DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9550#0053
•soften the features of Hindoo idolatry ; and are inclined
to inculcate, that all objects of worship are considered
by their votaries as emblematical representations of the
Supreme Divinity! If this were indeed the case, I
might perhaps be led into some examination of the
-subject: but the truth is, the Hindoos of the present
•day have no such views of the subject, but firmly
believe in the real existence of innumerable gods and
^goddesses, who possess, in their own departments, full
and independent power; and to propitiate them, and
.not the true God, are temples erected and ceremonies
performed. There can be no doubt, however, and it
is my whole design to prove, that every rite has its
derivation from the allegorical adoration of the true
Deity; but at the present day all this is forgotten, and
among many it is even heresy to mention it !
I hope it will not be presumed that I intend to esta-
blish the preference of my faith over that of other men.
The result of controversy on such a subject, however
multiplied, must be ever unsatisfactory ; for the reason-
ing faculty, which leads men to certainty in things within
its reach, produces no effect on questions beyond its
comprehension. I do no more than assert, that, if
•correct reasoning and the dictates of common sense in-
duce the belief of a wise, uncreated Being, who is the
Supporter and Ruler of the boundless universe, we should
also consider him the most powerful and supreme Exist-
ence,—far surpassing our powers of comprehension or
description. And, although men of uncultivated minds,
and even some learned individuals, (but in this one point
to inculcate, that all objects of worship are considered
by their votaries as emblematical representations of the
Supreme Divinity! If this were indeed the case, I
might perhaps be led into some examination of the
-subject: but the truth is, the Hindoos of the present
•day have no such views of the subject, but firmly
believe in the real existence of innumerable gods and
^goddesses, who possess, in their own departments, full
and independent power; and to propitiate them, and
.not the true God, are temples erected and ceremonies
performed. There can be no doubt, however, and it
is my whole design to prove, that every rite has its
derivation from the allegorical adoration of the true
Deity; but at the present day all this is forgotten, and
among many it is even heresy to mention it !
I hope it will not be presumed that I intend to esta-
blish the preference of my faith over that of other men.
The result of controversy on such a subject, however
multiplied, must be ever unsatisfactory ; for the reason-
ing faculty, which leads men to certainty in things within
its reach, produces no effect on questions beyond its
comprehension. I do no more than assert, that, if
•correct reasoning and the dictates of common sense in-
duce the belief of a wise, uncreated Being, who is the
Supporter and Ruler of the boundless universe, we should
also consider him the most powerful and supreme Exist-
ence,—far surpassing our powers of comprehension or
description. And, although men of uncultivated minds,
and even some learned individuals, (but in this one point