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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
lent in sound to that of the Hebrew Jehovah , and probably of identical import ; and no nanne was uttered ia Egypt with more reverence than this of Joa . In the hymn which the
hierophant or guardian of the sanctuary sang" to the initiated , this was the first explanation given of the nature of the Deity : He is one , and by himself ^ and to him alone do all thing's oice their existence .
A necessary preliminary to every Initiation was the ceremony of circumcision , to which even Pythagoras was compelled to submit , previous to his reception into the Egyptian mysteries . This separation from others indicated a closer fraternity between themselves , a more intimate relation with the
Divinity , of which Moses afterwards took advantage among the Israelites . In the inner recesses of the Temple , different holy enigmas presented themselves , expressive of a common meaning . Amongst these was a sacred
chest , called the Coffin of Serapis , and which at its origin was a type of hidden wisdom ; but afterwards , as the institution degenerated , served the game of dealers in mystery and in wretched priestcraft . To bear this chest was a privilege of the priests , or of one class of the servants of the
sanctuary , called on this account Kistophori . To none but the hierophant was it permitted to uncover this chest , or even to touch it . It is related of one who had the temerity to open it , that he instantly became delirious .
In the Egyptian mysteries you further met with certain hieroglyphical images , composed of many animal forms ; the well-known sphinx is one of these : either it was intended to denote the properties which unite in the Highest , or to centre in a single form
the most powerful of all living creatures . Something was taken from the mightiest of birds , or the eagle $ from the mightiest of wild beasts , or the lion ; from the mightiest of tame animals , or the ox ; and finally , from the mightiest of all creatures , man . The
representation of the ox or the apis was especially used as the emblem of strength , in order to denote the omnipotence of the Supreme ; but the steer is called in the original cherub . These mystical forms , to which none but the inspectors had the key , gave to the mysteries themselves a sensible
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or palpable exterior , which deceived the people , and ever held something " in common with idolatry : superstition > therefore , continued to bB ever fostered by the external garb of tlio $ e mysteries which were the sport of the sanctuary itself .
Still it 5 s conceivable how this pure Deism might be reconciled with that idolatry which it at once rejected from within , and maintained from without-The original founders of the mysteries might plead necessity in excuse of this contradiction between the priestly and
popular religion ; it appeared the least of two evils , since there was more hope of intercepting * the dangerous consequences of concealed , than the
pernicious operation of prematurely discovered , truth . As unworthy members pressed by degrees into the eircfeof the initiated , as the institution degenerated from its pristine purity , so did that which was at first a simple
auxiliary mean , viz . secrecy , become the ultimate object , and instead of gradually purifying the creed , and fitting the people for the reception of truth , they found their account in leading them more and more astray ,
and plunging * them more and more deeply into superstition . Priestcraft now usurped the place of pure and innocent purposes , and the very establishment which should have upheld , maintained , and cautiously diffused
the knowledge of the one true God , became the most powerful instrument of the reverse , and degenerated into a peculiar school of idolatry . The hierophants , not to lose their mastery over the mind , and to keep expectation ever on the sti ' etch , found it
advisable to hold back the final explanation , which must utterly demolish error ; and to impede , by every theatrical artifice , the entrance to the sanctuary . At length the key to the hieroglyphics and secret figures was wholly lost , and the wrapping veil of truth was mistaken for her reality .
It is difficult to determine whether Moses' education occurred In the flourishing period of the institution , or at the commence meat of its decline ; but probably its decay was approaching ,
as some tricks borrowed by the Hebrew lawgiver , and some not very creditable artifices which he put jmto play , would lead us to suppose . But the spirit of the first founders had not
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The Mosaic Mission .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 199, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/7/
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