THE HISTORY OF

All 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

WHICH HAVE

in the Churches

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 may 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

41X 40 4

a

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