212 ESSAYS OF A BIOLOGIST 



sistant fibres of tradition, of childish memory and of 

 education, to him; he is on their side against their 

 enemies, so that their advantage is on the whole his. 



Whatever, therefore, arouses the idea of God in 

 their minds will send messages into every corner of 

 their being. And if they can be firmly persuaded 

 that God wishes something done, the call will pull 

 at their heart-strings and bring them to convinced 

 and united action. 



The most familiar example of this type of effect 

 is to be found in the history of the Jews in the Old 

 Testament. But even to-day such tribal ideas are 

 not extinct: an educated and charming lady said to 

 me during the war — "I am convinced that if Jesus 

 Christ were alive to-day He would be fighting on the 

 side of the Allies." . . . 



* * * * * * * 



In our further analysis we must carefully distin- 

 guish between the outer and inner components of the 

 idea of God. The outer components are the powers 

 acting upon man. Some of these are inorganic — 

 storms, winds, floods, the sun and moon; others are 

 organic — wild beasts, pestilence, crops, and fruits, 

 domesticated animals; others again are human — per- 

 sonal or national enemies, the community in which 

 the individual lives. And they may act upon man's 

 body or upon his mind. The sun warms his body, 

 but makes an impression on his mind as well. The 

 practice of astrology shows what power can be ex- 

 erted on the mind by quite imaginary properties of 



