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MEDIATORS AND TRINITIES.
Science , as applied to historical inves
tigation , has already demonstrated that
there never hns been any revelation of
Deity to man , and that man knows
nothing about a God , and nothing about
a future state of existence.
Knows Nothing ?
Each of the developed religious of the
world claims a divine origin for its
Bible , and each considers its own Scrip
tures as the only authentic revelation ;
the pretentious of one being as good as ,
and no better than , another.
The idea of a God , a supreme ruler of
the Universe , seems to have grown out
of the experience of man in his attitude
towards the powers of Nature , and to
have found original expression in the
worship of the Sun and of Sex.
The idea of a connecting link between
Divinity and Man a mediator is com
mon to all primitive religions cults , as is
also the idea of a third Influence , a per
vading Spirit , acting in harmony with
the other two sources of Eternal Being.
The whole idea is the conception of an
age when the Universe was supposed to
be governed by a God , or by gods , capa
ble of being propitiated by sacrifices and
moved by prayers ; conseqnenty it no
longer applies to an age which has discovered -
covered that the Universe is governed
by immutable law.
Among the ancient Egyptians the Sun ,
the earth fructified by the sun , and the
young , rising sun , constituted the Divine -
vine Family , as represented by Osiris ,
Isis , and Horus.
Osiris , the sun , disappearing every
night and paling every winter , is raised
every morning and every spring as
Horns , who is at once the Son of God
and God himself. Krishna among the
East Indians ; Bel among the Babylon
ians ; Adonis , Hercules , Bacchus , among
the greeks , illustrate in like manner the
changes of the seasons and personify the
sovereignty of the Sun.
The same idea , that of a divine Son ,
born of the union of the Sun and the
Earth , God and a woman , runs through
all the myths which have gradually
been evolved out of the spiritual ques
tionings of man.
The idea of a suffering God atoning
by his death for the sins of men , decend-
ing into the abodes of darkness and ris
ing again to bring life and immortality
to light , is found in the oldest records
of the human race in every part of the
world. It is originally in all coses a
personification of the Sun , and in all
cases it is developed and embellished to
apply to the spiritual needs and aspira
tions of man. The gods of Egypt ,
India , Greece , and Rome have long been
offering their testimony to modern in
vestigators , and continued search has
brought forward the forgotten religious
treasures of nations less active in the
history of the world.
CTOHH.
Extinct races show the cross upon the
ruins of their temples ; the Virgin Moth
er and the Divine Ohild sanctified the
worship of primitive Peru ; and in Siam ,
ages before the Christian era , the Son
of God was incarnated for the salvation
of mankind , and after he was restored
to heaven and "desired to return to
earth no more , Fhra Indara laid his
tiand upon the brow of the lad and
showed him the generations yet to come ,
rejoicing in his prayers and precepts ,
and Somaiinass , beholding , stretched in
his arms to the earth again. "
The Triad theory , in its various ap
plications , lies at the foundation of the
later Trinity idea ; as also the annual
resuscitation of Nature suggested a be
lief in the resurrection of the human
dead.
The later developed system of Egypt
ian philosophy combined the three local
representations of Ra , the Supreme
Deity , into a Trinity : Amman , Phtah ,
and Osiris ; Ammon symbolizing the
True ; Phtah the Beautiful ; Osiris the
Good.
The primitive East Indian worshiped
the Sun , the Moon , and the Firmament.
Later , this triad became the Trinity ,
Brahma , Siva , and Vishu , illustrative of
the powers and processes of Nature.
The Buddhistic Trinity consisted of
Buddha , Dharma ( the Law ) , Samgha
( the Society of Believers ) .
The Chinese Trinity was Heaven ,
Earth , the Emperor : or , Heaven , Earth ,
Man.
The Babylonian Trinity consisted of
Ea , the Father ; Mardno , the Son , and a
Fire God , bearing various names ( Gibil ,
Firru , Nusku. ) and performing the
office of a paraclete.
Many other primitive peoples , less
known to history , held similar ideas re
specting the Unseen , ideas either bor
rowed from surrounding foreign in
fluences or accumulated through indi
genous experience.
The Hebrews , after many experiments
with the cults of neighboring nations
and victorious enemies , developed finally
a strictly monotheistic religion , to which
they have ever since adhered.
The Hebrew Scriptures which form
the basis of the Jewish and Christian
faiths have been proved to be a mass of
mingled history and fable , largely bor
rowed from the records of older nations ,
and showing no evidence of super
human wisdom in the varied contents.
The so-called New Testament , upon
which Christianity is built , has been
proved to be a collection of writings by
unknown authors , not one of whom
could have been contemporary with the
events narrated , as the works did not
appear until many years after the begin
ning of the Christian era , and the con
tents give evidence of a later origin.
Elizabeth E. Evans , In "The Christ
Myth. "
MODESTY AND TASTE.
There is a certain humility that
appears at times among some classes of
our fellow-citizens , contrasting agree
ably with that arrogance which is sup
posed to mark us as a nation , which
humility leads the citizens referred tote
to apply to themselves some unneces
sarily harsh or ridiculous name by way of
title. As such might be mentioned the
term "lunger" which that pathetically
cheerful folk , the pulmonary invalids of
Colorado , have with one accord adopted
as the name of their clan. Or the word
ex-tank , " which a society of reformed
inebriates in New York City are report
ed to have applied to their organization.
In so far as this tends to disarm criti
cism by anticipating unkind jests on the
part of the inconsiderate , it is an im
pulse to which one must take off his
liat. If the unfortunate choose to make
merry over their misfortunes , we who
have not that grace can at least rejoice
that they can do so. But the thing has
a perilously fine edge. It is but a step
from this blameless attitude to a gratu
itous flaunting in the face of the public
of infirmities which the public is pra-
pared and would prefer charitably to
overlook. To remind people too often
of one's personal defects creates disgust
in the end : to use them as trademarks
in business , as now and then a merchant
( most frequently of Israelitish lineage )
will do , is apt to defeat the object
sought. "Trade with the hump-backed
grocer" would be a motto of such doubt
ful taste that it would be likely to prove
but a poor advertisement.
There were a class of inhabitants of
Nebraska not many years ago who were
willing and apparently anxious to be
known to the world by the name of
"Bug-eaters. " This was a term which
they merrily applied to themselves in
acknowledgment of the fact that grass
hoppers had in some years been found
in somewhat excessive numbers within
their state. Since the remainder of
mankind seems perfectly willing to let
bygones be bygones in this painful mat
ter , it is a subject for congratulation
that these humorists did not succeed in I
fastening this appellation upon us and I
our successors for all time. How near
they came to it appears from the records
of the "Nebraska Silver Anniversary"
meetings held in the oapitol at Lincoln
in May , 1892. It is all a matter of his
tory.
In volume V of the Historical Society's
reports we read as follows : "A banner ,
'Bug Eaters , ' with a sample of the bug ,
which was a grasshopper , hung from
the chandelier. The young people
wore badges with 'Bug Eater1 in bold ,
black letters. Professor Taylor , of the
state university , addressed the assem
blage most felicitously. He said he
supposed that this was a meeting of
bug-eaters , by bug-eaters and for bug-
eaters and that all but bug-eaters had
M I