  (Scripture Reading Exercise.) ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.—(Continued.)
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—
"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). 5. The Second Babylonian Kingdom—Or Chaldea: The supremacy of the Assyrian Empire over the old, or first, Babylonian Monarchy, lasted but little more than a century. It began 728 B. C. and was overthrown 625 B. C. (Myers' General History, cf. pp. 33, 47.) "Nabopolassar (625-605 B. C.) was the founder of what is known as the Chaldean or New Babylonian Empire. At first a vassal king, when troubles began to thicken about the Assyrian court, he revolted and became independent. Later he entered into an alliance with the Median king against his former suzerain. Through the overthrow of Nineveh and the break-up of the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian kingdom received large accessions of territory. For a short time thereafter Babylon filled a great place in history. Nabopolassar was followed by his son Nebuchadnezzar, whose renown filled the ancient world. One important event of his reign was the taking of the rebellious city of Jerusalem. The temple was stripped of its sacred vessels of silver and gold, which were carried away to Babylon, and the building itself was given to the flames; a part of the people were also carried away into the "Great Captivity, 586 B. C." (Myers' General History, p. 47.) 6. The fall of the Chaldean, or Second Babylonian Empire. (538 B. C.): "The glory of the New Babylonian Empire passed away with Nebuchadnezzar. To the east of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates there had been growing up an Aryan kingdom, the Medo-Persian, which, at the time now reached by us [558-529 B. C.] had become a great imperial power. At the head of this new empire was Cyrus, a strong, energetic, and ambitious sovereign. Coming into collision with the Babylonian king Nabonidus, he defeated his army in the open field, and the gates of the strongly fortified capital, Babylon, were without further resistance thrown open to the Persians." (Myers' General History, p. 48). With the fall of Babylon the scepter of dominion, borne so long by Semitic princes, was given into the hands of the Aryan peoples, who were destined from this time forward to shape the main course of events and control the affairs of civilization. 7. The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria: "The religion of the country was a combination of the Shamanistic belief[ 8. Underlying Principles of Assyrian-Babylonian Beliefs: "The religion of Assyria and Babylonia, was, in its essential principles, and in the general spirit of its conceptions, of the same character of the religion of Egypt, and in general as all pagan religions. When we penetrate beneath the surface which gross Polytheism has acquired from popular superstition, and revert to its original and higher conceptions, we shall find the whole based on the idea of the unity of the Deity, the last relic of the primitive revelation, disfigured indeed and all but lost in the monstrous ideas of pantheism; confounding the creature with the Creator; and transforming the Deity into a god-world, whose manifestations are to be found in all the phenomena of nature. Beneath this supreme and sole God, this great ALL, in whom all things are lost and absorbed, are ranked in an order of emanation corresponding to their importance, a whole race of secondary deities who are emanations from His very substance, who are mere personifications of His attributes and manifestations. The differences between the various pagan religions, is chiefly marked by the differences between these secondary divine beings. * * * * The Chaldea-Assyrian, especially devoted to astronomy, saw in the astral, and especially in the planetary system, a manifestation of the divine being. They considered the stars as His true external manifestation, and in their religious system made them the visible evidence of the subordinate divine emanations from the substance of the infinite being, whom they identified with the world, his work." (The World's Worship—Dobbins—pp. 126, 127). 9. The Supreme God of the Assyrians—Ilu: "The supreme god, the first and sole principle from whom all other deities were derived, was Ilu, whose name signified God par excellence. Their idea of him was too comprehensive, too vast, to have any determined external form, or consequently to receive in general the adoration of the people. * * * * In Chaldea it does not seem that any temple was ever specially dedicated to him; but at Nineveh, and generally throughout Assyria, he seems to have received the peculiarly national name of 'Asshur' (whence was derived the name of the country, Mat Asshur), and this itself seems related to the Aryan name of the deity Asura. With this title he was great god of the land, the especial protector of the Assyrians, he who gave victory to their arms. The inscriptions designate him as "Master, or Chief of the Gods." He it is, perhaps, who is to be recognized in the figure occasionally found on the Assyrian monuments (but probably adopted in later times by the Persians to represent their Ormuzd), representing a human bust, wearing the royal tiara in the middle of a circle borne by two large eagle wings, and with an eagle's tail." (World's Worship,—Dobbins—pp. 126, 127). 