Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/119

 SOCIAL CONTROL 105

and sorcery with reference to strange or hostile spirits had no social possibilities, and decayed early. For us the main stream of belief is that pertaining to the known god of the community, blood kin to all its members, and not at the service of the indi- vidual in his private aims. " Religion," says W. Robertson Smith, "is not an arbitrary relation of the individual man to a supernatural power, it is a relation of all the members of a community to a power that has the good of the community at heart and protects its law and moral order." 1

The god being conceived as ancestor may properly claim from his worshipers the reverence and service that belongs to a father. As patriarchial institutions develop the god, like the patriarch, comes to be looked upon as judge and king. As the business of the chief, however, was to lead the community against its enemies and not to meddle with its internal affairs, so the god had at first little concern with the doings of his wor- shipers. "What the Semitic communities asked, and believed themselves to receive from their divine king, lay mainly in three things : help against their enemies, counsel by oracles or soothsayers in matter of national difficulty, and a sentence of justice when a case was too hard for human decision. For the rest, it was not expected that he should always be busy weigh- ing human affairs." 3 ". . . . The conception of the tribal god as father .... does not carry with it any idea of the strict and rigid enforcement of divine commands by supernatural sanc- tions. "3

As monarchy develops, the old independence is broken down and the king is more able to interfere actively in his subjects' quarrels. By his authority he replaces the rude trial by strength with judicial decisions, realizing some ideal of abstract justice. Faustrctcht is made to yield to awards based on general equity. Through this evolution the godhead follows the kingship like a shadow. "As the god though not conceived as omnipotent is at least conceived as much stronger than man, he becomes in a special measure the champion of right against

1 The Religion of the Semite t, p. 53. /to/., p. 64. s/to/.. p. 60.