FOOTNOTES: (continued 5)
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Doane, T. W. (Thomas William)
"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.