e; that he is the "pure essence of the _teen_;" that he is the
original ancestor of the prime breath of life; that he gave form to the
heavens and the earth, and caused creations and annihilations to succeed
each other, in an endless series, during innumerable periods of the
world. He himself is made to say:

"I was in existence prior to the manifestation of any
corporeal shape; I appeared anterior to the supreme being, or
first motion of creation."[251:1]

According to the _Zend Avesta_, Ormuzd, the first-born of the Eternal
One, is he "who is, always has been, and who will be forever."[251:2]

_Zeus_ was Alpha and Omega. An Orphic line runs thus:

"Zeus is the beginning, Zeus is the middle, out of Zeus all
things have been made."[251:3]

_Bacchus_ was without beginning or end. An inscription on an ancient
medal, referring to him, reads thus:

"It is I who leads you; it is I who protects you, and who
saves you, I am Alpha and Omega."

Beneath this inscription is a serpent, with his tail in his mouth, thus
forming a _circle_, which was an emblem of _eternity_ among the
ancients.[251:4]

Without enumerating them, we may say that the majority of the
virgin-born gods spoken of in Chapter XII. were like Christ
Jesus--without beginning or end--and that many of them were considered
Creators of all things. This has led M. Dridon to remark (in his Hist.
de Dieu), that in _early works of art_, Christ Jesus is made to take the
place of his Father in _creation_ and in similar labors, just as in
heathen religions an inferior deity does the work under a superior one.

FOOTNOTES:

[247:1] John, i. 3.

[247:2] John, i. 10.

[247:3] Colossians, i.

[247:4] Hebrews, i. 2.

[247:5] Allen's India, pp. 137 and 380.

[247:6] Indian Antiq., vol. ii. p. 288.

[247:7] See the chapter on the Trinity.

[247:8] Oriental Religions, p. 502.

[247:9] Lecture iv. p. 51.

[247:10] Geeta, p. 52.

[248:1] O. M. or A. U. M. is the Hindoo ineffable name; the mystic
emblem of the deity. It is never uttered aloud, but only mentally by the
devout. It signifies Brahma, Vishnou, and Siva, the _Hindoo Trinity_.
(See Charles Wilkes in Geeta, p. 142, and King's Gnostics and their
Remains, p. 163.)

[248:2] Geeta, p. 80.

[248:3] Geeta, p. 84.

[248:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 48.

[248:5] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 35.

[248:6] See Davis: Hist. China, vol. ii. pp. 109 and 11