[X] [Divine] Speak up for the idea (+1 Religious Authority, other effects)
Alright so why would anyone pick this you say, it's obviously filthy divine right you may think, it will lead to a new kind of lobbying you may say. But consider this.
1- having the position of King be linked to the divine provides an opening for the king in religious matters, and a foot in the temple door is a bloody must for any self respecting monarch as it allows him to legitimately leverage and use religious authority. As well as regulate/keep tabs on /guide the development of clergy.
2- links to the divine would enhance the Legitimacy and Prestige of the position, but most importantly, it will create a further incentive and pressure the king into acting in a manner befitting the role. Making abuse less likely.
3- by having the position of divine kingship be by consensus and dependant on needs, the linkage means that mortal kingship is too based on needs and consensus (this solidifies the position of King as non hereditary and open)
4- by having Kings with divine Patronage, it means that Kings need find this divine patron, currently most of the ruling elite come for warrior families and a few trade and craft families. Thus the system of divine Patronage would make former political non entities into powers of note. Thus the Gods of farming, crafts and entertainment and thier devotees become both people you need to consider when making policy.
5- by linking the mundane with the divine, and especially linking humans to divinity, this opens up philosophy and proper theology. Everything from ethics, morality, existintialisim, sociology, the meaning of life, the meaning of meaning and political theory and so on.
6- this links into 2. A king must please his divine patron, this would mean bursts and rapid development in whatever fields pleases the gods for each generation, it would also solidify the culture of the people as non marital farmers, traders and craftsmen. Since the vast majority of the people are farmers, whilst the city folk are tradesmen and labourers and merchants, thus the influence of the warrior elites would dramatically drop as the non martial gods become more important.
7- this ties to 5, the concept of divine societal equity would have very interesting ramifications on mortal society.
8- it will net us dominant pilgrimage
And finally keep in mind that this is pure guessing and speculation, I've studied my history and theology, but this is a a work of fiction and anything is possible. And it may well be that am overthinking it or blatantly misunderstood the whole thing.
Also from the theology-philosophy angle, the complete opposite conclusion to my guess could be the actual development, this happend with the Buddhists afterall(egalitarian theology, but extremely stratified and hierarchal society) , but I see that as extremely unlikely in the ymir case.
And
@McLuvin :
As for the development of the Lord by amalgamation, well its possible, but it's flat out impossible to guess how that would develop or how it would end, if it ever begins that is. Historical monotheistic religions where, and still are, the greatest monuments to human intellect and ingenuity in existence, the sheer breadth and size of the theology, philosophy, literature, poetry, art, politics and economics incorporated into the religions is staggering. It is the consolidated soul of entire civilizations . It's bloody impossible to guess at creating or even developing such things.
(and before you ask, no the main holy books, remarkable as they are, are but pamphlets when compared to the literal millions of tomes written around it, the whole idea that a religion is but a holy book or concept of singular divinity is beyond reductionist (unless you're a heretic, in which case it's legit))
