The Heathen Inexcusable for Their Idolatry [pp. 427-448]

The Heathen inexcusable for their Idolatry. [JULY
all things were minutely ordered by him. They have traditions respecting the fall and the dispersion of mankind. Respecting idolatry, they say, "0 children and grandchildren
do not worship idols or priests. If you worship them you
obtain no advantage thereby, while you increase your sins
exceedingly." Their fathers they believe once had God's
book written on parchment, and they carelessly allowed it to
be destroyed. Since then, as a punishment, they have been
without a written language. If this tradition is correct, there
is strong ground for the opinion that they are remnants of the
ten lost tribes.*
Another fact which shows that the inclination to idolatry
arises not from want of evidence, but from the evil and corrupt
heart, is seen from this, that even when a revelation has been
enjoyed, there is a constant tendency to leave the worship of
God, and set up other objects and beings in his place. Take
the case of the children of Israel. Notwithstanding God had
appeared wonderfully for their deliverance in the land of
Egypt, and had brought them out with a great and strong arm,
and had in a special manner appeared unto them at Sinai,
speaking unto them, yet in less than forty days from his divine
and glorious appearance they had made unto themselves idols,
saying, "These be thy gods that brought thee out of the
land of Egypt." And throughout all their history until the
Babylonish captivity, in spite of, and directly in opposition to,
the plainest teachings of God's word, they were constantly
falling into this sin. A wicked heart, disliking to retain the
knowledge of God, was constantly leading them astray.
Equally strange is the fact that some of the strongest advocates of Atheism and Pantheism have lived under the light of
the gospel. The worship of images also is defended by a
church calling itself Christian, on precisely the same grounds
which tolerated the introduction of idolatry thousands of years
ago among the heathen. There is, in fact, an insidious tendency in our nature to idolatry. It is the tendency of the
natural heart to worship and serve the creature more than the
Creator. It is seen in hero-worship, in the way we exalt mere
* See "The Gospel in Burmah," by Mrs. McLeod Wylie. London, 1859.
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