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In the Bible, the sun is never deified because, as an impersonal force, it was created by God as a great light to light up the Earth and set a calendar. The existence of sun worship in the Kingdom of Judah is reported by the Prophet Ezekiel. “They were bowing down to the east, to the sun.” (Ezekiel 8:16). This apostate behaviour went against the Law (Deuteronomy 4:19) and the words of the psalmist, “For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; Favor and glory are what he gives.” (Psalm 84:11). Years earlier, the King Josiah had however abolished worship of the sun-god. - 2 Kings 23:5. The Temptation of Christ MI 285 Location in the Louvre: Ary Scheffer Sully 2nd room 63 The sun, source of life and fertility, is nevertheless revered in most cultures. A149 The incarnation of light in the form of the Egyptian god Ra, it would be Helios then Apollo among the Greeks. The worship of the Persian sun-god Mithra is at the origin of the feast of Christmas. The influence of this pagan worship of the sun also explains the presence of a ring of light, the halo, around the heads of icons of Christendom.