William Robertson Smith Quotes

Scottish - Scientist | November 8, 1846 - March 31, 1894

In all the antique religions, mythology takes the place of dogma; that is, the sacred lore of priests and people... and these stories afford the only explanation that is offered of the precepts of religion and the prescribed rules of ritual.

William Robertson Smith

ReligionPeopleRulesPlaceAntique

But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the explanation be sought, not in arbitrary allegorical categories, but in the actual facts of ritual or religious custom to which the myth attaches.

William Robertson Smith

FactsCommon SensePhilosophyBe True

But, strictly speaking, this mythology was no essential part of ancient religion, for it had no sacred sanction and no binding force on the worshippers.

William Robertson Smith

ReligionForceMythologyAncientHad

Even the highest forms of sacrificial worship present much that is repulsive to modern ideas, and in particular it requires an effort to reconcile our imagination to the bloody ritual which is prominent in almost every religion which has a strong sense of sin.

William Robertson Smith

ImaginationReligionEffortIdeas

In better times the religion of the tribe or state has nothing in common with the private and foreign superstitions or magical rites that savage terror may dictate to the individual.

William Robertson Smith

ReligionBetterNothingSavageTribe

Religion did not exist for the saving of souls but for the preservation and welfare of society, and in all that was necessary to this end every man had to take his part, or break with the domestic and political community to which he belonged.

William Robertson Smith

CommunityManReligionSocietyEnd

That the God-man died for his people, and that His death is their life, is an idea which was in some degree foreshadowed by the older mystical sacrifices.

William Robertson Smith

LifeDeathPeopleDegreeIdeaOlder

The dissolution of the nation destroys the national religion, and dethrones the national deity.

William Robertson Smith

ReligionNationDestroysNational

The god can no more exist without his people than the nation without its god.

William Robertson Smith

GodPeopleMoreNationWithoutThan

The god, it would appear, was frequently thought of as the physical progenitor or first father of his people.

William Robertson Smith

FatherGodPeopleThoughtFirstHis

The land of a god corresponds with the land of his worshipers.

William Robertson Smith

GodLandHis

The myths connected with individual sanctuaries and ceremonies were merely part of the apparatus of the worship; they served to excite the fancy and sustain the interest of the worshipper... no one cared what he believed about its origin.

William Robertson Smith

ConnectedWorshipFancyIndividual

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