RATIONALISM AND THE IDEA OF GOD 211 



or a Rivers have shown us, the whole of life is en- 

 meshed with religion, and there is scarcely an activity 

 of man which is not spun round with religious emo- 

 tion and ritual. Very often the idea of God has not 

 in this stage been clearly formulated; there is simply 

 a notion of power, of mysterious influence, sometimes 

 partly crystallized round a primitive deity. Later, 

 however, the power became frankly anthropomor- 

 phic, and Gods came into being — many or one. Man 

 had projected the idea of that active agency he knew 

 best — human personality — into his idea of cosmic 

 powers. 



Into the God thus fashioned there are always pro- 

 jected, to greater or less degree, the ideals of the com- 

 munity; and thus, at a certain stage of development, 

 we find definitely tribal Gods. Here the biological 

 function of Gods becomes extremely obvious. The 

 God, by his inspired prophets and priests, orders the 

 destruction of his rivals — the false Gods of neigh- 

 bouring tribes — or of his enemies, the members of 

 those tribes. 



The people of the tribe, however the result may 

 have been brought about, do as a matter of fact find 

 themselves, all unconsciously, caught up in the sys- 

 tem which they and their forefathers have made. 

 They have fashioned their God so that their inmost 

 life is joined to him. When they sin, they fear him; 

 when they look into their own hearts to take stock of 

 their ultimate ideals, they find that these are at- 

 tached, through the impalpable but infinitely re- 



