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diff --git a/38600-8.txt b/38600-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9803be6 --- /dev/null +++ b/38600-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13801 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, by Kersey Graves + +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 World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors + Or, Christianity Before Christ + +Author: Kersey Graves + +Release Date: January 17, 2012 [EBook #38600] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIXTEEN SAVIORS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE WORLD'S SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS + +OR, CHRISTIANITY BEFORE CHRIST + +CONTAINING NEW, STARTLING, AND EXTRAORDINARY REVELATIONS IN RELIGIOUS +HISTORY, WHICH DISCLOSE THE ORIENTAL ORIGIN OF ALL THE DOCTRINES, +PRINCIPLES, PRECEPTS, AND MIRACLES OF THE CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT, AND +FURNISHING A KEY FOR UNLOCKING MANY OF ITS SACRED MYSTERIES, BESIDES +COMPRISING THE HISTORY OF 16 HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS. + +By Kersey Graves + + + + +PREFACE. + +INVERSELY to the remoteness of time has been man's ascent toward the +temple of knowledge. Truth has made its ingress into the human mind +in the ratio by which man has attained the capacity to receive and +appreciate it Hence, as we tread back the meandering pathway of human +history, every step in the receding process brings us to a lower plane +of intelligence and a state of mind more thoroughly encrusted with +ignorance and superstition. It is, therefore, no source of surprise to +learn, when we take a survey of the world two or three thousand years +in the past, that every religious writer of that era committed errors on +every subject which employed his pen, involving a scientific principle. +Hence, the bible, or sacred book, to which he was a contributor, is +now found to bear the marks of human imperfection. For the temple of +knowledge was but partially reared, and its chambers but dimly lighted +up. The intellectual brain was in a dark, feeble and dormant condition. +Hence, the moral and religious feelings were drifted about without a +pilot on the turbulent waves of superstition, and finally stranded on +the shoals of bigotry. The Christian bible, like other bibles, having +been written in an age when science was but budding into life, and +philosophy had attained but a feeble growth, should be expected to teach +many things incompatible with the principles of modern science. +And accordingly it is found to contain, like other bibles, numerous +statements so obviously at war with present established scientific +truths that almost any school-boy, at the present day, can demonstrate +their falsity. Let the unbiased reader examine and compare the oriental +and Christian bibles together, and he will note the following facts, +viz:-- + +1. That the cardinal religious conceptions of all bibles are essentially +the same--all running in parable grooves. + +2. That every chapter of every bible is but a transcript of the mental +chart of the writer. + +3. That no bible, pagan or Christian, contains anything surpassing the +natural, mental and moral capacity of the writer to originate. And hence +no divine aid or inspiration was necessary for its production. + +4. That the moral and religious teachings of no bible reach a higher +altitude than the intelligence and mental development of the age and +country which produced it. + +5. That the Christian bible, in some respects, is superior to some of +the other bibles, but only to the extent to which the age in which it +was written was superior in intelligence and natural mental capacity to +the era in which the older bibles were penned; and that this superiority +consists not its more exalted religious conceptions, but only in the +fact that, being of more modern origin, the progress of mind had worn +away some of the legendary rubbish of the past. Being written in a later +and more enlightened age, it is consequently a little less encrusted +with mythological tradition and oriental imagery. Though not free from +these elements, it possesses them in less degree. And by comparing +Christ's history with those of the oriental Gods, it will be found:-- + +1. That he taught no new doctrine or moral precept. + +2. That he inculcated the same religion and morality, which he +elaborated, as other moral teachers, to great extremes. + +3. That Christ differs so little in his character, preaching, and +practical life from some of the oriental Gods, that no person whose +mind is not deplorably warped and biased by early training can call one +divine while he considers the other human. + +4. That if Christ was a God, then all were Gods. + +The Author. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + +The author desires to say that this work has been carefully reviewed +and corrected, and some additions made, embracing two chapters from "the +Bible of Bibles," and some explanatory notes, and is now able to place +before the reader a greatly improved edition. + +The author also desires to say here, that the many flattering letters +he has received from various parts of the country, from those who have +supplied themselves with the work, excites in his mind the hope it will +ultimately effect something towards achieving the important end sought +to be attained by its publication--the banishment of that wide-spread +delusion comprehended in the belief in an incarnate, virgin-born God, +called Jesus Christ, and the infallibility of his teachings, with the +numerous evils growing legitimately out of this belief--among the +most important of which is, its cramping effect upon the mind of the +possessor, which interdicts its growth, and thus constitutes a serious +obstacle to the progress both of the individual and of society. And such +has been the blinding effect of this delusion upon all who have fallen +victims to its influence, that the numerous errors and evils of our +popular system of religious faith, which constitutes its legitimate +fruits, have passed from age to age, unnoticed by all except scientific +and progressive minds, who are constantly bringing these errors and +evils to light. This state of things has been a source of sorrow and +regret to every philanthropist desiring the welfare of the race. And if +this work shall achieve anything towards arresting this great evil, the +author will feel that he is amply compensated for the years of toil and +mental labor spent in its preparation. + +Note.--As the different works consulted have assigned different dates +for the same event, the author has, in one or two cases, followed their +example, accepting them as authority; as in the date of the birth and +death of the Gods of Mexico. The reader will also notice that the name +of the same God is found in different countries. Example--Adonis and +Bacchus are found amongst the Gods of both Greece and Egypt. + + + + +EXPLANATION + +"The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors." What an imposing title for a +book! What startling developments of religious history it implies! Is +it founded on fact or on fiction? If it has a basis of truth, where was +such an extraordinary mine of sacred lore discovered? Where were such +startling facts obtained as the title of the work suggests. These +queries will doubtless arise as soliloquies in the minds of many readers +on glancing at the title-page. And the author is disposed to gratify +this natural and most probable, in some cases, excited curiosity by a +brief explanation. In doing this, he deems it only necessary, to state +that many of the most important facts collated in this work were derived +from Sir Godfrey Higgins' Anacalypsis, a work as valuable as it is +rare--a work comprising the result of twenty years' labor, devoted to +the investigation of religious history. And although embodying many +important historical facts which should have commanded for it a +word-wide circulation, but a few copies of this invaluable treasury of +religious knowledge have ever found their way into this country. One +of these copies the author of this work obtained, at no inconsiderable +expense, long enough to glean from its pages such facts as he presumed +would be most interesting and instructive to the general reader, some +of which will be found in nearly every chapter of this volume. With +the facts and materials derived from this source, and two hundred other +unimpeachable historical records, the present work might have been +swelled to fourfold its present size without exhausting the author's +ample store of materials and would have possessed such unwieldy +dimensions but for a strict conformity to the most rigid rules of +eclecticism and condensation. Encouraged by the extensive demand for his +former work, "The Biography of Satan," which has passed through seven +editions, the author cherishes the hope that the present work will +meet with a circulation commensurate with the importance of the many +invaluable facts which it contains. For he possesses the sad conviction +that the many religious errors and evils which it is the object of +this work to expose, operate very seriously to retard the moral and +intellectual growth and prosperity of all Christian countries. They have +the effect to injure mentally, morally and religiously the great body of +Christian professors. + +Dr. Prince, of Long Island (now deceased), wrote to the author, +respecting the thirty-fifth chapter of this work, entitled "The Logical +View of the Incarnation," after he had seen it in the columns of a +newspaper, "It is a masterly piece of logic, and will startle, if it +does not revolutionize, the orthodox world. And the chapters comprising +'The Philosophical View,' and 'The Physiological View,' were afterward +pronounced specimens of profound and unanswerable logical reasoning." We +thus call the reader's attention to these chapters in advance, in order +to induce that thorough attention to their facts and arguments which +will result in banishing from his mind the last vestiges of a belief (if +he entertain any) in the doctrine of the divine incarnation. + + +IMPORTANT FACTS CONSTITUTING THE BASIS OF THIS WORK. + +IGNORANCE of science and ignorance of history are the two great bulwarks +of religious error. There is scarcely a tenet of religious faith now +propagated to the world by the professed disciples of Christ but that, +if subjected to a rigid test in the ordeal of modern science would be +found to contain more or less error. Vast acquisitions have been made +in the fields of science and history within the last half century, the +moral lessons of which have done much to undermine and unsettle our +popular system of religious faith, and to bring into disrepute or +effectually change many of its long-cherished dogmas. The scientific and +historical facts thus brought before the intelligent public, have served +as keys for explaining many of the doctrines comprised in the popular +creed. They have poured a flood of light upon our whole system of +religion as now taught by its popular representatives, which have +had the effect to reveal many of its errors to those who have had the +temerity, or the curiosity, to investigate it upon these grounds. Many +of the doctrines and miraculous events which have always been assigned a +divine emanation by the disciples of the Christian faith, are, by these +scientific and historical disclosures, shown to be explainable upon +natural grounds, and to have exclusively a natural basis. Some of them +are shown to be solvable by recently developed spiritual laws, while +others are proven to be founded wholly in error. The intelligent +community are now acquainted with many of these important facts, so that +no man of science can be found in this enlightened age who can popularly +be termed a Christian. No man can be found in any Christian country who +has the established reputation of being a man of science, or who has +made any proficiency in the whole curriculum of the sciences, whose +creed, when examined by an orthodox committee, would not be pronounced +unsound. It is true that many of the scientific class, not possessing +the conviction that duty imposes the moral necessity of making living +martyrs of themselves, have refrained from fully avowing or disclosing +to the public their real convictions of the popular faith. + +The changes and improvements in religious ideas now observant in the +most intelligent portion of the community, are due in part to the rapid +progress of scientific discovery and the dissemination of scientific +knowledge in Christian countries. The explorer in the field of religious +history, however, comes in here for his meed of praise. New stores of +historic facts and data may be reckoned among the recent acquisitions +of the laborious archeologist; new fountains of religious history have +recently been unsealed, which have had the effect to reveal many errors +and false claims set up for the current religion of Christendom--a +religion long regarded as settled and stereotyped. For many centuries +subsequent to the establishment of the Christian religion, but little +was known by its disciples of the character, claims and doctrines of +the oriental systems of worship. These religions, in fact, were scarcely +known to exist, because they had long been veiled in secrecy. They were +found, in some cases, enshrined in religious books printed or written in +a language so very ancient and obscure, as to bid defiance for +centuries to the labors of the most indefatigable, profound and erudite +archeological scholar to decipher it. That obstacle is now partially +surmounted. + +The recent translation for the first time of the Hindoo Vedas into +the English language (the oldest bible now extant or ever written) has +revealed to the unwelcome gaze of the Christian reader the startling +fact that "the heathen" had long been in possession of "holy books," +possessing essentially the same character, and teaching essentially the +same doctrines as the Christian bible--there being, as Horace Greeley +expressed it, "No doctrine of Christianity but what has been anticipated +by the Vedas." (See Vol. II., Chap. i, of this work.) + +If, then, this heathen bible (compiled, according to the Christian +missionary, Rev. D. G Allen, 1400 B. C.), contains all the doctrines of +Christianity, then away goes over the dam all claim for the Christian +bible as an original bible as an original revelation, or a work of +divine inspiration. + +Bibles are thus shown to be of heathen and human origin, instead of +heavenly and divine authorship, as claimed for them by their respective +disciples--the Christian bible forming no exception to this statement. +The latter, being essentially like other bibles, it must, of course, +have had the same or a similar origin--a fact which, though it may be +new and startling to millions, will be universally accepted as truth +before the lapse of many generations, and a fact which confronts with +open denial the claims of two hundred millions of Christian professors, +who assert with unscrupulous boldness that every doctrine, principle and +precept of their bible is of divine emanation. + +How utterly groundless and untenable is such a claim when arranged by +the side of modern discoveries in religious history! + +Equally unsupportable is the declaration that "there is no other name +given under heaven whereby men can be saved, than that of Jesus Christ +and him crucified," when viewed in the light of the modern explorations +of Sir Godfrey Higgins, which have disclosed the history of nearly a +score of crucified Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, who, we have equal +proof, died for the sins of mankind. + +Thus, the two prime articles of the Christian faith--Revelation and +Crucifixion--are forever established as human and heathen conceptions. +And the hope might be reasonably entertained that the important +historical facts disclosed in this work will have the effect to open the +eyes of the professors of the Christian religion to see their serious +error in putting forth such exalted claims for their bible and their +religion as that of being perfect products of infinite wisdom, did +not the past history of all religious countries furnish sad proof that +reason and logic, and even the most cogent and convincing facts of +science and history often prove powerless when arrayed against a +religious conviction, enstamped upon the mind for thousands of years in +the past, and transmitted from parent to child until it has grown to a +colossal stature, and become a part of the living tissues of the soul. + +No matter how glaringly absurd, how palpably erroneous, or how +demonstrably false an opinion or doctrine is shown to be, they +cannot see it, but will still continue to hug it to their bosoms as a +divinely-revealed truth. No facts or evidence can prove an overmatch for +the inherited convictions of a thousand generations. In this respect the +Mahomedan, the Hindoo and the Christian all stand upon a level. It is +about as easy to convince one as the other of their easily demonstrated +errors. + + +RELIGION OF NATURAL ORIGIN. + +Among the numerous errors traceable in the history of every religious +sect, commemorated in the annals of the world, none possesses a +more serious character, or has been attended with more deplorable +consequences, than that of assigning a wrong origin to religion. Every +bible, every sect, every creed, every catechism, and every orthodox +sermon teaches that "religion is the gift of God," that "it is infused +into the soul by the spirit and power of the Lord." Never was a greater +mistake ever committed. Every student of anthropology, every person who +has read any of the numerous modern works on mental science, and tested +their easily-demonstrated facts, knows that religion is of _natural_ and +not _supernatural_ origin; that it is a natural element of the +_human mind_, and not a "_direct gift from God_;" that it grows as +spontaneously out of the soul as flowers spring out of the ground. It is +as natural as eating, sleeping or breathing. This conclusion is not the +offspring of mere imagination. It is no hastily-concocted theory, but an +oft-demonstrated and scientifically-established fact, which any person +can test the truth of for himself. + +And this modern discovery will, at no distant day, revolutionize +all systems of religious faith in existence, and either dissolve and +dissipate them, or modify and establish them upon a more natural and +enduring basis, expurgated of their dogmatic errors. + +Let us, then, labor to banish the wide-spread delusion believed and +taught by a thousand systems of worship--Jew, Pagan and Christian--that +"religion is of supernatural or divine origin," and the many ruinous +errors; senseless dogmas and deplorable soul-crushing superstitions +so thoroughly inwrought into the Christian system will vanish like fog +before the morning sun, and be replaced by a religion which sensible, +intelligent and scientific men and women can accept, and will delight to +honor and practice. + + + + +ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY. + +FRIENDS and brethren--teachers of the Christian faith: Will you believe +us when we tell you the divine claims of your religion are +gone--all swept away by the "logic of history," and nullified by the +demonstrations of science? + +The recently opened fountains of historic law, many of whose potent +facts will be found interspersed through the pages of this work, sweep +away the last inch of ground on which can be predicated the least show +for either the divine origin of the Christian religion, or the divinity +of Jesus Christ. + +For these facts demonstrate beyond all cavil and criticism, and with +a logical force which can leave not the vestige of a doubt upon any +unbiased mind, that all its doctrines are an outgrowth from older +heathen systems. Several systems of religion essentially the same in +character and spirit as that religion now known as Christianity, and +setting forth the same doctrines, principles and precepts, and several +personages filling a chapter in history almost identical with that of +Jesus Christ, it is now known to those who are up with the discoveries +and intelligence of the age, were venerated in the East centuries before +a religion called Christian, or a personage called Jesus Christ were +known to history. + +Will you not, then, give it up that your religion is merely a human +production, reconstructed from heathen materials--from oriental systems +several thousand years older than yours--or will you continue, in spite +of the unanimous and unalterable verdict of history, science, facts and +logic, to proclaim to the world the now historically demonstrated +error which you have so long preached, that God is the author of your +religion, and Jesus Christ a Deity-begotten Messiah? Though you may have +heretofore honestly believed these doctrines to be true, you can now no +longer plead ignorance as an excuse for propagating such gigantic +and serious errors, as they are now overwhelmingly demonstrated by a +thousand facts of history to be untrue. You must abandon such exalted +claims for your religion, or posterity will mark you as being "blind +leaders of the blind." They will heap upon your honored names their +unmitigated ridicule and condemnation. They will charge you as being +either deplorably ignorant, or disloyal to the cause of truth. And shame +and ignominy will be your portion. + +The following propositions (fatal to your claims for Christianity) are +established beyond confutation by the historical facts cited in this +work, viz:-- + +1. There were many cases of the miraculous birth of Gods reported in +history before the case of Jesus Christ. + +2 Also many other cases of Gods being born of virgin mothers. + +3. Many of these Gods, like Christ, were (reputedly) born on the 25th of +December. + +4. Their advent into the world, like that of Jesus Christ, is in many +cases claimed to have been foretold by "inspired prophets." + +5. Stars figured at the birth of several of them, as in the case of +Christ. + +6. Also angels, shepherds, and magi, or "wise men." + +7. Many of them, like Christ, were claimed to be of royal or princely +descent. + +8. Their lives, like his, were also threatened in infancy by the ruler +of the country. + +9. Several of them, like him, gave early proof of divinity. + +10. And, like him, retired from the world and fasted. + +11. Also, like him, declared, "My kingdom is not of this world." + +12. Some of them preached a spiritual religion, too, like his. + +13. And were "anointed with oil," like him. + +14. Many of them, like him, were "crucified for the sins of the world." + +15. And after three days' interment "rose from the dead." + +16. And, finally, like him, are reported as ascending back to heaven. + +17. The same violent convulsions of nature at the crucifixion of several +are reported. + +18. They were nearly all called "Saviors," "Son of God," "Messiah," +"Redeemer," "Lord," &c. + +19. Each one was the second member of the trinity of "Father, Son and +Holy Ghost." + +20. The doctrines of "Original Sin," "Fall of Man," "The Atonement," +"The Trinity," "The Word," "Forgiveness," "An Angry God," "Future +Endless Punishment," etc., etc. (see the author's "Biography of Satan,") +were a part of the religion of each of these sin-atoning Gods, as +found set forth in several oriental bibles and "holy books," similar in +character and spirit to the Christian's bible, and written, like it, +by "inspired and holy men" before the time of either Christ or Moses +(before Moses, in some cases, at least). All these doctrines and +declarations, and many others not here enumerated, the historical +citations of this work abundantly prove, were taught in various +oriental heathen nations centuries before the birth of Christ, or before +Christianity, as a religion, was known in the world. + +Will you, then, after learning these facts, longer dare assert that +Christianity is of divine emanation, or claim a special divine paternity +for its author. Only the priest, who loves his _salary_ more than +the cause of _truth_ (and I fear this class are numerous,) or who is +deplorably ignorant of history, will have the effrontery or audacity to +do so. For the historical facts herein set forth as clearly prove such +assumptions to be false, as figures can demonstrate the truth of any +mathematical problem. And no logic can overthrow, and no sophistry can +set aside these facts. + +They will stand till the end of time in spite of your efforts either to +evade, ignore, or invalidate them. + +We will here briefly state:-- + + +WHY ALL THE ANCIENT RELIGIONS WERE ALIKE. + +Two causes are obviously assignable for Christianity in all its +essential features and phases, being so strikingly similar to the +ancient pagan systems which preceded it, as also the close analogies of +all the principal systems, whose doctrines and practical teachings have +found a place on the pages of history. + +1. The primary and constituent elements and properties of human nature +being essentially the same in all countries and all centuries, and the +feeling called Religion being a spontaneous outgrowth of the devotional +elements of the human mind, the coincidence would naturally produce +similar feelings, similar thoughts, similar views and similar doctrines +on the subject of religion in different countries, however widely +separated. This accounts in part for the analogous features observable +in all the primary systems of religious faith, which have flourished in +the past ages. + +2. A more potent cause, however, for the proximate identity extending +to such an elaborate detail, as is evinced by the foregoing schedule, +is found in the historical incident which brought the disciples of the +various systems of worship together, face to face, in the then grand +religious emporium of the world--the royal and renowned city of +Alexandria, the capital of Egypt Here, drawn together by various motives +and influences, the devotee of India (the devout disciple of +Buddhism), the ever-prayerful worshipper of "Mithra, the Mediator," the +representatives of the crucified Quexalcoate of Mexico, the self-denying +Essene, the superstitious Egyptian, the godly Chaldean, the imitative +Judean founders of Christianity, and the disciples of other sin-atoning +Gods, met and interchanged ideas, discussed their various dogmas, +remolded their doctrines, and recast and rehabilitated their systems +of religious faith by borrowing from each other, and from other systems +there represented. In this way all became remarkably similar and alike +in all their doctrines and details. And thus the mystery is solved, +and the singular resemblance of all the ancient systems of religion +satisfactorily accounted for. (For a fuller explanation of this matter, +see Chapters XXX. and XXXI. of this work.) + +In conclusion, please note the following points:-- + +1. The religious conceptions of the Old Testament are as easily traced +to heathen sources as those of the New Testament. But we are compelled +to exclude such an exposition from this work. + +2. The comparative exhibition of the doctrines and teachings of twenty +bibles which proves them to be in their leading features essentially +alike (originally designed for this volume), is found to be, when +completed, of sufficient magnitude to constitute a volume of itself. + +3. Here I desire to impress upon the minds of my clerical brethren the +important fact, that the gospel histories of Christ were written by men +who had formerly been Jews (see Acts xxi. 20), and probably possessing +the strong proclivity to imitate and borrow which their bible shows +was characteristic of that nation; and being written many years after +Christ's death, according to that standard Christian author, Dr. +Lardner, it was impossible, under such circumstances, for them to +separate (if they had desired to) the real facts and events of his life +from the innumerable fictions and fables then afloat everywhere relative +to the heathen Gods who had pre-enacted a similar history. Two reasons +are thus furnished for their constructing a history of Christ almost +identical with that of other Gods, as shown in chapters XXX., XXXI. and +XXXII. of this work. + +4. The singular and senseless defense of your now tottering system +we have known to be attempted by members of your order, by the +self-complacent soliloquy "Christianity, whether divine or human, is +good enough for me." But such a subterfuge betrays both a weak mind +and a weak cause. The disciples of all the oriental systems cherished +a similar feeling and a similar sentiment. And the deluded followers +of Brigham Young exclaimed in like manner, "I want nothing better than +Mormonism." "Snakes, lizards and frogs are good enough for me," a South +Sea Islander once exclaimed to a missionary, when a reform diet was +proposed. Such logic, if universally adopted, would keep the world +eternally in barbarism. No progress can be made where such sentiments +prevail. The truth is, no system of religion, whatever its ostensible +marks of perfection, can long remain "good enough" for aspiring +and progressive minds, unless occasionally improved, like other +institutions. And then it should be borne in mind, that our controversy +does not appertain so much to the character as to the origin of the +Christian religion. Our many incontrovertible proofs, that it is +of human and heathen origin, proves at the same time that it is an +imperfect system, and as such, needing occasional improvement, like +other institutions. And its assumed perfection and divine origin which +have always guarded it from improvement, amply accounts for its present +corrupt, immoral, declining and dying condition. And it will ere long +die with paralysis, unless its assumption of divine perfection is soon +exchanged for the principles of improvement and reconstruction. This +policy alone can save it. + +5. We will here notice another feeble, futile and foolish expedient we +have known resorted to by persons of your order to save your sinking +cause when the evidence is presented with such cogency as to admit of no +disproof, that all the important doctrines of Christianity were taught +by older heathen systems before the era of Christ The plea is, that +those systems were mere types, or ante-types, of the Christian religion. +But this plea is of itself a borrowed subterfuge of heathenism, and is +moreover devoid of evidence. The ancient Egyptians, also the Greeks, +claimed that Brahminism was a type, or ante-type, of their religious +systems. And Mahomedans now claim that both Judaism and Christianity +were designed by God as foreshadowing types of religion of the Koran. +And the disciples of more than a thousand systems of religion which have +flourished in past ages, could have made such logic equally available in +showing, in each case, that every system preceding theirs was designed +by Infinite Wisdom as simply a typical or ante-typical forerunner of +theirs. How ridiculous and senseless, therefore, is the argument thus +shown to be when critically examined in the light of history! So much so +as scarcely to merit a serious notice. + +6. Here permit us to say that we believe Christianity to be not only +of human origin, but of natural origin also; I that is, a natural +outgrowth, like other systems, of the religious elements of the human +mind--a hypothesis which accounts most beautifully for the numerous +human imperfections now visible in nearly every line of its teachings. + +Those imperfections correspond exactly to the imperfect minds which +produced it. + +7. And we believe that the principle teacher of Christianity, "the man +Christ Jesus," possessed a very exalted and superior mind for that age +in the moral and religious departments, and in the intellectual to some +extent also. But his superiority in these respects was not probably +greater than that of Zera Colburn or Henry Salford in the mathematical +department. And all probably derived their peculiar extraordinary traits +of mind from the same causes--that of strong psychological influence +impressed upon the mind of the mothers prior to their births. Had these +ante-natal influences been as well understood then as now, we presume +Christ would have escaped the fate of an exaltation to the Godhead. + + [The author, stating the above, demonstrates that same + assumption of a _truth_ which he criticises in the + Christians, Mohamedens and other proponents of religions. + _Ed._] + +8. In conclusion, permit us to say that the numerous and overwhelming +facts of this work render it utterly impossible that the exalted claims +you put forth for your religion and its assumed author (that of a divine +character) can be true. And posterity will so decide, whether you do or +not. + +Cherishing for you naught but feelings of kindness and brotherly love, +and desiring to promote the truth, we will answer any question, or +discuss any proposition embraced in this work you may desire. + +Your brother, + +Kersey Graves. + + + + +THE WORLD'S SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. RIVAL CLAIMS OF THE SAVIORS + +IT is claimed by the disciples of Jesus Christ, that he was of +supernatural and divine origin; that he had a human being for a mother, +and a God for his father; that, although he was woman-conceived, he +was Deity-begotten, and molded in the human form, but comprehending in +essence a full measure of the infinite Godhead; thus making him half +human and half divine in his sublunary origin. It is claimed that he was +full and perfect God, and perfect man; and while he was God, he was also +the son of God, and as such was sent down by his father to save a fallen +and guilty world; and that thus his mission pertained to the whole human +race; and his inspired seers are made to declare that ultimately every +nation, tongue, kindred, and people under heaven will acknowledge +allegiance to his government, and concede his right to reign and rule +the world; that "every knee must bow, and every tongue confess that +Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." + +But we do not find that this prophecy has ever been or is likely to be +fulfilled. We do not observe that this claim to the infinite deityship +of Jesus Christ has been or is likely to be universally conceded. On +the contrary, it is found that by a portion, and a large portion of the +people of even those nations now called Christian, this claim has +been steadily and unswervingly controverted, through the whole line of +history, stretching through the nearly two thousand years which have +elapsed since his advent to earth. + +Even some of those who are represented to have been personally +acquainted with him--aye! some of his own brethren in the flesh, +children in the same household, children of the same mother--had the +temerity to question the tenableness of his claim to a divine emanation. +And when we extend our researches to other countries, we find this +claim, so far from being conceded, is denied and contested by whole +nations upon other grounds. It is met and confronted by rival claims. + +Upon this ground hundreds of millions of the established believers +in divine revelation--hundreds of millions of believers in the divine +character and origin of religion--eject the pretentions set up for Jesus +Christ. They admit both a God and a Savior, but do not accept Jesus of +Nazareth as being either. They admit a Messiah, but not the Messiah; +these nations contend that the title is misplaced which makes "the man +Christ Jesus" the Savior of the world. They claim to have been honored +with the birth of the true Savior among them, and defend this claim +upon the ground of priority of date. They aver that the advent of their +Messiahs were long prior to that of the Christians', and that this +circumstance adjudicates for them a superiority of claim as to having +had the true Messiah born upon their soil. + +It is argued that, as the story of the incarnation of the Christians' +Savior is of more recent date than that of these oriental and ancient +religions (as is conceded by Christians themselves), the origin of the +former is thus indicated and foreshadowed as being an outgrowth from, +if not a plagiarism upon the latter--a borrowed copy, of which the pagan +stories furnish the original. Here, then, we observe a rivalship of +claims, as to which of the remarkable personages who have figured in +the world as Saviors, Messiahs, and Sons of God, in different ages and +different countries, can be considered the true Savior and "sent of God" +or whether all should be, or the claims of all rejected. + +For researches into oriental history reveal the remarkable fact that +stories of incarnate Gods answering to and resembling the miraculous +character of Jesus Christ have been prevalent in most if not all the +principal religious heathen nations of antiquity; and the accounts and +narrations of some of these deific incarnations bear such a striking +resemblance to that of the Christian Savior--not only in their general +features, but in some cases in the most minute details, from the legend +of the immaculate conception to that of the crucifixion, and subsequent +ascension into heaven--that one might almost be mistaken for the other. + +More than twenty claims of this kind--claims of beings invested with +divine honor (deified)--have come forward and presented themselves at +the bar of the world with their credentials, to contest the verdict of +Christendom, in having proclaimed Jesus Christ, "the only son, and sent +of God:" twenty Messiahs, Saviors, and Sons of God, according to history +or tradition, have, in past times, descended from heaven, and taken upon +themselves the form of men, clothing themselves with human flesh, +and furnishing incontestable evidence of a divine origin, by various +miracles, marvelous works, and superlative virtues; and finally these +twenty Jesus Christs (accepting their character for the name) laid the +foundation for the salvation of the world, and ascended back to heaven. + +1. Chrishna of Hindostan. + +2. Budha Sakia of India. + +3. Salivahana of Bermuda. + +4. Zulis, or Zhule, also Osiris and Orus, of Egypt. + +5. Odin of the Scandinavians. + +6. Crite of Chaldea. + +7. Zoroaster and Mithra of Persia. + +8. Baal and Taut, "the only Begotten of God," of Phenicia. + +9. Indra of Thibet. + +10. Bali of Afghanistan. + +11. Jao of Nepaul. + +12. Wittoba of the Bilingonese. + +13. Thammuz of Syria. + +14. Atys of Phrygia. + +15. Xamolxis of Thrace. + +16. Zoar of the Bonzes. + +17. Adad of Assyria. + +18. Deva Tat, and Sammonocadam of Siam. + +19. Alcides of Thebes. + +20. Mikado of the Sintoos. + +21. Beddru of Japan. + +22 Hesus or Eros, and Bremrillah, of the Druids. + +23. Thor, son of Odin, of the Gauls. + +24. Cadmus of Greece. + +25. Hil and Feta of the Mandaites. + +26. Gentaut and Quexalcote of Mexico. + +27. Universal Monarch of the Sibyls. + +28. Ischy of the Island of Formosa. + +29. Divine Teacher of Plato. + +30. Holy One of Xaca. + +31. Fohi and Tien of China. + +32. Adonis, son of the virgin Io of Greece. + +33. Ixion and Quirinus of Rome. + +34. Prometheus of Caucasus. + +35. Mohamud, or Mahomet, of Arabia. + +These have all received divine honors, have nearly all been worshiped +as Gods, or sons of God; were mostly incarnated as Christs, Saviors, +Messiahs, or Mediators; not a few of them were reputedly born of +virgins; some of them filling a character almost identical with that +ascribed by the Christian's bible to Jesus Christ; many of them, +like him, are reported to have been crucified; and all of them, taken +together, furnish a prototype and parallel for nearly every important +incident and wonder-inciting miracle, doctrine and precept recorded +in the New Testament, of the Christian's Savior. Surely, with so many +Saviors the world cannot, or should not, be lost. + +We have now presented before us a two-fold ground for doubting and +disputing the claims put forth by the Christian world in behalf of "Our +Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." In the first place, allowing the question +to be answered in the affirmative as to whether he was really a Savior, +or supernatural being, or more than a mere man, a negative answer to +which seems to have been sprung (as previously intimated) at the very +hour of his birth, and that by his kindred, his own nearest relatives; +as it is declared, "his own brethren did not believe on him"--a +skepticism which has been growing deeper and broader from that day to +this. + +And now, upon the heel of this question, we find another formidable +query to be met and answered, viz.: Was he (Christ) the only Savior, +seeing that a multitude of similar claims are now upon our council-board +to be disposed of? + +We shall, however, leave the theologians of the various religious +schools to adjust and settle this difficulty among themselves. We shall +leave them to settle the question as best they can as to whether Jesus +Christ was the only son and sent of God--"the only begotten of the +Father," as John declares him to be (John i. 14)--in view of the fact +that long prior to his time various personages, in different nations, +were invested with the title "Son of God," and have left behind them +similar proofs and credentials of the justness of their claims to such +a title, if being essentially alike--as we shall prove and demonstrate +them to be--can make their claims similar. + +We shall present an array of facts and historical proofs, drawn from +numerous histories and the Holy Scriptures and bibles appertaining to +these various Saviors, and which include a history of their lives +and doctrines, that will go to show that in nearly all their leading +features, and mostly even in their details, they are strikingly similar. + +A comparison, or parallel view, extended through their sacred histories, +so as to include an exhibition presented in parallels of the teachings +of their respective bibles, would make it clearly manifest that, with +respect to nearly every important thought, deed, word, action, doctrine, +principle, precept, tenet, ritual, ordinance or ceremony, and even +the various important characters or personages, who figure in their +religious dramas as Saviors, prophets, apostles, angels, devils, demons, +exalted or fallen genii--in a word, nearly every miraculous or marvelous +story, moral precept, or tenet of religious faith, noticed in either +the Old or New Testament Scriptures of Christendom--from the Jewish +cosmogony, or story of creation in Genesis, to the last legendary tale +in St. John's "Arabian Nights" (alias the Apocalypse)--there is to be +found an antitype for, or outline of, somewhere in the sacred records +or bibles of the oriental heathen nations, making equal if not higher +pretention to a divine emanation and divine inspiration, and admitted by +all historians, even the most orthodox, to be of much more ancient date; +for while Christians only claim, for the earthly advent of their Savior +and the birth of their religion, a period less than nineteen hundred +years in the past, on the contrary, most of the deific or divine +incarnations of the heathen and their respective religions are, by the +concurrent and united verdict of all history, assigned a date several +hundred or several thousand years earlier, thus leaving the inference +patent that so far as there has been any borrowing or transfer of +materials from one system to another, Christianity has been the +borrower. + +And as nearly the whole outline and constituent parts of the Christian +system are found scattered through these older systems, the query is at +once sprung as to whether Christianity did not derive its materials +from these sources--that is, from heathenism, instead of from high +heaven--as it claims. + + + + +CHAPTER II. MESSIANIC PROPHECIES + +NEARLY all religious history is prophetic of the coming of Saviors, +Messiahs, Redeemers, and virgin-born Gods. Most religious countries, and +more than a score of religious systems, had a standing prophecy that a +divine deliverer would descend from heaven and relieve them from their +depressed state, and ameliorate their condition. And in most cases that +prophecy was believed to have been fulfilled by the birth of a being, +who, as he approached the goal of moral and intellectual manhood +exhibited such remarkable proof of superiority of mind as to be readily +accepted as the promised Messiah. + +We can only find room for a few citations and illustrations in proof +of this statement. Many texts have been hunted out and marked in the +Christian bible, by interested priests, as prophetic of the coming and +mission of Christ. But a thorough, candid, and impartial investigation +will convince any reader that _none of these texts_ have the remotest +allusion to Christ, nor were they intended to have. On the contrary, +most of them refer to events already past. The others are the +mere ebullitions of pent-up feelings hopefully prayerful in their +anticipation of better times, but very indefinite as to the period and +the agencies or means in which, or by which, the desired reformation was +to be brought about. A divine man was prayed for and hopefully expected. +But no such being as Jesus Christ is anticipated, or alluded to, or +dreamed of, by the prophecies. And it requires the most unwarrantable +distortion to make one text refer to him. + +But this perversion has been wrought on many texts. We will cite one +case in proof. In Isaiah's "famous prophecy" so-called, the phrase "Unto +us a child is born" (Isa. ix. 6), the context clearly shows, refers to +the prophet's own child, and the past tense, "is born," is an evidence +the child was then born. And the title "Mighty God," found in the text, +Dr. Beard shows should have been translated "the Mighty Hero," thus +proving it has no reference to a God. And "the Everlasting Father" +should have been rendered, according to this Christian writer, "the +Father of the Everlasting Age." And other texts often quoted as +prophecies by biased Christian writers, the doctor proves, are +erroneously translated, and have no more reference to Christ than to +Mahomet. + +It is true the Jews, in common with other nations, cherished strong +anticipations of the arrival of a Mighty Deliverer amongst them; and +this august personage some of them supposed would be a God, or a God-man +(a demi-God). Hence, such prophetic utterances as "Behold, a king shall +reign in righteousness" (Isa. xxxii. i), "And all nations shall flow +unto Zion" (Isa. ii. 2). + +The Hindoo Budhists long previously indulged similar anticipations with +respect to the triumph of their religion. Hence, their seers prophesied +that at the end of the Cali Yug period, a divine child (Avatar, or +Savior) would be born, who would understand the divine writings (the +Holy Scriptures) and the sciences, without the labor of learning them. +"He will supremely understand all things." "He will relieve the earth of +sin, and cause justice and truth to reign everywhere. And will bring the +whole earth into the acceptance of the Hindoo religion." And the Hindoo +prophet Bala also predicted that a divine Savior would "become incarnate +in the house of Yadu, and issue forth to mortal birth from the womb of +Devaci (a Holy Virgin), and relieve the oppressed earth of its load of +sin and sorrow." Much more similar language may be found in their holy +bible, the Vedas. Colonel Wilford tells us the advent of their Savior +Chrishna occurred in exact fulfillment of prophecy found in their sacred +books. + +And the Chinese bible also contains a number of Messianic prophecies. +In one of the five volumes a prophecy runs thus: "The Holy one, when he +comes, will unite in himself all the virtues of heaven and earth. By his +justice the world will be established in righteousness. He will labor +and suffer much,.... and will finally offer up a sacrifice worthy of +himself," i. e., worthy of a God. And a singular animal, called the +Kilin (signifying the Lamb of God), was seen in the yard, with a stone +in its mouth, on which was inscribed a prophecy of the event. And when +the young God (Chang-ti) was born, in fulfillment of this prophecy, +heavenly music, and angels and shepherds attended the scene. (See +"History of China," by Martinus; also Halde's "History of China.") + +We will also give place to a Messianic prophecy of Persia. Mr. Faber, +an English writer, in his "History of Idolatry," tells us that Zoroaster +prophetically declared, that "A virgin should conceive and bear a son, +and a star would appear blazing at midday to signalize the occurrence." +"When you behold the star," said he to his followers, "follow it +whithersoever it leads you. Adore the mysterious child, offering him +gifts with profound humility. He is indeed the Almighty Word which +created the heavens. He is indeed your Lord and everlasting Ring" +(Faber, vol. ii. p. 92). Abulfaragius, in his "Historia Dynastarium," +and Maurice, in his "Indian Skeptics Refuted," both speak of this +prophecy, fulfilled, according to Mr. Higgins, by the advent of the +Persian and Chaldean God Josa. And Chalcidus (of the second century), in +his "Comments on the Times of Plato," speaks of "a star which presaged +neither disease nor death, but the descent of a God amongst men, and +which is attested by Chaldean astronomers, who immediately hastened to +adore the newborn deity, and present him gifts." + +We are compelled to omit, for the want of room, the notice of numerous +Messianic prophecies found in the sacred writings of Egypt, Greece, +Rome, Mexico, Arabia, and other countries, all of which tend to show +that the same prophetic spirit pervaded all religious countries, +reliable only to the extent it might have issued from an interior +spiritual vision, or have been illuminated by departed spirits. And we +find as much evidence that these pagan prophecies were inspired, and +also fulfilled, as those found in Jew-Christian bible, thus reducing all +to a common level. The possibility of the interior vision being expanded +and illuminated by spiritual beings, so as to enable the possessor to +forestall the occurrence of future events, we, however, by no means +deny, since we have abundant proof of it in connection with the +practical history of modern spiritualism. (See Chapter XXXIV., section +2). + + + + +CHAPTER III. PROPHECIES BY THE FIGURE OF A SERPENT + +The Seed of the Woman Bruising the Serpent's Head. + +"AND I will put emnity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed +and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his +heel." (Gen. ill. 15.) This text is often cited by Christian writers and +controversialists as prefiguring the mission of the Christian Savior, +viz., the destruction of the serpent, alias the devil. St. John calls +"the grand adversary of souls which deceiveth the whole world," "the +dragon, the serpent, the devil, and Satan." (Rev. xii. 8.) The serpent, +then, is the devil; that is, the dragon, the serpent, the devil and +Satan are all one. The object of this chapter is to show the origin of +the singular figure set forth in the first text quoted, and to prove +that those Christian writers who assume it to be a revelation from +heaven were profoundly ignorant of oriental history, as the same figure +is found in several heathen systems of older date, as we will now cite +the facts to prove. + +Some of the saviors or demigods of Egypt, India, Greece, Persia, Mexico +and Etruria are represented as performing the same drama with the +serpent or devil. "Osiris of Egypt (says Mr. Bryant) bruised the head +of the serpent after it had bitten his heel." Descending to Greece, Mr. +Faber relates that, "on the spheres Hercules is represented in the act +of contending with the serpent, the head of which is placed under his +foot; and this serpent guarded the tree with golden fruit in the midst +of the garden Hesperides"--Eden. (Origin of Idolatry, vol. i. p. 443.) +"And we may observe," says this author, "the same tradition in the +Phoenician fable of Ophion or Ophiones." (Ibid.) In Genesis the serpent +is the subject of two legends. But here it will be observed that they +are both couched in one. + +Again, it is related by more than one oriental writer that Chrishna of +India is represented on some very ancient sculptures and stone monuments +with his heel on the head of a serpent. Mr. Maurice, in his Indian +Antiquities, vol. ii., speaks of "Chrishna crushing the head of a +serpent with his foot," and pronounces the striking similarity of this +story with that found in the Christian bible as "very mysterious." +Another author tells us "The image of Chrishna is sculptured in the +ancient temples of India, sometimes wreathed in the folds of a serpent +which is biting his foot, and sometimes treading victoriously on +the head of a serpent." (Prog. Rel. Ideas, vol. i.) In the Mexican +Antiquities, vol. vi., we are told, "A messenger from heaven announced +to the first woman created (Suchiquecul), that she should bear a son who +should bruise the serpent's head, and then presented her with a rose." +Here is the origin of the Genesis legend, the rose being the fruit of +the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil." "The ancient Persians," +says Volney, in his "Ruin of Empires," p. 169, "had the tradition of a +virgin, from whom they predicted would be born, or would spring up, a +shoot (a son) that would crush the serpent's head, and thus deliver the +world from sin." And both the serpent and the virgin, he tells us, +are represented imaginarily in the heavens, and pictured on their +astronomical globes and spheres, as on those of the Romish Christian. +(See Burritt's Geography of the Heavens.) + +In the ancient Etrurian story, instead of "the seed of the woman" (the +virgin), it is the woman herself who is represented as standing with one +foot on the head of a serpent, which has the twig of an apple tree in +its mouth to which an apple is suspended (the forbidden fruit), while +its tail is twisted around a celestial globe, thus reminding us of St. +John's dragon hauling down one-third of the stars with his tail. (See +Rev. xii. 4.) In the ancient celestial diagram of the Etrurian, the head +of the virgin is surmounted with a crown of stars--doubtless the same +legend from which St. John borrowed his metaphor of a "a woman with +a crown of twelve stars on her head." (Rev. xiii.) "The _Regina +Stellarum_" (Queen of the Stars), spoken of in some of the ancient +systems appertains to the same fable. Also the tradition of Achilles +of Greece being invulnerable in the heel, as related by Homer. The last +clause of the first text quoted reads "_It_ shall bruise thy head"--a +very curious prophetic reference to the savior of the world, if the text +refers to him, to represent him as being of the neuter gender, for the +neuter pronoun _it_ always refers to a thing without sex. + +In the further exposition of the serpent tradition, we are now brought +to notice, and will trace to its origin, the story of the original +transgression and fall of man--two cardinal doctrines of the Christian +religion. Like every other tenet of the Christian faith, we find these +doctrines taught in heathen systems much older than Christianity, and +whose antiquity antedates even the birth of Moses. We will first notice +the Persian tradition. "According to the doctrine of the Persians," says +the Rev. J. C. Pitrat, "Meshia and Meshiane, the first man and first +woman, were pure, and submitted to Ormuzd, their maker. But Ahriman (the +evil one) saw them, and envied them their happiness. He approached them +under the form of a serpent, presented fruits to them, and persuaded +them that he was the maker of man, of animals, of plants, and of the +beautiful universe in which they dwelt. They believed it. Since that +time Ahriman was their master. Their natures became corrupt, and this +corruption infested their whole posterity." This story is taken from the +Vandidatsade of the Persians, pp. 305 and 428. + +The Indian or Hindoo story is furnished us by the Rev. Father Bouchat, +in a letter to the bishops of Avranches, and runs thus: "Our Hindoos say +the Gods tried by all means to obtain immortality. After many inquiries +and trials, they conceived the idea that they would find it in the tree +of life, which is the Chorcan (paradise). In fact they succeeded, and +by eating once in a while of the fruits of that tree, they kept the +precious treasure they so much valued. A famous snake, named Cheiden, +saw that the tree of life had been found by the Gods of the second +order. As probably he had been intrusted with guarding that tree, +he became so angry because his vigilance had been deceived, that he +immediately poured out an enormous quantity of poison, which spread over +the whole earth." How much like this story is the story of St. John, +"And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman +that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood!" (Rev. xii. +15.) + +The idea of a snake or serpent inundating the earth from its mouth, as +taught in both stories is so novel, and so far removed from the sphere +of natural causes and possible events, that we are compelled to the +conclusion that one is borrowed from the other, or both from a common +original. + +And as facts cited in other chapters prove beyond dispute that the +Hindoo system, containing this story, extends in antiquity far beyond +the time of Moses, the question is thus settled as to which system +borrowed the story from the other. + +Before closing the chapter, we wish to call the attention of the reader +to the important fact that three out of four of the cardinal doctrines +of the Christian faith are taught in the two heathen mythological +stories of creation just presented, viz.:-- + +1. Original sin. + +2. The fall of man caused by a serpent + +3. The consequent corruption and depravity of the human race. + +These doctrines, then, it must be admitted, are of heathen origin, and +not, as Christians claim, "important truths revealed from heaven." For +a historical exposition of the other cardinal doctrine of the Christian +faith, viz., man's restoration by the atonement achieved through the +crucifixion of a God, see Chapters xvi. and xxi. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. MIRACULOUS AND IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE GODS + +THE ancients very naturally concluded that an offspring of God (a son +of God) should have a purer, higher and holier maternal origin than is +incident to the lot of mortals, and this was to constitute one of the +evidences of his emanation from the Deity--that is, of his supernatural +or divine origin. He, as a matter of course, must not only have +a different origin, but one in the highest degree superior and +supernatural. He must not only be able to claim the highest _paternal_ +origin, but the highest _maternal_ also. And on the part of the mother, +a sexual connection with the great Potentate of heaven would evince for +her offspring the very acme of superiority with respect to his origin, +moral perfection and authority. That the Savior was born of a woman +could not possibly be made a matter of concealment. But his paternal +parentage was not so obvious and apparent to general observation, being +cognizant alone to the mother. This circumstance furnished the most +propititious opportunity to concoct the story that "The Most High" had +condescended and descended to become both a father and a grandfather to +a human being, or a being apparently human at least. + +We say grandfather, because, if God (as the Christian bible itself +frequently asserts, both directly and by implication) is father of the +whole human family, then he was father to the maternal parent; so that +her son, though deriving existence from him, would be his grandson as +well as his son. Hence the corollary, _Jesus Christ was a grandson +of God as well as a son of God_, and Jehovah both his father and +grandfather. + +Again, to make the origin and character of the God and Savior stand +higher for purity, and partake in the highest degree of the miraculous, +the impression must go abroad that he was born of a woman _while she was +yet a maiden_--i. e., before she was contaminated by illicit association +with the masculine sex. Hence, nearly all the saviors were reputedly +born of virgins. And the process of birth, too, was out of the line of +natural causes, in order to invest the character of the savior with the +_ne plus ultra_ of the miraculous. + +And hence it is related of Jesus Christ (in an Apocryphal Gospel), of +Chrishna of India, and other saviors, that they were born through the +mother's side. + +It is true our present canonical gospels are silent as to the manner +of Christ's birth; but one of the Apocryphal gospels, which gives the +matter in fuller detail, and whose authority in the earlier ages of the +Christian church was not disputed, declares that the manner of his birth +was as related above. And, besides, some of the early Christian fathers +fully indorsed the story. The same is related in the pagan bibles of +heathen Gods. The motives which originated the reports of the immaculate +conception of the Saviors, it may be further remarked, were of a +two-fold character:-- + +1. To establish their spotless origin (as the word immaculate means +spotless.) + +2. To make it appear that there was a Deific power and agency concerned +in their conception. + +And we may observe here that it is not the Saviors alone who are +reported to have been ushered into tangible existence without a human +father, but it is declared of beings known and acknowledged to be men, +as Plato, Pythagoras, Alexander, Augustus and a number of others. Of +Plato an author remarks, "He was born of Paretonia, and begotten of +Apollo, and not Ariston, his father." Both the manner, or process, +and the source of the influence by which the Gods and Saviors were +generated, seem to have been different in different countries, though +the idea of "overshadowing with the Holy Ghost" seems to have been most +current. Mr. Higgins says that "the Supreme First Cause was generally +believe to overshadow, or in some other mysterious manner to impregnate, +the mother of the God, or personage" (vol. i. 378). We are told that +Pythais, the mother of Pythagoras, five hundred and fifty years B. C., +conceived by a spectre or ghost (of course the Holy Ghost) of the God +Apollo, or God Sol. + +In Malcolm's "History of Persia" (vol. i. 494) the author tells us that +"Zoroaster was born of an immaculate conception by a ray from the Divine +Reason." The immaculate conception of Juno of Greece is thus described +by the poet:-- + + "Juno touched the flower; + Its wondrous virtues such, + She touched it, and grew pregnant at the touch; + Then entered Thrace--the Propontic shore; + When mistress of her touch, + God Mars she bore." + +This case may certainly be set down as the _ne plus ultra_ of etiquette +with respect to sexual commerce or purity of conception. The sweet odor +of an expanded flower, we are here taught, is adequate to the conception +and production of a God. Here we have "the immaculate conception" in the +superlative degree, and while much more beautiful and grand it cannot be +more senseless or unreasonable than the conception by a ghost. It proves +at least that the doctrine of the immaculate conception is of very +ancient date. And this fastidious maiden lady and immaculate virgin, +Juno, not only conceived the God Mars by the touch of a flower, but she +also (so the story reads) conceived Vulcan by being overshadowed by the +wind--exactly a parallel case with that of the virgin Mary, as we find +that ghost, in the original, means wind. Thus we observe that Vulcan, +long before Jesus Christ, was "born of the Holy Ghost," i. e., both were +conceived by the "Holy Wind." And the author of the "Perennial Calendar" +speaks of the miraculous conception of Juno Jugulis, "the blessed virgin +queen of heaven," and describes it as falling on the second of February, +the very day which the early Christians celebrated with a festival, as +being the date of the conception of the "ever Blessed Virgin Mary." + +Of the ancient Mexicans, it is said "they had the immaculate conception, +the crucifixion, and the resurrection after three days." (Mex. Antiq., +vol. i.) And in an ancient work called "Codex Vaticanus," the immaculate +conception is spoken of as a part of the history of Quexalcote, the +Mexican Savior. "Suchiquecal," says the Mexican Antiquities, "was called +the Queen of Heaven. She conceived a son without connection with a +man"--a very obvious case of immaculate conception. + +Alvarez Semedo, in his "History of China," page 89, speaks of a sect in +that country who worshiped a Savior known as Xaca, who was reputedly +conceived of his mother, Maia, by a white elephant, which she saw in her +sleep, and "for greater purity, she brought him forth from one of +her sides." Colonel Tod, of England, tells us in his "History of the +Rajahs," page 57, that Yu, the first Chinese monarch, was conceived by +his mother being struck with a star while traveling. + +In the case of Christ, it will be recollected, the star did not appear +till after his birth. But here the star is the author and agent of the +conception. + +According to Ranking's "History of the Moguls," page 178, Tamerlane's +mother (of Bermuda) professedly conceived by having had sexual +intercourse with "the God of Day." The mother of Ghengis Khan, of +Tartary, "being too modest to claim that she was the mother of the son +of God, said only that he was the _son of the sun_." (History of Mogul, +page 65.) + +Both Julis and Osiris of Egypt are spoken of by some authors as having +been honored with a divine immaculate conception--the former being +the son of the beautiful virgin Cronis Celestine, and "begotten by the +Father of all Gods." + +Both Budha and Chrishna, of India, are reported as having been +immaculately conceived. The mother of the latter (God) was (as the +Hindoo Holy Book declares) overshadowed by the Supreme God, Brahma, +while the spirit-author of the conception (that is, the Holy Ghost) was +Naraan. The mother of Apollonius of Cappadocia, who was cotemporary +with Jesus Christ (according to his history by Philostratus)--and his +(Apollonius') disciple Damis testifies to the same effect gave birth +to this God and rival Savior of Jesus Christ, by having been previously +"overshadowed" by the supreme God Proteus. For the corporeal existence +and earthly career of Augustus Caesar, the world has ostensibly to +acknowledge itself indebted to the "overshadowing" influence and +generating power of Jove, by whose divine influence he was immaculously +conceived in the temple of Apollo, according to the statement of Nimrod, +his biographer. The virgin mother Shing-Mon of China furnishes another +case of immaculate conception. Possessing a sensibility too lofty and +too refined to descend to the ordinary routine of the world, she gave +birth to the God Yu from previous conception by a water lily. This +case, with respect to the degree of procreative delicacy and refinement +evinced, may be classed with that of Juno of Greece. Here it may be +noted as a curious circumstance, that several of the virgin mothers +of Gods and great men are specifically represented as going ten months +between conception and delivery. The mothers of Hercules, Sakia, +Guatama, Scipio, Arion, Solomon and Jesus Christ may be mentioned as +samples of this character. This tradition probably grew out of the +established belief in the ten sacred cycles which constitute the great +prospective and portentous millennial epoch, as described in Chapter +XXX. Arion, mentioned above, is represented as being both miraculously +and immaculously conceived by the Gods in the citadel of Byrsa. + +In view of the foregoing facts, drawn from accredited histories, +the reader will readily concede that the tradition of the miraculous +conceptions of Gods (sons of God), Saviors and Messiahs was very +prevalent in the world at a very ancient period of time, and long before +the mother of Jesus was "overshadowed by the Most High." Indeed, says +Mr. Higgins, "the belief in the immaculate conception extended to +every nation in the world." And Grote, referring to Greece, makes the +remarkable declaration, that "the furtive pregnancy of young women, +often by a God, is one of the most frequently recurring incidents in +the legendary narratives of the country." And we find that both the +prevalency and great antiquity of the doctrine of the immaculate +conception among the heathen is conceded by Christian writers themselves +(of former ages) in their attempts to find arguments and commendatory +precedents to justify their own belief in the doctrine. For proof of +this, we need only cite the Christian writer Mr. Bailey, who remarks, +"What I have said of St. Augustine is applicable also to Origen +and Lactanius, who have endeavored to persuade us of the immaculate +virginity of the mother of Jesus Christ by the example of similar events +stored by the heathen." Here we have several Christian authorities cited +by another writer, also a Christian, for placing the doctrine of the +immaculate conception among the heathen legends in ages long anterior to +Christ. + +With respect to the degree of credence to be attached to the story +of the immaculate conception of the mother of Jesus, it need only be +observed that there was no other person concerned in the transaction but +herself who could possess positive, absolute knowledge of the parentage. +And she, let it be noted, settles the matter forever, by virtually +affirming that Joseph was his father in the declaration addressed to +Jesus when she found him in the temple, "_I and thy father_ have sought +thee sorrowing." (Luke ii. 48.) No one will dispute that the father here +spoken of was Joseph, which amounts to a positive declaration by the +mother, that Joseph was Jesus' father. + + +IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF THE CHRISTIAN SAVIOR. + +The following considerations exhibit some of the numerous absurdities +involved in the story of the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ. + +1. The evangelical narratives show that Christ himself did not claim to +have a miraculous birth. He did not once allude to such an event; while +if, as Christians claim, it is the principal evidence of his deityship, +he certainly would have done so. + +2. His paternal genealogy, as made out by Matthew and Luke, completely +disproves the story of his miraculous conception by a virgin. For they +both trace his lineage through Joseph, which they could not do only on +the assumption that Joseph was his father. This, of course, disproves +his sireship by the Holy Ghost, ergo, the miraculous conception. It +is the lineage and parentage of Joseph, and not Mary, that is given +in tracing back his ancestry to the royal household--a fact which +completely overthrows the story of his miraculous birth. + +3. And the fact that his _own disciple_ (Philip) declared him to be the +_son of Joseph_, and that several texts show that it was the current +impression, is still further confirmation of the conclusion. + +4. We find the story of the immaculate conception resting entirely upon +the slender foundation comprised in the legends of an angel and a dream. +We are told that Mary got it by an angel, and Joseph by a dream. And +through these sources we have the whole groundwork and foundation of the +story of the divinity of Jesus Christ. + +5. It should be noticed that we have neither Joseph's nor Mary's report +of these things, but only Matthew and Luke's version of the affair. +And we are not informed that either of them ever saw or conversed with +Joseph or Mary on the subject. It is probable they got it from Dame +Rumor, with her thousand tongues. + +6. If Christ were a miraculously born God, is it possible his mother +would have reproved him for misconduct when she found him in the temple, +as she must have known his character? + +7. If Mary was miraculously conceived, why was the important secret kept +so long from Joseph? Why did she keep the "wool drawn over his eyes" +till an angel had to be sent from heaven to let him into the secret? + +8. If she were a virtuously-minded woman, why did she thus attempt to +deceive him? + +9. Why did not God inform Joseph by "inspiration" instead of employing +the roundabout way of sending an angel to do it? + +10. We are told that "Mary was found with child of the Holy Ghost." But +as we are not informed who found it out, or who made the discovery, or +how it was made, is it not thus left in a very suspicious aspect? + +11. As the whole affair seems to have been based on dreams, and was +carried on through dreams, and has no better foundation than dreams, why +should we consider it entitled to any better credit than similar stories +found in works on heathen mythology? + +12. And would it not prove that Christianity is rather a dreamy +religion? + +13. Should not the astounding and incredible report of the birth of a +God be based on a better foundation than that of dreams and angels and +the legends of oriental mythology, to entitle it to the belief of an +intelligent and scientific age? + +14. Or can any man of science entertain for a moment the superlative +solecism of an Infinite God by any special act "overshadowing" a finite +human female, especially as modern science teaches us that God is both +male and female, and as much one as the other? + +15. As history teaches us the ancient orientalists believed that sexual +commerce is sinful and contaminating to the child thus begotten and +born, and hence had their incarnate Gods sent into the world through +human virgins, can any unbiased mind resist the conviction that this is +the source of the origin of the story of Christ's immaculate conception? + +16. And finally, if it were necessary for Christ to come into the world +in such a way as to avoid the impure channel of human conception and +parturition, why did he not descend directly from heaven in person? Why +could he not "descend on the clouds" by his first advent, as the bible +says he will do when he makes his second advent? + +17. Would not this course have furnished a hundred fold more convincing +proof and demonstration of his divine power and divine attributes than +the ridiculous story and inscrutable mystery of the divine conception, +which is not susceptible of either investigation or proof? + + + + +CHAPTER V. VIRGIN MOTHERS AND VIRGIN-BORN GODS + +THE report in authentic history of a case of a virtuous woman giving +birth to a child with the usual form, and possessing the usual +characteristics of a human being, and who should testify she had no male +partner in the conception, might in an age of miracles and ignorance +of natural law, be believed with implicit credulity. But in an age of +intelligence, when the keys of science have unlocked the sacred shrines +and hallowed vaults of sacerdotal mysteries, and modern researches of +history have laid bare the fact that most ancient religious countries +abound in reports of this character, a profound and general skepticism +must be the result, and a total rejection of their truth by all men of +science and historic intelligence. + +Many are the cases noted in history of young maidens claiming a +paternity for their male offspring by a God. + +In Greece it became so common that the reigning king issued an edict, +decreeing the death of all young women who should offer such an insult +to deity as to lay to him the charge of begetting their children. The +virgin Alcmene furnishes a case of a young woman claiming God as the +father of her offspring, when she brought forth the divine Redeemer +Alcides, 1280 years B. C. And Ceres, the virgin mother of Osiris, +claimed that he was begotten by the "father of all Gods." Mr. Kenrick +tells us the likeness of this virgin mother, with the divine child +in her arms, may now be seen represented in sculpture on some of the +ancient, ruined temples of that ruined empire. And Mr. Higgins makes +the broad declaration that "the worship of this virgin mother, with her +God-begotten child, prevailed everywhere." This author also quotes Mr. +Riquord as saying, this son of God "was exhibited in effigy, lying in +a manger, in the same manner the infant Jesus was afterward laid in the +cave at Bethlehem." Mr. Higgins further testifies that the worship of +this virgin God-mother (that is, the God and the mother) is of very +ancient date and universal prevalence in all the eastern countries, as +is proved by sculptured figures bearing the marks of great age. + +In corroboration of this statement we might cite many cases, if our +space would permit, from the religious records of India, Egypt, Persia, +Greece, Rome, Mexico, Thibet, etc. Maia, mother of Sakia and Yasoda of +Chrishna; Celestine, mother of the crucified Zulis; Chimalman, mother of +Quex-alcote; Semele, mother of the Egyptian Bacchus, and Minerva, mother +of the Grecian Bacchus; Prudence, mother of Hercules; Alcmene, mother of +Alcides; Shing-Mon, mother-of Yu, and Mayence, mother of Hesus, were +all as confidently believed to be pure, holy and chaste virgins, +while giving birth to these Gods, sons of God, Saviors and sin-atoning +Mediators, as was Mary, mother of Jesus, and long before her time. + +Mr. Higgins remarks that the mother was still held to be a virgin, even +after she had given birth to other children besides the deity-begotten +bantling, which furnishes another striking parallel to the history of +Mary, as she was still called a virgin after she had given birth to +Jesus and his brothers James and John. And it is an incident worth +noticing here, that, in the case of Mayence, virgin-mother of the +God-sired Hesus of the Druids, the ancient traditions of the country, +more than two thousand years old, represent her body as being enveloped +in light, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head, corresponding +exactly to the apocalyptic figure described by the mystagogue, St. John, +in the twelfth chapter of his Revelation. She is also represented with +her foot on the head of a serpent, according to Davie's "Universal +Etymology." (Vide the case of the seed of the woman bruising the +serpent's head, Gen. iii. 15.) + +Auguste Nichols tells us, in his "Philosophical Essays on Christianity," +that Io is called, in Eschylus, "the Chaste Virgin," and her son "the +Son of God." (For other similar cases, see Guigne's History of the +Huns.) Gonzales informs us he found on an ancient temple in India the +Latin inscription _Patiuro virginis_, "the virgin about to bring forth." +And similar inscriptions have been found on pagan temples in the country +of the ancient Gauls. (For proof, see Riquord's Theology of the Ancient +Gauls, Chapter X.) "He who hath ears to hear, let him hear," and +treasure up these facts. According to Chinese history there were two +beings--Tien and Chang-Ti--worshiped in that country as Gods more than +twenty-five hundred years ago, born of virgins "who knew no man." The +mother of the mighty and the almighty God Hercules, we are told, "knew +only Jove." + +If history and tradition, then, are to be credited, God had many "well +beloved sons," born of pious and holy virgins, besides Jesus Christ. And +some of them are represented as being his "only begotten," and others his +"first begotten," sons. And all these cases appear to be equally as well +authenticated as the story of Jesus Christ. All stand upon a level, the +same kind and the same amount of evidence being offered in each case. + +Here we will note it as a curious circumstance, that several of the +above-named Saviors are represented as being black, Jesus Christ +included with this number. + +There is as much evidence that the Christian Savior was a black man, +or at least a dark man, as there is of his being the son of the Virgin +Mary, or that he once lived and moved upon the earth. And that evidence +is the testimony of his disciples, who had nearly as good an opportunity +of knowing what his complexion was as the evangelists, who omit to say +anything about it. In the pictures and portraits of Christ by the early +Christians, he is uniformly represented as being black. And to make this +the more certain, the red tinge is given to the lips; and the only text +in the Christian bible quoted by orthodox Christians, as describing his +complexion, represents it as being black. Solomon's declaration, "I am +black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem" (Sol. i. 5), is often +cited as referring to Christ. According to the bible itself, then, Jesus +Christ was a black man. + +Let us suppose that, at some future time, he makes his second advent to +the earth, as some Christians anticipate he will do, and that he comes +in the character of a sable Messiah, how would he be received by our +negro-hating Christians, of sensitive olfactory nerves? Would they +worship a negro God? Let us imagine he enters one of our fashionable +churches, with his "rough and ready" linsey-woolsey, seamless +garment on, made of wild sea-grass, thus presenting a very forbidding +appearance, and what would be the result? Would the sexton show him to +a seat? Would he not rather point to the door, and exclaim, "Get out of +here; no place here for niggers?" What a ludicrous series of ideas is +thus suggested by the thought that Jesus Christ was a "darkey." + +And the tradition of divine Saviors being born of undefiled and +undeflowered virgins has an astronomical chapter we must not omit +to notice. The virgin, with her God-begotten child, was pictured +imaginarily in the heavens from time immemorial. They are represented on +the Hindoo zodiac, at least three thousand years old, and on the ancient +Egyptian planispheres. And if you will examine "Burritt's Geography of +the Heavens," you will find the infant God-son (the sun) is represented +as being born into a new year on the 25th of December (the very date +assigned for Christ's birth), and may be seen rising over the eastern +horizon, out of Mary, Maria, or Mare (the Latin for _sea_), with the +infant God in her arms, being heralded and preceded by a bright star, +which rises immediately preceding the virgin and her child, thus +suggesting the text, "We have seen his star in the east, and have come +to worship him." (Matt. ii.8.) Such facts led the learned Alphonso to +exclaim, "The adventures of Jesus Christ are all depicted among the +stars." + +And such facts fasten the conviction on our mind that the stories of +Gods cohabiting with young maids or virgins, and begetting other +Gods, is of astrological origin--the story of Jesus Christ included. A +critical research shows that astronomy and religion were interblended, +interwoven, and confounded together at a very early period of time, so +indissolubly, that it now becomes impossible to separate them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. STARS POINT OUT THE TIME AND THE SAVIORS' BIRTH-PLACE + +PROFUSION of evidence is furnished at every step along the devious +pathway of sacred history, tending to show that all the systems of +worship which have existed in the past have had a dip in "the halo +of the heavenly orbs," and hence shine with a light derived from that +source. + +We find the stars acting directly a conspicuous part at the births +of several of the Saviors, besides figuring in some cases by marking +important events in their subsequent history. + +Mr. Higgins remarks that "Among the ancients there seems to have been a +very general idea that the arrival of Gods and great personages who +were expected to come, would be announced by a star." And the cases of +Abraham, Caesar, Pythagoras, Yu, Chrishna, and Christ, may be cited in +proof of this declaration. A star figured either before or at the birth +of each, according to their respective histories. + +And it is a historical fact that should be noted here that the practice +of calculating nativities by the stars was in vogue in the era and +country of Christ's birth, and had been for a long period previously in +various countries. "We have seen his star in the east, and have come to +worship him." (Matt. ii. i.) Now mark, here, it was not _the star_, +nor _a star_, but "_his star_;" thus disclosing its unmistakable +astrological features. Mr. Faber (in his "Origin of Idolatry," vol. ii. +p. 77) reports Zoroaster (600 B. C.) as prophetically announcing to "the +wise men" of that country that a Savior would be born, "attended by a +star at noonday." For a fuller exposition of this case see Chapter II. + +In the history of the Hindoo Savior Chrishna, we are told that "as soon +as Nared, who, having heard of his fame, had examined the stars, he +declared him to be from God;" i. e., the Son of God' The Roman Calcidius +speaks of "a wonderful star, presaging the descent of a God amongst +men." (See Maurice's "Indian Skeptics Refuted," p. 62.) Quite suggestive +of the star "apprising the wise men" of Christ's descent from above. And +a star is said to have foretokened the birth of the Roman Julius Cæsar. +The Chinese God Yu was not only heralded by a star, but conceived and +brought to mortal birth by a star. + +In Numbers xxiv. 17, it is declared "There shall come a star out of +Jacob," etc. This is a text often quoted by Christian writers as having +a prophetic reference to the Christian Messiah. But the same text +declares further, "It shall destroy the children of Seth," a prediction +which no rational interpretation can make apply to Jesus Christ. And +then we find this star of Jacob or Judah (the same) represented on +astronomical maps as a prominent star in the constellation Virgo (the +Virgin), fancifully termed by the Hebrew Ephraim. + +It was known in the Syrian, Arabian and Persian systems of astronomy as +Messaeil (suggestive of Messiah), and was considered the ruling genius +of the constellation. + +The "star of Jacob," then, was simply a figure borrowed from the ancient +pagan systems of astronomy, in which they fancifully represent a virgin +rising with an infant Messiah (Messaeil) in her arms. Messaeil is, when +analyzed, Messaeh-el (Messiah-God), and is found in the constellation +Virgo, which commences rising at midnight, on the 25th of December, with +this "star in the east" in her arms--the star which piloted "the wise +men." The whole thing, then, is evidently an astronomical legend. + +Albert the Great, in his "Book on the Universe," tells us, "The sign +of the celestial virgin rises above the horizon, at the moment we find +fixed for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ." To which we will add the +declaration of Sir William Drummond, who, in his "Odipus Judaicus," p. +27, most significantly remarks, "The anointed of _El_ the male infant, +who rises in the arms of Virgo, was called Jesus by the Hebrews,... and +was hailed as the anointed king or Messiah"--still further proof of the +astrological origin of the story. + +Dr. Hales, in his "Chronology," calls Christ "the star of our +salvation, the true Apollo, the sun of righteousness"--all of which are +astronomical terms. + +And here we may recur to the fact that some of the early inhabitants +of the earth regarded a star as a thing of life, because it appeared +to move, and acted as though controlled by a living spirit. And this +fetchic idea we observe lurking amongst the borrowed orientalisms of the +Jewish Old Testament. The representation of the morning stars joining +in a chorus and singing together (see Job xxxviii. 9), is an instance of +this kind of fetchic conception. + +And then we find a much stronger and more conclusive case in the New +Testament, where Matthew represents a star as breaking loose from its +orbit, and traveling some millions of miles, in order to stand over the +young child Jesus, as he lay amongst the oxen and asses in a stable. +(See Matt. ii. 7.) Wonderfully accommodating star indeed! How did its +inhabitants feel while thus traveling with the velocity of lightning? +This achievement would not only require life, but an active +intelligence, on the part of the star, as it is represented as being an +act of the planet itself. + +"All nations," says Mr. Higgins, "once believed that the planetary +bodies or their inhabitants controlled the affairs of men, and even +their births." Hence the cant phrases, "My stars," "He is ill-starred," +etc., in use then, and still in use at the present day. The good or ill +luck of a person was attributed to the good or evil stars which it was +believed ruled at the hour of his birth. + +We find a counterpart to the story of Matthew's traveling star in +Virgil's writings, who declares (60 B. C.) that a star guided Æneas in +a journey westward from Troy. In the days of Pliny (see his "Natural +History," Book II.), the people of Rome fancied they saw a God in a star +or comet in the form of a man. The Apocryphal book of Seth relates that +a star descended from heaven and lighted on a mountain, in the midst of +which a divine child was seen bearing a cross. Christ betrays the same +ignorance of astronomy, when he speaks of "the stars falling from heaven +to the earth." (See Matt. xxiv. 29.) For if there could be any falling +in the case, the falling would be in the other direction, and the earth +would fall to the stars, as larger bodies always attract smaller ones. + +As shown above, the stupendous orbs of night were represented by Jew, +Pagan and Christian as breaking away from their orbits, and running +hither and thither, like a fly on a ceiling, or a ball from a +sky-rocket, being regarded as mere jack-a-lanterns, that could appear +anywhere at any time creative fancy might dictate or require; while +science teaches that the stars are stupendous orbs, some of them a +thousand times larger than the planet on which we live, and that they +could not depart one rod from their accustomed orbits without breaking +up the whole planetary system, and destroying the universe. + +And then observe the absurdity in Matthew's story, which teaches that +the wise men followed the star in the east, when they, coming from the +east, were, as a matter of course, traveling westward, which would place +the star to their backs. That must be a _sui generis_ pilot or guide +which follows after, instead of going before. Omitting further citations +from history, we will only observe further that the ancient Hindoos, +Egyptians, Chaldeans, Syrians, Mexicans, etc., took great account of +stars, and employed them on all important occasions, especially on long +journeys and at the births of Gods and great personages--a circumstance +which aids in explaining the star chapter in the gospel history of +Christ. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. ANGELS, SHEPHERDS AND MAGI VISIT THE INFANT SAVIORS + +IN an age when Gods and men were on the most familiar terms, and when +the character of one furnished a transcript for the other, and when +each consented to act a reciprocal part towards elevating, honoring and +glorifying the other, the birth of a God or Messiah was, as a matter +of course, regarded as an event of sufficient importance to attract +the attention of the great ones of the earth, and even the denizens of +heaven also. + +And hence we find it related in the history of several of the +God-begotten Saviors of antiquity, that as soon as they were born into +the world they were visited by "wise men from a distance" (or Magi, as +they were called by the Persians and Brahmins). And in some cases they +were likewise waited upon and adored by the neighboring shepherds; and +even celestial spirits are reported in some instances as leaving their +star-gilt homes to wing their way to the humble mansion, the rude +tenement, containing a new-born God, that they might honor and adore +"the Savior of men, the Savior of the world." + +The sacred biographies of both Confucius and Christ furnish examples +of the angel host forsaking their golden pavilions in the skies to pay +their devoirs to a Deity-begotten bantling, sent down by the "Father of +Mercies," to save a guilt-laden world. And in both cases the Magi are +reported as assembling to present their offerings to the infant God. + +In the case of Confucius (born 598 B. C.), it is declared, "Five wise +men from a distance came to the house, celestial music was heard in the +skies, and angels attended the scene." (See the Five Volumes.) Now let +us observe how strikingly similar to this ancient legend, in each of the +several characteristics, is the Christian story. Matthew (ii. 1) speaks +of "wise men from the east" journeying to Jerusalem to visit the infant +Christ, soon after his birth, amongst the mules and oxen in a stable, +though he omits to state the number of itinerant adorers who presented +themselves on the occasion. + +The Persian story is more specific, as it gives the number of Magi who +visited the young Savior of that country as five. + +Luke (ii. 13) speaks of "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God," +in gratulation of the birth of the Judean Savior. Now, when we bear in +mind that one method of praising God, with the orientals, was by +music, as we will at once observe that this is only another mode of +proclaiming, as in the case of Confucius, that "celestial music was +heard in the skies." + +And "angels attended the scene" of Confucius' birth. So, likewise, Luke +(ii. 15) relates that the angels, after rejoicing with the shepherds on +the occasion of the birth of Christ, "went away into heaven." + +How complete the parallel! and, but for the digression, and monopoly of +space, we might trace it much further, and show that Confucius, like +Christ, had twelve chosen disciples; that he was descended from a royal +house of princes, as Christ from the royal house of David; that he, +in like manner, retired for a long period from the noise and bustle of +society into religious contemplative seclusion; that he inculcated the +same Golden Rule of doing to others as we desire them to act toward us, +and other moral maxims equal in importance to anything that can be found +in the Christian Scriptures, etc. + +But to the line of history. Other Saviors at birth, we are told, were +visited by both angels and shepherds, also "wise men," at least great +men. Chrishna, the eighth avatar of India (1200 B. C.) (so it is related +by the "inspired penman" of their pagan theocracy) was visited by +angels, shepherds and prophets (avatars). "Immediately after his birth +he was visited by a chorus of devatas (angels), and surrounded by +shepherds, all of whom were impressed with the conviction of his future +greatness." We are informed further that "gold, frankincense and myrrh" +were presented to him as offerings. + +The well-known modern traveler, Mr. Ditson, who visited India but a +few years since, uses the emphatic declaration, "In fact, as soon as +Chrishna was born he was saluted by a chorus of devatas, or angels." In +the evangelical narrative of the Christian Savior an angel is reported +to have saluted his mother thus: "Hail, thou that art highly favored; +the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." (Luke, i. 28.) And +in the next chapter the angel is reported as joining with "the heavenly +host" in praising God. A similar report is found in the Hindoo bible +(the Ramayana), appertaining to the mother of the eighth Savior, of whom +it is declared "Brahma and Siva, with a host of attending spirits, came +to her and sang, 'In thy delivery, O favored among women, all nations +shall have cause to exult.'" And when the celestial infant (Chrishna) +appeared (it is related in a subsequent chapter), "a chorus of heavenly +spirits saluted him with hymns; the whole room was illuminated by +his light, and the countenance of his father and mother shone with +brightness and glory (by reflection), their understandings were opened +so that they knew him to be the Preserver of the world, and they began +to worship him." The last text here quoted brings to mind Luke xxiv. +45, which declares, "Then he (Christ) opened their (his parents) +understandings." + +The ninth avatar of India (Sakia) furnishes to some extent a similar +parallel. According to the account of an exploration made in India, and +published in the New York Correspondent of 1828, "There is on a silver +plate in a cave in India an inscription stating that about the time of +the advent of Budha Sakia (600 B. C.), a saint in the woods learned by +inspiration that another avatar (Messiah or Savior) had appeared in the +house of Rajah of Lailas. Learning which, he flew through the air to the +place, and when he beheld the new-born Savior he declared him to be the +great avatar (Savior or prophet), and that he was destined to establish +a new religion"--the New Covenant Religion. + +We next draw on the history of Greece. It is authentically related +of Pythagoras (600 B.), that his fame having reached Miletas and +neighboring cities, men renowned for wisdom (wise men) came to visit +him. (Progress of Religious Ideas, vol. i.) In the Anacalypsis we are +told that "Magi came from the East to offer gifts at Socrates' birth, +bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh," the same kind of offering as +that presented to the two divine infants Chrishna and Christ, according +to their respective "inspired" biographers. (See Matt. ii. 4, and the +Ramayana). + +And the legend of Mithra, of Persia, might also be included in our +category of comparison, if we had space for it. All the four Saviors +last named (if Socrates may be called such) are reported as having been +honored and enriched with aromatic offerings at their respective births. +And we have the statement from Mr. Higgins, that the same assortment of +spices (with the gold) constituted the materials offered as gifts to +the sun, in Persia more than three thousand years ago; and likewise in +Arabia near the same era. And it may be stated here, that an ancient +historic account of Zoroaster of Persia (6,000 B. C., according to +Pliny and Aristotle), speaks of his having also been visited by Magi, or +"Magia," at the period of his earthly advent. + +And it is, perhaps, well to note in this place, that "Magi" is the term +used in the Apocryphal Gospels, to designate the "wise men" who visited +Christ at birth; and that Magi, Magic and Magician are but variations of +the same word, at least derivations from the same root, all suggesting +a wisdom correlated to the Gods. Osiris, an incarnate deity of Egypt, we +may cite as another case of an infantile God receiving signal honors and +eclat at birth, as he was visited while yet in the cradle by a host of +admiring adorers. "People flocked from all parts of the world to behold +the heaven-born infant." Such a world-wide fame must have had the effect +to attract, with the numerous crowd who thronged to see and worship him, +no small number of "wise men." + +At this stage of our historical exposition, we will suggest it as rather +a singular circumstance that the divine Father, in his infinite wisdom, +should have chosen to reveal the intelligence of the birth of his son +Jesus Christ to a set of nomadic heathen idolaters hundreds of miles +distant (though known as "wise men" because of their skill in astrology) +before he made it known to his own "chosen people" (the Jews), who had +ever regarded themselves as the recipients of his special favors. And +perhaps it is still more singular that these pagan pedestrians should +have been denominated "wise men," while men of God's own election, +according to the Christian bible, were often stigmatized and denounced +as "fools," a ".generation of vipers," etc. But it so happens that +"human reason" finds many Incongruities in "Divine Revelations." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF DECEMBER THE BIRTHDAY OF THE GODS. + +DIVESTED of all explanation, the announcement of the fact that the time +of the birth of many of the incarnated Gods and Saviors of antiquity was +fixed at the same period, and this period the twenty-fifth of December, +celebrated all over Christendom as the birthday of Jesus Christ, would +sound marvelously strange, especially when it is noticed that this +period formerly dated the birth of a new year--the birth of King +Sol. And when we find that the ancient pagans were in the habit of +celebrating this venerated twenty-fifth of December as the birthday +of their Gods in the same manner Christians now celebrate it as the +birthday of Christ, we are driven to admit that something more than mere +fortuitous accident must be adduced to account for the coincidence. + +According to Dr. Lightfoot, the temple of Jerusalem was employed in +celebrating the birthday of a pagan God (Adonis) on the very night +Christians assign for the birth of Christ. And Robert Taylor informs us +that nearly all the nations of the East were once in the habit of rising +at midnight to celebrate the birthday of their Gods, on the twenty-fifth +of December. And to this statement Mr. Higgins adds that, "At the first +moment after midnight of the twenty-fourth of December, the ancient +nations celebrated the accouchement of the queen of heaven and celestial +virgin, and the birth of the God Sol, the Infant Savior, and the God of +Day." + +Bacchus of Egypt, Bacchus of Greece, Adonis of Greece, Chrishna of +India, Chang-ti of China, Chris of Chaldea, Mithra of Persia, Sakia of +India, Jao Wapaul (a crucified Savior of ancient Britain), were all +born on the twenty-fifth of December, according to their respective +histories. Chrishna is represented to have been born at midnight on the +twenty-fifth of the month Savarana, which answers to our December, and +millions of his disciples celebrated his birthday by decorating their +houses with garlands and gilt paper, and the bestowment of presents to +friends. The Rev. Mr. Barret tells us, "It was once common for the women +in Rome to perambulate the streets on the twenty-fifth of December, +singing in a loud voice, 'Unto us a child is born this day.'" + +The twenty-fifth of December, then, it will be observed, was marked as +the birthday of the incarnated Gods, Saviors, and Sons of God, of many +of the religious systems of antiquity, long prior to the birth of Christ +And why his birth was fixed at that date is not hard to account for. +According to the celebrated Christian writer Mr. Goodrich, the Christian +world had no chronology and recorded no dates for several centuries +after the commencement of the Christian era. (See History of all +Nations, p. 23.) No event of their history was marked by dates for +nearly four hundred years. Hence, the time of Christ's birth is +altogether a matter of conjecture, as is also every other event noticed +in the Christian bible. This is proved by the fact that the ablest +Christian writers and chronologists differ to the extent of thirty-five +hundred years in fixing the time of every event in the bible. A Mr. +Kennedy presents us with three hundred different chronological systems, +by different Christian writers, all founded on the bible, and proving +that the date of its various events are inextricably involved in a +labyrinth of doubt, darkness and uncertainty. + +Relative to the time of Christ's birth, the "Encyclopedia Britannica" +says: "Christians count one hundred and thirty-three contrary opinions +of different authors concerning the year the Messiah appeared on +earth--many of them celebrated writers." (Art. Chron.) Mark the +declaration--one hundred and thirty-three different opinions as to the +year Christ was born in; one hundred and thirty-three different years +fixed on by different Christian chronologists as the time of the birth +of the most extraordinary and most noted being, as Christians would +have us believe, that ever appeared on earth. Think of an omnipotent God +descending from heaven, performing astounding miracles, and presenting +other proofs of being a God, and yet not one of the three hundred +writers of that era take any notice of him, or make any note of +his birth or any event of his life. This circumstance is of itself +sufficient to banish and dissipate all faith in his divinity. + +It is evident, from the facts just presented, that all systems of +Christian chronology are founded on mere conjecture, and hence should +be rejected as worthless. What event of Christ's life, then, can be +accepted as certain, when no record was made of it till the time was +forgotten, and none for at least half a century after the dawn of the +Christian era, according to Dr. Lardner, when nearly all who witnessed +it must have been dead? + +We think the most reasonable conclusion in the case is, that Christ, +instead of performing those Munchausen prodigies attributed to him--such +as casting out devils, raising the dead, controlling the elements of +nature, etc.--led such an ordinary, obscure life--excelling only in +healing the sick and other noble deeds of charity and philanthropy--that +he attracted but little notice by the higher classes, or by anybody but +those of a similar turn of mind, till he was deified by Constantine, in +the year 325 A. D. Hence, the time of his birth was not recorded, and +was forgotten. Consequently, the twenty-fifth of December was selected +as his birthday, because it was the birthday of other Gods, and because +it was regarded by the heathen, from time immemorial, as the birthday +of Sol, the glorious luminary of heaven, it being the period he is born +again into a new year, and "commences again his journey and his life;" +and because, also, this epoch was, as Sharon Turner informs us, in his +"History of the Anglo-Saxons," the commencement of a new year up to the +tenth century. + +These events signalized the twenty-fifth of December, and made it a +period of sufficient importance to lead the early Christians to suppose +it must have been the birthday of their Messiah. Mosheim, however, +confesses that the day or the year in which it happened "has not been +fixed with certainty, notwithstanding the profound researches of the +learned." So that it is still an open question as to when Christ was +born. What day of the month, what year, or what century it took place +in, is still unknown. This circumstance is, as before suggested, +sufficient of itself to utterly prostrate all faith in the divine claims +for Jesus Christ. What would be thought of a witness who should testify +in court to the truth of an occurrence of which he did not know the +year, or even the century, in which it took place, or who could come no +nearer than one hundred and thirty-three years in fixing or guessing at +the time. Would the court accept such testimony? + + + + +CHAPTER IX. TITLES OF THE SAVIORS + +THE various deific titles applied to Jesus Christ in the New Testament +are regarded by some Christian writers as presumptive evidence of his +divinity. But the argument proves too much for the case; as we find the +proof in history that many other beings, whom Christians regard as +men, were honored and addressed by the same titles, such as God, Lord, +Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, Messiah, etc. + +The Hindoo Chrishna, more than two thousand years ago, was prayerfully +worshiped as "God the Most High." His disciple Amarca once addressed +him thus: "Thou art the Lord of all things, the God of the universe, the +emblem of mercy, the bestower of salvation. Be propitious O most High +God," etc. Here he is addressed both as Lord and God. He is also styled +"God of Gods." + +Adonis of Greece was addressed as "God Supreme," and Osiris of Egypt as +"the Lord of Life." In Phrygia, it was "Lord Atys," as Christians say, +"Lord Jesus Christ" Narayan of Bermuda was styled the "Holy Living God." +The title "Son of God" was so common in nearly all religious countries +as to excite but little awe or attention. + +St. Basil says, "Every uncommonly good man was called 'the Son of God.'" +The "Asiatic Researches" says, "the Tamulese adored a divine Son of +God," and Thor of the Scandinavians was denominated "the first-born Son +of God" and so was Chrishna of India, and other demigods. + +It requires, therefore, a wide stretch of faith to believe that +Jesus Christ was in any peculiar sense "the Son of God," because so +denominated, or "the only begotten Son of God," when so many others are +reported in history bearing that title. + +The title Savior is found in the legends of every religious country. So +also God, Redeemer, and Mediator. "When a Mogul or Thibetan is asked +who is Chrishna," says the Christian missionary Hue, "the reply is, +instantly, 'the Savior of men.'" Budha was known as "the Savior, Creator +and Wisdom of God," and Mithra as both Mediator and Savior, also as "the +Redeemer," and Chrishna as "the Divine Redeemer," also "the Redeemer +of the World." The terms Mediator and Intercessor were also frequently +applied to him by his disciples. And both he and Quexalcote were hailed +as "the Messiah." In short, most ancient religious nations were honored +with or expected a Messiah. + +Was Jesus Christ the "Lamb of God?" (John i. 9.) So was Chrishna styled +"the Holy Lamb." The Mexicans, preferring a full-grown sheep, had their +"Ram of God." The Celts had their "Heifer of God," and the Egyptians +their "Bull of God." All these terms are ludicrous emblems of Deity, +representing him as a quadruped, as the title "Lamb of God" does Jesus +Christ, a term no less ludicrous than the titles of the pagan Gods as +cited above. + +And was Christ "the True Light?" (John i. 9.) So was Chrishna likewise +called "the True Light," also "the Giver of Light," "the Inward Light," +etc. Osiris was "the Redeemer of Light," and Pythagoras was both "Light +and Truth." Apollonius was styled the "True Light of the World;" while +Simon Magus was called "the Light of all Men." + +Several nations had also their Christs, though in many cases the word is +differently spelled. Chrest, the Greek mode of spelling Christ, may +be found on several of the ancient tombstones of that country. The +Christian writer Elsley, in his "Annotations of the Gospels" (vol. i. p. +25), spells the word Christ in this manner, Chrest The people of +Loretto had a black Savior, called Chrest, or Christ. Lucian, in his +"Philopatris," admits the ancient Gentiles had the name of Christ, which +shows it was a heathen title. The Chaldeans had their Chris, the Hindoos +their Chrishna, the Greeks their Chrest, and the Christians their +Christ, all, doubtless, derived from the same original root. + +As for Jesus, it was a common name among the Jews long before the advent +of Christ. Josephus refers to seven or eight persons by that name, as +"Jesus, brother of Onias," "Jesus, son of Phabet," etc. Joshua in the +Greek form, Jesus, was in still more common use. + +Again, was Jesus Christ "the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the +End?" so, likewise, Chrishna proclaimed, "I am the Beginning, the +Middle, and the End." Osiris and Chrishna were both proclaimed "Judge of +the Dead," as Jesus was "Judge of quick and dead." Isaiah represents the +Father as proclaiming, "I am Jehovah; besides me there is no Savior." +(Isa. xliii. 11.) With what consistency, then, can Christ be called +"_the Savior_," if there is but _one Savior_, and that is the Father? + +And other divine titles besides those above named--in fact, all those +applied to Christ--are found used also in reference to the older pagan +gods, and hence prove nothing. + + +ORIGIN OF THE TERMS MEDIATOR, INTERCESSOR, ETC. + +Several causes contributed to originate a belief in the offices +imaginarily assigned to divine God-descended Mediators, Redeemers, and +Intercessors. + +1. In the first place, the Great Supreme God was believed to be too far +off and too aristocratic to be on familiar terms with his subjects, +or at all times accessible to their prayers. Hence, was gotten up a +"Mediator," or middle God, to stand midway between the Great Supreme and +the people, and transmit messages one from the other, and thus serve +as agent for both parties. Confirmatory of this statement is the +declaration of Mamoides, in his "Guide to the Erring," that "the ancient +Sabeans conceived the principal God, on account of his great distance, +to be inaccessible; and hence, in imitation of the people in their +conduct toward their king, who had to address him through a person +appointed for the purpose, they imaginarily employed a middle divinity, +who was called a Mediator, to present their claims to the Supreme God." +Here the whole secret is out, the whole thing is explained, and we now +understand why Christ is called a Mediator, Intercessor, "Advocate with +the Father," etc. + +2. Again, the Supreme God was supposed to be frequently angry with the +people, and threatening to punish if not to destroy them. "I will punish +the multitude." (Jer. xlvi. 25.) "I will destroy the people." (Ex. +xxiii. 27). Hence, this middle divinity, this second person of the +trinity, stepped in to plead and intercede on their behalf, being, as we +must presume, a better-natured and more merciful being than the +Father. And thus interceding, he received the titles of Intercessor and +"Advocate with the Father." (1 John, ii. 1.) + +3. The principal circumstance, however, which led to the conception of +a divine Savior was the desire to find some way to continue in sin and +wrong-doing and escape its natural and legitimate consequences; in other +words, to evade the penalty. Hence, it came to be believed that people +might run riot in sin, and plunge into the indulgence of their passions +and their lusts, till the hour of death approached, when they would have +nothing to do but to ask forgiveness, and cast the burden of their sins +and sufferings on the merits of "a crucified Savior and Redeemer," +who "suffered once for all, that we might escape," and thus dodge the +penalty for sin. It was, as Mr. Fleurbach expresses it, "A realized +wish to be free from the laws of morality, and escape the natural +consequences of wrong doing." + + + + +CHAPTER X. THE SAVIORS OF ROYAL DESCENT, BUT HUMBLE BIRTH + +WE have the singular coincidence presented in the histories of several +of the Saviors of their lineal descent through a line of kings or +princes, and yet commencing their probationary life under the most +humble and adverse circumstances--being born in stables, caves, and +other inauspicious situations. + +The story of their royal blood was calculated to add dignity to their +characters, while their humble birth in the midst of poverty, and +unmarked by ostentation, would evince their humility, meekness, +condescension, and absence of pride, and thus proclaim a lesson of +humility and resignation to their disciples and followers. + +Here, seems to be plainly indicated the motives for assigning them to +such a birth, and such a character. + +Christ's lineal descent, it will be remembered, is professedly traced +(though in a very zig-zag, disjointed manner) from the royal house of +David. And yet his royal blood did not save him from the most ignoble +and ignominious birth, and obscure exordium of his earth life. + +A singular story, and yet a similar story, is told of the Indian Savior +Chrishna, who was, according to the Rev. Mr. Allen (India, p. 379) of +the royal house of Kousa, traced back through many generations. Yet, +in order to teach the world a lesson of true humility, and administer a +just reprehension to pride, he submitted to be born in a cave, amid the +denizens of subterranean abodes. And here let it be noted, the best and +most orthodox writers concede that while Christ is said to have born +in a manger, that manger was in a cave. Mr. Fleetwood (a very popular +Christian writer) testifies in this matter that "the Greek fathers +generally agree that the place of Christ's birth was a cave." (Life of +Christ, p. 568.) Then the coincidence in this respect between Christ and +Chrishna may be set down as complete. + +We have no means of learning how many of the Saviors were of royal +blood, as the genealogy of some of them is not given. But those whose +lineal descent is furnished us are almost uniformly traced to or evinced +as springing from royal parentage, and practical humility--so far as it +can be taught by an unostentatious birth--is a lesson taught by nearly +all. Budha Sakia of Hindostan is directly traced through a royal +pedigree. + +Speaking on this point, one writer remarks: "Tradition affirms that his +mother was betrothed to a rajah, and of course her son belonged to +the same royal caste that Chrishna did during his existence on earth." +(Prog. Rel. Ideas, vol, i. 84.) + +"The Great Prophet" of Arabia (Mahomet) not only commenced his earthly +career in a humble situation, but resembled Christ in having "nowhere to +lay his head." It is said of the Great Prophet, "A cloak spread on the +ground served him for a bed, and a skin filled with date leaves was his +pillow." The genealogy of the God Yu (of China) is traced through a line +of princes to a very remote origin, while his whole life was a lesson of +practical humility, and proclaimed at every step, "This is the way; walk +ye in it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. CHRIST'S GENEALOGY + +IN order to exalt the dignity and character of the Christian Messiah +still higher than a mere claim for a divine origin paternally would have +the effect to do, two of his assumed to be inspired biographers have set +up for him a claim to a royal lineage through the maternal line. + +Hence, they tell us that he descended from and through a line of kings +embracing the house of David. But in presenting the names, and the +number of generations, in their attempts to make out this royal +distinction, this kingly exaltation of birth, they exhibit a most +egregious bungle, and the most barefaced tissue of discrepancies. For +they not only differ widely with each other in this matter, but differ +with the Old Testament genealogy, and differ with those texts which give +the maternal ancestry of Jesus. + +Indeed, though varying as wide as the poles from each other, they both +miss Jesus and arrive at Joseph in tracing down the generations from +Abraham (unless we assume they intended to represent Joseph as being his +father). + +Luke, in his gospel, names and counts off forty-one generations from +David to Joseph, though he had previously represented it as being +forty-two; but Matthew says that "from Abraham to David are fourteen +generations," but according to his own showing, and according to his own +list of names, there are but thirteen. And then he tells us there are +but fourteen generations from David to the carrying away into Babylon. +BUt according to the Old Testament genealogy (see i Chron. iii.) there +were eighteen. + +And then the names comprised in the two genealogies of Matthew and Luke +are so widely different from that found in Chronicles, as to set all +analogy and agreement at defiance. + +In fact, in their whole list of names, from David down to Joseph, they +only come together twice. Their names are all different but two, that of +Salathiel and Zorobabel, which names alone are found in both lists. + +Matthew tells us that the son of David, through whom Joseph descended, +was Solomon, but Luke says it was Nathan. The next name in Matthew's +list is that of Roboam, but the corresponding name in Luke's list is +Mattatha. Matthew's next name is Abia, which Luke gives as Menan, while +Chronicles differs from both, and gives it as Abijah. Matthew says Joram +begat Ozias, but Chronicles virtually declares Joram had no such son, +although he had a great-great-grandson Uzziah. But Luke says, in effect, +there was no such person in the genealogical tree, or family line, +as either Joram, Ozias or Uzziah. Matthew says again, "Josias begat +Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to +Babylon." (Matt. i. ii.) + +But Chronicles declares that Jechonias was Jehoiakim's son, and not +Josiah's, and that Josiah had no such son. And, besides, we learn, from +2 Kings xiii., that Josiah was killed eleven years before the exile +to Babylon, and could not well beget a son after he had been defunct a +tenth of a century. + +Matthew, after naming twenty-four generations as filling out the line, +and making it complete between David and Jacob, concludes by saying, +"and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary." + +But Luke, antecedent to spinning out his list to fourteen generations +more than Matthew, i. e., making it fourteen generations longer, +declares that "Joseph was the son of Heli." So that Joseph either had +two fathers, Jacob and Heli; or Matthew or Luke, or both, were most +egregiously mistaken, with all their "inspiration." + +Again, Luke says that Salathiel was the son of Neri; but Chronicles +says he was the son of Jechonias. And after Chronicles had registered +Zorobabel as the son of Penniah, Matthew and Luke, assuming to become +"wise above what was written," both declare that he was the son of +Salathiel. They agree here in contradicting Chronicles, which is +the only instance but one of their agreement in the whole list of +progenitors from David to Joseph. + +With this exception they contradict each other all the way through, and +in many instances that of Chronicles, too. + +This is a strange way, indeed, of proving Jesus Christ to have had two +fathers!--to be both the son of God and son of David! And it is still +stranger that they should trace his genealogy to Joseph, if they did +not consider him Joseph's son. Otherwise, the genealogy of "Sinbad the +Sailor," or "Harry Haulaway," would have been as apropos. + +Such are the beautiful harmony and agreement in the words of "divine +inspiration" which Christians prate so much about. + +And all this appears to be the result of an attempt to elevate the man +Christ Jesus to a level with the demigods of antiquity, nearly all +of whom claimed to be of royal or princely descent. Such continual +blundering, guessing, cross-firing, and clashing of names as is +exhibited in the foregoing exposition, reminds us of the Hibernian's +reply when asked for the number and names of his brothers: + +"Well, sir, I have fourteen brothers, and they are all named Bill but +Bob--his name is Tom." + +Matthew and Luke's attempt to exalt and dignify the character of Christ +by making out for him a pure, holy and royal lineage we find, upon a +critical examination not only proved a very signal but a very singular +and ludicrous failure, for all his female anchors who are brought to +notice were persons of libidinous or licentious tendencies, according to +their own biblical history. + +"It is remarkable," says Dr. Alexander Walker, (a Christian writer, in +his work on Woman, p. 330), "that in the genealogy of Christ only four +women are named: Thamar, who seduced the father of her late husband, and +Rachel, a common prostitute, and Ruth, who, instead of marrying one +of her cousins, went to bed with another of them, and Bathsheba, an +adulteress, who espoused David, the murderer of her first husband." + +What a pedigree for an incarnate God--a being ostensibly of spotless +origin! though his impure ancestral origin does not detract from the +high moral character and distinguished moral life which marks the +history of "the man Christ Jesus," many incidents of whose life show him +to have been what is now known as a spiritual medium. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE WORLD'S SAVIORS SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION IN INFANCY + +OF course such an extraordinary circumstance as the birth of a God into +the world must be marked with unusual incidents and great eclat. This +was first exhibited by angels, shepherds, prophets, magi or "wise men," +flocking around their cradles. In the second place we observe an unusual +display of divine power and providential care on the part of the great +Father God, who was still left in heaven to save the young saviors +through their infancy. + +It is certainly a remarkable circumstance that so many of the infant +Saviors should have been threatened with the most imminent danger of +destruction, and yet in every case miraculously preserved, and thus were +the _Saviors saved_. + +A jealousy seems to have existed in several instances in the mind of +the tyrant king or ruler of the country that the young Saviors and +prospective spiritual rulers (who were mostly of royal descent) would +ultimately acquire such favor with the people, by such a display of +superior power and greatness of mind, as to endanger his retaining +peaceable possession of the secular throne; to express it in brief, he +feared the young God would prove a rival king, and hence took measures +to destroy him. + +In the case of the Christian Savior we are told that an angel, or "the +angel," warned Joseph (the assumed father) to take the young Savior and +God and flee with him into Egypt, because "Herod the king sought to +destroy the young child's life," and had, in order to effect this end, +decreed the destruction of all the children under two years old. And +Joseph heeded the divine warning, and fled as directed. An angel and a +dream, then, it will be observed, were the instrumentalities used to +save the young Judean Savior from massacre. + +And strange as it may seem, we find the same agencies had been +previously employed to effect the rescue of other Saviors likewise and +similarly threatened. + +In the case of Chrishna of India, in particular, the similitude is very +striking in nearly every feature of the whole story. + +In the first place there is the angel warning. In the Christian story we +are not specifically informed how the tyrant Herod first became apprised +of the birth of the Judean Savior. The Hindoo story is fuller, and +indicates that the angel was not only sufficiently thoughtful to warn +the parents to flee from a danger which threatened to dispossess them of +a divine child, and the world of a Savior, but was condescending enough +to apprise the tyrant ruler (Cansa) of his danger likewise--as we are +told he heard an angel voice announcing that a rival ruler was born in +his kingdom. + +And hence, like Herod, he set about concocting measures to destroy him +without a direct attack. Why either of them should have taken such a +circuitous or roundabout way of killing an infant, when the life of the +strongest man, and every man in their kingdoms, was at their instant +disposal, "divine inspiration" does not inform us. + +But so it was. And we must not seek to "become wise above what is +written" in their bibles. Herod's decree required the destruction of +all infants under two years of age (see Matt. ii. 16)--first ordering, +however, "Go, and search diligently for the young child." (Matt. ii. 8.) +Cansa's decree ran thus: "Let active search be made for whatever young +children there may be upon earth, and let every boy in whom there may be +found signs of unusual greatness be slain without remorse." + +Now, let it be specially noticed that there is to this day in the +cave temple at Elephanta, in India, the sculptured likeness of a +king represented with a drawn sword, and surrounded with slaughtered +infants--admitted by all writers to be much older than Christianity. Mr +Forbes, in his "Oriental Memories," vol. iii. p. 447, says, "The figures +of the slaughtered infants in the cave of Elephanta represent them as +being all boys, who are surrounded by groups of figures of men and women +in the act, apparently, of supplicating for those children." And Mr. +Higgins testifies relative to the case, that Chrishna was carried away +by night, and concealed in a region remote from his natal place, for +fear of a tyrant whose destroyer it had been foretold he would become, +who, for that reason, had ordered all the male children born at that +time to be slain. Sculptures in Elephanta attest the story where the +tyrant is represented as destroying the children. The date of this +sculpture is of the most remote antiquity. "He who hath ears to hear, +let him hear," and deduce the pregnant inference. Joseph and Mary fled +with the young Judean God into Egypt; Chrishna's parents likewise fled +with the young Hindoo Savior to Gokul. + +Now, let us observe for a moment the chain or category or resemblance. + +1. There was an angel warning in each case relative to the impending +danger. + +2. The governor or ruler was hostile in each case to the mission of the +young Savior. + +3. A bloody decree was issued in both cases, having for its object the +destruction of these infant Messiahs. + +4. The hurried flight of the parents takes place in each case. + +5. And it may be remarked further, that the "Gospel of the Infancy of +Jesus," once believed by the Christian world to be "inspired," and which +for hundreds of years passed current as divine authority, relates that +Christ and his parents sojourned for a time at a place called Matarea, +or Mathura, as Sir William Jones spells it, who says it was the birth +place of Chrishna. + +It is further related in the case of Chrishna, that as he and his +parents approached the River Jumna in their flight, the waters "parted +hither and thither," so that they passed over "dry shod," like Moses and +the Israelites in crossing the Red Sea. And here let it be noted that +the representation of this flight, which is said to have occurred at +midnight, is like that of the massacre perpetuated and attested by +imperishable monuments of stone bearing evidence of being now several +thousand years old. + +Sir William Jones says:-- + +"The Indian incarnate God Chrishna, the Hindoos believe, had a virgin +mother of the royal race, who was sought to be destroyed in his infancy +about nine hundred years before Christ. It appears that he passed his +life in working miracles, and preaching, and was so humble as to wash +his friends' feet; at length, dying, but rising from the dead, he +ascended into heaven in the presence of a multitude." The Cingalese +relate nearly the same things of their "Budha." And several authors of +Egyptian history refer to a story perpetuated in the Egyptian legends +concerning the God Osiris, who was threatened with destruction by the +tyrant Amulius, to save whom his parents fled and concealed him in an +arm of the River Nile, as Christ was concealed in the same country, and, +for aught that appears to the contrary, in the same locality. The +mother of another and older Savior of Egypt fled by a timely warning to +Epidamis before the birth of the divine child, and was there delivered +of "our Lord and Savior," Horus. And the earthly or adopted father +of the Grecian Savior, and God, Alcides, had to flee with him and his +mother to Galem for protection from threatening danger. + +In the ninth and tenth volumes of the "Asiatic Researches," we find the +story of the "only begotten" or "first begotten son of God," Salvahana, +of Cape Comorin, son of a virgin mother (as were all the other Saviors +referred to), and a carpenter by the name of Taishnea. (It will be +remembered that Joseph, "foster-father of Jesus," was a carpenter.) The +story of this "Son of God" presents several features very similar to +that relating to Jesus. Sir William Jones, Colonel Wilford, and the Rev. +Mr. Maurice all confess to the antiquity of this story, as originating +before the birth of Christ. Speaking of Zoroaster of Persia (another +case), 600 B. C., an author remarks, "Tradition reports that his mother +had alarming dreams of evil spirits seeking to destroy the child to whom +she was about to give birth. But a good spirit came to rescue him, and +consoled her by saying, 'Fear not; God Ormuzd will protect the infant, +who has sent him as a prophet to the people and the world who are +waiting for him." + +China, too, presents us with a case of the threatened destruction of +a Savior in infancy, evidently recorded more than two thousand five +hundred years ago. It is the case of the God Yu, who was concealed in a +manner similar to that of Moses--a commemoration of the story of which +is perpetuated by an image or picture of the virgin mother with a babe +upon her knee--sometimes in her arms. Now, let it be noted that these +virgin-born Gods, who, we are told, came "to save the world," could not +save themselves, but had to be protected and saved by other Gods. + +Without pursuing the subject further in detail, we may mention by way +of recapitulation, that Chrishna, Alcides, Zoraster, Salvahana, Yu, to +which list we may add Bacchus, Romulus, Moses and Cyrus, according to +their reputed history, were threatened with death and destruction, but +were providentially and miraculously preserved. The case of Augustus +is related by Suetonius, that of Romulus by Livy, and that of Cyrus by +Herodotus. It will be recollected that Pharaoh, like Herod, in order +to reach the infant Moses, ordered the massacre of all the male infants +(Herod making no distinction of sex), in order that he might, by this +singular and circuitous method, reach the object of his jealousy and +malignity without passing a direct sentence of death upon him. + +The whole story of Herod's slaughter edict, with the familiar history +of its execution, like nearly every other miraculous incident related +in "The Holy Scriptures," which detail their histories, are traceable in +the skies. Herod, we are told, literally means hero of the skin--a term +applied also to Hercules, a personification of the sun--because the +sun, on entering the constellation of the Zodiac in July, was supposed +or assumed to invest himself with the skin of the lion, and this became +"the hero of the skin," or a hero with a new skin. Now this solar Herod, +passing through the astronomical twins and young infants of May, was +said to destroy them, though the word destroy is in the Greek anairean, +which any person, on turning to the Greek lexicon, will observe means +also to take away, pass through, or withdraw from, so that Pharaoh more +properly passed through the infants than destroyed them. + +The text, "In Rama there was a voice heard," "Rachel weeping for her +children," etc., is quoted by a writer (Strauss) as referring to the +children slaughtered by Pharaoh. Let two things be noticed here: 1. Rama +is the Indian and Phoenician name for the zodiac. 2. Rachel had but two +children to weep for--Joseph and Benjamin--just the number found in the +fifth sign, or May sign, of the zodiac. And Venus, among the ancient +Assyrians and Phoenicians, was in tears when the sun, in his annual cross +through the heavens, passed through or over the astronomical Twins +(Gemini), doubtless fearfully apprehending their destruction. + +The case of the massacre is an illustration and example of the manner in +which all the miraculous stories related in the Christian Scriptures, +as having been practically exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ, are +traceable to older sources, frequently terminating among the stars. + + +SECTION II.--INCREDIBILITY OF THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE OF THE HEBREW +INFANTS. + +1. It is a cogent and potent fact, calculated to render the story of the +murder of the Hebrew children by Herod wholly incredible, that not +one writer of that age, or that nation, or any other nation, makes any +mention of the circumstance. + +2. Even the Rabbinical writers who detail his wicked life so minutely, +and who bring to his charge so many flagitious acts, fail to record +any notice of this horrible and atrocious deed, which must have been +published far and wide, and known to all the writers of that age and +country, had it occurred. + +3. And still more logically ruinous to the credit of the story is +the omission of Josephus to throw out one hint that such a wholesale +slaughter ever took place in Judea. And yet he not only lived in that +country, but was related to Herod's wife, and regarded him as his most +implacable enemy, and professes to write out the whole history of his +wicked life in the most minute detail, devoting thirty-seven chapters of +his large work to this subject, and apparently enumerates every evil +act of his life. And yet Josephus says not a word about his inhuman and +infamous butchery of the babes which Matthew charges him with (about +fourteen thousand in number)--a bloody deed, unmatched in the annals of +tyranny. Such facts prove the story not only incredible, but impossible. +Josephus could not and would not have omitted to notice this the most +notorious and nefarious act of his life, had it occurred. It, therefore, +could not have occurred. And it is almost equally incredible that +Roman historians, who furnish us with a particular account of Herod's +character, should pass over in silence such a villainous and bloody +deed. + +4. And then some of our ablest and most reliable chronologists have +shown that Herod was not living at the time this bloody decree should +have been issued by him; that he died about three years prior to that +period, and hence could have been guilty of no such villainy, and +highhanded murder, and cruel infanticide. + +5. And even if living, he would have been an old man (not less than +sixty-eight according to Josephus). Hence, he could not have calculated +on surviving long enough for the son of a village carpenter, then a +babe, to oust him from his throne. + +6. It is wholly incredible, also, that Herod should have adopted such a +roundabout method of destroying the object of his fear and envy when he +could have singled him out, and put him to death at once, and thus avoid +the felonious act of breaking the hearts of thousands of parents, and +his most loyal subjects, too. + +7. From the foregoing considerations, we endorse the sentiment of the +Rev. Edward Evanson, that it is "an incredible, borrowed fiction." