58 HUXLEY MEMORIAL LECTURES 



as well as his emotional part. He has to give 

 some sort of reason for the hope that is in him. 



History shews us very clearly how this demand 

 for a reason is at first met among all peoples and 

 nations. It is met by a direct claim that the line 

 of advance is shewn by revelation, that some per- 

 son or society is inspired by the gods to lead the 

 people in the right way. We are familiar with 

 this kind of appeal from our acquaintance with 

 the Old Testament. Nowhere is it so clearly 

 and emphatically set forth as in the Jewish 

 Scriptures, and quite especially in the writings of 

 the earliest of the great prophets, A^mos and 

 Hosea. It is the word of the Lord which they 

 make known to the people; and they tell their 

 contemporaries in burning sentences that it is their 

 life and peace to hear that word and to do it. 

 But our religious horizon has greatly widened of 

 late years, and we now know that among all 

 peoples such a claim has been put forth by 

 prophets. Israel is the prophet among the 

 nations; but all nations have received from time 

 to time like prophetic commands. The king of 

 Assyria did not march to subdue the nations save 

 at the command of Asshur. Numa received the 

 laws of Rome from the goddess Egeria. 

 Pharaoh of Egypt was an impersonation of the 

 Sun-god Ra. Pythagoras was an inspired 

 prophet, and his society arose on a theocratic 

 basis. Nor was this claim at all confined to the 

 men of the childhood of the world. Socrates was 



