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with stones till they die . " * We have further evidence that the first idolatry was that of the heavenly bodies , from what Job , the most ancient writer on record ,, and who is supposed to have been contemporary with Jacob , t says of himself , " If 1 behold , ( says he , in
the sublime language of oriental poetry 9 ) if 1 behold the sun when it shineth , or thernoon walking in brightness , and my heart hath been secretly enticed , or my mouth hath kissed my hand , ( that is , made obeisance to them after the Eastern manner , ) I should have deuied the God that is
is above . ' j Moreover , in the time of Josiah , King of Judah , we are told that the people * 5 burnt incense to the sun , and to the moon , and to the planets , and to all the host of heaven , " §
There was , therefore , great propriety in the narrative of Moses , in the first chapter of Genesis , wherein he takes no notice whatever of the creation of any beings superior to man , but dwells with great minuteness on
the formation of the sun , the moon and the stars ; as though he was determined to deprive his people of every pretence for adopting the idolatrous practices of their neighbours , by shewing them , that the God of the Hebrews , not only created man and every living thing upon the face of the earth , but that the splendid orbs of heaven were also bis workmanship , and therefore , Jehovah , the maker of heaven and earth was , and ever
would be , the sole object of religious worship . It would occupy too much time to recapitulate the various denunciations of the Almighty against idolatry , and especially if I were to attempt to inquire into the methods by which the
prophets of the Most High successfully opposed the false worship of the surrounding nations . This , however , might be formed into a very interesting narrative ; and I am inclined to think it might be shewn , that whereever the Jewish or the Christian
religion was professed by a considerable * I > euieronomy xvii . 2—5 . i * Soe Goguet's Origin of Laws , among * the most Ancient Nations . I . 241 and 385 t JobxxxL 26—28 < § 2 Kings xxiii . 5 .
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number of the people of any - -country * it always succeeded in extirpating idolatry . But notwithstanding this triumph of true religion over the false worship of the Heathen , there is an evil still in the world which neither Moses nor
Jesus , nor the united efforts of their most zealous followers , through a iong series of ages , have ever yet been able to subdue . I refer to superstition : that baneful , that noxious ingredient , which poisons the sweetest pleasures of manv unfortunate indi-,
viduals ; that gigantic phantom whichovershadows their fairest prospects ; that predominating temper which gives a peculiar bias to every propensity of the heart , and is . calculated to distort the most engaging and amiable features of the human character .
If I were asked to define superstition , I would say , that it consisted in false and unworthy notions of the Deity ; hi devotion improperly directed ; in unmeaning and absurd rites ; and in a ridiculous fear of imaginarv and invisible beings . True
religion is founded on tjhe exercise of the understanding , and in right notions of God ; whereas , superstition rests upon the belief of the possibility of appealing an offended Deity by the sufferings of an innocent victim ;
by outward and laborious services ; by severe mortifications ; by extreme scrupulosity in all ceremonial observances ; or , by embracing and pror niulgating certain opinions which are in reality derogatory to the honour of God , and subversive of the best
interests and happiness of man . I shall adduce a few instances to justify me in these assertions . The manners and customs of the Egyptians were all tinctured with superstition . They washed their
drinking * vessels more from superstition than cleanliness , and dreaded tW eating of meat that had been cut by any other knife than that of an Egyptian . * They not only worshiped the vulture and crocodile , but
established regular hunting parties to procure for those deified birds , such food as was most agreeable to them , + Anc ^ from the book of Genesis , we learn that a very numerous and useful body - „ ,. ,.,. % ., . , ¦¦> * Goguet's Origin of Law * . 1 . 350 . f Ibid , 356 .
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On the general Prevalence of Superstition * 26 l
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1818, page 261, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2475/page/37/
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