"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"
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Religion, in Robertson Smith's account, runs less on creeds than on crowd control. He’s stripping ancient worship of its later theological gloss and treating myth the way a scientist would treat plumage: not the organism itself, but an adaptation that makes the organism work. Myths are "apparatus" - stagecraft, user interface, ritual tech. They decorate the sanctuary, cue emotions, and keep attention from wandering. The shock in the passage is its cool indifference to belief as a private, interior commitment. For the worshipper Smith is describing, the question is not "Is this story true?" but "Does this rite hold?"
That framing is historically pointed. Writing in the late 19th century, alongside the rise of comparative religion and anthropology, Smith is pushing back against the Protestant assumption that religion is primarily about doctrinal assent. He relocates the core of religion in practice, not propositions. "No one cared what he believed" is polemical: it rebukes modern readers who smuggle their own obsession with orthodoxy into societies organized around communal obligation and shared performance.
The subtext is almost political. If myth is instrumental, then religious authority rests on maintaining ceremonies and the social bonds they generate, not on winning arguments about origins. Smith doesn’t just demystify ancient religion; he also hints at a contemporary vulnerability: when ritual loses its grip, stories alone can’t hold a community together.
That framing is historically pointed. Writing in the late 19th century, alongside the rise of comparative religion and anthropology, Smith is pushing back against the Protestant assumption that religion is primarily about doctrinal assent. He relocates the core of religion in practice, not propositions. "No one cared what he believed" is polemical: it rebukes modern readers who smuggle their own obsession with orthodoxy into societies organized around communal obligation and shared performance.
The subtext is almost political. If myth is instrumental, then religious authority rests on maintaining ceremonies and the social bonds they generate, not on winning arguments about origins. Smith doesn’t just demystify ancient religion; he also hints at a contemporary vulnerability: when ritual loses its grip, stories alone can’t hold a community together.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
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