The Southern Review Volume 15 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1874 edition. Excerpt: ...the universe. He calls this science. To our minds, it looks more like the very sorriest kind of all sorry kinds of poetry. It is, of course, very ridiculous to speak of such a God as one Lord. Hence, our author is called upon to account for Israel s supposed belief in one God. We invite the particular attention of the reader to this wonderful feat of the grand-literatewr of the nineteenth century. Israel did say, it is true, and repeat in thousands of ways, that the Lord our God is one Lord. Mr. Arnold quotes this language, and then adds: People think that, in this unity of G0d--this monotheistic idea, as they call it--they have certainly got metaphysics at last. It is nothing of the kind. (p. 57.) No, indeed, it is nothing of the kind. It is not metaphysics, and it is not fact, ' it is merely a poetical way of speaking which Israel had. All' the world, prior to the advent of the Professor of Poetry, imagined that Israel really believed in one God; but he--wonderful man l--has exploded all that monotheistic nonsense, and brought mankind down to the literal fact and science of Israel s real belief. It is, says he, nothing of the kind. The monotheistic idea of Israel is simply seriousness. The italics are his. Hence, when Israel delares that the Lord our God is one Lord, he does not teach the unity of God at all. All the universe has, for many thousand years, been grossly mistaken on that point. For, when Israel says, in apparently plain and emphatic language, that there is one God, and one only, he simply means seriousness In order to make good this new science of his, and show the absurdity of the monothe istic...