The religious history of man; in which religion and superstition are traced from their source

Front matter

THE

RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF MAN

IN WHICH

Preface To The First Edition

In the following pages, the nature of the instruction, in Divine things, given to mankind, at various periods, is enquired into; and the influence of that instruction, on their religious customs and opinions, traced.

Those opinions have been so various, and the modes of worship so multiform, that it would be hopeless to attempt such an enquiry within the limits of the pre¬ sent volume,—were it to be accompanied by an analysis, or even an outline, of each system of faith, or form of devotion, which has had its day, of adoption and of rejection, in the world.

Amidst that variety, however, an intercommunity of thought has been observed, which can be accounted for by none of the ordinary causes that regulate human affairs. Much learning, often with eminent success, has been employed in tracing that coincidence; but such researches have, generally, been directed to insulat¬ ed parts of the subject, incidentally arising out of other enquiries, and have rested their proofs on reasonings which could be appreciated by the practised philolo¬ gist alone.

To account for these coincidences, on general princi¬ ples, is the main object of the present work. That object is sought for, not by instituting comparisons

Vlll between the various theological and mythological eco¬ nomies, and tracing them back to some remote period ; but by examining, in the first place, the early revela¬ tions made to man, and the mode of instruction by which these revelations were illustrated. The First Principles, so obtained, are then applied to the several great branches into which the history of religion and superstition naturally divides itself; and the proof of their correctness rests, not merely on their accounting for occasional resemblances, but on the elucidations they afford of the great and leading features of the systems.

As the subject “ toucheth all men,’’ the utmost pains have been taken to divest it of abstruse discussion, and to advance nothing but what any reader of the Bible, in his own language, may judge of and investigate. At the same time, if the key given be the true one, it opens up a rich field of research to the philologist, and aids the biblical student in the most important and interesting enquiry to which his attention can be directed.

Preface To The Second Edition

The steady sale of one edition and the demand for a second, whilst none of the usual means have been re¬ sorted to of giving notoriety to the work, taken in con¬ nection with numerous private communications to the author from all parts of the kingdom,—show that the views herein given of the Divine Economy are obtain¬ ing a quiet and patient investigation.

The author would willingly have complied with the wish expressed by many correspondents, that the out¬ line of the progress both of Truth and of Error should be more filled up ;—hut this would have changed the general character of the volume, more than is desirable, until the elements of the enquiry are more fully and publicly discussed. He has, therefore, merely ampli¬ fied and remodelled, in this edition, the opening chap¬ ters so far as to meet the wishes of friends, without disturbing the course of argument which follows, or the plainness and simplicity of demonstration to which it has been his great aim to adhere. This amplification, slight as it is, may very likely, however, put the partiality of friends, as well as the patience of critics, more to the test than any other part of the book.

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If this, (by converting doubts into objections and sneers into arguments,) give greater publicity to the discussion, the time may not be distant when proofs and illustrations of the origin herein ascribed to all Truth and to all Error, which would now only be “ spoken in the ear in closets,” may then be “ pro¬ claimed upon the house-tops.”

Contents

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Chapter I. The Creation

There are two propositions, almost of the nature of axioms, which ought to be kept constantly in mind, when surveying the works of God, whether those of his visible creation, or of his moral government.

The first of these initiatory truths is, that, the choice of manner, of time, of form, and of arrange¬ ment in the works of God, being wholly of Divine Will, there must have been some design in, some reason for, the mode adopted, seeing that any other mode was equally within the Divine Power.

The second initiatory proposition, likewise nearly allied to truths of a self-evident kind, is, that, when God reveals any thing to man, concerning his works, of which his creatures could not have been informed without revelation, the Almighty must have had a reason for making it known; into which reason it is not only lawful, but the duty of man, to ^ / B

THE CREATION.

enquire. “ Tilings revealed belong to us and to our children.”

When, therefore, a testimony has reached us, the nature of which is, at all events, sufficiently extraor¬ dinary to have commanded the attention and enquiry of the most civilized portion of mankind for many ages, and purporting to be a revelation from the Creator himself;—it would be as unphilosophical as it would be insulting to the understandings of those ‘ who, by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil,’ if any investiga¬ tion were instituted into the origin and object of all we see around us, which did not first enquire how far the choice of manner, of time, of form, and of arrangement, narrated in it , is consistent with the other acknowledged works of God, and manifests a purpose revealed for our instruction.

Applying those axioms and these principles to the subject with which the Bible opens—the crea¬ tion of the Heavens and the Earth—effected, we are told, in six definite periods called days, composed of evenings and mornings;—on the first day light pro¬ duced ; on the second the firmament; on the third the dry-land; on the fourth lights, or instruments of light, in the firmament; on the fifth the sea made productive ; and on the sixth the land :—what was the meaning of this division of time, and of this order in the works ? Were they capricious? Might God, as consistently with the purpose he had in view for the earth, have made it and all else in a moment, as he could have done if such had been his will ? Or is there any thing in his subsequent

THE CREATION.

o

O moral government of the world, in his dealings towards it, or in what he had to teach it, which shows a consistency of purpose between this mode of creation and the future manifestations of himself? If this question can be answered in the affirmative, we have a noble foundation for a system of nature in which the God who directed the pens of Moses and the prophets, must be acknowledged to be the Creator and Former of all things.

Before we can arrive at a satisfactory answer to a question so important as this, there are three leading points to be examined.

1 st, Under what previously existing circumstances was the world created ?

2d, What was the great or leading object in form¬ ing the earth at all ? how far teas that known previously ? and ,

3d, In what respect did the mode adopted ansicer previous expectations and form a Jit introductory chapter to the f uture revelations of its Maker ?

There are many who will be startled at such pro¬ positions—as if we possibly could know any thing of the state of matters before the creation ! But if it be allowable to quote the writings of the series of instructors who followed in the path of Moses, and place implicit reliance on what they tell us of spirit¬ ual matters, until more accredited and more consist¬ ent teachers arise; or until we meet with something in the ways of Providence irreconcileable with their testimony;—then, we have many more intimations of early 4 heavenly things ’ than may at first be imagined.

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THE CREATION.

The ministration of angels is a subject much insisted upon by the sacred writers; and more than ‘ one of our own poets * has availed himself of the dignity and interest it gives to the affairs of man to connect their guidance with these spiritual intelli¬ gences. They are described as ‘ministering spirits, sent forth to minister,’—as messengers executing the purposes of Heaven ; who ‘ desire ’ or delight to ‘look into’ the things relating to man. Of these ‘ Principalities and Powers ’ we are expressly told some ‘ stood,’ or ‘ kept their first estateand some ‘ fell/ That this fall was antecedent to, if not at the very time of the creation, is evident, be¬ cause we find their leader, ‘ the old serpent,’ early at work in the garden of Eden. Besides, He who saw him ‘ fall like lightning from heaven,’ says ‘ he was a liar from the beginning’ even that be¬ ginning in which God created the heavens and the earth. He who witnessed this fall could also tell the employment of those who stood ; and thus He says to Job, that when He ‘ laid the foundations of the earth ’ those who remained ‘ sons of God,

SHOUTED FOR JOY.’

We shall be much more likely, then, to think in such matters, with those men who considered them¬ selves while acting on this earth ‘ a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men’ —we shall be much more likely to think as becomes ‘ heirs of immor¬ tality,’— if, instead of trying to fancy the world crawling for millions of ages with loathsome reptiles whilst itself was creeping into existence, we think of it moulded into form and bursting into life in the

THE CREATION.

presence of that multitude which afterwards sung at the dawning of the new creation, 4 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will towards man! ’ Instead of solitude, myriads of angels attending the Creator ‘ hearkening to the voice of his words and executing his command¬ ments — and instead of silence 4 the morning stars singing together and all the sons of God shouting for joy!’ This is the scene which the Scriptures pourtray;—the grandeur of which will only fully be comprehended when 4 we shall know even as now we are knownbut it is one worthy of the Begin¬ ning of the creation of God : and one which that man alone will scoff at who ‘believes there is neither angel nor spirit,’ and who has no hope to be 4 in the resurrec¬ tion as the angels who are in heaven.’

In the presence then of those angels who shall be employed to finish the work and 4 to gather together in one all things in Christ,'— open to their investiga¬ tion and amidst their rejoicings, the Scriptures tell us the earth and all the hosts of heaven were called into existence.

But information such as this is not given to create useless winder, to beget idle speculation regarding what w T e never can in the body understand, nor to assist us in framing ideal beings with wings, trumpets, and flowing hair. These are the absurdities into which all heavenly doctrine degenerates when the true object of emblematical teaching is lost sight of. When we are told that there existed at the time of the creation, intelligences who desired to look into (to investigate and draw instruction from) what was

THE CREATION.

done—it is a plain intimation that the purpose for which 4 all things were made ’ was one that previ¬ ously had been known to 4 the principalities and powers in the heavenly places ; ’ else there had been no reason for their curiosity or their joy.

