The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" RevelationsGraves, Kersey
Religion
The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" Revelations
Graves, Kersey
Free thought
also. The Christian kneels in supplication with the image of God set up
in his mind; the pagan worships with the image set up in the temple or
on the altar. One is externally represented with words; the other, with
wood. The only difference between the Christian and pagan idolatry is,
that, after each has sketched out a likeness of the Creator upon the
tablet or dial-plate of his mind according to his conception of the form
of Deity, the Christian stops short with his work but half completed,
while the pagan goes on and gives practical expression to his by
representing it with wood, stone, or other material, by which it is more
thoroughly impressed upon the memory, and "the devout contemplation,"
"the remembrance of God," kept more constantly in the mind; and thus
the savage is proved to be the most practically religious of the two. We
have shown that the representation and delineation upon canvas, paper,
wood, or steel, of the various objects of art,--of human creation,--are
set down as the highest marks and the most distinguishing proofs of
civilization. And can it be right and laudable to thus represent or
Image the works of the Creator, and wrong to image the Creator himself?
Not according to the above command. Or can one be pleasing to him, and
the other offensive? There is neither sense nor science, logic nor lore,
in such conclusions. Christian reader, do you not know that your little
innocent daughter 'violates the command every day of her happy life by
nursing, dressing, and caressing her wax doll, her _image_ miniature
man? For if it be true--and the Bible teaches it--that "man was created
in the image of God," then these artificial human likenesses, these
images of the infant man, are also images of God; and your little
girl daily commits "the awful sin of idolatry," and you, too, for
countenancing her in the act. It may be noticed here that the pious
Christian confers upon himself an honor which he denies to the Creator
when he has his photograph struck off for the accommodation of a friend,
while he denounces as idolatry all attempts to construct an imaginary
likeness of God. But consistency is a jewel rarely found.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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