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE SAVIORS EXHIBIT EARLY PROOFS OF DIVINITY. + +OF course, all Gods must be heroes--physically or intellectually, or +both. The more danger they encounter, and the earlier they manifest a +precocious or preternatural smartness, the more like Gods. + +And hence we find several of the Saviors in very early childhood +displaying great physical prowess in meeting and conquering danger, +while others exhibit their superiority mentally by vanquishing their +opponents in argument. Christ first began to exhibit proof of his divine +character and greatness by meeting and silencing the doctors in the +temple when only about twelve years of age. + +And similar proofs of divinity at or near this age is found in the +history of some of the pagan Saviors. + +Of Christ it is declared, "There went out a fame of him through all the +region round about." (Luke iv. 14.) And of the Grecian Esculapius it +is likewise declared, "The voice of fame soon published the birth of a +miraculous child," and "the people flocked from all quarters to behold +him." Of Confucius of China it is declared, "His extensive knowledge +and great wisdom soon made him known, and kings were governed by his +counsels, and the people adored him wherever he went." And it is further +declared of this "Divine Man," that he seemed to arrive at reason and +the perfect use of his faculties almost from infancy. It is reported of +the God Chang-ti, that when questioned on the subject of government and +the duties of princes and rulers while yet a child, his answers were +such as to astonish the whole empire by his knowledge and wisdom. + +It is related of a Grecian God that he demolished the serpents which +attempted to bite or destroy him while in his cradle. "The proof of +Osiris's divinity was a blaze of light shining around his cradle soon +after he was born. Relative to Pythagoras of the same country, we have +it upon the authority of a Christian writer, that he exhibited such a +remarkable character, even in youth, as to attract the attention of all +who saw and heard him speak." And the author further testifies of +him that he "never was at any time overcome with anger, laughter, or +perturbation of mind or precipitation of conduct." "His fame having +reached Miletus and neighboring cities," it is said by another writer, +"the people flocked to see and hear him, and he was reverenced by +multitudes." + +Luke declares of Christ, that the people "were astonished at his +understanding and answers." (Luke ii. 47.) And the "Gospel of the +Infancy" tells us that his tutor Zacheas was astonished at his learning, +which reminds us of the statement found in "The Divine Word" of the +Hindoos (The Mahabarat), that the parents of the Savior Chrishna, in +making arrangements to give him an education, sent him to a learned +Brahmin as tutor, whom he instantly astonished with his vast learning, +and under whose tuition he mastered the whole circle of sciences in a +day and a night. "Men, seeing the wonders performed by this child, told +Nanda (his adopted father) that this could not possibly be his son." + +It is told of Budha Sakia of India that, "as soon as he was born, a +light shone around his cradle, when he stood up and proclaimed his +mission, and that the River Ganges daring this time rose in a miraculous +manner, which was stilled by his divine power, as Christ stilled the +tempest on the sea." "He was born," says the New American Cyclopedia +(vol. iv. p. 61), "amidst great miracles, and soon as born, most +solemnly proclaims his mission." + +Of Narayan, "the Holy," it is declared that "mysterious words dropped +from his lips on various occasions, giving hints of his divine nature +and the purposes for which he had come down to the earth." (Prog. Rel. +Ideas, vol. i. p. 128.) The divine power and mission of Yu of China was +very early evinced by the display of great miracles. + +And here let us observe that some of the Old Testament or Jewish +heroes--as Moses, Solomon and Samuel--are reported as exhibiting great +superiority of mind in very early life; thus proving (it was thought) +that if they were not Gods, they were at least from God--that is, +endowed by him with divine power while yet mere children. Thus the +histories of all Gods and divine personages run in parallel grooves. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE SAVIORS; KINGDOMS NOT OF THIS WORLD + +Retirement and Forty Days' Fasting. + +CHRIST taught, "My kingdom is not of this world." + +And we find that most of the other Saviors virtually and practically +taught the same doctrine. + +The first practical evincement of it was exhibited by retiring from the +world; that is, they retired from the noise and commotion, from the +busy scenes of life, into some sequestered spot excluded from human +observation. Christ is reported to have withdrawn from society, and to +have spent some forty days in the wilderness fasting and being tempted +by Satan--a man of straw conjured up in order to furnish the hero God +something to combat with, that he might thereby exhibit practical proof +of his divine power and prowess. It was simply the two kings or rulers +of two hostile kingdoms (heaven and hell) contending for the mastery. + +Lord Kingsborough tells us, "The ancient Mexicans had a forty days' fast +in honor and memory of one of their demigods or Saviors, who was +tempted forty days on a mountain. He is called 'the Morning Star'." Mr. +Kingsborough (being a Christian) remarks, "These things are very curious +and mysterious." + +It is said of "the Son of God" and Savior Chrishna that "he imparted +his doctrines and precepts in the silent depths of the forest." Of the +Egyptian God Osiris, we are informed in his sacred legends, that "he +observed both fasting and penance," while Pythagoras of Greece spent +several years in meditation and retirement in a cave, and was much given +to fasting, and often inculcated the doctrine of "forsaking the world" +and "the things thereof." He taught these things both by precept and +example, even to "the forsaking of relations." Both Confucius and the +Divine Savior Chang-ti of China, "in order to attain to a more perfect +state of holiness," spent several years in retirement and "divine +meditation," the former in a wilderness, the latter on a mountain, and +fasted, and their disciples after them often fasted in a very devout +manner. The Persian Zoroaster also spent several years in retirement and +"contemplation on true holiness"--partly in a wilderness and partly on a +"holy mountain," "holy mountains" being the favorite places of resort of +most of the holy Saviors, holy Gods, and holy men of antiquity. One of +the most ancient Saviors, Thammuz, is reported to have spent "twelve +years in devout and contemplative retirement from the busy world." +According to the Christian bible, Moses, Elijah, and Christ, each fasted +forty days, and a Mexican Savior, too (Quexalcote), spent forty days in +a similar manner, and other cases are so reported. + +We may institute the inquiry here, "How happens this coincidence?" + +The answer is indicated by "the Hierophant," which says, "Jesus in his +baptism and forty days' fast imitated the passage of the sun through the +constellation Aquarius, where John, Joannes, or Janus the baptizer had +his domicile, and baptized the earth with his yearly rains." Having been +baptized in Jordan, he fasted forty days in the wilderness, in imitation +of the passage of the sun from the constellation Aquarius through the +Fishes to the Lamb or Ram of March. During the forty days when the sun +is among the Fishes (in the sign of the Fish) the faithful Catholics, +Episcopalians and Mahommedans abstain from meat and live upon the fishes +during the season of Lent, as did the Jews and pagans, and did also +Jesus, "to fulfill all righteousness." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. THE SAVIORS WERE REAL PERSONAGES + +IT is unwarrantably assumed by Christian writers that the incarnated +Gods and crucified Saviors of the pagan religions were all either mere +fabulous characters, or ordinary human beings invested with divine +titles, and divine attributes; while, on the other hand, the assumption +is put forth with equal boldness that Jesus Christ was a real divine +personage, "seen and believed on in the world, and finally crucified on +Mount Calvary." + +But we do not find the facts in history to warrant any such assumptions +or any such distinctions. They all stand in these respects upon the same +ground and on equal footing. + +And their respective disciples point to the same kind of evidence to +prove their real existence and their divine character, and to prove +that they once walked and talked amongst men, as well as now sit on the +eternal throne in heaven "at the right hand of the father." And we +find even Christian writers admitting the once _bona fide_ or personal +existence on earth of most of the pagan Saviors. + +As to the two chief incarnated Gods of India--Chrishna and Sakia--there +is scarcely "a peg left to hang a doubt upon" as to the fact of their +having descended to the earth, taken upon themselves the form of men, +and having been worshiped as veritable Gods. + +Indeed, we believe but few of the missionaries who have visited that +country question the statement and general belief prevalent there of +their once personal reality. Col. Todd, in his "History of the Rajahs" +(p. 44), says: "We must discard the idea that the Mahabaret, the +history of Rama, of Chrishna, and the five Padua brothers are mere +allegories; colossal figures, ancient temples, and caves inscribed +with characters yet unknown, confirm the reality, and their race, their +cities, and their coins yet exist." To argue further the personal reality +of this crucified God would be a waste of words, as it is generally +admitted, both by historical writers and missionaries. + +Mr. Higgins declares, "Chrishna lived at the conclusion of the brazen +age, which is calculated to have been eleven hundred or twelve hundred +years before Christ." Here is a very positive and specific declaration +as to his tangible actuality. Col. Dow, Mr. Robinson, and others use +similar language. + +Relative to Bacchus, of whose history many writers have spoken as being +wholly fabulous or fictitious, Diodorus Siculus says (lib. iii. p. 137), +"the Libyans claim Bacchus, and say that he was the son of Ammon, a +king of Libya; that he built a temple to his father, Ammon." And that +world-wide famous historian (Mr. Goodrich) is still more explicit, if +possible, as to his material entity. After giving it directly as his +opinion that there was such a being, he says, "He planted vine-yards and +fig-trees, and erected many noble cities." He moreover tells us, "His +skill in legislation and agriculture is much praised" (p. 499). + +With respect to Osiris of Egypt, another God-Savior, Mr. Hittle declares +unqualifiedly that "Herodotus saw the tomb of Osiris, at Sais nearly +five centuries before Christ" (vol. i. p. 246). Rather a strong evidence +of his previous personality certainly, but not more so than that +furnished by the _New York Journal of Commerce_ a few years since, +relative to the Egyptian Apis or Thulis, whose theophany was annually +celebrated, at the rising of the Nile, with great festivities and +devotion, several thousand years ago. The Paris correspondent of +that journal, after speaking of Mr. Auguste Marietta's travels, "a +distinguished scientific gentleman who for four years past had been +employed by the French Government in making Egyptian researches," having +returned home, says, "The most important of Mr. Marietta's discoveries +was the tomb of Apis (Thulis), a monument excavated entirely in +lime-rock." "There are (he says in conclusion) epitaphs, forming a +chronological record of each of the Apis buried in the common tomb. The +sculpture is of the date of the Pyramids, and the statues are in +the best state of preservation; the colors are perfectly bright The +execution is admirable, and they convey an exact idea of the physical +character of the primitive population." + +The New American Cyclopedia (art. Apis) in speaking of this Egyptian +God, tells us his lifetime was twenty-five years; in harmony with one of +the theologico-astronomical cycles of the Egyptians. The same work and +volume (p. 132), in speaking of the real existence of Adonis of Greece, +tells us, upon the authority of the poet Panyasis, that he was a +veritable son of Theias, king of Syria. + +But of all the characters who figured in the mythological works or +lawless rhapsodies of the ancients, and worshiped by them as crucified +Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, none has, perhaps, been so indubitably, so +positively, and so universally set down as mythological or fabulous as +that of Prometheus of Caucasus. + +And yet Mr. Lempriere, D. D., tells us in his Classical Dictionary that +he was the son of Japetus. Sir Isaac Newton says he was a descendant of +the famous African Sesostris; while that erudite and masterly historian +(Mr. Higgins) seems to have entertained no doubt of his personal esse; +nor, indeed, of many, if any, of the pagan Saviors, as the following +declaration will show. He says, "Finding men in India and other +countries of the same name of the inferior Gods (as it is quite common +to name men for them) has led some to conclude that those deified men +never existed, but are merely mythological names of the sun. True, the +first supreme God of every nation (not excepting the Jews) was the sun. +But more modernly the names were transferred to men." Again, he says, +"Inasmuch as some of them are found to have been real bona fide human +beings, there is nothing unreasonable in concluding that all were" And +if we take into consideration the true and indisputable fact that the +priests had everything at their disposal, and the strongest motives for +concealing and suppressing, not to say garbling and destroying evidence, +it is not to be wondered at that the histories of some of these Gods +should be somewhat obscure and ambiguous. Further on he declares, "In +every case the Savior was incarnate, and in nearly every case the place +in which he was actually born was exhibited to the people." And upon the +authority of the Hierophant, we will add, the memories of many of them +have been consecrated and perpetuated by tombs placed beside their +temples, which is perhaps the most convincing species of evidence that +could be offered. + +The evidence, then, is precisely of the same character as that offered +in the case of Jesus Christ to prove that the pagan Saviors did really +possess a substantial, earthly and bodily existence. Though it is true +that it never has been universally conceded or believed by Christian +themselves that Jesus Christ ever had a personal or corporeal existence +on earth. + +Cotilenius, in a note on Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, written in +the third century of the Christian era, declares that "it is as absurd +to deny the doctrine which taught that Jesus Christ's body was a phantom +as to deny that the sun shone at midday." His physical body of course +was meant, for it appears he believed in his eternal existence as a +spirit in heaven. + +And we find whole sects advocating similar views in the early ages of +the Christian church. "One of the most primitive and learned sects," +says a writer, "were the Manicheans, who denied that Jesus Christ ever +existed in flesh and blood, but believed him to be a God in spirit only;" +others denied him to be a God, but believed him to have been a prophet, +or inspired character, like the Unitarians of the present day. Some +denied his crucifixion, others asserted it. It is more than probable +that this was the cause of dispute between Paul and Barnabas, mentioned +in the Acts of the Apostles, seeing that Paul had laid such peculiar +emphasis on "Jesus Christ and him crucified." + +And this conclusion is corroborated by its being expressly stated in the +Gospel of Barnabas that "Jesus Christ was not crucified, but was carried +to heaven by four angels." "There was a long list," says the same +writer, "from the earliest times, of sincere Christians who denied that +Jesus Christ rose from the dead;" while, as we may remark here, there +could not have been at that early date any grounds for denying these +things, had he really figured in the world in the miraculous and +extraordinary and public manner as that related in the Gospels. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. SIXTEEN SAVIORS CRUCIFIED + +"For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ +and him crucified." (i Cor. ii. 2.) There must have existed a very +considerable amount of skepticism in the community as to the truth of +the report of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the country and era of +its occurrence to make it necessary thus to erect it into an important +dogma, and make it imperative to believe it There must have been a large +margin for distrusting its truth. + +The determination not to know anything but the crucifixion of Jesus +Christ was narrowing down his knowledge to rather a small compass. + +And such a resolution would necessarily preclude him from acquainting +himself with the history of any other cases of crucifixion that might +have occurred before that of his own favorite Messiah. "What! Was +there ever a case of crucifixion beside that of Jesus Christ?" a good +Christian brother or sister sometimes exclaims, when the world's sixteen +crucified Saviors are spoken of. + +We meet the question with the reply, You seem to be a disciple of +Paul, whose position would not allow him to know of any other cases of +crucifixion but that of Jesus Christ. Hence, he may have considered it +meritorious to perpetuate his ignorance on the subject And you, perhaps, +are ignorant from the same cause. + +It is the nature of all religions based on fear and unchangeable dogmas, +to deter and thus exclude its disciples from all knowledge adverse +to their own creeds. And sometimes their own religious systems are +magnified to such an exalted appreciation above all others as to lead +them to destroy the evidence of the existence of the latter for fear of +their ultimate rivalry. + +Mr. Taylor informs us that some of the early disciples of the Christian +faith demolished accessible monuments representing and memorializing the +crucifixion of the ancient oriental sin-atoning Gods, so that they are +now unknown in the annals of Christian history. Hence, the surprise +excited in the minds of Christian professors when other cases are +mentioned. + +Such influences as referred to above have shut out from the minds of the +disciples of several religious systems a knowledge of all crucified Gods +but their own. Hence, the Hindoo rejoices in knowing only "Chrishna and +him crucified." The Persian entwines around his heart the remembrance +only of the atoning sufferings on the cross of Mithra the Mediator. The +Mexican daily sends up his earnest, soul-breathing prayer for the return +of the spirit of his crucified Savior--Quexalcote. While the Caucasian, +with equal devotion, chants daily praises to his slain "Divine +Intercessor" for voluntarily offering himself upon the cross for the +sins of a fallen race. And the Christian disciple hugs to his bosom +the bloody cross of the murdered Jesus, unhaunted by the suspicion that +other Gods died for the sins of man long anterior to the advent of the +immaculate Nazarene. + +We will now lay before the reader a brief account of the crucifixion of +more than a dozen virgin-born Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, predicated +upon facts which have escaped the hands of the Christian iconoclasts +determined to know only Jesus Christ crucified. We will first notice the +case of the Indian God--Chrishna. + + +I.--CRUCIFIXION OF CHRISHNA OF INDIA, 1200 B. C. + +Among the sin-atoning Gods who condescended in ancient times to forsake +the throne of heaven, and descend upon the plains of India, through +human birth, to suffer and die for the sins and transgressions of the +human race, the eighth Avatar, or Savior, may be considered the most +important and the most exalted character, as he led the most conspicuous +life, and commanded the most devout and the most universal homage. And +while some of the other incarnate demigods were invested with only a +limited measure of the infinite deityship, Chrishna, according to the +teachings of their New Testament (the Ramazand), comprehended in himself +"a full measure of the God-head bodily." The evidence of his having been +crucified is as conclusive as any other sacrificial or sin-atoning God, +whose name has been memorialized in history, or embalmed as a sacred +idol in the memories of his devout worshipers. + +Mr. Moore, an English traveler and writer, in a large collection of +drawings taken from Hindoo sculptures and monuments, which he has +arranged together in a work entitled "The Hindoo Pantheon," has one +representing, suspended on the cross, the Hindoo crucified God and Son +of God, "our Lord and Savior" Chrishna, with holes pierced in his +feet, evidently intended to represent the nail-holes made by the act of +crucifixion. Mr. Higgins, who examined this work, which he found in the +British Museum, makes a report of a number of the transcript drawings +intended to represent the crucifixion of this oriental and mediatorial +God, which we will here condense. In plate ninety-eight this Savior is +represented with a hole in the top of one foot, just above the toes, +where the nail was inserted in the act of crucifixion. + +In another drawing he is represented exactly in the form of a Romish +Christian crucifix, but not fixed or fastened to a tree, though the legs +and feet are arranged in the usual way, with nail-holes in the latter. +There is a halo of glory over it, emanating from the heavens above, +just as we have seen Jesus Christ represented in a work by a Christian +writer, entitled "Quarles' Emblems," also in other Christian books. In +several of the icons (drawings) there are marks of holes in both feet, +and in others of holes in the hands only. In the first drawing which +he consulted the marks are very faint, so as to be scarcely visible. +In figures four and five of plate eleven the figures have nail-holes in +both feet, while the hands are not represented. Figure six has on it the +representation of a round hole in the side. To his collar or shirt hangs +an emblem of a heart, represented in the same manner as those attached +to the imaginary likenesses of Jesus Christ, which may now be found in +some Christian countries Figure ninety-one has a hole in one foot and a +nail through the other, and a round nail or pin mark in one hand only, +while the other is ornamented with a dove and a serpent (both emblems of +deity in the Christian's bible). + +Now, we raise the query here, and drive it into the innermost temple +of the Christian's conscience, with the overwhelming force of the +unconquerable logic of history--_What does all this mean?_ + +And if they will only let conviction have its perfect work while +answering this question unhampered by the inherited prejudices of +a thousand years, they can henceforth rejoice in the discovery of a +glorious historical truth, calculated to disenthrall their minds from +the soul-cramping superstitions of crosses, crucifixions and bloody +atonements on which they have been accustomed to hang the salvation of +the world. + +If the credibility of the relation of these incidents going to prove +an astonishing coincidence in the sacred histories of the Hindoo and +Christian Saviors, and demonstrating the doctrine of the crucifixion +as having been practically realized, and preached to the world long +anterior to the offering of a God "once for all" on Mount Calvary; +if its credibility rested on mere _ex parte_ testimony, mere pagan +tradition, or even upon the best digested and most authentic annals of +the past that have escaped the ravages of time, there might still be a +forlorn hope for the stickler for the Christian faith now struggling +in the agonies of a credal skepticism, that the whole thing has been +plagiarized from the Christian Gospels. For paper and parchment history +can be--and has been--mutilated. But the verity of this account rests +upon no such a precarious basis. Its antiquity, reaching far beyond +the Christian era, is corroborated and demonstrated by imperishable +monuments, deep-chiseled indentures burrowed into the granite rock, +which bid defiance to the fingers of time, and even the hands of the +frenzied iconoclast, to destroy or deface, though impelled and spurred +on to the effort by the long-cherished conviction burning in his soul, +that the salvation of the human race depends upon believing that "there +is no other name given under heaven whereby men can be saved" than his +own crucified God, and that all others are but thieves, robbers and +antichrists. Some of the disciples of the oriental systems cherished +this conviction, and Christians and Mahommedans seem to have inherited +it in magnified proportions. + +Hence, we are credibly informed that some of the earlier Christian +saints, having determined, like Paul, "to know only Jesus Christ and him +crucified," made repeated efforts to obliterate these sacred facts (so +fatally damaging to their one-sided creeds) from the page of history. +Mr. Higgins suggests that if we could have persons less under the +influence of sectarian prejudice to visit, examine, and report on +the sculptures and monuments of India, covered over as they are with +antiquated and significant figures appertaining to and illustrating +their religious history, we might accumulate still more light bearing +upon the history of the crucifixion of the Savior and sin-atoning +Chrishna. "Most of our reports," he declares, "are fragmentary, if not +one-sided, having come through the hands of Christian missionaries, +bishops and priests." + +He informs us that a report on the Hindoo religion, made out by a +deputation from the British Parliament, sent to India for the purpose of +examining their sacred books and monuments, being left in the hands of +a Christian bishop at Calcutta, and with instructions to forward it +to England, was found, on its arrival in London, to be so horribly +mutilated and eviscerated as to be scarcely cognizable. The account of +the crucifixion was gone---cancelled out. The inference is patent. + +And we have it upon the authority of this same reliable and truthful +writer (Sir Godfrey Higgins) that the author of the Hindoo Pantheon (Mr. +Moor), after having announced his intention to publish it to the world, +was visited and labored with by some of his devout Christian neighbors +zealous "for the faith once delivered to the saints," who endeavored to +dissuade him from publishing such facts to the world as he represented +his book to contain, for fear it would have the effect to unsettle +the faith of some of the weak brethren (some of the weak-kneed church +members) in the soul-saving religion of Jesus Christ, by raising +doubts in their minds as to the originality of the gospel story of the +crucifixion of Christ, or at least of his having been crucified as a God +for a sin-offering. His crucifixion is a possible event. It may be +thus far a true narrative, but the adjunct of the atonement, with its +efficacy to obliterate the effects of sin, connected with the idea that +an infinite, omnipotent and self-existent God was put to death, when a +human form was slain upon the cross--never, no, never. It is a thought +too monstrous to find lodgment in an enlightened human mind. + +Another case evincing the same spirit as that narrated above is found in +the circumstance of a Christian missionary (a Mr. Maurice) publishing +a historical account of this man-god or demigod of the Hindoos, and +omitting any allusion to his crucifixion; this was entirely left out, +apparently from design. His death, resurrection and ascension were +spoken of, but the crucifixion skipped over. He could not have been +ignorant of this chapter in his history as the writers preceding him, +from whom he copied, had related it. + +Among this number may be mentioned the learned French writer +Monsieur Guigniant, who, in his "Religion of the Ancients," speaks so +specifically of the crucifixion of this God, as to name the circumstance +of his being nailed to a tree. He also states, that before his exit he +made some remarkable prophecies appertaining to the crimes and miseries +of the world in the approaching future, reminding us of the wars and +rumors of wars predicted by the Christian Messiah. Mr. Higgins names the +same circumstance. + +We have it upon the authority of more than one writer on Hindoo or +Indian antiquities that there is a rock temple at Mathura in the form +of a cross, and facing the four cardinal points of the compass, which +is admitted by all beholders as presenting the proof in bold relief of +extreme age, and inside of this temple stands a statue of "the Savior +of men," Chrishna of India, presenting the proof of being coeval in +construction with the temple itself by the circumstance of its being +cut out of the same rock and constituting a part of the temple. (Further +citations of this character will be found under the head of Parallels, +Chapter XXXII.) + +Thus we have the proof deeply and indelibly carved in the old, +time-chiseled rocks of India--that their "Lord and Savior Chrishna" +atoned for the sins of a grief-stricken world by "pouring out his blood +as a propitiatory offering" while stretched upon the cross. No wonder, +in view of such historic bulwarks, Col. Wiseman, for ten years a +Christian missionary should have exclaimed, "Can we be surprised that +the enemies of our holy religion should seize upon this legend (the +crucifixion of Chrishna) as containing the original of our gospel +history?" + +Christian reader, please ponder over the facts of this chapter, and let +conviction have its perfect work. + + +LIFE, CHARACTER, RELIGION, AND MIRACLES OF CHRISHNA. + +The history of Chrishna Zeus (or Jeseus, as some writers spell it) is +contained principally in the Baghavat Gita, the episode portion of the +Mahabaret bible. The book is believed to be divinely inspired, like all +other bibles; and the Hindoos claim for it an antiquity of six thousand +years. Like Christ, he was of humble origin, and like him had to +encounter opposition and persecution. + +But he seems to have been more successful in the propagation of his +doctrines; for it is declared, "he soon became surrounded by many +earnest followers, and the people in vast multitudes followed him, +crying aloud, 'This is indeed the Redeemer promised to our fathers.'" +His pathway was thickly strewn with miracles, which consisted in healing +the sick, curing lepers, restoring the dumb, deaf and the blind, raising +the dead, aiding the weak, comforting the sorrow-stricken, relieving the +oppressed, casting out devils, etc. He come not ostensibly to destroy +the previous relgion, but to purify it of its impurities, and to preach +a better doctrine. He came, as he declared, "to reject evil and restore +the reign of good, and redeem man from the consequences of the fall, +and deliver the oppressed earth from its load of sin and suffering." His +disciples believed him to be God himself, and millions worshiped him as +such in the time of Alexander the Great, 330 B. C. + +The hundreds of counterparts to the history of Christ, proving their +histories to be almost identical, will be found enumerated in Chapter +XXXII., such as--1. His miraculous birth by a virgin. 2. The mother and +child being visited by shepherds, wise men and the angelic host, who +joyously sang, "In thy delivery, O favored among women, all nations +shall have cause to exult." 3. The edict of the tyrant ruler Cansa, +ordering all the first born to be put to death. 4. The miraculous escape +of the mother and child from his bloody decree by the parting of the +waves of the River Jumna to permit them to pass through on dry ground. +5. The early retirement of Chrishna to a desert. 6. His baptism or +ablution in the River Ganges, corresponding to Christ's baptism in +Jordan. 7. His transfiguration at Madura, where he assured his disciples +that "present or absent, I will always be with you." 8. He had a +favorite disciple (Arjoon), who was his bosom friend, as John was +Christ's. 9. He was anointed with oil by women, like Christ. 10. A +somewhat similar fish story is told of him--his disciples being enabled +by him to catch large draughts of the finny prey in their nets. (For +three hundred other similar parallels, see Chapter XXXII.) + +Like Christ, he taught much by parables and precepts. A notable sermon +preached by him is also reported, which we have not space for here. + +On one occasion, having returned from a ministerial journey, as he +entered Madura, the people came out in crowds to meet him, strewing the +ground with the branches of cocoa-nut trees, and desiring to hear him. +He addressed them in parables--the conclusion and moral of one of which, +called the parable of the fishes, runs thus: "And thus it is, O people +of Madura, that you ought to protect the weak and each other, and not +retaliate upon an enemy the wrongs he may have done you." Here we see +the peace doctrine preached in its purity. "And thus it was," says a +writer, "that Chrishna spread among the people the holy doctrines of +purest morality, and initiated his hearers into the exalted principles +of charity, of self-denial, and self-respect at a time when the desert +countries of the west were inhabited only by savage tribes;" and we +will add, long before Christianity was thought of. Purity of life +and spiritual insight, we are told, were distinguishing traits in the +character of this oriental sin-atoning Savior, and that "he was often +moved with compassion for the downtrodden and the suffering." + +A Budhist in Ceylon, who sent his son to a Christian school, once +remarked to a missionary, "I respect Christianity as a help to Budhism." +Thus is disclosed the fact that the motives of some of "the heathen" +in sending to Christian schools is the promotion of their own religion, +which they consider superior, and in many respects most of them are. +(For proof, see Chapter on Bibles.) + +We have the remarkable admission of the _Christian Examiner_ that "the +best precepts of the (Christian) bible are contained in the Hindoo +Baghavat." Then it is not true that "Christ spake as man never spake." +And if his "best precepts" were previously recorded in an old heathen +bible, then they afford no proof of his divinity. This suicidal +concession of the _Examiner_ pulls up the claims of orthodox +Christianity by the roots. + +And many of the precepts uttered by Chrishna display a profound wisdom +and depth of thought equal to any of those attributed to Jesus Christ. +In proof of the statement, we will cite a few examples out of the +hundreds in our possession:-- + +1. Those who do not control their passions cannot act properly toward +others. + +2. The evils we inflict upon others follow us as our shadows follow our +bodies. + +3. Only the humble are beloved of God. + +4. Virtue sustains the soul as the muscles sustain the body. + +5. When the poor man knocks at your door, take him and administer to +his wants, for the poor are the chosen of God. (Christ said, "God hath +chosen the poor.") + +6. Let your hand be always open to the unfortunate. + +7. Look not upon a woman with unchaste desires. + +8. Avoid envy, covetousness, falsehood, imposture and slander, and +sexual desires. + +9. Above all things, cultivate love for your neighbor. + +10. When you die you leave your worldly wealth behind you, but your +virtues and vices follow you. + +11. Contemn riches and worldly honor. + +12. Seek the company of the wicked in order to reform them. + +13. Do good for its own sake, and expect not your reward for it on +earth. + +14. The soul is immortal, but must be pure and free from all sin and +stain before it can return to Him who gave it. + +15. The soul is inclined to good when it follows the inward light. + +16. The soul is responsible to God for its actions, who has established +rewards and punishments. + +17. Cultivate that inward knowledge which teaches what is right and +wrong. + +18. Never take delight in another's misfortunes. + +19. It is better to forgive an injury than to avenge it + +20. You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force. + +21. A noble spirit finds a cure for injustice by forgetting it. + +22. Pardon the offense of others, but not your own. + +23. What you blame in others do not practice yourself. + +24. By forgiving an enemy you make many friends. + +25. Do right from hatred of evil, and not from fear of punishment. + +26. A wise man corrects his own errors by observing those of others. + +27. He who rules his temper conquers his greatest enemy. + +28. The wise man governs his passions, but the fool obeys them. + +29. Be at war with men's vices, but at peace with their persons. + +30. There should be no disagreement between your lives and your +doctrine. + +31. Spend every day as though it were the last. + +32. Lead not one life in public and another in private. + +33. Anger in trying to torture others punishes itself. + +34. A disgraceful death is honorable when you die in a good cause. + +35. By growing familiar with vices, we learn to tolerate them easily. + +36. We must master our evil propensities, or they will master us. + +37. He who has conquered his propensities rules over a kingdom. + +38. Protect, love and assist others, if you would serve God. + +39. From thought springs the will, and from the will action, true or +false, just or unjust. + +40. As the sandal tree perfumes the axe which fells it, so the good man +sheds fragrance on his enemies. + +41. Spend a portion of each day in pious devotion. + +42. To love the virtues of others is to brighten your own. + +43. He who gives to the needy loses nothing himself. + +44. A good, wise and benevolent man cannot be rich. + +45. Much riches is a curse to the possessor. + +46. The wounds of the soul are more important than those of the body. + +47. The virtuous man is like the banyan tree, which shelters and +protects all around it. + +48. Money does not satisfy the love of gain, but only stimulates it. + +49. Your greatest enemy is in your own bosom. + +50. To flee when charged is to confess your guilt. + +51. The wounds of conscience leave a scar. + +Compare these fifty-one precepts of Chrishna with the forty-two precepts +of Christ, and you must confess they suffer nothing by the comparison. +If we had space we would like to quote also from the Vedas. We will +merely cite a few examples relative to woman. + +1. He who is cursed by woman is cursed by God. + +2. God will punish him who laughs at woman's sufferings. + +3. When woman is honored, God is honored. + +4. The virtuous woman will have but one husband, and the right-minded +man but one wife. + +5. It is the highest crime to take advantage of the weakness of woman. + +6. Woman should be loved, respected and protected by husbands, fathers +and brothers, etc. (For more, see Chapter on Bibles.) + +Before we close this chapter we must anticipate and answer an objection. +It will be said that the reported amours of Chrishna and his reencounter +with Cansa constitute a criticism on his character. If so, we will point +to Christ's fight or angry combat with the money-changers in the temple +as an offset to it And then it should be remembered that Chrishna's +disciples claim that these stories are mere fable, or allegorical, and +are not found in the most approved or canonical writings. + + +II.--CRUCIFIXION OF THE HINDOO SAKIA, 600 B. C. + +How many Gods who figured in Hindoo history suffered death upon the +cross as atoning offerings for the sins of mankind is a point not +clearly established by their sacred books. But the death of the God +above named, known as Sakia, Budha Sakia, or Sakia Muni, is distinctly +referred to by several writers, both oriental and Christian, though +there appears to be in Budhist countries different accounts of the death +of the famous and extensively worshiped sin-atoning Saviors. + +In some countries, the story runs, a God was crucified by an arrow being +driven through his body, which fastened him to a tree; the tree, +with the arrow thus projecting at right angles, formed the cross, +emblematical of the atoning sacrifice. + +Sakia, an account states, was crucified by his enemies for the humble +act of plucking a flower in a garden--doubtless seized on as a mere +pretext, rather than as being considered a crime. + +One of the accusations brought against Christ, it will be remembered, +was that of plucking the ripened ears of corn on the Sabbath. And it is +a remarkable circumstance, that in the pictures of Christian countries +representing the virgin Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms, either +the child or the mother is frequently represented with a bunch of +flowers in the hand. + +Here, let it be noted, the association of flowers with divinely born +Saviors, in India, is indicated in the religious books of that country +to have originated from the conception of the virgin parting with the +flowers of her virginity by giving birth to a divine child, whereby she +lost the immortality of her physical nature, it being transferred by +that act to her Deity-begotten son. And from this circumstance, Sakia +is represented as having been crucified for abstracting a flower from a +garden. That his crucifixion was designed as a sin-atoning offering, is +evident from the following declaration found in his sacred biography, +viz.: "He in mercy left Paradise, and came down to earth because he was +filled with compassion for the sins and miseries of mankind. He sought +to lead them into better paths, and took their sufferings upon himself +that he might expiate their crimes and mitigate the punishment they must +otherwise inevitably undergo." (Prog. Rel. Ideas, vol. i. p. 86.) + +He believed and taught his followers that all sin is inevitably +punished, either in this or the future life; and so great were his +sympathy and tenderness, that he condescended to suffer that punishment +himself, by an ignominious death upon the cross, after which he +descended into Hades (Hell), to suffer for a time (three days) for the +inmates of that dreadful and horrible prison, that he might show he +sympathized with them. After his resurrection, and before his ascension +to heaven, as well as during his earthly sojourn, he imparted to the +world some beautiful, lofty, and soul-elevating precepts. + +"The object of his mission," says a writer, "was to instruct those who +were straying from the right path, and expiate the sins of mortals by +his own suffering, and procure for them a happy entrance into Paradise +by obedience to his precepts and prayers to his name." (Ibid.) "His +followers always speak of him as one with God from all eternity." +(Ibid.) His most common title was "the Savior of the World." He was also +called "the Benevolent One," "the Dispenser of Grace," "the Source of +Life," "the Light of the World," "the True Light," etc. + +His mother was a very pure, refined, pious and devout woman; never +indulged in any impure thoughts, words or actions. She was so much +esteemed for her virtues and for being the mother of a God, that an +escort of ladies attended her wherever she went. The trees bowed before +her as she passed through the forest, and flowers sprang up wherever her +foot pressed the ground. She was saluted as "the Holy Virgin, Queen of +Heaven." + +It is said that when her divine child was born, he stood upright and +proclaimed, "I will put an end to the sufferings and sorrows of the +world." And immediately a light shone around about the young Messiah. He +spent much time in retirement, and like Christ in another respect, was +once tempted by a demon who offered him all the honors and wealth of the +world. But he rebuked the devil, saying, "Be gone; hinder me not." + +He began, like Christ, to preach his gospel and heal the sick when about +twenty-eight years of age. And it is declared, "the blind saw, the deaf +heard, the dumb spoke, the lame danced and the crooked became straight." +Hence, the people declared, "He is no mortal child, but an incarnation +of the Deity." His religion was of a very superior character. He +proclaimed, "My law is a law of grace for all." His religion knew no +race, no sex, no caste, and no aristocratic priesthood. + +"It taught," says Max Muller, "the equality of all men, and the +brotherhood of the human race." "All men, without regard to rank, birth +or nation," says Dunckar, "form, according to Budha's view, one great +suffering association in this earthly vale of tears; therefore, +the commandments of love, forbearance, patience, compassion, pity, +brotherliness of all men." Klaproth (a German professor of oriental +languages) says this religion is calculated to ennoble the human race. +"It is difficult to comprehend," says a French writer (M. Leboulay), +"how men, not assisted by revelation, could have soared so high, and +approached so near the truth." + +Dunckar says this oriental God "taught self-denial, chastity, +temperance, the control of the passions, to bear injustice from others, +to suffer death quietly, and without hate of your persecutor, to +grieve not for one's own misfortunes, but for those of others." An +investigation of their history will show that that they lived up to +these moral injunctions. "Besides the five great commandments," says a +Wesleyan missionary (Spense Hardy) in his Dahmma Padam, "every shade +of vice, hypocrisy, anger, pride, suspicion, greediness, gossiping, and +cruelty to animals is guarded against by special precepts. Among the +virtues, recommended, we find not only reverence for parents, care for +children, submission to authority, gratitude, moderation in all things, +submission in time of trial, equanimity at all times, but virtues, +unknown in some systems of morality, such as the duty of forgiving +injuries, and not rewarding evil for evil." And we will add, both +charity and love are specially recommended. + +We have it also upon the authority of Dunckar that "Budha proclaimed +that salvation and redemption have come for all, even the lowest +and most abject classes." For he broke down the iron caste of the +Brahminical code which had so long ruled India, and aimed to place all +mankind upon a level. His followers have been stigmatize! by Christian +professors as "idolaters." But Sir John Bowling, in his "Kingdom and +People of Siam," denies that they are idolaters--"because," says he, "no +Budhist believes his image to be God, or anything more than an outward +representation of Deity." Their deific images are looked upon with the +same views and feelings as a Christian venerates the photograph of his +deceased friend. Hence, if one is an idolater, the other is also. With +respect to the charge of polytheism, Missionary Hue says, "that although +their religion embraces many inferior deities, who fill the same +offices that angels do under the Christian system, yet,"--adds M. +Hue--"monotheism is the real character of Buddhism;" and confirms the +statement by the testimony of a Thibetan. + +It should be noted here that although Budhism succeeded in converting +about three hundred millions, or one-third of the inhabitants of the +globe, it was never propagated by the sword, and never persecuted the +disciples of other religions. Its conquests were made by a rational +appeal to the human mind. Mr. Hodgson says, "It recognizes the infinite +capacity of the human intellect." And St. Hilaire declares, "Love for +all beings is its nucleus; and to love our enemies, and not prosecute, +are the virtues of this people." Max Muller says, "Its moral code, taken +by itself, is one of the most perfect the world has ever known." + +Its five commandments are:-- + +1. Thou shalt not kill. + +2. Thou shalt not steal. + +3. Thou shalt not commit adultery or any impurity. + +4. Thou shall not lie. + +5. Thou shalt not intoxicate thyself. + +To establish the above cited doctrines and precepts, Budha sent forth +his disciples into the world to preach his gospel to every creature. And +if any convert had committed a sin in word, thought or deed, he was to +confess and repent. One of the tracts which they distributed declares, +"There is undoubtedly a life after this, in which the virtuous may +expect the reward of their good deeds.... Judgment takes place +immediately after death." + +Budha and his followers set an example to the world of enduring +opposition and persecution with great patience and non-resistance. And +some of them suffered martyrdom rather than abandon their principles, +and gloried in thus sealing their doctrines with their lives. + +A story is told of a rich merchant by the name of Purna, forsaking all +to follow his lord and master; and also of his encountering and talking +with a woman of low caste at a well, which reminds us of similar +incidents in the history of Christ. But his enemies, becoming jealous +and fearful of his growing power, finally crucified him near the foot +of the Nepaul mountains, about 600 B. C. But after his death, burial and +resurrection, we are told he ascended back to heaven, where millions of +his followers believed he had existed with Brahma from all eternity. + +[Note.--In the cases of crucifixion which follow, nothing like accuracy +can be expected with respect to the dates of their occurrence, as all +history covering the period beyond the modern era, or prior to the +time of Alexander the Great (330 B. C.) is involved in a labyrinth of +uncertainty with respect to dates. Hence, bible chronologists differ +to the extent of three thousand years with respect to the time of every +event recorded in the Old Testament. Compare the Hebrew and Septuagint +versions of the bible: The former makes the world three thousand nine +hundred and forty four, and the latter five thousand two hundred and +seventy years old at the birth of Christ--a difference of thirteen +hundred and twenty-six years. And other translations differ still more +widely. All the cases of crucifixion which follow occurred before the +time of Christ, but the exact time of many of them cannot be fixed with +certainty. ] + + +III.--THAMMUZ OF SYRIA CRUCIFIED, 1160 B. C. + +The history of this God is furnished us in fragments by several writers, +portions of which will be found in other chapters of this work. The +fullest history extant of this God-Savior is probably that of Ctesias +(400 B. C.), author of "Persika." The poet has perpetuated his memory in +rhyme. + + "Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored, + Trust ye in your risen Lord; + For the pains which Thammuz endured + Our salvation have procured." + +Mr. Higgins informs us (Anac. vol. i. p. 246) that this God was +crucified at the period above named, as a sin-atoning offering The +stanza just quoted is predicated upon the following Greek text, +translated by Godwin: "Trust ye in God, for out of his loins salvation +has come unto us." Julius Firmicus speaks of this God "rising from the +dead for the salvation of the world." The Christian writer Parkhurst +alludes to this Savior as preceding the advent of Christ, and as filling +to some extent the same chapter in sacred history. + + +IV.--CRUCIFIXION OF WITTOBA OF THE TELINGONESS, 552 B. C. + +We have a very conclusive historical proof of the crucifixion of this +heathen God. Mr. Higgins tells us, "He is represented in his history +with nail-holes in his hands and the soles of his feet." Nails, hammers +and pincers are constantly seen represented on his crucifixes, and are +objects of adoration among his followers. And the iron crown of Lombardy +has within it a nail of what is claimed as his true original cross, +and is much admired and venerated on that account. The worship of +this crucified God, according to our author, prevails chiefly in the +Travancore and other southern countries in the region of Madura. + + +V.--IAO OF NEPAUL CRUCIFIED, 622 B. C. + +With respect to the crucifixion of this ancient Savior, we have this +very definite and specific testimony that "he was crucified on a tree +in Nepaul." (See Georgius, p. 202.) The name of this incarnate God and +oriental Savior occurs frequently in the holy bibles and sacred books of +other countries. Some suppose that lao (often spelt Jao) is the root of +the name of the Jewish God Jehovah. + + +VI.--HESUS OF THE CELTIC DRUIDS CRUCIFIED, 834 B. C. + +Mr. Higgins informs us that the Celtic Druids represent their God Hesus +as having been crucified with a lamb on one side and an elephant on the +other, and that this occurred long before the Christian era. Also that a +representation of it may now be seen upon "the fire-tower of Brechin." + +In this symbolical representation of the crucifixion, the elephant, +being the largest animal known, was chosen to represent the magnitude +of the sins of the world, while the lamb, from its proverbial innocent +nature, was chosen to represent the innocency of the victim (the God +offered as a propitiatory sacrifice). And thus we have "the Lamb of +God taking away the sins of the world"--symbolical language used with +respect to the offering of Jesus Christ. And here is indicated very +clearly the origin of the figure. It is evidently borrowed from the +Druids. We have the statement of the above writer that this legend was +found amongst the Canutes of Gaul long before Jesus Christ was known to +history. (See Anac. vol. ii. p. 130.) + + +VII.--QUEXALCOTE OF MEXICO CRUCIFIED, 587 B. C. + +Historical authority, relative to the crucifixion of this Mexican God, +and to his execution upon the cross as a propitiatory sacrifice for the +sins of mankind, is explicit, unequivocal and ineffaceable. The evidence +is tangible, and indelibly engraven upon steel and metal plates. One +of these plates represents him as having been crucified on a mountain; +another represents him as having been crucified in the heavens, as St. +Justin tells us Christ was. According to another writer, he is sometimes +represented as having been nailed to a cross, and by other accounts as +hanging with a cross in his hand. The "Mexican Antiquities" (vol. vi. +p. 166) says, "Quexalcote is represented in the paintings of 'Codex +Borgianus' as nailed to the cross." Sometimes two thieves are +represented as having been crucified with him. + +That the advent of this crucified Savior and Mexican God was long +anterior to the era of Christ, is admitted by Christian writers, as we +have shown elsewhere. In the work above named "Codex Borgianus," may +be found the account, not only of his crucifixion, but of his death, +burial, descent into hell, and resurrection on the third day. And +another work, entitled "Codex Vaticanus," contains the story of his +immaculate birth by a virgin mother by the name of Chimalman. + +Many other incidences are found related of him in his sacred biography, +in which we find the most striking counterparts to the more modern +gospel story of Jesus Christ, such as his forty days' temptation and +fasting, his riding on an ass, his purification in the temple, his +baptism and regeneration by water, his forgiving of sins, being anointed +with oil, etc. "All these things, and many more, found related of this +Mexican God in their sacred books," says Lord Kingsborough (a Christian +writer), "are curious and mysterious." (See the books above cited.) + + +VIII.--QUIRINUS OF ROME CRUCIFIED, 506 B. C. + +The crucifixion of this Roman Savior is briefly noticed by Mr. Higgins, +and is remarkable for presenting (like other crucified Gods) several +parallel features to that of the Judean Savior, not only in the +circumstances related as attending his crucifixion, but also in a +considerable portion of his antecedent life. + +He is represented, like Christ:-- + +1. As having been conceived and brought forth by a virgin. + +2. His life was sought by the reigning king (Amulius), + +3. He was of royal blood, his mother being of kingly descent. + +4. He was "put to death by wicked hands"--i. e., crucified. + +5. At his mortal exit the whole earth is said to have been enveloped in +darkness, as in the case of Christ, Chrishna, and Prometheus. + +6. And finally he is resurrected, and ascends back to heaven. + + +IX.--(ÆSCHYLUS) PROMETHEUS CRUCIFIED, 547 B. C. + +In the account of the crucifixion of Prometheus of Caucasus, as +furnished by Seneca, Hesiod, and other writers, it is stated that he was +nailed to an upright beam of timber, to which were affixed extended arms +of wood, and that this cross was situated near the Caspian Straits. The +modern story of this crucified God, which represents him as having been +bound to a rock for thirty years, while vultures preyed upon his vitals, +Mr. Higgins pronounces an impious Christian fraud. "For," says this +learned historical writer, "I have seen the account which declares +he was nailed to a cross with hammer and nails." (Anac. vol. i. 327.) +Confirmatory of this statement is the declaration of Mr. Southwell, that +"he exposed himself to the wrath of God in his zeal to save mankind." + +The poet, in portraying his propitiatory offering, says + + "Lo! streaming from the fatal tree + His all atoning blood, + Is this the Infinite?-- + Yes, 'tis he, + Prometheus, and a God! + + "Well might the sun in darkness hide, + And veil his glories in, + When God, the great Prometheus, died + For man the creature's sin." + +The "New American Cyclopedia" (vol. i. p. 157) contains the following +significant declaration relative to this sin-atoning oriental Savior: +"It is doubtful whether there is to be found in the whole range of Greek +letters deeper pathos than that of the divine woe of the beneficent +demigod Prometheus, crucified on his Scythian crags for his love to +mortals." Here we have first-class authority for the crucifixion of this +oriental God. + +In Lempriere's "Classical Dictionary," Higgins' "Anacalypsis," and other +works, may be found the following particulars relative to the final exit +of the God above named, viz.:-- + +1. That the whole frame of nature became convulsed. + +2. The earth shook, the rocks were rent, the graves were opened, and in +a storm, which seemed to threaten the dissolution of the universe, the +solemn scene forever closed, and "Our Lord and Savior" Prometheus gave +up the ghost. + +"The cause for which he suffered," says Mr. Southwell, "was his love for +the human race." Mr. Taylor makes the statement in his Syntagma (p. 95), +that the whole story of Prometheus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection +was acted in pantomime in Athens five hundred years before Christ, which +proves its great antiquity. Minutius Felix, one of the most popular +Christian writers of the second century (in his "Octavius," sect. 29), +thus addresses the people of Rome: "Your victorious trophies not only +represent a simple cross, but a cross with a man on it," and this man +St. Jerome calls a God. + +These coincidences furnish still further proof that the tradition of the +crucifixion of Gods has been very long prevalent among the heathen. + + +X.--CRUCIFIXION OF THULIS OF EGYPT, 1700 B. C. + +Thulis of Egypt, whence comes "Ultima Thule," died the death of the +cross about thirty-five hundred years ago. + +Ultima Thule was the island which marked the ultimate bounds of the +extensive empire of this legitimate descendant of the Gods. + +This Egyptian Savior appears also to have been known as Zulis, and with +this name--Mr. Wilkison tells us--"his history is curiously illustrated +in the sculptures, made seventeen hundred years B. C., of a small, +retired chamber lying nearly over the western adytum of the temple-" We +are told twenty-eight lotus plants near his grave indicate the number +of years he lived on the earth. After suffering a violent death, he +was buried, but rose again, ascended into heaven, and there became "the +judge of the dead," or of souls in a future state. Wilkison says he came +down from heaven to benefit mankind, and that he was said to be "full of +grace and truth." + + +XI.--CRUCIFIXION OF INDRA OF THIBET, 725 B. C. + +The account of the crucifixion of the God and Savior Indra may be found +in Georgius, Thibetinum Alphabetum, p. 230. A brief notice of the case +is all we have space for here. In the work just referred to may be found +plates representing this Thibetan Savior as having been nailed to +the cross. There are five wounds, representing the nailholes and the +piercing of the side. The antiquity of the story is beyond dispute. + +Marvelous stories are told of the birth of the Divine Redeemer. His +mother was a virgin of black complexion, and hence his complexion was +of the ebony hue, as in the case of Christ and some other sin-atoning +Saviors. He descended from heaven on a mission of benevolence, and +ascended back to the heavenly mansion after his crucifixion. He led +a life of strict celibacy, which, he taught, was essential to true +holiness. He inculcated great tenderness toward all living beings. He +could walk upon the water or upon the air; he could foretell future +events with great accuracy. He practiced the most devout contemplation, +severe discipline of the body and mind, and acquired the most complete +subjection of his passions. He was worshiped as a God who had existed +as a spirit from all eternity, and his followers were called "Heavenly +Teachers." + + +XII.--ALCESTOS OF EURIPIDES CRUCIFIED, 600 B. C. + +The "English Classical Journal" (vol. xxxvii.) furnishes us with the +story of another crucified God, known as Alcestos--a female God or +Goddess; and in this respect, it is a novelty in sacred history, being +the first, if not the only example of a feminine God atoning for the +sins of the world upon the cross. The doctrine of the trinity and +atoning offering for sin was inculcated as a part of her religion. + + +XIII.--ATYS OF PHRYGIA CRUCIFIED, 1170 B. C. + +Speaking of this crucified Messiah, the Anacalypsis informs us that +several histories are given of him, but all concur in representing +him as having been an atoning offering for sin. And the Latin phrase +"suspensus lingo," found in his history, indicates the manner of his +death. He was suspended on a tree, crucified, buried and rose again. + + +XIV.--CRITE OF CHALDEA CRUCIFIED, 1200 B. C. + +The Chaldeans, as Mr. Higgins informs us, have noted in their sacred +books the account of the crucifixion of a God with the above name. He +was also known as "the Redeemer," and was styled "the Ever Blessed Son +of God," "the Savior of the Race," "the Atoning Offering for an Angry +God." And when he was offered up, both heaven and earth were shaken to +their foundations. + + +XV.--BALI OF ORISSA CRUCIFIED, 725 B. C. + +We learn by the oriental books, that in the district of country known +as Orissa, in Asia, they have the story of a crucified God, known by +several names, including the above, all of which, we are told, signify +"Lord Second," having reference to him as the second person or second +member of the trinity, as most of the crucified Gods occupied that +position in the trial of deities constituting the trinity, as indicated +by the language "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," the Son, in all cases, +being the atoning offering, "the crucified Redeemer," and the second +person of the trinity. This God Bali was also called Baliu, and +sometimes Bel. The Anacalypsis informs us (vol. i. 257) that monuments +of this crucified God, bearing great age, may be found amid the ruins +of the magnificent city of Mahabalipore, partially buried amongst the +figures of the temple. + + +XVI.