, tliat whereas
Animism comes chiefly from the consciousness of
the powers of the soul within us, polytheism is
mainly derived from the observation of nature
about us. The root of faith remains the same, a
belief in other personalities like ourselves. But
the character of these personalities is a concep-
tion taken from the phenomena of the outward
universe. Some things man can do, other things
are evidently above his power ; these last must be
the work of higher beings. The primitive man
sees that he depends on powers higher than any-
thing; in himself. He cannot make the sun rise orl
set, summer come or go, fruits ripen, rain fall, yeti
without these events he cannot live. There is at
higher power which causes the sun to shine, the
God of light. There is another powder which col-
lects the clouds and sends the rain, the God of
wind and storm. Hence comes nature- worship, as,
the second stage of religious development, but dif-
fering among different races, according to the type
of the race, and the geographical position. The
Vedic hymns adore one spiritual power, which
dwells in the sun, the air, or the fire, and in other
elements of nature. The number of these dei-
ties is differently given in different hymns. One
ancient commentator makes them three deities.
Many texts declare that there are thirty-three ;
others assert that there are three hundred, or
ORIGIN AKD DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 89
three tbousaiicl. Sometimes these gods are said
to be the children of heaven and earth (Dyaus
and Prithivi), " whose marriage," says Albert Re-
ville, " forms the foundation of a hundred my-
thologies." So Homer, ^schylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides call earth the " Universal Mother." So
too, as Tacitus tells us, the ancient Germans called
the earth "Mother."
The Vedic hymns are addressed in turn to " Va-
runa," the all-surrounding sky; to "Indra," god
of storms; "Agni," god of fire; " Surya," the
sun; "Ushas," the dawn; " Yama," god of death;
to time and night, and to other beings represent-
ing physical power and change. God, as mani-
fested first in one then in another natural phe-
nomenon, was the central idea of this polytheism.
The gods were personified, but were not persons ;
behind them all was the universal spirit, and,
therefore, each was alternately worshipped as the
supreme, omnipotent God.
If the Vedic j^oljtheism represents God in na-
ture, worshipping the manifestation, the ancient
Egyptian polytheism represents God heJibid na-
ture, and the Greek polytheism gives us God
wholly detached from nature and developed into
human beings, with human passions, experiences,
and enjoyments. The Greek gods are men, full
of human life ; the Vedic gods are the powers of
nature ; the gods of Egypt are abstract symbols.
90 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
But through all the polytheisms of the earth
there runs this one conviction, that the whole
outward universe is filled with spiritual powers.
Behind all matter is spirit ; above all that we see,
is the unseen ; the phenomena which pass before
our eyes in nature do not come from any iron fate
or any blind chance, but from intelligence, pur-
pose, a will that chooses, a heart that desires, a
mind that creates. In all polytheisms there is
unity and variety ; in some of them the unity is
more pronounced, in others the variety.
§ 10. Arrested and progressive development. Point
reached hy Zoroaster. The Duad.
Animism thus develops itself naturally into
polytheism. But at this point, in some religions,
the development is arrested ; in others the move-
ment goes forward. The Vedic religion passed on
into Brahmanism, which was the worship of a
Triad — Brahma, the Creator; Siva, the Destroyer ;
and Vishnu, the Restorer — in which the circle of
change was completed. Some of the Vedic proph-
ets and sages were occupied with the problem of
creation. Out of this came in one part of India
the worship of Brahma. On another class of
minds the destructive force of nature laid a
stronger hold. Where the first saw life, growth,
adaptation, development, the second class of think-
ers saw decay, war, death, destruction. The wor-
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 91
ship of Siva originated in the latter view. As
Brahma represented all the creative powers of na-
ture, so Siva represented all the destructive forces
of nature. Then came the Vishnu worship as an-
other step. Admitting that there i§ creation and
destruction in nature, it is evident that there are
also forces which restore and renew, and maintain
the harmony of the world. The antagonistic
forces of nature are brought again into peace, and,
after all struggle, a great unity and harmony re-
main supreme. This is represented by the Triad
worship as we find it in the Hindu religion.
The ancient Persian race, in the religion of Zo-
roaster, did not for a long time reach this concep-
tion of a supreme existing harmony, but saw in
nature only perpetual war.
Zoroaster, a highly moral person, saw evil as a
hateful power, very present and real, and to be
fought with forever. To him good and evil rej)re-
sented everything in nature. A fearful elemental
and spiritual war is forever going on around us,
and we are to be soldiers of the good. We have
to fight on the side of Ormazd, King of Light, i
against Ahriman, Prince of Darkness. In the pres-
ent age there will be no end to this terrific war, in
which all the powers of the universe are engaged,
on one side or the other. But in the last days,
after this age has come to an end, good will tri-
umph and all evil disappear, transformed into pu-
92 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
rity, truth, and love. The rehgion of Zoroaster,
then, may be considered as the prhnitive religion
which had passed up through a Polytheism like
that of the Vedic system into a dualism, where it
was long arrested, chiefly by the vast influence of
this great prophet.
§ 11. Degenerate polytheism becomes idolatry. How Re-
ligions decay.
While the development of the Persian religion
was long arrested in the Duad, and that of India
for a time in the Triad, other Polytheisms degen-
erated into idolatry. Idol-worship is polytheism
pushed to its extreme limits. In this degenerate
system, which has so widely prevailed, the unity in
nature-worship has been wholly overcome by the
variety. The divine powers have been detached
from the All of Things, and become independent
local deities, each worshipped in his own home and
at his own altar. Such were Baal and Ashtaroth
in Syria, Juggernauth and Rudra in India, Osiris
and Typhon in Egypt, Artemis at Ephesus, Aphro-
dite at Cyprus and Corinth. In this form of wor-
ship, passions, instead of being restrained, are dei-
fied. Each man worships the God after his own
heart, and so justifies his own limitations. He
makes his gods not merely like himself, but lik^
his lower self, his one-sided self.
Social religions, like social institutions, are sub-
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 93
ject to dilapidation and relapses. Many religions
stand before us in history as majestic ruins.
When you penetrate the thick jungles of Yucatan,
and come on the ruins of Palenque, you find vast
structures, covered with carved ornaments and
mysterious symbols, indications of a lost race, a for-
gotten creed, and a long-buried civilization. So it
is with many religions, as they emerge into the
light of present knowledge from the profound
night of an unknown past. Instead of being ar-
rested at an upward stage of development they
have all the mark of being the decayed remains of
purer and nobler religion. In the case of Hindu-
ism, we have the whole story of this rise and prog-
ress, followed by a decline and fall. We see it
commence in a pure nature-religion, w^hich is a
thinly-veiled Monotheism. We see it developed
into a vast system of philosophies, ethics, litera-
ture, art. Meantime a priesthood has grown up
and acquired supreme control. Under its influence
a complicated theology is developed and a ritual
formed. As the first stage appears in the Yedic
hymns, the second is seen in the laws of Manu, the
three great systems of philosophy, the poems of
Kalidas, and the two epics. Then followed the
third period of gradual dilapidation, when w^orship
became idolatry. Theology degenerated into the
myths of the Puranas, and the pure morality of
earlier times disappeared in ceremonial sacrifices
94 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
offered to a Pantheon of cruel or voluptuous dei-
ties. In this case we see the process of dilapida-
tion and decay which has been going on for thou-
sands of years. The decay has been going on, but
dissolution has not come. Life still remains in this
religion, and the possibility of revival. The heart
of India is still full of reverence for the unknown
God, who is behind its idolatries ; it is still held by
its ancient Vedas, as by an anchor, to a better
faith. It is, therefore, a dilapidated and relapsed,
but not a dead religion.
A worse fate befell the religion of Egypt. High-
est in the earliest period, it gradually degenerated
to the hour when it finally disappeared and passed
away forever. It began in a pure monotheism, as
is positively affirmed by Herodotus, and con-
firmed by De Rouge and Renouf . It declared that
Grod is the only One, whose life is Truth, that He
has made all things, and that He alone has not
been made. " More than five thousand years ago,
in the valley of the Nile, the Hymn began to the
Unity of God, and the immortality of the soul, and
we find in the last ages Egypt arrived at the most
unbridled polytheism." ^ " The sublimer parts of
the Egyptian religion are demonstrably ancient,"
and " its last stage was by far the grossest and
most corrupt." The oldest inscriptions emphasize
justice, mercy, love of right, hate of wrong, kiud-
^ P. Lc Page Renouf, Uibbert Lectures, 1879, p. 91.
ORIGIN- AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION'S. 95
ness to the poor, reverence for parents, But in
the later periods these high moral ideas disap-
peared from the monuments. Epicurean notions
come in. The Litanies of Ra on the royal tombs
of the XlXth dynasty are already pantheistic,^ and
the editor of these litanies, M. Naville, remarks
that the pantheism which had taken possession of
Egyptian thought had abolished the ideas of right
and wrong which appear earlier, and notably in the
Book of the Dead. The reverence for animals,
which was at first symbolism, became pure idola-
try. Even the grand faith in immortality is lost in
an Epicurean denial of a hereafter. A dead wife
addresses her husband thus from the sepulchre :
" 0 my brother ! my spouse, cease not to eat and
drink, to enjoy thy life, follow thy desires, and let
not care enter thy heart, as long as thou livest on
the earth. For this is the land of darkness and
abode of sorrow. No one awakes any more to see
his brethren, nor knows father nor mother. I long
for water. I long for air."
Both in the religion of India and in that of
Egypt, this process of degeneracy may probably
be traced to the influence of a priesthood which
had become the ruling power in the state. An es-
tablished priesthood is apt to lay more and more
stress on ceremony and ritual, on the letter that
kills rather than on the spirit which gives life. A
like tendency in Judaism put a stop to its natural
1 Renouf, p. 234.
96 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
development, and made the reform necessary
which took place m Christianity. The same hard-
ening of the life of Christianity into an extreme
magnificence of worship, under a caste of priests,
compelled the Reformation of Luther. Such a re-
vival may still come in India. There the reformer
may appeal to the records of the primitive relig-
ion in the Vedas, as Luther appealed to those in
the New Testament.
§ 12. The 3Iexican Religion the degenerate form of a
higher faith.
Having seen the course taken by these two
great nature religions, — that of Egypt and India,
where we have been able to pursue historically
their decline from a primitive form of Monotheism
to a corrupt Polytheism, — we can imagine what
the course has been in other systems of whose his-
toric development we are ignorant.
Take, for example, the Mexican religion as it
was found at the time of the Spanish conquest.
This Aztec system bears all the marks, not of one
J evolved from a lower condition of development,
but of one lapsed from a higher. As described
by Prescott, it had an elaborate ritual, a powerful
priesthood, magnificent places of worship, and a
developed theology. " The priests," says Prescott,
""had digested as thorough and burdensome a rit-
ual as ever existed in any nation." "The sacerdo-
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 97
tal order was very numerous ; as may be inferred
from the statement that five thousand priests were,
in some way or other, attached to the principal
temple of the capital. The ranks and functions of
this multitudinous body were discriminated with
great exactness. Those best instructed in music
took the management of the choirs. Others ar-
rano-ed the festivals according^ to the calendar.
Some superintended the education of youth, and
others had charge of the hieroglyphical paintings
and oral traditions ; while the dismal rites of sacri-
fice were reserved for the chief dignitaries of the
order. At the head of the whole were two high
priests, equal in dignity, and inferior only to the
sovereign. Some of the priests were attached to
the worship of particular deities ; others lived like
monks, under the severest conventual discipline.
They were called to prayers three times a day,
and once at night; were frequent in ablutions and
vigils, and in mortifying the flesh by cruel pen-
ances of fasting, flagellation, and other austerities.
They heard confession and gave absolution as in
the Roman Catholic Church, and priestly absolu-
tion was received in place of the legal punishment
of offenses. As in Europe, ancient Egypt, and
India, a vast amount of land was annexed to the
temple for the support of the priesthood ; so much
so as to impoverish the empire. The temples were
very numerous. They were called Teocallis, or
98 TEN GREAT RELIGION'S.
Houses of God. They were pyramidal in form,
with a square base, each side being sometimes a
hundred feet long. They were in terraces, more
than one hundred feet high; on the top was a broad
area, on which stood one or two towers, the dread-
ful stone of sacrifice, and altars with the perpetual,
inextinguishable fire. Six hundred of these ever-
burning altars were within the inclosure of the
great temple of Mexico, and during the night illu-
minated the whole city with their flame. Every
month was consecrated to some protecting deity,
and almost every day fixed in the calendar for
some appropriate celebration. Many of these
were of a festive sort, consisting of light songs
and dances. Processions of women and children,
bearing fruits and garlands, alternated with the
procession of the priests, winding round the mas-
sive sides of the temples in full view of the peo-
ple. So in the Pan-Athenaic processions at Athens,
they circled the Parthenon behind the colonnades,
appearing and disappearing as they passed behind
the columns. In the Mexican ceremonies' the
priests were visible from the furthest parts of the
capital, as they circled the pyramid, rising higher
and higher, from terrace to terrace, toward the
summit and its altar of sacrifice.
Beside a supreme deity, the Aztecs worshipped
thirteen others of the first rank, and two hundred
or more of a lower rank. One was the God of
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIONS. 99
War, to Mliom multitudes of human victims were
sacrificed. Another, a more humane being, was
God of the Air, patron of agriculture, and giver
of happy days.
Exactly as in the Brahmanic and Egyptian sys-
tems, there was the conception of one Supreme
Being, only partially eclipsed by the later Poly-
theism ; we also find here pure moral teachings,
and simple, happy forms of worship, associated
with the awful cruelties of human sacrifice. In
the formula for confession and remission of sins,
the early moral teaching and the later horrors
are seen together. The priest said : " 0 merciful
Lord, thou who knowest the secrets of all hearts,
let thy forgiveness descend, like pure water, to
wash away the stains from the soul. Thou know-
est this man has sinned, not from his own free
will, but from the influence of the sign under
which he was born." After enjoining various
penances and mortifications, among which he is
commanded especially to procure a slave to be
sacrificed to the Deity, the priest concludes by in-
culcating charity to the poor. " Clothe the naked
and feed the hungry," he says, "for remember,
their flesh is thine, and they are men like thee.''
By the confession of the missionaries, the virgins
and youth dedicated to God were pure and full of
devotion. But with this were combined the bloody
sacrifices, which, according to the native tradi-
100 TEN GREAT EELIGION'S.
tions, began only about two hundred years before
the Spanish conquest. These horrible sacrifices
reached an extent unparalleled in the history of
any other religion. On those accursed altars the
number of human victims has never been esti-
mated at less than twenty thous'and every year.
The skulls were preserved, and the Spaniards
counted in one building 136,000. All this was
done as a matter of conscience and religious duty,
just as the Inquisitors in Spain burned Jews and
heretics, and just as Alva murdered the Protestants
in Holland. These horrors are in all cases the sio;n
of a degenerate religion. And such religions, for-
tunately, must either be reformed, or come to an
end. The Inquisition, with its horrors, has been
reformed out of the Roman Church ; the worship
of Moloch in Syria, and the savage cruelties of
Mexico, brought about the destruction of both
these religions.
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 101
CHAPTER IV.
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL EELIGIONS. ANIMISM,
POLYTHEISM, PANTHEISM.
§ 1. Analysis of the idea of Deity. God as Creator, Supreme
Being, Infinite Being, Providence, Justice, Holiness, Unity.
§ 2. Animism as the lowest form of religious belief. The
Idol or Fetich in all religions. § 3. Polytheism in all relig-
ions. Origin of Polytheism. § 4. Pantheism in all religions.
Evils of Pantheism. § 5. The Truth in Polytheism. La-
tent Monotheism in Polytheism. § 6. Truth in Pantheism.
§ 7. The Imperfect Monotheism of the Buddhists. § 8. The
conception of God the important matter ; the name given to
him unimportant.
§ 1. Analysis of the idea of God.
T3EF0RE speaking of the Idea of God as it
"^ exists in different religions, we must first
inquire what this idea is? and whether it is sim-
ple or compound, primitive or derivative, given by
intuition or formed by experience.
That the idea of God is not simple but complex
appears as soon as we analyze it. Sometimes we
call God creator of all things. But that this is
no necessary conception of the Deity is evident
from the fact that in many religions this notion is
102 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
absent. Thus it is absent from the vast system of
Buddhism, which omits an intelHgent will as the
author of the universe, and declares that things
rise and fall, come and go by nature. It is also
absent from the religions of Greece and Rome, ac-
cording to which the gods themselves, no less than
men, were developments from Chaos. Zeus, the
supreme God, was not the author of the universe,
but was evolved from a lower type of deity.
Some of the philosophers taught the creation of
the universe by the supreme being as self-revela-
tion ; but this conception made no part of the pop-
ular religion, as it does in the teaching of Zoroas-
ter and of Moses.
Another part of our own idea of Deity is that
of the Supreme Being, the sovereign ruler of all
things. This is evidently a different notion from
that of Creator, and may exist apart from it.
Thus among the Greeks Zeus came to be regarded
as the supreme ruler of the world, and appears as
such even in Homer, though that poet never sug-
gests that he was the creator of the world. So,
likewise, in Buddhism. The Buddha is the su-
preme ruler of the universe at the present time,
though not its creator, since it existed before
Buddha himself began to be.^
Another form which the idea of Deity takes in
* Zeus in the Greek mythology was sometimes regarded as having
supreme power, but never as possessing perfect goodness.
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 103
our minds, is that of the infinite being ; the God
who is omnipotent and omniscient, all-wise, and
all-mighty. And yet it is possible to conceive of
a beino; infinite in some attributes, and not so in
others. The Deity may be regarded as supreme
and infinite power, but not as supreme and infinite
goodness ; or the reverse.^
Still another conception of the deity is that of
Providence, which always is a part of our own idea
of God, but which is not necessarily contained in
that of ruler. A deity may govern his creatures,
without caring for them ; he may reward and pun-
ish, without providing for their individual needs.
This conception of God as providence, which is ex-
pressed so strongly (for example) in the Psalms of
David, is wanting in many other religions. The
Greek gods took very little interest in human af-
fairs, and when they did, were mostly moved by
caprice or personal whim. In most religions the
deities might be placated by prayers or sacrifices,
and so induced to aid the suppliant whom other-
wise they had no intention to help.
1 Even in our time John Stuart Mill thought it probable, from his
consideration of the problem of evil, that though the Deity is per-
fectly good, he is not all-powerful. So also in the system of Zoroas-
ter, Ormazd is all-good, but limited in his power by Ahrinian. In
some parts of the Christian Church, the power of Satan has been so
intensified, that it has been a limitation to the Divine omnipotence.
God has been regarded as ruling over heaven, Satan as absolute over
hell, and the sovereignty of the earth as divided between them.
104 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Infinite Justice also forms a part of our con-
ception of deity. This is his prominent attribute
in the Jewish religion, commonly taking the form
of rewarding the good and punishing the wicked.
But in Judaism this retributive justice is limited to
the present life. In the religion of Egypt, on the
other hand, it is limited to the future life. Man is
left here free to work out his own will, but must
appear hereafter at the judgment-seat of Osiris to
be rewarded or punished. A similar imperfect ret-
ribution hereafter is to be found in the relis-ions
of Greece and Rome. Christianity has usually
dropjoed the Jewish conception of a present retri-
bution, and adopted the Egyptian doctrine of a
future judgment and future retribution.
Still another part of our idea of Deity is Holi-
ness. This also made an essential element in the
Jewish conception, but is hardly to be found else-
where except in the teachings of Zoroaster. That
God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, that
he loves good and hates evil by his very nature ;
that is that he is essentially a 'moral being, and
that right and wrong are not tnade so by his will,
but become so in accordance with his very essence,
this is a conception of the deity which we chiefly
derive from Judaism. [
I have emphasized the fact that if the deity is a
moral being, and has a moral character, actually
loving goodness and alien from evil, then the
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL KELIGIONS. 105
foundation of duty is not in the arbitrary will,
but in the essential nature of God, Eight is right,
not because God commands it, but he commands it
because it is right. Goodness does not consist in
obedience to the divine will, but in conformity to
the divine character. This is the doctrine of the
Old Testament, and is one of its noblest character-
istics. In this point of view Mohammedanism is a
relapse, and is lower than Judaism ; for it makes
God only an arbitrary sovereign, whose will is to
Jbe obeyed without any reference to its moral char-
acter. Ultra Calvinism has sometimes taken a sim-
ilar ground.
And again. Monotheism, or the divine unity, is
still another part of our conception of Deity. A
being may be sovereign, holy, wise, good, in the
highest possible degree, and yet not be the One
Alone. It is certainly possible to conceive of such
a being as supreme among others like himself,
which was the Greek conception of Zeus presiding
on Olympus over a council of deities. The other
conception, which we call Monotheism, and which
seems to us so natural, is one which the human
race has found it hard to attain and difficult to
keep. It easily passes into Polytheism on the one
side and Pantheism on the other. When we re-
gard the Deity as the infinite substance, filling all
in all ; as the infinite life in organization and
growth ; as the motive power or infinite force in
106 TEN GEE AT RELIGIONS.
nature, as the absolute being on whom every-
thing else depends, we easily go over into that
Pantheism which says that everything is God.
The tendency, however, in most religions, has
been in the opposite direction, namely, toward Poly-
theism. Religions based on the worship of natu-
ral objects are polytheistic, for the outward world
manifests variety more than unity.
One more form assumed by the idea of Deity
must be spoken of. Whenever the distinction be-
tween right and wrong, good and evil is strongly
dwelt upon, it becomes difficult to attribute both
principles to one and the same being. Then
comes Ditheism, or the doctrine of two gods, hos-
tile to each other : one God, the author of lisrht
and good, the other of darkness and evil. This
view appears most strongly in the religion of Zo-
roaster, the essential idea of which is of a perpet-
ual war between the powers of light and of dark-
ness. An evil being, armed with terrible power to
create evil and tempt to sin, also appears as Ty-
phon in Egypt, as Siva in India, as Loke in Scan-
dinavia, and as Satan among the Jews, Christians,
and Mohammedans.
We therefore see that the fully-developed idea
of the Deity is a very complex one, certainly in-
cluding these elements : —
1. The Supernatural Being, or one above na-
ture.
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 107
2. The Creator of all things, or the First
Cause.
3. The Supreme Being, or the Euler of all
things.
4. The Infinite Being, regarded as infinite in
one or more attributes.
5. The Perfect Being, or infinite in all attri-
butes.
6. As Providence, or a being caring for his crea-
tures, and providing for them.
7. A Holy Being, or one having a moral charac-
ter, and in whom the distinction between good
and evil is in his nature, not merely his will.
8. The Substance which gives reality to the
universe.
9. As Law, extending through all things, giving
permanence to the order of the universe.
10. As Love, or universal fatherhood, inspiring
Hope for unlimited good to all.
11. As Unity, or the One alone.
Now these eleven different ideas enter into the
most advanced conception of Deity, to a greater or
less degree. The complete idea, therefore, is com-
plex, and not simple.
§ 2. Animism, as the Loivest Form of Religion.
The lowest aspect of faith, Mr. Tylor has called
Animism, as we said in our last chapter. By this
he means the belief in spiritual powers, as opposed
108 TEN GREAT RELIGTOT^S.
to the whole philosophy of materialism. This he
holds to be the groundwork of the philosophy of
religion in all mankind, from the lowest savage
up to civilized man. It implies a universal spirit-
ual sense planted in human nature, and developed
by outward influences. In its lowest forms, it
attributes all events of which the natural cause
is unknown, to supernatural agency; fortunate
events to some good power ; evils and disaster, to
some malignant beings. The good are worshipped ;
the bad are placated.
This belief in the presence of spiritual beings
above and around us, reappears in all religions,
from the lowest to the highest. The great ethnic
religions of the world suppose this visible human
Hfe to be surrounded by a vast shadowy world of
invisible superhuman beings: the sun and moon,
the stars and planets, the ocean, guided and moved
by these demigods. Even the severe Monotheism
of Judea accepted from Persia a family of angels
and archangels — Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, — be-
ings who were the messengers and mediators be-
tween God and man. In Greece, as we know, the
air, land, sea, woods, springs, were each the home
of some spiritual power.
Christianity, which often assimilates the ideas
and practices of other religions, has also had its
pantheon of angels and archangels, saints and
spirits. Only Protestantism has rejected this vast
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 109
mythology. But even Milton, the most Protestant
of Protestants, makes Adam inform Eve that —
" Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep;
All these with ceaseless praise God's works behold
Both day and night. How often from the steep
Of echoinf hill or thicket have we heard
Celestial voices to the midnight air
Singing their great Creator."
The Idol or Fetich, comes also very easily upon
the scene. It is a material object with which some
magical power is supposed to be associated. Some
supernatural being acts through the fetich and is
permanently connected with it. Aladdin's lamp,
in the Arabian story, was a fetich, which had genii
attached to it. The first man who saw a loadstone
attract iron, no doubt considered it to possess magi-
cal power. Whoever nails a horseshoe over a stable
door, or throws a slipper after a wedding party,
practices a sort of Fetichism to-day. But people
may believe in fetiches without worshipping them.
Father Loyer, a Catholic missionary, who studied
the habits of the natives of the Gold Coast, says it
is a great mistake to suppose that the negroes re-
gard these things as gods. They are only charms,
or amulets. These negroes, Father Loyer says,
have a belief in one powerful being, to whom they
offer prayers. Every morning they wash in the
river, put sand on their head to express their hu-
110 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
mility, and lifting up their hands ask their God to
give them yams and rice and other blessings.
The excellent missionary Oldendorp, who took
great pains to become accurately acquainted with
the character of the negroes of Africa, assures us
that he reco2:nized amonoj them a universal belief
in the existence of a God, who made the world,
who thunders to show his displeasure, and sends
rain when he is pleased. Oldendorp says: "Among
all the black nations with whom I became ac-
quainted, even the most ignorant, there is none
who does not believe in a God, give him a name,
and regard him as maker of the world. Besides
this supreme beneficent Deity, whom they all wor-
ship, they believe in many inferior gods, whose
powers appear in serpents, tigers, rivers, trees, and
stones. Some of them are malevolent, but the
negroes do not worship the bad or cruel gods;
they only try to appease them by presents or
sacrifices. They pray to the good gods alone.
The daily prayer of a Watja negress was, ' 0 God,
I know thee not ; but thou knowest me ; I need
thy help.' "
Let us not despise the savage and his fetich.
We all have our fetiches; some little relics to
which we attach a value out of all proportion to
the real worth of the article. The British Museum
gave £300 for a signature of Shakespeare. Pro-
fessor Lesley showed to an audience in one of the
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. Ill
Lowell Lectures a nail, from the prison in Virginia,
on which John Brown hung his hat. The battle-
flags at the State House, borne on many a terrible
field, are religiously preserved, and are sacred for-
ever. A little bone, supposed to have belonged to
a dead saint, is a present for a Pope to give to an
Emperor. Moslems go thousands of miles to see
the black stone at Mecca ; Christians go as far to
see the house where Burns was born, that in which
Wordsworth lived, the tomb of Virgil on the Bay
of Naples, or the grave at Keats at Rome.
" Such graves as these are pilgrim shines,
Shrines to no code or creed confined,
The Delphian vales, the Palestines,
The Meccas of the mind."
Thus Fetich-worship has survived, and continues
to-day in new forms, in the midst of our highest
civilization ; the same sentiment in the bosom of
the savage and in our own.
And what of Idolatry ? The childlike man tries
to form his block of stone into something like the
figure of a man. He only succeeds in making a
hideous and horrible face. But it suggests to his
mind some human feeling of authority, power,
divine wrath against evil-doers, divine benignity
toward docile worshippers. To his dark mind it
does the same thing that the Phidian Zeus did for
the Pan-Hellenic multitudes at Olympia, or the vir-
112 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
gin goddess, who stood in glorious beauty before
the Parthenon for the Athenians; or what an altar-
piece, by Raffaelle, does for the worshippers in St.
Peters. These images help them all to fix their
mind on the highest idea they have of a super-
human majesty, a celestial benignity. No doubt
the savage may worship the idol itself, instead of
that which it symbolizes. He then worships the
letter which kills, instead of the spirit which gives
life. But even so may Christians idolize the let-
ter of their ritual, their creed, their church, their
Bible, and sacrifice the end to the means. Idols
or images are good or bad, as they are used or
abused.
§ 3. Polytheism in all Religions. Its Origin.
Some elements of Polytheism are to be found
in all religions, but differ in each, both quantita-
tively and qualitatively. Polytheism is least in
the Prophetic Religions; most in the Ethnic
Religions.
The Polytheism of Egypt inhered in the nature
of things; the Divine elements were seen dwelling
in Nature. The Polytheism of Greece had become
detached ; the Greek deities were not personifica-
tions, but persons. They were divine men and
women, no longer representing Sun, Moon, Stars,
Thunder, Clouds, Dawn, Fire, Ocean, though
traces of this origin remain. But they sat on
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 113
Olympus in gay festivity till the horses of the Sun
were unyoked, and then lay down to sleep like
mortals. No moral quality attaches to the gods of
Egypt ; they are too impersonal for that. Nor is
there much morality yet in the gods of Greece ;
they are only full of joyful life. There was a high
moral life among the Egyptians, Greeks, and Ro-
mans, but not derived from their gods. The gods
of Greece were willful creatures, and Plato banished
from his republic the poets who described their
disreputable proceedings, meaning, no doubt, to
say that to worship such gods as those was worse
than Atheism.
When we turn to the Polytheism of India we
meet with still another quality. In the Vedic
Hymns we find no large abstract ideas as in the
gods of Egypt, and no pure humanities as in
Greece, but the forces of nature spiritualized into
objects of reverence and love.
Besides the Supreme Being — dimly or plainly
recognized in all Polytheisms — and the gods of
the higher order beneath him, there is also a host
of inferior gods, or Demi-gods, Spirits, Demons,
Angels, Powers, filling the whole interspace be-
tween the Gods and men. The vast mythologies of
India, Persia, Egypt, Scandinavia, Greece, Rome,
testify to the faith in the human soul that between
our finite spirit and the Infinite Spirit, there are
and must be innumerable moral and intellectual
114 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
beings extending upward in long gradation. Re-
garding man either as developed by Natural Law,
or created by God, it is impossible to believe
him the only moral intelligence in the Universe
below the Supreme Being. If he was developed
by some Law of Evolution, must not that law,
working through long ages and aeons of time, and
through innumerable worlds of space, have suc-
ceeded in developing numerous beings higher than
he? And if he were created by the Will of God,
has God during the whole past eternity only cre-
ated this one feebly endowed spirit? When we
look into ourselves, we find capacities and pow-
ers in their germ and beginnings, which we can
conceive of as being indefinitely developed. We
find intelligence, which reaches upward from the
contrivances of a savage to the majestic powers
of a Newton or a Shakespeare, which can weigh
the sun in its scales, fix the return of a comet,
or mark out the path of the planet which moves
on its lonely way, in the farthest outer darkness
of our solar system. We find moral powers
which pass all the way up from the besotted soul
of a brutal criminal to the heroes and martyrs,
who have counted it all joy to live and die for
truth, conscience, and human welfare. Does the
long ascent stop here ? We can imagine beings,
who, though created by God, are yet so vastly
above man that our highest intelligence may seem
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 115
only darkness to their light ; onr noblest virtue
only childlike attempts by the side of their majes-
tic fulfillment. This is one of the possibilities of
existence which, as we contemplate it, becomes at
last almost a self-evident truth. Polytheism, in
all its forms, is the crude aspect which this belief
takes in the working of the natural instincts. The
great majority of men believe, and have ever be-
lieved, in hosts of beings between themselves and
the Most High. We have glanced at the gods of
the Egyptian and Hindu Pantheon. Those of
Greece and of Rome crowded the heavens and
the earth, filled the woods as dryads, called from
the mountains as oreads, splashed in the foun-
tains as naiads, rolled in the ocean as nereids, or
tritons. They sat by the fireside as penates or
Vesta, guarded the home as lares. Everything
had its tutelar genius ; nations, colonies, provinces,
the senate, sleep. There were deities of the hu-
man soul. Mens, Pudicitia, Pietas, Fides. Agri-
culture and rural occupations had their deities:
Tellus, Saturnus, Ops, Silvanus, Faunus, Terminus,
Ceres, Liber, Bona Dea, Magna Mater, Flora, Ver-
tumnus, Pomona, Pales. Thus the human soul put
spirit into all things, saw spirit everywhere. This
we now call superstition, and consider ourselves
wise because we see only matter and motion.
But it is a question whether the old Paganism
which filled the world with life, thought, and love,
116 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
is not, at least, as true as the modern Paganism
which makes it only a dead machine.
§ 4. Pantheism in all Religions. Its evils.
Polytheism may be absorbed by a Monotheistic
religion, as happened to the Polytheisms of Greece,
Rome, and Scandinavia, which were taken up into
Christianity, and as happened to the semi-poly-
theistic Christianity of the East, which was ab-
sorbed by Mohammedanism ; or Polytheism may
pass naturally into some form of Pantheism. We
will, therefore, look at Pantheism in all religions,
for it is to be found more or less prominently
in all.
In the most marked form Pantheism appears
in the Hindu Religion. The Vedic Hymns, Poly-
theistic in appearance, were Pantheistic in sub-
stance.
This is expressed by a hymn of the Rig- Veda
(Mandala x. 90), thus rendered 'by Monier Wil-
liams : —
" The embodied spirit has a thousand heads,
A thousand eyes, a thousand feet; around,
On every side, enveloping the earth;
Yet filling space no larger than a span,
He is himself this very Universe ;
He is whatever is, has been, shall be ;
He is the Lord of Immortality."
Pantheism, in its extreme development, is the
assertion that the Universe is God, and that God
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL EELIGIONS. 117
is the Universe. It is the opposite pole to Athe-
ism, which says that Nothing is God. Pantheism
says, " Everything is God." This is the false Pan-
theism, equally unphilosophical and immoral. It is
unphilosophical because denying the necessary con-
victions of the Reason and first Laws of Thought.
God is infinite Being ; but we are compelled to
believe in the reality of finite outward existences,
which are therefore not God. We are compelled
by the ultimate necessity of reason to believe in
the reality of our own existence, which we also
know to be finite, limited, and dependent, con-
sequently not the infinite and absolute Being.
Extreme Pantheism is therefore unphilosophical.
It is also immoral, because, if all things are God,
then bad actions as well as good are divine, and
the distinction between right and wrong disap-
pears. Hence the low morality of the Hindus,
on whom this teaching has been at work for so
many centuries ; hence also the immoral practices
reappearing in those Christian sects which claim
perfect union with God, and to whom the moral
law has ceased to exist.
Buddhism was a moral reaction against Hindu
Pantheism ; and when Buddhism was expelled
from India, the full fruits of this system of Pan-
theism appeared in luxury, falsehood, cruelty, and
slavery. The moral tone of the race seemed al-
most gone. But not wholly. The better spirit of
118 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
the earlier Sacred Writings sometimes reappears
even in the Puranas, and an imperfect Monothe-
ism, which worships either Vishnu, Siva, or Brah-
ma, contends steadily against this stress of Pan-
theism. But this remained as the leading tendency
of thought, appearing in the Upanishads, the Ba-
ghavat-Geeta, and the great systems of philosophy.
Thus it is said in a Upanishad, " All this universe
is Brahma, From him it proceeds, into him it is
dissolved."
There is no Religion in which we do not recog-
nize this element of Pantheistic faith. Even in
prosaic China, with its Monotheism and its worship
of spirits, appears the impersonal, absolute, all-
containing Tao. Of Tao we read, " We look at it
and do not see it, listen to it and do not hear it.
It cannot be defined ; it acts, but without a name.
It was chaos before the birth of the worlds ; with-
out form, standing alone, unchanging ; the mother
of all things. It passes on in perpetual flow ; it is
far off, but close at hand ; it is the law which rules
all thing's."
Among the intensely personal Deities of Greece
the great Pan was also found, representing the All.
The Pantheism of the Orphic theology appears in
what remains of that old semi-religious philoso-
phy, as in a poem preserved by Proclus, which
says : —
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 119
" Zeus is first, last, the head and the middle of all things.
From him all things come. He is man and woman,
The depth of the earth, the height of Heaven,
Sun, Moon, Stars, Fire — Origin of all, King of all,
One Power, God, Ruler."
No system of thought would seem more remote
from Pautheism than that of Mohammed ; and
yet the great Persian sect of Ssufis are mystical
Pantheists. One of the chief of these, a saint of
the twelfth century, who lived at Balkh, uttered
many Pantheistic sentiments. His name was Jelal-
ed-deddin. He was the author of the saying,
" When we cry in our prayer, ' 0 my Father,' the
answer is in the prayer itself ; in the ' My Father '
lies hidden ^ Here, my child.' "
Bustamius, another of the Ssufis saints, says, " I
myself am the sea which has neither bottom nor
shore."
Again he said, " While men think they are wor-
shipping God, it is in fact God who adores him-
self,"
Again he cried out, " How long, 0 my God, art
thou pleased that I should thus remain between
the Myself and the Thyself. Take away from me
the Myself, that I may be absorbed into the Thy-
self."
§ 5. The Truth in Polytheism. Latent Monotheism.
If we ask now, " What is the truth of Polythe-
ism ? " it may be said that the doctrine of many
120 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Gods is wholl}^ false to us, because Christianity
has given to the word God such a subUme mean-
ing, and associated it with the idea of Infinite and
Eternal Being, But to the mind of antiquity,
even to that of Judea, the word possessed no such
quality. The Gods of the old world were finite
beings, scarcely raised above the level of human
nature. Jesus himself tells us that in the Old Tes-
tament those " were called Gods to whom the word
of God came " — that is, inspired men were called
Gods. Polytheism peopled the space above our
world with superhuman and supernatural beings,
all the way up to the realm of the Infinite and
Eternal. Judaism, in its strict Monotheism, al-
lowed only angels or divine messengers. It placed
God apart from the world and above the world as
its sole ruler, in an unapproached majesty. Moses,
in a natural reaction of mind against the innumer-
able deities of the Egyptian Pantheon, based his
whole relio-ion on the doctrine declared in the First
Commandment, " Thou shalt worship no other
God in my Presence."
But which is the most true, the solitary sover-
eignty sometimes ascribed by the Jewish mind to
Jehovah, or that one feature of Polytheism which
makes a divine community, a communion of the
Most High with his creatures ? God, according
to Christianity, is essentially Love. This is the
very essence of his Being. The most essential
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL EELIGIONS. 121
attribute is not Power, is not Sovereignty, as
Mohammedanism and Calvinism both make it to
be, but Love. That means, not loneUness, but
communion. It means that God descends into all
just as far as they are capable of receiving him.
And are men the only moral beings in the uni-
verse ? Can we doubt that there are innumerable
beino^s hio-her than man, of such vast intellio^ence,
of such lofty moral nature, so much nearer to the
One Above in their knowledge and sympathy that
they can receive much more of his fullness than
we can ? Christianity has attempted to fill the
void between our estate and that of the Infinite
Father, by creating a heaven of Angels and Arch-
angels, and a wdiole calendar of Saints. Its lit-
anies unite our prayers with those of the holy
company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of
the prophets, and the noble army of martyrs.
These are all human like ourselves, but ascended
up into a higher world. In the doctrine of the
Trinity the Church has endeavored to formulate
the communion of God and his creation : reo-ard-
ing the Father as the perpetual fountain of Life ;
the Word as the perpetual going forth of his truth
into the minds and hearts of his intellio-ent crea-
O
tures ; and the Spirit as the universal Communion
of all spirits with each other and with the Most
High. Look at it as an attempt to express the
Christian idea of Deity as all-embracing Love, and
it has great historic value.
122 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
In speaking of Polytheism, let us keep in mind
this important historical fact : that pure Polythe-
ism never satisfies the mind, and that consequently,
in most Polytheistic religions, there are traces of
a slightly-veiled Monotheism. The tendency to
variety is always accompanied by a tendency to
Unity. Among primitive nations it may be a very
imperfect and unstable Monotheism, but it occa-
sionally shows itself. Brinton tells us that, not
only among the civilized Aztecs, but even among
the inhabitants of Hayti, the Lenni Lenape, and
other American tribes, we find such names affixed
to their deities as " Endless," " Omnipotent," " In-
visible," ''Maker and Moulder of all things,"
" Mother and Father of Life," " The one God com-
plete in Perfection and Unity," " The Creator of
all that is," and " The Soul of the World." He
adds, that in America, among the Peruvians and
Mexicans, there were two deliberate attempts to
introduce a Monotheistic worship. It is related
that about Anno Domini 1440, at a great religious
council held in Peru, an Inca rose before the as-
sembled multitude and said : —
" Many tell us that the Sun made all things. But he
who makes must remain with what he makes ; now many
things happen when the Sun is absent, therefore he can-
not make all things. It is doubtful if he is alive, since he
never seems tired. If he were living he would grow
weary, as we do ; were he free he would sometimes go
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 123
elsewhere. He is like an animal in harness, who has to
go where he is driven, like an arrow which must go where
it is sent b}^ the archer. Therefore he, our Father and
Master, the Sun, must have another Master greater than
himself, who compels him to go his daily round without
peace or rest."
A name was, therefore, invented for this Su-
preme Power, and a temple built for his worship
near Callao, in which were no images nor sacrifices.
In like manner, led by the same profound relig-
ious instinct, the King of Tescuco, in Mexico, be-
came tired of the idols of his kingdom, havinsr
prayed to them in vain for a son. " What are
they," he cried, '' but dumb stones, without sense
or power ! They could not have made this beau-
tiful world ; the sun, moon, and stars ; the waters
and trees ; and all the countless creatures which
inhabit the world. There must be some invisible
and unknown God, the Creator of all things. He
alone can console me in my sorrow, and take away
my affliction." Therefore he erected a Temple
nine stories high, which he dedicated to the Un-
known God, the Cause of Causes. He seems to
have repeated, without knowing it, the argument
of Paul at Athens.
These, however, were in neither case attempts
to overthrow Polytheism, or to substitute a Mono-
theism in its place, but only to add the worship of
a supreme God to that of the inferior deities. Yet
124 TEN GKEAT RELIGIONS.
these facts show that tendency in the soul to Mon-
otheism which appears, more or less distinctly, in
the Polytheisms of mankind.
And what is the truth in Pantheism ?
§ 6. The Truth in Pantheism.
Accordino; to Judaism and Mohammedanism
there is little of the Divine in Nature. God is re-
garded as above all ; as Creator, Ruler, Sovereign,
Providence, and Judge. He is the moral ruler of
the universe. The works of the Lord are marvel-
lous, in wisdom has he made them all, but they are
marvellous only as indicating the Divine Wisdom
which formed them. So a watch or a ship are
wonderful works of human intelligence, but we do
not regard them as possessing any human quality.
Nature possessed no divine quality to the Hebrew
mind. But the New Testament teaches that God
is not onl}^ above all, as Creator, Ruler, Providence,
and Judge, but that He is through all and in all,
by perpetually imparting beauty and life. He
flows into Nature as the perpetual Creator. This
produces the romantic view of Nature, unknown
to antiquit}^, and only gradually developed in very
recent times, the view of which Wordsworth is the
chief Prophet. Wordsworth is the religious Poet
of our century, and his peculiar power consists in
his profound feeling of something divine in Nature.
He saw in Nature, —
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 125
" The still, sad music of Humanity."
He felt in it, —
" A sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwellinji is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought.
And rolls through all things."
It is this sense of something deeper in Nature
than what we see, a plastic life pervading all things,
a soul of the world, a perpetual presence of God,
as infinite Order, Beauty, Life ; it is this which
makes the charm of the best of Wordsworth's po-
ems, the " Tintern Abbey," the " Peele Castle,"
and especially " The Ode to Immortality." This
sense of a Divine Presence in sky and earth gives
to them a
" Lustre known to neither sea nor land,"
and gives to " the meanest flower that blows,'*
" Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
This romantic view of Nature, as it has been
called, in opposition to the classic view, is that
which sees a Divine life in all things. The Greeks
saw separate divinities in each part. But the mod-
ern spirit sees one life pervading all things, and
that the life of God himself.
When Jesus said that not a sparrow falls to the
126 TEN GEEAT RELIGIONS.
ground without our Father ; when he showed with
what glory God had dressed each common weed
on the plains of Sharon, he gave the idea of this
new faith. Paul, in several passages, boldly ap-
proaches the very edge of Pantheism, but avoids
its dangers, as the comet of 1680 shot down close
to the sun, but did not fall into it.
When Paul declares that God is " above all, and
through all, and in us all ; " when he speaks of the
" fullness of Him who filleth all in all ; " when he
says that in God " we live and move and have our
Being," and that " from Him, through Him, and to
Him are all things," he avoids the false Pantheism,
but teaches the true Pantheism. The false doc-
trine declares that everything is God. The true
doctrine says that God is in everything.
§ 7. The Imperfect Monotheism of the Buddhists.
A peculiar form of Monotheism, often improp-
erly called Atheism, is found in the religion of
Buddha. It is certainly improper to name a sys-
tem Atheistic which recognizes one supreme be-
ing, lord of Heaven and Earth, above the gods
and men. M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire asserts that
" there is no trace of the idea of God in the whole
of Buddhism, either at the beginning or the end."
To this statement Arthur Lillie (" Buddha and
Early Buddhism ") thus replies : —
" If M. St. Hilaire were to visit any of the Buddhist
temples of Tibet, he would hear the Llamas chant : —
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 127
'■'■' I adore Ta-tha-gata Amit-hatha,'' as the Buddlia of
Buddbas, the God of Gods.'
" If he should visit a Chinese temple he would there
hear the Liturgy, which says : ' One in spirit, we invoke
thee. Hail Amit-ahha of the world.' ' O would that
our merciful teacher Sakya-muni, and our great Father
Amit-abha, would now descend and be present with us.
Would that the perfect compassionate heart would now
draw near and receive our offerings. May the omnipo-
tent and omniscient Holy Spirit come to us while we re-
cite these divine sentences.'
" If he goes to Nepaul, he would learn that an intelli-
gent Buddhist there opposed to Mr. Hodgson's charge of
Atheism, many quotations from their Scriptures, from an-
cient Sanskrit works, of which the following are speci-
mens : —
'•'• Adi- Buddlia is without beginning. He is perfect
and pure, the essence of wisdom and truth. He has no
second. He is omnipresent. He rejoices in giving joy
to all sentient beings. He tenderly loves those who serve
him. He heals pain and grief. He has created all the
Buddhas. Himself not made, he has made all things.
He is the essence of essences, the Infinite, the form of
all things yet formless."
It is, however, contended that this doctrine of
Adi-Buddlia is a belief which bes-an in the tenth
century, and does not belong to primitive Bud-
dhism. Even if this is so, we may say that a
large j)art of Buddhism now in the world teaches
Monotheism, and, secondly, that this Monotheism
must be regarded as not inconsistent with original
128 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Buddhism, since it was developed out of it. As a
matter of fact, however, Buddha himself, the finite
Buddha, is generally worshipped as the Supreme
Being, and was so from the beginning, as the
shrines in the Rock-cut Temples testify. This is
also the doctrine of Southern Buddhism. " I take
refuge in Buddha," is the usual prayer. The wor-
shipjDer asks Buddha to forgive his sins. A Bud-
dhist priest in Ceylon, being asked by one of the
Dutch governors of the island if he believed in a
Supreme Being, replied, ''Although there are many
Gods, there is one Supreme above all others."
Spence Hardy, the best authority on the Bud-
dhism of Ceylon, gives us this statement of the
belief of Sinhalese Buddhists concerning their Mas-
ter: —
" Buddha is the joy of the whole world ; the helper of
the helpless ; a mine of mercy ; the Brahma of Bralimas ;
the only deliverer ; teacher of the three worlds ; Father
and helper of the world ; universal friend ; nearest rela-
tive ; stronger than the strongest ; more merciful than
the most merciful ; more beautiful- than the most beauti-
ful. The eye cannot see, the ear hear, or the mind im-
agine anything more beautiful than Buddha. He who
trusts in Buddha relies on him who is supreme."
§ 8. The conception of God essential, the name unessen-
tial.
Now, if one worships a being as supreme, lord
of all worlds, most merciful, most wise, most pow-
THE IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 129
erfiil, is he not worshipping the true God ? Does
it matter what name he gives him — Jehovah,
Jove, Brahma, or Buddha ? Does any name fitly
describe the infinite being ? The Jews had a mys-
terious name for Jehovah, but Jesus dropped that
name, and called God Father, showing that it is
the character of God and the idea which we have
of Him which is essential. When we worship the
hischest beino; of whom we can form an idea, we
are doino; our best to adore the true God.
Retracing our steps, and reviewing the progress
made, we see the Idea of God developed gradually
from the lowest form to the highest. I do not re-
fer to the historic development, but rather to the
logical one. We are not yet able to say whether
the whole human race began its upward career with
Animism, as the Doctrine of Evolution teaches, or
whether some purer Monotheistic view may not
have existed from the beginning, from which there
has been a subsequent relapse. Herbert Spencer
grants the probability of such relapses, and con-
siders the religion of many savage tribes as a de-
graded reliocion. We have seen the Monotheism
of the Vedas degraded into the coarse idolatry of
later epochs. But the logical process in the devel-
opment of religion is an ascent from Animism,
through Nature-worship to some form of Monar-
chic Theism, on to the Absolute Monotheism of
Moses, and from that still upwards to the reconcil-
ing, all-embracing fullness of Christian Theism.
130 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
CHAPTER V.
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. — DITHEISM, TRI-
THEISM, AND MONOTHEISM.
§ 1. Ditheism iu all Religions. § 2. The Triads in all Relig-
ions. § 3. Monotheism in all Religions. § 4. Origin of our
Belief in Spirit, in a First Cause, in an Intelligent Creator,
in a Supreme and Infinite Being. § 5. The Christian Idea of
God is a combination of all the other conceptions of Deity,
with that of Infinite Love.
§ 1. Ditheism in all Religions.
CONTINUING our examination into the nature
and origin of the Idea of God in all ReUgions,
we now come to the three forms : Ditheism, Tri-
theism, and Monotheism.
