It is that all mankind may believe in the one true God. Most of the
nations of ancient times believed in a multiplicity of divinities, as
the inhabitants of India do now. But many of these peoples were
devoted to some one god in particular, who was supposed to take their
country under his protection. The gods were local. They did not
exclude each other. In time of war the question, so far as the gods
were concerned, was not which nation was protected by the true God,
but which god was the strongest.
The spirit of Judaism was entirely antagonistic to this. The unity of
God was its great doctrine. It was not missionary; it was a _silent_
protest. So far as they were faithful to the teaching they had
received, the belief of the Jewish people was, that while the Divine
Being stood in special covenant relations to them, He was the
exclusive Divine Being; that until the nations should become
acquainted with Him they had no God at all.
Christianity occupies a similar position, only the position is
extended. When it commenced its career, it made itself felt, not as a
silent protest, but as an active aggressive agency which aimed at the
overthrow of all idolatry. It assumed the position that all the
religions of the earth are false, while it is the only religion for
man. From that position it has not descended. To do so would be to
efface itself, therefore it cannot accept the modern paganism. It
cannot take its place as one of the many forms, perhaps the most
enlightened, in which the religious sentiment is expressed. It cannot
accept the courtesies of "thoughtful men" on these terms. It must be
all or nothing. It is the channel through which the one God has
revealed Himself as the redeeming God. The consummation desiderated
by the Christian Church is that all the nations of the earth may be
brought to the knowledge of Him as thus revealed.