THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION 295 



example of it. It is to-day the religion of the Bantu tribes of Africa, 

 and still prevails to some extent in Japan. But it is chiefly among the 

 Chinese that this form of religion has reached its highest form of de- 

 velopment. All changes in the customs of the country are resisted as 

 a reflection upon the regulations established by their ancestors, for the 

 infraction of which they will be severely punished. The greatest sin 

 they can commit is to allow the graves of their ancestors to be disturbed 

 for any cause whatsoever. 



As men progress in their knowledge of the things about them, they 

 come to see the defects in the forms of religion described above, and be- 

 gin to turn their attention to more exalted powers. They cease to pay 

 exclusive homage to the spirits that reside in the objects that they 

 themselves have handled and can make or destroy, and begin to look 

 up in reverential awe to the beings that manifest themselves on a vaster 

 scale, and in a more consistent and impressive manner. 



Thus arose what is usually called nature-worship, the most promi- 

 nent form of which is the worship of the celestial bodies. It is prob- 

 able that the division of the week into seven days came about from the 

 dedication of one day to each of the gods manifesting himseK through 

 the seven greatest luminaries. 



Naturally, in all except the torrid zone, the sun-god received the 

 greatest homage. As the source of light and warmth, as the earth's 

 great fructifying power, as the one constant ever-recurring factor in 

 man's daily experience, it has always awakened the most powerful re- 

 ligious emotions, in the minds of rude as well as semi-civilized people. 

 Among the ancient Phoenicians the sun was the center of their cultus. 

 It was probably the leading feature of the religion of the ancient 

 Persians. The same was also true of the Sabeans. The worship of 

 Apollo, so popular among the Greeks, was in all probability sun-wor- 

 ship. The Egyptians gave the sun a high place in their system, and 

 the ancient Peruvians paid it their chief honors. The Celts and the 

 Teutons, as well as the East Indians, made much of it, and so do 

 numerous tribes in Africa to-day. It is maintained by many writers 

 that the North American Indians were always and chiefly sun-wor- 

 shippers ; that the sun was actually their Manitou, or Great Spirit. 



In some lands the moon was fixed upon as the chief deity. Certain 

 Australian tribes believe to-day that all things, including man, were 

 created by the moon. 



At all periods of the world's history the stars have received special 

 homage. Among the early natives of Greenland and Australia the 

 Milky Way was nothing less than the pathway of souls ascending to 

 their home in the heavens. The auroras borealis and australis were 

 actually in their opinion the dance of the gods across the firmament. 



Another form of nature worship was the adoration of the fire-god. 



