one. This i- an accomi lation to the state of facts;
Imi in philosophical writing monotheism may itself be divided into absolute and relative, as Schelling lias done, with whom the latter denotes the worship of one
ought of as infinite, bul as limited in his
nature. Atheism, again, denies the real existence oi any kind dike opposi d to polytheism and
to i theism. The idea of God, the infinite one, is
nol transferable to gods many, ami hence there is a ness in the bea'then conception ol their , ower, knowledge, duration, es- ; -'I other propertii s. The ques- tion, thi ; ,,i gods,and as to the - n ili< in and demi k worshipped then latter; and the) had in ,l"'ir ",v that of Hercules, by a mortal mother. II. nee worship a '"" ■ ' h the line cannot be drawn accurately between gods and super- human beings, who a I below gods bul al
and bad some local agency in human affairs, ii may be
■aid thai great bu i infinite power and knowledge,
Hl.ilny to answi r prayi r. ape ial functions and
in providence, with immortality, entered generally into ption or definition of a god or divine being. Polytheism is used synonymously with heathenism and paganism, only that the two latter arc wider terms, de- noting nol a mere religious system, but including also ■ I things connected with such a system. Paganism comes from the Latin word pagus, a country district, a canton, the adjective from which, paganus, denoted pertaining to Bnch a pagus, then not a then boorish or unlearned, and finally, among the Chris- tian writers one not a Christian or Jew, from the fact. apparently, that Christianity came last into the rural districts. In Augustine's time this sense, though al- ready it may not have been uncommon, was new enough for him to say, '•The worshippers of gods false and many we call pagans" Heathenism, from /<< ath* ». is generally taken, as being a derivation from heath, to have meant a dweller in lonely or remote uncultivated parts of a district, and may have been a translation of pagan into i In- northern languages of the Germanic stock. From gentes, finally, as a Latin equivalent of the Hebrew word -""".. denoting in the old Testament the other nations who were polytheists, as opposed to the .lews, and from t&vt), with the same sense as used in the Septuagint, are derived gentilism and the ethnic relig- ions. An interesting inquiry is whether the lower races of the heathen world can properly be called poly- theists. or whether their spirit-worship is not so unlike the worship of gods amon<r the higher pagan raci - as to require the putting of them into another class. A full answer to this question can onhj be given at a later stage of our way, and it is embarrassed by traces of the worship of one or more gods, strictly so called, which appear in the religions of this part of mankind. We shall adopt the plan of considering them by themselves, only remarking here thai if their worship is more vague than that of the more highly endowed or more culti- vated races, it is equally divided between a great num- ber of objects. Polytheism is generally found in com- pany with idolatry: but it can be shown that within the Aryan or Indo-European races all the branches were not primevaUy idolaters. It is probable, there- fore, that for a long period, in some parts of the world. the worship of divinities by means of visible forms was unknown; while in the dualistic religion of Iran, or t he Persian religion, idol-worship was opposed with almost fanatical hostility. Another of the nations belonging to the same race, the Romans, had only symbol- at first ; their temples were without images for more than 170 years (Varro, in Augustin. l>< <<>■. Dei, iv, :'•! i; and. according to a tradition, Etrurian artificers made the first for them out of wood or clay.
History.— A very important question, therefore, re- specting polytheism relates to its origin. Whal did mankind lirst worship? And among heathen objects of worship, which were the earliest ? What is the genesis oi the gods of the higher races?
I. The firsl question thai here arise- is. Was poly- thi ism earlier, In the order of time, or later than mono- theism? The answers to this question rest either on historical or philosophical grounds, or on the authority of revelation, (a) The rudest nations now. and the whole world, as far as we can go back, have had some
form of polytheism, if we include the worship of spir- its in this term. 'I he Jews are the only strictly mon- otheistic nali. f antiquity; and when Abraham left
his clan to go westward, they had already begun to worship other gods (Josh. xxiv. 2). Some traces of the worship of one god appear in the history of \l.i- chisedek and of Balaam. Yet all the nations with
whom the Jews came i tact worshipped not only
more gods than one. but worshipped them by mi ana of
images, unh the exception of those addicted to the re- ligion ol Zoroaster. Approaches towards monotheism among heathen nations wee lb.- results of philosophical
reflection, as in Brabminism, where a pantheistic doc?