Sacred Annals; Or, Researches Into the History and Religion of Mankind: The gentile nations: or, The history and religion of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. 1855

PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION.

THE ORIGIN, CHARACTER, MYSTERIES AND ORACLES OF

PAGAN IDOLATRY.

KNOWLEDGE of this Subject necessary—False Religion attests the Religious Tendency of Man-Heathen Idolatry must be studied with a distinct Recognition of Satanic Influence-Necessity of admitting the Evidence of Revelation-ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY— Idolatry in postdiluvian Times arose before the Dispersion-And emanated from Babel -Was not at first a violent Introduction of Error, but a fatal Perversion of TruthElements of Truth liable to this Perversion-Plurality of Persons in one DeityPromised Incarnation-Rites of Patriarchal Worship-Man's primitive Purity and Fall-Similarity of the Adamic and Noachic Families-Hero-Worship considered as arising out of the promised Incarnation, and taking the Form of a Triad from the Great Father and his three Sons-Peculiar Case of Egypt-Animal-Worship-Folly of many Attempts to account for it-Originated in the Cherubim-Worship of material Elements -The Agency under which all this Error was evolved made apparent by the universal Worship of the Serpent Form-THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF THIS SYSTEM-It practically obliterated the essential Principle of the Divine Unity-Banished all Idea of Divine Purity-And destroyed at once the Knowledge of God, and Confidence in him— Character of Idolatrous Worship-General Admission-But the Being to whom this Worship was offered was not God-And the Service, although often grand and imposing, was generally associated with foul and filthy Abominations-THE MYSTERIES-The Theory of Warburton refuted by Leland-Conflicting Theories as to the Origin of the Mysteries-Their Object equally contested-Their Origin defined-Their Object explained-Essential Elements of Heathen Mysteries-THE ORACLES of Heathen Worship-An undoubted Privilege of Patriarchal Times to have Access unto God, and to obtain special and important Instruction by this Means--Contest between the Learned as to whether Heathen Oracles were sustained by Satanic Influence-Testimony of Scripture Judgment of the Learned on the Character and Credit of the OraclesCase of Croesus, King of Lydia, from Herodotus-The Result of the Inquiry establishes the Operation of Satanic Influence-General Observations in Conclusion.

A KNOWLEDGE of the religion of the ancient heathens is essential to a correct acquaintance with the history, the character, and the condition of this immense and interesting portion of the population of our world.

The attainment of this knowledge is, however, as difficult as it is desirable. Not only do the remoteness of the period whence the information is to be obtained, and its recondite nature, offer formidable obstacles to the prosecution of this inquiry; but, in addition to these, we have the disadvantage of exploring an almost untrodden path. The philosophy of the ancients has been laboriously investigated; the mythologies of the several

primitive nations have been elaborately detailed; early history and chro nology come before us, elucidated by the labour, learning, and genius of the greatest authors of ancient and modern times: but no writer of eminence with whose works I am acquainted, has done more than make a passing allusion, or give an incidental reference, to the religion of the ancient world, in the sense in which the term is here used.

Before entering on this investigation, it may be observed, that the religion of the heathen world is not to be regarded as any invention or wayward aberration of the human mind; much less can it be considered as the result of any combination of human circumstances. Viewed in connexion with man's fall and its consequences, it is rather the substitution of an evil which the human mind, in its darkness and obliquity, and in its unextinguished aspirations after happiness, has chosen, instead of embracing that which God has prescribed as its satisfying portion. The worship of idols attests man's capacity for the worship of God. The adoration even of material elements is one of the collateral proofs of the possession and perversion of a noble attribute, which allies man with the spiritual world, and speaks his intended intercourse with Deity. Idolatry, in the nature of things, could not have been the original exercise of the human mind in respect of worship. While, therefore, this adoration, perverted from its divine object, tends to prove the primitive purity of man, his devotional access to God, and his spiritual ruin through sin; its existence in human history exactly harmonizes with all these elements of man's early condition, and is utterly incompatible with any other supposed commencement of his subsequently devious career.

Again: the origin of idolatry will never be understood while the investigation is confined to the character of the human mind or the history of the human race, without a distinct recognition of man's exposure to Satanic influence and aggression. It might as reasonably be attempted to write a history of England while ignoring the Norman Conquest, or a system of physics without reference to gravitation, as to give a consistent and rational account of the origin of idolatry in the absence of all reference to Satan, its real author and object. It may be said, "This is unscientific and unphilosophical." But is it not in perfect accordance with the purest science, and the soundest philosophy, to apply all truth to useful purposes, and, by the judicious adaptation of ascertained principles to cognate subjects, to solve apparent mysteries, unravel difficulties, and make that clear and plain which was before confused and obscure? Why, then, should this mode of proceeding be prohibited in respect to the truths of the Holy Scriptures by those who admit their divine origin? Sceptics and infidels may decline such a method; it is their consistent habit so to do. But why should those who make the undoubted verity of God's holy word the basis of their highest hopes and dearest interests, hesitate to apply its

teaching to the great problems presented by all the aspects of the world's religion?

