which destroyed vermin, as the cat, they were declared holy and inviolable, and he who designedly killed one of these sacred animals was punished with death.*

The Egyptians believed in one supreme God. They held that this unity, as an all-pervading life, pervaded in a greater or less degree all the creations of the deity. All the subordinate, inferior, generated divinities were but the agents and ministers of the one God over all.†

There can be no question as to the fundamentally monotheistic character of the ancient Median or Iranian religion. Its real character is portrayed in those sections of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced to be the most ancient; written, probably, B. C. 2000. It is a revolt against nature-worship, and it asserts, as against polytheism, the existence of a single being as the source of all good, and the proper object of the highest worship. At the head of all intelligences is the great Intelligence, Ahura-mazda, the true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe. Does it seek for a symbol of this Intelligence, it is all-pervading light.

Finally, it hardly need be said that the Hindus have one emphatically Supreme Being, Brahme, (neuter,) the Great One. When he creates he becomes Brahma, (masculine ;) when he manifests himself by the operation of his divine Spirit he is Vishnu, the Pervader; when he destroys he is Siva, "the Great God," as Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, which last name, says Sir Wm. Jones, " means the regenerator of that which only changes form." Does this system seek for a typical conception, it is found in mind or spirit. Brahm is the Supreme mind.

2. The second stage in the religious development of humanity is characterized by the recognition and worship of God in Providence. Under this we include the Patriarchal religion, as the divine side of the history of humanity; and on the human side the ancient Chinese, the Assyrian, the Pelasgic, and the Persian religions, five in all.

The Patriarchal religion we regard as the type of all the rest. In its doctrinal aspects it is well represented in the Book of Job, which is, in reality, a discourse on divine providence. In its historical and practical aspects it is exhibited in the biog* "Euterpe," c. lxv. See Rawlinson's "Herodotus," App. to bk. ii, c. iii.

raphies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, which are best characterized as an exhibition of the direct providential government and guidance of men. God is seen coming into immediate intercourse with the patriarchs as the priests and rulers of the Hebrew race.

The other four religions which synchronize with this partake of the same characteristics. The ancient Chinese (which must be distinguished from the religion of Confucius) is to be studied in the most ancient and canonical books known, as "The Five Kings" and "The Four Shoo," and which date back, at least, to the call of Abraham.

The name by which God is designated in "The Five Kings" is that of Ruler-the Supreme Ruler. "By him kings were supposed to reign, and princes were required to decree justice. All were under law to him, and bound to obey his will. Even on the inferior people he has conferred a moral sense, compliance with which would show their nature invariably right. All powers that be are from him. He raises one to the throne, and puts down another. Obedience is sure to receive his blessing, disobedience to be visited with his curse. The business of kings is to rule in righteousness and benevolence, so that the people may be happy and good. . . . When they are doing wrong God admonishes them by judgments, such as storms, famine, and other calamities. If they persist in evil, sentence goes forth against them. The dominion is taken from them, and given to others more worthy than they."*

At the head of the Assyrian Pantheon stood "the great god" Asshur. His usual titles are "the great Lord," "the King of all the gods," "he who rules supreme over the gods." "He places the monarchs upon their thrones, firmly establishes them in government, lengthens the years of their reign, preserves their power, protects their forts and armies, makes their name celebrated, and the like." "This exalted deity continued from first to last the main object of worship." +

I need scarcely to say of the Pelasgic Zeus that he was the Supreme God, the true God, and indeed the only God. He was the Father of gods and men, the monarch and ruler of the

* Loomis, "Confucius and Chinese Classics," p. 33.
Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii, pp. 2, 3.
Müller, "Science of Language," p. 457, second series.

world, and especially the god of providence, "who hates cruel deeds, but honors justice and the righteous works of men,' and in whom the sons of men in their deepest distress and danger may trust and be conforted :

"Courage, courage my child!

