ner in which it has
been sanctified by its introduction into the Christian scheme."[260]

As above said by the learned Dean, the idea of the Word, the Logos, was
universal, and it formed part of the idea of a Trinity. Among the
Hindus, the philosophers speak of the manifested Brahman as
Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence, Intelligence, and Bliss. Popularly, the
Manifested God is a Trinity; Shiva, the Beginning and the End; Vishnu,
the Preserver; Brahma, the Creator of the Universe. The Zoroastrian
faith presents a similar Trinity; Ahuramazdao, the Great One, the First;
then "the twins," the dual Second Person--for the Second Person in a
Trinity is ever dual, deteriorated in modern days into an opposing God
and Devil--and the Universal Wisdom, Armaiti. In Northern Buddhism we
find Amitabha, the boundless Light; Avalokiteshvara, the source of
incarnations, and the Universal Mind, Mandjusri. In Southern Buddhism
the idea of God has faded away, but with significant tenacity the
triplicity re-appears as that in which the Southern Buddhist takes his
refuge--the Buddha, the Dharma (the Doctrine), the Sangha (the Order).
But the Buddha Himself is sometimes worshipped as a Trinity; on a stone
in Buddha Gaya is inscribed a salutation to Him as an incarnation of the
Eternal One, and it is said: "Om! Thou art Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesha
(Shiva) ... I adore Thee, who art celebrated by a thousand names and
under various forms, in the shape of Buddha, the God of Mercy."[261]

In extinct religions the same idea of a Trinity is found. In Egypt it
dominated all religious worship. "We have a hieoroglyphical inscription
in the British Museum as early as the reign of Senechus of the eighth
century before the Christian era, showing that the doctrine of Trinity
in Unity already formed part of their religion."[262] This is true of a
far earlier date. Ra, Osiris, and Horus formed one widely worshipped
Trinity; Osiris, Isis, and Horus were worshipped at Abydos; other names
are given in different cities, and the triangle is the frequently used
symbol of the Triune God. The idea which underlay these Trinities,
however named, is shown in a passage quoted from Marutho, in which an
oracle, rebuking the pride of Alexander the Great, speaks of: "First
God, then the Word, and with Them the Spirit."[263]

In Chaldaea, Anu, Ea, and Bel were the Supreme Trinity, Anu being the
Origin of all, Ea the Wisdom, and Bel the creative Spirit. Of China
Williamson remarks: