Chapter XXIX.—Of the Question Why the Heathen Should Refuse to Worship the God
of Israel; Even Although They Deem Him to Be Only the Presiding Divinity of the Elements?
45. What do they say of this God of Sabaoth, which term, by interpretation, means the
God of powers or of armies, inasmuch as the powers and the armies of the angels serve Him?
What do they say of this God of Israel; for He is the God of that people from whom came
the seed wherein all the nations were to be blessed? Why is He the only deity excluded from
worship by those very persons who contend that all the gods ought to be worshipped? Why
do they refuse their belief to Him who both proves other gods to be false gods, and also
overthrows them? I have heard one of them declare that he had read, in some philosopher
or other, the statement that, from what the Jews did in their sacred observances, he had
come to know what God they worshipped. “He is the deity,” said he, “that presides over
those elements of which this visible and material universe is constructed;” when in the Holy
Scriptures of His prophets it is plainly shown that the people of Israel were commanded to
worship that God who made heaven and earth, and from whom comes all true wisdom. But
what need is there for further disputation on this subject, seeing that it is quite sufficient
for my present purpose to point out how they entertain any kind of presumptuous opinions
regarding that God whom yet they cannot deny to be a God? If, indeed, He is the deity that
presides over the elements of which this world consists, why is He not worshipped in pref-
erence to Neptune, who presides over the sea only? Why not, again, in preference to Silvanus,
who presides over the fields and woods only? Why not in preference to the Sun, who presides
over the day only, or who also rules over the entire heat of heaven? Why not in preference
to the Moon, who presides over the night only, or who also shines pre-eminent for power
over moisture? Why not in preference to Juno, who is supposed to hold possession of the
air only? For certainly those deities, whoever they may be, who preside over the parts, must
necessarily be under that Deity who wields the presidency over all the elements, and over
the entire universe. But this Deity prohibits the worship of all those deities. Why, then, is it
that these men, in opposition to the injunction of One greater than those deities, not only
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choose to worship them, but also decline, for their sakes, to worship Him? Not yet have they
discovered any constant and intelligible judgment to pronounce on this God of Israel; neither
will they ever discover any such judgment, until they find out that He alone is the true God,
by whom all things were created.
Of the Question Why the Heathen Should Refuse to Worship the God of Israel; Even Although They Deem Him to Be Only the Presiding Divinity of the Elements?
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Of the Question Why the Heathen Should Refuse to Worship the God of Israel;…