diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/13349.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/13349.txt | 11455 |
1 files changed, 11455 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/13349.txt b/old/13349.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a60594 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13349.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11455 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Freethinker's Text Book, Part II., by Annie Besant + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Freethinker's Text Book, Part II. + Christianity: Its Evidences, Its Origin, Its Morality, Its History + +Author: Annie Besant + +Release Date: September 1, 2004 [EBook #13349] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FREETHINKER'S TEXT BOOK, *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David King, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + +THE FREETHINKER'S TEXT-BOOK. + +PART II. + +CHRISTIANITY: + +ITS EVIDENCES. +ITS ORIGIN. + +ITS MORALITY. +ITS HISTORY. + +BY ANNIE BESANT. + + + + +SECTION I.--ITS EVIDENCES UNRELIABLE. + + +The origin of all religions, and the ignorance which is the root of the +God-idea, having been dealt with in Part I. of this Text-Book, it now +becomes our duty to investigate the evidences of the origin and of the +growth of Christianity, to examine its morality and its dogmas, to study +the history of its supposed founder, to trace out its symbols and its +ceremonies; in fine, to show cause for its utter rejection by the +Freethinker. The foundation stone of Christianity, laid in Paradise by +the Creation and Fall of Man 6,000 years ago, has already been destroyed +in the first section of this work; and we may at once, therefore, +proceed to Christianity itself. The history of the origin of the creed +is naturally the first point to deal with, and this may be divided into +two parts: 1. The evidences afforded by profane history as to its origin +and early growth. 2. Its story as told by itself in its own documents. + +The most remarkable thing in the evidences afforded by profane history +is their extreme paucity; the very existence of Jesus cannot be proved +from contemporary documents. A child whose birth is heralded by a star +which guides foreign sages to Judaea; a massacre of all the infants of a +town within the Roman Empire by command of a subject king; a teacher who +heals the leper, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the lame, and who raises +the mouldering corpse; a King of the Jews entering Jerusalem in +triumphal procession, without opposition from the Roman legions of +Caesar; an accused ringleader of sedition arrested by his own countrymen, +and handed over to the imperial governor; a rebel adjudged to death by +Roman law; a three hours' darkness over all the land; an earthquake +breaking open graves and rending the temple veil; a number of ghosts +wandering about Jerusalem; a crucified corpse rising again to life, and +appearing to a crowd of above 500 people; a man risen from the dead +ascending bodily into heaven without any concealment, and in the broad +daylight, from a mountain near Jerusalem; all these marvellous events +took place, we are told, and yet they have left no ripple on the current +of contemporary history. There is, however, no lack of such history, and +an exhaustive account of the country and age in which the hero of the +story lived is given by one of his own nation--a most painstaking and +laborious historian. "How shall we excuse the supine inattention of the +Pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented by +the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? +During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and of their first disciples, +the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. +The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were +raised, demons were expelled, and the laws of nature were frequently +suspended for the benefit of the Church. But the sages of Greece and +Rome turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary +occupations of life and study, appeared unconscious of any alterations +in the moral or physical government of the world. Under the reign of +Tiberius the whole earth, or at least a celebrated province of the Roman +Empire, was involved in a preternatural darkness of three hours. Even +this miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the +curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice in an age +of science and history. It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and +the elder Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate effects, or +received the earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these +philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena +of nature--earthquakes, meteors, comets, and eclipses, which his +indefatigable curiosity could collect. Both the one and the other have +omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye has +been witness since the creation of the globe. A distinct chapter of +Pliny is designed for eclipses of an extraordinary nature and unusual +duration; but he contents himself with describing the singular defect of +light which followed the murder of Caesar, when, during the greatest part +of the year, the orb of the sun appeared pale and without splendour. +This season of obscurity, which cannot surely be compared with the +preternatural darkness of the Passion, had been already celebrated by +most of the poets and historians of that memorable age" (Gibbon's +"Decline and Fall," vol. ii., pp. 191, 192. Ed. 1821). + +If Pagan historians are thus curiously silent, what deduction shall we +draw from the similar silence of the great Jewish annalist? Is it +credible that Josephus should thus have ignored Jesus Christ, if one +tithe of the marvels related in the Gospels really took place? So +damning to the story of Christianity has this difficulty been felt, that +a passage has been inserted in Josephus (born A.D. 37, died about A.D. +100) relating to Jesus Christ, which runs as follows: "Now, there was +about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, +for he was a doer of wonderful works--a teacher of such men as receive +the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and +many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the +suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the +cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he +appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had +foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; +and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this +day" ("Antiquities of the Jews," book xviii., ch. iii., sect. 3). The +passage itself proves its own forgery: Christ drew over scarcely any +Gentiles, if the Gospel story be true, as he himself said: "I am not +sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew xv. 24). A +Jew would not believe that a doer of wonderful works must necessarily be +more than man, since their own prophets were said to have performed +miracles. If Josephus believed Jesus to be Christ, he would assuredly +have become a Christian; while, if he believed him to be God, he would +have drawn full attention to so unique a fact as the incarnation of the +Deity. Finally, the concluding remark that the Christians were "not +extinct" scarcely coincides with the idea that Josephus, at Rome, must +have been cognisant of their increasing numbers, and of their +persecution by Nero. It is, however, scarcely pretended now-a-days, by +any scholar of note, that the passage is authentic. Sections 2 and 4 +were manifestly written one after the other. "There were a great number +of them slain by this means, and others of them ran away wounded; and +thus an end was put to this sedition. _About the same time another sad +calamity put the Jews into disorder_." The forged passage breaks the +continuity of the history. The oldest MSS. do not contain this section. +It is first quoted by Eusebius, who probably himself forged it; and its +authenticity is given up by Lardner, Gibbon, Bishop Warburton, and many +others. Lardner well summarises the arguments against its +authenticity:-- + +"I do not perceive that we at all want the suspected testimony to Jesus, +which was never quoted by any of our Christian ancestors before +Eusebius. + +"Nor do I recollect that Josephus has any where mentioned the name or +word _Christ_, in any of his works; except the testimony above +mentioned, and the passage concerning James, the Lord's brother. + +"It interrupts the narrative. + +"The language is quite Christian. + +"It is not quoted by Chrysostom, though he often refers to Josephus, and +could not have omitted quoting it, had it been then in the text. + +"It is not quoted by Photius, though he has three articles concerning +Josephus. + +"Under the article Justus of Tiberias, this author (Photius) expressly +states that historian (Josephus) being a Jew, has not taken the least +notice of Christ. + +"Neither Justin in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, nor Clemens +Alexandrinus, who made so many extracts from Christian authors, nor +Origen against Celsus, have ever mentioned this testimony. + +"But, on the contrary, in chapter xxxv. of the first book of that work, +Origen openly affirms, that Josephus, who had mentioned John the +Baptist, did not acknowledge Christ" (Answer to Dr. Chandler, as quoted +in Taylor's "Diegesis," pp. 368, 369. Ed. 1844). + +Keim thinks that the remarks of Origen caused the forgery; after +criticising the passage he winds up: "For all these reasons, the passage +cannot be maintained; it has first appeared in this form in the Catholic +Church of the Jews and Gentiles, and under the dominion of the Fourth +Gospel, and hardly before the third century, probably before Eusebius, +and after Origen, whose bitter criticisms of Josephus may have given +cause for it" ("Jesus of Nazara," p. 25, English edition, 1873). + +"Those who are best acquainted with the character of Josephus, and the +style of his writings, have no hesitation in condemning this passage as +a forgery interpolated in the text during the third century by some +pious Christian, who was scandalised that so famous a writer as Josephus +should have taken no notice of the Gospels, or of Christ their subject. +But the zeal of the interpolator has outrun his discretion, for we might +as well expect to gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, as +to find this notice of Christ among the Judaising writings of Josephus. +It is well known that this author was a zealous Jew, devoted to the laws +of Moses and the traditions of his countrymen. How then could he have +written that _Jesus was the Christ?_ Such an admission would have proved +him to be a Christian himself, in which case the passage under +consideration, too long for a Jew, would have been far too short for a +believer in the new religion, and thus the passage stands forth, like an +ill-set jewel, contrasting most inharmoniously with everything around +it. If it had been genuine, we might be sure that Justin Martyr, +Tertullian, and Chrysostom would have quoted it in their controversies +with the Jews, and that Origen or Photius would have mentioned it. But +Eusebius, the ecclesiastical historian (i., II), is the first who quotes +it, and our reliance on the judgment or even the honesty of this writer +is not so great as to allow of our considering everything found in his +works as undoubtedly genuine" ("Christian Records," by Rev. Dr. Giles, +p. 30. Ed. 1854). + +On the other side the student should consult Hartwell Horne's +"Introduction." Ed. 1825, vol. i., p. 307-11. Renan observes that the +passage--in the authenticity of which he believes--is "in the style of +Josephus," but adds that "it has been retouched by a Christian hand." +The two statements seem scarcely consistent, as such "retouching" would +surely alter "the style" ("Vie de Jesus," Introduction, p. 10. Ed. +1863). + +Paley argues that when the multitude of Christians living in the time of +Josephus is considered, it cannot "be believed that the religion, and +the transaction upon which it was founded, were too obscure to engage +the attention of Josephus, or to obtain a place in his history" ("Evid. +of Christianity," p. 73. Ed. 1845). We answer, it is plain, from the +fact that Josephus entirely ignores both, that the pretended story of +Jesus was not widely known among his contemporaries, and that the early +spread of Christianity is much exaggerated. But says Paley: "Be, +however, the fact, or the cause of the omission in Josephus, what it +may, no other or different history on the subject has been given by him +or is pretended to have been given" (Ibid, pp. 73, 74). Our contention +being that the supposed occurrences never took place at all, no history +of them is to be looked for in the pages of a writer who was relating +only facts. Josephus speaks of James, "the brother of Jesus, who was +called Christ" ("Antiquities," book xx., ch. ix., sect. 1), and this +passage shares the fate of the longer one, being likewise rejected +because of being an interpolation. The other supposed reference of +Josephus to Jesus is found in his discourse on Hades, wherein he says +that all men "shall be brought before God the Word; for to him hath the +Father committed all judgment; and he, in order to fulfil the will of +his Father, shall come as judge, whom we call Christ" ("Works of +Josephus," by Whiston, p. 661). Supposing that this passage were +genuine, it would simply convey the Jewish belief that the +Messiah--Christ--the Anointed, was the appointed judge, as in Dan. vii., +9-14, and more largely in the Book of Enoch. + +The silence of Jewish writers of this period is not confined to +Josephus, and this silence tells with tremendous weight against the +Christian story. Judge Strange writes: "Josephus knew nothing of these +wonderments, and he wrote up to the year 93, being familiar with all the +chief scenes of the alleged Christianity. Nicolaus of Damascus, who +preceded him and lived to the time of Herod's successor Archelaus, and +Justus of Tiberias, who was the contemporary and rival of Josephus in +Galilee, equally knew nothing of the movement. Philo-Judaeus, who +occupied the whole period ascribed to Jesus, and engaged himself deeply +in figuring out the Logos, had heard nothing of the being who was +realising at Jerusalem the image his fancy was creating" ("Portraiture +and Mission of Jesus," p. 27). + +We propose now to go carefully through the alleged testimonies to +Christianity, as urged in Paley's "Evidences of Christianity," following +his presentment of the argument step by step, and offering objections to +each point as raised by him. + +The next historian who is claimed as a witness to Christianity is +Tacitus (born A.D. 54 or 55, died A.D. 134 or 135), who writes, dealing +with the reign of Nero, that this Emperor "inflicted the most cruel +punishments upon a set of people, who were holden in abhorrence for +their crimes, and were commonly called Christians. The founder of that +name was Christus, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was punished as a +criminal by the procurator, Pontius Pilate. This pernicious +superstition, thus checked for awhile, broke out again; and spread not +only over Judaea the source of this evil, but reached the city also: +whither flow from all quarters all things vile and shameful, and where +they find shelter and encouragement. At first, only those were +apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect; afterwards, a vast +multitude discovered by them; all which were condemned, not so much for +the crime of burning the city, as for their hatred of mankind. Their +executions were so contrived as to expose them to derision and contempt. +Some were covered over with the skins of wild beasts, and torn to pieces +by dogs; some were crucified. Others, having been daubed over with +combustible materials, were set up as lights in the night-time, and thus +burned to death. Nero made use of his own gardens as a theatre on this +occasion, and also exhibited the diversions of the circus, sometimes +standing in the crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a charioteer; at +other times driving a chariot himself; till at length these men, though +really criminal, and deserving exemplary punishment, began to be +commiserated as people who were destroyed, not out of regard to the +public welfare, but only to gratify the cruelty of one man" ("Annals," +book xv., sect. 44). + +This was probably written, if authentic, about A.D. 107. The reasons +against the authenticity of this passage are thus given by Robert +Taylor: "This passage, which would have served the purpose of Christian +quotation better than any other in all the writings of Tacitus, or of +any Pagan writer whatever, is not quoted by any of the Christian +Fathers. + +"It is not quoted by Tertullian, though he had read and largely quotes +the works of Tacitus: and though his argument immediately called for the +use of this quotation with so loud a voice, that his omission of it, if +it had really existed, amounts to a violent improbability. + +"This Father has spoken of Tacitus in a way that it is absolutely +impossible that he should have spoken of him had his writings contained +such a passage. + +"It is not quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, who set himself entirely to +the work of adducing and bringing together all the admissions and +recognitions which Pagan authors had made of the existence of Christ or +Christians before his time. + +"It has nowhere been stumbled on by the laborious and all-seeking +Eusebius, who could by no possibility have missed of it.... + +"There is no vestige nor trace of its existence anywhere in the world +before the fifteenth century. + +"It rests then entirely upon the fidelity of a single individual. And +he, having the ability, the opportunity, and the strongest possible +incitement of interest to induce him to introduce the interpolation. + +"The passage itself, though unquestionably the work of a master, and +entitled to be pronounced the _chef d'oeuvre_ of the art, betrays the +_penchant_ of that delight in blood, and in descriptions of bloody +horrors, as peculiarly characteristic of the Christian disposition as it +was abhorrent to the mild and gentle mind, and highly cultivated taste +of Tacitus. + + * * * * * + +"It is falsified by the 'Apology of Tertullian,' and the far more +respectable testimony of Melito, Bishop of Sardis, who explicitly states +that the Christians, up to his time, the third century, had never been +victims of persecution; and that it was in provinces lying beyond the +boundaries of the Roman Empire, and not in Judaea, that Christianity +originated. + +"Tacitus has, in no other part of his writings, made the least allusion +to Christ or Christians. + +"The use of this passage as a part of the 'Evidences of the Christian +Religion,' is absolutely modern" ("Diegesis," pp. 374--376). + +Judge Strange--writing on another point--gives us an argument against +the authenticity of this passage: "As Josephus made Rome his place of +abode from the year 70 to the end of the century, there inditing his +history of all that concerned the Jews, it is apparent that, had there +been a sect flourishing in the city who were proclaiming the risen Jesus +as the Messiah in his time, the circumstance was one this careful and +discerning writer could not have failed to notice and to comment on" +("Portraiture and Mission of Jesus," p. 15). It is, indeed, passing +strange that Josephus, who tells us so much about false Messiahs and +their followers, should omit--as he must have done if this passage of +Tacitus be authentic--all reference to this additional false Messiah, +whose followers in the very city where Josephus was living, underwent +such terrible tortures, either during his residence there, or +immediately before it. Burning men, used as torches, adherents of a +Jewish Messiah, ought surely to have been unusual enough to have +attracted his attention. We may add to these arguments that, supposing +such a passage were really written by Tacitus, the two lines regarding +Christus look much like an interpolation, as the remainder would run +more connectedly if they were omitted. But the whole passage is of more +than doubtful authenticity, being in itself incredible, if the Acts and +the Epistles of the New Testament be true; for this persecution is said +to have occurred during the reign of Nero, during which Paul abode in +Rome, teaching in peace, "no man forbidding him" (Acts xxviii. 31); +during which, also, he wrote to the Romans that they need not be afraid +of the government if they did right (Romans xii. 34); clearly, if these +passages are true, the account in Tacitus must be false; and as he +himself had no reason for composing such a tale, it must have been +forged by Christians to glorify their creed. + +The extreme ease with which this passage might have been inserted in all +editions of Tacitus used in modern times arises from the fact that all +such editions are but copies of one single MS., which was in the +possession of one single individual; the solitary owner might make any +interpolations he pleased, and there was no second copy by which his +accuracy might be tested. "The first publication of any part of the +'Annals of Tacitus' was by Johannes de Spire, at Venice, in the year +1468--his imprint being made from a single MS., in his own power and +possession only, and purporting to have been written in the eighth +century.... from this all other MSS. and printed copies of the works of +Tacitus are derived." ("Diegesis," p. 373.) + +Suetonius (born about A.D. 65, died in second century) writes: "The +Christians, a race of men of a new and mischievous (or magical) +superstition, were punished." In another passage we read of Claudius, +who reigned A.D. 41-54: "He drove the Jews, who, at the suggestion of +Chrestus, were constantly rioting, out of Rome." From this we might +infer that there was at that time a Jewish leader, named Chrestus, +living in Rome, and inciting the Jews to rebellion. His followers would +probably take his name, and, expelled from Rome, they would spread this +name in all directions. If the passage in Acts xi. 20 and 26 be of any +historical value, it would curiously strengthen this hypothesis, since +the "disciples were called Christians first in Antioch," and the +missionaries to Antioch, who preached "unto the Jews only," came from +Cyprus and Cyrene, which would naturally lie in the way of fugitives +from Rome to Asia Minor. They would bring the name Christian with them, +and the date in the Acts synchronises with that in Suetonius. Chrestus +would appear to have left a sect behind him in Rome, bearing his name, +the members of which were prosecuted by the Government, very likely as +traitors and rebels. Keim's good opinion of Suetonius is much degraded +by this Chrestus: "In his 'Life of Claudius,' who expelled the Jews from +Rome, he has shown his undoubted inferiority to Tacitus as a historian +by treating 'Christ' as a restless and seditious Jewish agitator, who +was still living in the time of Claudius, and, indeed, in Rome" ("Jesus +of Nazara," p. 33). + +It is natural that modern Christians should object to a Jewish Chrestus +starting up at Rome simultaneously with their Jewish Christus in Judaea, +who, according to Luke's chronology, must have been crucified about A.D. +43. The coincidence is certainly inconvenient; but if they refuse the +testimony of Suetonius concerning Chrestus, the leader, why should they +accept it concerning the Christians, the followers? Paley, of course, +although he quotes Suetonius, omits all reference at this stage to the +unlucky Chrestus; his duty was to present evidences of, not against, +Christianity. Most dishonestly, however, he inserts a reference to it +later on (p. 73), where, in a brief _resume_ of the evidence, he uses it +as a link in his chain: "When Suetonius, an historian contemporary with +Tacitus, relates that, in the time of Claudius, the Jews were making +disturbances at Rome, Christus being their leader." Why does not Paley +explain to us how Jesus came to be leading Jews at Rome during the reign +of Claudius, and why he incited them to riot? No such incident is +related in the life of Jesus of Nazareth; and if Suetonius be correct, +the credit of the Gospels is destroyed. To his shame be it said, that +Paley here deliberately refers to a passage, _which he has not ventured +to quote_, simply that he may use the great name of Suetonius to +strengthen his lamentably weak argument, by the pretence that Suetonius +mentions Jesus of Nazareth, and thus makes him a historical character. +Few more disgraceful perversions of evidence can be found, even in the +annals of controversy. H. Horne refers to this passage in proof of the +existence of Christ (Introduction, vol. i., page 202); but without +offering any explanation of the appearance of Christ in Rome some years +after he ought to have been dead. + +Juvenal is next dragged forward by Paley as a witness, because he +mentioned the punishment of some criminals: "I think it sufficiently +probable that these [Christian executions] were the executions to which +the poet refers" ("Evidences," p. 29.) Needless to say that there is not +a particle of proof that they were anything of the kind; but when +evidence is lacking, it is necessary to invent it. + +Pliny the Younger (born A.D. 61, died A.D. 115) writes to the Emperor +Trajan, about A.D. 107, to ask him how he shall treat the Christians, +and as Paley has so grossly misrepresented this letter, it will be well +to reproduce the whole of it. It contains no word of Christians dying +boldly as Paley pretends, nor, indeed, of the punishment of death being +inflicted at all. The word translated "punishment" is _supplicium_ (acc. +of _supplicium_) in the original, and is a term which, like the French +_supplice_, derived from it, may mean the punishment of death, or any +other heavy penalty. The translation of the letter runs as follows: "C. +Pliny to the Emperor Trajan, Health.--It is customary with me to refer +to you, my lord, matters about which I entertain a doubt. For who is +better able either to rule my hesitation, or to instruct my ignorance? I +have never been present at the inquiries about the Christians, and, +therefore, cannot say for what crime, or to what extent, they are +usually punished, or what is the nature of the inquiry about them. Nor +have I been free from great doubts whether there should not be a +distinction between ages, or how far those of a tender frame should be +treated differently from the robust; whether those who repent should not +be pardoned, so that one who has been a Christian should not derive +advantage from having ceased to be one; whether the name itself of being +a Christian should be punished, or only crime attendant upon the name? +In the meantime I have laid down this rule in dealing with those who +were brought before me for being Christians. I asked whether they were +Christians; if they confessed, I asked them a second and a third time, +threatening them with punishment; if they persevered, I ordered them to +be led off. For I had no doubt in my mind that, whatever it might be +which they acknowledged, obduracy and inflexible obstinacy, at all +events should be punished. There were others guilty of like folly, whom +I set aside to be sent to Rome, because they were Roman citizens. In the +next place, when this crime began, as usual, gradually to spread, it +showed itself in a variety of ways. An indictment was set forth without +any author, containing the names of many who denied that they were +Christians or ever had been; and, when I set the example, they called on +the gods, and made offerings of frankincense and wine to your image, +which I, for this purpose, had ordered to be brought out, together with +the images of the gods. Moreover, they cursed Christ; none of which acts +can be extorted from those who are really Christians. I consequently +gave orders that they should be discharged. Again, others, who have been +informed against, said that they were Christians, and afterwards denied +it; that they had been so once but had ceased to be so, some three years +ago, some longer than that, some even twenty years before; all of these +worshipped your image, and the statues of the gods; they also cursed +Christ. But they asserted that this was the sum total of their crime or +error, whichever it may be called, that they were used to come together +on a stated day before it was light, and to sing in turn, among +themselves, a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and to bind themselves by an +oath--not to anything wicked--but that they would not commit theft, +robbery, or adultery, nor break their word, nor deny that anything had +been entrusted to them when called upon to restore it. After this they +said that it was their custom to separate, and again to meet together to +take their meals, which were in common and of a harmless nature; but +that they had ceased even to do this since the proclamation which I +issued according to your commands, forbidding such meetings to be held. +I therefore deemed it the more necessary to enquire of two servant +maids, who were said to be attendants, what was the real truth, and to +apply the torture. But I found that it was nothing but a bad and +excessive superstition, and I consequently adjourned the inquiry, and +consulted you upon the subject. For it seemed to me to be a matter on +which it was desirable to take advice, in consequence of the number of +those who are in danger. For there are many of every age, of every rank, +and even of both sexes, who are invited to incur the danger, and will +still be invited. For the infection of this superstition has spread +through not only cities, but also villages and the country, though it +seems possible to check and remedy it. At all events it is evident that +the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be +frequented, and the sacred solemnities, which had been intermitted, are +revived, and victims are sold everywhere, though formerly it was +difficult to find a buyer. It is, therefore, easy to believe that a +number of persons may be corrected, if the door of repentance be left +open" (Ep. 97). + +It is urged by Christian advocates that this letter at least shows how +widely Christianity had spread at this early date; but we shall later +have occasion to draw attention to the fact that the name "Christian" +was used before the reputed time of Christ to describe some +extensively-spread sects, and that the worshippers of the Egyptian +Serapis were known by that title. It may be added that the authenticity +of this letter is by no means beyond dispute, and that R. Taylor urges +some very strong arguments against it. Among others, he suggests: "The +undeniable fact that the first Christians were the greatest liars and +forgers that had ever been in the whole world, and that they actually +stopped at nothing.... The flagrant atopism of Christians being found in +the remote province of Bithynia, before they had acquired any notoriety +in Rome.... The inconsistency of the supposition that so just and moral +a people as the primitive Christians are assumed to have been, should +have been the first to provoke the Roman Government to depart from its +universal maxims of toleration, liberality, and indifference.... The use +of the torture to extort confession.... The choice of women to be the +subjects of this torture, when the ill-usage of women was, in like +manner, abhorrent to the Roman character" ("Diegesis," pp. 383, 384). + +Paley boldly states that Martial (born A.D. 43, died about A.D. 100) +makes the Christians "the subject of his ridicule," because he wrote an +epigram on the stupidity of admiring any vain-glorious fool who would +rush to be tormented for the sake of notoriety. Hard-set must Christians +be for evidence, when reduced to rely on such pretended allusions. + +Epictetus (flourished first half of second century) is claimed as +another witness, because he states that "It is possible a man may arrive +at this temper, and become indifferent to these things from madness, or +from habit, as the Galileans" (Book iv., chapter 7). The Galileans, +i.e., the people of Galilee, appear to have had a bad name, and it is +highly probable that Epictetus simply referred to them, just as he might +have said as an equivalent phrase for stupidity, "like the Boeotians." +In addition to this, the followers of Judas the Gaulonite were known as +Galileans, and were remarkable for the "inflexible constancy which, in +defence of their cause, rendered them insensible of death and tortures" +("Decline and Fall," vol. ii., p. 214). + +Marcus Aurelius (born A.D. 121, died A.D. 180) is Paley's last support, +as he urges that fortitude in the face of death should arise from +judgment, "and not from obstinacy, like the Christians." As no one +disputes the existence of a sect called Christians when Marcus Aurelius +wrote, this testimony is not specially valuable. + +Paley, so keen to swoop down on any hint that can be twisted into an +allusion to the Christians, entirely omits the interesting letter +written by the Emperor Adrian to his brother-in-law Servianus, A.D. 134. +The evidence is not of an edifying character, and this accounts for the +omission: "The worshippers of Serapis are Christians, and those are +consecrated to the god Serapis, who, I find, call themselves the bishops +of Christ" (Quoted in "Diegesis," p. 386). + +Such are the whole external evidences of Christianity until after A.D. +160. In a time rich in historians and philosophers one man, Tacitus, in +a disputed passage, mentions a Christus punished under Pontius Pilate, +and the existence of a sect bearing his name. Suetonius, Pliny, Adrian, +possibly Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, casually mention some people +called Christians. + +The Rev. Dr. Giles thus summarises the proofs of the weakness of early +Christian evidences in "profane history:"-- + +"Though the remains of Grecian and Latin profane literature which belong +to the first and second centuries of our era are enough to form a +library of themselves, they contain no allusion to the New Testament.... +The Latin writers, who lived between the time of Christ's crucifixion +and the year A.D. 200, are Seneca, Lucan, Suetonius, Tacitus, Persius, +Juvenal, Martial, Pliny the Elder, Silius Italicus, Statius, Quintilian, +and Pliny the Younger, besides numerous others of inferior note. The +greater number of these make mention of the Jews, but not of the +Christians. In fact, Suetonius, Tacitus, and the younger Pliny, are the +only Roman writers who mention the Christian religion or its founder" +("Christian Records," by Rev. Dr. Giles, P. 36). + +"The Greek classic writers, who lived between the time of Christ's +crucifixion and the year 200, are those which follow: Epictetus, +Plutarch, AElian, Arrian, Galen, Lucian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, +Ptolemy, Marcus Aurelius (who, though a Roman emperor, wrote in Greek), +Pausanias, and many others of less note. The allusions to Christianity +found in their works are singularly brief" (Ibid, p. 42). + +What does it all, this "evidence," amount to? One writer, Tacitus, +records that a man, called by his followers "Christ"--for no one +pretends that Christ is anything more than a title given by his +disciples to a certain Jew named Jesus--was put to death by Pontius +Pilate. And suppose he were, what then? How is this a proof of the +religion called Christianity? Tacitus knows nothing of the +miracle-worker, of the risen and ascended man; he is strangely ignorant +of all the wonders that had occurred; and, allowing the passage to be +genuine, it tells sorely against the marvellous history given by the +Christians of their leader, whose fame is supposed to have spread far +and wide, and whose fame most certainly must so have spread had he +really performed all the wonderful works attributed to him. But no +necessity lies upon the Freethinker, when he rejects Christianity, to +disprove the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth, although we +point to the inadequacy of the evidence even of his existence. The +strength of the Freethought position is in no-wise injured by the +admission that a young Jew named Joshua (i.e. Jesus) may have wandered +up and down Galilee and Judaea in the reign of Tiberius, that he may have +been a religious reformer, that he may have been put to death by Pontius +Pilate for sedition. All this is perfectly likely, and to allow it in no +way endorses the mass of legend and myth encrusted round this tiny +nucleus of possible fact. This obscure peasant is not the Christian +Jesus, who is--as we shall later urge--only a new presentation of the +ancient Sun-God, with unmistakeable family likeness to his elder +brothers. The Reverend Robert Taylor very rightly remarks, concerning +this small historical possibility: "These are circumstances which fall +entirely within the scale of rational possibility, and draw for no more +than an ordinary and indifferent testimony of history, to command the +mind's assent. The mere relation of any historian, living near enough to +the time supposed to guarantee the probability of his competent +information on the subject, would have been entitled to our +acquiescence. We could have no reason to deny or to doubt what such an +historian could have had no motive to feign or to exaggerate. The proof, +even to demonstration, of these circumstances would constitute no step +or advance towards the proof of the truth of the Christian religion; +while the absence of a sufficient degree of evidence to render even +these circumstances unquestionable must, _a fortiori_, be fatal to the +credibility of the less credible circumstances founded upon them" +("Diegesis," p. 7). + +But Paley pleads some indirect evidence on behalf of Christianity, which +deserves a word of notice since the direct evidence so lamentably breaks +down. He urges that: "there is satisfactory evidence that many, +professing to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed +their lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily under-gone, +in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in +consequence of their belief of those accounts; and that they also +submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of conduct." Nearly 200 +pages are devoted to the proof of this proposition, a proposition which +it is difficult to characterise with becoming courtesy, when we know the +complete and utter absence of any "satisfactory evidence" that the +original witnesses did anything of the kind. + +It is pleaded that the "original witnesses passed their lives in +labours, etc., in attestation of the accounts they delivered." The +evidence of this may be looked for either in Pagan or in Christian +writings. Pagan writers know literally nothing about the "original +witnesses," mentioning, at the utmost, but "the Christians;" and these +Christians, when put to death, were not so executed in attestation of +any accounts delivered by them, but wholly and solely because of the +evil deeds and the scandalous practices rightly or wrongly attributed to +them. Supposing--what is not true--that they had been executed for their +creed, there is no pretence that they were eye-witnesses of the miracles +of Christ. + +Paley's first argument is drawn "from the nature of the case"--i.e., +that persecution ought to have taken place, whether it did or not, +because both Jews and Gentiles would reject the new creed. So far as the +Jews are concerned, we hear of no persecution from Josephus. If we +interrogate the Christian Acts, we hear but of little, two persons only +being killed. We learn also that "many thousands of Jews" belonged to +the new sect, and were propitiated by Christian conformity to the law; +and that, when the Jews rose against Paul--not as a Christian, but as a +breaker of the Mosaic law--he was promptly delivered by the Romans, who +would have set him at liberty had he not elected to be tried at Rome. If +we turn to the conduct of the Pagans, we meet the same blank absence of +evidence of persecution, until we come to the disputed passage in +Tacitus, wherein none of the eye-witnesses are said to have been +concerned; and we have, on the other side, the undisputed fact that, +under the imperial rule of Rome, every subject nation practised its own +creed undisturbed, so long as it did not incite to civil disturbances. +"The religious tenets of the Galileans, or Christians, were never made a +subject of punishment, or even of inquiry" ("Decline and Fall," vol. +ii., p. 215). + +This view of the matter is thoroughly corroborated by Lardner: "The +disciples of Jesus Christ were under the protection of the Roman law, +since the God they worshipped and whose worship they recommended, was +the God of the heavens and the earth, the same God whom the Jews +worshipped, and the worship of whom was allowed of all over the Roman +Empire, and established by special edicts and decrees in most, perhaps +in all the places, in which we meet with St. Paul in his travels" +("Credibility," vol. i., pt. I, pp. 406, 407. Ed. 1727). He also quotes +"a remarkable piece of justice done the Jews at Doris, in Syria, by +Petronius, President of that province. The fact is this: Some rash young +fellows of the place got in and set up a statue of the Emperor in the +Jews' synagogue. Agrippa the Great made complaints to Petronius +concerning this injury. Whereupon Petronius issued a very sharp precept +to the magistrates of Doris. He terms this action an offence, not +against the Jews only, but also against the Emperor; says, it is +agreeable to the law of nature that every man should be master of his +own places, according to the decree of the Emperor. I have, says he, +given directions that they who have dared to do these things contrary to +the edict of Augustus, be delivered to the centurion Vitellius Proculus, +that they may be brought to me, and answer for their behaviour. And I +require the chief men in the magistracy to discover the guilty to the +centurion, unless they are willing to have it thought, that this +injustice has been done with their consent; and that they see to it, +that no sedition or tumult happen upon this occasion, which, I perceive, +is what some are aiming at.... I do also require, that for the future, +you seek no pretence for sedition or disturbance, but that all men +worship [God] according to their own customs" (Ibid, pp. 382, 383). +After giving some other facts, Lardner sums up: "These are authentic +testimonies in behalf of the equity of the Roman Government in general, +and of the impartial administration of justice by the Roman +presidents--toward all the people of their provinces, how much soever +they differed from each other in matters of religion" (Ibid, p. 401). + +The evidence of persecution which consists in quotations from the +Christian books ("Evidences," pages 33-52) cannot be admitted without +evidence of the authenticity of the books quoted. The Acts and the +Pauline epistles so grossly contradict each other that, having nothing +outside themselves with which to compare them, they are mutually +destructive. "The epistle to the Romans presents special difficulties to +its acceptance as a genuine address to the Church of Rome in the era +ascribed to it. The faith of this Church, at this early period, is said +to be 'spoken of throughout the whole world'; and yet when Paul, +according to the Acts, at a later time visited Rome, so little had this +alleged Church influenced the neighbourhood, that the inquiring Jews of +Rome are shown to be totally ignorant of what constituted Christianity, +and to have looked to Paul to enlighten them" ("Portraiture and Mission +of Jesus," p. 15). 2 Cor. is of very doubtful authenticity. The passage +in James shows no fiery persecution. Hebrews is of later date. 2 Thess. +again very doubtful. The "suffering" spoken of by Peter appears, from +the context, to refer chiefly to reproaches, and a problematical "if any +man suffer as a Christian." Had those he wrote to been then suffering, +surely the apostle would have said: "_When_ any man suffers ... let him +not be ashamed." The whole question of the authenticity of the canonical +books will be challenged later, and the weakness of this division of +Paley's evidences will then be more fully apparent. Meanwhile we subjoin +Lardner's view of these passages. He has been arguing that the Romans +"protected the many rites of all their provinces;" and he proceeds: +"There is, however, one difficulty which, I am aware, may be started by +some persons. If the Roman Government, to which all the world was then +subject, was so mild and gentle, and protected all men in the profession +of their several religious tenets, and the practice of all their +peculiar rites, whence comes it to pass that there are in the Epistles +so many exhortations to the Christians to patience and constancy, and so +many arguments of consolation suggested to them, as a suffering body of +men? [Here follow some passages as in Paley.] To this I answer: 1. That +the account St. Luke has given in the Acts of the Apostles of the +behaviour of the Roman officers out of Judaea, and in it, is confirmed +not only by the account I have given of the genius and nature of the +Roman Government, but also by the testimony of the most ancient +Christian writers. The Romans did afterwards depart from these moderate +maxims; but it is certain that they were governed by them as long as the +history of the Acts of the Apostles reaches. Tertullian and divers +others do affirm that Nero was the first Emperor that persecuted the +Christians; nor did he begin to disturb them till after Paul had left +Rome the first time he was there (when he was sent thither by Festus), +and, therefore, not until he was become an enemy to all mankind. And I +think that, according to the account which Tacitus has given of Nero's +inhumane treatment of the Christians at Rome, in the tenth year of his +reign, what he did then was not owing to their having different +principles in religion from the Romans, but proceeded from a desire he +had to throw off from himself the odium of a vile action--namely, +setting fire to the city--which he was generally charged with. And +Sulpicius Severus, a Christian historian of the fourth century, says the +same thing" ("Credibility of the Gospel History," vol. i., pages +416-420). Lardner, however, allows that the Jews persecuted the +Christians where they could although they were unable to slay them. They +probably persecuted them much in the same fashion that the Christians +have persecuted Freethinkers during the present century. + +But Paley adduces further the evidence of Clement, Hermas, Polycarp, +Ignatius, and a circular letter of the Church of Smyrna, to prove the +sufferings of the eye-witnesses ("Evidences," pages 52-55). When we pass +into writings of this description in later times, there is, indeed, +plenty of evidence--in fact, a good deal too much, for they testify to +such marvellous occurrences, that no trust is possible in anything which +they say. Not only was St. Paul's head cut off, but the worthy Bishop of +Rome, Linus, his contemporary (who is supposed to relate his martyrdom), +tells us how, "instead of blood, nought but a stream of pure milk flowed +from his veins;" and we are further instructed that his severed head +took three jumps in "honour of the Trinity, and at each spot on which it +jumped there instantly struck up a spring of living water, which retains +at this day a plain and distinct taste of milk" ("Diegesis," pp. 256, +257). Against a mass of absurd stories of this kind, the _only evidence_ +of the persecution of Paley's eye-witnesses, we may set the remarks of +Gibbon: "In the time of Tertullian and Clemens of Alexandria the glory +of martyrdom was confined to St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. James. It was +gradually bestowed on the rest of the Apostles by the more recent +Greeks, who prudently selected for the theatre of their preaching and +sufferings some remote country beyond the limits of the Roman Empire" +("Decline and Fall," vol. ii., p. 208, note). Later there was, indeed, +more persecution; but even then the martyrdoms afford no evidence of the +truth of Christianity. Martyrdom proves the sincerity, _but not the +truth_, of the sufferer's belief; every creed has had its martyrs, and +as the truth of one creed excludes the truth of every other, it follows +that the vast majority have died for a delusion, and that, therefore, +the number of martyrs it can reckon is no criterion of the truth of a +creed, but only of the devotion it inspires. While we allow that the +Christians underwent much persecution, there can be no doubt that the +number of the sufferers has been grossly exaggerated. One can scarcely +help suspecting that, as real martyrs were not forthcoming in as vast +numbers as their supposed bones, martyrs were invented to fit the +wealth-producing relics, as the relics did not fit the historical +martyrs. "The total disregard of truth and probability in the +representations of these primitive martyrdoms was occasioned by a very +natural mistake. The ecclesiastical writers of the fourth and fifth +centuries ascribed to the magistrates of Rome the same degree of +implacable and unrelenting zeal which filled their own breasts against +the heretics, or the idolaters of their own time.... But it is certain, +and we may appeal to the grateful confessions of the first Christians, +that the greatest part of those magistrates, who exercised in the +provinces the authority of the Emperor, or of the Senate, and to whose +hands alone the jurisdiction of life and death was entrusted, behaved +like men of polished manners and liberal education, who respected the +rules of justice, and who were conversant with the precepts of +philosophy. They frequently declined the odious task of persecution, +dismissed the charge with contempt, or suggested to the accused +Christian some legal evasion by which he might elude the severity of the +laws. (Tertullian, in his epistle to the Governor of Africa, mentions +several remarkable instances of lenity and forbearance which had +happened within his own knowledge.)... The learned Origen, who, from his +experience, as well as reading, was intimately acquainted with the +history of the Christians, declares, in the most express terms, that the +number of martyrs was very inconsiderable.... The general assertion of +Origen may be explained and confirmed by the particular testimony of his +friend Dionysius, who, in the immense city of Alexandria, and under the +rigorous persecution of Decius, reckons only ten men and seven women who +suffered for the profession of the Christian name" ("Decline and Fall," +vol. ii., pp. 224-226. See throughout chap. xvi.). Gibbon calculates the +whole number of martyrs of the Early Church at "somewhat less than two +thousand persons;" and remarks caustically that the "Christians, in the +course of their intestine dissensions, have inflicted far greater +severities on each other than they had experienced from the zeal of +infidels" (pp. 273, 274). Supposing, however, that the most exaggerated +accounts of Church historians were correct, how would that support +Paley's argument? His contention is that the "eye-witnesses" of +miraculous events died in testimony of their belief in them; and myriads +of martyrs in the second and third centuries are of no assistance to +him. So we will retrace our steps to the eye-witnesses, and we find the +position of Gibbon--as to the lives and labours of the Apostles being +written later by men not confining themselves to facts--endorsed by +Mosheim, who judiciously observes: "Many have undertaken to write this +history of the Apostles, a history which we find loaded with fables, +doubts, and difficulties, when we pursue it further than the books of +the New Testament, and the most ancient writers in the Christian Church" +("Eccles. Hist.," p. 27, ed. 1847). What "ancient writers" Mosheim +alludes to it is difficult to guess, as may be judged from his +criticisms quoted below, on the "Apostolic Fathers," the most ancient of +all; and in estimating the worth of his opinion, it is necessary to +remember that he was himself an earnest Christian, although a learned +and candid one, so that every admission he makes, which tells against +Christianity, is of double weight, it being the admission of a friend +and defender. + +To the credit of Paley's apostolic evidences (Clement, Hermas, Polycarp, +Ignatius, and letter from Smyrna), we may urge the following objections. +Clement's writings are much disputed: "The accounts which remain of his +life, actions, and death are, for the most part, uncertain. Two +_Epistles to the Corinthians_, written in Greek, have been attributed to +him, of which the second has been looked upon as spurious, and the first +as genuine, by many learned writers. But even this latter seems to have +been corrupted and interpolated by some ignorant and presumptuous +author.... The learned are now unanimous in regarding the other writings +which bear the name of Clemens (Clement) ... as spurious productions +ascribed by some impostor to this venerable prelate, in order to procure +them a high degree of authority" (Ibid, pp. 31, 32). + +"The first epistle, bearing the name of Clement, has been preserved to +us in a single manuscript only. Though very frequently referred to by +ancient Christian writers, it remained unknown to the scholars of +Western Europe until happily discovered in the Alexandrian +manuscript.... Who the Clement was, to whom these writings are ascribed, +cannot with absolute certainty be determined. The general opinion is, +that he is the same as the person of that name referred to by St. Paul +(Phil. iv. 3). The writings themselves contain no statement as to their +author.... Although, as has been said, positive certainty cannot be +reached on the subject, we may with great probability conclude that we +have in this epistle a composition of that Clement who is known to us +from Scripture as having been an associate of the great apostle. The +date of this epistle has been the subject of considerable controversy. +It is clear from the writing itself that it was composed soon after some +persecution (chapter I) which the Roman Church had endured; and the only +question is, whether we are to fix upon the persecution under Nero or +Domitian. If the former, the date will be about the year 68; if the +latter, we must place it towards the close of the first century, or the +beginning of the second. We possess no external aid to the settlement of +this question. The lists of early Roman bishops are in hopeless +confusion, some making Clement the immediate successor of St. Peter, +others placing Linus, and others still Linus and Anacletus, between him +and the apostle. The internal evidence, again, leaves the matter +doubtful, though it has been strongly pressed on both sides. The +probability seems, on the whole, to be in favour of the Domitian period, +so that the epistle may be dated about A.D. 97" ("The Writings of the +Apostolic Fathers." Translated by Rev. Dr. Roberts, Dr. Donaldson, and +Rev. F. Crombie, pp. 3, 4. Ed. 1867). "Only a single-manuscript copy of +the work is extant, at the end of the Alexandrian manuscript of the +Scriptures. This copy is considerably mutilated. In some passages the +text is manifestly corrupt, and other passages have been suspected of +being interpolations" (Norton's "Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i, p. +336. Ed. 1847). + +The second epistle is rejected on all sides. "It is now generally +regarded as one of the many writings which have been falsely ascribed to +Clement.... The diversity of style clearly points to a different writer +from that of the first epistle" ("Apostolic Fathers," page 53). "The +second epistle ... is not mentioned at all by the earlier Fathers who +refer to the first. Eusebius, who is the first writer who mentions it, +expresses doubt regarding it, while Jerome and Photius state that it was +rejected by the ancients. It is now universally regarded as spurious" +("Supernatural Religion," pp. 220, 221). "There is a second epistle +ascribed to Clement, but we know not that this is as highly approved as +the former, and know not that it has been in use with the ancients. +There are also other writings reported to be his, verbose and of great +length. Lately, and some time ago, those were produced that contain the +dialogues of Peter and Apion, of which, however, not a syllable is +recorded by the primitive Church" (Eusebius' "Eccles. Hist." bk. iii., +chap. 38). "The first Greek Epistle alone can be confidently pronounced +genuine" (Westcott on the "Canon of the New Testament," p. 24. Ed. 1875). +The first epistle "is the only piece of Clement that can be relied on as +genuine" ("Lardner's Credibility," pt. ii., vol. i., p. 62. Ed. 1734). +"Besides the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians there is a fragment +of a piece, called his second epistle, which being doubtful, or rather +plainly not Clement's, I don't quote as his." (Ibid, p. 106.) + +This very dubious Clement (Paley quotes, be it said, from the first--or +least doubtful--of his writings) only says that _one_ of Paley's +original witnesses was martyred, namely Peter; Paul, of course, was not +an eye-witness of Christ's proceedings. + +The _Vision of Hermas_ is a simple rhapsody, unworthy of a moment's +consideration, of which Mosheim justly remarks: "The discourse which he +puts into the mouths of those celestial beings is more insipid and +senseless than what we commonly hear among the meanest of the multitude" +("Eccles. Hist," p. 32). Its date is very doubtful; the Canon of +Muratori puts it in the middle of the second century, saying that it was +written by Hermas, brother to Pius, Bishop of Rome, who died A.D. 142. +(See "Norton's Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., pp. 341, 342.) "The +_Epistle to the Philippians_, which is ascribed to Polycarp, Bishop of +Smyrna, who, in the middle of the second century, suffered martyrdom in +a venerable and advanced age, is looked upon by some as genuine; by +others as spurious; and it is no easy matter to determine this question" +("Eccles. Hist," p. 32). "Upon no internal ground can any part of this +Epistle be pronounced genuine; there are potent reasons for considering +it spurious, and there is no evidence of any value whatever supporting +its authenticity" ("Sup. Rel.," p. 283). + +The editors of the "Apostolic Fathers" dispute this assertion, and say: +"It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is also +supported by the internal evidence" (p. 67). But they add: "The epistle +before us is not perfect in any of the Greek MSS. which contain it. But +the chapters wanting in Greek are contained in an ancient Latin version. +While there is no ground for supposing, as some have done, that the +whole epistle is spurious, there seems considerable force in the +arguments by which many others have sought to prove chap. xiii. to be an +interpolation. The date of the epistle cannot be satisfactorily +determined. It depends on the conclusion we reach as to some points, +very difficult and obscure, connected with that account of the martyrdom +of Polycarp which has come down to us. We shall not, however, be far +wrong if we fix it about the middle of the second century" (Ibid, pp. +67, 68). Poor Paley! this weak evidence to the martyrdom of his +eye-witnesses comes 150 years after Christ; and even then all that +Polycarp may have said, if the epistle chance to be authentic, is that +"they suffered," without any word of their martyrdom! + +The authenticity of the letters of Ignatius has long been a matter of +dispute. Mosheim, who accepts the seven epistles, says that, "Though I +am willing to adopt this opinion as preferable to any other, yet I +cannot help looking upon the authenticity of the epistle to Polycarp as +extremely dubious, on account of the difference of style; and, indeed, +the whole question relating to the epistles of St. Ignatius in general +seems to me to labour under much obscurity, and to be embarrassed with +many difficulties" ("Eccles. Hist.," p. 22). + +"There are in all fifteen epistles which bear the name of Ignatius. +These are the following: One to the Virgin Mary, two to the Apostle +John, one to Mary of Cassobelae, one to the Tarsians, one to the +Antiochians, one to Hero (a deacon of Antioch), one to the Philippians, +one to the Ephesians, one to the Magnesians, one to the Trallians, one +to the Romans, one to the Philadelphians, one to the Smyrnians, and one +to Polycarp. The first three exist only in Latin; all the rest are +extant also in Greek. It is now the universal opinions of critics that +the first eight of these professedly Ignatian letters are spurious. They +bear in themselves indubitable proofs of being the production of a later +age than that in which Ignatius lived. Neither Eusebius nor Jerome makes +the least reference to them; and they are now, by common consent, set +aside as forgeries, which were at various dates, and to serve special +purposes, put forth under the name of the celebrated Bishop of Antioch. +But, after the question has been thus simplified, it still remains +sufficiently complex. Of the seven epistles which are acknowledged by +Eusebius" ("Eccles. Hist," bk. iii., chap. 36), we possess two Greek +recensions, a shorter and a longer. "It is plain that one or other of +these exhibits a corrupt text; and scholars have, for the most part, +agreed to accept the shorter form as representing the genuine letters of +Ignatius.... But although the shorter form of the Ignatian letters had +been generally accepted in preference to the longer, there was still a +pretty prevalent opinion among scholars that even it could not be +regarded as absolutely free from interpolations, or as of undoubted +authenticity.... Upon the whole, however, the shorter recension was, +until recently, accepted without much opposition ... as exhibiting the +genuine form of the epistles of Ignatius. But a totally different aspect +was given to the question by the discovery of a Syriac version of three +of these epistles among the MSS. procured from the monastery of St. Mary +Deipara, in the desert of Nitria, in Egypt [between 1838 and 1842].... +On these being deposited in the British Museum, the late Dr. Cureton, +who then had charge of the Syriac department, discovered among them, +first, the epistle to Polycarp, and then again the same epistle, with +those to the Ephesians and to the Romans, in two other volumes of +manuscripts" ("Apostolic Fathers," pp. 139-142). Dr. Cureton gave it as +his opinion that the Syriac letters are "the only true and genuine +letters of the venerable Bishop of Antioch that have either come down to +our times or were ever known in the earliest ages of the Christian +Church" ("Corpus Ignatianum," ed. 1849, as quoted in the "Apostolic +Fathers," p. 142). + +"I have carefully compared the two editions, and am very well satisfied +upon that comparison that the larger are an interpolation of the +smaller, and not the smaller an epitome or abridgment of the larger. I +desire no better evidence in a thing of this nature.... But whether the +smaller themselves are the genuine writings of Ignatius, Bishop of +Antioch, is a question that has been much disputed, and has employed the +pens of the ablest critics. And whatever positiveness some may have +shown on either side, I must own I have found it a very difficult +question" ("Credibility," pt. 2, vol. ii., p. 153). The Syriac version +was then, of course, unknown. Professor Norton, the learned Christian +defender of the Gospels, says: "The seven shorter epistles, the +genuineness of which is contended for, come to us in bad company.... +There is, as it seems to me, no reasonable doubt that the seven shorter +epistles ascribed to Ignatius are equally, with all the rest, +fabrications of a date long subsequent to his time." "I doubt whether +any book, in its general tone of sentiment and language, ever betrayed +itself as a forgery more clearly than do these pretended epistles of +Ignatius" ("Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., pp. 350 and 353, ed. +1847). + +"What, then, is the position of the so-called Ignatian epistles? Towards +the end of the second century Irenaeus makes a very short quotation from +a source unnamed, which Eusebius, in the fourth century, finds in an +epistle attributed to Ignatius. Origen, in the third century, quotes a +few words, which he ascribes to Ignatius, although without definite +reference to any particular epistle; and, in the fourth century, +Eusebius mentions seven epistles ascribed to Ignatius. There is no other +evidence. There are, however, fifteen epistles extant, all of which are +attributed to Ignatius, of all of which, with the exception of three, +which are only known in a Latin version, we possess both Greek and Latin +versions. Of seven of these epistles--and they are those mentioned by +Eusebius--we have two Greek versions, one of which is very much shorter +than the other; and, finally, we now possess a Syriac version of three +epistles, only in a form still shorter than the shorter Greek version, +in which are found all the quotations of the Fathers, without exception, +up to the fourth century. Eight of the fifteen epistles are universally +rejected as spurious (ante, p. 263). The longer Greek version of the +remaining seven epistles is almost unanimously condemned as grossly +interpolated; and the great majority of critics recognise that the +shorter Greek version is also much interpolated; whilst the Syriac +version, which, so far as MSS. are concerned, is by far the most ancient +text of any letters which we possess, reduces their number to three, and +their contents to a very small compass indeed. It is not surprising that +the vast majority of critics have expressed doubt more or less strong +regarding the authenticity of all these epistles, and that so large a +number have repudiated them altogether. One thing is quite +evident--that, amidst such a mass of falsification, interpolation, and +fraud, the Ignatian epistles cannot, in any form, be considered evidence +on any important point.... In fact, the whole of the Ignatian literature +is a mass of falsification and fraud" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., pp. 270, +271, 274). The student may judge from this confusion, of fifteen reduced +to seven long, and seven long reduced to seven short, and seven short +reduced to three, and those three very doubtful, how thoroughly reliable +must be Paley's arguments drawn from this "contemporary of Polycarp." +Our editors of the "Fathers" very frankly remark: "As to the personal +history of Ignatius, almost nothing is known" ("Apostolic Fathers," p. +143). Why, acknowledging this, they call him "celebrated," it is hard to +say. Truly, the ways of Christian commentators are dark! + +Paley's quotation is taken from the epistle to the Smyrnaeans (not one +of the Syriac, be it noted), and is from the shorter Greek recension. It +occurs in chap. iii., and only says that Peter, and those who were with +him, saw Jesus after the resurrection, and believed: "for this cause +also they despised death, and were found its conquerors." Men who +believed in a resurrection might naturally despise death; but it is hard +to see how this quotation--even were it authentic--shows that the +apostles suffered for their belief. What strikes one as most +remarkable--if Paley's contention of the sufferings of the witnesses be +true, and these writings authentic--is that so very little mention is +made of the apostles, of their labours, toils, and sufferings, and that +these epistles are simply a kind of patchwork, chiefly of Old Testament +materials, mixed up with exhortations about Christ. + +The circular epistle of the Church of Smyrna is a curious document. +Paley quotes a terrible account of the tortures inflicted, and one would +imagine on reading it that many must have been put to death. We are +surprised to learn, from the epistle itself, that Polycarp was only the +twelfth martyr between the two towns of Smyrna and Philadelphia! The +amount of dependence to be placed on the narrative may be judged by the +following:--"As the flame blazed forth in great fury, we, to whom it was +given to witness it, beheld a great miracle, and have been preserved +that we might report to others what then took place. For the fire, +shaping itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when +filled with the wind, encompassed as by a circle the body of the martyr. +And he appeared within, not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that +is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Moreover, we +perceived such a sweet odour, as if frankincense or some such precious +spices had been burning there. At length, when those men perceived that +his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an +executioner to go near, and pierce him with a dagger. And on his doing +this, there came forth a dove, and a great quantity of blood, so that +the fire was extinguished" ("Apostolic Fathers," p. 92). What reliance +can be placed on historians(?) who gravely relate that fire does not +burn, and that when a man is pierced with a dagger a dove flies out, +together with sufficient blood to quench a flaming pile? To make this +precious epistle still more valuable, one of its transcribers adds to +it:--"I again, Pionius, wrote them (these things) from the previously +written copy, having carefully searched into them, and the blessed +Polycarp having manifested them to me through a revelation[!] even as I +shall show in what follows. I have collected these things, when they had +almost faded away through the lapse of time" (Ibid, p. 96). If this is +history, then any absurd dream may be taken as the basis of belief. We +may add that this epistle does not mention the martyrdoms of the +eye-witnesses, and it is hard to know why Paley drags it in, unless he +wants to make us believe that his eye-witnesses suffered all the +tortures he quotes; but even Paley cannot pretend that there is a +scintilla of proof of their undergoing any such trials. Thus falls the +whole argument based on the "twelve men, whose probity and good sense I +had long known," dying for the persistent assertion of "a miracle +wrought before their eyes," who are used as a parallel of the apostles, +as an argument against Hume. For we have not yet proved that there were +any eye-witnesses, or that they made any assertions, and we have +entirely failed to prove that the eye-witnesses were martyred at all, or +that the death of any one of them, save that of Peter, is even mentioned +in the alleged documents, so that the "satisfactory evidences" of the +"original witnesses of the Christian miracles" suffering and dying in +attestation of those miracles amount to this, that in a disputed +document Peter is said to have been martyred, and in another, still more +doubtful, "the rest of the apostles" are said to have "suffered." Thus +the first proposition of Paley falls entirely to the ground. The honest +truth is that the history of the twelve apostles is utterly unknown, and +that around their names gathers a mass of incredible and nonsensical +myth and legend, similar in kind to other mythological fables, and +entirely unworthy of credence by reasonable people. + +Nor is proof less lacking of submission "from the same motives, to new +rules of conduct." Nowhere is there a sign that Christian morality was +enforced by appeal to the miracles of Christ; miracles were, in those +days, too common an incident to attract much attention, and, indeed, if +they could not win belief in the mission from those Jews before whom +they were said to have been performed, what chance would they have had +when the story of their working was only repeated by hearsay? Again, the +rules of conduct were not "new;" the best parts of the Christian +morality had been taught long before Christ (as we shall prove later on +by quotations), and were familiar to the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, +from the writings of their own philosophers. There would have been +nothing remarkable in a new sect growing up among these peoples, +accustomed as they were to the schools of the philosophers, with their +various groups of disciples distinguished by special names. Why is there +anything more wonderful in these Christian societies with a high moral +code, than in the severe and stately morality inculcated and practised +by the Stoics? For the submission of conduct to the "new rules," the +less said the better. 1 Corinthians does not give us a very lofty idea +of the morality current among the Christians there, and the angry +reproaches of Jude imply much depravity; the messages to the seven +Churches are generally reproving, not to dwell on many scattered +passages of the same character. Outsiders, moreover, speak very harshly +of the Christian societies. Tacitus--whose testimony must be allowed +some weight, if he be quoted as a proof of the existence of the +sect--says that they were held in abhorrence for their crimes, and were +condemned for their "enmity to mankind" (the expression of Tacitus may +either mean _haters of_ mankind, or _hated by_ mankind), expressions +which show that the adherents of the higher and purer morality were, at +least, singularly unfortunate in the impressions of it which they +conveyed to their neighbours by their lives; and we find, further, the +most scandalous crimes imputed to the Christians, necessitating the +enforcement against them of edicts passed to put down the shameful +Bacchanalian mysteries. And here, indeed, is the true cause of the +persecution to which they were subjected under the just and merciful +Roman sway, and this is a point that should not be lost sight of by the +student. + +About 186 B.C., according to Livy (lib. xxxix. c. 8-19), the Roman +Government, discovering that certain "Bacchanalian mysteries" were +habitually celebrated in Rome, issued stern edicts against the +participants in them, and succeeding in, at least partially, suppressing +them. The reason given by the Consul Postumius for these edicts was +political, not religious. "Could they think," he asked, "that youths, +initiated under such oaths as theirs, were fit to be made soldiers? That +wretches brought out of the temple of obscenity could be trusted with +arms? That those contaminated with the foul debaucheries of these +meetings should be the champions for the chastity of the wives and +children of the Roman people?" "Let us now closely examine how far the +Eleusinian and Bacchanalian feasts resembled the Christian +Agapae--whether the latter, modified and altered a little according to +the change which would take place in the taste of the age, originated +from the former, or were altogether from a different source. We have +seen that the forementioned Pagan feasts were, throughout Italy, in a +very flourishing state about 186 years before the Christian era. We have +also seen that about this time they were, at least, partially suppressed +in Italy, and those who were wont to take part in them dispersed over +the world. Being zealously devoted to the religion of which these feasts +were part, it is very natural to suppose that, wherever the votaries of +this superstition settled, they soon established these feasts, which +they were enabled to carry on secretly, and, therefore, for a +considerable time, undetected.... Both Pagans and Christians, in ancient +times, were particularly careful not to disclose their _mysteries_; to +do so, in violation of their oaths, would cost their lives" ("The +Prophet of Nazareth," by E.P. Meredith, notes, pp. 225, 226). Mr. +Meredith then points out how in Rome, in Lyons, in Vienne, "the +Christians were actually accused of murdering children and others--of +committing adultery, incest, and other flagrant crimes in their secret +lovefeasts. The question, therefore, arises--were they really guilty of +the barbarous crimes with which they were so often formally charged, and +for the commission of which they were almost as often legally condemned, +and punished with death? Is it probable that persons _at Rome_, who had +once belonged to these lovefeasts, should tell a deliberate falsehood +that the Christians perpetrated these abominable vices, and that other +persons _in France_, who had also been connected with these feasts, +should falsely state that the Christians were guilty of the very same +execrable crimes? There was no collusion or connection whatever between +these parties, and in making their statements, they could have no +self-interested motive. They lived in different countries, they did not +make their statements within twenty years of the same time, and by +making such statements they rendered themselves liable to be punished +with death.... The same remark applies to the disclosures made, about +150 years after, by certain females in Damascus, far remote from either +Lyons or Rome. These make precisely the same statement--that they had +once been Christians, that they were privy to criminal acts among them, +and that these Christians, in their very churches, committed licentious +deeds. The Romans would never have so relentlessly persecuted the +Christians had they not been guilty of some such atrocities as were laid +to their charge. There are on record abundant proofs that the Romans, +from the earliest account we have of them, tolerated all harmless +religions--all such as were not directly calculated to endanger the +public peace, or vitiate public morals, or render life and property +unsafe.... So well known were those horrid vices to be carried on by all +Christians in their nocturnal and secret assemblies, and so certain it +was thought that every one who was a Christian participated in them, +that for a person to be known to be a Christian was thought a strong +presumptive proof that he was guilty of these offences. Hence, persons +in their preliminary examinations, who, on being interrogated, answered +that they were Christians, were thought proper subjects for committal to +prison.... Pliny further indicates that while some brought before him, +on information, refused to tell him anything as to the nature of their +nocturnal meetings, others replied to his questions as far as their oath +permitted them. They told him that it was their practice, as Christians, +to meet on a stated day, before daylight, to sing hymns; and to bind +themselves by a solemn oath that they would do no wrong; that they would +not steal, nor rob, nor commit any act of unchastity; that they would +never violate a trust; and that they joined together in a common and +innocent repast. While all these answers to the questions of the +Proconsul are suggestive of the crimes with which the Christians were +charged, still they are a denial of every one of them.... The whole +tenor of historical facts is, however, against their testimony, and the +Proconsul did not believe them; but, in order to get at the entire +truth, put some of them to the torture, and ultimately adjourned their +trial [see ante, pp. 203-205]. The manner in which Greek and Latin +writers mention the Christians goes far to show that they were guilty of +the atrocious crimes laid to their charge. Suetonius (in Nero) calls +them, 'A race of men of new and villainous superstition' [see ante, p. +201]. The Emperor Adrian, in a letter to his brother-in-law, Servianus, +in the year 134, as given by Vospicius, says: 'There is no presbyter of +the Christians who is not either an astrologer, a soothsayer, or a +minister of obscene pleasures.' Tacitus tells us that Nero inflicted +exquisite punishment upon those people who, under the vulgar appellation +of Christians, were held in abhorrence for their crimes. He also, in the +same place, says they were 'odious to mankind;' and calls their religion +a 'pernicious superstition' [see ante, p. 99]. Maximus, likewise, in his +letter, calls them 'votaries of execrable vanity,' who had 'filled the +world with infamy.' It would appear, however, that owing to the extreme +measures taken against them by the Romans, both in Italy and in all the +provinces, the Christians, by degrees, were forced to abandon entirely +in their Agapae infant murders, together with every species of +obscenity, retaining, nevertheless, some relics of them, such as the +_kiss of charity_, and the bread and wine, which they contended was +transubstantiated into real flesh and blood.... A very common way of +repelling these charges was for one sect of Christians, which, of +course, denounced all other sects as heretics, to urge that human +sacrifices and incestuous festivals were not celebrated by that sect, +but that they _were_ practised by other sects; such, for example, as the +Marcionites and the Capocratians. (Justin Mart., 'Apology,' i., 35; +Iren., adv. Haer. i., 24; Clem. Alex., i., 3.) When Tertullian joined +the Montanists, another sect of Christians, he divulged the criminal +secrets of the Church which he had so zealously defended, by saying, in +his 'Treatise on Fasting,' c. 17, that 'in the Agapae the young men lay +with their sisters, and wallowed in wantonness and luxury'.... Remnants +of these execrable customs remained for a long time, and vestiges of +them exist to this very day, as well in certain words and phrases as in +practice. The communion table to this very day is called _the altar_, +the name of that upon which the ancients sacrificed their victims. The +word _sacrament_ has a meaning, as used by Pliny already cited, which +carries us back to the solemn oath of the Agapaeists. The word _mass_ +carries us back still further, and identifies the present mass with that +of the Pagans.... Formerly the consecrated bread was called _host_, +which word signifies a _victim_ offered _as sacrifice_, anciently +_human_ very often.... Jerome and other Fathers called the communion +bread--_little body_, and the communion table--_mystical table_; the +latter, in allusion to the heathen and early Christian mysteries, and +the former, in reference to the children sacrificed at the Agapae. The +great doctrine of transubstantiation directly points to the abominable +practice of eating human flesh at the Agapae.... Upon the whole, it is +impossible, from the mass of evidence already adduced, to avoid the +conclusion that the early Christians, in their Agapae, were really +guilty of the execrable vices with which they were so often charged, and +for which they were sentenced to death. This once admitted, a reasonable +and adequate cause can be assigned for the severe persecutions of the +Christians by the Roman Government--a Government which applied precisely +the same laws and modes of persecution and punishment to them as to the +votaries of the Bacchanalian and Eleusinian mysteries, well known to +have been accustomed to offer human sacrifices, and indulge in the most +obscene lasciviousness in their secret assemblies; and a Government +which tolerated all kinds of religions, except those which encouraged +practices dangerous to human life, or pernicious to the morals of +subjects. Nor can the facts already advanced fail to show clearly that +the Christian Agapae were of Pagan origin--were identically the same as +those Pagan feasts which existed simultaneously with them" (Ibid, notes, +pp. 227, 231). + +There can be no doubt that the Christians suffered for these crimes +whether or no they were guilty of them: "Three things are alleged +against us: Atheism, Thyestean feasts, OEdipodean intercourse," says +Athenagoras ("Apology," ch. iii). Justin Martyr refers to the same +charges ("2nd Apology," ch. xii). "Monsters of wickedness, we are +accused of observing a holy rite, in which we kill a little child and +then eat it, in which after the feast we practise incest.... Come, +plunge your knife into the babe, enemy of none, accused of none, child +of all; or if that is another's work, simply take your place beside a +human being dying before he has really lived, await the departure of the +lately-given soul, receive the fresh young blood, saturate your bread +with it, freely partake" ("Apology," Tertullian, secs. 7, 8). Tertullian +pleads earnestly that these accusations were false: "if you cannot do +it, you ought not to believe it of others. For a Christian is a man as +well as you" (Ibid). Yet, when Tertullian became a Montanist, he +declared that these very crimes _were_ committed at the Agapae, so that +he spoke falsely either in the one case or in the other. "It was +sometimes faintly insinuated, and sometimes boldly asserted, that the +same bloody sacrifices and the same incestuous festivals, which were so +falsely ascribed to the orthodox believers, were in reality celebrated +by the Marcionites, by the Carpocratians, and by several other sects of +the Gnostics.... Accusations of a similar kind were retorted upon the +Church by the schismatics who had departed from its communion; and it +was confessed on all sides that the most scandalous licentiousness of +manners prevailed among great numbers of those who affected the name of +Christians. A Pagan magistrate, who possessed neither leisure nor +abilities to discern the almost imperceptible line which divides the +orthodox faith from heretical depravity, might easily have imagined that +their mutual animosity had extorted the discovery of their common guilt" +("Decline and Fall," Gibbon, vol. ii., pp. 204, 205). It was fortunate, +the historian concludes, that some of the magistrates reported that they +discovered no such criminality. It is, be it noted, simultaneously with +the promulgation of these charges that the persecution of the Christians +takes place; during the first century very little is heard of such, and +there is very little persecution [see ante, pp. 209-213]. In the +following century the charges are frequent, and so are the persecutions. + +To these strong arguments may be added the acknowledgment in 1. Cor. +xi., 17, 22, of disorder and drunkenness at these Agapae; the habit of +speaking of the communion feast as "the Christian _mysteries_," a habit +still kept up in the Anglican prayer-book; the fact that they took place +_at night_, under cover of darkness, a custom for which there was not +the smallest reason, unless the service were of a nature so +objectionable as to bring it under the ban of the tolerant Roman law; +and lastly, the use of the cross, and the sign of the cross, the central +Christian emblem, and one that, especially