In the investigation of the origin and character of idolatry, this aid is essential. The moment we enter on this study, we are met by such questions as these:-"What were the origin and design of bloody sacrifices? Why were they universal, when the most profound sages were ignorant of their origin and object? Why was the form of the serpent, above every other, consecrated to supreme elevation and honour?" These and many other queries cannot be solved by any study of human nature or human history. No recondite researches into ancient mythology, no laboured exploration into the poetry or religion of the primitive nations, will afford a satisfactory answer. To understand the origin, object, and character of idolatry, we must pass beyond the twilight of mere human intelligence and induction, and, standing in the full glory of revealed truth, contemplate the primitive condition and early history of mankind. Here we learn our glorious origin, and the mighty agencies with which our nature, in the outset of its career, was brought into contact; mark the fearful change wrought in man's moral nature, and watch its terrible results, until we see him turn away from the God of his life, and bow in profane adoration before the most filthy impersonations of his foul destroyer.

In this light we see that the relentless foe of God and man did not quit his prey when covered with guilt, and involved in condemnation. It may be fairly questioned whether any crisis in the affairs of the human race stands invested with more terrible grandeur than this. Here we see that as Divine Mercy interposed the scheme of redemption for the salvation of man, the arch-foe not only opposed its principles and its progress by a wide range of malignant effort, but, in a manner at once daring and insidious, he devised idolatry, and succeeded in introducing it into the world, as a means of wresting the spiritual dominion of mankind from the Mediator-Deity, and establishing himself as "the god of this world." This was the agency under which idolatry was introduced, and rose into influence and power; and throughout its almost infinite range of development, the evil and debasing character of its author is legibly imprinted upon all its numerous deities, doctrines, rites, and religious observances.

Our limits forbid any extended proof of these statements. It may, however, be necessary to observe that the primitive progress of man in purity and religion is an undoubted doctrine of the Bible. Learned men may, indeed, persist in asserting that "fetichism, or the worship of the material elements, was the universal religion of the earliest inhabitants of the earth :" and this has been done so frequently and so confidently, that it has to a great extent been admitted by incautious and inconsiderate readers. Nothing, however, can be more opposed to the history of every primitive nation, as well as to the explicit declarations of holy writ, than this notion. It has been

already shown, that all ancient testimony proves the condition of man in the outset of his career to have been one of religion, happiness, and moral elevation. The word of God fully confirms this view, and assures us that idolatry did not arise in a season of ignorance, but when men "knew God;"--that it could not, therefore, have been a primitive religion of man, but a superinduced corruption;—that it arose not so much from intellectual obliquity as from spiritual unfaithfulness,-not so much from the influence of a debased mind as from an affectation of wisdom: for it was when men "knew God" that "they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Rom. i, 21-23. It is also declared with equal explicitness that in ancient times the heathen offered "their sacrifices unto devils." Lev. xvii, 7.

Clearly as these points are ascertained, it is not so easy to state when, and under what circumstances, this abomination arose. It has been already shown that Jewish tradition ascribes the introduction of idolatry to the days of Enos in the antediluvian period. (Patriarchal Age, pp. 235, 236.) Whatever doubt may rest on the statement of Maimonides, it must be admitted that it is so consistent in all its parts, and in such exact accordance with the general teaching of antiquity on the subject, as to stand invested with a high degree of probability of its being, at least in its main particulars, an approximation to the truth. (See Appendix, note 1.)

But whatever was the religious condition of the human race before the Deluge, it is certain that there must have been a commencement of idolatry subsequent to that event. Here we meet with one fact nearly amounting to a demonstration, that the postdiluvian origin of this evil is restricted to a comparatively short period: idolatry must have arisen before the Dispersion. "The various systems of pagan idolatry in different parts of the world correspond so closely, both in their evident purport and in numerous points of arbitrary resemblance, that they cannot have been struck out independently in the several countries where they have been established, and must all have originated from a common source. But if they all originated from a common source, then either one nation must have communicated its peculiar theology to every other people in the way of peaceful and voluntary imitation; or that same nation must have communicated it to every other people through the medium of conquest and violence; or, lastly, all nations must, in the infancy of the world, have been assembled together in a single region and in a single community,-must, at that period and in that state, have agreed to adopt the theology in question, and must thence, as from a common centre, have carried it to all quarters of the globe.

« Précédent Continuer »

Livres

Sacred Annals; Or, Researches Into the History and Religion of Mankind: The ...