THE HISTORY OF

AII Religions,

WITH EXPLANATIONS

OF THE DOCTRINES AND ORDER OF WORSHIP,

AS HELD AND PRACTISED BY ALL THE

DENOMINATIONS OF

PROFESSING CHRISTIANS ;

COMPREHENDING A SERIES OF RESEARCHES

EXPLANATORY OF THE
Opinions, Customs, and Representative Worship

in the Churches

WHICH HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED FROM THE BEGINNING OF
TIME TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN

DISPENSATION ;
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PROPHECIES

OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST;
Incontrovertibly proving by the positive declarations of the

Prophets that he is

The true Messiah,

AND THAT THE
JEWS HAVE NO AUTHORITY FROM SCRIPTURE

TO EXPECT THAT HE IS YET TO COME;
THE ORIGIN AND CAUSE OF IDOLATROUS WORSHIP;

REASONS ASSIGNED FOR THE

DIFFERENT FORMS OF IDOLS;
Being a brief Compendium of those knowledges necessary to be

known by all Christians.

Second Edition,

With considerable Alterations and Additions.

BY JOHN BELLAMY,
Author of the Ophion, and Biblical Criticisms in the

CLASSICAL JOURNAL.

London :
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND
BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1813.

PREFACE.

HISTORIES of the Different Professions of Religion have been written by eminent and learned men in all civilised nations; therefore a publication of this nature inay be deemed, by some, unnecessary. A consideration of this sort would certainly have had its due weight with me, had I not found that, though in many instances the authors have succeeded, yet in others, and those very important, they have been altogether defective. No writer

a

41 X 304

has attempted to give us any information respecting those circumstances and things, which took place at a more remote date than that of the ancient Egyptians; or concerning the Religions of the first nations after the flood; or the various states and descent of all the patriarchal churches from Adam to that period.

It does not appear to me that any writer can be justified in presuming to call on the attention of the reader, unless he has something hitherto undiscovered to lay before him. I trust it will be found by the learned and the intelligent reader that I have not merited any imputation of this nature, for I should not feel myself excused in sending the following sheets to the press, if they did not contain a variety of information, which has not been