PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
P. 26.—“Benignus,” be-nig´nus. The benign; generous.
“Contumax,” con-tu´max. The rebellious; stubborn.
P. 29.—“Theomisey,” the-om´is-ey. The author has coined the term from the Greek words for “God” and “Hate,” and it means a hatred of God.
P. 32.—“Factitious,” fak-tish´us. Factitious ideas are those which have been formed by the thinker, and are opposed to those which are simple and natural; conventional, artificial.
P. 37.—“Criterion,” cri-te´ri-on. A rule or test by which actions, facts and judgments are tried.
P. 38.—“Scythians.” The inhabitants of Scythia, a country whose borders were never distinctly defined. As described by Herodotus it included parts of eastern Europe and western Asia, its southern boundary being a portion of the Black Sea. Scythia was afterward the name given to a section of Asia north of the Oxus.
“Northmen.” The Scandinavian tribes, or the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians.
P. 39—“Pope.” (1688-1744.) An English poet. From early boyhood he was a student and writer. At thirteen he began a course of self-education, and at twelve wrote his “Ode to Solitude.” The “Pastorals,” his first published work, placed him at twenty-one among the first poets of his time, and introduced him to literary circles. In 1711 his “Essay on Criticism” appeared, and soon after the “Rape of the Lock.” Pope’s translation of the Iliad was the first of his works which was a financial success. In 1725 he edited an edition of Shakspere, and in 1728 produced “The Dunciad,” an attack on various contemporaneous scribblers. Of his other writings the “Moral Essays” are best known. Pope was never married. He was a little, weakly man, critical, narrow, vain, and often untruthful, but withal generous, clear-minded, and true to his friends.
P. 40.—“Fane.” A place dedicated to some deity; hence a place dedicated for worship.
P. 41.—“Republic.” A work of Plato’s, in which he sets forth his ideas of an ideal commonwealth. It treats of both Church and State, but is impracticable for the existing conditions of society.
P. 42.—“Petronius,” pe-tro´ni-us. The period at which he lived is uncertain, but he probably belonged to the age of the Emperor Nero. (A. D. 37-68.) The work here quoted describes the adventures of several young and dissipated men in southern Italy. Only fragments of it remain.
P. 42.—“Seneca.” See C. L. S. C. Notes in The Chautauquan for November.
P. 43.—“Bengal,” ben-gawl´. One of the ten political provinces of India. It is in the extreme east of the peninsula, and includes the regions lying about the mouth of the Ganges and Bramapootra rivers, and the adjacent hill regions.
“Medhurst.” (1796-1857.) An English missionary who spent most of his life in Java and China. Of the latter country and its people he wrote much. He translated the Bible into Chinese, beside publishing the “Chinese Repository,” a “Chinese and English Dictionary,” etc. “China, its Fate and Prospects,” is still a book of high authority.
“Buddha,” bŏod´da. The name not of a particular teacher, but of a class of deified teachers among the Buddhists. Great numbers of them have appeared at different times as saviors of the race. The Buddha of the present period is called Sākyamuni.
“Kalè,” ka´lee. The name of one of the many forms of Doorgā, a terrible goddess, so popularly and variously worshiped in Hindoostan. The goddess assumed the name Kalè on the occasion of a battle with a thousand-headed giant-demigod whom she slew. Her most common image is that of a black, or very dark colored woman, with four arms, the upper left arm holding a cimeter, the lower left a human head by the hair. Around her waist as a covering she wears a string of bloody human hands, with an immense necklace of human skulls reaching below the knees. Kalè is a female Satan, a most sanguinary goddess, and as terrible as anything the imagination can picture. The ceremonies of her worship require the sacrifice of animals and human beings, and are in keeping with the terrible character they adore.
P. 44.—“Apotheosis,” a-po-the´o-sis. To place among the gods; to deify.
P. 46.—“Numa.” The first king of the Romans. His time is uncertain. He was selected from among the Sabines, after the death of Romulus, and introduced many valuable institutions and laws.
