hets of Baal, as narrated in the Old Testament.

"And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long
halt ye between two opinions? If Yahweh be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him. . . . And call ye on the name of
your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh: and the God
that answereth by fire, let him be God. . . . And Elijah said
unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for
yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on
the name of your god, but put no fire under. And they took the
bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called
on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O
Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that
answered. . . . And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah
mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he
is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is in a journey, or
peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried
aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and
lances, till the blood gushed out upon them. . . . But there
was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that
regarded."[88:2]

The religion of the followers of Baal here consists in a belief in the
practical virtue of a mode of address and form of ritual associated with
the traditions and customs of a certain social group. The prophets of
this cult agree to regard the experiment proposed by Elijah as a crucial
test, and that which is disproved from its failure is a plan of action.
These prophets relied upon the presence of a certain motivity, from
which a definite response could be evoked by an appeal which they were
peculiarly able to make; but though "they prophesied until the time of
the offering of the evening oblation," there was none that regarded.

[Sidenote: Greek Religion.]

Sect. 32. An equally familiar and more instructive example is the
refutation of the Greek national religion by Lucretius. The conception
of life which Lucretius finds unwarranted is best depicted in Homer.
There we hear of a society composed of gods and men. Though the gods, on
the one hand, have their own history, their affairs are never sharply
sundered from those of men, who, on the other hand, must constantly
reckon with them, gauge their attitude, and seek their favor by paying
tribute to their individual humors and preferences. In the Ninth Book o