came Monotheism, concentrating still further the
theological explanation of the universe, but rendering it still more
incoherent and irrational, for "the conception of a single God involves
a type of absolute perfection complete in each of the three aspects of
human nature, affection, thought, and action. Now such a conception
unavoidably contradicts itself, for either this all-powerful Being must
be inferior to ourselves, morally or intellectually, or else the world
which he created must be free from those radical imperfections which, in
spite of Monotheistic sophistry, have been always but too evident. And
even were this second alternative admissible, there would remain a yet
deeper inconsistency. Man's moral and mental faculties have for their
object to subserve practical necessities, but an omnipotent Being can
have no occasion either for wisdom or for goodness."[31]

What reconciles mankind, and especially the leaders of mankind, to these
intellectually unsatisfactory conceptions of God, is their practical
value in extending and strengthening the social bond. Polytheism was
superior to Fetichism, because it lent itself to the formation of that
wider community, which we call the State, whereas Fetichism tended
rather to confine the sympathies of men to the narrower limits of the
family. And Monotheism was the necessary basis of that still wider
society which binds men to each other simply as men, and apart from any
special ties of blood or language. This at least was the case so long as
the truth of the unity of humanity had not yet assumed a scientific
form, and therefore still needed an external support. But when the
sciences of sociology and morals arise, this external scaffolding ceases
to be necessary, and must even become injurious, as, indeed, Theology
was from the first imperfectly adapted to the social end it was made to
subserve.

This last point deserves special attention. According to Comte,
Theology, and above all Monotheistic Theology, is a system whose direct
influence is altogether unfavourable to the social tendencies, although
indirectly, by the course of history, and through the wise modifications
to which it has been subjected by the leaders and teachers of mankind,
it has become the main instrument in developing altruism. The increasing
generality of theological belief, indeed, was a necessary condition of
the establishment of social unity; but, by directing the eyes of men not
to themselves,