We have seen that all the races of men, from
the lowest in civilization to the highest, have be-
lieved in a supernatural world of spirits, which
faith has been called Animism. We have also
seen that a large portion of the human race have
believed in numerous divine beings, spirits of a
higher order, creators or rulers of this world, a
doctrine which we call Polytheism. Another large
division of mankind have believed in the Supreme
Being, or in Monotheism.
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 131
We have seen that aU nature reUgions tend to-
ward Polytheism on one side, or to Pantheism on
the other ; either to a behef of many spiritual be-
ings outside of nature, or of one spirit immersed in
nature.
We have also observed that the prophetic relig-
ions take a different course, — all tending toward
pure Monotheism. The prophets, founders of
these religions, are Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius,
Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus.
But besides this, there are traces, here and
there, of a belief in two divine beings, one good
and the other evil, which belief may be named
Dualism, or, better. Ditheism. The last is the bet-
ter term, because more specific. Dualism is a word
of a larger meaning, including the reception of a
two-fold principle in Philosophy, Science, Morals.
But Ditheism only signifies the belief in two Divine
Beings.
The religion of Zoroaster is usually considered
to be a Ditheism, or belief in two hostile powers
of equal authority ; one good, the other evil ; en-
gaged in constant war. No doubt the actual con-
flict of good and evil which we see around us is
more fully emphasized in this religion than in any
other. The dual principle, however, is found in
all religions. The Ormazd and Ahriman of the
Zend-Avesta appear in Hinduism as Brahma and
Rudra, the creator and destroyer j in Egypt, as
132 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Osiris and Typhon ; in the Scandinavian religion,
as Odin and Loke ; in Judaism, as Jehovah and
Satan. Whether this duaUsm of good and evil be-
longed to the original form of these systems of
faith I do not stop to ask. Enough to say that
in all religions there is a stage of development in
which the heart is oppressed, and the mind con-
fused, by the sight of the suffering and sin in the
world. In the childlike religions every evil is as-
cribed to the baleful influence of some particular
spirit. In others it seems to denote a struggle for
supremacy between two great contending powers,
one benign, the other malevolent. The system
taught by Zoroaster was arrested in this second
stage. It beheld a great warfare forever going on
in nature and life ; Ormazd and the good angels
fighting against Ahriman and the evil angels. It
became the duty of every man to fight for good
against evil. Every good action was a blow struck
on the side of Ormazd ; every bad one was de-
livered in behalf of Ahriman. The same duty of
contending for truth against falsehood, for right
against wrong, is found in all other systems which
have a moral character.
Whenever we fix our attention mainly on the
eternal distinction between Ricrht and Wrontr, Good
and Evil, we are leaning toward Ditheism. Evil
seems to us a mighty power in the Universe ar-
rayed against good. In our philosophical mood
IDEA OF GOD IX ALL RELIGIONS. 133
we may say that all partial evil is universal good ;
that man can only learn to walk by stumbling and
falling ; and that evil is only a shadow of which
good is the substance. We may go so far as to
say that evil is only a stage in the development of
good ; and so make all evil, and even all sin, purely
negative. And in our highest religious mood, we
may be satisfied that all things work together for
good to those that love God ; tRat where sin
abomids, grace doth yet more abound ; and thus,
that sin itself, by the alchemy of divine love, can
be transmuted into the sweetest gratitude ; accord-
ing to the text, that he who is forgiven much, loves
much. But in the hour of temptation, of mortal
conflict, or when we are forced to look on the act-
ual misery and wrong there is in the world, we
■find evil an awful reality. Then " the air around
us seems thick with universal pain." No moral
reform could be carried on ; no martyr could die
for the truth ; no missionary spend his days among
savages; no philanthropist struggle to overcome
fashionable sins, unless evil, for the time, at least,
should seem no negation, but the eternal enemy
of goodness and joy. Even in Christianity this
conflict of Right with Wrong has taken the form
of an eternal Hell of sin and misery by the side of
the eternal Heaven. To the Christian imagnia-
tion Satan and his devils have been as positive
presences as God and his angels. The optimistic
134 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
view which led Paul to foresee a time when the
last enemy would be overcome by the power of
Christ, and made the author of the Book of Reve-
lation predict the day when death and hell would
both be cast into the lake of fire, has retired into
the back-ground of the Christian consciousness.
The general belief of Christendom has been, that
a part of the universe would be always in a state
of permanent rebellion against the Almighty.
It was at this stage of the religious development
that the system of Zoroaster was crystallized into a
permanent form. It was an essentially moral re-
ligion. Its prayer, like that of the Christian, is
that God's Kingdom may come and his will be
done on the earth. Its expectation, like the Chris-
tian hope, is that the time will come, in which
Ahriman with all his host of evil spirits will be
cast into the lake of fire, and be either destroyed,
or be purified and redeemed. And the disciple of
Zoroaster, like the disciple of Jesus, believes that
life is a warfare, and that to fight the good fight
of faith, one must put on the whole armor of God.
Like the Christian, he wrestles not with flesh and
blood, but with the powers of darkness, and with
spiritual wickedness in high places.
Thus, there is a dualistic tendency in all relig-
ions, and, also, in many systems of philosophy.
Anaxagoras distinguished God from Nature, mak-
ing Nature the dark unintelligent material, out of
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 135
which God makes beauty and order. Pythagoras
and Plato equally regarded all intelligent spirits as
free and good ; all unintelligent matter as bound
by necessity, and forever resisting the power of
the divine soul of things.
In modern times many philosophers have sought
to solve the problem of evil in the same way. John
Stuart Mill is one of the last who takes the same
view, regarding God as willing, but not able, to
overcome the power of necessity in the universe
of matter, and therefore unable to prevent the
existence of evil in the universe.
§ 2. The Triads in all Religions.
Another fact is the appearance of divine triads
in so many religious systems.
The theory of the Hindu theologians, says Cole-
brook, is this : " There is one supreme unrevealed
being — Para-Brahm. By seK-contemplation he
produced the universe. Then, as Siva, or Maha-
deva, he destroyed it; then, as Vishnu, he re-
stored and sustains it. This is the Hindu Trinity
— the Trimurti. Its holy inexpressible name is
the sacred triliteral word A U M." " This doc-
trine," say the Hindus, " is so mysterious, that
neither man nor ang;el can understand it."
There is a triad in one of the ancient Chinese
religions. The Tau-te-King thus speaks : " You
look for the Tao and you see it not. Its name is I.
136 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
You listen for it, and do not hear it ; its name is Hi.
You touch it, and do not feel it ; its name is Wei.
These three are inscrutable and inexpressible. We
combine them into oneness, which has no body, a
form without form, an image without image."
Another passage says : " These inscrutable three
are but one." "The Tao produced one, one pro-
duced two ; the two produced three, the three
produced all beings."
A series of triad deities were also worshipped in
Assyria, and another in Babylon. In Assyria the
highest triad was: (1.) Oannes, Chaos; (2.) Bel,
He who gives form to Chaos ; (3.) A 0 or Bin, the
Son, representing the world as formed.
Another triad represented the sun, moon, and
firmament.
The object of worship in Buddhism is also a triad,
consisting of: (1.) Buddha, the Supreme Being;
(2.) Dharma, the law; and (3.) Sangha, the asso-
ciated priesthood.
In Egypt the gods were all grouped in triads,
and a separate triad was worshipped in each city :
at Thebes, Amun, Maut, and Khons ; at Memphis,
Ptah, Pasht, and their son ; elsewhere Osiris, Isis,
Horus.
In Greece, as Creuzer believes, there was the
notion of a cosmic triad before the time when
Plomer first humanized the preexisting Polythe-
ism. This triad, he says, consisted of the heavens
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 137
above, the earth beneath, and the ocean around
all tlimo;s.
In the Orphic theology there was also a three-
formed god, called light, life, and counsel. Some
of the Orphic sayings which have been preserved
are these : " God is the head and middle of all
things. God is the abyss of heaven, the depth of
the sea, and the life of all breathing creatures.
All these three, abyss, depth, and life, are parts of
his vast body."
According to Plato, God is threefold : first as
the profound, inscrutable substance and cause of
all things ; next as manifesting himself in the
ideas, which are the roots in the spiritual world of
all that exists in the natural world ; and thirdly as
the life of the universe.
This threefold division was carried out still more
fully by the later Platonists, who have a series of
trinities, first of beauty, truth, and symmetry,
which is the triad of intelligible being ; next the
vital triad, of the source of life, the power of life,
and the existence of life.
Not only Plato, but other Greek philosophers be-
fore him, as Parmenides and Pythagoras, conceived
of the supreme being as a triad in a monad. The
triad of Pythagoras much resembled the Platonic
trinity. The first One was above all being ; the
second One contained the ideas of all being ; the
third One was the soul of all being. According to
138 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Parmeiiides, the highest divine being is perfectly
and properly one ; the second is the one-many, or
each and all ; the third is the return of the many
to the one.
We find, also, that the system of Zoroaster, so
long arrested in dualism, finally assumed a triad
form by the addition to Ormazd the good principle,
and Ahriman the evil, of a third, Mitra or Mithra,
the mediator or reconciler.
And even the Jewish mind, when it began to
philosophize in Alexandria, took up this conception
of the Deity as an imperfect triad. This was es-
pecially the work of Philo, who was a contempo-
rary with Christ. He regards the Supreme Be-
ing, the cause of all things, as creating the world
by his logos or divine mind, which Philo also called
the First-Begotten Son of God. So that he con-
ceived of God in a threefold character : as essential
being, as the divine ideas which were the arche-
types before all things, and as the creative logos,
or life which produces all things.
There is no doubt that the Christian doctrine
of the Trinity was derived from such forms of
thought previously existing in Egypt and else-
where. It grew out of a philosophical attempt to
unite the monotheism of the Jews with the pro-
found tendencies of the Oriental and Grecian mind.
Philo had led the way in this attempt ; and Alex-
andria, where he lived and taught, was also the
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 139
place where the Christian Trinity took its origin.
The early Christian thinkers who followed Christ
in their faith, took Plato as their master in philos-
ophy. Their object was to see the Divine in the
unity of things, and also in their variety. The
Supreme Being, One in Himself, is nevertheless
the source and author of the infinitely varied
world.
The Gnostics also held to a Triad. In some of
the Gnostic systems, this Trinity consists of the
Spirit in itself, the self-conscious Spirit, and the in-
telligent Reason.^ The Gnostics were much occu-
pied with this problem of Creation. Can a finite
and imperfect world proceed from an infinite and
perfect God ? Some of them assumed three first
principles of things : the Good God, the Just God,
and the world of matter.^ Others laid stress on the
distinction between the Abyss of Being, which is
the Supreme but unknown God ; the ^ons, which
emanate from him ; and the Demiurg, or Creator
of the world. «
But even these conceptions of the Deity as a
triad, are all evidences of the tendency in the soul
to faith in one Supreme and Perfect Deity. They
are forms of Monotheism. Everything which we
see is finite, yet we believe in an infinite being.
^ Ferd. Christ. Baur. Die Christliche Lehre von der Dreieinigkeit,
vol. i., page 140.
^ Hase, Kirchengeschichte.
140 TEN GREAT EELIGIOXS.
Everything we see around has more or less of im-
perfection or evil, j^et we must believe in an all-
perfect One, to whom no shade of evil can attach
itself. These triads are attempts to reconcile such
apparent contradictions. They consider God as
all-perfect in himself ; but therefore as not in im-
mediate contact with the imperfect world. An-
other being, divine indeed, but of subordinate di-
vinity, is the Demiurg, a creator of all things.
The third manifestation of God is in order to recall
the world, thus fallen away out of himself, back
into himself. Such were the speculative attempts
of antiquit}^, seeking to reconcile Unity and Vari-
ety, Monotheism and Polytheism, an All-perfect
Deity and this imperfect world which went forth
from his mind and hand.
Tri theism, being so universal, must have its
source in some necessity of the human mind. This
is the attempt, ever foiled, to understand the in-
comprehensible nature of God. All Trinities are
philosophical speculations. They belong to the
metaphysics of religion, rather than to religion it-
self. The first conception of the Deity was of a
simple, personal being like ourselves, above all
things ; and so, like ourselves, outside of the uni-
versal order, as its Maker and Ruler ; this was sim-
ple Monotheism. Then came the sense of the Dis-
cord, the imperfection which disturbs this order,
the Evil which resists this goodness, and so arrived
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL IlELTGIOXS. 141
Ditheism ; and finally men felt the need of a third
Being, or Principle, which should mediate between
the two antagonist powers, and reconcile them in
a higher unity. Thus the Triads were to satisfy
the reflecting intellect. But all such attempts
prove unsatisfactory. At last the religious nature
is contented with the conception of the One God,
above all, through all, and in us all.
§ 3. 3Ionotheism in all Religions.
Monotheism exists as thought and as life ; as
philosophy and as religion. The human race has
reached, by two distinct and different paths, this
high ground where it stands in the presence of
one, supreme, all-perfect being. It has arrived at
Monotheism by the method of speculative inquiry,
and the development of its religious life through
conscious intelligent reasoning, and an unconscious
unfolding of the, spiritual nature. It will be inter-
esting to look for a moment at these two methods,
both of which reach at last the same result. By
the mouth of two witnesses everything is more
firmly established.
Philosophic theism is the belief in a perfect be-
ing ; seH-existent, in whom all things exist ; the
intelligent cause of all things ; above all nature as
its cause, yet not outside of it ; within all nature
as its order and life, yet not shut in by it; beneath
all nature as its substance, yet not immersed in it ;
142 TEN GREAT RELIGION'S.
around all nature as its providence, yet not separ-
ated from it. He is supreme, infinite, eternal ; he
is absolute, that is, depending only on himself, yet
by his infinite goodness is in a perpetual relation
of providential care to all his creatures. He is infi-
nite in wisdom, power, and goodness, and thus for-
ever one. Forever one, he is never alone, because
bound by his infinite love and perfect wisdom to
his creation. The best definition of Deity is this :
God is the perfect Being.
Now this idea of God has been held, in a more
or less distinct form, by the greatest thinkers in
all time. Thus the Ny-a-ya philosophy in India
speaks of the Supreme Soul as infinite, eternal,
immutable, omniscient, without form, all-pervad-
ing, all-powerful, one only. A writer of this school
says : " An omniscient and indestructible being is
to be proved from the existence of effects (which
require a cause), from the combination of atoms
(which imply design), from the sustained order of
the universe (which implies an upholder), from the
traditional arts among men (which imply an inspi-
ration from above)."
The second system of Hindu philosophy has
been called Atheistic. It is the Sankya philoso-
phy. It is rather Agnostic than Atheistic. While
it asserts the eternal existence of souls, it denies
that the existence of the Supreme Soul is capable
of dialectic proof. One branch of this system —
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 143
the Yoga — does, however, distmctly acknowledge
the Supreme Being, and declares that by ascetic
exercises and mortification of the flesh one can
come into union with God, and be yoked to him.
The third ancient Hindu system of philosophy,
the Vedanta, declares all the universe to be identi-
cal with the Supreme Soul, or Brahma. It thus
defines him : " Brahma is the all-knowing, all-
powerful cause, from which comes the production,
continuance, and dissolution of the universe. The
Supreme Being is omniscient, for from him pro-
ceeded the Veda. Every soul is evolved from him
and returns to him. He consists of joy. He, the
one God, is light within the sun, and within the
eye. He is life, and the breath of life. He is
creator and creation, actor and act. He has nei-
ther beginning nor end, parts or qualities; he is
immutable, and the only real substance."
This doctrine may be called imperfect Theism,
because leaning too much to Pantheism. But it
is also imperfect Pantheism, because it makes the
Supreme Being omniscient, intelligent, and full of
joy-
Thus, from the earliest times, philosophic Theism
has existed in India, often leaning either toward
spiritual Pantheism, or to material Pantheism ; but
still maintaining the existence of a Supreme Soul,
the soul of nature, the origin of all things, the
principle of all life.
144 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
If we turn' to ancient Greece we discover in
philosophy, as soon as it emerges there, the exist-
ence of philosophic Theism.
Pythagoras considered the monad, or principle
of unity, as the source of all things. Xenophanes
(born 620 b. c.) first distinctly announced the doc-
trine of the one all-controlling Godhead. " God,"
he says, " is all eye, ear, intelligence, — he moves
and directs all things by the power of thought."
Anaxagoras (born in Asia Minor about 500 b. c.)
finds the force which shapes the world, not in the
nature of matter, nor in impersonal forces, but in
a world-ordering mind. This Supreme Mind is
distinguished from matter by simplicity, indepen-
dence, knowledge, and supreme power. According
to Socrates (born 470 b. c.) the world is governed
by a Supreme Divine Intelligence, who inspires
men to do what is good. He discovered in all the
outward world marks of creative design. Plato
(born 427 b. c.) makes goodness the supreme idea,
and the essence of God. He did not say " God is
being," but " God is goodness," just as the apostle
says " God is love." One Supreme Being made
the world, and made it for good. The highest aim
of man and his supreme happiness consists in his
becoming like God. So devoted was Plato to the
contemplation of Deity that he has been called
the Divine Plato, the Christian Theologian before
Christ. In passages quoted by Cud worth, Rixner,
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 145
and Alfred Day, Plato speaks of God as the " Ar-
chitect of the World," the " Maker and Father of
the Universe," " Whom it is hard to find out and
impossible to declare," " God over all," " Creator
of Nature," " Sole Principle of the Universe,"
" Cause of all things," " Mind, Supreme King,"
" The Sovereign Mind which orders all things, and
passes through all things," " Governor of the
Whole," '' Which always is and was never made,"
" The First God," '' The Greatest God," " He who
makes earth, heaven, and the gods," " Producing
all things and self-existing," " Always good, never
evil," '' Cause of all blessings," " Who cannot
change for the better, and will not change for the
worse," " By whose Providence the state is pre-
served."
Rixner^ says that Plato is the truly divine phi-
losopher, because he refers all things to God as
the ground of their being.
Aristotle, who in his way of thought was the
very opposite to Plato, nevertheless speaks of God
with a similar grandeur in the Eleventh Book of
his " Metaphysics " : —
" The principle of life is in God ; for energy of mind
constitutes life, and God is this energy. He, the first
mover, imparts motion, and pursues the work of creation
as something to be loved. His course of life resembles
ours, but his exists forever, while ours is transient. His
^ Handbuch der GescJiichte der Philosophie.
10
146 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
joy is in the exercise of his essential energy. He is eter-
nal and perfect, indivisible, without parts, devoid of pas-
sions, and unchanging."
This path of belief has ever since been pursued
by the great masters of philosophic thought. How-
ever they have differed on other questions, they all,
with one consent, agree in this sublime faith. The
new Platonists, Plotinus, Proclus, Jamblichus ; the
medieval philosophers, Erigena, Anselm, Abelard ;
the great Arabian philosophers, Averroes, Avi-
cenna, and others ; the modern thinkers, Spinoza,
Descartes, Bacon, Leibnitz, Locke, Kant, Fichte,
Schelling, Hegel, — all have conceived of a spirit-
ual, All-perfect Being, as the one ever active cause
of all that exists. The consent of thought in this
belief is most extraordinary. Read this hymn of
Cleanthes, the Stoic, who lived 460 b. c. : —
" O thou who hast various names, but whose essence
is one and infinite ! O Jupiter ! first of immortals, sov-
ereign of nature, who governest all, who subjectest all to
one law, I salute thee ; for man is permitted to invoke
thee. All that lives, all that moves, all that exists as
mortal upon the earth, we all are born of thee, we are a
feeble image of thee. I address to thee, therefore, my
hymn, and will not cease to sing to thee. This universe
suspended over our heads, and which seems to roll around
the earth, obeys thee alone ; it moves and is governed
in silence by thy command. Genius of nature ! in the
heavens, on the earth, in the seas, nothing is made, noth-
ing is produced without thee, except evil, which springs
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 147
from the heart of the wicked. By happy accord thou so
blendest that which is good with that which is not, that
general and eternal harmony is everywhere established.
Alone, of all beings, the wicked interrupt this grand har-
mony of the world."
This is essentially the same idea of Deity as
in the hymn of Hildebert : —
"Above all things, below all things;
Around all things, within all things;
Within all, but not shut in;
Around all, but not shut out;
Above all, as the Ruler;
Below all, as the Sustainer;
Around all, as all-embracing Protection;
Within all, as the Fullness of Life."
The same also as in the lines of Pope, who
writes of the Deity that he
" Lives through all life, extends through all extent;
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.
To him, no high, no low, no great nor small;
He fills, he bounds, connects and equals all."
Or, as in Dr. Johnson's hymn : —
" From thee, Great God, we spring, to thee we tend;
Path, Motive, Guide, Original and End."
Having thus seen Monotheism in philosophy, we
now come to consider it in all the religions. It may
surprise us to learn that Monotheism has existed
in all or nearly all religions, and that in the most
highly developed Polytheism there still remains,
perhaps in an obscure form, a very real Monothe-
148 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
ism. This may not mean the conception of one
only God, but rather of a Supreme Being, a Most
High God. Sometimes this Supreme Being is re-
garded as the Creator of all things, sometimes not.
But in most of these forms, as we shall see, a Mon-
otheistic type is found.
Beginning with the childlike races, we find the
Monotheistic idea among some of those who are
placed by ethnologists on the lowest 23lane of hu-
man development, such as the Hottentots and
Bushmen of South Africa, the negroes of the Gold
Coast, the natives of Australia, the islanders of Pol-
ynesia, the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, the In-
dians of the Amazon River, the North American
Indians, the Esquimaux, and the natives of the
Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. All of
these have been pronounced by different travelers
and writers on sociology as destitute of any relig-
ion whatever. But later and more careful inquiry
has shown that besides the belief in a surrounding
world of disembodied spirits (or Animism), com-
mon to all races, they believe in a Supreme Being,
as is testified to by the traveler Kolben and by
missionaries who have lived among; them. Of
these African tribes generally, Waitz, a distin-
guished anthropologist, speaks as follows : —
" The religion of the negro is usually considered as a
peculiar crude form of Polytheism, and marked with the
special name of Fetichism. A closer inspection clearly
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 149
shows that it is neither very peculiar nor exceptionally
crude. A profounder investigation, such as has recently
been made with success by several eminent scholars, leads
to the surprising result that several negro tribes, who
have not been influenced from the outside, have devel-
oped their religious ideas so far that if we do not call
them Monotheists, we must admit that they have come
very near the boundaries of true Monotheism." ^
There is ample evidence to show (says Max Miil-
ler) that the tribes of West Africa believe in a su-
preme god, a good being. The Ashantis call him
by the same name as the sky, but mean by it a
personal god, who, they say, created all things, and
gives all good things. They believe him to be
omniscient and omnipresent. The negroes of the
Gold Coast, says the missionary Cruickshank, be-
lieve in a supreme god, creator and governor of
the world, calling him '' Our great friend," or " He
who made us." Other missionaries confirm this
statement, telling us that these negroes say " God
is the old one, he is the greatest, he sees me."
Cruickshank adds: " If, besides this faith they also
believe in thousands of fetiches, they unfortunately
share this fault with many Christians."
In the proceedings of the American Philosoph-
ical Society there is an article, by Dr. Brinton, on
the ancient srods of Central America. He tells us
that he finds in old documents prayers to the Cre-
1 Anlhropologie der Naturvolker,
150 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
ator of the World, which date back to a time pre-
ceding the discovery of America. Some of these
he thus translates out of the Maya tongue : —
"We bring forward the revelation of that which was
hidden, the knowledge sent to us by him who creates, who
forms creatures. Speak his name ; honor your mother
and father ; call hun Hurakan, Soul of the Earth, Soul of
the Sky, Creator, Maker, her who makes us, him who
creates us ; call on him and salute him.
" Hail ! O Creators Maker ! thou seest and hearest us.
Do not leave us ; do not desert us ! O Hurakan, Voc, Te-
peu, Alom; Grandmother of the Sun, Grandmother of
the Light ; hear us, help us."
In China, five thousand years ago, as on the west-
ern coast of Africa, the idea of a Supreme Being
was associated with the visible heavens. In the
languages of western Africa, and eastern Asia, one
word designated God, and also the visible heavens.
The vast, all-surrounding sky, filled wdth light by
day, glittering in the solemn night with uncounted
stars, — unfathomable, unbounded, that is, infin-
ite, — this seemed to both races the fittest name
for God. That name was Ti, the personal name
of heaven. Shang-ti means the Supreme Heaven.
Dr. Legge, best authorized to speak on this sub-
ject, says : " These characters show us that the re-
ligion of the Chinese, five thousand years ago, was
a Monotheism;"^ and he adds, that "these two
1 The Religion of China. By James Legge, 1881.
IDE/V OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIOXS. 151
names have kept the Monotheistic element promi-
nent in the prevaiUng rehgion of China down to
the present time."
The orioinal Vedic reho-ion was a form of Mono-
theism, but a very pecuhar one. It was not a
monarchical Monotheism wherein one Deity is su-
preme, like that of Greece and Rome. It was a
system in w'hich each of the great powers of na-
ture were alternately deified and made supreme.
Varuna, the heavens ; Surya, the sun ; Indra, the
atmosphere ; Agni, fire ; and other beings, were in
turn worshipped as the Most High God. Infinite
Spirit appeared embodied in every part of nature.
The All was seen in each part, and each part in-
cluded All.
Miiller calls it Henotheism ; and this word will,
probably, be allowed to stand. But that it is
really a form of Monotheism appears in this: that
whether worshipped as the heavens, the air, the
fire, or any other manifestation, it is the same Su-
preme Being, w^ith the same infinite attributes, who
is worshipped.
Thus the hymns of the Rig- Veda address Va-
runa, or the Heavens, as universal king, divine, of
unbounded knowledge, who has made heaven and
earth, who embraces in himself the three worlds ;
who makes the sun to shine ; wdiose breath is the
wind; who, by his wonderful skill, makes the rivers
to run forever into the sea, but never fill it ; whose
152 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
ordinances are unchangeable; whose messengers go
through all worlds ; without whom no creature can
make the least motion ; who sees all that happens ;
from whom no one can escape, even if he flee be-
yond the sky ; Avho can drive away evil and purify
the soul from sin, prolong life, pardon sin, give
eternal happiness to the good. Of Mitra, Indra,
Agni, Savitri, the same things are said.-^
It is evident from such hymns as these, ascrib-
ing in turn supreme power to different beings, that
these gods, tkough differently named, are really
one. For these hymns are in the same book, and
were sung by the same worshippers. Some texts
expressly declare this identity ; for example, here
is one from the Rig- Veda : " They call him Indra,
Mitra, Varuna, Agni. Sages name variously that
which is but one. Agni becomes Varuna in the
evening; rising in the morning he becomes Mitra;
as Savitri, he moves through the air ; becoming
Indra, he glows in the middle of the sky."
Herodotus, — one of the earliest European stu-
dents of Egyptian civilization, usually as accurate
as he was observing, a student filled with infinite
curiosity to know and understand all the facts and
phases of human nature, — told mankind, twenty-
three centuries ago, that the Egyptians of Thebes
recognized "one Supreme God, who had no be-
ginning and would have no end." Jambliclms, the
^ See Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Second Edition, vol. i.
IDEA OF GOD m ALL RELIGIONS. 153
new Platonist (a. d. 320), quotes from the old Her-
metic books the clecLaration : " Before all the things
that actually exist, and before all beginnings, there
is one God, prior even to the first God and King,
remainino; unmoved in the sinsrleness of his own
unity."
One of the first Egyptologists (De Rouge) gave
this as his mature judgment : —
" No one has called in question the fundamental mean-
ing of the principal passages by the help of which we are
able to establish what ancient Egypt has taught concern-
ing God, the world and man. I said 'God,' not 'The
Gods.' The first characteristic of the Religion is the
unity of God, — God, one, sole, and only, no others with
him. He is the only being — living in truth. He has
made everything." . . .
Among all the local names of Deity " one idea
predominates, that of a single and personal God ;
everywhere and always it is one substance, self-
existent and unapproachable." "A hymn of the
Leyden Museum calls God ' the One of One.' "
" These doctrines were in existence two thousand
years before Christ. More than five thousand
years ago, in the valley of the Nile, the hymn
began to the unity of God and the immortality of
the soul. The belief in this unity of the Creator
and Law-Giver, are the primitive notions remain-
ing, overlaid by vast mythologies accumulated in
subsequent centuries."
154 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Thus a Hymn to Amun — the supreme God of
Thebes — says : —
"Hail to thee, Amun-Ra, Lord of, the thrones of the
earth, the oldest existence, ancient of heaven, support of
all things ; chief of the gods ; lord of truth ; father of the
gods ; maker of men and beasts and herbs ; maker of all
things above and below ; deliverer of the sufferer and op-
pressed, judging the poor ; lord of wisdom, lord of mercy,
most loving, opener of every eye, source of joy, in whose
goodness the gods rejoice, thou whose name is hidden."
" Thou art the one, maker of all that is, the one ; the
only one ; maker of gods and men ; giving food to all."
" Hail to thee, thou one with many heads ; sleepless
when all others sleep, adoration to thee."
" Hail to thee from all creatures from every land, from
the height of heaven, from the depth of the sea. The
spirits thou hast made extol thee, saying, ' Welcome to
thee, father of the fathers of the gods ; we worship thy
spirit which is in us.' "
But what is sung and declared about Amun is
also said about Osiris.
Osiris is called '' lord of eternity ; king of the
gods ; substance of the world ; feeder of beings ;
from whom came the waters, and the winds ; mas-
ter of all the gods ; giver of food to men ; eldest
god and their chief ; who made the world and all
things therein j who maintains law in the universe ;
beneficent to gods and men."
That these are one and the same, is evident from
this hymn on the walls of a temple in the Oasis of
El-Khargeh : —
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIOISrS. 155
" The gods salute him as their lord, who reveals him-
self in all that is, and has many names. It is Amun,
persisting in all things. It is Ptah, existing from the
beginning. Each god has assumed thy aspect. Thou
raisest up, Osiris. As Ptah thou hast made both worlds.
As Amun thou art the life of the world. Shu, Tefnut,
Nut, Chonsu, are thy forms. Thou art Mentii-Ra. Thou
art Sekar. Thou art youth and age. Thou art heaven,
earth, fire, water, air, and what is in them all."
We have thus far seen two kinds of Monothe-
ism — both imperfect. The first posits one Su-
preme Being, presiding over a body of inferior
deities. This is the Monotheistic element in the
Polytheism of Greece, of Scandinavia, and of all
the uncivilized races. The other kind is that of
the Vedic hymns and the Egyj)tian hymns, in
which each of the forces of nature becomes in
turn a personal and Supreme God, with infinite
attributes. There is a singular resemblance be-
tween the theology of these two systems of ancient
India and ancient Egypt. Both have the concep-
tion of a personal being of infinite power, creator
and preserver of all things, above nature, before
time, flowing through all things. But in both sys-
tems this Divine Being is manifested alternately in
one power of nature or another; in the heavens,
the storms, the sun, the fire ; and each of these
becomes in turn the Supreme and Infinite Being.
This Monotheism resembles a Polytheism strug-
gling with a Pantheism.
156 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
By these steps Polytheism and Pantheism pass
up, by a steady and sure law of development, into
speculative Monotheism in philosophy, and into an
included Monotheism in religion. They culminate
and combine in the prophetic religion. When the
faith of Abraham and Moses became the state re-
ligion of the Jewish nation, Monotheism for the
first time appeared as the public religion of a
people. Down to the time of Christ Judaism was
the only pure national Monotheism among men.
All of Europe, Asia, and Africa, all except the lit-
tle land of Palestine, worshipped numerous deities.
Judea alone long maintained its inflexible faith in
one Supreme, Invisible Spirit, Maker of all things.
§ 4. Origin of our Belief in Spirit, Cause, Creator, and
the Infinite Being.
We have thus followed the idea of the Deity in
all religions, from its lowest form in Animism up
through Polytheism, Pantheism, Ditheism, Trithe-
ism, to pure Monotheism. Whence was this belief
in God, which we find so universal, derived ? We
have seen that all men believe in and adore un-
seen powers, higher than themselves. This wor-
ship begins in one great faith, universal and the ,
same, — the belief in the presence and power of
invisible spirits. It passes up through various
phases of belief, and then at last becomes once
more the same faith j namely, belief in one Su-
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 157
preme Spiritual Being. It is one in its lowest
form as Animism ; one, finally, in its highest form,
as Monotheism.
The only source from which man's belief in
spirits could have been derived is the conscious-
ness that he is himself a soul, a soul with a body
for its present organ, but capable of existing with-
out this organism. Apart from this consciousness,
it is difficult to see how his belief in disembodied
spirits could have come.
The second step is taken by means of another
universal and necessary law of thought — belief
in causation. All things around are in perpetual
change ; but a law of the mind compels us to be-
lieve that every event must have a cause, that for
every change there must exist a motive force.
This notion of cause is deeply rooted in every
human mind. It is a universal idea, for all men
have it. It is a necessary idea, for we cannot help
having it, even if we deny its existence. It prob-
ably arises first in the mind on the occasion of our
making an effort and seeing some result follow.
Cause is an idea connected intimately with per-
sonal action, effort, choice, the exercise of an intel-
ligent will. Childlike races, looking out on the
phenomena of nature, the coming of dawn, day
and night, storm and sunshine, spring-time and
harvest, flowers and fruits, and, seeing that these
were caused by the sun, the atmosphere, the
158 TEN" GREAT RELIGIONS.
spring rains and summer heats, personified these
causes as the Sun-god and Rain-god, as Agni, God
of Fire, and Indra, God of Storms. Thus the sec-
ond step in religious beUef was talcen.
The next idea associated with the gods is that
of creation. This belief in a God who has created
the heavens and the earth, we have also found to
be very widely disseminated among races in every
degree of civilization.
What was the origin of this belief ? It seems to
have risen in the mind by adding to the idea of
causation that of finality or design. There is a
universal law of thought, by which from the per-
ception of adaptation we infer design. I do not
here undertake to decide if this be an original in-
tuition or not, but at present it is a law of thought
which works like an instinct. Nearly the whole
life of man is spent in adapting means to foreseen
and intended ends. From the hunter setting his
trap to catch game, up to Shakespeare designing
the i^lay of " Hamlet," or the Apostle Paul plan-
ning the conversion of Europe, through all hu-
man industries, arts, amusements, man is adapting
means to ends during all his life. When the Pil-
grim Fathers landed on Cape Cod, before they
knew Avhether the region was inhabited, they
" came to a tree where a yOung sprit was bowed
down, and some acorns strewed under it. As we
were looking at it William Bradford came up, and
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 159
as he went about, it gave a sudden jerk up, and he
was caught by the leg. Stephen Hopkms said, ^ It
was made to catch some deer.' It is a very pretty
device." No one thought it a freak of nature.
Adaptation proved design. In a stratum of sand
belonging to a geological epoch where the pres-
ence of man had not then been suspected, there
were found stones rudely shaped into some kind of
tools. Their adaptation to cutting and grinding
was at once regarded as a sufficient proof of de-
sign, therefore as evidence that men had existed
on the earth at that remote period. No one can
contemplate the myriad adaptations of means to
ends in nature without being impressed with the
sense of intelligent purpose. We do not stop now
to consider the modern metaphysical objections to
finality in nature. Such objections certainly never
disturbed the primitive reason of mankind. To
the common sense of the childlike races, no less
than to the penetrating thought of Socrates, it was
enough to look at the immense order of the uni-
verse, its infinite variety and majestic unity, its
thousand-fold adaptations to life, growth, and the
progress of the creature, to lead to the conclusion
that it was the work of some divine architect, some
celestial Demiurg.
One more step was to be taken. If there are
supernatural beings above man, yet caring for
man, and if among these there is a Supreme Be-
160 TEN GREAT RELIGIOJiS.
ino; maintainino: the order of the universe, it needs
only to proceed a little farther in this process of
thought to reach the pure Monotheism of the
Greek philosophy and the Egyptian mysteries. A
contemplation of the world without shows univer-
sal law, fixed and invariable order, the perma-
nence of being ; and on this permanence of exist-
ing law our whole mind and heart reposes securely.
The invariable order of things is the only guaran-
tee of our sanity, and to maintain this order we
need infinite power, infinite wisdom, and infinite
goodness. This conception of Infinite Being, ex-
isting in boundless space and eternal duration, is
given us by another law of thought, behind which
we cannot go. Given the finite, there is a neces-
sity to believe in the infinite. This is a conception
so lofty as to seem above the capacity of a created
mind, and yet it is one of the primal truths from
which no human reason can escape. It is one of
those of which Epictetus says : " He who denies
self-evident truths cannot be reasoned with."
§ 5. The Christian Idea of God combines the other con-
ceptions of Deity with that of Infinite Love.
The mixture of a hidden and private Monothe-
ism with a public Polytheism was the religion of
the civilized world, with the exception of Judea,
when Christ came. Now, probably, one half of the
human race have a Monotheistic relit^ion. These
\
V
IDEA OF GOD IN ALL RELIGIONS. 161
Monotheistic religions are the work of two proph-
ets, Moses and Jesus, from whose teaching's Mo-
hammed drew his own inspiration. The semi-
Monotheism of China and Eastern Asia is also the
result of the teaching of two great souls, Buddha
and Confucius. The nature of their inspiration
we shall consider in another chapter. Christianity
teaches the highest form of Monotheism. Jesus
gives no personal name to the Deity, as the relig-
ions before him had done. He does not call God
by the sacred Jewish name of Yahveh, but by a
word designating his character of parental care
and love, " Father." The peculiarity of Christian
Monotheism is that it combines with the concep-
tion of one Supreme, All-perfect Being, Maker and
Ruler of all things, which is the philosophic Mono-
theism, and with that of holy Law-giver and
Judge, and Beneficent Providence, the faith in an
infinite tenderness of love. God in Christ comes
near to each soul, as an ever-present friend and
helper ; as one who forgives and saves ; a perpet-
ual inspiration and guide ; a friend nearer than
any other to every child high or low. Farther
than this Monotheism can hardly go, for this com-
bines the two extremes of religious thought in a
harmonious whole, that of the Being who is infi-
nitely removed from us by his greatness, and the
Being who comes nearest to us by his love. This
is the fullness of him who fills all in all.
11
y
162 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS ; IN ALL
RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Universal faith in the independent existence and survival
of the human soul. The belief in Ghosts a proof of it. § 2.
Double souls and a double consciousness. Is there any evi-
dence of this ? Soul and Shadow. § 3. Does Buddhism
deny the existence of the soul ? § 4. The Philosophical ba-
sis of belief in a soul. § 5. The objections of Materialism.
§ 6. Preexistence and Transmigration. The doctrine of Brah-
manism and of the ancient Egyptians. § 7. Transmigration
among the Buddhists. § 8. Foundation of this belief. § 9.
Human traits in primitive organisms. Chief distinction be-
tween the human and animal soul. § 10. The evolution of
the soul, as an improvement on the doctrine of Darwin.
§ 1. Universal faith in the independent existence and
survival of the human soul.
OF all the beliefs of man in regard to the su-
pernatural world, the belief in a human soul
as a substantial essence, capable of existing inde-
pendently of the body, has prevailed most widely.
It is found in all parts of the world, in all times,
among all classes, however widely separated from
each other by physical and moral barriers. The
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 163
lowest tribes of savages unite with the most sub-
lime philosophers in this conviction. On this point
the Hottentot and the Fiji islander agree with
Plato and Aristotle.
The evidence of this belief among the lower
races, who have no metaphysical theories or lan-
guage, is to be found in their universal conviction
that all men continue to exist after the death of
the body, as disembodied spirits, or, as we say,
ghosts.
Our word " ghost," it must be remembered, the
same as the German "geist," simply means a
spirit. Now the belief of the existence of disem-
bodied spirits is well-nigh universal among the
primitive races. All believe in apparitions, in un-
substantial appearances of departed friends. The
Esquimaux in the Arctic Circle of North America ;
the natives of Siberia in the same latitudes in
Asia ; the Australians and Patagonians at the other
extreme of the world ; the great religions of an-
tiquity — those of Egypt, China, India, Persia,
Greece, Rome, Mexico, Peru, the Tartar tribes of
Central Asia, the Negroes of Central and Western
Africa ; the inhabitants of the innumerable islands
of the Pacific — have all believed in such a contin-
ued spiritual existence of the dead. This belief
could only have come from one of two sources —
from outward experience or inward consciousness.
Either they have all actually seen ghosts, and be-
164 TEN GEEAT EELIGIONS.
lieve in tliem for that reason, or else they have
not seen them. If they have not seen them, if
ghosts have never appeared, this universal belief
has prevailed with no facts of outward experience
to support it. It must then be based on some pro-
found and universal fact of inward experience. Is
there any such fact ? There is. We are conscious
of a thinking, feeling, and acting self, which has
no bodily qualities. This self acts and feels in
every part of the body, and yet is not located in
any part, for if a part of the body is lost, the
thinking and feeling and acting energy remains
unimpaired. It seems to go out of the body in
dreams, in memory, in imagination, and in thought
which makes the past present, the distant near.
The soul seems to leave the body in dreams, for
then it enters into another world, seemingly as real
as this one. It has a marvelous unity, correlating
and combining in a central self or ego, imagina-
tion, memory, hope and fear, love and hatred,
thought and sensation, action, choice, and passive
receptivity. It is the one simple ego which has
all this experience. Our consciousness does not
allow us to suppose that one part of the soul is de-
voted to thought, another part to feeling, and the
like. We say, " I think, I feel, I remember, I am
in pain, I like the taste of this fruit, I smell the
perfume of that rose, I foresee that some evil may
occur, I intend to build a house next year." It is
THE SOUL AND ITS TEANSMIGEATIONS. 165
one and the Scame undivided, indivisible self which
does all this. The consciousness of this indivisible
unity, a unity of which the body is incapable, is
the same in the savage and the philosopher. It is
a primitive, universal, and necessary conviction.
The body dissolves at death, but the self within
the body is indissoluble. It continues one and the
same through all the changes of life, and therefore
wall continue, men believe, after the physical body
dies. Primitive man does not argue in this way,
and convince himself thus of his immortality ; but
the belief is the natural outo;rowth of his self-con-
sciousness.
§ 2. Double souls and a double consciousness. Any 'proof
of tJiis'^
Some eminent thinkers, however, take a differ-
ent view. They tell us that the man who sleeps
and dreams thinks he has two individualities, one
of which leaves the other in his sleep, and comes
back to it ag:ain when he wakes.
Schoolcraft reports that " the North American
Indians believe in duplicate souls, one of which
remains with the body, while the other departs
during sleep." But this is surely a misinterpreta-
tion of their idea. There is evidence enough that
many primitive races believe that the conscious
thinking soul leaves the body during sleep. But
there is not a second conscious thinking soul left
166 TEN GEEAT RELIGIONS.
behind. There is no evidence that any human be-
ing, on awakening from a dream, ever remembered
that he existed simultaneously in two distinct se-
ries of conscious thoughts and actions. His think-
ing self was only one. It seemed to leave his body
and go elsewhere. He saw that the body had a
principle of life left with it, but not a second prin-
ciple of thought. This theory, then, of a double
soul is a mere misuse of words, and rests on no
scientific basis of observation or experience.
There have been instances of persons who, by
some strange cerebral conditions, have passed from
one state of consciousness into another, and in the
second state have forgotten all they knew in the
previous condition. They have then passed back,
during an interval of sleep, into their original
state, instantly remembering all they learned be-
fore while in that condition, but forgetting all they
knew in the second. But even this extremely rare
phenomenon does not justify the assumption of
a double soul. The patient in this case had no
double consciousness, but simply forgot in one con-
dition what was remembered in another. This was
not having two souls, but it was one soul passing
into two different states of thought and life.
It is often asserted that the primitive races re-
gard their shadows as their soul, and hence it is
argued that the very notion of the soul may have
been derived from the sight of the shadow. This
THE SOUL AXD ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 167
is reversing the order of thought. The idea of
the soul must have existed before it could have
been compared to a shadow. When the Romans
called a disembodied spirit an "umbra," or shadow,
and the Greeks used the same word, they simply
meant that it was unsubstantial, like a shadow.
As a shadow is visible, but not tangible, as it
retains the outline of the form, so the ghost was
believed to be visible but not tangible, and to have
a vasfue outline of the human form. But how
could any human being believe that the shadow
which always accompanies the body, and is never
seen without it, can be the spirit which has no
body, and which leaves the bod}^ in dreams ? The
most strikino; case on record of such an imag-ina-
tion is in the story of Peter Schlemil, the man who
sold his shadow. We ourselves often use the word
shadow to express something unsubstantial, as
when we say, " What shadows we are, and what
shadows we pursue ! " No one Avould infer from
this that we considered our souls to be the shad-
ows. We can usually best get at the conceptions
of the undeveloped races by recalling our own no-
tions when we were children. We shall remem-
ber, I think, that our shadow had a mysterious
quality to our infantile mind. It aroused our
fancy ; we may have tried to run away from it ;
we have stamped upon it ; it was an attendant
from which we could not get away. But it never
168 TEN GREAT EELIGION'S.
occurred to us for a moment that it was our soul,
or self. Similar childish fancies take possession of
the childlike races. The natives of Benin call a
man's shadow his guide, and believe it will witness
if he has done well or ill. The Basutos are care-
ful not to let their shadow fall on the river, lest a
crocodile should seize it, and draw them in.
§ 3. Does Buddhism deny the existence of the soul ?
One remarkable and unaccountable exception,
if it is an exception, to the universal belief of
mankind in the soul, as a simple substantial prin-
ciple of feeling, thought, and will, known by con-
sciousness, is the great religion of Buddha. We
are positively assured by the best informed writers
on this religion, that it persistently denies and re-
jects the notion of a soul in man. This is stated in
the most decided form by Rhys Davids, one of the
most recent and learned writers. Buddhism, he
says, teaches that man is a flux of emotions,
thought, acts, with no abiding principle behind
them. He quotes a passage from the " Sutta Pi-
taka," to the effect that the unlearned and sensual
man regards the soul as residing in sensation and
matter, and so gets the idea " I am." But the
wise man who has escaped both from ignorance
and from acquired knowledge does not have this
idea, " I am."
Here, however, comes in the necessity of under-
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 169
standing the meaning of words, of entering into
the state of mind of the Buddhist thinker. It is
of small consequence to have any statement, un-
less we comprehend the intention of the man who
makes it.
Now the whole purpose of original Buddhism
was to teach men how to escape the miseries of
life by the destruction of desire. Among these
desires is the wish for continued existence. This
also must be destroyed. Therefore the Pitakas,
or oldest religious books, perpetually repeat such
statements as this : —
'• I see in the world this trembHiig race given to desire
for existences ; they lament in the mouth of death, not
being free from the desire for reiterated existences. Look
on those men trembling with selfishness ; let them be un-
selfish, not having any attachment to existences."
The object being to produce perfect peace by
the destruction of all desire — even the desire for
continued existence — the remedy must be found
in knowledge, which is the Buddhist way of salva-
tion. Brahmanism in the time of Buddha sought
the same end. The Laws of Manu say of the sage:
" Let him not seek for death, let him not seek for
life." But their method of extinguishing all desire
was by ascetic mortifications. Buddha had tried
these, and found them insufficient. His great dis-
covery was that salvation came through knowl-
edge, knowledge of the laws of being. He reached
170 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
that state, not by reasoning or philosophy, which
he declares can never produce knowledge, but only
fluctuating opinion. To him knowledge came by
an interior insight of spiritual, moral, and physical
laws. To destroy all desire, the desire for future
existence must be destroyed. This is destroyed
by seeing that there is no soul, or personal identity,
or ego to continue. Thus Buddhism seems to deny
the existence of the soul.
On the other hand it teaches transmigration.
This is a fundamental doctrine with Buddhism.
But how can there be a migration of souls from
one body to another, unless there are souls to mi-
grate ? The answer is an ingenious one. Here
comes in the great law called Karma, which is the
law of cause and effect made universal. Every
moral or immoral action which a man performs
produces its result. If he does right he goes up,
if wrong; he s-oes down. When a man dies the
whole results of his life are summed up in a new
being, who takes his place by the law of Karma.
He does not pass into another body, but another
being appears as the consequence of his conduct.
So the Buddhist metaphysicians say, that what we
call transmigration is really metamorphosis.
But this fine-spun doctrine belongs to the meta-
physics, not to the religion of Buddhism. Even
Hardy himself tells us that " it is almost univer-
sally repudiated." "^'In historical composition, in
V
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 171
narrative, and in conversation, the common idea of
transmigration is always presented. We meet with
innumerable passages like the following : " These
four, by the help of Buddha, went after death to
the celestial world. ' I myself was the wise mer-
chant of this transaction.' "
This Buddhist doctrine of no soul is, therefore,
no exception to the general law. The Buddhists,
like the rest of mankind, believe in the personal
ego, and its continued existence hereafter. What-
ever their metaphysics may demand, their faith
is in the continued existence of the individual
through many births and deaths till he reach Nir-
vana. One of the most learned writers on Bud-
dhism, Samuel Beal, takes this view in his intro-
duction to " The Romantic History of Buddha."
■§ 4. The philosophical basis of belief in a soul.
We have seen how belief in a personal self arises
through consciousness. Observation of organized
life leads to a like conclusion. We observe in all
animals and plants an organization in which mat-
ter is governed, moulded, renewed, correlated and
brought into unity by some power not perceptible
to the senses. There is a cause which operates
steadily and constantly on every part of the organ-
ization, bringring- all under the use of the unit, —
a law of growth in the plant, of sensation in the
animal, of thought in the man. While the vital
172 TEN" GEE AT RELIGIONS.
vortex is going on, all the physical laws to which
the molecules of the body are otherwise subject
are neutralized and overcome. The law of gravity
is neutralized and overcome in the plant which
grows upward. The law of inertia is overcome in
. animals, who can originate motion. The chemical
laws are overcome in plants and animals, which
resist change and decay. If the phrase vital prin-
ciple is objected to, no one can deny the existence
of a vital unity, which is unexplained by the senses.