--MITHRA OF PERSIA CRUCIFIED, 600 B. C. + +This Persian God, according to Mr. Higgins, was "slain upon the cross to +make atonement for mankind, and to take away the sins of the world." He +was reputedly born on the twenty-fifth day of December, and crucified on +a tree. It is a remarkable circumstance that two Christian writers (Mr. +Faber and Mr. Bryant) both speak of his "being slain," and yet both omit +to speak of the manner in which he was put to death. And the same policy +has been pursued with respect to other crucified Gods of the pagans, as +we have shown elsewhere. + +Our list is full, or we might note other cases of crucifixion. Devatat +of Siam, Ixion of Rome, Apollonius of Tyana in Cappadocia, are all +reported in history as having "died the death of the cross." + +Ixion, 400 B. C., according to Nimrod, was crucified on a wheel, the +rim representing the world, and the spokes constituting the cross. It is +declared, "He bore the burden of the world" (that is, "the sins of +the world") on his back while suspended on the cross. Hence, he was +sometimes called "the crucified spirit of the world." + +With respect to Apollonius, it is a remarkable, if not a suspicious +circumstance that should not be passed unnoticed, that several Christian +writers, while they recount a long list of miracles and remarkable +incidents in the life of this Cappadocian Savior, extending through his +whole life, and forming a parallel to similar incidents of the Christian +Savior, not a word is said about his crucifixion. + +And a similar policy has been pursued with respect to Mithra and other +sin-atoning Gods, including Chrishna and Prometheus, as before noticed. + +This important chapter in their history has been omitted by Christian +writers for fear the relation of it would damage the credibility of the +crucifixion of Christ, or lessen its spiritual force. For, like +Paul, they were "determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and +him crucified" (i Cor. ii. 2) i. e., to _know_ no other God had been +crucified but _Jesus Christ_. They thus exalted the tradition of the +crucifixion into the most important dogma of the Christian faith. Hence, +their efforts to conceal from the public a knowledge of the fact that it +is of pagan origin. + +By reference to Mackey's "Lexicon of Freemasonry" (p. 35) we learn that +Freemasons secretly taught the doctrine of the crucifixion, atonement +and resurrection long anterior to the Christian era, and that similar +doctrines were taught in "all the ancient mysteries," thus proving that +the conception of these tenets of faith existed at a very early period +of time. + +And it may be noted here, that the doctrine of salvation by crucifixion +had likewise, with most of the ancient forms of religious faith, an +astronomical representation--i. e., a representation in astronomical +symbols. According to the emblematical figures comprised in their astral +worship, people were saved by the sun's crucifixion or crossification, +realized by _crossing_ over the equinoctial line into the season of +spring, and thereby gave out a saving heat and light to the world and +stimulated the generative organs of animal and vegetable life. It was +from this conception that the ancients were in the habit of carving or +painting the organs of generation upon the walls of their holy temples. +The blood of the grape, which was ripened by the heat of the sun, as he +crossed over by resurrection into spring, (i. e., was crucified), was +symbolically "the blood of the cross," or "the blood of the Lamb." + +If we should be met here with the statement, that the stories of the +ancient crucifixions of Gods were mere myths or fables, unwarrantably +saddled on to their histories as mere romance, and have no foundation in +fact, we reply--there is as much ground for suspecting the same thing as +being true of Jesus Christ. + +One of the most celebrated and most frequently quoted Christian writers +of the ancient bishops (Irenæus) declares upon the authority of the +martyr Polycarp, who claimed to have got it from St. John and all the +elders of Asia, that Jesus Christ was not crucified, but lived to be +about fifty years old. + +We find there has always been a margin for doubt amongst his own +followers as to the fact of his crucifixion. + +Many of the early Christians and cotemporary Jews and Gentiles doubted +it, and some openly disputed its ever having taken place. Others +bestowed upon it a mere spiritual signification, and not a few +considered it symbolical of a "holy life." One circumstance, calculated +to lead to the entire discredit of the story of the crucifixion of +Christ, is the relation, in connection with it, of a violent convulsion +of nature, and the resurrection of the long-buried saints--events not +supported by any authentic cotemporaneous history, sacred or profane. +(See Chap. XVII., Aphanasia). + +And as these events must be set down as fabulous, they leave the mind +in doubt with respect to the fact of the crucifixion itself, especially +when the many absurdities involved in the doctrine of the crucifixion +are brought to view, in connection with it, some of them so palpably +erroneous that an unlettered savage could see and point them out. + +The Indian chief Red Jacket is reported to have replied to the Christian +missionaries, when they urged upon his attention the benefits of +Christ's death by crucifixion, "Brethren, if you white men murdered the +son of the Great Spirit, we Indians have nothing to do with it, and it +is none of our affair. If he had come among us, we would not have killed +him. We would have treated him well. You must make amends for that crime +yourselves." + +This view of the crucifixion suggested to the mind of an illiterate +heathen we deem more sensible and rational than that of the orthodox +Christians, which makes it a meritorious act and a moral necessity. For +this would not only exonerate Judas from any criminality or guilt for +the part he took in the affair, but would entitle him as well as Christ +to the honorable title of a "Savior" for performing an act without which +the crucifixion and consequent salvation of the world could not have +been effected. If it was necessary for Christ to suffer death upon the +cross as an atonement for sin, then the act of crucifixion was right, +and a monument should be erected to the memory of Judas for bringing it +about. We challenge Christian logic to find a flaw in this argument. + +And another important consideration arises here. If the inhabitants of +this planet required the murderous death of a God as an atonement, we +must presume that the eighty-five millions of inhabited worlds recently +discovered by astronomers are, or have been, in equal need of a divine +atonement. And this would require the crucifixion of eighty-five +millions of Gods. Assuming one of these Gods to be crucified every +minute, the whole would occupy a period of nearly twenty years. This +would be killing off Gods at rather a rapid rate, and would make +the work of the atonement and salvation a very murderous and bloody +affair--a conception which brings to the mind a series of very revolting +reflections. + +The conception of Gods coming down from heaven, and being born of +virgins, and dying a violent death for the moral blunders of the people, +originated in an age of the world when man was a savage, and dwelt +exclusively upon the animal plane, and blood was the requisition for +every offense. And it was an age when no world was known to exist but +the one we inhabit. The stars were then supposed to be mere blazing +tapers set in the azure vault to light this pygmy planet, or peep-holes +for Gods to look out of heaven, to see and learn what is going on below. +Such conceptions are in perfect keeping with the doctrine of the +atoning crucifixion of Gods, which could never have originated or been +entertained for a moment by an astronomer, with a knowledge of the +existence of innumerable inhabited worlds. For as there is to the +monotheistic Christian but one God, or Son of God, to be offered, he +must be incarnated and crucified every day for a thousand years to make +a sin-offering for each of these worlds--a conception too monstrous and +preposterous to find a lodgment in a rational mind. + + +ORIGIN OF THE BELIEF OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF GODS. + +It has always been presumed that death, and especially death by +crucifixion, involved the highest state of suffering possible to be +endured by mortals. Hence, the Gods must suffer in this way as an +example of courage and fortitude, and to show themselves willing +to undergo all the affliction and misery incident to the lot, and +unavoidable to the lives, of their devoted worshipers. They must not +only be equal, but superior to their subjects in this respect Hence, +they would not merely die, but choose, or at least uncomplainingly +submit to the most ignoble and ignominious mode of suffering death +that could be devised, and that was crucifixion. This gave the highest +finishing touch to the drama. + +And thus the legend of the crucifixion became the crowning chapter, the +aggrandizing episode in the history of their lives. It was presumed that +nothing less than a God could endure such excruciating tortures without +complaining. + +Hence, when the victim was reported to have submitted with such +fortitude that no murmur was heard to issue from his lips, this +circumstance of itself was deemed sufficient evidence of his Godship. +The story of the crucifixion, therefore, whether true or false, deified +or helped deify many great men and exalt them to the rank of Gods. +Though some of the disciples of Budhism, and some of the primitive +professors of Christianity also (including, according to Christian +history, Peter and his brother Andrew), voluntarily chose this mode +of dying in imitation of their crucified Lord, without experiencing, +however, the desired promotion to divine honors. They failed of an +exaltation to the deityship, and hence are not now worshiped as Gods. + +Christian reader, what can you now make of the story of the crucifixion +of Jesus Christ but a borrowed legend--at least the story of his being +crucified _as a God!_ + +Note.--The author desires it to be understood with respect to the cases +of crucifixion here briefly narrated, that they are not vouched foras +actual occurrences, of which there is much ground to doubt. It has +neither been his aim or desire to prove them to be real historical +events, nor to establish any certain number of cases. Indeed, he deems +it unimportant to know, if it could be determined, whether they are fact +or fiction, or whether one God was crucified, or many. The moral lesson +designed to be taught by this chapter is, simply, that the belief in +the crucifixion of Gods was prevalent in various oriental or heathen +countries long prior to the reported crucifixion of Christ. If +this point is established--which he feels certain no reader will +dispute--then he is not concerned to know whether he has made out +sixteen cases of crucifixion or not. Six will prove it as well as +sixteen. In fact, one case is sufficient to establish the important +proposition in view. The reader is, therefore, left to decide each case +for himself, according as he may value the evidence presented. More +authorities could have been adduced, and a more extended history +presented of each God brought to notice. But this would have operated to +exclude other matter, which the author considers of more importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. THE APHANASIA, OR DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION. + +MATTHEW tells us (xxvii. 31) that when Christ was crucified, there was +darkness all over the land for three hours, and "the earth did quake, +and the rocks were rent, and many of the saints came out of their +graves." + +Here we have a series of events spoken of so strange, so unusual and +so extraordinary that, had they occurred, they must have attracted the +attention of the whole world--especially the amazing scene of the sun's +withdrawing his light and ceasing to shine, and thereby causing an +almost total darkness near the middle of the day. And yet no writer +of that age or country, or any other age or country, mentions the +circumstance but Matthew. A phenomenon so terrible and so serious in its +effects as literally to unhinge the planets and partially disorganize +the universe must have excited the alarm and amazement of the whole +world, and caused a serious disturbance in the affairs of nations. And +yet strange, superlatively strange, not one of the numerous historians +of that age makes the slightest allusion to such an astounding event. + +Even Seneca and the elder Pliny, who so particularly and minutely +chronicle the events of those times, are as silent as the grave relative +to this greatest event in the history of the world. Nor do Mark, Luke +or John, who all furnish us with a history of the crucifixion, make the +slightest hint at any of these wonder-exciting events, except Mark's +incidental allusion to the darkness. + +Gibbon says, "It happened during the life of Seneca and the elder +Pliny, who must have experienced its immediate effects, or received the +earliest intelligence of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in a +labored work, has recorded all the phenomena of Nature's earthquakes, +meteors 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 world." (Gibbon, p. 451.) + +2. With reference to the "bodies" of the dead saints coming out of their +tombs (for it is declared their "bodies arose," see Matt, xxvii. 52), many +rather curious and puzzling questions might be started, which would at +once disclose its utter absurdity. + +We might ask, for example + +1. Who were those "many saints" who came out of their graves, seeing +there were as yet but few Christians to occupy graves, if they had been +all dead, as the enumeration at Antioch made out only one hundred and +twenty? (See Acts.) 2. How long had they lain in their graves? + +3. How long since their bodies had turned to dust, and been food for +worms? 4. And would not those worms have to be hunted up and required to +disgorge the contents of their stomachs in order to furnish the saints +with the materials for their bodies again? 5. And were the shrouds or +grave clothes of those saints also resurrected? or did they travel about +in a state of nudity? 6. For what purpose were they re-animated? 7. And +should not Matthew have furnished us, by way of proof, with the names +of some of these ghostly visitors? 8. How long did they live the second +time? 9. Did they die again, or did they ascend to heaven with their +new-made bodies? 10. What business did they engage in? 11. Why have we +not some account of what they said and did? 12. And what finally became +of them? + +Until these questions are rationally answered, the story must be +regarded as too incredible and too ludicrous to merit serious notice. + +3. Nearly all the phenomena represented as occurring at the crucifixion +of Christ are reported to have been witnessed also at the final exit +of Senerus, an ancient pagan demigod, who figured in history at a still +more remote period of time. And similar incidents are related likewise +in the legendary histories of several other heathen demigods and great +men partially promoted to the honor of Gods. In the time-honored records +of the oldest religion in the world, it is declared, "A cloud surrounded +the moon; and the sun was darkened at noonday, and the sky rained fire +and ashes during the crucifixion of the Indian God Chrishna." In the +case of Osiris of Egypt, Mr. Southwell says, "As his birth had been +attended by an eclipse of the sun, so his death was attended by a still +greater darkness of the solar orb." At the critical juncture of the +crucifixion of Prometheus, it is declared, "The whole frame of nature +became convulsed, the earth shook, the rocks were rent, the graves +opened, and in a storm which threatened the dissolution of the universe, +the scene closed" (Higgins). According to Livy, the last hours of the +mortal demise of Romulus were marked by a storm and by a solar eclipse. + +And similar stories are furnished us by several writers of Cæsar and +Alexander the Great. With respect to the latter, Mr. Nimrod says, "Six +hours of darkness formed his aphanasia, and his soul, like Polycarp's, +was seen to fly away in the form of a dove." (Nimrod, vol. iii. p. +458.) "It is remarkable," says a writer, "what a host of respectable +authorities vouch for an acknowledged fable--the preternatural darkness +which followed Cæsar's death." Gibbon alludes to this event when he +speaks of "the singular defect of light which followed the murder of +Caesar." He likewise says, "This season of darkness had already been +celebrated by most of the poets and historians of that memorable age." +(Gibbon, p. 452.) It is very remarkable that Pliny speaks of a darkness +attending Cæsar's death, but omits to mention such a scene as attending +the crucifixion of Christ. Virgil also seeks to exalt this royal +personage by relating this prodigy. (See his Georgius, p. 465.) Another +writer says, "Similar prodigies were supposed or said to accompany the +great men of former days." + +Let the reader make a note of this fact--that the same story was told +of the graves opening, and the dead rising at the final mortal exit of +several heathen Gods and several great men long before it was penned as +a chapter in the history of Christ. + +Shakespeare, in his Hamlet says:-- + + "In the most high and palmy days of Rome, + A little ere the mighty Julius fell-- + The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead + Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets." + +These historical citations strongly press the conclusion that this +portion of the history of Christ was borrowed from old pagan legends. + +4. Many cases are recorded in history of the light of the sun being +obscured at midday so as to result in almost total darkness, when it was +known not to be produced by an eclipse. And it is probable that these +natural events furnish the basis in part for those wild legends we have +brought to notice. Humboldt relates in his Cosmos, that, "in the year +358, before the earthquake of Numidia, the darkness was very dense for +two or three hours." Another obscuration of the sun took place in the +year 360, which lasted five or six hours, and was so dense that the +stars were visible at midday. Another circumstance of this kind was +witnessed on the nineteenth of May, 1730, which lasted eight hours. And +so great was the darkness, that candles and lamps had to be lighted at +midday to dine by. Similar events are chronicled for the years 1094, +1206, 1241, 1547, and 1730. And if any such solar obscurations occurred +near the mortal exit of any of the Gods above named, of course they +would be seized on as a part of their practical history wrought up into +hyperbole, and interwoven in their narratives, to give eclat to the +pageantry of their biographies--a fact which helps to solve the mystery. + + +ORIGIN OF THE STORY OF THE APHANASIA AT THE CRUCIFIXION. + +There is but little ground to doubt but that the various stories of a +similar character then current in different countries, as shown above, +first suggested the thought to Christ's biographers of investing +history with the incredible events reported as being connected with the +crucifixion. The principal motive, however, seems to have grown out of a +desire to fulfill a prophecy of the Jewish prophet Joel, as we may find +many of the important miraculous events ingrafted into Christ's history +were recorded by way of fulfilling some prophecy. "That the prophecy +might be fulfilled" is the very language his evangelical biographers +use. + +Joel's prediction runs thus: "And I will show wonders in the heavens, +and in the earth, flood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall +be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great +and terrible day of the Lord come." (Joel ii. 30.) A little impartial +investigation will satisfy any unprejudiced mind that this poetic +rhapsody has not the most remote allusion to the closing events in the +life of Christ, and was not intended to have. + +But his biographers, writing a long time after his death, supposing and +assuming that this and various other texts, which they quote from the +prophets, had reference to him, and had been fulfilled, incorporated it +into his history as a part of his practical life. The conviction that +the prophecy _must have been fulfilled_, without knowing that it had, +added to similar stories of other Gods, with which Christ's history +became confounded, misled them into the conclusion that they were +warranted in assuming that the incredible events they name were really +witnessed at the mortal termination of Christ's earthly career, when +they did not know it, and could not have known it. + +This view of the case becomes very rational and very forcible when we +observe various texts quoted from the prophets by the gospel writers, +or, rather, most butcheringly misquoted, tortured or distorted into +Messianic prophecies, when the context shows they have no reference to +Christ whatever. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. DESCENT OF THE SAVIORS INTO HELL. + +THE next most important event in the histories of the Saviors after +their crucifixion, and the act of giving up the ghost, is that of their +descent into the infernal regions. That Jesus Christ descended into hell +after his crucifixion is not expressly taught in the Christian bible, +but it is a matter of such obvious inference from several passages of +scripture, the early Christians taught it as a scriptural doctrine. Mr. +Sears, a Christian writer, tells us that "on the doctrine of Christ's +underground mission the early Christians were united.... It was a point +too well settled to admit of dispute." (See Foregleams of Immortality, +p. 262). + +And besides this testimony, the "Apostles' Creed" teaches the doctrine +explicitly, which was once as good authority throughout Christendom as +the bible itself; indeed, it may be considered as constituting a part +of the bible prior to the council of Nice (A. D. 325), being supposed +to have been written by the apostles themselves. It declares that "Jesus +Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified (dead) and buried. +He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead," etc. +This testimony is very explicit. + +And Peter is supposed to refer to the same event when he says, "being +put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit, by which also +he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." (i Peter iii. 18.) The +word prison, which occurs in this text, has undoubted reference to the +Christian fabled hell. For no possible sense can be attached to the +word prison in this connection without such a construction. Where have +spirits ever been supposed to be imprisoned but in hell? And then we +find a text in the Acts of the Apostles, which seems to remove all +doubt in the case, and banishes at once all ground for dispute. It is +explicitly stated that "his soul was not left in hell, neither did his +flesh see corruption." (Adis ii. 31.) Why talk about his soul not +being left in hell if it had never been there? Language could hardly be +plainer. The most positive declaration that Christ did descend into hell +could not make it more certainly a scriptural Christian doctrine. + +We, then, rest the case here, and proceed to enumerate other cases of +Gods and Saviors descending into Pandemonium (the realms of Pluto) +long before Jesus Christ walked on the water or on the earth. It is +unquestionably stated in the Hindoo bible, written more than three +thousand years ago, that the Savior Chrishna "went down to hell to +preach to the inmates of that dark and dreary prison, with the view of +reforming them, and getting them back to heaven, and was willing himself +to suffer to abridge the period of their torment." And certainly, in the +midst of the fire and smoke of brimstone, it could not have been hard +to effect their conversion or repentance. One writer tells us that "so +great was his (Chrishna's) tenderness, that he even descended into +hell to teach souls in bondage." Now observe how much "teaching souls in +bondage" sounds like "preaching to souls in prison," as Peter represents +Christ as doing. And can any reader doubt that the meaning in the two +cases is the same? And must we not confess that we are greatly indebted +to the Hindoo bible for an explanation of the two occult and mysterious +texts which I have quoted from the Christian bible, and which have +puzzled so many learned critics to explain, or find a meaning for? + +We have another case of a God descending into hell in the person or +spirit of the Savior Quexalcote of Mexico, (300 B. C.) The story will +be found in the Codex Borgianus, wherein is related the account of +his death, and burial after crucifixion, his descent into hell, and +subsequent resurrection. Of Adonis of Greece it is declared, that +"after his descent into hell, he rose again to life and immortality." +Prometheus of Caucasus (600 B. C.) likewise is represented as "suffering +and descending into hell, rising again from the dead, and ascending +to heaven." Horus of Greece is described as "first reigning a thousand +years, then dying, and being buried for three days, at the end of which +time he triumphed over Typhon, the evil principle, and rose again to +life evermore." And Osiris of Egypt also is represented as making a +descent into hell, and after a period of three days rose again. + +Homer and Virgil speak of several cases of descent into Pluto's +dominions. Hercules, Ulysses and Æneas are represented as performing the +hellward journey on, as we infer, benevolent missions. Higgins remarks, +"The Gods became incarnate, and descended into hell to teach humility +and set an example of suffering." + +The story of their descent into hell was doubtless invented to +find employment for them during their three days of hibernation or +conservation in the tomb, that they might not appear to be really dead +nor idle in the time, and as a still further proof of their matchless +and unrivalled capacity and fortitude for suffering. + +And the story of the three days' entombment is likewise clearly +traceable in appearance to the astronomical incident of the sun's lying +apparently dead, and buried, and motionless for nearly three days at the +period of the vernal epoch, from the twenty-first to the twenty-fifth +of March. It was a matter of belief or fancy that the sun remained +stationary for about three days, when he gradually rose again +"into newness of life." And hence, this period or era was chosen to +figuratively represent the three days' descent of the Gods into hell. +We are told that the Persians have an ancient astronomical figure +representing the descent of a God, divine, into hell, and returning at +the time that Orsus, the goddess of spring, had conquered the God or +genus of winter, after the manner St. John describes the Lamb of God +(see Rev. xii) as conquering the dragon, which may be interpreted as +the Scorpion or Dragon of the first month of winter (October) being +conquered by the Lamb of March or spring. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIORS + +WE find presented in the canonized histories of several of the demigod +Saviors the following remarkable coincidences appertaining to their +death:-- + +1. Their resurrection from the dead. + +2. Their lying in the tomb just three days. + +3. The resurrection of several of them about the time of the vernal +equinox. The twenty-fifth of March is the period assigned by the +Christian world generally for the resurrection of Christ, though some +Christian writers have assigned other dates for this event. They all +agree, however, that Christ rose from the dead, and that this occurred +three days after the entombment. Bishop Theophilus of Cesarea remarks, +relative to this event, "Since the birth of Christ is celebrated on the +twenty-fifth of December,.... so also should the resurrection of Jesus +be celebrated on the twenty-fifth of March, on whatever day of the week +it may fall, the Lord having risen again on that day." (Cent. ii. Call, +p. 118.) "All the ancient Christians," says a writer, "were persuaded +that Christ was crucified on the twenty-third of March, and rose +from the dead on the twenty-fifth." And accordingly Constantine and +cotemporary Christians celebrated the twenty-fifth of March with +great eclat as the date of the resurrection. The twenty-third and +twenty-fifth, including the twenty-fourth, would comprise a period of +three days, the time of the entombment. + +Now mark, Quexalcote of Mexico, Chris of Chaldea, Quirinus of Rome, +Prometheus of Caucasus, Osiris of Egypt, Atys of Phrygia, and "Mithra +the Mediator" of Persia did, according to their respective histories, +rise from the dead after three days' burial, and the time of their +resurrection is in several cases fixed for the twenty-fifth of March. +And there is an account more than three thousand years old of the Hindoo +crucified Savior Chrishna, three days after his interment, forsaking +"the silent bourn, whence (as we are told) no traveler ever returns," +and laying aside the moldy cerements of the dead, again walking forth +to mortal life, to be again seen, recognized, admired, and adored by his +pious, devout and awe-stricken followers, and thus present to the gaze +of a hoping yet doubting world "the first fruits of the resurrection." + +At the annual celebration of the resurrection of the Persian Savior +"Mithra the Mediator," more than three thousand years ago, the priests +were in the habit of exclaiming in a solemn and loud voice, "Cheer up, +holy mourners; your God has come again to life; his sorrows and his +sufferings will save you." (See Pitrat, p. 105.) The twenty-fifth of +March was with the ancient Persians the commencement of a new year, +and on that day was celebrated "the feast of the Neurone," and by the +ancient Romans "the festival of the Hilaria." And we find the ancients +had both the crucifixion and resurrection of a God symbolically and +astronomically represented among the plants. "Their foundation," says +Clement of Alexandria, "was the fictitious death and resurrection of +the sun, the soul of the world, the principle of life and motion." +The inauguration of spring (the twenty-fifth of March), and the summer +solstice (the twenty-fifth of June), were both important periods with +the ancients. + +Hence, the latter period was fixed on as the birthday of John the +Baptist (as marked in the almanacs), when the sun begins to decline +southward--that is, decrease. How appropriately, therefore, John is made +to say, "I shall decrease, but he shall increase." And the consecrated +twenty-fifth of March is also the day marked in our calendars as the +date of the conception and annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And +it was likewise the period of the conception of the ancient Roman Virgin +Asteria, and of the ever-chaste and holy virgin Iris, as well as the +time of the conjugal embrace of the solar and lunar potentates of +the visible universe. May we not, then, very appropriately exclaim of +religion and astronomy, "what God hath joined together, let no man put +asunder." + +Resurrection of Jesus Christ. + +With respect to the physical resurrection of the Christian Savior, it +may be observed that, aside from the physical impossibility of such an +occurrence, the account, as reported to us by his four "inspired" Gospel +biographers, are so palpably at variance with each other, so entirely +contradictory in their reports, as to render their testimony as +infallible writers utterly unworthy of credence, and impels us to +the conclusion that the event is both physically and historically +incredible. There is scarcely one incident or particular in which they +all agree. They are at loggerheads,-- + +1. With respect to the time of its discovery. + +2. The persons who made the discovery (for no witness claims to have +seen it). + +3. With respect to what took place at the sepulchre. + +4. What Peter saw and did there. + +5. And as to what occurred afterward, having a relation to that event. + +1. Relative to the time the witness or witnesses visited the sepulchre +and learned of the resurrection, Matthew (chap. xxviii.) tells us, "It +was at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn;" but according to +Mark (xvi.), the "Sabbath was past, and the sun was rising;" while +John (chap. xx) declares "it was yet dark." Now there is certainly some +difference between the three periods, "the dawning of the day," "the +rising of the sun," and "the darkness of night." If the writers were +_divinely_ inspired, there would be a perfect agreement. + +2. With respect to the persons who first visited the sepulchre, Matthew +states that it was Mary Magdalene and another Mary; but Luke says it +was "Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other +women;" while, according to John (and he virtually reiterates it), +Mary Magdalene went alone. It will be observed, then, that the first +"inspired" and "infallible" witness testifies there were two women; the +second that there were four; and the third witness declares there was +but one. What beautiful harmony! No court in the civilized world would +accept such discordant testimony! + +3. And in relation to what took place at the tomb, Matthew testifies +that "the angel of the Lord" sat upon a stone at the door of the +sepulchre, and told the women their Lord was risen. But Luke steps +forward here, and avers that instead of an angel they found two men +there, not outside, but inside, and not sitting, but standing. But Mark +sets the testimony of both these "inspired" witnesses aside by affirming +there was but one man there, and he was sitting. While Matthew says +"they," St. John says "she" (speaking of the person or persons who left +the sepulchre). According to Matthew the angel who rolled away the stone +from the sepulchre sent a message to the disciples. But Mark affirms +that it was not an "angel" outside, but a "young man" inside, who did +this. And here the question naturally arises: Why was it necessary for +a being who could say, "I have power to lay down my life and take it +up again" (John), to have an angel to roll away the stone from the +sepulchre. Certainly, if he possessed such omnipotent power, he needed +no aid from any being to perform such an act. + +4. And relative to Peter's visit to the tomb, there is a total disparity +in the testimony of the witnesses. According to Luke, he did not go into +the sepulchre, but only stooped down and looked in. But Mark affirms he +did go in, and that it was the disciple who went with him who stooped +down. + +5. And with respect to the events which occurred immediately subsequent +to the resurrection, there is no less discrepancy, no nearer agreement, +in the testimony of the evangelical witnesses. Matthew says that when +Christ's disciples first met him after the resurrection, they worshiped +him, and held him by the feet. (Matt, xxviii. 9) Strange, indeed, and +wholly incredible, if John is a reliable witness, for he affirms he did +not allow even his best and dearest friend (Mary) to touch him. And then +John combats this testimony of his by declaring he invited the skeptical +Thomas, not only to touch him, but to thrust his hand into his side for +tangible proof of his identity. + +6. And why, let us ask here, was not the skeptical Thomas damned for +his doubting, when we, who live thousands of miles from the place, +and nearly two thousand years from the time, are often told by the +priesthood we must "believe or be damned?" + +7. And if Thomas was really convinced by this occurrence, or if it ever +took place, why have we no account of his subsequent life? What good was +effected by his convincement if he never said or did anything afterward? + +8. John tells us Mary first saw Christ, after his resurrection, at the +tomb, but Matthew says it was on her way home she first saw him. + +9. We are told by Luke (xxiv. 36) that when Christ appeared to his +disciples on a certain occasion, they were frightened, supposing it +to be a spirit. But John (xx. 20) says they were glad. Which must we +believe? + +10. According to Matthew, the disciples were all present on this +occasion; but according to John, Thomas was not there. + +11. Here let it be noted that none of the narrators claim to have seen +Christ rise from the tomb, nor to have got it from anybody who did see +it The only proof in this case is their declaration, "It came to pass." + +12. And we are prompted to ask here, how "it came to pass" that the +chief priests and pharisees cherished sufficient faith in Christ's +resurrection to set a watch for it, as Matthew reports, when his own +disciples were too faithless in such an event to be present, or to +believe he had risen after the report reached their ears; for we are +told some doubted. (See Matt, xxiii.) + +13. And how came Matthew to know the soldiers were bribed to say +Christ's body was stolen away by his disciples, when the disclosures of +such a secret would have been death under the Roman government. + +14. And their confession of being asleep, as related by Matthew, would +have subjected them to the same fatal penalty by the civil rulers of +Rome. + +15. And if the soldiers were all asleep, can we not suggest several ways +the body may have disappeared without being restored to life? + +16. And here we would ask if Christ rose from the dead in order to +convince the world of his divine power, why did not the event take +place in public? Why was it seen only by a few credulous and interested +disciples? + +17. And if such an astonishing and miraculous event did occur, why does +not one of the numerous cotemporary writers of those times make any +allusion to it? Neither Pliny, Tacitus, nor Josephus, who detail the +events very minutely, not only of those times, but of that very country, +says a word about such a wonder-exciting occurrence. This fact of itself +entirely overthrows the credibility of the story. + +18. And the fact that several Christian sects, which flourished near +those times, as the Corinthians and Carpocratians, etc., rejected the +story in toto, furnishes another powerful argument for discrediting it. + +19. And then add to this fact that his own chosen followers were +upbraided for their unbelief in the matter. + +20. And what was Christ doing during the forty days between his +resurrection and ascension, that he should only be seen a few times, +and but a few minutes at a time, and by but a few persons, and those +interested? + +21. And we would ask, likewise,--What more can be proved by Christ's +physical resurrection than that of the resurrection of Lazarus, the +widow's son, and several cases related in the Old Testament, or the +numerous cases reported in oriental history? + +22. And what analogy is there in the resurrection of the dead body of a +perfect and self-existent God and that of vile man? + +23. And why should Christ be called "the first fruits of the +resurrection," when so many cases are reported as occurring before his? + +24. And why do Christians build their hopes of immortality almost +entirely upon Christ's alleged resurrection, in view of the numerous +facts we have cited showing it to be a mere sandy foundation? + +25. Of course no person who believes in modern spiritualism will +discredit the story of Christ being visually recognized after his death +_as a spirit_--for they have ocular proof that many such cases have +occurred within the last decade of years. But it is the story of his +physical resurrection we are combating--the reanimation of his flesh +and bones after having been subjected three days to the laws of +decomposition. Neither science nor sense can indorse such a story. + +26. It was a very easy matter, and very natural to mistake Christ's +spiritual body for his physical body; for such mistakes have been made a +thousand times in the world's history. + +27. Is it not strange, in view of the countless defects in the story of +Christ's physical resurrection as enumerated above, that the orthodox +Christian world should rely upon it as the great sheet anchor of their +faith, and as their chief and almost their only hope of immortal life? + + + + +CHAPTER XX. REAPPEARANCE AND ASCENSION OF THE SAVIORS. + +MANY cases are related by their respective sacred narratives of the +ancient Saviors, and other beings possessing the form of man, and +previously recognized as men, reappearing to their disciples and +friends, after having been consigned to the tomb for three days, or a +longer or shorter period of time, and of their final ascension to the +house of many mansions. + +It is related of the Indian or Hindoo Savior Chrishna, that after having +risen from the dead, he appeared again to his disciples. "He ascended +to Voiacantha (heaven), to Brahma," the first person of the trinity (he +himself being the second), and that as he ascended, "all men saw him, +and exclaimed, 'Lo! Chrishna's soul ascends to his native skies.'" +And it is further related that, "attended by celestial spirits,.... he +pursued by his own light the journey between earth and heaven, to the +bright paradise whence he had descended." + +Of the ninth incarnation of India, the Savior Sakia, it is declared, +that he "ascended to the celestial regions", and his pious and devout +disciples point the skeptic to indelible impressions and ineffaceable +footprints on the rocks of a high mountain as an imperishable proof of +the declaration that he took his last leave of earth and made his ascent +from that point. + +It is related of the crucified Prometheus, likewise, that after having +given up the ghost on the cross, "descended to hell", Christ's soul was +"not left in hell," see Acts ii. 31), "he rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven." + +And then it is declared of the Egyptian Savior Alcides, that "after +having been seen a number of times, he ascended to a higher life," going +up, like Elijah, in "a chariot of fire." + +The story of the crucifixion of Quexalcote of Mexico, followed by his +burial, resurrection and ascension, is distinctly related in the "holy" +and inspired "gospels" of that country, which Lord Kingsborough admitted +to be more than two thousand years old. + +Of Laotsi of China, it is said that when "he had completed his mission +of benevolence, he ascended bodily alive into the paradise above." +(Prog, of Rel. Ideas, vol. 214.) And it is related of Fo of the same +country, that having completed his glorious mission on earth, he +"ascended back to paradise, where he had previously existed from all +eternity." + +It is related also in the ancient legends, that the Savior or God +Xamalxis of Thrace, having died, and descended beneath the earth, and +remained there three years, made his appearance again in the fourth year +after his death, as he had previously foretold, and eventually ascended +to heaven about 600 B. C. Even some of the Hindoo saints are reported +in their "holy" and time-honored books to have been seen ascending to +heaven. "And impressions on the rocks are shown," says an author, "said +to be of footprints they had left when they ascended." + +It is related both by the Grecian biographer Plutarch, in his life +of Romulus, and by a Roman historian, that the great founder of Rome +(Romulus) suddenly ascended in a tempest during a solar eclipse, about +713 B. C. And Julius Proculis, a Roman senator of great fame and high +reputation, declared, under solemn oath, that he saw him, and talked +with him after his death. + + +ASTRONOMICAL VERSION OF THE STORY. + +Before dismissing this chapter, we may state that, in common with most +other religious conceptions, the doctrine of the ascension has in the +ancient legends an astronomical representation. + +Having said that a planet was buried because it sunk below the horizon, +when it returned to light and gained its state of eminence, they spoke +of it as dead, risen again, and ascended into heaven. (Volney, p. 143.) +What is the story of the ascension of Christ worth in view of these +ancient pagan traditions of earlier origin? + + +ASCENSION OF THE CHRISTIAN SAVIOR. + +1. The different scriptural accounts of the ascension of Christ are, +like the different stories of the resurrection, quite contradictory, +and, hence, entitled to as little credit. In Luke (xxiv.), he is +represented as ascending on the evening of the third day after the +crucifixion. But the writer of Acts (i. 3) says he did not ascend +till forty days after his resurrection; while, according to his own +declaration to the thief on the cross, "This day shalt thou be with me +in paradise," he must have ascended on the same day of his crucifixion. +Which statement must we accept as inspired, or what is proved by such +contradictory testimony? + +2. Which must we believe, Paul's declaration that he was seen by above +_five hundred of the brethren_ at once (1 Cor. xv. 6), or the statement +of the author of the Acts (i. 15), that there were _but one hundred and +twenty brethren in all after that period?_ + +3. How would his ascension do anything toward proving his divinity, +unless it also proves the divinity of Enoch and Elijah, who are reported +to have ascended long prior to that era? + +4. As these stories of the ascension of Christ, according to Lardner, +were written many years after his crucifixion. Is it not hence probable +they grew out of similar stories relative to the heathen Gods long +previously prevalent in oriental countries? + +5. As these gospel writers could not have been present to witness the +ascension, as it must have occurred before their time of active life, +does not this fact of itself seriously damage the credibility of the +accounts, and more especially as neither Mark nor Luke, who are the only +reporters of the occurrence, were not disciples of Christ at the time, +while Matthew and John, who were, say nothing about it?--another fact +which casts a shade on the credibility of the story. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. THE ATONEMENT--ITS ORIENTAL OR HEATHEN ORIGIN. + +THERE were various practices in vogue amongst the orientalists, which +originated with the design of appeasing the anger, and propitiating +the favor of a presumed to be irascible deity. Most of these practices +consisted in some kind of sacrifice or destructive offering called the +"atonement." But here let it be observed, that the doctrine of atonement +for sin, by sacrifice, was unfolded by degrees, and that the crucifixion +of a God was not the first practical exhibition of it. On the contrary, +it appears to have commenced with the most valueless or cheapest species +of property then known. And from this starting-point ascended gradually, +so as finally to embody the most costly commodities; and did not stop +here, but reached forward till it laid its murderous hands on human +beings, and immolated them upon its bloody altars. And finally, to cap +the climax, it assumed the effrontery to drag a God off the throne +of heaven, to stanch its blood-thirsty spirit, as evinced by Paul's +declaration, "Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of +sin." Rather a bloody doctrine, and one which our humanity rejects with +instinctive horror. + +We will trace the doctrine of the atonement briefly through its +successive stages of growth and development. + +The idea seems to have started very early in the practical history of +the human race, that the sacrifice and consequent deprivation of earthly +goods, or some terrestial enjoyment, would have the effect to mitigate +the anger, propitiate the favor, and obtain the mercy of an imaginary +and vengeful God. This idea obviously was suggested by observing that +their earthly rulers always smiled, and became less rigorous in their +laws, and milder in their treatment of their subjects, when they made +them presents of some valuable or desirable commodity. They soon learned +that such offerings had the effect to check their cruel and bloody mode +of governing the people; so that when their houses were shaken down, +or swallowed up by earthquakes, the trees riven by lightning, and +prostrated by storms, and their cattle swept away by floods, supposing +it to be the work of an angry God, the thought arose in their minds at +once, that perhaps his wrath could be abated by the same expedient as +that which had served in the case of their mundane lords--that of making +presents of property. But as this property could not be carried up to +the celestial throne, the expedient was adopted of burning it, so that +the substance or quintessence of it would be conveyed up to the heavenly +Potentate in the shape of steam and smoke, which would make for him, as +the Jews express it, "a sweet-smelling savor." Abundant and conspicuous +is the evidence in history to show that the custom of burnt-offerings +and atonements for sin originated in this way. + +The first species of property made use of for burnt-offerings appears to +have been the fruits of the earth--vegetables, fruits, roots, etc.,--the +lowest kind of property in point of value. But the thought soon +naturally sprang up in the mind of the devotee, that a more valuable +offering would sooner and more effectually secure the divine favor. +Hence, levies were made on living herds of cattle, sheep, goats and +other domestic animals. This was the second step in the ascending scale +toward Gods. + +And here we find the key to open and solve the mystery of Jehovah's +preferring Abel's offering to Cain's. While the latter consisted in mere +inanimate substances, the former embraced the firstlings of the flock--a +higher and more valuable species of property, and quite sufficient +to induce the selfish Jehovah to prefer Abel's offering to Cain's, or +rather for the selfish Jews to cherish this conception. In all nations +where offerings were made, the conclusion became established in the +minds of the people that the amount of God's favor procured in this way +must be proportionate to the value of the commodity or victim offered +up--a conviction which ultimately led to the seizure of human beings for +the atoning offerings, which brings us to the third stage of growth in +the atonement doctrine. Children frequently constituted the victims in +this case. The sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter, as related in Judges +xi. 30, and other cases cited by bible writers, (Isaiah xxxii. 25), and +modern Christian authors, prove that this practice was in vogue among +"God's holy people." + +One step more (constituting the _fourth_ stage of development) brings us +to the sacrifice of Gods. The climax is now reached; the conception can +go no higher. The ancient Birmese taught that while common property in +burnt-offerings would procure the temporary favor of the ruling God, the +sacrifice of human beings would secure his good pleasure for a thousand +years, and cancel out all the sins committed in that period. And when +one of the three Gods on the throne of heaven was dragged down, or +_voluntarily came down_ (as some of the sects taught), and was put to +death on the cross as an atonement for sin, such was the value of the +victim, such the magnitude of the offering, that it "atoned for _all_ +sin, past, present and future, for all the human race." + +The Hindoos, cherishing this conception, taught that the crucifixion of +their sin-atoning Savior Chrishna (1200 B. C.) put an end to both animal +and human sacrifices, and accordingly such offerings ceased in most +Hindoo countries centuries ago. Thus far back in the mire and midnight +of human ignorance, and amid the clouds of mental darkness, while man +dwelt upon the animal plane, and was governed by his brutal feelings, +and "blood for blood" was the requisition for human offenses, originated +the bloody, savage and revolting doctrine of the atonement. + +Another mode of adjudicating the sins of the people in vogue in some +countries anterior to the custom of shedding blood as an expiation, was +that of packing them on the back, head, or horns of some animal by +a formal hocus-pocus process, and then driving the animal into a +wilderness, or some other place so remote that the brute could not find +its way back amongst the people with its cargo of sins. The cloth or +fabric used for inclosing the sins and iniquities of the people was +usually of a red or scarlet color--of the semblance of blood. In fact, +it was generally dipped in blood. This, being lashed to the animal, +would of course be exposed to the weather and the drenching rains, would +consequently, in the course of time, fade and become white. Hence, we +have the key to Isaiah's declaration, "Though your sins be (red) as +scarlet, they shall become (white) as wool." (See Isaiah, i. 18.) And +thus the meaning of this obscure text is clearly explained by tracing +its origin to its oriental source. + +And there are many other texts in the Christian bible which might be +elucidated in a similar manner by using oriental tradition, or oriental +sacred books, as a key to unlock and explain their meaning. We have +stated above that some animal was made use of by different nations to +convey the imaginary load of the people's sins out of the country. +For this purpose the Jews had their "scapegoat," the Egyptians their +"scape-ox," the Hindoos their "scape-horse," the Chaldeans their +"scape-ram," the Britons their "scape-bull," the Mexicans their +"scape-lamb" and "scape-mouse," the Tamalese their "scape-hen," and +the Christians at a later period their _scape-God_. Jesus Christ may +properly be termed the scape-God of orthodox Christians, as he stands in +the same relation to his disciples, who believe in the atonement, as the +goat did to the Jews, and performs the same end and office. The goat and +the other sin-offering animals took away the sin of the nation in each +case respectively. In like manner Jesus Christ takes away the sin of +the world, being called "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the +world." (John i. 29.) And more than two thousand years ago the Mexicans +sacrificed a lamb as an atonement, which they called "the Lamb +of God"--the same title scripturally applied to Jesus Christ. The +conception in each case is, then, the same--that of the atonement for +sin by the sacrifice of an innocent victim. + +The above citations show that the present custom of orthodox +Christendom, in packing their sins upon the back of a God, is just +the same substantially as that of various heathen nations, who were +anciently in the habit of packing them upon the backs of various dumb +animals. If some of our Christian brethren should protest against our +speaking of the church's idea of atonement as that of packing their sins +upon the back of a God, we will here prove the appropriateness of the +term upon the authority of the bible. Peter expressly declares Christ +bore our sins upon his own body on a tree (see 1 Peter ii. 24), just +as the Jews declared the _goat bore their_ sins on his body, and the +ancient Brahmins taught that the bulls and the heifers bore theirs away, +etc., which shows that the whole conception is of purely heathen +origin. And hereafter, when they laugh at the Jewish superstition of +a scape-goat, let them bear in mind that more sensible and intelligent +people may laugh in turn at their superstitious doctrine of a scape-God. + +These superstitious customs were simply expedients of different nations +to evade the punishment of their sins--an attempt to shift their +retributive consequences on to other beings. The divine atonement more +especially possessed this character. This system teaches that the son +of God and Savior of the world was sent down and incarnated, in order to +die for the people, and thus suffer by proxy the punishment meted out +by divine wrath for the sins of the whole world. The blood of a God must +atone for the sins of the whole human family, as rams, goats, bullocks +and other animals had atoned for the sins of families and nations under +older systems. Thus taught Brahminism, Budhism, Persianism, and other +religious systems, before the dawn of Christianity. The nucleus of the +atoning system is founded in the doctrine, "Without the shedding of +blood there is no remission for sin" (Rom. v. 9)--a monstrous and +morally revolting doctrine--a doctrine which teaches us that _somebodys_ +blood must be shed, somebody's veins and arteries depleted, for every +trivial offense committed against the moral law. Somebody must pay the +penalty in blood, somebody must be slaughtered for every little foible +or peccadillo or moral blunder into which erring man may chance to +stumble while upon the pilgrimage of life, while journeying through the +wilderness of time, even if a God has to be dragged from his throne in +heaven, and murdered to accomplish it. Nothing less will mitigate the +divine wrath. + +Whose soul--possessing the slightest moral sensibility--does not +inwardly and instinctively revolt at such a doctrine? We would not teach +it to the world, for it is founded in butchery and bloodshed, and is +an old pagan superstition, which originated far back in the midnight of +mental darkness and heathen ignorance, when the whole human race were +under the lawless sway of their brutal propensities, and when the +ennobling attributes of love, mercy and forgiveness had as yet found +no place, no abiding home, in the human bosom. The bloody soul of the +savage first gave it birth. We hold the doctrine to be a a high-handed +insult to the All-loving Father, who, we are told, is "long-suffering in +mercy," and "plentiful in forgiveness," to charge _Him_ with sanctioning +such a doctrine, much less with originating it. + +There is no "mercy or forgiveness" in putting an innocent being to death +for any pretext whatever. And for the Father to consent to the brutal +assassination of His own innocent Son upon the cross to gratify an +implacable revenge toward his own children, the workmanship of his own +hands, rather than forgive a moral weakness implanted in their natures +by a voluntary act of his own, and for which consequently he alone ought +to be responsible, would be nothing short of murder in the first degree. + +We cherish no such conception. We cannot for a moment harbor a +blasphemous doctrine, which represents the Universal Father as being a +bloody-minded and murderous being, instead of a being of infinite love, +infinite wisdom, and infinite in all the moral virtues. Such a character +would be a deep-dyed stigma upon any human being. And no person actuated +by a strict sense of justice would accept salvation upon any such terms +as that prescribed by the Christian atonement. + +It is manifestly too unjust, too devoid of moral principle, besides +being a flagrant violation of the first principles of civil and criminal +jurisprudence. It is a double wrong to punish the innocent for the +guilty. It is the infliction of injustice on the one hand, and the +omission of justice on the other. It inflicts the highest penalty of +the law upon an innocent being, whom that law ought to shield from +punishment, while it exculpates and liberates the guilty party, whose +punishment the moral law demands. It robs society of a useful man on +the one hand, and turns a moral pest upon community on the other, +thus committing a twofold wrong, or act of injustice. No court in any +civilized country would be allowed to act upon such a principle; and +the judge who should indorse it, or favor a law, or principle, which +punishes the innocent for the guilty, would be ruled off the bench at +once. + +Here, however, we are sometimes met with the plea, that the offering +of Jesus Christ was a voluntary act, that it was made with his own +free will. But the plea don't do away with either the injustice or +criminality of the act. + +No innocent person has a right to suffer for the guilty, and the +courts have no right to accept the offer or admit the substitute. An +illustration will show this. If Jefferson Davis had been convicted of +the crime of treason, and sentenced to be hung, and Abraham Lincoln had +come forward and offered to be stretched upon the gallows in his place, +is there a court in the civilized world which would have accepted the +substitute, and hung Lincoln, and liberated Davis? To ask the question +is but to answer it. It is an insult to reason, law and justice to +entertain the proposition. + +The doctrine of the atonement also involves the infinite absurdity of +God punishing himself to appease his own wrath. For if "the fullness of +the Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily" (as taught in Col. ii. 9), then +his death was the death of God--that is, a divine suicide, prompted and +committed by a feeling of anger and revenge, which terminated the life +of the Infinite Ruler--a doctrine utterly devoid of reason, science +or sense. We are sometimes told man owes a debt to his Maker, and the +atonement pays that debt. To be sure! And to whom is the debt owing, and +who pays it? Why, the debt is owing to God, and God (in the person of +Jesus Christ) pays it--pays it to himself. We will illustrate. A man +approaches his neighbor, and says, "Sir, I owe you a thousand dollars, +but can never pay it." "Very well, it makes no difference," replies the +claimant, "I will pay it myself;" and forthwith thrusts his hand into +his right pocket and extracts the money, transfers it to the left pocket +and exclaims--"There, the debt is paid!" A curious way of paying debts, +and one utterly devoid of sense. And yet the orthodox world have adopted +it for their God. We find, however, that they carefully avoid practicing +this principle themselves in their dealings with each other. When they +have a claim against a neighbor, we do not find them ever thrusting +their hands into their own pockets to pay it off, but sue him, and +compel him to pay--if he refuses to do it without compulsion--thus +proving they do not consider it a correct principle of trade. + +But we find, upon further investigation, that the assumed debt is not +paid--after all. + +When a debt is paid, it is canceled, and dismissed from memory, and +nothing more said about it. But in this case the sinner is told he +must still suffer the penalty for every sin he commits, notwithstanding +Christ died to atone for and cancel that sin. + +Where, then, is the virtue of the atonement? Like other doctrines of +the orthodox creed, it is at war with reason and common sense, and every +principle of sound morality, and will be marked by coming ages as a +relic of barbarism. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. THE HOLY GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN + +OF all the weird, fanciful, and fabulous stories appertaining to the +Gods and other spiritual entities of the olden times, whose capricious +adventures we find so profusely narrated in oriental mythology--of +all the strange, mythical and mystical feats, and ever-varying and +ever-diverging changes in the shape, appearance, sex, and modes of +manifestation which characterize the hobgoblins or ghostly beings which +comprise the esoteric stock of the ancient mysteries, that appertaining +to the third member of "the hypostatic union," the Holy Ghost, seems to +stand pre-eminent. And I propose here to submit the facts to show that +the Holy Ghost story of the Christian Gospels, like the more ancient +pagan versions of the same story, is marked by the same wild, discordant +and legendary characteristics which abound in all the accounts of gods +and ghosts found recorded in the religious books of various nations. + +The following brief exposition of the history and exploits of this +anomalous, nondescript, chameleon-like being will clearly evince that +the same fanciful, metaphorical and fabulous changes in the size, shape, +sex and appearance of this third limb of the triune God are found in the +Christian Scriptures which are disclosed in the more ancient oriental +traditions. + +We will first exhibit a classification of the names and characteristics +of this imaginary being drawn from the gospels and epistles of the +Christian bible, by which it will be observed that scarcely any two +references to it agree in assigning it the same character or attributes. + +1. In John xiv. 26, the Holy Ghost is spoken of as a person or personal +God. + +2. In Luke iii. 22, the Holy Ghost changes, and assumes the form of a +dove. + +3. In Matt. xiii. 16, the Holy Ghost becomes a spirit + +4. In John i. 32, the Holy Ghost is presented as an inanimate, senseless +object. + +5. In John v. 7, the Holy Ghost becomes a God--the third member of the +Trinity.' + +6. In Acts ii. 1, the Holy Ghost is averred to be "a mighty, rushing +wind." + +7. In Acts x. 38, the Holy Ghost, we infer, from its mode of +application, is an ointment. + +8. In John xx. 22, the Holy Ghost is the breath, as we legitimately +infer by its being breathed into the mouth of the recipient after the +ancient oriental custom. + +9. In Adis ii. 3, we learn the Holy Ghost "sat upon each of them," +probably in the form of a bird, as at Jesus' baptism. + +10. In Adis ii. 1, the Holy Ghost appears as "cloven tongues of fire." + +11. In Luke ii. 26, the Holy Ghost is the author of a revelation or +inspiration. + +12. In Adis viii. 17, the Holy Ghost is a magnetic aura imparted by the +"laying on of hands." + +13. In Mark i. 8, the Holy Ghost is a medium or element for baptism. + +14. In Adis xxviii. 25, the Holy Ghost appears with vocal organs, and +speaks. + +15. In Heb. vi. 4, the Holy Ghost is dealt out or imparted by measure. + +16. In Luke iii. 22, the Holy Ghost appears with a tangible body. + +17. In Luke i. 5, and many other texts, we are taught people are filled +with the Holy Ghost. + +18. In Matt. xi. 15, the Holy Ghost falls upon the people as a +ponderable substance. + +19. In Luke iv. 1, the Holy Ghost is a God within a God--"Jesus being +full of the Holy Ghost." + +20. In Acts xxi. 11, the Holy Ghost is a being of the masculine or +feminine gender--"Thus saith the Holy Ghost," etc. + +21. In John i. 32, the Holy Ghost is of the neuter gender--"It (the +Holy Ghost) abode upon him." + +22. In Matt. i. 18, the Holy Ghost becomes a vicarious agent in the +procreation of another God; that is, this third member of the Trinity +aids the first member (the Father) in the creation or generation of the +second member of the triad of bachelor Gods--the Word, or Savior, or Son +of God. + +Such are the ever-shifting scenes presented in the Scripture panorama +of the Holy Ghost. Surpassing the fabulous changes of some of the more +ancient demigods, the Christian Holy Ghost undergoes (as is shown by +the above-quoted texts) a perpetual metathesis or metamorphosis--being +variously presented on different occasions as a personal and rational +being, a dove, a spirit, an inanimate object, a God, the wind or a wind, +an ointment, the breath or a breath, cloven tongue of fire, a bird, or +some other flying recumbent animal, a revelator or divine messenger, +a medium or element for baptism, an intelligent, speaking being, a +lifeless, bodiless, sexless being, a measurable fluid substance, a being +possessing a body, ponderable, unconscious substance, a God dwelling +within a God, and, finally--though really first in order--the author +or agent of the incarnation of the second God in the Trinity (Jesus +Christ). + +That many of these fabulous conceptions were drawn from mythological +sources will be made manifest by the following facts of history:-- + +1. _The Holy Ghost in the shape of a bird, a dove or a pigeon._ This is +proven to be a very ancient pagan tradition, as it is found incorporated +in several of the oriental religious systems. In ancient India, whose +prolific spiritual fancies constitute the primary parentage of nearly +all the doctrines, dogmas and superstitions found incorporated in +the Christian Scriptures, a dove was uniformly the emblem of the Holy +Spirit, or Spirit of God. Confirmatory of this statement, we find the +declaration in the Anacalypsis, that a "dove stood for or represented +a third member of the Trinity, and was the regenerator or regeneratory +power." This meets the Christian idea of "regeneration and renewing +of the Holy Ghost." (Titus iii. 5.) A person being baptized under the +Brahminical theocracy was said to be "regenerated and born again," or, as +the above-quoted writer expresses it, "They were born into the spirit, +or the spirit into them"--that is, the "dove into or upon them," (As vide +the case of the Christian's "Holy Ghost descending in bodily shape like +a dove," and alighting on Christ's head at baptism, as related in Luke +iii. 22.) In ancient Rome a dove or pigeon was the emblem of the female +procreative energy, and frequently a legendary spirit, the accompaniment +of Venus. And hence, as a writer remarks, "It is very appropriately +represented as descending at baptism in the character of the third +member of the Trinity." The same writer tells us, "The dove fills the +Grecian oracles with their spirit and power." We find the dove, also, +in the romantic eclogues of ancient Syria. In the time-chiseled Syrian +temple of Hierapolis, Semiramis is represented with a dove on her head, +thus constituting the prototype of the dove on the head of the Christian +Messiah at baptism. And a dove was in more than one of the ancient +religious systems--"The Spirit of God (Holy Ghost) moving on the face of +the waters" at creation, as implied in Gen. i. 2, though a pigeon, was +often indiscriminately substituted. In Howe's "Ancient Mysteries" it is +related that "in St. Paul's Cathedral, at the feast of Whitsuntide, the +descent of the Holy Ghost was performed by a white pigeon being let fly +out of a hole in the midst of the roof of the great aisle." The dove +and the pigeon, being but slight variations of the same species of the +feathered tribe, were used indiscriminately. + +2. As evinced above, the Holy Ghost was the third member of the Trinity +in several of the oriental systems. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or +Father, Word and Holy Ghost (1 John v. 7), are familiar Christian +terms to express the divine triad, which shows the Holy Ghost to be +the acknowledged third member of the Christian Trinity. And, as already +suggested, the same is true of the more ancient systems. "The Holy +Spirit and the Evil Spirit were, each in their turn (says Mr. Higgins), +third member of the Trinity." We might, if space would allow, draw +largely upon the ancient defunct systems in proof of this statement. "In +these triads (says Mr. Hillell) the third member, as might be supposed, +was not of equal rank with the other two." And hence, in the Theban +Trinity, Khonso was inferior to Arion and Mant. In the Hindoo triad, +Siva was subordinate to Brahma and Vishnu. And a score of similar +examples might be adduced from the fancy-constructed trinities of other +and older oriental religious systems (but for the inflexible rule of +brevity which forbids their presentation here), with all of which the +more modern Holy Ghost conception of the Christian world is an exact +correspondence, as this imaginary, fabulous being is less conspicuous +than and has always stood third in rank with the Father and second +to the Son, alias the Word, and is now seldom addressed in practical +Christian devotion; and thus the analogy is complete. Mr. Maurice +says, "This notion of a third person in the Deity (the Holy Ghost) was +diffused among all the nations of the earth." (See Ind. Antiq. vol. iv. +p. 75a) And Mr. Worseley, in his "Voyage" (vol. i. p. 259), avers this +doctrine to be "of very great antiquity, and generally received by all +the Gothic and Celtic nations." + +3. The Holy Ghost was the Holy Breath which, in the Hindoo traditions, +moved on the face of the waters at creation, and imparted life and +vitality into everything created. A similar conception is recognized in +the Christian Scriptures. In Psalms xxxiii. 