[Sidenote: Not the Material Figure but the Divinity Suggested was the
Object of Worship.]
For though we may find a difficulty in ridding ourselves of a prejudice
wrought into the tissue of our early faith by the nursery lessons of
childhood, it was not the graven or molten image which was really
worshipped by the devout, but that form of superhuman power which, by
local accident, had been identified with the "idol." If, indeed, we
supposed every "idolator" to have received definite religious teaching,
analogous to that with which we ourselves were imbued in youth, we might
well find his attitude inconceivable. But he had nothing of the kind. He
only knew that in war, in hunting, in fishing, in farming, he was
confronted with powers which passed his comprehension; and tradition
permeated him with the expectation that such powers would be propitiated
by his worship of the images set up in their names. There was therefore
no reasoned creed, such as those of the Catholic and Reformed Churches,
but only a vague sentiment brought to a focus by the associations of the
shrine. From such a view of polytheism it is easy to understand how
most, if not all, of the old speculative philosophers could allow the
existence of the traditional gods, even while in reasoned contemplation
they saw that all deities were subordinate to and merged in one
universal God.
[Sidenote: Possible Influence of Oriental Pantheism.
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