in connection with the +mysteries, is of no dubious signification. Thus, in the twilight in +which they were veiled in those early days, the Christians appear to us +as a sect of very different character to that bestowed upon them by +Paley. A little later, when they emerge into historical light, their own +writers give us sufficient evidence whereby we may judge them; and we +find them superstitious, grossly ignorant, quarrelsome, cruel, divided +into ascetics and profligates, between whom it is hard to award the palm +for degradation and indecency. + +Having "proved"--in the above fashion--that a number of people in the +first century advanced "an extraordinary story," underwent persecution, +and altered their manner of life, because of it, Paley thinks it "in the +highest degree probable, that the story for which these persons +voluntarily exposed themselves to the fatigues and hardships which they +endured, was a _miraculous_ story; I mean, that they pretended to +miraculous evidence of some kind or other" ("Evidences," p. 64). That +the Christians believed in a miraculous story may freely be +acknowledged, but it is evidence of the truth of the story that we want, +not evidence of their belief in it. Many ignorant people believe in +witchcraft and in fortune-telling now-a-days, but their belief only +proves their own ignorance, and not the truth of either superstition. +The next step in the argument is that "the story which Christians have +_now_" is "the story which Christians had _then_" and it is urged that +there is in existence no trace of any story of Jesus Christ +"substantially different from ours" ("Evidences," p. 69). It is hard to +judge how much difference is covered by the word "substantially." All +the apocryphal gospels differ very much from the canonical, insert +sayings and doings of Christ not to be found in the received histories, +and make his character the reverse of good or lovable to a far greater +extent than "the four." That Christ was miraculously born, worked +miracles, was crucified, buried, rose again, ascended, may be accepted +as "substantial" parts of the story. Yet Mark and John knew nothing of +the birth, while, if the Acts and the Epistles are to be trusted, the +apostles were equally ignorant; thus the great doctrine of the +Incarnation of God without natural generation, is thoroughly ignored by +all save Matthew and Luke, and even these destroy their own story by +giving genealogies of Jesus through Joseph, which are useless unless +Joseph was his real father. The birth from a virgin, then has no claim +to be part of Paley's miraculous story in the earliest times. The +evidence of miracle-working by Christ to be found in the Epistles is +chiefly conspicuous by its absence, but it figures largely in +post-apostolic works. The crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are +generally acknowledged, and these three incidents compose the whole +story for which a consensus of testimony can be claimed; it will, +perhaps, be fair to concede also that Christ is recognised universally +as a miracle-worker, in spite of the strange silence of the epistles. We +need not refer to the testimony of Clement, Polycarp or Ignatius, having +already shown what dependence may be placed on their writings. But we +have now three new witnesses, Barnabas, Quadratus, and Justin Martyr. +Paley says: "In an epistle, bearing the name of Barnabas, the companion +of Paul, probably genuine, certainly belonging to that age, we have the +sufferings of Christ," etc. (Evidences p. 75). "Probably genuine, +certainly belonging to that age!" Is Paley joking with his readers, or +only trading on their ignorance? "The letter itself bears no author's +name, is not dated from any place, and is not addressed to any special +community. _Towards the end of the second century, however, tradition +began to ascribe it to Barnabas, the companion of Paul. The first writer +who mentions it is Clement of Alexandria_ [head of the Alexandrian +School, A.D. 205] who calls its author several times the 'Apostle +Barnabas'.... We have already seen in the case of the Epistles ascribed +to Clement of Rome, and, as we proceed, we shall become only too +familiar with the fact, the singular facility with which, in the total +absence of critical discrimination, spurious writings were ascribed by +the Fathers to Apostles and their followers.... Credulous piety which +attributed writings to every Apostle, and even to Jesus himself, soon +found authors for each anonymous work of an edifying character.... In +the earlier days of criticism, some writers, without much question, +adopted the traditional view as to the authorship of the Epistles, but +the great mass of critics are now agreed in asserting that the +composition, which itself is perfectly anonymous, cannot be attributed +to Barnabas the friend and fellow worker of Paul. Those who maintain the +former opinion date the Epistle about A.D. 70-73, or even earlier, but +this is scarcely the view of any living critic" ("Supernatural +Religion," vol. i., pp. 237-239). + +"From its contents it seems unlikely that it was written by a companion +of Apostles and a Levite. In addition to this, it is probable that +Barnabas died before A.D. 62; and the letter contains not only an +allusion to the destruction of the Jewish temple, but also affirms the +abnegation of the Sabbath, and the general celebration of the Lord's +Day, which seems to show that it could not have been written before the +beginning of the second century" ("Westcott on the Canon," p. 41). +"Nothing certain is known as to the author of the following epistle. The +writer's name is Barnabas; but scarcely any scholars now ascribe it to +the illustrious friend and companion of St. Paul.... The internal +evidence is now generally regarded as conclusive against this +opinion.... The external evidence [ascribing it to Barnabas] is of +itself weak, and should not make us hesitate for a moment in refusing to +ascribe this writing to Barnabas, the apostle.... The general opinion +is, that its date is not later than the middle of the second century, +and that it cannot be placed earlier than some twenty or thirty years or +so before. In point of style, both as respects thought and expression, a +very low place must be assigned it. We know nothing certain of the +region in which the author lived, or where the first readers were to be +found" ("Apostolic Fathers," pp. 99, 100). The Epistle is not ascribed +to Barnabas at all until the close of the second century. Eusebius marks +it as "spurious" ("Eccles. Hist," bk. iii., chap. xxv). Lardner speaks +of it as "probably Barnabas's, and certainly ancient" ("Credibility," +pt. ii., vol. ii., p. 30). When we see the utter conflict of evidence as +to the writings of all these "primitive" authors, we can scarcely wonder +at the frank avowal of the Rev. Dr. Giles: "The writings of the +Apostolical Fathers labour under a more heavy load of doubt and +suspicion than any other ancient compositions, either sacred or profane" +("Christian Records," p. 53). + +Paley, in quoting "Quadratus," does not tell us that the passage he +quotes is the only writing of Quadratus extant, and is only preserved by +Eusebius, who says that he takes it from an apology addressed by +Quadratus to the Emperor Adrian. Adrian reigned from A.D. 117-138, and +the apology must consequently have been presented between these dates. +If the apology be genuine, Quadratus makes the extraordinary assertion +that some of the people raised from the dead by Jesus were then living. +Jesus is only recorded to have raised three people--a girl, a young man, +and Lazarus; we will take their ages at ten, twenty, and thirty. "Some +of" those raised cannot be less than two out of the three; we will say +the two youngest. Then they were alive at the respectable ages of from +95-116, and from 105-126. The first may be taken as just within the +limits of possibility; the second as beyond them; but Quadratus talks in +a wholesale fashion, which quite destroys his credibility, and we can +lay but little stress on the carefulness or trustworthiness of a +historian who speaks in such reckless words. Added to this, we find no +trace of this passage until Eusebius writes it in the fourth century, +and it is well known that Eusebius was not too particular in his +quotations, thinking that his duty was only to make out the best case he +could. He frankly says: "We are totally unable to find even the bare +vestiges of those who may have travelled the way before us; unless, +perhaps, what is only presented in the slight intimations, which some in +different ways have transmitted to us in certain partial narratives of +the times in which they lived.... _Whatsoever_, therefore, _we deem +likely to be advantageous to_ the proposed subject we shall endeavour to +reduce to a compact body" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. i., chap. i). +Accordingly, he produces a full Church History out of materials which +are only "slight intimations," and carefully draws out in detail a path +of which not "even the bare vestiges" are left. Little wonder that he +had to rely so much upon his imagination, when he had to build a church, +and had no straws for his bricks. + +Paley brings Justin Martyr (born about A.D. 103, died about A.D. 167) as +his last authority--as after his time the story may be taken as +established--and says: "From Justin's works, which are still extant, +might be collected a tolerably complete account of Christ's life, in all +points agreeing with that which is delivered in our Scriptures; taken, +indeed, in a great measure, from those Scriptures, but still proving +that this account, and no other, was the account known and extant in +that age" ("Evidences," p. 77). If "no other" account was extant, Justin +must have largely drawn on his own imagination when he pretends to be +quoting. Jesus, according to Justin, is conceived "of the Word" +("Apol.," i. 33), not of the Holy Ghost, the third person, the Holy +Ghost being said to be identical with the Word; and he is thus conceived +by himself. He is born, not in Bethlehem in a stable, but in a "cave +near the village," because Joseph could find no lodging in Bethlehem +("Dial." 78). The magi come, not from "the East," but from Arabia +("Dial." 77). Jesus works as a carpenter, making ploughs and yokes +("Dial." 88). The story of the baptism is very different ("Dial." 88). +In the trial Jesus is set on the judgment seat, and tauntingly bidden to +judge his accusers ("Apol.," i. 35). All the apostles deny him, and +forsake him, after he is crucified ("Apol.," i. 50). These instances +might be increased, and, as we shall see later, Justin manifestly quotes +from accounts other than the canonical gospels. Yet Paley pretends that +"no other" account was extant, and that in the very face of Luke i. 1, +which declares that "many have taken in hand" the writing of such +histories. If Paley had simply said that the story of a miracle-worker, +named the Anointed Saviour, who was born of a virgin, was crucified, +rose and ascended into heaven, was told with many variations among the +Christians. from about 100 years after his supposed birth, he would have +spoken truly; and had he added to this, that the very same story was +told among Egyptians and Hindoos, many hundreds of years earlier, he +would have treated his readers honestly, although he might not thereby +have increased their belief in the "divine origin of Christianity." + +Before we pass on to the last evidences offered by Paley, which +necessitate a closer investigation into the value of the testimony borne +by the patristic, to the canonical, writings, it will be well to put +broadly the fact, that these Fathers are simply worthless as witnesses +to any matter of fact, owing to the absurd and incredible stories which +they relate with the most perfect faith. Of critical faculty they have +none; the most childish nonsense is accepted by them, with the gravest +face; no story is too silly, no falsehood too glaring, for them to +believe and to retail, in fullest confidence of its truth. Gross +ignorance is one of their characteristics; they are superstitious, +credulous, illiterate, to an almost incredible extent. Clement considers +that "the Lord continually proves to us that there shall be a future +resurrection" by the following "fact," among others: "Let us consider +that wonderful sign which takes place in Eastern lands--that is, in +Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is +called a phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives 500 years. +And when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it +builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into +which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But, as the flesh +decays, a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being nourished by +the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has +acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the bones of its +parent, and, bearing these, it passes from the land of Arabia into +Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. And in open day, flying in the +sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and, having +done this, hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect +the registers of the dates, and find that it has returned exactly as the +500th year was completed" (1st Epistle of Clement, chap. xxv.). Surely +the evidence here should satisfy Paley as to the truth of this story: +"the open day," "flying in the sight of all men," the priests inspecting +the registers, and all this vouched for by Clement himself! How reliable +must be the testimony of the apostolic Clement! Tertullian, the +Apostolic Constitutions, and Cyril of Jerusalem mention the same tale. +We have already drawn attention to that which _was seen by_ the writers +of the circular letter of the Church of Smyrna. Barnabas loses himself +in a maze of allegorical meanings, and gives us some delightful +instruction in natural history; he is dealing with the directions of +Moses as to clean and unclean animals: "'Thou shalt not,' he says, 'eat +the hare.' Wherefore? 'Thou shalt not be a corrupter of boys, nor like +unto such.' Because the hare multiplies, year by year, the places of its +conception; for as many years as it lives, so many _foramina_ it has. +Moreover, 'Thou shalt not eat the hyaena.'... Wherefore? Because that +animal annually changes its sex, and is at one time male, and at another +female. Moreover, he has rightly detested the weasel ... For this animal +conceives by the mouth.... Behold how well Moses legislated" (Epistle of +Barnabas, chapter x.). "'And Abraham circumcised ten and eight and three +hundred men of his household.' What, then, was the knowledge given to +him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three hundred. The +ten and the eight are thus denoted--Ten by I, and Eight by H. You have +Jesus. And because the cross was to express the grace by the letter T, +he says also Three Hundred. He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two +letters, and the cross by one.... No one has been admitted by me to a +more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that ye are +worthy" (Ibid, chapter ix.). And this is Paley's companion of the +Apostles! Ignatius tells us of the "star of Bethlehem." "A star shone +forth in heaven above all other stars, and the light of which was +inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all +the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this +star" (Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. xix.). Why should we accept +Ignatius' testimony to the star, and reject his testimony to the sun and +moon and stars singing to it? Or take Origen against Celsus: "I have +this further to say to the Greeks, who will not believe that our Saviour +was born of a virgin: that the Creator of the world, if he pleases, can +make every animal bring forth its young in the same wonderful manner. +As, for instance, the _vultures propagate their kind in this uncommon +way,_ as the best writers of natural history do acquaint us" (chap, +xxxiii., as quoted in "Diegesis," p. 319). Or shall we turn to Irenaeus, +so invaluable a witness, since he knew Polycarp, who knew John, who knew +Jesus? Listen, then, to the reminiscences of John, as reported by +Irenaeus: "John related the words of the Lord concerning the times of the +kingdom of God: the days would come when vines would grow, each with +10,000 shoots, and to each shoot 10,000 branches, and to each branch +10,000 twigs, and to each twig 10,000 clusters, and to each cluster +10,000 grapes, and each grape which is crushed will yield twenty-five +measures of wine. And when one of the saints will reach after one of +these clusters, another will cry: 'I am a better cluster than it; take +me, and praise the Lord because of me.' Likewise, a grain of wheat will +produce 10,000 ears, each ear 10,000 grains, each grain ten pounds of +fine white flour. Other fruits, and seeds, and herbs in proportion. The +whole brute creation, feeding on such things as the earth brings forth, +will become sociable and peaceable together, and subject to man with all +humility" ("Iren. Haer.," v., 33, 3-4, as quoted in Keim's "Jesus of +Nazara," p. 45). What trust can be placed in the truth of facts to which +these men pretend to bear witness when we find St. Augustine preaching +that "he himself, being at that time Bishop of Hippo Regius, had +preached the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to a whole +nation of men and women that had no heads, but had their eyes in their +bosoms; and in countries still more southerly he preached to a nation +among whom each individual had but one eye, and that situate in the +middle of the forehead" ("Syntagma," p. 33, as quoted in "Diegesis," p. +257). + +Eusebius tells us of a man, named Sanctus, who was tortured until his +body "was one continued wound, mangled and shrivelled, that had entirely +lost the form of man;" and, when the tormentors began again on the same +day, he "recovered the former shape and habit of his limbs" ("Eccles. +Hist," bk. v., chap. i.). He then was sent to the amphitheatre, passing +down the lane of scourgers, was dragged about and lacerated by the wild +beast, roasted in an iron chair, and after this was "at last +dispatched!" Other accounts, such as that of a man scourged till his +bones were "bared of the flesh," and then slowly tortured, are given as +history, as though a man in that condition would not speedily bleed to +death. But it is useless to give more of these foolish stories, which +weary us as we toil through the writings of the early Church. Well may +Mosheim say that the "Apostolic Fathers, and the other writers, who, in +the infancy of the Church, employed their pens in the cause of +Christianity, were neither remarkable for their learning nor their +eloquence" ("Eccles. Hist," p. 32). Thoroughly unreliable as they are, +they are useless as witnesses of supposed miraculous events; and, in +relating ordinary occurrences, they should not be depended upon in any +matter of importance, unless they be corroborated by more trustworthy +historians. + +The last point Paley urges in support of his proposition is, that the +accounts contained in "the historical Books of the New Testament" are +"deserving of credit as histories," and that such is "the situation of +the authors to whom the four Gospels are ascribed that, if any one of +the four be genuine, it is sufficient for our purpose." This brings us, +indeed, to the crucial point of our investigation, for, as we can gain +so little information from external sources, we are perforce driven to +the Christian writings themselves. If they break down under criticism as +completely as the external evidences have done, then Christianity +becomes hopelessly discredited as to its historical basis, and must +simply take rank with the other mythologies of the world. But before we +can accept the writings as historical, we are bound to investigate their +authenticity and credibility. Does the external evidence suffice to +prove their authenticity? Do the contents of the books themselves +commend them as credible to our intelligence? It is possible that, +although the historical evidence authenticating them be somewhat +defective, yet the thorough coherency and reasonableness of the books +may induce us to consider them as reliable; or, if the latter points be +lacking from the supernatural character of the occurrences related, yet +the evidence of authenticity may be so overwhelming as to place the +accuracy of the accounts beyond cavil. But if external evidence be +wanting, and internal evidence be fatal to the truthfulness of the +writings, then it will become our duty to remove them from the temple of +history, and to place them in the fairy gardens of fancy and of myth, +where they may amuse and instruct the student, without misleading him as +to questions of fact. + +The positions which we here lay down are:-- + +_a_. That forgeries bearing the names of Christ, and of the apostles, +and of the early Fathers, were very common in the primitive Church. + +_b_. That there is nothing to distinguish the canonical from the +apocryphal writings. + +_c_. That it is not known where, when, by whom, the canonical writings +were selected. + +_d_. That before about A.D. 180 there is no trace of _four_ Gospels +among the Christians. + +_e_. That before that date Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not +selected as the four evangelists. + +_f_. That there is no evidence that the four Gospels mentioned about +that date were the same as those we have now. + +_g_. That there is evidence that two of them were not the same. + +_h_. That there is evidence that the earlier records were not the +Gospels now esteemed canonical. + +_i_. That the books themselves show marks of their later origin. + +_j_. That the language in which they are written is presumptive evidence +against their authenticity. + +_k_. That they are in themselves utterly unworthy of credit, from (1) +the miracles with which they abound, (2) the numerous contradictions of +each by the others, (3) the fact that the story of the hero, the +doctrines, the miracles, were current long before the supposed dates of +the Gospels; so that these Gospels are simply a patchwork composed of +older materials. + +Paley begins his argument by supposing that the first and fourth Gospels +were written by the apostles Matthew and John, "from personal knowledge +and recollection" ("Evidences," p. 87), and that they must therefore be +either true, or wilfully false; the latter being most improbable, as +they would then be "villains for no end but to teach honesty, and +martyrs without the least prospect of honour or advantage" (Ibid, page +88). But supposing that Matthew and John wrote some Gospels, we should +need proof that the Gospels which we have, supposing them to be copies +of those thus written, have not been much altered since they left the +apostles' hands. We should next ask how Matthew can report from +"personal knowledge and recollection" all that comes in his Gospel +_before he was called from his tax-gathering_, as well as many incidents +at which he was not present? and whether his reliability as a witness is +not terribly weakened by his making no distinction between what was fact +within his own knowledge, and what was simple hearsay? Further, we +remark that some of the teaching is the reverse of teaching "honesty," +and that such instruction as Matt. v. 39-42 would, if accepted, exactly +suit "villains;" that the extreme glorification of the master would +naturally be reflected upon "the twelve" who followed him, and the +authority of the writers would thereby be much increased and confirmed; +that pure moral teaching on some points is no guarantee of the morality +of the teacher, for a tyrant, or an ambitious priest, would naturally +wish to discourage crime of some kinds in those he desired to rule; that +such tyrant or priest could find no better creed to serve his purpose +than meek, submissive, non-resisting, heaven-seeking Christianity. Thus +we find Mosheim saying of Constantine: "It is, indeed, probable that +this prince perceived the admirable tendency of the Christian doctrine +and precepts to promote the stability of government, by preserving the +citizens in their obedience to the reigning powers, and in the practice +of those virtues that render a State happy" ("Eccles. Hist," p. 87). We +discover Charlemagne enforcing Christianity among the Saxons by sword +and fire, hoping that it would, among other things, "induce them to +submit more tamely to the government of the Franks" (Ibid, p. 170). And +we see missionaries among the savages usurping "a despotic dominion over +their obsequious proselytes" (Ibid, p. 157); and "St. Boniface," the +"apostle of Germany," often employing "violence and terror, and +sometimes artifice and fraud, in order to multiply the number of +Christians" (Ibid, p. 169). Thus do "villains" very often "teach +honesty." Nor is it true that these apostles were "martyrs [their +martyrdom being unproved] without the least prospect of honour or +advantage;" on the contrary, they desired to know what they would get by +following Jesus. "_What shall we have_, therefore?... Ye which have +followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones" (Matt. xix. 27-30); and, +further, in Mark ix. 28-31, we are told that any one who forsakes +anything for Jesus shall receive "an hundredfold _now in this time,"_ as +well as eternal life in the world to come. Surely, then, there was +"prospect" enough of "honour and advantage"? These remarks apply quite +as strongly to Mark and Luke, neither of whom are pretended to be +eye-witnesses. Of Mark we know nothing, except that it is said that +there was a man named John, whose surname was Mark (Acts xii. 12 and +25), who ran away from his work (Acts xv. 38); and a man named Marcus, +nephew of Barnabas (Col. iv. 10), who may, or may not, be the same, but +is probably somebody else, as he is with Paul; and one of the same name +is spoken of (2 Tim. ii.) as "profitable for the ministry," which John +Mark was not, and who (Philemon 24) was a "fellow-labourer" with Paul in +Rome, while John Mark was rejected in this capacity by Paul at Antioch. +Why Mark, or John Mark, should write a Gospel, he not having been an +eye-witness, or why Mark, or John Mark, should be identical with Mark +the Evangelist, only writers of Christian evidences can hope to +understand. + +A. _That forgeries, bearing the names of Christ, of the apostles, and of +the early Fathers, were very common in the primitive Church_. + +"The opinions, or rather the conjectures, of the learned concerning the +time when the books of the New Testament were collected into one volume, +as also about the authors of that collection, are extremely different. +This important question is attended with great and almost insuperable +difficulties to us in these latter times" (Mosheim's "Eccles. Hist.," p. +31). These difficulties arise, to a great extent, from the large number +of forgeries, purporting to be writings of Christ, of the apostles, and +of the apostolic Fathers, current in the early Church. "For, not long +after Christ's ascension into heaven, several histories of his life and +doctrines, full of pious frauds and fabulous wonders, were composed by +persons whose intentions, perhaps, were not bad, but whose writings +discovered the greatest superstition and ignorance. Nor was this all; +productions appeared which were imposed upon the world by fraudulent +men, as the writings of the holy apostles" (Ibid, p. 31). "Another +erroneous practice was adopted by them, which, though it was not so +universal as the other, was yet extremely pernicious, and proved a +source of numberless evils to the Christian Church. The Platonists and +Pythagoreans held it as a maxim, that it was not only lawful, but even +praiseworthy, to deceive, and even to use the expedient of a lie, in +order to advance the cause of truth and piety. The Jews, who lived in +Egypt, had learned and received this maxim from them, before the coming +of Christ, as appears incontestably from a multitude of ancient records; +and the Christians were infected from both these sources with the same +pernicious error, as appears from the number of books attributed falsely +to great and venerable names, from the Sibylline verses, and several +suppositious productions which were spread abroad in this and the +following century. It does not, indeed, seem probable that all these +pious frauds were chargeable upon the professors of real Christianity, +upon those who entertained just and rational sentiments of the religion +of Jesus. The greatest part of these fictitious writings undoubtedly +flowed from the fertile invention of the Gnostic sects, though it cannot +be affirmed that even true Christians were entirely innocent and +irreproachable in this matter" (Ibid, p. 55). "This disingenuous and +vicious method of surprising their adversaries by artifice, and striking +them down, as it were, by lies and fiction, produced, among other +disagreeable effects, a great number of books, which were falsely +attributed to certain great men, in order to give these spurious +productions more credit and weight" (Ibid, page 77). These forged +writings being so widely circulated, it will be readily understood that +"It is not so easy a matter as is commonly imagined rightly to settle +the Canon of the New Testament. For my own part, I declare, with many +learned men, that, in the whole compass of learning, I know no question +involved with more intricacies and perplexing difficulties than this. +There are, indeed, considerable difficulties relating to the Canon of +the Old Testament, as appears by the large controversies between the +Protestants and Papists on this head in the last, and latter end of the +preceding, century; but these are solved with much more ease than those +of the New.... In settling the old Testament collection, all that is +requisite is to disprove the claim of a few obscure books, which have +but the weakest pretences to be looked upon as Scripture; but, in the +New, we have not only a few to disprove, but a vast number to exclude +[from] the Canon, which seem to have much more right to admission than +any of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament; and, besides, to +evidence the genuineness of all those which we do receive, since, +according to the sentiments of some who would be thought learned, there +are none of them whose authority has not been controverted in the +earliest ages of Christianity.... The number of books that claim +admission [to the canon] is very considerable. Mr. Toland, in his +celebrated catalogue, has presented us with the names of above +eighty.... There are many more of the same sort which he has not +mentioned" (J. Jones on "The Canon of the New Testament," vol. i., pp. +2-4. Ed. 1788). + +The following list will give some idea of the number of the apocryphal +writings from which the four Gospels, and other books of the New +Testament, finally emerge as canonical:-- + +GOSPELS. + +1. Gospel according to the Hebrews. +2. Gospel written by Judas Iscariot. +3. Gospel of Truth, made use of by the Valentinians. +4. Gospel of Peter. +5. Gospel according to the Egyptians. +6. Gospel of Valentinus. +7. Gospel of Marcion. +8. Gospel according to the Twelve Apostles. +9. Gospel of Basilides. +10. Gospel of Thomas (extant). +11. Gospel of Matthias. +12. Gospel of Tatian. +13. Gospel of Scythianus. +14. Gospel of Bartholomew. +15. Gospel of Apelles. +16. Gospels published by Lucianus and Hesychius +17. Gospel of Perfection. +18. Gospel of Eve. +19. Gospel of Philip. +20. Gospel of the Nazarenes (qy. same as first) +21. Gospel of the Ebionites. +22. Gospel of Jude. +23. Gospel of Encratites. +24. Gospel of Cerinthus. +25. Gospel of Merinthus. +26. Gospel of Thaddaeus. +27. Gospel of Barnabas. +28. Gospel of Andrew. +29. Gospel of the Infancy (extant). +30. Gospel of Nicodemus, or Acts of Pilate and Descent + of Christ to the Under World (extant). +31. Gospel of James, or Protevangelium (extant). +32. Gospel of the Nativity of Mary (extant). +33. Arabic Gospel of the Infancy (extant). +34. Syriac Gospel of the Boyhood of our Lord Jesus (extant). + +MISCELLANEOUS. + +35. Letter to Agbarus by Christ (extant). +36. Letter to Leopas by Christ (extant). +37. Epistle to Peter and Paul by Christ. +38. Epistle by Christ produced by Manichees. +39. Hymn by Christ (extant). +40. Magical Book by Christ. +41. Prayer by Christ (extant). +42. Preaching of Peter. +43. Revelation of Peter. +44. Doctrine of Peter. +45. Acts of Peter. +46. Book of Judgment by Peter. +47. Book, under the name of Peter, forged by Lentius. +48. Preaching of Peter and Paul at Rome. +49. The Vision, or Acts of Paul and Thecla. +50. Acts of Paul. +51. Preaching of Paul. +52. Piece under name of Paul, forged by an "anonymous writer in Cyprian's + time." +53. Epistle to the Laodiceans under name of Paul (extant). +54. Six letters to Seneca under name of Paul (extant). +55. Anabaticon or Revelation of Paul. +56. The traditions of Matthias. +57. Book of James. +58. Book, under name of James, forged by Ebionites. +59. Acts of Andrew, John, and Thomas. +60. Acts of John. +61. Book, under name of John, forged by Ebionites. +62. Book under name of John. +63. Book, under name of John, forged by Lentius. +64. Acts of Andrew. +65. Book under name of Andrew. +66. Book, under name of Andrew, by Naxochristes and Leonides. +67. Book under name of Thomas. +68. Acts of Thomas. +69. Revelation of Thomas. +70. Writings of Bartholomew. +71. Book, under name of Matthew, forged by Ebionites. +72. Acts of the Apostles by Leuthon, or Seleucus. +73. Acts of the Apostles used by Ebionites. +74. Acts of the Apostles by Lenticius. +75. Acts of the Apostles used by Manichees. +76. History of the Twelve Apostles by Abdias (extant). +77. Creed of the Apostles (extant). +78. Constitutions of the Apostles (extant). +79. Acts, under Apostles' names, by Leontius. +80. Acts, under Apostles' names, by Lenticius. +81. Catholic Epistle, in imitation of the Apostles of + Themis, on the Montanists. +82. Revelation of Cerinthus, nominally apostolical. +83. Book of the Helkesaites which fell from Heaven. +84. Books of Lentitius. +85. Revelation of Stephen. +86. Works of Dionysius the Areopagite (extant). +87. History of Joseph the carpenter (extant). +88. Letter of Agbarus to Jesus (extant). +89. Letter of Lentulus (extant). +90. Story of Veronica (extant). +91. Letter of Pilate to Tiberius (extant). +92. Letters of Pilate to Herod (extant). +93. Epistle of Pilate to Caesar (extant). +94. Report of Pilate the Governor (extant). +95. Trial and condemnation of Pilate (extant). +96. Death of Pilate (extant). +97. Story of Joseph of Arimathraea (extant). +98. Revenging of the Saviour (extant). +99. Epistle of Barnabas. +100. Epistle of Polycarp. +101-15. Fifteen epistles of Ignatius (see above, pages 217-220.) +116. Shepherd of Hermas. +117. First Epistle to the Corinthians of Clement (possibly partly + authentic). +118. Second Epistle to the Corinthians of Clement. +119. Apostolic Canons of Clement. +120. Recognitions of Clement and Clementina. +121-122. Two Epistles of St. Clement of Rome (written in Syriac). +123-128. Six books of Justin Martyr. +129-132. Four books of Justin Martyr. + +The above are collected from Jones' On the Canon, Supernatural Religion, +Eusebius, Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, Cowper's Apocryphal Gospels, +Dr. Giles' Christian Records, and the Apostolic Fathers. + +After reading this list, the student will be able to appreciate the +value of Paley's argument, that, "if it had been an easy thing in the +early times of the institution to have forged Christian writings, and to +have obtained currency and reception to the forgeries, we should have +had many appearing in the name of Christ himself" ("Evidences," p. 106). +Paley acknowledges "one attempt of this sort, deserving of the smallest +notice;" and, in a note, adds three more of those mentioned above. Let +us see what the evidence is of the genuineness of the letter to Agbarus, +the "one attempt" in question, as given by Eusebius. Agbarus, the prince +of Edessa, reigning "over the nations beyond the Euphrates with great +glory," was afflicted with an incurable disease, and, hearing of Jesus, +sent to him to entreat deliverance. The letter of Agbarus is carried to +Jesus, "at Jerusalem, by Ananias, the courier," and the answer of Jesus, +also written, is returned by the same hands. The letter of Jesus runs as +follows, and is written in Syriac: "Blessed art thou, O Agbarus, who, +without seeing me, hast believed in me! For it is written concerning me, +that they who have seen me will not believe, that they who have not seen +me may believe and live. But in regard to what thou hast written, that I +should come to thee, it is necessary that I should fulfil all things +here, for which I have been sent. And, after this fulfilment, thus to be +received again by Him that sent me. And after I have been received up, I +will send to thee a certain one of my disciples, that he may heal thy +affliction, and give life to thee, and to those who are with thee." +After the ascension of Jesus, Thaddaeus, one of the seventy, is sent to +Edessa, and lodges in the house of Tobias, the son of Tobias, and heals +Agbarus and many others. "These things were done in the 340th year" +(Eusebius does not state what he reckons from). The proof given by +Eusebius for the truth of the account is as follows: "Of this also we +have the evidence, in a written answer, taken from the public records of +the city of Edessa, then under the government of the king. For, in the +public registers there, which embrace the ancient history and the +transactions of Agbarus, these circumstances respecting him are found +still preserved down to the present day. There is nothing, however, like +hearing the epistles themselves, taken by us from the archives, and the +style of it, as it has been literally translated by us, from the Syriac +language" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. i., chap. xiii.). And Paley calls this +an attempt at forgery, "deserving of the smallest notice," and dismisses +it in a few lines. It would be interesting to know for what other +"Scripture," canonical or uncanonical, there is evidence of authenticity +so strong as for this; exactness of detail in names; absence of any +exaggeration more than is implied in recounting any miracle; the +transaction recorded in the public archives; seen there by Eusebius +himself; copied down and translated by him; such evidence for any one of +the Gospels would make belief far easier than it is at present. The +assertion of Eusebius was easily verifiable at the time (to use the +favourite argument of Christians for the truth of any account); and if +Eusebius here wrote falsely, of what value is his evidence on any other +point? A Freethinker may fairly urge that Eusebius is _not_ trustworthy, +and that this assertion of his about the archives is as likely to be +false as true; but the Christian can scarcely admit this, when so much +depends, for him, on the reliability of the great Church historian, all +whose evidence would become worthless if he be once allowed to have +deliberately fabricated that which did not exist. + +We have already noticed the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, and +pointed out the numerous forgeries circulated under their names, and the +consequent haze hanging over all the early Christian writers, until we +reach the time of Justin Martyr. Thus we entirely destroy the whole +basis of Paley's argument, that "the historical books of the New +Testament ... are quoted, or alluded to, by a series of Christian +writers, beginning with those who were contemporary with the Apostles, +or who immediately followed them" ("Evidences," page 111;) for we have +no certain writings of any such contemporaries. In dealing with the +positions _f_. and _h_., we shall seek to prove that in the writings of +the Apostolic Fathers--taking them as genuine--as well as in Justin +Martyr, and in other Christian works up to about A.D. 180, the +quotations said to be from the canonical Gospels conclusively show that +other Gospels were used, and not our present ones; but no further +evidence than the long list of apocryphal writings, given on pp. 240-243 +is needed in order to prove our first proposition, that _forgeries, +bearing the name of Christ, of the apostles, and of the early fathers, +were very common in the primitive Church_. + +B. "_That there is nothing to distinguish the canonical from the +apocryphal writings_." "Their pretences are specious and plausible, for +the most part going under the name of our Saviour himself, his apostles, +their companions, or immediate successors. They are generally thought to +be cited by the first Christian writers with the same authority (at +least, many of them) as the sacred books we receive. This Mr. Toland +labours hard to persuade us; but, what is more to be regarded, men of +greater merit and probity have unwarily dropped expressions of the like +nature. _Everybody knows_ (says the learned Casaubon against Cardinal +Baronius) _that Justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and the +rest of the primitive writers, were wont to approve and cite books which +now all men know to be apocryphal. Clemens Alexandrinus_ (says his +learned annotator, Sylburgius) _was too much pleased with apocryphal +writings_. Mr. Dodwell (in his learned dissertation on Irenaeus) tells us +that, _till Trajan, or, perhaps, Adrian's time, no canon was fixed; the +supposititious pieces of the heretics were received by the faithful, the +apostles' writings bound up with theirs, and indifferently used in the +churches._ To mention no more, the learned Mr. Spanheim observes, _that +Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen very often cite apocryphal books under +the express name of Scripture_.... How much Mr. Whiston has enlarged the +Canon of the New Testament, is sufficiently known to the learned among +us. For the sake of those who have not perused his truly valuable books +I would observe, that he imagines the 'Constitutions of the Apostles' to +be inspired, and of greater authority than the occasional writings of +single Apostles and Evangelists. That the two Epistles of Clemens, the +Doctrine of the Apostles, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of +Hermas, the second book of Esdras, the Epistles of Ignatius, and the +Epistle of Polycarp, are to be reckoned among the sacred authentic books +of the New Testament; as also that the Acts of Paul, the Revelation, +Preaching, Gospel and Acts of Peter, were sacred books, and, if they +were extant, should be of the same authority as any of the rest" (J. +Jones, on the "Canon," p. 4-6). This same learned writer further says: +"That many, or most of the books of the New Testament, have been +rejected by heretics in the first ages, is also certain. Faustus +Manichaeus and his followers are said to have rejected all the New +Testament, as not written by the Apostles. Marcion rejected all, except +St. Luke's Gospel. The Manichees disputed much against the authority of +St. Matthew's Gospel. The Alogians rejected the Gospel of St. John as +not his, but made by Cerinthus. The Acts of the Apostles were rejected +by Severus, and the sect of his name. The same rejected all Paul's +Epistles, as also did the Ebionites, and the Helkesaites. Others, who +did not reject all, rejected some particular epistles.... Several of the +books of the New Testament were not universally received, even among +them who were not heretics, in the first ages.... Several of them have +had their authority disputed by learned men in later times" (Ibid, pp. +8, 9). + +If recognition by the early writers be taken as a proof of the +authenticity of the works quoted, many apocryphal documents must stand +high. Eusebius, who ranks together the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd of +Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas, the +Institutions of the Apostles, and the Revelation of John (now accounted +canonical) says that these were not embodied in the Canon (in his time) +"notwithstanding that they are recognised by most ecclesiastical +writers" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. iii., chap. xxv.). The Canon, in his +time, was almost the same as at present, but the canonicity of the +epistles of James and Jude, the 2nd of Peter, the 2nd and 3rd of John, +and the Revelation, was disputed even as late as when he wrote. Irenaeus +ranks the Pastor of Hermas as Scripture; "he not only knew, but also +admitted the book called Pastor" (Ibid, bk. v., chap. viii.). "The +Pastor of Hermas is another work which very nearly secured permanent +canonical rank with the writings of the New Testament. It was quoted as +Holy Scripture by the Fathers, and held to be divinely inspired, and it +was publicly read in the churches. It has place with the Epistle of +Barnabas in the Sinaitic Codex, after the canonical books" +("Supernatural Religion," vol. i., p. 261). + +The two Epistles of Clement are only "preserved to us in the Codex +Alexandrinus, a MS. assigned by the most competent judges to the second +half of the fifth, or beginning of the sixth century, in which these +Epistles follow the books of the New Testament. The second Epistle ... +thus shares with the first the honour of a canonical position in one of +the most ancient codices of the New Testament" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., p. +220). These epistles are, also, amongst those mentioned in the Apostolic +Canons. "Until a comparatively late date this [the first of Clement] +Epistle was quoted as Holy Scripture" (Ibid, p. 222). Origen quotes the +Epistle of Barnabas as Scripture, and calls it a "Catholic Epistle" +(Ibid, p. 237), and this same Father regards the Shepherd of Hermas as +also divinely inspired. (Norton's "Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., +p. 341). Gospels, other than the four canonical, are quoted as authentic +by the earliest Christian writers, as we shall see in establishing +position _h_; thus destroying Paley's contention ("Evidences," p. 187) +that there are no quotations from apocryphal writings in the Apostolical +Fathers, the fact being that such quotations are sown throughout their +supposed writings. + +It is often urged that the expression, "it is written," is enough to +prove that the quotation following it is of canonical authority. + +"Now with regard to the value of the expression, 'it is written,' it may +be remarked that in no case could its use, in the Epistle of Barnabas, +indicate more than individual opinion, and it could not, for reasons to +be presently given, be considered to represent the opinion of the +Church. In the very same chapter in which the formula is used in +connection with the passage we are considering, it is also employed to +introduce a quotation from the Book of Enoch, [Greek: peri hou gegraptai +hos Henoch legei], and elsewhere (c. xii.) he quotes from another +apocryphal book as one of the prophets.... He also quotes (c. vi.) the +apocryphal book of Wisdom as Holy Scripture, and in like manner several +unknown works. When it is remembered that the Epistle of Clement to the +Corinthians, the Pastor of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas itself, and +many other apocryphal works have been quoted by the Fathers as Holy +Scripture, the distinctive value of such an expression may be +understood" (Ibid, pp. 242, 243). "The first Christian writers ... quote +ecclesiastical books from time to time as if they were canonical" +(Westcott on "The Canon," p. 9). "In regard to the use of the word +[Greek: gegraptai], introducing the quotation, the same writer +[Hilgenfeld] urges reasonably enough that it cannot surprise us at a +time when we learn from Justin Martyr that the Gospels were read +regularly at public worship [or rather, that the memorials of the +Apostles were so read]; it ought not, however, to be pressed too far as +involving a claim to special divine inspiration, as the same word is +used in the epistle in regard to the apocryphal book of Enoch; and it is +clear, also, from Justin, that the Canon of the Gospels was not yet +formed, but only forming" ("Gospels in the Second Century," Rev. W. +Sanday, p. 73. Ed. 1876). Yet, in spite of all this, Paley says, "The +phrase, 'it is written,' was the very form in which the Jews quoted +their Scriptures. It is not probable, therefore, that he would have used +this phrase, and without qualification, of any books but what had +acquired a kind of Scriptural authority" ("Evidences," p. 113). +Tischendorf argues on Paley's lines and says that "it was natural, +therefore, to apply this form of expression to the Apostles' writings, +as soon as they had been placed in the Canon with the books of the Old +Testament. When we find, therefore, in ancient ecclesiastical writings, +quotations from the Gospels introduced with this formula, 'it is +written,' we must infer that, at the time when the expression was used, +the Gospels were certainly treated as of equal authority with the books +of the Old Testament" ("When Were Our Gospels Written?" p. 89. Eng. Ed., +1867). Dr. Tischendorf, if he believe in his own argument, must greatly +enlarge his Canon of the New Testament. + +Paley's further plea that "these apocryphal writings were not read in +the churches of Christians" ("Evidences," p. 187) is thoroughly false. +Eusebius tells us of the Pastor of Hermas: "We know that it has been +already in public use in our churches" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. iii., ch. +3). Clement's Epistle "was publicly read in the churches at the Sunday +meetings of Christians" ("Sup. Rel," vol. i., p. 222). Dionysius of +Corinth mentions this same early habit of reading any valued writing in +the churches: "In this same letter he mentions that of Clement to the +Corinthians, showing that it was the practice to read in the churches, +even from the earliest times. 'To-day,' says he, 'we have passed the +Lord's holy-day, in which we have read your epistle, in reading which we +shall always have our minds stored with admonition, as we shall, also, +from that written to us before by Clement'" (Eusebius' "Eccles. Hist.," +bk. iv., ch. 23). So far is "reading in the churches" to be accepted as +a proof, even of canonicity, much less of genuineness, that Eusebius +remarks that "the disputed writings" were "publicly used by many in most +of the churches" (Ibid, bk. iii., ch. 31). Paley then takes as a further +mark of distinction, between canonical and uncanonical, that the latter +"were not admitted into their volume" and "do not appear in their +catalogues," but we have already seen that the only MS. copy of +Clement's first Epistle is in the Codex Alexandrinus (see ante p. 246), +while the Epistle of Barnabas and the Pastor of Hermas find their place +in the Sinaitic Codex (see ante p. 246); the second Epistle of Clement +is also in the Codex Alexandrinus, and both epistles are in the +Apostolic constitutions (see ante p. 247). The Canon of +Muratori--worthless as it is, it is used as evidence by +Christians--brackets the Apocalypse of John and of Peter ("Sup. Rel.," +vol. ii., p. 241). Canon Westcott says: "'Apocryphal' writings were +added to manuscripts of the New Testament, and read in churches; and the +practice thus begun continued for a long time. The Epistle of Barnabas +was still read among the 'apocryphal Scriptures' in the time of Jerome; +a translation of the Shepherd of Hermas is found in a MS. of the Latin +Bible as late as the fifteenth century. The spurious Epistle to the +Laodicenes is found very commonly in English copies of the Vulgate from +the ninth century downwards, and an important catalogue of the Apocrypha +of the New Testament is added to the Canon of Scripture subjoined to the +Chronographia of Nicephorus, published in the ninth century" ("On the +Canon," pp. 8, 9). Paley's fifth distinction, that they "were not +noticed by their [heretical] adversaries" is as untrue as the preceding +ones, for even the fragments of "the adversaries" preserved in Christian +documents bear traces of reference to the apocryphal writings, although, +owing to the orthodox custom of destroying unorthodox books, references +of any sort by heretics are difficult to find. Again, Paley should have +known, when he asserted that the uncanonical writings were not alleged +as of authority, that the heretics _did_ appeal to gospels other than +the canonical. Marcion, for instance, maintained a Gospel varying from +the recognised one, while the Ebionites contended that their Hebrew +Gospel was the only true one. Eusebius further tells us of books +"adduced by the heretics under the name of the Apostles, such, viz., as +compose the Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Matthew, and others beside +them, or such as contain the Acts of the Apostles, by Andrew and John, +and others" ("Eccles. Hist," bk. iii., ch. 25. See also ante p. 246). It +is hard to believe that Paley was so grossly ignorant as to know nothing +of these facts; did he then deliberately state what he knew to be +utterly untrue? His last "mark" does not touch our position, as the +commentaries, etc., are too late to be valuable as evidence for the +alleged superiority of the canonical writings during the first two +centuries. The other section of Paley's argument, that "when the +Scriptures [a very vague word] are quoted, or alluded to, they are +quoted with peculiar respect, as books _sui generis_" is met by the +details given above as to the fashion in which the Fathers referred to +the writings now called uncanonical, and by the evidence adduced in this +section we may fairly claim to have proved that, so far as external +testimony goes, _there is nothing to distinguish the canonical from the +apocryphal writings_. + +But there is another class of evidence relied upon by Christians, +wherewith they seek to build up an impassable barrier between their +sacred books and the dangerous uncanonical Scriptures, namely, the +intrinsic difference between them, the dignity of the one, and the +puerility of the other. Of the uncanonical Gospels Dr. Ellicott writes: +"Their real demerits, their mendacities, their absurdities, their +coarseness, the barbarities of their style, and the inconsequence of +their narratives, have never been excused or condoned" ("Cambridge +Essays," for 1856, p. 153, as quoted in introduction of "The Apocryphal +Gospels," by B.H. Cowper, p. x. Ed. 1867). "We know before we read them +that they are weak, silly, and profitless--that they are despicable +monuments even of religious fiction" (Ibid, p. xlvii). How far are such +harsh expressions consonant with fact? It is true that many of the tales +related are absurd, but are they more absurd than the tales related in +the canonical Gospels? One story, repeated with variations, runs as +follows: "This child Jesus, being five years old, was playing at the +crossing of a stream, and he collected the running waters into pools, +and immediately made them pure, and by his word alone he commanded them. +And having made some soft clay, he fashioned out of it twelve sparrows; +and it was the Sabbath when he did these things. And there were also +many other children playing with him. And a certain Jew, seeing what +Jesus did, playing on the Sabbath, went immediately and said to Joseph, +his father, Behold, thy child is at the water-course, and hath taken +clay and formed twelve birds, and hath profaned the Sabbath. And Joseph +came to the place, and when he saw him, he cried unto him, saying, Why +art thou doing these things on the Sabbath, which it is not lawful to +do? And Jesus clapped his hands, and cried unto the sparrows, and said +to them, Go away; and the sparrows flew up and departed, making a noise. +And the Jews who saw it were astonished, and went and told their leaders +what they had seen Jesus do" ("Gospel of Thomas: Apocryphal Gospels," +B.H. Cowper, pp. 130, 131). Making the water pure by a word is no more +absurd than turning water into wine (John ii. 1-11); or than sending an +angel to trouble it, and thereby making it health-giving (John v. 2-4); +or than casting a tree into bitter waters, and making them sweet (Ex. +xv. 25). The fashioning of twelve sparrows out of soft clay is not +stranger than making a woman out of a man's rib (Gen. ii. 21); neither +is it more, or nearly so, curious as making clay with spittle, and +plastering it on a blind man's eyes in order to make him see (John ix. +6); nay, arguing _a la_ F.D. Maurice, a very strong reason might be made +out for this proceeding. Thus, Jesus came to reveal the Father to men, +and his miracles were specially arranged to show how God works in the +world; by turning the water into wine, and by multiplying the loaves, he +reminds men that it is God whose hand feeds them by all the ordinary +processes of nature. In this instructive miracle of the clay formed into +sparrows, which fly away at his bidding, Jesus reveals his unity with +the Father, as the Word by whom all things were originally made; for +"out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and +every fowl of the air" (Gen. ii. 19) at the creation, and when the Son +was revealed to bring about the new creation, what more appropriate +miracle could he perform than this reminiscence of paradise, clearly +suggesting to the Jews that the Jehovah, who, of old, formed the fowls +of the air out of the ground, was present among them in the incarnate +Word, performing the same mighty work? Exactly in this fashion do +Maurice, Robertson, and others of their school, deal with the miracles +of Christ recorded in the canonical gospels (see Maurice on the +Miracles, Sermon IV., in "What is Revelation?"). The number, twelve, is +also significant, being that of the tribes of Israel, and the local +colouring--the complaining Jews and the violated Sabbath--is in perfect +harmony with the other gospels. The action of Jesus, vindicating the +conduct complained of by the performance of a miracle, is in the fullest +accord with similar instances related in the received stories. It is, +however, urged that some of the miracles of Jesus, as given in the +apocrypha, are dishonouring to him, because of their destructive +character; the son of Annas, the scribe, spills the water the child +Jesus has collected, and Jesus gets angry and says, "Thou also shalt +wither like a tree;" and "suddenly the boy withered altogether" (Ap. +Gos., p. 131). This seems in thorough unity with the spirit Jesus showed +in later life, when he cursed the fig-tree, because it did not bear +fruit in the wrong season, and "presently the fig-tree withered away" +(Matt. xxi. 19). Or a child, running against him purposely, falls dead; +or a master lifting his hand against him, has the arm withered which +essays to strike. Later, of Judas, who betrays him, we read that, +"falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels +gushed out" (Acts i. 18); while, in the Old Testament, which speaks of +Christ, we are told, in figures, we learn that, when Jeroboam tried to +seize a prophet, "his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so +that he could not pull it in again to him" (1 Kings xiii. 4). If +destructiveness be thought injurious when related of Jesus, what shall +we say to the wanton destruction of the herd of swine which Jesus filled +with devils, and sent racing into the sea? (Matt. viii. 28-34.) The +miracle the child works to rectify a mistake of his father's in his +carpenter's business, taking hold of some wood which has been cut too +short and lengthening it, is certainly not more silly than the miracle +worked by the man when money is short, and he (Matt. xvii. 24-27) sends +Peter to catch a fish with money in its mouth (why not, by the way, have +fished directly for the coin? it would be quite as possible for a coin +to transfix itself on a hook, as for a fish, with a piece of money in +its mouth, to swallow a hook). Other miracles recorded in the apocryphal +gospels, of healing and of raising the dead, are identical in spirit +with those told of him in the canonical. We may also remark that, unless +there were some received traditions of miracles worked by Jesus in his +household, there is no reason for the evident expectation of some help +which is said to have been shown by Mary when the guests want wine at +the wedding (John ii. 3-5). That verse 11 states that this was his first +miracle is only one of the many inconsistencies of the gospel stories. +Passing from these gospels of the infancy to those which tell of the +sufferings of Jesus, we shall find in the "Gospel of Nicodemus, or Acts +of Pilate," much that shows their full accordance with the received +writings of the New Testament. This point is so important, as equalising +the canonical and uncanonical gospels, that no excuse is needed for +proving it by somewhat extensive extracts. The gospel opens as follows: +"I, Ananias, a provincial warden, being a disciple of the law, from the +divine Scriptures recognised our Lord Jesus Christ, and came to him by +faith; and was also accounted worthy of holy baptism. Now, when +searching the records of what was wrought in the time of our Lord Jesus +Christ, which the Jews laid up under Pontius Pilate, I found that these +Acts were written in Hebrew, and by the good pleasure of God I +translated them into Greek for the information of all who call on the +name of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the government of our Lord Flavius +Theodosius, the 17th year, and in the 6th consulate of Flavius +Valentinianus, in the 9th indiction." It may here be noted for what it +is worth that Justin Martyr (1st Apology, chap, xxxv.) refers the Romans +to the Acts of Pilate as public documents open to them, which is +testimony far stronger than he gives to any canonical gospel. "In the +15th year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, King of the Romans, and +of Herod, King of Galilee, the 9th year of his reign, on the 8th before +the calends of April, which is the 25th of March; in the consulship of +Rufus and Rubellio; in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, when Joseph +Caiaphas was high priest of the Jews. Whatsoever, after the cross and +passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour God, Nicodemus recorded +and wrote in Hebrew, and left to posterity, is after this fashion" +("Apocryphal Gospels," B.H. Cowper, pp. 229, 230). In the first chapter +we learn how the Jews came to Pilate, and accuse Jesus, "that he saith +he is the son of God and a king; moreover, he profaneth the Sabbaths, +and wisheth to abolish the law of our fathers." After some conversation, +Jesus is brought, and in chap. 2 we read the message from Pilate's wife, +and "Pilate, having called the Jews, said to them, Ye know that my wife +is religious, and inclined to practise Judaism with you. They said unto +him, Yea, we know it. Pilate saith to them, Behold my wife hath sent to +me, saying, Have nothing to do with this just man, for I have suffered +very much because of him in the night. But the Jews answered, and said +to Pilate, Did we not tell thee that he is a magician? Behold, he hath +sent a dream to thy wife." The trial goes on, and Pilate declares the +innocence of Jesus, and then confers with him as in John xviii. 33-37. +Then comes the question (chaps, iii. and iv.): "Pilate saith unto him, +What is truth? Jesus saith to him, Truth is from heaven. Pilate saith, +Is truth not upon earth? Jesus saith to Pilate, Thou seest how they who +say the truth are judged by those who have power upon earth. And, +leaving Jesus within the praetorium, Pilate went out to the Jews, and +saith unto them, I find no fault in him." The conversation between +Pilate and the Jews is then related more fully than in the canonical +accounts, and after this follows a scene of much pathos, which is far +more in accord with the rest of the tale than the accepted story, +wherein the multitude are represented as crying with one voice for his +death. Nicodemus (chap. v.) first rises and speaks for Jesus: "Release +him, and wish no evil against him. If the miracles which he doth are of +God, they will stand; but, if of men, they will come to nought... Now, +therefore, release this man, for he is not deserving of death." Then +(chaps. vi., vii., and viii.): "One of the Jews, starting up, asked the +governor that he might say a word. The governor saith, If thou wilt +speak, speak. And the Jew said, I lay thirty-eight years on my bed in +pain and affliction. And when Jesus came, many demoniacs, and persons +suffering various diseases, were healed by him; and some young men had +pity on me, and carried me with my bed, and took me to him; and when +Jesus saw me, he had compassion, and said the word to me, Take up thy +bed, and walk; and I took up my bed and walked. The Jews said to Pilate, +Ask him what day it was when he was healed. He that was healed said, On +the Sabbath. The Jews said, Did we not tell thee so? that on the Sabbath +he healeth and casteth out demons? And another Jew, starting up, said, I +was born blind; I heard a voice, but saw no person; and as Jesus passed +by, I cried with a loud voice, Have pity on me, Son of David, and he had +pity on me, and placed his hands upon my eyes, and immediately I saw. +And another Jew, leaping up, said, I was a cripple, and he made me +straight with a word. And another said, I was a leper, and he healed me +with a word. And a certain woman cried out from a distance, and said, I +had an issue of blood, and I touched the hem of his garment, and my +issue of blood, which had been for twelve years, was stayed. The Jews +said, We have a law not to admit a woman to witness. And others, a +multitude, both of men and of women, cried and said, This man is a +prophet, and demons are subject unto him. Pilate said to those who said +that demons were subject to him, Why were your teachers not also subject +to him? They say unto Pilate, We know not. And others said, That he +raised up Lazarus from the sepulchre, when he had been dead four days. +And the governor, becoming afraid, said to all the multitude of the +Jews, Why will ye shed innocent blood?" The story proceeds much as in +the gospels, the names of the malefactors being given; and when Pilate +remarks the three hours' darkness to the Jews, they answer, "An eclipse +of the sun has happened in the usual manner" (chap. xi.). Chap. xiii. +gives a full account of the conversation between the Jews and the Roman +soldiers alluded to in Matt. xxviii. 11-15. The remaining chapters +relate the proceedings of the Jews after the resurrection, and are of no +special interest. There is a second Gospel of Nicodemus, varying on some +points from the one quoted above, which assumes to be "compiled by a +Jew, named Aeneas; translated from the Hebrew tongue into the Greek, by +Nicodemus, a Roman Toparch." Then we find a second part of the Gospel of +Nicodemus, or "The Descent of Christ to the Under World," which relates +how Jesus descended into Hades, and how he ordered Satan to be bound, +and then he "blessed Adam on the forehead with the sign of the cross; +and he did this also to the patriarchs, and the prophets, and martyrs, +and forefathers, and took them up, and sprang up out of Hades." This +story manifestly runs side by side with the tradition in 1. Pet. iii. +19, 20, wherein it is stated that Jesus "went and preached unto the +spirits in prison," and that preaching is placed between his death (v. +18) and his resurrection (v. 21). The saving by baptism (v. 21) is also +alluded to in this connection in Nicodemus, wherein (chap, xi.) the dead +are baptised. The Latin versions of the Gospels of Nicodemus vary in +details from the Greek, but not more than do the four canonical. In +these, as in all the apocryphal writings, there is nothing specially to +distinguish them from the accepted Scriptures; improbabilities and +contradictions abound in all; miracles render them all alike incredible; +myriad chains of similarity bind them all to each other, necessitating +either the rejection of all as fabulous, or the acceptance of all as +historical. Whether we regard external or internal evidence, we come to +the same conclusion, _that there is nothing to distinguish the canonical +from the uncanonical writings_. + +C. _That it is not known where, when, by whom, the canonical writings +were selected_. Tremendously damaging to the authenticity of the New +Testament as this statement is, it is yet practically undisputed by +Christian scholars. Canon Westcott says frankly: "It cannot be denied +that the Canon was formed gradually. The condition of society and the +internal relations of the Church presented obstacles to the immediate +and absolute determination of the question, which are disregarded now, +only because they have ceased to exist. The tradition which represents +St. John as fixing the contents of the New Testament, betrays the spirit +of a later age" (Westcott "On the Canon," p. 4). "The track, however, +which we have to follow is often obscure and broken. The evidence of the +earliest Christian writers is not only uncritical and casual, but is +also fragmentary" (Ibid, p. 11). "From the close of the second century, +the history of the Canon is simple, and its proof clear... Before that +time there is more or less difficulty in making out the details of the +question.... Here, however, we are again beset with peculiar +difficulties. The proof of the Canon is embarrassed both by the general +characteristics of the age in which it was fixed, and by the particular +form of the evidence on which it first depends. The spirit of the +ancient world was essentially uncritical" (Ibid, pp. 6-8). In dealing +with "the early versions of the New Testament," Westcott admits that "it +is not easy to over-rate the difficulties which beset any inquiry into +the early versions of the New Testament" ("On the Canon," p. 231). He +speaks of the "comparatively scanty materials and vague or conflicting +traditions" (Ibid). The "original versions of the East and West" are +carefully examined by him; the oldest is the "Peshito," in Syriac--i.e., +Aramaean, or Syro-Chaldaic. This must, of course, be only a translation +of the Testament, if it be true that the original books were written in +Greek. The time when this version was formed is unknown, and Westcott +argues that "the very obscurity which hangs over its origin is a proof +of its venerable age" (Ibid, p. 240); and he refers it to "the first +half of the second century," while acknowledging that he does so +"without conclusive authority" (Ibid). The Peshito omits the second and +third epistles of John, second of Peter, that of Jude, and the +Apocalypse. The origin of the Western version, in Latin, is quite as +obscure as that of the Syriac; and it is also incomplete, compared with +the present Canon, omitting the epistle of James and the second of Peter +(Ibid, p. 254). All the evidence so laboriously gathered together by the +learned Canon proves our proposition to demonstration. But, it is +admitted on all hands, that "it is impossible to assign any certain time +when a collection of these books, either by the Apostles, or by any +council of inspired or learned men, near their time, was made.... The +matter is too certain to need much to be said of it" (Jones "On the +Canon," vol. i, p. 7). Jones adds that he hopes to confute "these +specious objections ... in the fourth part of this book," in which he +endeavours to prove the Gospels and Acts to be _genuine_, so that it +does not much matter when they were collected together. In the time of +Eusebius the Canon was still unsettled, as he ranks among the disputed +and spurious works, the epistles of James and Jude, second of Peter, +second and third of John, and the Apocalypse ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. iii., +chap. 25). It is not necessary to offer any further proof in support of +our position, _that it is not known where, when, by whom, the canonical +writings were selected._ + +D. _That before about_ A.D. 180 _there is no trace of_ FOUR _gospels +among the Christians_. The first step we take in attacking the four +canonical gospels, apart from the writings of the New Testament as a +whole, is to show that there was no "sacred quaternion" spoken of before +about A.D. 180, i.e., the supposed time of Irenaeus. Irenaeus is said to +have been a bishop of Lyons towards the close of the second century; we +find him mentioned in the letter sent by the Churches of Vienne and +Lyons to "brethren in Asia and Phrygia," as "our brother and companion +Irenaeus," and as a presbyter much esteemed by them ("Eccles. Hist." bk. +v., chs. 1, 4). This letter relates a persecution which occurred in "the +17th year of the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Verus," i.e., A.D. 177. +Paley dates the letter about A.D. 170, but as it relates the persecution +of A.D. 177, it is difficult to see how it could be written about seven +years before the persecution took place. In that persecution Pothinus, +bishop of Lyons, is said to have been slain; he was succeeded by Irenaeus +(Ibid bk. v., ch. 5), who, therefore, could not possibly have been +bishop before A.D. 177, while he ought probably to be put a year or two +later, since time is needed, after the persecution, to send the account +of it to Asia by the hands of Irenaeus, and he must be supposed to have +returned and to have settled down in Lyons before he wrote his +voluminous works; A.D. 180 is, therefore, an almost impossibly early +date, but it is, at any rate, the very earliest that can be pretended +for the testimony now to be examined. The works against heresies were +probably written, the first three about A.D. 190, and the remainder +about A.D. 198. Irenaeus is the first Christian writer who mentions +_four_ Gospels; he says:--"Matthew produced his Gospel, written among +the Hebrews, in their own dialect, whilst Peter and Paul proclaimed the +Gospel and founded the church at Rome. After the departure of these, +Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also transmitted to us in +writing what had been preached by him. And Luke, the companion of Paul, +committed to writing the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the +disciple of our Lord, the same that lay upon his bosom, also published +the Gospel, whilst he was yet at Ephesus in Asia" (Quoted by Eusebius, +bk. v., ch. 8, from 3rd bk. of "Refutation and Overthrow of False +Doctrine," by Irenaeus). + +The reasons which compelled Irenaeus to believe that there must be +neither less nor more than four Gospels in the Church are so convincing +that they deserve to be here put on record. "It is not possible that the +Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since +there are four zones [sometimes translated 'corners' or 'quarters'] of +the world in which we live, and four Catholic spirits, while the Church +is scattered throughout all the world, and the pillar and grounding of +the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting she +should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and +vivifying men afresh. From which fact it is evident that the Word, the +Artificer of all, He that sitteth upon the Cherubim, and contains all +things, He who was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four +aspects, but bound together by one Spirit.... For the Cherubim too were +four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son +of God.... And, therefore, the Gospels are in accord with these things, +among which Christ Jesus is seated" ("Irenaeus," bk. iii., chap, xi., +sec. 8). The Rev. Dr. Giles, writing on Justin Martyr, the great +Christian apologist, candidly says: "The very names of the Evangelists +Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are never mentioned by him--do not occur +once in all his works. It is, therefore, childish to say that he has +quoted from our existing Gospels, and so proves their existence, as they +now are, in his own time.... He has nowhere remarked, like those Fathers +of the Church who lived several ages after him, that there are _four_ +Gospels of higher importance and estimation than any others.... All this +was the creation of a later age, but it is wanting in Justin Martyr, and +the defect leads us to the conclusion that our four Gospels had not then +emerged from obscurity, but were still, if in being, confounded with a +larger mass of Christian traditions which, about this very time, were +beginning to be set down in writing" ("Christian Records," pp. 71, 72). + +Had these four Gospels emerged before A.D. 180, we should most certainly +find some mention of them in the Mishna. "The Mishna, a collection of +Jewish traditions compiled about the year 180, takes no notice of +Christianity, though it contains a chapter headed 'De Cultu Peregrino, +of strange worship.' This omission is thought by Dr. Paley to prove +nothing, for, says he, 'it cannot be disputed but that Christianity was +perfectly well known to the world at this time.' It cannot, certainly, +be disputed that Christianity was _beginning_ to be known to the world, +but whether it had yet emerged from the lower classes of persons among +whom it originated, may well be doubted. It is a prevailing error, in +biblical criticism, to suppose that the whole world was feelingly alive +to what was going on in small and obscure parts of it. The existence of +Christians was probably known to the compilers of the Mishna in 180, +even though they did not deign to notice them, but they could not have +had any knowledge of the New Testament, or they would undoubtedly have +noticed it; if, at least, we are right in ascribing to it so high a +character, attracting (as we know it does) the admiration of every one +in every country to which it is carried" (Ibid, p. 35). + +There is, however, one alleged proof of the existence of four, and only +four, Gospels, put forward by Paley:--Tatian, a follower of Justin +Martyr, and who flourished about the year 170, composed a harmony or +collection of the Gospels, which he called Diatessaron, of the Four. +This title, as well as the work, is remarkable, because it shows, that +then, as now, there were four and only four, Gospels in general use with +Christians ("Evidences," pp. 154, 155). Paley does not state, until +later, that the "follower of Justin Martyr" turned heretic and joined +the Encratites, an ascetic and mystic sect who taught abstinence from +marriage, and from meat, etc.; nor does he tell us how doubtful it is +what the Diatessaron--now lost--really contained. He blandly assures us +that it is a harmony of the four Gospels, although all the evidence is +against him. Irenaeus, as quoted by Eusebius, says of Tatian that "having +apostatised from the Church, and being elated with the conceit of a +teacher, and vainly puffed up as if he surpassed all others," he +invented some new doctrines, and Eusebius further tells us: "Their chief +and founder, Tatianus, having formed a certain body and collection of +Gospels, I know not how, has given this the title Diatessaron, that is +the Gospel by the four, or the Gospel formed of the four" ("Eccles. +Hist," bk. iv., ch. 29). Could Eusebius have written that Tatian formed +this, _I know not how_, if it had been a harmony of the Gospels +recognised by the Church when he wrote? and how is it that Paley knows +all about it, though Eusebius did not? And still further, after +mentioning the Diatessaron, Eusebius says _of another of Tatian's +books_: "This book, indeed, appears to be the most elegant and +profitable of all his works" (Ibid). More profitable than a harmony of +the four Gospels! So far as the name goes, as given by Eusebius, it +would seem to imply one Gospel written by four authors. Epiphanius +states: "Tatian is said to have composed the Gospel by four, which is +called by some, the Gospel according to the Hebrews" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. +ii., p. 155). Here we get the Diatessaron identified with the +widely-spread and popular early Gospel of the Hebrews. Theodoret (circa +A.D. 457) says that he found more than 200 such books in use in Syria, +the Christians not perceiving "the evil design of the composition;" and +this is Paley's harmony of the Gospels! Theodoret states that he took +these books away, "and instead introduced the Gospels of the four +Evangelists;" how strange an action in dealing with so useful a work as +a harmony of the Gospels, to confiscate it entirely and call it an evil +design! To complete the value of this work as evidence to "four, and +only four, Gospels," we are told by Victor of Capua, that it was also +called Diapente, i.e., "by five" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., p. 153). In +fact, there is no possible reason for calling the work--whose contents +ate utterly unknown--a _harmony_ of the Gospels at all; the notion that +it is a harmony is the purest of assumptions. There is some slight +evidence in favour of the identity of the Diatessaron with the Gospel of +the Hebrews. "Those, however, who called the Gospel used by Tatian the +Gospel according to the Hebrews, must have read the work, and all that +we know confirms their conclusion. The work was, in point of fact, found +in wide circulation precisely in the places in which, earlier, the +Gospel according to the Hebrews was more particularly current. The +singular fact that the earliest reference to Tatian's 'harmony' is made +a century and a half after its supposed composition, that no writer +before the 5th century had seen the work itself, indeed, that only two +writers before that period mention it at all, receives its natural +explanation in the conclusion that Tatian did not actually compose any +harmony at all, but simply made use of the same Gospel as his master +Justin Martyr, namely, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, by which +name his Gospel had been called by those best informed" ("Sup. Rel.," +vol. ii., pp. 158, 159). As it is not pretended by any that there is any +mention of _four_ Gospels before the time of Irenaeus, excepting this +"harmony," pleaded by some as dated about A.D. 170, and by others as +between 170 and 180, it would be sheer waste of time and space to prove +further a point admitted on all hands. This step of our argument is, +then, on solid and unassailable ground--_that before about_ A.D. 180 +_there is no trace of FOUR Gospels among the Christians_. + +E. _That, before that date, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are not +selected as the four evangelists._ This position necessarily follows +from the preceding one, since four evangelists could not be selected +until four Gospels were recognised. Here, again, Dr. Giles supports the +argument we are building up. He says: "Justin Martyr never once mentions +by name the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This circumstance +is of great importance; for those who assert that our four canonical +Gospels are contemporary records of our Saviour's ministry, ascribe them +to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and to no other writers. In this they +are, in a certain sense, consistent; for contemporary writings [? +histories] are very rarely anonymous. If so, how could they be proved to +be contemporary? Justin Martyr, it must be remembered, wrote in 150; but +neither he, nor any writer before him, has alluded, in the most remote +degree, to four specific Gospels, bearing the names of Matthew, Mark, +Luke, and John. Let those who think differently produce the passages in +which such mention is to be found" ("Christian Records," Rev. Dr. Giles, +p. 73). Two of these names had, however, emerged a little earlier, being +mentioned as evangelists by Papias, of Hierapolis. His testimony will be +fully considered below in establishing position _g_. + +F. _That there is no evidence that the four Gospels mentioned about that +date were the same as those we have now._ This brings us to a most +important point in our examination; for we now attack the very key of +the Christian position--viz., that, although the Gospels be not +mentioned by name previous to Irenaeus, their existence can yet be +conclusively proved by quotations from them, to be found in the writings +of the Fathers who lived before Irenaeus. Paley says: "The historical +books of the New Testament--meaning thereby the four Gospels and the +Acts of the Apostles--are quoted, or alluded to, by a series of +Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary with the +Apostles or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in close and +regular succession from their time to the present." And he urges that +"the medium of proof stated in this proposition is, of all others, the +most unquestionable, the least liable to any practices of fraud, and is +not diminished by the lapse of ages" ("Evidences," pp. 111, 112). The +writers brought in evidence are: Barnabas, Clement, Hermas, Ignatius, +Polycarp, Papias, Justin Martyr, Hegesippus, and the epistle from Lyons +and Vienne. Before examining the supposed quotations in as great detail +as our space will allow, two or three preliminary remarks are needed on +the value of this offered evidence as a whole. + +In the first place, the greater part of the works brought forward as +witnesses are themselves challenged, and their own dates are unknown; +their now accepted writings are only the residuum of a mass of +forgeries, and Dr. Giles justly says: "The process of elimination, which +gradually reduced the so-called writings of the first century from two +folio volumes to fifty slender pages, would, in the case of any other +profane works, have prepared the inquirer for casting from him, with +disgust, the small remnant, even if not fully convicted of spuriousness; +for there is no other case in record of so wide a disproportion between +what is genuine and what is spurious" ("Christian Records," p. 67). +Their testimony is absolutely worthless until they are themselves +substantiated; and from the account given of them above (pp 214-221, and +232-235), the student is in a position to judge of the value of evidence +depending on the Apostolic Fathers. Professor Norton remarks: "When we +endeavour to strengthen this evidence by appealing to the writings +ascribed to Apostolical Fathers, we, in fact, weaken its force. At the +very extremity of the chain of evidence, where it ought to be strongest, +we are attaching defective links, which will bear no weight" +("Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., p. 357). Again, supposing that +we admit these witnesses, their repetition of sayings of Christ, or +references to his life, do not--in the absence of quotations specified +by them as taken from Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and +John--prove that, because similar sayings or actions are recorded in the +present canonical Gospels, therefore, these latter existed in their +days, and were in their hands. Lardner says on this point: "Here is, +however, one difficulty, and 'tis a difficulty which may frequently +occur, whilst we are considering these very early writers, who were +conversant with the Apostles, and others who had seen or heard our Lord; +and were, in a manner, as well acquainted with our Saviour's doctrine +and history as the Evangelists themselves, unless their quotations or +allusions are very express and clear. The question, then, here is, +whether Clement in these places refers to words of Christ, written and +recorded, or whether he reminds the Corinthians of words of Christ, +which he and they might have heard from the Apostles, or other +eye-and-ear-witnesses of our Lord. Le Clerc, in his dissertation on the +four Gospels, is of opinion that Clement refers to written words of our +Lord, which were in the hands of the Corinthians, and well known to +them. On the other hand, I find, Bishop Pearson thought, that Clement +speaks of words which he had heard from the Apostles themselves, or +their disciples. I certainly make no question but the three first +Gospels were writ before this time. And I am well satisfied that Clement +might refer to our written Gospels, though he does not exactly agree +with them in expression. But whether he does refer to them is not easy +to determine concerning a man who, very probably, knew these things +before they were committed to writing; and, even after they were so, +might continue to speak of them, in the same manner he had been wont to +do, as things he was well informed of, without appealing to the +Scriptures themselves" ("Credibility," pt. II., vol. i., pp. 68-70). +Canon Westcott, after arguing that the Apostolic Fathers are much +influenced by the Pauline Epistles, goes on to remark: "Nothing has been +said hitherto of the coincidences between the Apostolic Fathers and the +Canonical Gospels. From the nature of the case, casual coincidences of +language cannot be brought forward in the same manner to prove the use +of a history as of a letter. The same facts and words, especially if +they be recent and striking, may be preserved in several narratives. +References in the sub-apostolic age to the discourses or actions of our +Lord, as we find them recorded in the Gospels, show, as far as they go, +that what the Gospels relate was then held to be true; but it does not +necessarily follow that they were already in use, and were the actual +source of the passages in question. On the contrary, the mode in which +Clement refers to our Lord's teaching--'the Lord said,' not +'saith'--seems to imply that he was indebted to tradition, and not to +any written accounts, for words most closely resembling those which are +still found in our Gospels. The main testimony of the Apostolic Fathers +is, therefore, to the substance, and not to the authenticity, of the +Gospels" ("On the Canon," pp. 51, 52). An examination of the Apostolic +Fathers gives us little testimony as to "the substance of the Gospels;" +but the whole passage is here given to show how much Canon Westcott, +writing in defence of the Canon, finds himself obliged to give up of the +position occupied by earlier apologists. Dr. Giles agrees with the +justice of these remarks of Lardner and Westcott. He writes: "The +sayings of Christ were, no doubt, treasured up like household jewels by +his disciples and followers. Why, then, may we not refer the quotation +of Christ's words, occurring in the Apostolical Fathers, to an origin of +this kind? If we examine a few of those quotations, the supposition, +just stated, will expand into reality.... The same may be said of every +single sentence found in any of the Apostolical Fathers, which, on first +sight, might be thought to be a decided quotation from one of the +Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. It is impossible to +deny the truth of this observation; for we see it confirmed by the fact +that the Apostolical Fathers do actually quote Moses, and other old +Testament writers, by name--'Moses hath said,' 'but Moses says,' +etc.