The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological StudyGuyau, Jean-Marie
Religion
The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study
Guyau, Jean-Marie
Irreligion and sociology; Religion; Social sciences
II. The moral sanction in the society which includes gods and
men—Patronage—That divine intervention tends always to be
conceived after the model of human intervention and to sanction it.
III. Worship and religious rites—Principles of reciprocity and
proportionality in the exchange of services—Sacrifice—Principle
of coercion and incantation—Principle of habit and its relation
to rites—Sorcery—Sacerdotalism—Prophecy—The externals of
worship—Dramatization and religious æsthetics.
IV. Subjective worship—Adoration and love; their psychological
origin, 113
Part Second.
THE DISSOLUTION OF RELIGIONS IN EXISTING SOCIETIES.
_CHAPTER I._
DOGMATIC FAITH.
I. Narrow dogmatic faith—The credulity of primitive man: First,
spontaneous faith in the senses and imagination; Second, faith in
the testimony of superior men; Third, faith in the divine word, in
revelation, and in the sacred texts—The literalness of dogmatic
faith—Inevitable intolerance of narrow dogmatic faith—Belief
in dogma, revelation, salvation, and damnation all result in
intolerance—Modern tolerance.
II. Broad dogmatic faith—Orthodox Protestantism—Dogmas
of orthodox Protestantism—Rational consequences of these
dogmas—Logical failure of orthodox Protestantism.
III. The dissolution of dogmatic faith in modern society—Reasons
that render this dissolution inevitable—Comparative influence of
the various sciences; influence of public instruction, of means
of communication, of industry even and of commerce, etc.—The
disappearance of belief in oracles and prophecies—Gradual
disappearance of the belief in miracles, in devils, etc., 136
_CHAPTER II._
SYMBOLIC AND MORAL FAITH.
I. Substitution of metaphysical symbolism for dogma—Liberal
Protestantism—Comparison with Brahmanism—Substitution
of moral symbolism for metaphysical symbolism—Moral
faith—Kant—Mill—Matthew Arnold—A literary explanation of the
Bible substituted for a literal explanation.
II. Criticism of symbolic faith—Inconsequence of liberal
Protestantism—Is Jesus of a more divine type than other great
geniuses?—Does the Bible possess a greater authority in matters of
morals than any other masterpiece of poetry?—Criticism of Matthew
Arnold’s system—Final absorption of religions by morality, 167
_CHAPTER III._
DISSOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS MORALITY.
I. The first durable element of religious morality:
Respect—Alteration of respect by the addition of the notion of the
fear of God and divine vengeance.
II. Second durable element of religious morality:
Love—Alteration of this element by the addition of ideas of
grace, predestination, damnation—Caducous elements of religious
morality—Mysticism—Antagonism of divine love and human
love—Asceticism—Excesses of asceticism—Especially in the
religions of the East—Conception of sin in the modern mind.
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