6, we read, "By the Word of +the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath +of his mouth." Here is the Brahminical conception, square out, of the +act of creation by the Divine Breath, which is the Holy Ghost, the same, +also, which was breathed into Adam, by which he became "a living soul." +M. Dubois observes, "The Prana, or principle of life, of the Hindoos is +the breath of life by which the Creator (Brahma) animates the clay, and +man became a living soul." (Page 293.) + +4. Holy Ghost, Holy Breath and Holy Wind appear to have been synonymous +and convertible terms for the living vocal emanations from the mouth of +the Supreme God, as memorialized in several of the pagan traditions. +The last term (Holy Wind) is suggested by "the mighty rushing wind from +heaven" which filled the house, or church, on the day of Pentecost. (See +Acts ii. 2.) Several of the old religious systems recognize "the +Holy Wind" as a term for the Holy Ghost. The doxology (reported by a +missionary) in the religious service of the Syrian worship runs thus:-- + + "Praise to the Holy Spiritual Wind, which is the Holy Ghost; + Praise to the three persons which are one true God." + +Some writers maintain that the Hebrew _Ruk Aliem._ translated "Spirit of +God" (Gen. i. 2) in our version, should read, "Wind of the Gods." And +we find that the word _pneuma_ of our Greek New Testament, is sometimes +translated "Ghost" and sometimes "Wind," as best suited the fancy of the +translators. In John iii. 5, we find the word Spirit, and in verse eight +both Wind and Spirit are found; and in Luke i. 35, we observe the term +Holy Ghost--all translated from the same word. Let it be specially +noted that in the Greek Testament the word _pneuma_ is used in all these +cases, thus proving that Spirit, Holy Ghost and Wind are used in the +Christian Scriptures as synonymous terms; and proving, also, that an +unwarranted license has been assumed by translators in rendering the +same word three different ways. M. Auvaroff, in his "Essays on the +Eleusinian Mysteries," speaks of "the torch being ignited at the command +of Hermes of Egypt, the spiritual agent in the workshop of creation," +relative to which statement a writer remarks, "Hermes appears in +this instance as a personification of Wind or Spirit, as in the +bible (meaning the Christian bible), God, Wind and Spirit are often +interchangeable terms, and the Word appears to be from the same windy +source." + +5. _The Holy Ghost as "a tongue of fire, which sat upon each of +them" (the apostles)_. (See Acts. ii. 3.) Even this conception is an +orientalism. Mr. Higgins tells us that "Budha, an incarnate God of the +Hindoos (three thousand years ago), is often seen with a glory or tongue +of fire upon his head." And the tradition of the visible manifestation +of the Holy Ghost by fire was prevalent among the ancient Budhists, +Celts, Druids and Etrurians. In fact, as our author truly remarks, "The +Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, when visible, was always in the form of fire +(or a bird), and was always accompanied with wisdom and power." Hence, +is disclosed the origin of the ancient custom amongst the Hindoos, +Persians and Chaldeans, of making offerings to the solar fire, emblem of +the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. + +6. _Inspiration by the Holy Ghost_ (Luke ii. 26.) "Holy men of God," +including some of the prophets, are claimed to have been inspired by the +Holy Ghost (See 2 Peter i. 21; Acts xxviii. 25.) In like manner, as +we are informed by Mr. Cleland in his "Specimens" (see Appendix), the +ancient Celts were not only "moved by the Holy Ghost" in their divine +decrees and prophetic utterances, but they claimed that their Salic laws +(seventy-two in number) were inspired by the "Salo Ghost" (Holy Ghost), +known also as "the Wisdom of the Spirit, or the Voice of the Spirit." +This author several times alludes to the fact, and exhibits the proof, +that the doctrine of the Holy Ghost was known to this ancient people. + +7. _The Holy Ghost imparted by "the laying on of hands_." This, too, is +an ancient oriental custom. "And by the imposition of hands on the head +of the candidate," says Mr. Cleland, speaking of the Celts, "the Holy +Ghost, or Holy Spirit, was conveyed." And thus was the Holy Spirit, +Ghost, Gas, Wind, Electrical Fire or Spirit of Authority imparted to the +hierophant or gospel novitiate. "And their public assemblies," continues +our author, "were always opened by an invocation to the Holy Ghost." + +8. _Baptism by or into the Holy Ghost accompanied with fire_. (Matt. +iii. 11.) This rite, too, is traceable to a very ancient period, and was +practiced by several of the old symbolical and mythological systems. +The Tuscans, or Etrurians, baptized with fire, wind (ghost) and water. +Baptism into the first member of the Trinity (the Father) was with fire; +baptism into the second member of the Trinity (the Word) was with water; +while baptism into the third member of the Trinity (the Holy Ghost, +or Holy Spirit) consisted of the initiatory spiritual or symbolical +application of gas, gust, ghost, wind, or spirit. It appears from +"Herbert's Travels," that, in "ancient countries", the child was taken to +the priest, who named him (christened him) before the sacred fire after +which ceremony he was sprinkled with "holy water" from a vessel made of +the sacred tree known as "The Holme." + +9. _The Holy Ghost imparted by breathing_. (See John xx. 22). +"Sometimes," says Mr. Higgins, relative to this custom among the ancient +heathen, "the priest blew his breath upon the child, which was then +considered baptized by _air, spiritus sanctus,_ or ghost--i. e., baptism +by the Holy Ghost." In case of baptism, a portion of the Holy Ghost +was supposed to be transferred from the priest to the candidate. "The +practice of breathing in or upon," says our author, "was quite common +among the ancient heathen." + +10. _The Holy Ghost as the agent in divine conception, or the +procreation of other Gods_. Jesus is said to have been conceived by +the Holy Ghost (see Matt. i. 18), and we find similar claims instituted +still more anciently for other incarnate demigods. In the Mexican +Trinity, Y, Zona was the father, Bacal the Word, and Eckvah the Holy +Ghost, by the last of whom Chimalman conceived and brought forth the +enfleshed God Quexalcote. (See Mex. Ant., vol. vi. p. 1650.) In the +Hindoo mythos, Sakia was conceived by the Holy Ghost Nara-an. + +Other cases might be cited, proving the same point. + +Thus, we observe that the various heterogeneous conceptions, discordant +traditions, and contradictory superstitions appertaining to that +anomalous nondescript being known as the Holy Ghost, are traceable to +various oriental countries, and to a very remote antiquity. + +We will only occupy space with one or two more historical citations of a +general nature, tending to prove the prevalence of this ghostly myth +in other countries, not yet cited. "Tell me, O thou strong in fire!" +ejaculated Sesostris of Egypt, to the oracle, as reported by Manetho, +"who before me could subjugate all things, and who shall after me?" But +the oracle rebuked him, saying, "First God, then the Word, and with them +the Spirit." (See Nimrod, vol. i. p. 119.) "And Plutarch, in his 'Life +of Numa,'" says our oft-quoted author, "shows that the incarnation of +the Holy Spirit was known both to the ancient Romans and Egyptians." + +The doctrine is thus shown to have been nearly universal. + + +ORIGIN OF THE HOLY GHOST SUPERSTITION. + +The origin of the tradition respecting this fabulous and mythical being +is easily traced to the ancient Brahminical trifold conception of the +Deity, in which stands, in Trinity order, first, the God of power or +might--Brahma or Brahm (the Father); second, the God of creation--the +Word--answering to John's creative Word (see John i. 3); and third, the +God of generation and regeneration--the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The +last member of the triune conception of the Deity was considered, under +the Brahminical theocracy, the _living, vital, active, life-imparting +agent_ in both the first and second births of men and the gods. + +It will be borne in mind by the reader that the Holy Ghost is +represented in the Christian Scripture as being the active generating +agent of Christ's conception, he being, as Matthew declares, "conceived +by the Holy Ghost." The Holy Ghost was also the regenerating agent at +his baptism. Although the specific object of the descent of the Holy +Ghost on that occasion is not stated by Luke, who relates it; although +it is not stated for what purpose the Holy Spirit, after assuming the +form of a bird, alighted and sat upon his head, yet the motive is fully +disclosed in the older mythical religions, where we find the matter in +fuller detail. + +Baptism itself is claimed by all its Christian votaries as regenerating +or imparting a new spiritual life; and this new spiritual life was +believed by several nations, as before stated, to make its appearance in +the character and shape of a bird--sometimes a pigeon, sometimes a dove; +and thus the origin of this tradition is most clearly and unmistakably +exposed. + +As the foregoing historical exposition exhibits the Holy Ghost as +performing several distinct and discordant offices, so we likewise find +it possessing at least two distinct genders, the masculine and neuter, +i. e., no gender--changing, ghost-like, from one to the other, as +occasion seemed to require. + +From all these metamorphoses it is shown and demonstrated that the +sexual and other changes of this "mysterious" being equal many of the +demigods of mythology. The primary windy conception of the Holy Ghost +is traceable to that early period of society when the rude and untutored +denizens of the earth, in their profound ignorance of natural causes, +were very easily and naturally led into the belief that wherever there +was motion there was a God, or the active manifestation of a God, +whether it was in the wind, breath, water, fire, or the sun. + +Hence, the Buddhists had their god _Vasus_ who manifested himself +variously in the shape or character of fire, wind, storms, gas, +ghosts, gusts, and the breath, thus constituting a very nearly-allied +counterpart to the Christian Holy Ghost, which Mr. Parkhurst tells us +originally meant "air in motion." This god was believed to have sprung +from the supreme, primordial God, which the ancient Brahmins and +Buddhists generally believed was constituted of a fine, spiritual +substance,--aura, anima, wind, ether, igneous fluid, or electrical fire, +i. e., fire from the sun, giving rise to "baptism by fire" and hence, the +third God, or third member of the Trinity, subsequently arising out of +this compound being, was also necessarily composed of or consisted of +the same properties--all of which were believed to be correlated, if not +identical. + +Such is a complete, though brief, historical elucidation of that +mysterious, imaginary being so corporally intangible that Faustus, of +the third century, declared respecting it, "The Holy Spirit, the third +majesty, has the air for his residence." And it is a fabulous God whose +scriptural biography is invested with so many ludicrous and abstruse +incidents as to incite several hundred Christian writers to labor +hard with a "godly zeal," by a reconstruction of "God's Word" and +a rehabiliment of the ghostly texts, to effect some kind of a +reconciliation of the story with reason and common sense--with what +success the reader is left to judge. + + +THE UNPARDONABLE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. + +Before dismissing our ghostly narrative, it may effect something in the +way of mitigating the anxious fears of some of our Christian brothers +and sisters to explain the nature of "the sin against the Holy Ghost," +and assign the reason for its being unpardonable. The sin against the +Holy Ghost consisted, according to the ancient Mexican traditions, in +resisting its operations in the second birth--that is, the regeneration +of the heart or soul by the Holy Ghost. And as the rectification of the +heart or soul was a prominent idea with Christ, there is scarcely any +ground to doubt but that this was the notion he cherished of the nature +of the sin against the Holy Ghost. And it was considered unpardonable, +simply because as the pardoning and cleansing process consisted in, +or was at least always accompanied with baptism by water, in which +operation the Holy Ghost was the agent in effecting a "new birth," +therefore, when the ministrations or operations of this indispensable +agent were resisted or rejected, there was no channel, no means, no +possible mode left for the sinner to find a renewed acceptance with God. +When a person sinned against the Father or the Word (the Son), he could +find a door of forgiveness through the baptizing processes spiritual +or elementary, of the Holy Ghost. But an offense committed against this +third limb of the Godhead had the effect to close and bar the door so +that there could be "no forgiveness, either in this life or that which +is to come." To sin against the Holy Ghost was to tear down the scaffold +by which the door of heaven was to be reached. + +And thus it is explained the great "_mystery of godliness_," the +"unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost," which, on account of the +frightful penalty annexed to it, while it is impossible to learn what it +consists in--it being undefined and undefinable--has caused thousands, +and probably millions, of the disciples of the Christian faith the most +agonizing hours of alarm and despair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. THE DIVINE "WORD" OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. + +The Word as Creator, as Second Person of the Trinity, and its +Pre-Existence. + + +THE WORD OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. + +"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word +was God." (John i. i.) The doctrine of the divine creative word (from +the Greek Logos) appears to have been coeval in its origin with that of +the Trinity, if not inseparably connected with it, as it constitutes the +second member of the Trinity of "Father, Word, and Holy Ghost" in most +of the ancient systems of religion. Works on heathen mythology show that +it was anciently a very prevalent custom to personify ideas, thoughts +and words into angels and Gods. Words were first personated, and +transformed into men, then into angels, and finally into Gods. + +And here is foreshadowed the origin of John's personification of "the +Word made flesh." It was simply the word of the supreme God as it +escaped from his mouth, assuming the form and characteristics of a +divine being like himself, and taking position as a secondary God and +second member of the Trinity. This was the orient conception, and it +appears to have been John's. He evidently had no thought of Christ +experiencing human birth, at first, or being born of a woman, but +believed, like some of the orientalists, that he came out of the mouth +of the Father, and was thus "made flesh." (John i. 2.) Not a word of +Christ being born is found in John's Gospel, till after his existence as +the Word is spoken of. (See first note in back of book.) + + +THE WORD AS CREATOR. + +John also represents the Word as having been the Creator. "All things +were made by him." (John i. 3.) And Peter declares, "By the word of God +the heavens were of old." (2 iii. 5.) Now, let it be observed here, as +a notable circumstance, that the Chinese bible, much older than the +Christian's New Testament, likewise declares, "God pronounced the +primeval Word, and his own eternal and glorious abode sprang into +existence." Mr. Guizot, in a note on Gibbon's work, says, "According to +the Zend-Avesta (the Persian bible, more than three thousand years old), +it is by the Word, more ancient than the world, that Ormuzd created the +universe." + +In like manner the sacred writings of the ancient Thibetans speak of +"the Word which produced the world"--an exact counterpart to John's +declaration, "All things were made by him." And the ancient Greek writer +Amelias, speaking of the God Mercury, says, "And this plainly was +the Logos (the Word), by whom all things were made, he being himself +eternal," as Heraclitus would say,.... He assumed to be with God, and +to be God, and in him everything that was made, has its life and being, +who, descending into body, and putting on flesh, took the appearance of +a man, though still retaining the majesty of his nature. Here is +"the Word made flesh" set forth in most explicit terms. The Psalmist +exclaims, "By the Word of God were the heavens made, and all the host of +them by the Breath of his mouth." (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) Here is disclosed not +only the conception of the Word as Creator, but also the Word and the +Breath as synonymous terms, both of which conceptions oriental history +amply proves to be of heathen derivation. + +It was anciently believed that the Word and Breath of God were the same, +and possessed a vitalizing power, which, as they issued from his mouth, +might be transformed into another being known as a secondary God. Both +the Jews and the Christians seem to have inherited this belief, as +evinced by the foregoing quotations from their bible. The most ancient +tradition taught that the Word emanated from the mouth of the principal +God, and "became flesh," that is, took form, as the ancient Brahmins +expressed it, for the special purpose of serving as agent in the work of +creation, that is, to become the creator of the external universe. St. +John evidently borrowed this idea. Read his first chapter. + + +PRE-EXISTENCE OF THE WORD. + +The pre-existence or previous existence of the Word, antecedent to the +date of its metamorphosis into the human form, we find taught in several +of the ancient systems of religion, as well as the more modern Christian +system. Several texts in the Christian New Testament set forth the +doctrine quite explicitly. Christ, as the Divine Word, declared, "Before +Abraham was I am," and that he had an existence with the Father before +the foundation of the world, etc., which is a distinct avowal of the +doctrine of pre-existence. + +But oriental history proves the doctrine is much older than +Christianity. + +The Hindoo very anciently taught that "the Word had existed with God +from all eternity, and when spoken it became a glorious form, the +aggregate embodiment of all the divine ideas, and performed the work of +creation." And of Chrishna, it is affirmed that "while upon the earth he +existed also in heaven." (See Baghavat Gita.) + +In like manner it is declared of an Egyptian God, that "though he was +born into the world, he existed with his father God before the world was +made." And parallel to this is the statement of the Chinese bible, that +"though the Holy Word (Chang-si) will be born upon the earth, yet he +existed before anything was made." Even for Pythagoras it was claimed +he existed in heaven before he was born upon the earth. Mr. Higgins, +in summing up the matter, declares, "All the old religions believed +the world was created by the Word, and that this Word existed before +creation" (Ana., vol. ii. p. 77), which clearly indicates the source of +St John's creative Word. + + +THE DUAL OR TWO-FOLD NAME OF THE WORD. + +In most cases the living Divine Word was known by different names and +titles, prior to the era of its assuming the mortal form, from that by +which it was known after its fleshly investment. + +Among the ancient Persians, the name for the divine spiritual Word was +Honover. After its human birth, it was called "Mithra the Mediator." +The Hindoo oriental term for the primeval Word was Om, or Aum. After +assuming its most important incarnate form, it was known as Chrishna. +The Chinese Holy Interior Word was Om-i-to, and its principal +incarnation was Chang-ti or Ti-en-ti. The Japanese also proclaimed +their belief in a Divine Word before the Christian era, which, in their +language, was Amina. They taught, like John, that it came forth from the +mouth of the Supreme God (Brahm) to perform the work of creation, after +which, it was known as Sakia. And that popular Christian writer, Mr. +Milman, informs us that the Jewish founders of Christianity believed in +an original Divine Word, which they call Memra. When it descended to the +earth, and "became flesh, and dwelt amongst us" (John i. 4.) according +to the evangelist John, it was known as Jesus Christ. Mr. Milman states +also, that "the appellation to the Word is found in the Indian (Hindoo), +Persian, the Platonic, and the Alexandrian systems." (Hist, of Chr., +Book I., Chap. 2.) + +Thus, the question is settled by Christian testimony--that the various +conceptions of the Divine Word are of heathen origin. + + +THE WORD AS A SECOND MEMBER OF THE TRINITY. + +"There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and +the Holy Ghost." (1 John v. 7.) Observe, the Word is the second person +in the Trinity. And this was its post in the Brahman, Hindoo, Persian, +and other systems. "All religions," says a writer, "which taught the +existence of the Word as a great primeval spirit, represent him as +secondary to the supreme." (P. R. 3, vol. ii. p. 336.) "The Hindoos +reverenced it next to Brahm." Mr. Higgins cuts the matter short by +declaring "The Logos, or Word, was the second person of the Trinity +in all the ancient systems, as in the Christian system," which again +indicates its heathen origin. + + +THE WORD AS A BIBLICAL TITLE. + +"The Word," "the Holy Word," "the Divine Word," etc., are terms now +frequently applied to the Christian bible, without any suspicion of +their heathen origin. The Zend-Avesta, the Persian bible, was always +called "The Living Word of God," for that is the meaning of the term +Zend-Avesta, and the oldest bible in the world is the Vedas, and +it means both Word and Wisdom. Om, the Egyptian's Holy Word, they +frequently applied both to their incarnate Gods and to their sacred +writings. + +The practice of calling bibles "The Word of God" originated from the +belief that, when the incarnate Word left the earth and returned to +heaven, he infused a portion of his living spirits into the divine +writings which contained his history and his doctrines, and which he +himself had prompted his disciples to write as his "Last Revelation to +man." They then must contain a portion of him, i. e., a portion of the +Holy Word--hence, both were called "The Holy Word." + +And this heathen custom Christians borrowed. + + +ORIGIN OF THE WORD AS CREATOR. + +The motive which prompted a belief in the creative Word may be styled a +theological necessity. It was believed that the principal God, like +the rulers of earth, was too aristocratic to labor with his own hands. +Hence, another God was originated to perform the work of creation, and +called "The Word." + +The origin of the creative Word is still further indicated by +Blackwood's Magazine. + +It says:-- + +"Creation became impossible to a being already infinite, and was a +derogation to a being already perfect. Some lower God, some Avatar, must +be interposed (as an emanation from the mouth of the God supreme) to +perform the subordinate task of creation. Hence, originated and came +forth the Word as Creator." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. THE TRINITY VERY ANCIENTLY A CURRENT HEATHEN DOCTRINE + +"THERE are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and +the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." (i John v. 7.) This text, +which evidently discloses a belief in the existence of three separate +and distinct beings in the Godhead, sets forth a doctrine which was +anciently of almost universal prevalence. Nearly every nation, whether +oriental or occidental, whose religious faith has been commemorated +in history, discloses in its creed a belief in the trifold nature and +triune division of the Deity. St. Jerome testifies unequivocally, "All +the ancient nations believed in the Trinity." + +And a volume of facts and figures might be cited here, if we had space +for them, in proof of this statement A text from one of the Hindoo +bibles, (the Puranas) will evince the antiquity and prevalence of this +belief in a nation of one hundred and fifty millions of people more than +two thousand years ago. "O you three Lords!" ejaculated Attencion, "know +that I recognize only one God. Inform me, therefore, which of you is the +true divinity that I may address to him alone my vows and adorations." +The three Gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, becoming manifest to him, +replied, "Learn, O devotee, that there is no real distinction between +us. What to you appears such is only by semblance. The single being +appears under three forms by the acts of creation, preservation and +destruction but he is one." + +Now, reader, note the remark here, that the ancient Christian fathers +almost universally and unanimously proclaimed the doctrine of the +Trinity as one of the leading tenets of the Christian faith, and as a +doctrine derived directly by revelation from heaven. But here we find +it most explicitly set forth by a disciple of a pagan religion more +than three thousand years ago, as the Christian missionary D. O. Allen +states, that the Hindoo bible, in which it was found was compiled +fourteen hundred years before Christ, and written at a still earlier +period. And we find the same doctrine very explicitly taught in the +ancient Brahmin, Persian, Chaldean, Chinese, Mexican and Grecian systems +--all much older than Christianity. + +No writer ever taught or avowed a belief in any tenet of religious faith +more fully or plainly than Plato sets forth, the doctrine of the Trinity +in his Phaedon, written four hundred years B. C. And his terms are found +to be in most striking conformity to the Christian doctrine on this +subject, as taught in the New Testament Plato's first term for the +Trinity was in Greek--1. To Agathon, the supreme God or Father. 2. The +Logos, which is the Greek term for the Word. And, 3. Psyche, which the +Greek Lexicon defines to mean "soul, spirit or ghost"--of course, the +Holy Ghost. Here we have the three terms of the Christian Trinity, +Father, Word, and Holy Ghost, as plainly taught as language can express +it, thus making Plato's exposition of the Trinity and definition of its +terms, published four hundred years B. C., identical in meaning with +those of St. John's, as found in his Gospel, and contained in the above +quoted text. Where, then, is the foundation for the dogmatic claim +on the part of the Christian professors for the divine origin of the +Trinity doctrine? + +We will here cite the testimony of some Christian writers to prove +that the Trinity is a pagan-derived doctrine. A _Christian bishop_, +Mr. Powell, declares, "I not only confess but I _maintain_, such a +similitude of Plato's and John's Trinity doctrines as bespeaks a common +origin." (Thirteenth letter to Dr. Priestley.) What is that you say, +bishop? "A common origin." Then you concede both are heaven-derived, or +both heathen-derived. If the former, then revelation and heathenism are +synonymous terms. If the latter, then Christianity stands on a level +with heathen mythology. Which horn of the dilemma will you choose? St. +Augustine confessed he found the beginning of John's Gospel in Plato's +Phædon, which is a concession of the whole ground. + +Another writer, Chataubron, speaks of an ancient Greek inscription +on the great obelisk at Rome, which reads--1. The Mighty God. 2. The +Begotten of God as Christ is declared to be "the only begotten of the +Father" (John i. 14). And, 3. "Apollo the Spirit"--the Holy Spirit or +Holy Ghost--thus presenting in plain language the three terms of the +Trinity. And Mr. Cudworth, in corroboration of this report, says, "The +Greeks had a first God, and second God, and third God, and the second +was begotten by the first. And yet for all that," continues Mr. +Cudworth, "they considered all these one." + +In the Platonic or Grecian Trinity, the first person was considered the +planner of the work of creation, the second person the creator, and +the third person the ghost or spirit which moved upon the face of the +waters, and infused life into the mighty deep at creation--the same +Holy Ghost which descended from heaven to infuse life into the waters at +Christ's baptism; thus, the resemblance is complete. Mr. Basnage quotes +a Christian writer of the fifth century as declaring, "The Athenian sage +Plato marvelously anticipated one of the most important and mysterious +doctrines of the Christian religion"--meaning the Trinity--an important +concession truly. + +The oldest and probably the original form of the Trinity is that found +in the Brahmin and Hindoo systems--the terms of which are--i. Brahma, +the Father or supreme God. 2. Vishnu, the incarnate Word and Creator. 3. +Siva, the Spirit of God, i. e., the Holy Spirit or Ghost--each answering +to corresponding terms of the Christian Trinity, and yet two thousand +years older, according to Dr. Smith. + +We have not allowable space for other facts and citations (as this work +is designed as a mere epitome), although we have but entered upon the +threshold of the evidence tending to prove that the Christian Trinity +was born of heathen parents, that it is an offspring of heathen +mythology, like other doctrines of the Christian faith, claimed by its +disciples as the gift of divine revelation. + +Here let it be noted as a curious chapter in sacred history that the +numerous divine Trinities which have constituted a part of nearly every +religious system ever propagated to the world were composed, in every +case, of male Gods. No female has ever yet been admitted into the triad +of Gods composing the orthodox Trinity. Every member of the Trinity in +every case is a male, and an old bachelor--a doctrine most flagrantly at +war with the principles of modern philosophy. + +For this science teaches us that the endowment of a being with either +male or female organs, presupposes the existence of the other sex; and +that either sex, without the other would be a ludicrous anomaly, and a +ludicrous distortion of nature unparalleled in the history of science. +As sexual organs create an imperious desire for the other sex, no male +or female could long enjoy full happiness in the absence of the other +party. What an unhappy, lonesome place, therefore, the orthodox heaven +must have been, during the eternity of the past, with no society but old +bachelors! The Trinity was constituted of males simply because woman has +always been considered a mere cipher in society--a mere tool for man's +convenience, an appendage to his wants. Hence, instead of having a place +among the Gods she led the practical life of a servant and a menial, +which accounts for her exclusion from the Trinity. But the time is +coming when she will rule both heaven and earth with the omnipotent +power of her love nature. Then we shall have no "war in heaven," and no +fighting on earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. ABSOLUTION, AND THE CONFESSION OF SINS, OF HEATHEN ORIGIN + +SOME Christian writers have labored to make it appear that this is +exclusively a Christian doctrine, while others have labored as hard to +get it out of their bible, or make the people believe that it is not +therein taught. + +We shall show, upon scriptural and historical authority, that both are +wrong. + +There can be no question as to this rite having existed outside of +Christianity, or of its being much older than Christianity. History +proves both. Nor can it be successfully denied that it is taught in the +Christian Scriptures, both the confessing of sins and that of forgiving +sins. The apostle James, with respect to the former, is quite explicit. +He enjoins, emphatically, "Confess your faults one to another." (James +v. 16.) The practice of forgiving sins is also enjoined. "Forgiving one +another" is recommended both in Ephesians (iv. 32) and Colossians. (iii. +13). "And whatsoever ye shall lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" +(Matthew xviii 18), is interpreted as conferring the power to forgive +sins. + +And then we remark that the practices both of confessing and forgiving +sins are very ancient pagan rites and customs. Speaking of their +prevalence in ancient India, the author of the Anacalypsis remarks, "The +person offering sacrifices made a verbal confession of his sins, and +received absolution." Auricular confession was also practiced among +the ancient Mithriacs, or Persians, and the Parsees proper of the +same country. Mr. Volney tells us, "They observed all the Christian +sacraments, even to the laying on of hands in the confirmation." (211.) +And the Christian Tertullian also tells us that "The priests of Mithra +promised absolution from sin on confession and baptism," while another +author adds, that "on such occasions Mithra marked his followers (the +servants of God) in their foreheads," and that "he celebrated the +sacrifice of bread, which is the resurrection." + +In the collection of the Jewish laws called "The Mishna," we are +told the Jews confessed their sins by placing their hands upon a calf +belonging to the priest, and that this was called "the Confession of +Calves." (See Mishna, tom. ii. p. 394.) Confessing sins was practiced in +ancient Mexico; also under Numa of Rome, whose priests, we are informed, +had to clear their consciences by confessing their sins before they +could offer sacrifices. The practice of confessing and forgiving sins +as recommended in the Christian bible, and practiced by some of +the Christian sects, has been the source of much practical evil by +furnishing a pretext and license, to some extent, for the commission +of crime and sin. While sins can be so easily obliterated they will +be committed--perpetrated without much remorse or restraint. "In China +(says the Rev. Mr. Pitrat, 232), the invocation of Omito is sufficient +to remit the punishment of the greatest crimes." The same author tells +us, "The ancient initiation of the pagans had tribunals of penance, +where the priests, under the name of _Roes_, heard from the mouth of the +sinners themselves the avowal of their sins of which their souls were +to be purified, and from the punishment of which they wished to be +exempted." (Page 37.) The granting of absolution for sin or misconduct +among the early primitive Christians was so common, St. Cyprian informs +us, that "thousands of reprieves were granted daily," which served as an +indirect license to crime. And thus the doctrine of divine forgiveness, +as taught by pagans and Christians, has proved to be demoralizing in its +effects upon society. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. ORIGIN OF BAPTISM BY WATER, FIRE, BLOOD AND THE HOLY GHOST + +BAPTISM, in some of its various forms, is a very ancient rite, and was +extensively practiced in several oriental countries. It was administered +in a great varieties of forms, and with the use of different elements. +Water was the most common, but fire and air, wind, spirit ghost were +also used; and both the living and the dead were made the subjects of +its solemn and imposing ceremonies. + +We will notice each of these modes of baptism separate--appropriating a +brief space to each. + +1. Baptism by Water. + +"Baptism by water," says Mr. Higgins, "is a very old rite, being +practised by the followers of Zoroaster, by the Romans, the Egyptians, +and other nations." It was also vogue among the ancient Hindoos at +a still earlier day Their mode of administering it was to dip the +candidate for immersion three times in the watery element, in the same +manner as is now practiced by some of the Christian sects during the +performance of which the hierophant would ejaculate the following prayer +and ceremony: "O Lord this man is impure, like the mud of this stream! +But as thou cleanse and deliver his soul from sin as the water cleanses +his body." They believed that water possesses the virtue of purifying +both soul and body--the latter from filth and the former from sin. The +ancient Mexican, Persians, Hindoos and Jews were in the habit of +baptizing their infants soon after they were born. And the water used +for this purpose was called "the water of regeneration." Paul speaks of +being "saved by the washing of regeneration." (See Titus iii. 5.) Those +who touched these infants before they were baptized were deemed impure. +And as this was unavoidable on the part of the mothers, they were +required, as in the cases of the mothers of Chrishna and Christ, to +present themselves on the eighth day after accouchement to the priest in +the temple to be purified. The Romans chose the eighth day for girls and +the ninth for boys. The child was usually named (christened) at the time +it was baptized. And in India, the name, or God's name, or some other +mark, was engraven or written on the forehead. This custom is several +times recognized in the Christian bible, both in the old and in the New +Testament. (See Ezek. ix 4; Rev. xiv. 9; xix. 20, etc.) John speaks of a +mark being made on the forehead. (See Rev. xiii. 16.) Also of the name +of God being written on the forehead. (Rev. iii. 12.) + + +THE DOVE DESCENDING AT BAPTISM. + +At this stage of our inquiry it may be stated that several of the +ancient religious orders had the legend of a dove or pigeon descending at +baptism--a counterpart to the evangelical story of "the Spirit of God +descending in bodily shape like a dove," and alighting on the head of +Jesus Christ while being baptized by John in Jordan. (See Luke iii. 22.) +It will be observed here that the spirit, or soul, of God descended not +only in the manner, but in "bodily shape like a dove." This accords with +the tradition anciently prevalent among the Hindoos, Mexicans, Greeks, +Romans and Persians, or Babylonians, that all souls, or spirits, +possessed, or were capable of assuming, the form of a dove. Hence, it is +reported of Polycarp, Semiramis, Caesar and others, that at death their +souls, or spirits, were seen to leave the body in "bodily shape like +a dove" and ascend to heaven. "The Divine Love, or Eros," says Mr. +Higgins, "was supposed by the oriental heathen to descend often in the +form of a dove to bless the candidate for baptism." These traditions, +doubtless, gave rise to the story of the dove descending at Christ's +baptism--that is God in the shape of a dove, for that is clearly the +meaning of the text. We are also informed by our author just quoted, +that a dove stood for and represented, among the orientalists, the third +person of the Trinity, as it does in the gospel story of Christ--he +being the second member of the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy +Ghost. It was considered "the regenerator, or regenerating spirit," and +persons being baptized were said to be "born again" into the spirit or +the spirit into them; that is, the dove into or upon them. + +What a master-key is furnished by these oriental religions for solving +the mysteries of the Christian bible! How much more lucid than Divine +Revelation--so-called! + +We will quote again from Higgins: "Among all nations, from the +very earliest period, water has been used as a species of religious +sacrament. Because, as it dripped from the clouds, it was observed +to have the power of reviving drooping nature and creating anew, or +regenerating the whole vegetable kingdom in spring, it was hence chosen +as an emblem of spiritual regeneration and a medium of baptism. Water +was the element by means of which everything was born again through the +agency of the Eros, Dove, or Divine Love." And, hence, the ceremony of +dipping or plunging (or, as it is modernly termed, baptizing) came into +vogue for the remission of sins and "the regeneration into a new and +more holy life." + +Some streams were supposed to have more efficacy in these respects than +others. Hence, nearly all religious nations had their "Holy Rivers," +"Holy Water," "Sacred Pools," etc. The Hindoos resorted to the "Holy +Ganges," the Egyptians to the "Holy Nile," the Chaldeans and Persians +to the "Holy Euphrates," the Greeks to their "Holy Lustral Water," the +Italians to the river Po, and the Jews and Christians to their holy +river Jordan. If Jordan was not called "holy," it was undoubtedly +considered so, else why did Elisha order Naaman to wash seven times +in that stream instead of Damascus, which was much nearer and more +accessible? And why was Christ baptized in Jordan? "And all the land of +Judea, and they of Jerusalem, were baptized in Jordan, confessing their +sins." (Matt iii. vi.) Why, as several streams were handier to a large +portion of the candidates, simply because Jordan was considered to be +"more holy." And Christians had their sacred pool of Bethesda, as the +Hindoos had their Sahar. + +The rite of baptism was at first generally practiced in caves--as were +also other religious rites; and as these caves were often difficult of +access, and their mouths, doors or gates narrow and difficult to enter, +they fully exemplify Christ's declaration, "Straight is the gate and +narrow is the way that leadeth unto life." (Matt. vii. 14.) And when +he declared, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot +enter the kingdom of heaven" (John iii. 5) he was only seconding the +exhortation of the priests to enter these subterranean vaults and be +baptized after the oriental and Jewish custom. Thus originated baptism +by water in the form of dipping, or immersion. + + +BAPTISM BY SPRINKLING. + +Owing to the scarcity of water in some countries, and its entire absence +in others, and the fatal effects sometimes resulting from the practice +of baptizing infants and invalids by immersion, a new mode of baptism +eventually sprung up, now known as "sprinkling," in which sometimes +water and sometimes blood was used. Virgil, Ovid and Cicero all speak +of its prevalence amongst the ancient Romans or Latins. We are informed +that the ancient Jews practiced it upon their women while in a state of +nudity, the ceremony being administered by three rabbis, or priests. But +the custom finally gave way to one more consonant with decorum. Blood, +being considered "the life thereof" of man, was deemed more efficacious +than water, and hence was often used in lieu of that element. The Greeks +kept a "holy vessel" for this purpose, known as the Facina. The Romans +used a brush, which may now be seen engraven upon some of their ancient +coins and sculptured on their ancient temples. The Hindoos and Persians +used a branch of laurel or some other shrub for sprinkling the repentant +candidate, whether water or blood was used. + +In some countries the rite was practiced as a talisman against evil +spirits. The Mexicans never approached their altars without sprinkling +them with blood drawn from their own bodies, as the Jews sprinkled the +walls and door-posts of their temples with blood under the requisition +of the Levitical code. This mode of fancied purification by sprinkling +either with water or blood we find recognized, and apparently +sanctioned, in the Christian bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. +Ezekiel says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you." (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) +Peter uses the phrase, "The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." +(1 Peter i. 2.) And Paul makes use of the expression, "The blood of +sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Heb. xii. +24), which we regard as an indirect sanction of the senseless heathen +idea of effecting spiritual purification by drops of blood. (See +Potter's Antiquities and Herbert's Travels.) + + +BAPTISM BY FIRE. + +Baptism by fire was a form or mode of application which seems to have +been introduced from the belief that it was productive of a higher +degree of purification. There were several ways of using fire in the +baptismal rite. In some cases the candidate for immortality ran through +blazing streams of fire--a custom which was called "the baptism of +fire." M. de Humboldt, in his "Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments +of America," informs us it prevailed in India, Chaldea and Syria, +and throughout eastern Asia. It appears to have been gotten up as +a substitute for sun-worship, as this luminary was believed to be +constituted of fire, though in reality there never was any such thing as +sun or solar worship. Christian writers represent the ancient Persians +as has having been addicted to solar worship. But Firdausi, Cudworth +and other authors declare that neither they nor any other nation ever +worshiped the sun, but merely an imaginary Deity supposed to reside in +the sun. Heathen nations have been charged with many things of which +they were not guilty; though it is true that in the spirit of Christ's +exhortation, "Whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it," +some of the candidates for the fiery ordeal voluntarily sacrificed their +lives in the operation, under the persuasion that it was necessary to +purify the soul, and would enable them to ascend to higher posts or +planes of enjoyment in the celestial world. And some of them were taught +that sins not expurgated by fire, or some other efficaciously renovating +process in this life, would be punished by fire in the life to come. +Here we will mention that there is a seeming recognition of this ancient +heathen rite in both departments of the Christian's bible. Isaiah says, +"When thou walkest through fire thou shalt not be burned." (lxiii. +2.) And the Baptist John recognizes three modes of baptism: "I indeed +baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you +with fire and the Holy Ghost." (Matt. iii. 11). And Paul teaches the +necessity of being purified by fire. (See i Cor. iii. 15.) So it is both +a heathen and a Christian idea. + + +BAPTISM BY THE HOLY GHOST. + +This fanciful ceremony is both a Christian and a heathen rite, and is +undoubtedly of heathen origin. The mode of applying it was to breathe +into or upon the seeker for divine favors. This was done by the priest, +who, it was believed, imparted the Spirit of God by the process. The +custom, Mr. Herbert informs us, was anciently quite common in oriental +countries, and was at a later date borrowed by Christ and his apostles +and incorporated into the Christian ceremonies. We find that Christ not +only sanctioned it but practised it, as it is declared when he met his +disciples after his resurrection "he breathed on them, and saith unto +them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." (John xx. 22.) + +And the following language of Ezekiel is evidently a sanction of the +same heathen custom: "Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, +O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." (xxxvii. +9.) Let it be borne in mind here that breath, air, wind, spirit and +ghost were used as synonymous terms, according to Mr. Parkhurst (see +Chap. XXII.), and this breathing was supposed to impart spiritual life, +being nothing less than the Spirit of God, the same as that breathed +into Adam when "he became a living soul." (See Gen. ii. 7.) For a fuller +exposition see Chapter XXII. + + +BAPTISM OF OR FOR THE DEAD. + +It was customary among the Hindoos and other nations to postpone baptism +till near the supposed terminus of life, in order that the ablution +might extinguish all the sins and misdeeds of the subject's earthly +probation. But it sometimes happened that men and women were killed, or +died unexpectedly, before the rite was administered. And as it would +not do for these unfortunate souls to be deprived of the benefit of this +soul-saving ordinance, the custom was devised of baptizing the defunct +body, or more commonly some living person in its stead. The method of +executing the latter expedient, according to St. Chrysostom, was to +place some living person under the bed or couch on which the corpse +was reclining, when the defunct was asked if he would be baptized. The +living man, responding for the dead, answered in the affirmative. The +corpse was then taken and dipped in a vessel prepared for the purpose. +This silly practice was in vogue among the early Christians, and Paul +seems to regard it as an important custom. "Else what shall they do +which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all." (i Cor. +xv. 9.) + +The inference derivable from this text is, that Paul held that the labor +of baptizing the dead would be lost in the event of the falsification of +the doctrine of the resurrection, but otherwise it would be valid--which +evinces his faith in the senseless and superstitious practice. It will +be observed from the historical exposition of this chapter that all the +various ancient heathen modes and rites of baptism have been practiced +by Christians, and are sanctioned by their bible. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. THE SACRAMENT OR EUCHARIST OF HEATHEN ORIGIN + +AT the feast of the Passover, Christ is represented, while distributing +bread to his disciples, to have said, "Take, eat; this is my body" +(Matt. xxvi. 26); and while handing round the consecrated cup, he +enjoined, "Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, +which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (xxvi. 27). Here is +a very clear and explicit indorsement of what is generally termed "the +Eucharist or Sacrament." And nothing can be more susceptible of proof +than that this rite or ordinance is of pagan origin, and was practically +recognized many centuries prior to the dawn of the Christian era. + +So we observe, by the text above quoted, the Christian Savior and +Lawgiver copied, or reproduced, an old pagan rite as a part of his +professedly new and spiritual system, one of the most ancient and +widely-extended formulas of pagandom. And stranger still, the catechisms +of the Christian church represent this ordinance as having originated in +the design and motive to keep the ancient Christian world in remembrance +of the death and sufferings and sacrifice of Christ, while we find it +existing long prior to his time, both among Jews and pagans, this being +virtually admitted in the bible itself, so far as respects the pagans, +thus proving that it did not originate with Christ, and therefore is +not of Christian origin. For in Gen. viv. 18, we read, "And Melchisedek, +king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest +of the Most High God." Because the Melchisedek here spoken of is +represented as being "a priest of the Most High God," and showed so much +respect to Abraham, it is presumed and assumed, by Christian writers, +that he was a Jewish priest and king; and Mr. Faber (vol. i. p. 72) +calls him "an incarnation of the son of God." But there is no intimation +throughout the Jewish Scriptures of the Jews ever having had a king or +priest by that name. And besides, Eupolemus (vol. i. p. 39), tells +us that the temple of Melchisedek was the temple of Jupiter, in which +Pythagoras studied philosophy. Then, again, according to some writers, +the name is synonymous with Moloch, the God of war among the Greeks. +Strange, then, that Melchisedek should be claimed as a priest and king +among the Jews. Be this as it may, the case proves that the ceremony of +offering bread and wine existed long before the era of Jesus Christ. + +And then we have much more and much stronger proof of this fact than +is here furnished. The Christian Mr. Faber virtually admits it, when he +tells us, "The devil led the heathen to anticipate Christ with respect +to several things, as the mysteries of the Eucharist, etc." "And this +very solemnity (says St Justin) the evil spirit introduced into the +mysteries of Mithra." (Reeves, Justin, p. 86.) Mr. Higgins observes, "It +was instituted hundreds of years before the Lord's death took place." +Amongst the ancient religious orders and nations who practiced this +rite, we may name the Essenes, Persians, Pythagoreans, Gnostics, +Brahmins and Mexicans. For proof of its existence and antiquity among +the last-named nation, we refer the reader to the "Travels" (chap. ii.) +of that Christian writer, Father Acosta. Mr. Marolles, in his Memoirs +(p. 215) quotes Tibullus as saying, "The pagan appeased the divinity +with holy bread." And Tibullus, in a panegyric on Marcella, wrote, "A +little cake, a little morsel of bread, appeased the divinities." + +And here we discover the idea which originated the ceremony. It was +started, like animal sacrifices, for the purpose of appeasing the wrath +or propitiating the favor of the angry Gods. Tracing the conception +still further in the rear of its progress, and apparently to its primary +inception, Mr. Higgins observes, "The whole paschal supper (the Lord's +supper with the Christians) was in fact a festival of joy to celebrate +the passage of the sun across the equinox of spring." + +We find one pagan writer who had intelligence enough to ridicule this +senseless ceremonial custom, called "the sacrament." Cicero, some +forty years before Christ, shows up the doctrine of the sacrament, or +substantiation, in its true light. He asks, "How can a man be so stupid +as to imagine that which he eats to be a God?" A writer quoted above +says, "Mass, or the sacrifice of bread and wine, was common to many +ancient nations." (Anac. vol. ii. p. 62.) According to Alnetonae, the +ancient Brahmins had a kind of Eucharist called "prajadam." And the same +writer informs us that the ancient Peruvians, "after sacrificing a lamb, +mingled his blood with flour, and distributed it among the people." +Writers on Grecian mythology relate that Ceres, the goddess of corn, +gave her flesh to eat, and that Bacchus, the God of wine, gave blood to +drink. Nor is there any evidence that Christ and his followers made a +better use, or different use, or a more spiritual application of the +sacrament, or ceremonial offering of bread and wine, than the pagans +did, though some have claimed this. It was a species of symbolism with +both, notwithstanding Mr. Glover, a Christian writer, declares, that +"in the sacrament of the altar are the natural body and blood of Christ, +verily and indeed." (See Glover's Remarks on Bishop Marsh's Compendious +Review.) It may be noted here that the Persians, Pythagoreans, Essenes +and Gnostics used water instead of wine, and that this mode of practice +was less objectionable than that of the Christians, who (as sad +experience proves) have too often laid the foundation for the ruin of +some poor unsuspecting devotee, by luring him to the fatal fascination +of the intoxicating bowl, by holding the sacred and ceremonial wine to +his lips, while administering the sacrament or the Lord's supper. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. ANOINTING WITH OIL OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN + +THE custom and ceremony of anointing with oil by way of imparting some +fancied spiritual power and religious qualification seems to have been +extensively practiced by the Jews and primitive Christians, and still +more anciently by various oriental nations. Mark (xiv. 4), reports Jesus +Christ as speaking commendingly of the practice, by which it was evident +he was in favor of the superstitious custom. The apostle James not only +sanctions it, but recommends it in the most specific language. "Is any +sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church, and let them +pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James +v. 14.) + +The practice of greasing or smearing with oil, it may be noted here, was +in vogue from other motives besides the one here indicated. We find +the statement in the New American Cyclopedia (vol. i. p. 620), that +anointing with perfumed oil was in common use among the Greeks and +Romans as a mark of hospitality to guests. And modern travelers in +the East still find it a custom for visitors to be sprinkled with +rose-water, or their head, face and beard "anointed with olive oil." +"Anointing," we are also told, "is an ancient and still prevalent custom +throughout the East, by pouring aromatic oils on persons as a token of +honor.... It was also employed in consecrating priests, prophets and +kings, and the places and instruments appointed for worship." (Ibid.) +Joshua anointed the ten stones he set up in Jordan, and Jacob the stone +on which he slept at the time of his great vision. + +The early Christians were in the habit of anointing the altars, and even +the walls, of the churches, in the same manner as the images, obelisks, +statues, etc., had long been consecrated by the devotees of the oriental +systems. Aaron, Saul, David, Solomon, and even Jesus Christ were +anointed with oil in the same way. David Malcom, in his "Essay on the +Antiquity of the Britons," p. 144, says, "The Mexican king was anointed +with Holy Unction by the high priest while dancing before the Lord." +Vide the case of David "dancing before the Lord with all his might." Dr. +Lightfoot, in his "Harmony of the New Testament," speaks of the custom +among the Jews of anointing the sick on the Sabbath day (see Works, vol. +i, p. 333; also Toland, Sect. Naz. p. 54), as afterwards recommended by +the apostle James, as shown above. This accords exactly with the method +of treating the sick in ancient India and other heathen countries +several thousand years ago. For proof consult Hyde, Bryant, Tertullian +and other writers. The custom of anointing the sick, accompanied with +prayer and other ceremonies, was quite fashionable in the East long +before the birth of either Jesus or James. One writer testifies that +"the practice of anointing with oil, so much in vogue among the Jews, +and sanctioned by Christ and his followers, was held in high esteem in +nearly all the Eastern religions." + +The foregoing historical facts furnish still further proof that +Christianity is the offspring of heathenism. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. HOW MEN, INCLUDING JESUS CHRIST, CAME TO BE WORSHIPED AS +GODS + + +JESUS CHRIST A DEMIGOD, ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN WRITERS. + +IT is truly surprising to observe the damaging concessions of some of +the early Christian writers, ruinous to the dogmas of their own faith +with respect to the divinity of Jesus Christ, placing him, as they do, +on an exact level with the heathen demigods, proving that the belief in +his divinity originated in the same manner the belief in theirs did, +by which it is clearly shown to be a pagan derived doctrine. Several +Christian writers admit the belief in earth-born Gods (called Sons of +Gods), and their coming into the world by human birth was prevalent +among the heathen long prior to the time of Christ. Hear the proof. + +We will first quote St. Justin relative to the prevalence of the belief +among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Addressing them, he says, "The +title of Son of God (As applied to Jesus Christ) is very justifiable +upon the account of his wisdom, considering you have your Mercury in +your worship, under the title of Word or Messenger of God." (Reeves +Apol. p. 76.) Here is the proof that the tradition of the Son of God +coming into the world, and "the Word becoming flesh," was established +amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans long prior to the era of +Christianity, or the birth of Christ. + +And yet more than a hundred millions of Christian professors can now be +found, who, in their historic ignorance, suppose St. John was the first +writer who taught the doctrine of "the Word becoming flesh," and that +Jesus Christ was "the first and only begotten Son of God" who ever made +his appearance on earth. How true it is that "ignorance is the mother of +devotion" to creeds. + +How "the man Christ Jesus" came to be worshiped as a God, is pretty +clearly indicated by Bishop Horne, who shows that the doctrine of the +incarnation was of universal prevalence long before Jesus Christ came +into the flesh. He says, "That God should, in some extraordinary manner, +visit and dwell with man, is an idea, which, as we read the writings of +the ancient heathen, meets us in a thousand different forms." If, +then, the tradition of God being born into the world was so universally +established in heathen countries before the Christian era, as here +shown, why should not, and why will not, our good Christian brethren +dismiss their prejudices, and tear the scales from their eyes, so as +to see that this universal belief would as naturally lead to the +deification and worship of "the man Christ Jesus" as water flows down a +descending plane? + +And, certainly a thousand times more reasonable is the assumption +that his deification originated in this way, than that, with all his +frailties and foibles, he was entitled to the appellation of a God--a +conclusion strongly corroborated by the testimony of that able Christian +writer, Mr. Norton, who tells us that "many of the first Christians +being converts from Gentileism, their imaginations were familiar with +the reputed incarnation of heathen deities." How natural it would be for +such converts to worship "the man Christ Jesus" as a God on account of +his superior manhood! + +Again, that ancient pillar of the Christian church, St. Justin, concedes +that the ancient oriental heathen held all the cardinal doctrines of +the Christian faith relating to the incarnation long prior to the +introduction and establishment of Christianity. Hear him: Addressing the +pagans, he says, "For by declaring the Logos the first begotten Son of +God, our Master, Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin without any human +mixture, and to be crucified, and dead, and to have risen again into +heaven, we say no more in this than what you say of those whom you style +the sons of Jove." (Reeves, Apol. vol. i. p. 69.) Now, Christian reader, +mark the several important admissions which are made here:-- + +1. Here is traced to ancient heathen tradition the belief in an +incarnate Son of God. + +2. The doctrine of a "first begotten Son of God." + +3. Of his being born of a virgin. + +4. Of his crucifixion. + +5. Of his resurrection. + +6. Of his final ascension into heaven. + +All these cardinal doctrines of Christianity are here shown to have been +in existence, and to have been preached by pagan priests long anterior +to the Christian era, thus entirely oversetting the common belief of +Christendom that these doctrines were never known or preached in the +world until heralded by the first disciples of the Christian religion. +A fatal mistake, truly! This suicidal admission of St Justin (a standard +Christian writer) thus entirely uptrips all pretensions to originality +in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and shows it to be +a mere travesty of the more ancient heathen systems. + +And we have still other testimony to corroborate this conclusion. The +French writer Bazin says, "The most ancient histories are those of Gods +becoming incarnate in order to govern mankind." Again he says, "The +idea sprang up everywhere from confused ideas of God, which prevailed +everywhere among mankind that Gods formerly descended upon earth. The +fertile imagination of the people of various nations converted men into +Gods." + +And to the same effect is the declaration of Mr. Higgins, that "there +was incarnate Gods in all religions." Sadly beclouded and warped indeed +must be that mind which cannot see that here is set in as plain view as +the cloudless sun at noonday, the origin of the deification of "the man +Christ Jesus." No unbiased mind can possibly stave off the conclusion +that such a universal prevalence of the practice of God-making +throughout the religious world would cause such a man as Jesus Christ +to be worshiped as a God--especially when we look at the various motives +which promoted men to Gods, which we will now present. + + +MOTIVES TO INCARNATION, OR THE CAUSE OF MEN BEING WORSHIPED AS GODS. + +The causes which led to the conception of Gods and Sons of God becoming +clothed in human flesh--the manner in which the absurd idea originated +of an infinite being descending from heaven, assuming the form of a man, +being born of a pure and spotless virgin, and finally being killed by +his own children, the subjects of his own government, are palpably plain +and easily understood' in the light of oriental history. + +And at the same time it is so shockingly absurd, that the rapid march +of science and civilization will soon inaugurate the era when the man +or woman who shall still be found clinging to these childish and +superstitious conceptions--the offspring of ignorance, and the relics +of barbarism, and a certain proof of undeveloped or unenlightened +minds--will be looked upon as deplorably ignorant and superstitious. We +will proceed to enumerate some of the causes which promoted men to the +dignity of Gods. + +1. God must come down to suffer and sympathize with the people. + +The people of all ancient religious countries were so externally-minded, +that they demanded a God whom they could know by virtue of his +corporeity, really sympathized with their sorrows, their sufferings, +their wrongs, and their oppressions, and, like Jesus Christ, "touched +with a feeling of our infirmities" (Heb. iv. 15)--a God so far invested +with human attributes, human frailties, and human sympathies, that +he could shoulder their burdens and their infirmities, and take upon +himself a portion of their sufferings. Hence it is said of Christ, +"himself took our infirmities." (Matt. iii. 17.) + +The same conception runs through the pagan systems. One writer sets +forth the matter thus: "The Creator occasionally assumed a mortal form +to assist mankind in great emergencies" (as Jesus Christ was afterward +reported as being the Creator. See Col. i. 16.) "And as repeated +sojourners on earth in various capacities, they (the Saviors) became +practically acquainted with all the sorrows and temptations of humanity, +and could justly judge of its sins while they sympathized with its +weaknesses and its sufferings. When they again returned to the higher +regions (heaven), they remembered the lower forms they had dwelt +amongst, and felt a lively interest in the world they had once +inhabited. They could penetrate even the secret thoughts of mortals." + +The people then demanding a God of sympathy and suffering (as shown +above), their credulous imaginations would not be long in finding one. +Let a man rise up in society endowed with an extraordinary degree of +spirituality and sympathy for human suffering; let him, like Chrishna, +Pythagoras, Christ, and Mahomet, spend his time in visiting the hovels +of the poor, or consoling their sorrows, laboring to mitigate their +griefs, and in performing acts of charity, disinterested alms and deeds +of benevolence, kindness and love, and so certain would he sooner or +later command the homage of a God. For this was always the mode adopted, +in an ignorant, undeveloped, and unenlightened age, for accounting +not merely for moral greatness, but for every species of mental and +physical superiority, as will be hereafter shown. We will proceed to +notice the second cause of men being invested with divine attributes. + +2. The people must and would have an external God they could see, hear, +and talk to. + +All the oriental nations, as well as Christian, taught that "God was +a spirit," but no nation or class of people, not even the founders of +Christianity, entertained a consistent view of the doctrine. Only a +few learned philosophers saw the scientific impossibility of an +infinite spirit being crowded into the human form. Hence they alone +were contented to "worship God in spirit and in truth." Every religious +nation went counter to the spirit of this injunction in worshiping for a +God a being in the human form. Even the founders of Christianity, though +making high claims to spirituality, were too gross, too sensuous in +their conceptions, too externally-minded, and too idolatrous in their +feelings and proclivities, to be content to "worship God in spirit." +Hence their deification of the "man Christ Jesus" to answer the +requisition of an external worship, by which they violated the command +to "worship God as a spirit." That the practice of promoting men to the +Godhead originated with minds on the external plane, and evinces a want +of spiritual development, is clearly set forth by the author of "The +Nineteenth Century" (a Christian writer) who tells us, "The idea of the +primitive ages were wholly sensuous, and the masses did not believe in +anything except that which they could touch, see, hear and taste." A +true description, no doubt, of the ancient pagan worshipers of demigods. +But we warn the Christian reader not to cast anchor here, for we have +at our elbow abundance of Christian testimony from the pens of the very +oracles of the church to prove that the same state of things, the +same state of society, the same state of mind, the same proclivity for +God-making, existed with the people among whom Christ was born, and +that it was owing to this sensuous, idolatrous state of mind among his +disciples that he received the homage and title of a God. + +Hence the famous Archbishop Tillotson says, "Another very common notion, +and rife in the heathen world, and a great source of their idolatry, was +their deification of great men fit to be worshiped as Gods."