Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/706

 690 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

belief in a morally perfect invisible ruler originated the belief in order and authority. These found expression in the customs and ceremonial laws of primitive man, and in the political author- ity which always claimed divine sanction. From this sprang the first conception of the moral right of property, as distinguished from the legal right. The latter did not appear until the reflective stage of society and the emergence of the state. The former was its precursor, and could not have gained respect in the minds of men without religious sanction and support. Felix holds, indeed, that the very concept of private property was religious in origin.' At the death of a proprietor his belongings were sacrificed that they might accompany him beyond. To the gens and its patri- arch, as the administrator of the ancestor, the property which was not sacrificed was held in usufruct, and not of private right. To the deities primitive man yielded in sacrifices a large part of his belongings, without material or physical coercion. The discovery and punishment of thieves belonged to the deities as the protect- ors of property. In this way the religious sanctions, which are purely persuasive in character, were diffused throughout the entire life of man and served to vivify each new institution as it began to emerge in the form of private property. In ethical religions, especially Christianity, for ceremonial observances is substituted the law of love in the heart toward God and man. The belief in perfection is turned from outward imitation to inward reflection, and remains as before a psychic principle evoked, not by coercion, but by persuasion.

The consciousness of guilt is the counterpart of the belief in moral perfection. Lippert has shown' that it is upon the founda- tion of sacrifice that priesthood is erected. The priest is not teacher nor preacher. He rather is often arrayed against these. His duty is that of administering and giving efficacy to sacrifices. The need of sacrifice follows from the consciousness of guilt, which everywhere holds sway in the human breast. The evils, misfortunes, and sufferings of life, as well as torments following

' Felix, Der Einfluis der Religion auf die Entviicklung des Eigenthums (Leipzig, J889), p. 7.

'' Allg. Gcsch. des Priesterthums (Berlin. 1884).