things?' must have been the thought of many people when Belgium and Serbia were ravaged. But to the Christian the idea can only be that of reverence for God's almighty love in every moment and aspect of life, the humble reverence that passes into worship, and prevents the strong virtues from being tainted with pride. Reverence, says Dr. McDougall, is a highly compound emotion: it is 'the religious emotion par excellence; few mere human powers are capable of exciting reverence, this blend of wonder, fear, gratitude, and negative self-feeling'.[1]
So the pietas[2] of reverence, the eusebeia,[3] is close akin to pietas in the secondary sense of Godliness. The man who reverences God in all things, and fears to thwart his will, is also the man who sees God in all things and in all the happenings of life. He is the godly man, whose whole existence is dependent on God, whose every act is shaped according to the divine purpose, whose work itself is an increasing prayer, and worship his happiest recreation.
- ↑ William McDougall, An Introduction to Social Psychology, 1915, p. 132.
- ↑ Pietas, 'conduct conformable with duty, in particular the performance of duty to gods, Gr.εὐσέβεια'; also 'piety, religiousness'.
- ↑ Εὐσέβεια , 'reverence; especially reverential love and behaviour towards the gods, Lat. pietas.' But there is a slight difference, characteristic of the two races, between reverential behaviour and the performance of duty.
