CHAPTER III
KILLING THE GOD
“Sed adhuc supersunt aliae superstitiones, quarum secreta pandenda sunt, . . . ut et in istis profanis religionibus sciatis mortes esse hominum consecratas.”—Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanarum religionum, c. 6.
§ 1.—Killing the divine king
Lacking the idea of eternal duration primitive man naturally supposes the gods to be mortal like himself. The Greenlanders believed that a wind could kill their most powerful god, and that he would certainly die if he touched a dog. When they heard of the Christian God, they kept asking if he never died, and being informed that he did not, they were much surprised and said that he must be a very great god indeed.[1] In answer to the inquiries of Colonel Dodge, a North American Indian stated that the world was made by the Great Spirit. Being asked which Great Spirit he meant, the good one or the bad one, “Oh, neither of them.” replied he, “the Great Spirit that made the world is dead long ago. He could not possibly have lived as long as this.”[2] A tribe in the Philippine Islands told the Spanish conquerors that the grave of
