Commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy Author:William George Jordan Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the creed of Ahab, but he had nothing to say about a single altar, his cry being, "They have broken down thine altars." There may have been a desire for centrali... more »zation about two centuries later after the ruin of the Northern Kingdom, but the real struggle for reform came in the reign of Josiah when the comparative smallness of the country rendered it possible. Elijah denounced the worship of a foreign god; Amos and Isaiah denounced the giving to Yahweh worship that was fit only for small heathen gods. But the place of worship did not occupy a large part of their thoughts. Now, however, pious men have come to the conclusion that these rural sanctuaries are the source of all religious corruption, and that the worship of the One God, in pure, decent forms, can only be carried on with safety at one central, sacred place. They may learn afterwards that even this place may become a centre of impure worship and narrow bigotry, but in the meantime they press forward to their goal with that hopefulness which God graciously gives to all reformers. These men are fighting against idolatry in various forms, and against what they now consider to be irregular worship of Yahweh in heathenish surroundings and dress. They are in their own way Puritans, and it is one of the clearest lessons of history that the world owes a great debt of gratitude to those who have fought similar battles at different epochs. This class of men, like all others, have the limitations and the defects of their qualities, but they are moved by a fiery earnestness which is inspired by the noble belief that there is a Great God and an everlasting truth, a real basis of national life and a hope of enduring righteousness. IV. The Fundamental Idea And The Fundamental Some great ideas have already been mentioned, but it is...« less