"Nothing can be more opposite to Jesus Christ, than the Oracle
of _Jupiter Ammon_. And yet the _same cipher_ served the false
god as well as the true one; for we see a medal of Ptolemy,
King of Cyrene, having an eagle carrying a thunderbolt, _with
the monogram of Christ to signify the Oracle of Jupiter
Ammon_."

Rev. J. P. Lundy says:

"Even the P.X., which I had thought to be exclusively
Christian, are to be found in combination thus: [Symbol: PX]
(just as the early Christians used it), on coins of the
Ptolemies, and on those of Herod the Great, struck forty years
before our era, together with this other form, so often seen
on the early Christian monuments, viz.: [Symbol: P with
horizontal cross-bar]."[350:4]

This monogram is also to be found on the coins of Decius, a Pagan Roman
emperor, who ruled during the commencement of the third century.[350:5]

Another form of the same monogram is [Symbol: X over H] and X H. The
monogram of the _Sun_ was [Symbol: Y with superimposed circle]. P. H.
All these are now called monograms of Christ, and are to be met with in
great numbers in almost every church in Italy.[351:1] The monogram of
Mercury was a cross.[351:2] The monogram of the Egyptian Taut was formed
by three crosses.[351:3] The monogram of Saturn was a cross and a ram's
horn; it was also a monogram of Jupiter.[351:4] The monogram of Venus
was a cross and a circle.[351:5] The monogram of the Phenician Astarte,
and the Babylonian Bal, was also a cross and a circle.[351:6] It was
also that of Freya, Holda, and Aphrodite.[351:7] Its true significance
was the Linga and Yoni.

The cross, which was so universally adored, in its different forms among
heathen nations, was intended as an emblem or symbol of the _Sun_, of
_eternal life_, the _generative powers_, &c.[351:8]

As with the cross, and the X. P., so likewise with many other so-called
Christian symbols--they are borrowed from Paganism. Among these may be
mentioned the mystical three letters I. H. S., to this day retained in
some of our Protestant, as well as Roman Catholic churches, and falsely
supposed to stand for "_Jesu Hominium Salvator_," or "In Hoc Signo." It
is none other than the identical monogram of the heathen god
_Bacchus_,[351:9] and was to be seen on the coins of the Maharajah of
_Cashmere_.[351:10] Dr. Inman says:

"For a long period I. H. S., I. E. E. S., was a monogram of