Chapter VI: Part II: Conceptions of God (2)

"It is the general opinion, that the founder of the Magian religion was one Zoroaster, who lived about the year of the world 2,900; and it continued to be the established religion of the country for many years after. The priests kept up continual fires in their temples; and standing before these fires with mitres on their heads, they daily repeated a great number of prayers. The name of their chief temple was Amanus, or Namanus, which signifies the sun; and is the same with what we find under the name of Baal in Scripture. Their great reputation induced people to visit them from all parts of the known world, to be instructed by them in the principles of philosophy and mythology; and we are assured that the great Pythagoras studied many years under them." (Burder's History of All Religions, p. 521).

LESSON XV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_SPECIAL LESSON._

_THE JAREDITE EMPIRE AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLE._

(A SUGGESTED LECTURE)

_NOTES._

1. _The Adoption of Previous Suggestions:_ The previous suggestions and explanations in these special lessons (Lessons V and X), may be adopted here both by the Teachers and those to whom this lesson shall be assigned.

2. _The Jaredite Empire:_ This nation was contemporary with those nations whose religions and gods we have been studying thus far. Indeed, it had its origin about the same time that Babylon, Assyria and Egypt had; as well as to run its course with them. It will be of undoubted interest to the students to bring together in the form of a lecture so much as may be learned of the religion and worship of this Western-world-contemporary of Babylon, Assyria and Egypt.

3. _Sources of Information:_ The chief source of information for the proposed lecture will be Moroni's Abridgment of the writings of Ether in the Book of Mormon, and those casual references made to the Jaredite people in other parts of the Book of Mormon, all of which should be carefully sought out, as they throw important light upon the character of this ancient people and Empire of the Western world. Also the student will find help by consulting Roberts' New Witnesses for God, Vol. II, Ch. x; also Chs. from xxiv. to xxix; and Vol. III, Ch. xxxi. Reynolds' Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, Art. "Jaredite," "Jared," "Jared, Brother of," etc.

4. _Suggestions to Speakers:_ We renew our topic, "Suggestions to Speakers," last dealt with in Lesson X. We are still dealing with the "First Moments of Speech," and again quote Mr. Pittenger:

_First Moments of Speech:_ "There is a strange sensation often experienced in the presence of an audience. It may proceed from the gaze of the many eyes that turn upon the speaker, especially if he permits himself to steadily return that gaze. Most speakers have been conscious of this in a nameless thrill, a real something, pervading the atmosphere, tangible, evanescent, indescribable. All writers have borne testimony to the power of a speaker's eye in impressing an audience. This influence, which we are now considering, is the reverse of that picture--the power _their_ eyes may exert upon him, especially before he begins to speak; after the inward fires of oratory are fanned into flame the eyes of the audience lose all terror. By dwelling on the object for which we speak, and endeavoring to realize its full importance, we will in a measure lose sight of our personal danger, and be more likely to maintain a calm and tranquil frame of mind.

"No change should be made in the plan [of the speech] at the last moment, as that is very liable to produce confusion.[1] This error is often committed. The mind has a natural tendency to go repeatedly over the same ground, revising and testing every point, and it may make changes, the consequences of which cannot be in a moment foreseen. But the necessary preparation has been made, and we should now await the result calmly and hopefully. Over-study is quite possible, and when accompanied by great solicitude, wearies our mind in advance, and strips the subject of all freshness. If the eye is fixed too long upon one object with a steadfast gaze, it loses the power to see at all. So the mind, if exerted steadily upon a single topic for a long period, fails in vigor and elasticity at the moment when those qualities are indispensable. That profound thinker and preacher, Frederick W. Robertson, experienced this difficulty, and was accustomed to find relief by reading some inspiring paragraphs upon some totally different theme from that he intended to speak about. The energy and enthusiasm of our minds in the moment of speech must be raised to the highest pitch; the delivery of a living discourse is not the dry enumeration of a list of particulars; but we must actually feel an immediate and burning interest in the topics with which we deal. This cannot be counterfeited.

"To clearly arrange all thoughts that belong to the subject, lay them aside when the work is done until the moment of speech, and then enter confidently upon them with only such a momentary glance as will assure us that all is right--this is the method to make our strength fully available. This confidence, while in waiting, seems to the beginner very difficult, but experience rapidly renders it easy. M. Bautain declares that he has been repeatedly so confident in his preparation as to fall asleep while waiting to be summoned to the pulpit!

"Those who mis-improve the last moments by too much thought and solicitude, are not the only class of offenders. Some persons, through mere indolence, suffer the fine lines of preparation which have been traced with so much care to fade into dimness. This error is not infrequently committed by those who speak a second or third time on the same subject. Because they have once succeeded, they imagine that the same success is always at command. No mistake could be greater. It is not enough to have speech-material in a position from which it can be collected by a conscious and prolonged effort, but it must be in the fore-ground of the mind. There is no time at the moment of delivery of reviving half obliterated lines of memory.

"The writer once saw a notable case of failure from this cause. A preacher, on a great occasion, was much engrossed with other important duties until the hour appointed for his sermon had arrived. With perfect confidence he selected a sketch from which he had preached a short time before, and with the general course of which he was no doubt familiar. But when he endeavored to produce his thoughts, they were not ready. He became embarrassed, talked at random for a short time, and then had the candor to tell the audience that he could not finish, and to take his seat. Probably half an hour given to reviewing his plan, would have made all his previous preparation fresh again, and have spared him the mortification of failure.

