In my apprehension, it is not the
quantity, but the quality, of the persons, among whom the
attributes of divinity are distributed, which is the serious
matter. If the divine might is associated with no higher ethical
attributes than those which obtain among ordinary men; if the
divine intelligence is supposed to be so imperfect that it
cannot foresee the consequences of its own contrivances; if the
supernal powers can become furiously angry with the creatures of
their omnipotence and, in their senseless wrath, destroy the
innocent along with the guilty; or if they can show themselves
to be as easily placated by presents and gross flattery as any
oriental or occidental despot; if, in short, they are only
stronger than mortal men and no better, as it must be admitted
Hasisadra's deities proved themselves to be--then, surely, it is
time for us to look somewhat closely into their credentials, and
to accept none but conclusive evidence of their existence.
To the majority of my respected contemporaries this reasoning
will doubtless appear feeble, if not worse. However, to my mind,
such are the only arguments by which the Chaldaean theology can
be satisfactorily upset. So far from there being any ground for
the belief that Ea, Anu, and Bel are, or ever were, real
entities, it seems to me quite infinitely more probable that
they are products of the religious imagination, such as are to
be found everywhere and in all ages, so long as that imagination
riots uncontrolled by scientific criticism.
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