se animals, but those who,
by their means, ascend to the Deity; they are to be considered as so many
mirrors, which nature holds forth, and in which the Supreme Being displays
himself in a wonderful manner; or, as so many instruments, which he makes
use of to manifest outwardly his incomprehensible wisdom. Should men
therefore, for the embellishing of statues, amass together all the gold
and precious stones in the world; the worship must not be referred to the
statues, for the Deity does not exist in colours artfully disposed, nor in
frail matter destitute of sense and motion." Plutarch says in the same
treatise,(358) "that as the sun and moon, heaven, earth, and the sea, are
common to all men, but have different names, according to the difference
of nations and languages; in like manner, though there is but one Deity,
and one providence which governs the universe, and which has several
subaltern ministers under it; men give to the Deity, which is the same,
different names, and pay it different honours, according to the laws and
customs of every country."

But were these reflections, which offer the most rational vindication that
can be suggested of idolatrous worship, sufficient to cover the absurdity
of it; could it be called a raising of the divine attributes in a suitable
manner, to direct the worshipper to admire and seek for the image of them
in beasts of the most vile and contemptible kinds, as crocodiles,
serpents, and cats? Was not this rather degrading and debasing the Deity,
of whom even the most stupid usually entertain a much greater and more
august idea?

And even these philosophers were not always so just, as to ascend from
sensible beings to their invisible Author. The Scriptures tell us, that
these pretended sages deserved, on account of their pride and ingratitude,
to be "given over to a reprobate mind; and whilst they professed
themselves wise, to become fools, for having changed the glory of the
incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to
birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."(359) To show what man
is when left to himself, God permitted that very nation, which had carried
human wisdom to its greatest height, to be the theatre in which the most
ridiculous and absurd idolatry was acted. And, on the other side, to
display the almighty power of his grace, he converted the frightful
deserts of Egypt into a terrestrial paradise; by peopling them, in the
time appoint