ble is by far the most ancient of all holy
books." "Plato was told that Egypt possessed hymns dating back
ten thousand years before his time."[453:3]

Bunsen says:

"The origin of the ancient prayers and hymns of the 'Book of
the Dead,' is anterior to Menes; it implies that the system of
Osirian worship and mythology was already formed."[453:4]

And, says Mr. Bonwick:

"Besides opinions, we have facts as a basis for arriving at a
conclusion, and justifying the assertion of Dr. Birch, that
the work dated from a period long anterior to the rise of
Ammon worship at Thebes."[453:5]

Now, "this most ancient of all holy books," establishes the fact that a
virgin-born and resurrected Saviour was worshiped in Egypt thousands of
year before the time of Christ Jesus.

P. Le Page Renouf says:

"The _earliest monuments_ which have been discovered present
to us the _very same_ fully-developed civilization and the
_same religion_ as the later monuments. . . . The gods whose
names appear in the _oldest tombs_ were worshiped down to the
Christian times. The same kind of priesthoods which are
mentioned in the tablets of Canopus and Rosetta in the
Ptolemaic period are as ancient as the pyramids, and more
ancient than any pyramid of which we know the date."[453:6]

In regard to the doctrine of the _Trinity_. We have just seen that "the
development of the One God into a Trinity" pervades the oldest religion
of Egypt, and the same may be said of India. Prof. Monier Williams,
speaking on this subject, says:

"It should be observed that the native commentaries on the
Veda often allude to thirty-three gods, which number is also
mentioned in the Rig-Veda. This is a multiple of _three_,
which is a sacred number constantly appearing in the Hindu
religious system. It is probable, indeed, that although the
Tri-murti is not named in the Vedic hymns,[454:1] yet the
Veda is the real source of this Triad of personifications,
afterwards so conspicuous in Hindu mythology. This much, at
least, is clear, that the Vedic poets exhibited a tendency to
group all the forces and energies of nature under three heads,
and the assertion that the number of the gods was
thirty-three, amounted to saying that each of the three
leading personifications was capable of eleven
modifications."[454:2]

The g