We are obliged to suppose some cause of all this,
and a common cause of this correlation. Men
have decided to call it life or soul.
Not only has the existence of the soul been re-
ceived in all religions (with the apparent excep-
tion of Buddhism), but also it has been the basis of
all philosophies which deserve that name.
According to Pythagoras the soul is an emana-
tion of the world-soul, and so partakes of the divine
nature. At death it leaves this body to take an-
other, and so goes through the circle of appointed
forms. The soul in man is a self-moving principle.
Ovid describes this Pythagorean view of transmi-
gration in verses thus translated by Dry den : —
" Souls cannot die. They leave a former home
And in new bodies dwell, and from them roam.
Nothing can perish, all things change below,
For spirits through all forms may come and go.
Good beasts shall rise to human forms; and men,
If bad, shall backward turn to beasts again.
THE SOUL AND ITS TRAKSMIGRATIONS. 173
Thus, through a thousand shapes, the soul shall go,
And thus fulfill its destiny below."
The human soul, according to Plato, is essen-
tially rational. It is pure mincl, but associated
with a lower animal soul, composed of energy or
active power, and desire or passive affection.
The immortality of the soul is argued in the
beautiful dialogue of PhfBdo, one of the most
charming; w^orks in all literature. According; to
Socrates, in this dialogue, the soul is the ego,
the mind which thinks, loves, and acts, and when
death comes, it is not the mind which dies, but the
body. At the close of this long dialogue, one of
the disciples of Socrates asks him what he wishes
them to do with him after his death. He smiles
and says : " Anything you please, if you can catch
me."
According to the Stoics, the soul is an emanation
of the Deity, an inborn breath of God, extending
through the body.
According to Aristotle, all living things have a
soul ; the plant has a soul which enables it to
grow ; it is a constructive force. The vital force
of the animal adds to this, sensation, desire, loco-
motion ; in man, the faculty of reason is added.
§ 5. Tlie objections of materialism. Why do some modern
thinkers deny the existence of the soid?
Materialism assumes that what we call soul is
174 TEN GREAT RELIGIOISrS.
the result of bodily organization. (1.) Because all
we know are sensible phenomena. (2.) Because
the state of the mind conforms constantly to the
condition of the body. All we know, it says, is
sensible phenomena, outward facts, and the group-
ing of these facts into laws. But the simple an-
swer of common sense to this statement is, that
we know mind better than we know body ; that
thought, love, and purpose are not sensible phe-
nomena, and yet we are certain of their exist-
ence. All we know of matter we know through
the senses ; it is that which is hard and soft, ex-
tended in space, which has shape, color, and so
forth. All we know of mind is different. More-
over, the mind has a unity and identity not found
in matter ; it is simple, indivisible unity ; whereas
matter is capable of division. It is one and the
same soul which thinks, feels, remembers, hopes,
chooses, laments, imagines. It is the same soul
which existed last year and exists now. But mat-
ter is always changing, never the same. Moreover,
there is a principle of life which correlates all parts
of a living body, and keeps them working together.
Great objection has been made to calling this the
vital principle, on the ground that this assumes
the existence of the soul before it is proved. But
the eminent naturalist, Quatrefages, says he must
use some such word to describe the vital vortex,
for the fact exists. The equilibrium of life is not
THE SOUL AND ITS TKANSMIGRATIOXS. 175
maintained by the molecular motion of tlie atoms,
for these act independently of each other. The
unity of organic life is maintained by some power
not in the material particles themselves. Call it
soul, or vital principle, or by any other name, its
existence is certain. You cannot explain life in
terms of matter and motion. The guK between
an atom of inorganic matter and the lowest form
of life has never been passed over by human
thous^ht.
The second objection of materialism to the ex-
istence of an immaterial soul is that the condition
of the body affects the soul, inevitably and always.
A little improper food taken into the system affects
the mind; a drop of blood extravasated in the
brain destroys the power of thought ; as the body
grows old, the mind weakens ; as the brain fibres
decay, memory goes ; without phosphorus, no
thought, — is not then thought the result of the
body? To this, however, the answer is conclu-
sive. All these facts only prove that while the
soul is in this body, the body is its necessary organ
of communication with the outward world. Just
as a carpenter cannot work when his tools are
dull; as the most accomplished musician cannot
charm our souls when the strings of his piano are
out of tune, or broken ; so the soul cannot com-
municate with us when the body is disordered. It
is highly probable that we could not think if the
176 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
proper amount of phosphorus was not supplied to
the bram. But this is no such great discovery.
Not " phosphorus " alone, but a good many other
chemical elements have always been known to be
necessary. Without oxygen, no thought ; without
hydrogen and carbon, no thought. All this merely
means that while the soul remains in its present
environment, it needs a healthy bodily organiza-
tion with which to do its work.
§ 6. Preexistence and Transmigration. The doctrine of
Brahmanism,
We must now pass on to consider the doctrine
of metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul, so
alien to our ways of thought, but once so univer-
sally believed. It was taught by three great re-
ligions, that of Egypt, of Brahmanism, and of
Buddhism ; by Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Plato,
among Greek philosophers; by the Neo-Platonists,
the Jewish Cabbala, and the Arab philosophers;
by Origen and other church fathers ; by the Gnos-
tics, the Manicheans, the Druids; and, in recent
times, by Fourier and others.
The soul, Psyche, soul-unit, or vital monad, being
assumed, four questions arise : —
1. Did these monads exist before they entered
the living bodies of plants, animals, and men, or
not?
2. Will they exist after leaving these bodies, or
not?
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 177
3. If they preexisted, how ?
4. If they continue to exist, how ?
The human race, almost universally, as we have
seen, has answered the second question in the
affirmative as regards the human monad. The
conscious thinking, willing, feeling soul will con-
tinue to exist after the dissolution of the body.
But, as regards the first question : Have these
vital monads existed before their existence here ?
the answers are not so unanimous.
A vast multitude of men, in former days, and a
majority of those now existing, answer Yes. It is
curious to see how many have believed in preex-
istence because they believed in transmigration.
The doctrine of preexistence has been very gen-
erally held, in one or another form. It has been
believed to explain a part of the mystery of evil.
If men were born under unfortunate conditions,
with depraved organizations, it was assumed that
it was in consequence of some sin committed in a
former state. When the Jews asked Jesus, " Did
this man sin, or his father, that he was born blind ? "
they asked which of two contending theories of
evil was the true one : that of Moses, who taught
that the sins of the fathers would descend on the
children to the third and fourth generation; or
the subsequently adopted theory of transmigra-
tion, by which a man's present discomforts were
the result of his own misconduct in a former state
12
178 TEN GKEAT RELIGIONS.
of existence ? Preexistence and transmigration
were both held as a part of a system of penal ret-
ribution.
This view of transmigration, as retribution, was
held in ancient Brahmanism, as will appear from
the following passages from the "Laws of Manu,"
a Sanskrit work written, some say, eight hundred
years before Christ : —
" Be it known that the three qualities of the rational
soul are a tendency to goodness, to passion, and to dark-
ness ; and, endued with one or more of them, it remains
incessantly attached to all these created substances.
" Let the wise consider, as belonging to the quality of
darkness, every act which a man is ashamed of having
done, of doing, or of going to do.
" Let them consider, as proceeding from the quality of
passion, every act by which a man seeks exaltation and
celebrity in this world, though he may not be much af-
flicted if he fail of attaining his object.
" To the quality of goodness belongs every act by
■which he hopes to acquire divine knowledge, which he is
never ashamed of doing, and which brings placid joy to
his conscience.
" Of the dark qualitj'-, as described, the principal ob-
ject is pleasure ; of the passionate, worldly prosperity ;
but of the good quality the chief object is virtue, — the
last mentioned objects are superior in dignity.
" Such transmigrations as the soul procures in this uni-
verse by each of those qualities, I now will declare in
order succinctly.
" Souls, endued with goodness, attain always the state
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 179
of deities ; those filled with ambitious passions, the con-
dition of men ; and those immersed in darkness the na-
ture of beasts, — this is the triple order of transmigra-
tion.
" What particular bodies the vital spirit enters in this
world, and in consequence of what sins here committed,
now hear at large and in order.
" A priest who has drunk spirituous liquor shall mi-
grate into the form of a smaller or larger worm or insect,
of a moth, or of some ravenous animal.
" If a man steal grain in the husk he shall be born a
rat ; if a yellow-mixed metal, a gander ; if water, a plava,
or diver ; if honey, a great stinging gnat ; if milk, a crow;
if expressed juice, a dog ; if clarified butter, an ichneu-
mon weasel.
" As far as vital souls, addicted to sensuality, indulge
themselves in forbidden pleasures, even to the same de-
gree shall the acuteness of their senses be raised in their
future bodies, that they may endure analogous pains.
" Then shall follow separations from kindred and
friends, forced residence with the wicked, painful gains
and ruinous losses of wealth ; friendships hardly acquired,
and at length changed into enmities.
" Let every Brahman with fixed attention consider all
nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the di-
vine spirit ; for, when he contemplates the boundless uni-
verse existing in the divine spirit, he cannot give his heart
to iniquity."
The object of the transmigration of the soul after
death, according to the ancient religion of Egypt,
seems to have been development. It was not
180 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
punishment, as in Brahmanism, nor purification,
as in some other systems. The soul, it is taught,
must go through the round of animal existence,
apparently to complete its entire education. It
must be in sympathy with the Divine Mind in his
whole work of creation. It must reach that state
of which Wordsworth speaks when he says that —
" To me the smallest flower that blows can jjive
Thoughts which do often lie too deep for tears."
And of which Coleridge speaks when he tells us —
" He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small,
For the dear God who loveth us.
He made and loveth all."
In the first rank among the sacred books of
Egypt is the " Ritual of the Dead," or the descrip-
tion of the passage of the soul after death into the
presence of the judge Osiris. A copy of it either
at full length or abridged was deposited in each
mummy-case. Many parts were of the highest
antiquity.
It opens with a grand dialogue which takes
place when the soul leaves the body. The de-
ceased addresses the God of Hades, and asks for
admission to his realm. Finally Osiris says, " Fear
nothing, but cross the threshold."
Then the soul enters the subterranean region,
and is dazzled by the glory of the sun, brighter
than noon. He sings a hymn to the sun and goes
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 181
on. The food which he must take with him is
knowledge. Frightful obstacles are in his way •
horrid monsters, servants of Typhon, oppose his
power. He breaks through at last, and sings an-
other hymn of triumph.
Next comes a period of rest and refreshment.
The Goddess Nu gives him water, and at last he
reaches the first gate of Heaven. Then there is a
dialogue between the soul and the divine light,
who instructs him in all the sublimest mysteries of
nature.
Having passed the gate, he is transformed into
different animals and plants, as a hawk, an eagle,
a lotus, a heron, a serpent, and a crocodile.
After this the soul is reunited to its body, for
which careful embalment was so important. He
reaches the bank of the subterranean river, the
Egyptian Styx. A false boatman attempts to de-
ceive him, and induce him to go the wrong way.
At last he meets the right boat, but before he can
enter he passes a sort of competitive examination
to see if he have the right sort and amount of
knowledge, the different parts of the boat speaking
to him and asking their names. The rudder says :
" What is my name ? " He replies, " The enemy
of Apis." The rope asks the same, and so on for
twenty- three questions and answers.
So he enters the boat, crosses the river and ar-
rives at the Elysian fields. Conducted by Anubis,
182 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
he goes through a difficult labyrinth, and enters
the judgment hall of Osiris, where the decisive
judgment is to be passed, according to his earthly
character and conduct. Each of the forty-two
judges questions him in turn, and he must give an
account of his whole life. " I have not blas-
phemed," he says. " I have not stolen, I have not
been cruel, not stirred up strife, not been idle, not
been a drunkard, shown no improper curiosity,
disclosed no man's secrets, slandered no one, not
envied others, nor calumniated a slave to his
master."
Then he gives an account of his positive good
works, among which are : " I have given food to
the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to
the naked."
Being justified by Osiris, the deceased man en-
ters heaven. Then comes a third book, containinjr
a mythical description of the higher world and life
in heaven.
§ 7. Transmigration among the Buddhists.
The 'Buddhists seem to have taken their doc-
trine of transmigration directly from the Brah-
mans, but have developed it according to their own
theory. This theory is that by a natural conse-
quence the soul that does right goes up, and the
soul which does wrong goes down. Wrong-doing
in the present life is the effect and continuation of
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 183
wrong-doing in a former state. The total result of
wrong-doing, and its consequence, perpetual sor-
row and perpetual change, is called Sansara; the
state of peace and rest opposed to this is Nirvana.
He who is not in Nirvana is in Sansara, says the
old doctrine.
In Sansara there is nothing true or real, noth-
ing fixed and lasting, but only change and decep-
tion. All is vanity and vexation of spirit ; life is
uneasy and empty. All things revolve in a circle,
without meaning or purpose. Birth leads to death,
youth to age ; grace is deceitful, and beauty vain.
This emptiness of existence here below is the per-
petual theme of the Buddhist teachers.
What, then, is the Buddhist doctrine of trans-
migration, and how far does it go ?
St. Hilaire replies that it goes as far as possible ;
everj^thing migrates below the Buddha down to
inert matter; and this also was taught in the
Sankya philosophy in which Buddhism originated.
The Buddha himself migrated many times.
Hardy tells us that he was born as an ascetic
eighty-three times, as a monarch fifty-eight times,
as the soul of a tree forty-three times, and many
times also as ape, deer, lion, snipe, chicken, eagle,
serpent, pig, frog, and so forth, being born four
hnndred times in all. According to a Chinese au-
thority he is made to say, " The number of my
births and deaths can only be compared to those
of all the plants in the universe."
184 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
The Buddhists believe, therefore, in hereditary
depravity, and that this is the chief source of
transmigration. Buddha is reported to have said
that a man who has hved a good life here may yet
be punished after death by being sent down into a
lower form because he has not atoned for evil com-
mitted in a former state. On the other hand, a
person who has done wrong here may go up here-
after, not yet having exhausted the power of good
actions done in a former state of existence.
Karma, or the law of merit and demerit, gov-
erns all existence. It is the reason for the varie-
ties in human fortunes, for differences of condition
and character. Thus it is shown that all things
depend on Karma, and that perfect justice presides
over the universe. As a man sows, so he reaps,
or shall reap hereafter. As he has sowed in for-
mer states of existence so he reaps in this world.
It is also a doctrine of this system that the law
of merit is more powerful than that of demerit ;
that is, that the consequences of doing right are
much more extensive than those of doing wrong.
This they admit is contrary to appearances, for
evil seems to prevail over good, and punishment
comes much sooner than reward. But they an-
swer that the best things ripen most slowly ; as
the chicken is able to get its food as soon as it
chips its shell, but a human child is helpless for
many months. Moreover they say merit increases,
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 185
because it is in harmony with all truth ; but de-
merit decreases, for all things oppose it.
§ 8. Foundation of the Belief in Transmigration.
Such a widespread belief as this of transmigra-
tion must rest on some reasonable foundation ; we
can hardly believe that it is unmixed error. What
basis of probability can be found in it ?
Many of the reasons for believing that man has
a soul, which can exist independently of his body,
would induce the conviction that animals have
souls of a similar character, though in a lower
state of development. Animals can think, feel,
will, remember, imagine, reason, love, just as man
does. Beside what we call instinct in animals,
there is distinctly present the power of reflection,
of adapting means to ends, of meeting new exi-
gencies with new contrivances. What love, what
devotion, what fidelity there is in the dog ! The
elephants in Ceylon are taught to build stone
walls, and an elephant will bring a stone, lay it in
its place, push it with his trunk until it is plumb,
just as a mason would do. I have seen in my own
horse unmistakable evidence of pride and shame,
the sense of fun, the memory of. Sunday when it
came, and, above all, the sense of the supernat-
ural. He was once put into a tip-cart to draw
w^ater, and he evidently felt degraded by that oc-
cupation. He hung his head and looked so mourn-
186 TEIS" GREAT EELIGIONS.
f ul that we had him at once taken out of the cart.
I often tried his memory by laying the reins on
his back and letting him choose which way to
go. On Sunday he would turn to the right, going
out of the gate, and take every turn correctly till
he reached the church in Boston. On other days
he invariably turned to the left, and went in the
opposite direction to the village. Once, when driv-
ing him on the road near my house, we met, com-
ing down the hill toward us, a horse-car which had
been allowed to run down without horses, simply
by the power of gravitation. My horse was dread-
fully alarmed at this phenomenon, which seemed
to him a sort of miracle, and he very nearly over-
turned me in the gutter. To see the car coming
without horses to draw it, frightened him. It was
an effect produced without any visible cause. He
felt as a man would if he should see his dining-
table suddenly float up to the top of the room.
Observing in animals so many elements in com-
mon with man, and seeing man with so many traits
which are very marked in animals, it was natural
to suppose that the human soul has passed through
these lower forms of animal life. One man is cun-
ning like a fox, another has the qualities of a good,
honest Newfoundland dog, another the stealthy
ways of a cat, and so on. We say, " She is as
proud as a peacock," " Sly as a snake." Some
men are like tigers in ferocity, others like sheep
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 187
in blindly following their leaders ; others, again,
like the hog, the parrot, the vulture, the monkey.
Seeing such traits, it was not a very absurd theory
to suppose that the mind of man had reached its
present state of development by passing through
these lower forms. It was also natural to believe
that souls which had misused their opportunities
might have to go back and pass through their pre-
liminary exercises again ; also, that one who had
behaved like a hog, or a fox, or a tiger while he
was a man might be fitly punished by being made
to pass into those bodies after death. Transmigra-
tion, therefore, was for development and for retri-
bution*
§ 9. Human traits in primitive organisms.
I was once w^alking in the British Museum
through the rooms which contain, in a systematic
and progressive arrangement, specimens of the
classes, orders, and genera of animal life; and I
became quite interested in imagining the transmi-
gration of a soul passing up through this long se-
ries of bodily organizations. In the room of the
Radiata I imagined the soul to have once inhabited
a star-fish, and by stretching out in every direction
to have learned the existence of an outward world.
As a mollusk, rolled up in a shell, I supposed the
soul occupied in digesting these experiences, and
becoming acquainted with itself. As a fish the
188 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
soul learned the joy of easy motion, supported on
all sides by the buoyant but yielding element.
Alacrity, vivacity, the energy to act is developed
in some forms of insect life. In bivalves the soul
may have learned how to grasp and hold. The
crocodiles, all mouth, give us the devouring el-
ement, that rapacity, that irresistible appetite,
which may have any and all things for its object.
Who knows but that the insatiate appetite for
knowledge in a Casaubon or Scaliger may have
been cultivated when, in some previous state of
existence, they roamed about as sharks. The form
of birds with all their varied attitudes and quick
bright expression, seemed to represent the airy,
ready, quick perception, the rapid analysis, which
can penetrate the entanglements of life, as a bird
darts through the bushes.
Animals, as we have seen, can reason, remem-
ber, imagine ; they have conscience and are capa-
ble of the feeling of wrong-doing ; they have the
love of approbation and are pleased with praise ;
contrivance, and can adapt means to ends ; pride,
which can be wounded ; a sense of reverence for
man, as a higher power, in which is the germ of
religion ; and a sense of the supernatural. If the
animal soul has these faculties, wherein, it may be
asked, does it differ from the human. How far
has the human soul gone above it ?
Many distinctions have been pointed out be-
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 189
tween men and animals. The human hand has
been said to make an essential physiological dis-
tinction between man and all the animals. The
perfection of its structure consists in the size and
streno;th of the thumb, which can be brouo-ht into
exact and powerful opposition to the extremities of
the fingers, each of which is also separately mov-
able. This enables the human hand to perform
with dexterity a variety of movements, of which
the highest order of monkeys is incapable.
Another distinction between man and animals is
in the human power of using articulate speech and
verba] lang-uao-e. Animals have no verbal Ian-
guage ; if they had we could learn it and talk
with them.
The real and chief distinction between the soul
of all other animals and that of man, is, that the
human soul is capable of conceiving abstract ideas,
and the animal has no such power. The dog can
understand a general or generic name, but not an
abstract name. Tell him to go and get an apple,
he understands you ; but not if you speak of truth,
beauty, justice, right and wrong, good and evil,
cause and effect. He is incapable of adopting an
aim apart from wdiat is given in his organization.
Man can say : " It shall be the object of my life to
attain knowledge, to form my character, to obtain
rank, fame, fortune, popularity, to please God, to
serve my fellow-creatures." There is no evidence
190 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
that any animal can thus adopt an abstract idea as
his purpose in life, and pursue it. This power gives
man his immense superiority over all other crea-
tures, and makes him capable of high moral and
intellectual development.
§ 10. The Evolution of the /Soul, as an improvement on
the doctrine of Dartvin.
That man has come up to his present state of
development by passing through lower forms is
the popular doctrine of science to-day. Wliat is
called evolution teaches that we have reached our
present state by a very long and gradual ascent
from the lowest animal organizations. It is true
that the Darwinian theory takes no notice of the
evolution of the soul, but only of the body. But
it appears to me that a combination of the two
views would remove many difficulties which still
attach to the theory of natural selection and the
survival of the fittest. If we are to believe in evo-
lution, let us have the assistance of the soul itself
in this development of new species.
" For of the soul the body form doth take:
For soul is form, and doth the body make."
Thus science and philosophy will cooperate, nor
will poetry hesitate to lend her aid. For have not
two great poets in our time intimated their belief
in some such law of preexistence and transmigra-
tion ? Wordsworth long ago declared that —
THE SOUL AND ITS TRANSMIGRATIONS. 191
" Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us, our life's star.
Has had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar."
And Tennyson also suggests, —
" For how should I for certain hold,
Because my memory is so cold.
That 1 first was in human mould ?
" It may be that no life is found,
Which only to one engine bound
Falls off, but cycles always round.
" But, if I lapsed from nobler place,
Some legend of a fallen race
Alone might hint of my disgrace.
" Or if thro' lower lives I came —
Tho' all experience past became
Consolidate in mind and frame —
" I might foi-get my weaker lot;
For is not our first year forgot ?
The haunts of memory echo not.
" Moreover, something is or seems.
That touches me with mystic gleams,
Like glimpses of forgotten dreams —
" Of something felt, like something here;
Of something done, I know not where;
Such as no language may declare."
It would be curious if we should find science and
philosophy taking up again this old theory of me-
tempsychosis, remodeling it to suit our present
192 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
modes of religious and scientific thought, and
launching it again on the wide ocean of human be-
lief. But stranger things have happened in the
history of human opinion.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 193
CHAPTER VII.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD ; IN ALL RELIGIONS.
EVOLUTION, EMANATION, AND CREATION.
§ 1. Diffei-ent theories concerning the origin of the Cosmos.
All races of men believe it had a beginning, and has not ex-
isted always. The primeval chaos. § 2. Doctrine of Evolu-
tion. Its antiquity. The World-egg. Orphic poets. Laws
of Manu, Aristophanes. Hesiod. Ovid. American Indians.
Eddas. The Polynesian theology. § 3. Doctrine of Emana-
tion. Source of this view. The Vedas. The Gnostics.
Their problem. § 4. Doctrine of Creation. Different forms
of this doctrine. The Hebrew Bible, the Zend-Avesta, the
Assyrian tablets, the philosophers. Objection to the doctrine
of Creation by modern thinkers. § 5. Darwin and Natural
Selection. § 6. Theory of Creation by beings above man,
but below God. This theory would harmonize the doctrines
of Evqlution, Emanation, and Creation.
§ 1. Different theories concerning the origin of the Cosmos.
All races of men believe it had a beginning, and has riot
existed always. The primeval chaos.
~\TTE all recollect the old gentleman in the
" Vicar of Wakefield," who astonished Dr.
Primrose by his profound learning in regard to the
origin of the universe. "The cosmogony, or crea-
tion of the world," said he, "has puzzled philoso-
13
194 TEIT GREAT EELIGIONS.
phers of all ages. Sanconiathon, Manetho, Bero-
sus, and Ocellus Lucanus have all attempted it in
vain." This venerable man, with his jargon about
cosmogony, turned out in the end to be a venera-
ble humbug. But notwithstanding this warning,
we are obliged to follow his steps and show how
largely the origin of the world has occupied the
human mind.
All possible theories about the origin of the uni-
verse may be reduced to these : —
1. It had no origin, but has always existed as it
is now, a Cosmos of order.
2. It came by a process of evolution.
3. It came by a process of emanation.
4. It was created by some intelligent Being.
The first of these theories, that the world has
always been as it is now, has never been the belief
of mankind. All races of men, in all times, have
agreed in a remarkable way in assuming a begin-
ning of the universe, and a gradual process of de-
velopment or of creation. We may add that these
different theories commonly suppose the world at
first to have been in a chaotic state. Chaos was
first in almost every system.
One is much struck by this fact, which reap-
pears continually in the most opposite quarters.
"We recollect how the account of the creation be-
gins in the Book of Genesis : " The earth was
without form, and void^ and darkness was on the
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 195
face of the deep." Hesiod, the theologian of Greek
thought, says : " In the beginning was chaos."
The tenth book of the Rig- Veda, eleventh chapter,
says : " Then there was neither nothing, nor some-
thing ; no world, no sky ; nothing involving, noth-
ing involved ; no water, no death nor life ; only
One alone breathing calmly with nature. The uni-
verse was shrouded in darkness, a mass of indis-
tinguishable waters."
So the Laws of Manu say : " The universe ex-
isted in darkness, imperceptible, undefinable, as if
immersed in sleep."
The Phoenicians said : " The beginning of all
things was a dark, condensed air, a chaos turbid
and black."
The Scandinavian Edda says the same, making
all things begin in darkness and unformed matter.
We also find this doctrine of chaos in the myths
of America and Polynesia.^
It is an unquestionable fact, and a very curious
one, that the human race should thus have held
1 The Quiches said: "There were neither men nor brutes; neither
birds, fish, crabs, sticks, nor stones; valley nor mountain; stubble
nor forest; nothing but the sky. The face of the land was hidden.
There was naught but the silent sea and sky. There was nothing
joined, nor any sound, nor anything that stirred; . . . nothing but.
stillness, and rest, and darkness, and night."
So, t6o, the picture-writing of the Aztecs says: "In the year and
day of clouds, before years and days, the world lay in darkness; all
things were without order; a water covered the slime and the ooze."
See Briuton: ''Mijths of the New World."
196 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
to a beginning. They never seem to have thought
for a moment that things have always been as
they are now. They have beUeved in the exist-
ence at first of formless matter which afterward
took form under the influence of some superhu-
man intelligence. Every religion and every my-
thology has held to the same formula, " From
Chaos to Cosmos."
This belief of the earliest races was a dim proph-
ecy of what modern science has revealed as the
actual fact. Geology turns over the stone leaves
of the planet, and shows how our present order
emerged from vast cataclysms and catastrophes,
from epochs when the globe was a mass of fire, or
submero^ed below the waters, or covered with an
armor of ice. Finally, the doctrine of evolution
once more teaches that all began in chaos, in a
homogeneous nebula, without form, and void.
§ 2. Doctrine of Evolution. Its antiquity/. TJie World-
egg. Orphic poets. Laws of Manu. Aristoijhanes.
Eesiod. Ovid. American Indians. Eddas. The
Polynesian theology.
The doctrine of evolution is not, therefore, a
recent discovery, but is found among most of the
primitive races and in many ancient religions, often
indeed combined with that of creation. It is sug-
gested most naturally to the childlike races by the
phenomena of the seed and egg. They see the
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 197
seed under telluric and atmospheric influences de-
veloping into plant and root, j)i'oclucing flower,
and fruit, and seed again, by a cycle of perpetual
change. In all this there is nothing abrupt, but
regular growth. There is no visible interference
of any Creator from without ; all steadily unfolds
by some mysterious principle of life within. This
is the law for the world of living things, the whole
vegetable and animal kingdom. Consequently the
origin of the world by evolution has been a very
common belief. The notion of a world-egg or
world-seed, from which all things have come by a
process of development, and this often connected
with a Creator, is to be seen among many races.
The Orphic writings have a cosmogony in which
time is the first principle of things. From time
came chaos and ether. From these were formed
the primitive egg, from which issued Phanes, or
manifestation.
In the account of creation given in the " Laws
of Manu," the ideas of creation, emanation, and
evolution are united. The following extracts are
from the first book : —
" The universe existed in darkness, — imperceptible,
undefinable, undiscoverable, and undiscovered, — as if
immersed in sleep.
•' Then the self-existing Power, undiscoverable himself,
but making the world discoverable, with the five elements
and other principles, appeared in undiminished glory, dis-
pelling the gloom.
198 TEN" GREAT RELIGION'S.
" He whom the mind alone can perceive, whose essence
ekides the external organs, who has no parts, who exists
from eternity ; even he, the soul of all beings, shone
forth.
" He, having willed to produce various beings from his
own divine substance, first with a thought created the
waters and placed in them a productive seed.
" The seed became an egg, bright as gold, blazing like
a luminary with a thousand beams, and in that egg he
himself was born as Brahma, the Father of all Spirits.
" In that egg sat the great power, inactive for a whole
year of the creator, at the close of which by a thought he
caused the egg to divide itself.
"And from its two divisions he framed the heavens
above and the earth below.
" From the supreme soul he drew forth mind, then con-
sciousness, an inward ruler.
" Then pervading, with emanations from the supreme
spirit, the minutest atoms of existing things, he formed
all creatures."
In one of the Choruses of Aristophanes we read
this : —
"Dark chaos and night existed, and in the beginning
dark Erebus and Tartarus ; but neither earth nor air,
nor sky was then. Before all, in the infinite circle of
Erebus, the black-winged night produced an egg, not
brooded on, whence in time sprang love, parent of desire,
beating its back with its gilded wings like the whirl of
a tempest. Love, joined with dark, unresting chaos, pro-
duced heaven, earth, sea, and the deathless race of the
Immortal Gods."
THE ORIGIX OF THE WORLD. 199
In like manner Hesiod says : —
" In the beginning was chaos, next the earth with its
broad bosom, the immovable foundation of all beings, the
vast Tartarus, in the depth of its abyss ; and love, the
most beautiful of the Immortal Gods."
So Ovid sings : —
" Before the sea and land and all-covering heaven ap-
peared, there was one aspect over the whole of nature.
All was rude, unelaborated — a mass, which was called
chaos. It was inert weight, the seeds of things in dis-
order and confusedly intermingled — no sun, no moon,
no earth hanging balanced in the air, no ocean embracing
continents with its mighty arms. This conflict of the
elements God and benign Nature pacified, distinguishing
each from each, solid from fluid, earth from air. Who-
ever that God was, he distributed all things, sending each
to its place."
But directly after, when speaking of the origin
of man, Ovid hesitates whether man was the work
of that divine artificer, or whether the earth, re-
taining in it some seeds of heaven, brought him
forth and Prometheus gave him form.
An Orphic poet also deduces all things from pri-
meval chaos and the inspiration of love : —
" We will first sing a delightful song concerning the
ancient chaos ; how heaven, earth, and seas were framed
out of it, as also concerning that much-wise and sagacious
love, oldest of all and self-perfect, which produced all
these things, separating one from another."
200 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
The idea of the evolution of all living creatures
out of the earth appears in the often-repeated
phrase, " Mother Earth," which is found in many
ancient writers, ^schylus makes Prometheus
call, " 0 divine gether, and ye many- winged blasts,
ye fountains of the rivers, thou multitudinous
smile of the ocean, and thou earth, the universal
mother, I call on you all ! " So the Comanche
Indians call on the earth as their mother, and the
Great Spirit as their father. The Mexicans called
the sun and earth " the father and mother of us
all."
The Indians of Guatemala, the Quiches, who
are very rich in their mythology, had this account
of creation, singularly like those we have been
considering. It almost reads like a translation of
Ovid, and yet is given by Bancroft ^ in the origi-
nal Quiche language : ^ —
" The heaven Avas formed, and its boundaries fixed
toward the four winds by the Creator and Former, — the
Mother and Father of all living things, — he by whom
all move, the father and cherislier of the peace of men,
whose wisdom has planned all things."
" There was as yet no man, nor any animal, nor bird,
nor fish, nor green herb, nor any tree. The face of the
earth was not yet seen, only the peaceful sea and the
space of heaven. Nothing was joined together, nothing
1 Native Races.
2 This differs a little from the translation from Ximenes, by Brin-
ton, given in a previous note.
THE OEIGIN OF THE WORLD. 201
clung to aiiytliing else, nothing balanced itself, there was
no sound. Nothing existed but the sea, calm and alone,
immobility and silence, darkness and night.
"Alone was the Creator, the former, and the feathered
serpent, enveloped in green and blue, their name Gu-cu-
matz, or Feathered Serpent. They are the heart of
heaven. They spake together and consulted, mingling
their thoughts. They said ' Earth,' and earth came, like
a cloud or fog. Then the mountains arose, and the trees
appeared, and Gu-cu-matz was filled with joy, saying,
' Blessed be thy coming, O Heart of Heaven ! our work
is done ! ' "
There is much more, but this is a specimen.
Cross the Atlantic, and return to Europe, and
visit the Scandinavian peninsula. There, a thou-
sand years ago, the Eddas, sacred books of the Teu-
tonic race, thus described the origin of things : —
" In the day-spring of the ages there was neither sea,
nor shore, nor refreshing breeze, neither earth below nor
heaven above, but one vast abyss. Then arose a shining
world of flame in the South, and another, cloudy and
dark, in the North. Torrents of venom flowed from the
North into the abyss, and filled it with ice. But from
the South a warm breath came, and melted it into living
drops, from whence came the giant Yimer, and afterward
from these drops, as from seeds, came the Mundane cow,
and Ror, the father of Odin, who made heaven and earth
from the body of the giant Yimer, and then created a
man and woman. Ask and Embla. Chaos having disap-
peared, Odin became the All Father, maker of gods and
men, having Hertha, the earth, for his wife."
202 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
This is creation by evolution, with a grain of
theism in it.
In the islands of the Pacific a curious series of
myths exist, belonging to this circle of thought.
According to this Polynesian theology, all things
began at a single immovable point, which they call
" the root of all existence." There are three
worlds : the highest the abode of spirits, divided
into seven heavens, above the circuit of the sun
and moon. The second world consists of the isl-
ands where the Polynesians live. Each island has
its spirit or essence, called " The Well Poised." It
is surrounded by the ocean, the name of which is
" The vast outspread plantain leaf." The third
world is below the island, and is called a-via-ki.
This under-world is hollow, like the inside shell of
a cocoa-nut. Beneath its lowest rea;ion is a thick
stem, tapering down to a point which supports
everything, and is called " the root-of-all exist-
ence." This point supports the universe ; and
from this, by a peculiar process of development,
all existence has proceeded. This point, though
stationary, has a kind of demonic life. From it
we rise to a second point or demon, in the stem,
called " breathing," or " life." Above this demon
of sentient life resides a third, still fixed forever
in the basis of all things, and called " The long-
lived," or perhaps " Time." Above him, at the bot-
tom of the under-world, lives " the great mother."
THE ORIGIN" OF THE WORLD. 203
She made the first man, and, being apparently
pleased with the result, repeated the experiment
till she had created five more, all residing in dif-
ferent spheres of the vast under- world. The upper
floor, inhabited by Avatea, communicates with the
upper-world by two apertures on the east and west,
through which the sun and moon come up and go
down at their rising and setting. Below "the
Thin-land," the home of Avatea, who became the
father of gods and men, is a second place, belong-
ing to a second son, named " The innumerable," a
sea-god, the father and maker of all fishes.
Further down in the hollow cocoa-nut under-
world is the residence of the bird-god, the author
of that which inhabits the air. A fourth child of
the great mother is Echo, who inhabits a region of
hollow rocks. Lower still is the home of the god-
dess Raka, or Trouble, who rules the winds, and
keeps the storms shut up in a basket, till she sees
fit to set them free. Lowest of all, by the side of
the great mother, is her sixth child, called " Stick-
by-her-Parent," living with her in the " Land of
Silence," where no voice is heard.
According to this remarkably elaborate system
(only a part of which I have here related), all ex-
istence begins with one unchanging point or sub-
stance of being, then passes into the stage of pul-
sating or breathing life, then into everlasting time,
then into the stage of production, or the beginning
204 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
of continued development by growth. Thus con-
scious being comes up into the world of light, from
the dark, unconscious abyss below.
§ 3. Doctrine of Emanation. Source of this View. The
Vedas. The G-nostics. Their Problem.
The second form which the origin of the world
takes is that of Emanation. Primitive man saw in
nature a tendency to growth ; and, beginning with
this, some nations deduced the world from a pro-
cess of evolution. These were the races most im-
mersed in nature. Other races, with an opposite
tendency of thought, living more in self-conscious-
ness than in observation, found in themselves the
notions of cause, purpose, plan, choice, will, effort,
adaptation of means to ends, the sense of spiritual
substance, the ideas of the infinite and eternal.
AVith these conceptions they formed their theory
of the origin of the world. They began at the
summit and went down, inferring the finite from
the infinite. The other races bes-an below and
went up, rising toward the infinite from the finite.
The one began with the dark abyss of chaos, and
went upward to intelligence. The other began
with the dark abyss of infinite being, and by
means of a series of emanations or fallings away
from this inconceivable first essence, gradually
reached an intelligent Creator and an intelligent
creation.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 205
This system of emanation appears more or less
developed in different theologies, mythologies, and
philosophies.
It is essentially Oriental in its origin, coming
first in the cosmogony of the Hindus.
The Veda thus speaks of the beginning of
thinocs :^ —
" Nothing then existed, neither being nor non-being ; no
world, no air, no firmament. Where was then the cover-
ing of the universe ? Where the receptacle of the water ?
Where the impenetrable depths of air ? Death was not,
nor immortality, nor anything that marked the bounda-
ries of day and night. But That breathed in solitude
without afilation, absorbed in his own thought. Besides
That nought existed. The universe was at first envel-
oped in darkness ; the water was devoid of movement ;
and everything was gathered up and blended together in
That. The being reposed on the bosom of this void ; and
the universe was at last produced by the strength of his
devotion. In the beginning desire was formed in his
spirit and this was the first productive principle. It is
thus that the wise men, pondering in their heart, have
explained the union of being and non-being."
Another Vedic hymn thus speaks : —
" Originally this universe was indeed soul only ; nothing
else whatsoever existed, active or inactive. He thought,
" I will create worlds ; " thus He created these various
worlds : water, light, mortal beings, and the waters.
" He thought, ' These are indeed worlds ; I will create
guardians of worlds.' Thus He drew from the waters
^ Rig - Veda, Book X., chap. xi.
206 ■ TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
and framed an embodied being. He viewed him ; and of
that being, so contemplated, the mouth opened as an egg ;
from the mouth speech issued; from speech, fire pro-
ceeded. The nostrils spread ; from the nostrils, breath
passed ; from breath, air was propagated. The eyes
opened ; from the eyes a glance sprang ; from that glance
the sun was produced. The ears dilated ; from the ears
came hearkening ; and from that the regions of space.
The skin expanded ; from the skin, hair rose ; from that
grew herbs and trees. The breast opened; from the
breast mind issued.
" These deities being thus framed, fell into this vast
ocean ; and to Him they came with thirst and hunger ;
and Him they thus addressed : ' Grant us a smaller size,
wherein abiding we may eat food.' He offered to them
a cow ; they said, ' That is not sufficient for us.' He ex-
hibited to them a horse ; they said, ' Neither is that suf-
ficient for us.' He showed them the human form ; they
exclaimed, ' Well done ! ah ! wonderful ! ' "
The most detailed and systematized theories of
emanation are to be found among the Gnostics.
The Gnostic element of thought was in the air
before the coming of Christ. It pervaded Asia
Minor, Syria, Egypt. It appears in the writings
of Philo. It was an effort of the human reason to
unite the most important religions into one univer-
sal religion. After Christianity began its career
the various schools of Gnosticism appeared as
large and imposing bodies of religious thinkers.
They sought to combine Christianity with the sys-
THE ORIGIN" OF THE WORLD. 207
tern of Zoroaster, of Moses, and the Bralimanism
and Buddhism of the East, all harmonized by the
philosophy of Plato.
These philosophies begin with the conception of
God as the infinite, miknown, unapproachable
Spirit, the abyss of being, from whom all things
j)roceed. They consider existence as coming from
this unfathomable essence by a series of emana-
tions.
This doctrine of emanation, of dropping away of
the world out of God, by successive lapses, is one
of the methods of meeting the great Asiatic j)rob-
lem, " How can an infinite being create a finite
world ? " Asiatic pantheism answered the question
easily. It simply said : " The finite world has no
existence. It is a mere appearance without real-
ity. Only the infinite is real." European materi-
alism also had no difficulty about this problem. It
said : " The infinite does not exist. All we know
is the finite." But as the large majority of men
believe in the reality both of a finite world and an
infinite author of the world, the speculative prob-
lem became this : " How can the finite proceed
from the infinite ? " One of the attempts to an-
swer this question was given by the doctrine of
emanation.
The most complete working out, in a systematic
way, of this theory, appears among those Gnostics
who came into the Christian Church during the
208 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
second century. They occupied themselves greatly
with the problem of the beginning of things. One
of them, Basilides, taught that there proceeded
from the First Cause (the Unnamed Being) seven
-^ons whom he called " Reason," " The Word,"
" Intelligence," " Wisdom," " Power," " Righteous-
ness," " Peace." From these seven there ema-
nated 365 heavens, denoted by the mystic word,
Peace. By seven angels of the lowest of the heav-
ens, the world was made, under the superintend-
ence of the God of the Jews, whom he called
" The Ruler."
The system of Valentine (who died about 160) is
still more elaborate. With him the fountain of all
being is the vast Abyss, with whom dwells Silence.
From this abyss emanated thirty male and female
^ons, whom Valentine calls the " First Begotten,"
" Wisdom," " Truth," " Life," etc. These thirty
constitute the Pleroma, or fullness of being. The
lowest of these, Sophia, or Wisdom, passionately
strives to return to the infinite source of all, the
Divine Abyss. From her longing there comes
another being, Sophia Achamoth, who wanders
through the universe, outside of the Pleroma, im-
parting life to matter, and at last forming the
Demiurg, by whom the world is created. The
world consists of three elements : Spirit, which
came from Sophia Achamoth, and which she de-
rived from the Pleroma ; the soul of all things,
THE OEIGIX OF THE WORLD. 209
which is the animating Hfe ; and the lower world
of matter. Two new ^Eons now appear, Christ
and the Holy Spirit, who come into being to re-
store the harmony of the Pleroma, interrupted
by the falling from it of Sophia. From the Ple-
roma, thus enlarged, proceeded Jesus the Savior,
who united himself with the man Jesus at his
baptism, in order to redeem the world thus fallen
away from God, and bring it back into a perfect
unity.
These doctrines, strange as they seem to us, had
a wide influence in the Christian Church, and form,
as I have said, the most marked example of the
doctrine of emanation.
§ 4. Doctrine of Creation. Different forms of this doc-
trine. Tlie Hehreiv Bible, the Zend-Avesta, the As-
syrian Tablets, the Philosojjhers. Objection to the doc-
trine of Creation by modern thinkers.
We now come to the third view of the origin of
things, namely, creation by intelligent will ; that
is, by the deliberate purpose and act of supernat-
ural intelligence. This view includes several dif-
ferent kinds of creation. According to the Jewish
view, as expressed in the Old Testament, it is the
creation of the universe by the Supreme Being
alone, excluding the agency of inferior beings.
According to the doctrine of Zoroaster, as con-
tained in the Zend-Avesta and in later books, the
14
210 TEN GREAT RELIGIOKS.
world was created by the Supreme Being, but
through the agency of inferior powers. In these
two ancient relisrions, too-ether with those of Christ
and Mohammed, the doctrine of a creative intelli-
gence aj)pears in the most distinct form.
A very curious discovery was made by Mr.
George Smith, of the British Museum, of Assyrian
clay tablets, on which were found written accounts
of the creation, the fall of man, the deluge, and
the tower of Babel, much resembling those in the
Book of Genesis.
In a mound on the Tigris, opened by Mr. Lay-
ard, were found thousands of fragments of tablets,
making a j)art of the Royal Assyrian Library.
They were covered with cuneiform inscriptions.
Some of these were deposited in the British Mu-
seum ; and Mr. Smith, an accomplished scholar,
found in these fragments partial accounts of the
creation. These tablets state that a watery chaos
preceded creation, when as yet there was not a
tree nor flower. They go on to say that all the
great God made was beautiful ; that God fixed the
stars in the sky in twelve months, to govern the
year ; and the moon to give light in the night till
the day dawns.
Just as the mythical theories have been those of
emanation or evolution, so, too, have the philo-
sophic theories. The German philosophy from
Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibnitz down, through
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 211
Kant, Sclielling, and Hegel, begins with God, or
the absohite, and endeavors to make some kind
of passage to the relative, or finite. It assumes
being, and tries to deduce phenomena. Its idea
of creation is of God extending himself outward
as the universe, and developing himself onward
as history. Creation is the unfolding of God.
On the other side, we have the English school
of philosophy, which has usually tended toward
materialism. It begins with the outward world,
and often fails of finding the Creator. The best
representative of this school is Herbert Spencer,
who distinctly declares the impossibility of think-
ing creation. He tells us in the " First Principles "
that the doctrine of creation assumes that the
heavens and the earth were created as a workman
shapes a piece of furniture. He says that " Equally
in the writino-s of Plato and of livino; men of sci-
ence, we find it taken for granted that there is an
analogy between the process of creation and that
of manufacture." He objects to this on the ground
that it does not show us whence the material came
which the Great Artificer thus formed. He also
holds that a self-existent Creator is inconceivable ;
and so, by a few logical arguments, extending
through less than three pages, dismisses the belief
in creation as an impossible idea.
The answer to one who tells us that the idea of
creation is unthinkable, is that the majority of
212 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
mankind have always thought it. When we have
logic on one side and fact on the other, it is not
necessary to take much time in replying to the
logician.
Modern philosophers have strongly objected to
the argument to prove a Creator from the adap-
tations of means to ends in nature. Their objec-
tions seemed for a time to discredit this belief.
But when the objections are more carefully ana-
lyzed, their importance is found to have been ex-
aggerated. The latest and most careful thinkers
have been led to accept again this finality argu-
ment, or proof from final causes in nature. In
fact, the more recent discoveries in biology give it
an almost irresistible power. How is it possible
to see the marvelous organizations in microscopic
life, the wonderful instincts of animals, the innu-
merable correlations of part to part, of organ to
function, of each to all, of prenatal organs to future
external conditions, and explain them, as the an-
cient materialists did, as arising from the fortui-
tous concourse of senseless atoms, driven by blind
forces, during innumerable ages? Suppose that
by a long succession of happy accidents, the be-
ginning of an organized universe has come. Even
this beginning would imply a run of luck in favor
of a Cosmos, which would exceed any of the possi-
bilities of a gamester's good fortune. But what
blind forces create, they are equally likely to de-
THE ORIGI^q^ OF THE WORLD. 213
stroy. A single revolution of the wheel of for-
tune would reduce again to chaos the half-formed
universe.
Hence modern scientific thinkers have aban-
doned the notion of chance as untenable. Acci-
dent has given way to law. Those who deny
creation by intelligence, substitute for it origin by
law. But then the question immediately returns :
Did these laws come by chance or by design ? If
they have no intelligence behind them, it is still
chance which continues to be the source of a won-
derful order. Laws mean nothing but regularity
of action. Laws are not creative forces, but only
the rules by which such forces work. But regu-
larity, rules, methods, according to which forces ac-
complish admirable results, are themselves indica-
tions of intellisfence. So that the ars-ument for
design remains in its full force, after we have fully
admitted that all thing's come according: to immu-
table and eternal laws. The universe created by
law and method, and not merely by an arbitrary
will, does not imply less intelligence at its source,
but more.
§ 5. Darwin and Natural Selection.
It is believed by many that the theory of natu-
ral selection, as enunciated by Mr. Darwin, disposes
finally of the argument from adaptation to design.
Mr. Darwin himself is too careful a thinker to com-
214 TEN GREAT EELIGION^S.
mit himself to this statement, but some of his more
incautious followers imao;ine that the chief arsru-
ment for design in nature is forever set aside.
Mr. Morley, for example, says: "In the face of
the Darwinian hypothesis, with the immense mass
of evidence already accumulated in its favor, the
inference from contrivance" (to an intelligent will)
"exists, to say the best of it, in a state of suspended
animation."
Granting, for the sake of this argument, the
scientific truth of the Darwinian theory, in what
way does it affect the argument from design?
The theory consists of three parts : First, the law
of descent, by which the seed or egg reproduces
the specific character of the plant or animal from
which it came. This law of heredity we are all
familiar with. Secondly, the fact of occasional
variations from this law. Thirdly, the hypothesis
that an accumulation of favorable variations gives
an advantage in " the struggle for existence " which
leads to " the survival of the fittest." It is sup-
posed that this last hypothesis, taken in connection
with the foregoing fact and law will explain the
origin of the most complex organism, the most
marvelous instinct. But when we say "law of
descent" or "heredity," have we explained any-
thing? We have merely given a name to the mar-
velous fact that some potency lies in each seed or
egg, which causes it to produce a plant or an ani-
THE ORIGIX OF THE WORLD. 215
mal like that from which the seed or eo-o- came.
DO
No exphination is given of this power ; there is no
physical explanation possible. Nothing we can dis-
cover by our finest instrument shows why an acorn
will inevitably develop into an oak, and not into
an elm; why it will produce the wood, bark, leaves,
flower, and fruit of an oak. Neither the Darwin-
ian theory, nor any other purely physical theory,
throws the least light on that fact. Some un-
seen force is there, some masterful and spiritual
potency.
