realize the distance traveled by the mind of man along ethical lines.
Man is now a builder of ideals. Yet the cosmic setting for these
ideals is virtually unchanged; the framework of man's universe has
remained much the same. It is at heart a realm of personal agents with
which man is in communication.

In all the nations which advanced in civilization, this transformation
within mythology makes itself felt. Ormuzd, the Persian god, passes
from a personification of the sunlight in its battle with darkness to a
spiritual deity who is the guardian of all the virtues. Indra, the
Vedic god, is likewise at first the sky through which the clouds move,
and is later conceived as the creator and sustainer of the world. The
same process reveals itself in Egyptian mythology for we pass from Ra,
the sun deity, to Neph and Pthah who represent creative energies and to
Osiris, the god of truth and goodness. Thus there is in mythology a
universal movement, from the visible aspects of nature as personified,
to supernal beings back of nature, protecting what is thought of as
highest and noblest in human conduct. The setting remains constant
while new wine is poured into the old bottles. _The truth of the
matter is that man grew faster ethically than he did intellectually_.
Philosophy and science were far harder to achieve than glimpses of
justice and kindness. The very growth of society in numbers forced man
to adapt his conduct to a {26} social life and to have regard to his
neighbors. The ideals advocated by Confucius, Buddha, Plato, Hosea and
Jesus are as noble as our own. But advance in knowledge and its
presuppositions is more revolutionary and extraordinary because more
artificial and more alien to the psychological prejudices of the mass
of the people. Ethics, like religion, remained for ages peacefully
within the mythological setting which primitive man unconsciously
constructed.

We have purposely omitted prior reference to the development of
religion among the Hebrews because their religion has been so important
for our own civilization. The mythological element in it was
relatively small for various reasons; yet this is true only if we have
regard to fable and aesthetic tale. Their world was one of personal
agency just as it was for other races. But the Hebrews made a fresh
start long after they had isolated themselves from the general Semitic
stock. Their migration from their ancient home could not help but