... "There +was a great inclination in mankind to the worship of a visible Deity. +So God was pleased to appear in our nature, that they who were fond of a +visible Deity might have one, even a true and natural incarnation of God +the Father, the express image of his person." Now, we enjoin the reader +to mark this testimony well, and impress it indelibly upon his memory. +According to this orthodox Christian bishop, Jesus Christ appeared on +earth as a God in condescension to the wishes of a people too devoid of +spirituality, and too strongly inclined to idolatry, to worship God as a +spirit. For he admits the worship of a God-man or a man-God is a species +of idolatry. This tells the whole story of the apotheosis of "the man +Christ Jesus." We have no doubt but that here is suggested one of the +true causes of his elevation to the Deityship. Again he says, "The world +was mightily bent on addressing their requests and supplications, not to +the Deity immediately, but by some Mediator between the Gods and men." +(See Wadsworth's Eccles. Biog. p. 172.) Here, then, we have the most +conclusive proof that the belief in mediators is of pagan origin. We +will now hear from another archbishop on this subject. In his "Caution +to the Times" (p, 71 ), Archbishop Whately says, "As the Infinite Being +is an object too remote and incomprehensible for our minds to dwell +upon, he has manifested himself in his Son, the man Jesus Christ" +Precisely so 1 just the kind of reasoning employed to account for the +worship of man-Gods among the heathen. This logic fits one case as well +as the other. + +The Christian writer F. D. Maurice declares in like manner, "We accept +the fact of the incarnation (of Jesus Christ), because we feel that it +is impossible to know the absolute invisible God without an incarnation, +as man needs to know him, and craves to know him." (Logical Essay, p. +79.) Here is more pagan logic--the same reasoning they employed to prove +the divinity of their Saviors and demigods. And the Rev. Dr. Thomas +Arnold declares, "It (the incarnation of Christ) was very necessary, +especially at a time when men were so accustomed to worship their +highest Gods under the form of men" (Sermon on Christian Life, p. 61.) +Let the reader attentively observe the explicit avowal here made, and +mark well its pregnant inferences. He makes Jesus Christ come into the +world in condescension to the idolatrous rivalry of the Jews to be up +with the heathen nations in worshiping God in the form of man; that +is, the founders of Christianity, having been Jews, disclosed the true +Jewish character in running after and adopting the customs of heathen +countries then so rife--that of hunting up a great man, and making him +a God--which was only one case out of many of the Jews adopting some +of the numerous forms of idolatry and other religious customs of their +heathen neighbors. Their whole history, as set forth in the Bible, +proves, as we have shown in another chapter, that they were strongly +prone to such acts. It is not strange, therefore, that they should and +did convert "the man Christ Jesus" into a God. We will now listen to +another Christian writer, the notable and noteworthy Dr. T. Chambers. +"Whatever the falsely or superstitiously fearful imagination conjures up +because of God being at a distance, can only be dispelled by God being +brought nigh to us.... The veil which hides the unseen God from the eyes +of mortals must be somehow withdrawn." (Select Works, vol. iii. p. 161.) +Most significant indeed is this species of reasoning. It is the same +kind of logic which had led to the promotion of more than a score of +great men to the Godhead among the ancient heathen. "The veil which +hides the unseen God must be removed'" says Dr. Chambers; and so had +reasoned in soliloquy a thousand pagans long before, when determined to +worship men for Gods. It is simply saying, "We are too carnally-minded +to worship God in spirit; we must and will have a God of flesh and +blood--a God who can be recognized by the external senses;" he must +"become flesh, and dwell amongst us." (See John i. 14.) Our author +continues: "Now all this (removing the veil from the unseen God) has +been done once, and done only once in the person of Jesus Christ." +(Ibid.) Mistake, most fatal mistake, brother Chambers! It has been done +more than a score of times in various heathen countries--a fact which +proves you ignorant of oriental history. + +Now let the reader mark the foregoing citations from standard Christian +authors, setting forth some of the reasons which led the founders of +Christianity to adopt a visible man-God in their worship in the +person of Jesus Christ, Language could hardly be used to prove more +conclusively that the whole thing grew out of an idolatrous proclivity +to man-worship,--that is, the gross, sensuous, carnally-minded +propensity to worship an extetnal, visible God,--proving, with the +corroborative evidence of many other facts, that they were not a whit +above the heathen in spiritual development. The reason employed by the +Thibetan for the worship of the Hindoo Chrishna as a God, tells the +whole story of the worship and the deification of Jesus Christ "We could +not always have God behind the clouds; so we had him come down where we +could see him." This is the same kind of reasoning made use of by the +Christian writer above quoted, all of which discloses a state of mind +among both heathen and Christians that would not long rest satisfied +without deifying somebody, in order to have a visible God to worship. And +hence Christians deified "the man Christ Jesus" for this purpose. + +"The more externally minded (says Fleurbach), the greater was the +determination to worship a personal God"--God in the form of man. And as +the Jewish founders of Christianity (as every chapter of their history +demonstrates) were dwelling on the external plane, it was not an act +of direct innovation, therefore, for them to fall into the habit of +worshiping the personal Jesus as a God. It involved no serious incursion +on previous thoughts or habits. And warped and blinded, indeed, must be +that mind which cannot here discover the true key to the apotheosis of +Jesus--one of the real causes of his being stripped of his manhood, and +advanced to the Godhead. It was as naturally to be expected from the +then state of the religious world, and the state of the Jewish mind +concerned in the founding of Christianity, as that an autumnal crop of +fruit should succeed the bloom of spring. + +Let it be specially noted, that all the Christian writers above cited +tell us, in effect, that God sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world +to be worshiped as a God in condescension to the ignorance and +superstitious tendencies, and we will add, idolatrous proclivities of +the people. From this stand-point we challenge the world to show why +God may not have sent the oriental Saviors into the world for the +same reason--that is, in condescension to the prejudices of the devout +worshipers under the heathen systems. Why, then, is there not as +much probability that he did do so? Why would he not be as likely to +accommodate their ignorance and prejudices in this way as those of the +founders of the Christian system. This question we shall keep standing +before the Christian world till it is answered, and we challenge them to +meet it, and overthrow it if they can. + +3. Men deified on account of mental and moral superiority. + +The ancient nations, in their entire ignorance of the philosophy of the +human mind, and the laws controlling its actions, always accounted for +the appearance of great men amongst them by supposing them to be Gods. +Every country occasionally produced a man, who, by virtue of natural +superiority, rose so high in the scale of moral and intellectual +greatness as to fill the ideal of the people with respect to the +characteristics of a God. So low, so limited, so narrow, so greatly +circumscribed were the conceptions of deity, of the undeveloped and +intellectually dwarfed minds of all religious countries in that age, +that a man had to rise but a few degrees above the common level of the +populace to become a God. He could "easily fill the bill," and exhibit +all the qualities they assigned to the highest God in the heavens. +And this is as true of the Jewish mind as that of any other nation, a +portion of whom adored Jesus as a God. Or if they lacked anything in +natural inclination, they made it up by imitation, a propensity which +they possessed in no small degree, that is, a proneness to imitate the +customs of other nations. + +Mr. Higgins tells us that "men of brilliant intellects and high moral +attainments, and great healers (of which Christ was one), were almost +certain to be deified." In like manner Archbishop Tillotson says, "they +deified famous and eminent persons by advancing them after their death +to the dignity of an inferior kind of Gods fit to be worshiped by men +on earth." Mark the expression, "after their death" We have shown in +another chapter that Jesus Christ was not generally considered a God, +even by his followers, till more than three hundred years after +his death, when Constantine declared him to be "God of very God"--a +circumstance of itself sufficient to establish the conclusion that +he did not possess this character. A God would be adored as such by +everybody while living, but a man's worshipers rise up after his death, +as in the case of "the man Christ Jesus." Great mental endowments, +or great moral attainments, would, in most countries, bring the most +ignorant down on their knees to worship such a man as a God. But it +re-quired years, and sometimes centuries, to get him fully established +among the Gods. This is as true of Jesus Christ as the other +human-descended deities. Whatever amount of homage Jesus might have +received while living, any person who will institute a thorough, +unbiased scrutiny in the case will discover that it was his great +healing powers and superior mental qualities which finally deified him. +His ignorant admirers knew no way of accounting for such extraordinary +qualities but to suppose him to be the embodiment of infinite wisdom. +Like the Chinaman who exclaimed, "See the God in that man," when an +Englishman cured a young woman of partial blindness by anointing her eyes +with kerosene. Such a deed would deify almost any man, in almost any +country, before the dawn of letters and the recognition of the science +of mind. + +The missionary Rev. D. O. Allen's method of accounting for the +deification of the Hindoo God Chrishna is so suggestive, that we here +present it. He tells us that "as the exploits ascribed to Chrishna +exceed mere human power, the difficulty was removed by placing him among +the incarnations of Vishnu." (India, Ancient and Modern, p. 26.) Exactly +so! We are glad of such historic information. We hope the Christian +reader will note the lesson it suggests. For certainly, every reader, +who has not had his reason shipwrecked on the shoals of a blind and +dogmatic theology, can see here a key to unlock the great mystery of +the Christian incarnation--the divinity of Jesus Christ As some of the +exploits of Chrishna were supposed to "exceed mere human power," we +are told the difficulty was explained by imagining him to be a God. How +powerful the suggestion! how conclusive the explanation, not only for +the Godhood of this sin-atoning Savior, but for that of "our Lord and +Savior Jesus Christ," and all the other Lords, and Gods, and Saviors of +antiquity! A single hint will sometimes explain whole volumes of obscure +history, as does this of the Rev. Christian Hindoo missionary D. O. +Allen. And surely, most deplorably blinded by superstition must be the +two hundred millions of Christ worshipers, the three hundred millions +who worship Chrishna, the one hundred and twenty million adorers of +Confucius, the fifty millions of suppliants of Mithra the Mediator, and +the one hundred and fifty millions of followers of Mahomet, who cannot +see here a satisfactory solution of the deityship of all these Gods, and +all the other man-Gods of antiquity. + +The question is sometimes asked, How could two hundred millions of +people come to believe that Jesus was a God merely because of his +superiority as a man? We will answer by pointing to the history of the +Hindoo Chrishna, and by asking the same question with respect to his +Godhead. How could three hundred millions of people be brought to +believe in his divinity, and worship him as a God, merely because he was +a superior human being? One question is as easily answered as the other, +and posterity will answer both questions alike. When we observe it +taught as an important and easily learned lesson of history, and one +based on a thousand facts, that no man could rise to intellectual +greatness or moral distinction in the era in which Christ was born +without being advanced to the dignity of a God, and worshiped as such, +it is really a source of humility and sorrow to every unshackled lover +of truth and humanity to reflect that there are so many millions of +people whose mental vision is so beclouded by a dogmatic and inexorable +theology that they cannot see the logical potency of these facts,--that +they cannot be even moved by this great and overwhelming amount of +evidence against the divinity dogma, and observe that it explodes it +into a thousand fragments, but still cling to the delusion that "the +man Christ Jesus," with all the human qualities and human frailties +with which his own history (the Gospels) invest him, was nevertheless +a God,--ay, the monstrous delusion that any being possessing a _finite +form_ could be an _infinite being_--a most self-evident and shocking +absurdity. And we challenge all Christendom to show, or approximate one +inch toward showing, that there was sufficient difference between Christ +and Chrishna to require us to accept one as a man and the other as a +God. It cannot be done. + +We have shown, then, by the foregoing exposition, that one cause of the +deification of men was simply an attempt to solve the problem of +human greatness,--an attempt to account for the moral and intellectual +superiority of men which enabled them to perform deeds and otherwise +exhibit a character far above the capacity of the multitude to +comprehend, and which they could find no other way to account for than +to suppose them to be Gods, while the low and groveling conceptions +which most religious nations, and especially the Jews, had formed of +the character and essential attributes of the Infinite Deity (often +investing him with the most ignoble human attributes, human passions, +and human imperfections), made it perfectly easy to convert their great +men by imagination into Gods. The Jews represented God not only as +a coming down from heaven in propria persona, and walking, talking, +wrestling, &c., as a man (on one occasion we are told he and Jacob +scuffled all night), but he is often represented as acting the part of +a wicked man, such as lying (see 2 Chron. v. 22), getting mad (see Deut. +i. 37), swearing, sanctioning the highhanded and demoralizing crimes of +stealing (see Ex. iii. 2), of robbery (see Ex. xii. 36), of murder (see +Deut. xiii. 2) and even fornication (see Gen. xxxi. 1, and Num. xxxi) +and thus they invested Diety with such mean, low, despicable attributes +as to reduce his moral character to a level with the most immoral man in +society. So that it was very easy, if not very natural, to elevate their +great men (if it really required any elevation) to a level with their +God. + +Men and Gods were in character and conception so nearly alike, that it +was easy to bring them on a level, or to mistake one for the other. And +hence it is we find an incarnated God, Savior, Son of God, Redeemer, +&c., figuring in the early history of nearly every oriental religious +nation whose name and history has descended to us. Indeed, the practice +of deifying men, or mistaking men for Gods, was once so common, so +nearly universal, that it must require a mind very ignorant of oriental +history to adore Jesus Christ as having been the only character of this +kind who figured in the religious world. It was, as before suggested, +deemed the most rational way of accounting for the marked superiority +among men, to suppose that some men had a divine birth, and were +begotten by the great Infinite Deity himself, and descended to the earth +through the purest human (virgin) channel. + +As Mr. Higgins remarks, "Every person who possessed a striking +superiority of mind, either for talent or goodness, was supposed +anciently to have a portion of the divine mind or essence incorporated +or incarnated in him." The Jews had a number of men whose names imply a +participation in the divine nature, among which we will cite Elijah and +Elisha (El-i-jah and El-i-sha), El being the Hebrew name or term for +God, while Jah is Jehovah (see Ps. lxviii. 4), and Sha means a Savior. +Elijah, then, is an approximation to God--Jehovah, and Elisha is +God--a Savior. The character of men and Gods were cast in molds so +approximately similar, so nearly identical, as to make the transition, +or change from one to the other, so slight and easy; either of men into +Gods or Gods into men, that several nations went so far as to teach +that a man might by his own natural exertions, his own voluntary powers, +raise himself to a level with the Diety, and thereby become a God. + +Mr. Ritter in his "History of Ancient Philosophy" (Chap. II.), tells +us that some of the Budhist sect held that "a man by freeing himself +by holiness of conduct from the obstacles of nature, may deliver his +fellows from the corruption of the times, and become a benefactor and +redeemer of his race, and also even become a God"--a "Budha"--i. e., a +Savior and Son of God. Singular enough that the Christian should +object to this doctrine as being rather blasphemous, when his own bible +abundantly and explicitly teaches the same doctrine in effect! + +We find the same thing substantially taught over and over again in the +Christian Scriptures. "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is +perfect" (Matt. v. 18), requires a man to become morally perfect as God, +which is all that the Budhist precept requires or contemplates, and no +man can become perfect as God without becoming a God. But we are not +left to mere inference in the matter, We have the doctrine several times +expressed and unquestionably taught in the Christian bible of man's +power and prerogative to become either a God or Son of God. "Said I not +that ye are Gods?" (Ex. iv. 16). "Behold now, we are the sons of God." +(i John i. 2.) + +Here is the Budhist doctrine as explicitly stated as it can be taught. +It is, then, a Christian bible doctrine as well as a pagan doctrine, +that man can become a God, and that God can be born of woman, and +thereby invested with all the frail and imperfect attributes of man. It +cannot be considered a matter of marvel, therefore, that so many of the +good, the great, and the wise men of almost every country, including +"the man Christ Jesus," should be honored and adored with the titles +of Deity, and worshiped as God absolute, "Son of God," "Savior," +"Redeemer," "Intercessor" "Mediator," &c. + +4. God comes down and is incarnated to fight and conquer the devil. We +will proceed to enumerate other causes and motives which conspired in +various cases to invest some one or more of the great men of a nation +with divine honors, and adore them as veritable Gods and Saviors "come +down to us in the form of men." It was a tenant of faith with most of +the ancient religions, that almost at the dawn of human existence a +devil or evil principle found its way into the world, to the great +discomfiture of man and the no small annoyance of the Supreme Creator +himself, and that hence there must needs be a Savior, a Redeemer, an +Intercessor to combat and if possible "destroy the devil and his works." + +For this purpose appeared the Savior Chrishna, in India, the Savior +Osiris, in Egypt, the God or Mediator Mithra, in Persia, the Redeemer +Quexalcote, in Mexico, the Savior Jesus Christ, in Judea, &c. In the +initiatory chapter on the transgression and fall of man, some of the +oriental bibles graphically describe the scene of "the war in heaven"--a +counterpart to the story of St. John, as found in the twelfth chapter +of Revelation, wherein Michael and the dragon are represented as the +captains and commander-in-chief of their respective embattled hosts, +and in which the former was crowned as victor in the contest, as he +succeeded in vanquishing and "casting out the evil one." In the pagan +military drama the scene of the war in heaven is transferred to the +earth. A God, a Savior (a Son of God), comes down to put a stop to the +machinations of the "Evil One," i. e., to "destroy the devil and his +works" as we are told Christ came for that purpose. (1 John iii. 8 ) See +the Author's "Biography of Satan." + +The Egyptian story runs thus: "Osiris appeared on earth to benefit +mankind, and after he had performed the duties of his mission, and had +fallen a sacrifice to Typhon (the devil, or evil principle), which, +however, he eventually overcame ('overcame the wicked one,' 1 John ii. +11), by rising from the dead, after being crucified, he became the +judge of mankind in a future state." (See Kerrick's "Ancient Egypt", +also Wilkinson's "Egypt.") + +The Budhist, or Hindoo, version of the story is on this wise: "The +prince (of darkness), or evil spirit, Ravana, or Mahesa, got into a +contest and a war with the divine hero Rama, in which the latter proved +victorious, and put to flight the army of 'the wicked one,' but not till +after considerable injury had been done to the human family, and the +whole order of the universe subverted; to rectify which, and to achieve +a final and complete triumph over Ravana (the devil) and his works, +and thus save the human race from utter destruction, the gods besought +Vishnu (the second person of the Trinity) to descend to the earth and +take upon himself the form and flesh of man. And it was argued that as +the mission appertained to man, the God Vishnu, when he descended to the +earth in the capacity of a Savior, should become half man and half God, +and that the most feasible way to accomplish this end was for him to be +born of a woman." + +And that the glory and honor of his triumph over Ravana, the devil, +would be greater if achieved in this capacity than if he were to come +down from heaven and conquer Ravana wholly with his attributes as a God, +or wholly in his divine character--i.e., as absolute God, uninvested +with human nature. The suggestion was approved by Vishnu, who descended +and took upon himself "the form of man" ("the form of a servant"--Phil. +ii. 7). And that his metamorphosis or earth-born life might be +the purer, it was decided that he should be born of a woman wholly +uncontaminated with man--that is, a virgin. And thus, far back in the +midnight of mythology and fable, originated the story of divine Saviors +and Gods being born of virgins--a conception now found incorporated in +the religious histories of various ancient nations. + +And now let us observe how substantially the Christian story of a Savior +conforms to the above. Jesus, like the Saviors of India and Egypt, was +believed to be a man-God--half man and half God, and reputedly he came +into the world, like them, to "destroy the devil and his works," or +the works of the devil--that is, to put an end to the evil or malignant +principle introduced into the world by the serpent in the garden +of Eden; as it is declared "the seed of the woman shall bruise the +serpent's head" (Gen. iii. 15)--which is interpreted as referring to +Christ. And like these and various other pagan Saviors Jesus is assigned +the highest and most ennobling human origin--a birth from a virgin. And, +as in the instances above named, Jesus had also several encounters with +the devil; first in the wilderness, then on a mountain, and finally, +like them, falls a sacrifice to his insidious, malignant power acting +through the agency and mediumship of Judas Iscariot; for his betrayal +is ascribed wholly to Satan, whom John called the serpent, entering into +Judas and prompting the act. (See Rev. xii. 3). And thus Christ, like +the other saviors, falls a victim to the serpentine or satanic power +acting through the instrumentality of a Judas Iscariot; but finally, +triumphed, like the Savior of Egypt (Osiris), by rising from the +dead--"the first fruits of immortality." And thus the stories run +parallel--the more modern Christian with the more ancient pagan. + + (For a full exposition of the belief and traditions + respecting a devil and a hell in all ages and all countries, + see the Author's "Biography of Satan.") + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. SACRED CYCLES EXPLAINING THE ADVENT OF THE GODS + +The Master-Key to the Divinity of Jesus Christ. + +Extraordinary Revelations in History and Science. + +RECENT explorations in the field of oriental sacred history have +revealed to the antiquarian some curious and deeply interesting facts +appertaining to traditions founded on, and growing out of, astronomical +phenomena and changes in the visible heavens, which throw much light on, +and go far toward elucidating and furnishing a satisfactory explanation +of many of the "mysteries" of the Christian bible. The works which we +have consulted, containing the reports and results of researches of this +character, tend to elucidate and establish the following conclusions:-- + +1. That anciently, in religious countries, time was divided into Cycles, +Aetas, or Neros. + +2. That these measures of time grew out of, and represented periodical +changes, or periodically occurring phenomena in the astronomical +heavens. + +3. That some religious nations had three Cycular periods of different +lengths, representing three orders and degrees of miraculous births. +In India the length of the first or shorter Cycle was thirty days, +the length of one moon or month. Every change of the moon marked an +important event in their religious history. Each change was supposed to +denote the birth of some angel or celestial being known as an Eon. +The second Cycular period was of six hundred years' duration, and +was founded on a text of the sacred book of India, known as the Surya +Sidhanta, which declares "the equinoctial point moves eastward one +degree in thirty times twenty years" (thirty times twenty being 600). At +every occurrence of this equinoctial change hightened by an eclipse of +the sun or moon, or some other wonder-exciting phenomenon, a God was +supposed to be born. Such a marvelous and terror-inspiring event, in +the apprehensions of the credulous and superstitious populace of an +unscientific age, could not be designed for anything less than the birth +of a God or Divine Savior. Their theology teaches that such was the +wickedness of man, that a God had to descend from heaven, and suffer and +die for the people, in some way, every six hundred years. + +And this period was announced by the God's causing a collision of the +sun and moon, or some other terror-exciting phenomena in the heavens +above or the earth beneath. When one of these six hundred Cycular +periods was about to expire, and another commence, every remarkable +phenomenon in the heavens was watched and interpreted as being connected +with it. And some person born at that period, who exhibited any +remarkable or extraordinary trait of character, was certain to be +promoted to the Godhead, as being miraculously born and brought forth +for the special occasion. He was the Avatar Savior or Messiah for that +Cycle. There were two extraordinary events to be accounted for--one was +the display of unusual and terror-exciting phenomena in the heavens, and +the other the birth of extraordinary men on earth. And it was natural +for an ignorant age to associate them together, and make one aid in +accounting for the other. And as these celestial phenomena were only +witnessed at intervals distant apart, the thought naturally arose, and +the conclusion was easily established, that they came periodically, and +for the special purpose of heralding the birth of a God. + +And as tradition reported that similar events were witnessed six hundred +years before the conviction was fixed in the popular mind, this was the +established period intervening between these great epochs. And thus +the six hundred year Cycular tradition became established in India, and +finally spread through all the Eastern countries. We find traces of it +in Egypt, Syria, Persia, Chaldea, China, Italy, and Judea. And the proof +that the deification of great men in some countries grew out of this +Cycular tradition is found in the fact that many of them were born at +the commencement of Cycles. The Hindoos are able to recount the names +of ten sin-atoning Saviors who made their appearance on earth at these +regular intervals of six hundred years. The name of the first Avatar +Mediator and Savior who forsook the throne of heaven to come down and +die for the people was Matsa. Tradition and the sacred books fix his +birth at about six thousand years B. C. The names and advent of the +other sin-atoning Saviors occur in the following order: 2. Vurahay, 3. +Kurma, 4. Nursu, 5. Waman, 6. Pursuram, 7. Kama, 8. Chrishna, 9. Sakia, +10. Salavahana. The last named Savior was cotemporary with Jesus Christ. +The God and Savior Sakia was born six hundred years B. C. "Our Lord +and Savior" and "Son of God," Chrisna, was immaculately conceived and +miraculously born, according to Higgins, 1200 B. C. + +A circumstance strongly confirming the conclusion that Cycular periods +had much to do with the promotion of men to the dignity of Gods is, that +most of the deified personages reported in history were, according to +the best authorities, born near the commencement of Cycles. Recurring +back to the eighth Cycle, we observe the advent of that period of +Chrishna, Zoroaster 2d, Bali, Thammuz, Atys, Osiris, and several others. +At the commencement of the ninth Cycle appeared Sakia, Quexalcote, +Zoroaster 2d, Xion, Qairious, Prometheus, Mithra and many others. + +The tenth Cycle brought in Jesus Christ, Salavhana, Apollonious, and +others that might be named. Mahomet succeeded Jesus Christ just six +hundred years (he was born in the year 600 A. D.), which inaugurated +another Cycle. Many facts are recorded in history proving the prevalence +and sacredness of the Cycle idea in different countries. The story +in Egypt of the bird called the Phoenix, being hatched, according to +tradition, just 600 years B. C., and living to be just six hundred years +old, and having the power to renew itself every six hundred years, shows +the prevalence of the Cycular tradition in that country. + +We have the statement upon the records of history that when the first +six hundred years after the foundation of Rome were about to expire, +the people became greatly excited with the apprehension that some +extraordinary event, must attend the occasion. And but for the influence +of the philosophers, some extraordinary man would have been hunted up +and promoted to divine honor as being the God born for that Cycle. The +writings of Plato, Plutarch, Ovid, Cicero, Virgil, and Aristotle, all +evince a belief in Cycles, and the belief that ten Cycles, or Aetas, +were the measure, for the duration of the world. According to M. Faber, +a new-born Savior was always expected to make his appearance at the +commencement of one of these Cycles. Hence the deification of those +personages above named, and many others that might be named. It is a +remarkable circumstance that the Jewish bible should speak of Noah as +being six hundred years old at the commencement of the flood, when it +was a tradition amongst the ancient Egyptians that the ushering in of +the six hundreth year Cycle was to be attended with a flood. + +And the time antecedent to Noah after creation, was the measure of three +Cycles, according to the chronology of the Samaritan bible, it being +6004-600+600= 1800 years from Adam to Noah. It is an interesting fact +that those enigmatical figures made use of by Daniel, as also some of +those found in the Apocalypse, are susceptible of a Cycular explanation. +These occult prophecies, as they are supposed to be, which have puzzled +and bewildered many thousands of Christian minds and bible expounders +in their attempt to evolve their signification, are susceptible of a +Cycular explanation. They are of easy solution on a Cycular basis, or +with the Cycular key. + +Take, for example, Daniel's famous prophecy (so called) of the seventy +weeks, as found in the ninth chapter, announcing the advent of a Messiah +at the end of that period. We find by a calculation based on Tyson's +"Historical Atlas," and Haskell's "Chronology and Universal History," +that Daniel lived in the hundred and tenth year of the ninth Cycle, at +which time the prefigure seems to have been used. Assuming this as a +basis, and multiplying seventy weeks by seven, to convert it into years, +as Christian essayists are accustomed to doing, and we have as the +result 70x7=490, which being added to one hundred and ten, the year that +gave birth to the prophesy, makes six hundred, which exactly completes +the Cycle, and furnishes a simple and beautiful explanation of a +mystical figure, on which many thousands of conjectures, speculations, +and guesses have been founded, but on which they have failed to throw +any light. + +The 70x70=490 years, were wanting to complete the Cycle; and when this +rolled away, it brought a new Cycle, and with it a new sin-atoning +Savior was always expected in some countries (the country in which +Daniel lived being one of this number); a new Messiah (or sin-atoning +Savior), and some great man born at that time, was fixed upon and +deified as being that Messiah. Hence the Jews, in imitation of their +neighbors, yielding to their strong proclivities to borrow from and copy +after heathen nations, selected "the man Christ Jesus" as their Messiah +and Savior. The mystical era of Daniel, signified by "a time, times, and +the dividing of time" (Dan. vii. 25), or, as St. John has it, "a time, +times, and a half time" (see Rev. xii. 14) is explainable by the same +Cycular key. + +Some writers have conjectured that Daniel was a Chaldean priest. If so, +he must have had a knowledge of their astronomical Cycle of two +thousand one hundred and sixty years, which completed the period of the +precession of the equinoxes. Explained by this Cycle, his "time, times, +and dividing of time, or half time," or "a time, another time, and +a half time," as some writers have rendered it, would be 2160 f +2160-I-1080 5400; nine Cycles exactly, as 600X9= 5400. Add this to the +Cycle in which he lived, and we have 5400+600=6000, the great Millennial +Cycle, when not only a new Savior and Messiah was to be born, but a new +world also. Both the long and short Cycle (and one was a measure of the +other) were expected to expire at that time, according to a Chaldean +tradition. And thus is beautifully explained another "deep, dark and +unfathomable mystery," which thousands of devout minds have exhausted +their ingenuity in trying to find a meaning for. Again, look at the +frightful nightmare visions of Daniel and the author of the Apocalypse, +in which they saw a monstrous beast with seven heads and ten horns, +though Daniel mentions only the horns. The seven heads were, in all +probability, the seven auspicious months of the year in which some of +the nations revealed in the enjoyment of, and praised and celebrated +their fruitful, bountiful blessings, the year being divided into two +seasons, seven summer months and five winter months. + +Now, let it be noted, St. John lived near the tenth Cycle, which answers +to the ten horns of the beast. Hence is most forcibly suggested that +interpretation of the figure. Daniel's ten horns should have been +translated eleven horns, as he lived in the ninth Cycle, though so near +the tenth, that he probably constructed his figure on the tenth. And +Daniel's prophetic declaration (so considered), found in the eighth +chapter, that it would be two thousand three hundred days until the +sanctuary should be closed, is explainable in the same manner. According +to Mr. Irving, Mr. Frere, and other writers, there was a large fraction +over the three hundred days, making it nearer four hundred, and hence +might have been so rendered, which would make 20004-400=2400; the exact +length of four Cycles, 600x4=2400. And their are other mystical +figures, frightful visions, and occult metaphors found in the Apocalypse +susceptible of a Cycular solution. The Cycle is the true key for +unlocking many of the ancient mysteries of various religions. The +Chinese have always reckoned by Cycles of sixty years, instead of by +centuries. (See New Am. Encyclop. vol. v. p. 105.) + +We will now bestow a brief notice on the Millennial Cycle: the +sacred period of 6000 years, composed of ten of the smaller Cycles, +600x10=6000. Dr. Hales says, "A tradition of Millennial ages prevailed +throughout the east, and finally reached the west." (Chron. vol. i. p. +44.) We are told by astronomers that if the angle which the plane of the +ecliptic forms with the plane of the Equator had decreased gradually, as +it was once supposed to do, the two planes would coincide in about six +thousand years--a period which comprises ten of the smaller Cycles, +600X10 =6000. And it was very easy and very natural for an ignorant and +superstitious age to conclude that such a prodigious, astounding, and +awful event as that of two stupendous orbits or planes coming in contact +with each other, should be attended with some direful and calamitous +event, and with a tremendous display of divine power. Nothing less than +an entire revolution, if not the total destruction of the world, could +comport with the majesty and magnitude of such an event. + +And this great crisis was to bring down the Omnipotent Divine Judge from +the throne of heaven; that is, the Almighty being who caused it was to +come down, or send his Son to call the nations to judgment, and drown +the world, or set it on fire. The first destruction according to the +tradition of the Chaldeans, Persians, Assyrians, Mexicans, and some +other nations, was to be by water, and the next by fire, when the +oceans, seas, and lakes were to be converted into ashes. And Christ's +apostles seemed to have cherished this tradition. Peter says, "whereby +the world that was then, being overflowed by water, perished. But the +heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, +reserved unto fire against the day of judgment," (2 Peter iii. 6.) This +was a pagan belief long prior to the era of Peter. Josephus says, "Adam +predicted that the world would be twice destroyed, once by water, +next by fire." A writer says, "A glorious, blissful future attends the +destruction of the world by fire, and the reappearance of Vishnu (i. e., +eleventh incarnation of Vishnu) has been for several thousand years the +hopeful anticipation of India." "The last coming of Vishnu in power and +glory," says another writer, "to consummate the final overthrow of evil, +sin, and death, is so firmly fixed in the minds of the devotees, +that they have an annual festival in commemoration of their prophesy +referring to it, at which they exclaim, in a loud voice, 'When will the +Divine Helper come? when will the Deliverer appear?'" + +At the consummation of this event, "a comet will roll under the moon and +set the world on fire;" so affirms their bible. And the Persian bible, +the Zend-Avesta, in like manner predicts that "a star, with a tail in +course of its revolution, will strike the earth and set it on fire." +Seneca predicts that "the time will come when the world will be wrapped +in flames, and the opposite powers in conflict will mutually destroy +each other." + +Ovid prophesies poetically,-- + + "For thus the stern, unyielding Fates decree. + That earth, air, heaven, with the capacious sea, + All shall fall victims to devouring fire, + And in fierce flames the blazing orbs expire." + Lucian, in a like spirit, exclaims,-- + + "One vast, appointed flame, by Fate's decree, + Shall waste yon azure heavens, the earth and sea." + +The Egyptians marked their houses with red, to indicate that the world +would be destroyed by fire. Orpheus, 1200 B. C., at the inauguration +of the eighth Cycle, entertained fearful forebodings of the speedy +destruction of the world by water or fire. Some nations held that +the alternate destruction of the world by water and fire had already +occurred, and would occur again. Theopompus informs us that some of the +orientalists believed that "the God of light and the God of darkness +reigned by turn every six thousand years" (commencing with an +astronomical Cycle of course), and that during this period the other +was held in subjection, which finally resulted in "a war in heaven;" a +counterpart to St. John's story. (See Rev. chap. xii.) + +This accords with Volney's statement, that "it was recorded in the +sacred books of the Persians and Chaldeans that the world, composed of +a total revolution of twelve thousand periods, was divided into two +partial revolutions of six thousand years each--one being the reign of +good, and the other the reign of evil." (Ruins, p. 244.) This belief was +disseminated through most of the nations. One of these revolutions was +produced, some believed, by a concussion of worlds, which displaced the +ocean and seas, and thus produced a general flood, which drowned every +living thing on the earth. The next revolution will be caused by a +collision of worlds, which will produce fire, and burn the earth to +ashes. + +Now, let it be noted that all of these grand epochs were founded on +Cycles, and accompanied by the tradition of a God being born upon the +earth (conceived by a virgin maid), or descending in person; that is, +men were promoted to the Godhead. And in this way Jesus Christ was +deified. Volney explains the matter thus: "Now, according to the Jewish +computation, six thousand years had nearly elapsed since the supposed +creation of the world (according to their chronology). This coincidence +produced considerable fermentation in the minds of the people. Nothing +was thought of but the approaching termination. The great Mediator and +Final Judge was expected, and his advent desired, that an end might be +put to their calamities." (Ruins, p. 168). + +Mr. Higgins corroborates this statement, when he tells us that "about +the time of the Cæsars, there seems to have been a general expectation +that some Great One was to appear. And finally, when the Cycle had +passed, the people, the Jew-Christians, began to look about to see who +that Great One was. Some fixed on Herod, some on Julius Cæsar, and some +on others. But finally public opinion settled on one Jesus of Nazareth, +on account of his superiority in morals and intellect, while the Hindoos +deified Salavahana, the Greeks Apollonious, &c." And thus science and +history join hand in hand to explain most beautifully and conclusively +the greatest mystery that ever brought two hundred millions of people +daily upon their knees--the apotheosis, or deification of "the man +Christ Jesus." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. CHRISTIANITY DERIVED FROM HEATHEN AND ORIENTAL SYSTEMS + +MORE than twenty thousand sermons are preached in the Christian pulpits, +on every recurring Sabbath, to convince the people that the religion and +morality taught and practiced by Jesus Christ was of divine emanation, +and was never before taught in the world,--that his system of +morality was without a parallel, and his practical life without a +precedent,--that the doctrine of self-denial, humility, unselfishness, +benevolence, and charity,--also devout piety, kind treatment of enemies, +and love for the human race, which he preached and practiced, had never +before been exemplified in the life and teachings of any individual or +nation. But a thorough acquaintance with the history and moral systems +of some of the oriental nations, and the practical lives of piety and +self-denial exemplified in their leading men long anterior to the birth +of Christ, and long before the name of Christianity was anywhere +known, must convince any unprejudiced mind that such a claim is +without foundation. And to prove it, we will here institute a critical +comparison between Christianity and some of the older systems with +respect to the essential spirit of their teachings, and observe how +utterly untenable and groundless is the dogmatic assumption which claims +for the Christian religion either any originality or any superiority. Of +course if their is nothing new or original, there is nothing superior. + +We will first arrange Christianity side by side with the ancient system +known as Essenism--a religion whose origin has never been discovered, +though it is known that the Essenes existed in the days of Jonathan +Maccabeus, B. C. 150, and that they were of Jewish origin, and +constituted one of the three Jewish sects (the other two being Pharisees +and Sadducees). We have but fragments of their history as furnished by +Philo, Josephus, Pliny, and their copyists, Eusebius, Dr. Ginsburg, and +others, on whose authority we will proceed to show that Alexandrian and +Judean Essenism was identically the same system in spirit and essence as +its successor Judean Christianity; in other words, Judean Christianity +teaches the same doctrines and moral precepts which had been previously +inculcated by the disciples of the Essenian religion. + + +A PARALLEL EXHIBITION OF THE PRECEPTS AND PRACTICAL LIVES OF CHRIST AND +THE ESSENES. + +We will condense from Philo, Josephus, and other authors. + +1. Philo says, "It is our first duty to seek the kingdom of God and his +righteousness so the Essenes believed and taught." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his +righteousness, and all else shall be added." (Matt. vi. 33; Luke xii. 31.) + +2. Philo says, "They abjured all amusements, all elegances, and all +pleasures of the senses." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Forsake the world and the things thereof." + +3. The Essenes say, "Lay up nothing on earth, but fix your mind solely +on heaven." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Lay not up treasures on earth," &c. + +4. "The Essenes, having laid aside all the anxieties of life," says +Philo, "and leaving society, they make their residence in solitary wilds +and in gardens." + +_Scripture parallel._ "They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and +in dens, and in caves of the earth." (Heb. xi. 38.) + +5. Josephus says, "They neither buy nor sell among themselves, but give +of what they have to him that wanteth." + +_Scripture parallel._ "And parted them (their goods) to all men as every +man had need." (Acts ii. 45.) + +6. Eusebius says, "Even as it is related in the Acts of the Apostles, +all (the Esseues)... were wont to sell their possessions and their +substance, and divide among all according as any one had need, so that +there was not one among them in want." + +_Scripture parallel_. "Neither was their any among them that lacked, for +as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the +price of the things that were sold, &c." (Acts iv. 34.) + +7. Eusebius says, "For whoever, of Christ's disciples, were owners of +estates or houses, sold them, and brought the price thereof, and laid +them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made as every one had +need. So Philo relates things exactly similar of the Essenes." + +_Scripture parallel._ (The text above quoted.) + +8. "Philo tells us (says Eusebius) that the Essenes forsook father, +mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, for their religion." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Whosoever forsaketh not father and mother, houses +and lands, &c. cannot be my disciples." + +9. "Their being sometimes called _monks_ was owing to their abstraction +from the world," says Eusebius. + +_Scripture parallel._ "They are not of the world, even as I am not of +the world." (John xvii. 16.) + +10. "And the name Ascetics was applied to them on account of their rigid +discipline, their prayers, fasting, self-mortification, &c., as they +made themselves eunuchs." + +_Scripture parallel._ "There be eunuchs which have made themselves +eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." + +11. "They maintained a perfect community of goods, and an equality of +external rank." (Mich. vol. iv. p. 83.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be +your servant." (Matt. xx. 27.) + +12. "The Essenes had all things in common, and appointed one of their +number to manage the common bag." (Dr. Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_ "And had all things in common." (Acts ii. 44; see +also Acts iv. 32.) + +13. "All ornamental dress they (Essenes) detested." (Mich. vol. iv. p. +83.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward +adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and putting on of +apparel." (1 Peter iii. 3.) + +14. "They would call no man master." (Mich.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Be not called Rabbi, for one is your Master." +(Matt, xxiii. 8.) + +15. "They said the Creator made all mankind equal." (Mich.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "God hath made of one blood all them that dwell +upon the earth." + +16. "They renounced oaths, saying, He who cannot be believed without +swearing is condemned already." (Mich.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Swear not at all." + +17. "They would not eat anything which had blood in it, or meat which +had been offered to idols. Their food was hyssop, and bread, and salt; +and water their only drink." (Mich.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "That ye abstain from meat offered to idols, and +from blood." (Acts xv. 29.) + +18. "Take nothing with them, neither meat or drink, nor anything +necessary for the wants of the body." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Take nothing for your journey; neither staves nor +script; neither bread, neither money, neither have two coats apiece." + +19. "They expounded the literal sense of the Holy Scriptures by +allegory." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Which things are an allegory." (Gal. iv. 24.) + +20. "They abjured the pleasures of the body, not desiring mortal +offspring, and they renounced marriage, believing it to be detrimental +to a holy life." (Mich.) + +_Scripture parallel._ It will be recollected that neither Jesus nor Paul +ever married, and that they discouraged the marriage relation. +Christ says, "They that shall be counted worthy of that world and the +resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage." And Paul says, +"The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord." (i Cor. vii. 32.) + +21. "They strove to disengage their minds entirely from the world." + +_Scripture parallel_. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father +is not in him." + +22. "Devoting themselves to the Lord, they provide not for future +subsistence." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat +and drink," &c. + +23. "Regarding the body as a prison, they were ashamed to give it +sustenance." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Who shall change our _vile_ bodies?" (Phil. iii. +21.) + +24. "They spent nearly all their time in silent meditation and inward +prayer." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Men ought always to pray." (Luke xviii. 1.) "Pray +without ceasing." (1 Thess. v. 17.) + +25. "Believing the poor were the Lord's favorites, they vowed perpetual +chastity and poverty." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "Blessed be ye poor." (Luke vi. 20.) "Hath not God +chosen the poor?" (James ii. 5.) + +26. "They devoted themselves entirely to contemplation in divine +things." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "Mediate upon these (divine) things; give thyself +wholly to them." (1 Tim. iv. 15.) + +27. "They fasted often, sometimes tasting food but once in three or even +six days." + +_Scripture parallel._ Christ's disciples were "in fastings often." (2 +Cor. xi. 27; see also v. 34.) + +28. "They offered no sacrifices, believing that a serious and devout +soul was most acceptable." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "There is no more offering for sin." (Heb. x. 18.) + +29. "They believed in and practiced baptizing the dead." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel._ "Else what shall they do which are baptized for +the dead." (1 Cor. xv. 29.) + +30. "They gave a mystical sense to the Scriptures, disregarding the +letter." + +_Scripture parallel._ "The letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive." +(1 Cor. iii. 6.) + +31. "They taught by metaphors, symbols, and parables." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Without a parable spake he not unto them." (Matt. +xiii. 34.) + +32. "They had many mysteries in their religion which they were sworn to +keep secret." + +_Scripture parallel._ "To you it is given to know the mysteries of +the kingdom; to them it is not given." (Matt xiii. 11.) "Great is the +mystery of godliness." + +33. "They had in their churches, bishops, elders, deacons, and priests." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Ordained elders in every church." (Acts xiv. 23.) +For "deacons," see 1 Tim. iii. 1. + +34. "When assembled together they would often sing psalms." + +_Scripture parallel._ "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms." +(Col. iii. 16.) + +35. "They healed and cured the minds and bodies of those who joined +them." + +_Scripture parallel_ "Healing all manner of sickness," &c. (Matt iv. +23.) + +36. "They practiced certain ceremonial purifications by water." + +_Scripture parallel_. "The accomplishment of the days of purification." +(Acts xxi. 26.) + +37. "They assembled at the Sabbath festivals clothed in white garments." + +_Scripture parallel_ "Shall be clothed in white garments." (Rev. iii. +4.) + +38. "They disbelieved in the resurrection of the external body." + +_Scripture parallel_ "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a +spiritual body." (1 Cor. xv. 44.) + +39. Pliny says, "They were the only sort of men who lived without money +and without women." + +_Scripture parallel_\ "The love of money is the root of all evil." (1 +Tim. vi. 10.) Christ's disciples travelled without money and without +scrip, and "eschew the lusts of the flesh." + +40. "They practiced the extremest charity to the poor." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel_ "Bestow all thy goods to feed the poor." (1 Cor. +xiii. 3.) + +41. "They were skillful in interpreting dreams, and in foretelling +future events." + +_Scripture parallel_ "Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your +old men shall dream dreams." (Acts ii. 17.) + +42. "They believed in a paradise,... and in a place of never-ending +lamentations." + +_Scripture parallel_ "Life everlasting." (Gal. viii. 8.) "Weeping, +wailing, and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. xiii. 42.) + +43. "They affirmed," says Josephus, "that God foreordained all the +events of human life." + +_Scripture parallel_' "Foreordained before the foundation of the world." +(1 Peter.) + +44. "They believed in Mediators between God and the souls of men." + +_Scripture parallel_. "One Mediator between God and men." (1 Tim. ii. +5.) + +45. "They practiced the pantomimic representation of the death, burial, +and resurrection of God"--Christ the Spirit. + +_Scripture parallel_. With respect to the death, burial, and +resurrection of Christ, see 1 Cor. xv. 4. + +46. "They inculcated the forgiveness of injuries." + +_Scripture parallel_. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke xxiii. 34.) + +47. "They totally disapproved of all war." + +_Scripture parallel_ "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my +servants fight." (John xviii. 36.) + +48. "They inculcated obedience to magistrates, and to the civil +authorities." + +_Scripture parallel_. "Obey them which have the rule over you." (Heb. +xiii. 17; xxvi. 65.) + +49. "They retired within themselves to receive interior revelations of +divine truth." (c. ii. 71.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "Every one of you hath a revelation." (1 Cor. xiv. +26.) + +50. "They were scrupulous in speaking the truth." + +_Scripture parallel_ "Speaking all things in truth." (2 Cor. vii. 14.) + +51. "They perform many wonderful miracles." + +_Scripture parallel_ Many texts teach us that Christ and his apostles +did the same. + +52. "Essenism put all its members upon the same level, forbidding the +exercise of authority of one over another." (Dr. Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_. Christ did the same. For proof, see Matt. xx. 25; +Mark ix. 35. + +53. "Essenism laid the greatest stress on being meek and lowly in +spirit." (Dr. Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_. See Matt. v. 5; ix. 28. + +54. "The Essenes commended the poor in spirit, those who hunger and +thirst after righteousness, and the merciful, and the pure in heart." +(Dr Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_. For proof that Christ did the same, see Matt. + +55. "The Essenes commended the peacemakers." (Dr. Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_. "Blessed are the peacemakers." + +56. "The Essenes declared their disciples must cast out evil spirits, +and perform miraculous cures, as signs and proof of their faith." (Dr. +Ginsburg.) + +_Scripture parallel_. Christ's disciples were to cast out devils, heal +the sick, and raise the dead, &c., as signs and proof of their faith. +(Mark xvi. 17.) + +57. "They sacrificed the lusts of the flesh to gain spiritual +happiness." + +_Scripture parallel_. "You abstain from fleshly lusts." (1 Peter ii. +11.) + +58. "The breaking of bread was a veritable ordinance among the Essenes." + +_Scripture parallel_. "He (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks, and brake +it." (Luke xxii. 19.) + +59. "The Essenes enjoined the loving of enemies." (Philo.) + +_Scripture parallel_. So did Christ say, "Love your enemies," &c. + +60. The Essenes enjoined, "Doing unto others as you would have them do +unto you." + +_Scripture parallel_' The Confucian golden rule, as taught by Christ. + +This parallel might be extended much further, but we will proceed to +present the reader with a general description of Essenism, as furnished +us by Philo, Josephus, and some Christian writers. Philo, who was born +in Alexandria 20 B. C., and lived to 60 A. D., and who was himself +an Essenian Jew, in his account of them, says, "They do not lay up +treasures of gold or silver,... but provide themselves only with the +necessities of life." Paul afterwards, having caught the same spirit, +advises the same course of life. "Having food and raiment, therewith be +content." Contentment of mind they regarded as the greatest of riches. +They make no instruments of war. They repudiate every inducement to +covetousness. None are held as slaves, but all are free, and serve +each other. They are instructed in piety and holiness, righteousness, +economy, &c. They are guided by a threefold rule: love of God, love of +virtue, and love of mankind. Of their love of God they give innumerable +demonstrations, which is found in their constant and unalterable +holiness throughout the whole of their lives, their avoidance of oaths +and falsehoods, and their firm belief that God is the source of all +good, but of nothing evil. "Of their love of virtue they give proof in +their contempt for money, fame, and pleasures, their continence, easy +satisfying of their wants, their simplicity, modesty," &c. Their love +of man is proved by their benevolence and equality, and their having all +things in common, which is beyond all deception. They reverence and take +care of the aged, as children do their parents. (Condensed from Philo's +treatise, "Every Virtuous Man is Free.") + +Josephus, 37 A. D., and who was also at one time a member of the +Essenian Brotherhood, furnishes another fragmentary account of the +Essenes in his "Jewish Wars," of which the following is the substance:-- + +"They love each other more than others (that is, are "partial to the +household of faith"); they despise riches, and have all things in +common, so that there is neither abjectness of poverty nor distinction +of riches among them; they change neither garments nor shoes till they +are worn out or become unfit for use; they neither buy nor sell among +themselves; their piety is extraordinary; they never speak about wordly +matters before sunrise; they are girt about with a linen apron, and have +a baptism of cold water; they eat but one kind of a food at a time, and +commence with a prayer, and the priest must say grace before any one +eats (that is, breaks and blesses as Christ did); they also return +thanks after eating, and then put off their white garments; strangers +were made welcome at their tables without money and without price; they +give food to the hungry and the needy and show mercy to all; they curb +their passions, restrain their anger, and claim to be ministers of +peace; an oath they regard as worse than perjury; they excommunicate +offenders ('Go tell it to the churches, says Christ); they condemn +finery in dress; though condemning in most solemn terms oaths, members +were admitted to the secret brotherhood by an oath ('See thou tell +no man,' said Christ); they endured pain with heroic fortitude, and +regarded an honorable death as better than long life; they read and +study their Holy Scriptures from youth, often prophesy, and it was very +seldom they failed in their predictions." + +Dr. Ginburg's testimony, abridged, is as follows:-- + +"The Essenes had a high appreciations of the inspired law of God. The +highest aim of their lives was to become fit temples of the Holy +Ghost (see i Cor. vi. 19); also to perform miraculous cures, and to be +spiritually qualified for forerunners of the Messiah. They taught the +duty of mortifying the flesh and the lusts thereof, and to become +meek and lowly in spirit; they answered by yea, yea, and nay, nay (see +Matt.), scrupulously avoiding oaths; they avoided impure contact with +the heathen and the world's people, and lived retired from the world, +being in numbers about four thousand; they strove to be like the angels +of heaven; there were no rich and poor, or masters and servants, amongst +them; they lived peaceably with all men; a mysterious silence was +observed while eating; a solemn oath was required on becoming a member +of the secret order, which required three things: + +1. Love of God; + +2. Merciful justice to all men, and to avoid the wicked, and help the +righteous; + +3. Purity of character, which implied love of truth, hatred of +falsehood, and strict observance of 'the mysteries of godliness' to +outsiders--that is, 'heathen and publicans;' they endured suffering for +righteousness' sake, with rejoicings, and even _sought_ it; regarding +the body as a prison for the soul, they desired the time to come to +escape from it; they recognized eight different stages of spiritual +growth and perfection: 1. Bodily purity; 2. Celibacy; 3. Spiritual +purity; 4. The suppression of anger and malice, and the cultivation of a +meek, lowly spirit; 5. The attainment of true holiness; 6. Becoming fit +temples for the Holy Ghost; 7. The ability to perform miraculous cures, +and raise the dead; 8. Becoming forerunners of the Messiah; and finally +they took a solemn vow to exercise, piety toward God and justice toward +all men, to hate the wicked, assist the good to keep clear of theft and +unrighteous gains, to conceal none of their 'mysteries of godliness' +from each other, or disclose them to others. 'Great is the mystery of +godliness' ('See thou tell no man'); they were to walk humbly with God, +shun bad society, forgive their enemies, sacrifice their passions, and +crucify the lusts of the flesh; they disregarded bodily suffering, +and even gloried in martyrdom, preaching and singing to God amid their +sufferings; but in their domestic habits they were extremely filthy; +they wore their clothes until they became ragged, filthy, and offensive, +never changing them till they were wore out; their food consisted +of bread and water, and wild roots and fruits of the palm tree; they +enjoined their duty, not only of forgiving their enemies, but of seeking +to benefit them, and of even blessing the destroyer who took life and +property. Such was the religion, such the moral system, such the devout +piety, and such the practical lives of the Essenian Jews, a religious +sect which flourished in Alexandria and Judea several hundred +years before the birth of Christ, and went out of history the hour +Christianity came in. + +Now, as the foregoing exposition shows that Essenism and Christianity +are most strikingly alike in all their essential features, that the +former system contains nearly every important doctrine and precept of +the Christian religion, the question occurs here as one of momentous +import, how is this striking resemblance, this identity of character +of the two religions, to be accounted for? Does it not go far toward +proving that Christianity is an outgrowth, a legitimate offspring, +of Judean Essenism? Indeed, are we not absolutely driven to such a +conclusion? Let us briefly recite some of the important facts brought +to light by the investigation of the character and history of these two +religions, and see if those facts do not bring them together and weld +them as one system--as one and the same religion. + +1. Both are alike, and Essenism is much the older system. + +2. Both religions are an outgrowth of Judaism. + +3. Both were known and taught in Judea and in Alexandria. + +4. Josephus living in Judea, and Philo in Alexandria, neither of them +speaks of Christianity, or refers to any such religion by that name, and +yet both describe a religion inculcating the same doctrines and moral +precepts, which they call Essenism. + +Is not this very nearly conclusive proof that Essenism was only +another name for Christianity--that it had not yet changed its name to +Christianity? That famous standard author, Mr. Gibbon, was evidently of +this opinion when he said, "Whether, indeed, the first of that sect (the +Essenes) took the name of Christian when the appellation of Christian +had as yet been nowhere announced, it is by no means necessary to +discuss." (Book II. chap. xvi.) Here is evidence that Gibbon believed +that the Essenes, after having borne that name for centuries, changed +the appellation to Christian. And we find still stronger language than +this in the writings of the same author expressive of this opinion. In +a note to chapter xv. he says, "It is probable that the Therapeuts +(Essenes) changed their name to Christians, as some writers affirm, and +adopted some new articles of faith." Here the position is assumed that +the Christian religion is an outgrowth of Essenism, that is, merely +a continuation of that religion under a change of name, with a slight +modification of its creed. + +5. And then we have the declaration of Christian writers, expressed in +the most positive terms, that Essenism and Christianity were the +same religion, the former name being used at an earlier period. Hear +Eusebius, a standard ecclesiastical writer of the fourth century. He +asserts positively, "Those ancient Therapeuts (Essenes) were Christians, +and their ancient writings were our gospels." (Eccl. Hist. p. 63.) Hark! +Hark! my good Christian reader, here is one of your own sworn witnessess +testifying that the Essenes originated and established the Christian +religion; i. e., the religion now known by that name. Will you then give +it up? If not, we have other testimony of a similar character, rendering +the proposition still stronger. Robert Taylor declares, "The learned +Basnage has shown that the Essenes were really Christians centuries +before Christ, and that they were actually in possession of those very +writings which are now our Gospels and Epistles." (p. 81.) And then we +have the declaration of the author of "Christ the Spirit" (p. no), that +"the Christians were the later Essenes--that is, the Essenes of the time +of Eusebius under a changed name, that name having been made at Antioch, +where the disciples were first called Christian." The same writer +suggests that "their sacred books are our sacred books." We will now +hear Eusebius again: "It is highly probable that their (the Essenes') +ancient commentaries, which Philo says the Essenes have, are the very +Gospels and writings of the Apostles." + +Based upon this conclusion, he calls the Essenes "the first heralds of +the gospel." "I find it, therefore, most probable," says Mr. Weilting, +"that Jesus and John belonged literally to the society of the Essenes." +And then the New American Encyclopedia furnishes us with the testimony +of a very able English author of the last century (De Quincy), who +concurs with all the writers cited above. "Mr. De Quincy (it says) +identified the Essenes as being the early Christians; i. e., the early +Christians were known as Essenes. Such testimony, coming from such a +source, is entitled to much weight." (Vol. i. p. 157.) And to the same +effect is the testimony of Bishop Marsh, who admits that our Gospels +were drawn from those of the Essenes. (See his edition of Michaelis' +translation of the New Testament.) + +Thus far historical _writers_. We will now lay before the reader some +historical _facts_, fraught with unanswerable logical potency, and +pointing to the same conclusion. It is a fact, and one of deep logical +import, and tending to corroborate the conclusion of some of the writers +cited above, who tell us the Christian Gospels were first composed by +the Essenes; that the language in which those Gospels were originally +written was Greek, the language in which the Alexandrian Essenes always +wrote, while the evangelical writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, +being illiterate fishermen, could have had no knowledge of any but +the Jewish, their own mother-tongue,--at least it is susceptible of +satisfactory proof that they never wrote in any other language. Hence +the conclusion is irresistible that they were not the original authors +of the Gospels. + +The works of several authors are now lying at our elbow, who express +the conviction unequivocally that the Gospels were copied, if not +translated, from older writings. Mr. Le Clerc, one of the ablest writers +of his time, maintained this position, and did it ably. Another writer, +a Mr. Hatfield, was awarded a prize in 1793, by the theological faculty +of Gottingen, for an essay, in which the position was ably argued that +Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not the authors of the books which +bear their names, but were mere copyists. Dr. Lessing and others concur +with him in this conclusion. A circumstance confirming this verdict is +found in the fact that the word _church_ occurs in our Gospels, which +were written before such an institution was established by those who +were then called Christians. + +"Go tell it to the church" (Matt, xviii. 