The Threshold Covenant; or, The Beginning of Religious Rites
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THE BEGINNING OF RELIGIOUS RITES
H. CLAY TRUMBULL
Author of “Kadesh-barnea,” “The Blood Covenant,”
“Studies in Oriental Social Life,” etc.
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1896
Copyright, 1896
H. CLAY TRUMBULL
This work does not treat of the origin of man’s religious faculty, or of the origin of the sentiment of religion; nor does it enter the domain of theological discussion. It simply attempts to show the beginning of religious rites, by which man evidenced a belief, however obtained, in the possibility of covenant relations between God and man; and the gradual development of those rites, with the progress of the race toward a higher degree of civilization and enlightenment. Necessarily the volume is not addressed to a popular audience, but to students in the lessons of primitive life and culture.
H. Clay Trumbull
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PREFACE.
CONTENTS.
1. A BLOOD WELCOME AT THE DOOR.
2. REVERENCE FOR THE THRESHOLD ALTAR.
3. THRESHOLD COVENANTING IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.
4. STEPPING OR BEING LIFTED ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
5. LAYING FOUNDATIONS IN BLOOD.
6. APPEALS AT THE ALTAR.
7. COVENANT TOKENS ON THE DOORWAY.
8. SYMBOL OF THE RED HAND.
9. DEITIES OF THE DOORWAY.
1. FROM HOUSE TO TEMPLE.
2. SACREDNESS OF THE DOOR.
3. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ASIA.
4. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AFRICA.
5. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN EUROPE.
6. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AMERICA.
7. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
8. ONLY ONE FOUNDATION.
1. FROM TEMPLE TO DOMAIN.
2. LOCAL LANDMARKS.
3. NATIONAL BORDERS.
4. BORDER SACRIFICES.
1. A NATURAL QUESTION.
2. AN ANSWER BY INDUCTION.
3. NO COVENANT WITHOUT BLOOD.
4. CONFIRMATION OF THIS VIEW.
1. NEW MEANING IN AN OLD RITE.
2. A WELCOME WITH BLOOD.
3. BASON, OR THRESHOLD.
4. PASS-OVER OR PASS-BY.
5. MARRIAGE OF JEHOVAH WITH ISRAEL.
1. OLD COVENANT AND NEW.
2. PROFFERED WELCOME BY THE FATHER.
3. BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE.
4. SURVIVALS OF THE RITE.
1. ELEMENTAL BEGINNINGS.
2. MAIN OUTGROWTHS
3. CHIEF PERVERSIONS.
APPENDIX.
EXHIBITING THE EVIDENCES.
SUBSTITUTE BLOOD FOR DECEPTION.
PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF THE RITE.
BIBLE TESTIMONY.
WOMAN AS A DOOR.
SYMBOLISM OF THE TWO SEXES.
SYMBOLISM OF TREE AND SERPENT.
COVENANT OF THRESHOLD-CROSSING.
DOORKEEPER, AND CARRIER.
PASSING OVER INTO A COVENANT.
ENGLAND’S CORONATION STONE.
INDEXES.
TOPICAL INDEX.
SCRIPTURAL INDEX.
FROM THE REV. DR. MARCUS JASTROW.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. HERMAN V. HILPRECHT.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. A.H. SAYCE.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. W. MAX MÜLLER.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. C.P. TIELE.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. E. WASHBURN HOPKINS.
FROM THE REV. DR. WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. JOHN P. MAHAFFY.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. WILLIAM A. LAMBERTON.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. DANIEL G. BRINTON.
FROM THE REV. DR. EDWARD T. BARTLETT.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. T.K. CHEYNE.
ADDITIONAL FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
