[31]. Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. I. ch. viii.
[32]. Monumental History of Egypt, Vol. I. p. 37.
[33]. Josephus in another place repeats his assertion that the Greeks learned their knowledge of celestial things of the Egyptians by saying: "But then for those that first introduced philosophy, and the consideration of things celestial and divine among them [the Greeks] such as Pherecydes, the Syrian, and Pythagoras and Thales, all with one consent agree, that they learned what they knew of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and wrote but little." Josephus against Apion, Bk. I.
[34]. "Book of Abraham," Pearl of Great Price, p. 61.
CHAPTER XXX.
EVIDENCE OF DIVINE INSPIRATION IN JOSEPH SMITH DERIVED FROM THE PROPHET'S TEACHING IN REGARD TO THE EXTENT OF THE UNIVERSE, MAN'S PLACE IN IT AND HIS DOCTRINE RESPECTING THE GODS—CONCLUDED.
We are to turn now from the contemplation of the universe to consider man's place in it, and the doctrine in relation to the Gods as taught by Joseph Smith.
Whether man be viewed from the standpoint of his relationship to other animals, the beauty and majesty of his physical organism, the superiority of his intellectual endowments, or the sublimity of his spiritual aspirations, something will be found in each that argues for him a special place in the universe. It is true that many animals in their physical organism are stronger than man; some are swifter; others keener of sight or smell, and still others are of more acute hearing; but in none is there found that combination which renders man superior to them all. Which of the animals, however strong, or fierce, has he not subdued? Some yield their strength, and others their speed to serve him; others still please him with their beauty, or yield a useful product for his comfort; while all pay him homage by yielding to his sway.
Nor has man been content with obtaining dominion over the animal creation alone. Gradually he is mastering the elements and extending his dominion over all the earth. The winds and ocean currents have long been his servants; the lightning bears his messages; the element of fire is made to serve him in a thousand ways; steam propels his chariot; distance he well nigh annihilates; he weighs the earth in his balances; measures the distances of the sun and the stars, tells the substances of which they are composed and the mathematical laws by which they are governed. As one thus even partially reviews man's achievements and considers the mastery he has obtained alike over the animal creation and the forces of nature—with the poet he exclaims: "What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action, how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a God! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!"