--in numerous passages. But we nowhere meet with the words, 'Matthew +hath said in his Gospel,' 'John hath said,' etc. They always quote, not +the words of the Evangelists, but the words of Christ himself directly, +which furnishes the strongest presumption that, though the sayings of +Christ were in general vogue, yet the evangelical histories, into which +they were afterwards embodied, were not then in being. But the converse +of this view of the case leads us to the same conclusion. The +Apostolical Fathers quote sayings of Christ which are not found in our +Gospels.... There is no proof that our New Testament was in existence +during the lives of the Apostolical Fathers, who, therefore, could not +make citations out of books which they had never seen" ("Christian +Records," pp. 51-53). "There is no evidence that they [the four Gospels] +existed earlier than the middle of the second century, for they are not +named by any writer who lived before that time" (Ibid, p. 56). In +searching for evidence of the existence of the Gospels during the +earlier period of the Church's history, Christian apologists have +hitherto been content to seize upon a phrase here and there somewhat +resembling a phrase in the canonical Gospels, and to put that forward as +a proof that the Gospels then were the same as those we have now. This +rough-and-ready plan must now be given up, since the most learned +Christian writers now agree, with the Freethinkers, that such a method +is thoroughly unsatisfactory. + +Yet, again, admitting these writers as witnesses, and allowing that they +quote from the same Gospels, their quotations only prove that the +isolated phrases they use were in the Gospels of their day, and are also +in the present ones; and many such cases might occur in spite of great +variations in the remainder of the respective Gospels, and would by no +means prove that the Gospels they used were identical with ours. If +Josephus, for instance, had ever quoted some sentences of Socrates +recorded by Plato, that quotation, supposing that Josephus were +reliable, would prove that Plato and Socrates both lived before +Josephus, and that Plato wrote down some of the sayings of Socrates; but +it would not prove that a version of Plato in our hands to-day was +identical with that used by Josephus. The scattered and isolated +passages woven in by the Fathers in their works would fail to prove the +identity of the Gospels of the second century with those of the +nineteenth, even were they as like parallel passages in the canonical +Gospels as they are unlike them. + +It is "important," says the able anonymous writer of "Supernatural +Religion," "that we should constantly bear in mind that a great number +of Gospels existed in the early Church which are no longer extant, and +of most of which even the names are lost. We will not here do more than +refer, in corroboration of this fact, to the preliminary statement of +the author of the third Gospel: 'Forasmuch as many ([Greek: polloi]) +have taken in hand to set forth a declaration of those things which are +surely believed among us, etc.' It is, therefore, evident that before +our third synoptic was written, many similar works were already in +circulation. Looking at the close similarity of the large portions of +the three synoptics, it is almost certain that many of the [Greek: +polloi] here mentioned bore a close analogy to each other, and to our +Gospels; and this is known to have been the case, for instance, amongst +the various forms of the 'Gospel according to the Hebrews,' distinct +mention of which we meet with long before we hear anything of our +Gospels. When, therefore, in early writings, we meet with quotations +closely resembling, or, we may add, even identical with passages which +are found in our Gospels--the source of which, however, is not +mentioned, nor is any author's name indicated--the similarity, or even +identity, cannot by any means be admitted as evidence that the quotation +is necessarily from our Gospels, and not from some other similar work +now no longer extant; and more especially not when, in the same +writings, there are other quotations from apocryphal sources different +from our Gospels. Whether regarded as historical records or as writings +embodying the mere tradition of the early Christians, our Gospels cannot +for a moment be recognised as the exclusive depositaries of the genuine +sayings and doings of Jesus; and so far from the common possession by +many works in early times of such words of Jesus, in closely similar +form, being either strange or improbable, the really remarkable +phenomena is that such material variation in the report of the more +important historical teaching should exist amongst them. But whilst +similarity to our Gospels in passages quoted by early writers from +unnamed sources cannot prove the use of our Gospels, variation from them +would suggest or prove a different origin; and, at least, it is obvious +that quotations which do not agree with our Gospels cannot, in any case, +indicate their existence" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., pp. 217-219). + +We will now turn to the witness of Paley's Apostolic Fathers, bearing +always in mind the utter worthlessness of their testimony; worthless as +it is, however, it is the only evidence Christians have to bring forward +to prove the identity of their Gospels with those [supposed to have +been] written in the first century. Let us listen to the opinion given +by Bishop Marsh: "From the Epistle of Barnabas, no inference can be +deduced that he had read any part of the New Testament. From the genuine +epistle, as it is called, of Clement of Rome, it may be inferred that +Clement had read the first Epistle to the Corinthians. From the Shepherd +of Hermas no inference whatsoever can be drawn. From the Epistles of +Ignatius, it may be concluded that he had read St. Paul's Epistle to the +Ephesians, and that there existed in his time evangelical writings, +though it cannot be shown that he has quoted from them. From Polycarp's +Epistle to the Philippians, it appears that he had heard of St. Paul's +Epistle to that community, and he quotes a passage which is in the first +Epistle to the Corinthians, and another which is in the Epistle to the +Ephesians; but no positive conclusion can be drawn with respect to any +other epistle, or any of the four Gospels" (Marsh's "Michaelis," vol. +i., p. 354, as quoted in Norton's "Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., +p. 3). Very heavily does this tell against the authenticity of these +records, for "if the four Gospels and other books were written by those +who had been eye-witnesses of Christ's miracles, and the five Apostolic +Fathers had conversed with the Apostles, it is not to be conceived that +they would not have named the actual books themselves which possessed so +high authority, and would be looked up to with so much respect by all +the Christians. This is the only way in which their evidence could be of +use to support the authenticity of the New Testament as being the work +of the Apostles; but this is a testimony which the five Apostolical +Fathers fail to supply. There is not a single sentence, in all their +remaining works, in which a clear allusion to the New Testament is to be +found" ("Christian Records," Rev. Dr. Giles, p. 50). + +Westcott, while claiming in the Apostolic Fathers a knowledge of most of +the epistles, writes very doubtfully as to their knowledge of the +Gospels (see above p. 264), and after giving careful citations of all +possible quotations, he sums up thus: "1. No evangelic reference in the +Apostolic Fathers can be referred certainly to a written record. 2. It +appears most probable from the form of the quotations that they were +derived from oral tradition. 3. No quotation contains any element which +is not substantially preserved in our Gospels. 4. When the text given +differs from the text of our Gospels it represents a later form of the +evangelic tradition. 5. The text of St. Matthew corresponds more nearly +than the other synoptic texts with the quotations and references as a +whole" ("On the Canon," p. 62). There appears to be no proof whatever of +conclusions 3 and 4, but we give them all as they stand. But we will +take these Apostolic Fathers one by one, in the order used by Paley. + +BARNABAS. We have already quoted Bishop Marsh and Dr. Giles as regards +him. There is "nothing in this epistle worthy of the name of evidence +even of the existence of our Gospels" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., p. 260). +The quotation sometimes urged, "There are many called, few chosen," is +spoken of by Westcott as a "proverbial phrase," and phrases similar in +meaning and manner may be found in iv. Ezra, viii. 3, ix. 15 ("Sup. +Rel.," vol. i., p. 245); in the latter work the words occur in a +relation similar to that in which we find them in Barnabas; in both the +judgment is described, and in both the moral drawn is that there are +many lost and few saved; it is the more likely that the quotation is +taken from the apocryphal work, since many other quotations are drawn +from it throughout the epistle. The quotation "Give to every one that +asketh thee," is not found in the supposed oldest MS., the Codex +Sinaiticus, and is a later interpolation, clearly written in by some +transcriber as appropriate to the passage in Barnabas. The last supposed +quotation, that Christ chose men of bad character to be his disciples, +that "he might show that he came not to call the righteous, but +sinners," is another clearly later interpolation, for it jars with the +reasoning of Barnabas, and when Origen quotes the passage he omits the +phrase. In a work which "has been written at the request, and is +published at the cost of the Christian Evidence Society," and which may +fairly, therefore, be taken as the opinion of learned, yet most +orthodox, Christian opinion, the Rev. Mr. Sanday writes: "The general +result of our examination of the Epistle of Barnabas may, perhaps, be +stated thus, that while not supplying by itself certain and conclusive +proof of the use of our Gospels, still the phenomena accord better with +the hypothesis of such a use. This epistle stands in the second line of +the Evidence, and as a witness is rather confirmatory than principal" +("Gospels in the Second Century," p. 76. Ed. 1876). And this is all that +the most modern apologetic criticism can draw from an epistle of which +Paley makes a great display, saying that "if the passage remarked in +this ancient writing had been found in one of St. Paul's Epistles, it +would have been esteemed by every one a high testimony to St. Matthew's +Gospel" ("Evidences," p. 113). + +CLEMENT OF ROME.--"Tischendorf, who is ever ready to claim the slightest +resemblance in language as a reference to new Testament writings, admits +that although this Epistle is rich in quotations from the Old Testament, +and here and there that Clement also makes use of passages from Pauline +Epistles, he nowhere refers to the Gospels" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i. pp. +227, 228). The Christian Evidence Society, through Mr. Sanday, thus +criticises Clement: "Now what is the bearing of the Epistle of Clement +upon the question of the currency and authority of the Synoptic Gospels? +There are two passages of some length which are, without doubt, +evangelical quotations, though whether they are derived from the +Canonical Gospels or not may be doubted" ("Gospels in the Second +Century," page 61). After balancing the arguments for and against the +first of these passages, Mr. Sanday concludes: "Looking at the arguments +on both sides, so far as we can give them, I incline, on the whole, to +the opinion that Clement is not quoting from our Gospels; but I am quite +aware of the insecure ground on which this opinion rests. It is a nice +balance of probabilities, and the element of ignorance is so large that +the conclusion, whatever it is, must be purely provisional. Anything +like confident dogmatism on the subject seems to me entirely out of +place. Very much the same is to be said of the second passage" (Ibid, p. +66). + +The quotations in Clement, apparently from some other evangelic work, +will be noted under head _h_, and these are those cited in Paley. + +HERMAS.--Tischendorf relinquishes this work also as evidence for the +Gospels. Lardner writes: "In _Hermas_ are no express citations of any +books of the New Testament" ("Credibility," vol. i. pt. 2, p. 116). He +thinks, however, that he can trace "allusions to" "words of Scripture." +Westcott says that "The _Shepherd_ contains no definite quotation from +either Old or New Testament" ("On the Canon," p. 197); but he also +thinks that Hermas was "familiar with" some records of "Christ's +teaching." Westcott, however, does not admit Hermas as an Apostolic +Father at all, but places him in the middle of the second century. "As +regards the direct historical evidence for the genuineness of the +Gospels, it is of no importance. No book is cited in it by name. There +are no evident quotations from the Gospels" (Norton's "Genuineness of +the Gospels," vol. i, pp. 342, 343). + +IGNATIUS.--It would be wasted time to trouble about Ignatius at all, +after knowing the vicissitudes through which his supposed works have +passed (see ante pp. 217-220); and Paley's references are such vague +"quotations" that they may safely be left to the judgment of the reader. +Tischendorf, claiming two and three phrases in it, says somewhat +confusedly: "Though we do not wish to give to these references a +decisive value, and though they do not exclude all doubt as to their +applicability to our Gospels, and more particularly to that of St. John, +they nevertheless undoubtedly bear traces of such a reference" ("When +were our Gospels Written," p. 61, Eng. ed.). This conclusion refers, in +Tischendorf, to Polycarp, as well as to Ignatius. In these Ignatian +Epistles, Mr. Sanday only treats the Curetonian Epistles (see ante, p. +218) as genuine, and in these he finds scarcely any coincidences with +the Gospels. The parallel to Matthew x. 16, "Be ye, therefore, wise as +serpents and harmless as doves," is doubtful, as it is possible "that +Ignatius may be quoting, not directly from our Gospel, but from one of +the original documents (such as Ewald's hypothetical 'Spruch-Sammlung'), +out of which our Gospel was composed" ("Gospels in the Second Century," +p. 78). An allusion to the "star" of Bethlehem may have, "as it appears +to have, reference to the narrative of Matt, ii... [but see, ante, p. +233, where the account given of the star is widely different from the +evangelic notice]. These are (so far as I am aware) the only +coincidences to be found in the Curetonian version" (Ibid, pp. 78, 79). + +POLYCARP.--This epistle lies under a heavy weight of suspicion, and has +besides little worth analysing as possible quotations from the Gospels. +Paley quotes, "beseeching the all-seeing God not to lead us into +temptation." Why not finish the passage? Because, if he had done so, the +context would have shown that it was not a quotation from a gospel +identical with our own--"beseeching the all-seeing God not to lead us +into temptation, as the Lord hath said, The spirit, indeed, is willing, +but the flesh is weak." If this be a quotation at all, it is from some +lost gospel, as these words are nowhere found thus conjoined in the +Synoptics. + +Thus briefly may these Apostolic Fathers be dismissed, since their +testimony fades away as soon as it is examined, as a mist evaporates +before the rays of the rising sun. We will call up Paley's other +witnesses. + +PAPIAS.--In the fragment preserved by Eusebius there is no quotation of +any kind; the testimony of Papias is to the names of the authors of two +of the Gospels, and will be considered under _g_. + +JUSTIN MARTYR.--We now come to the most important of the supposed +witnesses, and, although students must study the details of the +controversy in larger works, we will endeavour to put briefly before +them the main reasons why Freethinkers reject Justin Martyr as bearing +evidence to the authenticity of the present Gospels, and in this +_resume_ we begin by condensing chapter iii. of "Supernatural Religion", +vol. i., pp. 288-433, so far as it bears on our present position. Justin +Martyr is supposed to have died about A.D. 166, having been put to death +in the reign of Marcus Aurelius; he was by descent a Greek, but became a +convert to Christianity, strongly tinged with Judaism. The longer +Apology, and the Dialogue with Trypho, are the works chiefly relied upon +to prove the authenticity. The date of the first Apology is probably +about A.D. 147; the Dialogue was written later, perhaps between A.D. 150 +and 160. In these writings Justin quotes very copiously from the Old +Testament, and he also very frequently refers to facts of Christian +history, and to sayings of Jesus. Of these references, for instance, +some fifty occur in the first Apology, and upwards of seventy in the +Dialogue with Trypho; a goodly number, it will be admitted, by means of +which to identify the source from which he quotes. Justin himself +frequently and distinctly says that his information and quotations are +derived from the "Memoirs of the Apostles," but, except upon one +occasion, which we shall hereafter consider, when he indicates Peter, he +never mentions an author's name. Upon examination it is found that, with +only one or two brief exceptions, the numerous quotations from these +"Memoirs" differ more or less widely from parallel passages in our +Synoptic Gospels, and in many cases differ in the same respects as +similar quotations found in other writings of the second century, the +writers of which are known to have made use of uncanonical Gospels; and +further, that these passages are quoted several times, at intervals, by +Justin, with the same variations. Moreover, sayings of Jesus are quoted +from the "Memoirs" which are not found in our Gospels at all, and facts +in the life of Jesus, and circumstances of Christian history, derived +from the same source, not only are not found in our Gospels, but are in +contradiction with them. Various theories have been put forward by +Christian apologists to lessen the force of these objections. It has +been suggested that Justin quoted from memory, condensed or combined to +suit his immediate purpose; that the "Memoirs" were a harmony of the +Gospels, with additions from some apocryphal work; that along with our +Gospels Justin used apocryphal Gospels; that he made use of our Gospels, +preferring, however, to rely chiefly on an apocryphal one. Results so +diverse show how dubious must be the value of the witness of Justin +Martyr. Competent critics almost universally admit that Justin had no +idea of ranking the "Memoirs of the Apostles" among canonical writings. +The word translated "Memoirs" would be more correctly rendered +"Recollections," or "Memorabilia," and none of these three terms is an +appropriate title for works ranking as canonical Gospels. Great numbers +of spurious writings, under the names of apostles, were current in the +early Church, and Justin names no authors for the "Recollections" he +quotes from, only saying that they were composed "by his Apostles and +their followers," clearly indicating that he was using some collective +recollections of the Apostles and those who followed them. The word +"Gospels," in the plural, is only once applied to these "Recollections;" +"For the Apostles, in the 'Memoirs' composed by them, which are called +Gospels." "The last expression [Greek: kaleitai euaggelai], as many +scholars have declared, is a manifest interpolation. It is, in all +probability, a gloss on the margin of some old MS. which some copyist +afterwards inserted in the text. If Justin really stated that the +'Memoirs' were called Gospels, it seems incomprehensible that he should +never call them so himself. In no other place in his writings does he +apply the plural to them, but, on the contrary, we find Trypho referring +to the 'so-called Gospel,' which he states that he had carefully read, +and which, of course, can only be Justin's 'Memoirs,' and again, in +another part of the same dialogue, Justin quotes passages which are +written 'in the Gospel.' The term 'Gospel' is nowhere else used by +Justin in reference to a written record." The public reading of the +Recollections, mentioned by Justin, proves nothing, since many works, +now acknowledged as spurious, were thus read (see ante, pp. 248, 249). +Justin does not regard the Recollections as inspired, attributing +inspiration only to prophetic writings, and he accepts them as authentic +solely because the events they narrate are prophesied of in the Old +Testament. The omission of any author's name is remarkable, since, in +quoting from the Old Testament, he constantly refers to the author by +name, or to the book used; but in the very numerous quotations, supposed +to be from the Gospels, he never does this, save in one single instance, +mentioned below, when he quotes Peter. On the theory that he had our +four Gospels before him, this is the more singular, since he would +naturally have distinguished one from the other. The only writing in the +New Testament referred to by name is the Apocalypse, by "a certain man +whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ," and it is +impossible that John should be thus mentioned, if Justin had already +been quoting from a Gospel bearing his name under the general title of +Recollections. Justin clearly quotes from a _written_ source and +excludes oral tradition, saying that in the Recollections is recorded +"_everything_ that concerns our Saviour Christ." (The proofs that Justin +quotes from records other than the Gospels will be classed under +position _h_, and are here omitted.) Justin knows nothing of the +shepherds of the plain, and the angelic appearance to them, nor of the +star guiding the wise men to the place where Jesus was, although he +relates the story of the birth, and the visit of the wise men. Two short +passages in Justin are identical with parallel passages in Matthew, but +"it cannot be too often repeated, that the mere coincidence of short +historical sayings in two works by no means warrants the conclusion that +the one is dependent on the other." In the first Apology, chaps, xv., +xvi., and xvii. are composed almost entirely of examples of Christ's +teaching, and with the exception of these two brief passages, not one +quotation agrees verbally with the canonical Gospels. We have referred +to one instance wherein the name of Peter is mentioned in connection +with the Recollections. Justin says: "The statement also that he (Jesus) +changed the name of Peter, one of the Apostles, and that this is also +written in _his_ 'Memoirs,'" etc. This refers the "Memoirs" to Peter, +and it is suggested that it is, therefore, a reference to the Gospel of +Mark, Mark having been supposed to have written his Gospel under the +direction of Peter. There was a "Gospel according to Peter" current in +the early Church, probably a variation from the Gospel of the Hebrews, +so highly respected and so widely used by the primitive writers. It is +very probable that this is the work to which Justin so often refers, and +that it originally bore the simple title of "The Gospel," or the +"Recollections of Peter." A version of this Gospel was also known as the +"Gospel According to the Apostles," a title singularly like the +"Recollections of the Apostles" by Justin. Seeing that in Justin's works +his quotations, although so copious, do not agree with parallel passages +in our Gospels, we may reasonably conclude that "there is no evidence +that he made use of any of our Gospels, and he cannot, therefore, even +be cited to prove their very existence, and much less the authenticity +and character of records whose authors he does not once name." Passing +from this case, ably worked out by this learned and clever writer (and +we earnestly recommend our readers, if possible, to study his careful +analysis for themselves, since he makes the whole question thoroughly +intelligible to _English_ readers, and gives them evidence whereby they +can form their own judgments, instead of accepting ready-made +conclusions), we will examine Canon Westcott's contention. He admits +that the difficulties perplexing the evidence of Justin are "great;" +that there are "additions to the received narrative, and remarkable +variations from its text, which, in some cases, are both repeated by +Justin and found also in other writings" ("On the Canon," p. 98). We +regret to say that Dr. Westcott, in laying the case before his readers, +somewhat misleads them, although, doubtless, unintentionally. He speaks +of Justin telling us that "Christ was descended from Abraham through +Jacob, Judah, Phares, Jesse, and David," and omits the fact that Justin +traces the descent to Mary alone, and knows nothing as to a descent +traced to Joseph, as in both Matthew and Luke (see below, under _h_). He +speaks of Justin mentioning wise men "guided by a star," forgetting that +Justin says nothing of the guidance, but only writes: "That he should +arise like a star from the seed of Abraham, Moses showed beforehand.... +Accordingly, when a star rose in heaven at the time of his birth, as is +recorded in the 'Memoirs' of his Apostles, the Magi from Arabia, +recognising the sign by this, came and worshipped him" ("Dial.," ch. +cvi.). He speaks of Justin recording "the singing of the Psalm +afterwards" (after the last supper), omitting that Justin only says +generally ("Dial.," ch. cvi., to which Dr. Westcott refers us) that +"when living with them (Christ) sang praises to God." But as we +hereafter deal with these discrepancies, we need not dwell on them now, +only warning our readers that since even such a man as Dr. Westcott thus +misrepresents facts, it will be well never to accept any inferences +drawn from such references as these without comparing them with the +original. One of the chief difficulties to the English reader is to get +a reliable translation. To give but a single instance. In the version of +Justin here used (that published by T. Clark, Edinburgh), we find in the +"Dialogue," ch. ciii., the following passage: "His sweat fell down like +drops of blood while he was praying." And this is referred to by Canon +Westcott (p. 104) as a record of the "bloody sweat." Yet, in the +original, there is no word analogous to "of blood;" the passage runs: +"sweat as drops fell down," and it is recorded by Justin as a proof that +the prophecy, "my bones are poured out _like water_" was fulfilled in +Christ. The clumsy endeavour to create a likeness to Luke xxii. 44 +destroys Justin's argument. Further on (p. 113) Dr. Westcott admits that +the words "of blood" are not found in Justin; but it is surely +misleading, under these circumstances, to say that Justin mentions "the +bloody sweat." Westcott only maintains seven passages in the whole of +Justin's writings, wherein he distinctly quotes from the "Memoirs;" +_i.e.,_ only seven that can be maintained as quotations from the +canonical Gospels--the contention being that the "Memoirs" _are_ the +Gospels. He says truly, if naively, "The result of a first view of these +passages is striking." Very striking, indeed; for, "of the seven, five +agree verbally with the text of St. Matthew or St. Luke, _exhibiting, +indeed, three slight various readings not elsewhere found_, but such as +are easily explicable. The sixth is a condensed summary of words related +by St. Matthew; the seventh alone presents an important variation in the +text of a verse, which is, however, otherwise very uncertain" (pp. 130, +131. The italics are our own). That is, there are only seven distinct +quotations, and all of these, save two, are different from our Gospels. +The whole of Dr. Westcott's analysis of these passages is severely +criticised in "Supernatural Religion," and in the edition of 1875 of Dr. +Westcott's book, from which we quote, some of the expressions he +previously used are a little modified. The author of "Supernatural +Religion" justly says: "The striking result, to summarise Canon +Westcott's own words, is this. Out of seven professed quotations from +the 'Memoirs,' in which he admits we may expect to find the exact +language preserved, five present three variations; one is a compressed +summary, and does not agree verbally at all; and the seventh presents an +important variation" (vol. i., p. 394). + +Dr. Giles speaks very strongly against Paley's distortion of Justin +Martyr's testimony, complaining: "The works of Justin Martyr do not fall +in the way of one in a hundred thousand of our countrymen. How is it, +then, to be deprecated that erroneous statements should be current about +him! How is it to be censured that his testimony should be changed, and +he should be made to speak a falsehood!" ("Christian Records," p. 71). +Dr. Giles then argues that Justin would have certainly named the books +and their authors had they been current and reverenced in his time; that +there were numberless Gospels current at that date; that Justin mentions +occurrences that are only found related in such apocryphal Gospels. He +then compares seventeen passages in Justin Martyr with parallel passages +in the Gospels, and concludes that Justin "gives us Christ's sayings in +their traditionary forms, and not in the words which are found in our +four Gospels." We will select two, to show his method of criticising, +translating the Greek, instead of giving it, as he does, in the +original. In the Apology, ch. xv., Justin writes: "If thy right eye +offend thee, cut it out, for it is profitable for thee to enter into the +kingdom of heaven with one eye, than having two to be thrust into the +everlasting fire." "This passage is very like Matt. v. 29: 'If thy right +eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is +profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that +thy whole body should be cast into hell.' But it is also like Matt, +xviii. 9: 'And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from +thee; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than +having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire.' And it bears an equal +likeness to Mark ix. 47: 'And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out; it +is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, +having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire.' Yet, strange to say, it is +not identical in words with either of the three" (pp. 83, 84). "I came +not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." "In this only +instance is there a perfect agreement between the words of Justin and +the canonical Gospels, three of which, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, give the +same saying of Christ in the same words. A variety of thoughts here rush +upon the mind. Are these three Gospels based upon a common document? If +so, is not Justin Martyr's citation drawn from the same anonymous +document, rather than from the three Gospels, seeing he does not name +them? If, on the other hand, Justin has cited them accurately in this +instance, why has he failed to do so in the others? For no other reason +than that traditionary sayings are generally thus irregularly exact or +inexact, and Justin, citing from them, has been as irregularly exact as +they were" (Ibid, p. 85). "The result to which a perusal of his works +will lead is of the gravest character. He will be found to quote nearly +two hundred sentiments or sayings of Christ; but makes hardly a single +clear allusion to all those circumstances of time or place which give so +much interest to Christ's teaching, as recorded in the four Gospels. The +inference is that he quotes Christ's sayings as delivered by tradition +or taken down in writing before the four Gospels were compiled" (Ibid, +pp. 89, 90). Paley and Lardner both deal with Justin somewhat briefly, +calling every passage in his works resembling slightly any passage in +the Gospels a "quotation;" in both cases only ignorance of Justin's +writings can lead any reader to assent to the inferences they draw. + +HEGESIPPUS was a Jewish Christian, who, according to Eusebius, +flourished about A.D. 166. Soter is said to have succeeded Anicetus in +the bishopric of Rome in that year, and Hegesippus appears to have been +in Rome during the episcopacy of both. He travelled about from place to +place, and his testimony to the Gospels is that "in every city the +doctrine prevails according to what is declared by the law, and the +prophets, and the Lord" ("Eccles. Hist," bk. iv., ch. 22). Further, +Eusebius quotes the story of the death of James, the Apostle, written by +Hegesippus, and in this James is reported to have said to the Jews: "Why +do ye now ask me respecting Jesus, the Son of Man? He is now sitting in +the heavens, on the right hand of great power, and is about to come on +the clouds of heaven." And when he is being murdered, he prays, "O Lord +God and Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (see +"Eccles. Hist.," bk. ii., ch. 23). The full absurdity of regarding this +as a testimony to the Gospels will be seen when it is remembered that it +is implied thereby that James, the brother and apostle of Christ, knew +nothing of his words until he read them in the Gospels, and that he was +murdered before the Gospel of Luke, from which alone he could quote the +prayer of Jesus, is thought, by most Christians, to have been written. +One other fragment of Hegesippus is preserved by Stephanus Gobarus, +wherein Hegesippus, speaking against Paul's assertion "that eye hath not +seen, nor ear heard," opposes to it the saying of the Lord, "Blessed are +your eyes, for they see, and your ears that hear." This is paralleled by +Matt. xiii. 16 and Luke x. 23. "We need not point out that the saying +referred to by Hegesippus, whilst conveying the same sense as that in +the two Gospels, differs as materially from them as they do from each +other, and as we might expect a quotation taken from a different, though +kindred, source, like the Gospel according to the Hebrews, to do" ("Sup. +Rel.," vol. i., p. 447). Why does not Paley tell us that Eusebius writes +of him, not that he quoted from the Gospels, but that "he also states +some particulars from the Gospel of the Hebrews and from the Syriac, and +particularly from the Hebrew language, showing that he himself was a +convert from the Hebrews. Other matters he also records as taken from +the unwritten tradition of the Jews" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. iv., ch 22). +Here, then, we have the source of the quotations in Hegesippus, and yet +Paley conceals this, and deliberately speaks of him as referring to our +Gospel of Matthew! + +EPISTLE OF THE CHURCHES OF LYONS AND VIENNE.--Paley quietly dates this +A.D. 170, although the persecution it describes occurred in A.D. 177 +(see ante, pp. 257, 258). The "exact references to the Gospels of Luke +and John and to the Acts of the Apostles," spoken of by Paley +("Evidences," p. 125), are not easy to find. Westcott says: "It contains +no reference by name to any book of the New Testament, but its +coincidences of language with the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John, with +the Acts of the Apostles, with the Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans, +Corinthians (?), Ephesians, Philippians, and the First to Timothy, with +the first Catholic Epistles of St. Peter and St. John, and with the +Apocalypse, are indisputable" ("On the Canon," p. 336). Unfortunately, +neither Paley nor Dr. Westcott refer us to the passages in question, +Paley quoting only one. We will, therefore, give one of these at full +length, leaving our readers to judge of it as an "exact reference:" +"Vattius Epagathus, one of the brethren who abounded in the fulness of +the love of God and man, and whose walk and conversation had been so +unexceptionable, though he was only young, shared in the same testimony +with the elder Zacharias. He walked in all the commandments and +righteousness of the Lord blameless, full of love to God and his +neighbour" ("Eusebius," bk. v., chap. i). This is, it appears, an "exact +reference" to Luke i. 6, and we own we should not have known it unless +it had been noted in "Supernatural Religion." Tischendorf, on the other +hand, refers the allusion to Zacharias to the Protevangelium of James +("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., p. 202). + +The second "exact reference" is, that Vattius had "the Spirit more +abundantly than Zacharias;" "such an unnecessary and insidious +comparison would scarcely have been made had the writer known our Gospel +and regarded it as inspired Scripture" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., p. 204). +The quotation "that the day would come when everyone that slayeth you +will think he is doing God a service," is one of those isolated sayings +referred to Christ which might be found in any account of his works, or +might have been handed down by tradition. This epistle is the last +witness called by Paley, prior to Irenaeus, and might, indeed, fairly be +regarded as contemporary with him. + +Although Paley does not allude to the "Clementines," books falsely +ascribed to Clement of Rome, these are sometimes brought to prove the +existence of the Gospels in the second century. But they are useless as +witnesses, from the fact that the date at which they were themselves +written is a matter of dispute. "Critics variously date the composition +of the original Recognitions from about the middle of the second century +to the end of the third, though the majority are agreed in placing them, +at least, in the latter century" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., p. 5). "It is +unfortunate that there are not sufficient materials for determining the +date of the Clementine Homilies" ("Gospels in the Second Century," Rev. +W. Sanday, p. 161). Part of the Clementines, called the "Recognitions," +is useless as a basis for argument, for these "are only extant in a +Latin translation by Rufinus, in which the quotations from the Gospels +have evidently been assimilated to the canonical text which Rufinus +himself uses" (Ibid). Of the rest, "we are struck at once by the small +amount of exact coincidence, which is considerably less than that which +is found in the quotations from the Old Testament" (Ibid, p. 168). "In +the Homilies there are very numerous quotations of expressions of Jesus, +and of Gospel History, which are generally placed in the mouth of Peter, +or introduced with such formula as 'The teacher said,' 'Jesus said,' 'He +said,' 'The prophet said,' but in no case does the author name the +source from which these sayings and quotations are derived.... De Wette +says, 'The quotations of evangelical works and histories in the +pseudo-Clementine writings, from their free and unsatisfactory nature, +permit only uncertain conclusions as to their written source.' Critics +have maintained very free and conflicting views regarding that source. +Apologists, of course, assert that the quotations in the Homilies are +taken from our Gospels only. Others ascribe them to our Gospels, with a +supplementary apocryphal work, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, or +the Gospel according to Peter. Some, whilst admitting a subsidiary use +of some of our Gospels, assert that the author of the Homilies employs, +in preference, the Gospel according to Peter; whilst others, recognising +also the similarity of the phenomena presented by these quotations with +those of Justin's, conclude that the author does not quote our Gospels +at all, but makes use of the Gospel according to Peter, or the Gospel +according to the Hebrews. Evidence permitting of such divergent +conclusions manifestly cannot be of a decided character" ("Sup. Rel.," +vol. ii., pp. 6, 7). + +On Basilides (teaching c. A.D. 135) and Valentinus (A.D. 140), two of +the early Gnostic teachers, we need not delay, for there is scarcely +anything left of their writings, and all we know of them is drawn from +the writings of their antagonists; it is claimed that they knew and made +use of the canonical Gospels, and Canon Westcott urges this view of +Basilides, but the writer of "Supernatural Religion" characterises this +plea "as unworthy of a scholar, and only calculated to mislead readers +who must generally be ignorant of the actual facts of the case" (vol. +ii., p. 42). Basilides says that he received his doctrine from Glaucias, +the "interpreter of Peter," and "it is apparent, however, that +Basilides, in basing his doctrines on these apocryphal books as +inspired, and upon tradition, and in having a special Gospel called +after his own name, which, therefore, he clearly adopts as the exponent +of his ideas of Christian truth, absolutely ignores the canonical +Gospels altogether, and not only does not offer any evidence for their +existence, but proves that he did not recognise any such works as of +authority. Therefore, there is no ground whatever for Tischendorf's +assumption that the Commentary of Basilides 'On the Gospel' was written +upon our Gospels, but that idea is, on the contrary, negatived in the +strongest way by all the facts of the case" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., pp. +45, 46). Both with this ancient heretic, as with Valentinus, it is +impossible to distinguish what is ascribed to him from what is ascribed +to his followers, and thus evidence drawn from either of them is weaker +even than usual. + +Marcion, the greatest heretic of the second century, ought to prove a +useful witness to the Christians if the present Gospels had been +accepted in his time as canonical. He was the son of the Christian +Bishop of Sinope, in Pontus, and taught in Rome for some twenty years, +dating from about A.D. 140. Only one Gospel was acknowledged by him, and +fierce has been the controversy as to what this Gospel was. It is only +known to us through his antagonists, who generally assert that the +Gospel used by him was the third Synoptic, changed and adapted to suit +his heretical views. Paley says, "This rash and wild controversialist +published a recension or chastised edition of St. Luke's Gospel" +("Evidences," p. 167), but does not condescend to give us the smallest +reason for so broad an assertion. This question has, however, been +thoroughly debated among German critics, the one side maintaining that +Marcion mutilated Luke's Gospel, the other that Marcion's Gospel was +earlier than Luke's, and that Luke's was made from it; while some, +again, maintained that both were versions of an older original. From +this controversy we may conclude that there was a strong likeness +between Marcion's Gospel and the third Synoptic, and that it is +impossible to know which is the earlier of the two. The resolution of +the question is made hopeless by the fact that "the principal sources of +our information regarding Marcion's Gospel are the works of his most +bitter denouncers Tertullian and Epiphanius" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., p. +88). "At the very best, even if the hypothesis that Marcion's Gospel was +a mutilated Luke were established, Marcion affords no evidence in favour +of the authenticity or trustworthy character of our third Synoptic. His +Gospel was nameless, and his followers repudiated the idea of its having +been written by Luke; and regarded even as the earliest testimony for +the existence of Luke's Gospel, that testimony is not in confirmation of +its genuineness and reliability, but, on the contrary, condemns it as +garbled and interpolated" (Ibid, pp. 146, 147). + +It is scarcely worth while to refer to the supposed evidence of the +"Canon of Muratori," since the date of this fragment is utterly unknown. +In the year 1740 Muratori published this document in a collection of +Italian antiquities, stating that he had found it in the Ambrosian +library at Milan, and that he believed that the MS. from which he took +it had been in existence about 1000 years. It is not known by whom the +original was written, and it bears no date: it is but a fragment, +commencing: "at which, nevertheless, he was present, and thus he placed +it. Third book of the Gospel according to Luke." Further on it speaks of +"the fourth of the Gospels of John." The value of the evidence of an +anonymous fragment of unknown date is simply _nil_. "It is by some +affirmed to be a complete treatise on the books received by the Church, +from which fragments have been lost; while others consider it a mere +fragment itself. It is written in Latin, which by some is represented as +most corrupt, whilst others uphold it as most correct. The text is +further rendered almost unintelligible by every possible inaccuracy of +orthography and grammar, which is ascribed diversely to the transcriber, +to the translator, and to both. Indeed, such is the elastic condition of +the text, resulting from errors and obscurity of every imaginable +description, that, by means of ingenious conjectures, critics are able +to find in it almost any sense they desire. Considerable difference of +opinion exists as to the original language of the fragment, the greater +number of critics maintaining that the composition is a translation from +the Greek, while others assert it to have been originally written in +Latin. Its composition is variously attributed to the Church of Africa, +and to a member of the Church in Rome" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. ii., pp. 238, +239). On a disputable scrap of this kind no argument can be based; there +is no evidence even to show that the thing was in existence at all until +Muratori published it; it is never referred to by any early writer, nor +is there a scintilla of evidence that it was known to the early Church. + +After a full and searching analysis of all the documents, orthodox and +heretical, supposed to have been written in the first two centuries +after Christ, the author of "Supernatural Religion" thus sums +up:--"After having exhausted the literature and the testimony bearing on +the point, we have not found a single distinct trace of any one of those +Gospels during the first century and a half after the death of Jesus.... +Any argument for the mere existence of our Synoptics based upon their +supposed rejection by heretical leaders and sects has the inevitable +disadvantage, that the very testimony which would show their existence +would oppose their authenticity. There is no evidence of their use by +heretical leaders, however, and no direct reference to them by any +writer, heretical or orthodox, whom we have examined" (vol. ii., pp, +248, 249). Nor is the fact of this blank absence of evidence of identity +all that can be brought to bear in support of our proposition, for there +is another fact that tells very heavily against the identity of the now +accepted Gospels with those that were current in earlier days, namely, +the noteworthy charge brought against the Christians that they changed +and altered their sacred books; the orthodox accused the unorthodox of +varying the Scriptures, and the heretics retorted the charge with equal +pertinacity. The Ebionites maintained that the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew +was the only authentic Gospel, and regarded the four Greek Gospels as +unreliable. The Marcionites admitted only the Gospel resembling that of +Luke, and were accused by the orthodox of having altered that to suit +themselves. Celsus, writing against Christianity, formulates the charge: +"Some believers, like men driven by drunkenness to commit violence on +themselves, have altered the Gospel history, since its first +composition, three times, four times, and oftener, and have re-fashioned +it, so as to be able to deny the objections made against it" ("Origen +Cont. Celsus," bk. ii., chap. 27, as quoted by Norton, p. 63). Origen +admits "that there are those who have altered the Gospels," but pleads +that it has been done by heretics, and that this "is no reproach against +true Christianity" (Ibid). Only, most reverend Father of the Church, if +heretics accuse orthodox, and orthodox accuse heretics, of altering the +Gospels, how are we to be sure that they have come down unaltered to us? +Clement of Alexandria notes alterations that had been made. Dionysius, +of Corinth, complaining of the changes made in his own writings, bears +witness to this same fact: "It is not, therefore, matter of wonder if +some have also attempted to adulterate the sacred writings of the Lord, +since they have attempted the same in other works that are not to be +compared with these" ("Eusebius," bk. iv., ch. 23). Faustus, the +Manichaean, the great opponent of Augustine, writes: "For many things +have been inserted by your ancestors in the speeches of our Lord, which, +though put forth under his name, agree not with his faith; especially +since--as already it has been often proved by us--that these things were +not written by Christ, nor his Apostles, but a long while after their +assumption, by I know not what sort of half Jews, not even agreeing with +themselves, who made up their tale out of report and opinions merely; +and yet, fathering the whole upon the names of the Apostles of the Lord, +or on those who were supposed to have followed the Apostles; they +mendaciously pretended that they had written their lies and conceits +_according to_ them" (Lib. 33, ch. 3, as quoted and translated in +"Diegesis," pp. 61, 62). + +The truth is, that in those days, when books were only written, the +widest door was opened to alterations, additions, and omissions; +incidents or remarks written, perhaps, in the margin of the text by one +transcriber, were transferred into the text itself by the next copyist, +and were thereafter indistinguishable from the original matter. In this +way the celebrated text of the three witnesses (1 John, v. 7) is +supposed to have crept into the text. Dealing with this, in reference to +the New Testament, Eichhorn points out that it was easy to alter a +manuscript in transcribing it, and that, as manuscripts were written for +individual use, such alterations were considered allowable, and that the +altered manuscript, being copied in its turn, such changes passed into +circulation unnoticed. Owners of manuscripts added to them incidents of +the life of Christ, or any of his sayings, which they had heard of, and +which were not recorded in their own copies, and thus the story grew and +grew, and additional legends were incorporated with it, until the +historical basis became overlaid with myth. The vast number of readings +in the New Testament, no less--according to Dr. Angus, one of the +present Revision Committee--than 100,000, prove the facility with which +variations were introduced into MSS. by those who had charge of them. In +heated and angry controversy between different schools of monks appeals +were naturally made to the authority of the Scriptures, and what more +likely--indeed more certain--than that these monks should introduce +variations into their MS. copies favouring the positions for which they +were severally contending? + +The most likely way in which the Gospels grew into their present forms +is, that the various traditions relating to Christ were written down in +different places for the instruction of catechumens, and that these, +passing from hand to hand, and mouth to mouth, grew into a large mass of +disjointed stories, common to many churches. This mass was gradually +sifted, arranged, moulded into historical shape, which should fit into +the preconceived notions of the Messiah, and thus the four Gospels +gradually grew into their present form, and were accepted on all hands +as the legacy of the apostolic age. No careful reader can avoid noticing +the many coincidences of expression between the three synoptics, and +deducing from these coincidences the conclusion that one narrative +formed the basis of the three histories. Ewald supposes the existence of +a _Spruchsammlung_--collected sayings of Christ--but such a collection +is not enough to explain the phenomena we refer to. Dr. Davidson says: +"The rudiments of an original oral Gospel were formed in Jerusalem, in +the bosom of the first Christian Church; and the language of it must +have been Aramaean, since the members consisted of Galileans, to whom +that tongue was vernacular. It is natural to suppose that they were +accustomed to converse with one another on the life, actions, and +doctrines of their departed Lord, dwelling on the particulars that +interested them most, and rectifying the accounts given by one another, +where such accounts were erroneous, or seriously defective. The +Apostles, who were eye-witnesses of the public life of Christ, could +impart correctness to the narratives, giving them a fixed character in +regard to authenticity and form. In this manner an original oral Gospel +in Aramaean was formed. We must not, however, conceive of it as put into +the shape of any of our present Gospels, or as being of like extent; but +as consisting of leading particulars in the life of Christ, probably the +most striking and the most affecting, such as would leave the best +impression on the minds of the disciples. The incidents and sayings +connected with their Divine Master naturally assumed a particular shape +from repetition, though it was simply a rudimental one. They were not +compactly linked in regular or systematic sequence. They were the oral +germ and essence of a Gospel, rather than a proper Gospel itself, at +least, according to our modern ideas of it. But the Aramaean language was +soon laid aside. When Hellenists evinced a disposition to receive +Christianity, and associated themselves with the small number of +Palestinian converts, Greek was necessarily adopted. As the +Greek-speaking members far out-numbered the Aramaean-speaking brethren, +the oral Gospel was put into Greek. Henceforward Greek, the language of +the Hellenists, became the medium of instruction. The truths and facts, +before repeated in Hebrew, were now generally promulgated in Greek by +the apostles and their converts. The historical cyclus, which had been +forming in the Church at Jerusalem, assumed a determinate character in +the Greek tongue" ("Introduction to the New Testament," by S. Davidson, +LL.D., p. 405. Ed. 1848). Thus we find learned Christians obliged to +admit an uninspired collection as the basis of the inspired Gospel, and +laying down a theory which is entirely incompatible with the idea that +the Synoptic Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Our +Gospels are degraded into versions of an older Gospel, instead of being +the inspired record of contemporaries, speaking "that we do know." + +Canon Westcott writes of the three Synoptic Gospels, that "they +represent, as is shown by their structure, a common basis, common +materials, treated in special ways. They evidently contain only a very +small selection from the words and works of Christ, and yet their +contents are included broadly in one outline. Their substance is +evidently much older than their form.... The only explanation of the +narrow and definite limit within which the evangelic history (exclusive +of St. John's Gospel) is confined, seems to be that a collection of +representative words and works was made by an authoritative body, such +as the Twelve, at a very early date, and that this, which formed the +basis of popular teaching, gained exclusive currency, receiving only +subordinate additions and modifications. This Apostolic Gospel--the oral +basis, as I have endeavoured to show elsewhere, of the Synoptic +narratives--dates unquestionably from the very beginning of the +Christian society" ("On the Canon," preface, pp. xxxviii., xxxix). Mr. +Sanday speaks of the "original documents out of which our Gospel was +composed" ("Gospels in the Second Century," page 78), and he writes: +"Doubtless light would be thrown upon the question if we only knew what +was the common original of the two Synoptic texts" (Ibid, p. 65). "The +first three Gospels of our Canon are remarkably alike, their writers +agree in relating the same thing, not only in the same manner, but +likewise in the very words, as must be evident to every common reader +who has paid the slightest attention to the subject.... [Here follow a +number of parallel passages from the three synoptics.] The agreement +between the three evangelists in these extracts is remarkable, and leads +to the question how such coincidences could arise between works which, +from the first years of Christianity until the beginning of the +seventeenth century, were understood to be perfectly independent, and to +have had each a separate and independent origin. The answer to this +question may at last, after more than a hundred years of discussion, be +given with tolerable certainty, if we are allowed to judge of this +subject according to the rules of reason and common sense, by which all +other such difficulties are resolved. 'The most eminent critics'--we +quote from 'Marsh's Michaelis,' vol. iii., part 2, page 170--'are at +present decidedly of opinion that one of the two suppositions must +necessarily be adopted--either that the three evangelists copied from +each other, or that all the three drew from _a common source_, and that +the notion of an absolute independence, in respect to the composition of +our three first Gospels, is no longer tenable'.... The alternative +between _a common source_ and _copying from each other_, is now no +longer in the same position as in the days of Michaelis or Bishop Marsh. +To decide between the two is no longer difficult. No one will now admit +that either of the four evangelists has copied from the other three, 1. +Because in neither of the four is there the slightest notice of the +others. 2. Because, if either of the evangelists may be thought, from +the remarkable similarity of any particular part of his narrative, to +have copied out of either of the other Gospels, we immediately light +upon so many other passages, wholly inconsistent with what the other +three have related on the same subject, that we immediately ask why he +has not copied from the others on those points also. It only remains, +therefore, for us to infer that there was a common source, first +traditional and then written--the [Greek: Apomnemoneumata], in short, or +'Memorials,' etc., of Justin Martyr, and that from this source the four +canonical Gospels, together with thirty or forty others, many of which +are still in existence, were, at various periods of early Christianity, +compiled by various writers" ("Christian Records," Dr. Giles, pp. 266, +270, 271). Dean Alford puts forward a somewhat similar theory; he +considers that the oral teaching of the apostles to catechumens and +others, the simple narrative of facts relating to Christ, gradually grew +into form and was written down, and that this accounts for the marked +similarity of some passages in the different Gospels. He says:--"I +believe, then, that the Apostles, in virtue not merely of their having +been eye-and-ear witnesses of the Evangelic history, but especially of +_their office_, gave to the various Churches their testimony in _a +narrative of facts_, such narrative being modified in each case by the +individual mind of the Apostle himself, and his sense of what was +requisite for the particular community to which he was ministering.... +It would be easy and interesting to follow the probable origin and +growth of this cycle of narratives of the words and deeds of our Lord in +the Church at Jerusalem, for both the Jews and the Hellenists--the +latter under such teachers as Philip and Stephen--commissioned and +authenticated by the Apostles. In the course of such a process some +portions would naturally be written down by private believers for their +own use, or that of friends. And as the Church spread to Samaria, +Caesarea, and Antioch, the want would be felt in each of those places of +similar cycles of oral teaching, which, when supplied, would +thenceforward belong to, and be current in, those respective Churches. +And these portions of the Evangelic history, oral or partially +documentary, would be adopted under the sanction of the Apostles, who +were as in all things, so especially in this, the appointed and +divinely-guided overseers of the whole Church. This _common substratum +of Apostolic teachings_--never formally adopted by all, but subject to +all the varieties of diction and arrangement, addition and omission, +incident to transmission through many individual minds, and into many +different localities--_I believe to have been the original source of the +common part of our three Gospels_" ("Greek Test.," Dean Alford, vol. i., +Prolegomena, ch. i., sec. 3, par. 6; ed. 1859. The italics are Dean +Alford's). + +Eichhorn's theory of the growth of the Gospels is one very generally +accepted; he considers that the present Gospels were not in common +circulation before the end of the second century, and that before that +time other Gospels were in common use, differing considerably from each +other, but resting on a common foundation of historical fact; all these, +he thinks, were versions of an "original Gospel," a kind of rough +outline of Christ's life and discourses, put together without method or +plan, and one of these would be the "Memoirs of the Apostles," of which +Justin Martyr speaks. The Gospels, as we have them, are careful +compilations made from these earlier histories, and we notice that, at +the end of the second, and the beginning of the third, centuries, the +leaders of the Church endeavour to establish the authority of the four +more methodically arranged Gospels, so as to check the reception of +other Gospels, which were relied upon by heretics in their +controversies. + +Strauss gives a careful _resume_ of the various theories of the +formation of the Gospels held by learned men, and shows how the mythic +theory was gradually developed and strengthened; "according to George, +_mythus_ is the creation of a fact out of an idea" ("Life of Jesus," +Strauss, vol. i., p. 42; ed. 1846), and the mythic theory supposes that +the ideas of the Messiah were already in existence, and that the story +of the Gospels grew up by the translation of these ideas into facts: +"Many of the legends respecting him [Jesus] had not to be newly +invented; they already existed in the popular hope of the Messiah, +having been mostly derived, with various modifications, from the Old +Testament, and had merely to be transferred to Jesus, and accommodated +to his character and doctrines. In no case could it be easier for the +person who first added any new feature to the description of Jesus, to +believe himself its genuineness, since his argument would be: Such and +such things must have happened to the Messiah; Jesus was the Messiah; +therefore, such and such things happened to him" (Ibid, pp. 81, 82). "It +is not, however, to be imagined that any one individual seated himself +at his table to invent them out of his own head, and write them down as +he would a poem; on the contrary, these narratives, like all other +legends, were fashioned by degrees, by steps which can no longer be +traced; gradually acquired consistency, and at length received a fixed +form in our written Gospels" (Ibid, p. 35). From the considerations here +adduced--the lack of quotations from our Gospels in the earliest +Christian writers, both orthodox and heretical; the accusations against +each made by the other of introducing chants and modifications in the +Gospels; the facility with which MSS. were altered before the +introduction of printing; the coincidences between the Gospels, showing +that they are drawn from a common source; from all these facts we +finally conclude _that there is no evidence that the Four Gospels +mentioned about that date_ (A.D. 180) _were the same as those we have +now._ + +G. _That there is evidence that two of them were not the same._ "The +testimony of Papias is of great interest and importance in connection +with our inquiry, inasmuch as he is the first ecclesiastical writer who +mentions the tradition that Matthew and Mark composed written records of +the life and teaching of Jesus; but no question has been more +continuously contested than that of the identity of the works to which +he refers with our actual Canonical Gospels. Papias was Bishop of +Hierapolis, in Phrygia, in the first half of the second century, and is +said to have suffered martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius about A.D. +164-167. About the middle of the second century he wrote a work in five +books, entitled 'Exposition of the Lord's Oracles,' which, with the +exception of a few fragments preserved to us chiefly by Eusebius and +Irenaeus, is unfortunately no longer extant. This work was less based on +written records of the teaching of Jesus than on that which Papias had +been able to collect from tradition, which he considered more authentic, +for, like his contemporary, Hegesippus, Papias avowedly prefers +tradition to any written works with which he was acquainted" ("Sup. +Rel.," vol. i., pp. 449, 450). Before giving the testimony attributed to +Papias, we must remark two or three points which will influence our +judgment concerning him. Paley speaks of him, on the authority of +Irenaeus, as "a hearer of John, and companion of Polycarp" ("Evidences," +p. 121); but Paley omits to tell us that Eusebius points out that +Irenaeus was mistaken in this statement, and that Papias "by no means +asserts that he was a hearer and an eye-witness of the holy Apostles, +but informs us that he received the doctrines of faith from their +intimate friends" ("Eccles. Hist.", bk. iii., ch. 39). Eusebius subjoins +the passage from Papias, which states that "if I met with any one who +had been a follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a point to inquire +what were the declarations of the elders: what was said by Andrew, +Peter, or Philip; what by Thomas, James, John, Matthew, or any other of +the disciples of our Lord; what was said by Aristion, and the Presbyter +John, disciples of the Lord" (Ibid). Seeing that Papias died between +A.D. 164 and 167, and that the disciples of Jesus were Jesus' own +contemporaries, any disciple that Papias heard, when a boy, would have +reached a portentous age, and, between the age of the disciple and the +youth of Papias, the reminiscences would probably be of a somewhat hazy +character. It is to Papias that we owe the wonderful account of the +vines (ante, p. 234) of the kingdom of God, given by Irenaeus, who states +that "these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer +of John, and a companion of Polycarp.... And he says, in addition, 'Now +these things are credible to believers.' And he says that 'when the +traitor, Judas, did not give credit to them, and put the question, How +then can things about to bring forth so abundantly be wrought by the +Lord? the Lord declared, They who shall come to these (times) shall +see'" ("Irenaeus Against Heresies," bk. v., ch. 33, sec. 4). The +recollections of Papias scarcely seem valuable as to quality. Next we +note that Papias could scarcely put a very high value on the Apostolic +writings, since he states that "I do not think that I derived so much +benefit from books as from the living voice of those that are still +surviving" ("Eccles. Hist," bk. iii., ch. 39), i.e., of those who had +been followers of the Apostles. How this remark of Papias tallies with +the supposed respect shown to the Canonical Gospels by primitive +writers, it is for Christian apologists to explain. We then mark that we +have no writing of Papias to refer to that pretends to be original. We +have only passages, said to be taken from his writings, preserved in the +works of Irenaeus and Eusebius, and neither of these ecclesiastical +penmen inspire the student with full confidence; even Eusebius mentions +him in doubtful fashion; "there are said to be five books of Papias;" he +gives "certain strange parables of our Lord and of his doctrine, and +some other matters rather too fabulous;" "he was very limited in his +comprehension, as is evident from his discourses" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk. +iii., ch. 39). We thus see that the evidence of Papias is discredited at +the very outset, perhaps to the advantage of the Christians, however, +for his testimony is fatal to the Canonical Gospels. Papias is said to +have written: "And John the Presbyter also said this: Mark being the +interpreter of Peter, whatsoever he recorded he wrote with great +accuracy, but not, however, in the order in which it was spoken or done +by our Lord, but as before said, he was in company with Peter, who gave +him such instruction as was necessary, but not to give a history of our +Lord's discourses; wherefore Mark has not erred in anything, by writing +some things as he has recorded them; for he was carefully attentive to +one thing, not to pass by anything that he heard, or to state anything +falsely in these accounts" ("Eccles. Hist.," bk iii., ch. 39). How far +does this account apply to the Gospel now known as "according to St. +Mark?" Far from showing traces of Petrine influence, such traces are +conspicuous by their absence. "Not only are some of the most important +episodes in which Peter is represented by the other Gospels _as_ a +principal actor altogether omitted, but throughout the Gospel there is +the total absence of anything which is specially characteristic of +Petrine influence and teaching. The argument that these omissions are +due to the modesty of Peter is quite untenable, for not only does +Irenaeus, the most ancient authority on the point, state that this Gospel +was only written after the death of Peter, but also there is no modesty +in omitting passages of importance in the history of Jesus, simply +because Peter himself was in some way concerned in them, or, for +instance, in decreasing his penitence for such a denial of his master, +which could not but have filled a sad place in the Apostle's memory. On +the other hand, there is no adequate record of special matter which the +intimate knowledge of the doings and sayings of Jesus possessed by Peter +might have supplied to counterbalance the singular omissions. There is +infinitely more of the spirit of Peter in the first Gospel than there is +in the second. The whole internal evidence, therefore, shows that this +part of the tradition of the Presbyter John transmitted by Papias does +not apply to our Gospel" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., pp. 459, 460). But a far +stronger objection to the identity of the work spoken of by Papias with +the present Gospel of Mark, is drawn from the description of the +document as given by him. "The discrepancy, however, is still more +marked when we compare with our actual second Gospel the account of the +work of Mark, which Papias received from the Presbyter. Mark wrote down +from memory some parts [Greek: enia] of the teaching of Peter regarding +the life of Jesus, but as Peter adapted his instructions to the actual +circumstances [Greek: pros tas chreias] and did not give a consecutive +report [Greek: suntaxis] of the discourses or doings of Jesus, Mark was +only careful to be accurate, and did not trouble himself to arrange in +historical order [Greek: taxis] his narrative of the things which were +said or done by Jesus, but merely wrote down facts as he remembered +them. This description would lead us to expect a work composed of +fragmentary reminiscences of the teaching of Peter, without orderly +sequence or connection. The absence of orderly arrangement is the most +prominent feature in the description, and forms the burden of the whole. +Mark writes 'what he remembered;' 'he did not arrange in order the +things that were either said or done by Christ;' and then follow the +apologetic expressions of explanation--he was not himself a hearer or +follower of the Lord, but derived his information from the occasional +preaching of Peter, who did not attempt to give a consecutive narrative, +and, therefore, Mark was not wrong in merely writing things without +order as he happened to hear or remember them. Now it is impossible in +the work of Mark here described to recognise our present second Gospel, +which does not depart in any important degree from the order of the +other two Synoptics, and which, throughout, has the most evident +character of orderly arrangement.... The great majority of critics, +therefore, are agreed in concluding that the account of the Presbyter +John recorded by Papias does not apply to our second Canonical Gospel at +all" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. 1, pp. 460, 461). "This document, also, is +mentioned by Papias, as quoted by Eusebius; the account which they give +of it is not applicable to the work which we now have. For the 'Gospel +according to St. Mark' professes to give a continuous history of +Christ's life, as regularly as the other three Gospels, but the work +noticed by Papias is expressly stated to have been memoranda, taken down +from time to time as Peter delivered them, and it is not said that Mark +ever reduced these notes into the form of a more perfect history" +("Christian Records," Rev. Dr. Giles, pp. 94, 95). "It is difficult to +see in what respects Mark's Gospel is more loose and disjointed than +those of Matthew and Luke.... We are inclined to agree with those who +consider the expression [Greek: ou taxei] unsuitable to the present +Gospel of Mark. As far as we are able to understand the entire fragment, +it is most natural to consider John the Presbyter or Papias assigning a +sense to [Greek: ou taxei] which does not agree with the character of +the canonical document" ("Introduction to the New Testament," Dr. +Davidson, p. 158). This Christian commentator is so disgusted with the +conviction he honestly expresses as to the unsuitability of the phrase +in question as applied to Mark, that he exclaims: "We presume that John +the Presbyter was not infallible.... In the present instance, he appears +to have been mistaken in his opinion. His power of perception was +feeble, else he would have seen that the Gospel which he describes as +being written [Greek: ou taxei], does not differ materially in +arrangement from that of Luke. Like Papias, the Presbyter was apparently +destitute of critical ability and good judgment, else he could not have +entertained an idea so much at variance with fact" (Ibid, p. 159). We +may add, for what it is worth, that "according to the unanimous belief +of the early Church this Gospel was written at _Rome._ Hence the +conclusion was drawn that it must have been composed in _the language of +the Romans_; that is, Latin. Even in the old Syriac version, a remark is +annexed, stating that the writer preached the Gospel in Roman (Latin) at +Rome; and the Philoxenian version has a marginal annotation to the same +effect. The Syrian Churches seem to have entertained this opinion +generally, as may be inferred not only from these versions, but from +some of their most distinguished ecclesiastical writers, such as +Ebedjesu. Many Greek Manuscripts, too, have a similar remark regarding +the language of our Gospel, originally taken, perhaps from the Syriac" +(Ibid, pp. 154, 155). We conclude, then, that the document alluded to by +the Presbyter John, as reported by Papias through Eusebius, cannot be +identical with the present canonical Gospel of Mark. Nor is the +testimony regarding Matthew less conclusive: "Of Matthew he has stated +as follows: 'Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and +every one translated it as he was able'" ("Eccles. Hist," Eusebius, bk. +iii., ch. 39). The word here translated "history" is [Greek: ta logia] +and would be more correctly rendered by "oracles" or "discourses," and +much controversy has arisen over this term, it being contended that +[Greek: logia] could not rightly be extended so as to include any +records of the life of Christ: "It is impossible upon any but arbitrary +grounds, and from a foregone conclusion, to maintain that a work +commencing with a detailed history of the birth and infancy of Jesus, +his genealogy, and the preaching of John the Baptist, and concluding +with an equally minute history of his betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and +resurrection, and which relates all the miracles, and has for its +evident aim throughout the demonstration that Messianic prophecy was +fulfilled in Jesus, could be entitled [Greek: ta logia] the oracles or +discourses of the Lord. For these and other reasons ... the majority of +critics deny that the work described by Papias can be the same as the +Gospel in our Canon bearing the name of Matthew" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., +pp. 471, 472). But the fact which puts the difference between the +present "Matthew" and that spoken of by Papias beyond dispute is that +Matthew, according to Papias, "wrote in the Hebrew dialect," i.e., the +Syro-Chaldaic, or Aramaean, while the canonical Matthew is written in +Greek. "There is no point, however, on which the testimony of the +Fathers is more invariable and complete than that the work of Matthew +was written in Hebrew or Aramaic" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., p. 475). This +industrious author quotes Papias, Irenaeus, Pantaenus in Eusebius, +Eusebius, Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, Jerome, in support of +his assertion, and remarks that "the same tradition is repeated by +Chrysostom, Augustine and others" (Ibid, pp. 475-477). "We believe that +Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, meaning by that term the common +language of the Jews of his time, because such is the uniform statement +of all ancient writers who advert to the subject. To pass over others +whose authority is of less weight, he is affirmed to have written in +Hebrew by Papias, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome. Nor does any +ancient author advance a contrary opinion" ("Genuineness of the +Gospels," Norton, vol. i., pp. 196, 197). "Ancient historical testimony +is unanimous in declaring that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, i.e., +in the Aramaean or Syro-Chaldaic language, at that time the vernacular +tongue of the Jews in Palestine" (Davidson's "Introduction to the New +Testament," p. 3). After a most elaborate presentation of the evidences, +the learned doctor says: "Let us now pause to consider this account of +the original Gospel of Matthew. It runs through all antiquity. None +doubted of its truth, as far as we can judge from their writings. There +is not the least trace of an opposite tradition" (Ibid, p. 37). The +difficulty of Christian apologists is, then, to prove that the Gospel +written by Matthew in Hebrew is the same as the Gospel according to +Matthew in Greek, and sore have been the shifts to which they have been +driven in the effort. Dean Alford, unable to deny that all the testimony +which could be relied upon to prove that Matthew wrote at all, also +proved that he wrote in Hebrew, and aware that an unauthorised +translation, which could not be identified with the original, could +never claim canonicity, fell back on the remarkable notion that he +himself translated his Hebrew Gospel into Greek; in the edition of his +Greek Testament published in 1859, however, he gives up this notion in +favour of the idea that the original Gospel of Matthew was written in +Greek. + +Of his earlier theory of translation by Matthew, Davidson justly says: +"It is easy to perceive its gratuitous character. It is a clumsy +expedient, devised for the purpose of uniting two conflicting +opinions--for saving the credit of ancient testimony, which is on the +side of a Hebrew original, and of meeting, at the same time, the +difficulties supposed to arise from the early circulation of the +Greek.... The advocates of the double hypothesis go in the face of +ancient testimony. Besides, they believe that Matthew wrote in Hebrew, +for the use of Jewish converts. Do they also suppose his Greek Gospel to +have been intended for the same class? If so, the latter was plainly +unnecessary: one Gospel was sufficient for the same persons. Or do they +believe that the second edition of it was designed for Gentile +Christians? if so, the notion is contradicted by internal evidence, +which proves that it was written specially for Jews. In short, the +hypothesis is wholly untenable, and we are surprised that it should have +found so many advocates" ("Introduction to the New Testament," p. 52). +The fact is, that no one knows who was the translator--or, rather, the +writer--of the Greek Gospel. Jerome honestly says that it is not known +who translated it into Greek. Dr. Davidson has the following strange +remarks: "The author indeed must ever remain unknown; but whether he +were an apostle or not, he must have had the highest sanction in his +proceeding. His work was performed with the cognisance, and under the +eye of Apostolic men. The reception it met with proved the general +belief of his calling, and competency to the task. Divine +superintendence was exercised over him" (Ibid, pp. 72, 73). It is +difficult to understand how Dr. Davidson knows that divine +superintendence was exercised over an unknown individual. Dr. Giles +argues against the hypothesis that our Greek Gospel is a translation: +"If St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, why has the original +perished? The existing Greek text is either a translation of the Hebrew, +or it is a separate work. But it cannot be a translation, for many +reasons, 1. Because there is not the slightest evidence on record of its +being a translation. 2. Because it is unreasonable to believe that an +authentic work--written by inspiration--would perish, or be superseded +by, an unauthenticated translation--for all translations are less +authentic than their originals. 