Pagan Christs - John M Robertson

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PAGAN

CHRISTS

STUDIES

IN

COMPARATIVE

HIEROLOGY

JOHN

M.

ROBERTSON

i>UEl>

FOR

THE

RATIONALISTPRESS

ASSOCIATION,

IJMITK.(J

WATTS

&

CO.,

17,

JOHNSON'S

COURT,

FLEET

STREET,

LONDON,

E.G.

1903

CONTENTS

PREAMBLE

xi

PART

I.

THE

RATIONALE

OFRELIGION

CHAP.

I.

THE

NATURALNESS

OF

ALL

BELIEF.

PAGE

1.

5.6.

7.

Origin

of

Gods

from

fear

from

love

Beloved

Gods

the

Christs

of

the

world's

pantheon

Arbitrary

Classifications

All

beliefs

results

of

reasoning

Taboo

Formulas

of

Mr.

Lang

and

Mr.Jevons

Primary

and

secondary

taboo

Moral

correlations

Theory

of

religion

and

magic

.

Mr.

Jevons's

theories

of

religious

evolution

Contradictions

Thesis

of

"

superstition

"

.

Scientific

view

of

the

"religious

consciousness"

idea

of

"the

supernatural"

Fear

versus

gratitude

Rise

of

magic

Meaning

of

"

religion

"

.

Mr.

Frazer's

definition

its

inadequacy

Conflict

of

for-

mulas

Antiquity

of

magic

Analogies

of

religion,

magic,

and

science

Magic

homogeneous

with

religion

Inconsis-

tencies

of

magic

Magic

in

the

Old

Testament

Inconsis-

tencies

of

later

religion

.....

The

scientific

induction

Magic

and

religion

interfluent

The

theory

of

prayer

Mr.

Jevons's

reasoning

here

reduces

the

religious

type

to

theAtheists

and

Agnostics

Mr.

Jevons's

seriesof

self-contradictions

His

coincidence

with

Mr.Frazer

in

excluding

belief

from

the

concept

ofreligion

.......

His

contradictorydoctrine

of

the

conditions

of

survival

in

religion

Value

of

his

work

Causes

of

its

fallacies

The

continuity

of

religious

phenomena

Homogeneity

of

all

magic

and

religious

ritual

Elijah

as

magician

Com-

parative

harmfulness

of

priesthoods

and

sorcerers

The

dilemma

of

Christian

ethics

Philosophy

in

religion

Mr.

Jevons's

psychology

"

Impressions

"

versus

"

projections

"

Results

of

his

classification

Religion

"

rational

"

even

if

not

"

reasonable

".

.....

11

20-23

2K

;}

30-36

906

vi

CONTENTS

PAGE

10.

The

beginning

of

the

end

of

religion

Early

interweaving

of

cosmology

and

ethics

Fear

and

gratitude

alike

operative

in

time

Ancestor-

worshipMr.

Jevons's

thesis

of

its

late-

ness

His

argument

finally

a

petitlo

principii

Evidence

against

him

from

his

own

pages

"Ghosts"

reruns

"spirits"

.......

30-41

S

11.

Historic

view

of

ancestor-

worship

Conflict

of

formulas

of

Mr.

Lang

and

Mr.Frazer

The

anthropological

solution-

Fluctuations

in

the

status

of

ancestor-

Gods

Taboo

of

names

not

necessarily

oblivion

Gods'

names

tabooed

Gods

relatively

raised

and

ancestors

depressed

Primary

deificationof

ancestors

implied

in

the

facts

Verbalist

definitions

of

"ancestor"

Ancestorsone

of

the

types

of

friendly

God

Gods

originating

from

abstractions

Argu-

ments

of

Von

Iheringand

Fustel

de

Coulanges

on

ancestor-

worship

Propitiation

from

fear

and

from

love

Horde-

ancestor

Gods

and

family

Gods

Evolution

of

law-giving

God

........

41-49

5

12.

Interactions

of

norms

of

conduct

Religion

and

monarchy

Religious

cast

given

to

law

and

ethics

The

authoritarian

element

a

mark

of

religion

.....

4D-51

45

13.

Definition

of

religion

.....

51-53

CHAI-.

II.

COMPARISON

AND

APPRAISEMENT

OF

RELIGIONS.

$

1.

Christianpartisanship

Difficulty

of

being

impartial

The

authoritarian

ideal

Genius

and

religious

reform

Rarity

of

reform

through

pr'esthoods

Reality

ofpriestcraft

.

54-57

2.

Fictitious

literature

Reform

by

strategy

Conditions

of

moral

betterment

for

the

Hebrews

Conditions

of

religious

survival

........

57-fiO

S

;'.

Religious

evolution

conditioned

politically

and

socially

Monotheism

and

polytheism

alike

thus

conditioned

No

unique

bias

in

thecase

of

Israel

Pressures

towards

mono-

theism

and

towards

polytheism

The

former

usually

an

external

bias,

without

psychological

sincerity

Hebrew

and

Roman

theology

compared

Monotheism

does

grow

out

of

polytheism

Hebrew

monotheism

nota

monarchic

but

a

sacerdotal

creation

Monotheistic

and

polytheisticethic

compared

-The

conventional

view

Ethic

associated

with

"

Supreme

"

Gods

Rational

tests

Ethic,

of

post-exilic

Judaism

Economic

forces

in

cult-making

Chastening

effects

of

national

disaster

.....

1)1-70

$

4.

Babylonian

influences

on

Judaic

thought

Higher

develop-

ments

of

polytheism

International

ethic

lower

among

monotheists

than

among

polytheists

..

.

70-75

5.

The

socio-political

factors

Social

decadence

in

Mesopo-

tamia,

with

religious

activity

Fatality

of

imperialism

.

75-77

S

<>.

Hebrew

evolution

Rise

of

the

cult

of

Yahweh

Literary

beginnings

Practical

polytheism

The

attempted

reforms

of 00

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