10. Doubts of a Supreme God: Myers doubts of there being a conception of a supreme God in the religion of the Bablyon-Assyrian peoples. "At the earliest period made known to us by the native records, we find the pantheon to embrace many local deities (the patron gods of the different cities and nature gods); but at no period do we find a Supreme God. The most prominent feature from first to last of the popular religion was the belief in spirits, particularly in wicked spirits, and the practice of magic rites and incantations to avert the malign influence of these demons. A second important feature of the religion was what is known as astrology, or the foretelling of events by the aspect of the stars. This side of the religious system was most elaborately and ingeniously developed until the fame of the Chaldean astrologers was spread throughout the ancient world." Yet this Historian admits that, "alongside these low beliefs and superstitious practices, there existed, however, higher and purer elements. This is best illustrated by the so-called penitential psalms, dating, some of them, from the second millennium B. C., which breathe a spirit like that which pervades the penitential psalms of the Old Testament." In confirmation of this statement, he quotes one of these psalms, translated by Jastro:
"The cuneiform writings on the tablets," says James Freeman Clarke, author of 'Ten Great Religions,' "show us that the Assyrians also prayed." "On an unpublished tablet in the British Museum, is this prayer of King Asshur-da-ni-pal, B. C. 650:
10. The Assyrian Triads—Trinities: "Below Ilu, the universal and mysterious source of all, was placed a triad, composed of his three first external and visible manifestations, and occupying the summit of the hierarchy of gods in popular worship. Anu, the Oannes of the Greek writers, was the lord of darkness; Bel, the demiurgus, the organizer of the world; Ao, called also Bin, that is, the divine 'Son' par excellence, the divine light, the intelligence penetrating, directing and vivifying the universe. These three divine persons esteemed as equal in power and consubstantial, were not held as of the same degree of emanation, but were regarded as having on the contrary, issued the one from the other—Ao from Oannes, and Bel from Ao. Oannes, the "Lord of the Lower World, the Lord of Darkness," was represented on the monuments under the strange figure of a man with an eagle's tail, and for his head dress an enormous fish, whose open mouth rises over his head, while the body covers his shoulders. It is under this form that, Berosus tells us, according to Babylonian tradition, he floated on the surface of the waters of Chaos. Bel, the 'Father of the Gods,' was usually represented under an entirely human form, attired as a king, wearing a tiara with bull's horns, the symbol of power. But this god took many other secondary forms, the most important being Bel-Dagon, a human bust springing from the body of a fish. We do not know exactly the typical figure of Ao or Bin, 'the intelligent guide, the Lord of the visible world, the Lord of Knowledge, of Glory and Light.' The serpent seems to have been his principal symbol; though some other sculptured figures seem to be intended to represent Bin. "A second triad is produced with personages no longer vague and indeterminate in character, like those of the first, but with a clearly defined sidereal aspect, each representing a known celestial body, and especially those which the Chaldeo-Assyrians saw the most striking external manifestations of the deity; these were Shamash, the sun; Sin, the moon god; and a new form of Ao or Bin, inferior to the first, and representing him as god of the atmosphere or firmament. Thus did they industriously multiply deities and representations of them." (World's Worship—Dobbins—p. 128-9). 11. Observations on This Lesson: The notes on this lesson are copious; made so because it is quite possible that the books quoted may not be within reach of many of the students, and yet, of course, they convey a very incomplete idea of the views of the Babylonian-Assyrians respecting God. It is suggested that some of the members of the class make special preparation on the subject, by a careful study of the authorities cited in the references given in the analysis of the lesson (and other authorities), and deliver a public lecture on the subject. It is really rich in points of contact with the great Latter-day work, which will suggest themselves to any well-informed Elder. Footnotes |
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