Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-12-20
Cause Of IdoIatry.


1t is a fact universally admitted that
man is religious animal The ado
ration of his heart must be bestowed
upon something. There is another
fact quite as well established, and that
is, that each Individual man will adore
that which he believes to be greatest
that which possesses most power
aud able to bestow or communicate
the greatest good. Consequently the
worship of the Creator has ever been
most common among mankind, be-
it the idea of the power to bless, and
to do all things. For this reason
the savage tribes of earth nearly all
worship great spirit, who they sup
pose controls the destiny of man. 1t
is an acknowledged principle of phil
osophy that the mind of man is so
constituted that he is compelled by
the very law of his being, not only
to worship that which he considers
the greatest and noblest, but he will of
necessity assimulate his own charac-
ter as much as possible, to the charac-
ter Of the object or being he worships.
We lay down these as facts, though
stated in the simplest manner possi-
BILE, which are universally acknowl-
| edged. With these facts as basis, we
can very redily discern the cause of
idolatry and trace it through all ages
his native wilds is less idolatrous than
the more cultivated, or as we term the
more civilized. The reason is obvi-
Gus. When he stands upon his native
mountain top and views creation
around him he sees world teemlng
! with life and beauty. The scene to
him is grand and there is conscious
ness within him that declares these
all to be the work of great Creator.
At once he lifts his heart and pours
out his devotion to that Great Spirit.
From what he can see of the laws that
g. Yern. the world he concludes that
this Great Spirit has something to
do with the affairs and destiny of
mankind This Grant Spirit is
acknowledged to be the governor or
ruler of the world, and the character
of the savage is formed by his idea of
the nature of this great ruler. In re-
gard to the formation of character the
same principle holds good with all
classes and grades of humanity. AS
men or nations ascend in the scale OF
intelligence and science their ideas OF
Deity change, and the change is in
variably enstamped on their charac-
ter. When science takes material
istic turn, pantheism is the natural
result. The scientists of to-day are
teaching naturalism. Plants and ami
mails, brute and human are taken to
be all one, evolution causing the diff
ference. Plants are endowed with in
| telligence and the ape is the father of
| man, and all are to end in dust.
Nature is God continuously as the
most, in-most- of all life. Will they
not soon plead, What harm if peo-
pie fall down and worship nature, or
some portion of it, as the heathens do,
and erect altars to gods that can be
seen and known?" This speculative
paganism, il continued, must end in
pagan idolatry. The scientists of to-
day have made but few, if any, new
discoveries. The Egyptians taught
very nearly the same materialistic
doctrines four thousand years ago, the
effect of which was seen in the char
acter of the Israelites as long as the
generation which was brought out Of
Egypt lived. They were so imbued
with the materialistic views that they
were taught in Egypt and were glad
to give their richest treasures to make
visible golden calf to fall down and
worship The invisible, unknown
God of MOSES was not tangible; all
the science of Egypt could not COM
prehend him. They must have god
that science could not demonstrate.
They had been taught that the cow
was the superior Of all animals and
nearest allied to man, and that gold
was more valuable and controlled the
affairs of mankind more than all
metals; hence calf made of gold was
the proper object for man to worship.
We can only conjecture as to the first
idol that will grace the altar of the
scientific materialist of this genera
tion. Doubtless gold will enter
largely into its composition.
nas rs zir
Erom Gan Die1o