DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32079#0076
which we seem to see in their thought is from
theism to pantheism through polytheistic forms.
Apparent polytheism in the deities embodying phe-
nomena is not inconsistent with the belief in one
God; in fact, with the Egyptian, polytheism is
grafted on monotheism and is in itself but a persua-
sion to the belief in unity.
It is to be understood that we have been speak-
ing of the Egyptian religion as it was held by the
initiated, jealously preserved by the priestly caste,
and made known to us by the sacred writings and
inscriptions on temple and tomb. This esoteric
character of their faith had profoundly impressed
the Greeks, the only contemporary foreign people
by whom the philosophy of the Egyptian religion
was studied. That the worship of the common
people was essentially polytheistic is undoubtedly
true, and we can see how necessary it was that
polytheism should not only be tolerated but incul-
cated by priests on the multitude. The esoteric
doctrine was too refined, too metaphysical, too com-
plicated, for the comprehension and reverence of
the people.
We have said that there were two great classes
of deities, those of the elements and forces of
nature, and those who presided over the dead. It is
among the latter only that we meet with distinc-
tive moral attributes. We find such indeed in the
one over-ruling God, but in those deities who per-
sonify the forces and elements of nature there is no
trace of moral power. As in modern thought it is
frequently insisted that the forces of nature are un-
moral, so in the personification of those forces by
the Egyptians, morality is conspicuous by its ab-
sence.
In considering the gods of the dead we enter
upon a system of morality connected with the
elemental and solar divinities only by the person
and triad of Osiris, the deity of the nocturnal sun.
He is the only god of the lower world who repre-
sents a force of nature, and that force, of course,
38
theism to pantheism through polytheistic forms.
Apparent polytheism in the deities embodying phe-
nomena is not inconsistent with the belief in one
God; in fact, with the Egyptian, polytheism is
grafted on monotheism and is in itself but a persua-
sion to the belief in unity.
It is to be understood that we have been speak-
ing of the Egyptian religion as it was held by the
initiated, jealously preserved by the priestly caste,
and made known to us by the sacred writings and
inscriptions on temple and tomb. This esoteric
character of their faith had profoundly impressed
the Greeks, the only contemporary foreign people
by whom the philosophy of the Egyptian religion
was studied. That the worship of the common
people was essentially polytheistic is undoubtedly
true, and we can see how necessary it was that
polytheism should not only be tolerated but incul-
cated by priests on the multitude. The esoteric
doctrine was too refined, too metaphysical, too com-
plicated, for the comprehension and reverence of
the people.
We have said that there were two great classes
of deities, those of the elements and forces of
nature, and those who presided over the dead. It is
among the latter only that we meet with distinc-
tive moral attributes. We find such indeed in the
one over-ruling God, but in those deities who per-
sonify the forces and elements of nature there is no
trace of moral power. As in modern thought it is
frequently insisted that the forces of nature are un-
moral, so in the personification of those forces by
the Egyptians, morality is conspicuous by its ab-
sence.
In considering the gods of the dead we enter
upon a system of morality connected with the
elemental and solar divinities only by the person
and triad of Osiris, the deity of the nocturnal sun.
He is the only god of the lower world who repre-
sents a force of nature, and that force, of course,
38