But suppose that we can explain it. What
then ? Is the instinct less marvelous when it ar-
rives, because its origin is understood ? Is there
a less wonderful adaptation and balance of organs
in the human body, by which the nerve forces of
the brain and ganglionic centres carry to and fro
life forces, by which the heart pours its stream of
life during seventy years, night and day, to sup-
ply every part of the body with its appropriate
nourishment ; by which the lungs continually sup-
ply oxygen to the blood, and maintain the vital
heat ; by which the nutritive system works on ;
and by which all these organs are kept in balance
and equipoise, each doing its own work in perfect
harmony with the rest, maintaining thus the vital
vortex, and all serving the uses of the mind, the
heart, the will ? This is the evident end which
this infinitely complicated aj)paratus serves. Let
216 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
US grant that this wonderful home of the soul has
come by the Darwinian process, is it any the less
a marvelous display of means adapted to an end,
and that end one of supreme importance ?
You show a man a Waltham watch. He cries
out : " I know how that watch was made. I was at
the factory yesterday, and saw all the machinery
at work." Does that explain away the adaptation
of the parts to each other, and their co-relation to
an end ?
You read to another man the play of " Hamlet."
He informs you that he can tell you precisely how
the play came into being, where the paper and ink
and pens came from, the mechanical process by
which the ink was absorbed, and the chemical law
by which its blackness was produced. All very
well, but what is behind it all ? A common objec-
tion to creation by intelligent purpose is to call
it contriving how to avoid difficulties. Paley is
quoted, who admits that " contrivance by its very
definition is the refuge of imperfection. Why re-
sort to contrivance when the power is omnipo-
tent? " But the adaptation of means to ends does
not necessarily imply overcoming a difficulty by
contrivance. In readino- I turn over the leaf of
the book. This is adapting means to an end.
But it implies no contrivance to avoid a difficulty.
When the poet sings, the saint adores, the lover
utters his affection, they all adapt means to ends;
THE OEIGIN OF THE WORLD. 217
they exercise no contrivance, but accomplish their
purpose through universal law. An Infinite Intel-
lio;ence would act on the world in accordance with
its own everlasting laws. The law of the universe
involves everywhere the adaptation of means to
ends, and so design is written on the whole face of
nature, on the heavens above and the earth be-
neath and the waters under the earth. And, if
the doctrine of universal evolution be at last ac-
cepted, instead of destroying the argument for
design, it will, as Professor Asa Gray argues, estab-
lish it on immutable foundations. The whole phys-
ical life of nature proceeds by this method. But
did it ever occur to those who saw God in the
growth of trees, flowers, animals, that there was
less of a divine presence because the whole vege-
table kingdom is evolved by the law of insensible
gradations from seeds, and the whole animal king-
dom by the same law from eggs ?
§ 6. TJieory of Creation hy beings above man, but beloiv
Crod. This theory ivould harmonize the doctrines of
Evolution, Emanation, and Creation.
The countless adaptations of the world show to
us all-pervading intelligence. But we may grant
that the argument of design in nature was pushed
too far when it was inferred that these wonderful
adaptations demonstrated a Supreme Mind. They
prove conclusively that the world we see has come
218 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
from an intelligent purpose. But they do not tell
us whether that intelligence was infinite or finite,
subordinate or supreme. Our faith in a Supreme
and Infinite Intelligence does not come to us from
these methods of creation, but from the sight of
universal order. We know there must be one Su-
preme Being, above all, through all, and in all ;
from whom, through whom, and to whom are all
things ; because we see in nature all parts cooper-
ating together into a Cosmos, or whole. The uni-
verse is a majestic unity, the result of innumerable
varieties.
Some of the difficulties which we find in the
actual constitution of thing-s would be removed if
we accept another theory. This is the view, that
while God is the Creator and Preserver of the uni-
verse as a whole, he has permitted beings inferior
to himself, but vastly superior to man, to carry on
the work of creation in subordination to his own
universal laws. In a previous chapter we have
seen how probable it is, that there is an immense
hierarchy of intelligences, extending upward from
man toward God. Some of these may possess such
large wisdom, such resources of reason and insight,
as to be able by making use of God's laws, to cre-
ate races of plants and animals, such as w^e see on
the earth. They would be creators under God,
just as man is a creator under God. Man's inven-
tions are creations. Man has invented the j)low,
THE OEIGIN OF THE WORLD. 219
the pump, the carriage, the ship, by making him-
self acquainted with what we call the laws of
nature. But these laws are only the ever-present
agency of Gocl. He fills all in all. He holds the
universe in its every atom by the mysterious power
of gravitation. He balances this power by another,
by which all things are prevented from rushing
together in ruin. But within the operation of
these laws he allows man to combine and create.
Why may he not have allowed other beings supe-
rior to man to combine and create hiii;her works
than man can accomplish. When we read in his-
toric geology of the vast tribes of creatures, radi-
ata, mollusks, reptiles, birds, fishes, mammals, which
have inhabited the earth during enormous periods
before man came, we are led to think it possible
that these creatures may have been the invention
of great intelligences by the permission of the Most
High. And though man, in his higher nature, de-
rives his being directly from God, — as the idea of
right and wrong, cause and effect, and the reason
which contains the light of the infinite and eternal,
testify, — yet his lower bodily nature, by which he
is allied to other animals, may have been gradually
developed by the inventive powers of subordinate
beino-s.
All this is only a theory, a mere gruggestion.
But I see in it nothing irrational, and nothing
opposed to faith in God as the Supreme Creator.
220 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Indeed, it tends to exalt our conceptions of him,
to imagine this great hierarchy of powers, ascend-
ing upward in long gradation, the highest and
greatest still far below the ineffable majesty of
the Supreme Being. And with this conception of
his greatness, there is an increased strength of filial
trust and love, in knowing that he reaches down,
through this vast range of being, to hold every
human soul to himself, by his indwelling spirit,
and his perpetual providence.
If such a theory as I have suggested be tenable,
it would combine in one belief the essential doc-
trines of evolution, emanation, and creation. All
things would be from God, but would come by the
mediation of inferior spirits who have emanated
from him ; and these, as finite spirits, would pro-
ceed by finite and tentative methods, creating one
after another the varieties of life. The whole flora
and fauna of the world would then speak to us, not
only of Him in whom all things live and move and
have their being, but also of the great multitude
of benign intelligences employed by God in these
offices of creation. In every flower, every tree,
every organ of the humblest animal, we should
see, not only the divine presence and providence,
but the loving, patient work of spirits akin to our-
selves.
What an immense gain it would be to substitute
for the cold, mechanical theories of evolution by
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 221
dead force and blind law, a higher doctrine of evo-
lution which, retaining every fact of science, should
fill the world with spiritual life and energy. If,
beside the Supreme Creator, there are also subor-
dinate creators, we may conceive of them as still
present in nature, still helping to reproduce its
beauty and life, still visible in the tender coloring
of the sky and the graceful sweep of the elm, still
audible in " the melodies of woods, and winds, and
waters." Gracious and fair were the divinities of
the Greeks by the side of their fountains, and in
the depths of their forests, but how much higher
the conception which, while filling all space with
spiritual ever-active powers, still believes in God
as the Alpha and Omega, first and last, whose full-
ness fills all in all, whose light inspires all intelli-
gence, whose life is the animating principle of all
being.
i
CHAPTER VIII.
/
PRATER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Prayer and worship to invisible powers universal. § 2.
Prayer among the primitive races. Zulus. North American
Indians. Kaces of Asia. Islands of the Pacific. The prin-
cipal element of this prayer is supplication for outward good.
§ 3. Prayer in Ethnic Religions. Adoration the principal
element in these prayers. The Vedic Hymns. China. The
Greeks. Mexicans. § 4. Prayer in the Catholic Religions.
Desire for moral goodness now appears. The Zend-Avesta.
Buddhism. Mohammedanism. § 5. The universality of Sac-
rifices. Their origin. § 6. Jewish Prayers. The Book of
Psalms. God spoken to as a friend. Christian Prayer. No
liturgy in the New Testament. The prayer of love. § 7.
Imprecatory prayer in all religions. Improvement in the
spirit and method of prayer. § 8. Decay of prayer at the
present time. Divine personality doubted. The Future of
Prayer.
§ 1. Prayer and worship to invisible poivers universal.
/^NE of the universal facts in the history of
^-^ man is the custom of prayer and worship ad-
dressed to invisible powers. All that man does
must derive its motive from without or from within,
from his outward experience or his inward tenden-
cies. Therefore, when we find this custom of wor-
PKAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 223
ship in all races, barbarous and civilized ; in all
times, the most ancient and most recent ; in all
religions, from the lowest superstition to the high-
est spirituality ; one of two things must be true.
Either men have found that their prayers are an-
swered, and that they actually receive blessings in
consequence of prayer which they could not ob-
tain without it ; or else, though there is no answer
to prayer, and they get no good by it, they con-
tinue to pray from the necessity of their own na-
ture. Prayer either brings divine aid, or it does
not bring it. If it brings aid, then there are un-
seen personal beings who hear and answer prayer ;
and so Materialism and Atheism and Agnostic the-
ories are confuted. If pra3^er does not bring aid,
then, in addition to man's other endowments, he
must have been created with such instincts of the
heart, intuitions of the mind, and aspirations of
the soul as to maintain a communion with powers
unperceived by the senses. He talks forever to a
silent world from which comes no response. Then
he must have a religious organization, which has
survived through all the long processes of devel-
opment. If we accept the doctrine of the " sur-
vival of the fittest," we must grant that the fittest
man is the man who prays, and that prayer in
some way or other has been helpful, and continues
to be so. The Evolutionist, at any rate, must be-
lieve that he is made to pray, and that it does him
good to pray.
224 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
§ 2. Prayer among the primitive races. Zulus. North
American Indians. Races of Asia. Islands of the
Pacific. The i^rincipal element of this prayer suppli-
cation for outward good.
Beginning Avitli the primitive or tribal religions,
we find prayer as universal there as elsewhere.
We have seen among the primitive races the
beginnino-s of relio-ious faith in thinurs unseen, in
their stronsr conviction of the continued existence
of human souls after death. To these disembod-
ied spirits it is natural to speak. This conversa-
tion with the unseen world is the rudimentary
form of prayer. The Sioux Indians say, " Sj)irits
of the dead, have mercv on us." The Zulus of
Africa call on the spirits of their ancestors, with-
out specifying their wants, thinking these spirits
can know without being told. They simj)ly cry
aloud, "People of our house!" Sometimes they
say, " People of our house ; cattle ! " " People of
our house, good luck and health ! " On more sol-
emn occasions, after the cattle-feast and sacrifices
are over, the head-man of the tribe speaks thus,
amid a profound silence : " Our people ! I pray to
you. I sacrifice these cattle to you. I pray for
more cattle and more corn, and many children ;
then this your home will prosper, and many will
praise and thank you."
From such conversation with departed friends
PRAYEE AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 225
and appeals to souls of ancestors, the steps are sim-
ple to the worship of higher powers. This also is
found among primitive nations. In the Papuan
island of Tanna, a prayer is offered by the chiefs,
with the first-fruits. They say, " Compassionate
father, here is some food for you. Eat it, and be
kind to us on account of it." In the Samoan Isl-
ands, at the evening meal, a libation is poured out,
and the head of the household prays thus : " Here
is ava for you, 0 gods ! Look kindly on this fam-
ily ; let it prosper, let us be kept in health, let our
food grow, let us be a strong people."
The Osage Indians prayed to the Master of Life,
Woli-konda, " Pity me, Woh-konda ! I am very
poor. Give me success against my enemies. Let
me avenge the death of my friends. Let me take
many scalps, many horses." When the Algonquin
Indians set out to cross Lake Superior, the canoes
stopped close together, and the chief, in a loud
voice, offered a prayer to the Great Spirit, entreat-
ing him to give them a good passage. " You have
made this lake," said he, " and made us, your chil-
dren. Cause this water to be smooth while we
pass over." Thus he prayed for some minutes,
and then they all threw a little tobacco into the
lake as a propitiatory offering. A Nootka Indian,
preparing for war, says, " Great Qua-hoot-zee ! let
me live, not be sick, find the enemy, not be afraid
of him, find him asleep, and kill many of him,"
16
226 TEI^ GREAT EELIGTON^S.
To these people there was nothing wrong in such
a prayer, for to them war was a duty. The mo-
ment a war seems right, to pray for victory seems
right also. Christian nations in their churches still
pray for victory over their enemies. But there
are more tender prayers to be found among these
childlike tribes. A Delaware Indian prayed thus :
" 0 Great Spirit above ! Have pity on my chil-
dren and on my wife. Let them not mourn for
me. Let me succeed in this enterprise, slay my
enemy, return in safety to my dear family and
friends, that we may rejoice together. Have pity
on me, and protect my life." The negro on the
Gold Coast prayed, " God, give me to-day rice and
yams ; give me slaves, riches, and health. Let me
be brisk and swift." Sometimes, when taking;
medicine, they would say, " Father Heaven ! bless
this medicine which I take." The ne2:ro on Lake
Nyassa, offering to his Supreme Deity a basket-full
of meal and a pot of native beer, will cry out,
" Hear thou, 0 God, and send rain," and the peo-
ple, softly clapping their hands, will respond, in-
toning their prayer, as they always do, " Hear thou,
O God."
Passing over to Asia, as we have passed from
America to Africa, the Karens of Burmah pray to
the harvest-goddess thus : " Grandmother ! thou
guardest my field, look out sharp for thieves. If
they come, bind them with this rope." The
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 227
Klionds of Orissa cry out, " 0 Boora-Penner, who
created us and made us to be hungry, who gave
us corn, and taught us to plow. Remembering
this, grant our prayers. When we go out in the
early morning to sow, save us from the tiger and
the snake. Let not the birds eat the seed. Let
our plows go easily through the earth. Let the
corn be so plentiful that we shall drop it on the
way. Let our cattle be so many that there shall
be no room for them in the stalls. You know
what is good for us. Give it to us."
In the islands of the Pacific similar prayers
abound. I quote one, which is offered before a
thieving expedition : —
" O thou divine Outre-reter!
We go out for plunder.
Cause all things to sleep in the house.
Owner of the house, sleep on!
Threshold of the house, sleep on !
Little insects of the house, sleep on!
Central-post, ridge-pole, rafters, thatch of the house, sleep on.
O Rongo, grant us success."
Such are the prayers of the childlike races.
They are prayers for temporal success and out-
ward blessings only. There is in them little or no
petition for moral improvement.
But let us not fail to observe, that even in its
lowest forms, prayer exercises an influence to en-
noble human nature. The man who prays belongs
to two worlds ; the prayerless man to only one.
228 TEN GREAT EELIGIOXS.
The man who prays looks up to something higher
than himself, and so is made better. Lord Bacon
remarks that a dog who looks up to his master and
relies on his superior wisdom, has in him the
germ of religion, and gathers strength out of that
reliance. The praying-troopers of Cromwell were
more than a match for the light-hearted Cavaliers
who laughed at their prayers. " We must recog-
nize," says Tylor, " even in savage religion, that
prayer is a means of strengthening emotion, sus-
taining courage, and exciting hope ; while in higher
faiths it becomes a great motive power of the eth-
ical system."
§ 3. Prayer in ethnic Religions. Adoration the princi-
pal element in these prayers. The Vedic Hymns.
China. The Greeks. 3Iexicans.
The ethnic, race, or national religions which we
are now to examine in reference to their prayers
and worship, are those of China, India, Egypt, As-
syria, Greece, and Rome. None of these race-re-
ligions have a prophet for their founder, for Con-
fucius did not found the religion of China, but only
edited and systematized its existing religion. It is
unnecessary to say that we trace in them the same
supplications for outward good that constitute the
substance of worship in the primitive or tribal
forms of prayer. This runs through all religions,
and is the beginning of the tie which binds the
soul to God.
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 229
Another element which now enters prayer and
becomes very prominent is that of adoration. The
worshipper exhausts the resources of language in
expressing his sense of the greatness, the excel-
lence, the wisdom, the power, the goodness of his
God. He heaps upon him titles of reverence.
The Vedic hymns, for example, are filled with
this strain of adoring homage. The following are
specimens from Muir's " Sanskrit Texts."
" Of which god now, of which of the immortals, shall
we invoke the amiable name ? Let us invoke the amiable
name of Aditi ; of the divine Agni, first of the immortals ;
of Varuna, the thousand-ej^ed, skillful-handed, possessed
of all resources, embracing the three worlds, whose breath
is the wind, who knows the flights of the birds, the course
of the far -traveling wind, and is a witness of human
truth and falsehood."
Of Agni, god of fire, it is said that he is " The
divine monarch ; " " who spread out heaven and
earth ; " " who has made all that stands, flies,
walks, and moves ; " " who is the summit of the
iiky, the centre of the earth ; " " at whose mighty
deeds men tremble ;" "who knows men's secrets,
und hears their prayers."
Here is a hymn to the dawn : —
" The light has arrived, the greatest of all lights, the
glorious and brilliant illumination has been born. The
shining Usbas, fair and bright, have opened the doors of
the sky, setting in motion all living things. Usha [the
230 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Dawn] has awakened all creatures. Daughter of the sky,
youthful, clad in shining attive, auspicious, shine on us
to-day ! O best of all dawns, arise ! Magnificent God-
dess, protecting right, imparting joy, undecaying, im-
mortal, arise ! our life, our breath ! "
These are specimens of the' Vedic hymns, which
adore and worship in turn one or another of the
powers of nature, fire, air, the sun, the dawn, the
soma plant ; yama, god of immortality ; rivers,
waters, and the like. Language is exhausted in
finding terms of adoration, reverence, love for
these deities, each of which represents in turn the
Infinite Power behind them all. But there is some-
thing vague in this worship. Each deity lacks sub-
stance, reality. These prayers gratify the senti-
ment of devotion, but, strictly speaking, are not
offered to any personal being.
In China we see that the dominant form of re-
ligion is the piety which reverences the parent
and the ancestors. Ancestral worship was early
introduced and was encouraged by the teaching of
Confucius. Then followed the worship of higher
spirits, as intercessors and mediators with the Su-
preme Being, the abstract and far-removed heaven
of heavens. The Shi-King and the Shu-King,
books composed from about eighteen centuries to
six centuries before Christ, speak of Shang-Ti as
the true God, ruler of the world, giver of all
things. Dr. Legge gives an account of a special
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 231
series of prayers offered to Shang-Ti by the Em-
peror of China in the year 1538. A sUght change
was to be made in the name of the Supreme Be-
ing, and all the spirits in the skies were invoked to
intercede with him on behalf of his worshippers.
The service begins, —
" I, the Emperor, have respectfully prepared this paper
to inform the spirit of the sun, the spirit of the moon, the
spirits of the five planets, of the stars, of the clouds, of
the four seas, of the great rivers, of the present year, etc.,
that on the first of next month we shall reverently lead
our officers and people to honor the great name of Shang-
Ti. We inform you beforehand, O ye celestial and ter-
restial spirits, and will trouble you, on our behalf, to
exert your spiritual power, and display your vigorous ef-
ficacy, communicating our poor desire to Shang-Ti, pray-
ing him to accept our worship, and be pleased with the
new title which we shall reverently present to him."
When the day came the Emperor and his court
assembled around the circular altar. First, they
prostrated themselves eleven times, and then ad-
dressed the great being as he who dissipated chaos,
and formed the heavens, earth, and man : —
" Thou, O Ti, didst open the way for the forces of mat-
ter to operate ; thou, O Spirit, didst produce the beauti-
ful light of the sun and moon, that all thy creatures
might be happy.
" Thou hast vouchsafed to hear us, O Ti, for thou re-
gardest us as thy children. I, thy child, dull and igno-
rant, can poorly express my feelings. Honorable is thy
great name."
232 TEN GREAT RELIGIOJfS.
Then food was placed on the altar, first boiled
meat, then cups of wine, and Ti was requested to
receive them, with these words : —
" The Sovereign Spirit deigns to accept our offering.
Give thy people happiness. Send down thy favor. All
creatures are upheld by thy love. Thou alone art the
true parent of all things.
" The service of song is now completed, but our poor
sincerity cannot be expressed aright. The sense of thy
goodness is in our heart. We have adored thee, and
would unite with all spirits in honoring thy name. We
place it on this sacred sheet of paper, and now put it in
the fire, with precious silks, that the smoke may go up
with our prayers to the distant blue heavens. Let all the
ends of the earth rejoice in thy name."
These Chinese prayers are of adoration and rev-
erence, for the whole mind of that nation has been
steeped in reverence from the beginning.
As regards prayer among the Greeks, this is
what the learned DoUinger wrote while still an
orthodox Koman Catholic : —
" As the life of the Greeks was penetrated with relig-
ion, and all things were related to the gods ; therefore,
prayer was woven into their whole public and private
life. As a rule they prayed in short formulas ; and a cer-
tain magical or compulsory power was ascribed to these
formulas, binding the gods, and compelling them to as-
sist their worshippers, as was still more the case among
the Romans. Plato says, ' Every man of sense, before
beginning any important work, will ask help of the gods.'
PRATER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 233
Therefore, he himself, before commencing the Timaaus,
says, ' Since I am about to speak of the nature of the
Universe, I must first invoke the gods, that I may say
what is reasonable and true.' " .
Plutarch tells that the great orator Pericles, be-
fore he began to speak, always prayed to the gods
for power to do a good work by his oration.
In Homer, Nestor is represented as praying for
success for the ambassadors to Achilles, and Ulysses
prays before going to the Trojan camp. Priam
also prays before going to ask for the body of
Hector. Lucian speaks of Demosthenes praying,
with his hand on his mouth, before beg;innino- his
speeches in the Greek Courts. Xenophon, during
the retreat of the Ten Thousand, prays before each
day's march. Plato, in " The Laws," speaks of
children who, every day, hear their mothers ea-
gerly talking with the gods in the most earnest
manner, beseeching them for blessings.
Seneca, the philosopher, says : —
" We worship and adore the framer and former of the
universe; governor, disposer, keeper; hiui on whom all
things depend ; mind and spirit of the world ; from whom
all things spring; by whose spirit we live; the divine
spirit diffused through all ; God all-powerful ; God al-
ways present ; God above all other gods ; thee we wor-
ship and adore."
Epictetus says : —
" Dare to lift thine eyes to God and to say, use me for
234 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
what tbou wilt. I agree, and am of the same mind with
thee. I refuse nothing that seems good to thee. Lead me
where thou wilt, and I will go."
The cuneiform writings on the tablets show us
that the Assyrians also prayed. On an unpub-
lished tablet in the British Museum, is this prayer
of King Asshur-da-ni-pal, b. c. 650 : —
" May the look of pity that shines in thine eternal face
dispel my griefs.
" May I never feel the anger and wrath of the God.
" May my omissions and my sins be wiped out.
" May I find reconciliation with Him, for I am the ser-
vant of his power, the adorer of the great gods.
" May thy powerful face come to my help ; may it
shine like heaven, and bless me with happiness and abun-
dance of riches.
" May it bring forth in abundance, like the earth, hap-
piness and every sort of good."
The ancient Mexicans recognized a Supreme Be-
ing, and addressed him as " the God by whom we
live ; " " thou Omnipresent, who knoweth all our
thoughts, and giveth all gifts ; " " without whom
man is nothing ; " " invisible, without body, one
God, of perfection and purity ; " " under whose
wings we find repose and sure defense."
They had regular forms of prayer ; and what is
a very curious coincidence, they baptized children
with this formula : " Let these holy drops wash
away the sin that it received before the founda-
PEAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 235
tion of the world ; so that the child may be new
born."
§ 4. Prayer in the Catholic Religions. Desire for moral
goodness noiu appears. The Zend-Avesta. Buddhism.
Mohammedanism.
We now pass to prayer and worship in the mon-
otheistic or prophetic religions, in which we in-
clude the systems of Zoroaster, Buddha, Moses,
Mohammed, and Christ. Here at once comes in a
new element. In addition to the prayer for par-
don in the past is the desire for improvement in
the future. It is a supplication for goodness ; to
be made morally better. The Zend-Avesta is full
of such expressions as these : " May we, by means
of good thoughts, good words, and good actions
resist evil thoughts, evil words, and evil actions.'
" 0 Lord of good things, who givest to us the pu-
rity by which we live, announce it to us, 0 Mazda
that we may know it, and teach it to all living.'
•^ Let me know fullness of life, purity, and immor
tality." "May power and strength come tome
that I may maintain purity in thought, in word
and in action."
Buddhism, we know, is often said to have no
God. But if Buddhism is without a God, how can
it have any prayers ? If the Buddha has entered
Nirvana, and if Nirvana means cessation of exist-
ence, how can he be an object of worship ? Ac-
236 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS. :
cording to this theory, then, the Buddhist ought
not to pray. But we are assured by travelers in
Buddhist countries that prayer is universal. In
Thibet prayer-meetings are held at evening in
the streets, and Father Hue was much edified by
those he saw in Lassa, and wished that similar
meetings might be held in Paris. Mr. Malcolm
one day visited a pagoda in Burmah, and was im-
pressed by the sight of an old man who came rev-
erently in, leading a little boy by the hand, and
both knelt in worship before the image of Buddha.
Koeppen says that some of the Buddhist prayers
might, with a few alterations, be suitable for Chris-
tian churches. As an example, he gives a part of
a Buddhist prayer recorded by Pallas : —
" Thou in whom innumerable creatures believe I
Thou, Buddha, Victor over the hosts of evil !
Thou, all-wise Being, come down to our world !
Made perfect and glorified by innumerable by-gone rev-
olutions ; always pitiful, always gracious toward all
creatures !
Look down upon us ; for the time has come to pour out
blessings on all creatures.
Be gracious to us from thy throne built in thy heav-
enly world.
Thou art the eternal redemption of all creatures, there-
fore bow down to us with all thy unstained heav-
enly societies."
Among Mohammedans prayer is universal. The
Koran calls prayer the pillar of religion and the
EKAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 237
key of Paradise. The pious Moslem prays five
times a clay : (1) Before smirise, (2) at noon, (3)
before smiset, (4) after smiset, (5) when night
has shut in. Wlierever he . may be, in the street,
in his shop, he steps aside, spreads out his carpet
or cloak, takes off his shoes, and, with his face
toward Mecca, goes through his picturesque de-
votions. The call to prayer is intoned from the
minarets in the cities ; rosaries with ninety-nine
beads for the names of Allah are carried in the
hands, wherewith to count the prayers of ejacula-
tion. Great solemnity and decorum is maintained
in the worship of the mosques, and travelers have
said that, when crowded with worshippers, you
might shut your eyes and think you were alone.
One of the Persian Mohammedans, called Ssufis,
thus speaks : —
" Unceasingly a divine influence flows down from the
unknown world into our souls. The voice of God comes
into our heart, and this is the root of all language. If
God speaks, man answers. Nay ! if God should speak
to dead matter and ask, ' Art not thou also my creature ? '
it would reply, ' O Lord ! I am.' "
The same Mohammedan writer speaks thus of
prayer : —
" There are three degrees of prayer. The first is when
it is only spoken by the lips. The second kind is when,
with difficulty and by a resolute effort, tlie soul succeeds
in fixing its thought on divine things. The third is when
238 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
it finds it hard to turn away from God. But it is the
very marrow of prayer when God takes possession of the
soul of the suppliant, and he is absorbed into the Divine
Being and ceases from all thought, so that the prayer
seems like a veil between himself and God."
Here are some examples of Mohammedan
prayers of this mystical sect called Ssufis.
Prayer of Attac, twelfth century : —
" Soul of the Soul ! Neither thought nor reason com-
prehend thy essence, and no one knows thy attributes.
Souls have no idea of thy being. The prophets them-
selves sink in the dust of thy road. Although intellect
exists by thee, has it ever yet found the path of thy exist-
ence ? O thou, who art in the interior and in the exterior
of the soul! thou art and thou art not that which I say.
In thy presence reason grows dizzy ; it loses the thread
that would direct it in thy way. I perceive clearly the
universe in thee, and yet discover thee not in the world.
All beings are marked with thy impress, but thyself hast
no impress visible ; thou reservest the secret of thine
existence."
Prayer of Abulfazl, a. d. 1595 : —
" O Lord, whose secrets are forever veiled,
And whose perfection knows not a beginning !
End and beginning both are lost in Thee ;
No trace of them is found in thy eternal realm.
My words are lame ; my tongue, a stony tract ;
Slow wings my foot, and wide is the expanse.
Confused are my thoughts ; but this is thy best praise.
In ecstasy alone I see Thee face to face."
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 239
§ 5. The universality of Sacrifices. Their origin.
In all parts of the world, and in all religions,
from the lowest upward till we reach Christianity,
sacrifices have been common. Men have offered
to their gods the best things they had, the fruits
of the earth, the flocks and herds which made
up their wealth. Sacrifices are visible prayers,
prayers in act. The sincerity of the worshipper
appears in his offering. Some sacrifices are thank-
offerings, given as an expression of gratitude for
benefits received. Other sacrifices are offered as
supplications for help desired, as when before a
military expedition a hundred victims were sacri-
ficed for success in war. Thus a valuable present
is offered to the gods to induce them to be pro-
pitious, just as it would be offered to an Eastern
king, or to a Prime Minister to obtain his favor.
Other sacrifices are sin-offerings, given in expia-
tion of some crime, to turn away the indignation
of the Deity. Others again were offered to con-
firm a vow, or make fast a covenant between the
worshipper and his God. Thus every part of
prayer is represented by these visible orisons:
thanksgiving, confession, supplication, adoration,
self -dedication.
Sacrifices, being so universal, are evidently the
natural methods taken by men to express their
religious feelings, and show their religious sin-
cerity.
240 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
But the sacrifices which always became most
prominent were those in expiation of sin. These
we find in all nations and all religions, testifying
that conscience is universal in man. These sacri-
fices show that man has the sense of wrono;-doino;.
He believes that he needs to do somethino; to ob-
tain pardon. Such ideas spring up naturally in
the soul.
While some inward instinct of the soul leads
man to adore and worship these invisible pres-
ences, and to supplicate help from the heavenly
powers, an opposite tendency drifts him away from
such spiritual communion, and subjects him to the
rule of sense. Outward things distract his atten-
tion, and make him forget his prayers. Therefore
he seeks for help in those very outward things
themselves. To keep his mind fixed on God, he
makes an image and calls it God, and by this
means fixes his attention. This is the ori^-in of
idolatry. The Roman Catholic kneeling before a
picture of the Madonna does not mean to pray to
the picture, but by means of the picture to keep
his mind fixed on the invisible mother of Christ.
Just so the savages use their idols as helps, and
pray to the God behind them. Such is the legiti-
mate origin of idolatry. After, awhile the relig-
ious associations which connect the idol itself with
the divinity it represents grow so strong that the
image becomes sacred, and the God appears to be
PRATER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 241
fixed to it, to dwell in it. All idolatry runs into
this extreme, and worships the means of religion
as if they were the end. The Sabbath was a means
of shutting out the world, it was " made for man."
But at last the Sabbath was considered as holy in
itself, apart from its uses ; then man seemed made
for the Sabbath. So the church and the temple
were made as places where the worshipper could
be surrounded with sacred associations, and helped
to fix his attention on things unseen. The use of
the Liturgy, of the Rosary, of the Bible, are for
the same end. All are meant as helps to prayer,
and as such are good. But when we talk of the
Holy Sabbath, the Holy Church, God's day, God's
house, we are drifting toward the same sort of
mechanism in religion which led to the prayer-
mills of the Buddhists.
§ 6. Jewish Prayers. The Booh of Psalms. God spoken
to as a friend. Christian Prayer. No liturgy in the
New Testament. TJie prayer of love.
When we turn from these ethnic and prophetic
religions, and read the Book of Psalms in the Old
Testament, we seem to enter into a new atmos-
phere. In the Yedic hymns, in the hymns on the
Egyptian monuments, and in the other religions
we find adoration, reverence, profound sincerity,
and a longing for help from on high. But the ele-
ment which comes into prayer with the Psalms of
16
242 TEN GREAT EELIGIOKS.
David is one of happy trust, the freedom of child-
like intercourse. God, who in the other relicrions
was far away, has now come near and walks with
man as a friend. Therefore this Jewish psalter
continues to be the best prayer-book for Christians
down to this hoar. With much in it that is not
Christian, and which we cannot believe in or
rightly use, there is in it so much of inspiration,
comfort, and joy, so much to purify and strengthen
the soul, that we feel it often reached the very
spirit of Christ before Christ came.
The New Testament contains no liturgy, no
hymnal, no forms of prayer except the Lord's
Prayer. This could not have been accidental.
The disciples asked for some such help for their
devotions. Jesus gave only this brief summary of
worship. He feared routine ; he warned them
against endless repetitions, like those of the Vedas
and Zend-Avesta. He preferred private to public
prayer, as being more sincere and real. ^' Be not
like the heathen," he said, using " vain repeti-
tions." The worshippers of Baal called to their
god the wdiole morning, crying, " 0 Baal ! hear
us ! " The Ephesians cried for two hours, " Great
is Diana of the Ephesians ! " Terence makes one
of his characters say : " Wife, cease deafening the
gods with your prayers. You seem to think them
like yourself, unable to understand a thing till it
has been said a hundred times." Martin Luther
PRA.YER AND WOESHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 243
says : " Few words and much meaning is Christian;
many words and Httle meaning is heathen."
Jesus teaches us to pray in spirit and truth, to
ask in faith, to ask especially for the Holy Spirit,
to "ask in his name," that is in his spirit.-^
Thus we see the ascent of prayer ; first of all it
is a magical charm, an incantation, a mere means
of gaining power, wealth, pleasure, victory ; then
it rises higher and becomes adoration, and a form
of sacrifice. Then we see it helping itself with
outward aids ; with images and idols ; with sacri-
fices and incense ; with holy places, holy persons,
holy altars and holy books ; with liturgies and lit-
anies. At last, in the teaching of Jesus, it reaches
the highest form, as a life of communion with the
all-loving, ever-j)resent father and friend.
As man ascends, his prayer also becomes more
elevated. The element of fear is first partially
eliminated. It is not true, as Lucretius asserted,
that all religion rests on fear. But in many relig-
ions the gods were regarded as capricious, revenge-
ful and cruel. And this view is the source of human
sacrifices, of ascetic mortifications, and of a thou-
sand devices for appeasing an angry Deity.
^ The Concordance will show how often in the Jewish books,
"name" stands for the character, nature, or spirit of the person
or thing.
244 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
§ 7. Imprecatory prayer in all religions. Improvement in
the spirit and method of prayer.
As prayer continues to ascend, the imprecatory
element drops out of it.
The imprecations of Greeks (says Potter), were
very terrible, and so powerful, when duly pro-
nounced, as to occasion the destruction, not only
of many persons, but of whole cities. The impre-
cations of Myrtilus on Pelops brought all the
dreadful sufferings which Atreus, Agamemnon, and
Orestes endured. The most dreadful imprecations
were those by parents, priests, kings, and prophets.
Criminals were publicly cursed by the priests. Alci-
biades was banished and cursed by all the priests
of Athens. A single priestess (we are glad to hear)
refused. Theano said her office was to bless and
not to curse. Pliny says, ''All men fear impreca-
tions."
Among the Jews we read of the curse of Saul
on Jonathan, and of Balaam sent for to curse the
Israelites. The imprecatory Psalms are still read
in many churches. And this element of impreca-
tion survives in the Church of England ; soon, let
us hope, to be removed. There is a commination
service still ordered to be read on the first day of
Lent, in which to each of a long series of curses
the people are to say Amen. But Jesus has ex-
plicitly forbidden all this. " Bless your enemies,"
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 245
he says : '' bless and curse not." He tells us to be
like God, who sends blessing and not cursing on
his enemies.
As prayer ascends, supplications for outward
blessings greatly decrease, and prayer for inward
spiritual blessings takes their place ; and finally,
formal prayer, the prayer of place, time, routine,
gives way to the prayer of the spirit, of life, of
love.
We do not always notice what a step forward
was taken by Christianity when it dropped the
ritual of the Jewish and Pasran relioions. The
whole system of sacrifices disappeared; the mag-
nificent temple worship came to an end ; the
priesthood was abolished ; fasts and festivals were
no more ; there were no processions, no sacred
temples, no altars or shrines; no holy mysteries;
no augurs, nor auspices, nor divination ; no public
worship of any kind. Every Christian was a priest,
having direct access to God ; the rest of the soul
was the true Sabbath ; the true prayers were not
at Gerizim or at Jerusalem, but were to be made
in spirit and truth, by going into the closet of the
heart and shuttino; the door. It is true that Ritual-
ism afterward reappeared in the Christian Church ;
the old Eoman calendar of sacred days was repro-
duced in a Christian calendar of saints' days ; new
festivals and fasts took the place of the old. But
for three hundred years Christianity was a religion
246 TEjq- GREAT RELIGIONS.
without a ritual, or a priesthood, or temples, or
altars, or public worship. And when these re-
turned they came back in a purer form and a
better type. Jesus did not put his new wine of
the soul into the old bottles of Jewish or Eoman
ritual.
§ 8. Decay of 'prayer at the present time. Divine person-
ality doubted. The Future of Prayer.
There have been times when all men prayed,
from a sense of duty, a feeling of need, or as
a long-established form, an unquestioned custom.
We have passed into another period, when faith in
prayer has been much diminished. Men no longer
pray as they once did, as a matter of duty or as a
form ; and large numbers do not pray as a matter
of conviction. They have ceased to believe in
prayer, either as a duty or as a source of strength
and comfort. They do not pray for outward bless-
ings, for they believe that these come or do not
come in accordance with inexorable natural law.
They do not pray for inward strength and comfort,
doubting whether these also may not be under the
same rigorous domain of unchanging law. " Why
ask for outward or inward blessings ? " they say.
" If it be right that we shall have them, they will
be given without our asking ; if wrong, they will
not be given, no matter how much we pray."
They do not see that this simple logic may be met
PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. 247
by other arguments as intelligible, that the prayer
itself may enter into the nexus of things as a new
element, to make that right which otherwise would
not have been so. But a deeper objection still
operates in our time to palsy the spirit of prayer.
It is doubt concerning the personality of Gocl, — a
kind of Pantheistic view of the Deity as the un-
conscious soul of the universe, — as the vast plastic
power of nature, with no eye to see, ear to hear,
or heart to pity the needs of mankind ; and with-
out a belief in the personality of God, no prayer is
possible.
But what precisely is meant by denying the
personality of God ? Personality in man is the
highest spiritual fact of which we have knowledge.
We mean by it that wonderful unity of thought,
love, and will, out of which centre influence radi-
ates in all directions. The glorious distinction of
the human soul is that its action is combined with
its knowledge and desire, that it puts forth its
power deliberately, sustained by all its knowledge,
and all its hope.
If we have any distinct meaning when we use
the word God, we mean the highest being of whom
we are capable of conceiving. Make him imper-
sonal, and he is not the highest ; we have omitted
the chief perfection. An infinitely mighty power,
working bUndly, chained by law, would be lower
than man. Man's conscious, deliberate purpose
248 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
would make him superior to such a God. Man, as
a person, is essentially higher in the scale of being
than an impersonal deity.
But these difficulties and doubts, which at pres-
ent prevent so many from having the strength,
light, and peace which come from a habit of
prayer, can be only temporary in their influence.
We are on our way to a higher conception of
Christian prayer than those which have hitherto
prevailed. The prayer of mere form and cere-
mony is passing away, never to return. The
prayer of the Spirit, the sense of God's presence
in the soul, the child-like prayer taught and exem-
plified by Jesus, will be found an indispensable
element of human progress. The full develop-
ment of man will only be reached when he is in
constant communion with God, according to the
favorite formula of Jesus, who said of the Father :
"I in him, and he in me." Thus work and prayer,
though not the same, will be each for the other.
Work will lead to prayer and prayer to work, and
human life will be full of God. Until this fullness
of God comes to us, we have not reached the
object of our existence. Toward this great end
the human race is tending, when religion shall fill
all of life, when it shall inspire all work, gladden
all labor J, be comfort and strength at all hours, and
promote the highest development of which the
human race is capable.
PRATER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIOXS. 249
The saying quoted by Christ, " My house shall
be called the house of prayer for all nations," may
be applied to our globe. It, also, is a house of
prayer for all nations. Jeremy Taylor, in one of
his picturesque paragraphs, supposes one looking
down from the battlements of heaven, and seeing
all the woes of earth spread oat beneath him in
one great panorama of misery. But this supposed
spectator would also behold another more consol-
ing spectacle : that of mankind lifting up its heart
out of those miseries to the God of all consolation.
The world is ahvays at prayer. This uninterrupted
worship is continually going on around the globe.
As the sun rises on the eastern shores of Asia it
looks down on the prayer of the Buddhists in
Japan ; as going westward it continues to unseal
the eyelids of the morning, it beholds the Chinese
praying in the shrines of their ancestors or in the
pagodas of Pekin ; it sees the monks in the Bud-
dhist monasteries of Tartary at their early matins,
the Brahmins of India reciting the Vedic hymns,
the Mohammedans, called by the voice of the
muezzin to early worship. And as the line of
coming day moves on into Europe, it lights up the
Christian churches of the East, the minsters of
Central and Western Europe, and so crosses the
Atlantic to find other thousands of churches, raised
for prayer and praise by the Christians of America.
It looks in turn on pagoda and mosque, Roman
250 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
Catholic cathedral and Protestant meeting-house,
the costly temples of New York and the camp-
meetings in Western woods, where men worship
"In that fane, most catliolic and solemn,
"Which God has planned."
Thus the hour cometh, and now is, when the
world shall be full of the knowledge of God, and
when the whole wide earth shall be the temple of
the Deity, in
"A cathedi'al, boundless as our wonder;
Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply;
Its choir the winds and waves; its organ thunder;
Its dome the sky."
CHAPTER IX.
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Inspiration in its most general form. § 2. Different kinds
of Inspiration. § 3. Religious Inspiration. § 4. Inspiration
of the Bible. In lower Religions. Inspiration as Frenzy.
Possession and Self-possession. § 5. The Bible compared
with the Vedas and Koran. § 6. Peculiarity oi the Inspira-
tion of the New Testament. § 7. Art the child of Religion.
Egyptian Architecture. § 8. Buddhist Architecture. § 9.
Jewish and Christian Architecture. § 10. Mohammedan
Art. § 11. Greek Art. § 12. Religion in Painting and
Poetry.
§ 1. Inspiration in its most general form.
"VTTE begin by considering inspiration in gen-
^ eral. Man must have a capacity for in-
spiration, otherwise he could not be inspired. This
is a human faculty, therefore common to all. There
is more of it in some men than in others ; those
who have the most of the faculty are prophets,
seers, or men of genius. Men are inspired in re-
gard to other kinds of truth, as well as in regard
to religious truth. Thus we speak familiarly of an
inspired poet or an inspired artist. Inspiration in
general is an order, of which religious inspiration
is a genus.
252 TEN" GREAT RELIGIOIS'S.
Inspiration, considered in the largest sense, is
the sight of inward truth, a truth which is seen
within the mind, in distinction from the truth
which comes to us from without through the
senses. All our knowledge is of three kinds : that
which w^e perceive outwardly through the senses ;
that which we perceive inwardly in the mind itself
through consciousness ; and that which being thus
taken in, is worked up by the reflective faculties.
The substance of all truth comes to us from with-
out or from within ; we can only by thinking give
it more distinct form. We all know that ideas
come to us from within the mind, without any ef-
fort of ours. The poet, the artist, the inventor,
when the course of his thoughts is checked by
some obstacle, stops, waits, looks in, looks up, for
an inspiration. Many of our best thoughts visit us
in this way unexpectedly, and take us by surprise.
John Locke, certainly no enthusiast, invented a
Common-place Book, and advised all students to
keep such a book. He said that they ought to
write down in it the ideas which came to them
thus, when they were walking or conversing, as
these were often the best, a kind of seed corn
which would unfold into the most valuable results.
If you read the biographies of great inventors, dis-
coverers, poets, artists, you will often find it re-
corded that the germinal ideas of their whole life-
work fell into their minds in this way. Thus we
mSPIRATION AND AIJT IN ALL RELIGIONS. 253
may say that not only Isaiah and Paul were in-
spired to teach religious truth, but that Newton
was inspired to discover the law of gravitation,
Phidias to carve the Olympian Jupiter, Colum-
bus to discover America, Cham poll ion to decipher
Greek hieroglyphics, Milton to write the " Para-
dise Lost," and Mrs. Stowe to write " Uncle Tom's
Cabin ; " for " every good gift and every perfect
gift cometh down from above, from the Father
of lights." The truths seen by such thinkers
were not inventions of theirs, but were realities
shown them by God.
§ 2. Different Kinds of Inspiration.
What then is the difference between these dif-
ferent kinds of inspiration ? It is qualitative and
quantitative. It is a difference of kind and of de-
gree. It differs in kind according to the subject
which occupies a man's thought and in which he is
interested. The artist is interested in beauty ; the
poet and musician in poetry and music ; the in-
ventor in his invention, and each finds what he is
looking; for. The relig;ious man is interested in re-
ligious truth, and to him that truth is inwardly re-
vealed. The poet is haunted by some ideal beauty
which he struggles to seize and embody in suitable
forms. Columbus is haunted by the vision of a
continent beyond the Western ocean. Newton
sees dawning before his mind the approaching sun,
254 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
which when it rises is to reveal the fundamental
law of the outward universe. Neither of them can
verify his vision, or convince others of its reality,
until it is fully made known. They are all counted
as visionaries till then. But when, by faithful
work, the law of gravitation is found, the play of
" Hamlet " written, the " Divine Comedy " finished,
the Parthenon built, the electric telegraph dis-
covered, when the Vedas take shape, when the
prophecy is fulfilled, then the visionary suddenly
appears before men as a genius, a seer, a great
discoverer, a divine poet.
§ 3. Religious Inspiration.
Among these inspirations religious inspiration is
the highest, the most far-reaching, the most widely
influential. Such inspirations embody themselves
in the sacred books of the human race, the Vedas,
the Zend-Avesta, the Koran. These constitute an
order or a kingdom by themselves, and they all
seem to possess an immortal life. They may
greatly differ as to the quality and quantity of
their inspiration, as we shall directly attempt to
show. They are not preserved from error by a
miracle. Sacred books are not necessarily infalli-
ble. But they live, they last, because they hold
some truth which God has sent, and which man
needs.
** One accent of the Holy Ghost
The heedless world has never lost."
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 255
Consider that the Rig- Veda, one among five
Vedas, contains 1017 hymns, composed from 1000
to 1500 years before Christ, and preserved during
hundreds of years by being committed to memory.
Writing seems not to have been known in the
Vedic times. It was the regular work of many
men to commit to memory every Hne of the Vedas
and recite them day by day. This habit has been
maintained to the present time ; and there are to-
day boys in India from twelve to fifteen years old
who can repeat from memory the whole Veda.
These hymns have been handed down by tradition
in India during three thousand years. Such is
the power over the human soul of religious inspi-
ration. Wherever it comes it gives perpetuity to
the speech of man. The Bible does not differ from
other sacred books in its method of production.
All sacred Scriptures are written from within, from
the soul moved inwardly by a sacred spirit. The
poet truly says : —
" Out from the heart of nature rolled
The burdens of the Bible old;
The litanies of nations came
Like the volcano's tongue of flame,
Up from the burning core below, —
The canticles of love and woe."
There is no impropriety in placing in the same
class all the works which are thus created by an
inward illumination. The architecture, music, and
256 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
poetry, which last, which have in them the ele-
ment of immortality, came from souls inwardly
open to some heavenly influence.
" Earth proudly wears the Parthenon
As the best gem upon her zone,
And morning opes with haste her lids
To gaze upon the Pyramids.
O'er England's abbeys bends the sky
As on its friends with kindred eye —
For out of thought's interior sphere,
These wonders rose to upper air."
§ 4. Inspiration of the Bible, In lower Religions. In-
sjjiration as Frenzy. Possession and Self-possession.
It is no degradation to the Bible to classify it
thus, in a broad way, with the Parthenon and the
Zend-Avesta. There is still a wide gulf between
them. There is a wide gulf between man and
the highest inferior animals, and yet we put man
amono; the mammalia, in the same class with
whales and elephants, and into a larger division
with fishes. He is not degraded by being thus
classified, for he constitutes a distinct order in this
class. So we may classify inspired works. The
same class includes inspired poems, inventions, dis-
coveries ; the Parthenon, Pyramids, the works of
Michael Angelo, of Dante, of Raffaelle, and the sa-
cred books of all nations. One order in that class
includes all the works of religious inspiration, the
Vedas, the Koran, the Suttas, the Kings of China,
and the Bible. One genus of that order contains
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 257
the Old and New Testament, each of which again
may constitute a separate species.
Something which was thought to be rehgious
inspiration has appeared in a low and crude form
among primitive religions. Its chief characteristic
there is the loss of self-consciousness and self-pos-
session. Thus the Samoieds of Siberia have di-
viners who work themselves into a state of wild
frenzy before delivering their oracles. The same
notion of an inspired madness appeared in the in-
sanity of the Pythian priestess, and in the Greek
diviners who fell into trances in which they lay
without sense or motion. Plato speaks of one
Pamphilus who lay ten days for dead on the field
of battle, then revived when about to be put on
the funeral pile and related what he had seen in
the three worlds.
This same notion of inspiration as a kind of pos-
session or frenzy, found its way into the religion
of Greece, where it is seen as an alien element.
It appears in the mad dances of the Bacchantes,
and the shrieks and self -laceration of the Coryban-
tes. In the Hindu religion we find it in the
Yoga, or one who seeks union with God by wholly
withdrawing himself from outward things. The
Yoga assumes painful positions and contortions of
the limbs, he suppresses his breath, and performs
other incredible mortifications.
So the Greenlander, in his freezing climate, has
17
258 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
bis prophets, whom he calls Angekoks. These also
abandon the converse of men, fast and torture
their body, and remain in a fixed intensity of
thought, till they believe that they see and hear
spirits. The Flatheads of Oregon, the Indians of
Brazil, the Zulus of Africa, have a similar belief in
an inspiration which comes from fasting, loneliness,
and self-torture. We read in the Bible of the
priests of Baal who cut themselves with knives to
bring down an answer from their god. We know-
how Balaam w^as compelled to utter an involuntary
prophecy.
It is curious to see in our time, and in Christian
countries, the revival of this lowest claim to inspi-
ration, a belief in a blind, helpless possession of
the soul by some supernatural power, good or evil.