3. Because there are many features in +our present Gospel according to St. Matthew, which are common to the +Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke; which would lead to the inference that +the latter are translations also. Besides, there is nothing in the +Gospel of St. Matthew, as regards its style or construction, that would +lead to the inference of its being a translation, any more than all the +other books contained in the New Testament. For these reasons we +conclude that the 'Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew,' which perhaps no one +has seen since Pantaenus, who brought it from India, and the 'Greek +Gospel according to St. Matthew,' are separate and independent works" +("Christian Records." Rev. Dr. Giles, pp. 93, 94). It must not be +forgotten that there was in existence in the early Church a Hebrew +Gospel which was widely spread, and much used. It was regarded by the +Ebionites, or Jewish Christians, later known as Nazarenes, as the only +authentic Gospel, and Epiphanius, writing in the fourth century, says: +"They have the Gospel of Matthew very complete; for it is well known +that this is preserved among them as it was first written in Hebrew" +("Opp.," i. 124, as quoted by Norton). But this Gospel, known as the +"Gospel according to the Hebrews," was not the same as the Greek "Gospel +according to St. Matthew." If it had been the same, Jerome would not +have thought it worth while to translate it; the quotations that he +makes from it are enough to prove to demonstration that the present +Gospel of Matthew is not that spoken of in the earliest days. "The +following positions are deducible from St. Jerome's writings: 1. The +authentic Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew. 2. The Gospel +according to the Hebrews was used by the Nazarenes and Ebionites. 3. +This Gospel was identical with the Aramaean original of Matthew" +(Davidson's "Introduction to the New Testament," p. 12). To these +arguments may be added the significant fact that the quotations in +Matthew from the Old Testament are taken from the Septuagint, and not +from the Hebrew version. The original Hebrew Gospel of Matthew would +surely not have contained quotations from the Greek translation, rather +than from the Hebrew original, of the Jewish Scriptures. If our present +Gospel is an accurate translation of the original Matthew, we must +believe that the Jewish Matthew, writing for Jews, did not use the +Hebrew Scriptures, with which his readers would be familiar, but went +out of his way to find the hated Septuagint, and re-translated it into +Hebrew. Thus we find that the boasted testimony said to be recorded by +Papias to the effect that Matthew and Mark wrote our two first +synoptical Gospels breaks down completely under examination, and that +instead of proving the authenticity of the present Gospels, it proves +directly the reverse, since the description there given of the writings +ascribed to Matthew and Mark is not applicable to the writings that now +bear their names, so that we find that in Papias _there is evidence that +two of the Gospels were not the same_. + +H. _That there is evidence that the earlier records were not the Gospels +now esteemed Canonical._ This position is based on the undisputed fact +that the "Evangelical quotations" in early Christian writings differ +very widely from sentences of somewhat similar character in the +Canonical Gospels, and also from the circumstance that quotations not to +be found in the Canonical Gospels are found in the writings referred to. +Various theories are put forward, as we have already seen, to account +for the differences of expression and arrangement: the Fathers are said +to have quoted loosely, to have quoted from memory, to have combined, +expanded, condensed, at pleasure. To prove this general laxity of +quotation, Christian apologists rely much on what they assert is a +similar laxity shown in quoting from the Old Testament; and Mr. Sanday +has used this argument with considerable skill. But it does not follow +that variations in quotations from the Old Testament spring from laxity +and carelessness; they are generally quite as likely to spring from +multiplicity of versions, for we find Mr. Sanday himself saying that +"most of the quotations that we meet with are taken from the LXX. +Version; and the text of that version was, at this particular time +especially, uncertain and fluctuating. There is evidence to show that it +must have existed in several forms, which differed more or less from +that of the extant MSS. It would be rash, therefore, to conclude at +once, because we find a quotation differing from the present text of the +LXX., that it differed from that which was used by the writer making the +quotation" ("Gospels in the Second Century," pp. 16, 17). Besides, it +must not be forgotten that the variation is sometimes too persistent to +spring from looseness of quotation, and that the same variation is not +always confined to one author. The position for which we contend will be +most clearly appreciated by giving, at full length, one of the passages +most relied upon by Christian apologists; and we will take, as an +example of supposed quotation, the long passage in Clement, chap. +xiii.:-- + +MATTHEW. CLEMENT. LUKE. + + Especially remembering + the word of the Lord Jesus + when he spake, teaching + gentleness and + long-suffering. + For this he said: +v. 7. Blessed are Pity he, that he may be vi. 36. Be ye, +the pitiful, for they pitied: forgive, that it therefore, +shall be pitied. may be forgiven unto merciful, as +vi. 14. For if ye you. your Father also +forgive men their As ye do, so shall it is merciful. +trespasses, your heavenly be done unto you; vi. 37. Acquit, +Father will as ye give, so shall it and ye shall be +also forgive you. be given unto you; as acquitted. +vii. 12. All things, ye judge, so shall it vi. 31. And as ye +therefore, whatsoever be judged unto you; would that they +ye would that as ye are kind, so should do unto +men should do unto shall kindness be you, do ye also +you, even so do ye shown unto you; with unto them +unto them. that measure ye mete, likewise. +vii. 2. For with with it shall it be vi. 18. Give, and +what judgment ye measured unto you. it shall be given +judge, ye shall be unto you. +judged, and with vi. 37. And judge +what measure ye not, and ye shall +mete it shall be not be judged. For +measured unto you. with what measure + ye mete, it shall + be measured unto + you again. + +The English, as here given, represents as closely as possible both the +resemblances and the differences of the Greek text. What reader, in +reading this, can believe that Clement picked out a bit here and a bit +there from the Canonical Gospels, and then wove them into one connected +whole, which he forthwith represented as said thus by Christ? To the +unprejudiced student the hypothesis will, at once, suggest itself--there +must have been some other document current in Clement's time, which +contained the sayings of Christ, from which this quotation was made. +Only the exigencies of Christian apologetic work forbid the general +adoption of so simple and so natural a solution of the question. Mr. +Sanday says: "Doubtless light would be thrown upon the question if we +only knew what was the common original of the two Synoptic texts ... The +differences in these extra-Canonical quotations do not exceed the +differences between the Synoptic Gospels themselves; yet by far the +larger proportion of critics regard the resemblances in the Synoptics as +due to a common written source used either by all three or by two of +them" ("Gospels in the Second Century," p. 65). It is clear that Jesus +could not have said these passages in the words given by Matthew, +Clement, and Luke, repeating himself in three different forms, now +connectedly, now in fragments; two, at least, out of the three must give +an imperfect report. Mr. Sanday, by speaking of "the common original of +the two Synoptic texts," clearly shows that he does not regard the +Synoptic version as original, and thereby helps to buttress our +contention, that the Gospels we have now are not the only ones that were +current in the early Church, and that they had no exclusive +authority--in fact, that they were not "Canonical." Further on, Mr. +Sanday, referring to Polycarp, says: "I cannot but think that there has +been somewhere a written version different from our Gospels to which he +and Clement have had access ... It will be observed that all the +quotations refer either to the double or treble Synoptics, where we have +already proof of the existence of the saying in question in more than a +single form, and not to those portions that are peculiar to the +individual Evangelists. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' is, +therefore, not without reason when he says that they may be derived from +other collections than our actual Gospels. The possibility cannot be +excluded" ("Gospels in the Second Century," pp. 86, 87). The other +passage from Clement is yet more unlike anything in the Canonical +Gospels: in chap. xlvi. we read:-- + +MATTHEW. CLEMENT. LUKE. MARK. +xxvi. 24. He said: xvii. 1. xiv. 21. Woe to +Woe to that Woe to that man; Woe through that man by whom +man by whom well for him whom they the Son of man is +the Son of man that he had not (offences) delivered up, well +is delivered been born, than come. for him if that +up; well for that he should 2. It were man had not been +him if that offend one of my advantageous for born. +man had not elect; better him that a great ix. 42. And +been born. for him a millstone were whosoever shall +xviii. 6. But millstone should hanged around offend one of +whoso shall be attached (to his neck, and he these little ones +offend one of him), and he cast in the sea, which believe in +these little should be than that he me, it is well for +ones which drowned in the should offend him rather that a +believe in me, it sea, than that one of these great millstone +were profitable he should offend little ones. were hanged about +for him that a one of my little his neck, and he +great millstone ones. thrown in the sea. +were suspended +upon his +neck, and that +he were drowned +in the depth +of the sea. + +"This quotation is clearly not from our Gospels, but is derived from a +different written source.... The slightest comparison of the passage +with our Gospels is sufficient to convince any unprejudiced mind that it +is neither a combination of texts, nor a quotation from memory. The +language throughout is markedly different, and, to present even a +superficial parallel, it is necessary to take a fragment of the +discourse of Jesus at the Last Supper, regarding the traitor who should +deliver him up (Matt. xxvi. 24), and join it to a fragment of his +remarks in connection with the little child whom he set in the midst +(xviii. 6)" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., pp. 233, 234). + +In Polycarp a passage is found much resembling that given from Clement, +chap, xiii., but not exactly reproducing it, which is open to the same +criticism as that passed on Clement. + +If we desire to prove that Gospels other than the Canonical were in use, +the proof lies ready to our hands. In chap. xlvi. of Clement we read: +"It is written, cleave to the holy, for they who cleave to them shall be +made holy." In chap. xliv.: "And our Apostles knew, through our Lord +Jesus Christ, that there would be contention regarding the office of the +episcopate." The author of "Supernatural Religion" gives us passages +somewhat resembling this. He said: "There shall be schisms and +heresies," from Justin Martyr ("Trypho," chap. xxxv): "There shall be, +as the Lord said, false apostles, false prophets, heresies, desires for +supremacy," from the "Clementine Homilies": "From these came the false +Christs, false prophets, false apostles, who divided the unity of the +Church," from Hegesippus (vol. i. p. 236). + +In Barnabas we read, chap. vi.: "The Lord saith, He maketh a new +creation in the last times. The Lord saith, Behold I make the first as +the last." Chap. vii.: Jesus says: "Those who desire to behold me, and +to enter into my kingdom, must, through tribulation and suffering, lay +hold upon me." + +In Ignatius we find: Ep. Phil., chap, vii.: "But the Spirit proclaimed, +saying these words: Do ye nothing without the Bishop." "There is, +however, one quotation, introduced as such, in this same Epistle, the +source of which Eusebius did not know, but which Origen refers to 'the +Preaching of Peter,' and Jerome seems to have found in the Nazarene +version of the 'Gospel according to the Hebrews.' This phrase is +attributed to our Lord when he appeared 'to those about Peter and said +to them, Handle me, and see that I am not an incorporeal spirit.' But +for the statement of Origen, that these words occurred in the 'Preaching +of Peter,' they might have been referred without much difficulty to Luke +xxiv. 39" ("Gospels in the Second Century," p. 81). And they most +certainly would have been so referred, and dire would have been +Christian wrath against those who refused to admit these words as a +proof of the canonicity of Luke's Gospel in the time of Ignatius. + +If, turning to Justin Martyr, we take one or two passages resembling +other passages to be found in the Canonical, we shall then see the same +type of differences as we have already remarked in Clement. In the +fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the first "Apology" we find a +collection of the sayings of Christ, most of which are to be read in the +Sermon on the Mount; in giving these Justin mentions no written work +from which he quotes. He says: "We consider it right, before giving you +the promised explanation, to cite a few precepts given by Christ +himself" ("Apology," chap. xiv). If these had been taken from Gospels +written by Apostles, is it conceivable that Justin would not have used +their authority to support himself? + +MATTHEW. JUSTIN. + +v. 46. For if ye should love And of our love to all, he +them which love you, what reward taught this: If ye love them +have ye? do not even the that love ye, what new things +publicans the same? do ye? for even fornicators do + this; but I say unto you: Pray +v. 44. But I say unto you, for your enemies, and love them +love your enemies, bless them which hate you, and bless them +which curse you, do good to which curse you, and offer +them which hate you, and pray prayer for them which +for them which despitefully use despitefully use you. +you and persecute you. + +The corresponding passage in Luke is still further from Justin (Luke vi. +32-35). "It will be observed that here again Justin's Gospel reverses +the order in which the parallel passage is found in our synoptics. It +does so indeed, with a clearness of design which, even without the +actual peculiarities of diction and construction, would indicate a +special and different source. The passage varies throughout from our +Gospels, but Justin repeats the same phrases in the same order +elsewhere" ("Sup. Rel," v. i. p. 353, note 2). + +MATTHEW. JUSTIN. + +v. 42. Give thou to him that He said: Give ye to every one +asketh thee, and from him that that asketh, and from him that +would borrow of thee turn not desireth to borrow turn not ye +thou away. away: for if ye lend to them + from whom ye hope to receive, +Luke vi. 34. And if you lend what new thing do ye? for even +to them from whom ye hope to the publicans do this. +receive, what thank have ye; for +sinners also lend to sinners to But ye, lay not up for yourselves +receive as much again. upon the earth, where moth and + rust do corrupt, and robbers +Matt. vi. 19, 20. Lay not up for break through, but lay up for +yourselves treasures upon earth, yourselves in the heavens, where +where moth and rust doth corrupt, neither moth nor rust doth +and where thieves break corrupt. +through and steal. But lay up +for yourselves treasures in heaven, For what is a man profited, is he +where neither moth nor shall gain the whole world, but +rust doth corrupt, and where destroy his soul? or what shall he +thieves do not break through give in exchange for it? Lay up, +nor steal. therefore, in the heavens, where + neither most nor rust doth corrupt. +xvi. 26. For what shall a +man be profited if he shall gain +the whole world, but lose his +soul? or what shall a man give in +exchange for his soul? + +This passage is clearly unbroken in Justin, and forms one connected +whole; to parallel it from the Synoptics we must go from Matthew v., 42, +to Luke vi., 34, then to Matthew vi., 19, 20, off to Matthew xvi. 26, +and back again to Matthew vi. 19; is such a method of quotation likely, +especially when we notice that Justin, in quoting passages on a given +subject (as at the beginning of chap. xv. on chastity), separates the +quotations by an emphatic "And," marking the quotation taken from +another place? These passages will show the student how necessary it is +that he should not accept a few words as proof of a quotation from a +synoptic, without reading the whole passage in which they occur. The +coincidence of half a dozen words is no quotation when the context is +different, and there is no break between the context and the words +relied upon. "It is absurd and most arbitrary to dissect a passage, +quoted by Justin as a consecutive and harmonious whole, and finding +parallels more or less approximate to its various phrases scattered up +and down distant parts of our Gospels, scarcely one of which is not +materially different from the reading of Justin, to assert that he is +quoting these Gospels freely from memory, altering, excising, combining, +and inter-weaving texts, and introverting their order, but nevertheless +making use of them and not of others. It is perfectly obvious that such +an assertion is nothing but the merest assumption" ("Sup. Rel.," vol. +i., p. 364). Mr. Sanday's conclusion as to Justin is: "The _a priori_ +probabilities of the case, as well as the actual phenomena of Justin's +Gospel, alike tend to show that he did make use either mediately or +immediately of our Gospels, but that he did not assign to them an +exclusive authority, and that he probably made use along with them of +other documents no longer extant" ("Gospels in the Second Century," p. +117). It is needless to multiply analyses of quotations, as the system +applied to the two given above can be carried out for himself by the +student in other cases. But a far weightier proof remains that Justin's +"Memoirs of the Apostles" were not the Canonical Gospels; and that is, +that Justin used expressions, and mentions incidents which are _not_ to +be found in our Gospels, and some of which _are_ to be found in +Apocryphal Gospels. For instance, in the first "Apology," chap. xiii., +we read: "We have been taught that the only honour that is worthy of him +is not to consume by fire what he has brought into being for our +sustenance, but to use it for ourselves and those who need, and with +gratitude to him to offer thanks by invocations and hymns for our +creation, and for all the means of health, and for the various qualities +of the different kinds of things, and for the changes of the seasons; +and to present before him petitions for our existing again in +incorruption through faith in him. Our teacher of these things is Jesus +Christ, who also was born for this purpose." "He has exhorted us to lead +all men, by patience and gentleness, from shame and the love of evil" +(Ibid, chap. xvi.). "For the foal of an ass stood _bound to a vine_" +(Ibid, chap. xxxii.). "The angel said to the _Virgin_, Thou shalt call +his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (chap. +xxxiii.). "They tormented him, and set him on the judgment seat, and +said, Judge us" (chap. xxxv.). "Our Lord Jesus Christ said, In +whatsoever things I shall take you, in these I shall judge you" +("Trypho," chapter xlviii.). These are only some out of the many +passages of which no resemblance is to be found in the Canonical +Gospels. + +The best way to show the truth of Paley's contention--that "from +Justin's works, which are still extant, might be collected a tolerably +complete account of Christ's life, in all points agreeing with that +which is delivered in our Scriptures; taken indeed, in a great measure, +from those Scriptures, but still proving that this account and no other, +was the account known and extant in that age" ("Evidences," p. 77)--will +be to give the story from Justin, mentioning every notice of Christ in +his works, which gives anything of his supposed life, only omitting +passages relating solely to his teaching, such as those given above. The +large majority of these are taken from the "Dialogue with Trypho," a +wearisome production, in which Justin endeavours to convince a Jew that +Christ is the Messiah, by quotations from the Jewish Scriptures (which, +by the way, include Esdras, thus placing that book on a level with the +other inspired volumes). A noticeable peculiarity of this Dialogue is, +that any alleged incident in Christ's life is taken as true, not because +it is authenticated as historical, but simply because it was prophesied +of; Justin's Christ is, in fact, an ideal, composed out of the +prophecies of the Jews, and fitted on to a Jew named Jesus. + + Christ was the offspring truly brought forth from the Father, + before the creation of anything else, the Word begotten of God, + before all his works, and he appeared before his birth, + sometimes as a flame of fire, sometimes as an angel, as at + Sodom, to Moses, to Joshua. He was called by Solomon, Wisdom; + and by the Prophets and by Christians, the King, the Eternal + Priest, God, Lord, Angel, Man, the Flower, the Stone, the + Cornerstone, the Rod, the Day, the East, the Glory, the Rock, + the Sword, Jacob, Israel, the Captain, the Son, the Helper, the + Redeemer. He was born into the World by the over-shadowing of + God the Holy Ghost, who is none other than the Word himself, and + produced without sexual union by a virgin of the seed of Jacob, + Judah, Phares, Jesse, and David, his birth being announced by an + angel, who told the Virgin to call his name Jesus, for he should + save his people from their sins. Joseph, the spouse of Mary, + desired to put her away, but was commanded in a vision not to + put away his wife, the angel telling him that what was in her + womb was of the Holy Ghost. At the first census taken in Judaea, + under Cyrenius, the first Roman Procurator, he left Nazareth + where he lived, and went to Bethlehem, to which he belonged, his + family being of the tribe of Judah, and then was ordered to + proceed to Egypt with Mary and the child, and remain there until + another revelation warned them to return to Judaea. At Bethlehem + Joseph could find no lodging in the village, so took up his + quarters in a cave near, where Christ was born and placed in a + manger. Here he was found by the Magi from Arabia, who had been + to Jerusalem inquiring what king was born there, they having + seen a star rise in heaven. They worshipped the child and gave + him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and warned by a revelation, + went home without telling Herod where they had found the child. + So Herod, when Joseph, Mary, and the child had gone into Egypt, + as they were commanded, ordered the whole of the children then + in Bethlehem to be massacred. Archelaus succeeded Herod, and was + succeeded himself by another Herod. The child grew up like all + other men, and was a man without comeliness, and inglorious, + working as a carpenter, making ploughs and yokes, and when he + was thirty years of age, more or less, he went to Jordan to be + baptised by John, who was the herald of his approach. When he + stepped into the water a fire was kindled in the Jordan, and + when he came out of the water the Holy Ghost lighted on him like + a dove, and at the same instant a voice came from the heavens: + "Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee." He was tempted + by Satan, and of like passions with men; he was spotless and + sinless, and the blameless and righteous man; he made whole the + lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, and he raised the + dead; he was called, because of his mighty works, a magician, + and a deceiver of the people. He stood in the midst of his + brethren the Apostles, and when living with them sang praises + unto God. He changed the names of the sons of Zebedee to + Boanerges, and of another of the Apostles to Peter. He ordered + his acquaintance to bring him an ass, and the foal of an ass + which stood bound to a vine, and he mounted and rode into + Jerusalem. He overthrew the tables of the money-changers in the + temple. He gave us bread and wine in remembrance of his taking + our flesh and of shedding his blood. He took upon him the curses + of all, and by his stripes the human race is healed. On the day + in which he was to be crucified (elsewhere called the night + before) he took three disciples to the hill called Olivet, and + prayed; his sweat fell to the ground like drops, his heart and + also his bones trembling; men went to the Mount of Olives to + seize him; he was seized on the day of the Passover, and + crucified during the Passover; Pilate sent Jesus bound to Herod; + before Pilate he kept silence; they set Christ on the judgment + seat, and said: "Judge us;" he was crucified under Pontius + Pilate; his hands and feet were pierced; they cast lots for his + vesture, and divided it; they that saw him crucified, shook + their heads and mocked him, saying: "Let him who raised the dead + save himself." "He said he was the Son of God; let him come + down; let God save him." He gave up his spirit to the Father, + and after he was crucified all his acquaintance forsook him, + having denied him. He rose on the third day; he was crucified on + Friday, and rose on "the day of the Sun," and appeared to the + Apostles and taught them to read the prophecies, and they + repented of their flight, after they were persuaded by himself + that he had beforehand warned them of his sufferings, and that + these sufferings were prophesied of. They saw him ascend. The + rulers in heaven were commanded to admit the King of Glory, but + seeing him uncomely and dishonoured they asked, "Who is this + King of Glory?" God will keep Christ in heaven until he has + subdued his enemies the devils. He will return in glory, raise + the bodies of the dead, clothe the good with immortality, and + send the bad, endued with eternal sensibility into everlasting + fire. He has the everlasting kingdom. + +These references to Jesus are scattered up and down through Justin's +writings, without any chronological order, a phrase here, a phrase +there; only in one or two instances are two or three things related even +in the same chapter. They are arranged here connectedly, as nearly as +possible in the usually accepted order, and the greatest care has been +taken not to omit any. It will be worth while to note the differences +between this and our Gospels, and also the allusions to other Gospels +which it contains. Christ is clearly subsequent in time to the Father, +being brought forth from him; he conceives himself, he being here +identified with the Holy Ghost; it is the _virgin_ who descends from +David, a fact of which there is no hint given in our Gospels; the reason +of the name Jesus is told to the Virgin instead of to Joseph; we hear +nothing of the shepherds and the glory of the Lord round the chanting +angels; Jesus is uncomely, and works making ploughs and yokes, of which, +we hear nothing in the Gospels; the fire at the baptism is not mentioned +in the Gospels, and the voice from heaven speaks in words not found in +them; he is called a magician, of which accusation we know nothing from +the four; the colt of the ass is tied to a vine, a circumstance omitted +in the canonical writings; it is no where said in the New Testament that +the bread at the Lord's supper is given in remembrance of _the +incarnation_, but, on the contrary, it is in remembrance of _the death_ +of Christ; the crucifixion is not stated to have taken place during the +Passover, but on the contrary the Fourth Gospel places it before, the +others after, the Passover; we hear nothing of Christ set on the +judgment seat in the Gospels: the _vesture_ is not divided according to +John, who draws a distinction between the _vesture_ and the _raiment_ +which is not recognised by Justin; the taunts of the crowd are +different; the denial of Christ by all the Apostles is uncanonical, as +is also their forsaking him _after_ the crucifixion; we do not hear of +the "day of the Sun" in our Gospels, nor of the rulers of heaven and +their reception of Christ. In fact, there are more points of divergence +than of coincidence between the details of the story of Jesus given by +Justin and that given in the Four Gospels, and yet Paley says that: "all +the references in Justin are made without mentioning the author; which +proves that these books were perfectly notorious, and that there were no +other accounts of Christ then extant, or, at least, no others so +received and credited, as to make it necessary to distinguish these from +the rest" ("Evidences," p. 123). And Paley has actually the hardihood to +state that what "seems extremely to be observed is, that in all Justin's +works, from which might be extracted almost a complete life of Christ, +there are but two instances in which he refers to anything as said or +done by Christ, which is not related concerning him in our present +Gospels; which shows that these Gospels, and these, we may say, alone, +were the authorities from which the Christians of that day drew the +information upon which they depended" (Ibid pp. 122, 123). Paley, +probably, never intended that a life of Christ should "be extracted" +from "all Justin's works." It is done above, and the reader may judge +for himself of Paley's truthfulness. One of the "two instances" is given +as follows: "The other, of a circumstance in Christ's baptism, namely, a +fiery or luminous appearance upon the water, which, according to +Epiphanius, is noticed in the Gospel of the Hebrews; and which might be +true; but which, whether true or false, is mentioned by Justin with a +plain mark of diminution when compared with what he quotes as resting +upon Scripture authority. The reader will advert to this distinction. +'And then, when Jesus came to the river Jordan, where John was +baptising, as Jesus descended into the water, a fire also was kindled in +Jordan; and when he came up out of the water, _the apostles of this our +Christ have written_, that the Holy Ghost lighted upon him as a dove'" +(Ibid, p. 123). The italics here are Paley's own. Now let the reader +turn to the passage itself, and he will find that Paley has deliberately +altered the construction of the phrases, in order to make a +"distinction" that Justin does not make, inserting the reference to the +apostles in a different place to that which it holds in Justin. Is it +credible that such duplicity passes to-day for argument? one can only +hope that the large majority of Christians who quote Paley are ignorant, +and are, therefore, unconscious of the untruthfulness of the apologist; +the passage quoted is taken from the "Dialogue with Trypho," chap. 88, +and runs as follows: "Then, when Jesus had gone to the river Jordan, +where John was baptising, and when he had stepped into the water, a fire +was kindled in the Jordan; and when he came out of the water, the Holy +Ghost lighted on him like a dove; the apostles of this very Christ of +ours wrote" [thus]. The phrase italicised by Paley concludes the +account, and if it refers to one part of the story, it refers to all; +thus the reader can see for himself that Justin makes no "mark of +diminution" of any kind, but gives the whole story, fire, Holy Ghost, +and all, as from the "Memoirs." The mockery of Christ on the cross is +worded differently in Justin and in the Gospels, and he distinctly says +that he quotes from the "Memoirs." "They spoke in mockery the words +which are recorded in the memoirs of his Apostles: 'He said he was the +Son of God; let him come down: let God save him'" ("Dial." chap. ci.). + +If we turn to the Clementines, we find, in the same way, passages not to +be found in the Canonical Gospels. "And Peter said: We remember that our +Lord and Teacher, as commanding us, said: Keep the mysteries for me, and +the sons of my house" ("Hom." xix. chap. 20). "And Peter said: If, +therefore, of the Scriptures some are true and some are false, our +Teacher rightly said: 'Be ye good money-changers,' as in the Scriptures +there are some true sayings and some spurious" ("Hom." ii. chap. 51; see +also iii. chap. 50. and xviii. chap. 20). This saying of Christ is found +in many of the Fathers. "To those who think that God tempts, as the +Scriptures say he [Jesus] said: 'The tempter is the wicked one, who also +tempted himself'" ("Hom." iii. chap. 55). + +Of the Clementine "Homilies" Mr. Sanday remarks, "several apocryphal +sayings, and some apocryphal details, are added. Thus the Clementine +writer calls John a 'Hemerobaptist,' _i.e.,_ member of a sect which +practised daily baptism. He talks about a rumour which became current in +the reign of Tiberius, about the 'vernal equinox,' that at the same time +a King should arise in Judaea who should work miracles, making the blind +to see, the lame to walk, healing every disease, including leprosy, and +raising the dead; in the incident of the Canaanite woman (whom, with +Mark, he calls a Syrophoenician) he adds her name, 'Justa,' and that of +her daughter 'Bernice.' He also limits the ministry of our Lord to one +year" ("Gospels in the Second Century," pp. 167, 168). But it is +needless to multiply such passages; three or four would be enough to +prove our position: whence were they drawn, if not from records +differing from the Gospels now received? We, therefore, conclude that in +the numerous Evangelical passages quoted by the Fathers, which are not +in the Canonical Gospels, we find _evidence that the earlier records +were not the Gospels now esteemed Canonical._ + +I. _That the books themselves show marks of their later origin._ We +should draw this conclusion from phrases scattered throughout the +Gospels, which show that the writers were ignorant of local customs, +habits, and laws, and therefore could not have been Jews contemporary +with Jesus at the date when he is alleged to have lived. We find a clear +instance of this ignorance in the mention made by Luke of the census +which is supposed to have brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem +immediately before the birth of Jesus. If Jesus was born at the time +alleged "the Roman census in question must have been made either under +Herod the Great, or at the commencement of the reign of Archelaus. This +is in the highest degree improbable, for in those countries which were +not reduced _in formam provinciae_, but were governed by _regibus +sociis_, the taxes were levied by these princes, who paid a tribute to +the Romans; and this was the state of things in Judaea prior to the +deposition of Archelaus.... The Evangelist relieves us from a further +inquiry into this more or less historical or arbitrary combination by +adding that this taxing was first made when Cyrenius (Quirinus) _was +Governor of_ Syria [Greek: haegemoneuontos taes Surias Kuraeniou] for it +is an authenticated point that the assessment of Quirinus did not take +place either under Herod or early in the reign of Archelaus, the period +at which, according to Luke, Jesus was born. Quirinus was not at that +time Governor of Syria, a situation held during the last years of Herod +by Lentius Saturninus, and after him by Quintilius Varus; and it was not +till long after the death of Herod that Quirinus was appointed Governor +of Syria. That Quirinus undertook a census of Judaea we know certainly +from Josephus, who, however, remarks that he was sent to execute this +measure when Archelaus' country was laid to the province of Syria +(compare "Ant.," bk. xvii. ch. 13, sec. 5; bk. xviii. ch. 1, sec. 1; +"Wars of the Jews," bk. ii. ch. 8, sec. 1; and ch. 9, sec. 1) thus, +about ten years after the time at which, according to Matthew and Luke, +Jesus must have been born" (Strauss's "Life of Jesus," vol. i., pp. +202-204). + +The confusion of dates, as given in Luke, proves that the writer was +ignorant of the internal history of Judaea and the neighbouring +provinces. The birth of Jesus, according to Luke, must have taken place +six months after the birth of John Baptist, and as John was born during +the reign of Herod, Jesus must also have been born under the same King, +or else at the commencement of the reign of Archelaus. Yet Luke says +that he was born during the census in Judaea, which, as we have seen just +above, took place ten years later. "The Evangelist, therefore, in order +to get a census, must have conceived the condition of things such as +they were after the deposition of Archelaus; but in order to get a +census extending to Galilee, he must have imagined the kingdom to have +continued undivided, as in the time of Herod the Great. [Strauss had +explained that the reduction of the kingdom of Archelaus into a Roman +province did not affect Galilee, which was still ruled by Herod Antipas +as an allied prince, and that a census taken by the Roman Governor +would, therefore, not extend to Galilee, and could not affect Joseph, +who, living at Nazareth, would be the subject of Herod. See, as +illustrative of this, Luke xxiii. 6, 7.] Thus he deals in manifest +contradictions; or, rather, he has an exceedingly sorry acquaintance +with the political relations of that period; for he extends the census +not only to the whole of Palestine, but also (which we must not forget) +to the whole Roman world" (Strauss's "Life of Jesus," vol. i., p. 206). + +After quoting one of the passages of Josephus referred to above, Dr. +Giles says: "There can be little doubt that this is the mission of +Cyrenius which the Evangelist supposed to be the occasion of the visit +of Christ's parents to Bethlehem. But such an error betrays on the part +of the writer a great ignorance of the Jewish history, and of Jewish +politics; for, if Christ was born in the reign of Herod the Great, no +Roman census or enrolment could have taken place in the dominions of an +independent King. If, however, Christ was born in the year of the +census, not only Herod the Great, but Archelaus, also, his son, was +dead. Nay, by no possibility can the two events be brought together; for +even after the death of Archelaus, Judaea alone became a Roman province; +Galilee was still governed by Herod Antipas as an independent prince, +and Christ's parents would not have been required to go out of their own +country to Jerusalem, for the purpose of a census which did not comprise +their own country, Galilee. Besides which, it is notorious that the +Roman census was taken from house to house, at the residence of each, +and not at the birth-place or family rendezvous of each tribe" +("Christian Records," pp. 120, 121). Another "striking witness to the +late composition of the Gospels is furnished by expressions, denoting +ideas that could not have had any being in the time of Christ and his +disciples, but must have been developed afterwards, at a time when the +Christian religion was established on a broader and still increasing +basis" (Ibid, p. 169). Dr. Giles has collected many of these, and we +take them from his pages. In John i. 15, 16, we read: "John bare witness +of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh +after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his +fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." At that time none +had received of the "fulness of Christ," and the saying in the mouth of +John Baptist is an anachronism. The word "cross" is several times used +symbolically by Christ, as expressing patience and self-denial; but +before his own crucifixion the expression would be incomprehensible, and +he would surely not select a phraseology his disciples could not +understand; "Bearing the cross" is a later phrase, common among +Christians. Matthew xi. 12, Jesus, speaking while John the Baptist is +still living, says: "From the days of John the Baptist until now"--an +expression that implies a lapse of time. The word "gospel" was not in +use among Christians before the end of the second century; yet we find +it in Matthew iv. 23, ix. 35, xxiv. 14, xxvi. 13; Mark i. 14, viii. 35, +x. 29, xiii. 10, xiv. 9; Luke ix. 6. The unclean spirit, or rather +spirits, who were sent into the swine (Mark v. 9, Luke viii. 30), +answered to the question, "What is thy name?" that his name was Legion. +"The Four Gospels are written in Greek, and the word 'legion' is Latin; +but in Galilee and Peraea the people spoke neither Latin nor Greek, but +Hebrew, or a dialect of it. The word 'legion' would be perfectly +unintelligible to the disciples of Christ, and to almost everybody in +the country" (Ibid, p. 197). The account of Matthew, that Jesus rode on +the ass _and_ the colt, to fulfil the prophecy, "Behold thy king cometh +unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass" +(xxi. 5. 7), shows that Matthew did not understand the Hebrew idiom, +which should be rendered "sitting upon an ass, even upon a colt, the +foal of an ass," and related an impossible riding feat to fulfil the +misunderstood prophecy. The whole trial scene shows ignorance of Roman +customs: the judge running in and out between accused and people, +offering to scourge him _and_ let him go--a course not consistent with +Roman justice; then presenting him to the people with a crown of thorns +and purple robe. The Roman administration would not condescend to a +procedure so unjust and so undignified. The mass of contradictions in +the Gospels, noticed under _k_, show that they could not have been +written by disciples possessing personal knowledge of the events +narrated; while the fact that they are written in Greek, as we shall see +below, under _j_, proves that they were not written by "unlearned and +ignorant" Jews, and were not contemporary records, penned by the +immediate followers of Jesus. From these facts we draw the conclusion. +_that the books themselves show marks of their later origin._ + +J. _That the language in which they are written is presumptive evidence +against their authenticity._ We are here dealing with the supposed +history of a Jewish prophet written by Jews, and yet we find it written +in Greek, a language not commonly known among the Jews, as we learn from +the testimony of Josephus: "I have so completely perfected the work I +proposed to myself to do, that no other person, whether he were a Jew or +a foreigner, had he ever so great an inclination to it, could so +accurately deliver these accounts to the Greeks as is done in these +books. For those of my own nation freely acknowledge that I far exceed +them in the learning belonging to the Jews. I have also taken a great +deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understand the +elements of the Greek language, although I have so long accustomed +myself to speak our own tongue, that I cannot pronounce Greek with +sufficient exactness; for our nation does not encourage those that learn +the languages of many nations ... on which account, as there have been +many who have done their endeavours with great patience to obtain this +learning, there have yet hardly been so many as two or three that have +succeeded therein, who were immediately well rewarded for their pains" +("Ant." bk. xx. ch. 11, sec 2). He further tells us that "I grew weary, +and went on slowly, it being a large subject, and a difficult thing to +translate our history into a foreign and, to us, unaccustomed language" +(Ibid, Preface). The chief reason, perhaps, for this general ignorance +of Greek was the barbarous aversion of the Rabbis to foreign literature. +"No one will be partaker of eternal life who reads foreign literature. +Execrable is he, as the swineherd, execrable alike, who teaches his son +the wisdom of the Greeks" (translated from Latin translation of Rabbi +Akiba, as given in note in Keim's "Jesus of Nazara," vol. i. p, 295). It +is noteworthy, also, that the Evangelists quote generally from the +Septuagint, and that loyal Jews would have avoided doing so, since "the +translation of the Bible into Greek had already been the cause of grief, +and even of hatred, in Jerusalem" (Ibid, p. 294). In the face of this we +are asked to believe that a Galilean fisherman, by the testimony of Acts +iv. 13, unlearned and ignorant, outstripped his whole nation, save the +"two or three that have succeeded" in learning Greek, and wrote a +philosophical and historical treatise in that language. Also that +Matthew, a publican, a member of the most degraded class of the Jews, +was equally learned, and published a history in the same tongue. Yet +these two marvels of erudition were unknown to Josephus, who expressly +states that the two or three who had learned Greek, were "immediately +well rewarded for their pains." The argument does not tell against Mark +and Luke, as no one knows anything about these two writers, and they may +have been Greeks, for anything we know to the contrary. If Mark, +however, is to be identified with John Mark, sister's son to Barnabas, +then it will lie also against him. Leaving aside the main difficulty, +pointed out above, it is grossly improbable, on the face of it, that +these Jewish writers should employ Greek, even if they knew it, instead +of their own tongue. They were writing the story of a Jew; why should +they translate all his sayings instead of writing them down as they fell +from his lips? Their work lay among the Jews. Eight years after the +death of Jesus they rebuked one of their number, Peter, who eat with +"men uncircumcised" (Acts xi. 3); nineteen years afterwards they still +went only "unto the circumcision" (Gal. ii. 9); twenty-seven years +afterwards they were still in Jerusalem, teaching Jews, and carefully +fulfilling the law (Acts xxi. 18-24); after this, we hear no more of +them, and they must all have been old men, not likely to then change the +Jewish habits of their lives. Besides, why should they do so? their +whole sphere of work was entirely Jewish, and, if they were educated +enough to write at all, they would surely write for the benefit of those +amongst whom they worked. The only parallel for so curious a phenomenon +as these Greek Gospels, written by ignorant Jews, would be found if a +Cornish fisherman and a low London attorney, both perfectly ignorant of +German, wrote in German the sayings and doings of a Middlesex carpenter, +and as their work was entirely confined to the lower classes of the +people, who knew nothing of German, and they desired to place within +their reach full knowledge of the carpenter's life, they circulated it +among them in German only, and never wrote anything about him in +English. The Greek text of the Gospels proves that they were written in +later times, when Christianity found its adherents among the Gentile +populations. It might, indeed, be fairly urged that the Greek text is a +suggestion that the creed did not originate in Judaea at all, but was the +offshoot of Gentile thought rather than of Jewish. However that may be, +the Greek text forbids us to believe that these Gospels were written by +the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus, and we conclude _that the language +in which they are written is presumptive evidence against their +authenticity_. + +K. _That they are in themselves utterly unworthy of credit from (1) the +miracles with which they abound. (2) The numerous contradictions of each +by the others. (3) The fact that the story of the hero, the doctrines, +the miracles, were current long before the supposed dates of the +Gospels, so that these Gospels are simply a patchwork composed of older +materials._ + +(1) _The miracles with which they abound._ Paley asks: "Why should we +question the genuineness of these books? Is it for that they contain +accounts of supernatural events? I apprehend that this, at the bottom, +is the real, though secret cause of our hesitation about them; for, had +the writings, inscribed with the names of Matthew and John, related +nothing but ordinary history, there would have been no more doubt +whether these writings were theirs, than there is concerning the +acknowledged works of Josephus or Philo; that is, there would have been +no doubt at all" ("Evidences," pp. 105, 106). There is a certain amount +of truth in this argument. We _do_--openly, however, and not +secretly--doubt any and every book which is said to be a record of +miracles, written by an eye-witness of them; the more important the +contents of a book, the more keenly are its credentials scrutinised; the +more extraordinary the story it contains, the more carefully are its +evidences sifted. In dealing with Josephus, we examine his authenticity +before relying at all on his history; finding there is little doubt that +the book was written by him, we value it as the account of an apparently +careful writer. When we come to passages like one in "Wars of the Jews," +bk. vi. ch. 5, sec. 3--which tells us among the portents which +forewarned the Jews of the fall of the temple: "A heifer, as she was led +by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst +of the temple"--we do _not_ believe it, any more than we believe that +the devils went into the swine. If such fables, instead of forming +excrescences here and there on the history of Josephus, which may be cut +off without injury to the main record, were so interwoven with the +history as to be part and parcel of it, so that no history would remain +if they were all taken away, then we should reject Josephus as a teller +of fables, and not a writer of history. If it were urged that Josephus +was an eye-witness, and recorded what he saw, then we should answer: +Either your history is not written by Josephus at all, but is falsely +assigned to him in order to give it the credit of being written by a +contemporary and an eye-witness; or else your Josephus is a charlatan, +who pretended to have seen miracles in order to increase his prestige. +If this supposed history of Josephus were widely spread and exercised +much influence over mankind, then its authenticity would be very +carefully examined and every weak point in the evidences for it tested, +just as the Gospels are to-day. We may add, that it is absurd to +parallel the Evangelists and Josephus, as though we knew of the one no +more than we do of the others. Josephus relates his own life, giving us +an account of his family, his childhood, and his education; he then +tells us of his travels, of all he did, and of the books he wrote, and +the books themselves bear his own announcement of his authorship; for +instance, we read: "I, Joseph, the son of Matthias, by birth an Hebrew, +a priest also, and one who at first fought against the Romans myself, +and was forced to be present at what was done afterwards, am the author +of this work" ("Wars of the Jews," Preface, sec. I). To which of the +Gospels is such an announcement prefixed? even in Luke, where the +historian writes a preface, it is not said: "I, Luke," and anonymous +writings must be of doubtful authenticity. Which of the Evangelists has +related for us his own life, so that we may judge of his opportunities +of knowing what he tells? To which of their histories is such external +testimony given as that of Tacitus to Josephus, in spite of the contempt +felt by the polished Roman towards the whole Jewish race? Nothing can be +more misleading than to speak of Josephus and of the Evangelists as +though their writings stood on the same level; every mark of +authenticity is present in the one; every mark of authenticity is absent +in the other. + +We shall argue as against the miraculous accounts of the Gospels--first, +that the evidence is insufficient and far below the amount of evidence +brought in support of more modern miracles; secondly, that the power to +work miracles has been claimed by the Church all through her history, +and is still so claimed, and it is, therefore, impossible to mark any +period wherein miracles ceased; and, thirdly, that not only are +Christian miracles unproven, but that all miracles are impossible, as +well as useless if possible. + +Paley, arguing for the truth of Christian miracles, _and of these only_, +endeavours to lay down canons which shall exclude all others. Thus, he +excludes: "I. Such accounts of supernatural events as are found only in +histories by some ages posterior to the transaction.... II. Accounts +published in one country of what passed in a distant country, without +any proof that such accounts were known or received at home.... III. +_Transient_ rumours.... IV. _Naked_ history (fragments, unconnected with +subsequent events dependent on the miracles).... V. In a certain way, +and to a certain degree, _particularity_, in names, dates, places, +circumstances, and in the order of events preceding or following.... VI. +Stories on which nothing depends, in which no interest is involved, +nothing is to be done or changed in consequence of believing them.... +VII. Accounts which come merely _in affirmance_ of opinions already +formed.... It is not necessary to admit as a miracle, what can be +resolved into a _false perception_ (such miracles as healing the blind, +lame, etc., cannot be reduced under this head), ... or _imposture_ ... +or _tentative_ miracles (where, out of many attempts, one succeeds) ... +or _doubtful_ (possibly explainable as coincidence, or effect of +imagination) ... or exaggeration" ("Evidences," pp. 199-218). Paley then +criticises some miracles alleged by Hume, and argues against them. He +very fairly criticises and disposes of them, but fails to see that the +same style of argument would dispose of his Gospel ones. The Cardinal de +Retz sees, at a church in Saragossa, a man who lighted the lamps, and +the canons told him "that he had been several years at the gate with one +leg only. I saw him with two." Paley urges that "it nowhere appears that +he (the Cardinal) either examined the limb, or asked the patient, or +indeed any one, a single question about the matter" ("Evidences," page +224). Well argued, Dr. Paley; and in the man who sat outside the +beautiful gate of the Temple, who examined the limb, or questioned the +patient? Canons I. and II. exclude the Gospel miracles, unless the +Gospels are proved to be written by those whose names they bear, and +even then there is no proof that either Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, +published their Gospels in Judaea, or that their accounts were "received +at home." The doubt and obscurity hanging over the origin of the Gospels +themselves, throws the like doubt and obscurity on all that they relate. +"Transient rumours," "false perception," "imposture," "doubtful," and +"exaggeration"--there is a door open to all these things in the slow and +gradual putting together of the collection of legends now known as "the +Gospels." We argue that the witness of the Gospels to the miracles +cannot be accepted until the Gospels themselves are authenticated, and +that the evidence in support of the miracles is, therefore, +insufficient. Strauss shows us very clearly how the miracles recorded in +the Gospels became ascribed to Jesus. "That the Jewish people in the +time of Jesus expected miracles from the Messiah is in itself natural, +since the Messiah was a second Moses, and the greatest of the prophets, +and to Moses and the prophets the national legend attributed miracles of +all kinds.... But not only was it pre-determined in the popular +expectation that the Messiah should work miracles in general--the +particular kinds of miracles which he was to perform were fixed, also in +accordance with Old Testament types and declarations. Moses dispensed +meat and drink to the people in a supernatural manner (Ex. xvi. xvii.): +the same was expected, as the rabbis explicitly say, from the Messiah. +At the prayer of Elisha, eyes were in one case closed, in another, +opened supernaturally (2 Kings vi.): the Messiah also was to open the +eyes of the blind. By this prophet and his master, even the dead had +been raised (1 Kings xvii; 2 Kings iv.); hence to the Messiah also power +over death could not be wanting. Among the prophecies, Is. xxxv, 5, 6 +(comp. xlii. 7), was especially influential in forming this part of the +Messianic idea. It is here said of the Messianic times: Then shall the +eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then +shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall +sing" ("Life of Jesus," vol. ii., pp. 235, 236.) In dealing with the +alleged healing of the blind, Strauss remarks: "How should we represent +to ourselves the sudden restoration of vision to a blind eye by a word +or a touch? as purely miraculous and magical? That would be to give up +thinking on the subject. As magnetic? There is no precedent of magnetism +having influence over a disease of this nature. Or, lastly, as +psychical? But blindness is something so independent of the mental life, +so entirely corporeal, that the idea of its removal at all, still less +of its sudden removal by means of a mental operation, is not to be +entertained. We must, therefore, acknowledge that an historical +conception of these narratives is more than merely difficult to us; and +we proceed to inquire whether we cannot show it to be probable that +legends of this kind should arise unhistorically.... That these deeds of +Elisha were conceived, doubtless with reference to the passage of +Isaiah, as a real opening of the eyes of the blind, is proved by the +above rabbinical passage [stating that the Messiah would do all that in +ancient times had been done by the hands of the righteous, vol. i., p. +81, note], and hence cures of the blind were expected from the Messiah. +Now, if the Christian community, proceeding as it did from the bosom of +Judaism, held Jesus to be the Messianic personage, it must manifest the +tendency to ascribe to him every Messianic predicate, and, therefore, +the one in question" (Ibid, 292, 293). + +Not only, then, are the miracles rendered doubtful by the dubious +character of the records in which they are found, but there is a clear +and reasonable explanation why we should expect to find them in any +history of a supposed Messiah. Christian apologists appear to have +overlooked the statement in the Gospels that Jesus objected to publicity +being given to his supposed miracles; the natural conclusion that +sceptics draw from this assertion, is that the miracles never took place +at all, and that the supposed modesty of Jesus is invented in order to +account for the ignorance of the people concerning the alleged marvels. +Judge Strange fairly remarks: "The appeal to miracles is a very +questionable resort. Now, as Jesus is repeatedly represented to have +exhorted those on whose behalf they were wrought to keep the matter +secret to themselves, and as when such signs, upon being asked for, were +refused to be accorded by him, and the desire to have them was repressed +as sinful, it is to be gathered, in spite of the sayings to the +contrary, that the writers were aware that there was no such public +sense of the occurrence of these marvels as must have attached to them +had they really been enacted, and we are left to the conclusion that +there were in fact no such demonstrations" ("The Portraiture and Mission +of Jesus," p. 23). Clearly, miracles are useless, as evidence, unless +they are publicly performed, and the secresy used by Jesus suggests +fraud rather than miraculous power, and savours of the conjuror rather +than of the "God." But, further, there is far stronger evidence for +later Church miracles than for those of Christ, or of the apostles, and +if evidence in support of miracles is good for anything, these more +modern miracles must command our belief. Eusebius relates the following +miracle of Narcissus, the thirtieth Bishop of Jerusalem, A.D. 180, as +one among many: "Whilst the deacons were keeping the vigils the oil +failed them; upon which all the people being very much dejected, +Narcissus commanded the men that managed the lights to draw water from a +neighbouring well, and to bring it to him. They having done it as soon +as said, Narcissus prayed over the water, and then commanded them, in a +firm faith in Christ, to pour it into the lamps. When they had also done +this, contrary to all natural expectation, by an extraordinary and +divine influence, the nature of the water was changed into the quality +of oil, and by most of the brethren a small quantity was preserved from +that time until our own, as a specimen of the wonder then performed" +("Eccles. Hist," bk. vi., chap. 9). St. Augustine bears personal witness +to more than one miracle which happened in his own presence, and gives a +long list of cures performed in his time. "One thing may be affirmed, +that nothing of importance is omitted, and in regard to essential +details they are as explicit as the mass of other cases reported. In +every instance names and addresses are stated, and it will have been +observed that all these miracles occurred in, or near to, Hippo, and in +his own diocese. It is very certain that in every case the fact of the +miracle is asserted in the most direct and positive terms" ("Sup. Rel.," +vol. i., pp. 167, 168). + +None can deny that miraculous powers have been claimed by Christian +Churches from the time of Christ down to the present day, and that there +is no break which can be pointed to as the date at which these powers +ceased. "From the first of the Fathers to the last of the Popes a +succession of bishops, of saints, and of martyrs, and of miracles, is +continued without interruption; and the progress of superstition was so +gradual, and almost imperceptible, that we know not in what particular +link we should break the chain of tradition. Every age bears testimony +to the wonderful events by which it was distinguished; and its testimony +appears no less weighty and respectable than that of the preceding +generation, till we are insensibly led on to accuse our own +inconsistency, if in the eighth or in the twelfth century we deny to the +venerable Bede, or to the holy Bernard, the same degree of confidence +which, in the second century, we had so liberally granted to Justin or +to Irenaeus. If the truth of any of those miracles is appreciated by +their apparent use and propriety, every age had unbelievers to convince, +heretics to confute, and idolatrous nations to convert; and sufficient +motives might always be produced to justify the interposition of heaven. +And yet, since every friend to revelation is persuaded of the reality, +and every reasonable man is convinced of the cessation, of miraculous +powers, it is evident that there must have been _some period_ in which +they were either suddenly or gradually withdrawn from the Christian +Church. Whatever era is chosen for that purpose, the death of the +Apostles, the conversion of the Roman empire, or the extinction of the +Arian heresy, the insensibility of the Christians who lived at that time +will equally afford a just matter of surprise. They still supported +their pretensions after they had lost their power. Credulity performed +the office of faith; fanaticism was permitted to assume the language of +inspiration; and the effects of accident or contrivance were ascribed to +supernatural causes. The recent experience of genuine miracles should +have instructed the Christian world in the ways of Providence, and +habituated their eye (if we may use a very inadequate expression) to the +style of the Divine Artist" (Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. ii., +chap, xv., p. 145). The miraculous powers were said to have been given +by Christ himself to his disciples. "These signs shall follow them that +believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with +mew tongues; they shall take up serpents; and, if they drink any deadly +thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and +they shall recover" (Mark xvi. 17, 18). This power is exercised by the +Apostles (see Acts throughout), by believers in the Churches (1 Cor. +xii. 9, 10; Gal. iii. 5; James v. 14, 15); at any rate, it was in force +in the time with which these books treat, according to the Christians. +Justus, surnamed Barsabas, drinks poison, and is unhurt (Eusebius, bk. +iii., chap. xxxix.). Polycarp's martyrdom, supposed to be in the next +generation, is accompanied by miracle (Epistle of Church of Smyrna; +Apostolical Fathers, p. 92; see ante, pp. 220, 221). At Hierapolis the +daughters of Philip the Apostle tell Papias how one was there raised +from the dead (Eusebius, bk. iii., ch. xxxix.). Justin Martyr pleads the +miracles worked in his own time in Rome itself (second "Apol.," ch. +vi.). Irenaeus urges that the heretics cannot work miracles as can the +Catholics: "they can neither confer sight on the blind, nor hearing on +the deaf, nor chase away all sorts of demons ... nor can they cure the +weak, or the lame, or the paralytic" ("Against Heretics," bk. ii., ch. +xxxi., sec. 2). Tertullian encourages Christians to give up worldly +pleasures by reminding them of their grander powers: "what nobler than +to tread under foot the gods of the nations, to exorcise evil spirits, +to perform cures?" ("De Spectaculis," sec. 29). "Origen claims for +Christians the power still to expel demons, and to heal diseases, in the +name of Jesus; and he states that he had seen many persons so cured of +madness, and countless other evils" (quoted from "Origen against Celsus" +in "Sup. Rel.," vol. i., p. 154. A mass of evidence on this subject will +be found in chap. v. of this work, on "The Permanent Stream of +Miraculous Pretension"). St. Augustine's testimony has been already +referred to. St. Ambrose discovered the bones of SS. Gervasius and +Protasius; and "these relics were laid in the Faustinian Basilic, and +the next morning were translated into the Ambrosian Basilic; during +which translation a blind man, named Severus, a butcher by trade, was +cured by touching the bier on which the relics lay with a handkerchief, +and then applying it to his eyes. He had been blind several years, was +known to the whole city, and the miracle was performed before a +prodigious number of people; and is testified also by St. Austin +[Augustine], who was then at Milan, in three several parts of his works, +and by Paulinus in the Life of St. Ambrose" ("Lives of the Fathers, +Martyrs, etc.," by Rev. Alban Butler, vol. xii., pp. 1001, 1002; ed. +1838; published in two vols., each containing six vols.). The sacred +stigmata of St. Francis d'Assisi (died 1226) were seen and touched by +St. Bonaventure, Pope Alexander IV., Pope-Gregory IX., fifty friars, +many nuns, and innumerable crowds (Ibid, vol. x., pp. 582, 583). This +same saint underwent the operation of searing, and, "when the surgeon +was about to apply the searing-iron, the saint spoke to the fire, +saying: 'Brother fire, I beseech thee to burn me gently, that I may be +able to endure thee.' He was seared very deep, from the ear to the +eyebrow, but seemed to feel no pain at all" (Ibid, p. 575). The miracles +of St. Francis Xavier (died 1552) are borne witness to on all sides, and +resulted in the conversion of crowds of Indians; even so late as 1744, +when the Archbishop of Goa, by order of John V. of Portugal, attended by +the Viceroy, the Marquis of Castel Nuovo, visited the saint's relics, +"the body was found without the least bad smell," and had "not suffered +the least alteration, or symptom of corruption" (Ibid, vol. xii., p. +974). The chain of miracles extends right down to the present day. At +Lourdes, in this year (1876), the Virgin was crowned by the Cardinal +Archbishop of Paris in the presence of thirty-five prelates and one +hundred thousand people. During the mass performed at the Grotto by the +Nuncio, Madeleine Lancereau, of Poictiers, aged 61, known by a large +number of the pilgrims as having been unable to walk without crutches +for nineteen years, was radically cured. Here is a better authenticated +miracle than anyone in the Gospel story; yet no Protestant even cares to +investigate the matter, or believes its truth to be within the limits of +possibility. Thus we see that not a century has, passed since A.D. 30 +which has not been thickly sown with miracles, and there is no reason +why we should believe in the miracles of the first century, and reject +those of the following eighteen; nor is the first century even "the +beginning of miracles," for before that date Jewish and Pagan miracles +are to be found in abundance. Why should Bible miracles be severed from +their relations all over the world, so that belief in them is +commendable faith, while belief in the rest is reprehensible credulity? +"The fact is, however, that the Gospel miracles were preceded and +accompanied by others of the same type; and we may here merely mention +exorcism of demons, and the miraculous cure of disease, as popular +instances; they were also followed by a long succession of others, quite +as well authenticated, whose occurrence only became less frequent in +proportion as the diffusion of knowledge dispelled popular credulity. +Even at the present day a stray miracle is from time to time reported in +outlying districts, where the ignorance and superstition which formerly +produced so abundant a growth of them are not yet entirely dispelled" +("Sup. Rel.," vol. i., p. 148). "Ignorance, and its invariable +attendant, superstition, have done more than mere love of the marvellous +to produce and perpetuate belief in miracles, and there cannot be any +doubt that the removal of ignorance always leads to the cessation of +miracles" (Ibid, p. 144). + +Special objection has often been raised against one class of +miracles--common to the Gospels and to all miraculous narratives--which +has severely taxed the faith even of the Christians themselves--that +class, namely, which consists of the healing of those "possessed with +devils." Exorcism has always been a favourite kind of miracle, but, in +these days, very few believe in the possibility of possession, and the +language of the Evangelists on the subject has consequently given rise +to much trouble of mind. Prebendary Row, in a work on "The Supernatural +in the New Testament Possible, Credible, and Historical"--one of the +volumes issued by the Christian Evidence Society in answer to +"Supernatural Religion"--deals fully with this difficulty; it has been +urged that possession was simply a form of mania, and on this Mr. Row +say: "Now, on the assumption that possession was simple mania, and +nothing more, the following suppositions are the only possible ones. +First, that our Lord really distinguished between mania and possession; +but that the Evangelists have inaccurately reported his words and +actions, through the media of their own subjective impressions, or, in +short, have attributed to him language that he did not really utter. +Second, that our Lord knew that possession was a form of mania, and +adopted the current notions of the time in speaking of it, and that the +words were really uttered by him. Third, that with similar knowledge, he +adopted the language as part of the curative process. Fourth, that he +accepted the validity of the distinction, and that it was a real one +during those times" ("Supernatural in the New Testament," pp. 251, 252). +Mr. Row argues that: "If possession be mania, there is nothing in the +language which the Evangelists have attributed to our Lord which +compromises the truthfulness of his character. If, on the other hand, we +assume that possession was an objective fact, there is nothing in our +existing scientific knowledge of the human mind which proves that the +possessions of the New Testament were impossible" (Ibid). Mr. Row +rejects the first alternative, and accepts the accuracy of the Evangelic +records. But he considers that if possession were simply mania, Jesus, +knowing the nature of the disease, might reasonably use language suited +to the delusion, as most likely to effect a cure; he could not argue +with a maniac that he was under a delusion, but would rightly use +whatever method was best fitted to ensure recovery. If this idea be +rejected, and the reality of demoniacal possession maintained as most +consonant with the behaviour of Jesus, then Mr. Row argues that there is +no reason to consider it impossible that either good or evil spirits +should be able to influence man, and that psychological science does not +warrant us in a denial of the possibility of such influence. + +The utter uselessness of miracles--supposing them to be possible--is +worthy of remembrance. They must not be accepted as proofs of a divine +mission, for false prophets can work them as well as true (Deut. xiii., +1-5; Matt. xxiv., 24; 2 Thess. ii., 9; Rev. xiii., 13-15, etc.) and it +may be that God himself works them to deceive (Deut. xiii., 3). Satan +can work miracles to authenticate the false doctrines of his +emissaries, and there is no test whereby to distinguish the miracle +worked by God from the miracle worked by Satan. Hence a miracle is +utterly useless, for the credibility of a teacher rests on the morality +that he teaches, and if this is good, it is accepted without a miracle +to attest its goodness, so that the attesting miracle is superfluous. If +it is bad, it is rejected in spite of a miracle to attest its authority, +so that the attesting miracle is deceptive. The only use of a miracle +might be to attest a revelation of otherwise unknowable facts, which had +nothing to do with any moral teaching; and seeing that such revelation +could not be investigated, as it dealt with the unknowable, it would be +highly dangerous--and, perhaps, blasphemous--to accept it on the faith +of the miracle, for it might quite as likely be a revelation made by +Satan to injure, as by God to benefit, mankind. Allowing that God and +Satan exist, it would seem likely--judging Christianity by its +fruits--that the Christian religion is such a malevolent revelation of +the evil one. + +The objection we raise is, however, of far wider scope than the +assertion of the lack of evidence for the New Testament miracles; it is +against all, and not only against Christian, miracles. "As far as the +impossibility of supernatural occurrences is concerned, Pantheism and +Atheism occupy precisely the same grounds. If either of them propounds a +true theory of the universe, any supernatural occurrence, which +necessarily implies a supernatural agent to bring it about, is +impossible, and the entire controversy as to whether miracles have ever +been actually performed is a foregone conclusion. Modern Atheism, while +it does not venture in categorical terms to affirm that no God exists, +definitely asserts that there is no evidence that there is one. It +follows that, if there is no evidence that there is a God, there can be +no evidence that a miracle ever has been performed, for the very idea of +a miracle implies the idea of a God to work one. If, therefore, Atheism +is true, all controversy about miracles is useless. They are simply +impossible, and to inquire whether an impossible event has happened is +absurd. To such a person the historical inquiry, as far as a miracle is +concerned, must be a foregone conclusion. It might have a little +interest as a matter of curiosity; but even if the most unequivocal +evidence could be adduced that an occurrence such as we call +supernatural had taken place, the utmost that it could prove would be +that some most extraordinary and abnormal fact had taken place in nature +of which we did not know the cause. But to prove a miracle to any person +who consistently denies that he has any evidence that any being exists +which is not a portion of and included in the material universe, or +developed out of it, is impossible" ("The Supernatural in the New +Testament," by Prebendary Row, pp. 14, 15). We maintain that Nature +includes _everything_, and that, therefore, the _supernatural_ is an +impossibility. Every new fact, however marvellous, must, therefore, be +within Nature; and while our ignorance may for awhile prevent us from +knowing in what category the newly-observed phenomenon should be +classed, it is none the less certain that wider knowledge will allot to +it its own place, and that more careful observation will reduce it under +law, i.e., within the observed sequence or concurrence of phenomena. The +natural, to the unthinking, coincides with their own knowledge, and +supernatural, to them, simply means super-known; therefore, in ignorant +ages, miracles are every-day occurrences, and as knowledge widens the +miraculous diminishes. The books of unscientific ages--that is, all +early literature--are full of miraculous events, and it may be taken as +an axiom of criticism that the miraculous is unhistorical. + +(2). _The numerous contradictions of each by the others._--We shall here +only present a few of the most glaring contradictions in the Gospels, +leaving untouched a mass of minor discrepancies. We find the principal +of these when we compare the three synoptics with the Fourth Gospel, but +there are some irreconcilable differences even between the three. The +contradictory genealogies of Christ given in Matthew and Luke--farther +complicated, in part, by a third discordant genealogy in +Chronicles--have long been the despair of Christian harmonists. "On +comparing these lists, we find that between David and Christ there are +only two names which occur in both Matthew and Luke--those of Zorobabel +and of Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus. In tracing the list +downwards from David there would be less difficulty in explaining this, +at least, to a certain point, for Matthew follows the line of Solomon, +and Luke that of Nathan--both of whom were sons of David. But even in +the downward line, on reaching Salathiel, where the two genealogies +again come into contact, we find, to our astonishment, that in Luke he +is the son of Neri, whilst in Matthew his father's name is Jechonias. +From Zorobabel downwards, the lists are again divergent, until we reach +Joseph, who in St. Luke is placed as the son of Heli, whilst in St. +Matthew his father's name is Jacob" ("Christian Records," Dr. Giles, p. +101). According to Chronicles, Jotham is the great-great-grandson of +Ahaziah; according to Matthew, he is his son (admitting that the Ahaziah +of Chronicles is the Ozias of Matthew); according to Chronicles, +Jechonias is the grandson of Josiah, according to Matthew, he is his +son; according to Chronicles, Zorababel is the son of Pedaiah, according +to Matthew, he is the son of Salathiel, according to Luke, he is the son +of Neri; according to Chronicles, Zorobabel left eight children, but +neither Matthew's Abiud, nor Luke's Rhesa, are among them. The same +discordance is found when Matthew and Luke again touch each other in +Joseph, the husband of Mary; according to the one, Jacob begat Joseph, +according to the other, Joseph was the son of Heli. To crown the +absurdity of the whole, we are given two genealogies of Joseph, who is +no relation to Jesus at all, if the story of the virgin-birth be true, +while none is given of Mary, through whom alone Jesus is said to have +derived his humanity. We have, therefore, no genealogy at all of Jesus +in the Gospels. Various theories have been put forward to reconcile the +irreconcilable; some say that the genealogy in Luke is that of Mary, of +which supposition it is enough to remark that "Mary, the daughter of," +can scarcely be indicated by "Joseph, the son of." It is also said that +Joseph was legally the son of Jacob, although naturally the son of Heli, +it being supposed that Jacob died childless, and that his brother Heli +according to the Levitical law, married the widow of Jacob; but here +Joseph's grand-fathers and great-grand-fathers should be the same, Heli +and Jacob being supposed to be brothers. Besides, if Joseph were legally +the son of Jacob, only the genealogy of Jacob should be given, since +that only would be Joseph's genealogy. No man can reckon his paternal +ancestry through two differing lines. To make matters in yet more +hopeless confusion, we find Chronicles giving twenty-two generations +where Matthew gives seventeen, and Luke twenty-three; while, from David +to Christ, Matthew reckons twenty-eight and Luke forty-three, a most +marvellous discrepancy. + +"If we compare the genealogies of Matthew and Luke together, we become +aware of still more striking discrepancies. Some of these differences +indeed are unimportant, as the opposite direction of the two tables.... +More important is the considerable difference in the number of +generations for equal periods, Luke having forty-one between David and +Jesus, whilst Matthew has only twenty-six. The main difficulty, however, +lies in this: that in some parts of the genealogy in Luke totally +different persons are made the ancestors of Jesus from those in Matthew. +It is true, both writers agree in deriving the lineage of Jesus through +Joseph from David and Abraham, and that the names of the individual +members of the series correspond from Abraham to David, as well as two +of the names in the subsequent portion: those of Salathiel and +Zorobabel. But the difficulty becomes desperate when we find that, with +these two exceptions about midway, the whole of the names from David to +the foster father of Jesus are totally different in Matthew and in Luke. +In Matthew the father of Joseph is called Jacob; in Luke, Heli. In +Matthew the son of David through whom Joseph descended from that King is +Solomon; in Luke, Nathan; and so on, the line descends, in Matthew, +through the race of known Kings; in Luke, through an unknown collateral +branch, coinciding only with respect to Salathiel and Zorobabel, whilst +they still differ in the names of the father of Salathiel and the son of +Zorobabel.... A consideration of the insurmountable difficulties, which +unavoidably embarrass every attempt to bring these two genealogies into +harmony with one another, will lead us to despair of reconciling them, +and will incline us to acknowledge, with the more free-thinking class of +critics, that they are mutually contradictory. Consequently, they cannot +both be true.... In fact, then, neither table has any advantage over the +other. If the one is unhistorical, so also is the other, since it is +very improbable that the genealogy of an obscure family like that of +Joseph, extending through so long a series of generations, should have +been preserved during all the confusion of the exile, and the disturbed +period that followed.... According to the prophecies, the Messiah could +only spring from David. When, therefore, a Galilean, whose lineage was +utterly unknown, and of whom consequently no one could prove that he was +not descended from David, had acquired the reputation of being the +Messiah; what more natural than that tradition should, under different +forms, have early ascribed to him a Davidical descent, and that +genealogical tables, corresponding with this tradition, should have been +formed? which, however, as they were constructed upon no certain data, +would necessarily exhibit such differences and contradictions as we find +actually existing between the genealogies in Matthew and in Luke" ("Life +of Jesus," by Strauss, vol. i., pp. 130, 131, and 137-139). + +The accounts of the several angelic warnings to Mary and to Joseph +appear to be mutually exclusive. Most theologians, says Strauss, +"maintaining, and justly, that the silence of one Evangelist concerning +an event which is narrated by the other, is not a negation of the event, +they blend the two accounts together in the following manner: 1, the +angel makes known to Mary her approaching pregnancy (Luke); 2, she then +journeys to Elizabeth (the same Gospel); 3, after her return, her +situation being discovered, Joseph takes offence (Matthew); whereupon, +4, he likewise is visited by an angelic apparition (the same Gospel). +But this arrangement of the incidents is, as Schliermacher has already +remarked, full of difficulty; and it seems that what is related by one +Evangelist is not only pre-supposed, but excluded, by the other. For, in +the first place, the conduct of the angel who appears to Joseph is not +easily explained, if the same, or another, angel had previously appeared +to Mary. The angel (in Matthew) speaks altogether as if his +communication were the first in this affair. He neither refers to the +message previously received by Mary, nor reproaches Joseph because he +had not believed it; but, more than all, the informing Joseph of the +name of the expected child, and the giving him a full detail of the +reasons why he should be so called (Mat. i. 21), would have been wholly +superfluous had the angel (according to Luke i. 31) already indicated +this name to Mary. Still more incomprehensible is the conduct of the +betrothed parties, according to this arrangement of events. Had Mary +been visited by an angel, who had made known to her an approaching +supernatural pregnancy, would not the first impulse of a delicate woman +have been to hasten to impart to her betrothed the import of the divine +message, and by this means to anticipate the humiliating discovery of +her situation, and an injurious suspicion on the part of her affianced +husband? But exactly this discovery Mary allows Joseph to make from +others, and thus excites suspicion; for it is evident that the +expression [Greek: heurethae en gastri echousa] (Mat. i. 18) signifies a +discovery made independent of any communication on Mary's part, and it +is equally clear that in this manner only does Joseph obtain the +knowledge of her situation, since his conduct is represented as the +result of that discovery [Greek: (euriskesthai)]" ("Life of Jesus," v. +i., pp. 146, 147). + +Strauss gives a curious list, showing the gradual growth of the myth +relating to the birth of Jesus (we may remark No. 3 is distinctly out of +place when referred to Olshausen: it should be referred to the early +Fathers, from whom Olshausen derived it):-- + +"1. Contemporaries of Jesus and composers of the genealogies: Joseph and +Mary man and wife--Jesus the offspring of their marriage. + +"2. The age and authors of our histories of the birth of Jesus: Mary and +Joseph betrothed only; Joseph having no participation in the conception +of the child, and, previous to his birth, no conjugal connection with +Mary. + +"3. Olshausen and others: subsequent to the birth of Jesus, Joseph, +though then the husband of Mary, relinquishes his matrimonial rights. + +"4. Epiphanius, Protevangelium, Jacobi, and others: Joseph a decrepit +old man, no longer to be thought of as a husband; the children +attributed to him are of a former marriage. More especially it is not as +a bride and wife that he receives Mary; he takes her merely under his +guardianship. + +"5. Protevang., Chrysostom, and others: Mary's virginity was not only +not destroyed by any subsequent births of children by Joseph, it was not +in the slightest degree impaired by the birth