We are often told that the offering of sacrifices had its origin in
primitive man's conception of his gods as beings which required to be
propitiated so as to induce them to do good or abstain from doing harm; and
very likely this was the case. The truth at the back of this conception is
the feeling that there is a higher power upon which man is dependent; and
the error is in supposing that this power is limited by an individuality
which can be enriched by selling its good offices, or which blackmails you
by threats. In either case it wants to get something out of you, and from
this it follows that its own power of supplying its own wants must be
limited, otherwise it would not require to be kept in good temper by gifts.
In very undeveloped minds such a conception results in the idea of numerous
gods, each having, so to say, his own particular line of business; and the
furthest advance this mode of thought is capable of is the reduction of
these various deities to two antagonistic powers of Good and of Evil. But
the result in either case is the same, so long as we start with the
hypothesis that the Good will do us more good and the Evil do us less harm
by reason of our sacrifices, for then it logically follows that the more
valuable your sacrifices and the oftener they are presented the better
chance you have of good luck.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131