"In this last interval it is also well to care for the strength and vigor of the body, as its condition greatly influences all mental operations. It is said that the pearl-diver, before venturing into the depths of the sea, always spends a few moments in deep breathing and other bodily preparations. In the excitement of speech, the whirl and hurricane of emotion, it is advisable to be well prepared for the high tension of nerve that is implied. Mental excitement exhausts and wears down the body faster than bodily labor. We must carefully husband our strength that we may be able to meet all demands upon it. * * * * * * * * * * * Having now done all we can in advance, nothing remains but to rise and speak. Preparation and precaution are passed. Actual work--the most joyous, thrilling, and spiritual of all human tasks--is now to be entered upon." (Extempore Speech, pp. 190-195).

5. _Another Word on Strength:_ The definition of "Strength" as a property of good style in speaking or writing, was given in Lesson X (Note 3), and the first requisite to its attainment was considered. We now consider the second, which is taken from Lockwood's Lessons in English:

6. _Words of Connection:_ "The strength of a sentence is increased by careful use of the words of connection.

"(a) Avoid 'stringing' clauses together loosely with _and_ as a connective.

"(Example:) They were soon at home _and_ surrounded by the family, _and_ plied with questions as to what they had seen _and_ what they had heard, _and_ soon the neighbors came in _and_ then the whole story had to be told again.'

"In this sentence, there is lack of unity as well as lack of strength. In a sentence containing a series of words or expressions in the same construction, insert conjunctions between each two words or expressions if the intention is to make the mind dwell upon each particular.

"(Example:) 'And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it.'

"But when the author's object is to give a many-sided view of a subject, or to convey the idea of rapid movement, the conjunction should be omitted.

"(Example:) 'Charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.'

'One effort, one, to break the circling host;
They form, unite, charge, waver,--all is lost!'

"(b) Do not weaken the sentence by the omission of the relative pronoun. Such omissions are allowable in familiar conversation, but rarely in careful writing or speaking.

"(Example:) 'The idea (which) he is working on is fraught with great possibilities.'

"(c) Do not have two prepositions govern the same noun. This awkward construction is called _'splitting particles.'_

"(Example:) 'He ran by but did not look into the windows.' (Better) He ran by the windows, but did not look into them. (Lessons in English--Lockwood--pp. 200, 201).

"This fault occurs in the following sentence: 'Though virtue borrows no assistance from, yet it may often be accompanied by, the advantages of fortune.' No one can read these lines without perceiving their decided lack of strength and harmony. A slight change will greatly improve their effect: 'Though virtue borrows no assistance from the advantages of fortune, yet it may often be accompanied by them.'

"Avoid, on ordinary occasions, the common expletive _'there,'_ as used in the following sentence: 'There is nothing which disgusts us sooner than the empty pomp of language.' The sentiment is expressed more simply and strongly thus: 'Nothing disgusts us sooner than the empty pomp of language.' This expletive form is proper only when used to introduce an important proposition." (Quackenbos Rhetoric, p. 295).

Footnotes

1. This should be understood, so far as the Elders of the Church are concerned to refer only to ordinary cases of delivering announced lectures or discourses. But in the course of an Elder's ministry, when preaching the Gospel, he should respond to the promptings of the Spirit in his ministry, even to violating the rule here laid down by Mr. Pittenger.

LESSON XVI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_VIII. Beliefs of the Greeks and of the Myers' "General History,"
Romans._ Chs. x, xii, xxiv-xxvi.

1. The Origin of the Greeks and Burder's "Hist. of All
Romans. Religions," p. 527 et seq.
"Myths and Myth-Makers"
2. Mythology of the Greeks and (John Fiske);
Romans. "Mythology of All Nations,"
Ch. i, et seq.
3. Classification of the Greek and "The World's Worship"
Roman Deities. (Dobbins), Chs. viii and
ix. The notes of this
lesson.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, 'To the Unknown God'; whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." (Acts xvii:22, 23.)_

_NOTES._

1. _The Greeks:_ "The ancient people whom we call Greeks, called themselves Hellenes and their land Hellas. But this term 'Hellas' as used by the ancient Greeks embraced much more than modern Greece. 'Wherever were Hellenes there was Hellas.' Thus the name included not only Greece proper and the islands of the adjoining seas, but also the Hellenic cities in Asia Minor, in Southern Italy, and in Sicily, besides many other Greek settlements scattered up and down the Mediterranean and along the shores of the Hellespont and the Euxine. Yet Greece proper was the real home-land of the Hellenes, and the actual center of Greek life and culture. (Myers' General History, p. 71).

"The historic inhabitants of Greece were called by the Romans Greeks; but * * * * * * they called themselves Hellenes, from their fabled ancestor Hellen (King in Phthia in Thessaly). They were divided into four families or tribes--the Achaeans, the Ionians, the Dorians, and the Aeolians. The primitive inhabitants of Greece are supposed to have been the descendants of Javan, the son of Japhet (son of Noah), and hence Greece was called by the Hebrews, 'Javan.'" (Anderson's General History, p. 34.)

2. _The Romans:_ "There were in early times three chief races in Italy--the Italians, the Etruscans, and the Greeks. The Italians, a branch of the Aryan family, embraced many tribes (Latin, Umbrians, Sabines, Samnites, etc.), that occupied nearly all Central, and a considerable part of Southern Italy. Their life was for the most part that of shepherds and farmers.

