Virg. Æneid. 4.
That which gave occasion to perpetuate the Fire in Pagan Temples, might be from the perpetual Fire kept in the Temple at Jerusalem, which descended from Heaven upon the first Victims sacrificed by Aaron and his Son. Hence the Vestals were appointed express, to keep up the sacred Fire of the Romans.
The Kings of Persia never went abroad without having some Portion of the sacred Fire carried before them: The Historian giving an Account of the March of Darius’s Army,—says, that they carried Fire upon Altars of Silver, in great Ceremony,—that they had it in great Veneration, calling it the sacred and eternal Fire, and that the Magi came after, singing Hymns according to the Persian Mode[[385]].
[385]. Quint. Curtius, lib. 1. Hyde de Pers. Relig. c. iii. p. 69.
God appear’d to Moses under the Form of a Fire burning in a Bush. The Camp of Israel in the Wilderness was conducted in the Night by a Pillar of Fire. Now God having made several Revelations of himself, under the Appearance of Fire, might give occasion to the Chaldeans and Persians to entertain such enormous Veneration for Fire, which is a Symbol of the Deity: The Lord thy God, says Moses, is a consuming Fire. At their high Solemnities they set several Trees (hung with diverse Sorts of Beasts for Sacrifice) on fire; this they did after they had carried about these Fires in Procession.
I Shall add here, a remarkable Contest that happen’d between the Chaldean and Egyptian Priests about the Superiority of their Gods.... In the time of Constantine the Chaldean Priests, to prove that Fire, which was their God, excell’d all other Gods in Power, travell’d over the Earth, carrying Fire with them, which soon consum’d all the Statues and Images of other Gods; whether of Brass, Silver, Stone or Wood, says Suidas[[386]], who gives a large Account of it, under the Word κανωπος. At length coming into Egypt, and making this Challenge; the Egyptian Priests agreed upon a Battle of the Gods, and immediately brought into the Field one of their Idols, which was a large Statue of Nilus, full of Water, and full of little Holes, which they stopt with Wax not discernable, and so artificially, that the Water was kept in.
[386]. Vol. I. pag. 1368.
The Chaldeans (not aware of this Device) begun the Action, with much Assurance, and with Eagerness put Fire around the Egyptian Statue, which soon melted the invisible Wax, and the Water gushing forth from all Parts, immediately put out the Fire, and drown’d the hitherto invincible Deity of the Persians; the Tragedy ended in a triumphant Shout of Laughter among the Spectators: And I might add[[387]] how the Arabians and Indians, Peruvians, Lithuanians, and Vandals worship’d Vegetables,—the Scythians Iron. Trees and Plants have been made Gods. Leeks and Onions were Deities in Egypt. The ancient Gauls and Britons bore a particular Devotion to the Oak; from which their Priests took their Names. Ceres and Proserpina, worship’d by the Ancients, were no other than Wheat, Corn, Seed.—The Syrians and Egyptians ador’d Fishes. What were Tritons, Nereids, Syrens, but Sea-Gods? Insects, as Flies, and Ants, had their Priests and Votaries: Yea, Minerals were erected into Deities. The Finlanders ador’d Stones. I don’t see what can be said for such an Instance of Stupidity. To say the Practice took its rise from Abram’s anointing the Stone that he made use of for a Pillow, when he went to Mesopotamia, does not lessen the Reproach. The Mahometans think that Jacob’s Stone was convey’d to the Temple at Jerusalem; and is still there in a Mosque or Turkish Temple, where the Temple at Jerusalem stood before the final Desolation. The monstrous Stupidity of Pagans in their Devotions will further appear in the Close of this Performance.
[387]. Ruffin. Hist. Ecclesiastica, lib. 2. Stanley’s Lives of the Philosophers, part 16. chap. 8. page 28.
Now among all these Instances of Idolatry, the Adoration of the Sun was the most excusable; for, who can behold that stupendous Globe of Fire and Light in perpetual Motion, Splendor, and universal Usefulness to Mankind, without awful Admiration, and warm Emotions of Mind? No wonder then to find that it has been the Object of Adoration so long, and in so many Places. It was the Sun very probably that was worship’d by the Phenicians under the Name of Baal, by the Moabites under the Name of Chemosh, by the Ammonites under the Name of Moloch; by the degenerated Israelites by the Name of Baal, the King of the Host of Heaven, to whom they join’d the Moon, whom they called Astarta or Queen of Heaven.