>>8747177Or more clearly, greater adherence to strict rituals indicates a loss of elemental force, the divinity rising within man as a vision of his nature. The ritual acts as a vessel of return, of enclosure and resting peace along simple paths. Ritual turns towards law as the divide increases, and once the human can no longer return to simple dominion the rituals begin to take on the appearance and solemnity of funeral rites, until finally spiritual death is complete. Religion then becomes something monstrous, man attempting a cult of the dead for himself.
Monotheism is the completion of this skeletal formation, an absolute retreat from human dominion - and Christianity is its greatest achievement. God commits the total sacrifice, giving way to the domain of man in his return.