This leads us, therefore, to the second preliminary point:— What was the great object in forming the earth ? how far was that known , and in what re¬ spect was the mode adopted fitted to that state of knowledge ?

The words of the Lord of heaven himself, already quoted, deserve here very close attention; 4 The Devil, * or advocate of evil was 4 a liar, ’ he says, 4 from the beginning, and abode not in the Truth.’ What was this Truth, this specific matter called the truth, against which a portion of the angels and their leader objected , as they must have done, when they fell from it ?

We are saved all lengthened discussion on this point by the repeated declarations of the inspired writers, that eternal life to man was purposed and promised in Christ Jesus ere the world began ; and this promise is uniformly and emphatically put fortli in all their writings as the Truth . Objections to this, on the footing on which God has always placed it, the merits of a Mediator , must have lain at the root of the 4 falling away’ in heaven, as well as in earth, otherwise the chief of the objectors could not have been said to fall from the truth.

But this must have involved some Great Principle to have produced such effects ;—it must have brought into collision, in some very marked manner,—-in

THE CREATION.

some manner still traceable in the works of God, the opposing principles of good and evil. Do we see any such contest going on ? We must first enquire what good and evil are.

Dependence on God, or humility, is throughout all his word called Good :—Independence of him, or pride, is as uniformly pointed out as Evil. When He, who was goodness personified, came, his every act and thought was in dependence on the Father, in humility and in obedience even unto the death. When the professor of the contrary creed first ap¬ peared in the world, it was to teach independence, with the flattering deceit that in that enviable state man would be as God himself: and when he re¬ appeared to attack the Son of God, it was to tempt Him to cast off his subjection and to assert His Divinity independent of the Father.

The world, then, was to be the theatre on which these antagonist principles were to war. It was to be a creation for a specific purpose upheld, by the word of the power of Him who was to execute that purpose ; and if we see that design indicated not merely in what are often called 4 Mysteries , ’ but following the footsteps of Providence in every age, and marked even in the course of Nature itself, not alone by a mere ascendancy of the one principle over the other, but by the Conqueror actually render¬ ing the operations of the enemy subservient to his own beneficent designs;— then, assuredly 4 The Faith ’ by which 4 we believe that the worlds were created by the Word of God’—and as his word declares,—has evidence to support it which the pot-

THE CREATION.

sherd systems of the earth may strengthen but can¬ not shake.

We cannot long survey the Providence of God, either in its workings in the material universe, or in its moral operations, without being struck with the prevalence of on egreat and leading principle in both—that of GOOD COMING OUT OF EVIL, or MERCY REJOICING OVER JUDGMENT. The dark cloud, while it scatters the lightning and spreads abroad the tempest in its course, refreshes the burning earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. Affliction, which risetli not from the ground, but cometh, like the cloud, from heaven, afterward yieldetli the peaceable fruits of righteousness, unto those who are exercised thereby.

Whether we turn to the early history of man, or to the events which are passing around us—to the extraordinary acts of Providence towards God’s chosen people of old, or to its ordinary influences on the world at large; whether we read of miracu¬ lous interruptions of the laws of nature, or con¬ template the unvarying courses of the seasons, we everywhere meet with this great, this predominant principle. It is felt and owned by every contem¬ plative mind—it bears the impress of Divinity—it is that never-ceasing witness to the existence of an over-ruling Providence, at which even infidelity turns pale! The evil passions of men, and the original and constant instigator of those passions, may often turn good into evil. The introduction of a law, in Nature and in Providence, by which evil is

THE CREATION.

made productive of good, could alone have pro¬ ceeded from the union of ineffable goodness with unlimited power; and it abounds so conspicuously throughout all the works of God, as to carry con¬ viction to the mind, that it is THE ANSWER of Infinite Power and Wisdom, to an opposing or ob¬ jecting spirit.

From the moment that evil, or, what is the same thing, objection to the ways of God , arose, it required either refutation or annihilation. Now we have seen that this evil spirit, or opposition, existed when the world was created; and that amongst the myriads of angels who witnessed the birth of the world, and ‘ desired to look into’ the wonders which the finger of God then wrought, there were many who looked on with envy, jealousy, and mistrust. This is no theoretical or fanciful matter—it is true, if God’s word be true.

E T nder such circumstances, God 4 in the begin¬ ning created the heavens and the earth.’ Upon that earth, and in sight of those heavens, a mani¬ festation of the Godhead was to take place, and a discovery of his character to be made, which was for ever 4 to still the enemy and the avenger.’ Almighty Power is creating matter, that the Divine Attributes may be illustrated and magnified ; and the spiritual hosts view, with enquiring eyes, the development of that universe, in which the great question is to be for ever set at rest, and in which their ministrations, for good or for evil, are to be exercised.

