sm are infinite in number and kind. But if there is diversity,
there is also unity. Greatly as the gods of polytheism differ from one
another, they are at least beings worshipped--and worshipped by the
community. Greatly as rituals vary in their detail, they are all
ritual: all are worship, and, all, the worship rendered by the
community to its gods. And there can be no doubt as to their object or
the purpose with which the community practises them: that purpose is,
at least, to bring the community into the presence of its Lord. We may
safely say that there can be no worship unless there is a community
worshipping and a being which is worshipped. Nor can there be any
doubt as to the relation existing between the two. The community bow
down and worship: that is the attitude of the congregation. Nor can
there be any doubt as to the relation which the god bears, in the
common consciousness, to his worshippers: he is bound to them by
special ties--from him they expect the help which they have received
in ages past. They have faith in him--else they would not worship
him--faith that he will be what he has been in the past, a very help
in time of trouble. The mere fact that they seek to come before him is
a confession of the faith that is in them, the faith that they are in
the presence of their God and have access to Him. However primitive,
that is rudimentary, the worship may be; however low in the scale of
development the worshippers may be; however dim their idea of God and
however confused and contradictory the reflections they may make
about Him, it is in that faith that they worship. So much is implied
by worship--by the mere fact that the worshippers are gathered
together for worship. If we are to find any clue which may give us
uniform guidance through the infinite variety in the details of the
innumerable rituals that are, or have been, followed in the world, we
must look to find it in the purpose for which the worshippers gather
together. But, if we wish to be guided by objective facts rather than
by hasty, _a priori_ assumptions, we must begin by consulting the
facts: we must enquire whether the details of the different rituals
present nothing but diversity, or whether there is any respect in
which they show likeness or uniformity. There is one point in which
they resemble one another; and, what is more, that point is the
leading feature in all of them; they all centre round sacrifice. It is
with sacrifice, or by m