Of this sort are the effects often seen in the
West and South in revival meetings, where the
convicted sinner falls senseless on the ground, or is
seized with convulsions. In the great revivals at
the beginning of this centuiy in Kentucky and
Tennessee these phenomena took the name of " the
jerks." The limbs of persons who were present
and indisposed toward the revival would often jerk
violently against their will, and this was supposed
to be the influence of the spirit. The dancing of
the Shakers and the whirling of the Mohammedan
dervishes belong to the same class of bodily exer-
cises, which, according to St. Paul, profit little.
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 259
But the typical inspiration of the prophetic re-
ligions is of a higher kind. The Jewish prophets
controlled and directed their inspiration. They
were inspired from on high, and yet self-possessed.
The intellect was lifted to greater clearness, armed
with a more powerful logic, concentrated on the
important argument, and enriched with lofty and
tender images of beauty.
§ 5. The Bible compared with the Vedas and Koran.
The sacred books of all nations are full of high
thoughts and noble utterances. Such are the
Vedic hymns, the liturgies of the Zend-Avesta,
the moral teachings of the Buddhist Pitakas, the
ballads of the Eddas, the Suras of the Koran, the
Psalms of David, and the Epistles of Paul. All of
them have the same qualities of clearness, coher-
ence, and practical purpose. They differ greatly
from each other in many ways. The Vedic hymns
are somewhat monotonous repetitions of praise
and adoration to the deified power of nature. It
was seriously proposed, at one time, by some of
the members of the transcendental school, to read
these Vedic hymns instead of the Bible. Probably
those who made the suggestion never tried the ex-
periment themselves. Here and there are beauti-
ful passages, like the Hymn to Varuna so often
quoted, but the majority of these thousand hymns
consist of endless repetitions, and the same images
260 TEN GEE AT EELIGIONS.
applied first to one and then to another of the ob-
jects of adoration. The Zend-Avesta differs from
this wearisome monotony in some respects. Al-
though there is also a vast deal of repetition in
these very ancient litanies, they come nearer to
life, to men, to human duty. They have a pure
moral inspiration which is invigorating. The Bud-
dhist scriptures are rather ethical essays, and con-
sist of a multitude of directions for conduct, and
for the formation of character.
The Mohammedans consider the Koran to have
a beauty which is of itself a sufficient proof of the
divine authority of Mohammed. But it is not
very interesting reading to the Western mind. It
is badly arranged, obscure in some parts, trivial
in others. " To us," says Renan, " the Koran
appears declamatory, monotonous, tedious." Its
merit is in its intense earnestness, reflecting the
various experiences of its author. It certainly has
exercised a great fascination over the mind of the
East. Comparing it with the Bible it may be said
that the Koran lays claim to a verbal mechanical
inspiration, alike in every part; the Bible, as is
now generally recognized, makes no such claim.
The Koran is incapable of being translated and re-
taining its beauty ; the Bible loses little in this
process. The Bible is the work of a great number
of authors, poets, prophets, statesmen ; the Koran
comes from the brain of a sing^le man. The
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 261
strength of the Koran is m its nnity, intolerance,
and narrowness ; that of the Bible in its variety,
breadth, and liberality. One of the Suras of the
Koran declares that, " If men and genii should try
together to produce a book like the Koran, they
would fail." To which Dean Stanley replies by
asking whether any single passage in the book can
be compared with Paul's description of charity in
the Epistle to the Corinthians.
But let us do what justice we can to Mohammed
by selecting some of his best sayings. Here is one
called " The folding up : " —
" When the sun shall be folded up, and the stars shall
fall, and the mountains be put in motion, and the seas
boil, and the leaves of the book be unrolled, and the heav-
ens be stripped off like a skin, and hell begin to blaze,
and Paradise draw near, then shall every soul know what
it has done."
Or this description of the infidel : —
"As darkness over a deep sea, billows riding on bil-
lows, billows below and clouds above, — one darkness on
another darkness, — so that if a man stretches out his
hand he cannot behold it, thus is he to whom the light
of God doth not come."
The very intensity of the Koran, however, shows
a survival of that lower order of inspiration in
which a man is possessed by his idea, and does not
fully possess it. The peculiarity of the New Testa-
262 TEIf GEEAT KELIGIOJ^S.
ment inspiration is that the spirit of the prophet is
entirely subject to the prophet. In one particu-
lar alone was early Christianity a kind of spiritual
possession ; I mean what was called the gift of
tongues. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, de-
scribes and strongly condemns a state of things
resemblino; the excitement at the revival meet-
ings to which we have before referred. ^'If when
the church come together you all speak with
tongues and there comes in an unbeliever, will he
not say you are mad ? " "1 had rather speak five
words with my understanding than ten thousand
in a tongue," " for God is not the God of confu-
sion but of peace." But this peculiar ecstatic state
soon passed away, and passed away so entirely that
no one can now say exactly what it was.
§ 6. Peculiarity of the Inspiration of the Neio Testament.
The calm clearness of the New Testament, its
union of profound spiritual insight with perfect
simplicity of expression, almost disguises its inspi-
ration. It is only when we see how deep, rich,
full are its utterances ; see how they satisfy us
always and never tire, that we begin to recognize
from what a deep place in the soul they must have
come. Take the letters of Paul, written from time
to time, to one and another church, as occasion
prompted. They were written with no notion of
publicity 3 once read he probably thought they
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 263
would never be heard of again. And yet what
wealth of thoiigjht is in them, what aflluent ori*''i-
nahty of language, what condensed fire, what
charm of imagination. They have the careless
abandon and absence of method which belonics to
letter-writing. There is no plan ; one thought
suQ-orests another. It occurred to him as he wrote
that several persons in the church at Corinth did
not believe in any resurrection, therefore he gives
his view, his reasons, and his explanation of the
mysterious hereafter, as he saw it in the depths of
his soul. Little did he suppose that those hasty
words would be read century after century by the
side of thousands of open graves, and would comfort
the hearts of such a vast multitude of mourners.
Sometimes he seems almost carried away by the
rush of thought, but no touch of obscurity comes
in consequence. It is tire without smoke. Thus
he describes the work of his life : —
" Approving ourselves in all things as God's servants ;
in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in dis-
tresses, in strifes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors,
in watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by
long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by lovo
unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God,
by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and the
left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good
report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet
well-known ; as dying, and behold we live ; as chastened,
and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; as
264 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet
possessing all things."
Paul seems a little surprised himself at this rapid
flow of his thoughts and feelings. He adds : '^ 0
Corinthians, my mouth is open to you, my heart is
enlarged." But I have quoted this passage, not
for its unsurpassed eloquence, but as illustrating
the peculiar inspiration of the New Testament,
by which every human faculty seems sharpened,
thought quickened, language exalted. Every one
of these clauses might be analyzed and expanded
into a chapter, each is so compact with mean-
ing.
The result of this comparison is that the inspira-
tion of the Vedas is the expression of the Divine
element in nature, its glory, beauty, power, benef-
icence. The inspiration of the Avesta is the per-
ception of the Divine strength of a righteous cause
in conflict with evil, or " the jDOwer not ourselves
wdiich makes for righteousness." The inspiration
of the Buddhist sacred books is the contemplation
of the law of cause and effect, by which every tree
must bear its own fruit, and by which virtue is
carried up higher and wickedness sent down lower,
according to inflexible natural laws. The inspira-
tion of the Old Testament is the vision of an Om-
nipotent, Omniscient, and All-good Ruler, whose
providence guides all men and all things, and in
whom every good man is safe, and every good life
INSPIKATIOJq^ AXD ART IN ALL EELIGIOXS. 265
sure to be blessed. Here the personal relation be-
tween God and his child begins to come in. This
gives its heavenly charm to the Book of Psalms,
their sublime majesty to the strains of the prophets.
And the inspiration of the New Testament is in
the consciousness of a Divine life in the soul, of
intimate and constant union with the Perfect Love,
w^iich unites the highest being in the universe
with the humblest child. Higher than this it can-
not go, for this is the fullness of Him who fills all
in all.
§ 7. Art the child of Religion. Egyptian architecture.
We will now pass on to consider Art in all relig-
ions. Art itself, in all its methods, is the child of
religion. The highest and best works in architec-
ture, sculpture, and painting, poetry and music,
have been born out of the relio;ious nature. The
most sublime structures in all times and in all lands
have been temples to the unseen powers.
Some four or five thousand years have passed
since the Pyramids were erected, and they are still
the grandest architectural work ever accomplished
by the genius of man. Through all these centu-
ries they have declared his faith in an invisible
world ; they stand as records of his belief in im-
mortality and in a resurrection. As they now rise,
rude and disjointed, stripped of their casing, they
still give the impression of indestructible solidity.
266 TEN" GREAT RELIGIONS.
These artificial mountains, in the midst of the vast
sandy African 23lains, have a mountainous grandeur.
What must they have been, when their sides were
covered from base to summit with poHshed blocks
of granite fitted so exactly that the blade of a pen-
knife could not penetrate the lines of juncture, and
their polished surfaces wholly covered with inscrip-
tions and carved with sculpture. Loftier than the
highest spire of Europe, the Great Pyramid widened
out into a still more enormous base, containing ten
millions of cubic yards of stone, enough to build a
wall two feet thick and six feet hio;li from Boston
to San Francisco. The interior is equally astonish-
ing from the mechanical skill displayed in its con-
struction. An eminent architect, Mr. Fergusson,
says : —
"Nothing can be more wonderful than the knowledge
displayed in the discharging chambers over the rooms
of the principal apartment, to throw off the crushing
weight of stone above; in the exact slopes of the gal-
leries ; the provision of ventilating shafts ; all so pre-
cisely arranged that notwithstanding the immense super-
incumbent weight, no settlement can anywhere be detected
to the extent of an appreciable fraction of an inch."
By the side of the Pyramids stands the colossal
Sphinx, of the same period, carved of solid rock,
an enormous statue ninety feet long and seventy-
four high, image of a funereal god, the genius of
the setting sun. "It seems," says Ampere, "like
INSPHLITION" AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 267
an eternal spectre. This stone phantom appears
attentive ; one would say it hears and sees. Its
great ear collects the sounds of the past ; its eyes,
directed to the East, gaze into the future ; an image
of perfect calm, contemplating the unchangeable
in the midst of all change."
The Labyrinth, described by Herodotus, and
fifteen hundred years after by Lepsius, was as
enormous a work as the Pyramids. It contained
three thousand chambers of stone, with vast courts
and ranges of columns, and was a vast catacomb
for dead princes and priests.
The ruins of the sacred city of Thebes are still
so imposing that the French army under Desaix,
pursuing the Mamelukes, in want of everything,
without food, fainting with the heat, no sooner got
sight of the ruins of Thebes, than they forgot their
sufferings and their dangerous enemy, and began
to clap their hands with delight. " Imagination,"
says Champollion, " sinks with awe before the one
hundred and forty colossal columns of the Temple
of Karnak." " Conceive," says Ampere, " a forest
of towers, each as large as that in the centre of
the Place Vendome, eleven feet in diameter, the
capitals sixty-five feet in circumference, seventy
feet hi":h, each as laro;e as the trunk of an enor-
mous tree, in a hall three hundred and nineteen
feet long, and one hundred and fifty wide, entirely
roofed over with stone, and all the surface carved
268 TEN GKEAT religio:n'S.
with sculpture." And this vast interior is only
one building in a city of temples, arcades, ave-
nues of sphinxes, and colossal statues. The Tem-
ple of Karnak itself is twelve hundred feet long,'
and three hundred and sixty wide, twice the area
of St. Peter's at Rome, " one of the largest," says
Fergusson, " as well as the most beautiful in the
world." He goes on to say that in its beauty, its
massiveness of form, wonderful lights and shadows,
and brilliancy of decoration, it is the greatest archi-
tectural work of man.
§ 8. Buddhist Architecture.
If we pass from Egypt to Asia we find the most
extraordinary and beautiful works of architecture,
as the direct product of the Buddhist religion.
Though described as atheism, it has, built some
of the grandest temples for the worship of God ;
though said to have no belief in a future life, its
dagobas, or shrines of saints, are innumerable, and
covered with exquisite carvings ; though accused
of denying the existence of the soul, its monaster-
ies for the devotional life of anchorites, carved
out of solid rock, are older than the coming of
Christ.
One Buddhist temple in Java, that of Boro Bud-
dor, is a pyramid, rising in nine terraces, covered
with carved spires and cupolas of various forms,
the chief of which cover four hundred and thirty-
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 2G0
six niches, occupied by as many statues of Buddha,
as large as life. Between these are numerous bas-
reliefs, and below them, on the lower story, is an
immense bas-relief, sixteen hundred feet long, run-
ning round the whole building, and representing
scenes from the life of Buddha. All these are on
the outside,' but the inner faces of the five ranges
of buildings are still more profusely and minutely
ornamented with figures and carvings, to an extent
(says Fergusson, from whom this account is taken)
unrivaled by any other buildings in any part of
the world. Not far off is a group of two hundred
and forty temples, all richly ornamented, in every
one of which was a seated carved fio-ure.
This Buddhist architecture extends over all of
eastern Asia. It early assumed the three forms of
topes or pagodas, which are lofty buildings con-
taining the relics of Buddhist saints ; monasteries,
some of which are so large as to contain ten thou-
sand or twenty thousand monks ; and temples, for
worship. These buildings are found in India, Cey-
lon, Burmah, Thibet, Tartary, China, Japan, and
every other Buddhist country, and go back for
their beginning to two or three centuries before
Christ. As soon as the religion was well estab-
lished, its peculiar architecture sprang up. Every
great religion has produced its own special type of
architecture. The style of ancient Egypt is mas-
sive I its idea is undecaying immortality. The idea
270 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
of the Buddhist is of sacred shrines, tombs lifted
into the air, so that the worshippers might look up
at the pagoda, in which were contained the holy
relics. The Greek temples were for a worship of
display : visible pageants, not dark interiors for
hidden mysteries as in Egypt ; but lovely faQades,
where the spirit of intellectual beauty is made
manifest, where every apparently straight line is
tenderly curved to satisfy the fastidious Hellenic
eye ; where proportion, measure, restraint, unity,
show to us art at the highest point ever reached
on earth, — the glory of Greece, and the despair of
the rest of mankind. But the Greek temples took
their form from the nature of the religion, which
was one of festivals and out-door ceremonies. The
exterior was everything, the interior a mere cell
to contain the priestly apparatus, or at most a
chamber for an imaare. The colonnades around
the Parthenon were for the purpose of an ambula-
tory, where on festivals the processions marched
round and round between the columns, appearing
and disappearing to the eyes of the people gazing
,up from below. Such was the Parthenon and the
Temple of Jupiter at Athens, the latter having
two rows of columns and two aisles along its sides,
three rows of columns on the back and four rows
in front.
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 271
§ 9. Jewish and Christian Architecture.
The object of the Jewish temple was entirely
different, and consequently its magnificent archi-
tecture was wholly opposed in style to that of
Greece. The Hellenic worship was visible wor-
ship, to be seen by all ; so its decorations were on
the outside of the temple.
The Jewish worship was exclusive ; therefore,
thick and high walls of stone surrounded the tem-
ple, with gates so massive that it took twenty men
to open and close them every morning and even-
ing. The beautiful colonnades and gates were all
inclosed within this wall, so that the building^ was
in fact a fortress, and so defensible that it resisted
the assaults of the Roman eno;ines Ions: after the
rest of the city was taken. Even the outer court
of the Gentiles, further than which they might not
penetrate under pain of death, was thus shut in ;
and the courts of the Jews, of the women, of the
priests, and the holy place itself, were surrounded
by other walls. An exclusive holiness was the
type of this style of architecture.
The pointed or Gothic architecture of the middle
ages sprang up in like manner out of the character
of Christian worship. The Greek temples were
beautiful without, to be seen by all men. The
Jewish were glorious within, for the exclusive wor-
ship of a chosen people. Those of Egypt were
272 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
significant of mysteries, and to their dark interiors
only the initiated were admitted. But Christian-
ity, whose nature it was to fulfill in itself all forms
of righteousness, built its cathedrals beautiful both
without and within. The exterior, in which the
perpendicular line predominates, indicated the as-
piration of all human souls to heaven. The inte-
rior, whose lofty aisles and domes sheltered with
protecting roof the worshippers, spoke of the di-
vine love which bends around every trusting heart
to comfort and bless. The stained glass admitted
the common light of day, but made it speak, as it
passed in through saintly forms, of a Christian ho-
liness, given to lighten every man who comes into
the world. Thus Christian ideas created a new
style of art, before unknown, and which no one
could have predicted before it arrived. In one or
two centuries it covered Europe with the marvel-
ous beauty of its * vthedrals, as in Antwerp, Co-
logne, Strasburg, I^ iiurg in Belgium and Ger-
many ; at Pisa and Milan in Italy ; Salisbury,
Canterbury, and Yc. in England ; and in many
other like examples.
§ 10. Mohammedan Art.
Perhaps, however, thore is no more striking ex-
ample of tl . power of a new faith to create a
wholly new style of art than in the case of Mo-
hammedanism. The sudden rise and rapid spread
inspiratio:n" and art in all religions. 273
of Islam is one of the most startling events in the
history of mankind. In one or two centuries this
great wave swept from Arabia westward across
^^rica to the Atlantic, rolling on in a flood of con-
quest into Spain, and to the east pushing over
Syria and Persia into India and Turkistan. And
out of this movement came a new form of civiliza-
tion, new inventions and discoveries, a new litera-
ture, and finally new forms of art. Especially the
Saracenic architecture extended itself from India
on the east to western Spain, carrying all its pe-
culiarities, its delicate forms, exquisite tracery,
lofty minarets, egg-shaped or bulb-shaped domes,
and long arcades. Being as exclusive a religion as
that of the Jews, it usually confined its ornaments
to the interior, and had vast courts within for its
worshippers. The numerous domes of this style
seem to symbolize the protecting dome of sky,
type of the unity of God in it^ vast, undivided ex-
panse, its infinite depth and" ll-surrounding pres-
ence. The minarets exprc the perpetual declar-
ation of faith in one God a^ his prophet, and its
call on all people to recc his teaching. The
whole architecture shows uue combined activity,
poetic tendency, and quick, light movements of
the Saracenic races. • -
Thus is art the child of religion, e ery form of
religion producing its own form of art, for
18
274 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
" Out of thought's interior sphere
These wonders rose to upper air."
So sculpture, appearing first on the walls of
Egyptian temples, passed into Greece, and in that
human religion, where all the gods were men and
women, created its marvelous statues. At Athens
rose the colossal form of the divine virgin Pallas-
Athene, carved of gold and ivory. Tranquil se-
renity, serious purpose, self-conscious power and
clear-siorhted intellect were the characteristics of
this goddess, and it is to the credit of the Atheni-
ans that they chose such a pure being for the
guardian of their city. Still more wonderful was
the Phidian Jupiter at Olympia, whose majesty
was such that it was an event in life to have seen
it, and not to have seen it before death one of the
greatest of calamities.
§ 11. Greek Art.
It has hardly been noticed that the elevated
character of the Greek religion is due, not to the
poets, but to the sculptors and philosophers. Ho-
mer and Hesiod were severely blamed by the more
serious Greeks, for presenting the deities as often
frivolous and sometimes immoral. Such gods as
they described, were hardly objects of reverence.
The Greeks had no sacred books and no prophets ;
instead of sacred books they had their wonderful
statues ; instead of prophets, such teachers as Soc-
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 275
rates and Plato. The dialogues of Plato were the
real Bible of the Athenians. But how elevating
must have been the impression made by the noble
statues of the gods, in which there is nothing triv-
ial, nothing impure ; which are calm, wise, serene,
benignant. Each of the gods seems to have a typ-
ical expression of face and form, significant of
mental and moral elevation. The Olympian Zeus
took its highest form in the soul of Phidias. All
succeeding artists followed the type which he cre-
ated, the leonine masses of hair, falling grandly on
either side of the face, the calm brow, the wide-
open eyes full of contemplation and authority, the
delicate gentleness of the cheek and lip, the full
beard with wavy tresses, the large chest, dignified
and expressing at once power and benignant will.
How much higher is this than Homer's Zeus who
vaunts himself strong enough to lift the gods and
the world by mere physical force. Here, Demeter,
Pallas, and Artemis were types of the same kind,
all indicating noble purity of soul. Here, or Juno,
is a queen and mother, uniting majesty and unfad-
ing bloom, a matron always young, to whom all
kinds of evil are abhorrent. The best expression
of this may be seen in the colossal head in the Lu-
dovisi villa. The Greeks must have learned from
her that it is the business of the mothers to keep
the state pure. Demeter, whom the Romans called
Ceres, shows the kind womanly heart which goes
276 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
out in sympathy with the children of men. She
is the goddess softened by suffering, who seeks
her lost daughter through the earth. This was a
type of character very interesting to the mind of
antiquity, shown also in the sad Isis searching for
the remains of the dead Osiris. The sculptors
gave still another variation of this theme of wom-
anly purity in Artemis (or Diana), the goddess
living in the depths of shady woods, vowed to
chaste seclusion. This conception was developed
by the sculptors Scopas and Praxiteles. Hers is
one of the few Greek statues representing rapid
motion. She seems like moonlio-ht flashins: amono-
the leaves, an untouched, inaccessible goddess, sep-
arated from human passions or worldly desires.
Her brother Phoebus resembles her, in the liirht,
youthful form of the limbs. He is god of the joy-
ful spring-time, type of health and order, who pu-
rifies the soul by music, who represents genius and
inspiration, as Dionusos stands for geniality and
excitement.
Another celestial form, the creation of these in-
spired artists, was that of Pallas- Athene, the no-
ble virgin, a defender against evil, the guardian of
her well-beloved city. In her form and face pu-
rity was confirmed by wisdom. Clear intelligence
looked out of her eyes ; and she was the wise pro-
tector of all who carry on useful arts with discre-
tion. In Here, the Greeks expressed woman's nat-
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 277
iiral hostility to vice ; in Pallas they showed her
natural love of peaceful and useful activity. Thus
we may say that these inspired artists created the
highest form of Greek religion, and kept always
before the eyes of a worshipping people the divine
attributes of purity, wisdom, serene benignity, and
noble elevation of soul. What the philosophers did
to lead upward the minds of the thoughtful, the
sculptors accomplished for the mass of the Greek
people.
Of Greek painting we know very little. The
names only of such artists as Zeuxis and Apelles
have come down to us, with some little description
of their peculiar styles. Apelles claimed for him-
self grace as his special merit, and hence must have
been the Raffaelle of antiquity. The earlier paint-
ers, Polygnotus and his contemporaries, had more
religious depth and simplicity, and so must have
resembled Fra Angelico and the Pre-Raffaelites,
but like these were ignorant of the technicalities of
art. What the Greeks called skiagraphy, and the
moderns chiaro-oscuro, came later. But in Zeuxis
and the later artists, who had all these secrets of
shade and color, Aristotle missed the " ethos " or
moral tone of the earlier school, just as we miss it
in the successors of Fra Angelico.
278 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
§ 12. Religion in Painting and Poetry.
"We know well how much the painters of Italy
and Germany have done for religion, and how
much it has done for them. The best inspiration
of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle are seen in their
great religious subjects. The sublimity of the Old
Testament was the inspiration of the one, the ten-
derness of the Gospels gave spiritual life to the
work of the other. Who that has seen the won-
ders of the Sistine Chapel, or has studied the fine
engravings from the Prophets and Sibyls in our
art museums, but has better understood the sol-
emn souls of Isaiah and Jeremiah ? Michael An-
gelo has brought together, side by side, the two
kinds of heavenly insight, as shown in man and
woman. Study the Prophets and the Sibyls ; and
you find in one more of fire, in the other more of
calm ; in the Prophets majestic energy of will, in
the Sibyls a greater depth of human sympathy ;
insight in one turns to wisdom in the other. And
passing from these to Raffaelle, beside the angelic
grace of his forms, we see in the unfathomable
eyes of the infant Jesus a vision of a higher world
than this, — a Kingdom of Heaven above us and
yet near.
Poetry also received at first its inspiration from
religion. It soared upward to Heaven in the Vedic
hymns, the litanies of the Avesta, the poems to the
INSPIRATION AND ART IN ALL RELIGIONS. 279
gods carved on the Egyptian temples, the Psahns
of David, and the subUme strains of the book of
Job. In Greece nearly all the poetry was con-
nected with religion, as the hymns of Hesiod and
Homer, the odes of Pindar, and the great Dramas.
In modern times two of the greatest poets, Dante
and Milton, have been controlled by a religious in-
spiration. And how powerful to move, to soften,
to uplift the soul, has been the hymnal of Chris-
tendom. It has accompanied Christianity from the
beginning, from the time when Paul told the disci-
ples to sing together in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, down through the hymns of the
middle ages, the " Dies irse. Dies ilia," hymns to
the Virgin, hymns to the Spirit, those of Luther,
Watts, Wesley, and all the others whose strains
constitute so large a part of our worship, making
the true church catholic and universal.
Thus in all times the highest inspiration is born
out of religion. It works by a half-unconscious
power, creating a new heaven, of beauty and a new
earth of sweetness and charm. In all ages, enter-
ing into holy souls, it has made of them prophets
of beauty and sublimity to their race. Not con-
fined to Christianity, religion has had prophets
since the world began, and has not been without
its witness in every land on which God smiles.
One interior light, it enters every waiting soul, and
enables it to do some good work ; something to
help or bless the human race.
280 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
I
CHAPTER X.
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. The moral sentiment in man. First element; the idea of
Right and Wrong. § 2. Second element; knowledge of
what is ri^ht and wrong. Third element : Habits of virtue.
§ 3. The basis of Ethics immutable. Primal convictions.
Truth and Love. The place of utility in ethics. § 4. Manly
and womanly virtues. § 5. Morality among primitive races.
§ 6. The races of Africa. § 7. Development of moral impulse
in character. Romans and Greeks. Socrates. The Stoics.
§ 8. Ethics of Buddhism. § 9. Ethics in ancient Egypt.
The oldest book of the world. § 10. Influence of Religion
on Morality.
§ 1. The moral sentiment in man. First element; the Idea
of Might and Wrong.
"|V /TY purpose in the present chapter is to speak
■^-^ of moraUty and ethics in all reHgions. I shall
treat, first, of the ideas of right and wrong among
the primitive races. Secondly, of the same ideas
as taught in the ethnic religions. Thirdly, as they
are taught in the monotheistic religions, and nota-
bly in Christianity.
But before entering on this discussion, we must
understand what morality is. Man is a moral being
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 281
because he possesses a moral sentiment, moral ideas,
and a moral power. The moral sentiment is the
sense of right and wrong, producing the feeling of
duty and obligation. Moral ideas consist in the
belief that certain acts are right, and others wrong.
Moral j)Ower is the ability to do what is right, and
to refuse to do what is wrong.
Let us consider any moral act, and see how these
three elements enter into it. A poor and hungry
boy sees a loaf of bread in an open window. He
is strongly urged by hunger to take it. But he
knows that it is wrong to take what does not be-
lono" to him ; he feels that he oug;ht not to do what
he knows or believes to be wrong ; he, therefore,
puts forth an effort and goes away, resisting the
temptation.
This example will stand as a type of every
moral act of which men or angels are capable.
Into every such action these three elements of
feeling, thought, and will must enter. Omit
either, and there would be no morality.
In the case just cited there was a strong tempta-
tion, and a strons; effort of the will to resist the
temptation. This, however, is not essential to a
moral action. The highest form of morality is
that in which no effort is required to do right;
when right-doing has become a part of the nature.
It requires a great effort in a miser to give a small
sum to a starving child. It requires no effort in a
282 TEN GREAT RELIGION'S.
benevolent man to give his whole income to good
objects, for he finds his best pleasure in so doing.
There is more merit in the first instance, but there
is a higher goodness in the other. The latter pos-
sesses what in the striking language of the Bible
is called " The Beauty of Holiness." So long as
the effort to do right is visible, this beauty has not
arrived.
The sense of right and wrong is a primitive ele-
ment in the soul. It cannot be analyzed or re-
solved into anything more simple. All such at-
tempts lead only to mental and moral confusion.
To trace it back to a sensation of pleasure is to
confound things wholly different. The desire for
pleasure is one thing, the sense of obligation an
entirely different thing. They are not only differ-
ent, but often opposed, as in the instance of the
hungry boy above mentioned. The desire for
pleasure would have induced him at once to take
the bread, if he could have done so without beina:
seen. The sentiment of duty forbade his doing it ;
the two then were in exact opposition.
This first element of morality is not only primal,
but also universal. It is one and the same thing,
wherever it exists. The sense of an eternal dis-
tinction between right and wrong and of the eter-
nal obligation to do what is right and to refuse to
do what is wrong, must be the same in the child
and the archangel. Kant found in it the proof of
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 283
the being of God, since it goes down so deep, and
goes up so high, and speaks with the absolute au-
thority which belongs to God alone. The desire
for pleasure speaks with no such voice of com-
mand. We are not bound by any obligation to
seek enjoyment. But the awful voice of con-
science listens to no excuse, allows of no apology.
It says, "Do right, though the heavens fall."
§ 2. Second element. Knowledge of what is right and
wrong. Third element. Habits of virtue.
The second element in morality is that of knowl-
edge. In order to do right, w^e must know what
right is. This is the domain of ethics, of instruc-
tion, of education. What some people think right,
others believe to be wrong. Where some see a
duty to be done, others find an error to be avoided.
This is the part of morality which can be taught.
The world advances in virtue, by seeing more
clearly what its duty is.
The third element in morality is the habit of
doing what we believe to be right. Many persons
see their duty but fail to do it.
"Video meliora, proboque — detcriora sequor."
"I know what 's right, and I approve it too —
Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue."
It would not be necessary to give this analysis
of morality, were it not that so many theories are
284 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
put forth which prevent all clear thought on these
questions. For example, Buckle tells us that there
is no change, and no progress in moral systems ;
that the rules of morality are as well understood
in one age as in another. His words are these :
" To do good to others ; to sacrifice for their bene-
fit your own wishes ; to love 3- our neighbor as
yourself ; to forgive your enemies 5 to restrain
your passions ; to respect those who are set over
you, — these, and a few others, are the sole essen-
tials of morals; but they have been known for
thousands of years, and not one jot or tittle has
been added to them by all the sermons and text-
books of moralists and theologians." ^ Hence
Buckle argues that there is no such thino; as
improvement in morality.
On the other hand, the utilitarian school of
moralists assert that there is nothino- fixed ; no
foundation of moral truth ; that all is in progress.
Paley expresses this doctrine most forcibly. He
says that there is hardly a vice or crime which has
not been considered right in some country or some
period ; that theft was rewarded in Sparta ; that
to put to death little children, or aged parents,
has been thought proper in some places ; that the
Indians approve of cruelty ; that Paul thought it
his duty to persecute the Christians.
1 Mr. Buckle has omitted, in this list, truth, honesty, and temper-
ance.
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 285
If we recur to the positions we have taken in
regard to the three elements of morality, we shall
find that Buckle's view is true as regards one ele-
ment of virtue, and Paley's as regards another.
§ 3. The basis of Ethics immutable. Primal convictions.
Truth and Love, The place of utility in ethics.
There is an immutable basis to ethics, thoug;h
not exactly what Buckle assumes. The sentiment
of right is always the same. It may be stronger
or weaker, greater in quantity in some periods,
less in others, but its quality is unchangeable.
There are also two moral convictions which are
to be found in all races, from the lowest to the
highest. These are of justice and mercy, or truth
and love. Everywhere it has been accounted a
duty to be just to others, not to take what be-
longs to them, to pay one's debts, to tell the truth,
to keep one's promises, to be faithful to one's
engagements. This is radical in morality. And
again it has always been considered morally beau-
tiful to do actions of kindness, of charity, to be be-
nevolent to the poor, to be hospitable to strangers,
to return good for evil. There is, therefore, not
only a fundamental sentiment of right, but these
two fundamental ideas of right.
But these ideas of justice and mercy are often
found in apparent conflict. Justice requires one
course, mercy another. Which ought we to fol-
286 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
low ? Truth deiiicands this action, love that ; what
ought we to do ? All the cases of conscience, all
practical problems of morals, arise from this antag-
onism of two fundamental ideas. When we have
a real difficulty in knowing what we ought to do,
we shall usually find that truth requires one course
of action and love another.
It is at this point of conflict that the doctrine of
utility comes in ; and here comes in also the possi-
bility of progress in morality. We find out, more
and more, wdiat course of action is, on the whole,
for the best, and how we can do what is right with-
out sacrificing either justice or mercy. This con-
stitutes the ethical education of mankind ; and the
moral progress of the world consists in the gradual
lifting up of the moral ideal, as well as in an in-
creasing moral enthusiasm for goodness. Better
knowledge of what is right, and a stronger im-
pulse to do it, marks the history of the growth of
mankind in virtue.
The two types of morality which I have desig-
nated as rooted, one in the idea of justice, the
other in that of mercy, are tj^ be found among
all people ; in a rudimentary condition among the
primitive races, more developed in the more civil-
ized. Assuming that most of our moral actions
have justice and mercy at their foundation, we
shall find them constituting two families, or groups
of qualities. The justice-group includes honesty,
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 287
truthfulness, obedience to law, courage to do, forti-
tude to endure, and the love of individual freedom.
The mercy-group of virtues includes sympathy
with suffering, hospitality to strangers, domestic
affection, loyalty to one's chief, the love of fame or
glory, kindly manners, civility, and the desire for
equality.
Some races by a natural instinct or by acquired
habit, lean more to one of these classes of virtues ;
and other races to its opposite. Take for example
the Enoiish and French. The Ensrlish virtues are
those belonging to the group of which justice is
the root. The French qualities to those of mercy.
The English are truthful, the French, civil. The
English believe in honesty, in keeping one's word,
in faithfulness to all contracts, obedience to law.
The French are more kindly, more sympathetic,
are remarkable for the streno-th of their domestic
affections, have a great love of glory, are fond of
approbation. The English care greatly for free-
dom, demand their individual rights, wish to be
governed as little as possible, but do not care
much for equality. They rather prefer to have an
aristocracy to look up to. The French love equal-
ity, dislike aristocrats, are democratic in every
fibre of their being, but are willing to be governed
by any Louis XIV. or Napoleon who will give them
national glory. They will die for their chief, but
wish him to speak to them as a comrade or equal.
288 TEJ^ GKEAT RELIGIONS.
These distinctions may be traced throughout the
Teutonic races on one side, and the Keltic races
on the other.
§ 4. Manly and Womanly Virtues.
All the virtues may be distributed in a large
way into these two classes, the manly and the
womanly virtues.
The manly virtues include conscientiousness,
courage, justice, love of truth, independence, rev-
erence for right, and love of freedom. The wom-
anly virtues include benevolence, prudence, sym-
pathy with suffering, reverence, hospitality, do-
mestic affection, loyalty to one's chief, desire of
approbation, love of beauty, kindly manners, uni-
versal charity, and love of equality. The manly
and womanly virtues are both necessary to make
a good moral character ; both should be united in
every man and every woman. Not only is neither
class by itself adequate, but any one of them, un-
less united with the opposite, loses its own quality
and becomes a vice instead of a virtue. Thus the
virtue of courage, unless joined with the virtue of
prudence and caution, ceases to be courage, and
becomes rashness. S,o the virtue of benevolence or
sympathy, unless joined with the virtues of consci-
entiousness and independence, will degenerate into
a transient emotion of weak sentimentalism. These
cannot exist as virtues unless united with their an-
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 289
tagonist qualities. Independence unbalanced by
humility becomes pride ; firmness without rever-
ence for others turns into obstinacy. The desire
to be approved and esteemed, unless joined with
the love of truth and right, runs into vanity.
What we mean then by distinguishing these as
manly and womanly virtues is only this : That the
natural man, without culture, tends more to one,
and the woman more to the other. The most cou-
rageous and heroic among men have been those
who added to their courage, tenderness ; to their
independence, reverence. This union constituted
the chivalric character of a Bayard, who Avas not
only without fear, but without reproach ; of a
Douglas, who was not merely true, but also ten-
der ; of Jeanne d' Arc, whose unflinching cour-
age enhances her womanly sweetness and purity.
Each grace can only attain its own perfection
when it has the opposite for its companion. The
manly virtues culminate in truth, and the wom-
anly in love. But truth without love is not fully
truth, and love without truth is not love. In God
both are perfectly one, and man approaches the
divine perfection only as he unites both in himself.
§ 5. Morality among Primitive Races.
It is extremely difficult to ascertain the moral
character of the primitive races. The reports con-
cerning them have come from travelers who usu-
19
290 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
ally were only a short time in the country ; who
did not, perhaps, understand the language ; who
were suspected and avoided and, perhaps, regarded
as enemies by those who had been ill-treated by
previous visitors; and who judged of the character
of a people by their own personal experience. So
English travelers visiting America pronounce a
judgment on our national life derived from their
experiences in railroad stations, Western hotels, or
among the hackmen at Niagara. So too Ameri-
cans, after a few weeks in France or Italy, decide
ex cathedra on French or Italian civilization by
judgments derived from their observations among
commissionaires and couriers.
Many travelers show by their self-contradictory
statements concerning them their inability to ob-
serve the people they visit. Thus Mariner re-
ports that the Tongans, or Friendly Islanders, are
loyal, pious, obedient children, affectionate par-
ents, kind husbands, modest and faithful wives,
and true friends ; and are at the same time with-
out any words for justice and injustice, and do not
regard theft, revenge, and murder as crimes ; that
they see no harm in seizing a ship and murdering
the crew ; that the men are cruel, treacherous,
and treat their wives badly, but live happily with
them ; and that domestic quarrels are seldom
known. Other writers say that the Tongans unite
a remarkable mildness with great courage. They
ETHICS IN ALL EELIGIONS. 291
are brcave, but do not boa^t of their valor. Mari-
ner himself tells us of a young warrior who was
called up and praised by the king for an act in
which courage and generosity were united. The
youth blushed, and went modestly back to his
place, and never boasted of what he had done.
The inhabitants of the Navigators' Islands are
described as being " hospitable, affectionate, hon-
est, and courteous." They are very warm-hearted,
and " their honesty is really wonderful." On one
occasion a European vessel went ashore on the
rocks, and the whole of its cargo was at the mercy
of the Samoans, but not a man stole anything, and
the property was taken charge of for its owners.
In how many Christian countries would not the
wreckers have carried off the whole cargo !
Courtesy among the Samoans is regarded as one
of the duties of life. The early voyagers were
struck by the gentle demeanor, perfect honesty,
scrupulous cleanliness, graceful costume, and pol-
ished manners of this people. One of the chiefs
had a large number of presents given to him by
the captain of an English vessel, such as knives,
scissors, needles. He took each one separately,
laid it on his head, and returned thanks for it, and
then returned thanks for the whole. Then he
turned to his people and said : " The English
chiefs have given us all these presents, now let us
give them in return something to eat, for there
292 TEN GEEAT RELIGIONS.
are no pigs running about on the sea, nor any
bread-fruit growing there." On hearing this the
whole company ran away, and returned bringing a
large quantity of pigs, bread-fruit, and yams, and
presented them to the English. We have dwelt on
the good morals of this particular people because
the description is unquestionably correct ; because
it shows us a race in whom good morals and man-
ners have grown up without any influence from
without, they having lived for thousands of years
alone on their islands, and because they united the
two classes of virtues, viz., that of courage and
honesty with that of kindness and courtesy, and
both in a high degree. We certainly ought not to
call such a people savages.
§ 6. The Races of Africa.
The negroes of Africa have been charged with
all sorts of vices and crimes, theft, cruelty, treach-
ery, disregard of life. But it must be remembered
that the negroes of whom we have usually heard,
have been for centuries corrupted by the slave-
traders, both on the eastern and western shores of
the continent. Foreigners have come among them
to steal men and women, and have murdered thou-
sands and tens of thousands in the operation.
What wonder that the Africans should retaliate
on foreigners in the same way. But the travelers
who have penetrated the interior, like Du Chaillu,
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 293
Livingstone, and Stanley, and who have convinced
the natives that they came as friends, have met
with warm hospitaUty ; have found them true to
their eno-ag-ements ; have left them in charo-e of
what to them was untold wealth, and have had it
taken care of and faithfully restored again. They
have, in short, found the rudimentary forms of the
kingly and queenly virtues of truth and love, jus-
tice and mercy, united in the hearts of these be-
nighted heathens.
Du Chaillu says that the Aponos, a merry race,
who live near the equator, were an honest people,
and stole nothing from him, and that some of them
always took his part in any dispute which arose.
Livingstone, whose rule in going among the ne-
gro tribes was to make them feel that he was one
of themselves, and that he loved them, was met
everywhere by a responsive good will. When he
died, hundreds of miles from the coast, and with
no white man near, his faithful negro servants car-
ried his body, his papers, and other valuables, all
the way to the sea. His biographer says, —
" If anything is needed to commend the African race,
and prove it to be fitted to make a noble nation, the cour-
age, affection, and persevering loyalty shown by his at-
tendants after his death is sufiicient. It was a great, dif-
ficult, and dangerous work to carry his body to Zanzibar.
It took nine long months of toil to do this. They dried
the body in the sun, wrapt it in calico, inclosed it in a
294 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
bark cylinder, sewed a piece of sailcloth round all, and
set out. They were not themselves well ; they had to
make their way through hostile tribes, and though a
white party who met them urged them to bury the re-
mains, and not run the risk of carrying them further,
they were inflexible, and persevered."
Such are the virtues which already appear in
primitive man, rudimentary virtues, indeed, but
partaking of the qualities of both the types de-
scribed above. In courage, in loyalty to friends
and tribe, in fidelity to engagements, honest deal-
ings, we find the truth-cycle in its early forms ; in
hospitality, kindness to those in need, and domestic
affection, we see the beginning of the love-cycle.
Proceeding onward from the primitive races and
religions to national life and the ethnic religions,
let us see what progress there is in morals.
§ 7. Development of moral impulse in character. Romans
and Greeks. Socrates. The Stoics.
This important fact we immediately discover:
that what is moral impulse in the child-like races
grows up into principle and character in the higher
forms of human life. We find this eminently among
the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the national
life of both races there are numerous and well-
known examples of high moral character.
The Greeks were to the Romans as the French
to the English. In both instances the nation nearer
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 295
the rising sun was more vivacious, alert, active ;
had more tact and ardor, a greater love of fame
and glory ; that to the West was more strong, solid,
fixed in principles, practical, believing in justice
and law. Their virtues shared these characterise
tics. The morality of the Roman, like that of the
English, belonged to the cycle of justice; the Greek
morality to the cycle of kindness, mercy, and sym-
pathy.
Of the Roman virtues in their sterner form such
men as Coriolanus, Brutus, and the two Catos are
examples. The sense of justice appears developed
to the utmost degree of strength in the character
of the younger Cato. We read, in our Plutarch,
that from his youth he displayed, even in his look
and in his amusements, solidity and inflexible pur-
pose. When he was fourteen years old, during the
tyranny of Sylla, whose house was like a jAace of
execution, seeing the heads of many citizens car-
ried out whom Sylla had murdered, he said: "Why
does not some one kill that man ? " " Because,"
said his preceptor, " they fear him more than they
hate him." " Give me a sword," said Cato, " that
I may kill him and deliver my country." Though
rich, he lived with extreme simplicity. " He car-
ried," his biographer says, " an impulse like inspi-
ration into every virtue ; but his greatest attach-
ment was to justice, and justice of that severe kind
that is not to be wrought upon by compassion."
296 TEN" GREAT EELIGIONS.
When asked why he did not speak in public, he
said : "I am wilKng men shall blame my silence,
provided they do not blame my life. I will speak
when I have anything that is worth saying." He
showed so much coolness and capacity as a soldier
in. the servile war that the general in command of-
fered to reward him by promotion, but he peremp-
torily refused the honor, saying: "I have done
nothing which deserves such notice." But there
was a tender side to Cato's nature, as was shown
by his devoted love for his brother, Ca3pio. The
shrewd observer, Plutarch, does not fail to remark
this trait of tenderness in his character, and tells
us that the affection which was universally felt for
Cato by his soldiers is a proof of it ; and adds that
the virtue which only inspires respect and not love
seldom influences the lives of others. Cato also
gained great popularity by refusing the presents
offered him, especially by the king of Galatia, who
besought him to accept many valuable gifts, and if
he would not take them himself to allow his friends
to do so. Cato, who knew that these were bribes
to secure his influence, sent back the presents, say-
ing to his friends : "If I give them to 3'ou I am
taking them myself. Corruption will never want
a pretense. Never mind. I will share with you
whatever I can gain honorably."
In these days, when the reform of the Civil Ser-
vice occupies so many minds, the example of Cato is
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 297
worth remembering. When he became Quaestor, —
which was the same office as Secretary of the Treas-
ury among ourselves, — he fomicl that many abuses
had crept in. Previous Quaestors had usually been
young, and ignorant of the business, and thus had
naturally left the direction of the Treasury to the
under-officers, who had been there long, and were
experienced in office. But Cato, before he became
a candidate for this office, had made a thorough
study of the whole subject, and took the reins into
his own hands, putting an end to all such corrup-
tions. In this waj^ he made the Treasury as re-
spectable as the Senate, and the office of Quaestor
equal to that of Consul.
Cato's truthfulness was so well known that it
became a proverb. " I would not believe that,
even if Cato said it." All this severity made him,
of course, obnoxious to those who had jobs, for
they knew they could do nothing while Cato was
in the way. One of these men he charged with
bribery ; the man was defended by Cicero, who
undertook to ridicule the austere virtue of Cato,
as of a man who was righteous overmuch. Cato
merely remarked, " We have a very amusing Con-
sul."
We find the same type of virtue in Greece in
such men as Aristides, Phocion, and Timoleon, but
less austere, less stern. You could not apply to
them the phrase of Horace, " the atrocious soul of
298 TEN GREAT RELIGION'S.
Cato." But what a cliarming story is that of the
proposal of Themistocles, showing the profound
confidence inspired in the hearts of the people by
the lofty virtues of Aristides. Themistocles told
the people that he had a plan which would bring
a great good to Athens, but it must be kept secret.
The Assembly directed him to communicate it to
Aristides alone, and they would abide by his de-
cision. The plan of Themistocles was to seize the
armed ships of all the Confederate Greeks, and so
to make Athens the ruling power in Hellas. Aris-
tides returned to the Assembly, and said : " Noth-
ing could be of more advantage to Athens than
the proposed scheme ; but nothing could be more
unjust." The democracy of Athens immediately
commanded Themistocles to abandon all thousrht
of this action.
And yet Themistocles seems a better representa-
tive of the Greek character than Aristides. The-
mistocles was consumed by the love of glory ; he
was intrepid, keen-witted, bright. He was a man
who stood by his friends, right or wrong. His
longing for renown was such that he said : " The
trophies of Miltiades will not suffer me to sleep."
Brave, full of resource in war, a great general,
one of the saviors of Greece, by the force of his
genius compelling his rivals to follow his ideas, he
was still a dangerous man in times of peace. He
was one of those who are possessed by the demon
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 299
of ambition ; he must be doing something extra-
ordinary, good or bad. He was full of wit. But
he sometimes met with a keen retort. Attempting
to levy a large contribution from the Greeks of
Andria, he told them : " I have brought with me
two gods, Persuasion and Force," to which they
replied : " We also have two still more powerful
gods on our side, Poverty and Despair."
Phocion was an Athenian who resembled Cato
in self-control and self-denial. Ridiculed for his
sternness by some trifle rs, he said : " My black
looks never gave any of you an hour of sorrow ;
but the laughter of my critics has cost many a
tear." Being asked, before speaking in public,
what he was thinking of, he answered : " I am
thinking how I can shorten what I have to say.'*
He never hesitated to resist the clamor of the
multitude and the tumult of the citizens demand-
ing wrong things. When the people were in a
difficulty, and charged him with being the cause
of it, he simply said : " Let us first escape from
this danger, afterwards 3^ou may banish me, if you
like." He would not allow them to rejoice at the
death of their enemy, Philip, saying : " It would
show that we were afraid of him, to express any
satisfaction at his death." Alexander, who had a
great respect for him, sent him a hundred talents.
He refused the gift. The ambassador urged him
to accept it, saying that Alexander offered it to
300 TEN GEEAT RELIGIONS.
him because he believed him to be the one honest
man in Athens. "Then," said Phocion, "let him
allow me to remain so."
Such are the anecdotes which the greatest of
biographers has preserved for us concerning the
nobility of character among the Greeks and Ro-
mans. What we see is this. We have ascended
to the elevation where moral sensibilitieSj moral
ideas, and moral actions have become organized
into moral character. As far as we can see, the
external influences which helped this development
were the social life of Greece, and the political
life of Rome. In Rome, devotion to the state, to
the public good, was the atmosphere which men
breathed. To serve the Roman people, to have
the honor of becoming one of the chief citizens, to
win the respect and gratitude and influence which
came to him Avho deserved well of the republic,
this was the ambition and pride of the noblest
Romans. In Greece it was different. It was not
so much power and respect, as fame and love w^hich
impelled the soul of the great Athenians. There
were men of Roman fibre, no doubt, among the
Greeks, like those we have mentioned ; and men
with Greek souls among the Romans, like the
Gracchi and Cicero ; but the religion of Rome was
the state, the religion of Greece was glory.
One character, however, among the Greeks car-
ried the moral element to a still higher degree.
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 301
Socrates does not seem to have cared for fame nor
for power, except the power of reason with which
to mould the hearts of the young and educate
them to virtue. His rehgion was moral culture.
He taught the art of self-culture in the streets of
Athens. In one respect his method singularly re-
sembles that of Christianity. In Christianity good-
ness springs from the two roots of humility and
faith, self-distrust and trust in God, repentance
and hope. And so Socrates always sought ; first,
to bring the young man whose soul was capable of
culture to a sense of his moral and mental needs ;
and secondly, to animate him by the sight of the
supreme beauty of goodness. He first brought
him under conviction, by convincing him of his
ignorance, and then inspired him with the hope of
an insio;ht like that of his master. Thus he tausjlit
the youth temperance, sobriety, the love of knowl-
edge, the love of goodness, the worth of friend-
shij), courage, and wisdom. He sought to take
out of them their vanity, self-indulgence, and love
of wealth, fame, and power, unless when these
were deserved by great qualities. The conversa-
tion of Socrates with Euthydemus, as reported by
Xenophon, is one of the best examples of his
method. Euthydemus was an ambitious youth,
who had collected many books, and read them,
and imagined himself a superior person on that
account. But he did not think it necessary to
302 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
take any instruction, or to frequent the teaching
of the wise.
