Is the parallel divine, natural, or evil in origin?
Under questions (2) and (3) we alluded to the fact that a parallel between religions may arise by purely natural means. It is also possible, from a religious point of view, that the pagan element in the parallel might arise due to either divine or evil influence. For example, it is demonstrable from Scripture that God chooses to bestow elements of his truth even on those in pagan religions (Ps. 19:14, John 1:9, Acts 17:2229, Rom. 1:1820). It is no surprise, then, that in the Old Testament we find non-Jewish priests and prophets of the true God, such as Melchizedek, Jethro, and Balaam (Gen. 14:18, Ex. 18:12, Num. 22:18). We find in the archaeological record that Canaanites worshiped El (J. Finnegan, Myth and Mystery) and that other peoples in the region may even have worshiped Yahweh (C. H. Gordon & G. A. Rendsburg, The Bible and the Ancient Near East), El and Yahweh being biblical names for God. Such echoes of the truth in pagan groups in no way stain the truth preserved in non-pagan g