But how can God thus, as it were, reason with

THE CREATION.

the creatures of his will and his power ? How, in¬ stead of making that power at once felt and known in the annihilation of the rebels, can he thus pro¬ pose to answer the objectors, by vindicating the truth and separating it from the lie? Even if it were consistent with his ineffable holiness so to do, who is to be the judge ? Can the vindication of the acts of the Almighty be submitted to those who have rebelled against him; or even unto those of whom the rebels might allege that they served not God for nought ? 0 ! the depth of the riches both

of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! We behold, in the solution of this 4 hard question,’ the first and great reason for the Threefold Revelation and ope¬ ration of the Godhead. God reveals himself, for this godlike purpose, Three in One, 4 glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ! * The Son comes forth from the Father, that the world through Him might be made and upheld, a fit tabernacle for Him whom the heaven of heavens could not contain, to manifest in it, beyond all con¬ troversy, the mystery of Godliness and the Divine Attributes centering there : the Father delights to honour and approve the works of the Son : and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, the evidence of the union and perfection of the Godhead. There was now room for a promise to be fulfilled, a covenant to be ratified, and an oath to be confirmed. Thus, 4 Qod, willing to show unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, or covenant, con¬ firmed it by an oath. ’ All proceeded from the

THE CREATION.

councils of heaven, c from the foundation of the world.’

Had power, and the wisdom united with power, which consists in the extent, arrangement, and va¬ riety of works, and the adaptation of means to the end,— had these been the only attributes of God which were to be exhibited in the creation, it would not have been necessary (to speak after the manner of men) that the Almighty should have made this Triune revelation of himself; nor that the world should have been called into existence otherwise than by one exertion of the Divine will. But attributes far more glorious and wonderful than these were to be manifested. The Almighty, in his moral and spiritual operations amongst the creatures he was about to form, was to do marvels, such as none but Infinite Power could effect, none but Infinite Wis¬ dom and Goodness imagine or devise. He was not only to produce good out of evil, but to make evil subservient to his purpose of mercy.

It was, therefore, a part of Divine wisdom, that the visible creation should, distinctly and incontrovertibly, bear the impress of the same almighty hand which was to get the victory over moral and spiritual wickedness. The visible creation was to be the scene of this conflict; it was on it that a manifestation of the Godhead was to be made, tran¬ scending all that men or angels could have con¬ ceived of the Divinity. It was meet, therefore, that every whit of that creation should appear in the order, and assume the form, best fitted to foreshow and illustrate the most magnificent of all the Creator s

THE CREATION.

marvellous works—so that “the invisible things, or purpose of God, might, at the creation, be clearly preached and seen, from the things that were made.”

But, in now proceeding to consider in what man¬ ner the creation did manifest this impress of its Creator’s hand, we shall at the same time be fur¬ nished with replies for the third point laid out for investigation, viz :—

In what respect did the mode adopted form a Jit introductory chapter to the future manifestations of its maker ?

We cannot any where more appropriately than in this stage of the inquiry, begin to entreat attention to (what will afterwards occupy many of our pages,) the true origin of the figurative mode of teaching, by which the invisible things of God have ever been illustrated by himself, more especially in the works of creation. No one thinks of denying, every one admits, the beauty of the figure of light, as illus¬ trative of the Gospel, and of the God of the Gospel, who is light, and in him is no darkness at all. But how comes it that nature furnishes us with such a figure ? Can it be accidental ? Could it have been an afterthought of Him who spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, to suggest to them, by his Spirit, the accidental aptitude of the figure of light to illustrate the truth ? Or did not He rather, who knew the end from the beginning, SO call light out of darkness as to constitute the material light, the first, the greatest, the most enduring figure of the light of life, which the Word, made flesh, was to speak, the Spirit to shed abroad, and the Father to

THE CREATION.

confirm ? Thus was the material world expressly made to illustrate the immaterial; and thus did the coincidence between them furnish a mode of instruc¬ tion and of illustration, which, w T e shall afterwards find, was peculiarly suited to the condition of the world, while the promises concerning the Messiah were entirely of a prospective nature.