of Jesus. + +"6. Jerome: Not Mary only, but Joseph also, observed an absolute +virginity, and the pretended brothers of Jesus were not his sons, hut +merely cousins to Jesus" ("Life of Jesus," vol. i., p. 188). + +Thus we see how a myth gradually forms itself, bit after bit being added +to it, until the story is complete. + +The account given by Luke of the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary is +clearly mythical, and not historical: "Apart from the intention of the +narrator, can it be thought natural that two friends visiting one +another should, even in the midst of the most extraordinary occurrences, +break forth into long hymns, and that their conversation should entirely +lose the character of dialogue, the natural form on such occasions? By a +supernatural influence alone could the minds of the two friends be +attuned to a state of elevation, so foreign to their every-day life. But +if indeed Mary's hymn is to be understood as the work of the Holy +Spirit, it is surprising that a speech emanating immediately from the +divine source of inspiration should not be more striking for its +originality, but should be so interlarded with reminiscences from the +Old Testament, borrowed from the song of praise spoken by the mother of +Samuel (1 Sam. ii) under analogous circumstances. Accordingly, we must +admit that the compilation of this hymn, consisting of recollections +from the Old Testament, was put together in a natural way; but allowing +its composition to have been perfectly natural, it cannot be ascribed to +the artless Mary, but to him who poetically wrought out the tradition in +circulation respecting the scene in question" ("Life of Jesus," by +Strauss, vol. i., pp. 196, 197). + +The notes of time given for the birth of Christ are irreconcilable. +According to Matthew he is born in the reign of Herod the King: +according to Luke, he is born six months after John Baptist, whose birth +is referred to the reign of the same monarch; yet in Luke, he is also +born at the time of the census, which must have taken place at least ten +years later; thus Luke contradicts Matthew, and also contradicts +himself. The discrepancies surrounding the birth are not yet complete; +passing the curious differences between Matthew and Luke, Matthew +knowing nothing about the visit of the shepherds, and Luke nothing of +the visit of the Magi, and the consequent slaughter of the babes, we +come to a direct conflict between the Evangelists; Matthew informs us +that Joseph, Mary, and the child, fled into Egypt from Bethlehem to +avoid the wrath of King Herod, and that they were returning to Judaea, +when Joseph, hearing that Archelaus was ruling there, turned aside to +Galilee, and came and dwelt "in a city called Nazareth." Luke, on the +contrary, says that when the days of Mary's purification were +accomplished they took the child up to Jerusalem, and presented him in +the Temple, and then, after this, returned to Galilee, to "their own +city, Nazareth." Moreover, had Herod wanted to find him, he could have +taken him at the Temple, where his presentation caused much commotion. +In Matthew, the turning into Galilee is clearly a new thing; in Luke, it +is returning home; and in Luke there is no space of time wherein the +flight into Egypt can by any possibility be inserted. We may add a +wonder why Galilee was a safer residence than Judaea, since Antipas, its +ruler, was a son of Herod, and would, _prima facie_, be as dangerous as +his brother Archelaus. + +The conduct of Herod is incredible if we accept Matthew's account: +"Herod's first anxious question to the magi is to ascertain the time of +the appearance of the star. He 'inquires diligently' (ii. 7); and he +must have had a motive for so doing. What was this motive? Could he have +any other purpose than that of determining the age under which no +infants in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem should be allowed to live? +But, according to the narrative, Herod never conceived the idea of +slaughtering the children till he found that he had been 'mocked of the +wise men;' and the mythical nature of the story is betrayed by this +anticipation of motives which, at the time spoken of could have no +existence. Yet, further, Herod, who, though in a high degree cruel, +unjust, and unscrupulous, is represented as a man of no slight sagacity, +clearness of purpose, and strength of will, and who feels a deadly +jealousy of an infant whom he _knows_ to have been recently born in +Bethlehem, a place only a few miles distant from Jerusalem, is here +described not as sending his own emissaries privately to put him to +death, or despatching them with the Magi, or detaining the Magi at +Jerusalem, until he had ascertained the truth of their tale, and the +correctness of the answer of the priests and scribes, but as simply +suffering the Magi to go by themselves, at the same time charging them +to return with the information for which he had shown himself so +feverishly anxious. This strange conduct can be accounted for only on +the ground of a judicial blindness; but they who resort to such an +explanation must suppose that it was inflicted in order to save the +new-born Christ from the death thus threatened; and if they adopt this +hypothesis, they must further believe that this arrangement likewise +ensured the death of a large number of infants instead of one. A natural +reluctance to take up such a notion might prompt the question, Why were +the Magi brought to Jerusalem at all? If they knew that the star was the +star of Christ (ii. 2), and were by this knowledge conducted to +Jerusalem, why did it not suffice to guide them straight to Bethlehem, +and thus prevent the slaughter of the innocents? Why did the star desert +them after its first appearance, not to be seen again till they issued +from Jerusalem? or, if it did not desert them, why did they ask of Herod +and the priests the road which they should take, when, by the +hypothesis, the star was ready to guide?" ("The English Life of Jesus," +by Thomas Scott, pp. 34, 35; ed. 1872). To these improbabilities must be +added the remarkable fact that Josephus, who gives a very detailed +history of Herod, entirely omits any hint of this stupendous crime. + +The story of the temptation of Jesus is full of contradictions. Matthew +iv. 2, 3, implies that the first visit of the tempter was made _after_ +the forty days' fast, while Mark and Luke speak of his being tempted for +forty days. According to Matthew, the angels came to him when the Devil +left him; but, according to Mark, they ministered to him throughout. +According to Matthew, the temptation to cast himself down is the second +trial, and the offer of the kingdoms of the world the third: in Luke the +order is reversed. In additions to these contradictions, we must note +the absurdity of the story. The Devil "set him on a pinnacle of the +temple." Did Jesus and the Devil go flying through the air together, +till the Devil put Jesus down? What did the people in the courts below +think of the Devil and a man standing on a point of the temple in the +full sight of Jerusalem? Did so unusual an occurrence cause no +astonishment in the city? Where is the high mountain from which Jesus +and the Devil saw all round the globe? Is it true that the Devil gives +power to whom he will? If so, why is it said that the powers are +"ordained of God"? + +Another "discrepancy, concerning the denial of Christ by Peter, +furnishes a still stronger proof that these records have not come down +to us with the exactness of a contemporary character, much less with the +authority of inspiration. The four accounts of Peter's denial vary +considerably. The variations will be more intelligible, exhibited in a +tabular form" (Giles' "Christian Records," p. 228). We present the +table, slightly altered in arrangement, and corrected in some details:-- + + MATTHEW. MARK. LUKE. JOHN. +1st. Seated without Beneath in In the On entering + in the the palace, by midst of the to the + palace, to a the fire, to a hall where damsel that + damsel. maid. Jesus was kept the + being tried, door. + seated by + the fire, to a + maid. + +2nd. Out in the Out in the Still in the In the hall, + porch, having porch, having hall, in standing by + left the room, left the room, answer to a the fire, in + in answer to in answer to man. answer to the + a second a second bystanders. + maid. maid. + +3rd. Out in the Out in the Still in the Still in the + porch, to the porch, to the hall, to a man. hall, to a + bystanders. bystanders. man. + +In addition to these discrepancies, we find that Jesus prophesies that +Peter shall deny him thrice "before the cock crow," while in Mark the +cock crows immediately after the first denial: in Luke, Jesus and Peter +remain throughout the scene of the denial in the same hall, so that the +Lord may turn and look upon Peter; while Matthew and Mark place him +"beneath" or "without," and make the third denial take place in the +porch outside--a place where Jesus, by the context, certainly could not +see him. + +How long did the ministry of Jesus last? Luke places his baptism in the +fifteenth year of Tiberius (iii. 1), and he might have been crucified +under Pontius Pilate at any time within the seven years following. The +Synoptics mention but one Passover, and at that Jesus was crucified, +thus limiting his ministry to one year, unless he broke the Mosaic law, +and disregarded the feast; clearly his triumphal entry into Jerusalem is +his first visit there in his manhood, since we find all the city moved +and the people asking: "Who is this? And the multitude said, This is +Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" (Matt. xxi. 10, 11). His +person would have been well known, had he visited Jerusalem before and +worked miracles there. If, however, we turn to the Fourth Gospel, his +ministry must extend over at least two years. According to Irenaeus, he +"did not want much of being fifty years old" when the Jews disputed with +him ("Against Heresies," bk. ii., ch. 22, sec. 6), and he taught for +nearly twenty years. Dr. Giles remarks that "the first three Gospels +plainly exhibit the events of only one year; to prove them erroneous or +defective in so important a feature as this, would be to detract greatly +from their value" ("Christian Records," p. 112). "According to the first +three Gospels, Christ's public life lasted only one year, at the end of +which he went up to Jerusalem and was crucified" (Ibid, p. 11). "Would +this questioning [on the triumphal entry] have taken place if Jesus had +often made visits to Jerusalem, and been well known there? The multitude +who answered the question, and who knew Jesus, consisted of those 'who +had come to the feast,'--St. John indicates this [xii. 12]--but the +people of Jerusalem knew him not, and, therefore, asked 'Who is this?'" +(Ibid, p. 113). The fact is, that we know nothing certainly as to the +birth, life, death, of this supposed Christ. His story is one tissue of +contradictions. It is impossible to believe that the Synoptics and the +fourth Gospel are even telling the history of the same person. The +discourses of Jesus in the Synoptics are simple, although parabolical; +in the Fourth they are mystical, and are being continually misunderstood +by the people. The historical divergences are marked. The fourth Gospel +"tells us (ch. 1) that at the beginning of his ministry Jesus was at +Bethabara, a town near the junction of the Jordan with the Dead Sea; +here he gains three disciples, Andrew and another, and then Simon Peter: +the next day he goes into Galilee and finds Philip and Nathanael, and on +the following day--somewhat rapid travelling--he is present, with these +disciples, at Cana, where he performs his first miracle, going +afterwards with them to Capernaum and Jerusalem. At Jerusalem, whither +he goes for 'the Jews' passover,' he drives out the traders from the +temple and remarks, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise +it up:' which remark causes the first of the strange misunderstandings +between Jesus and the Jews peculiar to this Gospel, simple +misconceptions which Jesus never troubles himself to set right. Jesus +and his disciples then go to the Jordan, baptising, whence Jesus departs +into Galilee with them, because he hears that the Pharisees know he is +becoming more popular than the Baptist (ch. iv., 1, 3). All this happens +before John is cast into prison, an occurrence which is a convenient +note of time. We turn to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus as +related by the three. Jesus is in the south of Palestine, but, hearing +that John is cast into prison, he departs into Galilee, and resides at +Capernaum. There is no mention of any ministry in Galilee and Judaea +before this; on the contrary, it is only 'from that time' that 'Jesus +_began_ to preach.' He is alone, without disciples, but, walking by the +sea, he comes upon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and calls them. Now +if the fourth Gospel is true, these men had joined him in Judaea, +followed him to Galilee, south again to Jerusalem, and back to Galilee, +had seen his miracles and acknowledged him as Christ, so it seems +strange that they had deserted him and needed a second call, and yet +more strange is it that Peter (Luke v. 1-11) was so astonished and +amazed at the miracle of the fishes. The driving out of the traders from +the temple is placed by the Synoptics at the very end of his ministry, +and the remark following it is used against him at his trial: so was +probably made just before it. The next point of contact is the history +of the 5,000 fed by five loaves (ch. vi.); the preceding chapter relates +to a visit to Jerusalem unnoticed by the three: indeed, the histories +seem written of two men, one the 'prophet of Galilee' teaching in its +cities, the other concentrating his energies on Jerusalem. The account +of the miraculous feeding is alike in all: not so the succeeding account +of the multitude. In the fourth Gospel, Jesus and the crowd fall to +disputing, as usual, and he loses many disciples: among the three, Luke +says nothing of the immediately following events, while Matthew and Mark +tell us that the multitudes--as would be natural--crowded round him to +touch even the hem of his garment. This is the same as always: in the +three the crowd loves him; in the fourth it carps at and argues with +him. We must again miss the sojourn of Jesus in Galilee according to the +three, and his visit to Jerusalem according to the one, and pass to his +entry into Jerusalem in triumph. Here we notice a most remarkable +divergence: the Synoptics tell us that he was going up to Jerusalem from +Galilee, and, arriving on his way at Bethphage, he sent for an ass and +rode thereon into Jerusalem: the fourth Gospel relates that he was +dwelling at Jerusalem, and leaving it, for fear of the Jews, he retired, +not into Galilee, but 'beyond Jordan, into a place where John at first +baptised,' i.e., Bethabara, 'and _there he abode_.' From thence he went +to Bethany and raised to life a putrefying corpse: this stupendous +miracle is never appealed to by the earlier historians in proof of their +master's greatness, though 'much people of the Jews' are said to have +seen Lazarus after his resurrection; this miracle is also given as the +reason for the active hostility of the priests, 'from that day forward.' +Jesus then retires to Ephraim near the wilderness, from which town he +goes to Bethany, and thence in triumph to Jerusalem, being met by the +people 'for that they heard that he had done this miracle.' The two +accounts have absolutely nothing in common except the entry into +Jerusalem, and the preceding events of the Synoptics exclude those of +the fourth Gospel, as does the latter theirs. If Jesus abode in +Bethabara and Ephraim, he could not have come from Galilee; if he +started from Galilee, he was not abiding in the south. John xiii.-xvii. +stand alone, with the exception of the mention of the traitor. On the +arrest of Jesus, he is led (ch. xviii. 13) to Annas, who sends him to +Caiaphas, while the others send him direct to Caiaphas, but this is +immaterial. He is then taken to Pilate: the Jews do not enter the +judgment-hall, lest, being defiled, they could not eat the passover, a +feast which, according to the Synoptics, was over, Jesus and his +disciples having eaten it the night before. Jesus is exposed to the +people at the sixth hour (ch. xix. 14), while Mark tells us he was +crucified three hours before--at the third hour--a note of time which +agrees with the others, since they all relate that there was darkness +from the sixth to the ninth hour, i.e., there was thick darkness at the +time when, 'according to St. John,' Jesus was exposed. Here our +evangelist is in hopeless conflict with the three. The accounts about +the resurrection are irreconcilable in all the Gospels, and mutually +destructive. It remains to notice, among these discrepancies, one or two +points which did not come in conveniently in the course of the +narrative. During the whole of the fourth Gospel, we find Jesus +constantly arguing for his right to the title of Messiah. Andrew speaks +of him as such (i. 41); the Samaritans acknowledge him (iv. 42); Peter +owns him (vi. 69); the people call him so (vii. 26, 31, 41); Jesus +claims it (viii. 24); it is the subject of a law (ix. 22); Jesus speaks +of it as already claimed by him (x. 24, 25); Martha recognises it (xi. +27). We thus find that, from the very first, this title is openly +claimed by Jesus, and his right to it openly canvassed by the Jews. +But--in the three--the disciples acknowledge him as Christ, and he +charges them to 'tell _no man_ that he was Jesus the Christ" (Matt. xvi. +20; Mark viii. 29, 30; Luke ix. 20, 21); and this in the same year that +he blames the Jews for not owning this Messiahship, since he had told +them who he was 'from the beginning' (ch. viii. 24, 25): so that, if +'John' was right, we fail to see the object of all the mystery about it, +related by the Synoptics. We mark, too, how Peter is, in their account, +praised for confessing him, for flesh and blood had not revealed it to +him, while in the fourth Gospel, 'flesh and blood,' in the person of +Andrew, reveal to Peter that the Christ is found; and there seems little +praise due to Peter for a confession which had been made two or three +years earlier by Andrew, Nathanael, John Baptist, and the Samaritans. +Contradiction can scarcely be more direct. In John vii. Jesus owns that +the Jews know his birthplace (28), and they state (41, 42) that he comes +from Galilee, while Christ should be born at Bethlehem. Matthew and Luke +distinctly say Jesus was born at Bethlehem; but here Jesus confesses the +right knowledge of those who attribute his birthplace to Galilee, +instead of setting their difficulty at rest by explaining that though +brought up at Nazareth he was born in Bethlehem. But our writer was +apparently ignorant of their accounts ("According to St John," by Annie +Besant. Scott Series, pp. 11-14, ed. 1873). These are but a few of the +contradictions in the Gospels, which compel us to reject them as +historical narratives. + +(3) _The fact that the story of the hero, the doctrines, the miracles, +were current long before the supposed dates of the Gospels_, etc. There +are two mythical theories as to the growth of the story of Jesus, which +demand our attention; the first, that of which Strauss is the best known +exponent, which acknowledges the historical existence of Jesus, but +regards him as the figure round which has grown a mythus, moulded by the +Messianic expectations of the Jews: the second, which is indifferent to +his historical existence, and regards him as a new hero of the ancient +sun-worship, the successor of Mithra, Krishna, Osiris, Bacchus, etc. To +this school, it matters not whether there was a Jesus of Nazareth or +not, just as it matters not whether a Krishna or an Osiris had an +historical existence or not; it is _Christ_, the Sun-god, not _Jesus_, +the Jewish peasant, whom they find worshipped in Christendom, and who +is, therefore, the object of their interest. + +According to the first theory, whatever was expected of the Messiah has +been attributed to Jesus. "When not merely the particular nature and +manner of an occurrence is critically suspicious, its external +circumstances represented as miraculous and the like; but where likewise +the essential substance and groundwork is either inconceivable in +itself, or is in striking harmony with some Messianic idea of the Jews +of that age, then not the particular alleged course and mode of the +transaction only, but the entire occurrence must be regarded as +unhistorical" (Strauss' "Life of Jesus," vol. i., p. 94). The mythic +theory accepts an historical groundwork for many of the stories about +Jesus, but it does not seek to explain the miraculous by attenuating it +into the natural--as by explaining the story of the transfiguration to +have been developed from the fact of Jesus meeting secretly two men, and +from the brilliancy of the sunlight dazzling the eyes of the +disciples--but it attributes the incredible portions of the history to +the Messianic theories current among the Jews. The Messiah would do this +and that; Jesus was the Messiah; therefore, Jesus did this and +that--such, argue the supporters of the mythical theory, was the method +in which the mythus was developed. The theory finds some support in the +peculiar attitude of Justin Martyr, for instance, who believes a number +of things about Jesus, not because the things are thus recorded of him +in history, but because the prophets stated that such things should +happen to the Messiah. Thus, Jesus is descended from David, because the +Messiah was to come of David's lineage. His birth is announced by an +angelic visitant, because the birth of the Messiah must not be less +honoured than that of Isaac or of Samson; he is born of a virgin, +because God says of the Messiah, "this day have _I_ begotten thee," +implying the direct paternity of God, and because the prophecy in Is. +vii. 14 was applied to the Messiah by the later Jews (see Septuagint +translation, [Greek: parthenos], _a pure virgin_, while the Hebrew word +[Hebrew: almah] signifies a young woman; the Hebrew word for virgin +[Hebrew: betulah] not being used in the text of Isaiah), the ideas of +"son of God" and "son of a virgin" completing each other; born at +Bethlehem, because there the Messiah was to be born (Micah v. 1); +announced to shepherds, because Moses was visited among the flocks, and +David taken from the sheepfolds at Bethlehem; heralded by a star, +because a star should arise out of Jacob (Num. xxiv. 17), and "the +Gentiles shall come to thy light" (Is. lx. 3); worshipped by magi, +because the star was seen by Balaam, the magus, and astrologers would be +those who would most notice a star; presented with gifts by these +Eastern sages, because kings of Arabia and Saba shall offer gifts (Ps. +lxxii. 10); saved from the destruction of the infants by a jealous king, +because Moses, one of the great types of the Messiah, was so saved; +flying into Egypt and thence returning, because Israel, again a type of +the Messiah, so fled and returned, and "out of Egypt have I called my +son" (Hos. xi. 1); at twelve years of age found in the temple, because +the duties of the law devolved on the Jewish boy at that age, and where +should the Messiah then be found save in his Father's temple? recognised +at his baptism by a divine voice, to fulfil Is. xlii. 1; hovered over by +a dove, because the brooding Spirit (Gen. i. 2) was regarded as +dove-like, and the Spirit was to be especially poured on the Messiah +(Is. xlii. 1); tempted by the devil to test him, because God tested his +greatest servants, and would surely test the Messiah; fasting forty days +in the wilderness, because the types of the Messiah--Moses and +Elijah--thus fasted in the desert; healing all manner of disease, +because Messiah was to heal (Is. xxxv. 5, 6); preaching, because Messiah +was to preach (Is. lxi. 1, 2); crucified, because the hands and feet of +Messiah were to be pierced (Ps. xxii. 16); mocked, because Messiah was +to be mocked (Ibid 6-8); his garments divided, because thus it was +spoken of Messiah (Ibid, 18); silent before his judges, because Messiah +was not to open his mouth (Is. liii. 7); buried by the rich, because +Messiah was thus to find his grave (Ib. 9); rising again, because +Messiah's could not be left in hell (Ps. xvi. 10); sitting at God's +right hand, because there Messiah was to sit as king (Ps. cx. 1). Thus +the form of the Messiah was cast, and all that had to be done was to +pour in the human metal; those who alleged that the Messiah had come in +the person of Jesus of Nazareth, adapted his story to the story of the +Messiah, pouring the history of Jesus into the mould already made for +the Messiah, and thus the mythus was transformed into a history. + +This theory is much strengthened by a study of the prophecies quoted in +the New Testament, since we find that they are very badly "set;" take as +a specimen those referred to in Matthew i. and ii. "Now all this was +done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the +prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child," etc (i. 22, 23). +If we refer to Is. vii., from whence the prophecy is taken, we shall see +the wresting of the passage which is necessary to make it into a +"Messianic prophecy." Ahaz, king of Judah, is hard pressed by the kings +of Samaria and Syria, and he is promised deliverance by the Lord, before +the virgin's son, Immanuel, should be of an age to discern between good +and evil. How Ahaz could be given as a sign of a birth which was not to +take place until more than 700 years afterwards, it is hard to say, nor +can we believe that Ahaz was not delivered from his enemies until Jesus +was old enough to know right from wrong. According to the Gospels, the +name "Immanuel" was never given to Jesus, and in the prophecy is +bestowed on the child simply as a promise that, "God" being "with us," +Judah should be delivered from its foes. The same child is clearly +spoken of as the child of Isaiah and his wife in Is. viii. 3, 4; and in +verses 6-8 we find that the two kings of Samaria and Syria are to be +conquered by the king of Assyria, who shall fill "thy land, O +_Immanuel!_" thus referring distinctly to the promised child as living +in that time. The Hebrew word translated "virgin" does not, as we have +already shown, mean "a pure virgin," as translated in the Septuagint. It +is used for a young woman, a marriageable woman, or even to describe a +woman who is being embraced by a man. Micah's supposed prophecy in Matt. +ii. 5, 6, is as inapplicable to Christ as that of Isaiah. Turning back +to Micah, we find that he "that is to be ruler in Israel" shall be born +in Bethlehem, but Jesus was never ruler in Israel, and the description +cannot therefore be applied to him; besides, finishing the passage in +Micah (v. 5) we read that this same ruler "shall be the peace when the +Assyrian shall come into our land," so that the prophecy has a local and +immediate fulfilment in the circumstances of the time. Matthew ii. 15 is +only made into a prophecy by taking the second half of a historical +reference in Hosea to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt; it would be as +reasonable to prove in this fashion that the Bible teaches a denial of +God, "as is spoken by David the prophet, There is no God." The +fulfilment of the saying of Jeremy the prophet is as true as all the +preceding (verses 17, 18); Jeremy bids Rahel not to weep for the +children who are carried into bondage, "for they shall come again from +the land of the enemy ... thy children shall come again to their own +border" (Jer. xxxi. 16, 17). Very applicable to the slaughtered babes, +and so honest of "Matthew" to quote just so much of the "prophecy" as +served his purpose, leaving out that which altered its whole meaning. +After these specimens, we are not surprised to find that--unable to find +a prophecy fit to twist to suit his object--our evangelist quietly +invents one, and (verse 23) uses a prophecy which has no existence in +what was "spoken by the prophets." It is needless to go through all the +other passages known as Messianic prophecies, for they may all be dealt +with as above; the guiding rule is to refer to the Old Testament in each +case, and not to trust to the quotation as given in the New, and then to +read the whole context of the "prophecy," instead of resting content +with the few words which, violently wrested from their natural meaning, +are forced into a superficial resemblance with the story recorded in the +Gospels. + +The second theory, which regards Jesus as a new hero of the ancient +sun-worship, is full of intensest interest. Dupuis, in his great work on +sun-worship ("Origines de Tous les Cultes") has drawn out in detail the +various sun-myths, and has pointed to their common features. Briefly +stated, these points are as follows: the hero is born about Dec. 25th, +without sexual intercourse, for the sun, entering the winter solstice, +emerges in the sign of Virgo, the heavenly virgin. His mother remains +ever-virgin, since the rays of the sun, passing through the zodiacal +sign, leave it intact. His infancy is begirt with dangers, because the +new-born sun is feeble in the midst of the winter's fogs and mists, +which threaten to devour him; his life is one of toil and peril, +culminating at the spring equinox in a final struggle with the powers of +darkness. At that period the day and the night are equal, and both fight +for the mastery; though the night veil the sun, and he seems dead; +though he has descended out of sight, below the earth, yet he rises +again triumphant, and he rises in the sign of the Lamb, and is thus the +Lamb of God, carrying away the darkness and death of the winter months. +Henceforth, he triumphs, growing ever stronger and more brilliant. He +ascends into the zenith, and there he glows, "on the right hand of God," +himself God, the very substance of the Father, the brightness of his +glory, and the "express image of his person," "upholding all things" by +his heat and his life-giving power; thence he pours down life and warmth +on his worshippers, giving them his very self to be their life; his +substance passes into the grape and the corn, the sustainers of health; +around him are his twelve followers, the twelve signs of the zodiac, the +twelve months of the year; his day, the Lord's Day, is Sunday, the day +of the Sun, and his yearly course, ever renewed, is marked each year, by +the renewed memorials of his career. The signs appear in the long array +of sun-heroes, making the succession of deities, old in reality, +although new-named. + +It may be worth noting that Jesus is said to be born at Bethlehem, a +word that Dr. Inman translates as the house "of the hot one" ("Ancient +Faiths," vol. i., p. 358; ed. 1868); Bethlehem is generally translated +"house of bread," and the doubt arises from the Hebrew letters being +originally unpointed, and the points--equivalent to vowel sounds--being +inserted in later times; this naturally gives rise to great latitude of +interpretation, the vowels being inserted whenever the writer or +translator thinks they ought to come in, or where the traditionary +reading requires them (see Part 1., pp. 13, and 31, 32). + +Each point in the story of Jesus may be paralleled in earlier tales; the +birth of Krishna was prophesied of; he was born of Devaki, although she +was shut up in a tower, and no man was permitted to approach her. His +birth was hymned by the Devas--the Hindoo equivalent for angels--and a +bright light shone round where he was. He was pursued by the wrath of +the tyrant king, Kansa, who feared that Krishna would supplant him in +the kingdom. The infants of the district were massacred, but Krishna +miraculously escaped. He was brought up among the poor until he reached +maturity. He preached a pure morality, and went about doing good. He +healed the leper, the sick, the injured, and he raised the dead. His +head was anointed by a woman; he washed the feet of the Brahmins; he was +persecuted, and finally slain, being crucified. He went down into hell, +rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven (see "Asiatic +Researches," vol. i.; on "The Gods of Greece, Italy, and India," by Sir +William Jones, an essay which, though very imperfect, has much in it +that is highly instructive). He is pictorially represented as standing +on the serpent, the type of evil; his foot crushes its head, while the +fang of the serpent pierces his heel; also, with a halo round his head, +this halo being always the symbol of the Sun-god; also, with his hands +and feet pierced--the sacred stigmata--and with a hole in his side. In +fact, some of the representations of him could not be distinguished from +the representations of the crucified Jesus. + +The name of "Krishna" is by Sir William Jones, and by many others +written "Crishna," and I have seen it spelt "Cristna." The resemblance +it bears, when thus written, to "Christ" is apparent only, there is no +etymological similarity. Krishna is derived from the Sanscrit "Krish," +to scrape, to draw, to colour. Krishna means black, or violet-coloured; +Christ comes from the Greek [Greek: christos] the anointed. Colonel +Vallancy, Sir W. Jones tells us, informed him that "Crishna" in Irish +means the Sun ("As. Res.," p. 262; ed. 1801); and there is no doubt that +the Hindu Krishna is a Sun-god; the "violet-coloured" might well be a +reference to the deep blue of the summer sky. + +If Moses be a type of Christ, must not Bacchus be admitted to the same +honour? In the ancient Orphic verses it was said that he was born in +Arabia; picked up in a box that floated on the water; was known by the +name of Mises, as "drawn from the water;" had a rod which he could +change into a serpent, and by means of which he performed miracles; +leading his army, he passed the Red Sea dryshod; he divided the rivers +Orontes and Hydaspes with his rod; he drew water from a rock; where he +passed the land flowed with wine, milk, and honey (see "Diegesis," pp. +178, 179). + +The name Christ Jesus is simply the anointed Saviour, or else Chrestos +Jesus, the good Saviour; a title not peculiar to Jesus of Nazareth. We +find Hesus, Jesous, Yes or Ies. This last name, [Greek: Iaes], was one +of the titles of Bacchus, and the simple termination "us" makes it +"Jesus;" from this comes the sacred monogram I.H.S., really the Greek +[Greek: UAeS]--IES; the Greek letter [Greek: Ae], which is the capital +E, has by ignorance been mistaken for the Latin H, and the ancient name +of Bacchus has been thus transformed into the Latin monogram of Jesus. +In both cases the letters are surrounded with a halo, the sun-rays, +symbolical of the sun-deity to whom they refer. This halo surrounds the +heads of gods who typify the sun, and is continually met with in Indian +sculptures and paintings. + +Hercules, with his twelve labours, is another source of Christian fable. +"It is well known that by Hercules, in the physical mythology of the +heathens, was meant the _Sun_, or _solar light_, and his twelve famous +labours have been referred to the sun's passing through the twelve +zodiacal signs; and this, perhaps, not without some foundation. But the +labours of Hercules seem to have had a still higher view, and to have +been originally designed as emblematic memorials of what the real _Son +of God_ and _Saviour of the world_ was to do and suffer for our +sakes--[Greek: Noson Theletaeria panta komixon]--'_Bringing a cure for +all our ills_,' as the Orphic hymn speaks of Hercules" (Parkhurst's +"Hebrew Lexicon," page 520; ed. 1813). As the story of Hercules came +first in time, it must be either a prophecy of Christ, an inadmissible +supposition, or else of the sources whence the story of Christ has been +drawn. + +Aesculapius, the heathen "Good Physician," and "the good Saviour," +healed the sick and raised the dead. He was the son of God and of +Coronis, and was guarded by a goatherd. + +Prometheus is another forerunner of Christ, stretched in cruciform +position on the rocks, tormented by Jove, the Father, because he brought +help to man, and winning for man, by his agony, light and knowledge. + +Osiris, the great Egyptian God, has much in common with the Christian +Jesus. He was both god and man, and once lived on earth. He was slain by +the evil Typhon, but rose again from the dead. After his resurrection he +became the Judge of all men. Once a year the Egyptians used to celebrate +his death, mourning his slaying by the evil one: "this grief for the +death of Osiris did not escape some ridicule; for Xenophanes, the +Ionian, wittily remarked to the priests of Memphis, that if they thought +Osiris a man they should not worship him, and if they thought him a God +they need not talk of his death and suffering.... Of all the gods Osiris +alone had a place of birth and a place of burial. His birthplace was +Mount Sinai, called by the Egyptians Mount Nyssa. Hence was derived the +god's Greek name Dionysus, which is the same as the Hebrew +Jehovah-Nissi" ("Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity," by +Samuel Sharpe, pp. 10, 11; ed. 1863). Various places claimed the honour +of his burial. "Serapis" was a god's name, formed out of "Osiris" and +"Apis," the sacred bull, and we find (see ante, p. 206) that the Emperor +Adrian wrote that the "worshippers of Serapis are Christians," and that +bishops of Serapis were bishops of Christ; although the stories differ +in detail, as is natural, since the Christian tale is modified by other +myths--Osiris, for instance, is married--the general outline is the +same. We shall see, in Section II., how thoroughly Pagan is the origin +of Christianity. + +We find the Early Fathers ready enough to claim these analogies, in +order to recommend their religion. Justin Martyr argues: "When we say +that the word, who is the first birth of God, was produced without +sexual union, and that he, Jesus Christ, our teacher, was crucified and +died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing +different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of +Jupiter. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribe to +Jupiter; Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; Aesculapius, +who, though he was a great physician, was struck by a thunderbolt, and +so ascended to heaven; and Bacchus too, after he had been torn limb from +limb; and Hercules, when he had committed himself to the flames to +escape his toils; and the sons of Leda, the Dioscuri; and Perseus, son +of Danae; and Bellerophon, who, though sprung from mortals, rose to +heaven on the horse Pegasus" ("First Apology," ch. xxi.). "If we assert +that the Word of God was born of God in a peculiar manner, different +from ordinary generation, let this, as said above, be no extraordinary +thing to you, who say that Mercury is the angelic word of God. But if +anyone objects that he was crucified, in this also he is on a par with +those reputed sons of Jupiter of yours, who suffered as we have now +enumerated.... And if we even affirm that he was born of a virgin, +accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus. And in that we +say that he made whole the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, we +seem to say what is very similar to the deeds said to have been done by +AEsculapius" (Ibid, ch. xxi.). "Plato, in like manner, used to say that +Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the wicked who came before them; and +we say that the same thing will be done, but at the hand of Christ" +(Ibid, ch. viii.) In ch. liv. Justin argues that the devils invented all +these gods in order that when Christ came his story should be thought to +be another marvellous tale like its predecessors! On the whole, we can +scarcely wonder that Caecilius (about A.D. 211) taunted the early +Christians with those facts: "All these figments of cracked-brained +opiniatry and silly solaces played off in the sweetness of song by +deceitful poets, by you, too credulous creatures, have been shamefully +reformed, and made over to your own God" (as quoted in R. Taylor's +"Diegesis," p. 241). That the doctrines of Christianity had the same +origin as the story of Christ, and the miracles ascribed to him, we +shall prove under section ii., while section iii. will prove the same as +to his morality. Judge Strange fairly says: "The Jewish Scriptures and +the traditionary teaching of their doctors, the Essenes and Therapeuts, +the Greek philosophers, the neo-platonism of Alexandria, and the +Buddhism of the East, gave ample supplies for the composition of the +doctrinal portion of the new faith; the divinely procreated personages +of the Grecian and Roman pantheons, the tales of the Egyptian Osiris, +and of the Indian Rama, Krishna, and Buddha, furnished the materials for +the image of the new saviour of mankind; and every surrounding mythology +poured forth samples of the 'mighty works' that were to be attributed to +him to attract and enslave his followers: and thus, first from Judaism, +and finally from the bosom of heathendom, we have our matured expression +of Christianity" ("The Portraiture and Mission of Jesus," p. 27). From +the mass of facts brought together above, we contend that the Gospels +_are in themselves utterly unworthy of credit, from (1) the miracles +with which they abound, (2) the numerous contradictions of each by the +others, (3) the fact that the story of the hero, the doctrines, the +miracles, were current long before the supposed dates of the Gospels; so +that these Gospels are simply a patchwork composed of older materials_. + +We have thus examined, step by step, the alleged evidences of +Christianity, both external and internal; we have found it impossible to +rely on its external witnesses, while the internal testimony is fatal to +its claims; it is, at once, unauthenticated without, and incredible +within. After earnest study, and a careful balancing of proofs, we find +ourselves forced to assert that THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY ARE +UNRELIABLE. + + * * * * * + +APPROXIMATE DATES CLAIMED FOR THE CHIEF CHRISTIAN AND HERETICAL +AUTHORITIES. + +A.D. + +Between 92 and 125 Clement of Rome Very doubtful +Between 90 and 138 Barnabas " " +Said to be martyred 107 Ignatius " " +Between 117 and 138 Quadratus " " +Possibly 138 Hermas " " +About 150-170 Papias " " +About 135-145 Basilides and " " + Valentinus +About 140-160 Marcion +Said to be martyred 166 Polycarp Very doubtful +Said to be martyred 166 Justin Martyr +After 166 Hegesippus +About 177 Epistle of Lyons + and Vienne +Between 150 and 290 Clementines Real date quite unknown +Between 166 and 176 Dionysius of Corinth +About 176 Athenagoras +Between 170 and 175 Tatian +177 to about 200 Irenaeus +About 193 Tertullian +About 200 Celsus Very doubtful +205 Clement of Alexandria + succeeded as head of + School. +About 205 Porphyry +205-249 Origen + +THE SO-CALLED TEN PERSECUTIONS. + +A.D. +61 under Nero +81 " Domitian +107 " Trajan +166 " Marcus Aurelius +193 " Severus +235 under Maximin +249 " Decius +254 " Valerian +272 " Aurelian +303 " Diocletian + +DATES OF ROMAN EMPERORS. + +AT ALLEGED BIRTH OF CHRIST. + +Augustus Caesar + +A.D. +14 Tiberius +33 Caligula +41 Claudius +54 Nero +68 Galba + Otho +69 Vitellius +69 Vespasian +79 Titus +81 Domitian +96 Nerva +98 Trajan associated +117 Hadrian +138 Antoninus Pius +161 Marcus Aurelius +180 Commodus +192 Pertinax +193 Julian + Severus +211 Caracalla and Geta +217 Macrinus +218 Heliogabalus +222 Alexander Severus +235 Maximin +237 The Gordians + Maximus and Galbinus +238 Maximus, Galbinus, and Gordian +238 Gordian alone +244 Philip +249 Decius +251 Gallus +253 Valerian +260 Gallienus +268 Claudius +270 Aurelian +275 Tacitus +276 Florianus +276 Probus +282 Carus +283 Carinus and Numerian +285 Diocletian +286 Maximian associated +305 Galerius and Constantius + 305 Severus and Maximin +306 Constantine + Licinius + Maxentius +324 Constantine alone + + * * * * * + +INDEX TO SECTION I. OF PART II. + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF BOOKS USED. + +Adrian...206 + " quoted by Meredith...225 +Agbarus, letter of, in Eusebius...243 +Akiba, quoted in Keim...315 +Alford, Greek Testament...288 +Apostolic Fathers...215, 216, 217, 218, 220, 221, 230 +Athenagoras, Apology...226 +Augustine, Syntagma, quoted in Diegesis...234 + +Barnabas, Epistle of...233, 302 +Besant, According to St. John...337 +Butler, Lives of the Fathers, etc...324 + +Caecilius, quoted in Diegesis...348 +Celsus, quoted by Norton...233 +Clement, First Epistle...233, 299, 300, 301 +Clementine, Homilies...310 + " quoted in Supernatural Religion...301 +Corpus Ignatianum, quoted in Apostolic Fathers...218 + +Davidson, Introduction to New Testament...286, 294, 295, 296, 298 + +Ellicott, quoted in Cowper's Apocryphal Gospels...250 + +Epictetus...206 +Epiphanius, quoted by Norton...297 +Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History...216, 230, 231, 234, 243, 246, 248 + 250, 257, 260, 277, 279, 284, 290 + 291, 292, 294, 321, 323 + " quoted in Apostolic Fathers...217 + +Faustus, quoted in Diegesis...284 + +Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...195, 206, 209, 112 + 213, 227, 322 +Giles, Christian Records...197, 207, 230, 259, 261, 263, 265 + 267, 276, 288, 293, 297, 313, 328 + 335, 336 + +Hegesippus, quoted in Supernatural Religion...302 +Home, Introduction to New Testament...197, 203 + +Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans...220 + " " Ephesians...233 + " " Philippians...302 +Inman, Ancient Faiths...344 +Irenaeus, Against Heresies...258, 291, 323, 336 + " quoted in Keim...234 + " quoted in Eusebius...258 + +Jones, The Canon of the New Testament...240, 245, 257 +Jones, Sir W., Asiatic Researches...345 +Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews...195, 198, 315 + " Wars of the Jews...317 + " Discourse on Hades...198 +Justin Martyr, First Apology...231, 253, 302, 347 + " Second Apology...226, 323 + " Dialogue with Trypho...231, 275, 302, 310 +Juvenal...203 + +Keim, Jesus of Nazara...197, 202, 315 + +Lardner, Answer to Dr. Chandler, quoted from + Diegesis...196 + " Credibility of the + Gospels...209, 210, 211, 216, 218 + 230, 263, 269 +Livy...222 + +Marcus Aurelius...206 +Marsh, quoted in Norton...267 + " quoted in Giles...287 +Meredith, Prophet of Nazareth...223 +Mosheim, Ecclesiastical + History...214, 216, 217, 235, 237, 238, 239 +Muratori, Canon of...282 + +Nicodemus, Gospel of...253 +Norton, Genuineness of the Gospels...215, 216, 219, 247, + 263, 269, 295 + +Origen, quoted in Gibbon...213 + " " Diegesis...234 + " " Supernatural Religion...323 + +Paley, Evidences of Christianity...198, 202, 203, 205 + 208, 209, 210, 212, 228, 229, 231 + 235, 236, 243, 244, 247, 248, 260 + 262, 269, 273, 281, 290, 309, 317 + 319 +Papias, quoted by Eusebius...291 + " Irenaeus...291 +Parkhurst, Hebrew Lexicon...346 +Pliny, Epistles...203 +Pilate, Acts of...253 + +Quadratus, quoted by Eusebius...230 + +Renan, Vie de Jesus...197 +Row, The Supernatural in the New Testament...325, 327 + +Sanday, Gospels in the Second Century...248, 269, 270 + 279, 287, 298, 300, 302, 305, 311 +Scott, English Life of Jesus...334 +Sharpe, Egyptian Mythology...347 +Smyrna, Circular Epistle of the Church of...221 +Strange, Portraiture and Mission of Jesus...198, 201, 210 + 321, 348 +Strauss, Life of Jesus...289, 312, 320, 330, 331, 332 +Suetonius...201, 202, 225 +Supernatural Religion... 215, 216, 219, 229, 246, 247, 248 + 249, 260, 261, 266, 268, 269, 271 + 276, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283 + 290, 292, 293, 295, 301, 302, 303 + 304, 322, 325 + +Tacitus, Annals...199, 222, 225 +Taylor, Diegesis...196, 200, 201, 205, 206, 208, 212, 346 +Tertullian, Apology...226 + " De Spectaculis...323 + " quoted in Gibbon...213 + " " Meredith...225 +Thomas, Gospel of...251 +Tischendorf, When were our Gospels Written?...248, 270 + +Westcott, On the Canon of the New Testament...216, 229, 247, 249 + 256, 268, 270, 274 + 275, 278, 286 + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + +Analogies of Christian doctrines...347 +Apocryphal Gospels, specimens of...250 + " Books, recognised...245 +Authenticity of Apology of Quadratus...230 + " Epistle of Barnabas...229 + " " Clement...214 + " " Ignatius...217 + " " Polycarp...216 + " " Smyrna...220 + " Vision of Hermas...216 + +Books read in churches...248 + " in volume of Scriptures...249 + +Christian Agapae...223 +Christianity advantageous to tyrants...237 + +Date of birth of Christ...333 +Dates of Fathers, etc...349 +Dates of Roman Emperors...350 +Diatessaron of Tatian...259 + +Evidence of Adrian...206 + " Apostolic Fathers...263, 267 + " Barnabas...268 + " Basilides and Valentinus...280 + " Canon of Muratori...282 + " Clement ...269 + " Clementines...279 + " Hegesippus...277 + " Hermas...269 + " Ignatius...270 + " Josephus...195 + " Justin Martyr...271 + " Marcion...281 + " Marcus Aurelius...206 + " Papias...271 + " Pliny...203 + " Polycarp...270 + " Suetonius...201 + " Tacitus...199 + +Forgeries in Early Church...238 + " List of...240 +Four Gospels: when recognised...257 + " why only four...258 + +Gospels, changes made in...283 + " contradictions in...328 + " contradictions between synoptical and fourth...337 + " growth of...285, 289 + " identity of modern and ancient unproven...262 + " many current...266 + " of later origin...311 + " of Matthew and Mark not those of Papias...290 + " original, different from canonical...298 + " similarity of canonical and uncanonical...245 + " synoptical...286 + " time of selection unknown...256 +Genealogies of Jesus...328 +Greek not commonly known by Jews...314 + +Ignorance of Early Fathers...232 + +Krishna, meaning of...345 + +Length of Jesus' Ministry..336 +Life of Christ from Justin Martyr...306 + +Martyrs, small number of...212 +Massacre of infants unlikely...333 +Matthew, written in Hebrew...394 +Miracles...316 +Morality of Early Christians...221 +Mythical Theory of Jesus...340 + +Passages in Fathers, not in canonical Gospels...301 +Persecution, absence of...209 +Phrase "it is written"...247 +Positions laid down as to Gospels...236 +Position A...238 + " B...245 + " C...256 + " D...257 + " E...261 + " F...262 + " G...290 + " H...298 + " I...311 + " J...314 + " K...316 +Prophecies, Messianic...342 + +Silence of Jewish writers...198, 201, 259 + " Pagan " ...193, 206 +Story of Christ pre-Christian...340 +Son-worship and Christ...343 + +Temptation of Christ...334 +Ten Persecutions...350 +Types of Christ...345 + + + + +SECTION II.--ITS ORIGIN PAGAN. + + +There are two ancient and widely-spread creeds to which we must chiefly +look for the origin of Christianity, namely, Sun-worship and +Nature-worship. It is doubtful which of the twain is the elder, and they +are closely intertwined, the central idea of each being the same; +personally, I am inclined to think that Nature-worship is the older of +the two, because it is the simpler and the nearer; the barbarian, slowly +emerging into humanity, would be more likely to worship the force which +was the most immediately wonderful to him, the power of generation of +new life; to recognise the sun as the great life producer seems to imply +some little growth of reason and of imagination; sun-worship seems the +idealisation of nature-worship, for the same generative force is adored +in both, and round the idea of this production of new life all creeds +revolve. Christian symbols and Christian ceremonies speak as plainly to +the student of ancient religions as the stars speak to the astronomer, +and the rocks to the geologian; Christian Churches are as full of the +fossil relics of the old creeds as are the earth's strata of the bones +of extinct animals. We shall expect to find, then, a family resemblance +running through all Eastern creeds--of which Christianity is one--and we +shall not be surprised to find similar symbols expressing similar ideas; +there are, in fact, cardinal symbols re-appearing in all these allied +religions; the virgin and child; the trinity in unity; the cross; these +have their roots struck deep in human nature, and are found in every +Eastern creed. So also can we trace sacraments and ceremonies, and many +minor dogmas. In looking back into those ancient creeds it is necessary +to get rid of the modern fashion of regarding any natural object as +immodest. Sir William Jones justly remarks that in Hindustan "it never +seems to have entered the heads of the legislators, or people, that +anything natural could be offensively obscene; a singularity which +pervades all their writings and conversation, but is no proof of +depravity in their morals" ("Asiatic Researches," vol. i., p. 255). +Gross injustice is sometimes done to ancient creeds by contemplating +them from a modern point of view; in those days every power of Nature +was thought divine, and most divine of all was deemed the power of +creation, whether worshipped in the sun, whose beams impregnated the +earth, or in the male and female organs of generation, the universal +creators of life in the animal world; thus we find in all ancient +sculptures carvings of the phallus and the yoni, expressed both +naturally and symbolically, the representations becoming more and more +conventional and refined as civilisation advanced; of the infant world +it may be said that it was "naked, and was not ashamed;" as it grew +older, and clothed the human form, it also draped its religious symbols, +but as the body remains unaltered under its garments, so the idea +concealed beneath the emblems remains the same. + +The union of male and female is, then, the foundation of all religions; +the heaven marries the earth, as man marries woman, and that union is +the first marriage. Saturn is the sky, the male, or active energy; Rhea +is the earth, the female, or receptive; and these are the father and the +mother of all. The Persians of old called the sky Jupiter, or Jupater, +"Ju the Father." The sun is the agent of the generative power of the +sky, and his beams fecundate the earth, so that from her all life is +produced. Thus the sun becomes worshipped as the Father of all, and the +sun is the emblem which crowns the images of the Supreme God; the vernal +equinox is the resurrection of the sun, and the sign of the zodiac in +which he then is becomes the symbol of his life-producing power; thus +the bull, and afterwards the ram, became his sign as Life-Giver, and the +Sun-god was pictured as bull, or as ram (or lamb), or else with the +horns of his, emblem, and the earthly animals became sacred for his +sake. Mithra, the Sun-god of Persia, is sculptured as riding on a bull; +Osiris, the Sun-god of Egypt, wears the horns of the bull, and is +worshipped as Osiris-Apis, or Serapis, the Sun-god in the sign of Apis, +the bull. Later, by the precession of the equinoxes, the sun at the +vernal equinox has passed into the sign of the ram (called in Persia, +the lamb), and we find Jupiter Ammon, Jupiter with ram's horns, and +Jesus the Lamb of God. These symbols all denote the sun victorious over +darkness and death, giving life to the world. The phallus is the other +great symbol of the Life-Giver, generating life in woman, as the sun in +the earth. Bacchus, Adonis, Dionysius, Apollo, Hercules, Hermes, +Thammuz, Jupiter, Jehovah, Jao, or Jah, Moloch, Baal, Asher, Mahadeva, +Brahma, Vishnu, Mithra, Atys, Ammon, Belus, with many another, these are +all the Life-Giver under different names; they are the Sun, the Creator, +the Phallus. Red is their appropriate colour. When the sun or the +Phallus is not drawn in its natural form, it is indicated by a symbol: +the symbol must be upright, hard, or else burning, either conical, or +clubbed at one end. Thus--the torch, flame of fire, cone, serpent, +thyrsus, triangle, letter T, cross, crosier, sceptre, caduceus, knobbed +stick, tall tree, upright stone, spire, tower, minaret, upright pole, +arrow, spear, sword, club, upright stump, etc., are all symbols of the +generative force of the male energy in Nature of the Supreme God. + +One of the most common, and the most universally used, is THE CROSS. +Carved at first simply as phallus, it was gradually refined; we meet it +as three balls, one above the two; the letter T indicated it, which, by +the slightest alteration, became the cross now known as the Latin: thus +"Barnabas" says that "the cross was to express the grace by the letter +T" (ante, p. 233). We find the cross in India, Egypt, Thibet, Japan, +always as the sign of life-giving power; it was worn as an amulet by +girls and women, and seems to have been specially worn by the women +attached to the temples, as a symbol of what was, to them, a religious +calling. The cross is, in fact, nothing but the refined phallus, and in +the Christian religion is a significant emblem of its Pagan origin; it +was adored, carved in temples, and worn as a sacred emblem by sun and +nature worshippers, long before there were any Christians to adore, +carve, and wear it. The crowd kneeling before the cross in Roman +Catholic and in High Anglican Churches, is a simple reproduction of the +crowd who knelt before it in the temples of ancient days, and the girls +who wear it amongst ourselves, are--in the most innocent unconsciousness +of its real signification--exactly copying the Indian and Egyptian women +of an elder time. Saturn's symbol was a cross and a ram's horn. Jupiter +bore a cross with a horn. Venus a circle with a cross. The Egyptian +deities a cross and oval. (The signification of these will be dealt with +below.) The Druids sought oak trees with two main arms growing in shape +of a cross, and, if they failed to find such, nailed a beam cross-wise. +The chief pagodas in India are built, like many Christian churches, in +the form of a cross. I have read in a book on church architecture that +churches should be built either in the form of a cross, or else in that +of a ship, typifying the ark; i.e., they should either be built in the +form of the phallus or the yoni, the ship or ark being one of the +symbols of the female energy (see below, p. 361). + +The CRUCIFIX, or cross with human figure stretched upon it, is also +found in ancient times, although not so frequently as the simple cross. +The crucifix appears to have arisen from the circle of the horizon being +divided into four parts, North, South, East, and West, and the Sun-god, +drawn within, or on, the circle, came into contact with each cardinal +point, his feet and head touching, or intersecting, two, while his +outstretched arms point to the other quarters. Plato says that the "next +power to the Supreme God was decussated, or figured in the shape of a +cross, on the universe." Krishna is painted and sculptured on a cross. +The Egyptians thus drew Osiris, and sometimes we find a circle drawn +with the dividing lines, and in the midst is stretched the dead body of +Osiris. Robert Taylor gives another origin for the crucifix: "The +ignorant gratitude of a superstitious people, while they adored the +river [Nile] on whose inundations the fertility of their provinces +depended, could not fail of attaching notions of sanctity and holiness +to the posts that were erected along its course, and which, by a +_transverse beam_, indicated the height to which, at the spot where the +beam was fixed, the waters might be expected to rise. This cross at once +warned the traveller to secure his safety, and formed a standard of the +value of land. Other rivers may add to the fertility of the country +through which they pass, but the Nile is the absolute cause of that +great fertility of the Lower Egypt, which would be all a desert, as bad +as the most sandy parts of Africa without this river. It supplies it +both with soil and moisture, and was therefore gratefully addressed, not +merely as an ordinary river-god, but by its express title of the +Egyptian Jupiter. The crosses, therefore, along the banks of the river +would naturally share in the honour of the stream, and be the most +expressive emblem of good fortune, peace, and plenty. The two ideas +could never be separated: the fertilising flood was the _waters of +life_, that conveyed every blessing, and even existence itself, to the +provinces through which they flowed. One other and most obvious +hieroglyph completed the expressive allegory. The _Demon of Famine_, +who, should the waters fail of their inundation, or not reach the +elevation indicated by the position of the transverse beam upon the +upright, would reign in all his horrors over their desolated lands. This +symbolical personification was, therefore, represented as a miserable +emaciated wretch, who had grown up 'as a tender plant, and as a root out +of a dry ground, who had no form nor comeliness; and when they should +see him, there was no beauty that they should desire him.' Meagre were +his looks; sharp misery had worn him to the bone. His crown of thorns +indicated the sterility of the territories over which he reigned. The +reed in his hand, gathered from the banks of the Nile, indicated that it +was only the mighty river, by keeping within its banks, and thus +withholding its wonted munificence, that placed an unreal sceptre in his +gripe. He was nailed to the cross, in indication of his entire defeat. +And the superscription of his infamous title, 'THIS IS THE KING OF THE +JEWS,' expressively indicated that _Famine, Want_, or _Poverty_, ruled +the destinies of the most slavish, beggarly, and mean race of men with +whom they had the honour of being acquainted" ("Diegesis," p. 187). +While it may very likely be true that the miserable aspect given to +Jesus crucified is copied from some such original as Mr. Taylor here +sketches, we are tolerably certain that the general idea of the crucifix +had the solar origin described above. + +Very closely joined to the notion of the cross is the idea of the +TRINITY IN UNITY, and we need not delay upon it long. It is as universal +in Eastern religions as the cross, and comes from the same idea; all +life springs from a trinity in unity in man, and, therefore, God is +three in one. This trinity is, of course, symbolised by the cross, and +especially by the lotus, and any "three in one" leaf; from this has come +to Christianity the conventional triple foliage so constantly seen in +Church carvings, the _fleur-de-lis_, the triangle, etc., which are +now--as of old--accepted as the emblems of the trinity. The persons of +the trinity are found each with his own name; in India, Brahma, Vishnu, +Siva, and it is Vishnu who becomes incarnate; in Egypt different cities +had different trinities, and "we have a hieroglyphical inscription in +the British Museum as early as the reign of Sevechus of the eighth +century before the Christian era, showing that the doctrine of Trinity +in Unity already formed part of their religion, and that in each of the +two groups last mentioned the three gods only made one person" +("Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christology," by S. Sharpe, p. 14). +Mr. Sharpe might have gone to much earlier times and "already" have +found the adoration of the trinity in unity; as far back as the first +who bowed in worship before the generative force of the male three in +one. Osiris, Horus, and Ra form one of the Egyptian trinities; Horus the +Son, is also one of a trinity in unity made into an amulet, and called +the Great God, the Son God, and the Spirit God. Horus is the slayer of +Typhon, the evil one, and is sometimes represented as standing on its +head, and as piercing its head with a spear, reminding us of Krishna, +the incarnation of Vishnu, the second person of the Indian Trinity. + +These trinities, however, were not complete in themselves, for the +female element is needed for the production of life; hence, we find that +in most nations a fourth person is joined to the trinity, as Isis, the +mother of Horus, in Egypt, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, in +Christendom; the Egyptian trinity is often represented as Osiris, Horus, +and Isis, but we more generally find the female constituting the fourth +element, in addition to the triune, and symbolised by an oval, or +circle, typical of the female organ of reproduction; thus the _crux +ansata_ of the Egyptians, the "symbol of life" held in the hand by the +Egyptian deities, is a cross or oval, i.e., the T with an oval at the +top; the circle with the cross inside, symbolises, again, the male and +female union; also the six-rayed star, the pentacle, the double +triangle, the triangle and circle, the pit with a post in it, the key, +the staff with a half-moon, the complicated cross. The same union is +imaged out in all androgynous deities, in Elohim, Baalim, Baalath, +Arba-il, the bearded Venus, the feminine Jove, the virgin and child. In +countries where the Yoni worship was more popular than that of the +Phallus, the VIRGIN and CHILD was a favourite deity, and to this we now +turn. + +Here, as in the history of the cross, we find sun and nature worship +intertwined. The female element is sometimes the Earth, and sometimes +the individual. The goddesses are as various in names as the gods. Is, +Isis, Ishtar, Astarte, Mylitta, Sara, Mrira, Maia, Parvati, Mary, +Miriam, Eve, Juno, Venus, Diana, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera, Rhea, Cybele, +Ceres, and others, are the earth under many names; the receptive female, +the producer of life, the Yoni. Black is the special colour of female +deities, and the black Isis and Horus, the black Mary and Jesus are of +peculiar sanctity. Their emblems are: the earth, moon, star of the sea, +circle, oval, triangle, pomegranate, door, ark, fish, ship, horseshoe, +chasm, cave, hole, celestial virgin, etc. They bore first the titles now +worn by Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus, and were reverenced as the +"queen of heaven." Ishtar, of Babylonia, was the "Mother of the Gods," +and the "Queen of the Stars." Isis, of Egypt, was "our Immaculate Lady." +She was figured with a crown of stars, and with the crescent moon. Venus +was an ark brooded over by a dove, or the moon floating on the water. +They are "the mother," "mamma," "emma," "ummah," or "the woman." The +symbols are everywhere the same, though given with different names. +Everywhere it is Mary, the mother; the female principle in nature, +adored side by side with the male. She shares in the work of creation +and salvation, and has a kind of equality with the Father of all; hence +we hear of the immaculate conception. She produces a child alone in some +stories, without even divine co-operation. The Virgo of the Zodiac is +represented in ancient sculptures and drawings as a woman suckling a +child, and the Paamylian feasts were celebrated at the spring equinox, +and were the equivalent of the Christian feast of the Annunciation, when +the power of the highest overshadowed Mary of Nazareth. Thus in India, +we have Devaki and Krishna; in Egypt, Osiris and Horus--the "Saviour of +the World;" in Christendom, Mary and Christ; the pictures and carvings +of India and Egypt would be indistinguishable from those of Europe, were +it not for the differences of dress. Apis, the sacred Egyptian bull, was +always born without an earthly father, and his mother never had a second +calf. So the later Sun-god, Jesus, is born without sexual intercourse, +and Mary never bears another child. Jupiter visits Leda as a swan; God +visits Mary as an overshadowing dove. The salutation of Gabriel to Mary +is curiously like that of Mercury to Electra: "Hail, most happy of all +women, you whom Jupiter has honoured with his couch; your blood will +give laws to the world, I am the messenger of the gods." The mother of +Fohi, the great Chinese God, became _enceinte_ by walking in the +footsteps of a giant. The mother of Hercules did not lose her virginity. +The savages of St. Domingo represented the chief divinity by a female +figure called the "mother of God." On Friday, the day of Freya, or +Venus, many Christians still eat only fish, fish being sacred to the +female deity. + +In Comtism we find the latest development of woman-worship, wherein the +"emotional sex" becomes the sacred sex, to be guarded, cherished, +sustained, adored; and thus in the youngest religion the stamp of the +eldest is found. + +Thus womanhood has been worshipped in all ages of the world, and +maternity has been deified by all creeds: from the savage who bowed +before the female symbol of motherhood, to the philosophic Comtist who +adores woman "in the past, the present, and the future," as mother, +wife, and daughter, the worship of the female element in nature has run +side by side with that of the male; the worship is one and the same in +all religions, and runs in an unbroken thread from the barbarous ages to +the present time. + +The doctrines of the mediation, and the divinity of Christ, and of the +immortality of the soul, are as pre-Christian as the symbols which we +have examined. + +The idea of _the Mediator_ comes to us from Persia, and the title was +borne by Mithra before it was ascribed to Christ. Zoroaster taught that +there was existence itself, the unknown, the eternal, "Zeruane Akerne," +"time without bounds." From this issued Ormuzd, the good, the light, the +creator of all. Opposite to Ormuzd is Ahriman, the bad, the dark, the +deformer of all. Between these two great deities comes Mithra, the +Mediator, who is the Reconciler of all things to God, who is one with +Ormuzd, although distinct from him. Mithra, as we have seen, is the Sun +in the sign of the Bull, exactly parallel to Jesus, the Sun in the sign +of the Lamb, both the one and the other being symbolised by that sign of +the zodiac in which the sun was at the spring equinox of his supposed +date. "Mithras is spiritual light contending with spiritual darkness, +and through his labours the kingdom of darkness shall be lit with +heaven's own light; the Eternal will receive all things back into his +favour, the world will be redeemed to God. The impure are to be +purified, and the evil made good, through the mediation of Mithras, the +reconciler of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Mithras is the Good, his name is Love. +In relation to the Eternal he is the source of grace, in relation to man +he is the life-giver and mediator. He brings the 'Word,' as Brahma +brings the Vedas, from the mouth of the Eternal. (See Plutarch 'De Isid. +et Osirid.;' also Dr. Hyde's 'De Religione Vet. Pers.,' ch. 22; see also +'Essay on Pantheism,' by Rev. J. Hunt.) It was just prior to the return +of the Jews from living among the people who were dominated by these +ideas, that the splendid chapter of Isaiah (xl.), or indeed the series +of chapters which form the closing portion of the book, were written: +'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Prepare ye the way of +the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every +valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, +and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' And +then follows a magnificent description of the greatness and supremacy of +God, and this is followed by chapters which tell of a Messiah, or +conquering prince, who will redeem the nation from its enemies, and +restore them to the light of the divine favour, and which predict a +millennium, a golden age of purified and glorified humanity. It is thus +manifest that the inspiration of these writings came to the Jewish +people from their contact with the religious thought of the Persians, +and not from any supernatural source. From this time the Jews began to +hold worthier ideas concerning God, and to cherish expectations of a +golden age, a kingdom of heaven, which the Messiah, who was to be the +sent messenger of God, should inaugurate. And this kingdom was to be a +kingdom of righteousness, a day of marvellous light, a rule under which +all evil and darkness were to perish" ("Plato, Philo, and Paul," Rev. +J.W. Lake, pp. 15, l6.) + +The growth of the philosophical side of the dogma of the _Divinity of +Christ_ is as clearly traceable in Pagan and Jewish thought as is the +dogma of the incarnation of the Saviour-God in the myths of Krishna, +Osiris, etc. Two great teachers of the doctrine of the "Logos," the +"Word," of God, stand out in pre-Christian times--the Greek Plato and +the Jewish Philo. We borrow the following extract from pp. 19, 20, of +the pamphlet by Mr. Lake above referred to, as showing the general +theological position of Plato; its resemblance to Christian teaching +will be at once apparent (it must not be forgotten that Plato lived B.C. +400):-- + +"The speculative thought and the religious teaching of Plato are +diffused throughout his voluminous writings; but the following is a +popular summary of them, by Madame Dacier, contained in her introduction +to what have been classed as the 'Divine Dialogues:'-- + +"'That there is but one God, and that we ought to love and serve him, +and to endeavour to resemble him in holiness and righteousness; that +this God rewards humility and punishes pride. + +"'That the true happiness of man consists in being united to God, and +his only misery in being separated from him. + +"'That the soul is mere darkness, unless it be illuminated by God; that +men are incapable even of praying well, unless God teaches them that +prayer which alone can be useful to them. + +"'That there is nothing solid and substantial but piety; that this is +the source of all virtues, and that it is the gift of God. + +"'That it is better to die than to sin. + +"'That it is better to suffer wrong than to do it. + +"'That the "Word" ([Greek: Logos]) formed the world, and rendered it +visible; that the knowledge of the Word makes us live very happily here +below, and that thereby we obtain felicity after death. + +"'That the soul is immortal, that the dead shall rise again, that there +shall be a final judgment--both of the righteous and of the wicked, when +men shall appear only with their virtues or vices, which shall be the +occasion of their eternal happiness or misery.'" + +It is this Logos who was "figured in the shape of a cross on the +universe" (ante, p. 358). The universe, which is but the materialised +thought of God, is made by his Logos, his Word, which is the expression +of his thought. In the Christian creed it is the Logos, the Word of God, +by whom all things are made (John i. 1-3). The very name, as well as the +thought, is the same, whether we turn over the pages of Plato or those +of John. Philo, the great Jewish Platonist, living in Alexandria at the +close of the last century B.C. and in the first half of the first +century after Christ, speaks of the Logos in terms that, to our ears, +seem purely Christian. Philo was a man of high position among the Jews +in Alexandria, being "a man eminent on all accounts, brother to +Alexander the alabarch [governor of the Jews], and one not unskilful in +philosophy" (Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews," bk. xviii., ch. 8, +sec. 1). This "Alexander was a principal person among all his +contemporaries both for his family and wealth" (Ibid, bk. xx, ch. 5, +sec. 2). He was the principal man in the Jewish embassage to Caius +(Caligula) A.D. 39-40, and was then a grey-headed old man. Keim speaks +of him as about sixty or seventy years old at that time, and puts his +birth at about B.C. 20. He writes: "The Theology of Philo is in great +measure founded on his peculiar combination of the Jewish, the Platonic, +and the Neo-Platonic conception of God. The God of the Old Testament, +the exalted God, as he is called by the modern Hegelian philosophy, +stood in close relations to the Greek Philosophers' conception of God, +which believed that the Supreme Being could be accurately defined by the +negative of all that was finite. In accordance with this, Philo also +described God as the simple Entity; he disclaimed for him every name, +every quality, even that of the Good, the Beautiful, the Blessed, the +One. Since he is still better than the good, higher than the Unity, he +can never be known _as_, but only _that_, he is: his perfect name is +only the four mysterious letters (Jhvh)--that is, pure Being. By such +means, indeed, neither a fuller theology nor God's influence on the +world was to be obtained. And yet it was the problem of philosophy, as +well as of religion, to shed the light of God upon the world, and to +lead it again to God. But how could this Being which was veiled from the +world be brought to bear upon it? By Philo, as well as by all the +philosophy of the time, the problem could only be solved illogically. +Yet, by modifying his exalted nature, it might be done. If not by his +being, yet by his work he influences the world; his powers, his angels, +all in it that is best and mightiest, the instrument, the interpreter, +the mediator and messenger of God; his pattern and his first-born, the +Son of God, the Second God, even himself God, the divine Word or Logos +communicate with the world; he is the ideal and actual type of the world +and of humanity, the architect and upholder of the world, the manna and +the rock in the wilderness" ("Jesus of Nazara," vol. i., pp. 281, 282). + +"Man is fallen.... There is no man who is without sin, and even the +perfect man, if he should be born, does not escape from it.... Yet there +is a redemption, willed by God himself, and brought to pass by the act +of a wise man. Adam's successors still preserve the types of their +relationship to the Father, although in an obscure form, each man +possesses the knowledge of good and evil and an incorruptible judgment, +subject to reason; his spiritual strength is even now aided by the +Divine Logos, the image, copy, and reflection of the blessed nature. +Hence it follows that man can discern and see all the stains with which +he has wilfully or involuntarily defiled his life, that man by means of +his self-knowledge can decide to subdue his passions, to despise his +pleasures and desires, to wage the battle of repentance, and to be just +at any cost, and by the fundamental virtues of humanity, piety, and +justice, to imitate the virtues of the Father.... In such perfection as +is possible to all, even to women and to slaves, since no one is a slave +by nature, the wise man is truly rich. He is noble and free who can +proudly utter the saying of Sophocles, God is my ruler, not one among +men! Such a one is priest, king, and prophet, he is no longer merely a +son and scholar of the Logos, he is the companion and son of God.... God +is the eternal guide and director of the world, himself requiring +nothing, and giving all to his children. It is of his goodness that he +does not punish as a judge, but that, as the giver of grace, he bears +with all. With him all things are possible; he deals with all, even with +that which is almost beyond redemption. From him all the world hopes for +forgiveness of sins, the Logos, the high priest, and intercessor, and +the patriarchs pray for it; he grants it, not for the world's sake, but +of his own gracious nature, to those who can truly believe. He loves the +humble, and saves those whom he knows to be worthy of healing. His grace +elects the pious before they are born, giving them victory over +sensuality, and steadfastness in virtue. He reveals himself to holy +souls by his Spirit, and by his divine light leads those who are too +weak by nature even to understand the external world, beyond the limits +of human nature to that which is divine" ("Jesus of Nazara," pp. +283-287). Such are the most important passages of Keim's _resume_ of +Philo's philosophy, and its resemblance to Christian doctrine is +unmistakeable, and adds one more proof to the fact that Christianity is +Alexandrian rather than Judaean. It will be well to add to this sketch +the passages carefully gathered out of Philo's works by Jacob Bryant, +who endeavoured to prove, from their resemblance to passages in the New +Testament, that Philo was a Christian, forgetting that Philo's works +were mostly written when Jesus was a child and a youth, and that he +never once mentions Jesus or Christianity. It must not be forgotten that +Philo lived in Alexandria, not in Judaea, and that between the +Canaanitish and the Hellenic Jews there existed the most bitter +hostility, so that--even were the story of Jesus true--it could not have +reached Philo before A.D. 40, at which time he was old and gray-headed. +We again quote from Mr. Lake's treatise, who prints the parallel +passages, and we would draw special attention to the similarity of +phraseology as well as of idea: + +_Identity of the Christ of the New Testament with the Logos of Philo._ + +Philo, describing the Logos, The New Testament, speaking +says:-- of Jesus says:-- + +'The Logos is the Son 'This is the Son of God.' +of God the Father.'--De John i. 34. +Profugis. + +'The first begotten of God.' 'And when he again bringeth +--De Somniis. his first-born into the + world.'--Heb. i. 6. + +'And the most ancient of 'That he is the first-born +all beings.'--De Conf. Ling. of every creature.'--Col. i. 15. + +'The Logos is the image 'Christ, the image of the +and likeness of God.'--De invisible God.'--Col. i. 15. +Monarch. 'The brightness of his + (God's) glory, and the express + image of his person.'--Heb. + i. 3. + +'The Logos is superior to 'Being made so much +the angels.'--De Profugis. better that the angels. Let + all the angels of God worship + him.'--Heb. i. 4, 6. + +'The Logos is superior to 'Thou hast put all things +all beings in the world.'--De in subjection under his feet.' +Leg. Allegor. --Heb. ii. 8. + +'The Logos is the instrument 'All things were made by +by whom the world was him (the Word or Logos), +made.'--De Leg. Allegor. and without him was not + anything made that was +'The divine word by whom made.'--John i. 3 +all things were ordered and +disposed.'--De Mundi Opificio. 'Jesus Christ, by whom + are all things.'--i Cor. viii. 6. + + 'By whom also he made + the worlds.'--Heb. i. 2. + +'The Logos is the light of 'The Word (Logos) was +the world, and the intellectual the true light.'--John i. 9. +sun.'--De Somniis. + 'The life and the light of + men.'--John i. 4. + + 'I am the light of the world.' + --John viii. 12. + +'The Logos only can see 'He that is of God, he + God.'--De Confus. Ling. hath seen the Father.'--John + vi. 46. + + 'No man hath seen God + at any time. The only begotten + Son which is in the + bosom of the Father, he + hath declared him."--John + i. 18. + +'He is the most ancient 'Now, O Father, glorify +of God's works.'--De Confus thou me with thine own self +Ling. with the glory which I had + with thee before the world +'And was before all things.' was.'--John xvii. 5. +--De Leg. Allegor. + 'He was in the beginning + with God.'--John i. 2. + + 'Before all worlds.'--2 + Tim. i. 9. + +'The Logos is esteemed 'Christ, who is over all, +the same as God.'--De God blessed for evermore.' +Somniis. --Rom. ix. 5. + + 'Who, being in the form + of God. thought it no robbery + to be equal with God.'--Phil. + ii. 6. + +'The Logos was eternal.' 'Christ abideth for ever. +--De Plant. Noe. --John xii. 34. + + 'But to the Son he saith, + Thy throne, O God, is for + ever and ever.'--Heb. i. 8. + +'The Logos supports the 'Upholding all things by +world, is the connecting the word of his power.'--Heb. +power by which all things i. 3. +are united.'--De Profugis. + 'By him all things consist.' +'The Logos is nearest to --Col. i. 17. +God, without any separation; +being, as it were, fixed upon 'I and my Father are one.' +the only true existing Deity, --John x. 30. +nothing coming between to 'That they may be one as +disturb that unity."--De we are.'--John i. 18. +Profugis. + +'The Logos is free from 'The only begotten Son, +all taint of sin, either who is in the bosom of the +voluntary or involuntary.'--De Father.'--John i. 18. +Profugis. + 'The blood of Christ, who +'The Logos the fountain offered himself without +of life. spot to God.'--Heb. ix. 14. + +'It is of the greatest 'Who did no sin, neither +consequence to every person to was guile found in his +strive without remission to mouth.'--1 Pet. ii. 22. +approach to the divine Logos, +the Word of God above, who 'Whosoever shall drink of the +is the fountain of all wisdom; water that I shall give him, +that by drinking largely shall never thirst, but the +of that sacred spring, instead water that I shall give him +of death, he may be rewarded shall be in him a well of +with everlasting life.'--De water springing up into +Profugis. everlasting life,'--John iv. 14. + +'The Logos is the shepherd 'The great shepherd of the +of God's flock. flock... our Lord Jesus.'-- + Heb. xiii. 20. +'The deity, like a shepherd, +and at the same time 'I am the good shepherd, and +like a monarch, acts with the know my sheep, and am known +most consummate order and of mine.'--John x. 14. +rectitude, and has appointed +his First-born, the upright 'Christ ... the shepherd and +Logos, like the substitute of guardian of your souls.'-- +a mighty prince, to take care 1 Pet. ii. 25. +of his sacred flock.'--De +Agricult. 'For Christ must reign till he + hath put all his enemies under +The Logos, Philo says, is his feet.'--1 Cor xv. 25. +'The great governor of the +world; he is the creative and 'Christ, above all principality, +princely power, and through and might, and dominion, and +these the heavens and the every name that is named, not +whole world were produced.' only in this world, but in the +--De Profugis. world to come .. and God hath + put all things under his feet.'-- + Eph. i. 21, 22 + +'The Logos is the physician 'The spirit of the Lord is +that heals all evil.'--De upon me, because he hath +Leg. Allegor. anointed me to heal the + broken-hearted.'--Luke iv. + 18. + +_The Logos the Seal of God._ _Christ the Seal of God._ + +'The Logos, by whom the 'In whom also, after that +world was framed, is the seal, ye believed, ye were sealed +after the impression of which with the holy seal of promise.' +everything is made, and is --Eph. i. 13 +rendered the similitude and 'Jesus, the son of man ... him +image of the perfect Word of hath God the Father +God.'--De Profugis. sealed.'--John vi. 27. + +'The soul of man is an 'Christ, the brightness of +impression of a seal, of which his (God's) glory, and the +the prototype and original express image of his person. +characteristic is the everlasting --Heb. i. 3. +Logos.'--De Plantatione +Noe. + +_The Logos the source of _Christ the source of eternal +immortal life_. life_. + +Philo says 'that when the 'The dead (in Christ) shall +soul strives after its best and be raised incorruptible.'--1 +noblest life, then the Logos Cor. xv. 52 +frees it from all corruption, 'Because the creature itself +and confers upon it the gift also shall be delivered +of immortality.'