“Augustan Age.” That period in which the Roman mind reached its highest point of culture and activity. Cicero, Ovid, Virgil, Horace, and many others adorned this period. It was called Augustan from Augustus Cæsar, the reigning emperor.
“Jahn,” Otto. (1813-1869.) A German philologist. He studied in the best schools of Europe and held professorships in various universities. He was very liberal in his views, and became famous as an archæologist and philologist. Among his works are editions of Latin classics, a life of Mozart, essays on art, and various miscellaneous papers.
P. 47.—“Allegories.” That is, that the teachings concerning the gods were figurative stories, explaining the facts of human nature and the mysteries of the external world.
“Dionysius.” See Notes in The Chautauquan for October.
“Tholuck,” to´lŏok. Friedrich August Gottreu. (1799-1877.) A German theologian, educated in Berlin, and afterward a professor there. He was transferred to Halle in 1826, where he spent the rest of his life. An eminent Christian, his doctrine at first met with opposition from the rationalism of the university, but changed the views of the majority of the faculty. He left eleven volumes on theology and philosophy.
P. 50.—“Chaotic,” ka-ot´ic. Confused, disordered; like chaos.
P. 53.—“Consanguinity,” kŏn´san-gwīn´i-ty.
P. 56.—“Attrition,” at-trish´un. Wearing away, produced by constant friction.
P. 57.—“Conservator,” con´ser-va´tor. A keeper, preserver.
“Tabularasa.” A blank tablet.
“Concatenation,” con-căt´e-nā´tion. A series of connected events, depending upon one another.
P. 62.—“Concomitant,” con-com´i-tant. A companion; a person or thing connected with another.
“Swedenborg.” (1688-1772.) A native of Sweden educated at Upsal. For several years after leaving the university he was engaged in literary work. Having been appointed Assessor of the College of Mines he assisted the king, Charles XII., in his military operations, until after the death of the latter. His life was spent in scientific pursuits until 1745, when he claimed to have been called of God to reveal a new system of truth. The remainder of his life was spent in work upon the books which explained this system. Briefly, he claimed: One God, revealed to man through Christ; a trinity of principles, not persons; a redemption produced not by vicarious suffering, but by the conquest of the powers of hell; this victory restored to man his spiritual freedom, and gave him an opportunity to work out his salvation; the necessary features of religion are faith and an avoidance of sin. He claimed to reveal a new church—the New Jerusalem of Rev. xxi:ii—and his followers call themselves members of the “New Jerusalem.” His teachings concerning the future world are to be found in “Heaven and Hell,” and his theology is explained in “True Christian Religion.” Swedenborg claimed his writings to have been revealed in communications with the spirit world, and to the last affirmed his own honesty.
“Irvine,” Edward. (1792-1834.) A Scottish minister educated at Edinburgh, and in 1822 ordained to preach. Having been called to a small church in London he soon attracted, by his eloquence, an immense congregation of the nobility, the learned, and famous. Soon a new church was built for him. In 1825 he began to preach the second advent of Christ as a near event, and also to teach that the nature of Christ was one with ours, even in its infirmities and liabilities to sin, a doctrine which led to much controversy. In 1830 it was reported that supernatural phenomena were taking place in parts of Scotland. Irvine became convinced that the manifestations were divine. Soon after they appeared in his congregation and he published an account of them in Fraser’s Magazine. As a result he lost his popularity, was driven from his church, and set aside by the Scottish presbytery. Irvine’s followers obtained a place of worship and established what is now known as the Catholic Apostolic Church. Irvine claimed to have received ordination from the spirit to preach to this body, and was made bishop, a position he held until his death.
“Elymas,” el´y-mas. See Acts xiii; 6-7-8.
