210 JSSSAYS SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL. 



jealousy with that which is not God," though he 

 had previously spoken of this " not God " as " a 

 god." Just in the same way David says, "All the 

 gods of the nations are idols ; but the Lord 

 made the heavens ; " and Hezekiah, when admit- 

 ting the truth of Rabshakeh's boast, explains it 

 by the fact that the gods of the nations "were 

 no gods, but the work of men's hands." 1 It is, 

 therefore, no new view of the heathen gods when, 

 in opposition to the one true God, they are called 

 by the prophets " lies " and the " teachers of lies." 

 A few lines afterwards Mr. Spencer has to admit 

 that there are to be found, in reference to Jahveh, 

 " assertions of universality of rule," but he attri- 

 butes little importance to this, since similar state- 

 ments are made by the Egyptians with regard to a 

 living Pharaoh! If an English theologian of the 

 eleventh century had ascribed to God power over 

 the forces of nature, would Mr. Spencer argue that 

 it meant nothing because some flattering courtiers, 

 according to the old story, ascribed similar power 

 to King Canute ? 



The next count in the indictment is that " there 

 was no claim to omnipotence " for Jahveh. Mr. 

 Spencer discreetly avoids saying what period he is 

 speaking of, but as the passages he quotes under 

 this head are taken from the ante-regal period we 

 will assume (though with very considerable hesita- 



1 2 Kings xix. 1 8. 



