85:4.2 Many [[things]] and numerous [[events]] have [[functioned]] as [[religious]] [[stimuli]] to different [[peoples]] in different ages. A [[rainbow]] is yet [[worshiped]] by many of the hill [[tribes]] of India. In both India and Africa the rainbow is thought to be a gigantic [[celestial]] snake; [[Hebrews]] and [[Christians]] regard it as "the bow of promise."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Genesis#Chapter_.9] Likewise, [[influences]] regarded as beneficent in one part of the world may be looked upon as malignant in other regions. The east [[wind]] is a [[god]] in South America, for it brings rain; in India it is a [[devil]] because it brings dust and causes drought. The [[ancient]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouins Bedouins] believed that a [[nature]] [[spirit]] produced the sand whirls, and even in the times of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses] [[belief]] in nature spirits was strong enough to insure their perpetuation in [[Hebrew]] [[theology]] as [[angels]] of [[fire]], [[water]], and [[air]]. | 85:4.2 Many [[things]] and numerous [[events]] have [[functioned]] as [[religious]] [[stimuli]] to different [[peoples]] in different ages. A [[rainbow]] is yet [[worshiped]] by many of the hill [[tribes]] of India. In both India and Africa the rainbow is thought to be a gigantic [[celestial]] snake; [[Hebrews]] and [[Christians]] regard it as "the bow of promise."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Genesis#Chapter_.9] Likewise, [[influences]] regarded as beneficent in one part of the world may be looked upon as malignant in other regions. The east [[wind]] is a [[god]] in South America, for it brings rain; in India it is a [[devil]] because it brings dust and causes drought. The [[ancient]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouins Bedouins] believed that a [[nature]] [[spirit]] produced the sand whirls, and even in the times of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses] [[belief]] in nature spirits was strong enough to insure their perpetuation in [[Hebrew]] [[theology]] as [[angels]] of [[fire]], [[water]], and [[air]]. |