Samas, Shemesh of the Bible, (1 Sam. vi, 9,) the sun-god, son of Hea, had important sanctuaries at Larsa and Sippara. He unfastens the bolts of the shining sky, and opens the door of heaven. He covers the immensity of the heavens. He is the "illuminator of the darkness, who sets up those who are bowed down, who sustains the weak; whose face the archangels of the abyss contemplate; who rests like a bridegroom joyful and gracious; whom men contemplate and rejoice; the nourisher of the luminous heavens, who establishes truth in the thoughts of the nations, knowing the true and false; the supreme judge of heaven and earth, lord of living beings, whom the celestial archangels press about with respect and joy, and the servants of the lady of crowns lead in a festive manner, directing the human race and giving them peace, pardoning short-comings and transgressions, dissipating the evil influence of wonders, omens, sorceries, dreams, evil apparitions.'

Bin or Rimmon, (also variously called Vul, Ao, Iva,) son of Anu, was god of storms and tempests, of rain and whirlwind, of thunder and lightning, of floods and watercourses-the god of the air "who causes the tempest to rage over hostile lands and wicked countries." He destroyed crops and rooted up trees, and was followed by famine and pestilence. He was "the great guardian of heaven and earth, the intelligent guide, the lord of the visible world, the lord of knowledge, glory, and life." IIis most usual symbols were the serpent and the double or triple bolt.

Ninip, or Adar, the Chaldean Hercules, is described as "the crusher of opponents, he who rolls along the mass of heaven and earth, treader of the wide earth, who has not lessened the glory of his face; head of nations, bestower of scepters; lord of lords, whose hand has controlled the vault of heaven and earth; lord of water-courses, seas, and whirlwinds; opener of canals, and lord of crops and boundaries; the deity who. changes not his purposes, the light of heaven and earth, whose is the speech of the gods no god has ever disregarded, destroyer of them that hate him." He is also called "son of the zenith, son of El the sublime." His temple is "the temple of the sanctuary." He gives power over the beasts of the fields,

"Records of the Past," vol. xi, pp. 123–128.

FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXV.-8

and reigns a monarch of the nations. His winged bull.*.

symbol was a

Merodach was the guide of souls to IIades. He raised the dead to life, and was "the renowned chief of the gods and the lord of eternity without end." Khammurabi chose Merodach as the head of his worship. He is the mediator between gods and men, and answers the prayers of the good man. He changes the hearts of men, and determines their destinies.†

66

Nergal was the god of arms and bows, the great hero, king of fight, master of battles, champion of the gods, god of the chase." Nirgalli were Assyrian winged human-headed lions. which, together with the Alapi, guarded the entrances to the royal palaces. The lion-god was worshiped by the Cuthæans. 2 Kings xvii, 30.

Ishtar, the Assyrian Venus, though generically a goddess of the second rank, was raised to the first rank in both Assyria and Babylonia. She was the goddess of war, "the goddess of battles and victories." She gives arms to the warrior, upholds him, gives him the help of "sixty great gods," and utterly destroys his enemies. Long life, victory, and abundance are in her hand. She brings down the high head of the proud; she exalts, strengthens, and preserves the kingdom. As Anaitis, she was worshiped at Comana, where her statue was of solid gold, her high-priest next in rank to the king, and her temple served by six thousand servants. She was called 66 queen of queens, archer of the gods, terrible in battle." She was represented as a winged figure with a halo and a bow. Ishtar was also the goddess of love, and was called "lover, nurse, guardian, and servant." She was the goddess of sensual indulgence, and in the Izdubar legends seemed to have been the goddess of witchcraft, like Hecate and Medea. We find her also in the character of goddess of treasures, and "queen of the spear 99 or "divining rod.” ‡

Nebo was "the overseer of the multitudes of heaven and earth, the supreme watcher, the holy minister of the gods, of lofty intelligence, founder of the (fabric) of heaven and earth."

"Records of the Past," vol. iii, pp. 39, 40: ix, p. 96; i, p. 11; v, p. 108; xi, p. 9. † Ibid, vol. v, p. 116; vii, p. 75; v, p. 139.

Ibid., vol. xi, pp. 61-78; vii, pp. 67, 68; ix, p. 51. Bohn's "Strabo," vol. ii, pp. 279, 309.

He caused the hand of Neriglissar to hold "a scepter of righteousness." More important is his character as god of knowledge, science and literature. With his wife Tasmit he invented writing, and directed the educatian of Assyrian kings. "Assurbanipal asserts that Nebo and Tasmit had made broad his ears, and enlightened his eyes,' so that he ordered all the characters of the syllabaries and the ancient writings of Accad to be explained and written down." Nebo, as "the eastern sun in the height of heaven," may be identified with the Hindu Mithras. He was represented as a king crowned with a triple-horned cap, and holding a scepter or staff. Nusku, one of his attributes, grew into an independent deity. Upon the dedication of a temple, Nebuchadnezzar prayed: "O Nebo! noble son, exalted (messenger) and beloved offspring of Marduk! my works of piety behold joyfully! A long life, abun dant offspring, a firm throne, a prolonged reign, the subjecțion of all rebels, the conquest of my enemies' land, grant to me as a recompense.

