﻿ROOTS 
  OF 
  IDOLATRY. 
  195 
  

  

  is 
  of 
  all 
  others 
  the 
  most 
  difficult 
  to 
  obey 
  : 
  

   "Thou 
  shalt 
  have 
  no 
  other 
  Gods 
  before 
  

   Me." 
  The 
  dependence 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  mind 
  

   on 
  outward 
  symbols, 
  and 
  then 
  its 
  tendency 
  

   to 
  identify 
  the 
  symbols 
  with 
  the 
  concep- 
  

   tions 
  they 
  represent 
  — 
  these 
  are 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  all 
  

   Idolatry. 
  The 
  course 
  of 
  thought, 
  in 
  our 
  own 
  

   day, 
  even 
  among 
  highly 
  civilized 
  and 
  enlight- 
  

   ened 
  men, 
  may 
  well 
  remind 
  us 
  how 
  easy 
  

   and 
  how 
  natural 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  lapse 
  into 
  systems 
  

   of 
  belief, 
  which 
  in 
  their 
  fundamental 
  cha- 
  

   racter 
  are 
  essentially 
  Creature-worship. 
  The 
  

   fact 
  is, 
  that 
  so 
  far 
  from 
  there 
  being 
  any 
  

   difficulty 
  in 
  understanding 
  how 
  spiritual 
  truth, 
  

   once 
  known, 
  could 
  be 
  ever 
  lost, 
  all 
  obser- 
  

   vation 
  and 
  experience 
  prove 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  

   most 
  difficult 
  of 
  all 
  things 
  to 
  maintain 
  with 
  

  

  O 
  2 
  

  

  