Next, as to the _Atonement_, especially the position of Christ, as the _Mediator_ between God and man. This also is said to resemble far older legends, such as the _Horus_ myth of ancient Egypt. The leading idea here seems to have been that Horus was the only son of the supreme God Osiris, and came on earth long ago, before the time of man. He was always looked upon as the champion of right against wrong, and nothing but lofty and noble actions are ascribed to him. With regard to mankind, he became their deliverer and justifier. The soul after death was supposed to pass through a sort of Purgatory; where various dangers were overcome by the help of Horus; and finally, when judged before Osiris, he interceded for the faithful soul and ensured its salvation. And what makes the resemblance to Christianity all the more striking are the titles ascribed to Horus; such as _the Only Begotten Son of the Father_, _the Word of the Father_, _the Justifier of the Righteous_, and _the Eternal_ _King_. But the titles of Horus are very numerous, and very contradictory; therefore, while some of them bear such a striking resemblance to those of Christ, others do not; and many of them are also applied to the other gods.[460] [Footnote 460: Transactions of Victoria Institute, vol. xii., p. 52.] But still the position of Horus, as a mediator between God and man, undoubtedly resembles that of Christ. But what is the cause of this similarity? Not surely that the Christian doctrine was founded on that of Horus. As in the previous case, there is another and far better solution. For what was the origin of the Egyptian doctrine itself? It was simply this. The ancient Egyptians firmly believed in the _justice_ of God; the _immortality_ of man; his _responsibility_, involving a future judgment; and his _sinfulness,_ which naturally made him long for some mediator with the just Judge he would have to face hereafter. Given these four ideas--and they all belong to Natural Religion--and Horus was merely an imaginary being, who was thought to satisfy them. Hence, if these ideas are true, and if Christianity is the true religion, which really does satisfy them, that Horus should to some extent resemble Christ seems inevitable. Thus the Horus myth only proves how deeply rooted in the human mind is the idea of a _mediator_ between God and man.