BY
J. ESTLIN CARPENTER
D.LITT.
PRINCIPAL OF MANCHESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
LONDON
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I INTRODUCTORY
II THE PANORAMA OF RELIGIONS
III RELIGION IN THE LOWER CULTURE
IV SPIRITS AND GODS
V SACRED ACTS
VI SACRED PRODUCTS
VII RELIGION AND MORALITY
VIII PROBLEMS OF LIFE AND DESTINY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
"Those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections,
Which, be they what they may,
Are yet the fountain light of all our day,
Are yet a master light of all our seeing;
Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make
Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal Silence."
WORDSWORTH.
"To the philosopher the existence of Godmay seem to rest on a syllogism; in the eyesof the historian it rests on the wholeevolution of human thought."—MAX MÜLLER.
Over the chancel-arch of the church atSouth Leigh, a few miles west of Oxford, isa fresco of the Last Judgment and theResurrection, of the type well known inmediæval art. On the adjoining south wallstands the stately figure of the archangelMichael. In his right hand he holds a pairof scales. In one scale is the figure of a soulin the attitude of prayer; beside it is OurLady carrying a rosary. The other containsan ox-headed demon blowing a horn. Thisscale rises steadily, though another demonhas climbed to the beam above to weigh itdown, and a third from hell's mouth belowendeavours to drag it towards the abyss. Thesame theme recurs in several other Englishchurches; and it is carved over the portalsof many French cathedrals, as at Notre Damein Paris.
Unroll a papyrus from an Egyptian tombof the Eighteenth Dynasty before the daysof Moses, and you will see a somewhat similar{8}scene. The just and merciful judge Osiris,"lord of life and king of eternity," sits in theHall of the two goddesses of Truth. Hitherthe soul is brought for the ordeal which willdetermine his future bliss or woe. Beforeforty-two assessors he declares his innocenceof various offences: "I am not a doer of whatis wrong; I am not a robber; I am not a slayerof men; I am not a niggard; I am not a tellerof lies; I am not a monopoliser of food; I amno extortioner; I am not unchaste; I am notthe causer of others' tears...." Then he isled, sometimes supported by the two goddessesof Truth, to the actual trial. Resting on anupright post is the beam of a balance. It isguarded by a dog-headed ape, symbol ofThoth, "lord of the scales." Thoth hasvarious functions in the ancient texts, andeven r