220 TheSpiritual Life.
insolence of disbelief. They elected to starve
the heartratherthanto stifle the intellect,and
consoled themselves with the undeniable facts
of thisw^orld for what theyconsidered asthe
unverifiablefanciesaboutanother. Butthein-
eradicable longings of the human heartforthe
knowledge of God will sooner or later over-
throwanyedificeofagnosticismthattheintellect
can rear, and agnosticism can never be more
thanthetemporaryrefugeof thewearied intel-
lect,whereitmaygather strength and courage
tostartonanotherstageof theeternalquest.
The popular Christian conceptions of God
are dominated by the ideas inherited from
exoteric Hebraism, by the crude anthropo-
morphism of its published scriptures. The
Jehovah, or Jahveh, of the Hebrews, imaged
as a "man ofwar,"with human passions and
superhuman powers, walking in the garden,
coming down from heaven tolook ata tower,
descending toa mountain to proclaim hislaw,
demandingtheslaughterof countlessanimalsin
sacrifice, declaringhimself tobe jealous,angry,