Do Ut Des

The formula do ut des ("I give that you might give") expresses the reciprocity of exchange between human being and deity, reflecting the importance of gift-giving as a mutual obligation in ancient society and the contractual nature of Roman religion. The gifts offered by the human being take the form of sacrifice, with the expectation that the god will return something of value, prompting gratitude and further sacrifices in a perpetuating cycle.[184] The do ut des principle is particularly active in magic and private ritual.[185] Do ut des was also a judicial concept of contract law.[186]

In Pauline theology, do ut des was viewed as a reductive form of piety, merely a "business transaction", in contrast to God's unilateral grace (χάρις, charis).[187] Max Weber, in The Sociology of Religion, saw it as "a purely formalistic ethic."[188] In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, however, Émile Durkheim regarded the concept as not merely utilitarian, but an expression of "the mechanism of the sacrificial system itself" as "an exchange of mutually invigorating good deeds between the divinity and his faithful."[189]