--De C.Q. from the bondage of corruption +Erud. Gratia. into the glorious liberty of + the children of God.'--Rom. + vii. 21. + The New Testament calls +Philo speaks of the Logos Christ the Beloved Son:--'This +not only as the Son of God is my beloved Son +and his first begotten, but in whom I am well pleased.' +also styles him 'his beloved --Matt. iii. 17; Luke ix. 35; +Son.'--De Leg. Allegor. 2 Pet. i. 17 + 'The Son of his love.'--Col. + i. 13. + +Philo says 'that good men 'But ye are come unto mount +are admitted to the assembly Zion, and to the city of the +of the saints above. living God, and to an + innumerable company of angels, +'Those who relinquish human and to the spirits of just men +doctrines, and become made perfect.'--Heb. xii. 22, 23 +the well-disposed disciples of +God, will be one day translated 'Giving thanks unto the Father +to an incorruptible and which hath made us the +perfect order of beings."--De inheritance of the saints in +Sacrifices. light.'--Col. i. 12. + +Philo says 'that the just The New Testament makes Jesus to +man, when he dies is translated say: +to another state by the +Logos, by whom the world 'No man can come to me, except +was created. For God by the Father which hath sent me +his said Word (Logos), by draw him; and I will raise him +which he made all things, up on the last day.'--John vi. 44 +will raise the perfect man +from the dregs of this world, 'No man cometh to the Father but +and exalt him near himself. by me.'--John xvi. 6. +He will place him near his +own person.'--De Sacrificiis. 'Where I am, there also shall my + servant be ... him will my father +Philo says that the Logos honour.' +is the true High Priest, who +is without sin and anointed The New Testament speaks of Jesus +by God:-- as the High Priest: + +'It is the world, in which 'Seeing then that we have a great +the Logos, God's First-born, High Priest that is passed into +that great High Priest, resides. the heavens, Jesus, the Son of +And I assert that this God, let is hold fast our +High Priest is no man, but profession.'--Heb. iv. 14. +the Holy Word of God; who +is not capable of either 'For such an High Priest became us, +voluntary or involuntary sin, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, +and hence his head is anointed separate from sinners.'--Heb. vii. 26. +with oil.'--De Profugis. + The New Testament says of Christ: +Philo mentions the Logos +as the great High Priest and 'We have such an High Priest, who is +Mediator for the sins of the set on the throne of the majest in +world. Speaking of the rebellion the heavens, a mediator of a +of Korah, he introduces the better covenant.'--Heb. viii. 1-6. +Logos as saying :-- + 'But Christ being come an High +'It was I who stood in the Priest ... entered at once into +middle between the Lord and the holy place, having obtained +you. eternal redemption for us.'--Heb. + ix. 11, 12. +'The sacred Logos pressed +with zeal and without remission The New Testament says of John, the +that he might stand forerunner of Jesus, that he preached +between the dead and the 'the baptism of repentance for the +living.--Quis Rerum Div. remission of sins.'--Mark i. 4. +Haeres. + Jesus says:-- +The Logos, the Saviour +God, who brings salvation as 'Ye will not come to me, that ye +the reward of repentance and might have life.'--John v. 40. +righteousness. + 'Beloved, we be now the sons of +'If then men have from God; and it doth not yet appear +their very souls a just what we shall be; but we know that +contrition, and are changed, when he doth appear we shall be +and have humbled themselves for like him.'--1 John iii. 2. +their past errors, acknowledging +and confessing their 'As we have born the image of the +sins, such persons shall find earthy, we shall also bear the image +pardon from the Saviour and of the heavenly.'--1 Cor. xv. 49. +merciful God, and receive a +most choice and great advantage 'For if we have been planted +of being like the Logos together in the likeness of his +of God, who was originally death, we shall be also in the +the great archetype after likeness of his resurrection.'-- +which the soul of man was Rom. vi. 5. +formed.'--De Execrationibus. + +Here, then, we get, complete, the idea of Christ as the Word of God, and +we see that Christianity is as lacking in originality on these points as +in everything else. We may note, also, that this Platonic idea was +current among the Jews before Philo, although he gives it to us more +thoroughly and fully worked out: in the apocryphal books of the Jews we +find the idea of the Logos in many passages in Wisdom, to take but a +single case. + +The widely-spread existence of this notion is acknowledged by Dean +Milman in his "History of Christianity." He says: "This Being was more +or less distinctly impersonated, according to the more popular or more +philosophic, the more material or the more abstract, notions of the age +or people. This was the doctrine from the Ganges, or even the shores of +the Yellow Sea to the Ilissus; it was the fundamental principle of the +Indian religion and the Indian philosophy; it was the basis of +Zoroastrianism; it was pure Platonism; it was the Platonic Judaism of +the Alexandrian school. Many fine passages might be quoted from Philo, +on the impossibility that the first self-existing Being should become +cognisable to the sense of man; and even in Palestine, no doubt, John +the Baptist and our Lord himself spoke no new doctrine, but rather the +common sentiment of the more enlightened, when they declared that 'no +man had seen God at any time.' In conformity with this principle, the +Jews, in the interpretation of the older Scriptures, instead of direct +and sensible communication from the one great Deity, had interposed +either one or more intermediate beings as the channels of communication. +According to one accredited tradition alluded to by St. Stephen, the law +was delivered by the 'disposition of angels;' according to another, this +office was delegated to a single angel, sometimes called the angel of +the Law (see Gal. iii. 19); at others, the Metatron. But the more +ordinary representative, as it were, of God, to the sense and mind of +man, was the Memra, or the Divine Word; and it is remarkable that the +same appellation is found in the Indian, the Persian, the Platonic, and +the Alexandrian systems. By the Targumists, the earliest Jewish +commentators on the Scriptures, this term had been already applied to +the Messiah; nor is it necessary to observe the manner in which it has +been sanctified by its introduction into the Christian scheme. This +uniformity of conception and coincidence of language indicates the +general acquiescence of the human mind in the necessity of some +mediation between the pure spiritual nature of the Deity and the moral +and intellectual nature of man" (as quoted by Lake). And "this +uniformity of conception and coincidence of language indicates," also, +that Christianity has only received and repeated the religious ideas +which existed in earlier times. How can that be a revelation from God +which was well known in the world long before God revealed it? The +acknowledgment of the priority of Pagan thought is the destruction of +the supernatural claims of Christianity based on the same thought; that +cannot be supernatural after Christ which was natural before him, nor +that sent down from heaven which was already on earth as the product of +human reason. The Rev. Mr. Lake fairly says: "We have evidence--clear, +conclusive, irrefutable evidence--as to what this doctrine really is. We +can trace its birth-place in the philosophic speculations of the ancient +world, we can note its gradual development and growth, we can see it in +its early youth passing (through Philo and others) from Grecian +philosophy into the current of Jewish thought; then, after resting +awhile in the Judaism of the period of the Christian era, we see it +slightly changing its character, as it passes through Gamaliel, +Paul--the writers of the Fourth Gospel and of the Epistle to the +Hebrews--through Justin Martyr and Tertullian, into the stream of early +Christian thought, and now from a sublime philosophical speculation it +becomes dwarfed and corrupted into a church dogma, and finally gets +hardened as a frozen mass of absurdity, stupidity, and blasphemy, in the +Nicene and Athanasian creeds" ("Philo, Plato, and Paul," pp. 71, 72). + +The idea of IMMORTALITY was by no means "brought to light" by Christ, as +is pretended. The early Jews had clearly no idea of life after death; +"for in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall +give thee thanks?" (Ps. vi. 5). "Like the slain that lie in the grave, +whom thou rememberest no more.... Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? +Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy lovingkindness be +declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy +wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of +forgetfulness?" (Ps. lxxxviii. 5, 10-12). "The dead praise not the Lord" +(Ps. cxv. 17). "I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons +of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they +themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men +befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so +dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no +pre-eminence above a beast" (Eccles. iii. 18, 19). "There is no work, +nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" (Ibid, ix. 10). +"The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go +down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he +shall praise thee" (Is. xxxviii. 18, 19). In strict accordance with this +belief, that death was the end of man, the pre-captivity Jews regarded +wealth, strength, prosperity, and all earthly blessings, as the reward +of virtue. After the captivity they change their tone; in the +post-Babylonian Psalms life after death is distinctly spoken of: "My +flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell" +(Ps. xvi. 9, 10); together with other passages. In the apocryphal Jewish +Scriptures the belief in immortality appears over and over again. + +To say that Jesus "brought life and immortality to light through the +Gospel," even to the Jews, is to contend for a position against all +evidence. If from the Jews we turn to the Pagan thinkers, immortality is +proclaimed by them long before the Jews have dreamed about it. The +Egyptians, in their funeral ritual, went through the judgment of the +soul before Osiris: "The resurrection of the dead to a second life had +been a deep-rooted religious opinion among the Egyptians from the +earliest times" ("Egyptian Mythology," Sharpe, p. 52), and they appear to +have believed in a transmigration of souls through the lower animals, +and an ultimate return to the original body; to this end they preserved +the body as a mummy, so that the soul, on its return, might find its +original habitation still in existence: any who believe in the +resurrection of the body should clearly follow the example of the +ancient Egyptians. In later times, the more instructed Egyptians +believed in a spiritual resurrection only, but the mass of the people +clung to the idea of a bodily resurrection (Ibid, p. 54). "It is to the +later times of Egyptian history, perhaps to the five centuries +immediately before the Christian era, that the religious opinions +contained in the funeral papyri chiefly belong. The roll of papyrus +buried with the mummy often describes the funeral, and then goes on to +the return of the soul to the body, the resurrection, the various trials +and difficulties which the deceased will meet and overcome in the next +world, and the garden of paradise in which he awaits the day of +judgment, the trial on that day, and it then shows the punishment which +would have awaited him if he had been found guilty" (Ibid, p. 64). We +have already seen that the immortality of the soul was taught by Plato +(ante, p. 364). The Hindus taught that happiness or misery hereafter +depended upon the life here. "If duty is performed, a good name will be +obtained, as well as happiness, here and after death" ("Mahabharata," +xii., 6,538, in "Religious and Moral Sentiments from Indian Writers," by +J. Muir, p. 22). The "Mahabharata" was written, or rather collected, in +the second century before Christ. "Poor King Rantideva bestowed water +with a pure mind, and thence ascended to heaven.... King Nriga gave +thousands of largesses of cows to Brahmans; but because he gave away one +belonging to another person, he went to hell" (Ibid, xiv. 2,787 and +2,789. Muir, pp, 31, 32). "Let us now examine into the theology of +India, as reported by Megasthenes, about B.C. 300 (Cory's 'Ancient +Fragments,' p. 226, _et seq_.). 'They, the Brahmins, regard the present +life merely as the conception of persons presently to be born, and death +as the birth into a life of reality and happiness, to those who rightly +philosophise: upon this account they are studiously careful in preparing +for death'" (Inman's "Ancient Faiths," vol. ii., p. 820). Zoroaster +(B.C. 1,200, or possibly 2,000) taught: "The soul, being a bright fire, +by the power of the Father remains immortal, and is the mistress of +life" (Ibid, p. 821). "The Indians were believers in the immortality of +the soul, and conscious future existence. They taught that immediately +after death the souls of men, both good and bad, proceed together along +an appointed path to the bridge of the gatherer, a narrow path to +heaven, over which the souls of the pious alone could pass, whilst the +wicked fall from it into the gulf below; that the prayers of his living +friends are of much value to the dead, and greatly help him on his +journey. As his soul enters the abode of bliss, it is greeted with the +word, 'How happy art thou, who hast come here to us, mortality to +immortality!' Then the pious soul goes joyfully onward to Ahura-Mazdao, +to the immortal saints, the golden throne, and Paradise" (Ibid, p. 834). +From these notions the writer of the story of Jesus drew his idea of the +"narrow way" that led to heaven, and of the "strait gate" through which +many would be unable to pass. Cicero (bk. vi. "Commonwealth," quoted by +Inman) says: "Be assured that, for all those who have in any way +conducted to the preservation, defence, and enlargement of their native +country, there is a certain place in heaven, where they shall enjoy an +eternity and happiness." It is needless to further multiply quotations +in order to show that our latest development of these Eastern creeds +only reiterated the teaching of the earlier phases of religious thought. + +"But, at least," urge the Christians, "we owe the sublime idea of the +UNITY OF GOD to revelation, and this is grander than the Polytheism of +the Pagan world." Is it not, however, true, that just as Christians urge +that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are but one God, so the thinkers +of old believed in one Supreme Being, while the multitudinous gods were +but as the angels and saints of Christianity, his messengers, his +subordinates, not his rivals? All savages are Polytheists, just as were +the Hebrews, whose god "Jehovah" was but their special god, stronger +than the gods of the nations around them, gods whose existence they +never denied; but as thought grew, the superior minds in each nation +rose over the multitude of deities to the idea of one Supreme Being +working in many ways, and the loftiest flights of the "prophets" of the +Jewish Scriptures may be paralleled by those of the sages of other +creeds. Zoroaster taught that "God is the first, indestructible, +eternal, unbegotten, indivisible, dissimilar" ("Ancient Fragments," +Cory, p. 239, quoted by Inman). In the Sabaean Litany (two extracts only +of this ancient work are preserved by El Wardi, the great Arabic +historian) we read: "Thou art the Eternal One, in whom all order is +centred.... Thou dost embrace all things. Thou art the Infinite and +Incomprehensible, who standest alone" ("Sacred Anthology," by M.D. +Conway, pp. 74, 75). "There is only one Deity, the great soul. He is +called the Sun, for he is the soul of all beings. That which is One, the +wise call it in divers manners. Wise poets, by words, make the +beautiful-winged manifold, though he is One" ("Rig-Veda," B.C. 1500, +from "Anthology," p.76). "The Divine Mind alone is the whole assemblage +of the gods.... He (the Brahmin) may contemplate castle, air, fire, +water, the subtile ether, in his own body and organs; in his heart, the +Star; in his motion, Vishnu; in his vigour, Hara; in his speech, Agni; +in digestion, Mitra; in production, Brahma; but he must consider the +supreme Omnipresent Reason as sovereign of them all" ("Manu," about B.C. +1200; his code collected about B.C. 300; from "Anthology," p. 81). On an +ancient stone at Bonddha Gaya is a Sanscrit inscription to Buddha, in +which we find: "Reverence be unto thee, an incarnation of the Deity and +the Eternal One. OM! [the mysterious name of God, equivalent to pure +existence, or the Jewish Jhvh] the possessor of all things in vital +form! Thou art Brahma, Veeshnoo, and Mahesa!... I adore thee, who art +celebrated by a thousand names, and under various forms" ("Asiatic +Researches," Essay xi., by Mr. Wilmot; vol. i., p. 285). Plato's +teaching is, "that there is but one God" (ante, p. 364), and wherever we +search, we find that the more thoughtful proclaimed the unity of the +Deity. This doctrine must, then, go the way of the rest, and it must be +acknowledged that the boasted revelation is, once more, but the +speculation of man's unassisted reason. + +Turning from these cardinal doctrines to the minor dogmas and ceremonies +of Christianity, we shall still discover it to be nothing but a survival +of Paganism. + +BAPTISM seems to have been practised as a religious rite in all solar +creeds, and has naturally, therefore, found its due place in the latest +solar faith. "The idea of using water as emblematic of spiritual +washing, is too obvious to allow surprise at the antiquity of this rite. +Dr. Hyde, in his treatise on the 'Religion of the Ancient Persians,' +xxxiv. 406, tells us that it prevailed among that people. 'They do not +use circumcision for their children, but only baptism or washing for the +inward purification of the soul. They bring the child to the priest into +the church, and place him in front of the sun and fire, which ceremony +being completed, they look upon him as more sacred than before. Lord +says that they bring the water for this purpose in bark of the +Holm-tree; that tree is in truth the Haum of the Magi, of which we spoke +before on another occasion. Sometimes also it is otherwise done by +immersing him in a large vessel of water, as Tavernier tells us. After +such washing, or baptism, the priest imposes on the child the name given +by his parents'" ("Christian Records," Rev. Dr. Giles, p. 129). + +"The Baptismal fonts in our Protestant churches, and we can hardly say +more especially the little cisterns at the entrance of our Catholic +chapels, are not imitations, but an unbroken and never interrupted +continuation of the same _aquaminaria_, or _amula_, which the learned +Montfaucon, in his 'Antiquities,' shows to have been _vases of holy +water, which were placed by the heathens at the entrance of their +temples, to sprinkle themselves with upon entering those sacred +edifices_" ("Diegesis," R. Taylor, p. 219). Among the Hindus, to bathe +in the Ganges is to be regenerated, and the water is holy because it +flows from Brahma's feet. Tertullian, arguing that water, as being God's +earliest and most favoured creation, and brooded over by the +spirit--Vishnu also is called Narayan, "moving on the waters"--was +sanctifying in its nature, says: "'Well, but the nations, who are +strangers to all understanding of spiritual powers, ascribe to their +idols the imbuing of waters with the self-same efficacy.' So they do, +but these cheat themselves with waters which are widowed. For washing is +the channel through which they are initiated into some sacred rites of +some notorious Isis or Mithra; and the gods themselves likewise they +honour by washings.... At the Appollinarian and Eleusinian games they +are baptised; and they presume that the effect of their doing that is +the regeneration, and the remission of the penalties due to their +perjuries.... Which fact, being acknowledged, we recognise here also the +zeal of the devil rivalling the things of God, while we find him, too, +practising baptism in his subjects" ("On Baptism," chap. v.). As "the +devil" did it first, it seems scarcely fair to accuse _him_ of copying. + +Closely allied to baptism is the idea of regeneration, being born again. +In baptism the purification is wrought by the male deity, typified in +the water flowing from the throne or the feet of the god. In +regeneration without water the purification is wrought by the female +deity. The earth is the mother of all, and "as at birth the new being +emerges from the mother, so it was supposed that emergence from a +terrestrial cleft was equivalent to a new birth" (Inman's "Ancient +Faiths," vol. i., p. 415; ed. 1868). Hence the custom of squeezing +through a hole in a rock, or passing through a perforated stone, or +between and under stones set up for the purpose; a natural cleft in a +rock or in the earth was considered as specially holy, and to some of +these long pilgrimages are still made in Eastern lands. On emerging from +the hole, the devotee is re-born, and the sins of the past are no longer +counted against him. + +CONFIRMATION was also a rite employed by the ancient Persians. +"Afterwards, in the fifteenth year of his age, when he begins to put on +the tunic, the sudra and the girdle, that he may enter upon religion, +and is engaged upon the articles of belief, the priest bestows upon him +confirmation, that he may from that time be admitted into the number of +the faithful, and may be looked upon as a believer himself" (Dr. Hyde on +"Religion of the Ancient Persians," tr. by Dr. Giles in "Christian +Records," pp. 129, 130). + +LORD'S SUPPER.--Bread and wine appear to have been a regular offering to +the Sun-god, whose beams ripen the corn and the grape, and who may +indeed, by a figure, be said to be transubstantiated thus for the food +of man. The Persians offered bread and wine to Mithra; the people of +Thibet and Tartary did the same. Cakes were made for the Queen of +heaven, kneaded of dough, and were offered up to her with incense and +drink-libations (Jer. vii. 18, and xliv. 19). Ishtar was worshipped with +cakes, or buns, made out of the finest flour, mingled with honey, and +the ancient Greeks offered the same: this bread seems to have been +sometimes only offered to the deity, sometimes also eaten by the +worshippers; in the same way the bread and the wine are offered to God +in the Eucharist, and he is prayed to accept "our alms _and oblations_." +The Easter Cakes presented by the clergyman to his parishioners--an old +English custom, now rarely met with--are the cakes of Ishtar, oval in +form, symbolising the yoni. We have already dealt fully with the +apparent similarity between the Christian Agapae, and the Bacchanalian +mysteries (ante, pp. 222-227). The supper of Adoneus, Adonai, literally, +the "supper of the Lord," formed part of these feasts, identical in name +with the supper of the Christian mysteries. The Eleusinian mysteries, +celebrated at Eleusis, in honour of Ceres, goddess of corn, and Bacchus, +god of wine, compel us to think of bread and wine, the very substance of +the gods, as it were, there adored. And Mosheim gives us the origin of +many of the Christian eucharistic ceremonies. He writes: "The profound +respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman mysteries, and the +extraordinary sanctity that was attributed to them, was a further +circumstance that induced the Christians to give their religion a mystic +air, in order to put it upon an equal foot, in point of dignity, with +that of the Pagans. For this purpose they gave the name of mysteries to +the institutions of the gospel, and decorated particularly the holy +Sacrament with that solemn title. They used in that sacred institution, +as also in that of baptism, several of the terms employed in the heathen +mysteries; and proceeded so far, at length, as even to adopt some of the +rites and ceremonies of which these renowned mysteries consisted. This +imitation began in the Eastern provinces; but after the time of Adrian, +who first introduced the mysteries among the Latins, it was followed by +the Christians, who dwelt in the Western parts of the Empire. A great +part, therefore, of the service of the church, in this century [A.D. +100-200], had a certain air of the heathen mysteries, and resembled them +considerably in many particulars" ("Eccles. Hist.," 2nd century, p. 56). + +The whole system of THE PRIESTHOOD was transplanted into Christianity +from Paganism; the Egyptian priesthood, however, was in great part +hereditary, and in this differs from the Christian, while resembling the +Jewish. The priests of the temple of Dea (Syria) were, on the other +hand, celibate, and so were some orders of the Egyptian priests. Some +classes of priests closely resembled Christian monks, living in +monasteries, and undergoing many austerities; they prayed twice a day, +fasted often, spoke little, and lived much apart in their cells in +solitary meditation; in the most insignificant matters the same +similarity may be traced. "When the Roman Catholic priest shaves the top +of his head, it is because the Egyptian priest had done the same before. +When the English clergyman--though he preaches his sermon in a silk or +woollen robe--may read the Liturgy in no dress but linen, it is because +linen was the clothing of the Egyptians. Two thousand years before the +Bishop of Rome pretended to hold the keys of heaven and earth, there was +an Egyptian priest with the high-sounding title of Appointed keeper of +the two doors of heaven, in the city of Thebes" ("Egyptian Mythology," +S. Sharpe, preface, p. xi.). The white robes of modern priests are +remnants of the same old faith; the more gorgeous vestments are the +ancient garb of the priests officiating in the temple of female deities; +the stole is the characteristic of woman's dress; the pallium is the +emblem of the yoni; the alb is the chemise; the oval or circular +chasuble is again the yoni; the Christian mitre is the high cap of the +Egyptian priests, and its peculiar shape is simply the open mouth of the +fish, the female emblem. In old sculptures a fish's head, with open +mouth pointing upwards, is often worn by the priests, and is scarcely +distinguishable from the present mitre. The modern crozier is the hooked +staff, emblem of the phallus; the oval frame for divine things is the +female symbol once more. Thus holy medals are generally oval, and the +Virgin is constantly represented in an oval frame, with the child in her +arms. In some old missals, in representations of the Annunciation, we +see the Virgin standing, with the dove hovering in front above her, and +from the dove issues a beam of light, from the end of which, as it +touches her stomach, depends an oval containing the infant Jesus. + +The tinkling bell--used at the Mass at the moment of consecration--is +the symbol of male and female together--the clapper, the male, within +the hollow shell, the female--and was used in solar services at the +moment of sacrifice. The position of the fingers of the priest in +blessing the congregation is the old symbolical position of the fingers +of the solar priest. The Latin form, with the two fingers and thumb +upraised--copied in Anglican churches--is said rightly by ecclesiastical +writers to represent the trinity; but the trinity it represents is the +real human trinity: the more elaborate Greek form is intended to +represent the cross as well. The decoration of the cross with flowers, +specially at Easter-tide, was practised in the solar temples, and there +the phallus, upright on the altar, was garlanded with spring blossoms, +and was adored as the "Lord and Giver of Life, proceeding from the +Father," and indeed one with him, his very self. The sacred books of the +Egyptians were written by the god Thoth, just as the sacred books of the +Christians were written by the god the Holy Ghost. The rosary and cross +were used by Buddhists in Thibet and Tartary. The head of the religion +in those countries, the Grand Llama, is elected by the priests of a +certain rank, as the Pope by his Cardinals. The faithful observe fasts, +offer sacrifice for the dead, practise confession, use holy water, +honour relics, make processions; they have monasteries and convents, +whose inmates take vows of poverty and chastity; they flagellate +themselves, have priests and bishops--in fact, they carry out the whole +system of Catholicism, and have done so, since centuries before Christ, +so that a Roman Catholic priest, on his first mission among them, +exclaimed that the Devil had invented an imitation of Christianity in +order to deceive and ruin men. As with baptism, the imitation is older +than the original! + +"The rites and institutions, by which the Greeks, Romans, and other +nations, had formerly testified their religious veneration for +fictitious deities, were now adopted, with some slight alterations, by +Christian bishops, and employed in the service of the true God. [This is +the way a Christian writer accounts for the resemblance his candour +forces him to confess; we should put it, that Christianity, growing out +of Paganism, naturally preserved many of its customs.].... Hence it +happened that in these times the religion of the Greeks and Romans +differed very little in its external appearance from that of the +Christians. They had both a most pompous and splendid ritual. Gorgeous +robes, mitres, tiaras, wax-tapers, crosiers, processions, lustrations, +images, gold and silver vases, and many such circumstances of pageantry, +were equally to be seen in the heathen temples and the Christian +churches" (Mosheim's "Eccles. Hist.," fourth century, p. 105). Says +Dulaure: "These two Fathers [Justin and Tertullian] are in no fashion +embarrassed by this astonishing resemblance; they both say that the +devil, knowing beforehand of the establishment of Christianity, and of +the ceremonies of this religion, inspired the Pagans to do the same, so +as to rival God and injure Christian worship" ("Histoire Abregee de +Differens Cultes," t. i., p. 522; ed. 1825). + +The idea of _angels and devils_ has also spread from the far East; the +Jews learned it from the Babylonians, and from the Jews and the +Egyptians it passed into Christianity. The Persian theology had seven +angels of the highest order, who ever surrounded Ormuzd, the good +creator; and from this the Jews derived the seven archangels always +before the Lord, and the Christians the "seven spirits of God" (Rev. +iii. 1), and the "seven angels which stood before God" (Ibid, viii. 2). +The Persians had four angels--one at each corner of the world; +Revelation has "four angels standing on the four corners of the earth" +(vii. 1). The Persians employed them as Mediators with the Supreme; the +majority of Christians now do the same, and all Christians did so in +earlier times. Origen, Tertullian, Chrysostom, and other Fathers, speak +of angels as ruling the earth, the planets, etc. Michael is the angel of +the Sun, as was Hercules, and he fights with and conquers the dragon, as +Hercules the Python, Horus the monster Typhon, Krishna the serpent. The +Persians believed in devils as well as in angels, and they also had +their chief, Ahriman, the pattern of Satan. These devils--or dews, or +devs--struggled against the good, and in the end would be destroyed, and +Ahriman would be chained down in the abyss, as Satan in Rev. xx. Ahriman +flew down to earth from heaven as a great dragon (Rev. xii. 3 and 9), +the angels arming themselves against him (Ibid, verse 7). Strauss +remarks: "Had the belief in celestial beings, occupying a particular +station in the court of heaven, and distinguished by particular names, +originated from the revealed religion of the Hebrews--had such a belief +been established by Moses, or some later prophet--then, according to the +views of the supranaturalist, they might--nay, they must--be admitted to +be correct. But it is in the Maccabaean Daniel and in the apocryphal +Tobit that this doctrine of angels, in its more precise form, first +appears; and it is evidently a product of the influence of the Zend +religion of the Persians on the Jewish mind. We have the testimony of +the Jews themselves that they brought the names of the angels with them +from Babylon" ("Life of Jesus," vol. i., p. 101). + +Dr. Kalisch, after having remarked that "the notions [of the Jews] +concerning angels fluctuated and changed," says that "at an early +period, the belief in spirits was introduced into Palestine from eastern +Asia through the ordinary channels of political and commercial +interchange," and that to the Hebrew "notions heathen mythology offers +striking analogies;" "it would be unwarranted," the learned doctor goes +on, "to distinguish between the 'established belief of the Hebrews' and +'popular superstition;' we have no means of fixing the boundary line +between both; we must consider the one to coincide with the other, or we +should be obliged to renounce all historical inquiry. The belief in +spirits and demons was not a concession made by educated men to the +prejudices of the masses, but a concession which all--the educated as +well as the uneducated--made to Pagan Polytheism" ("Historical and +Critical Commentary on the Old Testament." Leviticus, part ii., pp. +284-287. Ed. 1872). "When the Jews, ever open to foreign influence in +matters of faith, lived under Persian rule, they imbibed, among many +other religious views of their masters, especially their doctrines of +angels and spirits, which, in the region of the Euphrates and Tigris, +were most luxuriantly developed." Some of the angels are now +"distinguished by names, which the Jews themselves admit to have +borrowed from their heathen rulers;" "their chief is Mithron, or +Metatron, corresponding to the Persian Mithra, the mediator between +eternal light and eternal darkness; he is the embodiment of divine +omnipotence and omnipresence, the guardian of the world, the instructor +of Moses, and the preserver of the law, but also a terrible avenger of +disobedience and wickedness, especially in his capacity of Supreme Judge +of the dead" (Ibid, pp. 287, 288). This is "the angel of the Lord" who +went before the children of Israel, of whom God said "my name is in him" +(see Ex. xxiii. 20-23), and who is identified by many Christian +commentators as the second person in the Trinity. The belief in devils +is the other side of the belief in angels, and "we see, above all, Satan +rise to greater and more perilous eminence both with regard to his power +and the diversity of his functions." "This remarkable advance in +demonology cannot be surprising, if we consider that the Persian system +known as that of Zoroaster, and centering in the dualism of a good and +evil principle, flourished most and attained its fullest development, +just about the time of the Babylonian exile" (Ibid, pp. 292, 293). The +Persian creed supplies us, as Dr. Kalisch has well said, with "the +sources from which the demonology of the Talmud, the Fathers and the +Catholic Church has been derived" (Ibid, p. 318). + +The whole ideas of the _judgment of the dead_, the _destruction of the +world by fire_, and the _punishment of the wicked_, are also purely +Pagan. Justin Martyr says truly that as Minos and Rhadamanthus would +punish the wicked, "we say that the same thing will be done, but by the +hand of Christ" ("Apology" 1, chap. viii). "While we say that there will +be a burning up of all, we shall seem to utter the doctrine of the +Stoics; and while we affirm that the souls of the wicked, being endowed +with sensation even after death, are punished, and that those of the +good being delivered from punishment spend a blessed existence, we shall +seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers" (Ibid, chap. +xx). In the Egyptian creed Osiris is generally the Judge of the dead, +though sometimes Horus is represented in that character; the dead man is +accused before the Judge by Typhon, the evil one, as Satan is the +"accuser of the brethren;" forty-two assessors declare the innocence of +the accused of the crimes they severally note; the recording angel +writes down the judgment; the soul is interceded for by the lesser gods, +who offer themselves as an atoning sacrifice (see Sharpe's "Egyptian +Mythology," pp. 49-52). A pit, or lake of fire, is the doom of the +condemned. The good pass to Paradise, where is the tree of life: the +fruit of this tree confers health and immortality. In the Persian +mythology the tree of life is planted by the stream that flows from the +throne of Ormuzd (Rev. xxii. i and 2). The Hindu creed has the same +story, and it is also found among the Chinese. + +The monastic life comes to us from India and from Egypt; in both +countries solitaries and communities are found. Bartholemy St. Hilaire, +in his book on Buddha, gives an account of the Buddhist monasteries +which is worthy perusal. From Egypt the contagion of asceticism spread +over Christendom. "From Philo also we learn that a large body of +Egyptian Jews had embraced the monastic rules and the life of +self-denial, which we have already noted among the Egyptian priests. +They bore the name of Therapeuts. They spent their time in solitary +meditation and prayer, and only saw one another on the seventh day. They +did not marry; the women lived the same solitary and religious life as +the men. Fasting and mortification of the flesh were the foundation of +their virtues" ("Egyptian Mythology," S. Sharpe, p. 79). In these +Egyptian deserts grew up those wild and bigoted fanatics--some Jews, +some Pagans, and apparently no difference between them--who, appearing +later under the name of Christians, formed the original of the Western +monasticism. It was these monks who tore Hypatia to pieces in the great +church of Alexandria, and who formed the strength of "that savage and +illiterate party, who looked upon all sorts of erudition, particularly +that of a philosophical kind, as pernicious, and even destructive to +true piety and religion" (Mosheim's "Eccles. Hist," p. 93). There can be +no doubt of the identity of the Christians and the Therapeuts, and this +identity is the real key to the spread of "Christianity" in Egypt and +the surrounding countries. Eusebius tells us that Mark was said to be +the first who preached the Gospel in Egypt, and "so great a multitude of +believers, both of men and women, were collected there at the very +outset, that in consequence of their extreme philosophical discipline +and austerity, Philo has considered their pursuits, their assemblies, +and entertainments, as deserving a place in his descriptions" ("Eccles. +Hist," bk. ii., chap. xvi). We will see what Philo found in Egypt, +before remarking on the date at which he lived. Eusebius states (we +condense bk. ii., chap. xvii) that Philo "comprehends the regulations +that are still observed in our churches even to the present time;" that +he "describes, with the greatest accuracy, the lives of our ascetics;" +these Therapeuts, stated by Eusebius to be Christians, were "everywhere +scattered over the world," but they abound "in Egypt, in each of its +districts, and particularly about Alexandria." In every house one room +was set aside for worship, reading, and meditation, and here they kept +the "inspired declarations of the prophets, and hymns," they had also +"commentaries of ancient men," who were "the founders of the sect;" "it +is highly probable that the ancient commentaries which he says they +have, are the very Gospels and writings of the apostles;" Eusebius +thinks that none can "be so hardy as to contradict his statement that +these Therapeuts were Christians, when their practices are to be found +among none but in the religion of Christians;" and "why should we add to +these their meetings, and the separate abodes of the men and the women +in these meetings, and the exercises performed by them, which are still +in vogue among us at the present day, and which, especially at the +festival of our Saviour's passion, we are accustomed to pass in fasting +and watching, and in the study of the divine word? All these the +above-mentioned author has accurately described and stated in his +writings, and are the same customs that are observed by us alone, at the +present day, particularly the vigils of the great festival, and the +exercises in them, and the hymns that are commonly recited among us.... +Besides this, he describes the grades of dignity among those who +administer the ecclesiastical services committed to them, those of the +deacons, and the presidencies of the episcopate as the highest." Thus +Philo wrote of "the original practices handed down from the apostles." +The important points to notice here are: that in the time of Philo, +these Christians were scattered all over the world; that the +commentaries they had, which Eusebius says were the Christian's gospels, +were the works of _ancient_ men, who founded the sect, so that the +founders were men who lived long before Philo's time; that they were +thoroughly organised, proving thereby that their sect was not a new one +in his day; that the "discipline," organised association, ranks of +priests, etc., implied a long existence of the sect before Philo studied +it, and that such existence was clearly not consistent with any +persecution being then directed against it. Philo writes of flourishing +and orderly communities, founded by men who had long since passed away, +and had bequeathed their writings to their followers for their +instruction and guidance. And what was the date of Philo? He himself +gives us a clear note of time; in A.D. 40 he was sent on an embassy to +the Emperor Caligula at Rome, to complain of a persecution to which the +Jews were being subjected by Flaccus; he describes himself as being, in +A.D. 40, "a grey-headed old man." The Rev. J.W. Lake puts him at +sixty-five or seventy years of age at that period, and consequently +would place his birth twenty-five or thirty years before the birth of +Jesus ("Plato, Philo, and Paul," by Rev. J.W. Lake, pp. 33, 34). +Gibbon, in a note to chap. 15, vol. ii. (p. 180), says that "by proving +it (the treatise on the Therapeuts) was composed as early as the time of +Augustus, Basnage has demonstrated, in spite of Eusebius, and a crowd of +modern Catholics, that the Therapeuts were neither Christians nor +monks." Or rather, he has proved that Christians existed before the time +of Christ, since Augustus died A.D. 14, and before that date Philo found +a long-established sect holding Christian doctrines and practising +"apostolic" customs. A man, who in A.D. 40 was grey-headed, spoke of the +Christian Gospels as writings of ancient men, founders of a +well-organised sect. Now we see why Christianity has so much in common +with the Egyptian mythology. Because it grew out of Egypt; its Gospels +came from thence; its ceremonies were learned there; its virgin is Isis; +its Christ Osiris and Horus; the mask of the revelation of God drops +from off it, and we see the true face, the ancient Egyptian religion, +with a feature here and there moulded by the cognate ideas of other +Eastern creeds, all of which flowed into Alexandria, and mingled in its +seething cauldron of thought. + +There is also a Jewish sect which we must not overlook, in dealing with +the sources of Christianity, that, namely, known as the Essenes. Gibbon +regards the Therapeuts and the Essenes as interchangeable terms, but +more careful investigation does not bear out this conclusion, although +the two sects strongly resemble each other, and have many doctrines in +common; he says, however, truly: "The austere life of the Essenians, +their fasts and excommunications, the community of goods, the love of +celibacy, their zeal for martyrdom, and the warmth, though not the +purity of their faith, already offered a lively image of the primitive +discipline" ("Decline and Fall," vol. ii., ch. xv., p. 180). It is to +Josephus that we must turn for an account of the Essenes; a brief sketch +of them is given in Antiquities of the Jews, bk. xviii., chap. i. He +says: "The doctrine of the Essenes is this: That all things are best +ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that +the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when +they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not +offer sacrifices, because they have more pure lustrations of their own; +on which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, +but offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life +better than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to +husbandry." They had all things in common, did not marry and kept no +servants, thus none called any master (Matt. xxiii. 8, 10). In the "Wars +of the Jews," bk. ii., chap, viii., Josephus gives us a fuller account. +"There are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of +the first of whom are the Pharisees; of the second the Sadducees; and +the third sect who pretends to a severer discipline are called Essenes. +These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for +one another than the other sects [John xiii. 35]. These Essenes reject +pleasures as an evil [Matt. xvi. 24], but esteem continence and the +conquest over our passions to be virtue. They neglect wedlock.... They +do not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage [Matt. xix. 12, last +clause of verse, 1 Cor. vii. 27, 28, 32-35, 37, 38, 40].... These men +are despisers of riches [Matt. xix. 21, 23, 24] ... it is a law among +them, that those who come to them must let what they have be common to +the whole order [Acts iv. 32-37, v. 1-11].... They also have stewards +appointed to take care of their common affairs [Acts vi. 1-6].... If any +of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, +just as if it were their own [Matt. x. 11].... For which reason they +carry nothing with them when they travel into remote parts [Matt. x. 9, +10].... As for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for +before sunrising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up +certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if +they made a supplication for its rising [the Essenes were then +sun-worshippers].... A priest says grace before meat; and it is unlawful +for anyone to taste of the food before grace be said. The same priest, +when he hath dined, says grace again after meat; and when they begin, +and when they end, they praise God, as he that bestows their food upon +them [Eph. v. 18-20. 1 Cor. x. 30, 31. 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5].... They +dispense their anger after a just manner, and restrain their passion +[Eph. iv. 26].... Whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath; but +swearing is avoided by them, and they esteem it worse than perjury; for +they say, that he who cannot be believed without swearing by God, is +already condemned [Matt. v. 34-37]." We insert these references into the +account given by Josephus of the Essenes, in order to show the identity +of teaching of the Gospels and the Essenes. The Essenes excommunicated +those who sinned grievously; each promised, on entrance to the society, +to exercise piety, observe justice, do no harm to any, show fidelity to +all, and especially to those in authority, love truth, reprove lying, +keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains. The +resemblance between the Essenes and the early Christians is on many +points so strong that it is impossible to deny that the two are +connected; if Jesus of Nazareth had any historical existence, he must +have been one of the sect of the Essenes, who publicly preached many of +their doctrines, and endeavoured to popularise them. We are thus led to +conclude that the Jewish side of Christianity is simply Essenian, but +that the major part of the religion is purely Pagan, and that its rise +under the name of Christianity must be sought for in Alexandria rather +than in Judaea. + +The saints who play so great a part in the history of Christianity are, +solely and simply, the old Pagan deities under new names. The ancient +creeds were intertwined with the daily life of the people, and passed +on, practically unchanged, although altered in name. "Ancient errors, in +spite of the progress of knowledge, were respected. Civilisation, as it +grew, only refined them, embellished them, or hid them under an +allegorical veil" ("Histoire Abregee de Differens Cultes," Dulaure, t. +i., p. 20). "A remarkable passage in the life of Gregory, surnamed +Thaumaturgus, i.e., the wonder-worker, will illustrate this point in the +clearest manner. This passage is as follows [here it is given in Latin]: +'When Gregory perceived that the ignorant multitude persisted in their +idolatry, on account of the pleasures and sensual gratifications which +they enjoyed at the Pagan festivals, he granted them a permission to +indulge themselves in the like pleasures, in celebrating the memory of +the holy martyrs, hoping that, in process of time they would return, of +their own accord, to a more virtuous and regular course of life.' There +is no sort of doubt that, by this permission, Gregory allowed the +Christians to dance, sport, and feast at the tombs of the martyrs upon +their respective festivals, and to do everything which the Pagans were +accustomed to do in their temples, during the feasts celebrated in +honour of their gods" (Mosheim's "Eccles. Hist.," 2nd century; note, p. +56). "The virtues that had formerly been ascribed to the heathen +temples, to their lustrations, to the statues of their gods and heroes, +were now attributed to Christian churches, to water consecrated by +certain forms of prayer, and to the images of holy men. And the same +privileges that the former enjoyed under the darkness of Paganism, were +conferred upon the latter under the light of the Gospel, or, rather, +under that cloud of superstition that was obscuring its glory. It is +true that, as yet, images were not very common [of this there is no +proof]; nor were there any statues at all [equally unproven]. But it is, +at the same time, as undoubtedly certain, as it is extravagant and +monstrous, that the worship of the martyrs was modelled, by degrees, +according to the religious services that were paid to the gods before +the coming of Christ" (Ibid, 4th century; p. 98). The fact is, that +wherever there was a popular god, he passed into the pantheon of +Christendom under a new name, as "Christianity" spread. Dulaure, in his +work above-quoted, gives a mass of details--mostly very unsavoury--which +leave no doubt upon this point. The essence of the old worship was the +worship of Nature, as we have seen, and a favourite deity was Priapus; +this god was worshipped under the names of St. Fontin, St. Guerlichon, +or Greluchon, St. Remi, St. Gilles, St. Arnaud, SS. Cosmo and Damian, +etc., in the various provinces of France, Italy, and other Roman +Catholic lands; and his worship, with its distinctive rites of the most +indecent character, remained in practice up to, at least, 1740 in +France, and 1780 in Italy. (See throughout the above work.) If +Christians knew a little more about their creed they would be far less +proud of it, and far less devout, than they are at present. + +Mr. Glennie, in a pamphlet reprinted from "In the Morning Land," points +out the resemblance between Christianity and "Osirianism," as he names +the religion of Osiris: "'The peculiar character of Osiris,' says Sir +Gardner Wilkinson, 'his coming upon earth for the benefit of mankind, +with the titles of "Manifester of Good" and "Revealer of Truth;" his +being put to death by the malice of the Evil One; his burial and +resurrection, and his becoming the judge of the dead, are the most +interesting features of the Egyptian religion. This was the great +mystery; and this myth and his worship were of the earliest times, and +universal in Egypt.' And, with this central doctrine of Osirianism, so +perfectly similar to that of Christianism, doctrines are associated +precisely analogous to those associated in Christianism with its central +doctrine. In ancient Osirianism, as in modern Christianism, the Godhead +is conceived as a Trinity, yet are the three Gods declared to be only +one God. In ancient Osirianism, as in modern Christianism, we find the +worship of a divine mother and child. In ancient Osirianism, as in +modern Christianism, there is a doctrine of atonement. In ancient +Osirianism, as in modern Christianism, we find the vision of a last +judgment, and resurrection of the body. And finally, in ancient +Osirianism, as in modern Christianism, the sanctions of morality are a +lake of fire and tormenting demons on the one hand, and on the other, +eternal life in the presence of God. Is it possible, then, that such +similarities of doctrines should not raise the most serious questions as +to the relation of the beliefs about Christ to those about Osiris; as to +the cause of this wonderful similarity of the doctrines of Christianism +to those of Osirianism; nay, as to the possibility of the whole +doctrinal system of modern orthodoxy being but a transformation of the +Osiris-myth?" ("Christ and Osiris," pp. 13, 14). + +Thus we find that the cardinal doctrines and the ceremonies of +Christianity are of purely Pagan origin, and that "Christianity" was in +existence long ages before Christ. Christianity is only, as we have +said, a patchwork composed of old materials; from the later Jews comes +the Unity of God; from India and Egypt the Trinity in Unity; from India +and Egypt the crucified Redeemer; from India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, +the virgin mother and the divine son; from Egypt its priests and its +ritual; from the Essenes and the Therapeuts its ascetism; from Persia, +India, and Egypt, its Sacraments; from Persia and Babylonia its angels +and its devils; from Alexandria the blending into one of many lines of +thought. There is nothing original in this creed, save its special +appeal to the ignorant and to babes; "not many wise men after the flesh" +are found among its adherents; it is an appeal to the darkness of the +world, not to its light: to superstition, not to knowledge; to faith, +not to reason. As its root is, so also are its fruits, and when--after +glancing at its morality--we turn to its history, we shall see that the +corrupt tree bears corrupt fruit, and that from the evil stem of a +thinly disguised Paganism spring forth the death-bringing branches of +the Upas-tree Christianity, stunting the growth of the young +civilisation of the West, and drugging, with its poisonous +dew-droppings, the Europe which lay beneath its shade, swoon-slumbering +in the death stupor of the Ages of Darkness and of Faith. + + * * * * * + +INDEX TO SECTION II. OF PART II. + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF BOOKS USED. + +Cicero, Commonwealth, quoted by Inman...376 +Cory, Ancient Fragments, quoted by Inman...377 + +Dulaure, Histoire Abregee de Differens Cultes...383, 390 + +Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History...386 + +Gibbon, Decline and Fall...388 +Glennie, In the Morning Land...391 + +Hyde, quoted by Giles...378, 379 + +Inman, Ancient Faiths...376, 379 + +Jones, Sir W., Asiatic Researches...356, 377 +Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews...364, 388 + " Wars of the Jews...389 +Justin Martyr, First Apology...385 + +Kalisch, Historical and Critical Commentary...384, 385 +Keim, Jesus of Nazara...365 + +Lake, Plato, Philo, and Paul...363, 364, 367, 374, 388 + +Mahabharata, quoted by Muir...376 +Manu, quoted in Anthology...377 +Milman, History of Christianity, quoted by Lake...373 +Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History...380, 382, 386, 390, 391 + +Plato...358 + " summarised by Mdme. Dacier...364 + +Rig Veda, quoted in Anthology...377 + +Sabaean Litany, quoted in Anthology...377 +Sharpe, Egyptian Mythology...360, 375, 381, 385, 386 +Strauss, Life of Jesus...383 + +Taylor, Diegesis...359, 378 +Tertullian, On Baptism...379 + +Zoroaster, quoted by Inman...376 + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + +Angels and devils...383 + +Baptism...378 + +Confirmation...379 +Cross...357 +Crucifix...358 + +Devils and angels...383 +Divinity of Christ...363 + +Essenes...388 + +Immortality...374 + +Judgment of the Dead...385 + +Logos, ideas of...364 +Lord's Supper...379 + +Mediator...362 +Mithras...362 +Monasticism...385 + +Nature and Sun-worship the origin of creeds...355 + +Osirianism and Christianity...391 + +Philo, date of...367, 387 +Plato's teaching...364 +Priesthood...381 + +Saints, old gods...391 +Symbols of male energy...356 + " female energy...361 + " both in present ceremonies...381 + +Therapeuts...386 +Trinity...359 + +Union of male and female foundation of religion...355 +Unity of God...377 + +Virgin and child...360 + +Zoroaster's teaching...362, 376 + + + + +SECTION III.--ITS MORALITY FALLIBLE. + + +How much may fairly be included under the title "Christian Morality"? +Some of the more enlightened Christians would confine the term to the +morality of the New Testament, and would exclude the Hebrew code as +being the outcome of a barbarous age. But the Freethinker may fairly +contend that any moral rules taught by the Bible are part of Christian +morality. By the statute 9 and 10 William III, cap. 32, the "Holy +Scriptures of the Old and New Testament" are declared to be "of divine +authority," and there is no exclusion indicated of the Mosaic code; this +statute is binding on all British subjects educated as Christians, and +enacts penalties against those who infringe it. By Article VI. of the +Church of England, Holy Scripture is defined as "those canonical books +of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in +the Church," and a list is subjoined. In Article VII. we are instructed +that the "Commandments which are called moral" are to be obeyed, but +that the "civil precepts" of the Mosaic code ought not "of necessity to +be received in any commonwealth;" from which we may conclude that the +Church does not feel bound to enforce, as "of necessity," polygamy, +prostitution, murder of heretics, and slavery. She does not venture to +designate such precepts as immoral, but she does not feel bound in +conscience to enforce them, for which small concession we must feel +grateful. Passing from the law of the land to the Bible itself, we find +that the Mosaic code must certainly be recognised as divine. Jesus +himself proclaims: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the +prophets, I am not come to destroy but to fulfil," and this is +emphasised by the declaration: "Whosoever, therefore, shall break _one +of these least_ commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called +least in the kingdom of heaven." The Broad Church party will be very +little, if this be true. Turning to the Old Testament, we find that some +of the most immoral precepts are spoken by God himself, immediately +after the "Ten Commandments;" surely that which "The Lord said" out of +"the thick darkness where God was," from the top of Sinai "on a smoke, +with the thunderings and lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet," can +scarcely be reverently designated as "the outcome of a barbarous age"? +Yet it is under these circumstances that God taught that a Hebrew +servant might be bought for seven years; that a wife might be given him +by his master, and that the wife and the children proceeding from the +union belonged to the master; that the servant could only go free by +deserting his wife and his own children and leaving them in slavery (Ex. +xxi. 1-6). It was under these circumstances that God taught that a man +might sell his daughter to be a "maid servant" (the translator's +euphemism for concubine), and that, "if she please not her master" she +may be bought back again, or if he "take him another" (translator +supplying "wife" as throwing an air of respectability over the +transaction) she may go free (Ibid. 7-11). It was under these +circumstances that God taught that if a man should beat a male or female +slave to death, he should not be punished, providing the slave did not +die till "a day or two" after, because the slave was only "his money" +(Ibid. 20, 21). Why blame a Legree, when he only acts on the permission +given by God from Mount Sinai? Dr. Colenso writes: "I shall never forget +the revulsion of feeling with which a very intelligent Christian native, +with whose help I was translating these words into the Zulu tongue, +first heard them as words said to be uttered by the same great and +gracious Being whom I was teaching him to trust in and adore. His whole +soul revolted against the notion, that the great and blessed God, the +merciful Father of all mankind, would speak of a servant, or maid, as +mere 'money,' and allow a horrible crime to go unpunished, because the +victim of the brutal usage had survived a few hours. My own heart and +conscience at the time fully sympathised with his" ("The Pentateuch and +Book of Joshua," p. 9, ed. 1862). It was under these circumstances that +God taught that a thief, who possessed nothing of his own, should "be +sold for his theft" (Ex. xxii. 3). It was under these circumstances that +God taught: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Ibid 18). To this +cruel and wicked command myriads of unfortunate human beings have been +sacrificed; in the course of the Middle Ages hundreds of thousands +perished; in France and Germany "many districts and large towns burned +two, three, and four hundred witches every year, in some the annual +executions destroyed nearly one per cent. of the whole population.... +The Reformation, which swept away so many superstitions, left this, the +most odious of all, in full activity. The Churchmen of England, the +Lutherans of Germany, the Calvinists of Geneva, Scotland, and New +England rivalled the most bigoted Roman Catholics in their severities. +Indeed, the Calvinists, though the most opposite of all to the Church of +Rome, were in this respect perhaps the most implicit imitators of her +delusions" ("The Bible; What it is," by C. Bradlaugh, p. 262). "During +the seventeenth century, 40,000 persons are said to have been put to +death for witchcraft in England alone. In Scotland the number was +probably, in proportion to the population, much greater; for it is +certain that even in the last forty years of the sixteenth century the +executions were not fewer than 17,000" (Ibid, p. 263). The Puritans in +New England signalised themselves by their merciless severity towards +wizards and witches. France was the first country to stem the tide of +cruelty. In 1680 Louis XIV. "issued a proclamation prohibiting all +future prosecutions for witchcraft; and directing that even those who +might profess the art should only be punished as impostors." In England +"the last execution was at Huntingdon, in 1716;" in Scotland, at +Darnock, in 1722. The last person burned as a witch was Maria Sanger, at +Wurzburg, in Bavaria, 1749 (Ibid, p. 265). Such fruit has borne the +command of God from Sinai. It was under these circumstances that God +taught that any who sacrificed to any God but himself should be "utterly +destroyed" (Ex. xxii. 20). The practical effect of this we shall +presently see, in conjunction with other passages. + +If we pass from these precepts, given with such special solemnity, to +the other articles of the so-called Mosaic code, we shall find rules of +an equally immoral character. Lev. xxiv. 16 commands that "he that +blasphemeth the name of the Lord" shall be stoned. Lev. xxv. 44-46 +directs the Hebrews to buy bondmen and bondwomen of the nations around +them, "and ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after +you, to inherit them for a possession," thus sanctioning the +slave-traffic. Leviticus xxvii. 29 distinctly commands human sacrifice, +forbidding the redemption of any that are "devoted of men." Clear as the +words are, their meaning has been hotly contested, because of the stain +they affix on the Mosaic code. "[Hebrew: MOT VOMOT]" that he die. The +commentators take much trouble to soften this terrible sentence. +According to Raschi, it concerns a man condemned to death, in which case +he must not be redeemed for money. According to others, it is necessary +that the person shall be devoted by public authority, and not by private +vow; and the Talmud speaks of Jephthah as a fanatic for having thought +that a human being could serve as a victim, as a burnt-offering; but +there are too many facts which prove the existence and the execution of +this barbarous law; see, besides, the paraphrase of Ben Ouziel: [Hebrew: +KL APRShA TMVL DDYN QShVL MYTChYYB] "all anathema which shall be +anathematised of the human race cannot be redeemed neither by money, by +vows, nor by sacrifices, neither by prayers for mercy before God, since +he is condemned to death" (Levitique, par Cahen, p. 143; ed. 1855). +Thus Jephthah devoted to the Lord "whatsoever cometh out of the doors of +my house to meet me," and, his daughter being the one who came, he "did +with her according to his vow" (Judges xi. 30-40). + +Kalisch, in his Commentary on the Old Testament, gives us an exhaustive +essay on "Human Sacrifices among the Hebrews," endeavouring, as far as +possible, to defend his people from the charge of offering such +sacrifices to Jehovah by reducing instances of it to a minimum. He says, +however: "Yet we have at least two clear and unquestionable instances of +human sacrifices offered to Jehovah. The first is the immolation of +Jephthah's daughter." He then analyses the account, pointing out that it +was clearly a sacrifice to _Jehovah_, and that Jephthah's "intention of +sacrificing his daughter was publicly known for two full months; no +priest, no prophet, no elder, no magistrate interfered, or even +remonstrated." Even further: "The event gave rise to a popular custom +annually observed by the maidens of Israel; Jephthah's deed evidently +met with universal approbation; it was regarded as praiseworthy piety; +and indeed he could not have ventured to make his vow, had not human +victims offered to Jehovah been deemed particularly meritorious in his +time; otherwise he must have apprehended to provoke by it the wrath of +God, rather than procure his assistance. Nothing can be clearer or more +decided.... The fact stands indisputable that human sacrifices offered +to Jehovah were possible among the Hebrews long after the time of Moses, +without meeting a check or censure from the teachers and leaders of the +nation--a fact for which the sad political confusion that prevailed in +the period of the Judges is insufficient to account" (Leviticus, Part +I., pp. 383-385; ed. 1867). Kalisch further points out that the vow of +Jephthah promises a _human_ sacrifice; the Hebrew expression signifies +"_whoever_ comes forth" (see p. 383), and "the Hebrew words, in fact, +absolutely exclude any animal whatever; they admit none but a human +being, who alone can be described as going out of the house to meet +somebody; for, though the restrictive usage of the East binds girls +generally to the seclusion of the house, it seems to have been a common +custom for Hebrew women to proceed and meet returning conquerors with +music and rejoicing; and the sacrifice of one animal, an extremely poor +offering after a most signal and most important success, would certainly +not have been promised by a previous vow solemnly pronounced" (Ibid, pp. +385, 386). Our commentator justly adds: "From the tenour of the +narrative it is manifest that the deed was no isolated case, but that +human sacrifices were on emergencies of peculiar moment habitually +offered to God, and expected to secure his aid. One instance like that +of Jephthah not only justifies, but necessitates, the influence of a +general custom. Pious men slaughtered human victims not to Moloch, nor +to any other foreign deity, but to the national God Jehovah" (Ibid, p. +390). "The second recorded instance of human sacrifices killed in honour +of Jehovah forms a remarkable incident in the life of David" (Ibid, p. +390). We read in 2 Sam. xxi. that God said that a famine then prevailing +was on account of Saul and of his bloody house; that David desired to +make an "atonement;" that seven men of Saul's family were hanged "in the +hill _before the Lord_;" that then they were buried, with Saul and +Jonathan, "and, _after that_, God was intreated for the land." "It +particularly concerns us to observe that the whole matter was, in the +first instance, referred to Jehovah; that David was plainly informed of +the intention of the Gibeonites of 'hanging up' the seven persons +'before Jehovah' as an 'atonement;' that he willingly surrendered them +for that atrocity; that he evidently expected from that act a cessation +of the famine; and that this calamity is reported to have really +disappeared in consequence of the offering" (Ibid, p. 392). Kalisch, in +his anxiety to diminish as far as possible the evidence that human +sacrifices were enjoined by the law, urges that the passage in Leviticus +(xxvii. 29) merely implies that "everything so devoted shall be +destroyed. The extirpation of the men, as a rule heathen enemies in +Canaan, or Hebrew idolaters, is indeed referred to a command of Jehovah, +but it is not intended as a _sacrifice_ to him" (Ibid, p. 409). Surely +this verges on quibbling, and is not even then borne out by the context. +Leviticus xxvii. deals entirely with private "singular vows," and the +"devoting" (_Cherem_) of "man and beast and of the field of his +possession," is not the judicial devoting to destruction of an +idolatrous city or individual, but a special voluntary offering from a +pious worshipper. Besides, even if such judicial duties were "the rule," +what of the exceptions? There are several indications of the practice of +human sacrifice to Jehovah beyond the two related by Kalisch (the +command to sacrifice Isaac is in itself a consecration by God of the +abomination); the curious account of Aaron's death--whose garments are +taken off and put on his son, and who thereupon dies at the top of the +mount, having walked up there for that purpose, clearly indicates that +he did not die a natural death (Numbers xx. 23-28). Many think that "the +fire from the Lord" which devoured Nadab and Abihu (Lev. x. 1-5) denotes +the sacrifice "before the Lord" of the offending priests. Kalisch demurs +to these latter charges, and to some other additional ones, but says: +"It is, therefore, undoubted that human sacrifices were offered by the +Hebrews from the earliest times up to the Babylonian period, both in +honour of Jehovah and of heathen deities, not only by depraved +idolaters, but sometimes even by pious servants of God; they probably +ceased to be presented to Jehovah not much before they ceased to be +presented at all" (Leviticus, part i., p. 396). We cannot here omit to +notice the command of God in Exodus xxii. 29, 30: "The first-born of thy +sons shalt thou give to me. Likewise thou shalt do with thine oxen and +with thy sheep," etc. As against this we read a command in chap. xiii. +13, "All the first-born of man among thy children thou shalt redeem." +Here, as in many other instances, we get contradictory commands, best +explained by the fact that the Pentateuch is the work of many hands. +Kalisch says: "It is impossible to deny that the first-born sons were +frequently sacrificed, not only by idolatrous Israelites, in honour of +foreign gods, as Moloch and Baal, but by pious men in honour of Jehovah; +but the Pentateuch, the embodiment of the more enlightened and advanced +creed of the Hebrews, distinctly commanded the redemption of the +first-born" (Ibid, p. 404). Kalisch--we may point out--considers the +Pentateuch in its present form as post Babylonian, and regards it as a +reforming agent in the Jewish community. + +In Numbers v. 12-31 we find the command to practise the brutal and +superstitious custom of the ordeal, the endorsement of the whole ordeal +system of the Middle Ages. Deuteronomy xiii. is entirely devoted to +commands of murder, and is the indulgence given beforehand to every +persecuting priest. The prophet whom God uses to prove his people, is to +be put to death for being God's instrument; anyone who tries to turn +people aside from God is to be stoned, and the hand of the nearest and +dearest is to be "first upon him to put him to death;" any city which +becomes idolatrous is to be destroyed, the inhabitants and the cattle +are to be slain, and everything else is to be burnt. Deuteronomy xvii. +2-7 is to the same effect. These commands have also borne abundant +fruit. Who can reckon the millions of human lives that have been spilt +in obedience to them? The slaughter of the Midianites, of the people of +Jericho, Ai, Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, and of many another city, +marking with blood each step of the people of God, who smote "all the +souls that were" in each, and "let none remain"--all these are but as +the first-fruits of the great harvest of human slaughter, reaped for the +glory of God. Right through the "sacred volume" runs the scarlet river, +staining every page; when its record closes, the Church takes it up, and +the river rolls on down the centuries; let the Inquisition tell over its +victims; let Spain reckon her murdered ones, 31,912 burnt alive in that +one land alone; let the Netherlands speak of their slain sons and +daughters; let France and Italy swell the tale; nor let England and +Scotland be forgotten, nor the blood-roll of Ireland be missed; Catholic +murdering Arian; Arian slaying Catholic; Romanist burning Protestant; +Protestant hanging Romanist. The names of those who obey God's command +may be changed, but they all do the same accursed work, spreading +religion everywhere with fire and sword; nor does the harm confine +itself to Jews and Christians only, for Mahomet, the prophet of Arabia, +catches up the teaching of Moses and re-echoes it, and the Moslem +follows on the inspired path, and stains it once again with human blood. +A God, a Bible, a priesthood--how have they ruined the world; how fair +and bright might earth have been had there been no teachers of religion! + + "How powerless were the mightiest monarch's arm, + Vain his loud threat and impotent his frown! + How ludicrous the priest's dogmatic roar! + The weight of his exterminating curse + How light! and his affected charity, + To suit the pressure of the changing times, + What palpable deceit! but for thy aid, + Religion! but for thee, prolific fiend, + Who peoplest earth with demons, hell with men, + And heaven with slaves! + Thou taintest all thou look'st upon......." + +--("Queen Mab," by P.B. Shelley; can. 6. Collected works, p. 12, edition +1839.) + +Deuteronomy xxi. 10-14 instructs the Hebrew that if, after victory, he +sees a beautiful woman and desires her, he may take her, and if later, +"thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she +will," to starvation, to misery, what matter, after God's chosen is +satisfied. Deut. xxiii. 2 punishes a man for that which is no fault of +his, his illegitimate birth. We have omitted many absurd precepts found +in this Mosaic code, and have only chosen those which are grossly +immoral, and can be defended by no kind of reasoning as to "defective," +or "imperfect" morality, "suited to a nation in a low stage of +civilisation." + +These laws not only fall short of a perfect morality, but they are +distinctly and foully immoral, and tend directly to the brutalisation of +the nation which should live under them. It is true that there is much +pure morality in this code, and some refined feeling here and there. +These jewels are curiously out of place in their surroundings. Imagine a +people so savage as to need laws permitting all the abominations +referred to above, and yet so cultivated as to be capable of +appreciating the beauty of: "If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee +lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him; thou shalt +surely help him" (Exodus xxiii. 5). It is time that it should be +publicly acknowledged that the so-called Mosaic code is literally a +mosaic of scattered fragments of legislation, of various ages, and +various stages of civilisation, put together a few hundred years before +Christ. At present, the whole code lies on the shoulders of +Christianity, and is fairly pleaded against it by the Freethinker. + +It is not necessary to speak here against the practical morality of Old +Testament saints; the very names of Lot, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, +Joshua, Samuel, David, etc., bring before the mind's eye a list of +crimes so foul, so cowardly, so bloody, that no enumeration of them can +be needed. Of them, we may fairly say with Virgil:-- + + "Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa." + +Turning to the New Testament morality, we may attack it in various ways: +we may argue that the better part of it is not new, and therefore cannot +be regarded as especially inspired, or that it leaves out of account +many virtues necessary to the well-being of families and states; or we +may contend that much of it is harmful, and much of it impracticable. + +The better part is that which is NON-ORIGINAL. All that is fair and +beautiful in Christian morality had been taught in the world ages before +Christ was born. Buddha, Confucius, Lao-Tsze, Mencius, Zoroaster, Manu, +taught the noble human morality found in some of the teaching ascribed +to Christ (throughout this Section the morality put into Christ's mouth +in the New Testament will be treated as his). + +Christ taught the duty of returning good for evil. Buddha said: "A man +who foolishly does me wrong I will return to him the protection of my +ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go +from me" ("Anthology," by Moncure D. Conway, page 240). In the Buddhist +Dhammapada we read: "Let a man overcome anger by love; let him overcome +evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by +truth" (Ibid, p. 307). Again: "Hatred does not cease by hatred at any +time; hatred ceases by love; this is an old rule" (Ibid, p. 131). +Lao-Tsze says: "The good I would meet with goodness. The not good I +would meet with goodness also. The faithful I would meet with faith. The +not faithful I would meet with faith also. Virtue is faithful. +Recompense injury with kindness" (Ibid, p. 365). Confucius struck a yet +higher and truer note: "Some one said, 'What do you say concerning the +principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?' The Sage +replied, 'With what, then, will you recompense kindness? Recompense +kindness with kindness, and injury with justice'" (Ibid, p. 6). Manu +places "returning good for evil" in his tenfold system of duties; in his +code also we find: "By forgiveness of injuries the learned are purified" +(Ibid, p. 311). The "golden rule" is as old as the generous and just +heart. The Saboean Book of the Law taught: "Let none of you treat his +brother in a way which he himself would dislike" (Ibid, p. 7). +"Tsze-Kung asked, 'Is there one word which may serve as a rule for one's +whole life?' Confucius answered, 'Is not reciprocity such a word? What +you do not wish done to yourself, do not to others. When you are +labouring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for +yourself'" (Ibid, pp. 6, 7). + +If Christ taught humility, we read from Lao-Tsze: "I have three precious +things which I hold fast and prize--Compassion, Economy, Humility. Being +compassionate, I can therefore be brave. Being economical, I can +therefore be liberal. Not daring to take precedence of the world, I can +therefore become chief among the perfect ones. In the present day men +give up compassion, and cultivate only courage. They give up economy and +aim only at liberality. They give up the last place, and seek only the +first. It is their death" (Ibid, p. 216). Lao-Tsze says again: "By +undivided attention to the passion-nature and tenderness it is possible +to be a little child. By putting away impurity from the hidden eye of +the heart, it is possible to be without spot. There is a purity and +quietude by which we may rule the whole world. To keep tenderness, I +pronounce strength.... The fact that the weak can conquer the strong and +the tender the hard, is known to all the world; yet none carry it out in +practice. The reason of heaven does not strive, yet conquers well; does +not call, yet things come of their own accord; is slack, yet plans well" +(Ibid, pp. 323, 324). Again: "The sage ... puts himself last, and yet is +first; abandons himself, and yet is preserved. Is not this through +having no selfishness? Hereby he preserves self-interest intact. He is +not self-displaying, and therefore he shines. He is not self-approving, +and therefore he is distinguished. He is not self-praising, and +therefore he has merit. He is not self-exalting, and therefore he stands +high; and inasmuch as he does not strive, no one in all the world +strives with him. That ancient saying, 'He that humbles himself shall be +preserved entire'--oh, it is no vain utterance" (Ibid, pp. 327, 328). + +Jesus is said to be pre-eminent as a moral teacher because he directed +his teaching to the improvement of the heart, knowing that from a good +heart a good life would flow; in Manu's code we read: "Action, either +mental, verbal, or corporeal, bears good or evil fruit as itself is good +or evil ... of that threefold action be it known in the world that the +heart is the instigator" (Ibid, p. 4). Buddha said: "It is the heart of +love and faith accompanying good actions which spreads, as it were, a +beneficent shade from the world of men to the world of angels" (Ibid, p. +234). Jesus reminded the people that the ceremonial duties of religion +were small compared with "the weightier matters of the law, justice, +mercy, and truth;" Manu wrote: "To a man contaminated by sensuality, +neither the Vedas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor observances, nor +pious austerities will procure felicity. A wise man must faithfully +discharge his moral duties, even though he dares not constantly perform +the ceremonies of religion. He will fall very low if he performs +ceremonial acts only, and fails to discharge his moral duties" (Ibid, p. +3). Exactly parallel to a saying of Jesus is one in the Saboean Book of +the Law: "Adhere so firmly to the truth that your yea shall be yea, and +your nay, nay" (Ibid, p. 7). + +In urging that all great moral duties were taught by pre-Christian +thinkers, we do not mean that Christ took his moral sayings from the +books of these great Eastern teachers; there was no necessity that he +should go so far in search of them, for in the teachings of the Rabbis +of his nation he found all of which he stood in need. Many of these +teachings have been preserved in the more modern Talmud, grains of wheat +amid much chaff, the moral thoughts of some of the purest Jewish minds. +"Take the Talmud and study it, and then judge from what uninspired +source Jesus drew much of his highest teaching. 'Whoso looketh on the +wife of another with a lustful eye, is considered as if he had committed +adultery'--(Kalah). 'With what measure we mete, we shall be measured +again'--(Johanan). 'What thou wouldst not like to be done to thyself, do +not to others; this is the fundamental law'--(Hillel). 'If he be +admonished to take the splinter out of his eye, he would answer, Take +the beam out of thine own'--(Tarphon). 