Let us here, too, for a moment, just turn our attention to the certainty of the truth of the Mosaic account, which is afforded by such a coincidence, and to the amazing superiority which is thereby given it over all the scientific theories which have had their brief hour of feverish existence. The man of science looks on the earth but as a scintil¬ lation from one of the many orbs with which the universe is filled; and the great modern authority for the inefficiency of six days, even in the hands of the Almighty, to produce the geological pheno¬ mena of the earth, gravely tells us, in a work pro¬ fessedly written to prove the being and attributes of God from the w T orks of creation, that the Scriptures are incorrect in stating that God called light out of darkness; but that it must have existed, for thou¬ sands of years previously, if not in the present, at least in more ancient systems ! Supposing that such writers can prove, independently of revelation, that there is a Great First Cause—who thanks them ? They only prove that which insanity alone denies. What man wants to know is this—Is the God who made the universe the God who dictated that which is called the Word of God ? If the erratic star theorists prove anything, it is something far short

THE CREATION.

of, if not directly the reverse of this. Now this is precisely what Moses undertakes to demonstrate. He does not merely say that it was A great pow T er or intelligence—A God which made the heavens— he asserts that it was God himself ; not an unde¬ fined, incomprehensible first cause, but the Lord God, whose peculiar attributes, as the just God and the Saviour, form the subject of the whole Bible. Accordingly, the first proof he brings forward of this, is, that the first work of creation, bringing light out of darkness, bore the most beautiful analogy to the emanation of the light of life and truth, which all the history recorded by him, and all the law given by him, prefigured. Now, if the expectation of Moses had not been fulfilled; if the meaning of light coming out of darkness had not been, in the most godlike and glorious manner, illustrated in the fulness of time, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we might have doubted the philosophy of Moses, and grasped at the glimmerings of the Bridgewater Treatises. But when we find his phi¬ losophy and his expectations alike confirmed, two thousand years after he was laid in the dust — con¬ firmed in a way that none but God himself could have devised; we have the most complete and per¬ fect evidence, which heaven itself can give, that it was the Spirit of the Lord Jesus which guided his pen, when he thus wrote, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light; and God divided be¬ tween the light and between the darkness.” Thus did God, in the beginning, provide a splendid type of the work lie was to perform; and thus did he,

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in the end of the world, attest the veracity of his servants the prophets, against all the opposition of science, falsely so called.

Ask him who hath watched the bed of sickness during the dark night of suffering; who lias just come from closing the eyes which are no longer to beam on him with affection and fondness; but who, while he sits down to read of the morning of the resurrection, beholds the first beams of the sun dis¬ sipating the shadows of the night; ask him if his feelings and his understanding do not alike testify, that none but the God who burst the bands of death could have provided so beautiful a figure of that rising as he now sees beaming before him ? Nay, ask the philosopher himself, when the fears of death and the judgment assail him in his closet, whether the God who showed at the creation that he could bring life out of death , or the incomprehensible First Cause of the equally incomprehensible infinite systems, be the God to whom he would cling for hope when dust is about to return to dust ?

Accompanying, then, Moses, the Man of God, to this interesting period, and contemplating the works of creation-week as illustrative of, and foreshowing, the more important and glorious spiritual works, to which all creation was to be made conducive; we see amazing wisdom and goodness in the mode of operation, as well as in the nature and order, of the works, and in the time allotted to each.

As to the mode of operation, it is recorded that ‘ THE SPIRIT Jehovah moved’ brooded, or pro¬ duced ; forming, concreting, and preparing the germs

1 6

THE CREATION.

of those works, which were afterwards to appear, and to be perfected by the light. THE WORD Jehovah, without whom was not anything made that was made, commanded; and Jehovah THE JUDGE approved, and ‘ saw all very good/ Thus, in all the works of God, there ever have been Three bearing witness; the Son speaking, the Spirit giving power to his word, and the Father approving. This is the characteristic of every work of God ; and no word or work, wanting this testimony, can claim a divine origin, or have any title to be believed or received as coming from God. On this perfect con¬ currence and equality of the Divine Three, the Lord Jesus rested the authority for every w T ord he spake, and every work he performed.

In specific times, or days, being allotted to the different works, w^e see also the same wisdom. Every separate work must have its own day, its own even¬ ing and morning ; else there would have been no assurance that the spiritual creation would also be carried on and perfected within a definite period or ‘ set time. ’ And, to make it manifest that matter is obeying a command, not acting by any inherent virtue or power in itself, the work of each day is attended by a transition so marked, and an operation so distinct from those which preceded it, that, to this hour, the seven great divisions of the work,—the light, the firmament, the separation of land from water, the vegetation of the earth, the fish of the sea and fowl of the air, and terrestrial life—all attest, from the distinct laws which regulate and uphold them, that they may be mutually dependent on each