Cause of Idolatry.

Instead of the natural religion explained and confirmed by God, they gradually devised an idolatrous one. Even in this, natural religion served as the foundation, but it was so distorted that it was no longer recognizable beneath the practice of idolatry The author suggests that "natural religion"—the logical belief in a single Creator—is the root of all faith, but paganism is a corrupted version of that logic..

First kind of idolatry. Sun and Moon.

The worship of the sun and the moon was the first kind of idolatry, which was joined in a short time by the worship of planets and animals; both kinds had already reached their "perfection" In this context, "perfection" (Vollkommenheit) refers to the system being fully established or reaching its peak influence. by the year 2513 According to the Anno Mundi (Year of the World) calendar, this would be roughly 1491 BCE, coinciding with the time of Moses in traditional chronologies.. This idolatry rose step by step, etc.; initially, the sun and moon were regarded as the dwellings of the Deity, because their size and beauty distinguished them above all other celestial bodies; but soon they were made into independent, benevolent beings because they had a visible influence on the fertility and happiness of the earth. The former idea was thus displaced by the latter, and what was once a symbol was now elevated to a deity in its own right.

When one considers the majestic image of the sun, as it rises in youthful splendor every morning over the inhabitants of the globe; when one considers how it imparts new strength to all creatures, and observes how it withdraws from the eyes of the earth's inhabitants in an equally magnificent manner: then one cannot entirely blame these peoples, who had fallen so deeply into ignorance, for deviating so far from their first principles; daily the symbol of this