בס"ד
Vol. X. No. 2 Iyar 5612 May 1852 |
<<87>> |
Bible Truths. |
By S. S. No. V. The grand distinctive characteristic between the religion revealed at Sinai and other creeds, was the want of a mystery. The simple truth of a Sole First Cause could be made manifest to the understanding of a child. Nature proclaimed Him wise and good, omniscient and all-powerful; there could be no degradation in a being who was conscious of his own weakness—who saw that his mind could not penetrate beyond the present moment, in obeying the laws laid down for his guidance, especially as these laws guarded his life, his liberty, and his moral and social position. Other religions, on the contrary, only existed through the <<87>> mysteries that their priesthood threw around them. The neophyte could only enter the inner temple by passing through various degrees of initiation, each often of a painful nature and protracted duration; and if he found when, on mastering the last and greatest mystery, he was admitted beyond the veil of the temple of the so-called god, the whole system one great delusion, a mass of cunning falsehoods, what did it matter? It gave him power, it raised him above his fellow-men; and, taking advantage of the feelings of fear and credulity that exist, to a certain degree, in the minds of all, he wove for them garments of superstition, which, like those described in the tales of the East, could expand or contract to suit the capacity of him who put them on. Under such systems of religion no personal rights were safe, because there was no written law accessible to the public at large; for it rested with the priesthood and the government to define what were the rights of man. Man, himself, was a willing slave; for, however gross was the rite which superstition bid him perform, his credulity inspired him with the belief that he was only obeying the will of the gods. And to carry on the delusion still more effectually, the minds of the common people were dazzled with the magnificent pageantry of the heathen worship. The splendid temples, upon which were concentrated the whole wealth and genius of a nation, seemed scarcely the work of human hands. The mine and the quarry lent their aid to increase the magnificent displays, whilst the vastness of the structure, and the solemn silence which reigned within, impressed upon the misled imaginations of the people an awe, which invested the works of man, the creation of the chisel, with attributes belonging alone to an Eternal Being. Nor was the more poetical
mythology of the Greeks less indebted to the genius
of the age for its adornment. With them the learned
were not all priests, and philosophers laughed
composedly at the idea, that the displeasure of an
image, made of marble, of ivory, and gold, was to be
dreaded, or its favour sought after. But they felt
that superstition was an arm without which the
common people could not be held in check. Any
religion was better than none; and, as they knew of
no one more <<88>> elegant than that which they
found established, they did not interfere in its
details, or fail to bestow upon it their respect in
public. The history of the model republics of The law promulgated at Sinai
was of a twofold nature. Its object was to teach man
his duties towards God and towards himself; and
differing from all other charters, it was a
voluntary compact entered into between the Creator
and the creatures of his hand. It simply required
the love of The civil laws were so just in their details that the rich and the poor were equally secure of their rights, and so well adapted to the wants of society, that even modern jurisprudence is based upon those statutes, without which civilized society could scarcely exist, and which are as applicable to the state of modern nations as they were to the times of Moses and the prophets. |