Socrates meeting him one day said : —
"I hear, O Euthydemus, that you have many books,
and that you read them diligently ; that is a very good
thing, much better than to spend one's money on pleasure.
I suppose that you are studying some art or science. What
is it ? Do you propose to be a physician ? An architect ?
An astronomer or geometrician ? "
Euthydemus answered " No," to these questions.
" Then," said Socrates, " you mean perhaps to become
a statesman and public man ? "
Euthydemus admitted that he did.
" That," said Socrates, " is a noble pursuit. I suppose
you will agree with me that a man who wishes to govern
justly should know what justice is."
"Certainly, Socrates, and I think I know that very
well."
"Suppose then," said Socrates, "that we make a list
of just and unjust actions. We will put an A over the
first, and B over the second."
" You may," said Euthydemus, " if you think it neces-
sary."
" Begin then with lying. Is it just or unjust to lie ? "
" Certainly," answered the youth, " it is unjust. Put
that under B."
" But suppose, my Euthydemus, that you are a gen-
eral, in command of the Atlienian army. Would it be
just in you to deceive your enemy, and so get an advan-
tage over him ? "
ETHICS IN ALL EELIGIONS. 303
*' In that case," said Eutliydemus, " lying would be
just."
" Is it wrong or right, O Euthydemus, to take property
which does not belong to you ? "
" It is wrong."
" The general then has no right to take the property of
the enemy ?."
" Of course he has a right," said Euthydemus ; " in
war everything is right against our enemies."
" Then we will take these cases from B and put them
under A?"
" We may," said the disciple.
" I suppose," said Socrates, " you meali that in war, for
a general to speak falsehood to the enemy is just, but to
speak it to his friends is unjust? "
" That is what I mean."
" Suppose then," continued Socrates, " that the gen-
eral, perceiving the courage of his troops to falter, should
make them believe that new succor was at hand. Would
that be just or unjust ? "
" I think that would be just."
"Is it right to use violence to our friends against their
will, and prevent them by force from doing what they
wish, or is that unjust ? "
" It is unjust."
" Then if your friend, in a fit of despair or insanity,
should try to kill himself, you ought not to take the
sword away by force; for that is what you just said ?"
" I take back that opinion," said Euthydemus, " if I
may be allowed to do so."
*' Certainly," responded Socrates, " it is always far bet-
ter to change our opinion than to persevere in a wrong
one."
304 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
And so the dialogue goes on, till the poor youth
is quite mortified at his own ignorance, and de-
clares that he begins to believe that he does not
know anything, and had better be silent alto-
gether. But being of a generous temper, he did
not suffer this mortification to estrange him from
Socrates, but became one of his most devoted dis-
ciples.
In considering this character of Socrates, we
perceive that he has led us up to a still higher
region of ethics. To him goodness is something
sacred in itself. The best Romans and Greeks had
in their heart a desire for superiority over others,
they wished the respect, or esteem, or affection, or
praise, of the state and of their fellow-citizens.
This was certainly not a wrong motive. But Soc-
rates saw what the Bible calls the beauty of holi-
ness, the divine quality of virtue, the infinite supe-
riority of this to all other possessions. This was
the faith that upheld him when he made his mem-
orable defense, which one cannot read without be-
ing made better. This is what gave him the calm,
sweet wisdom shown in the long day's discourse, of
which his death was to be the end, wdiich almost
brings tears to our eyes after twenty-five centu-
ries. Our only conclusion must be that of Elihu,
" There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of
the Almighty giveth him understanding." That is
all we can say. The noble qualities in the soul of
ETHICS IN ALL RELIGIONS. 305
Socrates were given him by Gocl. He was raised
up to be a prophet to the whole civihzed world,
and by his lofty wisdom he was a Greek John the
Baptist, preparing * the way for a higher teacher
than himself. Socrates certainly did not draw his
inspiration from the festivals or ritual of the Greek
religion. Neither the Greek nor Roman religion
professed to teach any high spiritual or moral doc-
trines. The sculptors and the philosophers were
the true religious teachers of both nations.
The best ethical teachers whom the Greeks and
Romans possessed were to be found in the Stoical
philosophers. We are made better to-day, and
also wiser, by reading the works of Epictetus, Mar-
cus Antoninus, and Seneca. They insist on all the
manlier virtues, temperance, fortitude, truth, jus-
tice, purity. They make of life a discipline, a
scene of moral gymnastics. You would not wish
to live always in a gymnasium, only practicing
athletic exercises, but as a strengthening process,
to be used occasionally, there are few better helps
than the writings of these great Stoics.
§ 8. Ethics of Buddhism.
Buddhism is a highly ethical religion. It is
more a system of morality than a religion. Its
moral impulse seems to have been derived from
the life of its founder, and his character may be
traced in all its history. A man of intense moral
20
306 . TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
earnestness, profoundly sincere and truthful, he
was still more profoundly humane. The woes of
the world pressed heavily on his benignant heart.
The whole system of Hindu caste, with its odious
distinctions, was abhorrent to him. To his large
mind all men were equal, and he sought to raise
them to a peace of soul like his own, by showing
them the laws of the universe and persuading
them to accept these eternal laws as their rules of
life. Obedience to the moral law, he believed,
would remove at last all sin and all misery from
the world. Consequently he went about, teaching
this moral code, and his disciples have ever since
done the same. Some of their ethical teachings
are intended for the instruction of the Buddhist
monks, and their minute analysis of right -and
wrono- reminds us of the voluminous casuistry of
the medioBval theology.
The Dhammapada is an ancient Buddhist work
of the highest authority. The following extracts
from the Dhammapada much resemble the tone of
Jewish ethics as contained in the Book of Prov-
erbs : —
"Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana),
thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in
earnest do not die ; those who are thoughtless are as if
dead already."
" By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and
control, the wise man may make for himself an island
•which no flood can overwhelm."
ETHICS IN" ALL RELIGIONS. 307
" Fools follow after vanity ; men of sense, wisdom.
The wise man keeps earnestness as his best jewel. Let
the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to
perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list :
thoughts well guarded bring happiness. Long is the
night to him who is awake ; long is a mile to him who is
tired ; long is life to the foolish who do not know the
true law."
" If a traveler does not meet with one who is his bet-
ter, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary jour-
ney ; there is no companionship with a fool."
" The fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least so
far. But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is called a
fool indeed. He who drinks in the law lives happily
with a serene mind ; the sage rejoices always in the law,
as preached by the elect (Aryas). The gods even envy
him whose senses, like horses, well-broken in by the
driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and
free from appetites. . . . His thought is quiet, quiet are
his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom by true
knowledge, when he has thus become a quiet man.
Though a man recite a hundred Gathas made up of
senseless words, one word of the law is better, which, if
a man hears, he becomes quiet."
" If one man conquer in battle a thousand times thou-
sand men, and if another conquer himself he is the great-
est of conquerors."
"He who always greets and constantly reveres the
aged, four things will increase to him, viz : life, beauty,
happiness, power."
" But he who lives a hundred years, vicious and unre-
strained, a life of one day is better if a man is virtuous
and reflecting."
308 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
" Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in bis heart,
'It will not come nigh unto me.' Even by the falling of
water-dro]3s a water-pot is filled ; the fool becomes full of
evil, even if he gather it little by little."
" He who has no wound on his hand may touch poison
with his hand ; poison does not affect one who has no
wound ; nor is there evil for one who does not commit
evil."
" If a man offend a harmless, pure, and innocent person,
the evil falls back uj)on that fool like light dust thrown
up against the wind."
" Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord ?
With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few
can find."
" Rouse thyself ! do not be idle ! follow the law of
virtue ! The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and in
the next."
" Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate
us! Among men who hate us let us dwell free from
hatred ! Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness
the best riches ; trust is the best of relationships : Nirvana
the highest happiness. A man is not an elder because
his head is gray ; his age may be ripe, but he is called
' Old-in-vain.' "
" He in -^hom there is truth, virtue, love, restraint,
moderation ; he who is free from imjDurity, and is wise,
he is called an elder."
§ 9. Ethics in ancient Egypt. The oldest hook of the
world.
The oldest texts of the Egyptian religion show
the stress laid on morals in that ancient system of
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 309
thought. I quote as follows, on this subject, from
the Hibbert Lectures of Rhys Davids : —
" The triumph of right over wrong, of right in speech
and action (for the same word signifies both truth and
justice), is the burden of nine-tenths of the Egyptian
texts which have come down to us. Right is represented
as a goddess ruling as mistress over heaven and earth,
and the Avorld beyond the grave. The gods are said to
live by it. Although funereal inscriptions are less to be
depended upon when they describe the virtues of the de-
ceased, than when they give the dates of his birth and
death, they may at least be quoted in evidence of the
rule of conduct by which actions were estimated. We
are not obliged to believe that this or that man possessed
all the virtues which are ascribed to him, but we cannot
resist the conviction that the recognized Egyptian code of
morality was a very noble and refined one. ' None of the
Christian virtues,' M. Chabas says, 'is forgotten in it;
piety, charity, gentleness, self-command in word and ac-
tion, chastity, the protection of the weak, benevolence
towards the humble, deference to superiors, respect for
property in its minutest details, all is expressed there
and in extremely good language."
The following are specimens of the praises which
are put into the mouth of departed worthies : —
" Not a little child did I injure. Not a widow did I
oppress. Not a herdsman did I ill-treat. There was no
beggar in my days ; no one starved in my time. And,
when the years of famine came, I plowed all the lands
of the province to its northern and southern boundaries.
310 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
feeding its inhabitants, and providing their food. There
was no starving person in it, and I made the widow to be
as though she possessed a husband."
Of another great personage it is said that, in
administering justice, "he made no distinction be-
tween a stranger and those known to him. He
was the father of the weak, the support of him
who had no mother. Feared by the ill-doer, he
protected the poor ; he was the avenger of those
whom a more powerful one had deprived of prop-
erty. He was the husband of the widow, the refuge
of the orphan."
It is said of another that he was " the protector
of the humble, a palm of abundance to the desti-
tute, food to the hungry and the poor, largeness
of hand to the weak;" and another passage im-
plies that his wisdom was at the service of those
who were ignorant.
The tablet of Beka, now at Turin, thus describes
the deceased: —
" I was just and true without malice, placing God in
my heart, and quick in discerning his will. I have come
to the city of those who dwell in eternity. I have done
good upon earth ; I have done no wrong ; I have done no
crime ; I have approved of nothing base or evil, but have
taken pleasure in speaking the truth. There is no lowly
person whom I have oppressed ; I have done no injury to
men who honored their gods. The sincerity and good-
ness which were in the heart of my father and my mother
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIOJfS. 311
my love (paid back) to them. My mouth has always
been opened to utter true things, not to foment quarrels.
I have repeated what I have heard just as it was told
to me."
Great stress is always laid in these inscriptions
upon the strictest form of veracity, as, for instance,
" I have not altered a story in the telling of it."
The works of charity are commonly spoken of in
terms which are principally derived from the Book
of the Dead : —
" Doing that which is right and hating that which is
wrong, I was bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty,
clothes to the naked, a refuge to him that was in want ;
that which I did to him, the great God hath done to
me."
'• I was one that did that which was pleasing to his
father and his mother ; the joy of his brethren, the friend
of his companions, noble-hearted to all those of his city.
I gave bread to the hungry; I received (travelers?) on
the road ; my doors were open to those who came from
without, and I gave them wherewith to refresh them-
selves. And God hath inclined his countenance to me
for what I have done ; he hath given me old age upon
earth, in long and pleasant duration, with many children
at my feet."
God's reward for well-doing is again mentioned
in the inscription now at Miramar in honor of
a lady who had been charitable to persons of her
own sex, whether girls, wives, or widows : —
312 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
"My heart inclined me to the right when I was yet a
child, not yet instructed as to the right and good. And
what my heart dictated I failed not to perform. And
God rewarded me for this, rejoicing me with the happi-
ness which he has granted me for walking after his
way."
We are acquainted with several collections of
precepts and maxims on the conduct of life. The
most venerable of them is the work of Ptahhotep,
which dates from the age of the pyramids, and yet
appeals to the authority of the ancients. It is
undoubtedly, as M. Chabas called it, " The most
ancient book of the world." The manuscript at
Paris, which contains it, was written centuries be-^
fore the Hebrew lawgiver was born. These books
are very similar in character and tone to the Book
of Proverbs in our Bible. They inculcate the study
of wisdom, the duty to parents and superiors, re-
spect for property, the advantages of charitable-
ness, peaceableness, and content ; of liberality, hu-
mility, chastity, and sobriety ; of truthfulness and
justice ; and they show the wickedness and folly
of disobedience, strife, arrogance, and pride ; of
slothfulness, intemperance, unchastity, and other
vices.
The maxims of Ptahhotep speak of ''God for-
biddino; " and " God commanding; " : —
" If any one beareth himself proudly he will be hum-
bled by God, who maketh his strength." " If thou art a
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 313
wise man bring up thy son in the love of God." " Happy
is the man who eateth his own bread. Possess what thou
hast in the joy of thy heart. What thou hast not, obtain
it by work. It is profitable for a man to eat his own
bread; God grants this to whoever honors him." " Pray
humbly with a loving heart, all the words of which are
uttered in secret."
Another section is upon maternal affection. It
describes the self -sacrifice of an affectionate mother
from the earliest moments of the child's existence,
and continues as follows : —
" Thou wast put to school, and whilst thou wast being
taught letters she came punctually to thy master, bring-
ing thee the bread and the drink of her house. Thou art
now come to man's estate ; thou art married and hast a
house ; but never do thou forget the painful labor which
thy mother endured, nor all the salutary care which she
has taken of thee. Take heed lest she have cause to com-
plain of thee ; for fear that she should raise her hands to
God and he should listen to her prayer."
The relio-ion of Zoroaster must be considered as
highly moral in its influence, insisting on purity of
thought, word, and action ; on courage to oppose
wrong and evil. It lays its chief stress on the
truth-cycle of goodness, on the manly virtues.
Herodotus said of the ancient Persians : " Lying is
regarded as the most discreditable thing by them ;
next to that the incurring of debt, and chiefly for
this reason, that the debtor must often tell lies." .
314 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
/
§ 10. Influence of Religion on Morality,
We may now ask what is the influence exercised
by the rehgions of mankind on the develo^Dment of
human morahty.
Some attempt to produce good conduct, and to
repress evil, by the hope of future reward, and the
fear of future punishment. This was done very
fully, as we have seen, in the Egyptian religion,
which gave every Egyptian a full and detailed
account of his resurrection, transmigrations, and
future judgment before Osiris. Brahmanism and
Buddhism are equally minute in their accounts of
rewards and punishments hereafter, by the passage
of the soul through innumerable heavens and hells,
and transmigration through many bodies of ani-
mals, plants, and men.
How far such descriptions avail to prevent evil
and encourage good is quite uncertain. A far-off
and only haU-believed retribution affects the imag-
ination feebly. It is a curious and very noticeable
fact that the religion of Moses teaches no such doc-
trine of future retribution. It appears nowhere in
the Old Testament. A few texts may be strained
to indicate something of the sort, but there is no
plain, strong statement of a future judgment or
moral retribution. Moses was acquainted with the
whole Egyptian mythology on this subject, and
must have deliberately refused to make use of this
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 315
doctrine of future retribution as a sanction for his
law. Reward and punishment in this world — not
in the next — is the doctrine of the Old Testament.
The moral influence of the teaching of Moses and
the prophets is that they show the grandeur and
nobleness of goodness ; they rouse the higher na-
ture in man ; they purify and elevate all the
moral sensibilities. Besides this, they show God,
not far off, in another world, but close by in this
present life. They give the sense of a watchful,
ever-present Providence, Guardian, Judge. Such
a sense of a Divine presence must always be the
best defense and inspiration of the moral nature.
For if the society and companionship) of good or
bad men exercises such an influence, how much
more the society of a being who knows our innlost
thoughts, and is the ideal of all moral purity.
There is still another influence exercised on mo-
rality by religion. This is the enthusiasm for
goodness created by the sight of generous and
noble lives. The ethical systems of books are dead
and dry compared with this power which comes
from a soul made alive by truth and love. Such
souls are the great inspiration of the race, and vir-
tue goes out of them, transmitted from age to age,
to make the world better.
The great Brahmanical rehgion has its moral
code in the Laws of Menu. They are very elabo-
rate and go into many details. A large part of
316 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
this book is devoted to ritual and priestly obser-
vances, to questions of rites and ceremonies, fasts
and penances, and the details of the caste system.
Here and there we find interesting passages ; such,
for instance, as these : — ■
" The man who perceives in his own soul the supreme
soul present in all creatures, acquires equanimity toward
all, and will be resolved at last into the divine essence."
" A Brahman should shun worldly honor as he shuns
poison, and seek disrespect as he seeks nectar."
" Let him say what is true, and also what is pleasing ;
let him speak no harsh truth, let him speak no pleasant
falsehood."
" The act of repeating the divine name is a hundred
times better than sacrifice ; if said alone, better still ; if
said in the depths of the soul, best of all."
Let us now return to our original definition of a
moral act, which makes it consist in the three ele-
ments of sentiment, belief, and effort, or a feeling
that we ought to do what is right, a belief that a
certain act is right, and an effort to do what we
believe is right. These constitute the spirit, the
ethics, and the moral character of each race and
each relisrion.
As we ascend from the lower races to the higher
we find the moral sense to become more earnest,
the ethical system more clear and elaborate, and
the conduct more upright, truthful, benevolent,
and pure. Morality is developed along this line
ETHICS m ALL RELIGIONS. 317
of ascent through the races and rehgions of man.
In some races there is more of one element; in
others more of another element.
Finally, if we compare the morality of the New
Testament with that of other sacred books and
other religions, we see that its preeminence con-
sists, not in giving any new ethical rules or meth-
ods, but in that it unites other moral teaching in
a fullness of spiritual life. It gives to man the
greatest work : to make God's kingdom come and
cause his will to be done on earth as it is done in
heaven. It furnishes the highest motive, — the
love and grace of God dwelling in the heart. It
sets before us the noblest ideal of goodness in the
life and character of Jesus. It does not reveal
maxims or laws of right never known before, but
it turns duty into happiness, writes the law in the
heart, helps us to walk in the spirit of love, and
thus becomes a power to lift the world to the
highest plane of peace and goodness.
318 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
CHAPTER XL
IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE IN ALL RELIGIONS.
§ 1. Universal belief in a future state of existence. § 2. No-
tions concerning it among the Childlike Races. § 3. Belief
of the ancient Etruscans. § 4. Of the Egyptians. § 5. Of
Brahmanism. § G. Of Buddhism. Meaning of Nirvana. § 7.
Of the Jews. The argument of Jesus with the Sadducees.
§ 8. How Religion jDroduces faith in Immortality. § 9. The
Poets and Philosophers. § 10. Two Sources of belief in a
Future Existence. § 11. Modern scientific Unbelief. Spir-
itualism, and its evidences.
P
§ 1. Universal belief in a future state of existence.
PERHAPS the most remarkable fact in the
comparative history of rehgions is the uni-
versal belief of mankind in a future state of exis-
tence after death.
" Placed on this isthmus of a middle state," with
an unknown eternity behind him, and an unknown
eternity before him, with a great gulf between
this globe and the worlds which surround it, man
has everywhere believed in a hereafter. No trav-
eler returns from that bourne to tell us anything
about it, at least, none return to throw light on
the condition of departed souls. The wise, the
THE IDEA OF A FUTUEE STATE. 319
good, the lovely no less than the ignorant, the vic-
ious, the criminal, pass on in a long and never-
ending procession into that darkness, and no one
comes back to say to us where they have gone.
But notwithstanding this, men have universally
believed in another life. This is not because one
race has received this faith as a tradition from an-
other. It has sprung up, independently, in all
parts of the world, and in all ages, among the an-
cient Egyptians and ancient Hindus, those who
have lived in the frozen zone, and those wdio in-
habit the burning regions of central Africa. The
travelers who visited for the first time the Esqui-
maux of Greenland, or the negro tribes on the
Niger, w^ho first saw the natives of the islands of
Oceanica, and the Papuans of the Eastern archi-
pelago, found among them all a well-developed be-
lief concerning a future life. This did not come
by any process of reasoning, it came as the result
of some instinctive operation of the mind itself.
The often-quoted saying of the intelligent mis-
sionary Charlevoix, that " the belief best estab-
lished among the aboriginal Americans is that of
the immortality of the soul," is confirmed by the
careful researches of later writers. Brinton, in his
" Myths of the New World," says that among all
the Indians of North and South America there was
only one clan found, and that a very small one,
who seemed to have no notion of a future state.
320 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
This was the " Pend d' Oreilles," of Oregon, and
even they beheved in charms, omens, dreams, and
guardian spirits. The Iroquois, Algonquins, Sioux,
Dakotas, Navajos, Natchez, and the rest of the
many varieties of North American Indians shared
this common behef . The red men mostly beheved
in the sun as their future home, says Brinton.
The Mexicans had a future paradise, and said to
the dying : " Sir, or lady, awake, the dawn ap-
pears, the light is approaching, the birds begin
their songs of welcome," for to them, when the
man died, he awoke out of this dream of life into
a future reality.
Brinton also mentions one curious analogy of
belief in many nations. We learn that the Greeks
supposed that every soul must cross the river Styx
in Charon's boat ; that the Persians thought the
departed must cross above the abyss of woe on the
arch of the rainbow ; and that the Koran teaches
that they must go over on the bridge el Sirat,
whose blade is sharp as a scimitar ; and even
Christians speak of passing over a mythical Jor-
dan. The early missionaries were told by the Hu-
rons and Iroquois that the soul after death must
cross a deep, rapid river on a bridge made of a
slender and ill-poised tree ; another tribe believed
in crossing a river in a stone canoe, another in go-
ino; over the stream on a brids^e made of an enor-
mous serpent. The Indians of Chili, the Aztecs,
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE 321
and the Esquimaux had similar legends. All these
notions sprang up naturally. Among primitive
people, before bridges were built, the chief diffi-
culty a traveler encountered was in crossing a
river, or a branch of the sea. They naturally
thought that in the long journey from this world
to the next, some similar difficulty would be found.
We saw in a previous chapter that a belief in
ghosts is almost universal among primitive races.
The negroes of Africa are tormented by the fear
of ghosts, who are thought to return and haunt
their homes.
The Nicaragua Indians, in 1528, gave their
views concerning the departure of the soul, saying
that, when one dies, the soul comes out of the
mouth in a form like that of the living person. It
is that which made them live, they said. A like
phenomenon seems to have been accepted as a
possibility by two of the most sharp-sighted obser-
vers, and ablest scientific men of our time. The
late Dr. Edward Clarke told Dr. 0. W. Holmes that
once, as he sat by the side of a dying woman, he
saw, at the moment of death, " a something rise
from the body, which seemed like a departing
presence." The conviction, he says, forced upon
his mind, that something at that moment departed
from the body, was stronger than words could ex-
press. Dr. Holmes adds that he heard the same
experience told, almost in the same words, by a
21
322 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
lady whose testimony was eminently to be relied
on. While watching her parent, she felt aware, at
the moment of death, of a ^' something " which
arose as if the spirit was perceived in the act of
leaving the body. Dr. Edward Clarke and Dr.
Holmes seem both to have attached a certain
weight to these phenomena.
§ 2. Notions concerning it among the childlike races.
It is curious to find among the childlike races a
dread of the ghosts of ancestors, as of beings dis-
posed to do harm even to their surviving friends,
a dread which has now wholly disappeared. There
are thousands to-day, perhaps millions, in our own
country, who firmly believe that they receive com-
munications from what they call " the spirit land,"
and no fear is excited by such intercourse. But
among primitive people there is a great dread of
the malignant disjDosition of the departed spirits.
Precautions are taken against their return. The
Hottentots and Siamese break an opening through
the wall of the house to carry out the dead, re-
building it again as soon as the body is removed.
The notion seems to be that the dead man can
only return by the passage through which he de-
parted. What a dreadful idea is that of the vam-
pire, described in one of the most striking pas-
sages of Byron .^
1 See the passage in The Giaour.
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 323
The notion of the childlike races concerning the
hereafter is usually that of a continuation of this
life in another world on much the same plane.
The North American Indians, being hunters, be-
lieve in happy hunting-grounds. The Esquimaux
in a place where the sun never sets, the land of a
midnight sun, where there are plenty of walrus
and fishes. The people of Kamschatka in a sub-
terranean city, like the world above, only far bet-
ter. The New Zealanders, like the Romans, placed
their heroes among the stars. They thought that
the Pleiades were the eyes of seven heroes killed
in battle. The Peruvians believed in the resurrec-
tion of the body, and in two future worlds : an
abode of hard work below the earth for the
wicked, and a pleasant heaven above for the good.
The Mexicans believed in many future worlds like
this, and they dressed the dead man in his best
clothes, put his passports in his hand, and buried
with him his valuables. The Druids believed in
three worlds, and in transmigration from one to
the other : in a world above this, in which happi-
ness predominated ; a world below, of misery ;
and this present state. This transmigration was to
punish and reward, and also to purify the soul. In
the present world, said they, good and evil are so
exactly balanced that man has the utmost free-
dom, and is able to choose or reject either. The
Welsh Triads tell us there are three objects of
324 TEN" GREAT RELIGIONS.
metempsychosis, to collect into the soul the prop-
erties of all being, to acquire a knowledge of all
things, and to get power to conquer evil. There
are, also, they say, three kinds of knowledge :
knowledge of the nature of each thing, of its
cause, and its influence. There are three things
which continually grow less : darkness, falsehood,
and death. There are three which constantly in-
crease : light, life, and truth.
§ 3. Belief of the ancient Etruscans.
There was a wonderful nation, existing in a
highly civilized condition in Italy before the rise
of the Roman Republic. They excelled in arts
and in arms, they had an artistic faculty like that
of the Greeks, and an energy which long resisted
and nearly crushed the growing power of the City
of the Seven Hills. The safety of Rome was in
the fact that the twelve cities of Etruria were
only a confederacy and not a union. They carried
on war independently of each other, and, there-
fore, might be defeated separately ; whereas if
they had been united, the Roman power could
never have been developed. A half-Greek race,
they were fond of decoration and drawing. Their
faith in immortality shows itself in their tombs
and inscriptions. Everything except the massive
walls of some of their cities has disappeared. But
the tombs of the Tarquins, of Lars Porsena, and
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 325
other miglity Etruscan chiefs, still remain, vast
monuments of the grandeur of the race. These
graves are tumuli, in great numbers and of large
proportions. They are still found in the extensive
cemeteries of the Etruscans, in Tuscany, arranged
in rows, like houses in streets. They can be
counted, says Fergusson, by hundreds, and in
some places by thousands. Though many of them
have been opened and plundered of their precious
contents, some have remained untouched until re-
cently, and have yielded to their discoverers rich
collections of the gold and bronze instruments bur-
ied with the dead, nearly three thousand j^ears
ago. The largest tomb yet opened is more than
two hundred and forty feet in diameter and one
hundred and fifteen feet high. The tomb of Lars
Porsena, as described by Pliiiy, was a cluster of
pyramids supporting other pyramids, which Mr.
Fergusson thinks may have reached the height of
four hundred feet, which is loftier than any spire
or tower on this continent. These tombs were
filled with golden ornaments worked with great
taste and skill, elegant furniture, beautiful vases,
mirrors, rings, engraved gems, bronze statues.
The art of working in bronze was carried so far
that in one Etruscan city there are said to have
been two thousand bronze statues, and they under-
stood engineering so well that the oldest monu-
ment in Rome, the Cloaca Maxima, still remains as
a proof of their ability in sewerage.
326 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
The inscriptions in the Etruscan tombs indicate
firm faith in immortaUty. One says, " While we
depart to nought, our essence rises ; " another,
" We rise hke a bird ; " another, " We ascend to
our ancestors ; " another, " The soul rises like fire."
They have pictures of the soul seated on a horse,
and with a traveling-bag in its hand.
The opinions of the Etruscans may be said to
have belonged to the ethnic class, but we know
little more than that they had this intense belief in
a future life. Like the Egyptians, they seemed to
have thought more of dying than of living. The
tomb was the permanent home of both people.
§ 4. 0/" the Egyptians.
Tn a previous chapter we have seen what pre-
cise views the Egyptians took of the hereafter;
how fully and minutely they described the prog-
ress of the soul onward through its long cycle of
change, till its final judgment before the tribunal
of Osiris. Omitting what has been before de-
scribed concerning the adventures of the soul
after death until it reaches this day of judgment,
I will add some further details of that transaction.
Conducted by Anubis, the soul traverses the
labyrinth, and by the aid of a clew, guiding it
through its windings, at last penetrates to the
judgment hall, where Osiris awaits it seated on his
throne, assisted by forty-two terrible assessors.
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 327
There the decisive sentence is to be pronounced,
either admitting the deceased to happiness, or ex-
cluding him forever. Then commences a new in-
terrogatory much more solemn than the former.
The deceased is obliged to give proof of his knowl-
edo-e : he must show that it is o;reat enouo;h to
give him the right to be admitted to share the lot
of glorified spirits. Each of the forty- two judges,
bearing a mystical name, questions him in turn ;
he is obliged to tell each one his name, and what
it means. Nor is this all : he is obliged to give an
account of his whole life. This is certainly one of
the most curious parts of the funereal ritual ; Cham-
pollion called it the " Negative Confession ; " it
would perhaps be better described by the word
" apology." The deceased addresses successively
each of his judges, and declares for his justification
that he has not committed such and such a crime.
We have therefore here all the moral laws obliga-
tory upon the Egyptian conscience : —
" I have not blasphemed," says the deceased ; " I have
not stolen ; I have not smitten men privily ; I have not
treated any person with cruelty ; I have not stirred up
trouble ; I have not been idle ; I have not been intoxi-
cated ; I have not made unjust commandments ; I have
shown no improper curiosity ; I have not allowed my
mouth to tell secrets ; I have not wounded any one ; I
have not put any one in fear ; I have not slandered any
one ; I have not let envy gnaw my heart ; I have spoken
328 TEN GREAT EELIGIONS.
evil, neither of the king nor my father ; I have not falsely
accused any one ; I have not withheld milk from the
mouths of sucklings ; I have not practiced any shameful
crime ; I have not calumniated a slave to his master."
The deceased does not confine himself to deny-
ing any ill conduct ; he speaks of the good he has
done in his life-time. " I have made to the gods
the offerings that were their due. I have given
food to tlie hungry, drink to the thirsty, and
clothes to the naked." On reading these passages
we may well be astonished at this high morality,
superior to that of all other ancient people, which
the Egyptians had been able to build up on the
foundation of their reliscion. Without doubt it
was this clear insight into truth, this tenderness of
conscience, which obtained for the Egyptians the
reputation for wisdom, echoed even by our own
Scriptures.
Besides these general precepts, the apology ac-
quaints us with some police regulations for public
order raised by common interest in Egypt to the
rank of conscientious duties. Thus the deceased
denies ever having intercepted the irrigating ca-
nals, or having prevented the distribution of the
waters of the river over the country ; he declares
that he has never damaged the stones for mooring
vessels on the river. Crimes against religion are
also mentioned ; some seem very stra,nge to us, es-
pecially when we find them classed with really
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 329
moral faults. The deceased has never altered the
prayers nor interpolated them. He has never
touched any of the sacred property, such as flocks
and herds, or fished for the sacred fish in the lakes
of the temples, or stolen offerings from the altar.
The deceased, who now receives the name of
the god Osiris, is fully justified ; his heart has been
weighed in the balance with "truth " and has not
been found wanting ; the forty-two assessors have
stated that he possesses the necessary knowledge.
The great Osiris pronounces his sentence, and
Tlioth, as recorder to the tribunal, having in-
scribed it in his book, he at last enters into
bliss.
Here commences the third part of the ritual,
more mystical and obscure than the others. We
see the Osiris-soul, henceforth identified with the
sun, traversing with him, and as him, the various
houses of heaven and the lake of fire, the source
of all liorht. Afterwards the ritual rises to a hio-her
poetical flight, even contemplating the identifica-
tion of the deceased with a symbolical figure com-
prising the attributes of all the deities of the
Egyptian Pantheon.
Thus we see the faith of Egypt in a hereafter
was not only full and entire, but that the Egyptians
also had a distinct idea in their minds of the whole
process of development in another world. No other
theory, until we come to that of Swedenborg, pro-
330 TEN GEEAT EELIGIONS.
fesses to give such full details concerning the future
life.
^ 5. Of Brahmanism,
The ancient Brahmanic religion made the gods
Yama and Varuna the rulers of the world of spirits.
Varuna judges the soul and thrusts the wicked
down into an abyss of darkness. Yama, who was
the Adam of this mythology — three letters out of
the four being the same in each name — assembles
around himself the good among his descendants.
But before this ultimate result they are all obliged,
as in Egypt, to pass through a long process of trans-
migration, the object of which is the punishment of
past evil, discipline, and reform. '
The last book of the Laws of Manu is on trans-
migration and final beatitude. The principle is
here laid down that every human action, word, and
thought bears its appropriate fruit hereafter, good
or evil. Out of the heart proceed three sins of
thought, four sins of the tongue, and three of the
body, namely : covetous, disobedient, and atheistic
thoughts; scurrilous, false, frivolous, and unkind
words; and acts of theft, bodily injury, and licen-
tiousness. He who controls his thoughts, words,
and actions is called a triple commander. There
are three qualities of the soul, giving it a tendency
to goodness, to passion, and to darkness. The first
leads to knowledge, the second to desire, the third
to sensuality. To the first belong study of Scrip-
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 331
ture, devotion, purity, self-command, and obedi-
ence. From the second proceed hypocritical ac-
tions, anxiety, disobedience, and self-indulgence.
The third produces avarice, atheism, indolence,
and every act which a man is ashamed of doing.
The object of the first quality is virtue ; of the
second, worldly success; of the third, pleasure.
The souls in which the first quality is supreme rise
after death to the condition of deities ; those in
whom the second rules pass into the bodies of
other men ; while those under the dominion of
the third become beasts and vegetables. Manu
proceeds to expound, in great detail, this law of
transmigration. For great sins one is condemned
to pass a great many times into the bodies of dogs,
insects, spiders, snakes, or grasses. The change
has relation to the crime ; thus, he who steals
grain shall be born a rat ; he who steals meat, a
vulture ; those who indulge in forbidden pleasures
of the senses shall have their senses made acute to
endure intense pain.
On the other hand, every good action performed
in this world leads to a higher birth hereafter;
and it is even taught that a tree used for sacrifice
in this world shall attain an exalted birth in the
next ; and he who lives a religious life with great
devotion, will escape transmigration altogether,
and after death ascend immediately to the high-
est heaven.
332 TEN" GKEAT EELIGIOXS.
§ 6. Of Buddhism. Meaning of Nirvdna.
It has been repeatedly stated, on the authority
of the most learned scholars, that the highest object
of desire in Buddhism is to obtain Nirvana or anni-
hilation. I ventured to deny this as long ago as
1868, when I published an account of Buddhism in
the " Atlantic Monthly," and chiefly on the ground
that such a belief is not in accordance with human
nature. I believe that Tennyson is perfectly right
when he says : —
" Whatever crazy sorrow saith,
No life that breathes with human breath
Hath ever truly longed for death.
'Tis life of which our nerves are scant,
O life, not death, for which we pant,
More life, and fuller that we want."
I also opposed this opinion that a third of the
human race longed to be annihilated, on the
ground that the word Nirvana means a peace
and bliss which the Buddhists declare can be at-
tained in this life, and that the Buddha himself
entered Nirvana long before his death. At pres-
ent the best Buddhist scholars incline to the belief
that Nirvana does not mean annihilation but im-
movable rest. It probably means what Christianity
means by the rest of the soul hereafter in God ;
what Jesus meant when he said : " Peace I leave
with you, my peace give I unto you.
>j
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 333
The Greeks and Romans firmly believed in the
immortality of the soul, down to a late period,
when their faith was shaken by the philosophy of
Epicurus. Festivals of the dead were held by the
Romans, and the dead father and mother accounted
gods. Yet a certain terror of ancestral spectres
was shown by the practice of driving them out of
the house by lustrations.
Reviewing what we have thus seen, we notice
that all nations and races have held to a future
state of existence, that the primitive races believe
that the dead are near by, and that their occupa-
tions are much the same as those of this life.
Future existence is continued along the plane of
the present life.
When we come among the ethnic races we find
a difference. The dead are no longer close by,
unless in exceptional cases. They have a world of
their own, a heaven or a hell, or both in one. The
world of the departed is an underworld, below
this, where there is little light, or comfort of any
kind. Such was the belief of the Greeks and Ro-
mans, and the Jews borrowed their conception of
Hades from the same source. They also believed
in a dark underworld, where both the good and
bad went ; the evil to be placed in Tartarus, and
the good in the Elysian fields.
334 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
§ 7. Of the Jews. The argument of Jesus with the Sad-
ducees.
We thus come to the religion of the Jews. The
strikinoj fact in this connection is that Moses tauci:ht
nothing concerning a future Ufe, and that there is
no passage in the Old Testament which teaches
this important doctrine. This has been fully shown
by Mr. Alger, in his valuable monograph on the
doctrine. The Jews, in the time of Jesus, gen-
erally believed in a resurrection and a hereafter.
And, in the Old Testament, though the doctrine is
not taught, there is a belief in a sheol, or under-
world, dark and undesirable, to which souls go
after death.
Jesus quotes one passage from the Old Testa-
ment in proof of immortality. It is the one where
God is represented as speaking from the bush to
Moses, and saying : " I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob." Jesus infers from this passage
the immortality of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
though it is not taught there. He infers that those
who belong to God must live — they cannot die.
" God is not the God of the dead, but of the liv-
And this is, in truth, the deepest source of faith
in immortality. Faith in God himself as friend
and father inevitably creates faith in immortal
life.
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 335
*' God is not the God of the dead but of the
living." This is not an argument to convince a
doubter. Jesus did not use it as a logical proof of
a hereafter. It is not a syllogism to create a belief,
but it produces faith. Whoever lives in the light
of God's presence and love feels himself to be im-
mortal. The sense of death passes away. It is
the same announcement of immortality used by
Christ afterward : " He who liveth and believeth
in me shall never die." Create a sense of life in
the soul and you overcome all fear of death, all
thought of death.
§ 8. Hoiv religion produces faith in immortality.
Christianity, therefore, like Judaism, does not
teach immortality as a doctrine or dogma; but
creates faith in a hereafter by filling the soul now
with spiritual life. It teaches a present resurrec-
tion or ascent of the soul to God. " I am the res-
urrection," says Jesus. He raises us up now, and
that convinces us that he will raise us up at the
last day.
The Jews, without any distinct doctrine of im-
mortality, yet believed in it because they believed
so firmly in the Providence of God. Trust in a
divine presence and love here, creates faith in the
future life. As to the form of that existence, they
seem to have borrowed from the Greeks their idea
of the under world as a dark region below. This
336 te:n' gkeat religions.
appears in the famous passage in Isaiah, where
Babylon, after its rod of cruel oppression was
broken, is personified as going down into Hades,
leaving the earth above at rest and in peace. The
whole dark underworld is stirred at the coming of
the imperial city. " Hell [or hades] from beneath
is moved to meet thee at thy coming ; the count-
less myriads of the dead rise up ; the kings of na-
tions stand up on their thrones and say : ' Art thou
become like one of us ? ' How art thou fallen from
heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning ! "
Not only all primitive religions, but all the great
ethnic religions, have awakened in man's soul the
same belief in a future life. It is the instinct of
consciousness which creates this faith. Man, as a
conscious personal being, a centre of life, feeling
himself to be a thinking, feeling, and choosing per-
son, sees no reason why he should cease to exist
when his body is dissolved. He says : " Life does
not die." Body dies off of it ; the life continues
elsewhere. And the more full of life he is, the
less fear of death he has. This is the evidence of
those who trust to their instincts. They have faith
in immortality because it is natural to believe in
it. They are made so.
§ 9. The Poets and Philosophers.
All sentiment, all affection, all imagination come
to reenf orce this feeling. The poetry of the world
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 337
in its noblest aspiration has always expressed this
faith. Even skeptical poets, like Byron and Shel-
ley, find it hard to question a future existence.
Byron says, in a well-known poem : —
" When coldness wraps this snffering clay
Ah ! whither strays the Immortal mind ?
It cannot die — it must not stay —
But leaves its darkened dust behind."
And Shelley says of Keats : —
" He hath outsoared the shadow of our night.
Envy, and jealousy, and rage, and pain.
And that unrest that men miscall delight,
Can touch him not, nor torture him again."
"Peace! peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep;
He hath awakened from the dream of life."
" Thou canst not soar where he is sitting now.
Dust to the dust — but the pure spirit shall flow
Back to the burning fountain whence it came,
A portion of the Eternal, which must glow
Through time and change, unquenchably the same."
The philosophers, with few exceptions, have held
this great faith in immortality : Pythagoras, Plato,
Socrates, Cicero ; and in modern times the best
thinkers : Milton, Dante, Descartes, Leibnitz ; and
among ourselves, Channing, Emerson, and Theo-
dore Parker.
Listen to what Goethe, certainly an unpreju-
diced thinker, said, in a private conversation : —
"I should be the very last man to be willing to dispense
22
338 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
with faith in a future hfe. Nay, I would say with Lorenzo
di Medici, that all those are dead, even for the present
life, who do not believe in another. I have a firm con-
viction that our soul is an existence of an indestructible
nature, whose working is from eternity to eternity. It is
like the sun, which seems indeed to set, but really never
sets, shining on in unchangeable splendor."
The last great postulate of science, the persist-
ence of force, is a new proof of immortality. For
spiritual force is the only force we really know.
We only know force at all by the consciousness of
the efforts which we put forth from that mysterious
centre of existence, the soul. And if this force is
persistent, then the soul must continue. If any
one asks me how I know that I have a soul, the
reply is that I know it by a surer evidence than I
know my body. I know of body by the sensations
and thoughts which it awakens in my soul. We
know the soul at first-hand ; but matter we know
only at second-hand.
If any one says, " There is no thought without
molecular movements in the brain ; no conscious-
ness unless the body is in order ; in short, that the
soul depends for its activity here and now on the
condition of the body," we readily admit it. But
what then? The very point to be proved is:
"Will the soul hereafter need this present body
with which to act ? " To say that it will is a pure
assumption, an argument from ignorance to knowl-
edgre.
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 339
§ 10. Two sources ofheliefin a future existence.
In truth this is a case in which instinct is hii>:her
and surer than reasoning. Many philosophical and
metaphysical arguments can be brought to prove
immortality or the opposite. But neither does the
one kind convince us that we are to live, nor does
the other persuade us that when we die we die for-
ever. Our conviction of a future life comes from
two sources : a consciousness of the personality and
activity of the soul, which is the instinct of immor-
tality ; and faith in God as a wise and loving father.
If there be a God, all-wise and all-good, then he
cannot have created mind, the hio-hest thinor we
have in the universe, and educated it by all the
experiences of life, all the long development of
humanity, to let it come suddenly to an end at the
very moment when it is in its fullest activity.
Nor, if there be a God, could he have put into
the soul this longing for continued existence, and
this faith in a hereafter, merely to deceive and
delude us. What an inconsequence, to make men
to live a few brief years, and then perish forever,
and meantime to put into their minds the universal
conviction that they are to live hereafter ! Even
we ourselves take a certain pride and pleasure in
wdiat we have made. We do not willingly destroy
anything on which we have expended thought and
love. Will God create souls with these noble pow-
340 TEJq- GREAT EELIGIOXS.
ers, with minds capable of reading the laws of the
universe, consciences able to cleave to the rig-ht in
the midst of temptation, hearts made to love him,
and then throw them carelessly away as of no value
in his eyes ? I could sooner believe that he does
not let anything die. I would sooner believe that
every animal down to the smallest insect has an
immortal soul, fitted to ascend higher and higher,
through innumerable bodies, than that God will
destroy the human mind and human heart.
Everything here in our life is only just begun.
We have just begun to understand a little of the
mystery of creation ; begun to adore the ineffable
beauty and grandeur of the universe. Shall all
this knowledge, aspiration, energy, be stopped at
its very commencement ?
We admire and reverence great souls. We learn
to know and love the pure, the generous, the self-
denying, the good. In the midst of their noblest
work they are taken away. We say. Why is this ?
and the answer is, because there is another and
higher world to which they have gone, other and
higher duties, other and sweeter joys. This satis-
fies both our mind and heart. But if death ends
all, then life becomes, not merely an inexplicable
mystery, but an unmeaning tissue of contradic-
tions.
Finally w^e are made to love, with undying and
indestructible affections. Our beloved ones go, and
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 341
as the years pass, we love them not less but more.
They live in our hearts forever. Why did God
make us thus, if we are never to see them again ?
All then, finally, resolves itseK into this : faith
in immortality is inseparably connected with faith
in God, and the higher we go up, the nobler our
faith becomes, the more sure we are of immortal
life. The highest being who ever lived on earth,
was the surest of all. To him death was nothing,
only a transient sleep.
§ 11. 3Iodern scientific unbelief. Spiritualism^ and its
evidences.
It is a somewhat striking fact, however, that at
the present time we see two movements of thought,
two great currents of opinion, in exactly opposite
directions. One is the Eno-lish and German unbe-
lief in a future life, based on certain scientific facts
or theories. The other is the new faith in a here-
after, founded on a supposed intercourse with the
world of spirits.
A laro;e number of serious scientific thinkers
have come to question immortality, and even to
declare it an impossibility, because they think it
contrary to the facts of physical science. A recent
English work tells us that " our positive scientific
thinkers, reasoning independently from the veri-
fied conclusions of science, have come to the con-
clusion that the belief in a future life must be
342 TE>^ GREAT EELIGIOXS.
finally given np. A cunning arrangement of mate-
rial atoms is the essence of all the phenomena of
life, and their disarrangement must be the end of
it all." These thinkers deny that there is any
real self, or ego in man, independent of the body.
Thought, emotion, volition, are inseparably bound
up with the brain and nervous system, whose func-
tions they are, just as it is the function of the heart
to pump up the blood, and of the lungs to oxygen-
ate it. Thought cannot go on without the brain,
which is the thinking organ. It is incredible and
impossible that man should live again.
Meantime, as if by a natural reaction against this
doctrine of despair, or as if sent by Providence to
save mankind from such dreary unbelief, there has
grown up in all parts of the civilized world a vast
faith in an actual present intercourse with the
souls of the departed. There are probably many
millions who are convinced that they talk with dis-
embodied-spirits just as certainly as they talk with
those in the body. Nor is this altogether a new
faith, though it has increased very rapidly within
a few years. There are on record, in all times,
numerous instances of sinjilar intercourse. To
those who believe, as I do, in the continued exist-
ence of souls after death, and also that they may
be still near to us, there is no antecedent impossi-
bility or even improbability in such intercourse.
All we want is to have sufficient evidence of it.
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 343
The difficulty in obtaining such evidence arises
from the fact that most people are so credulous,
so easy to be deluded, so ready to deceive them-
selves, and are such inaccurate observers. I am
not implying anything disrespectful to mankind in
saying this. I include myself in the same cate-
gory. It requires trained habits of observation to
verify such facts. I have been present on many
occasions at spiritual seances, and have seen many
inexplicable phenomena. But I have also wit-
nessed a great deal of delusion and some positive
deception, so that I do not feel qualified to decide
how much or how little of truth there may be in
such supposed intercourse. I should be glad to
believe in it, especially for the benefit of those
who are deficient in the instinct of immortality,
or who have not much faith in the divine presence
and love. But I confess that what I have seen in
this movement has not been very edifying.
That which commonly comes from what is called
Spiritualism has a negative value ; it produces a
conviction that death is not the end of our beins-.
It has not, as yet, revealed much concerning the
nature of the hereafter. Perhaps it is not meant
that we should think about it, Avhile immersed in
the pursuits and duties of the present life. It
might take our minds too far away from what we
oug-ht to be doino; now. It seems evident, from
man's experience, that he was made to believe in
344 TEN GREAT RELIGIOJfS.
a future life, but was not made to know much
about it. We know enough when we know this :
that since God sends death to all his creatures, as
he sends life to all, it must be just as great a
blessing to die as it is to live, perhaps greater.
And we also know that the same Beino- who has
made this world, — with all its variety and beauty,
all its opportunities for knowledge, work, growth,
love, — has made all other worlds. We shall not
go away from his presence, or his care, no matter
where we go.
In all times, then, and in all lands, men have
believed and continue to believe in a future life.
The only exceptions are in the case of those too
much immersed in sense, or too stupefied by igno-
rance to rise to the conception ; and in those who,
following some narrow path of reasoning, suppose
themselves logically obliged to disbelieve. Mean-
time the race looks across the boundary, and
reaches out its longings and hopes into the great
beyond.
I will close this chapter with Blanco White's
lines on this great theme. Coleridge and Leigh
Hunt both have called it the finest sonnet in the
English language. Without going so far as this,
we must at least admit that it is one of the best,
and it is truly wonderful that a native of Spain,
brought up to manhood only speaking the Span-
ish language, should have written one of the best
sonnets in another tongue : —
THE IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. 345
" Mysterious night ! When our first parent knew
Thee from report divine, and heard thy name,
Did he not tremble for this lovely frame,
This glorious canopy of light and blue?
Yet, 'neath the curtain of translucent dew.
Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame,
Hesperus with the host of heaven came,
And lo! creation widened in man's view.
Who could have thought such darkness lay concealed
Within thy beams, O Sun! or who could find.