"The Etruscans, a wealthy, cultured, and seafaring people of uncertain race and origin, dwelt in Etruria, now called Tuscany after them. Before the rise of the Roman people they were the leading race in the peninsula. Certain elements in their culture lead us to believe that they had learned much from the cities of _Magna Graecia._ The Etruscans in their turn became the teachers of the early Romans, and imparted to them at least some minor elements of civilization, including hints in the art of building, and various religious ideas and rites. Through the medium of these cultured communities, the Romans were taught the use of letters, and given valuable suggestions in matters of law and constitutional government. Most important of all, the Italian peoples were the Latins, who dwelt in Latium, between the Tiber and the Liris. These people, like all the Italians, were near kindred of the Greeks, and brought with them into Italy those customs, manners, beliefs and institutions which seem to have been the early common possession of the various Aryan-speaking peoples." (Myers' General History, pp. 196-7).

3. _Greek and Roman Mythology:_ "The term mythology comes from mythos, a fable, and logos, a discourse, signifies a fabulous account of things, particularly of such things as regard false gods and their idolatrous worship." (Crabb Mythology of all Nations, Introduction).

"The mythology of the Greeks was, as to the most important particulars, confessedly borrowed from the Egyptians. Their philosophers, Anaxagoras, Phythagoras, Thales, and others, traveled into Egypt, where they gathered all the notions there current concerning the gods, the transmigration of souls, a future state, and other points, which they modeled into a system that was afterwards enlarged and adorned by all the charms and embellishments that poetry and art could furnish."

Thomas Dew, also, in his "Digest of Laws, Customs, Manners and Institutions of Ancient and Modern Nations," says, on the origin of the Greek religion,--"Supposed to have been derived in great measure from the religion of the Egyptians. * * * Still, large portion was of Grecian origin, and that even though taken from Egypt, became Grecian in character." (p. 54.) Burder in his History of All Religions, says (p. 527): "The Greeks are supposed to have derived many of their deities from the Egyptians as well as no small number of their religious ceremonies. The Egyptians, no doubt, at an earlier period, believed in one Deity as supreme, and the Maker and Ruler of all things; but after that they worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, under various forms, as well as living creatures and lifeless things."

4. _Religion of Greeks and Romans Identical in Essentials:_ "The basis of the Roman religious system was the same as that of the Greek. At the head of the pantheon stood Jupiter, identical in all essential attributes with the Hellenic Zeus. He was the special protector of the Roman people. To him, together with Juno and Minerva, was consecrated a magnificent temple upon the summit of the Capitoline hill, overlooking the city.

"Mars, the god of war, was the favorite deity and the fabled father of the Roman race, who were fond of calling themselves the 'Children of Mars.' They proved themselves worthy offspring of the war-god. Martial games and festivals were celebrated in his honor during the first month of the Roman year, which bore, and still bears, in his honor, the name of March.

"Janus was a double-faced deity, to whom the month of January was sacred, as were also all gates and doors. The gates of his temple were always kept open in time of war and shut in time of peace.

"The fire upon the household hearth was regarded as the symbol of the goddess Vesta. Her worship was a favorite one with the Romans. The nation, too, as a single great family, had a common national hearth in the temple of Vesta where the sacred fires were kept burning from generation to generation by six virgins, daughters of the Roman state." (Myers' General History, pp. 203-4).

"The Greeks and Romans had many deities in common, particularly the superior gods, arising partly from adoption, on one side or the other, but more especially from the circumstance that the two countries were peopled by different branches of the same family, descended from one common ancestor, Japhet. At the same time it is evident, from the difference in the names of the Greek and Roman deities, and in their primary attributes, that they drew their mythology from different sources, which may be easily imagined, when it is considered that they were cut off from all intercourse with each other on their first settlement, and mingled with different tribes in the course of their migration. The Tuscans or Etrurians had, as is generally admitted, their mythology as well as their language, from their Pelasgian ancestors, long before the Grecians and Romans were known to each other; but in after ages, when the intercourse between these two people became intimate, the Romans, without doubt, borrowed many of the fables of the Greeks, to which their poets and historians, who are very ample in their descriptions of the gods, added much of their own invention." (Crabb's Mythology, p. 6.)

5. _The Action and Reaction Involved in the Roman Conquest of Greece:_ The fact of there being much in common in the religion and worship of the Greeks and the Romans, while accounted for in part by a large infusion of Hellenes into the south part of Italy and the Island of Sicily--by reason of which the ruder Latin tribes of the north were brought into contact with Greek culture and civilization--still there was a larger cause for this identity of religion and worship; and that cause arises out of the reaction of Greek learning upon the Roman conquerors of Greece. The Roman conquests in Western Europe was the subjugation of peoples in a low state of civilization "and destitute of any element of strength in their social and national life;" and their conquerors treated them, for the most part, as inferiors. "But in the East the case was different. There the Romans met with a civilization more advanced than their own which they had already learned to respect, and an elaborate system of civil government and social usages, which could not be set aside without undermining the whole fabric of society. Hence the Greeks, while subjected to the Roman administration, were allowed to retain a great part of their institutions, together with their property and private rights, and, from their superiority to the other conquered peoples, remained the dominant power in the East. Even in Asia the despotism of Rome was much modified by the municipal system of the Greek colonies and by the influence of Greek culture. Thus it came to pass that, while the Western nations were assimilated to Rome, in the East the Roman empire became Greek, though the Greek nation in name became Roman. The effects of this are visible at every turn in the subsequent history, and to this cause must be referred many anomalies which are traceable at the present day in the condition of Eastern Europe." (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

6. _The Classification of Greek and Roman Deities:_ "The Greek and Roman deities are distinguished into three classes; namely, the Superior Gods, the Inferior Gods, and the Demi-gods.

