Excerpt from Socialism and Christianity Centuries before the birth of Christ, there lived a proud and despotic ruler of an Eastern kingdom who, surrounded by power and splendor, forgot the Lord of heaven and earth, trusting exclusively in the wealth of his country and the strength of his people. The prophet Daniel warned him against his impious ways, and besought him to forsake his iniquities, and to acknowledge that "the Most High ruleth over the kingdoms of men." But the king thought himself safe in the enjoyment of his glory and strength, and strutting up and down his gorgeous palace, he said with sinful pride: "Is not this the great Babylon which I have built to be the seat of the kingdom, by the strength of my power, and in the glory of my excellence?" Scarcely were these words out of his mouth, when the punishment of the Lord overtook him; he was degraded and cast out of the habitation of man, and likened to the brute beast of the field. Fortunately, his chastisement brought him to his senses. He now realized that all power and beauty came from above and that "all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before their God." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.