“Smith,” Joseph. (1805-1844.) The founder of the Mormons. He first attracted attention by his “Book of the Mormons,” which he pretended to have discovered and translated under angelic guidance. He founded a church at Manchester, N. Y., which was soon moved to Kirtland, Ohio, thence to Missouri, where the conduct of the leaders so incensed the public that they were driven from the country. Smith next located his band in Illinois, but attempting to introduce polygamy as a revealed doctrine, the outraged inhabitants revolted, and in the raid Smith was killed.
P. 67.—“Beelzebub.” The name of the supreme god among all the Syro-Phœnician peoples was Baal, i. e., lord, or owner; and by adding to it zebub, insect, the proper name Baalzebub was formed; the fly-god, the averter of insects.
P. 68.—“Typhon.” In Egyptian mythology Typhon (or Set) was the manifestation of the abstract principle of evil, and at first equally honored with Osiris, the principle of good. Afterward he became the god of sin, and so was at war with Osiris, and an enemy of men. It is said that in the tenth dynasty the priesthood, fearing that Typhon was going to conquer in the conquest between good and evil, obtained a royal decree, ratified by sacerdotal order, to banish him out of Egypt.
“Serapis,” ser-a´pis. The worship of Serapis prevailed in the time of the Ptolemies. It is fabled that in the contest of Typhon and Osiris the latter was slain. He returned to earth in a second existence as the god Serapis. The name is thought to be a compound of Osiris and Apis, the soul of the former having entered the body of the bull. The worship of Serapis continued in Egypt long after the Christian era, and was even introduced into Italy.
P. 69.—“Isis.” Isis and Osiris were the only gods worshiped by all the Egyptians. Isis was represented as the wife of Osiris, and with him, one of the great benefactors of the people, he having introduced the plow, and she having taught them how to cultivate grain. As the Greeks influenced somewhat the religion of Egypt, she became the goddess of the moon. The worship of Isis was introduced into Italy in the first century, A. D., and a fine temple built to her at Rome. The ruins of a temple of Isis have been unearthed at Pompeii. In works of art she is represented with the face of Juno, wearing a long tunic, a lotus flower on her head, and in her hand the peculiar Egyptian musical instrument called the sistrum.
“Osiris,” o-si´ris. The husband of Isis. He was called “the king of life,” “the king of gods,” and “ruler of eternity.” He introduced civilization among the Egyptians and traveled through many countries, helping the people. He was murdered by Typhon, his brother, and his body thrown into the river Nile. He is represented as having a human form, and always the head of a man. He is colored green, as the god of vivification. His sacred symbols are the evergreen, the tamarisk, and a sort of Ibis with two long plumes at the back of the head.
P. 89.—“Succinctly,” suc-sinct´ly. Briefly, concisely.
P. 99.—“Periphrasis,” pe-riph´ra-sis. A periphrase; several words used to express an idea; a circumlocution.
P. 107.—“Holocaust,” hol´o-caust. A burnt offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire.
P. 138.—“Poarch.” The disciples of the poarch were the stoics, or followers of Zeno. See notes in The Chautauquan for November.
“Academy.” The disciples of Plato, who taught in a garden near the academy.
P. 149.—“Tacitus.” See notes in The Chautauquan for October.
“Pliny.” See notes in The Chautauquan for November.
P. 148.—“Dulia,” dū´li-a. The word comes from the Greek word for slave, and is applied to the worship of an inferior being, as of the saints.
“Juggernaut,” jŭg´ger-naut´. Meaning in Hindoo the lord of the world. One of the most popular of Hindoo idols. His temple is at a town on the Bay of Bengal, and the shrine is considered the most holy in Hindostan. At least one million of people visit there every year. The temple contains several idols. The great festival of Juggernaut occurs in March of each year. The idol is taken from the temple on a ponderous wheeled platform, and is drawn by a crowd of men and women. It is said that votaries in their excitement have cast themselves under the wheels and been crushed, but this has not occurred for several years.