"The Superior Gods otherwise called _Dii Majorum Gentium_, that is, gods of the superior houses or families, answering to the patricians or nobility of Rome, were so named because they were believed to be more eminently employed in the government of the world. They were also styled the 'Select Gods,' of whom twelve were admitted into the council of Jupiter, and on that account denominated 'Consentes.'

"The images of these twelve gods were fixed in the Forum of Rome, six of them being males, and six females; their names are given in the following distich by the poet Ennius:

'Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Mars, Mercurius, Jove,
Neptunus, Volcanus, Apollo.'

"These twelve gods were supposed to preside over the twelve months; to each of them was allotted a month: January to Juno, February to Neptune, March to Minerva, April to Venus, May to Apollo, June to Mercury, July to Jupiter, August to Ceres, September to Vulcan, October to Mars, November to Diana, December to Vesta. They likewise presided over the twelve celestial signs. If to these twelve be added the eight following, namely, Janus, Saturnus, Genius, Sol, Pluto, Bacchus, Terra, and Luna, there will be twenty of the first class, or superior gods. These superior gods were likewise distinguished, from their usual place of residence, into Celestial, Terrestrial, Marine, and Infernal gods.

"The Inferior Gods comprehended what Ovid called the 'Celestial Populace,' answering to the plebeians among the Romans, who had no place in heaven, as the Penates, Lares--rural-deities, etc.

"The third class, or Demigods, was composed of such as derived their origin from a god or goddess and a mortal, or such as by their valor and exploits had raised themselves to the rank of immortals. Of this class was Hercules, Aesculapius, Castor, Pollux, Achilles, etc.

"To the list of the Roman gods, might be added a fourth class, called 'novensiles,' which the Sabines brought to Rome by the command of King Tatius. They were so named because, as some suppose, they were the last of all that were reckoned among the gods. Of this class also were the deities by whose help and means, as Cicero says, men are advanced to heaven, and obtain a place among the gods, namely, the moral virtues, as mercy, chastity, piety, etc." (Crabb's Mythology, pp. 6, 7).

LESSON XVII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_IX. Origin of the Greek and Roman "The World's Worship,"
Deities._ Ch. xiii. "Mythology
of All Nations"
_X. List and Character of the Chief (Crabb), Ch. ii. "The
Greek and Roman Deities._ World's Worship" (Dobbins),
Chs. viii and ix.
_XI. The Greek and Roman Parthenon._
Burder's "History of
_XII. Greek and Roman Worship._ All Religions," Part vi.,
pp. 527-575.

Myers' "General History,"
Chs. xii and xxvi,
and Encyclopaedias, and
Notes of this Lesson.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 1 Cor. i:22-24._

_NOTES._

1. _The Generation of the Gods: (a) The Greeks:_ "Chaos (void space) was first: then came into being 'broad-breasted' Earth, the gloomy Tartarus and Love. Chaos produced Erebus and Night, and this last bore to Erebus Day and Ether.

"Earth now produced Uranus (Heaven), of equal extent with herself, to envelop her, and the mountains and Pontos (Sea). She then bore to Uranus a mighty progeny--the Titans; six males and six females. She also bore Hottos, Briareus and Gyges. These children were hated by their father, who, as soon as they were born, thrust them out of sight in a cavern of mother Earth, who, grieved at his conduct, produced the substance of hoary steel, and, forming from it a sickle, roused her children, the Titans, to rebellion against him; but fear seized on them all except Kronos, who, lying in wait with the sickle with which his mother had armed him, mutilated his unsuspecting sire. The drops which fell to the earth from the wounds, gave birth to the Erinnyes, the Giants and the Mehan nymphs; and from what fell into the sea, sprang Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

"Earth finally, after the overthrow of the Titans, bore by Tartaros her last offspring, the hundred-headed Typhoeus, the father of storms and whirlwinds, whom Zeus precipitated into Tartarus.

"Rhea was united to Kronos. Kronos, having learned from his parents, Heaven and Earth, that he was fated to be deprived by one of his sons of the kingdom which he had taken from his father, devoured his children as fast as they were born. Rhea, when about to be delivered of Zeus, besought her parents to teach her how she might save him. Instructed by Earth, she concealed him in a cavern of Crete, and gave a stone in his stead to Kronos. This stone he afterward threw up, and with it the children whom he had devoured. When Zeus was grown up, he and the other children of Kronos made war on their father and the Titans. The scene of the conflict was Thessaly; the former fought from Olympus, the latter from Othrys. During ten entire years the conflict was undecided; at length, by the counsel of Earth, the Kronids released the Hundred-handed and called them to their aid. The war was then resumed with renewed vigor, and the Titans were finally vanquished and imprisoned in Tartarus, under the guard of the Hundred-handed. The Kronids then, by the advice of Earth, gave the supreme power to Zeus, who, in return, distributed honors and dominion among the associates of his victory." (The World's Worship--Dobbins--pp. 154-5).

