GOD 



2519 



GODFREY DE BOUILLON 



do not seem to have shaken the faith or 

 allegiance of the worshipers. What wonder, 

 then, since the Greeks, on their high plane of 

 civilization, could invent for themselves such 

 faulty deities, that the savage tribes often set 

 up as objects of their worship beings which 

 seem like devils rather than like gods? Some 

 of these have not one redeeming virtue, but 

 they are strong and very jealous, and the poor, 

 frightened savages dare not falter in their 

 worship for fear of dire punishment. 



The Hebrew Idea of God. Most of the 

 ancient peoples, like many of the moderns 

 whom Christianity has not touched, believed 

 in large numbers of gods. One had the sun 

 as his especial charge; one the moon; one pre- 

 sided over birth and another over death. Each 

 tribe, too, had its own gods, and when one 

 tribe conquered another it was looked upon 

 as proof that the gods of the conquerors were 

 stronger than those of the vanquished. In 

 the early history of the Hebrews they, too, 

 looked upon their God as just a tribal deity 

 who had no concern with the welfare of any 

 people but the Hebrews, and who cared more 

 for formal rites of worship than for any moral 

 purity. Gradually the conception broadened, 

 until God became the strong moral force in 

 the national life and was looked upon as con- 

 trolling other nations as well as Israel. It was 

 still believed, however, that He governed the 

 world only for Israel's good, and it was not 

 until after the beginning of the Christian Era 

 that a few enlightened men began to spread 

 the idea that God was no respecter of nations, 

 but was a loving father, caring for all peoples 

 alike. 



The Christian Idea. This universal character 

 of God is one of the central ideas in the Chris- 

 tian conception. That He is a personality and 

 not a mere force; that He is eternal, all-wise, 

 all-powerful and all-loving; and that men may 

 have a spiritual communication with Him 

 these are the chief qualities of the God of the 

 Christians. 



The discussion so far has touched merely 

 upon various conceptions of God, but has said 

 nothing as to His actual existence. Learned 

 men from the beginning of the Christian Era 

 have busied themselves over the question of 

 the existence of God, and have brought forth 

 various so-called proofs; but after all it is a 

 matter incapable of the sort of proofs which 

 material facts admit of. Theologians argue 

 that it is evident in every phase of life that 

 back of the universe there is a supreme plan, 



which must have been formed by a rational 

 ' Being; that man himself, with his moral na- 

 ture, implies a moral personality above him; 

 and that it is incredible that this very highest 

 conception of which man is capable the con- 

 ception which has led him to his greatest 

 efforts and his finest achievements should be 

 but a figment of his own imagination. They 

 also point out as proof of the existence of 

 God the fact of design in nature; that is, the 

 adaptation of all forms of life to their environ- 

 ment. Finally, the Christian holds fast to the 

 revelation of God as given by Christ in the 

 New Testament a revelation which admits 

 of no doubt. 



These, briefly stated, are the chief arguments 

 for the existence of God, but to them the 

 atheist objects that they are not tangible 

 proofs. And indeed, in the last instance, every 

 man can but fall back on his own inner con- 

 viction, and on the generally admitted truth 

 that a God who could be completely compre- 

 hended by a finite mind would really not be 

 a God at all. A.MC c. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following 1 articles in these volumes : 

 Agnostic Bible 



Atheism Jesus Christ 



GODERICH, god'ritch, the county town of 

 Huron County, Ontario, in the southwest part 

 of the province and on Lake Huron, at the 

 mouth of the Maitland River. Toronto, 134 

 miles to the southeast, and Guelph, eighty 

 miles southeast, are connected with Goderich 

 by branches of the Grand Trunk and the 

 Canadian Pacific railways, and other branches 

 of the Grand Trunk provide connection with 

 London and Port Huron. Steamships running 

 from Detroit and other lake ports make God- 

 erich a port of call. The delightful climate of 

 the vicinity has made Goderich best known, 

 perhaps, as a summer resort, but it is also an 

 important distributing and manufacturing cen- 

 ter. Refined salt, leather, flour, dried apples, 

 knitting machines and road machines are note- 

 worthy products, and limestone and clay are 

 found in the neighborhood. Electrical power 

 is supplied from Niagara Falls. Population in 

 1911, 4,522; in 1916, about 5,200. 



GODFREY DE BOUILLON, debooyoN' 

 (about 1060-1100), duke of Lorraine, was one 

 of the foremost leaders of the First Crusade. 

 After the conquest of Jerusalem, a Christian 

 kingdom was founded, of which Godfrey was 

 unanimously elected sovereign. However, he 

 refused the kingly title and assumed the hum- 



