Religion had to bring a softening effect upon against the violent and bestial character of the early Romans. But for us today, Machiavelli writes, religion has to serve the opposite purpose.

宗教必须带来一种缓和效应，用以针对,早期罗马人的野蛮残忍的性格,但是对于今天的我们来说，马基雅维利写道，宗教不得不为相反的目的服务。

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选

The ritual cult of the Israelites may look like that of their neighbors but it functioned very differently; its purpose was drastically different from that of Israel's neighbors. The Israelites like their neighbors may have set up a king over themselves. But Israelite monarchy differed from Canaanite monarchy in significant ways because of their monotheism.

从祭拜仪式上看，以色列人和邻国类似,但操作起来很不一样，而目的则完全相反,以色列人可能会像邻国那样,拥立一位君主，然而受一神论的影响,以色列的君主政体和迦南地区的有明显差异。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选