(b) _The Romans:_ "The Romans appear to have borrowed their fictions respecting the creation of the world from the same source as the Greeks. Ovid expressly calls Chaos, _rudis indigestaque moles,_ 'a rude indigested heap'; or, as Moses says, "The earth without form and void;" after which the poet goes on in a strain very similar to what has already been set forth.

"The Etruscans, who were among the original settlers in Italy, gave, according to Suidas, the following account of the creation. 'God,' says a philosopher of that nation, 'created the universe in six thousand years, and appointed the same period of time to be the extent of its duration. In the first period of a thousand years, God created the heavens and the earth; in the second, the visible firmament; in the third, the sea and all the waters that are in the earth; in the fourth, the sun, moon, and stars; in the fifth, every living soul of birds, reptiles, and quadrupeds, which have their abode either on the land, in the air, or the water; and in the sixth, man alone.' Now, when it is considered that in another part of Scripture it is said, that 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,' it is easy to explain the origin of this fiction." (Crabb's Mythology, Ch. ii).

2. _A Brief List of Some of the Chief Greek and Roman Deities: (a) Jupiter:_ "Jupiter, the father of gods and men, is said to have been born in Crete, or to have been sent there in infancy for concealment. He was the son of Saturn, the god of Time, and of Cybele, otherwise called Rhea. He was the most powerful of all the gods, and everything was subservient to his will. His father, Saturn, had received the kingdom of the world from his brother Titan, on condition of destroying all the sons who should be born to him. Saturn, therefore, devoured his children immediately after birth. This may be considered as having an allegorical meaning; namely, that time destroys all things.

(b) _Apollo:_ "Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of the goddess Diana. He was born in the island of Delos, where his mother fled to avoid the jealousy of Juno. He was the god of all the fine arts; and to him is ascribed the invention of medicine, music, poetry and eloquence. He presided over the Muses, and had the power of looking into futurity. His oracles were in general repute over the world. Apollo had various other surnames. He was called Delius, from the island where he was born; Cynthius, from a mountain in that island; Delphinius, from the city of Delphi, in Boeotia; Didymaeus, from a Greek word, signifying twins; Nomius, which means a shepherd; Paean, from his skill in shooting arrows; and Phoebus, from the swiftness of his motion."

It is generally supposed that by Apollo the sun is to be understood; for which reason he was called Sol by the Latins.

(c) _Mars:_ "Mars was the god of war, and son of Jupiter and Juno. He was educated by the god Priapus, who instructed him in every manly exercise. His temples were not numerous in Greece, but from the warlike Romans he received unbounded honors. His priests were called Salii.

(d) _Mercury:_ "Mercury was the son of Jupiter and of Maia, the daughter of Atlas. He was born in Arcadia, upon Mount Cyllene, and in his infancy was intrusted with the care of the seasons. He was the messenger of the gods, and more especially of Jupiter. He was the patron of travelers and shepherds. He conducted the souls of the dead into the infernal regions, and not only presided over merchants and orators, but was also the god of thieves and of all dishonest persons.

(e) _Bacchus:_ "Bacchus was the god of wine, and the son of Jupiter and Semele. Semele was the daughter of Cadmus, celebrated as the inventor of the alphabet, and of Hermione, the daughter of Mars and Venus. She was destroyed by the jealous cruelty of Juno. It is probable that Bacchus was an ancient conqueror and lawgiver. He was born in Egypt, and educated at Nysa in Arabia. He taught the culture of the grape, the art of converting its juice into wine, and the manner of making honey. He was on that account, honored as a god by the Egyptians, under the name of Osiris.

(f) _Vulcan:_ "Vulcan was the son of Juno; he was the god of fire, and the patron of all those artists who worked in iron or other metals. He was educated in heaven; but Jupiter being offended with him, hurled him from Olympus. He lighted on the island of Lemnos, and was a cripple ever after. He fixed his residence there, built himself a palace, and raised forges to work metals. He forged the thunderbolts of Jupiter, and the arms of the gods and demi-gods.

(g) _Juno:_ "Juno was the queen of heaven, the sister and wife of Jupiter, and the daughter of Saturn and of Ops, otherwise called Rhea. She was born in the isle of Samos, and resided there till her marriage with Jupiter; her children were Vulcan, Mars, and Hebe. The poets represent Juno with a majesty well befitting the empress of the skies.

(h) _Minerva:_ "Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, and is said to have sprung, completely armed and full-grown, from the brain of Jupiter. She was immediately admitted into the assembly of the gods, and became Jupiter's faithful counselor; she was the most accomplished of all the goddesses. The countenance of Minerva, as generally represented, was more expressive of masculine firmness than of grace or softness.

(i) _Venus:_ "Venus was the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter, grace and pleasure. She is said to have risen from the froth of the sea, near the island of Cyprus. The Zephyrs wafted her to the shore, where she was received by the Seasons, the daughters of Jupiter and Themis. As she walked, flowers bloomed beneath her feet, and the rosy Hours dressed her in divine attire.

(j) _Cupid:_ "Cupid, the son of Venus, and god of love, was represented as a beautiful boy, with wings, a bow and arrows, and generally with a bandage over his eyes. He had wings, to show his caprice and desire of change. He is described as blind, because we are apt to shut our eyes to the faults of those we love.