There is still in heaven the great Zeus;

He watches over all things, and he rules.
Commit thy exceeding grief to him,

And be not angry against thine enemies,
Nor forget them.†

The main feature of the Persian religion during this period was the acknowledgment and worship of a single supreme God" the Lord God of heaven," the disposer of thrones, the God of providence, the hearer of prayer. All the Persian monarchs rule "by the grace of Ormazd." His law is "the rule of life." His protection is the one priceless blessing for which prayer is perpetually offered. I do not dwell on this point, for all Bible readers are familiar with the decree of Cyrus, king of Persia: "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth." This is the oft-recurring formula of "the inscriptions."

3. The third step in the religious development of the human race is characterized by the acknowledgment and worship of God in man, that is, God manifested in conscience and in moral law. Under this is embraced Mosaism, as the divine side of the history of humanity, and on the more human side Buddhism, the system of Confucius, and the Grecian and Roman religions.

The Judaic monotheism is essentially moral. Of course, as a national religion, it has several progressive phases, from the worship of God as the Divine King, (theocracy,) to the worship of God in more personal relations as a friend, (the Davidic kingdom,) and onward to the Messianic hopes of the Prophetic age, (the spiritual kingdom of God.) But under all these phases the predominant element is the moral relation of the individual soul to God. Its revealed code answers to what Plutarch calls "the common sentiments" of mankind. We may take the Decalogue and trace its transcription upon the soul of man. Its ritual was designed to develop in the minds of the * Od., xiv, 83. "Electra." v. 188.

people the idea of holiness. Its most emphatic designation, as a dispensation, is "the law."

..

The central idea of Buddhism is, that the law of duty is revealed in the individual nature of man. "He whose knowledge is deep, who possesses wisdom, who knows the right way from the wrong" "He from whom anger and hatred, pride and envy, have dropped like a mustard-seed from the point of an awl, him I call indeed a Brahmana," says Gotama in "The Path of Virtue." Nothing need be said of the system of Confucius. Its five "constant virtues" are benevolence, righteousness, politeness, wisdom, sincerity. It inculcates reverence for parents, for the aged, and for the rulers. And it says, "Do not to others what you would not have others do to you."

The Grecian religion, as exhibited in the dramas of Eschylus and Sophocles, enthrones the conscience. The Greek tragedians were the great religious instructors of the Athenian people, and, strange as it might sound to modern ears, the Greek stage was the Greek pulpit, (pulpitum, a stage.) No writers of pagan antiquity make the voice of conscience speak with such power and authority. None have ever spoken with a nobler eloquence of moral obligation of "the immortal and inflexible law in which dwells a God."

"O be the lot forever mine,

Unsullied to maintain,

-

In act and word, with awe divine,

What potent laws ordain."*

Of the Roman religion we may briefly remark that "the supreme god of Rome was law-law which expanded into a generous jurisprudence, by which the great Roman Empire, with all its variety of races, creeds, and manners, was for ages harmoniously and equitably governed; a jurisprudence which has been incorporated into the particular legal systems of every modern nation of Christendom.

Thus, through the ages, we find a gradual purifying aud spiritualizing of the idea of God; an awakening and enthronement of conscience, and the elevation and purification of the moral idea; an arousing in man of the consciousness of guilt, and the need of a mediator; and, finally, the deepening of the conviction of helplessness and hopelessness, without divine aid. * Sophocles.

So that the words of Plato have a mournful sadness: "To restore the lost image of the good, to regain this primitive form, is not the work of man, but of God. Virtue is the gift of God. Man needs an education which is divine. If he is ever saved from the common wreck, it must be by the special favor of Heaven!" The office of the law is not fulfilled. It has been a" pedagogue" to bring the nations to the recognition of God in Christ as a Redeemer from sin, and the need of a sanctifying Spirit.

The following Scheme will exhibit at a glance the historical and genetic connection of the religions of the world. The chronological notes can, of course, be no more than bare approximations. We have omitted the Mohammedan because subsequent to Christianity, and simply a plagiarism on Judaism.