Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/24

RELIGION. this same stage of (IcvfloiJiuciit belong sonic of tile most iniportiint aspects of religion. As an evolution of glioslwoisliip eomes the belief in tiiteniism, whieh derives whole tribes or families from an animal or plant. This animal or plant is consequently regarded as a blood-relative of the tribe or family in question, and therefore becomes sacrosanct, so that it is neither eaten, killed, nor harmed in any «ay by one whose totem it is. Another mixture of magic and animism is seen in fetishism, which ascribes supcrliuman properties to material objects. Developments of magic are seen in the important phenomena of taboo and Shamanism. To this same period belongs the evolution of the priest. While the savage was able to perform his own religious rites, the increase both in number and comjilexity of sacrifices and magi(^ rites rendered necessary the presence of a body of men who stood in especially close relations with the superInmian beings, and who came in course of time to have entire control both of cult and religion. As intermediaries between the gods and men, the priests naturally came to be regarded as healers of disease by their magic arts, and the knowledge of medicine was. consequently, practically in their possession alone throughout this jieriod and at least the earlier portion of the succeeding one.

The Eeligions of Advanced Cultuke. In the religions of advanced culture, which, as has already been said, are closely connected with those of primitive culture, are contained the religions of E^ypt, Babylonia and Assyria, China, India (excluding Buddhism), Greece, and Rome. It is at once obvious how varied are the spirits of these religions, yet there is one common factor which may serve to characterize them all, and which m.ay, at the same time, be made a line of demarcation between the faiths of advanced and of primitive culture. This factor is the predominance of mythology over animism and magic. While the mjthological element is of importance in many of the religions of primitive culture, and while it is seen at a comparatively early stage, it is overshadowed by animism and magic, and plays relatively little part. Even in the most highly developed religions of this class, such as the Pol.ynesian, whieh has a mythology almost rivaling that of the Greeks, this statement holds good. On the other hand, while the religions of advanced culture, especially the more ancient ones of Egypt and Mesopotamia, contain abundant traces and instances of animism and of magic, even in their early epochs the mythology is the most striking feature. Mythology in itself is a process and a proof of higher culture. Based in part on early tribal history and ancestor-worship, as may clearly be seen in the case of Greece and Rome, and in part on nature-worship, as is evident in India, it involves a power of abstract thought beyond the capability of primitive culture in its early stages. But, on the other hand, mythology is a check on religious growth. As the people progresses in religious life and thought, while mythology, like ritual, remains stationary or moves much more slowly than the actual popular religious faith, a constantly widening gap appears between religion and mythology. As in the religions of primitive culture the animism and magic which characterize them in their earlier stages become relatively less important in their later developments, so in the religions of advanced culture the raytholog)' which is at first their leading feature becomes more and more secondary in course of time. In many instances in a more refined community the old mytlis arc felt to be immoral. Attempts are, therefore, made to explain away this immorality, to which the masses still cling tenaciously, by ])oetical, allegorical or esoteric interpretations as in the explanations of the erotic Krishna mytlis in India as mystic portrayals of divine love. Yet these explanations are, in the nature of the case, iuadciiuatc. and there is thus created a division between religion and ethics, which it is the ta.sk of the next and final stage of religion to bridge over.

The priesthood undergoes a marked change in the religion of advanced culture. In the previous stage the priests had been little more than gobetweens between men and gods. With the fuller development of religimis icleality. however, their place became more truly spiritual. Xot alone did they conserve the rites and doctrines of religion, but they became the censors of morals as well, and in the course of time they made the important step of giving a legalistic form to religion as distinguished from its merely ritualistic aspect. Yet side by side with the religions thus officially recognized which prevailed in Babylonia and Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and which still prevail in China and India, there was. and is, a vast amount of religion officially unrecognized. This, expressed both in belief and custom, is regarded by the religion which is formally acknowledged as superstitious. The attitude toward it, however, is one rather of contempt than of hostility. Gradually the feeling seems to have gained ground that such a distinction between religion and superstition was distinctly injurious. ilore and more it became evident that religion, which was outgrowing the beliefs of animism and even of the more tenacious magic, could and must progress still further. The next step marks the transition to the religions of the last type, the highest that has thus far been evolved.

Religions Coextensive with Life. Within this class fall the religions of .Judaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity, with a few minor representatives, such as Mormonism. These represent, as already stated, the conscious attempt to render religion and life coextensive, whereas the religions of primitive culture had assumed them to be one, and the religions of advanced culture had finally divorced them. They thus attempt to create final harmony between religious doctrine and religious practice. There is no longer a tacit admission of the usefulness of superstition, such as exists in the religions of advanced culture, but since everything in the spiritual world not with religion is now seen to be against it, there is a deliberate resolve to annihilate all such extrareligious forces. More than this, not alone are the lower forms of religion existing within itself regarded as hostile, but all other religions are considered as lower, and therefore to be suppressed. It is an important fact that each of the five religions in this class regards itself as true and the other four, together with all lower religions of whatever sort, as false. Herein lies one of the chief characteristics of the class. The religions coextensive with life are exclusive, all