(k) _Ceres:_ "Ceres was the goddess of corn and harvests, and the daughter of Saturn and Vesta. The most celebrated festivals in honor of Ceres were held at Eleusis. They were called the Eleusinian Mysteries, on account of the secrecy with which they were conducted. Those who were admitted to these solemn assemblies were called the initiated." (Burder's History of All Religions, pp. 528-533).

4. _The Greek Pantheon:_ "At the head of the Greek pantheon there was a council of twelve members, comprising six gods and as many goddesses. The male deities were Zeus, the father of gods and men; Poseidon, ruler of the sea; Apollo, or Phoebus, the god of light, of music, and of prophecy; Ares, the god of war; Hephaestus, the deformed god of fire, and the forger of the thunderbolts of Zeus; Hermes, the wing-footed herald of the celestials, the god of invention and commerce.

"The female divinities were Hera, the proud and jealous queen of Zeus; Athena, or Pallas,--who sprang full-grown from the forehead of Zeus,--the goddess of wisdom and the patroness of the domestic arts; Artemis, the goddess of the chase; Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty born of the white sea foam; Hestia, the goddess of the hearth; Demeter the earth mother, the goddess of grains and harvests.

"These great deities were simply magnified human beings. They surpassed mortals rather in power than in size of body. Their abode was Mount Olympus and the airy regions above the earth." (Myers' General History, p. 86).

5. _The Delphian Oracle:_ "The most precious part, perhaps, of the religious heritage of the historic Greeks, from the misty Hellenic foretime, was the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The Greeks believed that in the early ages the gods were wont to visit the earth and mingle with men. But even in Homer's time, this familiar intercourse was a thing of the past--a tradition of a golden age that had passed away. In historic times, though the gods often revealed their will and intentions through signs and portents, still they granted a more special communication of counsel through what were known as oracles. These communications, it was believed, were made sometimes by Zeus, but more commonly by Apollo. Not everywhere, but only in chosen places, did these gods manifest their presence and communicate the divine will. These favored spots were called oracles, as were also the responses there received.

"The most renowned of the Greek oracles, as we have intimated, was that at Delphi, in Phocis. Here, from a deep fissure in the rocks, arose stupefying vapors, which were thought to be the inspiring breath of Apollo. Over this spot was erected a temple in honor of the Revealer. The communication was generally received by the Pythia, or priestess, seated upon a tripod placed above the orifice. As she became overpowered by the vapors, she uttered the message of the god. These mutterings of the Pythia were taken down by attendant priests, interpreted, and written in hexameter verse. Some of the responses of the oracle contained plain and wholesome advice; but very many of them, particularly those that implied a knowledge of the future, were made obscure and ingeniously ambiguous, so that they might correspond with the event, however affairs should turn.

"The Oracle of Delphi gained a celebrity wide as the world. It was often consulted by the monarchs of Asia and the people of Rome in times of extreme danger and perplexity. Among the Greeks, scarcely any undertaking was entered upon without the will and sanction of the Oracle being first sought." (Myers' General History, pp. 86, 87).

6. _Oracles and Divination Among the Romans:_ "There were no true oracles at Rome. The Romans, therefore, often had recourse to those among the Greeks. Particularly in great emergencies did they seek advice from the celebrated Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. From Etruria was introduced the art of the haruspices, or sooth-sayers, which consisted in discovering the will of the gods by the appearance of the entrails of victims slain for the sacrifice." (Myers' General History, p. 204).

7. _Worships and Temples:_ "In the first ages of the world, men had neither temples nor statues for their gods, but worshipped in the open air, in the shady grove, or on the summit of the lofty mountains, whose apparent proximity to the heavens seemed to render them peculiarly appropriate for religious purposes. Ignorantly transferring to the works of the Supreme Being that homage which is only due to their Author, they adored the sun as a god, who, riding on his chariot of fire, diffused light and heat through the world; the moon, as a mild and beneficent divinity, who presided over night and silence, consoling her worshippers for the departure of the more brilliant light of day.

"It is thought that the Greeks received from the Egyptians the custom of building temples, which were erected, some in valleys, some in woods, and others by the brink of a river, or fountain, according to the deity who was destined to inhabit them; for the ancients ascribed the management of every particular affair to some particular god, and appropriated to each a peculiar form of building, according to his or her peculiar character and attributes. But when temples were first erected, the ancients still continued to worship their gods, without any statue or visible representation of the divinity.

"It is supposed that the worship of idols was introduced among the Greeks in the time of Cecrops, the founder of Athens, in the year 1556 B. C. At first these idols were formed of rude blocks of wood or stone, until, when the art of graving, or carving, was invented, these rough masses were changed into figures resembling living creatures. Afterwards, marble, and ivory, or precious stones, were used in their formation, and lastly, gold, silver, brass, and other metals. At length, in the refined ages of Greece, all the genius of the sculptor was employed in the creation of these exquisite statutes, which no modern workmanship has yet surpassed. Temples, statues, and altars, were considered sacred, and to many of them was granted the privilege of protecting offenders." (Burder's History of All Religions, pp. 227-8).

LESSON XVIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_XIII. The Greek and Roman Religion._ "Outlines of Ecclesiastical
Hist.," (Roberts),
_XIV. Roman and Greek Schools of Sec. ii, pp. 22-25. "The
Philosophy._ World's Worship" (Dobbins),
Chs. viii, ix.
1. Stoics. Notes 1 and 2.