While fly, and leaf, and insect lay revealed,
That to such countless orbs thou mad'st us blind!
Why do we, then, shun death with anxious strife?
If Light can thus deceive, wherefore not Life ? "
346 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS .
CHAPTER XII.
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND.
§ 1. Man a religious being. His continued interest in relig-
ious questions. § 2. Religious faith necessary to progress
in Science, Literature, and Art. Individualism insufficient.
§ 3. The essence of Christianity. § 4. Christianity the re-
ligion of Civilized Man. § 5. Progress and power of Chris-
tian Nations. § 6. Chief of the three Catholic Religions. § 7.
Its fullness of life. § 8. Its corruptions. Their origin in its
power of assimilation. Persecution. Monasticism. § 9. Will
the basis of the church of humanity be a Ritual, a Creed, or
a Person ? § 10. The personality of Jesus. Examples of
the influence of Prophets on national life. § 11. Will the
world outgrow the teaching of Jesus ? Future prospects.
§ 1. Man a religious being. His continued interest in
religious questions.
TN this work we have exammed several of the
chief rehgions of the world. We have seen
pass before us, in majestic march, the grand faiths
of mankind, Brahmanism and Buddhism, the sys-
tems of Zoroaster, Moses, and Mohammed, the re-
ligions of Egypt, Greece, and Scandinavia ; and
now we have to institute a brief comparison be-
tween Christianity and those other forms of human
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 347
faith, to see what right, if any, Christianity has
to claim superiority over the others.
But before proceeding to give an opinion on
this subject, I wish to make one or two prehmi-
nary remarks.
First, our studies must have impressed us with
the conviction that man is a relio-ious beins;, and
that he cannot do without relig:ion. Lono; before
he can secure the comforts and luxuries, or even
what we consider the necessaries of life, he bei>:ins
to adore the invisible, to pray to some unseen
power. He finds that he cannot live by bread
alone, but also needs some word which proceeds
out of the mouth of God. Half-starved savacres
Avorship ; all the races of men worship ; the most
civilized portions of the earth worship ; worship
reaches back to the beginning of history. Thou-
sands of 3^ears before Christ, our Aryan ancestors
worshipped on the plateau of Central Asia ; the
Chinese worshipped on the Hoang-Ho and Yang-
tze-Kiang, the Hindus on the Ganges, the He-
brews, Assyrians, and Babylonians on the Eu-
phrates and Tigris, the Egyptians on the Nile, —
and there are no symptoms that this religious need
is less at the present time.
Looking at the history of the w^orld from the be-
ginning, we may say that religion has been and is
the chief concern of mankind.
And it is not only of great interest to those who
348 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
need its comfort, guidance, and strength. It is not
simplj that it feeds the soul with bread from
heaven, gives increased peace and joy to those on
whom society lays hard burdens, brings consola-
tion to the wounded heart, but it also continues to
be the most interesting subject of intellectual in-
vestigation. After all the speculations of thou-
sands of years in regard to creation and provi-
dence, God and immortality, there are still no
more interesting questions than these. The Posi-
tivists have told us that man goes through three
stages of thought : (1) Theological, (2) Metaphys-
ical, and (3) Scientific; and that we have now
passed out of the two first into the last, in which
only scientific questions are interesting. But the
curious fact is, that science itself has gone largely
into religious and metaphysical investigations.
Tyndall publishes a volume which he calls " Frag-
ments of Science " in which one essay is on
" Prayer," another on " Miracles and Special Prov-
idence," and another on the appearance of Spirits.
Darwin gives us a new cosmogony or origin of
things, and sets all the world to discuss again old
questions concerning creation. Professor Clifford,
an eminent scientist, writes about the ethics of re-
ligion, and the influence on morality of a decline
in religious belief. Huxley publishes almost as
many papers on religious as on scientific questions.
If any popular lecturer is anxious to secure an
THE FUTUKE KELIGION OF MANKIND. 349
overflowing audience he has only to take for his
subject the mistakes of Moses, or to deny some
fundamental points of religious belief. It does not
then appear that human interest has passed from
religious questions to those of science. One writer
lately gave it as his opinion that the world had
lost its interest in religion, on the ground that the
churches in Boston and Chicago were never well
filled. If he had consulted the United States cen-
sus he would have seen that the basis of his induc-
tion was too narrow ; and that, taking the whole
United States during a decade of years, there has
been a constant and large increase in the amount
of church property, church accommodation, and
church attendance.
Some people think that science, art, literature,
and philanthropy may take the place of religion.
But each of these occupies its own department,
each meets a separate need of the human soul.
Science can no more take the place of religion
than religion can take the place of science.
Knowledge belongs to one region of the soul,
faith, hope, and love to another. Physical science
teaches us the facts and laws of the outward vis-
ible universe. Religion teaches us the facts and
laws of the unseen and eternal world.
o
50 TEX GREAT RELIGIONS.
§ 3. Religious faith necessary to progress in science, lit-
erature, and art. Individualism insufficient.
More than this. It is highly probable that man,
if deprived of religious faith, would after a while
cease to have any science, art, literature, or phi-
lanthropy. For, as we have seen in the course
of this work, the deep power which moves this
world is faith in another worlds Thus far history
has shown us religion as the root of civilization.
And it is so still, whether men are conscious of it
or not. Take away religious hope from man ; con-
fine him to the present world and the present life ;
and deprive him of his faith in a Divine Provi-
dence, a guardian care, a progress upward of all
being, a heavenly world beyond of purer joys and
nobler love, and he would probably lose his inter-
est even in this life. There is profound signifi-
cance in the text which speaks of certain persons
as being " without God and without hope in the
world." Man is so great that unless he can lay
hold of the infinite he soon tires of the finite. In
a universe of dead laws and iron fate, of matter
and force, a world without meaning, purpose, or
love, men would not care enough for anything to
pursue science, art, literature, or philanthropy.
For a time, indeed, from force of habit and from
the acquired faith of the past, from habits of hope
stored up in the soul, an atheistic community
THE FUTURE EELIGIOJT OF MANKIXD. 351
might continue to think and work as before. But
they would be like people living on their capital,
instead of on their income. The old stock of be-
liefs, inherited from the past, would soon be used
up, and then the legitimate fruits of the death of
faith in anything divine would appear in a steadily
increasing weariness and indifference to life. A
train will run some time after the eng^ine is taken
off, from acquired momentum, but it gradually
moves more and more slowly, and at last stops.
Nor will the needs of the relio;ious nature be
met by any voluntary association assembled for
free inquiry in religious matters. Freedom alone
tends to pure atomism ; it will turn an association
into a heap of sand ; it cannot organize life. And
without life no growth, progress, or development.
Religion must be free ; but then it must be relig-
ion first, in order to be free at last. And religion
is faith in something; divine. Men united in some
common faith may freely develop that faith. Tiie
religious nature, for its growth and satisfaction,
needs union, cooperation, and sympathy. Human
beings can no more develop the religious life alone
than they can develop civilization, art, science, and
literature. Robinson Crusoe on his desert island
might reproduce some of the arts of life which he
had learned before in the society of man. Tlie
anchorites in the desert might reproduce there
some of the relisrious emotions which they took
352 TE^ GEE AT RELIGIONS.
with them from their former Christian education.
But neither did the anchorite nor Robinson Crusoe
make much progress, and both were glad to get
back to some hitman companionship. Individual-
ism in religion, as in the desolate island, may cry —
" I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute " —
But it pays the penalty of that autocratic suprem-
acy when forced to add, —
*' I am out of humanity's reach,
I must finish my journey alone."
Pure individualism will never be the relio-ion
of the future. To freedom there must be added
union, cooperation, some kind of church relation,
and brotherhood.
Man will always have a religion and religious
faith. The question is, " What faith will it be ? "
We have examined the other religions with some
minuteness, but have not thus far inquired into
the nature or future of our own rehgion. What is
the relation of Christianity, then, to other relig-
ions, and what reason is there to think that Chris-
tianity, in some form, will become the faith of
mankind ?
§ 3. TJie essence of Christianity/.
But first we must endeavor to define Christian-
ity, and say what it is and what it is not. The es-
sence of Christianity cannot, perhaps, be better
THE FUTURE RELIGIOX OF MAXKIXD. 353
stated than in the famous words of a high Roman
Cathohc authority. Essential Christianity is that
which has been received by all Christians, always
and in all places : " Quod uhiqiie, quod semioer,
quod ah omnihus'^
It follows that no one church is the exclusive
and only church, for no one church has ever in-
cluded all Christians. No one creed is the exclu-
sive and only creed, for there have always been
those who rejected it. Christianity is rather a
spirit of life, which has come to us from the first
century, a method of feeling, thinking, and acting.
It has always held to Jesus as its founder, teacher,
and leader. It has always worshipped one God,
the Father. It has clung to the law of love, as the
rule of duty. It has had faith in an immortal life
beyond and above this. These sentiments and
convictions have been held by all Christians, ev-
erywhere, and always ; and will therefore, proba-
bly, last as long as Christianity lasts. Taking
Christianity in this large way, and including in its
sphere all professed believers in Christianity, and
also the Christendom which holds by Christ's name,
we shall see that Christianity differs from other re-
ligions in some very important particulars.
§ 4. Christianity the religion of civilized man.
Christianity is the religion of the mo.-^t civihzed
and the only progressive nations of the world.
23
354 TEN" GREAT RELIGIONS.
Other forms of civilization have been arrested or
have come to an end. The wonderful develop-
ment of knowledge, art, power, industrial progress
in ancient Egypt, gradually faded away. So it
was with the national life of Greece and of Rome,
of Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Persia. That
of China has been long arrested, and has remained
motionless. That of India, after a long period of
intellectual growth, entered upon a season of di-
lapidation and decay. Mohammedanism no longer
makes much progress. Its early life has died out
of it. Buddhism has also long since ceased from
further advances, and remains in a condition of
apathy. But Christian civilization is still progres-
sive. Whether there is anything in it to prevent
its sharing the fate of the others, remains to be
seen. But at present, we may certainly say that
the Christian religion, and Christian civilization,
are the only ones which are in a condition of con-
stant progress.
§ 5. Progress and power of Christian nations.
Among the religions and civilizations of earth,
one, and only one, continues to make progress out-
wardly and inwardly ; by new developments within
and new accessions of power without. The evi-
dent fact in the history of mankind is, that Chris-
tianity and Christendom alone are in a state of
steady development and progress. Every country
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 355
which professes the Christian faith is advancintr,
all others are relatively stagnant. In Christian
states, the vast increase of wealth has not brought
enervating luxury or weakness. The inhabitants
of the little island of England, possessing incredi-
ble wealth, are able to conquer and keep posses-
sion of vast continents, and to master populations
ten times more numerous than their own. The
islands of Great Britain and Ireland contain one
hundred and twenty-one thousand square miles,
and they govern countries which contain eight
million square miles. The inhabitants of the
United Kingdom are thirty-one millions; they rule
in Asia, Africa, Australia, Oceanica, and America,
two hundred millions of people. And yet Great
Britain is not at the head of the Christian powers
of Europe to-c]ay. The power of Christendom is
vastly greater than that of all the rest of the
world combined. This power is accompanied with
wealth, with means of enjoyment, comfort, luxury ;
in comparison with which the heaped-up treasures
of oriental despots are pauperism. The experience
of all nations outside of Christendom has been that
power brought wealth, wealth brought luxury, lux-
ury brought weakness and ruin. Thus far there
are no symptons of such results in European civ-
ilization. The young aristocracy of England are,
on the whole, as full of energy as thougli they
were young savages. They spend their superlluous
356 te:n^ great religion's.
strength not only in athletic exercises at home,
boating, hunting, etc., but they climb mountains
in Himalaya and Colorado, shoot tigers in India,
and rhinoceroses in Africa, throw themselves on
grim death in Balaklava charges, and lead the for-
lorn hope in Abyssinia or Afghanistan.
Christendom is a confederation of mighty na-
tions, armed with power which defies the danger
of any future overflow of barbaric conquerors.
Were it possible for new hordes, hke the Goths,
Huns, or Saracens, to renew the assaults on Chris-
tendom which threatened its life in the fifth and
eighth centuries, such attacks would now be ridic-
ulous. Either one of five or six nations in Chris-
tendom could now defeat Alaric, Attala, or Saladin.
But besides this vast force organized in national
life, and besides the great wealth of these nations,
the only progress now seen in science, art, and lit-
erature belongs to the same Christian groups of
nations. What discoveries are made to-day in
Arabian observatories ? Who goes to the univer-
sities of China to learn science ? Where were in-
vented the electric telegraph, the steam-engine,
the locomotive and railroad, the daguerreotype, the
photograph, the spectroscope ? In Christendom
only. Who have deciphered the hieroglyphics of
Egyptian monuments, the cuneiform inscriptions
on the rocks of Behistan ? Who have rediscovered
Nineveh and the site of Troy ; the temple of Eph-
THE FUTUKE KELIGION OF MANKIND. 357
esus and the treasury of the Atrides at Argos ?
The scholars of Christendom. Where are the chief
manufactures and commerce of the world ? In
Christendom.
Again, we ask, where are we to go for good
governments, for well-organized nationalities, for
governments of laws not men, for political institu-
tions which unite order and freedom, liberty and
law ? Still, we may say, these are found among
Christian nations, not outside of them ; strictly co-
extensive with the faith of Christ and the knowl-
edge of the Christian Scriptures.
And finally, I ask, w^here are the only persist-
ent, systematic, and scientific attempts made to
relieve the human race from the great miseries
and wrongs under which it has groaned from the
beginning : from war, from slavery, pauperism,
crime, disease ? War has not ceased, but it has
been restrained and regulated. The great nations
of Europe have what they call the " balance of
power," which means that no one or two of them
shall unite to oppress the rest. The idea of peace,
the desire for peace, the general conviction of the
importance of peace, is the prevailing sentiment in
all Christian countries. Just as slavery has been
overthrown by these sentiments and convictions,
so will war be overthrown. Ideas make and un-
make institutions. Fill the world with an idea,
and the appropriate outward result must follow.
358 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
The ideas of universal peace, of social progress, of
philanthropy, of reform schools, of universal edu-
cation ; these, to-day, fill the minds not only of ad-
vanced thinkers, but make the warp and woof of
public opinion.
Thus while all other forms of human civilization
are arrested and stationary, or else have come to
an end, Christendom is advancing, in wealth,
power, science, art, social improvements, develop-
ment of industry and new inventions and discov-
eries. In the nations which profess Christianity
there is a motive power at work not to be found
outside of them. Exactly those nations which
profess the Christian religion are actuated by this
spirit of progress, and those outside of Christianity
are mostly in a condition of relative stagnation.
Is this, then, merely an accidental coincidence, or
is there anything in their faith which is the spring
of this progress ?
Without assuming now that Christianity, as a
faith, is the cause of Christian civilization, we must
agree at least that the two are associated together
and in sympathy. Christianity goes with the most
advanced civilization of the world. The two seem
certainly to belong together. Every Christian
country England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Norway, Denmark, Russia, Austria, Greece, and^
the States of North and South America, have some
common features which difference them from the
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 359
nations outside of their comInunit3^ Ciiristian na-
tions are governed by law ; even despotisms like
Russia and Austria are despotisms tempered by
law. In Christian nations law stands above kinsrs
and rulers, in other parts of the world the will of
the ruler stands above law. Every one of the
twenty or more states which profess Christianity
is making progress in government, law, popular
education, art, literature, and efforts to humanize,
reform, and elevate man. None of the nations
outside are thus progressive. This association of
Christianity and progress can hardly be an acci-
dent.
§ 6. Chief of the three Catholic Religions.
The second peculiarity of Christianity is that it
is the chief among the catholic religions ; that is,
of those which overleap the boundaries of race and
nation, and aim at converting all races. Most of
the religions are ethnic, or confined to a single
race or nation. Thus Brahmanism never went out
of India; the religion of Zoroaster was confined to
the Persians, that of Egypt to the Egyptians, that
of Greece to the Hellenic races, that of Rome to
the Latin races, that of the Eddas to the Teutonic
nationalities, that of the Druids to the Keltic
tribes. Each of these was limited by the bounda-
- ries of a race or nation, and never sought to go be-
yond them. Even Buddhism, which lias many of
the traits of a catholic religion and which has con-
360 TEX GREAT EELIGIOJ^TS.
Yerted many nationalities, has never succeeded in
making converts outside of the great Mongol race.
We may say that only Judaism, Christianity, and
Mohammedanism are truly and absolutely catholic
religions.
These three have attempted to convert different
races, and have succeeded in doing so. The Jews
compassed sea and land to make proselytes ; that
which marred the catholicity of their work was
that they insisted on making proselytes to their
outward visible church, instead of makins; converts
to God. The Mohammedans afterwards fell into
the same error. They wished to make, not con-
verts, but subjects. They were satisfied with out-
ward conformity, and so neglected inward conver-
sion. Thev did not ask for faith, but submission.
This is always the fault of sectarianism, that it
wishes to make proselytes to its sect, rather than
converts to truth. Christians have fallen into the
same condemnation. But the spirit of their relig-
ion is much broader. This was seen at first in
Christ's treatment of Samaritans, Romans, and
Phoenicians. It has since appeared in all noble
missionary work, where the simple gospel of love
has been carried, without regard to making prose-
lytes. These three missionary religions are all
Monotheisms, for only belief in one God can
prompt the faith that all mankind are his children,
and sustain the effort to bring them all to him.
THE FUTURE EELIGIOX OF MANKIND. 361
§ 7. Its fullness of Life.
A third peculiarity of Christianity, which makes
it capable of becoming the religion of mankind, is
its fullness of religious and moral life. By compar-
ing it with other religions we see that it is a ple-
roma, possessing the truths and supplying the de-
ficiencies in the other systems.
Thus Brahmanism is an eminently spiritual re-
ligion. Passages may be quoted from its sacred
books which fill the soul with a sense of a divine
presence. But it is deficient on the human side.
Its system of castes is a denial of human brother-
hood, and the source of countless forms of inhu-
manity and oppression.
Buddhism was a revolt from Brahmanism be-
cause of this inhumanity. It took the opposite di-
rection, and has everywhere taught the brother-
hood of man. It has made the whole East of Asia
more tender and less cruel ; it has softened the
hard hearts of the Mongols, and so has done vast
good. But it has lost the idea of the Infinite and
Eternal. It loves man, but omits the love of an
infinite God. Reverent, humane, and moral, it is
weak on the side of faith in the Unseen and Eter-
nal.
The Egyptian religion saw the divine element in
nature, perceived its plastic life, felt a sacred mys-
tery in all animal and vegetable organization, but it
362 TEN- GREAT EELIGIONS.
missed unity in the contemplation of variety, and
became at last a broken and divided Polytheism.
The Greek religion beheld God revealed If man,
and made every human form divine. The Greeks
deified courage as Mars, wisdom as Pallas, beauty
as Aphrodite, glory and art as Apollo. But they
also lost unity, and pushed separate qualities to
extremes. This led at last to the dilapidation and
decay of their religion and national life.
Mohammedanism taught the sovereignty of God,
and represented him as Infinite Will. Hence came
its merits and its defects ; its power at first, and
its weakness afterward. Absolute submission to
the divine decree gave valor to the followers of
Omar, as it afterward inspired with like courage
the troops of Cromwell. Looking at God as Will,
develops the will of man, until it passes into des-
potic hardness and isolation, and so tends to dis-
solve society into mere lonely particles.
When we compare Christianity with these sys-
tems we see how it possesses a fullness of life which
includes and completes them all. It has developed
a spiritual life in its saints like that of Brahman-
ism ; a humanity in its philanthropists which al-
lies it with Buddhism ; a sense of the divine pres-
ence in nature and life, like that of Egypt ; it has,
like Greece, seen in the One Supreme Being the
human qualities of power, knowledge, justice, love,
which the Greeks distributed amono; their Pan-
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 363
theon. It has, with Ishim, taught divine decrees,
and a divine predestination, but always has modi-
fied the doctrine by leaving room for human free-
dom. Thus Christianity has shown itself as a full-
ness, a pleroma, or, to use the modern phrase, an
all-sidedness, which marks it for a still larger cath-
olicity hereafter.
§ 8. Its corruptions. Their origin in its power of msim-
ilation. Persecution. Monasticism.
When we speak of Christianity as all-sided, and
hospitable to all truth, we shall immediately be
told that it has been most exclusive, and that it
has denounced, persecuted, and attempted to de-
stroy all outside of its own pale. It has had its
crusades against Mohammedans and Albigenses, its
auto-da-fes of Jews, Moors, and heretics. It has
burned witches and hung Quakers. And when I
say that it is a system which teaches a kingdom of
heaven here, I shall be told that salvation from a
future hell into a future heaven has been the main
motive of its efforts. Instead of making religion
a part of human life to redeem and educate it, it
has taken it from life into monasteries and nunner-
ies, and made it consist not in practical goodness,
but ritual, ceremony, and sacraments. There is, no
doubt, truth in all this.
But I cling to my definition of the type of eacli
reli^non, and I assert that these tendencies and
364 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
habits were no part of original Christianity, and
have not been permanent in it, but local and tem-
porary. They are, therefore, corruptions and ac-
cretions, and not normal developments coming
properly from its germ.
That so many of these corruptions are found in
Christianity results, in fact, from its very catho-
licity. Its receptive power is so great that it easily
assimilates from other systems many kinds of be-
lief and practice, and only afterward throws off
wdiat it finds out of harmony with its own type.
Christianity has had its Papal inquisitions and its
Protestant persecutions, certainly. But is it not
evident that neither of these were present in its
original form ? And is it not also evident that
persecution has been almost wholly eliminated
from it at the present time, by its self-reforming
and self-purifying quality ?
All religions, as we have seen, divide them-
selves into popular and personal ; that is, those
which originate in a popular tendency, and those
which originate in a single prophet. To the first
class belong five great systems, namely, those of
India, Egypt, Greece, Eome, Scandinavia. In the
other class, each founded by a prophet, are the six
systems, of Confucius, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster,
Mohammed, and Christ.
Christianity belongs to the last class, each of
which has its origin in a prophet, and we are able
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MAXKIXD. 3C5
to study in the life of Jesus the marks which be-
long to its earliest type. That persecution was
alien to his idea, appears from such instances as
that in which he rebukes the disciples for wishino*
to call down fire on those who refused to admit
them, saying that " the Son of Man has not come
to destroy men's lives but to save them;" from his
commands to " bless them that curse you, and do
good to them that despitefully use you and perse-
cute you ; " from his parable of the Good Samari-
tan, his treatment of the Samaritan woman, his
teaching that those who had helped their suifering
brethren had really helped him ; his announcing
that those should be forgiven wdio spoke against
him, but not those who denied the spirit of truth
in their owm souls ; his declaration that " not
every one who saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven, but they who
do the will of my Heavenly Father."
Take another instance, Monasticism. At one
period this system almost took possession of the
Christian church, and it still continues as an im-
portant element in the Roman Catholic and Greek
communions. But it is apparent that its period of
supreme importance has passed by, and that its in-
fluence has long been declining. So little power
has it over the convictions of the people, that the
governments of the most Catholic countries in Eu-
rope have not hesitated to abolish the monasteries,
366 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS.
and to secularize their property ; and in countries
like England and America people no longer enter
these institutions to save their souls by ascetic
practices, but rather to make themselves useful as
teachers or as nurses. That Jesus never counte-
nanced the idea which is the root of monasticism,
namely, that the best way of saving the soul is to
retire from the world and live a separate life in
the practice of self-denial, is very plain. He
points out the distinction between his own spirit
and that of John the Baptist (who was an ancho-
rite) by saying : " John the Baptist came neither
eating nor drinking ; the Son of Man has come
eating and drinking." His first miracle, of mak-
ing wine at Cana (whether you call it a fact or a
myth) shows that it was a principle with him not
to go out of the world, or to renounce innocent
pleasures for religious purposes. Unless he had
considered that a principle was at stake, he would
not have needlessly exposed himself to such cal-
umnies, for, as appears in the incident of his pay-
ing taxes, he did not unnecessarily offend the prej-
udices of others merely to claim his own rights.
§ 9. Will the basis of the church of humanity he a Rit-
ual^ a Creeds or a Person ?
If man then is not only to be always a relig-
ious being, but also needs religious institutions, a
church, what church shall he have ? The basis of
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 3G7
a church union must be one of three things: (1) a
ritual, or priesthood and form of worship ; (2) a
creed, or system of beUef ; (3) a personal prophet.
Many religions have had one of these, or a combi-
nation of them, for their bond of union.
Some of those we have been examining were
united by a hierarchy and a ritual. Such were
those of Egypt and India, Greece and Rome.
These had neither creed nor prophet for their
foundation ; they rested on priesthood and wor-
ship. A certain belief concerning the gods and the
future life was taught by the priests to the people,
both in India and Egypt ; but the real union was
the power of the hierarchy. All these systems
based on ritual and priesthood came to an end.
The same was the case in Peru and Mexico on this
continent. A hierarchy seems to sap the life of a
nation, and at last the nation and the priestly re-
ligion go down together in a common fall.
A creed, b}^ itself, is quite inadequate to main-
tain long the life of a religion. A creed means be-
lief, belief implies thought. As soon as men begin
to think, they differ. All creeds tend toward a
multiplication of sects ; which in itself is not an
evil, provided there is still some common bond of
union amono; them. But a creed alone will not
give this union.
The strongest basis of union is faith in a prophet
or inspired teacher. The great prophetic religions
368 te:n' great eeligions.
have shown themselves lasting. The systems of
Buddha and Confucius, founded five centuries be-
fore Christ, are still active, though not progressive.
That of Moses, which began a thousand years ear-
lier than either, holds together the six or seven
millions of Jews, in their dispersion over the world,
and continues to maintain their national existence.
Mohammed is a centre of unity to a hundred mil-
lion of disciples in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Even
Zoroaster, wdiose epoch goes far back into times
before the days of Moses, is still able to unite a
few small bodies of Parsee disciples who read his
books and maintain his teachings to-day.
The religion of the future is likely, therefore, to
be a prophetic religion. And if so, what inspira-
tion ever rose so hig-h as that of Jesus. Amons; all
prophets, he by common consent stands supreme.
This is no place to examine his claims to preemi-
nence, nor is it necessary. Even those students of
history who do not claim to be his discij)les read-
ily admit it.
§ 10. The personality of Jesus. Examples of the influence
of prophets on national life.
But this we may say, that from the fullness of
life in the soul of Jesus has proceeded the fullness
of life in his religion. If Christianity does justice
to the different sides of human nature, and meets
the various needs of the soul, it is because the same
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 3G9
all-sided development was in the life of Jesus him-
self. When he said : " I am not come to destro)',
but to fulfill," he indicated the large character of
his influence and work. He was able to sympa-
thize with all forms of goodness, to accept truth
from all quarters. His work was not to destroy
anything, but to fulfill everything by supplying its
deficiencies.
In the records of the life and teachings of Jesus,
we see a union of those elements usually separated
in men. He united love to God with love to man ;
courage and caution ; perfect freedom from forms,
and reverence for the substance in all forms; hatred
for sin, and love for the sinner.
It really seems as if the soul of a prophet (as
that of Zoroaster, Buddha, Mohammed, Luther,
Wesley, Swedenborg, Fox, Channing) is like i\
seed, which brings forth plants and fruit after its
kind. It has, wrapped in it, involved and latent, a
whole system of belief and conduct, which is grad-
ually evolved in the history of the religion. All
that is essential in Mohammedanism was in the
soul of Mohammed ; all that is essential in Bud-
dhism was in Sakya-Muni ; all that is essential to
Judaism Avas in Moses; all that is essential in
Christianity was in Jesus.
Christianity is as spiritual as Brahmanism, as
humane as Buddhism, developing as much of the
self-denying and ascetic virtues as any religion,
24
370 TEN GKEAT RELIGIONS.
yet also feeding the springs of thought, invention,
discovery, of poetry and art, of science, of earthly
improvement and progress in comfort, luxury, and
taste. Yet it does not sink, enervated and cor-
rupted by luxury, as other civilizations have done.
Christianity teaches the love of God and love of
man, divine providence and human freedom, piety
and morality, self-denial and development, a king-
dom of God here and a kingdom of God hereafter,
a divine life now and an immortality to come.
There is a memorable example of the influence
of religion on national life, in the sudden awaken-
ing of the Arabs to a vast energy of will, by the
teaching and life of Mohammed. Here the cause
and effect are seen in immediate relation one to
the other. The Bedouin tribes, children of Esau
and Ishmael, had been roving their deserts during
twenty or thirty centuries, with no influence on
mankind, until the doctrines of Mohammed united
them in one compact organization, inspired them
with a fiery enthusiasm, and sent them forth to
conquer half the world, and to produce a sudden
outburst of intellectual activity in science, art, and
literature. This shows the power of religion to
create civilization.
Another illustration of this power of religious
ideas to produce and maintain a special form of so-
cial order is to be found in the Jews. They have
existed now for pcrlwps three thousand years, as a
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 371
distinct nationality, formed into a nation by the
institutions of Moses, and held together by those
same institutions.
Another illustration is to be seen in the intluence
of Luther in originating that form of civilization
which exists in Northern Europe and in Protestant
nations. When Luther came, the southern coun-
tries of Europe, Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal,
France, were superior in wealth and power to the
northern nations. The scale has turned the other
way, and the invention, the arts, the commerce,
the literature of Europe preponderate in Germany
and England, Norway, and Sweden. Only France,
a semi-Catholic country, stands in these respects
among the leading powers. Spain, which, in the
sixteenth century, monopolized the largest part of
the force and wealth of Europe ; Italy, which, in
that same period, was supreme in art and litera-
ture, have both sunk to a second-rate position in
the scale of European civilization.
I am well aware that the tendency of the pres-
ent time is to disparage and discredit prophets and
men of genius, and to substitute for them a wor-
ship for humanity in general. These great souls
are not considered providential men, sent to create
a new epoch, but as themselves the result of their
time. This sort of explanation may be carried too
far. Concerning this let us listen to Carlyle, who
thus speaks : —
372 TEN GREAT RELIGIOJfS.
" Tliis is an age which, as it were, denies tlie existence
of great men ; denies the desirableness of great men.
Show our critics a great man, a Luther for example, they
begin to, what they call, 'account for him ' ; not to wor-
ship him, but take the dimensions of him and bring him
out to be a very little kind of man. He was ' the crea-
ture of the time ' they say ; the time called him forth ;
the time did everything, he nothing but what we, the
little critic, could have done too ! This seems to me but
melancholy work. The time call forth? Alas ! we have
known times call loudly enough for their great man,
bat not find him when they called ! He was not there.
Providence had not sent him. The time, calling its
loudest, had to go down to confusion and wreck because
he would not come when called."
" I liken common, languid times, with their unbelief,
distress, perplexity; their languid doubting character,
impotently crumbling down through ever worse distress
into final ruin, — all this I liken to dry, dead fuel, wait-
ing for the lightning out of heaven which shall quicken
it. The great man, with his free force direct out of God's
own hand, is the lightning. All blazes now around him.
The critic thinks the dry mouldering sticks have called
him forth. They wanted him greatly, no doubt ; but as
to calling him forth ! They are critics of small vision,
who think that the dead sticks have created the fire."
" To lose faith in God's divine lightning, and to retain
faith only in dead sticks, this seems to me the last con-
summation of unbelief."
So far Carlyle.
My opinion is this, and this is what I have tried
to show in this and the previous chapters : —
THE FUTURE RELIGION OF MANKIND. 373
1. That Christianity alone now keeps ahve ii
steadily advancing civilization.
2. It does this because of the breadth and uni-
versality of the convictions which inspire it,
3. It derived these from the faith and inspira-
tion of its founder.
4. Christianity does not differ from other relig-
ions in being alone true while they are false, but
in possessing the whole of which they possess'
parts.
§11. Will the ivorld outgrow the teaching of Jesus. Future
prospects.
There remains then to be considered only the
possibility that the world will outgrow the teach-
ing and example of Jesus, and leave him behind.
But in what respect will the world outgrow him ?
Not in his teaching concerning God, of whom he
declares that he is a Spirit, and that those who
worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. Higher than this, worship cannot go. With
this Jesus connected the doctrine of the unity and
supreme goodness of God. " Hear, 0 Israel ! the
Lord our God is one Lord." " There is none good
but one, that is God." When you have reached
the unity of all things in one supreme being of
perfect goodness, it would seem impossible to go
higher. In the same way Jesus has posited the
highest possible law of ethics when he teaches us
374 TEN GREAT RELIGIONS .
to love God and love man. These ideas may be
infinitely developed and unfolded, as Christ him-
self foresaw and foretold. He avoided limitino-
truth by the letter of his own statements, but
declared that the Spirit of Truth would lead his
followers into all truth.
He himself thus opened the way for indefinite
progress ; but these foundation-truths, when once
seen, must remain as foundations always. A truth
once recognized continues always true. These
are, —
" Truths which wake
To perish never."
We may build a multitude of additions on such
a basis, but " other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid." The foundation of faith once
laid, that work is done.
Christianity in the past has gone through a long
cycle of change ; it has altered its type from nge
to age ; taken up and dropped again many be-
liefs and many practices. It will probably con-
tinue to do so, developing more and more into the
character of which the life of Jesus is the type.
As it does this, it will become better able to con-
vert the world to him. It will not offer to man-
kind a creed and a ritual, but the life of the Master
himself, —
" Most human and yet most divine,
The flower of man and God."
THE FUTUEE RELIGION OF MAXKIXD. 375
Christianity was never so vigorous as to-day. It
differs from otJier religions in obeying this law of
development. It is moving onward. Catholicism
itself develops new doctrines. Even that cannot
stand still. Protestantism is fermenting with the
new wine of a growing faith. Germany goes ever
deeper into the study of religions philosophy. In
England, such leaders as Gladstone, Dean Stanley,
Jowett, and others have carried aloft the banner
of advancing thought. Christianity is alive in
every part of the world.
The bitter sectarian animosities which have dis-
graced the past will disappear. All churches and
confessions will hear each other speaking in their
own tongue wherein they were born. They will
no more undertake to teach every man his neigh-
bor, and every man his brother, saying : " Know
the Lord in my way, for I am right, I have the
truth, mine is the only safe creed, the only church
w4iich can teach with authority ; " for it will be
seen that the Spirit of God has not left itself with-
out a witness in the humblest sect, the most de-
spised and heretical party, and that all know him,
from the least of them to the greatest of them.
This is the way by which Christ will put all
enemies under his feet ; this is the way in which
every knee shall at last bow to him, and every
tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
376 tejst great religions.
The doubter and infidel will not have to re-
nounce any of their freedom of mind. No one
will be oblisred to submit his reason to unintellio:i-
ble mysteries, or to accept blindly what contradicts
his common sense. Science shall not give up any
part of its domain to faith, nor the reign of natural
law be violated by a single rent in the vast web of
universal order. No innocent pleasiire, no natural
joy of life, nothing beautiful in art, literature, so-
ciety, home, will be sacrificed to Christian faith.
But all men will come to Jesus, because they find
in him the mightiest influence to lift up their aspi-
rations to his Father and their own ; the fullest
revelation of pardon, peace, hope, immortal life,
needed by us all for the perfect development of
our being ; and through him they will catch
glimpses in their most barren lives of " that im-
mortal sea which brought us hither," '' and hear
its mighty waters rolling evermore."
APPENDIX.
Note I. The Nirvana.
[From Oldenberg, " Buddha, his Life," etc.]
" It is not an anticipation in parlance, but it is the absolutely
exact expression of the dogmatic thought, when not merely the
hereafter, which awaits the emancipated saint, but the perfec-
tion which he already attains in this life, is called the Nirvana.
What is to be extinguished has been extincruished, the fire of
lust, hatred, bewilderment. In unsubstantial distance lie hope
and fear ; the will, the hugging of the hallucination of egoity, is
subdued, as a man throws aside the foolish wishes of childhood.
What matters it whether the transitory state of being, the root
of which is nipped, lay aside its indifferent pl>euomeual life in-
stantaneously or in after ages ?
•' Max Miiller's researches, which could under the then cir-
cumstances of the case be based on only a portion of the au-
thentic texts bearing on this branch of the subject, did not fail
to attract the attention of native literati in Ceylon, the country
which has preserved to the present day Buddhist temperament
and knowledge in its purest form. And by the joint labors of
eminent Singhalese students of Buddhist literature, such as the
late James d'Alwis, and European inquirers, among whom we
may mention especially Childers, Rhys Davids, and Trenckner,
literary materials for the elucidation of the dogma of Nirvana
have been amply unearthed and ably treated. I have endeav-
ored to complete the collections, for which we have to thank
these learned scholars, in that I have submitted all ihe testi-
378 APPENDIX.
mony of the sacred Pali canon, that contained in the discourses
of Buddha as well as that in the writings upon the rights of
the Order, to a detailed examination, so that I believe I am in a
position to hope that uo essential expression of the ancient dog-
matics and doctrinal poets has been omitted. Before I under-
took this task, it was my conviction that there is in the ancient
Buddhist literature no passage which directly decides the alter-
native whether the Nirvana is eternal felicity or annihilation.
So much the greater, therefore, was my surprise, when in the
course of these researches I lit not upon one passage, but upon
very numerous passages, which speak as expressly as possible
upon the point regarding which the controversy is waged, and
determine it with a clearness which leaves nothing to be desired.
And it was no less a cause of astonishment to me when I found
that in that alternative, which appeared to have been laid down
with all possible cogency, namely, that the Nirvana must have
been understood in the ancient Order to be either the Nothinsf
or a supreme felicity, there was finally, neither on the one side
nor on the other, perfect accuracy.
" King Pasenadi of Kosala, we are told, on one occasion, on a
journey between his two chief towns, Saketa and Savatthi, fell
in with the nun Kliema, a female disciple of Buddha, renowned
for her wisdom. The king paid his respects to her, and inquired
of her concerning the sacred doctrine.
" ' Venerable lady,' asked the king, ' does the Perfect One
(Tathagata) exist after death ? '
" ' The Exalted One, O great king, has not declared : the
Perfect One exists after death.'
" ' Then does the Perfect One not exist after death, venerable
lady ? '
" 'This also, O great king, the Exalted One has not declared:
the Perfect One does not exist after death.'
" ' Thus, venerable lady, the Perfect One does exist after
death, and at the same time does not exist after death ? thus,
venerable lady, the Perfect One neither exists after death, nor
does he not exist ? '
APPENDIX. 379
" The king is astonished. ' AVhat is tlie reason, venerable
lady, what is the ground, on which the Exalted One has not re-
vealed this ? '
" ' 0 great king, if the existence of the Perfect One be meas-
ured by the predicates of corporeal form, these predicates of
the corporeal form are abolished in the Perfect One, their root
is severed, they are hewn away like a palm tree, and laid aside,
so that they cannot germinate again in the future. Released, O
great king, is the Perfect One from this, that his being should
be gauged by the measure of the corporeal world ; he is deep,
immeasurable, unfathomable as the gijeat ocean. " The Per-
fect One exists after death," this is not apposite ; " the Perfect
One does not exist after death," this is not apposite ; " the Per-
fect One at once exists and does not exist after death," this also
is not apposite ; " the Perfect One neither does nor does not
exist after death," this also is not apposite.'
" When such a reason is assigned for the waiving of the ques-
tion as to whether the Perfect One lives forever, is not this very
giving of a reason itself an answer ? And is not this answer a
Yes ? No being in the ordinary sense, but still assuredly not a
non-being ; a sublime positive, of which thought has no idea, for
which language has no expression, which beams out to meet the
cravings of the thirsty for immortality in that same splendor of
which the apostle says : ' Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him.' "
Note 2. Mohammedanism.
[From " Islam undtr the Arabs," by R. D. Osbora, 1876. See also " Islam
under the Khalifs of Baghdaad," by the same autlior.]
"Muhammad was neither philosopher nor metaphysician.
No speculative difficulties troubled him as to the sources of crea-
380 APPENDIX.
tive power, or the relations between man and God. An omnip-
otent, self-conscious Being was the first cause. He had said,
* Be ! ' and the universe had started into existence. That was
the whole account of the matter. Muhammad deemed it a
monstrous absurdity to suppose that the attributes of man gave
him any peculiar claims on the consideration of God. But it
was worse than an absurdity ; it was blasphemy to suppose that
man could claim any spiritual kinship with his Creator, that any
particle of the Divine essence had been breathed into him. ' Al-
most,' he cries in horror, ' might the very heavens be rent there-
at, and the earth cleave asunder and the mountains fall down in
fragments. Verily, there is none in the heavens and the earth
but shall approach the God of Mercy as a slave.' God sits in
awful and unapproachable majesty. He has fashioned man as
an artificer fashions an image out of clay. There is no living
bond between them. God is called the Merciful and Compas-
sionate, not because love is of the essence of His nature, but
because, though all powerful. He forbears to use His might for
man's destruction. He might smite man with plagues ; He
might cause him to perish of famine or the lingering agonies of
thirst ; He might envelop the earth in perpetual darkness ; but
out of His mercy and compassion He does none of these things ;
He gives men rain and fruitful seasons, and genial sunshine.
But He is not less the inscrutable despot, acting upon no prin-
ciple but the caprices of His will. He creates the soul, and
'breathes into it its wickedness and piety.' He 'misleadeth
whom He will, and guideth whom He will.' ' Whomsoever God
shall please to direct. He will open his breast to receive the faith
of Islam ; but whomsoever He shall please to lead into error, He
will render his breast straight and narrow as though he were
climbing up into Heaven. Thus doth God inflict a terrible pun-
ishment on those who believe not.'
" Hope perishes under the weight of this iron bondage.
There are in the Koran no forward glances to a coming golden
age when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the
AprEXDix. 381
Lord as the waters cover the sea, such as irradiate the hytniis
and prophecies of the Old Testament. There is no communiou
of man's spirit with the Spirit of God, none of that lovin'>- trust
which casteth out fear. There are not even any aspirations
after spiritual perfection as bringing a man nearer to God.
" Fatalism is thus the central tenet of Islam. It sullices to
explain the degraded condition of Muhammadan countries. So
long as Muhammad lived and God did stoop to hold communi-
cation with men, the effects flowing from it were in a measure
obscured. But when he died, the Deity seemed to withdraw
altogether from the world He had created. The sufferings, sor-
rows, crimes, hopes, and struggles of men became a wild and
ghastly orgy without meaning or ulterior purpose. Tlie one
rational object which a sober-minded, practical man could set be-
fore him was, in this life, to keep aloof from all this senseless
turmoil, and, by a diligent performance of the jjroper rites and
ceremonies, to cheat the Devil in the next. And so it has beec
always. History repeats itself in Muhammadan countries with a
truly doleful exactness. The great bulk of the people are pas-
sive ; wars and revolutions rage around tliem ; they accept them
as the decrees of a fate it is useless to strive against. All power
passes accordingly into the hands of a few ambitious and turbu-
lent spirits, unencumbered with scruples of any kind, animatt-d
by no desires except those of being rich and strong. There is
never a sufficient space of rest to allow institutions to grow up.
" The Koran pulverizes humanity into an infinite number of
separate atoms. The one common duty laid upon the Faith-
ful is to be the agents of God's vengeance on those who believe
not. These are to be slaughtered until they pay tribute, when
they are to be allowed to go to Hell in their own way witliout
further molestation.
"The mind of Muhammad was one but lightly burdened with
the sense of mystery. It was thoroughly materialistic in all hs
conceptions. The first crude conception of an e-\|.lanatiou
seemed to him always a perfectly satisfactory one. Ho saw uo
382 APPENDIX.
difficulties. The earth was flat and kept steady by the moun-
taius : that appeared to him a cosmogony as satisfactory as it
was simjile. There were seven heavens, — good, solid, substan-
tial firmaments, — and the lowest, a magazine of fiery darts for
hurling at the djinns : that seemed to him a sound and reason-
able explanation of the blue sky and the stars,"
Note 3. Chaldean Account of the Creation.
[From " Records of the Past," vol. ix.]
" The discovery of these tablets has greatly raised the repu-
tation of the ancient author Damascius, for it is now seen that
his account of the Creation was derived from genuine Babylo-
nian sources. He says (see Cory's ' Ancient Fragments,' page
318, compared with the original), ' The Babylonians speak not
of One origin of all things, for they make two original beings,
Tauthe and Apason, making Apason the husband of Tauthe,
whom they call the mother of the gods. Their only son (eldest
son ?) was Moymis. And another race proceeded from them,
namely, Dakhe and Dakhos. And again a third race proceeded
from the same (parents), namely, Kissare and Assoros.' "
The First Tablet.
1. When the upper region was not yet called heaven,
2. and the lower region was not yet called earth,
3. and the abyss of Hades had not yet opened its «irms,
4. then the* chaos of waters gave birth to all of them
5. and the waters were gathered into one place.
6. No men yet dwelt together : no animals yet wandered about :
7. none of the gods had yet been born.
8. Their names were not spoken : their attributes were not known.
9. Then the eldest of tlie gods
10. Lakhmu and Lakhamu were born
11. and grew up
APPENDIX. 383
1 2. Assur and Kissur were born next
13. and lived through long periods.
14. Anu
[The rest of this tablet is lost.]
The Fifth Tablet.
[This fifth tablet is very important, because it affirms clearly,
in my opinion, that the origin of the Sabbath was coeval with
Creation.]
1. He constructed dwellings for the great gods.
2. He fixed up constellations, whose figures were like animals.
3. He made the year. Into four quarters he divided il.
4. Twelve months he established, with their constellations three
by three.
5. And for the days of the year he appointed festivals.
6. He made dwellings for the planets: for their vising and setting.
7. And that nothing should sro amiss, and that the course of none
should be retarded,
8. he placed with them the dwellings of Bel and Hea.
9. He opened great gates, on every side :
10. he made strong the portals, on the left hand and on the right.
11. In the centre he placed luminaries.
12. The moon he appointed to rule the night
13. and to wander through the night, until the dawn of day.
14. Every month without fail he made holy assembly days.
15. In the beginning of the month, at the rising of the night,
16. it shot forth its horns to illuminate the heavens.
1 7. On the seventh day he appointed a holy day,
18. and to cease from all business he commanded.
19. Then arose the sun in the horizon of heaven in (glory).
[It has been known for some time that the Babylonians ob-
served the Sabbath with considerable strictness. On that day
the king was not allowed tp take a drive in his chariot ; various
meats were forbidden to be eaten, and there were a number of
minute restrictions.
384 APPENDIX.
But it was not known that they believed the Sabbath to have
been ordained at the Creation. I have found, however, since
this translation of the fifth tablet was completed, that Mr. Sayce
has recently published a similar opinion. See the Academy, of
November 27, 1875, p. 554.
This account falls short of the majesty of the Hebrew Gene-
sis, especially where the writer implies that the heavenly move-
ments might possibly go wrong, and it was therefore necessary
that the gods Bel and Hea should watch over them and guard
against misfortune.]
Note 4. Buddhism in Siam.
[From " The Wheel of the Law. Buddhism, illustrated from Siamese
Sources." By Henry Alabaster. Loudou. 187.1.]
" Of the three hundred and sixty-five millions of men, the
third of the human race who, according to a common estimate,
profess in some form the religion of Buddha, the four million
inhabitants of Siam are excelled by none in the sincerity of
their belief and the liberality with which they support their re-
ligion. No other Buddhist country, of similar extent, can show
so many splendid temples and monasteries. In Bangkok alone
there are more than a hundred monasteries, and, it is said, ten
thousand monks and novices. More than this, every male Sia-
mese, some time during his life, and generally in the prime of
it, takes orders as a monk, and retires for some months or years
to practice abstinence and meditation in a monastery.
" All Buddhists, throughout the wide range of countries where
the doctrines of Buddha prevail, call their religion the doctrine
of ' The Wheel of the Law.' I have adopted the name for
this book, because it is peculiarly appropriate to a theory of
Buddhism, which the book iu some degree illustrates. I refer
APPENDIX. 3S5
to the theory that all existence of which we have any concc))-
tion is but a part of an endless chain or circle of causes and
effects ; that so long as we remain in that wheel there is no rest
and no peace; and that rest can only be obtained by escaping
from that wheel into the incomprehensible Nirwana. Buddha
taught a religion of which the wheel was the only proper sym-
bol ; for his theory, professing to be complete, dealt with but a
limited round of knowledge ; ignored the beginning, and was
equally vague as to the end. He neither taught of a God, the
Creator of existence, nor of a heaven, the absorber of existence,
but restrained his teaching within what he believed to be the
limits of reason.
" I will now give a sketch of the chief points of Buddliist be-
lief and practice mentioned in the ' Life.'
" The first essential idea is that of transmijiration! — transmi-
gration not only into other human states, but into all forms, ac-
tive and passive.
" Gods and animals, men and brutes, have no intrinsic difference
between them. They all change places according to their merits
and demerits. They exist because of the disturbance caused
by their demerits. How they began to exist is not even asked ;
it is a question pertaining to the Infinite, of which no explana-
tion is attempted. Even in dealing with the illustrious being
who afterwards became Buddha, no attempt is made to picture a
beginning of his existence, and we are only told of the begin-
ning of his aspiration to become a Buddlia, and the countless
existences he subsequently passed through ere be achieved hia
object.
" Having thus declared the fact of transmigration, and tlie
principle which causes its various states, Buddiiism teaches that
there is no real or permanent satisfaction in any state of trans-
migration ; that neither the painless luxuries of the lower heav-
ens nor the tranquillity of the highest angels can be considored
as happiness, for they will have an end, followed by a recurrence
of varied and frequently sorrowful existences. Hero is one of
25
386 APPENDIX.
the great distinctions, the irreconcilable differences, between
Buddhism and Christianity.
" Take this one point alone : Christians profess that their ex-
istence is the effect of the benign providence of God, and that
they have something to thank God for.
" But Buddhists, rich or poor, acknowledge no providence, and
see more reason to lament existence than to be grateful for it.
