18 



creating the universe out of nothing ? It is just, of all others, 

 the thing which no man ever did or could do. We may 

 justly enough ascribe anthropomorphism to the ancient 

 heathens, who described their gods and goddesses as swayed 

 by human passions, prejudices, and interests, and having 

 material bodies a little more ethereal, perhaps, and more 

 easily transformed than those of men, but sustained by food 

 and drink (which, to distinguish them from those used for 

 human wants, were called " ambrosia " and ' ' nectar "), and 

 capable of being hurt, though not completely destroyed, seeing 

 that they were immortal. Thus, Homer represents Venus as 

 wounded in battle by Diomede, which caused a refined kind of 

 blood, called ichor, to flow from her hand (" Iliad," v. 340). 

 Virgil* represents his gods and goddesses as changing their 

 form when occasion required, which is, no doubt, attributing 

 to them a power more than human; but even so, we may 

 accept Hume's description of them, as quoted by Dr. Tyndall 

 in the first page of his Belfast address namely, that they 

 "were nothing but a species of human creatures, perhaps 

 raised from among mankind, and retaining all human passions 

 and appetites." That the invention of gods and goddesses 

 such as these may be ascribed to anthropomorphism, we can 

 readily admit. But the God in whom Christians believe is as 

 different from these as light is from darkness. These have 

 bodies and passions like ourselves, whereas our God is a pure 

 Spirit, "without body, parts, or passions" (Art. L). I am 

 not aware that any of the heathen gods were supposed to 

 have created the universe out of nothing. Jupiter is indeed 

 called " pater omnipotens " by Virgil in many places, but I 

 find no trace of the idea that his power extended beyond a 

 certain control over the atmosphere, whereby he was supposed 

 to wield the powers of thunder and lightning, or such a 

 control over matter as we ourselves have (only in a much 

 greater degree), whereby the mountain Olympus, which was 

 supposed to be his throne, could be shaken by his nod 

 ("^neid," ix. 106). But however this be, the power to create is 

 a power utterly impossible to man, and to accuse us of 

 anthropomorphism for attributing this power to God, however 

 little intended by Mr. Spencer and Dr. Tyndall, is to utter a 

 most unfounded calumny against those who believe in the 

 Creator of heaven and earth. 



The belief in successive creations is made to sound more 

 improbable still by Dr. Tyndall, through the use of an 



i, 315, and yil 419. 