2. Epicureans. "Moral and Metaphysical
Philosophy" (Maurice),
3. Academics. Vol. I, Chs. vi and
vii. Myers' "General
Hist.," Chs. xxiii. Dr. Smith's
"History of
Greece," Ch. xiii. "Mormon
Doctrine of Deity,"
Ch. iv.

"Cicero's Tusculan
Disputations" (Yonge's
Translation), pp. 209-355.
"Intellectual Development
of Europe"
(Draper), Chs. v and vi.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "Behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach His word; yea, in wisdom, all that He seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true." (Book of Alma, Ch. xxix:8.)_

_NOTES._

1. _Religion of the Greeks: General View:_ "The religious system of the Greeks is the embodiment of beauty. No other worship that has ever existed so encouraged the taste for art as this. Its literature, its mythological stories, its idols and its temples still control and, to a great extent, shape the art ideas of the world. Its devotees have, above all other people, possessed a perception of beauty of form and a fondness of representing it.

"The people of Greece appear to have originally come from the northwestern part of Asia Minor. They were called the Hellenes. The worship which they brought from Asia was the worship of the 'Heaven-Father,' the unseen one who dwells in ether, whose temple is the sky, and whose altar is properly placed upon the mountain top. The Hindus called the same being Dyaus-pitar; the Romans, Diovis-pater or Jupiter; the Greeks, Zeus-pater. One can readily see the resemblance between these names, and the evidence they bear to the fact that these nations all came originally from one common stock. As the primal Greek race separated into various parts of Greece, different forms began to arise. As sailors from other lands arrived on their shores, they brought their own gods with them, and thus many new gods were introduced into Greece.

"The lively imagination of the Greeks, and the out-door life of their primitive state, produced a number of tales and legends about the gods. Some of these were based on the tales with which their forefathers were familiar in their early home in Asia. The people lived in separate villages. Wandering minstrels and merchants carried these tales of gods and heroes from village to village. Poets then caught them up and adorned them with the touches of a livelier fancy. Thus, soon, a rich and luxuriant system of legendary lore was in possession of the whole people.

"Just as is the case with other nations, the beings called gods by the Greeks are but the personifications of the powers and objects of nature, and the legends but represent the courses of nature and its operations. To these primitive notions imagination afterwards added, and poetry clothed the whole with a warm glow. Thus was formed the popular Greek faith" (The World's Worship--Dobbins--pp. 150-157).

2. _Religion of the Romans: General View:_ "Long before Rome was founded, Italy was peopled with an industrious class of farmers. But we have scarcely any records of those early times. Some of their gigantic buildings, lakes and canals remain, but these are almost all that is left. The religious ideas of these early settlers entered into and, to a great extent, moulded the religion of the Romans. The people of Italy did not have the same vivid imaginations and lively fancies as the people of Greece. Their early worship seems to have been of a more serious character than that of the Greeks. Their gods were freer from moral taint, and virtue rather than vice was required in followers of the Roman religions. The poetic art was little cultivated among them, or for that matter, in Rome of a later day. But Rome soon began to borrow from Greece, and to appropriate her gods, heroes and myths. There are no Italian-myths corresponding to those of Greece. In Virgil and Ovid, a few adventures of the Italian gods are related, but these are plainly limitations, or slight modifications, of the Greek stories." (The World's Worship, pp. 173-4).

3. _Zeno:_ "Zeno, founder of the celebrated school of the Stoics, lived in the third century before our era (about 340--265 B. C.). He taught at Athens in a public porch (Stoa in Greek), from which circumstance comes the name applied to his disciples. The Stoics inculcated virtue for its own sake. They believed--and it would be difficult to frame a better creed--that 'man's chief business here is to do his duty.' They schooled themselves to bear with composure any lot that destiny might appoint. Any sign of emotion on account of calamity was considered unmanly. Thus a certain Stoic, when told of the sudden death of his son, is said merely to have remarked, 'Well, I never imagined that I had given life to an immortal.'

"Stoicism became a favorite system of thought with certain classes of the Romans, and under its teachings and doctrines were nourished some of the purest and loftiest characters produced by the pagan world." (Myers' General History, pp. 185-6).

4. _Epicurus:_ "Epicurus (341--270 B. C.) taught, in opposition to the Stoics, that pleasure is the highest good. He recommended virtue, indeed, but only as a means for the attainment of pleasure; whereas the Stoics made virtue an end in itself. In other words, Epicurus said, "Be virtuous, because virtue will bring you the greatest amount of happiness;" Zeno said, "Be virtuous, because you ought to be."

"Epicurus had many followers in Greece, and his doctrines were eagerly embraced by many among the Romans during the later corrupt period of the Empire. Many of these disciples carried the doctrines of their master to an excess that he himself would have been the first to condemn. Allowing full indulgence to every appetite, their whole philosophy was expressed in the proverb, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'" (Myers' General History, p. 186).

5. _The Stoics:_ The Stoics believed, (1) that there were gods; (2) they undertook to define their character and nature; (3) they held that the universe is governed by them, and (4) that they exercise a superintendency over human affairs.

The evidence for the existence of the gods they saw primarily in the universe itself. "What can be so plain and evident," they argued, "when we behold the heavens, and contemplate the celestial bodies, as the existence of some supreme, divine intelligence by which these things are governed?" "Were it otherwise," they said, "Ennius would not with universal approbation have said,

'Look up to the refulgent heavens above
Which all men call unanimously Jove--
* * * Of gods and men the sire.'"

