357 
But the same term, vxpicrToc, was found among the 
Phoenicians, as we learn from Sanchoniathon ; and it appears 
again in the Phoenician language, according to Plautus, where 
it is the proper word for a god, and oovby and 
mean gods and goddesses. It reappears in the common 
language of their successors in Gadara, according to the 
Gospel, and was used by the Macedonian girl possessed by an 
evil spirit, when she cried, “ These men are the servants of 
the Most High God, who show unto us the way of salvation/'’ 
From the lips of a heathen, the word was to signify a god, 
either true or false ; but when used in Holy Scripture it never 
conveyed the false idea, and never implied what is impossible 
— an agreement between the temple of God and idols. 
I therefore humbly, but confidently, maintain that holy men 
of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, 
never borrowed the myths of heathenism for the purpose of 
declaring the truths of God ; neither to frame a ritual nor to 
construct a creed. 
Let us now dwell on a few reasons to show that the mono- 
theism of the Bible is so essentially different from the poly- 
theism or pantheism described in the writings above quoted, 
that it could not possibly have been suggested by anything 
which they, or other writings like them, might contain. 
From first to last, the writers of Holy Scripture were 
earnest and single-minded men. They were intent on the 
maintenance of great truths ; chiefly, the existence, the 
universal sovereignty, and the omnipotence of One Eternal 
God. This truth underlies every statement, and pervades the 
text of all the sacred books. Here is the Creater of the 
Universe, existing before all worlds, such as no heathen ever 
heard of. Here is One God and Father of Heaven and Earth, 
Himself uncreate. None by searching could find Him out. 
His works are perfect like Himself, and so the only accredited 
revealer of His great creation- work has not to tell of some 
slowly - developed cosmogony, but marks each completed 
stage of the creation as Efis own unaided work. “ He 
spake and it was done ; He commanded, and it stood fast.” 
Through the history of successive ages, however brief the 
notes may be, or however full the narrative of events. 
He is the One Being, acknowledged Lord of all creatures. 
All prophets derive their authority from Him alone ; all wise 
men pay their homage to Him alone. The Egyptian priests 
could indeed recite the names of many gods, and profess 
themselves ignorant of many more, but could not trace the 
best of any of them farther back than a dark and fathomless 
2 b 2 
