The idolatry which followed this material mythology is seen in the Phœnician worship of Baal, in the Moabitish Gods of the heathen god Chemosh, in the Moloch of the Amorites, in the Hindoo Vishnu, in the Greek Aphrodite, and in a thousand other so-called deities.
It was also found among the Israelites, who constantly went after “strange gods.” They called the Supreme Jehovah a tribal deity Being by the national name of Jehovah. In that name of Jehovah, the true idea of God seems almost lost. God becomes “a man of war,” a tribal god to be worshipped, rather than Love, the divine Principle to be lived and loved.
Genesis ii. 7. And the Lord God [Jehovah] formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Did the divine and infinite Principle become a finite
deity, that He should now be called Jehovah? With
Creation reversed
a single command. Mind had made man,
both male and female. How then could a
material organization become the basis of man? How
could the non-intelligent become the medium of Mind,
and error be the enunciator of Truth? Matter is not
the reflection of Spirit, yet God is reflected in all His
creation. Is this addition to His creation real or
unreal? Is it the truth, or is it a lie concerning man and
God?
It must be a lie, for God presently curses the ground. Could Spirit evolve its opposite, matter, and give matter ability to sin and suffer? Is Spirit, God, injected into dust, and eventually ejected at the demand of matter? Does Spirit enter dust, and lose therein the divine nature
