SPECIAL TEXT: "And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." Ezekiel xxxvi:23.
NOTES.
1. Early Corruption of the Doctrine of Deity: Believing that the knowledge of God in this world, started with the information which Adam brought with him through the fall, from Eden (See Lesson I, this Book), and with the revelations given in his day, it is believed by the writer that all traditions and conceptions of God which afterwards obtained in very ancient nations were influenced more or less by that knowledge; and that in so far as confusion, mystery and idolatry respecting the being and character of God existed among those nations, it resulted from the early apostasy of men in ancient times from God. On this head the late President John Taylor held the following strong views:
"It is an important fact, holding good of other ancient civilizations as well as that of Egypt, that the farther we trace back their religious beliefs and mythologies, the purer does the creed become, the nearer it approaches to heavenly truth, and the stronger and more evident are the traces of gospel teachings. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that paganism had its origin in the revelations of heaven, from which, in its various diverse branches, it had turned and strayed, and by gradual growth, had become the vile, inconsistent, degrading and loathsome system which is abhorred by all pure-minded, honorable and intelligent people. Had the various forms of ancient, dominant, pagan worship been radically and entirely different, with only those features in common that could reasonably be attributed to accident or the inter-communication of races, the inference would be strong that they had different origins; but when, as is the case, there is a strong family likeness, and that likeness grows stronger the further it is traced back, and continually points to a common parentage, and that parentage is the truth as taught by the early patriarchs and inspired servants of heaven, our conclusions must necessarily be that these correct and God-given teachings were the source from whence the whole sprang, and the differences in development arose from the varied incidents in the history, and the peculiar surroundings of the various races that gave a local hue and tinge to their forms of belief." (Mediation and Atonement, pp. 196-7).
2. On the Great Diversity of Beliefs in God: "A great diversity of religious opinions has prevailed in the world, and different forms of ceremonies have been and still are observed. The religious notions and practices of mankind early diverged from one another,—the 'sons of men' were soon distinguished from 'the sons of God,' the impious from the holy,—and notwithstanding the purgation of the world by a flood, and the subsequent re-establishment of one common faith no sooner did the earth begin to be peopled again, than a diversity of religions took place, each nation and tribe embracing some peculiarity of its own. Such has been the fact, through all the intervening periods of history, to the present day. Each distinct portion of the human family, especially its larger divisions, has had its separate religious dogmas and practices, ranging from pure theism to the grossest idolatry." (Burder's History of All Religions, Introduction, p. 9).
3. On The Cause of Departure From True Conceptions of God: After determining, by extended discussion, that the great diversity in men's beliefs respecting God does not arise from chance, nor external circumstances, nor from any necessity arising from the nature of man's mind, nor from the want of revelation, William Burder, in his great work on the "History of All Religions," finds the true cause of man's departure from the knowledge of God in the radical depravity of the human heart. "Is not that the true cause?" he inquiries. "It seems to us that it can be resolved into no other. Of the depravity of the human heart we are not permitted to doubt, in view of the decisions of the Bible and the results of observation. This, existing and reigning in all men, by nature, would readily dispose them to a diversity of religious views and practices, or rather irreligion under various names. It would readily dispose them to depart from the true belief, and to cast off the restraints of the divine authority. They would be prone to invent many schemes and devices with a view to appease an upbraiding conscience, and to gratify that ceaseless love of novelty, which characterizes the human mind. Except in those in whom the effects of depravity are counteracted by divine grace, there would exist a continual propensity to depart from God and his institutions—to lose sight of religious truth, and become involved in gross darkness and superstition. In such a state, the mind is prepared for every absurdity—
'Nations ignorant of God, contrive
A wooden one.'
"Hence have arisen the altars and demons of heathen antiquity, their extravagant fictions, and abominable orgies. Hence we find among the Babylonians and Arabians the adoration of the heavenly bodies, the earliest form of idolatry; among the Canaanites and Syrians, the worship of Baal, Tammuz, Magog and Astarte; among the Phoenicians, the immolation of children to Moloch; among the Egyptians divine honors bestowed on animals, birds, insects, leeks, and onions; among the Persians, religious reverence offered to fire; and among the polished Greeks, the recognition in their system of faith of thirty thousand Gods." (Burder's History of All Religions, p. 12).
4. Babylonia and Assyria: "These were the two great Eastern empires before which all the old states of Syria and Palestine fell. We learn their history partly from the Bible narrative, and also from contemporary monuments written in cuneiform characters and recently deciphered.
"Babylonia or Shinar (Gen. 10:10) is the alluvial country on the lower course of the Euphrates and Tigris, of which Babel or Babylon [the same] was the chief city. Assyria, or Asshur, occupied the Tigris valley to the north of Babylonia. Its center lay on the left bank of the Tigris, where the great city of Nineveh stood, opposite Mosul. Babylon and Nineveh were long rivals, but they had a common civilization, of which the southern alluvium was the original home. Their language was Semitic, but in the southern country the Semites seem to have been preceded by another race from whom they acquired many things in their culture and religion, and to whom the origin of their peculiar cuneiform system of writing is generally ascribed. In process of time Assyria became the stronger power, and after the Egyptians retired from Mesopotamia, it began to push forth beyond its original limits." (Cambridge Bible Dictionary—70's Bible—p. 14).