of the Greeks, but it was a normal growth of their consciousness, and it
is mentioned here as a further indication that even in what we call the
classical age there were not wanting traces of the more mystic and
spiritual side of religion. Here, in the tenets of these orphic sects,
we have the doctrine of "original sin," the conception of life as a
struggle between two opposing principles, and the promise of an ultimate
redemption by the help of the divine power. And if this be taken in
connection with the universal and popular belief in inspiration as
possession by the god, we shall see that our original statement that the
relation of man to the gods was mechanical and external in the Greek
conception, must at least be so far modified that it must be taken only
as an expression of the central or dominant point of view, not as
excluding other and even contradictory standpoints.

Still, broadly speaking and admitting the limitations, the statement may
stand. If the Greek popular religion be compared with that of the
Christian world, the great distinction certainly emerges, that in the
one the relation of God to man is conceived as mechanical and external,
in the other as inward and spiritual. The point has been sufficiently
illustrated, and we may turn to another division of our subject.


Section 11. The Greek View of Death and a Future Life.

Of all the problems on which we expect light to be thrown by religion
none, to us, is more pressing than that of death. A fundamental, and as
many believe, the most essential part of Christianity, is its doctrine
of reward and punishment in the world beyond; and a religion which had
nothing at all to say about this great enigma we should hardly feel to
be a religion at all. And certainly on this head the Greeks, more than