MONOTHEISM. 161 
Having now completed our outline of the various systems of religion 
which recognise a number of deities, we propose to close the subject with a 
brief notice of Monotheism. 
MONOTHEISM. 
Mowortetsm comprises the religious systems which are based upon the 
belief in Onz Gop. According to the Bible, monotheism was the primi- 
tive religion of the human race, though its form was remarkably simple, 
and in accordance with the child-like disposition of the earliest mem- 
bers of the human family. A careful examination of the traditions and 
religious systems of the ancient nations, who, as we have pointed out in 
various places, nearly all had an indistinct idea of one supreme being above 
all the other deities which they worshipped, must lead to the conclusion 
that the fundamental feeling of man at all times must have pointed to the 
existence of onE creator and ruler, and that the recognition of other deities 
must have arisen from the desire to comprehend the influence of the 
Supreme Being on the course of events and the universal life of nature. 
We cannot here enlarge upon the probable way in which Monotheism was 
gradually lost in the labyrinth of Polytheism, but proceed to give a brief 
account of the three forms in which it again made its appearance, dispelling 
the obscurity of Paganism. 
1. Tat Mosaic Reticion. 
Mosss, the celebrated Jewish Lawgiver, in endeavoring to liberate his 
people from Egyptian idolatry, and to establish them in the belief of one 
God, placed in the very front of his teachings this precept: “‘ Jehovah is the 
Creator and only Lord of Heaven and Earth, and there is no other god 
beside him. Ye shall not make unto yourselves any graven image or like- 
ness of God.” The Pentateuch also describes Jehovah as an invisible king 
of his people, whom he chose to govern through the medium of the priest- 
hood. Accordingly all the laws, or ordinances and regulations, whether 
moral, religious, or civil, claimed for themselves divine authority ; and as 
they contained a stringent statute prohibiting the intermingling, by mar- 
riage or otherwise, of the Israelites and the surrounding heathen, the 
government took the form of an exclusive theocracy. The Hebrew common- 
wealth thus constituted, subsisted under various modifications nearly 1600 
years. Its practical effects corresponded with its intrinsic character. 
While in many respects it operated beneficially, preserving the doctrine of 
the divine unity, and binding the Jews firmly to their nationality, it con- 
tinued a barrier between its professors and those of other creeds, and finally 
degenerated to a lifeless round of ceremonies. 
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