'Imitate God in his goodness. Be +towards thy fellow-creatures as he is towards the whole creation. Clothe +the naked; heal the sick; comfort the afflicted; be a brother to the +children of thy Father.' The whole parable of the houses built on the +rock and on the sand is taken out of the Talmud, and such instances of +quotation might be indefinitely multiplied" ("On Inspiration;" by Annie +Besant; Scott Series, p. 20). From these founts Jesus drew his morality, +and spoke as Jew to Jews, out of the Jewish teachings. To point out +these facts is by no means to disparage the nobler part of Christian +morality. It is rather to elevate Humanity by showing that pure thoughts +and gracious words are human, not divine; that the so-called +"inspiration" is in all races cultivated to a certain point, and not in +one alone; that morality is a fair blossom of earth, not a +heaven-transplanted exotic, and grows naturally out of the rich soil of +the loving human heart and the noble human brain. + +What nobler or grander moral teachings can be found anywhere than +breathe through the following passages, taken from the "bibles of all +nations" so ably collected for us by Mr. Corway in the "Sacred +Anthology" quoted from above? "Let a man continually take pleasure in +truth, in justice, in laudable practices and in purity; let him keep in +subjection his speech, his arm, and his appetites. Wealth and pleasures +repugnant to law, let him shun; and even lawful acts which may cause +pain, or be offensive to mankind. Let him not have nimble hands, +restless feet, or voluble eyes; let him not be flippant in his speech, +nor intelligent in doing mischief. Let him walk in the path of good men" +(Manu, p. 7). "He who neglecteth the duties of this life is unfit for +this, much less for any higher world" ("Bhagavat Gita," p. 26). "Charity +is the free gift of anything not injurious. If no benefit is intended, +or the gift is harmful, it is not charity. There must also be the desire +to assist, or to show gratitude. It is not charity when gifts are given +from other considerations, as when animals are fed that they may be +used, or presents given by lovers to bind affection, or to slaves to +stimulate labour. It is found where man, seeking to diffuse happiness +among all men--those he loves, and those he loves not--digs canals and +pools, makes roads, bridges, and seats, and plants trees for shade. It +is found where, from compassion for the miserable and the poor, who have +none to help them, a man erects resting-places for wanderers, and +drinking-fountains, or provides food, raiment, medicine for the needy, +not selecting one more than another. This is true charity, and bears +much fruit" ("Katha Chari," pp. 219, 220). "Never will I seek, nor +receive, private individual salvation--never enter into final peace +alone; but for ever, and everywhere, will I live and strive for the +universal redemption of every creature throughout the world" (Kwan-yin, +p. 233). "All men have in themselves the feelings of mercy and pity, of +shame and hatred of vice. It is for each one by culture to let these +feelings grow, or to let them wither. They are part of the organisation +of men, as much as the limbs or senses, and may be trained as well. The +mountain Nicon-chau naturally brings forth beautiful trees. Even when +the trunks are cut down, young shoots will constantly rise up. If cattle +are allowed to feed there, the mountain looks bare. Shall we say, then, +that bareness is natural to the mountain? So the lower passions are let +loose to eat down the nobler growths of reverence and love in the heart +of man; shall we, therefore, say that there are no such feelings in his +heart at all? Under the quiet peaceful airs of morning and evening the +shoots tend to grow again. Humanity is the heart of man; justice is the +path of man. To know heaven is to develop the principle of our higher +nature" (Mencius, pp. 275, 276). "The first requisite in the pursuit of +virtue is, that the learner think of his own improvement, and do not act +from a regard to (the admiration of) others" ("The She-King," p. 286). +"Benevolence, justice, fidelity, and truth, and to delight in virtue +without weariness, constitute divine nobility" (Mencius, p. 339). +"Virtue is a service man owes himself; and though there were no heaven, +nor any God to rule the world, it were not less the binding law of life. +It is man's privilege to know the right and follow it. Betray and +prosecute me, brother men! Pour out your rage on me, O malignant devils! +Smile, or watch my agony with cold disdain, ye blissful gods! Earth, +hell, heaven, combine your might to crush me--I will still hold fast by +this inheritance! My strength is nothing--time can shake and cripple it; +my youth is transient--already grief has withered up my days; my +heart--alas! it seems well nigh broken now! Anguish may crush it +utterly, and life may fail; but even so my soul, that has not tripped, +shall triumph, and dying, give the lie to soulless destiny, that dares +to boast itself man's master" ("Ramayana," pp. 340, 341). What Christian +apostle left behind him the records of such words as those of Confucius, +boldly spoken to a king: "Ke K'ang, distressed about the number of +thieves in his kingdom, inquired of Confucius how he might do away with +them? The sage said, 'If you, sir, were not covetous, the people would +not steal, though you should pay them for it.' Ke K'ang asked, 'What do +you say about killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?' +Confucius said, 'In carrying out your government, why use killing at +all? Let the rulers desire what is good, and the people will be good. +The grass must bend when the wind blows across it.' How can men who +cannot rectify themselves, rectify others?" ("Analects of Confucius," p. +358). + +In "The Wheel of the Law," by Henry Alabaster, we find some most +interesting information on the moral teaching of Buddhism, and the +following quotation is taken from one of the Sutras: "On a certain +occasion the Lord Buddha led a number of his disciples to a village of +the Kalamachou, where his wisdom and merit and holiness were known. And +the Kalamachou assembled, and did homage to him and said, 'Many priests +and Brahmins have at different times visited us, and explained their +religious tenets, declaring them to be excellent, but each abused the +tenets of every one else, whereupon we are in doubt as to whose religion +is right and whose wrong; but we have heard that the Lord Buddha teaches +an excellent religion, and we beg that we may be freed from doubt, and +learn the truth.' And the Lord Buddha answered, 'You were right to +doubt, for it was a doubtful matter. I say unto all of you, Do not +believe in what ye have heard; that is, when you have heard anyone say +this is especially good or extremely bad; do not reason with yourselves +that if it had not been true, it would not have been asserted, and so +believe in its truth. Neither have faith in traditions, because they +have been handed down for many generations and in many places. Do not +believe in anything because it is rumoured and spoken of by many; do not +think that it is a proof of its truth. Do not believe merely because the +written statement of some old sage is produced; do not be sure that the +writing has ever been revised by the said sage, or can be relied on. Do +not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that because an idea is +extraordinary it must have been implanted by a Dewa, or some wonderful +being. Do not believe in guesses, that is, assuming some thing at +haphazard as a starting-point, draw your conclusions from it; reckoning +your two and your three and your four before you have fixed your number +one. Do not believe because you think there is analogy, that is, a +suitability in things and occurrences, such as believing that there must +be walls of the world, because you see water in a basin, or that Mount +Meru must exist because you have seen the reflection of trees: or that +there must be a creating God because houses and towns have builders.... +Do not believe merely on the authority of your teachers and masters, or +believe and practise merely because they believe and practise. I tell +you all, you must of your own selves know that 'this is evil this is +punishable, this is censured by wise men, belief in this will bring no +advantage to one, but will cause sorrow.' And when you know this, then +eschew it. I say to all you dwellers in this village, answer me this. +Lopho, that is covetousness, Thoso, that is anger and savageness, and +Moho, that is ignorance and folly--when any or all of these arise in the +hearts of men, is the result beneficial or the reverse?' And they +answered, 'It is not beneficial, O Lord!' Then the Lord continued, +'Covetous, passionate, and ignorant men destroy life and steal, and +commit adultery, and tell lies, and incite others to follow their +example, is it not so?' And they answered, 'It is as the Lord says.' And +he continued, 'Covetousness, passion, ignorance, the destruction of +life, theft, adultery, and lying, are these good or bad, right or wrong? +Do wise men praise or blame them? Are they not unprofitable, and causes +of sorrow?' And they replied, 'It is as the Lord has spoken.' And the +Lord said, 'For this I said to you, do not believe merely because you +have heard, but when of your own consciousness you know a thing to be +evil, abstain from it.' And then the Lord taught of that which is good, +saying, 'If any of you know of yourselves that anything is good and not +evil, praised by wise men, advantageous, and productive of happiness, +then act abundantly according to your belief. Now I ask you, Alopho, +absence of covetousness, Athoso, absence of passion, Amoho, absence of +folly, are these profitable or not?' And they answered, 'Profitable.' +The Lord continued, 'Men who are not covetous, or passionate, or +foolish, will not destroy life, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor tell +lies; is it not so?' And they answered, 'It is as the Lord says.' Then +the Lord asked, 'Is freedom from covetousness, passion, and folly, from +destruction of life, theft, adultery, and lying, good or bad, right or +wrong, praised or blamed by wise men, profitable, and tending to +happiness or not?' And they replied, 'It is good, right, praised by the +wise, profitable, and tending to happiness.' And the Lord said, 'For +this I taught you, not to believe merely because you have heard, but +when you believed of your own consciousness, then to act accordingly and +abundantly'" (pp. 35-38). In this wise fashion did Buddha found his +morality, basing it on utility, the true measure of right and wrong. +Buddhism has its Five Commandments, certainly equal in value to the Ten +Commandments of Jews and Christians:-- + +"First. Thou shall abstain from destroying or causing the destruction of +any living thing. + +"Second. Thou shalt abstain from acquiring or keeping, by fraud or +violence, the property of another. + +"Third. Thou shalt abstain from those who are not proper objects for thy +lust. + +"Fourth. Thou shalt abstain from deceiving others either by word or +deed. + +"Fifth. Thou shalt abstain from intoxication" (Ibid, p. 57). + +From Dr. Muir's translations of "religious and moral sentiments," +already quoted from, we might fill page after page with purest morality. +"Let a man be virtuous even while yet a youth; for life is transitory. +If duty is performed, a good name will be obtained, as well as +happiness, here and after death" ("Mahabharata," xii., 6538, p. 22). +"Deluded by avarice, anger, fear, a man does not understand himself. He +plumes himself upon his high birth, contemning those who are not +well-born; and overcome by the pride of wealth, he reviles the poor. He +calls others fools, and does not look to himself. He blames the faults +of others, but does not govern himself. When the wise and the foolish, +the rich and the poor, the noble and the ignoble, the proud and the +humble, have departed to the cemetery and all sleep there, their +troubles are at an end, and their bodies are stripped of flesh, little +else than bones, united by tendons--other men then perceive no +difference between them, whereby they could recognise a distinction of +birth or of form. Seeing that all sleep, deposited together in the +earth, why do men foolishly seek to treat each other injuriously? He +who, after bearing this admonition, acts in conformity therewith from +his birth onwards, shall attain the highest blessedness" (Ibid, xi. 116, +p. 23). + +Such are a few of the moral teachings current in the East before the +time of Christ. Since that period, these non-Christian nations have gone +on in their paths, and many a gem of pure morality might be culled from +their later writings, but we have only here presented teachings that +were pre-Christian, so as to prove how little need there was for a God +to become incarnate to teach morality to the world. "Revealed morality" +has nothing grander to say than this earth-born morality, nothing +sublimer comes from Judaea than comes from Hindustan and from China. Just +as the symbolism of Christianity comes from nature, and is common to +many creeds, so does the morality of Christianity flow from nature, and +is common to many faiths; when nations attain to a certain stage of +civilisation, and inherit a certain amount of culture, they also develop +a morality proportionate to the point they have reached, because +morality is necessary to the stability of States, and utility formulates +the code of moral laws. Christianity can no longer stand on a pinnacle +as the sole possessor of a pure and high morality. The pedestal she has +occupied is built out of the bricks of ignorance, and her apostles and +her master must take rank among their brethren of every age and clime. + +It is a serious fault in Christian morality that it has so many +OMISSIONS in it. It is full of exhortations to bear, to suffer, to be +patient; it sorely lacks appeals to patriotism, to courage, to +self-respect. "The heroes of Paganism exemplified the heroism of +enterprise. Patriotism, chivalrous deeds of valour, high-souled +aspirations after glory, stern justice taking its course in their hands, +while natural feeling was held in abeyance--this was the line in which +they shone. Our blessed Lord illustrated all virtues indeed, but most +especially the passive ones. His heroism took its colouring from +endurance. Women, though inferior to men in enterprise, usually come out +better than men in suffering; and it is always to be remembered that our +blessed Lord held his humanity, not of the stronger, but of the weaker +sex" ("Thoughts on Personal Religion," by Dean Goulburn, vol. ii., p. +99; ed. 1866). What is this but to say, in polite language, that Jesus +was very effeminate? The Christian religion has all the vices of +slavery, and encourages submission to evil instead of resistance to it; +it has in it the pathetic beauty of the meekness of the bruised and +beaten wife still loving the injurer, of the slave forgiving the +slave-driver, but it is a beauty which perpetuates the wrong of which it +is born. Better, far better, both for oppressor and for oppressed, is +resistance to cruelty than submission to it; submission encourages the +wrong-doer where resistance would check him, and Christianity fails in +that it omits to value strong men and true patriots, rebels against +authority which is unjust. Rome taught its citizens to reverence +themselves, to love their country, to maintain freedom: the Roman would +die gladly for his mother-country, and deemed his duty as a citizen the +foremost of his obligations. The love of country, and the sense of +service owed to the State, is the grandest and sublimest virtue of the +Pagan world. All felt it, from the highest to the lowest: at Thermopylae +the Spartans died gladly for the land they covered with their bodies, +faithful unto death to the duty entrusted to them by their country; men +and women equally felt the paramount claim of the State, and mothers +gave their sons to death rather than that they should fail in duty +there. The Roman was taught to value the Republic above its officers; to +resist the highest if he grasped at unfair supremacy; to maintain +inviolate the rights and the liberties of the people. Christianity +undermined all these manly virtues; it preached obedience to "the powers +that be," whether they were good or bad; it upheld the authority of a +Nero as "ordained of God," and pronounced damnation on those who +resisted him; and so it paved the way for the despotism of the Middle +Ages, by crushing out the manhood of the nations, and fashioning them +into Oriental slaves. Little wonder that kings embraced Christianity, +and forced it on their subjects, for it placed the nations bound at +their footstools, and endorsed the tyranny of man with the authority of +God. Throughout the New Testament what word is there of patriotism? The +citizenship is in heaven. What incitement to heroism? Resist not the +power. What appeal to self-reverence? In my flesh dwelleth no good +thing. What cry against injustice and oppression? Honour the king, and +give obedience to the froward. Christianity makes a paradise for tyrants +and a hell for the oppressed. + +Intertwined with the evil of omissions of duty is the direct injury of +commanding NON-RESISTANCE, and of enforcing INDIFFERENCE TO EARTHLY +CARES. "I say unto you that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall +smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any +man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy +cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him +twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of +thee turn not thou away" (Matt. v. 39-42). The surface meaning of these +words is undeniable; they are the amplification of the command, "resist +not evil." What effect would obedience to these injunctions have upon a +State? None committing an assault would be punished; every unjust suit +would succeed; every forced concession would be endorsed; every beggar +would live in luxury; every borrower would spend at will. Nay more; +those who did wrong would be rewarded, and would be thus encouraged to +go on in their evil ways. Meanwhile, the man who was insulted would be +again struck; the poor man who had lost one thing would lose two; the +hard-working, frugal labourer would have to support the beggar and the +borrower out of the fruits of his toil. Such is Christ's code of civil +laws: he is deliberately abrogating the Mosaic code, "an eye for an eye +and a tooth for a tooth," and is replacing it by his own. If the Mosaic +law is to be taken literally--as it was--that which is to replace it +must also be taken literally, or else one code would be abolished, and +there would be none to succeed it, so that the State would be left in a +condition of lawlessness. Suppose, however, that we allow that the +passage is to be taken metaphorically, what then? A metaphor must mean +_something_: what does this metaphor mean? It can scarcely signify the +exact opposite of what it intimates, and yet the exact opposite is true +morality. Only a system of taking Christ's words "contrariwise" can make +them useful as civil rules, and even "oriental exaggeration" can +scarcely be credited with saying the diametrically contrary of its real +meaning. But it is urged that, if all men were Christians, then this +teaching would be right, and Christ was bound to give a perfect +morality. That is to say, if people were different to what they are, +this teaching of Christ would not be injurious because--it would be +unneeded! If there were no robbers, and no assaulters, and no borrowers, +then the morality of the Sermon on the Mount would be most harmless. +High praise, truly, for a legislator that his laws would not be +injurious when they were no longer needed. Christ should have remembered +that the "law is made for sinners," and that such a law as he gives here +is a direct encouragement to sin. + +We can scarcely wonder that, inculcating a course of conduct which must +inevitably lead to poverty, Christ should hold up a state of poverty as +desirable. We read in Matthew v. 3, "Blessed are the poor _in spirit_" +and it is contended that it is poverty only of spirit which Christ +blesses; if so, he blesses the source of much wretchedness, for +poor-spirited people get trampled down, and are a misery to themselves +and a burden to those about them. If, however, we turn to Luke vi. 20, +we find the declaration: "Blessed are ye poor," addressed directly to +his Apostles, who were anything but poor in spirit (Luke ix. 46, and +xxii. 24); and we find it, further, joined with the announcement, +"blessed are ye that hunger now," and followed by the curses: "Woe unto +you that are rich ... woe unto you that are full." If "hunger" means +"hunger after righteousness," the antithesis "full" must also mean "full +of righteousness," a state on which Christ would surely not pronounce a +woe. Mr. Bradlaugh well draws out the various thoughts in these most +unfortunate sayings: "Is poverty of spirit the chief amongst virtues, +that Jesus gives it the prime place in his teaching? Is poverty of +spirit a virtue at all? Surely not. Manliness of spirit, honesty of +spirit, fulness of rightful purpose, these are virtues; but poverty of +spirit is a crime. When men are poor in spirit, then do the proud and +haughty in spirit oppress and trample upon them, but when men are true +in spirit and determined (as true men should be) to resist and prevent +evil, wrong, and injustice whenever they can, then is there greater +opportunity for happiness here, and no lesser fitness for the enjoyment +of future happiness, in some may be heaven, hereafter. Are you poor in +spirit, and are you smitten; in such case what did Jesus teach? 'Unto +him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other' (Luke vi. +29). It were better far to teach that 'he who courts oppression shares +the crime.' Rather say, if smitten once, take careful measures to +prevent a future smiting. I have heard men preach passive resistance, +but this teaches actual invitation of injury, a course degrading in the +extreme ... the poverty of spirit principle is enforced to the fullest +conceivable extent--'Him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take +thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that +taketh away thy goods ask them not again' (Luke vi. 29, 30). Poverty of +person is the only possible sequence to this extraordinary manifestation +of poverty of spirit. Poverty of person is attended with many +unpleasantnesses; and if Jesus knew that poverty of goods would result +from his teaching, we might expect some notice of this. And so there +is--as if he wished to keep the poor content through their lives with +poverty, he says, 'Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God' +(Luke vi. 20) ... Poor in spirit and poor in pocket. With no courage to +work for food, or money to purchase it, we might well expect to find the +man who held these doctrines with empty stomach also; and what does +Jesus teach? 'Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled' +... Craven in spirit, with an empty purse and hungry mouth--what next? +The man who has not manliness enough to prevent wrong, will probably +bemoan his hard fate, and cry bitterly that so sore are the misfortunes +he endures. And what does Jesus teach? 'Blessed are ye that weep now, +for ye shall laugh' (Luke vi. 21) ... Jesus teaches that the poor, the +hungry, and the wretched shall be blessed. This is not so. The blessing +only comes when they have ceased to be poor, hungry, and wretched. +Contentment under poverty, hunger, and misery is high treason, not to +yourself alone but to your fellows. These three, like foul diseases, +spread quickly wherever humanity is stagnant and content with wrong" +("What Did Jesus Teach?" pp. 1-3). + +But Jesus did more than panegyrise poverty; he gave still more exact +directions to his disciples as to how poverty should be attained. Matt. +vi. 25-34 is as mischievous a passage as has been penned by any +moralist. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye +shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." It is said +that "take no thought" means, "be not over anxious;" if this be so, why +does Christ emphasise it by quoting birds and lilies as examples, +things, which, literally, take _no_ thought? the argument is: birds do +not store food in barns, yet God feeds them. You are more valuable than +the birds. God will take equal care of you if you follow the birds' +example. The lilies spin no raiment, yet God clothes them. So shall he +clothe you, if you follow their example. The passage has no meaning, the +illustrations no appositeness, unless Christ means that _no_ thought is +to be taken for the future. He makes the argument still stronger: "the +Gentiles seek" meat, drink, and clothing. But God, your Father, knows +your need for all these things. Therefore, "seek ye first the kingdom of +God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. +Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take +thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil +thereof." If Christ only meant the common-place advice, "do not be +over-anxious," he then lays the most absurd stress on it, and speaks in +the most exaggerated way. Sensible Gentiles do not worry themselves by +over-anxiety, after they have taken for the morrow's needs all the care +they can; but they do not act like birds or like lilies, for they know +that many a bird starves in a hard winter because it is not capable of +gathering and storing food into barns, and that many a garbless lily is +shrivelled up by the cold east wind. They notice that though men and +women are "much better than" birds and lilies, yet God does not always +feed and clothe them; that, on the contrary, many a poor creature dies +of starvation and of winter's bitter cold; when our daily papers record +no inquests on those who die from want, because none but God takes +thought for them, then it will be time enough for us to cease from +preparing for the morrow, and to trust that "heavenly Father" who at +present "knoweth that" we "have need of these things," and, knowing, +lets so many of his children starve for lack of them. + +The true meaning of Christ is plainly shown by his injunctions to the +twelve apostles and to the seventy when he sent them on a journey: "Take +nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, nor +money; neither have two coats apiece" (Luke ix. 3); and: "Carry neither +purse, nor scrip, nor shoes ... in the same house remain, eating and +drinking such things as they give" (Ibid, x. 4, 7). The same spirit +breathes in his injunction to the young man: "Go and sell that thou +hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and +come and follow me" (Matt. xix. 21). The fact is that Jesus held the +ascetic doctrine, that poverty was, in itself, meritorious; and, in +common with many sects, he regarded the highest life as the life of the +mendicant teacher. His doctrine of poverty passed on into the Church +that bears his name, and one of the three vows taken by those who aspire +to lead "the angelic life" is the vow of poverty. The mendicant friars +of the Middle Ages, the "sturdy beggars," are the lineal descendants of +the Eastern mendicants, and are the fruits of the morality taught by +Christ. On this point, as on many others, the morality of the Epistles +is far higher than that of the Gospels, and the common-sense and +righteous law, "that if any would not work neither should he eat" is, +however, incompatible with Christ's admiration for mendicancy, a far +more wholesome and salutary kind of moral teaching than that which we +have been considering. + +The dogma of rewards and punishments as taught by Christ is fatal to all +reality of virtue. To do right from hope of heaven: to avoid wrong for +fear of hell: such virtue is only skin-deep, and will not stand rough +usage. True virtue does right because it _is_ right, and therefore +beneficial, and not from hope of a personal reward, or from dread of a +personal punishment, hereafter. Christianity is the apotheosis of +selfishness, gilded over with piety; self is the pivot on which all +turns: "What shall it _profit_ a man if he gain the whole world, and +lose _his own_ soul?" (Mark viii. 36). "He that receiveth a prophet in +the name of a prophet _shall receive a prophet's reward_; and he that +receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man _shall receive +a righteous man's reward_. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of +these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, +verily I say unto you, he _shall in nowise lose his reward_" (Matt. x. +41, 42). "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, _him will I +confess also_ before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall +deny me before men, _him will I also deny_ before my Father which is in +heaven" (Ibid, 32, 33). "Pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy +Father, which seeth in secret, _shall reward thee_ openly" (Ibid, vi. +6). "We have forsaken all and followed thee: _what shall we have +therefore_?... When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, +_ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones_" (Matt. xix. 27, 28). The +passages might be multiplied; but these are sufficient to show the +thorough selfishness inculcated. All is done with an eye to personal +gain in the future; even the cold water is to be given, not because the +"little one" is thirsty and needs it, but for the reward promised +therefore to the giver. Pure, generous love is excluded: there is a +taint of selfishness in every gift. + +The thought of Heaven is also injurious to human welfare, because men +learn to disregard earth for the sake of "the glory to be revealed." +People whose "citizenship is in heaven," make but sorry citizens of +earth, for they regard this world as "no continuing city," while they +"seek one to come." Hence, as all history shows us, they are apt to +despise this world while dreaming about another, to trouble little about +earth's wrongs while thinking of the mansions in the skies; to acquiesce +in any assertion that "the whole world lieth in wickedness," and to +trouble themselves but little as to the means of improving it. From this +line of thought follows the long list of monasteries and nunneries, +wherein people "separate" themselves from this world in order to +"prepare" for another. All this evil flows directly from the Christian +morality which teaches that all hopes, efforts, and aims should be +turned towards laying up treasures in heaven, where also the heart +should be. One need scarcely add a word of reprobation as to the +horrible doctrine of eternal torture, although that, too, is part of the +teaching of Christ. The whole conscience of civilised mankind is so +turning against that shameful and cruel dogma, that it is only now +believed among the illiterate and uncultured of the Christians, and soon +will be too savage even for them. It has, however, hardened the hearts +of many in days gone by, and has made the burning of heretics seem an +appropriate act of faith, since men only began on earth the roasting +which God was to continue to all eternity. + +The morality of Christ is also faulty because it shares in the +persecuting spirit of the Mosaic code. The disciples are told: +"Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart +out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily, I +say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and +Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city" (Matt. x. 14, 15). +Christ proclaims openly: "Think not that I am come to send peace on +earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man +at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and +the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be +they of his own household" (Ibid, 34-36). To a man whom he calls to +follow him, and who asks to be allowed first to bury his father, Christ +gives the brutal reply: "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and +preach the kingdom of God" (Luke x. 60). Another time he says: "If any +man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and +children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he +cannot be my disciple" (Ibid, xiv. 26). A religion that destroys the +home, that introduces discord into the family, that bids its votaries +hate all else save Christ, acts as a disintegrating force in human life, +and cannot be too strongly opposed. + +Neither must we forget the teaching of Christ regarding marriage. He +deliberately places virginity above marriage, and counsels +self-mutilation to those capable of making the sacrifice. "All men +cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given ... there be +eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's +sake. _He that is able to receive it, let him receive it_" (Matt. xix. +11, 12). Following this, 1 Cor. vii. teaches the superiority of an +unmarried state, and threatens "trouble in the flesh" to those who +marry. And in Rev. xiv. 1-4, we find, following the Lamb, with special +privileges, 144,000 who "were not defiled with women; for they are +virgins." This coarse and insulting way of regarding women, as though +they existed merely to be the safety-valves of men's passions, and that +the best men were above the temptation of loving them, has been the +source of unnumbered evils. To this saying of Christ are due the +self-mutilations of many, such as Origen, and the destruction of myriads +of human lives in celibacy; monks and nuns innumerable owe to this evil +teaching their shrivelled lives and withered hearts. For centuries the +leaders of Christian thought spoke of women as of a necessary evil, and +the greatest saints of the Church are those who despised women the most. +The subjection of women in Western lands is wholly due to Christianity. +Among the Teutons women were honoured, and held a noble and dignified +place in the tribe; Christianity brought with it the evil Eastern habit +of regarding women as intended for the toys and drudges of man, and +intensified it with a special spite against them, as the daughters of +Eve, who was first "deceived." Strangely different to the *general +Eastern feeling and showing a truer and nobler view of life, is the +precept of Manu: "Where women are honoured, there the deities are +pleased; but where they are dishonoured, there all religious acts become +fruitless" ("Anthology," p. 310). + +Evil also is the teaching that repentance is higher than purity: "joy +shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenth, _more than_ over ninety +and nine just persons which need no repentance" (Luke xv. 7, 10). The +fatted calf is slain for the prodigal son, who returns home after he has +wasted all his substance; and to the laborious elder son, during the +many years of his service, the father never gave even a kid that he +might make merry with his friends (Ibid, 29). What is all this but +putting a premium upon immorality, and instructing people that the more +they sin, the more joyous will be their welcome whenever they may choose +to reform, and, like the prodigal, think to mend their broken fortunes +by repentance? + +Thoroughly immoral is the teaching contained in the two parables in Luke +xvi. In the one, a steward who has wasted his master's goods, is +commended because he went and bribed his employer's debtors to assist +him, by suggesting to them that they should cheat his master by altering +the amount of the bills they owed him. In the other, the parable of the +rich man and Lazarus, the evil moral is taught that riches are in +themselves deserving of punishment, and poverty of reward. The rich man +is in hell simply because he was rich, and the poor man in Abraham's +bosom simply because he was poor; it can scarcely add, one may remark, +to the pleasure of heaven for the Lazaruses all to look at the Diveses, +and be unable to reach them, even to give them a single drop of water. + +Thus whether we see that the nobler part of the Christian morality is +pre-Christian, and is neither Christian, nor Jewish, nor Hindu, nor +Buddhist, but is simply human, and belongs to the race and not to one +creed. Whether we note the omissions in its code, making it insufficient +for human guidance; whether we mark its errors, mistakes, and injurious +teachings; whichever point of view we take from which to consider it, we +find in it nothing to distinguish it above other moral codes, or to +prevent it from being classed among other moralities, as being a mixture +of good and bad, and, therefore, not to be taken as an, unerring guide, +being like them, all FALLIBLE. + + * * * * * + +INDEX TO SECTION III. OF PART II. + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF BOOKS USED. + +Bhagavat Gita, in Anthology...406 +Bradlaugh, The Bible: what it is...397 + " What Did Jesus Teach?...414 +Buddha, in Anthology...403, 405 + " Wheel of the Law...408 + +Cahen, Levitique...398 +Colenso, Pentateuch and Book of Joshua...396 +Confucius, in Anthology...403, 404, 408 + +Dante, Inferno...403 +Dhammapada, in Anthology...403 + +Gouldburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion...411 + +Kalisch, Leviticus...399, 400, 401 +Katha-Chari, in Anthology...407 +Kwan-yin, in Anthology...407 + +Lao-Tsze, in Anthology...403, 404 + +Mahabharata, in Muir...410 +Manu, in Anthology...404, 405, 406, 419 +Mencius, in Anthology...407 + +Prayer Book, Art. vi. vii....395 + +Ramayana, in Anthology...407 + +Sabaean Book of the Law, in Anthology...404, 405 +Shelley, Queen Mab...402 +She-King, in Anthology...407 +Statutes, 9 and 10 William III. cap. 32...395 + +Talmud, quoted by Besant...405 + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + +Christian morality, compared with others...403 + " degrading to women...419 + " immoral towards sin...419 + " non-original...403 + " non-resistant...412 + " omissions in...411 + " paved way for despotism...412 + " persecuting in spirit...418 + " sanctions mendicancy...416 + " selfish...417 + " what included in...395 + +Heaven and Hell, harm done by belief in...417 +Heroism of Paganism...412 +Human sacrifice, sanctioned by God...398 + " among Jews...398 + +Marriage, teaching of Christ concerning...419 +Morality of great Pagan teachers...406 + " compared with that of Christ...403 +Murder of blasphemer, sanctioned by God...397 + " heretics...401 + +Ordeal, sanctioned by God...401 + +Poverty inculcated by Christ...414 +Prostitution, sanctioned by God...402 + +Religion, evil of...402 + +Sale of daughter sanctioned by God...396 + " thief...396 +Slaves, beaten to death...396 +Slavery, sanctioned by God...396, 397 + +Unthrift taught by Christ...415 +Utility the test of morality...411 + " religion according to Buddha...408 + +Value of Christianity to tyrants...412 + +Witches, number of killed...397 +Witch-murder, sanctioned by God...397 + + + + +SECTION IV.--ITS HISTORY. + + +This section does not pretend, within the short limits of some fifty +pages, to give even a complete summary of Christian history. It proposes +only to draw up an impeachment against Christianity from the facts of +its history which occurred in the day of its power, from the time of +Constantine, up to the time of the Reformation. If it be urged that +Christianity was corrupt during this period, and ought not therefore to +be judged by it, we can only reply that, corrupt or not, it is the only +Christianity there was, and if only bad fruit is brought forth, it is +fair to conclude that the tree which bears nothing else is also bad. If +the bishops, and clergy, and missionaries were ignorant, sensual, +tyrannical, and superstitious, they are none the less the +representatives of Christianity, and if these are not true Christians, +_where are the true Christians_ from A.D. 324 to A.D. 1,500? + +We propose, in this section, to practically condense the dark side of +Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History," as translated from the Latin by Dr. +A. Maclaine (ed. 1847), only adding, here and there, extracts from other +writers; all extracts, therefore, except where otherwise specified, will +be taken from this valuable history, a history which, perhaps from its +size and dryness, is not nearly so much studied by Freethinkers as it +should be; its special worth for our object is that Dr. Mosheim is a +sincere Christian, and cannot, therefore, be supposed to strain any +point unduly against the religion to which he himself belongs. + +During the second and third centuries the Christians appear to have +grown in power and influence, and their faith, made up out of many older +creeds and forming a kind of eclectic religion, gradually spread +throughout the Roman empire, and became a factor in political problems. +In the struggles between the opposing Roman emperors, A.D. 310-324, the +weight of the Christian influence was thrown on the side of Constantine, +his rivals being strongly opposed to Christianity; Maximin Galerius was +a bitter persecutor, and his successor, Maximin, trod in his steps in +A.D. 312, and 313, Maxentius was defeated by Constantine, and Maximin by +Licinius, and in A.D. 312 Constantine and Licinius granted liberty of +worship to the Christians; in the following year, according to Mosheim, +or in A.D. 314 according to Eusebius, a second edict was issued from +Milan, by the two emperors, which granted "to the Christians and to all, +the free choice to follow that mode of worship which they may wish ... +that no freedom at all shall be refused to Christians, to follow or to +keep their observances or worship; but that to each one power be granted +to devote his mind to that worship which he may think adapted to +himself" (Eusebius, "Eccles. Hist." p. 431). Licinius, however, renewed +the war against Constantine, who immediately embraced Christianity, thus +securing to himself the sympathy and assistance of the faith which now +for the first time saw its votary on the imperial throne of the world, +and Licinius, by allying himself with Paganism, and persecuting the +Christians, drove them entirely over to Constantine, and was finally +defeated and dethroned, A.D. 324. From that date Christianity was +supreme, and became the established religion of the State. Dr. Draper +regards the conversion of Constantine from the point of view taken +above. He says: "It had now become evident that the Christians +constituted a powerful party in the State, animated with indignation at +the atrocities they had suffered, and determined to endure them no +longer. After the abdication of Diocletian (A.D. 305), Constantine, one +of the competitors for the purple, perceiving the advantages that would +accrue to him from such a policy, put himself forth as the head of the +Christian party. This gave him, in every part of the empire, men and +women ready to encounter fire and sword in his behalf; it gave him +unwavering adherents in every legion of the armies. In a decisive +battle, near the Milvian bridge, victory crowned his schemes. The death +of Maximin, and subsequently that of Licinius, removed all obstacles. He +ascended the throne of the Caesars--the first Christian emperor. Place, +profit, power--these were in view of whoever now joined the conquering +sect. Crowds of worldly persons, who cared nothing about its religious +ideas, became its warmest supporters. Pagans at heart, their influence +was soon manifested in the Paganisation of Christianity that forthwith +ensued. The emperor, no better than they, did nothing to check their +proceedings. But he did not personally conform to the ceremonial +requirements of the Church until the close of his evil life, A.D. 337" +("History of the Conflict between Religion and Science," p. 39; ed. +1875). Constantine, in fact, was not baptised until a few days before +his death. + +The character of the first Christian emperor is not one which strikes us +with admiration. As emperor he sank into "a cruel and dissolute monarch, +corrupted by his fortune, or raised by conquest above the necessity of +dissimulation ... the old age of Constantine was disgraced by the +opposite yet reconcilable vices of rapaciousness and prodigality" +(Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. ii., p. 347). He was as effeminate as +he was vicious. "He is represented with false hair of various colours, +laboriously arranged by the skilful artists of the time; a diadem of a +new and more expensive fashion; a profusion of gems and pearls, of +collars and bracelets, and a variegated flowing robe of silk, most +curiously embroidered with flowers of gold." To his other vices he added +most bloodthirsty cruelty. He strangled Licinius, after defeating him; +murdered his own son Crispus, his nephew Licinius, and his wife Fausta, +together with a number of others. It must indeed have needed an +efficacious baptism to wash away his crimes; and "future tyrants were +encouraged to believe that the innocent blood which they might shed in a +long reign would instantly be washed away in the waters of regeneration" +(Ibid, pp. 471, 472). + +The wealth of the Christian churches was considerable during the third +century, and the bishops and clergy lived in much pomp and luxury. +"Though several [bishops] yet continued to exhibit to the world +illustrious examples of primitive piety and Christian virtue, yet many +were sunk in luxury and voluptuousness, puffed up with vanity, +arrogance, and ambition, possessed with a spirit of contention and +discord, and addicted to many other vices that cast an undeserved +reproach upon the holy religion of which they were the unworthy +professors and ministers. This is testified in such an ample manner by +the repeated complaints of many of the most respectable writers of this +age, that truth will not permit us to spread the veil which we should +otherwise be desirous to cast over such enormities among an order so +sacred.... The example of the bishops was ambitiously imitated by the +presbyters, who, neglecting the sacred duties of their station, +abandoned themselves to the indolence and delicacy of an effeminate and +luxurious life. The deacons, beholding the presbyters deserting thus +their functions, boldly usurped their rights and privileges; and the +effects of a corrupt ambition were spread through every rank of the +sacred order" (p. 73). During this century also we find much scandal +caused by the pretended celibacy of the clergy, for the +people--regarding celibacy as purer than marriage, and considering that +"they, who took wives, were of all others the most subject to the +influence of malignant demons"--urged their clergy to remain celibate, +"and many of the sacred order, especially in Africa, consented to +satisfy the desires of the people, and endeavoured to do this in such a +manner as not to offer an entire violence to their own inclinations. For +this purpose, they formed connections with those women who had made vows +of perpetual chastity; and it was an ordinary thing for an ecclesiastic +to admit one of these fair saints to the participation of his bed, but +still under the most solemn declarations, that nothing passed in this +commerce that was contrary to the rules of chastity and virtue" (p. 73). +Such was the morality of the clergy as early as the third century! + +The doctrine of the Church in these primitive times was as confused as +its morality was impure. In the first century (during which we really +know nothing of the Christian Church), Dr. Mosheim, in dealing with +"divisions and heresies," points to the false teachers mentioned in the +New Testament, and the rise of the Gnostic heresy. Gnosticism (from +[Greek: gnosis] knowledge), a system compounded of Christianity and +Oriental philosophy, long divided the Church with the doctrines known as +orthodox. The Gnostics believed in the existence of the two opposing +principles of good and evil, the latter being by many considered as the +creator of the world. They held that from the Supreme God emanated a +number of AEons--generally put at thirty; (see throughout "Irenaeus +Against Heresies")--and some maintained that one of these, Christ, +descended on the man Jesus at his baptism, and left him again just +before his passion; others that Jesus had not a real, but only an +apparent, body of flesh. The Gnostic philosophy had many forms and many +interdivisions; but most of the "heresies" of the first centuries were +branches of this one tree: it rose into prominence, it is said, about +the time of Adrian, and among its early leaders were Marcion, Basilides, +and Valentinus. In addition to the various Gnostic theories, there was a +deep mark of division between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians; the +former developed into the sects, of Nazarenes and Ebionites, but were +naturally never very powerful in the Church. In the second century, as +the Christians become more visible, their dissensions are also more +clearly marked; and it is important to observe that there is no period +in the history of Christianity wherein those who laid claim to the name +"Christian" were agreed amongst themselves as to what Christianity was. +Gnosticism we see now divided into two main branches, Asiatic and +Egyptian. The Asiatic believed that, in addition to the two principles +of good and evil, there was a third being, a mixture of both, the +Demiurgus, the creator, whose son Jesus was; they maintained that the +body of Jesus was only apparent; they enforced the severest discipline +against the body, which was evil, in that it was material; and marriage, +flesh, and wine were forbidden. The Elcesaites were a judaising branch +of this Asiatic Gnosticism; Saturninus of Antioch, Ardo of Syria, and +Marcion of Pontus headed the movement, and after them Lucan, Severus, +Blastes, Apelles, and Bardesanes formed new sects. Tatian (see ante, pp. +259, 260) had many followers called Tatianists, and in connection with +him and his doctrines we hear of the Eucratites, Hydroparastates (the +water-drinkers), and Apotactites. The Eucratites appear to have been in +existence before Tatian professed Gnosticism, but he so increased their +influence as to be sometimes regarded as their founder. The Egyptian +Gnostics were less ascetic, and mostly favoured the idea that Jesus had +a real body on which the AEon descended and joined himself thereunto. +They regarded him as born naturally of Joseph and Mary. Basilides, and +Valentinus headed the Egyptians, and then we have as sub-divisions the +Carpocratians, Ptolemaites, Secundians, Heracleonites, Marcosians, +Adamites, Cainites, Sethites, Florinians, Ophites, Artemonites, and +Hermogenists; in addition to these we have the Monarchians or +Patripassians, who maintained that there was but one God, and that the +Father suffered (whence this name) in the person of Christ. This long +list may be closed with the Montanists, a sect joined by Tertullian (see +his account of the orthodox after he became a Montanist, ante, p. 225); +they held that Montanes, their founder, was the Paraclete promised by +Christ, missioned to complete the Christian code; he forbade second +marriages, the reception into the Church of those who had been +excommunicated for grievous sin, and inculcated the sternest asceticism. +He opposed all learning as anti-Christian, a doctrine which was rapidly +spreading among Christians, and which seems, indeed, to have been an +integral part of the religion from its very beginning (Matt. xi. 25, 1 +Cor. i. 26, 27). In the third century the heretic camp received a new +light in the person of Manes, or Manichaeus, a Persian magus; he appears +to have been a man of great learning, a physician, an astronomer, a +philosopher. He taught the old Persian creed tinctured with +Christianity, Christ being identical with Mithras (see ante, p. 362), +and having come upon earth in an apparent body only to deliver mankind. +Manes was the paraclete sent to complete his teaching; the body was +evil, and only by long struggle and mortification could man be delivered +from it, and reach final blessedness. Those who desired to lead the +highest life, _the elect_, abstained from flesh, eggs, milk, fish, wine, +and all intoxicating drink, and remained in the strictest celibacy; they +were to live on bread, herbs, pulse, and melons, and deny themselves +every comfort and every gratification (see pp. 80-82). The Hieracites in +Egypt were closely allied with the Manichaeans. The Novatians differed +from the orthodox only in their refusal to receive again into the Church +any who had committed grievous crimes, or who had lapsed during +persecution. The Arabians denied the immortality of the soul, +maintaining that it died with the body, and that body and soul together +would be revivified by God. The controversies on the persons of the +Godhead now increased in intensity. Noctus of Smyrna maintained the +doctrine of the Patripassians, that God was one and indivisible, and +suffered to redeem mankind; Sabellius also taught that God was one, but +that Jesus was a man, to whom was united a "certain energy only, +proceeding from the Supreme Parent" (p. 83). He also denied the separate +personality of the Holy Ghost. Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch, +taught a cognate doctrine, and founded the sect of the Paulians or +Paulianists, and was consequently degraded from his office. Thus we see +that the history of the Church, before it came to power, is a mass of +quarrels and divisions, varied by ignorance and licentiousness. If we +exclude Origen, whose writings contain much that is valuable, the works +produced by Christian writers in these centuries might be thrown into +the sea, and the world would be none the poorer for the loss. + + +CENTURY IV. + + +Constantine attained undisputed and sole authority A.D. 324, and in the +year 325 he summoned the first general council, that of Nicea, or Nice, +which condemned the errors of Arius, and declared Christ to be of the +same substance as the Father. This council has given its name to the +"Nicene Creed," although that creed, as now recited, differs somewhat +from the creed issued at Nice, and received its present form at the +Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381. During the reign of Constantine, +the Church grew swiftly in power and influence, a growth much aided by +the penal laws passed against Paganism. The moment Christianity was able +to seize the sword, it wielded it remorselessly, and cut its way to +supremacy in the Roman world. Bribes and penalties shared together in +the work of conversion. "The hopes of wealth and honours, the example of +an emperor, his exhortations, his irresistible smiles, diffused +conviction among the venal and obsequious crowds which usually fill the +apartments of a palace. The cities, which signalised a forward zeal by +the voluntary destruction of their temples, were distinguished by +municipal privileges and rewarded with popular donatives; and the new +capital of the East gloried in the singular advantage that +Constantinople was never profaned by the worship of idols. As the lower +ranks of society are governed by imitation, the conversion of those who +possessed any eminence of birth, of power, or of riches, was soon +followed by dependent multitudes. The salvation of the common people was +purchased at an easy rate, if it be true, that, in one year, twelve +thousand men were baptised at Rome, besides a proportionable number of +women and children; and that a white garment, with twenty pieces of +gold, had been promised by the emperor to every convert" (Gibbon's +"Decline and Fall," vol. ii. pp. 472, 473). With Constantine began the +ruinous system of dowering the Church with State funds. The emperor +directed the treasurers of the province of Carthage to pay over to the +bishop of that district L18,000 sterling, and to honour his further +drafts. Constantine also gave his subjects permission to bequeath their +fortunes to the Church, and scattered public money among the bishops +with a lavish hand. The three sons of Constantine followed in his steps, +"continuing to abrogate and efface the ancient superstitions of the +Romans, and other idolatrous nations, and to accelerate the progress of +the Christian religion throughout the empire. This zeal was no doubt, +laudable; its end was excellent; but, in the means used to accomplish +it, there were many things worthy of blame" (p. 88). Julian succeded to +part of the empire in A.D. 360, and to sole authority in A.D. 361. He +was educated as a Christian, but reverted to philosophic Paganism, and +during his short reign he revoked the special privileges granted to +Christianity, and placed all creeds on the most perfect civil equality. +Julian's dislike of Christianity, and his philosophic writings directed +against it, have gained for him, from Christian writers, the title of +"the Apostate." The emperors who succeeded were, however, all Christian, +and used their best endeavours to destroy Paganism. Christianity spread +apace; "multitudes were drawn into the profession of Christianity, not +by the power of conviction and argument, but by the prospect of gain, +and the fear of punishment" (p. 102). "The zeal and diligence with which +Constantine and his successors exerted themselves in the cause of +Christianity, and in extending the limits of the Church, prevent our +surprise at the number of barbarous and uncivilised nations, which +received the Gospel" (p. 90); and Dr. Mosheim admits that: "There is no +doubt but that the victories of Constantine the Great, the fear of +punishment, and the desire of pleasing this mighty conqueror and his +imperial successors, were the weighty arguments that moved whole +nations, as well as particular persons, to embrace Christianity" (p. +91). Fraud, as well as force and favour, lent its aid to the progress of +"the Gospel." We hear of the "imprudent methods employed to allure the +different nations to embrace the Gospel" (p. 98): "disgraceful" would be +a fitter term whereby to designate them, for Dr. Mosheim speaks of "the +endless frauds of those odious impostors, who were so far destitute of +all principles, as to enrich themselves by the ignorance and errors of +the people. Rumours were artfully spread abroad of prodigies and +miracles to be seen in certain places (a trick often practised by the +heathen priests), and the design of these reports was to draw the +populace, in multitudes, to these places, and to impose upon their +credulity ... Nor was this all; certain tombs were falsely given out for +the sepulchres of saints and confessors. The list of the saints was +augmented by fictitious names, and even robbers were converted into +martyrs. Some buried the bones of dead men in certain retired places, +and then affirmed that they were divinely admonished, by a dream, that +the body of some friend of God lay there. Many, especially of the monks, +travelled through the different provinces; and not only sold, with most +frontless impudence, their fictitious relics, but also deceived the eyes +of the multitude with ludicrous combats with evil spirits or genii. A +whole volume would be requisite to contain an enumeration of the various +frauds which artful knaves practised, with success, to delude the +ignorant, when true religion was almost entirely superseded by horrid +superstition" (p. 98). When to all these weapons we add the forgeries +everywhere circulated (see ante, pp. 240-243), we can understand how +rapidly Christianity spread, and how "the faithful" were rendered +pliable to those whose interests lay in deceiving them. During this +century flourished some of the greatest fathers of the Church, +pre-eminent among whom we note Ambrose, of Milan, Augustine, of Hippo, +and the great ecclesiastical doctor, Jerome. Already, in this century, +we find clear traces of the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, and "when a +new pontiff was to be elected by the suffrages of the presbyters and the +people, the city of Rome was generally agitated with dissensions, +tumults, and cabals, whose consequences were often deplorable and fatal" +(p. 94). By a decree of the Council of Constantinople, the bishop of +that city was given precedence next after the Roman prelate, and the +jealousy which arose between the bishops of the two imperial cities +fomented the disputes which ended, finally, in the separation of the +Eastern and Western Churches. Of the officers of the Church in this +century we read that: "The bishops, on the one hand, contended with each +other, in the most scandalous manner, concerning the extent of their +respective jurisdictions, while, on the other, they trampled upon the +rights of the people, violated the privileges of the inferior ministers, +and imitated, in their conduct, and in their manner of living, the +arrogance, voluptuousness, and luxury of magistrates and princes" (pp. +95, 96). + +In this century is the first instance of the burning alive of a heretic, +and it was Spain who lighted that first pile. Theodosius, of all the +emperors of this age, was the bitterest persecutor of the heretic sects. +"The orthodox emperor considered every heretic as a rebel against the +supreme powers of heaven and of earth; and each of those powers might +exercise their peculiar jurisdiction over the soul and body of the +guilty.... In the space of fifteen years [A.D. 380-394], he promulgated +at least fifteen severe edicts against the heretics; more especially +against those who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity; and to deprive +them of every hope of escape, he sternly enacted, that if any laws or +rescripts should be alleged in their favour, the judges should consider +them as the illegal productions either of fraud or forgery.... The +heretical teachers ... were exposed to the heavy penalties of exile and +confiscation, if they presumed to preach the doctrine, or to practise +the rites of their _accursed_ sects.... Their religious meetings, +whether public or secret, by day or by night, in cities or in the +country, were equally proscribed by the edicts of Theodosius: and the +building or ground, which had been used for that illegal purpose, was +forfeited to the imperial domain. It was supposed, that the error of the +heretics could proceed only from the obstinate temper of their minds; +and that such a temper was a fit object of censure and punishment.... +The sectaries were gradually disqualified for the possession of +honourable or lucrative employments; and Theodosius was satisfied with +his own justice, when he decreed, that as the Eunonians distinguished +the nature of the Son from that of the Father, they should be incapable +of making their wills, or of receiving any advantages from testamentary +donations" (Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. iii. pp. 412, 413). + +One important event of this century must not be omitted, the dispersion +of the great Alexandrine library, collected by the Ptolemies. In the +siege of Alexandria by Julius Caesar, the Philadelphian library in the +museum, containing some 400,000 volumes, had been burned; but there +still remained the "daughter library" in the Serapion, containing about +300,000 books. During the episcopate of Theophilus, predecessor of +Cyril, a riot took place between the Christians and the Pagans, and the +latter "held the Serapion as their head-quarters. Such were the disorder +and bloodshed that the emperor had to interfere. He despatched a +rescript to Alexandria, enjoining the bishop, Theophilus, to destroy the +Serapion; and the great library, which had been collected by the +Ptolemies, and had escaped the fire of Julius Caesar, was by that fanatic +dispersed" ("Conflict of Religion and Science," p. 54), A.D. 389. To +Christian bigotry it is that we owe the loss of these rich treasures of +antiquity. + +Heresies grew and strengthened during this fourth century. Chief leader +in the heretic camp was Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria; he asserted +that the Son, although begotten of the Father before the creation of +aught else, was not "of the same substance" as the Father, but only "of +like substance;" a vast number of the Christians embraced his +definition, and thus began the long struggle between the Arians and the +Catholics. Arius also "took the ground that there was a time when, from +the very nature of sonship, the Son did not exist, and a time at which +he commenced to be, asserting that it is the necessary condition of the +filial relation that a father must be older than his son. But this +assertion evidently denied the co-eternity of the three persons of the +Trinity; it suggested a subordination or inequality among them, and +indeed implied a time when the Trinity did not exist. Hereupon the +bishop, who had been the successful competitor against Arius [for the +episcopate], displayed his rhetorical powers in public debates on the +question, and, the strife spreading, the Jews and Pagans, who formed a +very large portion of the population of Alexandria, amused themselves +with theatrical representations of the contest on the stage--the point +of their burlesques being the equality of age of the Father and his Son" +(Ibid, p. 53). Gibbon quotes an amusing passage to show how widely +spread was the interest in the subject debated between the rival +parties: "This city is full of mechanics and slaves, who are all of them +profound theologians, and preach in the shops and in the streets. If you +desire a man to change a piece of silver, he informs you wherein the Son +differs from the Father; if you ask the price of a loaf, you are told, +by way of reply, that the Son is inferior to the Father; and if you +inquire whether the bath is ready, the answer is, that the Son was made +out of nothing" (Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. iii. p. 402). Arius +maintained that "the _Logos_ was a dependent and spontaneous production, +created from nothing by the will of the Father. The Son, by whom all +things were made, had been begotten before all worlds, and the longest +of the astronomical periods could be compared only as a fleeting moment +to the extent of his duration; yet this duration was not infinite, and +there _had_ been a time which preceded the ineffable generation of the +_Logos_.... He governed the universe in obedience to the will of his +Father and Monarch" (Ibid, pp. 18,19). The "Nicene creed" of the +Prayer-book consists of the creed promulgated by the Council of Nice, +with the anathema at the end omitted, and with the addition of some +phrases joined to it at the Council at Constantinople, and the insertion +of the Filioque. At the Council of Nice, Arius was condemned and +banished, to the triumph of his great opponent, Athanasius; but he was +recalled in A.D. 330, obtained the banishment of Athanasius in A.D. 335, +and died suddenly, under very suspicious circumstances, in A.D. 336. +Throughout this century the struggle proceeded furiously, each party in +turn getting the upper hand, as the emperor of the time inclined towards +Catholicism or towards Arianism, and each persecuting the adherents of +the other. Among Arian subdivisions we find Semi-Arians, Eusebians, +Aetians, Eunomians, Acasians, Psathyrians, etc. Then we have the +Apollinarians, who maintained that Christ had no human soul, the +divinity supplying its place; the Marcellians, who taught that a divine +emanation descended on Christ. Allied to the Manichaean heresy were the +Priscillians, the Saccophori, the Solitaries, and many others; and, in +addition, the Messalians or Euchites, the Luciferians, the Origenists, +the Antidicomarianites, and the Collyridians. A quarrel about the +consecration of a bishop gave rise to fierce struggles not connected +with the doctrine, so much as with the discipline of the Church. The +Bishops of Numidia were angered by not having been called to the +consecration of Caecilianus Bishop of Carthage, and, assembling together, +they elected and consecrated a rival bishop to that see, and declared +Caecilianus incompetent for the episcopal office. Donatus, Bishop of Casa +Nigra, was the foremost of these Numidian malcontents, and from him the +sect of Donatists took its name; they denied the orders of those +ordained by Caecilianus, and hence the validity of the Sacraments +administered by them. Excommunicated themselves, "they boldly +excommunicated the rest of mankind who had embraced the impious party of +Caecilianus, and of the traditors, from whom he derived his pretended +ordination. They asserted with confidence, and almost with exultation, +that the apostolical succession was interrupted, that _all_ the bishops +of Europe and Asia were infected by the contagion of guilt and schism, +and that the prerogatives of the Catholic Church were confined to the +chosen portion of the African believers, who alone had preserved +inviolate the integrity of their faith and discipline. This rigid theory +was supported by the most uncharitable conduct. Whenever they acquired a +proselyte, even from the distant provinces of the east, they carefully +repeated the sacred rites of baptism and ordination; as they rejected +the validity of those which he had already received from the hands of +heretics or of schismatics" (Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. iii. pp. +5, 6). A number of Donatists, known as Circumcelliones, "maintained +their cause by the force of arms, and overrunning all Africa, filled +that province with slaughter and rapine, and committed the most enormous +acts of perfidy and cruelty against the followers of Caecilianus" (p. +109). To complete the darkly terrible picture of the Church in the +fourth century, we need only note the various orders of fanatical monks, +filthy in their habits, densely ignorant, hopelessly superstitious, +amongst whom may be numbered the travelling mendicants called +Sarabaites. "Many of the Coenobites were chargeable with vicious and +scandalous practices. This order, however, was not so universally +corrupt as that of the Sarabaites, who were, for the most part, +profligates of the most abandoned kind" (p. 102). The pen wearies over +the list of scandals of these early Christian ages; we can but sketch +the outline here; let the student fill the picture in, and he will find +even blacker shades needed to darken it enough. + + +CENTURY V. + + +This century sees the destruction of the Roman Empire of the West, and +the rise into importance of the great Gothic monarchies. The Christian +emperors of the East put down paganism with a strong hand, conferring +state offices on Christians only, and forbidding pagan ceremonies +[unless under Christian names]. The sons of Constantine had pronounced +the penalty of death and confiscation against any who sacrificed to the +old gods; and Theodosius, in A.D. 390, had forbidden, under heavy +penalties, all pagan rites. This work of repression was rigorously +carried on. Clovis, king of the Franks, embraced Christianity, finding +its profession "of great use to him, both in confirming and enlarging +his empire" (p. 117); and many of the barbarous tribes were "converted +to the faith" by means of pretended miracles, "pious frauds ... very +commonly practised in Gaul and in Spain at this time, in order to +captivate, with more facility, the minds of a rude and barbarous people, +who were scarcely susceptible of a rational conviction" (pp. 117, 118). +The supremacy of the see of Rome advanced with rapid strides during this +century. The people depending, in their superstitious ignorance, on the +clergy, and the clergy on the bishops, it became the interest of the +savage kings to be on friendly terms with the latter, and to increase +their influence; and as the bishops, in their turn, leant upon the +central authority of Rome, the power of the pontiff rapidly increased. +This power was still further augmented by the struggles for supremacy +among the Eastern bishops, for by favouring sometimes one and sometimes +another, he fostered the habit of looking to Rome for aid. In the East, +five "patriarchs" were raised over the rest of the bishops, the +Patriarch of Constantinople standing at their head. Thus, East and West +drifted ever more apart. Mosheim speaks of "the ambitious quarrels and +the bitter animosities that rose among the patriarchs themselves, and +which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid +crimes. The Patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself in these +odious contests. Elated with the favour and proximity of the Imperial +Court, he cast a haughty eye on all sides, where any objects were to be +found on which he might exercise his lordly ambition. On the one hand, +he reduced under his jurisdiction the Patriarchs of Alexandria and +Antioch, as prelates only of the second order; and on the other, he +invaded the diocese of the Roman Pontiff, and spoiled him of several +provinces. The two former prelates, though they struggled with vehemence +and raised considerable tumults by their opposition, yet they struggled +ineffectually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account of a +variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the Roman Pontiff, far +superior to them in wealth and power, contended also with more vigour +and obstinacy; and, in his turn, gave a deadly wound to the usurped +supremacy of the Byzantine Patriarch. The attentive inquirer into the +affairs of the Church, from this period, will find, in the events now +mentioned, the principal source of those most scandalous and deplorable +dissensions which divided first the Eastern Church into various sects, +and afterwards separated it entirely from that of the West. He will find +that these ignominious schisms flowed chiefly from the unchristian +contentions for dominion and supremacy which reigned among those who set +themselves up for the fathers and defenders of the Church" (p. 123). + +Learning during this century fell lower and lower, in spite of the +schools established and fostered by the emperors, and while knowledge +diminished, vice increased. "The vices of the clergy were now carried to +the most enormous lengths; and all the writers of this century, whose +probity and virtue render them worthy of credit, are unanimous in their +accounts of the luxury, arrogance, avarice, and voluptuousness of the +sacerdotal orders. The bishops, particularly those of the first rank, +created various delegates or ministers, who managed for them the affairs +of their dioceses, and a sort of courts were gradually formed, where +these pompous ecclesiastics gave audience, and received the homage of a +cringing multitude" (p. 123). Superstition performed its maddest freak +in the Stylites, men "who stood motionless on the tops of pillars;" the +original maniac being one Simon, a Syrian, who actually spent +thirty-seven years of his life on pillars, the last of which was forty +cubits high. Another of the same class spent sixty-eight years in this +useful manner (see pp. 128, 129, and _note_). The Agapae were abolished, +and auricular confession was established, during this century. + +Among the bishops of this century, one name deserves an immortality of +infamy. It is that of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. Under his rule took +place the terrible murder of Hypatia, that pure and beautiful Platonic +teacher, who was dragged by a fanatic mob, headed by Peter the Reader, +into the great church of Alexandria, and tortured to death on the steps +of the high altar. Cyril's "hold upon the audiences of the giddy city +[Alexandria] was, however, much weakened by Hypatia, the daughter of +Theon, the mathematician, who not only distinguished herself by her +expositions of the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle, but also by her +comments on the writings of Apollonius and other geometers. Each day, +before her academy, stood a long train of chariots; her lecture-room was +crowded with the wealth and fashion of Alexandria.... Hypatia and Cyril! +Philosophy and bigotry. They cannot exist together. So Cyril felt, and +on that feeling he acted. As Hypatia repaired to her academy, she was +assaulted by Cyril's mob--a mob of many monks. Stripped naked in the +street, she was dragged into a church, and there killed by the club of +Peter the Reader [A.D. 415]. The corpse was cut to pieces, the flesh was +scraped from the bones with shells, and the remnants cast into a fire. +For this frightful crime Cyril was never called to account. It seemed to +be admitted that the end sanctified the means" (Draper's "Conflict +between Religion and Science," p. 55). + +The heresies of the last century were continued in this, and various new +ones arose. Chief among these was the heresy of Nestorius, a Bishop of +Constantinople, who distinguished so strongly between the two natures in +Christ as to make a double personality, and he regarded the Virgin Mary +as mother of _Christ_, but not mother of _God_. The Council of Ephesus +(A.D. 431) was called to decide the point, and was presided over by the +great antagonist of Nestorius, Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. The matter +was settled very quickly. Church Councils vote on disputed points, and +the vote of the majority constitutes orthodoxy. The Council was held +before the arrival of the bishops who sympathised with Nestorius, and +thus, by the simple expedient of getting everything over before the +opponents arrived, it was settled for evermore that Christ is one person +with two natures. A heresy of the very opposite character was that of +Eutyches, abbot of the monastery in Constantinople. He maintained that +in Christ there was only one nature, "that of the incarnate word," and +his opinion was endorsed by a council called at Ephesus, A.D. 449; but +this decree was annulled by the Council of Chalcedon (reckoned the +fourth OEcumenical), A.D. 451, wherein it was again declared that Christ +had two natures in one person. It was at the Council of Ephesus, in A.D. +449, that Flavianus, Bishop of Constantinople, was so beaten by the +other bishops that he died of his wounds, and the bishops who held with +him hid themselves under benches to get out of the way of their +infuriate brothers in Christ (see notes on pp. 136, 137). The +Theopaschites were a branch of the Eutychian heresy, and the +Monophysites were a cognate sect; from these arose the Acephali, +Anthropomorphites, Barsanuphites, and Esaianists. Not less important +than the heresy of Eutyches was that of Pelagius, a British monk, who +taught that man did not inherit original sin on account of Adam's fall, +but that each was born unspotted into the world, and was capable of +rising to the height of virtue by the exercise of his natural faculties. +The semi-Pelagians held that man could turn to God by his own strength, +but that divine grace was necessary to enable him to persevere. + +One heretic of this period deserves a special word of record. +Vigilantius was a Gallic priest, remarkable for his eloquence and +learning, and he devoted himself to an effort to reform the Church in +Spain. "Among other things, he denied that the tombs and the bones of +the martyrs were to be honoured with any sort of homage or worship; and +therefore censured pilgrimages that were made to places that were +reputed holy. He turned into derision the prodigies which were said to +be wrought in the temples consecrated to martyrs, and condemned the +custom of performing vigils in them. He asserted, and indeed with +reason, that the custom of burning tapers at the tombs of the martyrs in +broad day, was imprudently borrowed from the ancient superstition of the +Pagans. He maintained, moreover, that prayers addressed to departed +saints were void of all efficacy; and treated with contempt fastings and +mortifications, the celibacy of the clergy, and the various austerities +of the monastic life. And finally he affirmed that the conduct of those +who, distributing their substance among the indigent, submitted to the +hardships of a voluntary poverty, or sent a part of their treasures to +Jerusalem for devout purposes, had nothing in it acceptable to the +Deity" (p. 129). Under these circumstances we can scarcely wonder that +Vigilantius was scouted as a heretic by all orthodox, lucre-loving +clerics. He is the forerunner of a long line of protesters against the +ever-growing strength and superstition of the Church. + + +CENTURY VI. + + +The darkness deepens as we proceed. Christianity spread among the +barbarous tribes of the East and West, but "it must, however, be +acknowledged, that of these conversions, the greatest part were owing to +the liberality of the Christian princes, or to the fear of punishment, +rather than to the force of argument or to the love of truth. In Gaul, +the Jews were compelled by Childeric to receive the ordinance of +baptism; and the same despotic method of converting was practised in +Spain" (p. 141). "They required nothing of these barbarous people that +was difficult to be performed, or that laid any remarkable restraint +upon their appetites and passions. The principal injunctions they +imposed upon these rude proselytes were that they should get by heart +certain summaries of doctrine, and to pay the images of Christ and the +saints the same religious services which they had formerly offered to +the statues of the gods" (p. 142). Libraries were formed in many of the +monasteries, and schools were opened, but apparently only for those who +intended to enter the monastic life; these, however, did not flourish, +for many bishops showed "bitter aversion" towards "every sort of +learning and erudition, which they considered as pernicious to the +progress of piety" (p. 144). "Greek literature was almost everywhere +neglected.... Philosophy fared still worse than literature; for it was +entirely banished from all the seminaries which were under the +inspection and government of the ecclesiastical order" (Ibid). The +wealth of the Church grew apace. "The arts of a rapacious priesthood +were practised upon the ignorant devotion of the simple; and even the +remorse of the wicked was made an instrument of increasing the +ecclesiastical treasure. For an opinion was propagated with industry +among the people, that the remission of their sins was to be purchased +by their liberalities to the churches and monks" (p. 146). "The monastic +orders, in general, abounded with fanatics and profligates; the _latter_ +were more numerous than the _former_ in the Western convents, while in +those of the East the fanatics were predominant" (ibid). It was in this +century (A.D. 529) that the great Benedictine rule was composed by +Benedict of Nursia. The Council of Constantinople, A.D. 553, is reckoned +as the fifth general Council. It is said to have condemned the doctrines +of Origen, thus summarised by Mosheim:--"1. That in the Trinity the +_Father_ is greater than the _Son_, and the _Son_ than the _Holy Ghost_. +2. The _pre-existence_ of souls, which Origen considered as sent into +mortal bodies for the punishment of sins committed in a former state of +being. 3. That the _soul_ of Christ was united to the _word_ before the +incarnation. 4. That the sun, moon, and stars, etc., were animated and +endowed with rational souls. 5. That after the resurrection all bodies +will be of a round figure. 6. That the torments of the damned will have +an end; and that as Christ had been crucified in this world to save +mankind, he is to be crucified in the next to save the devils" (p. 151, +note). Among the various notabilities of this age none are specially +worthy attention, save Brethius, Cassiodorus, Gregory the Great, +Benedict of Nursia, Gregory of Tours, and Isidore of Seville. The +heresies of former centuries continued during this, and several +unimportant additional sects sprang up. The Monophysites gained in +strength under Jacob, Bishop of Edessa, and became known as Jacobites, +and exist to this day in Abyssinia and America. Six small sects grew up +among the Monophysites and died away again, which held varying opinions +about the nature of the body of Christ We find also the Corrupticolae, +Agnoetae, Tritheists, Philoponists, Cononites, and Damianists, the four +last of which differed as to the nature of the Trinity. Thus was rent +into innumerable factions the supposed-to-be-indivisible Christianity, +and the most bloody persecutions disgraced the uppermost party of the +moment. + + +CENTURY VII. + + +Many are the missionary enterprises of this century, and we find the +missionaries grasping at temporal power, and exercising a "princely +authority over the countries where their ministry had been successful" +(p. 157). Learning had almost vanished; "they, who distinguished +themselves most by their taste and genius, carried their studies little +farther than the works of Augustine and Gregory the Great; and it is of +scraps collected out of these two writers, and patched together without +much uniformity, that the best productions of this century are entirely +composed.... The schools which had been committed to the care and +inspection of the bishops, whose ignorance and indolence were now become +enormous, began to decline apace, and were in many places, fallen into +ruin. The bishops in general were so illiterate, that few of that body +were capable of composing the discourses which they delivered to the +people. Such of them as were not totally destitute of genius, composed +out of the writings of Augustine and Gregory a certain number of insipid +homilies, which they divided between themselves, and their stupid +colleagues, that they might not be obliged through incapacity to +discontinue preaching the doctrines of Christianity to their people" (p. +159). "The progress of vice among the subordinate rulers and ministers +of the Church was, at this time, truly deplorable.... In those very +places, that were consecrated to the advancement of piety and the +service of God, there was little else to be seen than ghostly ambition, +insatiable avarice, pious frauds, intolerable pride, and a supercilious +contempt of the natural rights of the people, with many other vices +still more enormous" (p. 161). The wealth of the Church increased +rapidly; it grew fat on the wages of sin. "Abandoned profligates, who +had passed their days in the most enormous pursuits, and whose guilty +consciences filled them with terror and remorse, were comforted with the +delusive hopes of obtaining pardon, and making atonement for their +crimes by leaving the greatest part of their fortune to some monastic +society. Multitudes, impelled by the unnatural dictates of a gloomy +superstition, deprived their children of fertile lands and rich +patrimonies in favour of the monks, by whose prayers they hoped to +render the Deity propitious" (p. 161). The only new sect of any +importance in this century is that of the Monothelites, later known as +Maronites; they taught that Christ had but one will, but the doctrine is +wrapped up in so many subtleties as to be almost incomprehensible. They +were condemned, in the sixth General Council, held at Constantinople, +A.D. 680. It was during this century that "Boniface V. enacted that +infamous law, by which the churches became places of refuge to all who +fled thither for protection; a law which procured a sort of impunity to +the most enormous crimes, and gave a loose rein to the licentiousness of +the most abandoned profligates" (p. 164). The effect of this law was +that the monasteries became the refuge of bandits and murderers, who +issued from them to plunder and to destroy, and paid for the security of +their persons by bestowing on their hosts a portion of the spoil they +had collected during their raids. Such were the civilizing and purifying +effects of Christianity. + + +CENTURY VIII. + + +Winfred, better known as Boniface, "the Apostle of Germany," is, +perhaps, the chief ecclesiastical figure of this century. He taught +Christianity right through Germany; was consecrated bishop in A.D. 723, +created archbishop in A.D. 738, and Primate of Germany and Belgium in +A.D. 746; in A.D. 755 he was murdered in Friesland, with fifty other +ecclesiastics. Much stress is laid upon his martyrdom by Christian +writers, but Boniface, after all, only received from the Frieslanders +the measure he had meted out to their brethren, and there seems no good +reason why Christian missionaries should claim a monopoly of the right +to kill. Mosheim allows that he "often employed violence and terror, and +sometimes artifice and fraud" (p. 169) in order to gain converts, and he +was supported by Charles Martel, the enemy of Friesland, and appeared +among the Germans as the friend and agent of their foes. A few years +later, Charlemagne spread Christianity among the Saxons with great +vigour. For "a war broke out, at this time, between Charlemagne and the +Saxons, which contributed much to the propagation of Christianity, +though not by the force of a rational persuasion. The Saxons were, at +this time, a numerous and formidable people, who inhabited a +considerable part of Germany, and were engaged in perpetual quarrels +with the Franks concerning their boundaries, and other matters of +complaint. Hence Charlemagne turned his armies against this powerful +nation, A.D. 772, with a design not only to subdue that spirit of revolt +with which they had so often troubled the empire, but also to abolish +their idolatrous worship, and engage them to embrace the Christian +religion. He hoped, by their conversion, to vanquish their obstinacy, +imagining that the divine precepts of the Gospel would assuage their +impetuous and restless passions, mitigate their ferocity, and induce +them to submit more tamely to the government of the Franks. These +projects were great in idea, but difficult in execution; accordingly, +the first attempt to convert the Saxons, after having subdued them, was +unsuccessful, because it was made without the aid of violence, or +threats, by the bishops and monks, whom the victor had left among that +conquered people, whose obstinate attachment to idolatry no arguments +nor exhortations could overcome. [Mark the _naivete_ of this +confession.] More forcible means were afterwards used to draw them into +the pale of the Church, in the wars which Charlemagne carried on in the +years 775, 776, and 780, against that valiant people, whose love of +liberty was excessive, and whose aversion to the restraints of +sacerdotal authority was inexpressible. During these wars their +attachment to the superstition of their ancestors was so warmly combated +by the allurements of reward, by the terror of punishment, and by the +imperious language of victory, that they suffered themselves to be +baptised, though with inward reluctance, by the missionaries, which the +emperor sent among them for that purpose" (p. 170). Rebellion broke out +once more, headed by the two most powerful Saxon chiefs, but they were +won over by Charlemagne, who persuaded them "to make a public and solemn +profession of Christianity, in the year 785, and to promise an adherence +to that divine religion for the rest of their days. To prevent, however, +the Saxons from renouncing a religion which they had embraced with +reluctance, several bishops were appointed to reside among them, schools +also were erected, and monasteries founded, that the means of +instruction might not be wanting. The same precautions were employed +among the Huns in Pannonia, to maintain in the profession of +Christianity that fierce people whom Charlemagne had converted to the +faith, when, exhausted and dejected by various defeats, they were no +longer able to make head against his victorious arms, and chose rather +to be Christians than slaves" (p. 170). The grateful Church canonized +Charlemagne, the brutal soldier who had so enlarged her borders; "not to +enter into a particular detail of his vices, whose number +counter-balanced that of his virtues, it is undeniably evident that his +ardent and ill-conducted zeal for the conversion of the Huns, +Frieslanders, and Saxons, was more animated by the suggestions of +ambition, than by a principle of true piety; and that his main view in +these religious exploits was to subdue the converted nations under his +dominion, and to tame them to his yoke, which they supported with +impatience, and shook off by frequent revolts. It is, moreover, well +known, that this boasted saint made no scruple of seeking the alliance +of the infidel Saracens, that he might be more effectually enabled to +crush the Greeks, notwithstanding their profession of the Christian +religion" (p. 171). Thus was Christianity spread by fire and sword, and +where-ever the cross passed it left its track in blood. While the +soldiers thus converted the heathen, "the clergy abandoned themselves to +their passions without moderation or restraint; they were distinguished +by their luxury, their gluttony, and their lust" (p. 173). To these +evils was added that of gross deception, for a bad clergy used bad +weapons; false miracles abounded in every direction; "the corrupt +discipline that then prevailed admitted of those fallacious stratagems, +which are very improperly called _pious_ frauds; nor did the heralds of +the gospel think it at all unlawful to terrify or to allure to the +profession of Christianity, by fictitious prodigies, those obdurate +hearts which they could not subdue by reason and argument" (p. 171). The +wealth of the Church increased year by year. "An opinion prevailed +universally at this time, though its authors are not known, that the +punishment which the righteous judge of the world has reserved for the +transgressions of the wicked, was to be prevented and annulled by +liberal donations to God, to the saints, to the churches and clergy. In +consequence of this notion, the great and opulent--who were, generally +speaking, the most remarkable for their flagitious and abominable +lives--offered, out of the abundance which they had received by +inheritance or acquired by rapine, rich donations to departed saints, +their ministers upon earth, and the keepers of the temples that were +erected in their honour, in order to avoid the sufferings and penalties +annexed by the priests to transgression in this life, and to escape the +misery denounced against the wicked in a future state. This new and +commodious method of making atonement for iniquity was the principal +source of those immense treasures which, from this period, began to flow +in upon the clergy, the churches, and monasteries, and continued to +enrich them through succeeding ages down to the present time" (p. 174). +Another source of wealth is to be found in the desire of the kings of +the various warring tribes to attach to themselves the bishop and clergy +in their dominions; by bestowing on these lands and dignities they +secured to themselves the aid which the Church officials had it in their +power to render, for not only could bishops bring to the support of +their suzerain the physical succour of armies, but they could also +launch against his enemies that terrible bolt of mediaeval times, +excommunication, which, "rendered formidable by ignorance, struck terror +into the boldest and most resolute hearts" (p. 174). In these latter +gifts we see the origin of the temporalities and titles attached to +episcopal sees and to cathedral chapters. During this century the power +of the Roman Pontiff swelled to an enormous degree, and his sway +extended into civil and political affairs: so supreme an authority had +he become that, in A.D. 751, the Frankish states of the realm--convoked +by Pepin to sanction his design of seizing on the French throne, then +occupied by Childeric III.