This, however, dates from the Middle Ages when the Jews were not allowed to own land, and were driven into occupations remote from the soil.
When even a king covets a piece of his neighbour's property, the piece is a vineyard; he is more like a wicked squire than a wicked king.
squire
: a young man in the Middle Ages who helped a knight before eventually becoming a knight himself
: a man in the past in England who owned most of the land in a village or district in the country
—used to address a man whose name is unknown
(verb) escort
Hence a certain sort of "nature poetry" never existed in the ancient world till really vast cities like Alexandria arose; and, the fall of civilization, it never existed again until the eighteenth century. At other periods what we call "the country" is simply the world, what water is to a fish.
platitude: a statement that expresses an idea that is not new
The Jews, as we all know, believed in one God, maker of heaven and earth. Nature and God were distinct.
In reality, creation, in any ambiguous sense, seems to be a surprisingly rare doctrine.
They are on the fringe where religion tails off into what was perhaps felt, even at the time, to be more like fairy-tale.
to decrease or cause to decrease in quantity, degree, etc, esp gradually: his interest in collecting stamps tailed off over the years
on the fringe
1. Lit. at the outer boundary or edge of something.
He doesn't live in the city, just on the fringe.
2. Fig. at the extremes of something, typically political thought.
He is way out. His political ideas are really on the fringe.
hermaphrodite noun her·maph·ro·dite \(ˌ)hər-ˈma-frə-ˌdīt\
a person, plant, or animal that has both male and female parts
the Senate :
the smaller group of the two groups of people who meet to discuss and make the laws of a country, state,
etc.; especially : the smaller group of the two groups that form the U.S. Congress
: a group of people who govern some colleges and universities
the Senate : the group of officials who led the ancient Roman government.
I do not mention these myths to indulge in a cheap laugh at their crudity. All our language about such things, that of the theologian as well as that of the child is crude.
The whole universe - the very conditions of time and space under which it exists - are produced by the will of a perfect, timeless, unconditioned God who is above and outside all that He makes.
< if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, then these would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. Job 31:26~28>
The speaker is obviously referring to an utterly spontaneous impulse, a thing you might find yourself acting upon almost unawares. To pay some reverence to the sun or moon is apparently so natural.
Another result of believing in creation is to see Nature not as a mere datum but as an achievement.
The poem in question is an Egyptian Hymn to the Sun dating from the fourteenth century B.C.
He broke away from the Polytheism of his father and nearly tore the Egypt into shreds in his efforts to establish by force the worship of a single God.
Akhenaten's religion died with him
Whatever was true in Akhenaten's creed came to him, in some mode or other, as all truth comes to all men, from God.
cretinism: a usually congenital abnormal condition marked by physical stunting and mental retardation and caused by severe hypothyroidism
crank
a machine part with a handle that can be turned in a circular motion to move something
: a person who has strange ideas or thinks too much about one thing
: a person who is often angry or easily annoyed
faddist
a person following a fad or given to fads, as one who seeks
and adheres briefly to a passing variety of
unusual diets, beliefs, etc.
At that early stage it may not be fruitful to typify God by anything so remote , so neural, so international and (as it were) interdenominational, so featureless , as the solar disc.
The Eucharist /ˈjuːkərɪst/ (also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, and other names) is a rite considered by most Christian churches to be a sacrament. According to some New Testament books, it was instituted by Jesus Christ during his Last Supper.
dispense with1
: to set aside : discard <dispensing with the usual introduction> 2
: to do without <could dispense with such a large staff>
dispense
: to give or provide (something)
: to prepare and give (medicine)
a machine that dispenses candy;
a neighbor who freely dispenses advice.
administer <dispense justice>
doctrinaire : one who attempts to put into effect an abstract doctrine
or theory with little or no regard for practical difficulties