It will probably be said by the orthodox that these descriptions of the creation and the Creator are mere efforts of the human mind, and not the products of "revelation." We grant it at once, and answer, why, then, should the comparatively miserable conceptions of one or more Hebrews, who knew nothing of a soul or a future life till they had learned it from the Chaldeans or the Persians, be regarded differently? Was the Jewish ignorance the result of Divine "inspiration?" Did the Devil give to the heathen the knowledge of Satan's origin and power? If so, why did the Jews, and why do Christians, adopt it? I have already mentioned that the Aryans believed in the efficacy of prayer to their gods: they offered to them, much as we do now, supplications for rain, abundant harvests, prolific cattle, bodily vigour, long life, numerous progeny, &c., just as did, very rarely, the seed of Abraham. We may now make some quotations from the Egyptian Ritual for the Dead (Bunsen's _Egypt_, Vol. V.). "O soul, greatest of things created" (p. 165); "I am the Great God, creating himself" (p. 172); "Oh Lord of the great abode, Chief of the gods" (p. 177). Throughout this invocation, however, the lord of the universe seems to be spoken of as the sun under various titles. There is frequent reference to the danger of the soul falling into the power of some malignant deity, and orthodoxy is secured by addressing every good god by his or her proper title. There is no grand conception anywhere, and the endless repetitions disgust the ordinary reader. I must add that the sun, Osiris, and the male organ, are spoken of as emblematic of each other. If we next turn to the Shemitic religions, we have to contend with the difficulty produced by the paucity of written records, and the doubts which exist about certain epithets that relate to the gods. As far as I can discover, there was an idea of a Supreme Being, whose name was Jeho. Io. Iou., or the like, and Il or El. His ministers were the sun, moon, planets, constellations, and stars. His emblems were the sexual organs, and worship was, to a great degree, licentious. There was no conception of a spiritual life after death, or of a state of future rewards and punishments. Sacrifice was thought much of, but I doubt whether there was anything like what we know as prayer. At any rate, in all those parts of the Bible which seem to be the oldest, there is a singular absence of any formula or command for supplication. Solomon's prayer is comparatively of modern date. Indeed, this vacuity is implied in the expression of one of Jesus' disciples, "Teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples" (Luke xi. 1), thus showing clearly that the practice of prayer was not a Judaic, i.e., Mosaic one.*