Assur, although not included in the genealogies of the gods, became the king and father of the gods, and "the worship of Assur" became the religion of the realm. His chief temple was dedicated to the "mountain of the world." He it is who, with Merodach, confided sovereign power to Sargon, "the viceroy of the gods at Babylon," and "the favorite of the great gods." In his book the names of the pious are recorded. His favorite emblem was "the winged circle or globe, from which a figure in a horned cap is frequently seen to issue, sometimes simply holding a bow, sometimes shooting his arrows against the Assyrians' enemies."+

Several gods are sometimes elaborately addressed in the same inscription. +

We cannot even name all the gods of the Assyrian pantheon. In one inscription we have a list of several hundred with their attributes. We have named the most important. We have already met with El, who is the god of the Hebrews. We also find Yav, the Yaveh of the Moabite stone, the Jehovah of the

Records of the Past," vol. v, pp. 122-139; xi, p. 101; vii, p. 77. "Archaic Dictionary," p. 557.

Ibid., vol. xi, p. 17. "Transactions Society of Biblical Archæology," vol. iii, "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii, pp. 3, 4.

p. 439.

"Records of the Past," vol. xi, p. 24; v, p. 29.

Israelites. Turtak, the Accadian deity of the Tigris, is the Tartak of the Bible, (2 Kings xvii, 31.) Lagamar, whose temple at Susa was rebuilt by the emperor Kudur-Nakhunte, has left his name in Kedorlaomer, who fought in Palestine in the time of Abraham, (Genesis xiv, 1-17.) Deities of surrounding nations were legitimate spoils of war. Assurbanipal captured and carried away into Assyria nineteen "gods and goddesses, with their valuables, their gods, their furniture, and priests and worshipers.'

The comparison of the Assyrian religion with the Old Testament Scriptures must be reserved for a second paper.

ART. VII.-PRESENT STATE OF PROTESTANT
THEOLOGY.

THAT is a superficial view of theology which makes it simply a science of religion. In its literal sense it means a science of God, or divine things. But even this definition, derived from the etymology of the word, is too meager. To be exhaustive as well as comprehensive it must include more., Our Protestant theology is based upon the Christian religion, which is a supernatural revelation of salvation through Jesus Christ. The facts of Christianity were first divinely revealed, then realized in man's experience, and lastly elaborated into a systematic whole by a reflection on the facts of man's consciousness as guided and enlightened by the divine Spirit. Theology is, therefore, not only an affair of the head, but also of the heart; it is a theory and a practice as well; not only a form of knowledge, but also a precious experience. Hence a complete definition of theology must take these three points into consideration first, the supernatural communication of the facts of salvation; second, the personal experience of these facts by man; and, third, their scientific arrangement.

From this point of view an attempt will be made to sketch the Protestant theology of to-day, which may be divided, according to its hostile or friendly attitude toward the Bible, into two groups. The one reverently accepts, the other deliber

*"Records of the Past," vol. i, pp. 87, 88.

ately rejects, the divine authority of the Scriptures. This attitude toward the Bible has acted as a sifting power, eliminating the unlike elements and drawing the like elements together more closely. The growth of Protestant theology seems to have been along two lines, parallel at first, but now diverging more and more. The champions of either side are uniting more closely in their respective encampments, while the breach between them is widening and the antagonism intensifying. For a clearer apprehension of this process of selection and rejection let us make

I. A BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW.

We must go back to the Reformation, which is the mother, and, as it were, the source, of Protestant theology, in order to get at the fundamental principles which underlie the present. One of these primary principles of the Reformation was to put the divine authority of the Bible over the authority of the Church, thereby proclaiming freedom from all outward traditional trammels. Protestantism delivered from the tyranny of the Church by carrying back to the Bible. Another of these first principles was its teaching that man is justified by faith, that he is dependent on God alone, with whom he can hold direct intercourse at any time by faith, without human intervention or priestly mediation.

These two principles of man's dependence and man's independence-obligation and liberty-when held together properly balance each other. But the equilibrium was sometimes destroyed by unduly emphasizing the one at the expense of the other. The two extremes in the Protestant theology of the present can be traced to a divorce of these two pervading principles of the Reformation. Whenever the idea of man's dependence has been so strongly insisted upon that the idea of his independence was lost sight of and separated from the true liberty of a living faith, then a cold orthodoxy, which ended with a soulless confessionalism, was the result. If, on the other hand, independence was exalted and faith severed from reason, it developed into latitudinarianism and generally ended with negation. But, happily, in the course of this historic process a theology has grown up, based upon the Bible, recognizing the dependence required in the Scriptures and