" Nirwana, the extinction of all this kind of existence, must
therefore be the object of the truly wise man. What this ex-
tinction is may, perhaps, have never been defined. Certainly it
has been the subject of endless contention by those who think
themselves capable of dealing with the infinite, and analyzing
the beginning and the end. All I can see of it in this ' Life '
is that it is now considered to be peace, rest, and eternal hajipi-
ness. The choicest and most glorious epithets are lavished on it
by the Siamese, but we are left as ignorant of it as we are of the
heaven of Christians. We may call heaven an existence, but
we are even less capable of realizing that existence than we are
of realizing what Barthelemy St. Hiliare calls, with professed
horror, the annihilation or non-existence of Nirwana.
" I believe that most men recognize sleep as a real pleasure.
Certain it is that after a hard day's toil, bodily or mental, man
longs for sleep ; and if his overtasked body or too excited brain
deprives him of it, he feels that the deprivation is pain. Yet,
what is sleep ? It is, to all intents and purposes, temporary non-
existence, and during its existence we do not appreciate its tem-
porariness. The existence during sleep, when sleep is perfect,
appreciates no connection with the waking existence. AVhen it
is imperfect, it is vexed by dreams connected with waking exis-
tence, but that is not the sleep which men long for.
"The ordinary Siamese never troubles himself about Nir-
wana, he does not even mention it. He believes virtue will be
rewarded by going to heaven (Sawan), and he talks of heaven,
and not of Nirwana. Buddha, he will tell you, has entered
Nirwana, but, for his part, he does not look beyond Sawan.
APPENDIX. 387
" The Buddhist who differs from us in recognizing a hiw of
nature, without seeking for a Maker of that law, also differs
from us iu assuming a continuation of existence, without defin-
ing a soul as that which is continued. For all practical pur-
poses we may speak of a soul as that which passes from one
state of existence to another, but such is not the Buddhist idea,
at least, not the idea of Buddhist metaphysicians.
" In my explanation of Buddhist ideas, I at times use the word
soul, because it facilitates the comprehension of the idea I want
to convey, and because I have not been able to find any other
way of conveying it. The Buddhist tells me there is no soul,
but that there is continuation of individual existence without
it. I cannot explain his statement, for I fail thoroughly to un-
derstand it, or to appreciate the subtlety of his theory.
" The main rules of a virtuous life, that is, the Ave principal
commandments, are : —
1. Not to destroy life.
2. Not to obtain another's property by unjust means.
3. Not to indulge the passions, so as to invade the legal or
natural rights of other men.
4. Not to tell lies.
5. Not to partake of anything intoxicating.
" Of the practice of charity, it is not requisite to say much
here. The whole character of Buddha is full of charity, inso-
much that, although his perfection was such that at almost an
infinite period before he became Buddha, he might, during the
teaching of an earlier Buddha, have escaped from the current
of existence, which he regarded as miserv, he remained in that
current, and passed through countless painful transmigrations,
in order that he might ultimately benefit, not himself, but all
other beings, by becoming a Buddha, and helping all those
whose ripe merits could only be perfected by the tiaching of a
Buddha.
" I have lived long among Buddhists, an<l have experienced
much kindness among them. Above all things I have found
them exceedingly tolerant."
388 APPENDIX.
Note 5. Buddhism and Christianity.
[From the"Hibbert Lectures," pp. 233, 234, 236, by A. Kueneu, 1SS2.]
" What is the nature of the proofs alleged by those who
maintain that Buddhistic influences were at work in the pro-
duction of Christianity ? Positive evidence that Buddhistic
ideas had penetrated to Western Asia is not forthcoming till a
far later time. The Indian Gymnosophists whom Pliilo men-
tions once or twice are not Buddhists at all, and, moreover, he
only knows them by vague report. Clement of Alexandria is
the first who mentions the Buddha, and he speaks of him as the
human founder of a religion, whom his followers, ' because he
was so surpassingly venerable,' reverenced as a god. What he
has to tell us leaves the impression that even in those daj^s,
about the beginning of the third century of our era, Buddhism
was still a remote phenomenon." " But the total absence of
historical witnesses should make us very cautious in assuming
such an ' actio in distans,' and renders it at least our imperative
duty to submit the quality of the proofs which are usually
urged in support of the theory of Buddhistic influences to a
very close examination. The well-known volume on ' The An-
gel Messiah of the Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians ' no doubt
teems with parallels of every description ; but alas ! it is one
unbroken commentary on Scaliger's thesis that errors in theol-
ogy — or, as he really puts it, ' disputes in religion ' — all rise
from neglect of philolojry. A writer who can allow himself to
brinjr the name of ' Pharisee ' into connection with Persia has
once for all forfeited his right to a voice in the matter. But
the very title of the book ought really to have preserved us
from any illusion as to its contents. ' The Angel-Messiah ' of
the Buddhists, who know nothing either of angels or a Messiah,
and of the Essenes, who were certainly much occupied with the
angels and their names, but of whose Messianic expectations we
know nothing, absolutely nothing ! By such comparisons be-
APPENDIX. 389
tween unknown or imaginary quantities, instituted without any
kind of accuracy, we could prove literally anything. Unques-
tionably there are points of agreement between the Gospel narra-
tives, especially in Luke and John, and the legend of the Buddha,
and also between the preaching of Jesus and that of his great
predecessor. To make a complete collection of these parallels,
and to illustrate both them and the no less noteworthy points
of difference, I hold to be far from a superfluous task ; and it is
satisfactory to know that it has actually been undertaken by a
competent hand, with results that have quite recently been
given to the world. ^ It would be prematui-e as yet to pro-
nounce a final judgment on the outcome of the running compar-
ison thus instituted ; but meanwhile I think I may safely allirm
that we must abstain from assigning to Buddhism the smallest
direct influence on the origin of Christianity. The utmost that
can be maintained is, that a few features in the evangelical tra-
dition may have been borrowed from it ; and even this must re-
main very doubtful, inasmuch as the resemblances upon which
the hypothesis is built present themselves, remarkably enough,
in some of the stories which are dependent on the Old Testa-
ment, and in which, of course, the coincidence with certain
traits in the life of Cakya-Muni cannot by any possibility be
more than accidental. In a word, however attractive the hy-
pothesis that brings Jesus into connection with the Buddhists may
possibly appear, and however readily it may lend itself to ro-
mantic treatment, yet sober and strict historical research gives
it no support, and indeed condemns it."
1 Professor Seydel.
390 APPENDIX.
Note 6. On the Connection between the Buddhist Books and the
Hew Testament.
[By T. W. Ehys Davids, " Sacred Books of the East," vol. ii., 1881.]
" Very little reliance can be placed, without careful investiga-
tion, on a resemblance, however close at first sight, between a
passage in the Pali Pitakas and a passage in the New Testa-
ment.
" It is true that many passages in these two literatures can be
easily shown to have a similar tendency. But when some wri-
ters on the basis of such similarities proceed to argue that there
must have been some historical connection between the two, and
that the New Testament, as the later, must be the borrower, I
venture to think they are wrong. There does not seem to me
to be the slightest evidence of any historical connection between
them ; and whenever the resemblance is a real one — and it
often turns out to be really least when it first seems to be great-
est, and really greatest when it first seems least — it is due, not
to any borrowing on the one side or on the other, but solely to
the similarity of the conditions under which the two movements
grew.
" This does not of course apply to the later literature of the
two religions, and it ought not to detract from the very great
value and interest of the parallels which may be adduced from
the earlier books. If we wish to understand what it was that
gave such life and force to the stupendous movement which is
called Buddhism, we cannot refrain from comparing it, not only
in the points in which it agrees with it, but also in the points in
which it differs from it, with our own faith. I trust I have not
been wrong in making use occasionally of this method, though
the absence of any historical connection between the New Tes-
tament and the Pali Pitakas has always seemed to me so clear
that it would be unnecessary to mention it. But when a re-
APPENDIX. 391
viewer who has been kind enough to appreciate, I ara afraid too
highly, what he calls my 'service in giving, for the first time,
a thoroughly human, acceptable, and coherent' account of the
'life of Buddha ' and of the 'simple groundwork of his religion '
has gone on to conclude that the parallels I had thus adduced
are ' an unanswerable indication of the obligations of the New
Testament to Buddhism,' I must ask to be allowed to enter a
protest against an inference which seems to me to be against tlio
rules of sound historical criticism."
Note 7. The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys.
[From " Records of the Past," vol. ii., p. 117.]
[This papyrus was found by the late Mr. Passalaqua in the
ruins of Thebes, in the interior of a statue representing Osiris.
It is divided into two parts, very distinct. The first contains
chapters of the funeral ritual in the hieroglyphic writing; the
second, of which a translation here follows, consists of five pages
of a fine hieratic writing of the lower epoch, probably about tho
time of the Ptolemies.]
TRANSLATION.
Eecital of the beneficial formulae made by the two divine sis-
ters in the house of Osiris, who resides in the West, Great God,
Lord of Abydos, in the month of Choiak, the twenty-fifth day.
They are made the same in all the abodes of Osiris, and in all
his festivals ; and they are beneficial to his soul, giving firmness
to his body, diffusing joy through his being, giving breath to tho
nostrils, to the dryness of the throat; they satisfy the heart of
Isis as well as [that] of Nephthys; they place Ilorus on tlio
throne of his father, [and] give life, stability, trancjuility to
Osiris-Tentrut born of Takha-aa, who is suruanied Persais, tho
justified. It is profitable to recite them, in conformity with tho
divine words.
392 APPENDIX.
EVOCATION BY ISIS.
She says : —
Come to thine abode, come to thine abode!
God An, come to thine abode !
Thine enemies [exist] no more.
0 excellent Sovereign, come to thine abode!
Look at me ; I am thy sister who loveth thee.
Do not stay far from me, O beautiful youth.
Come to thine abode with haste, with haste.
1 call thee in [my] lamentations
[even] to the heights of Heaven,
and thou hearest not my voice.
I am thy sister who loveth thee on earth ;
no one else hath loved thee more than I,
[thy] sister, [thy] sister.
EVOCATION BY NEPHTHYS.
She says : —
0 excellent Sovereign, come to thine abode 1
Rejoice, all thine enemies are annihilated!
Thy two sisters are near to thee,
protecting thy funeral bed ;
calling thee in weeping,
thou who art prostrate on thy funeral bed.
Thou seest [our] tender solicitude.
Speak to us. Supreme Ruler, our Lord.
Chase all the anguish which is in our hearts.
Thy companions, who are gods and men,
when they see thee [exclaim] :
Ours by thy visage, supreme Ruler, our Lord ;
life for us is to behold thy countenance ;
let not thy face be turned from us ;
the joy of our hearts is to contemplate thee ;
[O] Sovereign, our hearts are happy in seeing thee.
1 am Nephthys, thy sister who loveth thee.
Thine enemy is vanquished,
he no longer existeth!
1 am with thee,
protecting thy members forever and eternally.
APPENDIX. 393
INVOCATION BY ISIS.
She says : —
Hail[0] God An!
Thou, in the firmament, shinest upon us each day.
We no longer cease to behold thy rays.
Tlioth is a protection for thee.
He placeth thy soul in the barque Ma-at,
in that name which is thine, of God Moon.
I have come to contemplate thee.
Thy beauties are in the midst of the Sacred Eye,
in that name which is thine, of Lord of the sixth day's festival.
Thy companions are near to thee ;
they separate themselves no more from thee.
Thou hast taken possession of the Heavens,
by the grandeur of the terrors which thou inspirest,
in that name which is thine, of Lord of the fifteenth day's festival.
Thou dost illuminate us like Ra each day.
Thou shinest upon us like Atum.
Gods and men live because they behold thee.
Thou sheddest thy rays upon us.
Thou givest light to the Two Worlds.
The horizon is filled by thy passage.
Gods and men [turn] their faces towards thee ;
nothing is injurious to them when thou shinest.
Thou dost navigate in the heights [of Heaven]
and thine enemy no longer exists!
I am thy protection each day.
Thou who comest to us as a child each month,
we do not cease to contemplate thee.
Thine emanation heightens the brilliancy
of the stars of Orion in the firmament,
by rising and setting each day.
I am the divine Sothis behind him.
I do not separate myself from him.
The glorious emanation which proccedeth from thee glveth
life to gods and men.
Hail to the divine Lord !
There is no Kod like unto thee I
394 APPENDIX.
Heaven hath thy soul ;
earth hath thy remains ;
the lower heaven is in possession of thy mysteries.
Thy spouse is a protection for thee.
Thy son Horus is the king of the worlds.
INVOCATION BY ISIS.
She says : —
Come to thine abode, come to thine abode!
Excellent Sovereign, come to thine abode!
Come [and] behold thy son Horus
as supreme Ruler of gods and men.
He hath taken possession of the cities and the districts,
by the grandeur of the respect he inspires.
Heaven and earth are in awe of him,
the barbarians are in fear of him.
When this is recited,
the place [where one is]
is holy in the extreme.
Let it be seen or heard by no one,
excepting by the principal Kher-heb and the Sam.
Two women beautiful in their members,
having been introduced,
are made to sit down on the ground
at the principal door of the Great Hall.
[Then] the names of Isis and Nephthys
are inscribed on their shoulders.
Crystal vases [full] of water
are placed in their right hands ;
loaves of bread made in Memphis
in their left hands.
Let them pay attention to the things done
at the third hour of the day,
and also at the eighth hour of the day.
Cease not to recite this book
at the hour of the ceremony!
It is finished.
APPENDIX. 395
Note 8. Religion of Zoroaster.
[From the " Vendidad, Fargard III."]
1. Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One!
2. What is in the first place most acceptable to this earth?
3. Then answered Ahura- Mazda : Where a holy man walks about,
O holy Zarathustra,
4. Offering-wood in the hand, Bere9ma in the hand, the cup in the
hand, the mortar in the hand,
5. In accordance with the law speaking these words : Miihra with
his broad territories will I invoke, and Rama-sacjtra.
6. Creator of the corporeal world. Pure One !
7. What is in the second place most acceptable to this earth ?
8. Then answered Ahura-AIazda : That a holy man should build
himself there a habitation,
9. Provided with fire, provided with cattle, provided with a wife,
children, and good flocks.
10. Then is there in this habitation abundance of cattle, abundance
of righteousness, abundance of provender, of dogs, of women,
of youths, of fire, of all that is requisite for a good life.
11. Creator of the corporeal world. Pure One!
12. What is in the third place most acceptable to this earth?
13. Then answered Ahura-Mazda : Where by cultivation there is
produced, O holy Zarathustra, most corn, provender, and fruit-
bearing trees.
14. Where dry land is watered, or the water is drained from the too
moist land.
15. Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One !
16. What is in the fourth place most accej)table to this earth?
17. Then answered Ahura-Mazda: AVhere most cattle anil leasts
of burden are born.
26. What is in the second place most displeasing to this earth ?
27. Then answered Ahura-Mazda : Where most tlead dogs and dead
men are buried in it.
38. Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One !
39. Who first rejoices this earth with the greatest joy?
396 APPENDIX.
40. Then answered Ahura-Mazda : He who especially digs up where
dead men and dogs are buried.
75. Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One !
76. Who rejoices this earth with the greatest joy?
77. Then answered Ahura-Mazda : He who most cultivates the fruits
of the field, grass, and trees which yield food, O holy Zara-
thustra.
78. Or, he who provides waterless land with water, or gives water
to the waterless land.
79. For the earth is not glad which lies long uncultivated.
91. He who does not cultivate this earth, O holy Zarathustra, with
the left arm and the right, with the right arm and left,
92. Then this earth speaks to him : Man! thou who dost not cultivate
me with the left arm and right, with the right arm and left,
93. Always thou standest there, going to the doors of others to beg
for food.
94. Always they bring food to you, thou who beggest lazily out of
doors.
Note 9. Transmigration and Final Beatitude.
[From the " Laws of Manu," chapter xii.]
1. O Thon, who art free from sin, (said the devout sages,) thou hast
declared the whole system of duties ordained for the four
classes of men : explain to us now, from the first principles,
the ultimate retribution for their deeds.
2. Bhrigu, whose heart was the pure essence of virtue, who pro-
ceeded from Manu himself, thus addressed the great sages :
Hear the infallible rules for the fruit of deeds in this universe.
3. Action, either mental, verbal, or corporeal, bears good or evil fruit,
as itself is good or evil ; and from the actions of men proceed
their various transmigrations in the highest, the mean, and the
lowest degree :
4. Of that three-fold action, connected with bodily functions, dis-
posed in three classes, and consisting of ten orders, be it known
in this world, that the heart is the instigator.
APPENDIX. 307
5. Devising means to appropriate the wealth of other men, resolvins
on any forbidden deed, and conceiving notions of atheism or
materialism, are the three bad acts of the mind :
6. Scurrilous language, falsehood, indiscriminate backbit in«T. and
useless tattle are the four bad acts of the ton-nie •
8. A rational creature has a reward or a punishment for mental acts,
in his mind; for verbal acts, in his organs of speech ; for cor-
poreal acts, in his bodily frame.
9. For sinful acts mostly corporeal, a man shall assume after doatli
a vegetable or mineral form ; for such acts mostly verbal, the
form of a bird or a beast ; for acts mostly mental, the lowest
of human conditions:
10. He, whose firm understanding obtains a command over his words,
a command over his thoughts, and a conmiand over his wliule
body, may justly be called a tridandi, or triple commander ;
not a mere anchoret, who bears three visible staves.
11. The man who exerts this triple self-command with respect to
all animated creatures, wholly subduing both lust and wrath,
shall by those means attain beatitude.
24. Be it known, that the three qualities of the rational soul are a
tendency to goodness, to passion, and to darkness ; and en-
dued with one or more of them, it remains incessantly at-
tached to all these created substances :
26. Goodness is declared to be true knowledge ; darkness, gross ig-
norance ; passion, an emotion of desire or aversion : such is
the compendious description of those qualities which attend
all souls.
27. When a man perceives, in the reasonable soul, a <lisposition
tending to virtuous love, unclouded with any malignant pas-
sion, clear as the purest light, let him recognize it as the qual-
ity of goodness.
30. Now will I declare at large the various acts, in the highest, iiiil-
dle, and lowest degrees, which proceed from those three tiis-
positions of mind.
31. Study of scripture, austere devotion, sacred knowledge, corj)©-
real purity, command over the organs, performance of duties,
and meditation on the divine spirit, accompany the good qual-
ity of the soul :
o
98 APPENDIX.
32. Interested motives for acts of religion or morality, perturbation
of mind on slight occasions, commission of acts forbidden by
law, and habitual indulgence in selfish gratifications, are at-
tendant on the quality of passion.
Note 10. Japan and the Japanese.
[From Baron Hiibner's "Ramble Round the World in 1871," page 420.]
" Before the arrival of the Europeans the people were happy
and contented. . . . Public order was rarely troubled in Japan.
Life and property were better protected than in any other
pagan nation. The cultivation of the soil, the development
of certain branches of industry, the taste for a practice of the
fine arts, bespoke a long-established civilization. Doubtless
this civilization is imperfect, for Christianity has never shed its
light freely over the land. Certain barbarous customs tarnish
the spirit of chivalry and the feeling of honor which distin-
guish this people. Gross superstitions darken and hinder the as-
pirations of their souls, which are dissatisfied with the Buddhist
doctrines. Although Buddhism is the religion of the major-
ity, the spirit of scepticism has invaded and enervated the whole
of the upper classes. The family forms the basis of the politi-
cal institutions of the state ; but woman, though more free and
respected than in any other pagan society, still waits her en-
franchisement. Hence arises a deplorable laxity of morals.
Respect for parental authority, fidelity to the head of the clan,
bravery, and voluntary death, when exacted bj^ honor, were and
are the chief virtues of this gay, polite, careless, chivalrous, and
amiable people.
Every one in these days knows that the Japanese people
are gentle, amiable, civil, gay, good-natured, and childish ; that
the men of the lower classes have skins bronzed by the sun, and
often tattooed red and blue like the designs on the lacquer-work
of their country ; that men of all classes have their heads shaved,
1
ArPEXDix. 300
saving a little tail which is agreeably balanced above tl;e occi-
put ; that in summer they leave oflE their narrow trousers, and
content themselves with a simple tunic of silk or cotton, accord-
ing to the rank of the individual, and when they are at home,
with the fundashi. From the Mikado down to the lowest coolie,
this waistband or sash forms the principal part of the toilt-t of
every respectable Japanese. Every one except the merchants,
who are the lowest in the social scale, belongs to some one, not
as a serf or slave, but as a member of a clan, wliich, divided
into a great many different castes, forms only one great family, of
which the prince or daimio is the chief. He has his counsellors,
his vassals, his samurais, or knights with two swords (the oth-
ers having only one), his men of war, and servants of all grades.
Each one wears on his back, and on the sleeves of his tunic, the
coat of arms of the prince or the corporation whom he serves,
a flower or certain letters inscribed in a circle. The sabres of
the gentlemen, their inkstands, their pipes, their purses fastened
to their waistbands, — all this is well known. As to the women,
all authors speak of them with delight. They are not exactly
beautiful, for they are wanting in regularity of feature. Their
cheek-bones are too prominent. Their beautiful, large, brown
eyes are too decidedly of an almond shape, and their thick lips
are wanting in delicacy ; but that does not spoil tliera. But
what no pen or pencil can ever truly render is the sight of the
streets, with their busy, picturesque crowd of men and women,
smiling courteously at one another and bowing profoundly to
each other ; or, if it be a question of some great personage,
prostrating themselves on the ground ; but with an agility and
a dignity which takes off what might appear humiliating in the
action, and only gives it the appearance of an excess of polite-
ness and deference. The Japanese people are happy and con-
tented with the conditions in which they are placed, or rathrr,
in which they have been placed until now. Misery is unknown
amongst them, but so, also, is luxury. The simplicity of their
habits, an extreme frugality, and the absence of those wauta
400 APPENDIX.
which Europe could and would satisfy, are, it appears to me, so
many obstacles to a vast exchange of European products with
those of Japan. " The Japanese have adopted the civilization,
religion, and even the handwriting of the Chinese ; " this was
told me by a man who has long been resident here. Now they
are trying to imitate Europeans. They cannot help copying
others ; it is their nature. Only compare a Japanese and Chi-
nese servant. The former will watch the minutest habit of his
master, and conform himself to it with the most wonderful facil-
ity ; only he must not act by his own inspiration, for he has no
bead. The Chinese remain always Chinese. They observe and
copy less, but they do better when they are left to follow their
own imaginations.
The Japanese, provided you keep them in their place and
make them observe the etiquette of their own country, are gen-
tle, merry, and very affectionate towards their master. If he
beats them, they are not the less attached ; besides the bamboo
brings with it no dishonor. They are only children whom a
father has chastised. But if you treat them as you would a
European servant, they become familiar, rude, and positively in-
supportable. The Chinaman, on the other hand, can never be
made to love the master he serves. He is proud, vindictive, and
very susceptible, but always of an exquisite politeness. At
the slightest observation you make to him, he leaves your ser-
vice, either under the pretext of the illness of his mother, or
telling you, very respectfully, and with the peculiar smile of his
race when announcing disagreeable intelligence, that there is be-
tween you and him an incompatibility of character. Having
said this, notliing stops him, and he leaves you. The Japanese
are wonderful lovers of nature. In Europe a feeling for beauty
has to be developed by education. Our peasants will talk to
you of the fertility of the soil, of the abundance of water, so
useful for their mills, of the value of their woods, but not of
the picturesque charms of the country. They are not perhaps
entirely insensible to them ; but if they do feel them, it is in a
APPENDIX. 401
vague, undefined sort of way, for which they would be puzzled
to account. It is not so with the Japanese laborer. With him
the sense of beauty is innate. This extraordinary love and feel-
ing for nature is reflected in all Japanese productions. A taste
for the fine arts is common among the very lowest classes, and
to a degree which is not found in any counti-y in Europe. In
the humblest cottage, you will find traces of this — an artificial
flower, an ingenious child's toy, an incense-burner, an idol, heaps
of little ornamental things, the only use of which is to give
pleasure to the eye. With us, except in the service of religion,
this kind of art is the privilege of the rich and of people in easy
circumstances.
Note 11. The Ethics of Buddhism.
[From " A Manual of Buddhism." By Spence Hardy.j
There are three sins of the body : 1. The taking of life. Mur-
der. 2. The taking of that which is not given, Theft. 3. Im-
purity.
There are four sins of the speech : 1. Lying. 2. Slander.
3. Abuse. 4. Unprofitable Conversation.
There are three sins of the mind : 1. Covetousness. 2. Mal-
ice. 3. Scepticism.
There are also five other evils that are to be avoided : 1. The
Drinking of Intoxicating Liquors. 2. Gambling. 3. Idleness.
4. Improper Associations. 5. The Frequenting of Places of
Amusement.
There are five things necessary to constitute the crime of tak-
ing life : 1. There must be the knowledge that there is life.
2. There must be the assurance that a living being is present.
3. There must be the intention to take life. 4. With this in-
tention there must be something done, as the placing of a bow
or spear, or the setting of a snare ; and there must be some
movement towards it, as walking, running, or jumping. 5. The
life must be actually taken.
26
402 APPENDIX.
There are eight causes of the destruction of life : 1. Evil
Desire. 2. Anger. 3. Ignorance. 4. Pride. 5. Covetous-
ness. 6. Poverty. 7. "Wantonness, as in the sport of children.
8. Law, as by the decree of the ruler.
This crime is committed, not only when life is actually taken,
but also when there is the indulgence of hatred or auger ; hence
also lying, stealing, and slander may be regarded in some sense
as including this sin.
Under certain circumstances one's own life may be given up,
but the life of another is never to be taken.
The crime is not great when an aut is killed ; its magnitude
increases in this progression : a lizard, a guana, a hare, a deer,
a bull, a horse, and an elephant. The life of each of these ani-
mals is the same, but the skill or eflfort required to destroy them
is widely different. Again, when we come to men, the two ex-
tremes are the sceptic and the rakat (as no one can take the
life of a supreme Buddha).
In a village near Danta, there was a husbandman. One of
his oxen having strayed, he ascended a rock that he might look
for it ; but while there he was seized by a serpent. He had a
goad in his hand, and his first impulse was to kill the snake ;
but he reflected that if he did so he should break the precept
that forbids the taking of life. He therefore resigned himself
to death, and threw the goad away ; no sooner had he done
this, than the snake released him from its grasp, and he es-
caped. Tlius, by observing the precept, his life was preserved
from the most imminent danger.
A certain king commanded an updsaka to procure him a
fowl and kill it. As he refused, the king issued a decree that
he should be taken to the place of execution, where a fowl was
to be put into his hand, and if he still refused to kill it, he was
to be slain. The upasaka, however, said that he had never
broken the precept that forbids the taking of life, and that he
was willing to give his own life for the life of the fowl. With
this intention he threw the fowl away unhurt. After this he
APPENDIX. 403
was brought back to the king, and released, as he had been put
to this test merely to try the sincerity of his faith.
In the city of Wisala there was a priest, who one day, on go-
ing with the alms-bowl, sat down upon a chair that was covered
with a cloth, by which he killed a child that was underneath.
About the same time there was a priest who received food
mixed with poison into his alms-bowl, which he gave to another
priest, not knowing that it was poisoned, and the priest died.
Both of these priests went to Buddha, and in much sorrow in-
formed him of what had taken place. The sage declared, after
hearing their story, that the priest who gave the poisoned food,
though it caused the death of another priest, was innocent, be-
cause he had done it unwittingly ; but that the priest who sat
upon the chair, though it only caused the death of a child, was
guilty, as he had not taken the proper precaution to look under
the cloth, and had sat down without being invited by the house-
holder.
THEFT.
"When anything is taken that is not given by the owner,
whether it be gold, silver, or any similar article, and it be hid-
den by the person who takes it, in the house, or in the forest,
or in the rock, the precept is broken that forbids the taking of
that which is not given ; it is theft.
There are five things necessary to constitute the crime of
theft: 1. The article that is taken must belong to another.
2. There must be some token that it belongs to another. 3.
There must be the intention to steal. 4. There must be some
act done, or effort exerted, to obtain possession. 5. There must
be actual acquirement.
LYING.
To deny the possession of any article in order to retain it
is a lie, but not of a hehious description ; to bear false witness
in order that the proper owner may be deprived of that which
he possesses, is a lie to which a gi-eater degree of culpability is
attached. "When any one declares that he has not what he
404 APPENDIX.
has, or that he has what he has not,, whether it be by the lips,
or by signs, or in writing, it is a lie.
Four things are necessary to constitute a lie : 1. There
must be the utterance of the thing that is not. 2. There must
be the knowledge that it is not. 3. There must be some en-
deavor to prevent the person addressed from learning the truth.
4. There must be the discovery by the person deceived that
what has been told him is not true.
It is said by the Brahmans that it is not a crime to tell a lie
on behalf of the guru, or on account of cattle, or to save the per-
son's own life, or to gain the victory in any contest : but this is
contrary to the precept.
On one occasion Buddha said that when a lie is uttered
knowingly it is parajika, or excludes from the priesthood ; yet
on another occasion he said that it is a venial or minor offence.
It was in this manner that it occurred. A number of priests kejjt
near a river ; but as the people were remiss in providing them
with food and other requisites, they falsely gave out that they
had entered the first path and had become rakats, by which means
they obtained abundance of all that they wanted. At the con-
clusion of the ceremony they went to Buddha, who, after in-
quiring about their welfare, began to reprove them and said,
" Foolish men, for the sake of the belly you have assumed to
yourselves the glory of the Dharmma, as if you yourselves had
promulgated it. Better would it have been for you, than to have
practiced this deception for the sake of a little food, to have had
your intestines torn out, or to have swallowed molten metal."
Note 12. Buddhist Ascetics before Christ.
Extracts from "The Toy Cart," a Sanskrit Drama. Translated into Eng-
lish in Wilson's " Hindu Drama."
[These extracts show : —
1. That Buddhism existed in India together with Brahman-
ism, and tolerated by it, at least one hundred years before
Christ.
APPEN^DIX. 405
2. That Budclhism in those days as now (1) set aside caste,
(2) laid stress on moral conduct, (3) made its priests take the
vows of poverty, celibacy, and monastic life ; that they were
mendicants ; must not touch women.
3. That the King or Rajah of the Province appointed the
heads of the Buddhist monasteries, so that Buddhism was a part
of the established religion of India.]
ACT VIII.
Enter the Sramanka, or Bauddha mendicant^ with a icet garment in
his hand.
Sramanka (sings).
Be virtue, friends, your only store,
And restless appetite restrain,
Beat meditation's drum, and sore
Your watch against each sense maintain ;
The thief that still in ambush lies,
To make devotion's wealtli his prize.
Cast the five senses all away
That triumph o'er the virtuous will,
The pride of self-importance slay,
And ignorance remorseless kill ;
So shall you safe the body guard.
And Heaven shall be your last reward.
Why shave the head and mow the chin
Whilst bristling follies choke the breast?
Apply the knife to parts within
And heed not how deformed the rest.
The heart of pride and passion weed.
And then the man is pure indeed.
My cloth is heavy with the yet moist dye. I will enter this gar-
den belonging to the Rdjfi's brother-in-law, and wash it in the pool,
and then I shall proceed more lightly. (^Does so.)
406 APPENDIX.
(^Behind.) What ho ! you rascally Sramanka, what are you do-
ing there?
Sram. Alas, alas! here he is, Samsthanaka himself. He has
been affronted by one mendicant, and whenever he meets another he
sends him off with his nose slit like an ox. Where shall I fly to?
The lord Buddha be my refuge!
Vii. In that case I suspect he will not have long followed the
profession.
Sams. How so?
Vit. Observe : his head shines as if it had only been lately
shaven ; and his garment has been so little worn that there are no
scars on his shoulder. The ochry dye has not yet fully stained the
cloth, and the open web yet fresh and flaccid hangs loosely over his
arms.
Sram. I do not deny it, worthy sir; it is true I have but lately
adopted the profession of a beggar.
Sams. And why so ; why did you not become a beggar as soon as
you were born, you scoundrel? (^Beats him.)
Sram. Glory to Buddha!
Sa?ns. He shall neither go, nor stay, nor move, nor breathe. Let
him fall down and be put to death.
Sram. Glory to Buddha! Mercy, mercy!
Enter the Sramanka as mendicant, as before.
I have washed my mantle, and will hang it on these boughs to
dry. No, here are a number of monkeys. I '11 spread it on the
ground. No, there is too much dust. Ha ! yonder the wind has blown
together a pile of dry leaves, that will answer exactly; I'll spread
it upon them. (^Spreads his lorapper over Vasantasend and sits doivn.)
Glory to Buddha! (Repeats the moral stanzas as above.) But enough
of this. I covet not the other world until in this I may make
some return for the lady Vasantasdnd's charity. On the day that
she liberated me from the gamester's clutches she made me her
slave forever. Holloa! something sighed amidst yon leaves ! or per-
haps it was only their crackling, scorched by the sun, and moistened
by my damp garment. Bless me, they spread out like the wings
of a bird. (One of Vasantasend' s hands appears.) A woman's hand,
APPENDIX. 407
as I live, with ric-h ornaments, — and another; surely I have seen
that hand before. It is, it is — it is the hand that once was stretched
forth to save me. What should this mean 1 {Throws off the wrapper
and leaves, and sees Vasanlanend.) It is the lady Vasantasend, the
devoted worshiper of Buddha. (Vasantasend expresses I >j signs the
want of water.) She wants water : the pool is far away, what's to
be done? Ha! my wet garment. (Applies il to her face and mouth
and fans her.)
Vas. (reviving.) Thanks, thanks, my friend. Who art thou?
Sram. Do you not recollect me, lady ? You once redeemed me
with ten suvernas.
Vas. I remember you ; aught else I have forgotten. I have suf-
fered since.
Sram, How, lady?
Vas. As my fate deserved.
Sram. Rise, lady, rise ; drag yourself to this tree: here, hold by
this creeper. (Bends it down to her, she lays hold of it and rises.) In
a neighboring convent dwells a holy sister ; rest awhile with her,
lady, and recover your spirits. Gently, lady, gently. (They proceed.)
Stand aside, good friends, stand aside, make way for a young female
and a poor beggar! It is my duty to restrain the hands and mouth,
and keep the passions in subjection. What should such a man care
for kingdoms? His is the woi-ld to come.
Enter the Sramanka and Vasantas:^xa.
Sram. Bless me, what shall I do? Thus leading Vasantasend,
am I acting conformably to the laws of my order? Lady, whither
shall I conduct you?
Vas. To the house of Charudatta, my good friend.
Sram. Quick, lady ! Worthy servant of Buddha, hasten to save
Charudatta! Room, good friends, make way!
Char. And who is this?
Vas. To him I owe my life ;
His seasonable aid preserved me.
Char. Who art thou, friend ?
Sram. Your Honor does not recollect me. I was employed as your
personal servant. Afterwards becoming connected with gamblers, and
unfortunate, I should have been reduced to slavery, had not this lady
408 APPENDIX.
redeemed me. I have since then adopted the life of a mendicant •
and coming in my wanderings to the Raja's garden, was fortunately
enabled to assist my former benefactress.
Sei: Lady Vasantasena, with your worth
The King is well acquainted, and requests
To hold you as his kinswoman.
Vas. Sir, I am grateful. (^Servillaka throws a veil over her.)
Ser. AVhat shall we do for this good mendicant?
Char. Speak, Sramanaka, your wishes. ,
Sram. To follow still the path I have selected,
For all I see is full of care and change.
Char. Since such is his resolve, let him be made
Chief of the monasteries of the Buddhas.
Ser. It shall be so.
INDEX
OF SUBJECTS TREATED IN THIS WORK.
Accretions, adventitious in all religions, 01.
Adaptation shows design, 215.
Adi-Buddha, supreme being in Buddhist
theology, 127.
Affirmations usually true. Negations false,
62.
Africa, races of, their good qualities, 292.
Algonquin Indians, their prayers, 225.
Anaxagoras, his view Ditheistic, 135.
Andaman islands, religion of, 18.
Angels and Archangels, in Christianity,
121 ; in the Ethnic religions, 108.
Animals and man, distinction between,
188.
Animals, their human qualities, 185.
Animism, in all religions, 108 ; the first
step of belief, 87, 107.
Anquetil du Perron discovers the Zend-
Avesta, 41.
Apparitions, universal belief in, 1G3.
Aristides, and other Greelis, their virtues,
297.
Aristotle, a theist, 145 ; his idea of the
soul, 173.
Art, the cliild of religion, 2G5.
Aryan race, how discovered, 42.
Aryans, their history, 43.
AssjTian prayers, 234.
Assyrian theory of creation, 210.
Aztec religion combined a base moral code
with bloody sacrifices, 99.
Aztec worship described, 98.
Basilfdes, the Gnostic, 208.
Beal, "Romantic History of Buddlia," 171.
Beka, tablet of, 310.
Belief in Grod leads to belief in a hereafter,
339.
Bible, its inspiration, 259.
Blanco White's sonnet on the futiu'e life,
344.
Brahmanism, its essential idea, 51 ; true in
its assertions, false iu its denials, C3.
Brahmans, their view of the future life,
330.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, in India, 91.
Brinton, on the gods of Central America,
149 ; .quoted, 122 ; on the belief of the
Indians in immortality, 320.
Buckle's view of morality, 284.
Buddliism and Christianity, their resem-
blance and difference, 73.
Buddhism, essential idea of, 59, in what
sense it denies the existence of the soul,
1G8 ; its ethics, 305 ; true in its asser-
tions, false in its denials, 04.
Buddhist architecture, 208 ; prayers, 23G ;
Trmity, 130.
Bushmen, their religion, 18.
Carlyle, on great men, 372.
Catholic religions come abruptly, 71.
Cato the younger, described by Plutarch,
290.
Causation, belief in, natural to man, 157.
Chaos, before all things, iu many systems,
194.
Charity and veracity in ancient Egj-pt, 311.
Childlike races have the same religion,
86.
China, ancient, its monotheism, 158.
Chinese Trinity, 135.
Cliristiauity, an intellectually hospitable
religion, 08 ; its essence, 352 ; the chief
among the Catliolic religions, 359 ; the
religion of civilized man, 353.
410
INDEX.
Christian monotheism, 160 ; civilization
still full of power, 355 ; nations progres-
sive, ooi ; Trinity, a formula to express
the communion of God with his creation,
121.
Chunder Sen, his doctrine, 53.
Church of Humanity, its basis, 3G6.
Clarke, Dr. E. H., his experience, 321.
Cleanthes, his hymn, 14G.
Comparative Theology, what for, 2.
Conception of Deity, what is contained in
the idea, 100, 107.
Confession, negative of the Egyptian, 327.
Consciousness, facts of, to be scientifically
studied, 5 ; of personality, as source of
belief in continued existence, 330.
Corruptions, of all religions, CI ; of Chris-
tianity, their source, 363.
Cosmos, origin of, 103.
Creation, by a hierarchy of spiritual beings,
218 ; of the world, in different systems,
209 ; origin of the belief in, 158.
Creed, Ritual, or Prophet, as the basis of
the universal religion, 3G7.
Darwin, and natural selection, 213 ; on the
people of Terra del Fuego, 18.
Decay of the Egyptian religion, 94.
Decay of religions — Brahmanism, 93.
Degradations of religion, 61.
Demigods, Spirits, Demons, etc., between
God and man, 113.
Demoniacal possession and exorcism, 83.
Development of each religion, its law, 35.
Dhammapada, ethical work of Buddhism,
306.
Discoveries all made in Christendom, 356.
Ditheism, in all Religions, 130.
Ditheism, its origin, 106.
Double consciousness, examples of, 166.
Dread of ancestral spirits, 322.
Dreams, belief of primitive races, SO.
Druids, their view of a future life, 323.
Duplicate souls, theory concerning, 165.
Eaeth, regarded as the Mother, 89.
Eddas, the, on Chaos and Creation, 201.
Egypt, ancient ethics of, 308 ; religion of,
1100 B. C, 6.
Egyptian desci'iption of the journeys of
the soul after death, 32G ; Monotheism,
152 ; Religion, its essential Idea, 56 ;
Trinity, 136.
Emanation, doctrine of, 204 ; in the Vedao,
205.
Esquimaux, their view of a future life, 323.
Ethics, in all religions, 280 ; its basis im-
mutable, 285.
Ethnic religions come by a gradual pro-
cess, 71.
Ethnic or Race religions described, 27.
Etruscans, their view of a future life, 324.
Euthydemus and Socrates, 302.
Evolution, doctrine of, applied to the soul,
190 ; very ancient, 196 ; in the Orphic
writings, in Brahmanism, in the Greek
theology, etc., 197.
Fetiches, among Christians, 110.
Fetich-worship, its origin, 109 ; not Mate-
rialism, 16.
Final causes, their importance in thought,
212.
Future Life, imiversally believed, 319.
Future State, idea of, m all religions, 318.
Garland of a hundred names, 54.
German pliilosophy of creation, 211.
Ghosts, belief in, the lowest form of re-
ligion, 78 ; fear of, explained, 81 ; origin
of belief in, 79.
Gnosticism, meaning of, 206.
Gnostic tlieories of emanation, 206.
God as Creator, as Supreme Being, as the
Infinite Being, 101, 102, 103.
God as Providence, Justice, Holiness, 103,
104.
Good and Evil, their opposition the spurce
of Ditheism, 133.
Government, by law, only in Christendom,
357.
Greece, religion of, 430 B. C, 9.
Greek belief in a future life, 333.
Greek painting, development like that of
Italy, 277 ; temples, their character, 270.
Guatemala Indians, on Creation, 200.
Hardy, Spence, on Buddliism of Ceylon,
128.
Hebrew and Egyptian religions, their re-
semblance and ditference, 73.
Hedge, Dr. F. H., Fetich-worship, 16.
Hellenic development and relapse very
rapid, 65.
Hereafter, views concerning the, 323.
Hildebert, his hymn, 147.
INDEX.
411
Hindu Monotheism, 142.
Hohues, Dr. O. W., narration, 321.
Hottentots, their religion, 18.
Human traits in primitive organizations,
187.
Hymn to Amun, as Supreme God, 154.
Idea of God, analysis of, 101 ; complex,
not simple, 101.
Idolatry, its origin. 111, 240 ; comes from
a degenerate Polytheism, 92. •
Idols, good or bad, as used or abused, 112.
Immortality, belief m, arising from relig-
ious faith, 3o5.
Imprecation.s, in the Old Testament, 244.
Imprecatory prayer, 244.
Increased knowledge of Ethnic religions,
39.
Indians of America, their belief in a future
life, 319.
India, rehgion of, 1100 B. C, 8.
Inspiration and Intuition, 252.
Inspiration, classification of different kinds ;
250; different in kind and degree, 253;
In general, 251 ; in all religions, 254 ; in
primitive religions, 257 ; of Paul, 2(12.
Inspirations, comparison of them, 204.
Islam, a reaction against Judaism and
Christianity, 74 ; its narrowness, G8.
Java, Buddliist temple in, 2G8.
Jesus opposed to routine prayer, 242.
Jewish belief in a future life, 334.
Jewish psalter a Christian prayer book, 242.
Jewish Temple, its character, 271.
Jones, Sir William, liis discoveries, 41.
Judaism, Mohammedanism, and Christian-
ity the three Catholic religions, 3U0.
Karma, law of, in Buddhism, 170.
Karnak, temple of, 207.
Koran, its inspiration, 200.
Lapps, their religion, 19.
Legends concerning the souls crossing a
bridge, 321.
Life, fullness of, in Christianity, 301.
LiUie, Arthur, defends Buddliism from
the charge of Atheism, 120.
Linguistic studies, progress of, 40.
Liturgy, none in New Testament, 242.
Livingstone's testimony to the Africans,
293.
Love, an evidence of immortality, 340.
Lowest races of men, according to Waitz,
Peschel, Darwin, Lubbock, and others,
17 ; not devoid of religion (note), 18.
Luther, Martin, his intlueuce on national
life, 371.
Man, as a creator, 219.
Manly and womanly virtues, 288.
Manu, Laws of, on ethics, 330.
Materialism, its objections to a future life,
338 ; its objections to the existence of the
soul, 173.
Mexican religion, a degenerate faith, 90 ;
described, 97.
Milton's belief in angels, 109.
Mohammedan Art, 272.
Mohammedanism, Pantheism m, 119.
Monasticisni, in Christianity, 305 ; not in-
stituted by Jesus, 300.
Monotheism, as part of our conception of
Deity, 105 ; imperfect, of the Buddhists,
126 ; in all religions, 141 ; in Mexico,
123 ; in Peru, 122 ; in primitive religions,
148 ; in the lower races, 122.
Monotony, Variety, aud Harmony, the three
steps of social progress, 38.
Morality, development of, 316 ; its analysis,
282.
Moral excellence in many primitive races,
291 ; impulse developed into character
in the Ethnic peoples, 294 ; influence of
Brahmanism, 315 ; of Moses and the
Prophets, 315 ; sentiment, moral ideas
and moral power, 281 ; teaching of New
Testament, 317 ; tendencies of different
races, 287 ; qualities, little in the Gods
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, 113.
Morly on Final Causes, 214.
Moses, teaches no doctrine of future retri-
bution, 314.
New Platomsts, their theism, 14G.
New Testament, its inspiration, 262.
Nirvina, among the Buddhists, 332.
OsiRis-souL, its progress, 329.
Pantheism, and the apostle Paul, 126 ; in
all religions, 110 ; in India, China, Greece,
118 ; opposite pole of thought to Atheism,
117 ; truth in, 124.
412
INDEX.
Paul's doctrine of the Universality of Re-
ligion, 23.
Persecutions in Christendom, 365.
Persia, religion of, 430 B. C, 11.
Personality of God, 247 ; of Jesus, 368.
Peruvian view of a future life, 323.
Philology, Comparative, its progress, 42.
Phocion, his character and virtues, 279.
Plato, his Monotheism, 144.
Poetry, religious, 278.
Poets and philosophers, on the future life,
336.
Police regulations of ancient Egypt, 328.
Polynesian account of creation, 202.
Polytheisms, in all religions, 112.
Polytheism, sees spirit in all things, 90 ;
the second step of beUef , 88 ; the truth
in, 119.
Prayer, among the Greeks, 232 ; highest
form of, 248 ; in Ethnic religions, 228 ;
in primitive religions, 224 ; objections
to, 246 ; universality of, 222, 249 ; value
of among the tribal races, 227.
Prayers, in China, 231 ; in the Zend-Avesta,
235 ; of Delaware Indians, 226 ; Mexican,
234 ; Mohammedan, 237 ; of Seneca and
Epiotetus, 233 ; of the Papuans, 225.
Preexistence of the soul generally believed,
177.
Primitive race, contradictory descriptions,
291 ; their morality, 289.
Ptahhotep, Proverbs of, 312.
Pyramids, expression of religious faith, 265.
Pythagoras and Plato, on hostile principles,
135.
Pythagoras, his Monad, 144.
QnATREFAGEs, people of Andaman islands,
18.
Race, persistence of, 47.
Religion, definition of, 17 ; its influence on
morality, 314 ; future, of mankind, 340 ;
of childlike races not differentiated, 80 ;
man's need of, 347.
Religions, Catliolic and Missionary, de-
scribed, 28 ; classification into Tribal,
Ethnic, and Catholic, 26.
Religious beliefs, false classification, 24 ;
world, aspect of, 1100 B. C, 5.
Renaissance, its meaning, 40.
Repetitions in prayer, 242.
Ritualism, in the Christian church, 245.
Romans, their belief in a future life, 333 ;
their virtues, 295.
Rome, religion of, multitude of Gods, 115.
Roskoff, religion of the lowest races re-
ferred to, 17.
Sacrifices, disappeared in Christianity,
245'; their origin and meaning, 239.
Sankya philosophy, agnostic, 142.
Savages, why said to have no religion, 20.
Scientific study of religion, what it is, 4.
Sculpture, Greek, its religious quality, 274.
Sentiment of right a primitive element,
282.
Simplistic systems usually short-lived, 64.
Socrates, liis belief in the soul, 173 ; his
moral character, 301.
Sorcery and exorcism in the Christian
church, 84, 85, 86.
Soul, the belief in, universal, 162.
Spencer, Herbert, on creation, 211 ; his
theory of dreams, 77.
Spiritual Evolution, doctrine of, 220.
Spiritualism, its extent, 342.
Statistics of religions of the world, 21.
Statues, Greek, the highest expression of
Greek religion, 275.
Stoics, their belief in the soul, 173 ; their
ethics, 305.
Tasmanians, their religion, 19.
Tennyson, on Transmigration of the Soul,
191.
Terra del Fuego, religion of, IS.
Theism in ancient Greece, 144.
Themistocles and Aristides, 298.
Theories of the origin of things, 194.
Tliree elements in every moral action, 281.
Tombs of the Etruscans, 325.
Transmigration, basis of the belief, 185 ; in
Brahmanism, 178 ; in Buddhism, 182 ; in
Egypt, 179 ; of the soul, believed in past
times, 170.
Triad, in all religions, 135 ; in system of
Zoroaster, 138 ; Gnostic, 139 ; Greek,
136 ; Hindu, 135 ; Orphic, 137.
Triads, origin of belief in, 140.
Trinity, Christian, its origin, 49, 138 ; of
Philo, 138.
Two groups of moral virtues, 286.
Tylor, Edward B., on primitive religion;
17 ; on religion of lowest races, 18, 21 ;
ou prayer among primitive races, 228.
INDEX.
413
Type, persistence of, in each religion, 44.
United States, religious statistics of, 22.
Universal belief in a future state, 318.
Universality of religion, 17.
Utility, its place in a moral system, 2SG.
Valentine, a Gnostic, his system, 208.
Vedauta philosophy, Pantheistic, 143.
Vedas, prayers in the, 229 ; their inspira-
tion, 259.
Vedic Hymns, addressed to Nature, 113 ;
monotheism, 151.
Waitz, on primitive religion, 17 ; on the
religion of the Africans, 148.
Wordswortli, his religious tendency, 125.
World, tlie, a house of Prayer, 249.
Xenophanes, his monotheism, 144.
Zoroaster, teaches a moral law, 91 ; essen-
tial idea in his system, 58 ; liis religion
arrested in its second stage, 132, 134.
Zulus, their prayers, 224.
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