[107:3] "It is an _assumption_ of the popular theology, and an almost universal belief in the popular mind, that the Jewish nation was selected by the Almighty to preserve and carry down to later ages a knowledge of the _One_ and true God--that the Patriarchs possessed this knowledge--that Moses delivered and enforced this doctrine as the fundamental tenet of the national creed; and that it was, in fact, the received and distinctive dogma of the Hebrew people. This _alleged possession of the true faith_ by one only people, while all surrounding tribes were lost in Polytheism, or something worse, has been adduced by divines in general as a proof of the truth of the sacred history, and of the divine origin of the Mosaic dispensation." (Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p. 145.) Even such authorities as Paley and Milman have written in this strain. (See quotations from Paley's "_Evidences of Christianity_," and Dean Milman's "_History of the Jews_," made by Mr. Greg in his "_Creed of Christendom_," p. 145.) [107:4] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 321, vol. ii. p. 102; and Dunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 108. [108:1] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 317, 418; vol. ii. p. 301. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3, and his Spirit Hist., pp. 68 and 182. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783; and Goldziher: Hebrew Mythol., pp. 227, 240, 242. [108:2] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 317. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3; and Spirit Hist., p. 68. Also, Goldziher: Hebrew Mythol., p. 159. [108:3] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 26, and 317; vol. ii. p. 301 and 328. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., 68; Mysteries of Adoni, pp. xvii. and 108; and The Religion of Israel, p. 38. [108:4] Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, pp. 101, 102. [108:5] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 175-178, 317, 322, 448. [108:6] Ibid. 115. [108:7] Ibid. i. 23, 321; ii. 102, 103, 109, 264, 274. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 108. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 438; vol. ii. p. 30. [108:8] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 88, 318; vol. ii. pp. 102, 113, 300. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3; and Mysteries of Adoni, p. xvii. Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 261. [108:9] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 21-25, 105, 391; vol. ii. pp. 102, 136-138. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3. Mysteries of Adoni, pp. 106, 177. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783. Bunsen: The Keys of St. Peter, p. 91. Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 181. _Bal_, _Bel_ or _Belus_ was an idol of the Chaldeans and Phenicians or Canaanites. The word _Bal_, in the Punic language, signifies Lord or Master. The name _Bal_ is often joined with some other, as _Bal_-berith, _Bal_-peor, _Bal_-zephon, &c. "The Israelites made him their god, and erected altars to him on which they offered human sacrifices," and "what is still more unnatural, they _ate_ of the victims they offered." (Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. pp. 113, 114.)