Of the nature of the Deity, they held two things: First of all, that he is an animated though impersonal being; secondly, that there is nothing in all nature superior to him. "I do not see," says one well versed in their doctrines, "what can be more consistent with this idea and preconception, than to attribute a mind and divinity to the world, the most excellent of all beings."

That is to say, the Stoics held the universe to be a deity; and Cicero represents Zeno as reasoning in the matter in this wise: "That which reasons is superior to that which does not; nothing is superior to the world; the world, therefore, reasons." By the same rule the world may be proved to be wise, happy, and eternal; for the possession of all these qualities is superior to the want of them; and nothing is superior to the world; the inevitable consequence of which argument is, that the world is a deity. He goes on: "No part of anything void of sense is capable of perception; some parts of the world have perception; the world, therefore, has sense." He proceeds, and pursues the argument closely--"Nothing that is destitute itself of life and reason can generate a being possessed of life and reason; but the world does generate beings possessed of life and reason; the world therefore, is not itself destitute of life and reason."

He concludes his argument in his usual manner with a simile: "If well-tuned pipes should spring out of the olive, would you have the slightest doubt that there was in the olive-tree itself some kind of skill and knowledge? Or if the plane-tree could produce harmonious flutes, surely you would infer, on the same principle, that music was contained in the plane-tree. Why, then, should we not believe the world is a living and wise being, since it produces living and wise beings out of itself?"

Again, reverting to this subject, Cicero in representing the doctrines of the Stoics, says: "Now, we see that there is nothing in being that is not a part of the universe; and as there are sense and reasons in the parts of it, there must therefore be these qualities, and these too, in a more, energetic and powerful degree, in that part in which the predominant quality of the world is found. The world, therefore, must necessarily be possessed of wisdom; and that element, which embraces all things, must excel in perfection of reason. The world, therefore, is a God, and the whole power of the world is contained in that divine element."

"Besides these (i. e., the universe and the stars, as part of that universe of course), there are many other natures," Cicero goes on to say, "which have, with reason, been deified by the wisest Grecians, and by our ancestors, in consideration of the benefits derived from them; for they were persuaded that whatever was of great utility to human kind must proceed from divine goodness, and the name of the Deity was applied to that which the Deity produced, as when we call corn Ceres, and wine Bacchus; whence that saying of Terence,

'Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus starves.'

And any quality, also, in which there was any singular virtue was nominated a Deity, such as Faith and Wisdom, which are placed among the divinities in the Capitol; the last by Aemilius Scaurus, but Faith was consecrated before by Atilius Caltatinus. You see the temple of Virtue and that of Honor repaired by M. Marcellus, erected formerly, in the Ligurian war, by Q. Maximus. Need I mention those dedicated to Help, Safety, Concord, Liberty, and Victory, which have been called Deities, because their efficacy has been so great that it could not have proceeded from any but from some divine power? In like manner are the names of Cupid, Voluptas, and of Lubentine Venus consecrated, though they were things vicious and not natural. * * * * Everything, then, from which any great utility proceeded was deified; and, indeed, the names I have just now mentioned are declaratory of the particular virtue of each Diety."

The God of the Stoics is further described as a corporeal being, united to matter by a necessary connection; and, moreover, as subject to fate, so that he can bestow neither rewards nor punishments. That this sect held to the extinction of the soul at death, is allowed by all the learned. The Stoics drew their philosophy mainly from Socrates and Aristotle. Their cosmology was pantheistic, matter and force being the two ultimate principles, and God being the working force of the universe, giving it unity, beauty and adaptation.

6. _The Epicureans:_ The Epicureans held that there were Gods in existence. They accepted the fact of their existence from the constant and universal opinion of mankind, independent of education, custom or law. "It must necessarily follow," they said, "that this knowledge is implanted in our minds, or, rather, innate in us." Their doctrine was: "That opinion respecting which there is a general agreement in universal nature must infallibly be true; therefore it must be allowed that there are Gods."

"Of the form of the Gods, they held that because the human body is more excellent than that of other animals, both in beauty and for convenience, therefore the Gods are in human form. All men are told by nature that none but the human form can be ascribed to the Gods; for under what other image did it ever appear to anyone either sleeping or waking?" Yet these forms of the Gods were not "body," but "something like body," "nor do they contain blood, but something like blood." "Nor are they to be considered as bodies of any solidity, or reducible to number." "Nor is the nature or power of the Gods to be discerned by the senses but by the mind." They held, moreover, that the universe arose from chance; that the Gods neither did nor could extend their providential care to human affairs.

The duty of worshipping the Gods was based upon the fact of their superiority to man. "The superior and excellent nature of the Gods requires a pious adoration from men, because it is possessed of immortality, and the most exalted felicity; for whatever excels has a right to veneration." Yet "all fear of the power and anger of the Gods should be banished; for we must understand that anger and affection are inconsistent with the nature of a happy and immortal being. These apprehensions being removed, no dread of the superior power remains." On the same principles that the existence of the Gods was allowed, that is, on the pre-notion and universal belief of their existence, it was held that the Gods were happy and immortal, to which the Epicureans added this doctrine: "That which is eternally happy cannot be burdened with any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another; nor can it be influenced by resentment or favor; because things which are liable to such feelings must be weak and frail."