--directed that an embassy should be sent to +the Pope Zachary, to ask whether it was not right that a weak monarch +should be dethroned; and on the answer of the Pope in the affirmative +being received, Childeric was dethroned without opposition, and Pepin +was crowned in his stead. + +In the East, the Church was torn with dissensions, while the imperial +throne was rocking under the repeated attacks of the Turks--a tribe +descended from the Tartars--who entered Armenia, struggled with the +Saracens for dominion, subdued them partially, and then turned their +arms against the Greek empire. The great controversy of this century is +that on the worship of images, between the Iconoduli or Iconolatrae +(image worshippers), and the Iconomachi or Iconoclastae (image +breakers). The Emperor Bardanes, a supporter of the Monothelite heresy, +ordered that a picture representing the sixth general council should be +removed from the Church of St. Sophia, because that council had +condemned the Monothelites. Not content with doing this (A.D. 712), +Bardanes sent an order to Rome that all pictures and images of the same +nature should be removed from places of worship. Constantine, the Pope, +immediately set up six pictures, representing the six general councils, +in the porch of St. Peter's, and called a council at Rome, which +denounced the Emperor as an apostate. Bardanes was dethroned by a +revolution, but his successor, Leo, soon took up the quarrel. In A.D. +726, he issued an imperial edict commanding the removal of all images +from the churches and forbidding all image worship, save only those +representing the crucifixion of Christ. Pope Gregory I. excommunicated +the Emperor, and insurrections broke out all over the empire in +consequence; the Emperor retorted by calling a council at +Constantinople, which deposed the bishop of that city for his leanings +towards image worship, and put a supporter of the Emperor in his place. +The contest was carried on by Constantine, who succeeded his father, +Leo, in A.D. 741, and who, in A.D. 754, called a council, at +Constantinople--recognised by the Greek Church as the seventh general +council--which condemned the use and worship of images. Leo IV. (A.D. +775) issued penal laws against image worshippers, but he was poisoned by +Irene, his wife, in A.D. 780, and she entered into an alliance with Pope +Adrian, so that the Iconoduli became triumphant in their turn. While +this controversy raged, a second arose as to the procession of the Holy +Ghost. The creed of Constantinople (see ante, p. 434) ran--"I believe in +the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the +Father;" to this phrase the words, "and the Son," had been added in the +West, originally by some Spanish bishops; the Greeks protested against +an unauthorised addition being inserted into a creed promulgated by a +general council, and received by the universal Church as the symbol of +faith. Thus arose the celebrated controversy on the "Filioque," which +was one of the chief causes of the great schism between the Eastern and +Western Churches in the ninth century. + +The Arian, Manichaean, Marcionite, and Monothelite heresies spread, +during this century, through the Greek Church, and, where the Arabians +ruled, the Nestorians and Monophysites also flourished. In the Latin +Church a phase of the Nestorian heresy made its way, under the name of +Adoptianism, a name given because its adherents regarded Christ, so far +as his manhood was concerned, as the Son of God by adoption only. + + +CENTURY IX. + + +Christendom, during this century, as during the preceding one, was +threatened and harassed by the inroads of Mahommedan powers, and the +first gleams of returning light began to penetrate its thick +darkness--light proceeding from the Arabians and the Saracens, the +restorers of knowledge and of science. It is not here our duty to trace +that marvellous work of the revival of thought--thought which +Christianity had slain, but which, revived by Mahommedanism, was +destined to issue in the new birth of heretic philosophy. While this +work was proceeding among the Saracens, the Arabians, and the Moors, +Christendom went on its way, degraded, vicious, and superstitious; only +here and there an effort at learning was made, and some few went to the +Arabian schools, and returned with some tincture of knowledge. John +Scotus Erigena, a subtle and acute thinker, left behind him works which +have made some regard him as the founder of the _Realist_ school of the +middle ages, the school which followed Aristotle, in opposition to the +_Nominalists_, who held with Zeno and the Stoics. Erigena taught that +the soul would be re-absorbed into the divine spirit, from which it had +originally emanated; from God all things had come--to Him would they +ultimately return; God alone was eternal, and in the end nothing but God +would exist. Some of Erigena's works naturally fell under the +displeasure of the Church, and were duly burned: he was a philosopher, +and therefore dangerous. + +While this slight effort at thought was thus frowned upon, vice made its +way unchecked and unrebuked by the authorities. "The impiety and +licentiousness of the greater part of the clergy arose, at this time, to +an enormous height, and stand upon record in the unanimous complaints of +the most candid and impartial writers of this century. In the East, +tumult, discord, conspiracies, and treason reigned uncontrolled, and all +things were carried by violence and force. These abuses appeared in many +things, but particularly in the election of the Patriarchs of +Constantinople.... In the western provinces, the bishops were become +voluptuous and effeminate to a very high degree. They passed their lives +amidst the splendour of courts, and the pleasures of a luxurious +indolence, which corrupted their taste, extinguished their zeal, and +rendered them incapable of performing the solemn duties of their +function; while the inferior clergy were sunk in licentiousness, minded +nothing but sensual gratifications, and infected with the most heinous +vices the flock whom it was the very business of their ministry to +preserve, or to deliver from the contagion of iniquity. Besides, the +ignorance of the sacred order was, in many places, so deplorable that +few of them could either read or write, and still fewer were capable of +expressing their wretched notions with any degree of method or +perspicuity" (p. 193). "Many other causes also contributed to dishonour +the Church, by introducing into it a corrupt ministry. A nobleman who, +through want of talents, activity, or courage, was rendered incapable of +appearing with dignity in the cabinet, or with honour in the field, +immediately turned his views towards the Church, aimed at a +distinguished place among its chiefs and rulers, and became, in +consequence, a contagious example of stupidity and vice to the inferior +clergy. The patrons of churches, in whom resided the right of election, +unwilling to submit their disorderly conduct to the keen censure of +zealous and upright pastors, industriously looked for the most abject, +ignorant, and worthless ecclesiastics, to whom they committed the cure +of souls" (p. 193). Of the Roman pontiffs, Mosheim says: "The greatest +part of them are only known by the flagitious actions that have +transmitted their names with infamy to our times" (p. 194). And "the +enormous vices that must have covered so many pontiffs with infamy in +the judgment of the wise, formed not the least obstacle to their +ambition in these memorable times, nor hindered them from extending +their influence and augmenting their authority both in church and state" +(p. 195). Among the vast mass of forgeries which gradually built up the +supremacy of the Roman see, the famous Isidorian Decretals deserve a +word of notice. They were issued about A.D. 845, and consisted of "about +one hundred pretended decrees of the early Popes, together with certain +spurious writings of other church dignitaries and acts of synods. This +forgery produced an immense extension of the papal power. It displaced +the old system of church government, divesting it of the republican +attributes it had possessed, and transforming it into an absolute +monarchy. It brought the bishops into subjection to Rome, and made the +pontiff the supreme judge of the clergy of the whole Christian world. It +prepared the way for the great attempt, subsequently made by Hildebrand, +to convert the states of Europe into a theocratic priest kingdom, with +the Pope at its head" (Draper's "Conflict of Religion and Science," p. +271). We note during this century a remarkable growth of saints. +Everyone wanted a saint through whom to approach God, and the supply +kept pace with the demand. "This preposterous multiplication of saints +was a new source of abuses and frauds. It was thought necessary to write +the lives of these celestial patrons, in order to procure for them the +veneration and confidence of a deluded multitude; and here lying wonders +were invented, and all the resources of forgery and fable exhausted to +celebrate exploits which had never been performed, and to perpetuate the +memory of holy persons who had never existed" (p. 200). The contest on +images still raged furiously, success being now on the one side, now on +the other; various councils were called by either party, until, in A.D. +879, a council at Constantinople, reckoned by the Greeks as the eighth +general council, sanctioned the worship of images, which thereafter +triumphed in the East. In the West, the opposition to image-worship +gradually died away. The _Filioque_ contest also continued hotly and +widened the breach between East and West yet more. The final separation +was not long delayed. The ever-increasing jealousy between Rome and +Constantinople had at last reached a height which made even nominal +union impossible, and the smouldering fire burst into sudden flame. In +A.D. 858 Photius was made Patriarch of Constantinople, by the Emperor +Michael, in the room of Ignatius, deprived and banished by that prince. +A council, held at Constantinople in A.D. 861, endorsed the appointment +of the emperor; but Ignatius appealed to Rome, and Pope Nicholas I. +readily took up his quarrel. A council was held at Rome, in A.D. 862, in +which the pontiff excommunicated Photius and his adherents. It was +answered by one at Constantinople, in A.D. 866, wherein Nicholas was +pronounced unworthy of his office and outside the pale of Christian +communion. Yet another council of Constantinople, A.D. 869, approved the +action of Basilius, the new emperor, who recalled Ignatius, and +imprisoned Photius. When Ignatius died, Photius was reinstated (A.D. +878), and he was acknowledged by the Roman pontiff, John VIII., at +another council of Constantinople, A.D. 879, on the understanding that +the jurisdiction over Bulgaria, claimed both by Pope and Patriarch, +should be definitely yielded to Rome. This, however, was not done; and +the Pope sent a legate to Constantinople, recalling his declaration in +favour of Photius. The legate, Marinus, was cast into prison; and when +he was later raised to the pontificate, he remembered the outrage, and +anew excommunicated Photius. A.D. 886 saw the fall and imprisonment of +Photius, and union might have been maintained but for the extravagant +demands of the Roman pontiff, who required the degradation of all +priests and bishops ordained by Photius. The Greeks indignantly refused, +and at last the great schism took place, which severed from each other +entirely the Eastern and the Western Churches. + +The ancient heresy of the Paulicians had not yet died out, spite of +having suffered much persecution at Catholic hands, and under the +Emperors Michael and Leo, a fierce attack upon these unfortunate beings +took place. They were hunted down and executed without mercy, and at +last they turned upon their persecutors, and revenged themselves by +murdering the bishop, magistrates, and judges in Armenia, after which +they fled to the countries under Saracen rule. After a while, they +gradually returned to the Greek empire; but when the Empress Theodora +was regent, during her son's minority, she issued a stern decree against +them. "The decree was severe, but the cruelty with which it was put in +execution, by those who were sent into Armenia for that purpose, was +horrible beyond expression; for these ministers of wrath, after +confiscating the goods of above a hundred thousand of that miserable +people, put their possessors to death in the most barbarous manner, and +made them expire slowly in a variety of the most exquisite tortures" (p. +212). + +In addition to the heresies inherited from the previous centuries, three +new ones, important in their issues, arose to divide yet more the +divided indivisible Church. A monk, named Pascasius Radbert, wrote a +treatise (A.D. 831 and 845), in which he maintained that, at the +Eucharist, the substance of the bread and wine became changed, by +consecration, into the body and blood of Christ, and that this body "was +the same body that was born of the Virgin, that suffered upon the cross, +and was raised from the dead" (p. 205). Charles the Bald bade Erigena +and Ratramn (or Bertramn) draw up the true doctrine of the Church, and +the long controversy began which is continued even in the present day. +The second great dispute arose on the question of predestination and +divine grace. Godeschalcus, an eminent Saxon monk, returning from Rome +in A.D. 847, resided for a space in Verona, where he spoke much on +predestination, affirming that God had, from all eternity, predestined +some to heaven and others to hell. He was condemned at a council held in +Mayence, A.D. 848, and in the following year, at another council, he was +again condemned, and was flogged until he burned, with his own hand, the +apology for his opinions he had presented at Mayence. The third great +controversy regarded the manner of Christ's birth, and monks furiously +disputed whether or no Christ was born after the fashion of other +infants. The details of this dispute need not here be entered into. + + +CENTURY X. + + +"The deplorable state of Christianity in this century, arising partly +from that astonishing ignorance that gave a loose rein both to +superstition and immorality, and partly from an unhappy concurrence of +causes of another kind, is unanimously lamented by the various writers +who have transmitted to us the history of these miserable times" (p. +213). Yet "the gospel" spread. The Normans embraced "a religion of which +they were totally ignorant" (p. 214), A.D. 912, because Charles the +Simple of France offered Count Rollo a large territory on condition that +he would marry his daughter and embrace Christianity: Rollo gladly +accepted the territory and its encumbrances. Poland came next into the +fold of the Church, for the Duke of Poland, Micislaus, was persuaded by +his wife to profess Christianity, A.D. 965, and Pope John III. promptly +sent a bishop and a train of priests to convert the duke's subjects. +"But the exhortations and endeavours of these devout missionaries, who +were unacquainted with the language of the people they came to instruct +[how effective must have been their arguments!] would have been entirely +without effect, had they not been accompanied with the edicts and penal +laws, the promises and threats of Micislaus, which dejected the courage +and conquered the obstinacy of the reluctant Poles" (p. 214). "The +Christian religion was established in Russia by means every way similar +to those that had occasioned its propagation in Poland" (p. 215); the +Greek wife of the Russian duke persuaded him to adopt her creed, and he +was baptized A.D. 987. Mosheim assumes that the Russian people followed +their princes of their own accord, since "we have, at least, no account +of any compulsion or violence being employed in their conversion" (p. +215); if the Russians adopted Christianity without compulsion or +violence, all we can say is, that their conversion is unique. The Danes +were converted in A.D. 949, Otto the Great having defeated them, and +having made it an imperative condition of peace, that they should +profess Christianity. The Norwegians accepted the religion of Jesus on +the same terms. Thus the greater part of Europe became Christian, and we +even hear a cry raised by Pope Sylvester II. for the deliverance of +Palestine from the Mahommedans--for a holy war. Christianity having now +become so strong, learning had become proportionately weak; it had been +sinking lower and lower during each succeeding epoch, and in this tenth +century it reached its deepest stage of degradation. "The deplorable +ignorance of this barbarous age, in which the drooping arts were +entirely neglected, and the sciences seemed to be upon the point of +expiring for want of encouragement, is unanimously confessed and +lamented by all the writers who have transmitted to us any accounts of +this period of time" (p. 218). In vain a more enlightened emperor in the +East strove to revive learning and encourage study: "many of the most +celebrated authors of antiquity were lost, at this time, through the +sloth and negligence of the Greeks" (p. 219). "Nor did the cause of +philosophy fare better than that of literature. Philosophers, indeed, +there were; and, among them, some that were not destitute of genius and +abilities; but none who rendered their names immortal by productions +that were worthy of being transmitted to posterity" (p. 219). So low, +under the influence of Christianity, had sunk the literature of +Greece--Greece Pagan, which once brought forth Pythagoras, Socrates, +Plato, Euclid, Zenophon, and many another mighty one, whose fame rolls +down the ages--that Greece had become Greece Christian, and the vitality +of her motherhood had been drained from her, and left her without +strength to conceive men. In the West things were yet worse--instead of +Rome Pagan, that had spread light and civilization--the Rome of Cicero, +of Virgil, of Lucretius--we have Rome Christian, spreader of darkness +and of degradation, the Rome of the Popes and the monks. The Latins +"were, almost without exception, sunk in the most brutish and barbarous +ignorance, so that, according to the unanimous accounts of the most +credible writers, nothing could be more melancholy and deplorable than +the darkness that reigned in the western world during this century.... +In the seminaries of learning, such as they were, the seven liberal +sciences were taught in the most unskilful and miserable manner, and +that by the monks, who esteemed the arts and sciences no further than as +they were subservient to the interests of religion, or, to speak more +properly, to the views of superstition" (p. 219). But the light from +Arabia was struggling to penetrate Christendom. Gerbert, a native of +France, travelled into Spain, and studied in the Arabian schools of +Cordova and Seville, under Arabian doctors; he developed mathematical +ability, and returned into Christendom with some amount of learning: +raised to the papal throne, under the name of Sylvester II., he tried to +restore the study of science and philosophy, and found that his +geometrical figures "were regarded by the monks as magical operations," +and he himself "as a magician and a disciple of Satan" (p. 220). + +The vice of the clergy was something terrible. "These corruptions were +mounted to the most enormous height in that dismal period of the Church +which we have now before us. Both in the eastern and western provinces, +the clergy were, for the most part, composed of a most worthless set of +men, shamefully illiterate and stupid, ignorant, more especially in +religious matters, equally enslaved to sensuality and superstition, and +capable of the most abominable and flagitious deeds. This dismal +degeneracy of the sacred order was, according to the most credible +accounts, principally owing to the pretended chiefs and rulers of the +universal Church, who indulged themselves in the commission of the most +odious crimes, and abandoned themselves to the lawless impulse of the +most licentious passions without reluctance or remorse--who confounded, +in short, all difference between just and unjust, to satisfy their +impious ambition, and whose spiritual empire was such a diversified +scene of iniquity and violence as never was exhibited under any of those +temporal tyrants who have been the scourges of mankind" (p. 221). Such +is the verdict passed on Christian rule by a Christian historian. In the +East we see such men as Theophylact; "this _exemplary_ prelate, who sold +every ecclesiastical benefice as soon as it became vacant, had in his +stable above 2000 hunting horses, which he fed with pignuts, pistachios, +dates, dried grapes, figs steeped in the most exquisite wines, to all +which he added the richest perfumes. One Holy Thursday, as he was +celebrating high-mass, his groom brought him the joyful news that one of +his favourite mares had foaled; upon which he threw down the Liturgy, +left the church, and ran in raptures to the stable, where, having +expressed his joy at that grand event, he returned to the altar to +finish the divine service, which he had left interrupted during his +absence" (p. 221, note). We shall see, in a moment, how the masses of +the people were housed and fed while such insane luxury surrounded +horses. In the west, the weary tale of the Roman pontiffs cannot all be +narrated here. Take the picture as drawn by Hallam: "This dreary +interval is filled up, in the annals of the papacy, by a series of +revolutions and crimes. Six popes were deposed, two murdered, one +mutilated. Frequently two, or even three, competitors, among whom it is +not always possible by any genuine criticism to distinguish the true +shepherd, drove each other alternately from the city. A few respectable +names appear thinly scattered through this darkness; and sometimes, +perhaps, a pope who had acquired estimation by his private virtues may +be distinguished by some encroachment on the rights of princes, or the +privileges of national churches. But, in general, the pontiffs of that +age had neither leisure nor capacity to perfect the great system of +temporal supremacy, and looked rather to a vile profit from the sale of +episcopal confirmations, or of exemptions to monasteries. The corruption +of the head extended naturally to all other members of the Church. All +writers concur in stigmatizing the dissoluteness and neglect of decency +that prevailed among the clergy. Though several codes of ecclesiastical +discipline had been compiled by particular prelates, yet neither these +nor the ancient canons were much regarded. The bishops, indeed, who were +to enforce them, had most occasion to dread their severity. They were +obtruded upon their sees, as the supreme pontiffs were upon that of +Rome, by force or corruption. A child of five years old was made +Archbishop of Rheims. The see of Narbonne was purchased for another at +the age of ten" ("Europe during the Middle Ages," p. 353, ed. 1869). +John X. made pope at the solicitation of his mistress Theodora, the +mother-in-law of the sovereign, and murdered at the instance of +Theodora's daughter, Marozia; John XI., illegitimate son of the same +Marozia, and of the celibate pontiff, Sergius III.; Boniface VII. +expelled, banished, returning and murdering the reigning pope: what +avails it to chronicle these monsters? Below the popes, a clergy as +vicious as their rulers, squandering money, plundered from the people in +dissoluteness and luxury. And the people, what of them? + +As late as A.D. 1430 the houses of the peasantry were "constructed of +stones put together without mortar; the roofs were of turf--a stiffened +bull's-hide served for a door. The food consisted of coarse vegetable +products, such as peas, and even the bark of trees. In some places they +were unacquainted with bread. Cabins of reeds plastered with mud, houses +of wattled stakes, chimneyless peat fires, from which there was scarcely +an escape for the smoke, dens of physical and moral pollution swarming +with vermin, wisps of straw twisted round the limbs to keep off the +cold, the ague-stricken peasant with no help except shrine-cure," i.e., +cure by the touching bone of saint, or image of virgin (Draper's +"Conflict between Religion and Science," p. 265). Even among the +wealthy, the life was coarse and rough; carpets were unknown; drainage +never thought of. The Anglo-Saxon "'nobles, devoted to gluttony and +voluptuousness, never visited the church, but the matins and the mass +were read over to them by a hurrying priest in their bed-chambers, +before they rose, themselves not listening. The common people were a +prey to the more powerful; their property was seized, their bodies +dragged away to distant countries; their maidens were either thrown into +a brothel or sold for slaves. Drinking, day and night, was the general +pursuit: vices, the companions of inebriety, followed, effeminating the +manly mind.' The baronial castles were dens of robbers. The Saxon +chronicler [William of Malmesbury, from whom the quotation above] +records how men and women were caught and dragged into those +strongholds, hung up by their thumbs or feet, fire applied to them, +knotted strings twisted round their heads, and many other torments +inflicted to extort ransom" (Ibid, p. 266). When the barons had nearly +finished their evil lives, the church stepped in, claiming her share of +the plunder and the wealth thus amassed, and opening the gates of +paradise to the dying thief. The cities were as wretched as their +inhabitants: no paving, no cleaning, no lighting. In the country the old +Roman roads were unmended, unkept; Europe was slipping backwards into +uttermost barbarism. Meanwhile things were very different where the +blighting power of Christianity was not in the ascendant. "Europe at the +present day does not offer more taste, more refinement, more elegance, +than might have been seen, at the epoch of which we are speaking, in the +capitals of the Spanish Arabs. Their streets were lighted and solidly +paved. The houses were frescoed and carpeted; they were warmed in winter +by furnaces, and cooled in summer with perfumed air brought by +underground pipes from flower-beds. They had baths, and libraries, and +dining-halls, fountains of quicksilver and water. City and country were +full of conviviality, and of dancing to the lute and mandolin. Instead +of the drunken and gluttonous wassail orgies of their northern +neighbours, the feasts of the Saracens were marked by sobriety. Wine was +prohibited.... In the tenth century, the Khalif Hakem II. had made +beautiful Andalusia the paradise of the world. Christians, Mussulmans, +Jews, mixed together without restraint.... All learned men, no matter +from what country they came, or what their religious views, were +welcomed. The khalif had in his palace a manufactory of books, and +copyists, binders, illuminators. He kept book-buyers in all the great +cities of Asia and Africa. His library contained 400,000 volumes, +superbly bound and illuminated" (Ibid, pp. 141, 142). When the +Christians in the fifteenth century seized "beautiful Andalusia," they +erected the Inquisition, burned the books, burned the people, banished +the Jews and the Moors, and founded the miserable land known as modern +Spain. + +There was but little heresy during this melancholy century; people did +not think enough even to think badly. The Paulicians spread through +Bulgaria, and established themselves there under a patriarch of their +own. Some Arians still existed. Some Anthropomorphites gave some +trouble, maintaining that God sat on a golden throne, and was served by +angels with wings: their "heresy" is, however, directly supported by the +Scriptures. A.D. 999, a man named Lentard began to speak against the +worship of images, and the payment of tithes to priests, and asserted +that in the Old Testament prophecies truth and falsehood are mingled. +His disciples seem to have merged into the Albigenses in the next +century. + +The year A.D. 1000 deserves a special word of notice. Christians fancied +that the world was to last for but one thousand years after the birth of +Christ, and that it would therefore come to an end in A.D. 1000. "Many +charters begin with these words: 'As the world is now drawing to its +close.' An army marching under the emperor Otho I. was so terrified by +an eclipse of the sun, which it conceived to announce this consummation, +as to disperse hastily on all sides" ("Europe during the Middle Ages," +Hallam, P. 599) "Prodigious numbers of people abandoned all their civil +connections, and their parental relations, and giving over to the +churches or monasteries all their lands, treasures, and worldly effects, +repaired with the utmost precipitation to Palestine, where they imagined +that Christ would descend to judge the world. Others devoted themselves +by a solemn and voluntary oath to the service of the churches, convents, +and priesthood, whose slaves, they became in the most rigorous sense of +that word, performing daily their heavy tasks; and all this from a +notion that the Supreme Judge would diminish the severity of their +sentence, and look upon them with a more favourable and propitious eye, +on account of their having made themselves the slaves of his ministers. +When an eclipse of the sun or moon happened to be visible, the cities +were deserted, and their miserable inhabitants fled for refuge to hollow +caverns, and hid themselves among the craggy rocks, and under the +bending summits of steep mountains. The opulent attempted to bribe the +Deity and the saintly tribe, by rich donations conferred upon the +sacerdotal and monastic orders, who were looked upon as the immediate +vicegerents of heaven" (p. 226). Thus the Church still reaped wealth out +of the fear of the people she deluded, and while fields lay unsown, and +houses stood unrepaired, and the foundations of famine were laid, Mother +Church gathered lands and money into her capacious lap, and troubled +little about the starving children, provided she herself could wax fat +on the good things of the world which she professed to have renounced. + + +CENTURY XI. + + +The Prussians, during this century, were driven into the fold of the +Church. A Christian missionary, Adalbert, bishop of Prague, had been +murdered by the "fierce and savage Prussians," and in order to show the +civilising results of the gentle Christian creed, Boleslaus, king of +Poland, entered "into a bloody war with the Prussians, and he obtained, +by the force of penal laws and of a victorious, army, what Adalbert +could not effect by exhortation and argument. He dragooned this savage +people into the Christian Church" (p. 230). Some of his followers tried +a gentler method of conversion, and were murdered by the Prussians, who +clearly saw no reason why Christians should do all the killing. We have +already seen that Sylvester II. called upon the Christian princes to +commence a "holy war" against "the infidels" who held the holy places of +Christianity. Gregory VII. strove to stir them up in like fashion, and +had gathered together an army of upwards of 50,000 men, whom he proposed +to lead in person into Palestine. The Pope, however, quarrelled with +Henry IV., emperor of Germany, and his project fell through. At the +close of this century, the long-talked of effort was made. Peter the +Hermit, who had travelled through Palestine, came into Europe and +related in all directions tales of the sufferings of the Christians +under the rule of the "barbarous" Saracens. He appealed to Urban II., +the then Pope, and Urban, who at first discouraged him, seeing that +Peter had succeeded in rousing the most warlike nations of Christian +Europe into enthusiasm, called a council at Placentia, A.D. 1095, and +appealed to the Christian princes to take up the cause of the Cross. The +council was not successful, and Urban summoned another at Clermont, and +himself addressed the assembly. "It is the will of God" was the shout +that answered him, and the people flew to arms. "Every means was used to +excite an epidemical frenzy, the remission of penance, the dispensation +from those practices of self-denial which superstition imposed or +suspended at pleasure, the absolution of all sins, and the assurance of +eternal felicity. None doubted that such as persisted in the war +received immediately the reward of martyrdom. False miracles and +fanatical prophecies, which were never so frequent, wrought up the +enthusiasm to a still higher pitch. [Mosheim states, p. 231, that Peter +the Hermit carried about with him a letter from heaven, calling on all +true Christians to deliver their brethren from the infidel yoke.] And +these devotional feelings, which are usually thwarted and balanced by +other passions, fell in with every motive that could influence the men +of that time, with curiosity, restlessness, the love of licence, thirst +for war, emulation, ambition. Of the princes who assumed the cross, +some, probably from the beginning, speculated upon forming independent +establishments in the East. In later periods, the temporal benefits of +undertaking a crusade undoubtedly blended themselves with less selfish +considerations. Men resorted to Palestine, as in modern times they have +done to the colonies, in order to redeem their time, or repair their +fortune. Thus Gui de Lusignan, after flying from France for murder, was +ultimately raised to the throne of Jerusalem. To the more vulgar class +were held out inducements which, though absorbed in the more overruling +fanaticism of the first crusade, might be exceedingly efficacious when +it began rather to flag. During the time that a crusader bore the cross, +he was free from suit for his debts, and the interest of them was +entirely abolished; he was exempted, in some instances, at least, from +taxes, and placed under the protection of the Church, so that he could +not be impleaded in any civil court, except on criminal charges, or +disputes relating to land" ("Europe during the Middle Ages," Hallam, pp. +29, 30). Thus fanaticism and earthly pleasures and benefits all pushed +men in the same direction, and Europe flung itself upon Palestine. Men, +women, and children, poured eastwards in that first crusade, and this +mixed vanguard of the coming army of warriors was led by Peter the +Hermit and Gaultier Sans-Avoir. This vanguard was "a motley assemblage +of monks, prostitutes, artists, labourers, lazy tradesmen, merchants, +boys, girls, slaves, malefactors, and profligate debauchees;" "it was +principally composed of the lowest dregs of the multitude, who were +animated solely by the prospect of spoil and plunder, and hoped to make +their fortunes by this holy campaign" (p. 232). "This first division, in +their march through Hungary and Thrace, committed the most flagitious +crimes, which so incensed the inhabitants of the countries through which +they passed, particularly those of Hungary and Turcomania, that they +rose up in arms and massacred the greatest part of them" (Ibid). "Father +Maimbourg, notwithstanding his immoderate zeal for the holy war, and +that fabulous turn which enables him to represent it in the most +favourable points of view, acknowledges frankly that the first division +of this prodigious army committed the most abominable enormities in the +countries through which they passed, and that there was no kind of +insolence, in justice, impurity, barbarity, and violence, of which they +were not guilty. Nothing, perhaps, in the annals of history can equal +the flagitious deeds of this infernal rabble" (Ibid, note). Few of these +unhappy wretches reached the Holy Land. "To engage in the crusade and to +perish in it, were almost synonymous" (Hallam, p. 30), even for those +who entered Palestine. The loss of life was something terrible. "We +should be warranted by contemporary writers in stating the loss of the +Christians alone during this period at nearly a million; but at the +least computation, it must have exceeded half that number" (Ibid). The +real army, under Godfrey de Bouillon, consisted of some 80,000 +well-appointed horse and foot. But at Nice the crowd of crusaders +numbered 700,000, after the great slaughter in Hungary. Jerusalem was +taken, A.D. 1099, and it was there "where their triumph was consummated, +that it was stained with the most atrocious massacre; not limited to the +hour of resistance, but renewed deliberately even after that famous +penitential procession to the holy sepulchre, which might have calmed +their ferocious dispositions if, through the misguided enthusiasm of the +enterprise, it had not been rather calculated to excite them" (Ibid, p. +31). The last crusade occurred A.D. 1270, and between the first in 1096 +and the last in 1270, human lives were extinguished in numbers it is +impossible to reckon, increasing ever the awful sum total of the misery +lying at the foot of the blood-red cross of Christendom. + +A collateral advantage accrued to the clergy through the crusades; +"their wealth, continually accumulated, enabled them to become the +regular purchasers of landed estates, especially in the time of the +crusades, when the fiefs of the nobility were constantly in the market +for sale or mortgage" (Ibid, p. 333). + +The last vestiges of nominal paganism were erased in this century, and +it remained only under Christian names. Capital punishment was +proclaimed against all who worshipped the old deities under their old +titles, and "this dreadful severity contributed much more towards the +extirpation of paganism, than the exhortations and instructions of +ignorant missionaries, who were unacquainted with the true nature of the +gospel, and dishonoured its pure and holy doctrines by their licentious +lives and their superstitious practices" (p. 236). Learning began to +revive, as men, educated in the Arabian schools, gradually spread over +Europe; thus: "the school of Salernum, in the kingdom of Naples, was +renowned above all others for the study of physic in this century, and +vast numbers crowded thither from all the provinces of Europe to receive +instruction in the art of healing; but the medical precepts which +rendered the doctors of Salernum so famous were all derived from the +writings of the Arabians, or from the schools of the Saracens in Spain +and Africa" (p. 237). "About the year 1050, the face of philosophy began +to change, and the science of logic assumed a new aspect. This +revolution began in France, where several of the books of Aristotle had +been brought from the schools of the Saracens in Spain, and it was +effected by a set of men highly renowned for their abilities and genius, +such as Berenger, Roscellinus, Hildebert, and after them by Gilbert de +la Porre, the famous Abelard and others" (p. 238). Thus we see that in +science, in philosophy, in logic, we alike owe to Arabia the revival of +thought in Christendom. Progress, however, was very slow, and the +thought was not yet strong enough to arouse the fears of the Church, so +it spread for a while in peace. + +Hallam sums up for us the state of learning, or rather of ignorance, +during the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, and his account +may well find its place here. "When Latin had thus ceased to be a living +language, the whole treasury of knowledge was locked up from the eyes of +the people. The few who might have imbibed a taste for literature, if +books had been accessible to them, were reduced to abandon pursuits that +could only be cultivated through a kind of education not easily within +their reach. Schools confined to cathedrals and monasteries, and +exclusively designed for the purposes of religion, afforded no +encouragement or opportunities to the laity. The worst effect was that, +as the newly-formed languages were hardly made use of in writing, Latin +being still preserved in all legal instruments and public +correspondence, the very use of letters, as well as of books, was +forgotten. For many centuries, to sum up the account of ignorance in a +word, it was rare for a layman, of whatever rank, to know how to sign +his name. Their charters, till the use of seals became general, were +subscribed with the mark of the cross. Still more extraordinary it was +to find one who had any tincture of learning. Even admitting every +indistinct commendation of a monkish biographer (with whom a knowledge +of church music would pass for literature), we could make out a very +short list of scholars. None certainly were more distinguished as such +than Charlemagne and Alfred. But the former, unless we reject a very +plain testimony, was incapable of writing; and Alfred found difficulty +in making a translation from the pastoral instruction of St. Gregory, on +account of his imperfect knowledge of Latin. Whatever mention, +therefore, we find of learning and the learned, during these dark ages, +must be understood to relate only to such as were within the pale of +clergy, which indeed was pretty extensive, and comprehended many who did +not exercise the offices of religious ministry. But even the clergy +were, for a long period, not very materially superior, as a body, to the +uninstructed laity. An inconceivable cloud of ignorance overspread the +whole face of the Church, hardly broken by a few glimmering lights, who +owe almost the whole of their distinction to the surrounding +darkness.... Of this prevailing ignorance it is easy to produce abundant +testimony. Contracts were made verbally, for want of notaries capable of +drawing up charters; and these, when written, were frequently barbarous +and ungrammatical to an incredible degree. For some considerable +intervals, scarcely any monument of literature has been preserved, +except a few jejune chronicles, the vilest legends of saints, or verses +equally destitute of spirit and metre. In almost every council the +ignorance of the clergy forms a subject for reproach. It is asserted by +one held in 992, that scarcely a single person was to be found in Rome +itself who knew the first element of letters. Not one priest of a +thousand in Spain, about the age of Charlemagne, could address a common +letter of salutation to another. In England, Alfred declares that he +could not recollect a single priest south of the Thames (the most +civilised part of England) at the time of his accession who understood +the ordinary prayers, or could translate Latin into his mother-tongue. +Nor was this better in the time of Dunstan, when it is said, none of the +clergy knew how to write or translate a Latin letter. The homilies which +they preached were compiled for their use by some bishops, from former +works of the same kind, or the writings of the Christian fathers.... If +we would listen to some literary historians, we should believe that the +darkest ages contained many individuals, not only distinguished among +their contemporaries, but positively eminent for abilities and +knowledge. A proneness to extol every monk of whose productions a few +letters or a devotional treatise survives, every bishop of whom it is +related that he composed homilies, runs through the laborious work of +the Benedictines of St. Maur, the 'Literary History of France,' and, in +a less degree, is observable even in Tiraboschi, and in most books of +this class. Bede, Alcuin, Hincmar, Raban, and a number of inferior +names, become real giants of learning in their uncritical panegyrics. +But one might justly say, that ignorance is the smallest defect of the +writers of these dark ages. Several of these were tolerably acquainted +with books; but that wherein they are uniformly deficient is original +argument or expression. Almost every one is a compiler of scraps from +the fathers, or from such semi-classical authors as Boethius, +Cassiodorus, or Martinus Capella. Indeed, I am not aware that there +appeared more than two really considerable men in the republic of +letters from the sixth to the middle of the eleventh century--John, +surnamed Scotus, or Erigena, a native of Ireland, and Gerbert, who +became pope by the name of Sylvester II.: the first endowed with a bold +and acute metaphysical genius, the second excellent, for the time when +he lived, in mathematical science and useful mechanical invention" +("Europe during the Middle Ages," Hallam, pp. 595-598). + +If we look at the ministers of the Church, the old story of tyranny and +vice is told over again during this century. Among its popes is numbered +Benedict IX., deposed for his profligacy, restored and again deposed, +restored by force of arms, and selling the pontificate, so that three +popes at once claimed the tiara, and were all three declared unworthy, +and a fourth placed on the throne. Fresh disturbances followed, and new +usurpers, until in A.D. 1059 the election of the pope was taken out of +the hands of the people and transferred to the college of cardinals, a +change which was much struggled against, but which was ultimately +adopted. In A.D. 1073 Hildebrand was elected pope under the title of +Gregory VII.; this man, perhaps, more than any other, augmented the +temporal power of the papacy. It was he who moulded the church into the +form of an absolute monarchy, and fought against all local privileges +and national freedom of the churches in each land; it was he who claimed +rule over all kings and princes, and treated them as vassals of the +Roman see; it was he who, in 1074, calling a council at Rome, caused it +to decree the celibacy of the clergy, so that priests having no home, +and no family ties, might feel their only home in the Church, and their +only tie to Rome; it was he who struggled against Germany, and who kept +the excommunicated emperor standing barefoot and almost naked in the +snow for three days, in the courtyard of his castle. A bold bad man was +this Hildebrand, but a man of genius and a master-mind, who conceived +the mighty idea of a universal Church, wherein all princes should be +vassals, and the head of the Church absolute monarch of the world. + +It was at the annual council of Rome, A.D. 1076, that Pope Gregory VII. +recited and proclaimed "all the ancient maxims, all the doubtful +traditions, all the excessive pretensions, by which he could support his +supremacy. It was, in a manner, the abridged code of his domination--the +laws of servitude that he proposed to the world at large. Here are the +terms of this charter of theocracy: 'The Roman Church is founded by God +alone. The Roman pontiff alone can legitimately take the title of +universal ... There shall be no intercourse whatever held with persons +excommunicated by the Pope, and none may dwell in the same house with +them.... He alone may wear the imperial insignia. All the princes of the +earth shall kiss the feet of the Pope, but of none other.... He has the +right of deposing emperors.... The sentence of the Pope can be revoked +by none, and he alone can revoke the sentences passed by others. He can +be judged by none. None may dare to pronounce sentence on one who +appeals to the See Apostolic. To it shall be referred all major causes +by the whole Church. The Church of Rome never has erred, and never can +err, as Scripture warrants. A Roman pontiff, canonically ordained, at +once becomes, by the merit of Saint Peter, indubitably holy. By his +order and with his permission it is lawful for subjects to accuse +princes.... The Pope can loose subjects from the oath of fealty.' Such +are the fundamental articles promulgated by Gregory VII. in the Council +of Rome, which the official historian of the Church reproduced in the +commencement of the seventeenth century as being authentic and +legitimate, and Rome has never disavowed it. Borrowed in part from the +false Decretals, resting, most of them, on the fabulous donation of +Constantine, and on the successive impostures and usurpations of the +first barbarous ages, they received from the hand of Gregory VII. a new +character of force and unity. That pontiff stamped them with the +sanction of his own genius. Such authority had never before been +created: it made every other power useless and subaltern" ("Life of +Gregory VII.," by Villemain, trans. by Brockley, vol. ii., pp. 53-55). +Thus the struggle became inevitable between the temporal and the +spiritual powers. "In every country there was a dual government:--1. +That of a local kind, represented by a temporal sovereign. 2. That of a +foreign kind, acknowledging the authority of the Pope. This Roman +influence was, in the nature of things, superior to the local; it +expressed the sovereign will of one man over all the nations of the +continent conjointly, and gathered overwhelming power from its +compactness and unity. The local influence was necessarily of a feeble +nature, since it was commonly weakened by the rivalries of conterminous +states and the dissensions dexterously provoked by its competitor. On +not a single occasion could the various European states form a coalition +against their common antagonist. Whenever a question arose, they were +skilfully taken in detail, and commonly mastered. The ostensible object +of papal intrusion was to secure for the different peoples, moral +well-being; the real object was to obtain large revenues and give +support to large bodies of ecclesiastics. The revenues thus abstracted +were not unfrequently many times greater than those passing into the +treasury of the local power. Thus, on the occasion of Innocent IV. +demanding provision to be made for three hundred additional Italian +clergy by the Church of England, and that one of his nephews, a mere +boy, should have a stall in Lincoln Cathedral, it was found that the sum +already annually abstracted by foreign ecclesiastics from England was +thrice that which went into the coffers of the king. While thus the +higher clergy secured every political appointment worth having, and +abbots vied with counts in the herds of slaves they possessed--some, it +is said, owned not fewer than twenty thousand--begging friars pervaded +society in all directions, picking up a share of what still remained to +the poor. There was a vast body of non-producers, living in idleness and +owning a foreign allegiance, who were subsisting on the fruits of the +toil of the labourers" ("Conflict between Religion and Science," Draper, +pp. 266, 267). + +The struggle between the Greek and Latin Churches, hushed for awhile, +broke out again fiercely A.D. 1053, and in 1054 Rome excommunicated +Constantinople, and Constantinople excommunicated Rome. The disputes as +to transubstantiation continued, and shook the Roman Church with their +violence. Outside orthodoxy, some of the old heresies lingered on. The +Paulicians wandered throughout Europe, and became known in Italy as the +Paterini and the Cathari, in France as the Albigenses, Bulgarians, or +Publicans. The Council of Orleans condemned them to be burned alive, and +many perished. + + +CENTURY XII. + + +The wars which spread Christianity were not yet entirely over, but we +only hear of them now on the outskirts, so to speak, of Europe, except +where some tribes apostatized now and then, and were brought back to the +true faith by the sword. The struggles between the popes and the more +stiff-necked princes as to their relative rights and privileges +continued, and we sometimes see the curious spectacle of a pontiff on +the side of the people, or rather of the barons, against the king: +whenever this is so, we find that the king is struggling against Roman +supremacy, and that the pope uses the power of the nation to subdue the +rebellious monarch. We do not find Rome interfering to save the people +from oppression when the oppressor is a faithful and obedient son of +Holy Church. + +Fresh heresies spread during this century, and we everywhere met with +one corrective--death. Most of them appear to have grown out of the old +Manichaean heresy, and taught much of the old asceticism. The Cathari +were hunted down and put to death throughout Italy. Arnold of Brescia, +who loudly protested against the possessions of the Church, and +maintained that church revenues should be handed over to the State, +proved himself so extremely distasteful to the clergy that they arrested +him, crucified him and burned his dead body (A.D. 1155). Peter de Bruys, +who objected to infant baptism, and may be called the ancestor of the +Baptists, was burnt A.D. 1130. Many other reformers shared the same +fate, and one large sect must here be noted. Peter Waldus, its founder, +was a merchant of Lyons, who (A.D. 1160) employed a priest to translate +the Gospels for him, together with other portions of the Bible. Studying +these, he resolved to abandon his business and distribute his wealth +among the poor, and, in A.D. 1180, he became a public preacher, and +formed an association to teach the doctrines of the Gospel, as he +conceived them, against the doctrines of the Church. The sect first +assumed only the simple name of "the poor men of Lyons," but soon became +known as the Waldenses, one of the most powerful and most widely spread +sects of the Middle Ages. They were, in fact, the precursors of the +Reformation, and are notable as heretics protesting against the authorty +of Rome because that authority did not commend itself to their reason; +thus they asserted the right of private judgment, and for that assertion +they deserve a niche in the great temple of heretic thought. + + +CENTURY XIII. + + +In the far west of Europe paganism still struggled against Christianity, +and from A.D. 1230 to 1280 a long, fierce war was waged against the +Prussians, to confirm them in the Christian faith; the Teutonic knights +of St. Mary succeeded finally in their apostolic efforts, and at last +"established Christianity and fixed their own dominion in Prussia" (p. +309), whence they made forays into the neighbouring countries, and +"pillaged, burned, massacred, and ruined all before them." In Spain, +Christianity had a yet sadder triumph, for there the civilized Moors +were falling under the brutal Christians, and the "garden of the world" +was being invaded by the hordes of the Roman Church. The end, however, +had not yet come. In France, we see the erection of THE INQUISITION, the +most hateful and fiendish tribunal ever set up by religion. The +heretical sects were spreading rapidly in southern provinces of France, +and Innocent III., about the commencement of this century, sent legates +extraordinary into the southern provinces of France to do what the +bishops had left undone, and to extirpate heresy, in all its various +forms and modifications, without being at all scrupulous in using such +methods as might be necessary to effect this salutary purpose. The +persons charged with this ghostly commission were Rainier, a Cistercian +monk, Pierre de Castelnau, archdeacon of Maguelonne, who became also +afterwards a Cistercian friar. These eminent missionaries were followed +by several others, among whom was the famous Spaniard, Dominic, founder +of the order of preachers, who, returning from Rome in the year 1206, +fell in with these delegates, embarked in their cause, and laboured both +by his exhortations and actions in the extirpation of heresy. These +spiritual champions, who engaged in this expedition upon the sole +authority of the pope, without either asking the advice, or demanding +the succours of the bishops, and who inflicted capital punishment upon +such of the heretics as they could not convert by reason and argument, +were distinguished in common discourse by the title of _inquisitors_, +and from them the formidable and odious tribunal called the +_Inquisition_ derived its origin (pp. 343, 344). In A.D. 1229, a +council of Toulouse "erected in every city a _council of inquisitors +consisting of one priest and two laymen_" (Ibid). In A.D. 1233, Gregory +IX. superseded this tribunal by appointing the Dominican monks as +inquisitors, and the pope's legate in France thereupon went from city to +city, wherever these monks had a monastery, and there appointed some of +their number "inquisitors of heretical pravity." The princes of Europe +were then persuaded to lend the aid of the State to the work of blood, +and to commit to the flames those who were handed over as heretics to +the civil power by the inquisitors. The plan of working was most +methodical. + +The rules of torture were carefully drawn out: the prisoner was stripped +naked, the hair cut off, and the body then laid on the rack and bound +down; the right, then the left, foot tightly bound and strained by +cords; the right and left arm stretched; the fleshy part of the arm +compressed with fine cords; all the cords tightened together by one +turn; a second and third turn of the same kind: beyond this, with the +rack, women were not to be tortured; with men a fourth turn was +employed. These directions were written in a Manual, used by the Grand +Inquisitor of Seville as late as A.D. 1820. An analysis is given by Dr. +Rule, in his "History of the Inquisition," Appendix to vol. i., pp. +339-359, ed. 1874. Then we hear, elsewhere, of torture by roasting the +feet, by pulleys, by red-hot pincers--in short, by every abominable +instrument of cruelty which men, inspired by religion, could conceive. +Let the student take Llorente and Dr. Rule alone, and he will learn +enough of the Inquisition horrors to make him shudder at the sight of a +cross--at the name of Christianity. + +Llorente gives the most revolting details of the torture of Jean de +Salas, at Valladolid, A.D. 1527, and this one case may serve as a +specimen of Inquisition work during these bloodstained centuries. +Stripped to his shirt, he was placed on the _chevalet_ (a narrow frame, +wherein the body was laid, with no support save a pole across the +middle), and his feet were raised higher than his head; tightly twisted +cords cut through his flesh, and were twisted yet tighter and tighter as +the torture proceeded; fine linen, thrust into his mouth and throat, +added to the unnatural position, made breathing well nigh impossible, +and on the linen water slowly fell, drop by drop, from a suspended +vessel over his head, till every struggling breath stained the cloth +with blood (see "Histoire critique de l'Inquisition d'Espagne," t. II., +pp. 20-23, ed. 1818). This Spanish Inquisition, during its existence, +punished heretics as follows:-- + +Burnt alive ....................... 31,912 + +Burnt in effigy.................... 17,659 + +Heavily punished................... 291,450 + ------- + Total 341,021 + +(Ibid, t. IV. p. 271). Add to this list the ruined families, some of +whose members fell victims to the Inquisition, and then--remembering +that Spain was but one of the countries which it desolated--let the +student judge of the huge total of human agony caused by this awful +institution. Nor must it be forgotten that its dungeons did not gape +only for those who opposed the pretensions of Rome; men of science, +philosophers, thinkers, all these were its foes; Llorente gives a list +of no less than 119 learned and eminent scientific men who, in Spain +alone, fell under the scourge of the Inquisition (see t. II. pp. +417-483). + +One special crime of the Church in this age must not be forgotten: her +treatment of Roger Bacon. Roger Bacon was a Franciscan monk, who not +only studied Greek, Hebrew, and Oriental languages, but who devoted +himself to natural science, and made many discoveries in astronomy, +chemistry, optics, and mathematics. He is said to have discovered +gunpowder, and he proposed a reform of the calendar similar to that +introduced by Gregory XIII., 300 years later. His reward was to be +hooted at as a magician, and to be confined in a dungeon for many years. + +The heretics spread and increased in this century, spite of the terrible +weapon brought to bear against them. The "Brethren and Sisters of the +Free Spirit," known also as Beghards, Beguttes, Bicorni, Beghins, and +Turlupins, were the chief additional body. They believed that all things +had emanated from God, and that to Him they would return; and to this +Eastern philosophy they added practical fanaticism, rushing wildly +about, shouting, yelling, begging. The Waldenses and Albigenses +multiplied, and diversity of opinion spread in every direction. + + +CENTURY XIV. + + +This fourteenth century is one of the epochs that sorely test the +ingenuity of believers in papal infallibility; for the cardinals, having +elected one pope in A.D. 1378, rapidly took a dislike to him, and +elected a second. The first choice, Urban VI., remained at Rome; the +second, Clement VII., betook himself to Avignon. They duly +excommunicated each other, and the Latin Church was rent in twain. "The +distress and calamity of these times is beyond all power of description; +for not to insist upon the perpetual contentions and wars between the +factions of the several popes, by which multitudes lost their fortunes +and lives, all sense of religion was extinguished in most places, and +profligacy arose to a most scandalous excess. The clergy, while they +vehemently contended which of the reigning popes was the true successor +of Christ, were so excessively corrupt as to be no longer studious to +keep up even an appearance of religion or decency" ("Europe During the +Middle Ages," Hallam, p. 359). + +Meanwhile, the struggle between Rome and the heretics went on with +ever-increasing fury. In England, Dr. John Wickcliff, rector of +Lutterworth, became famous by his attack on the mendicant orders in A.D. +1360, and from that time he raised his voice louder and louder, till he +spoke against the pope himself. He translated the Bible into English, +attacked many of the prevailing superstitions, and although condemned as +holding heretical opinions, he yet died in peace, A.D. 1387. Rome +revenged itself by digging up his bones and burning them, about thirteen +years later. Rebellion spread even among the monks of the Church, and a +vast number of some nonconformist Franciscan monks, termed Spirituals, +were burned for their refusal to obey the pope on matters of discipline. +The intense hatred between the Franciscan and Dominican orders made the +latter the willing instrument of the papacy; and, in their character as +inquisitors, they hunted down their unfortunate rivals as heretics. The +Flagellants, a sect who wandered about flogging themselves to the glory +of God, fell also under the merciless hands of the inquisitors, as did +also the Knights Templars in France. A new body, known as the Dancers, +started up in A.D. 1373, and spread through Flanders; but the priests +prayed them away by exorcising the dancing devils that, they said, +inhabited the members of this curious sect. Among the sufferers of this +century one name must not be forgotten: it is that of Ceccus Asculanus. +This man was an Aristotelian philosopher, an astrologer, a +mathematician, and a physician. "This unhappy man, having performed some +experiments in mechanics that seemed miraculous to the vulgar, and +having also offended many, and among the rest his master [the Duke of +Calabria], by giving out some predictions which were said to have been +fulfilled, was universally supposed to deal with infernal spirits, and +burned for it by the inquisitors, at Florence, in the year 1337" (p. +355). There seems no green spot on which to rest the eye in this weary +stretch of blood and fire. + + +CENTURY XV. + + +In this fifteenth century the knell of the Church rang out; it is +memorable evermore in history for the discovery of the New World, and +the consequent practical demonstration of the falsehood of the whole +theory of the patristic and ecclesiastical theology. In the flood only +"Noah and his three sons, with their wives, were saved in an ark. Of +these sons, Sham remained in Asia and repeopled it. Ham peopled Africa; +Japhet, Europe. As the fathers were not acquainted with the existence of +America, they did not provide an ancestor for its people" ("Conflict +between Religion and Science," Dr. Draper, p. 63). Lactantius, indeed, +inveighed against the folly of those who believed in the existence of +the antipodes, and Augustine maintained that it was impossible there +should be people living on the other side of the earth. Besides, "in the +day of judgment, men on the other side of a globe could not see the Lord +descending through the air" (Ibid, p. 64). Clearly there was no other +side, theologically; only Columbus sailed there. Another fatal blow was +struck at the Church by the invention of the printing press, about A.D. +1440, an invention which made knowledge possible for the many, and by +diffusion of knowledge made heresy likewise certain. It is not for me, +however, to trace here the progress of heretic thought; that brighter +task is for another pen; mine only to turn over the bloodstained and +black pages of the Church. One name stands out in the list of the +pontiffs of this century, which is almost unparalleled in its infamy; it +is that of Roderic Borgia, Pope Alexander VI. Foully vicious, cruel, and +bloodthirsty, he is startlingly bad, even for a pope. Among his children +are found the names of Caesar and Lucretia Borgia, names whose very +mention recalls a list of horrible crimes. Alexander died A.D. 1503, +from swallowing, by mistake, a poison which he and his son Caesar had +prepared for others. Turning to the heretics, we see great lives cut +short by the terrible blows of the inquisition:--Savanarola, the brave +Italian preacher, the reformer monk, tortured and burned A.D. 1498; John +Huss, the enemy of the papacy, burned A.D. 1415, in direct violation of +the safe conduct granted him; Jerome, of Prague, the friend and +companion of Huss, burned A.D. 1416. Myriads of their unhappy followers +shared their fate in every European land. But to Spain belongs the +terrible pre-eminence of cruelty in this last century before the +Reformation. In the year 1478 a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. established the +Inquisition in Spain. "In the first year of the operation of the +Inquisition, 1481, two thousand victims were burnt in Andalusia; besides +these, many thousands were dug up from their graves and burnt; seventeen +thousand were fined or imprisoned for life. Whoever of the persecuted +race could flee, escaped for his life. Torquemada, now appointed +Inquisitor-General for Castile and Leon, illustrated his office by his +ferocity. Anonymous accusations were received, the accused was not +confronted by witnesses, torture was relied upon for conviction; it was +inflicted in vaults where no one could hear the cries of the tormented. +As, in pretended mercy, it was forbidden to inflict torture a second +time, with horrible duplicity it was affirmed that the torment had not +been completed at first, but had only been suspended out of charity +until the following day! The families of the convicted were plunged into +irretrievable ruin.... This frantic priest destroyed Hebrew Bibles +wherever he could find them, and burnt six thousand volumes of Oriental +literature at Salamanca, under an imputation that they inculcated +Judaism" (Draper's "Conflict of Science and Religion," p. 146). +Torquemada was, indeed, a worthy successor of Moses. During his eighteen +years of power, his list of victims is as follows:-- + +Burnt at the stake alive................... 10,220 +Burnt in effigy, the persons having died + in prison or fled the country............ 6,860 +Punished with infamy, confiscation, perpetual + imprisonment, or loss of civil + rights .................................. 97,321 + ------- +Total .....................................114,401 + +--("History of the Inquisition," by Dr. W.H. Rule, vol. i., p. 150. Full +details of numbers are given in the "Histoire critique de l'Inquisition +d'Espagne," Llorente, t. I., pp. 272-281). + +Cardinal Ximenes was not quite so successful as Torquemada, but still +his roll is long: + +Burnt at the stake alive ................... 3,564 +Burnt in effigy ............................ 1,232 +Punished heavily .......................... 48,059 + ------ +--(Ibid, p. 186). Total ................... 52,855 + +In A.D. 1481, in the bishoprics of Seville and Cadiz, "two thousand +Judaizers were burnt in person, and very many in effigy, of whom the +number is not known, besides seventeen thousand subject to cruel +penance" (Ibid, p. 133). In A.D. 1485, no less than 950 persons were +burned at Villa Real, now Ciudad Real. + +Spite of all this awful suffering, heretics and Jews remained +antagonistic to the church, and in March, A.D. 1492, the edict of the +expulsion of the Jews was signed. "All unbaptized Jews, of whatever age, +sex, or condition, were ordered to leave the realm by the end of the +following July. If they revisited it, they should suffer death. They +might sell their effects, and take the proceeds in merchandise or bills +of exchange, but not in gold or silver. Exiled thus, suddenly from the +land of their birth, the land of their ancestors for hundreds of years, +they could not in the glutted market that arose sell what they +possessed. Nobody would purchase what could be got for nothing after +July. The Spanish clergy occupied themselves by preaching in the public +squares sermons filled with denunciations against their victims, who, +when the time for expatriation came, swarmed in the roads, and filled +the air with their cries of despair. Even the Spanish onlookers wept at +the scene of agony. Torquemada, however, enforced the ordinance that no +one should afford them any help.... Thousands, especially mothers with +nursing children, infants, and old people, died by the way--many of them +in the agonies of thirst" (Ibid, p. 147). Thus was a peaceable, +industrious, thoughtful population, driven out of Spain by the Church. +Nor did her hand stay even here. Ferdinand, alas! had completed the +conquest of the Moors; true, Granada had only yielded under pledge of +liberty of worship, but of what value is the pledge of the Christian to +the heretic? The Inquisition harried the land, until, in February 1502, +word went out that all unbaptized Moors must leave Spain by the end of +April. "They might sell their property, but not take away any gold or +silver; they were forbidden to emigrate to the Mahommedan dominions; the +penalty of disobedience was death. Their condition was thus worse than +that of the Jews, who had been permitted to go where they chose" (Ibid, +p. 148). And so the Moors were driven out, and Spain was left to +Christianity, to sink down to what she is to-day. 3,000,000 persons are +said to have been expelled as Jews, Moors and Moriscoes. The Moors +departed,--they who had made the name of Spain glorious, and had spread +science and thought through Europe from that focus of light,--they who +had welcomed to their cities all who thought, no matter what their +creed, and had covered with an equal protection Mahommedan, Christian, +and Jew. + +Nor let the Protestant Christian imagine that these deeds of blood are +Roman, not Christian. The same crimes attach to every Church, and Rome's +black list is only longer because her power is greater. Let us glance at +Protestant communions. In Hungary, Giska, the Hussite, massacred and +bruised the Beghards. In Germany, Luther cried, "Why, if men hang the +thief upon the gallows, or if they put the rogue to death, why should +not we, with all our strength, attack these popes and cardinals, these +dregs of the Roman Sodom? Why not wash our hands in their blood?" ("The +Spanish Inquisition," Le Maistre, p. 67, ed. 1838). Sandys, Bishop of +London, wrote in defence of persecution. Archbishop Usher, in an address +signed by eleven other bishops, said: "Any toleration to the papists is +a grievous sin." Knox said, "The people are bound in conscience to put +to death the queen, along with all her priests." The English Parliament +said, "Persecution was necessary to advance the glory of God." The +Scotch Parliament decreed death against Catholics as idolaters, saying +"it was a religious obligation to execute them" (Ibid, pp. 67, 68). +Cranmer, A.D. 1550, condemned six anabaptists to death, one of whom, a +woman, was burned alive, and in the following year another was committed +to the flames; this primate held a commission with "some others, to +examine and search after all anabaptists, heretics, or contemners of the +book of Common Prayer" ("Students' History of England," D. Hume, p. 291, +ed. 1868). + +In Switzerland, Calvin burned Servetus. In America, the Puritans carried +on the same hateful tradition, and whipped the harmless Quakers from +town to town. Wherever the cross has gone, whether held by Roman +Catholic, by Lutheran, by Calvinist, by Episcopalian, by Presbyterian, +by Protestant dissenter, it has been dipped in human blood, and has +broken human hearts. Its effect on Europe was destructive, barbarising, +deadly, until the dawning light of science scattered the thick black +clouds which issued from the cross. One indisputable fact, pregnant with +instruction, is the extremely low rate of increase of the population of +Europe during the centuries when Christianity was supreme. "What, then, +does this stationary condition of the population mean? It means, food +obtained with hardship, insufficient clothing, personal uncleanness, +cabins that could not keep out the weather, the destructive effects of +cold and heat, miasm, want of sanitary provisions, absence of +physicians, uselessness of shrine cure, the deceptiveness of miracles, +in which society was putting its trust; or, to sum up a long catalogue +of sorrows, wants and sufferings in one term--it means a high +death-rate. But, more, it means deficient births. And what does that +point out? Marriage postponed, licentious life, private wickedness, +demoralized society" (Draper's "Conflict of Religion and Science," p. +263). "The surface of the Continent was for the most part covered with +pathless forests; here and there it was dotted with monasteries and +towns. In the lowlands and along the river courses were fens, sometimes +hundreds of miles in extent, exhaling their pestiferous miasms, and +spreading agues far and wide." In towns there was "no attempt made at +drainage, but the putrefying garbage and rubbish were simply thrown out +of the door. Men, women, and children slept in the same apartment; not +unfrequently domestic animals were their companions; in such a confusion +of the family it was impossible that modesty and morality could be +maintained. The bed was usually a bag of straw; a wooden log served as a +pillow. Personal cleanliness was utterly unknown; great officers of +state, even dignitaries so high as the Archbishop of Canterbury, swarmed +with vermin; such, it is related, was the condition of Thomas a Becket, +the antagonist of an English king. To conceal personal impurity, +perfumes were necessarily and profusely used. The citizen clothed +himself in leather, a garment which, with its ever-accumulating +impurity, might last for many years. He was considered to be in +circumstances of ease, if he could procure fresh meat once a week for +his dinner. The streets had no sewers; they were without pavement or +lamps. After night-fall, the chamber-shutters were thrown open, and +slops unceremoniously emptied down, to the discomforture of the wayfarer +tracking his path through the narrow streets, with his dismal lantern in +his hand" (Ibid, p. 265). Little wonder indeed, that plagues swept +through the cities, destroying their inhabitants wholesale. The Church +could only pray against them, or offer shrines where votive offerings +might win deliverance; "not without a bitter resistance on the part of +the clergy, men began to think that pestilences are not punishments +inflicted by God on society for its religious shortcomings, but the +physical consequences of filth and wretchedness; that the proper mode of +avoiding them is not by praying to the saints, but by ensuring personal +and municipal cleanliness. In the twelfth century it was found necessary +to pave the streets of Paris, the stench in them was so dreadful. At +once dysenteries and spotted fever diminished; a sanitary condition, +approaching that of the Moorish cities of Spain, which had been paved +for centuries, was attained" (Ibid, p. 314). The death-rate was still +further diminished by the importation of the physician's skill from the +Arabs and the Moors; the Christians had depended on the shrine of the +saint, and the bone of the martyr, and the priest was the doctor of body +as well as of soul. "On all the roads pilgrims were wending their way to +the shrines of saints, renowned for the cures they had wrought. It had +always been the policy of the Church to discourage the physician and his +art; he interfered too much with the gifts and profits of the +shrines.... For patients too sick to move or be moved, there were no +remedies except those of a ghostly kind--the Paternoster and the Ave" +(Ibid, p. 269). Thus Christianity set itself against all popular +advancement, against all civil and social progress, against all +improvement in the condition of the masses. It viewed every change with +distrust, it met every innovation with opposition. While it reigned +supreme, Europe lay in chains, and even into the new world it carried +the fetters of the old. Only as Christianity has grown feebler has +civilization strengthened, and progress has been made more and more +rapidly as a failing creed has lost the power to oppose. And now, day by +day, that progress becomes swifter; now, day by day, the opposition +becomes fainter, and soon, passing over the ruins of a shattered +religion, Free Thought shall plant the white banner of Liberty in the +midst of the temple of Humanity; that temple which, long desecrated by +priests and overshadowed by gods, shall then be consecrated for evermore +to the service of its rightful owner, and shall be filled with the glory +of man, the only god, and shall have its air melodious with the voice of +the prayer which is work. + + * * * * * + +INDEX TO SECTION IV. OF PART II. + + * * * * * + +INDEX OF BOOKS USED. + +Draper, Conflict of Religion and Science...425, 433, 437, 449, 455, + 456, 464, 465, 471, 472, 475, 476 +Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History...424 +Gibbon, Decline and Fall...425, 429, 432, 433, 435 +Hallam, Europe during the Middle Ages...454, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, + 462, 463, 470, 471 +Hume, Student's History of England...474 +Le Maistre, Spanish Inquisition...474 +Llorente, Histoire critique de l'Inquisition d'Espagne...468, 469, 472, 473 +Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History...Used throughout +Rule, History of the Inquisition...468, 472 +Villemain, Life of Gregory VII...464 + * * * * * + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + +Advent of Christ expected...456, 457 +Alexandrine Library, destruction of...432 +Arius...433, 434 +Boniface, Apostle of Germany...442 +Century 2nd and 3rd...423, 429 +Century 4th...429, 435 +Century 5th...435, 439 +Century 6th...439, 441 +Century 7th...441, 442 +Century 8th...442, 447 +Century 9th...447, 451 +Century 10th...451, 457 +Century 11th...457, 465 +Century 12th...466, 467 +Century 13th...467, 469 +Century 14th...469, 470 +Century 15th...471, 474 +Charlemagne...442, 444 +Christianity, general effect of...474, 476 +Church, wealth of...425, 440, 441, 444, 457, 460 +Church, doctrine of...426, 450 +Church, refuge for evil doers...442 +Clergy, frauds of...431, 444, 448, 449 +Clergy, vice of...426, 431, 435, 437, 441, 447, 448, 451, 453, 454, 469 +Constantine...424, 425 +Conversions...429, 430, 435, 439, 443, 451, 457, 467 +Crusades...452, 458 +Eastern and Western Churches, separation of...449, 450 +Endowment of Church, first...429 +Filioque...446, 449 +Heresies...426-428, 433-435, 438, 440, 442, 446, 450, 456, + 465, 466, 470, 471, 472, 473 +Heretic, first burnt alive...431 + " number burned in Spain...469, 472 +Hildebrand...463, 464 +Hypatia, murder of...437 +Iconoclastic controversy...445, 446 +Ignorance of bishops...441 +Inquisition...467-469, 472-474 +Isidorian decretals...448 +Jews, expulsion of, from Spain...473, 474 +Learning, lack of...437, 439, 451, 452, 453, 461, 462, 463 + " revival of...460, 461 +Moors, learning of...447, 453, 456 + " expulsion of, from Spain...473, 474 +Patristic geography...471 +People, misery of...455, 475, 476 +Protestant persecution...474, 475 +Rome, supremacy of...436, 445, 448, 464, 465 + " badness of Popes of...454, 463, 464, 469, 471 +Stylites...437 +Torquemada...472, 473 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Freethinker's Text Book, Part II. +by Annie Besant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FREETHINKER'S TEXT BOOK, *** + +***** This file should be named 13349.txt or 13349.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/3/4/13349/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David King, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |