ese have sometimes been spoken of as inadequate, and
degrading. Inadequate they certainly are, as every notion which we can
have of the Deity must be; but we are unable to see in what way they are
degrading. Almost every nation, following apparently the necessity of
our nature, has clothed its gods in the objective form of some familiar
animal, or other existence, and endowed them with qualities of which they
had experience. What wonder then if God, seeing that He must, unless the
conditions of our nature were altered, make use of ideas with which we
are already familiar, should adopt an anthropomorphic representation of
Himself, purified, exalted, and adapted, as far as possible, to His own
infinite perfections? In fact, we know not how God could declare Himself
as just, righteous, pure, and loving, or reveal our responsibility to
Himself, without a reference to man, inasmuch as he is the only being, of
which we have any actual experience, who possesses, even in a limited
degree, qualities of such a description. Assuredly then it cannot be a
degrading notion of the Deity to regard Him as invested with the highest
attributes of which we have a conception. We are aware that some
philosophers talk much of the Infinite, and the Absolute, as conveying
more exalted notions of the Divine Being. What the exact meaning of
those terms is philosophers find it difficult to declare, and the common
people are almost wholly unable to understand. Certainly such highly
abstract terms convey little distinct meaning. It will be found upon
examination, that the word "Infinite," to stir in any degree the depths
of our nature, must be combined with some quality with which we are
familiar. Infinite love, infinite justice, infinite purity, are things
which we can in some degree understand and appreciate; but the point
which we understand best is not the "Infinite," but the finite,--the
love,--the justice,--the purity; and these are ideas taken from what we
find in some imperfect degree in ourselves. To those who believe that
man was made "in the image of God," and that the Word, being God, became
also man, the train of thought here indicated will come home with
additional force.

What has been said with regard to a revelation, made by words, applies,
in its main points, to a revelation made directly to the mind through
_ideas_, without the intervention of words. To see this clearly, let us
bear in mind the distinction between a per