17) was uttered before any +steps had been taken by the then representatives of the Christian faith +to organize such a body--an evidence this, that he alluded to the church +of the Essenes, as there were no other churches in existence at the +time; which leaves the inference patent and irresistible that he and +his disciples were Essenes, perhaps then under the changed name of +Christians. Centuries prior to that era the Essenes had not only +churches, but their whole ecclesiastical nomenclature of bishops, +deacons, elders, priests, disciples, scriptures, gospels, epistles, +psalms, hymns, mystery, allegory, &c. If Christianity was re-established +in the days of Christ and his apostles, they had nothing to originate, +either with respect to doctrines, precepts, church polity, or +ecclesiastical terms--all being established for them centuries before +that era. With these facts in view, it seems impossible that the two +religious orders--Essenes and Christians--could have been in existence +at the same time as separate institutions. The former must have ended +when the latter commenced. + +Josephus says, "the Essenes were scattered far and wide, and were in +every city," being quite numerous in Judea in his time. But he makes no +reference to any sect or religious order by the title of Christian--a +strong inferential evidence, upon sound priori reasoning, that +Christianity as yet was sailing under another name. Josephus must have +known and named the fact, had there been a Christian sect or disciple +there bearing that name. Impossible otherwise. We are then (upon the +logical force of these and many other facts) driven to the conclusion +that Christianity began when Essenism ended, and the change was only in +name. I challenge the whole Christian world to find the historical proof +that Christianity commenced one hour before the termination of Essenism, +or of Essenism overlapping the Christian religion so far as to survive +one day beyond or after its birth. I will confront them with the logic +of dates, and defy them to find any proof except their own unauthorized, +unauthenticated, and fictitious chronology, that a Christian was ever +known in any country by that name prior to the time of Tacitus, 104 +A.D., who is the first of the three hundred writers of that era that +makes any mention of Christianity, Christ, or a Christian. This was long +after Josephus' time, which accounts most satisfactory for his omitting +any allusion to Christ or Christianity. That religion had not yet +dropped the name of Essenism and adopted that of Christianity. + +Now, hard indeed must distorted reason fight the ramparts of logic and +history to resist the conviction, in view of the foregoing facts, that +Christianity is simply an outcropping of Essenism, either direct or +through Budhism. And even if it were possible to prove that the two +religions never became welded together, yet it is not possible to +disprove the striking identity of their doctrines, and the spirit of +their precepts, and the practical lives of their disciples. And this +identity, coupled with the fact that Essenism is the older system, is +of itself most superlatively fatal to all pretension or claim to +originality for the doctrines of the Christian faith. + +It is a matter of no importance whether Christianity was originally +known by another name, so long as it can be shown that its doctrines +had all been preached and proclaimed to the world centuries prior to +the date assigned for its origin. And this is proved by the long list of +paralellisms presented in the incipient pages of this chapter. And this +proof explodes the pretensions of Christianity to an "original divine +revelation," and brings it down to a level with pagan orientalism. And +the fact that it sprang up in a country where its doctrine had long been +taught by pagans and orientalists, must produce the conviction, deep and +indelible, in all unbiased minds, that orientalism was the mother and +heathenism the father of the Christian religion, even in the absence of +any other proof. In fact, no other proof can be needed. + +And what are the arguments, it may be well here to inquire, with +which orthodox Christians attempt to meet, combat, and vanquish the +overwhelming mass of historical facts and historical testimonies we +have presented in preceding pages, tending to prove and demonstrate the +oriental origin of their religion and its identity with Essenism? Their +whole argument is comprised in the naked postulate of the Rev. Mr. +Paideaux, D. D., that "the Essenes did not believe in the resurrection +of the physical body (but believed in a spiritual resurrection), +and omit from their creed the Trinity and Incarnation doctrine, and +therefore they could not have been the originators of the Christian +religion;" but this argument is as easily demolished as a cobweb, as the +following facts will prove:-- + +1. We have but a fragment of the Essenian religion,--but one end of +their creed,--mere scraps furnished us by Philo, Josephus, and Pliny. We +have none of their sacred books apart from the Christian New Testament. + +2. They had secret books, as we have shown, in which doctrines were +taught which they regarded as _too sacred to be thrown before the +public_, as "pearls before swine." And no doctrines were regarded as +more sacred or secret in that age than the doctrines of the Trinity and +Incarnation. Christ's injunction, "See thou tell no man," was probably +their motto, which prevented the publicity of a portion of their +doctrines. And as their sacred books, containing their doctrines, +perished with the extinction of the sect (except those now found in +the Christian New Testament), a full knowledge of their doctrines, +therefore, never reached the public mind. All religious sects had +secret doctrines, designated as "Mysteries of Godliness," including +the principal Jewish sects and the earliest Christian churches. It is, +therefore, highly probable that if we were in possession of all their +sacred books, we would be in possession of the proof that they believed +and taught in their monasteries the doctrines above named. But we are +not left to mere inference that the Essenes' creed did include the +doctrines of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. We find skeletons +of these doctrines scattered along the line of their history. Philo +himself, an Essene teacher, most distinctly teaches the doctrine of "the +Incarnation of the Divine Word or Logos." And "Son of God," "Mediator," +"Intercessor," and "Messiah," were familiar words with him. The idea +often reappears in his writings, that the "Word could become flesh;" +that the Son of God could appear as a personality, and return to the +bosom of the Father. Moreover, one writer informs us that the Essenes +celebrated the birth and death of a Divine Savior as a "Mystery of +Godliness." And they claimed in their earlier history to be "forerunners +of the Messiah"--a claim which would soon bring a Messiah before the +world, that is, lead them to deify and worship some great man as "_The +Messia_." + +As for the doctrine of the Trinity, we have the authority of Eusebius +that they taught this doctrine too. So that it is not true that they +did not recognize these two prime articles of the Christian faith, the +Incarnation and Trinity doctrines. Some modern Christians assert that +the Essenes not only omitted to teach these doctrines, but that, on the +other hand, they taught other doctrines not taught in the Christian New +Testament. This is not improbable. For the Christian religion has been +characterized by frequent changes in its doctrines in every stage of its +practical history, as was also the Jewish religion which preceded it, +and from which it emanated. Judaism is a perpetual series of changes. It +changed even the name of its God from Elohim to Jehovah. Its leader and +founder Abram was changed to Abraham, and his grandson and successor +from Jacob to Israel. And we have the works of many Christian writers +in our possession who prove by their own bible that the Jews made many +changes in their religious polity and religious doctrines. This is more +especially observable when they came in contact with nations teaching +a different religion. Their whole history shows they were prone to +imitate, and borrow, and always did borrow on such occasions, and +engraft the new doctrines thus obtained into their own creed, and thus +effected important changes in their religion. We have the authority of +Dr. Campbell for saying the Jews never believed and taught the doctrine +of future punishment (and other doctrines that might be named) till +after they were brought in contact with Persians in Babylon who had long +taught these doctrines. (See Dissertation VI. ) And Dr. Enfield declares +their theological opinions underwent thorough changes during this period +of seventy years' captivity. Even their national title was changed at +one period from Israelites to Jews. With all these changes of names, +titles, and doctrines in view, it is not incredible that one of the +Jewish sects should change its name from Essenes to Christians, and with +this change modify some of the doctrines. And more especially as their +title, according to Dr. Ginsburg, had been changed before from Chassidim +to Essenes. And Philo at one period calls them Therapeuts, while +Eusebius says the Therapeuts were Christians. Put this and that +together, and the question is forever settled. + +Now, with all this overwhelming mass of historical evidence before us, +"piled mountain high," tending to prove the truth of the proposition +that Christianity is the offspring and outgrowth of ancient Judean +Essenism, we feel certain that no sophistry, from interested charlatans +or stereotyped creed worshipers, can stave off or obliterate the +conviction in unprejudiced minds, that the proposition is most amply +proven. + +We will now collate Christianity with another ancient religious system, +which we are certain it will not be disputed, after the comparison +is critically examined, contains the sum total of the doctrines and +teachings of Christianity in all their details. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX STRIKING ANALOGIES BETWEEN +CHRIST AND CHRISHNA + + +I. THEIR MIRACULOUS HISTORY AND LEADING PRINCIPLES. + +1. The advent of each Savior was miraculously foretold by prophets. + +2. The fallen and degenerate condition of the human race is taught in +the religion of each. + +3. A plan of restoration or salvation is provided for in each case. + +4. A divine Savior is considered necessary in both cases. + +5. The necessity of atoning for sin is taught in the religion of each. + +6. A God, or Son of God, is selected as the victim for the atoning +sacrifice in each case. + +7. This God is sent down from heaven in each case in the form of a man. + +8. The God or Savior in each case is the second person of the Trinity. + +9. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was held to be really God incarnate. + +10. The mission of each Savior is the same. + +11. There is a resemblance in name-Chrishna and Christ. + +12. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was incarnated and born of a woman. + +13. The mother in each case was a holy virgin. + +14. The same peculiarities of a miraculous conception and birth are +related of each. + +15. Each had an adopted earthly father. + +16. The father of Chrishna, as well as that of Christ, was a carpenter. + +17. God is claimed as the real father in both cases. + +18. A Spirit or Ghost was the author of the conception of each. + +19. There was rejoicing on earth when each Savior was born. + +20. There was also joy in heaven at the birth and advent of each. + +21. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was of royal descent. + +22. Their mothers were both reputedly pious women. + +23. The names of two mothers are somewhat similar--Mary and Maia. + +24. Each had a special female friend--Elizabeth in the one case, and the +wife of Nanda in the other. + +25. Neither Savior was born in a house, but both in obscure situations. + +26. Both were born on the 25th of December. + +27. Both, at birth, were visited by wise men and shepards. + +28. The visitors conducted by a star in each case. + +29. The rite of purification observed by the mothers of each. + +30. An angel warning of impending danger in each case. + +31. The incumbent ruler was hostile in each case. + +32. A bloody decree in each case for the destruction of the infant +Savior. + +33. A flight of the parents takes place in both cases. + +34. The parents of one sojourned at Muturea, the other at Mathura. + +35. Each Savior had a forerunner--John the Baptist in one case, Bali +Rama in the other. + +36. Both were preternaturally smart in childhood. + +37. Each disputed with and vanquished learned opponents. + +38. Both became objects of search by their parents. + +39. And both occasioned anxiety, if not sorrow, to their parents. + +40. The mother of each had other children--that is children begotten by +man as well as God. + +41. Both Saviors retired to, and spent considerable time in the +wilderness. + +42. The religious rite of "fasting" was practiced by each Savior. + +43. Each delivered a noteworthy sermon, or series of moral lessons. + +44. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was called and considered God. + +45. Each was both God and the Son of God (so regarded). + +46. "Savior" was one of the divine titles of each. + +47. Each was designated "the Savior of man," "the Savior of the world," +&c. + +48. Both expressed a desire to "save all." + +49. Each sustained the character of a Messiah. + +50. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was a Redeemer. + +51. Each Savior was called "Shepard." + +52. Both were believed to be the Creator of the world. + +53. Each is sometimes spoken of, also, as only an agent in the creation. + +54. Both were the "Light and Life" of men. + +55. Each "brought life and immortality to light." + +56. Both are represented as "the seed of the woman bruising the +serpent's head." + +57. Was Christ a "Dispenser of grace," so was the Hindoo Savior. + +58. One was "the lion of the tribe of Judah," the other "the lion of the +tribe of Saki." + +59. Christ was "the Beginning of the End," Chrishna "the Beginning, the +Middle, and the End." + +60. Both proclaimed, "I am the Resurrection." + +61. Each was "the way to the Father." + +62. Both represented emblematically "the Sun of Righteousness." + +63. Each is figuratively represented as being "all in all." + +64. Both speak of having existed prior to human birth. + +65. A dual existence--an existence in both heaven and earth at once--is +claimed by or for both. + +66. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was "without sin." + +67. Both assumed the divine prerogative of forgiving sins. + +68. The mission of each was to deliver from sin. + +69. Both came to destroy the devil and his works. + +70. The doctrine of the "atonement" is practically realized in each +case. + +71. Each made a voluntary offering for the sins of the world. + +72. Both were human as well as divine. + +73. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was worshiped as God absolute. + +74. Each was regarded as "the Lord from Heaven." + +75. Chrishna, as well as Christ, had applied to him all the attributes +of God. + +76. Was Christ omniscient, so was Chrishna. + +77. Was one omnipotent, so was the other (so believed). + +78. And both are represented as being omnipresent. + +79. Each was believed to be divinely perfect. + +80. Was one "Lord of lords," so was the other. + +81. Each embodied the "power and wisdom of God." + +82. All power was committed unto each (so claimed). + +83. Chrishna performed many miracles as well as Christ. + +84. One of the first miracles of each was the cure of a leper. + +85. Each healed "all manner of diseases." + +86. The work of casting out devils constitutes a part of the mission of +each. + +87. Each practically proved his power to raise the dead. + +88. A miracle appertaining to a tree is related of both. + +89. Both could read the thoughts of the people. + +90. The power to detect and eject evil spirits was claimed by both. + +91. Both had the keys or control of death. + +92. Each led an extraordinary life. + +93. Each had a character for supernatural greatness. + +94. Both possesed or claimed a oneness with the Father. + +95. A "oneness with his Lord and Master" is claimed, also, for the +disciples of each. + +96. A strong reciprocal affection between Master and disciple in each +case. + +97. Each offers to shoulder the burdens of his disciples. + +98. A portion of the life of each was spent in preaching. + +99. Both made converts by their miracles and preaching. + +100. A numerous retinue of believers springs up in each case. + +101. Both had commissioned apostles to proclaim their religion. + +102. Each was an innovator upon the antecedent religion. + +103. A beautiful reform in religion was inaugurated by each Savior. + +104. Each opposed the existing popular priesthood. + +105. Both abolished the law of lineal descent in the ancient priesthood. + +106. Each was an object of conspiracy by his enemies. + +107. Humility and external poverty distinguished the life of each. + +108. Each denounced riches and rich men, and loathed and detested +wealth. + +109. Both had a character for meekness. + +110. Chastity or unmarried life was a distinguishing characteristic of +each. + +111. Mercy was a noteworthy characteristic of each. + +112. Both were censured for associating with sinners. + +113. Each was a special friend to the poor. + +114. A poor widow woman receives marked attention by each. + +115. Each encounters a gentile woman at a well. + +116. Both submitted unresistingly to injuries and insults. + +117. General practical philanthropy and impartiality marks the life of +each Savior. + +118. Each took more pleasure in repentant sinners than in virtuous +saints. + +119. Both practically disclosed God's attempt to reconcile the world to +himself. + +120. The closing incidents in the earth-life of each were strikingly +similar. + +121. A memorable last supper marked the closing career of both. + +122. Both were put to death by "wicked hands." + +123. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was crucified. + +124. Darkness attended the crucifixion of each. + +125. Both were crucified between two thieves. + +126. Each is reported to have forgiven his enemies. + +127. The age of each at death corresponds (being between thirty and +thirty-six years). + +128. Each, after giving up the ghost, descends into hell. + +129. The resurrection from the dead is a marked period in the history of +each. + +130. Each ascends to heaven after his resurrection. + +131. Many people are reported to have witnessed the ascension in each +case. + +132. Each is reported as having both descended and ascended. + +133. The head of each, while living on earth, was anointed with oil. + + +II. DOCTRINES. + +134. There is a similarity in the doctrines of their respective +religions. + +135. The same doctrines are propagated by the disciples of each. + +136. The doctrine of future rewards and punishments is a part of each +system. + +137. Analogous views of heaven are found in each system. + +138. A third heaven is spoken of in each system. + +139. All sin must be punished according to the bible teachings of each. + +140. Each has a hell provided for the wicked. + +141. Both teach a hell of darkness and a hell of light. + +142. An immortal worm finds employment in the hell of each system ("the +worm that dieth not.") + +143. The arch-demon of the under world uses brimstone for fuel in one +case, and oil in the other. + +144. The motive for future punishment is in both cases the same. + +145. Each has a purgatory or sort of half-way house. + +146. Special divine judgments on nations are taught by each. + +147. A great and final day of judgment is taught by each. + +148. A general resurrection also is taught in each religion. + +149. That there is a "Judge of the dead" is a doctrine of each. + +150. Two witnesses are to report on human actions in the final assizes. + +151. We are furnished in each case with the dimension of heaven or "the +holy city." + +152. Man is enjoined to strive against temptation to sin by each. + +153. And repentance for sin is a doctrine taught by the bible of each. + +154. Each has a prepared city for a paradise. + +155. The bibles of both teach that we have no continuing city here. + +156. Souls are carried to heaven by angels, as in the instance of +Lazarus, in each case. + +157. A belief in angels or spirits is a tenant of each religion. + +158. The doctrine of fallen or evil angels is found in both system. + +159. Obsession by wicked or evil spirits is taught by each. + +160. Both teach that sickness or disease is caused by evil spirits. + +161. Each has a king-devil or arch-demon with a posse of subalterns or +evil spirits. + +162. Both bibles record the story of a "hellaballoo" or war in heaven. + +163. Both teach that an evil man can neither do nor speak a good thing. + +164. Both teach that sin is a disadvantage in the present life as well +as in the future. + +165. The doctrine of free will or free agency is taught by each. + +166. Predestination seems to be inferentially taught by each. + +167. In each case man is a prize in a lottery, with God and the devil +for ticket-holders. + +168. Both make the devil (or devils) a scape-goat for sin. + +169. Both teach the devil or evil spirits as the primary cause of all +evil. + +170. The destiny of both body and soul is pointed out by each. + +171. The true believers are known as "saints" under both systems. + +172. Saints with "white robes" are spoken of by each. + +173. Both specify "the Word of Logos" as God. + +174. Wisdom, too, is personified as God by the holy Scriptures of each. + +175. Both teach that God may be known by his works. + +176. The doctrine of one supreme God is taught in each bible. + +177. Light and truth are important words in the religious nomenclature +of each. + +178. Both profess a high veneration for truth. + +179. "Where the treasure is, there is the heart also," is taught by +each. + +180. "Seek and ye shall find" is a condition prescribed by each. + +181. Religious toleration is a virtue professed by both. + +182. All nations are professedly based on an equality by each. + +183. Both, however, enjoin partiality to "the household of faith." + +184. The doors of salvation are thrown open to high and low, rich and +poor, by each. + +185. Each professes to have "the only true and saving faith." + +186. There is a mystery in the mission of each Savior. + +187. "Rama" is a well known word in the bible of each. + +188. "The understanding of the wise" is a phrase in each. + +189. Both speak figuratively of "the blind leading the blind." + +190. "A new heaven and a new earth" is spoken of by each. + +191. The doctrine of a Trinity in the Godhead is taught by each. + +192. Baptism by water is a tenant and ordinance of each. + +193. "Living water" is a metaphor found in each. + +194. Baptism by fire seems also to be recognized by each. + +195. Fasting is emphatically enjoined by each. + +196. Sacrifices are of secondary importance in each system, and are +partially or wholly abandoned by each. + +197. The higher law is paramount to ceremonies in each religion. + +198. The bible of each religion literally condemns idolatry. + +199. Both also make concessions to idolatry. + +200. Polygamy is not literally encouraged nor openly condemned by +either. + +201. The power to forgive sins is conferred on the disciples of each. + +202. The doctrine of blasphemy is recognized by each. + +203. Pantheism, or the reciprocal in-being of God in nature and nature +in God, is taught by both. + + +III. BIBLES AND HOLY SCRIPTURES. + +204. Each has a bible which is the idolized fountain of all religious +teaching. + +205. Both have an Old Testament and a New Testament, virtually. + +206. The New Testament inaugurates a new and reform system of religion +in each case. + +207. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" is the faith of the +disciples of each. + +208. Each system claimed to have its inspired men to write its +scriptures. + +209. Both hold a spiritual qualification necessary to understand their +bibles. + +210. It is a sin to become "wise beyond what is written" in their +respective bibles. + +211. Both recommend knowing the Scriptures in youth. + +212. Alteration of their respective bibles is divinely interdicted. + +213. The bible is an infallible rule of faith and practice in both +cases. + +214. "All scripture is profitable for doctrine" is the faith of each. + +215. Both explain away the errors of their bibles. + + +IV. SPIRITUALITY OF THE TWO RELIGIONS. + +216. The religion of Chrishna is pre-eminently spiritual no less than +Christ's. + +217. Both teach that "to be carnally minded is death." + +218. External rites are practically dispensed with in each religion. + +219. The spiritual law written on the heart is recognized by each. + +220. "God is within you," Budhists teach as well as Christians. + +221. Both recognize an invisible spiritual Savior. + +222. "God dwells in the heart," say Hindoo as well as Christians. + +223 An inward recognition of the divine law is amply seen in both. + +224. Both confess allegiance to an inward monitor. + +225. The doctrine of inspiration and internal illumination is found in +both. + +226. The indwelling Comforter is believed in by both. + +227. Both also teach that religion is an inward work. + +228. Both speak of being born again--i. e., the second birth. + +229. A spiritual body is also believed in by both. + +230. "Spiritual things are incomprehensible to the natural man" say +each. + +231. God's spiritually sustaining power Budhists also acknowledge. + +232. Both give a spiritual interpretation to their bibles. + +233. Each has a new and more interior law superseding the old law. + +234. The spiritual cross--self-denial or asceticism--is a prominent +feature of each religion. + +235. The duty of renouncing and abandoning the external world is +solemnly enjoined by each. + +236. Budhists renounce the world more practically than Christians. + +237. Withdrawal or seclusion from society is recommended by each. + +238. Bodily suffering as a benefit to the soul is encouraged by each. + +239. Voluntary suffering for righteousness' sake is a virtue with each. + +240. The cross is a religious emblem in each system. + +241. Both glory in "the religion of the cross" as better than a religion +without suffering. + +242. Hence both teach "the greater the cross the greater the crown." + +243. Earthly pleasures are regarded as evil by both. + +244. Contempt for the body as an enemy to the soul is visible in both. + +245. Retirement for religious contemplation is a duty with each. + +246. The forsaking of relations is also enjoined by each. + +247. Spiritual relationship is superior to external relationship with +both. + +248. "To die is great gain" we are taught by each. + +249. A subjugation of the passions is a religious duty with each. + +250. The road to heaven is a narrow one with each. + +251. The same state of religious perfection is aspired to by the +disciples of each. + + +V. THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH OR BELIEF. + +252. Faith is an all-important element and doctrine with each. + +253. Heresy, or want of faith, is a sin of great magnitude with both. + +254. Faith in the Savior is a condition to salvation by both. + +255. Confessing the Savior is also required in both cases. + +256. "Believe or be damned" is the condition or profess to believe the +terrible sine qua non to salvation by each. + +257. Skeptics or unbelievers are with both the chief of sinners. + +258. "Faith can remove mountains," either with a Bud-hist or a +Christian. + +259. Both contrast faith with works. + +260. Faith without works is dead--so teach both Bud-hists and +Christians. + + +VI. THE DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE OF PRAYER. + +261. Prayer is an important rite in each religion. + +262. Private or secret prayer is recommended by both. + +263. Each has also a formula of prayer. + +264. "Pray without ceasing" is a Budhist as well as a Christian +injunction. + +265. Praying to their respective Saviors in sickness and in health is a +custom with both. + +266. The custom of praying for the dead is recognized in each system. + + +VII. TREATMENT OF ENEMIES. + +267. It is a Hindoo as well as a Christian injunction to treat enemies +kindly. + +268. Passive submission to injuries and abuse is enjoined by both. + +269. The holy Scriptures of both require us to pray for enemies, and +feed them. + +270. And even love to enemies is a part of the spirit of each religion. + + +VIII. THE MILLENNIUM. + +271. Hindoos, like Christians, prophesy of a great millennial era. + +272. There is a remarkable similarity in their notions with respect to +it. + +273. Both anticipate a second advent or new Savior on the occasion. + +274. The destruction of the world also is to take place in both cases. + +275. And an entire renovation and a new order of things are to be +established in each case. + + +IX. MIRACLES. + +276. There is almost a constant display of miraculous power in each +system. + +277. The disciples of both are professedly endowed with this power. + +278. Miraculous cures of the lame, the blind, and the sick are reported +in both cases. + +279. Miracles of handling poisonous reptiles with impunity are reported +by both. + +280. Swallowing deadly poison is enjoined by Christians and practiced by +Hindoos. + +281. Many cases of the miraculous ejection of devils are reported by +both. + +282. The miracle of thought-reading is displayed by both. + +283. The saints in both cases are reported as raising the dead. + + +X. PRECEPTS. + +284. "The kingdom of heaven" was to be sought first of all things in +each case. + +285. Love to God is a paramount obligation under each system. + +286. And the worship of God is an essential requisition in each +religious polity. + +287. "Cease to do evil and learn to do well" is virtually enjoined by +each. + +288. An inward knowledge of God is taught as essential by both systems. + +289. A reliance on works is discouraged by both. + +290. Purity of heart is inculcated by Hindoos as well as Christians. + +291. Speak and think evil of no man is a gospel injunction of each. + +292. A love of all beings is more prominently the spirit of Budhism than +that of Christianity. + +293. The practice of strict godly virtue is enjoined by both. + +294. Moderation and temperance are recommended by both. + +295. Patience is a virtue in each religion. + +296. The duty of controlling our thoughts is taught by each. + +297. Charity has a high appreciation by each. + +298. Both make the poor objects of attention. + +299. The practice of hospitality is recommended by each. + +300. Humility is a duty and a virtue under both systems. + +301. Mirthfulness or light conversation is forbidden by each. + +302. Purity of life is a duty with Hindoos as well as Christians. + +303. Chasteness in conversation is inculcated by both. + +304. "Respect to persons" is a sin in the moral polity of both. + +305. Alms-giving is religiously enjoined by the holy Scriptures of both. + +306. Both teach that "it is better to give than to receive." + +307. Loyalty to rulers is a moral requisition of each system. + +308. Honor to father and mother is esteemed a great virtue by both. + +309. The correct training of children is with each a scriptural duty. + +310. "Look not upon a woman" is more than hinted by each. + +311. The reading of the holy Scriptures is enjoined by both. + +312. Lying or falsehood is with each a sin of great magnitude. + +313. Swearing is discountenanced by both religions. + +314. Theft or stealing is specially condemned by both. + +315. Both deprecate and condemn the practice of war. + +316. Both discountenance fighting. + +317. Neither of them professes to believe in slavery. + +318. Drunkenness and the use of wine are more specifically condemned by +the Hindoo religion. + +319. Adultery and fornication are heinous sins in the eyes of both. + +320. Both condemn covetousness as a great sin. + +321. Budhists more practically condemn anger than Christians do. + + +XI. MISCELLANEOUS ANALOGIES. + +322. Both have their apocryphal as well as their canonical Scriptures. + +323. Stories are found in the bible of each which would be rejected if +found elsewhere. + +324. Both make their bible a finality in matters of faith. + +325. Both have had their councils and commentaries to reveal theis +bibles over again. + +326. Numerous schisms, divisions, sects, and creeds have sprung up in +each. + +327. Various religious reforms have sprung up under each. + +328. Conversion from one religious sect to another is common to both. + +329. Both religions have been troubled with numerous skeptics or +infidels. + +330. Both have often resorted to new interpretations for their bibles to +suit the times. + +331. The unconverted are stigmatized by each. + +332. "Knock and it shall be opened" is the invitation of each. + +333. Public confession of sins in class-meetings is known to each. + +334. Death-bed repentance often witnessed under both religious systems. + +335. A belief in haunted houses incident to the religious countries of +both. + +336. A superior respect for woman claimed by each. + +337. An idolatrous veneration for religious ancestors by each. + +338. Each sustain a numerous horde of expensive priests. + +339. A divine call or illumination to preach claimed by each. + +340. Religious martyrdom the glory of each. + +341. Both have encountered "perils by sea and land" for their religion. + +342. He who loseth his life (for his religion) shall find it, say both. + +343. Both in ancient times suffered much persecution. + +344. The disciples of both have suffered death without flinching from +the faith. + +345. Each sent numerous missionaries abroad to preach and convert. + +346. And, finally, each cherished the hope of converting the world to +their religion. + + +The author has in his possession historical quotations to prove the +truth of each one of the above parallels. He has all the historical +facts on which they were constructed found in and drawn from the +sacred books of the Hindoo religion and the works of Christian writers +descriptive of their religion. But they would swell the present volume +to unwieldy dimensions, and far beyond its proper and prescribed limits, +to present them here; they are therefore reserved for the second volume, +and may be published in pamphlet form also. + +In proof of the correctness of the foregoing comparative analogies, +we will now summon the testimony of various authors setting forth the +historical character of the Hindoo God Chrishna, and the essential +nature of his religion, so far as it approximates in its doctrines +and moral teachings to the Christian religion. We will first hear from +Colonel Wiseman, for ten years a Christian missionary in India. + +"There is one Indian (Hindoo) legend of considerable importance" says +this writer... "This is the story of Chrishna, the Indian Apollo. In +native legends he is represented as an Avatar, or incarnation of the +Divinity. At his birth, choirs of Devitas (angels) sung hymns of praise, +while shepherds surrounded his cradle. It was necessary to conceal his +birth from the tyrant ruler, Cansa, to whom it had been foretold that +the infant Savior should destroy him. The child escaped with his parents +beyond the coast of Lamouna. For a time he lived in obscurity, and then +commenced a public life distinguished for prowess and beneficence. +He washed the feet of the Brahmins, and preached the most excellent +doctrines; but at length the power of his enemies prevailed.... Before +dying, he foretold the miseries which would take place in the Cali-yuga, +or wicked age (Dark Age) of the world." + +"Chrishna (says another writer) taught his followers that they alone +were the true believers of the saving faith; throwing down the barriers +of caste, and elevating the dogmas of their faith above the sacerdotal +class, he admitted every one who felt an inward desire to the ministry +to the preaching of their religion. A system thus associating itself +with the habits, feelings, and personal advantages of its disciples +could not fail to make rapid progress." (Upham's History. Doctrines of +Budhism.) + +"Budhism inculcates benevolence, tenderness, forgiveness of injuries, +and love of enemies; and forbids sensuality, love of pleasure, and +attachment to worldly objects." (Judson). + +"At the moment of his (Chrishna's) conception a God left heaven to enter +the womb of his mother (a virgin). Immediately after his birth he was +recognized as a divine personage, and it was predicted that he would +surpass all previous divine incarnations in holiness. Every one adored +him, saluting him as 'the God of Gods.' When twenty years of age he went +into a desert, and lived there in the austerest retirement, poverty, +simplicity, and virtue, spending his whole time in religious +contemplation. He was tempted in various ways, but his self-denial +resisted all the seductive approaches of sin. He declared, 'Religion +is my essence.' He experienced a lively opposition from the priests +attached to the ancient creeds (as Christ subsequently did). But he +triumphed over all his enemies after holding a discussion with them (as +Christ did with the doctors in the Temple). He revised the existing code +of morals and the social law. He reduced the main principles of morality +to four, viz: _mercy, aversion to cruelty, unbounded sympathy for all +animated beings and the strictest adherence to the moral law._ He also +gave a decalogue of commandments, viz.: 1. Not to kill. 2. Not to steal. +3. To be chaste. 4. Not to testify falsely. 5. Not to lie. 6. Not to +swear. 7. To avoid all impure words. 8. To be disinterested. 9. Not to +take revenge. 10. And not to be superstitious. This code of morals +was firmly established in the hearts of his followers." (Abridged from +Hardy's Manual of Budhism.) + +"It was prophesied in olden times that a person would arise and redeem +Hindostan from 'the yoke of bondage.' At midnight, when the birth of +Chrishna was taking place, the clouds emitted low music, and poured +down a rain of flowers. The celestial child was greeted with hymns by +attending spirits. + +"The room was illuminated by his light, and the countenances of his +father and mother emitted rays of glory, and they bowed in worship.' +'The people believed he was a God.' They eagerly caught the words which +fell from his lips, which taught his divine mission, and they called him +the 'Holy One,' and finally the 'Living God.' He performed miraculous +cures. At his birth a marvelous light illumined the earth. His followers +baptised, and performed miraculous cures. And he, when a child, +attracted attention by his miracles. While attending the herds with his +foster-father a great serpent poisoned the river, which caused the death +of cows and shepherd-boys when they drank of it, whom Chrishna restored +to life by a look of divine power. His life was devoted to mercy and +charity. He left paradise from pure compassion, to die for suffering +sinners. He sought to lead men to better paths and lives of virtue +and rectitude. He suffered to atone for the sins of the world; and the +sinner, through faith in him, can be saved. Christ and Chrishna both +taught the equality of man. Prayers addressed to Chrishna were after +this fashion: 'O thou Supreme One! thy essence is inscrutable. Thou art +all in all. The understanding of man cannot reach thy Almighty Power. +I, who know nothing, fly to thee for protection. Show mercy unto me, and +enable me to see and know thee.' Chrishna replies, 'Have faith in me. +No one who worships me can perish. Address thyself to me as the +only asylum. I will deliver thee from sin. I am animated with equal +benevolence toward all beings. I know neither hatred nor partiality. +Those who adore me devoutly are in me and I in them'"--"Christ within +you the hope of glory." (Abridged from Mr. Tuttle.) + +"If we consider that Budhism proclaimed the equality of all men and +women in the sight of God, that it denounced the impious pretensions +of the most mischievous priesthood the world ever saw, and that it +inculcated a pure system of practical morality, we must admit that +the innovation was as advantageous as it was extensively spread and +adopted." (Hue's Journey through China, chap. v.) + +"To Chrishna the Hindoos were indebted for a code of pure and practical +morality, which inculcated charity and chastity, performance of good +works, abstinence from evil, and general kindness to all living things." +(Cunningham.) + +"Budhism never confounds right or wrong, and never excuses any sin" +(Catharine Beecher.) + +"He (Chrishna) honored humanity by his virtues." (St Hilaire.) + +"It is probable that every incident in his (Chrisna's) life is founded +in fact, which, if separated from surrounding fable, would afford +a history that would scarce have any equal in the importance of the +lessons it would teach." (Hardy's Manual of Budhism.) + +"He (Chrishna) undertakes and counsels a constant struggle against the +body. In his eyes the body is the enemy of man's soul (as Paul thought +when he spoke of 'our vile bodies.') He aims to subdue the body and the +burning passions which consume it.... He requires humility, disregard of +wordly wealth, patience and resignation in adversity, love to enemies, +religious tolerance, horror at falsehood, avoidance of frivolous +conversation, consideration and esteem for women, sanctity of the +marriage relation, non-resistance to evil, confession of sins, and +conversion." (St. Hilaire.) + +"Budhism has been called the Christianity of the East." (Abel Remuset.) + +"The doctrine and practical piety of their bible (the Baghavat Gita) +bear a strong resemblance to those of the Holy Scriptures. It has +scarcely a precept or principle that is not found in the (Christian) +bible. And were the people to live up to its principles of peace +and love, oppression and injury would be known no more within their +borders... It has no mythology of obscene and ferocious deities, no +sanguinary or impure observances, no self-inflicting tortures, no +tyrannizing priesthood, no confounding of right and wrong by making +certain iniquities laudable in worship. In its moral code, its +description of the purity and peace of the first ages, and the +shortening of man's life by sin, it seems to follow genuine traditions. +In almost every respect it seems to be the best religion ever invented +by man." (Rev. H. Malcom's Travels in Asia.) + +"If the morality of Budhism be examined, its exhortations to guard the +will, to curb the thoughts, to exercise kindness towards others, +to abstain from wrong to all, it propounds a very high standard of +practice." (Upham's Doctrines and History of Budhism.) + +"It seeks the highest triumphants of humanity in the exercise of +devotion, self-contemplation, and self-denial." (Theogony of the Hindoos, +by Bjornsjerma.) + +"And the doctrines of Budhism are not alone in the beauty of their +sentiments and the excellence of much of their morality. 'It is not +permitted to you to return evil for evil' is one of the sentiments of +Socrates." (Rev. H. S. Hardy's Eastern Monachism.) + +"Budhism insists on the necessity of taking the intellectual faculties +for guides in philosophical researches." (Tiberghien.) + +"It sought to wean mankind from the pleasures and vanities of life +by pointing to the transitoriness of all human enjoyment." (Smith's +Mongolia.) + +"The principal characteristics of Budhism are the doctrines of mildness +and the universal brotherhood of man." (Ibid.) + +"Life is a state of probation and misery, according to Budhism." +(Upham, chap. vi.) + +"The Brahmins found fault with him (Chrishna) for receiving as +disciples the outcasts of Hindoo society (as the Jews did Christ for +fellowshipping publicans and sinners). But he (Chrishna) replied, 'My +law is a law of mercy to all.'" (Hue's Voyages through China.) + +"Budhism attracted and furnished consolation for the poor and +unfortunate." (Ibid.) + +"Budhism is a rationalistic and reform system as compared with +Brahminism. Landresse expresses his high admiration of the heroism with +which the Budhist missionaries before Christ crossed streams and seas +which had arrested armies, and traversed deserts and mountains upon +which no caravans dared to venture, and braved dangers and surmounted +obstacles which had defied the omnipotence of the emperors." (A note on +Landresse's _Foe Koui Ki._) + +"If we addressed a Mogul or Thibetan this question, Who is Chrishna? +the reply was, instantly, 'The Savior of men.'" (Hue's Journey through +China.) + +"Chrishna, the incarnate Deity of the Sanscrit romance continues to this +hour the darling God of the women of India.... Chrishna was the person +of Vishnu (God) himself in the human form." (Asiat. Researches, 260). + +"Respectable natives told me that some of the missionaries had told them +that they were even now almost Christians" (owing to the two religions +being so nearly alike). (Ibid). + +"All that converting the Hindoos to Christianity does for them is to +change the object of their worship from Chrishna to Christ." (Robert +Cheyne.) + +"Brahminism or Budhism in some of its forms is said to constitute the +religion of considerably more than half the human race. It teaches the +existence of one supreme eternal, and uncreated God, called Brahma, who +created the world through Chrishna, the second member of the Trinity." +Paul says, God created the world through Jesus Christ, the second member +of the Christian Trinity. (Eph. iii. 9.) How striking the resemblance! +"The doctrine of the incarnation, the descent of the Deity upon earth, +and his manifestation in a human form for the redemption of mankind, +seems to have existed in the shape of prophecy or fact in all ages of +the world. Hindooism teaches nine of these incarnations. Furthermore, it +teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, the fall and redemption of man, +and a state of future rewards and punishments in a future life.... This +religion in chief of Asia is traceable to remote ages. The doctrine of +the Trinity is represented in the Elephantine cavern, and taught in +the Mahabarat, which goes back for its origin nearly two thousand years +before Christ." (New York Sunday Despatch, 1855.) + +"In the year 3600, Chrishna descended to the earth for the purpose of +defeating the evil machinations of Chivan (the devil), as Christ 'came +to destroy the devil and his works.' (See John iii. 8.) After a fierce +combat with the devil, or serpent, he defeated him by bruising his +head--he receiving, during the contest, a wound in the heel. ('It [the +serpent] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.'--Gen. +iii. 15.) He died at last between two thieves.... He lead a pure and +holy life, and was a meek, tender, and benevolent being, and enjoined +charity, hospitality, and mercy, and forbade lying, prevarication, +hypocrisy, and overreaching in dealing, and pilfering, and theft, and +violence toward any being." (Lecture before the Free Press Association +in 1827.) + +"The birthplace of the Hindoo hero (Chrishna) is called Mathura, which +is easily changed, and by correct translation becomes Maturea, the place +where Christ is said to have stopped, between Nazareth and Egypt... To +show his humility he washed the feet of the Brahmins (as Christ is said +to have washed the feet of the Jews--see John xiii. 14). One day a +woman came to him and anointed his hair with oil, in return for which +he healed her maladies. One of his first miracles was that of healing +a leper, like Christ (See Mark i. 4). Finally, he was crucified, then +descended to Hades. (It is said of Christ, 'his soul was not left in +hell.'--Acts ii. 31.) He (Chrishna) rose from the dead and ascended to +Voicontha (heaven.)" (Higgin's Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 239). + +Now, we ask, is it any wonder, in view of the foregoing historical +exposition, that Eusebius should exclaim, "The religion of Jesus +Christ is neither new nor strange?" (Eccl. Hist. ch. iv.) Truly did +St. Augustine say, "This, in our day, is the Christian religion, not +as having been unknown in former times, but as having recently received +that name." + +Here, then, we pause to ask our good Christian reader, _Where is your +original Christianity now?_ or what constitutes the revealed religion +of Jesus Christ? or where is the evidence that any new religion was +revealed by him or preached by him, seeing we have all his religion, as +shown by the foregoing historical citations, included in an old heathen +system more than a thousand years old when Jesus Christ was born? +We find it all here in this old oriental system of Budhism--_every +essential part, particle and principle_ of it. We find Christianity all +here--its Alpha and Omega, its beginning and end. We find it here in +all its details,--its root, essence, and entity,--all its "revealed +doctrines," religious ideas, beautiful truths, senseless dogmas and +oriental phantoms. Not, a doctrine, principle, or precept of the +Christian system, but that is here proclaimed to the world ages before +"the angels announced the birth of a divine babe in Bethlehem." Will +you, then, persist in claiming that "truth, life, and immortality came +by Jesus Christ," and that "Christ came to preach a new gospel to the +world, and to set forth a new religion never before heard amongst men" +(to use the language of Archbishop Tillotson), when the historical facts +cited in this work demonstrate a hundred times over that such a position +is palpably erroneous? Will you still persist, with all those undeniable +facts staring you in the face (proving and reproving, with overwhelming +demonstration, that the statement is untrue), in declaring that "the +religion of Jesus Christ is the only true and soul-saving religion, and +all other systems are mere straw, stubble, tradition, and superstition" +(as asserted by a popular Christian writer), when no mathematician ever +demonstrated a scientific problem more clearly than we have proved in +these pages that all the principle systems of the past, by no means +excepting Christianity, are essentially alike in every important +particular--all of their cardinal doctrines being the same, differing +only in unimportant details? + +Seeing, then, that all systems of religion have been found to be +essentially alike in spirit and in practice, the all-important question +arises here, What is the true cause assignable for this striking +resemblance? How is it to be accounted for? Perhaps some of our good +Christian readers, unacquainted with history, may cherish the thought +that all the oriental systems brought to notice are but imitations of +Christianity; that they were reconstructed out of materials obtained +from that source; that Christianity is the parent, and they the +off-spring. But, alas for their long-cherished idol, those who +entertain such forlorn hopes are "sowing to the wind, and are doomed to +disappointment." With the exception of Mahomedanism alone, Christianity +is the youngest system in the whole catalogue. The historical facts to +prove this statement are voluminous. But as it needs no proof to those +who have read religious history, but little space will be occupied +with citations for this purpose. With respect to the antiquity of the +principal oriental system, we need only to quote the testimony of Sir +William Jones, a devout Christian writer, who spent years in India, +and whose testimony will be accepted by any person acquainted with his +history. He makes the emphatic declaration, "That the name of Chrishna, +and the general outline of his history, were long anterior to the birth +of our Savior, and probably to the time of Homer (900 b. C.) we know +very certainly." (Asiat. Res. vol. i. p. 254.) No guess-work about it. +"_We know very certainly_." + +And being a scholar, a traveler, and a sojourner among the Hindoos, and +well versed in their history, no person ever had a better opportunity +to know than he. We will hear this renowned author further. "In the +Sanscrit dictionary, compiled more than two thousand years ago, we have +the whole history of the incarnate deity (Chrishna), born of a virgin, +and miraculously escaping in his infancy from the reigning tyrant of +his country (Cansa). He passed a life of the most extraordinary and +incomprehensible devotion. His birth was concealed from the tyrant +Cansa, to whom it had been predicted that one born at that time, and in +that family, would destroy him;" i. e., destroy his power. (Asiat. +Res. vol. i. p. 273.) This writer also states that the first Christian +missionaries who entered India were astonished to find there a religion +so near like their own, and could only account for it by supposing +that the devil, foreseeing the advent of Christ, originated a system of +religion in advance of his, and "just like it." Stated in other words, +he got out the second edition of the gospel plan of salvation before the +first edition was published or had an existence. Rather a smart trick +this, thus to outwit God Almighty. + +With respect to the vast antiquity of the Hindoo oriental religion, +which indicates it as being not only the source from which the materials +of the Christian religion were drawn, but as being the parent of all the +leading systems, with their three thousand subordinate branches which +existed at a much earlier period than Christianity, we need only point +to the deep chiseled sculptures and imperishable monuments enstamped +on their time-honored temples, tombs, altars, vases, columns, pagodas, +ruined towers, &c., which, with contemporary inscriptions, warrant us +in antedating the religion of the Himmalehas far beyond the authentic +records of any other religion that has floated down to us on the stream +of time. The numerous images of their crucified Gods, Chrishna and Saki, +emblazoned on their old rock temples in various parts of the country, +some of which are constructed of clay porphyry, now the very hardest +species of rock, with their attendant inscriptions in a language so very +ancient as to be lost to the memory of man, vie with the Sanscrit in +age, the oldest deciphered language in the world. + +All these and a hundred corroboratory historical facts fix on India as +being the birthplace of the mother of all religions now existing, or +that ever had an existence, while the great workshop in which they were +subsequently remodeled was in Alexandria in Egypt, whose theological +schools furnished the model for nearly every system now found noticed +on the page of history--Christianity of course included. So much for +the unrivaled antiquity of the Hindoo religion. Now, the more important +query arises, What relationship does ancient heathen or Hindoo Budhism +bear to Christianity? What is the evidence that the latter is an +outgrowth of the former? As an answer to this question, the reader will +please note the following facts of history:-- + +1. Alexandria, the home of the world's great conqueror, was at one +period of time the great focal center for religious speculation and +propagandism, the great emporium for religious dogmas throughout the +East, and a place of resort for the disciples of nearly every system of +religious faith then existing. + +2. In this capital city, comprising about five hundred thousand +inhabitants, were established a voluminous library, and vast theological +schools, in which men of every religious order, and of every phase of +faith, met and exchanged religious ideas, and borrowed new doctrines, +with which they remodeled their former systems of faith, amounting in +some cases to an entire change of their long-established creeds. + +3. In these theological schools the Jewish sect, which afterward became +the founders of Christianity, were extensively represented; for, let it +be noted, its first disciples and founders had all been Jews, probably +of the Essene sect. "For a long time the Christians were but a Jewish +sect," says M. Reuss' "History of Christian Theology." Alexander had, +previous to this time (that is, about 330 b. c.), subjected the whole +of Western Asia to his dominions, including, of course, "The Holy +Land"--Judea. + +4. By this act a large portion of the Jewish nation were transferred +from their own country to Alexandria. And this number was afterward +vastly increased by Alexander's successor, Ptolemy Sotor, who carried off +and settled in that credal city one hundred thousand more Jews. + +5. As the result, in part, of these repeated calamities, "the Lord's +chosen people" were literally broken up. They lost their law, lost their +leader and lawgiver, lost their language, lost the control of their +country, the "_Promised Land"_ which (they verily believed) the Lord +had deeded to them _in fee simple_, and ratified in the high court +of heaven, and had declared they should hold and possess forever. And +finally they partially lost their nationality, being literally dissolved +and broken up; and were finally almost lost to history--the ten tribes +disappearing entirely. + +6. The Jews had ever manifested a proneness for copying after the +religious customs of their heathen neighbors, and engrafting their +doctrines into their own creeds, as their bible history furnishes ample +proof. + +7. In Alexandria a very superior opportunity was afforded for doing +this, excelling in this respect any previous period of their history. + +8. The shattered condition of their own religion, with all its +conventional creeds, customs, and ceremonies, now suspended and +literally prostrated, as above shown, vastly augmented the temptation +ever rife with them to make another change in their religion, and +subject their creed to another installment of new doctrines, by which it +became Christianity. + +9. The liberal character and tolerant spirit of the political and +religious institutions of the kingdom of Alexandria, with its vast +and attractive library of two hundred thousand volumes, established +principally by Ptolemy Phila-delphus, with other attractive features +already pointed out, furnished great facilities, as well as increased +temptations to religious propagandists to absorb new theories, and make +new creeds out of the vast medley of religious doctrines and speculative +dogmas preached and propagated in that royal city by the disciples and +representatives of nearly every religious system then in existence, +brought together by the attractions above specified. + +10. Hence every consideration would lead us to conclude, taken in +connection with the facts above stated, and the well-known borrowing +proclivity and imitative propensity of the Jews, that they would not, +and could not, withstand the overweening and overpowering temptation to +make another radical change in their religion by a new draught on the +boundless reservoir of speculative ideas, religious tenets, and specious +theories then glowing in the popular schools of Alexandria. + +11. All the facts above enumerated would impel us to the conclusion that +the Jews would--and every page of history touching the matter proves +they did--make important changes in their religion by this contact with +the oriental systems, as they had repeatedly done before. Some of this +proof we will here present, to show how they originated Christianity. + +12. "The schools of Alexandria" says Mr. Enfield, a Christian writer, +"by pretending to teach sublime doctrines concerning God and divine +things, enticed men of different countries and religions, and among the +rest the Jews, to study its mysteries, and incorporate them with their +own.... The Jewish faith mixed with the Pythagorean, and afterward with +the Egyptian oriental theology" (that is, they became Essenes in the +Grecian school of Pythagoras, who taught the doctrines of that religious +order, then Bud-hists in the Egyptian schools of Alexandria). And +finally, with Christ as their leader, who taught the doctrines of +both schools (they being essentially alike), they assumed the name of +Christian in honor of him, and thus is Christianity from Essene Budhism. + +13. Beers in his "History of the Jews," sustains the above statement by +the declaration that the Essenian Jews "fled to Egypt at the time of the +Babylonian captivity, and there became acquainted with the Pythagorean +philosophy, and ingrafted it upon the religion of Moses," which would +make them Essenian Budhists--for Cunningham assures us that "the +doctrine of Pythagoras were intensely Budhistic." (Philsa. Topus, chap. +x.) + +14. We will condense a few more historical testimonies relative to the +entire change of the Jewish faith, while in Alexandria, as well as on +other occasions, to show how easy and natural it was for that portion of +the Jews who afterward became the founders of Christianity to slide into +and adopt Essenian Budhism, whose doctrines they took to constitute the +Christian religion. + +15. Mr. Gibbon (chap. xxi.) declares that the theological opinions +of the Jews underwent great changes by their contact with the various +foreigners they found in Alexandria. Mr. Tytler likewise, in his +"Universal History," assures us that the Jewish religion "became +_totally changed by the intermixture of heathen doctrines_." Dr. +Campbell also testifies that "their views came pretty much to coincide +with those of the pagans." (See his Dissertation, vi.) And the author of +"_The Expositor_ for 1854" complains that the pagan "theology stole upon +them from every quarter, and mingled in all the views of the then known +tribes, so that by the year 150 b. c., it had wrought visible changes in +their notions and habits of thought." (P. 423.) Here we have the proof +that the whole Jewish religion underwent a change in Alexandria. + +16. Now, most, certainly a nation or sect professing a religion so +easily changed, and possessing a character so fickle, or so +irrepressible as to yield on every slight occasion, and embrace every +opportunity to imbibe new religious ideas and doctrines, would easily, +if not naturally, slide into the adoption of the religious system then +promulgated in Alexandria under the name of Budhism, and afterward +remodeled or transformed, and called Christianity. + +17. The Jews of the Essenian order, as we have in part shown in a +previous chapter, set forth in their creed all the leading doctrines now +comprised in the Christian religion hundreds of years before the advent +of Christ, not excepting the doctrine of the divine incarnation and its +adjuncts, as these concomitants of the present popular faith, we will +now prove, were not unknown to the Jewish theology, but constituted +a part of the religion of some of the principal Jewish sects. That +standard Christian author, Mr. Milman, in his "History of Christianity," +tells us that "the doctrine of the incarnation ('God manifest in the +flesh') was the doctrine from the Ganges, and even the shores of the +Yellow Sea to the Ilissus. It was the fundamental principle of +the Indian Budhist religion and philosophy. It was the basis of +Zoroasterism. It was pure Platonism. It was Platonic Judaism in the +Alexandrian school." Here it is positively declared, by a popular +Christian writer, whose work is a part of nearly every popular library +in Christiandom as a standard authority, that the appearance of God +amongst men in the human form, by human birth, was a doctrine of +the Jewish religion in some of its branches, especially the Essenian +branch--further proof that Christianity originated nothing, and gave +utterance to no new doctrine or precepts, and performed no new miracles. +Where, then, is the claim for its originality? On what ground is it +predicated? Please answer us, good Christian brother. + +18. It is a question of no importance, if it could be settled, whether +Christianity is a direct outgrowth from one of the new-fangled sects +of Judaism, or whether it derived a portion of its doctrines from this +source and the balance from ascetic Budhism. Yet we regard it as an +incontrovertible proposition that it all grew out of Budhism originally, +either directly or indirectly. + +19. Christ may have received his doctrines secondhanded, all or a +portion from the Essenian Jews; for that sect held all the leading +doctrines of Budhism (as we have shown in a previous chapter), which now +goes under the name of the religion of Jesus Christ. + +20. Or we may indulge the not unreasonable hypothesis that the founders +of Christianity, who republished the doctrines of Budhism and adopted +them as their own, received them all direct from the disciples of that +religious order; for "they were everywhere," as one writer (Mr. Taylor) +declares, speaking of their extensive travels to propagate their +doctrines through the world. And it was about that period, as Mr. +Goodrich informs us, they sent out nine hundred missionaries, who made +six millions of converts,--a small fraction of their present +number (three hundred and eighty millions, as given by some of our +geographies),--one third more than the entire census of Christendom, and +six times the number of believers in the Christian religion, if we omit +Greeks and Catholics. "It is." as a writer remarks, "the oldest and +most widely spread religion in the world." And, whatever hypothesis may +be adduced to account for the fact, Christianity is now all Budhism. + +21. It is impossible, with the historic darkness which at present +environs and beclouds our pathway, to determine at what period or in +what manner Christ became an Essene,--whether he was born of Essenian +parents, or became a convert to the faith,--because the whole period of +his life, with the exception of about three years, is a total blank in +history. There is but one incident related of his movements by his +bible biographers prior to his twenty-seventh year, leaving more than +a quarter of a century of his probably active life unreported--a period +that may have witnessed several important changes in his religion. We +have not even his ancestry reported in his scriptural biography, in +either parental line, unless we assume Joseph to have been his father. +The parental lineage of his mother is entirely omitted Had we his +line of ancestry, or could we trace him back to his national or family +origin, we doubt not but we should there find a clue to the origin of +his religion. We should find his ancestors were Essenian Jews. + +22. Nor can we fix the date when Essenian Budhism among the Jews +received the name of Christianity for a similar reason. There is a +link--a chain of events of four hundred years left out of the bible +between Judaism and Christianity--thus lacking four hundred years of +connecting the two religions together, or of showing how the latter +grew out of the former. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, +antedates the first events of Christian history four centuries, or +twelve generations, thus leaving a wide and dark gap between them. And +besides, we cannot find the name of Christ or Christianity mentioned in +any of the contemporary histories of that era till one hundred and four +years after the time fixed for Christ's birth by Christendom; Tacitus +being the first writer who names either, and this was at that date. + +23. These facts disclose the whole secret with respect to the mystery +and darkness thrown around the origin of the Christian religion--the +how, the when, and the where of its origin. That chapter of Christian +history is left out of the record. The bible account itself is +but fragmentary, as it leaves nine tenths of Christ's history a +blank,--twenty-seven years out of the thirty,--and omits all mention of +his ancestors beyond his grandmother, and leaves even the time of his +birth a blank. "The researches of the learned," says Mr. Mosheim (a +standard Christian author), "though long and ably conducted, have been +unable to fix the time of Christ's birth with certainty." (Eccl. Hist. +p. 23.) Wonderful admission, truly, as it is an evidence that nothing +else can be fixed "with certainty," with respect to the history of +"the man Christ Jesus," only that his doctrines and precepts were all +borrowed perhaps during the twenty-seven dark and mysteries years of his +life, if not an Essene by birth. + +24. There is no escaping the conclusion that Christianity is a _borrowed +system_--an outgrowth and remodeling of Budhism, with a change of name +only. A thousand facts of history prove and proclaim it, and the verdict +of posterity will be unanimous in affirming it. + +25. From the almost endless chain of analogies, exhibiting a striking +resemblance even in their minute details of Christianity and Budhism, +we are compelled to conclude that one furnished the materials for the +other; that one is the offspring--the legitimate child--of the other. +And as it is a settled historical fact that Budhism is much the older +system, there is hence no difficulty in determining which is the parent +and which is the child. + +26. In the Hindoo story of the creation of the human race, we find Adimo +and Heva given as the names of the first man and woman answering to +our Adam and Eve. And our Shem, Ham, and Japheth are traceable to their +Sherma, Hama, and Jiapheta; the difference in the mode of spelling is +probably owing to the difference in the languages. And under the new era +we have Christ Jesus answering to their Chrishna Zeus, as some writers +give the name of the eighth Avatar. And for Maia, a godmother, we have +Mary. And other similar analogies might be pointed out besides the long +string of strikingly similar events previously presented in the history +of the two Saviors (Christ and Chrishna), amounting to hundreds. + +27. Such an almost countless list of similar and nearly identical +incidents bids defiance, and absolutely sets at naught all attempts +to account for it as a mere fortuitous accident. There is no +other explanation possible but that Christianity is a re-vamp or +re-establishment of Budhism. + +28. Here let it be noted that Christianity was not the only religion +which was rehabilitated in the Alexandrian schools. On the contrary, all +the popular oriental systems then in active being had long previously +passed through the same representative theological schools and +creed-making institutions of that royal and commercial city. All were +remodeled in its theological workshops--a fact which accounts most +conclusively for the same train of religions ideas and historical +incidents being found in the later sacred books of each. And besides, +Sir William Jones says, "The disciples of these various systems of +religion had intercourse with each other long before the time of Christ, +which would necessarily bring about a uniformity in the doctrines and +general character of each system." + +29. The disciples of all the religious systems cited their initiatory +miracles as a proof of being on familiar terms with God Almighty. They +all (as is claimed) healed the sick; all restored the deaf, the dumb, +and the blind; all cast out devils, and all raised the dead. (See +chapter on Parallels.) In fact, all their miracles and legendary marvels +run in parallel lines, because all were recast in the same creed-mold +in Alexandria. A coincidence is thus beautifully explained, which would +otherwise be hard to account for. + +30. Mr. Gibbon says, "It was in the school of Alexandria that the +Christian theology appears to have assumed a regular and scientific +form" (Decline, &c., chap. xv.); that is, the regular and scientific +form of Budhism or Essenism. + +31. Pregnant with meaning is the text, "It was in the city of Antioch +the disciples were first called Christians." (Acts xi. 36.) Here is +conclusive proof that the disciples of the Christian faith were not +always known by the same name, and were not at first called Christians. +Then what were they called during the earlier years of their history? + +Here is a great and important query, and one involving a momentous +problem. Couple the two facts together, that the disciples were first +known as Christians at Antioch, and that the Essenian order of believers +expired and went out of history about that period, and the question is +at once and forever satisfactorily settled. It was not an infrequent act +on making important changes in a religion, and adopting some new items +of faith to change the title of the system, and give it a new name. + +After Alexander Campbell had made some modifications in his previous +religious faith, and started a new church, his followers were popularly +called Campbellites. Elias Hicks ingrafted some reform ideas into the +Quaker faith, and instituted a new society of that order. Hence, and +henceforth, his disciples were known as Hicksites. In like manner Jesus +Christ having made some innovations in his inherited Jewish faith (which +was of the Essene stamp) by ingrafting more of the Budhist doctrine into +it, his followers were henceforth called Christians. How complete the +analogy! Here let it be borne in mind, as powerfully confirmatory of +this conclusion, that the first Christians were (as history affirms) +"merely reformatory Jews." The twelve chosen were all Jews, probably of +the Essene order. According to the Rev. Mr. Prideaux (Jewish History), +the Jews of this order were first called Israelites, in common with the +other tribes; then Chassidim; and thirdly Essenes. And finally, after +the Essenian Jesus Christ, with some new radical ideas, proclaimed, "Ye +have heard it hath been said by them of old time" thus and so, "but I +say unto you" differently. The title was again changed, and they adopted +or received the name of Christians--the Essenes going out of history +at the very date Christians first appear in history. Put this and that +together, and the chain is welded. Thus we can as easily trace the +origin of Christianity as we can trace the origin of a root running +beneath the soil in the direction of a certain tree. History, then, +proclaims that to the honest, pious, deeply-devout, self-denying, yet +ignorant, slothful, and filthy Budhistic Essenes must be awarded the +honor or dishonor of giving birth to that system of religion now known +as Christianity. + + +CHRISHNA AS A GOD--ADDITIONAL FACTS. + +The following additional facts relative to the history, character, life, +and teachings of Zeus Chrishna, or Jeseus Christna (as styled by one +writer) are drawn mostly from the Vedas, Baghavat, Gita (Bible in +India). + +1. _His Virgin Mother, her Character_.--The holy book declares, that +"through her the designs of God were accomplished. She was pure and +chaste; no animal food ever touched her lips; honey and milk were her +sustenance; her time was spent in solitude, lost in the contemplation of +God who showered upon her innumerable blessings; she looked upon death +as the birth to a new and better life; when she traveled, a column of +fire in the heavens went before her to guide her. One evening, as +she was praying, she heard celestial music, and fell into a profound +ecstasy, and being overshadowed by the spirit of God, she conceived the +God Chrishna." (Baghavat, Gita). + +2. _Chrishna, his Life and Mission_.--This sin-atoning God was about +sixteen when he commenced active life. Like Christ, he chose twelve +disciples to aid him in propagating his doctrines. "He spent his time +working miracles, resuscitating the dead, healing lepers, restoring +the deaf and the blind, defending the weak against the strong, and the +oppressed against the oppressor, and in proclaiming his divine mission +to redeem man from original sin, and banish evil, and restore the reign +of good." (Baghavat, Gita.) It is declared that he came to teach peace, +charity, love to man, self-respect, the practice of good for its own +sake, and faith in the inexhaustible goodness of the Creator; also to +preach the immortality of the soul, and the doctrine of future rewards +and punishments, and to vanquish the prince of darkness, Rakshas. It is +further declared that "Brahma sent his son (Chrishna) upon the earth to +die for the salvation of man." "His lofty precepts and the purity of his +life spread his fame throughout all India, and finally won for him +more than three millions of followers." "He inculcated the sublimest +doctrines, and the purest morals, and the grand principles of charity +and self-denial." "He forbade revenge, and commanded to return good +for evil, and consoled the feeble and the unhappy." "He lived poor, and +loved the poor." "He lived chaste, and enjoined chastity." "Problems the +most lofty, and morals the most pure and sublime, and the future destiny +of man, were themes which engaged his most profound attention." + +"Chrishna, we will venture to say (says the Bible in India) was the +greatest of philosophers, not only of India, but of the entire world." +"He was the grandest moral figure of ancient times." (Bible in India.) +"Chrishna was a moralist and a philosopher." "We should admire his moral +lessons, so sublime and so pure." "He was recognized as the 'Divine +Word.'" "He received the title of Jeseus, which means pure Essense." +Chrishna signifies the "Promised of God," the "Messiah." "When he +preached, he often spoke from a mount. He also spoke in parables. +'Parable plays a great part in the familiar instructions of this Hindoo +Redeemer.'" He relates a very interesting parable of a fisherman who +was much persecuted by his neighbors, but who in the time of a severe +famine, when the people were suffering and dying for the want of food, +being so noble as to return good for evil, he carried food to these same +persecuting enemies, and thus saved them from starvation. "Therefore," +said he "do good to all, both the evil and the good, even your enemies." + +His addresses to the people were simple, but to his disciples they were +elevated and philosophical. Such was the wisdom of his sermons and his +parables, that the people crowded around him, eager to behold and hear +him, "saying, This is indeed the Redeemer promised to our Fathers." +Great multitudes followed him, exclaiming, "This is he who resuscitates +the dead, and heals the lame, and the deaf, and the blind." On one +occasion, as he entered Madura (as Christ once entered Jerusalem), "the +people came out in flocks to meet him, and strewed branches in his way." +On another occasion two women approached him, anointed him with oil, +and worshiped him. When the people murmured at this waste, he replied, +"Better is a little given with an humble heart than much given with +ostentation." Such was his sense of decorum, that he admonished some +girls he once observed playing in a state of nudity on the bank of a +river after bathing. They repented, asked his forgiveness, and reformed. +"The followers of Chrishna practiced all the virtues, and observed a +complete abnegation of self (self-denial), and lived poor, hoping for a +reward in the future life. They occupied all their time in the service +of their Divine Master. Pure and majestic was their worship." Chrishna +had a favorite disciple _Adjaurna_, who sustained to him the relation of +John to Christ, while Angada acted the part of Judas by following him to +the Ganges and betraying him. + +3. _His last Hours_.--"When Chrishna knew his hour had come, forbidding +his disciples to follow him, he repaired to the bank of the River +Ganges; and having performed three ablutions, he knelt down, and looking +up to heaven, he prayed to Brahma." While nailed to the cross, the +tree on which he was suspended became suddenly covered with great red +flowers, which diffused their fragrance all around. And it is said +he often appeared to his disciples after his death "in all his divine +majesty." + +4. _The second Advent of Chrishna_.--"There is not a Hindoo or a Brahmin +who does not look upon the second coming of Chrishna as an established +article of faith." Their holy bibles (the Vedas and Gita) prophesy of +him thus: "He shall come crowned with lights; he shall come, and the +heavens and the earth shall be joyous; the stars shall pale before +his splendor; the earth will be too small to contain him, for he is +infinite, he is Almighty, he is Wisdom, he is Beauty, he is all and in +all; and all men, all animated beings, beasts, birds, trees, and plants, +will chant his praises; he will regenerate all bodies, and purify all +souls." "He will be as sweet as honey and ambrosia, and as pure as +the lamb without spot, or as the lips of a virgin. All hearts will be +transported with joy. From the rising to the setting of the sun it will +be a day of joy and exultation, when this God shall manifest his power +and his glory, and reconcile the world unto himself." Such are a few of +the prophetic utterances of his devout and prayerful disciples. + +"We find," says a writer, "in all the theogonies of different countries +the hope of the advent of a God (either his first or his second +coming)--a hope which sprang from a sense of their own imperfections and +sufferings, which naturally induced them to look for a divine Redeemer." + +5. _Precepts of Chrishna_.--Numerous are the prescriptive admonitions +found in the holy books which set forth the religion of "this heathen +demigod" (so called by Christian professors). They appertain to all +the duties of life, but are too numerous to be quoted here. Those +appertaining to woman enjoin the most sacred regard for her rights, +such as "woman should be protected with tenderness, and shielded with +fostering solicitude." "There is no crime more odious than to persecute +woman, or take advantage of her weakness." "Degrade woman and you +degrade man." For other similar precepts, see Chapter XXXII. The +injunctions to read their holy bible (the Vedas, &c.) are quite +numerous, such as, "Let him study the holy Scriptures unceasingly" +"Pray night and morning, and read the holy Scriptures in the attitude +of devotion." And many of them read it through upon their knees. (See +Chap. XLIV.) We have not space for a further exposition of this subject +here; but it will be found more fully set forth in the pamphlet, "Christ +and Chrishna Compared," which will, perhaps, become an Appendix to this +work. + +It may be objected that there are precepts and stories to be found in +the religion of this Hindoo God (Chrishna), which reflect but +little credit or honor upon that religion. This is true. And similar +reflections would materially damage the religion of Christianity also. +The story of Christ beating and maltreating the money-changers in the +temple, his cursing an innocent, unoffending, and unconscious fig tree, +and his indulgence in profane swearing at his enemies,--"O ye fools +and blind, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation +of hell!"--does not reflect any credit upon his religion, viewed as +a system. Defects, then, may be found in both systems. In viewing the +analogies of the two religions, it should be noted that the Hindoos +claim, with a forcible show of facts and logic, that the religion of +Christianity grew out of theirs. It has not been long since a learned +Hindoo maintained this position in a public debate with a missionary. +If all these facts effect nothing in the way of inducing the Christian +clergy to confess the falsity of their position in claiming their +religion to be a direct emanation from God, it will be a sad commentary +upon either their intelligence or their honesty. + +These historical facts, with those set forth in the preceding chapters, +prove that the religion called Christianity, instead of being, as +Christians claim, "the product of the Divine Mind," is the product +of "heathen" minds; i. e., a spontaneous outgrowth of the moral and +religious elements of the human mind. And therefore, for God to have +revealed it over again to the founders of Christianity would have been +superfluous, and a proof of his ignorance of history. + +Note.--The author deems it proper to state here, with respect to the +comparison between Christ and Chrishna, that some of the doctrines which +he has selected as constituting a part of the religion of the Hindoo +Savior, are not found in the reported teachings of that deified +moralist. But as they appear to breathe forth the same spirit, it is +presumed he would have indorsed them, had they come under his notice. As +Christians assume the liberty to arrange the doctrines of Paul and Peter +under the head of Christianity because claimed to be in consonance with +the religion of Christ, though not all taught by him, the author, in +like manner, has assumed, that some doctrines taught by other systems +and religious teachers of India accord with those taught by Chrishna, +and hence has arranged them with his. The author's purpose is not to set +forth the doctrines of any sect, any system, or any religious teacher, +but to show that all the doctrines of Christianity are traceable to +ancient India. But whether taught by this sect or that sect, it is +foreign to our purpose to inquire; and hence, for convenience, he has +arranged them all into one system, and designated them Chrishnianity +(borrowing a new term). There can be no more impropriety, he presumes, +in arranging the doctrines of the various conflicting sects of India +into one system (including even Brahminism and Budhism), than to +arrange, as Christians do, the doctrines taught by the antagnostic +system of Catholicism and Protestantism, and their six hundred +conflicting sects, under the head of Christianity. Hence, Christians, of +course, will not fault the arrangement. The classification above alluded +to comprises, in part, the religion of many of the Hindoo sects, +but does not set forth all their doctrines, only those analogous to +Christianity. Chrishna was a Vishnuite, and not a Brahmin, as some +writers assume. He and Christ were both reformers, and departed from the +ancient faith. Vishnuism appears to have finally centered in Budhism. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, MAGUS, ETC.--GODS + + +MIRACULOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF OTHER GODS AND DEMI-GODS OF ANTIQUITY. + +THE age in which Christ flourished, as before remarked, was +pre-eminently an age of miracle. The practice of thaumaturgy, and the +legends invested with the display of the miracle-working power, both +preceding and subsequent to that era, rose to a great height. "All +nations of that time," says a writer, "were mightily bent on working +miracles." And the disciples who acted the part of biographers for the +various crucified Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, throughout the East, +seemed to vie with each other in setting off the lives and histories of +their favorite objects of worship respectively, with marvelous exploits +and the pageantry of the most astounding prodigies. And the miracles +in each case were pretty much of the same character, thus indicating a +common course for their origin,--all probably having been cast in the +same mold--in the theological schools of the once famous, world-renowned +city of Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Having, in the preceding +chapters, presented the miraculous achievements of the Hindoo Gods, +Chrishna and Saki, we will here bring to notice those of other Gods. + + +THE MIRACLES RECORDED OF ALCIDES, OSIRIS, AND OTHER GODS OF EGYPT. + +1. We have the miraculous birth by a virgin in the case of Alcides. + +2. Osiris, while a sucking infant in his cradle, killed two serpents +which came to destroy him. + +3. Alcides performed many miraculous cures. + +4. According to Ovid he cured by a miracle the daughter of Archiades. + +5. Also the wife of Theogenes, after the doctors had given her up. + +6. And both these Gods converted water into wine. + +7. Both of them frequently cast out devils. + +8. Julius declares Alcides raised Tyndarus and Hippo-litus from the +dead. + +9. When Zulis was crucified, the sun became dark and the moon refused to +shine. + +10. Both he and Osiris were resurrected by a miracle. + +12. Both ascend to heaven in sight of many witnesses. + +12. And finally we are told that from Alexandria the whole empire became +filled with the fame of these miracle-workers, who restored the blind to +sight, cured the paralytic, caused the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, +&c. All these miracles were as credibly related of these Gods as similar +miracles of Jesus Christ. + + +MIRACLES PERFORMED BY PYTHAGORAS AND OTHER GODS OF GREECE. + +1. Pythagoras was a spirit in heaven before he was born on earth. + +2. His birth was miraculously foretold. + +3. His mother conceived him by a specter (the Holy Ghost). + +4. His mother (Pytheas) was a holy virgin of great moral purity. + +5. Plato's mother, Paretonia (says Olympiodorus), conceived him by the +God Apollo. + +6. Pythagoras in his youth astonishes the doctors by his wisdom. + +7. Was worshiped as the "Son of God," "Paraclete," "Child of Divinity," +&c. + +8. Coaid see events many ages in the future (says Richardson, his +biographer). + +9. Could bring down the eagle from his lofty height by command. + +10. Could approach and subdue the wild, ferocious Daunian bear. + +11. Could, like Christ, appear at two places at once. + +12. Could walk on the water and travel on the air. + +13. Could discern and read the thoughts of his disciples. + +14. Could handle poisonous reptiles with impunity. + +15. Cured all manner of diseases. + +16. Restored sight to the blind. + +17. He "cast out devils." + +18. Jamblicus says he could allay storms on the sea. + +19. Raised several persons from the dead. + +20. And, finally, "a thousand other wonderful things are told of him," +says Jamblicus. + +With respect to his character, it is said that "for humility, and +practical goodness, and the wisdom of his moral precepts, he stood +without a rival." He discarded bloody sacrifices, discouraged wars, +forbade the use of wine and other intoxicating drinks, enjoined the +forgiveness of enemies and their kind treatment, and also respect to +parents. He was a special friend to the poor, and taught that they +were the favorites of God. "Blessed are ye poor." He practiced and +recommended the silent worship of God. He retired from the world, and +often fasted, and was a great enemy to riches (like Jesus Christ). He +considered poverty a virtue, and despised the pomp of the world. He +recommended (like Christ) the abandonment of parents, relations, and +friends, houses and lands, &c., for religion's sake. His disciples, like +those of Christ, had a common treasury and a general community of goods, +to which all had free access, so that there was no poverty or suffering +amongst them while the supply lasted. All shared alike. In fact, with +respect to the spirit of his precepts, his moral lessons, and nearly his +whole practical life, he bore a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ, +and presented the same kind of evidence, and equally convincing +evidence, of being a God. And as he was born into the world five hundred +and fifty-four years before Christ, the latter probably obtained the +materials of his moral system from that Grecian teacher, or in the same +school of the Essenian Budhists, in which both Pythagoras and Christ +appear to have taken lessons. + + +MIRACLES OF THE ROMAN GODS QUIRINUS AND PROMETHEUS. + +1. Prometheus was honored with a miraculous birth. + +2. Quirinus was miraculously preserved in infancy, when threatened with +destruction by the tyrant ruler Amulius. + +3. He performed the miracles, according to Seneca and Hesiod, of curing +the sick, restoring the blind, raising the dead, and casting out devils. + +4. Both these Gods were crucified amid signs, and wonders, and miracles. + +5. All nature was convulsed, and the saints arose when they were +crucified. + +6. The sun was also darkened, and refused to shine. + +7. Both descended to hell, and rose from it by divine power. + +8. And Prometheus was seen to ascend to heaven. + +We cite these lists of miraculous events as if real facts, not because +we believe they were such, but as possessing the same degree of +credibility as those related of Jesus Christ. + + +MIRACLES AND RELIGION OF APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. + +1. Everything was subject to his miraculous power. + +2. He performed many miraculous cures. + +3. He restored sight to the blind. + +4. He cast out devils, which sometimes "cut up" like those of Christ + +5. He enabled the lame to walk. + +6. He re-animated the dead. + +7. He could read the thoughts of bystanders. + +8. Sometimes disappeared in a miraculous manner. + +9. Caused a tree to bloom, while Christ made another tree to wither +away. + +10. The laws of nature obeyed him. + +11. Could speak in many languages he had never learned. + +12. Was at one time transfigured, like Christ + +13. His birth was miraculously foretold by an angel. + +14. Was born of a spotless virgin. + +15. There were demonstrations of joy and singing at his birth. + +16. Exhibited proofs in infancy of being a God. + +17. Manifested extraordinary wisdom in childhood. + +18. He was called "the Son of God." + +19. Also "the image of the Eternal Father manifested in the flesh." + +20. He was also styled "a prophet." + +21. Like Christ, he retired into mystic silence. + +22. His religion was one of exalted spirituality. + +23. He taught the doctrine of "the Inner Life." + +24. He possessed exalted views of purity and holiness. + +25. Like Christ, he was a religious ascetic. + +26. His religion, as in the case of Christ, forbade him to marry. + +27. He ate no animal food, and would wear no woolen garments. + +28. Gave his substance to the poor. + +29. Eschewed love for wine and women. + +30. Refrained from artificial ornaments and sumptuous living. + +31. He was a high-toned moral reformer. + +32. He condemned external sacrifices. + +33. Also condemned gladiatorial shows. + +34. He religiously opposed dancing and sexual pleasures. + +35. He recommended the pursuit of wisdom. + +36. Was of a serene temper, and never got angry. + +37. Was a true prophet, foresaw and foretold many future events. + +38. Foresaw a plague, and stopped it after it had commenced. + +39. Crowds were attracted by his great miracles and his wisdom. + +40. He disputed with and vanquished the wise men of Greece and Asia, as +Christ did the learned doctors in the temple. + +41. When imprisoned by Domitian and loaded with chains, he disinthralled +himself by divine power. + +42. He was followed by crowds when entering Alexandria, like Christ when +entering Jerusalem. + +43. Was crucified amidst a display of divine power. + +44. He rose from the dead. + +45. Appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. + +46. Like Christ, he convinced a Tommy Didymus by getting him to feel the +print of the nails in his hands and feet. + +47. Was seen by many witnesses after his resurrection, and was hailed by +them as the "God Incarnate," "the Lord from Heaven." + +48. He finally ascended back to heaven, and now "sits at the right hand +of the Father," pleading for a sinful world. + +49. When he entered the temple of Diana, "a voice from above was heard +saying, 'Come to heaven." + +50. Accordingly he was seen no more on earth only as a spirit + +The reader will observe that the foregoing list of analogies, drawn from +the history of Apollonius, as furnished us by his disciple Damos and his +biographer Philostratus, are found also, in almost every particular, in +the history of Jesus Christ. And the list might have been extended. +It is declared, "A beauty shone in his countenance, and the words he +uttered were divine," which reminds us of Christ's transfiguration. And +his "staying a plague at Ephesus" revives the case of Christ stilling +the tempest on the waters. Now, the question very naturally arises here, +How came the histories of Apollonius and Christ to be so strikingly +alike? Was one plagiarized from the other? As for the miraculous history +of Apollonius being reconstructed from that of Jesus Christ, as some +Christians have assumed, there is not the slightest foundation for such +a conclusion, as the following facts will show, viz.:-- + +1. The Cappadocian Savior (Apollonius) was born several years anterior +to the advent of the Christian Savior, and appeared at an earlier date +upon the stage of active life, and thus got the start of Christ in +the promulgations of his doctrines and the exhibition of his miracles. +Christ's active life, Christians concede and the bible proves, did not +commence till about his twenty-eighth or thirtieth year, which was long +after Apollonius had inaugurated his religion, and long after he had +commenced the promulgation of his doctrines, and attested them by +wonderful miracles, according to his biographer Philostratus. + +2. The New American Cyclopedia tells us, "Apollonius labored for the +purity of Paganism, and to sustain its tottering edifice against the +assaults of the Christians." So that, being placed in a hostile attitude +toward the representatives of the Christian faith, it is not likely he +would condescend to borrow their doctrines and the miraculous history of +their incarnate God, to invest his own life with. He was probably one of +the "anti-Christs" spoken of in the New Testament; but this circumstance +reflects nothing dishonorable upon his character; for some of those +distinguished personages denounced as "anti-Christ," by Christ's gospel +biographers, were, according to impartial history, noble, honest, and +righteous men. Their only offense consisted in robbing Christ of his +divine laurels, by claiming similar titles, and claiming to perform the +same kind of miracles; and there is as much proof that they did achieve +these prodigies as that Christ did. + +3. The early Christian writers conceded that Apollonius and the other +oriental Gods did perform the miracles which are ascribed to them +by their respective disciples, but accounted for it by the childish +expedient of obsession. Christ was assumed to perform miracles by +divine power, they by the power of the devil--a childish and senseless +distinction truly, and one which can have no logical force in this +enlightened age. + + +MIRACLES AND CLAIMS FOR SIMON MAGUS. B. C. + +1. It is declared, "he was in the beginning with God." + +2. That "he existed with God from all eternity." + +3. That "he took upon himself the form of a man." + +4. That "he was the Son of God," "the Word," &c. + +5. That "he was the second person in the godhead." + +6. That "he came down to destroy the devil and his works." + +7. That "he was the image of the Eternal Father." + +8. That "he was the first-born Son of God." + +9. That he could control the elements. + +10. That he could walk on the air as Christ did on the water. + +11. Could move anything by the command, "Be thou removed." + +12. That he could raise the dead. + +13. That he could transform himself into the image of any man. + +14. That he was "the Paraclete, or Comforter." + +15. That he came to "redeem the world from sin." + +16. Finally, he was the world's "Savior," "Redeemer," "the Only Begotten +of the Father," and "through his name men are to be saved." + +The reader will call to mind that this Simon Magus is mentioned and +condemned in the Acts of the Apostles, for offering to pay Peter for a +bestowment of the gift of the Holy Ghost. And yet every philosopher +in this age must concede that Magus' assumption in the case is more +sensible and philosophical than that of Peter's. For the latter calls it +"a gift from God," whereas every person now acquainted with the +nature, principles, and science of animal magnetism, knows that such +manifestation as that which Peter ascribes to God and the Holy Ghost, is +a simple natural phenomenon; and that, consequently, it can be no more a +violation of the rules of propriety to pay for the labor of making such +developments than it is to pay a teacher for developing the mind of a +child. It was certainly a greater act of courtesy to offer to pay for +it than to demand it as a gratuitous favor. Hence we infer he excelled +Peter in his demeanor as a gentleman, especially as he bore Peter's +severe reprimand with patience, and apparently with a better spirit +than that which dictated it. And we may remark here, also, that +notwithstanding this Samaritan Jew is so unsparingly denounced by the +godly Peter, and by the early Christian fathers also, yet we have the +historical proof that he was an Honest, pious, and ardently devout man. +His whole life was absorbed in the cause of religion, and his whole soul +devoted to his religious duties and the worship of his God. Hence we +think Peter's rebuke was uncalled for. + +Let the reader note the fact here that there are three circumstances +amply sufficient to account for bibles and religious books being +profusely supplied with the reports of groundless miracles. + +1. As everybody then believed in miracles (at least everybody who dared +speak) there was nobody to investigate the reports of such occurrences, +to learn whether they were true or false. + +2. The few who attempted to disprove the truth of those miraculous +occurrences now found reported in sacred history, had their books +burned, as in the case of Porphyry and Celsus, in the early history of +Christianity, who called in question the truth of bible miracles. + +3. These marvelous facts were not usually recorded till long after the +period in which they are said to have occurred, when the witnesses had +left the stage of time, and every event exciting ay attention had grown +to a monstrous prodigy. These circumstances, in an age of boundless +credulity and scientific ignorance, which magnified every phenomenon, +and looked upon every natural event as a direct display of divine power, +accounts most fully and satisfactorily for the burdensome repetition of +groundless miraculous stories found upon nearly every page of the sacred +history of every religious nation, without driving us to the necessity +of challenging the veracity of the writers who recorded them. They may +all have been honest men. + + +CONFUCIUS OF CHINA, BORN 551 B. C. + +This moral teacher, religious chieftain, and philosopher, though not +subjected to the ignominious death of the cross, deserves a passing +notice for the excellency of his morals and the acquisition of a +world-wide fame. In the following particulars his history bears a strong +analogy to that of Jesus Christ. + +1. He commenced as a religious teacher when about thirty years of age. + +2. The Golden Rule (see Chap. XXXIV.) was his favorite maxim. + +3. Most of his moral maxims were sound and of a high order. The New +American Cyclopedia says (vol. v. p. 604), "His writings approach the +Christian standard of morality;" and in some respects they excel. + +4. He traveled in different countries, preaching and teaching his +doctrines. + +5. He made a host of converts, amounting now to one hundred and fifty +millions. + +6. His religion and morals have been propagated by apostles and +missionaries, some of whom are now traveling in this country, laboring +to convert Christians to their superior religion and morals. "There was +a time," says the work above quoted, "when European philosophers vied +with each other in extolling Confucius as one of the sublimest teachers +of truth among mankind." + +In the following respects his teachings were superior to those of +Christ:-- + +1. He taught that "the knowledge of one's self is the basis of all real +advances in morals and manners." A lesson Christ neglected to teach. + +2. "The duties man owes to society and himself are minutely defined by +Confucius," says the Cyclopedia. Another important work Christ partially +omitted. + +He constructed several hundred beautiful and instructive moral maxims, +which we have not space for here, and which amply prove that "the +holiest truths were inculcated by pagan philosophers." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. THE THREE PILLARS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH--MIRACLES, +PROPHECIES, AND PRECEPTS + +WHEN Christians are asked for the proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ, +they point to his miracles and precepts, and the Messianic prophecies, +said to have been fulfilled by his coming. And the same kind of evidence +is adduced to prove the divine claims of their bible and its religion, +including the Old Testament, which contains the prophecies. Their +divine origin and supernatural character are claimed to be proved by the +miracles, prophecies, and precepts found recorded in the Holy Book. All, +then, stand or fall together--the divinity of Christ, and the divinity +of the bible and its religion, all, rest on this threefold argument. +All, it is claimed, are attested and proved by a threefold display of +divine power, manifested,-- + +1. By the performance of various acts, transcending human power and the +laws of nature, called Miracles. + +2. By the discernment of events lying in the future which no human +sagacity or prescience could have foreseen, unless aided by Omniscience; +the display of such power being called Prophecy. + +3. By the enunciation of Moral Precepts beyond the mental capacity of +human beings to originate. + +These three propositions cover the whole ground. They constitute the +three grand pillars of the Christian faith, which, if shown to be +untenable, must prostrate the whole superstructure to the ground. We +will examine each separately, commencing with miracles. + +I. Miracles the first Pillar of the Christian Faith. + +We will not occupy space in discussing the various meanings assigned to +the word miracle by different writers, but take the popular definition +as given above, and proceed to inquire how much evidence can be deduced +from the miracles represented as having been performed by Jesus Christ, +toward proving his divinity and the truth of his religion. In the first +place, it should be borne in mind that Christianity is not the only +religion which appeals to miracles as a proof of its divine authorship. +More than three hundred systems and sects are reported in history, most +of which have, from time immemorial, gloried in being able to wield this +knock-down argument as they claim it to be, in support of the truth and +divine authenticity of their various systems of faith. We have briefly +noticed some of the miraculous achievements reported in their sacred +books, and ascribed to their Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, and compare +them with similar ones related of Jesus Christ, commencing with Pagan +Miracles. + +As the whole pathway of religious history is thickly be-studded with +miracles wrought in all ages and countries, and every page of the +oriental bibles and religious books is literally loaded down with the +relation of these marvelous prodigies said to have been wrought by their +Gods, Demigods, and crucified Saviors, it places a writer in a quandary +to know where to begin to make a selection. We will express no opinion +here as to whether these astounding feats were ever witnessed or not; +but will merely state that they come to us as well authenticated as +those reported in the Christian bible. There is as much evidence that +Zoroaster, at the request of King Gustaph, caused a tree to spring up +in a man's yard forthwith, of such magnificent proportions that no rope +could be found large enough to reach around it, as that Jesus Christ +caused a fig tree to wither away by merely cursing it. And we have +the same kind of evidence that the Hindoo Messiah, Chrishna, of +India, restored two boys to life who had been killed by the bites of +serpents, as that Jesus Christ resurrected Lazarus and the widow's son +of Nain; and as much proof that Bacchus turned water into wine, as that +Jesus performed this act six hundred years after. And a hundred other +similar comparisons might be drawn. The evidence of the truth of these +performances in both cases, pagan and Christian, is simply the report +of the writer. If there are any exceptions to be made in either case of +better evidence, it will be found in favor of pagan religion; for its +adherents are able in many cases to point to imperishable monuments of +stone erected in commemoration of their miracles. And Mr. Goodrich tells +us this is the highest species of evidence that can be offered to prove +the truth of any ancient event. But as Christians, on the other hand, +can find no such evidence to prove the performance of any miracles +reported in their bible, it will be seen at once that the pagan miracles +are the best authenticated. The famous historian Pausanias states upon +current authority that Esculapius raised several persons from the +dead, and names Hippolytus among the number, and then points to a +stone monument erected as a proof of the occurrence--thus furnishing, +according to Christian logic, the most conclusive proof of one of the +most astounding miracles ever wrought. And yet no philosopher or man +of science in this age can credit the literal truth of the story. But a +spiritualist can easily conceive that he and others might have mistaken +the risen spirits of those resurrected persons for their physical +bodies, because they know that many mistakes of this kind have occurred +in modern times. + +We might refer to many other cases of pagan miracles attested by +monumental evidence if our space would permit--such as the names of many +persons engraven upon the walls of the Temple of Serapis, miraculously +carved by the God Esculapius. Strabo tells us the ancient temples are +full of tablets describing miraculous cures performed by virgin-born +Gods of those times, and names a case of two blind men being restored to +sight by the son of God Alcides in the presence of a large multitude +of people, "who acknowledged the miraculous power of the God with +loud acclaim." Many spiritualists at the present day know by practical +experience how these "miraculous cures" were performed. Without +continuing the citation of cases, suffice it to say, the sin-atoning +Gods of the orientals are reported as performing the same train of +miracles assigned to Jesus Christ, such as performing astonishing cures, +casting out devils, raising the dead, &c. Now, sadly warped indeed by +education must be that mind which cannot see that if the account of +such prodigies, reported in the history of Jesus Christ, can do anything +towards proving him to have been a God, then the world must have been +full of Gods long before his time. It is impossible to dodge or evade +such a conclusion. + +Christians are in the habit of assuming that all the miraculous reports +in the bible are unquestionably true, while those reported in pagan +bibles are mere fables and fiction. But if they will reverse this +proposition, it can be easier supported, because we have shown their +miracles are better attested and authenticated. Their own bible admits +that the heathen not only could and did perform miracles, but miraculous +prodigies of the most astonishing character, equal to anything reported +in their own religious history--such as transmuting water into blood, +sticks into serpents, and stones into frogs. In a word, it is admitted +they performed all the miraculous feats of Moses with the single +exception of turning dust into lice. But certainly making lice was not +a more difficult achievement than that of making frogs, and this is +admitted they did do successfully. + +Hence it will be seen that the Egyptian pagans made as great a display +of divine or miraculous power as "God's Holy People," according to the +admission of the bible itself. And there is no intimation that the mode +of performing the miracles was not the same in both cases, but a strong +probability exists that it was, a conclusion confirmed by the bible +report of the case which leads us to infer that they performed the +miracles in the same way Moses did. For it is said, "The Egyptians did +so with their enchantments"--that is, with the "enchanting rod" used +on such occasions by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and other +nations, including also the Jews. Now, as Moses always used the +"enchanting rod" in performing miracles, called by him "the rod of God, +the rod of divination," &c. (see Ex. iv. ), there is thus furnished the +most satisfactory proof that he performed his miracles on this occasion, +as well as all other occasions, by the same stratagem as the Egyptians +and other nations did. And even if the mode adopted by the Egyptians had +been different, it is still admitted they performed the miracles. In +the name of reason and common sense, then, we ask if such facts as here +presented with the case just referred to do not forever prostrate and +annihilate all arguments based on miracles toward proving the divine +character or divine origin of the religion of the bible, or towards +proving + +Jesus Christ, or any other being reported to have performed miracles, as +possessing divine attributes? + + +CATHOLIC MIRACLES. + +Some of the most astonishing and best authenticated miracles ever +performed by any religious sect we find reported in the history of the +Roman Catholic church, looked upon and styled by the Protestants "the +mother of Harlots and Abomination." And yet there is much stronger proof +that the Catholic religion has the divine sanction, if miracles can +furnish such proof. The editor of "The Official Memoirs" declares that +during the Italian war in 1797, several pictures of the virgin Mary, +situated in different parts of the country, were seen to open and shut +their eyes for the space of six or seven months, and that no less than +sixty thousand people actually saw this miracle performed, including +many bishops, deacons, cardinals, and other officers of the church, +whose names are given. And Forsyth's Italy (p. 344), written by a highly +accredited author, tells us that a withered elm tree was suddenly +restored to full life and vigor by coming in contact with the body of +St. Zenobis, and that this miracle took place in the most public part +of the town, in the presence of many thousands of people; that "it is +recorded by contemporary historians, and inscribed upon a marble column +now standing where the tree stood." + +Now, the question may be asked here, Would the people have allowed such +an impudent trick to insult them as the erection of a monument for an +event that never took place? If not, how is the matter to be explained? +These are only specimens of a hundred more Catholic miracles of an +astonishing character at our command. Several queries may be entertained +in the solution of these stories. 1st, Were some phenomena really +witnessed on which these stories were constructed, but which got +magnified from a molehill to a mountain before they found their way +into history? or, 2d, Were they manufactured as a pious fraud, which was +rather a fashionable business with the early disciples of the Christian +faith, according to Mr. Mosheim? Whatever answer may be given to these +questions will explain the miracles of the Christian bible, excepting +those which can be accounted for on natural principles. + + +SATANIC MIRACLES. + +Among all the workers of miracles reported in the bible the devil seems +to have been pre-eminent, and hence must come in for the better end of +the argument toward proving him to have been a God. No miracle could +excel the act of his "transforming himself into an angel of light," as +stated in 2 Cor. xi. 14. It is not transcended by any other case, not +even by Christ's transfiguration. And according to Paul he was endowed +"with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." (Thess. ii. 9.) If, +then, he possessed "all power," Christ, and no other God, could have +possessed a miraculous power superior to his, for "all" comprehends the +whole, beyond which nothing can reach. Where, then, is the evidence +to come from to prove that Christ was a God, because he was +a miracle-worker, or his religion divine, because attested by +miracles--seeing the devil performed some of the most difficult miracles +ever wrought? Should we not then change his title from that of a demon +to a God, and place his religion amongst the divinely endowed systems? +St. John represents the "Evil One" as having power to make "fire come +down from heaven in the sight of men," and "to deceive those that dwell +on the earth by means of those miracles which he hath power to do." +(Rev. xiii.) + +Here the question arises, What can a miracle prove, what end can +it serve, or what good can possibly arise from the display of the +miracle-working power, when it is liable "to deceive those that +dwell upon the earth?" Certainly, therefore, it proves nothing, and +accomplishes nothing. And may not the apostles themselves have been +deceived in ascribing some of the miracles they record to Jesus +instead of the devil? Certainly we are drifted upon the quicksands of +uncertainty by such a display of the miracle-working power, and are +obnoxious to most fatal deception, which proves the total inutility and +futility of such prodigies. + + +CHRIST'S MIRACLES NOT HIS OWN, BUT WROUGHT THROUGH HIM AND NOT BY HIM. + +How could Christ's miracles, assuming they were wrought, do anything +toward proving his divinity, when he did not claim to be their author, +but merely the agent or instrument in the hands of the Father, like the +apostles, who are reported to have performed the same miracles? "The +Father he doeth the work," is his own declaration. And the Apostles seem +to have accepted his word, and his view of the matter. For proof listen +to Peter: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man +approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which +God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves do know." (Acts ii. +22.) Let it be noted, then, the Christ's miracles were not performed by +him as a God, but as "a man approved of God;" he was the mere medium or +instrument in the case--a fact which banishes at once all grounds for +controversy relative to his miracles serving the purpose of attesting +his divinity, especially when it is conceded that men, magicians, and +devils could achieve the same feats. + + +CHRIST'S MIRACLES DID NOT CONVINCE THE PEOPLE. + +As the miracles of Christ seem to have had little effect toward +convincing the people of his claims to the godhead, it is evident they +could have been but little superior to those performed by others, and +therefore not designed, at least not calculated, to convince them that +he was a God. The frequent instances in which he upbraids the people for +their unbelief, and calls them fools, "slow of heart," &c., is a proof +of this statement. + + +CHRIST'S MIRACLES NOT DESIGNED TO CONVINCE THE PEOPLE. + +A circumstance involving pretty strong proof that Christ's miraculous +achievements were not considered as evidence of his divinity, is the +fact that they were frequently performed in private, sometimes in the +night, and often under the injunction of secrecy. "See thou tell no +man," was the injunction, after the feat was performed, perhaps, in a +private room. How can such facts be reconciled with the assumption that +his miracles were designed to convince the people of his claims to the +Divine Entity, as Christians frequently assert, when the people were not +allowed to witness them, nor his disciples even to report them? Who +can believe that he was a Divine Being, or Messiah, when he charged his +disciples to "tell no man" that he was such a Being? Such incongruities +verge to a contradiction. It is a logical contradiction to say that +private miracles were designed to dissolve public skepticism. And yet +many, if not most, of his reputed miraculous achievements were of this +character. When he cured a blind man, he not only "led him out of the +town" (Mark viii. 23), but forbid him, when his sight was restored, +returning to the city, for fear he would publish it. When he resurrected +Lazarus, he did not call the whole country around to witness it, but +performed the act before a private party. The reanimation of Jairus's +daughter was in the same concealed manner, in a private room, where +nobody was admitted but his three confidential disciples (Peter, James, +and John) and the parents, none of whom make any report of the case. +How, therefore, the reporter (Mark) found it out, when he was not +present, and none of the party were allowed to tell it to anybody, or +why he should betray his trust by publishing it, if he was informed of +it, is a "mystery of Godliness" not easily divined. + +When Christ cleansed the leper, he sent him to the priest, enjoining him +to "say nothing to any man." The dumb, when restored to speech, was not +allowed to exhibit any practical proof of the fact by using his tongue. +His miraculous perambulation on the surface of the sea (walking on +the water) was not only alone, but in the dark. His transfiguration, +likewise, according to Dr. Barnes, took place in the night, his three +favorite companions being the only witnesses, and they "heavy with +sleep." And finally, the crowning miracle of all, the resurrection, +is not only represented as taking place in the night, but without one +substantial or terrestrial witness to report it. Verily such facts as +these are not calculated to augment the faith jr work the conviction +of a skeptic that these miracles were ever performed, seeing so few are +reported as witnessing them, and even their testimony is not given. We +have not the testimony of one person who claims to have been present and +seen these wonders performed. Such facts are calculated to cast distrust +upon the whole matter, especially when taken in connection with the +fact that nine tenths of his life form a perfect blank in history. Is +it possible, we ask, to reconcile such a fact with the belief of his +divinity? Is it possible a God could lead a private life, or live +twenty-seven years on earth, and do nothing worthy of note--a God known +to nobody and noticed by nobody? Most transcendingly absurd is such a +thought. Had Christ possessed the character that is claimed for him, not +an hour of his life could have passed unaccompanied by some remarkable +incident that would have been heralded abroad, and its record indelibly +engraven upon the page of history; but instead of this, his acts were +too commonplace to be noticed. + + +ALL HISTORY IGNORES HIM. + +The fact that no history, sacred or profane,--that not one of the three +hundred histories of that age,--makes the slightest allusion to Christ, +or any of the miraculous incidents ingrafted into his life, certainly +proves, with a cogency that no logic can overthrow, no sophistry can +contradict, and no honest skepticism can resist, that there never was +such a miraculously endowed being as his many orthodox disciples claim +him to have been. The fact that Christ finds no place in the history of +the era in which he lived,--that not one event of his life is recorded +by anybody but his own interested and prejudiced biographers,--settles +the conclusion, beyond cavil or criticism, that the godlike achievements +ascribed to him are naught but fable or fiction. It not only proves +he was not miraculously endowed, but proves he was not even naturally +endowed to such an extraordinary degree as to make him an object of +general attention. It would be a historical anomaly without a precedent, +that Christ should have performed any of the extraordinary acts +attributed to him in the Gospels, and no Roman or Grecian historian, and +neither Philo nor Josephus, both writing in that age, and both living +almost on the spot where they are said to have been witnessed, and both +recording minutely all the religious events of that age and country, +make the slightest mention of one of them, nor their reputed authors. +Such a historical fact banishes the last shadow of faith in their +reality. + +It is true a few lines are found in one of Josephus's large works +alluding to Christ. But it is so manifestly a forgery, that we believe +all modern critics of any note, even of the orthodox school, reject it +as a base interpolation. Even Dr. Lardner, one of the ablest defenders +of the Christian faith that ever wielded a pen in its support, and who +has written ten large volumes to bolster it up, assigns nine cogent +reasons (which we would insert here if we had space) for the conclusion +that Josephus could not have penned those few lines found in his +"Jewish Antiquities" referring to Christ. No Jew could possibly use such +language. It would be a glaring absurdity to suppose a leading Jew +could call Jesus "The Christ," when the whole Jewish nation have ever +contested the claim with the sternest logic, and fought it to the bitter +end. "It ought, therefore" (says Dr. Lardner, for the nine reasons which +he assigns), "to be forever discarded from any place among the evidences +of Christianity." (Life of Lardner by Dr. Kippis, p. 23.) + +As the passage is not found in any edition of Josephus prior to the era +of Eusebius, the suspicion has fastened upon that Christian writer as +being its author, who argued that falsehood might be used as a medicine +for the benefit of the churches. (See his Eccles. Hist.) Origen, who +lived before Eusebius, admitted Josephus makes no allusion to Christ. Of +course the passage was not, then, in Josephus. One or two other similar +passages have been found, in other authors of that era, which it is not +necessary to notice here, as they are rejected by Christian writers. It +must be conceded, therefore, that the numerous histories covering the +epoch of the birth of Christ chronicle none of the astounding feats +incorporated in his Gospel biographies as signalizing his earthly +career, and make no mention of the reputed hero of these achievements, +either by name or character. The conclusion is thus irresistibly forced +upon us, not only that he was not a miracle-worker, but that he must +have led rather an obscure life, entirely incompatible with his being +a God or a Messiah, who came "to draw all men unto him." And it should +also be noted here that none of Christ's famous biographers, Matthew, +Mark, Luke, or John, are honored with a notice in history till one +hundred and ninety years after the birth of Christ. And then the notice +was by a Christian writer (Ireneus). + +"We look in vain," says a writer, "for any cotemporary notice of the +Gospels, or Christ the subject of the Gospels, outside of the New +Testament. So little was this 'king of the Jews' known, that the Romans +were compelled to pay one of his apostles to turn traitor and act as +guide before they could find him. It is impossible to observe this +negative testimony of all history against Christ and his miracles, and +not be struck with amazement, and seized with the conviction that he +was not a God, and not a very extraordinary man." Who can believe that a +God, from off the throne of heaven, could make his appearance on earth, +and while performing the most astounding miracles ever recorded in +any history, or that ever excited the credulity of any people, and be +finally publicly crucified in the vicinity of a great city, and yet all +the histories written in those times, both sacred and profane, pass over +with entire silence the slightest notice of any of these extraordinary +events. Impossible--most self-evidently impossible!! And when we find +that this omission was so absolute that no record was made of the day or +year of his birth by any person in the era in which he lived, and that +they were finally forgotten, and hence that there are, as a writer +informs us, no less then one hundred and thirty-three different opinions +about the matter, the question assumes a still more serious aspect. From +the logical potency of these facts we are driven to the conclusion that +Christ received but little attention outside of the circle of his own +credulous and interested followers, and consequently stands on a level +with Chrishna of India, Mithra of Persia, Osiris of Egypt, and other +demigods of antiquity, all whose miraculous legends were ingrafted in +their histories long after their death. This leads us to consider + + +HOW CHRIST'S INCREDIBLE LEGENDS GOT INTO HIS HISTORY. + +There is a remarkably easy and satisfactory way of accounting for +all the marvelous feats and incredible stories found in the Gospel +narratives of Jesus Christ, without assuming their reality or any +intentional fraud or falsehood by the writers. When we learn that none +of his evangelical biographies were penned (as Dr. Lardner affirms) +till long after his death, we are no longer puzzled for a moment to +understand exactly how many statements wholly incredible and morally +impossible crept into his history, without challenging or calling +in question the veracity or honesty of the writer. Perhaps the most +powerful cord of moral conviction which holds the Christian professor to +a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, is the difficulty of bringing +himself to believe that the numerous miracles ascribed to him in the +Gospels are merely the work of fiction, fabricated without a basis of +truth, when they were evidently penned by men of the deepest piety and +the strictest moral integrity. We ourselves were once environed +with this difficulty. But it stands in our way no longer. We are +disenthralled. We have solved the problem. We have found the true +explanation. The key and clew to the whole secret is found in the simple +fact, admitted by Christian writers and evidenced by the bible itself, +that _no history of Christ's practical life was written out by a person +claim-ing to have been an eyewitness_ of the events reported, nor until +every incident and act of the noble-minded Nazarene had had ample +time to become enormously magnified and distorted by rumor, fable, and +fiction; so that it was impossible to discriminate or separate the real +from the unreal, the true from the false, in his partly-forgotten life. +It could not be done. A true history could not then be, nor have been +written under such circumstances. It is manifestly impossible. The +time for writing each Gospel is fixed by Dr. Lardner as follows, viz.: +Matthew 62 A. D., Mark 64 A. D., Luke 63 or 64 A. D., and John 68 A. D.; +thus allowing ample time for every noteworthy incident of his life to +grow from molehills to mountains, and to swell into fiction, fable, and +prodigy, a tendency to which was then very rife and very prevalent in +all religious countries. Having made a note of this fact, let the +reader treasure in memory, as another equally important fact, that the +biography of no man of note who figured in that era, or who lived prior +to the dawn of letters (if penned many years after his death, as was +frequently the case), is free from a large percentage of extravagant +detail, and simple incidents magnified into miracles. This was the +uncurbed tendency of the age which ultimated into universal custom. + +The simplest incident in every man's life, who exhibited mind enough to +attract attention, by rolling from year to year, and passing from mouth +to mouth, invariably got to be finally swelled into such undue and +enormous proportions, that it could only be accounted for by assuming +the actor to have been a God. In this way many men of different +countries, who had made a mark in the world, received divine honors +and divine attributes, including such characters as Chrishna of India, +Mithra of Persia, Quirinus of Rome, Eras of the Druids, Quexalcote of +Mexico, Jesus Christ of Judea, and many others who might be mentioned. +This circumstance deified them. The evidence of history to prove this +declaration is abundant and irresistible. + + +POSTHUMOUS HISTORIES ALONE DEIFIED MEN. + +To the two important facts above cited, viz., that Jesus Christ's +evangelical histories were all written long after his death, and that +unwritten histories of great men always become swollen and distorted +with the lapse of time, let the reader add the equally significant +fact that there is in all cases a vast difference in the biographies of +famous men, penned during their actual lives, or immediately subsequent +to their death, while every act and incident of their career was fresh +and vigorous in the minds and memories of the cotemporaneous people, +and before the ball of exaggerated rumor was set rolling, compared +with those written at a later date, after molehills of fact had become +mountains of fiction. The former are natural and reasonable, the latter +unnatural and extravagant, and often fabulous. We will cite a few cases +in proof. Let the reader compare the biographical sketches of Alexander +the Great written near the epoch of his practical life, and those +composed since the dawn of the Christian era, and he will find that the +posthumous notices of him alone contain the story of the sun becoming +obscured, and the earth developed in darkness, at the time of his mortal +exit. It will be found, also, that Virgil's account of "the sheeted +dead," rising from their graves at the time of Caesar's death, and which +was written long after that famous hero left the stage of action, is +omitted in all the cotemporary notices of that monarch, having crept in +subsequently. + +In like manner, the various miracles recorded of Pythagoras by his +biographer Jamblicus,--such as his walking on the air, stilling +the tempest, raising the dead, &c.,--are not related of him by any +cotemporaneous writers who lived in the era of his practical life. And +let the reader compare, also, Damos' life of Apollonius with that of +his later biography by Philostratus, as an illustration of the same +historical fact. Mahomet and his biograhers might be included in the +same category. It is a remarkable circumstance that neither Mahomet +himself nor any of his immediate followers claim for him more than +the humble title of prophet, or "God's holy prophet," while his later +admirers and devout disciples have elevated him to the throne of heaven, +and given him a seat among the Gods. + +And this historical analysis might be extended much farther if +necessary. But cases enough have been cited to prove the principle and +establish the proposition. And what is the lesson taught by these +facts? A deeply-instructive and all-important one. From the foregoing +historical illustrations we are impelled to the important conclusion, +that the tissue of extravagant and incredible stories of demigod +performances which run as a vein of fiction through the Gospel +narrations of Jesus Christ, all grow out of long-continued rumor, in +an age when the imagination was untamed and unbounded, and credulity +uncurbed by a practical knowledge of the principles of science, and +consequently the pen of the historian had lawless scope. All difficulty +then vanishes, and the question is put forever at rest by assuming that +if the Gospel histories of Jesus had been written by men who claimed to +record only what they saw and heard themselves, we should have a more +credible and instructive history of the great Judean reformer, freed +from those Munchausen prodigies and that wild romance which mar the +beauty and credibility of those now in popular use. This conclusion is +not only natural, but irresistible, to a mind untrammeled by education +and unbefogged by priestcraft. All that is wanting to convince us +that miracles constitute no part of the real history of Christ, is a +cotemporary instead of a posthumous biography--a history written in the +age which knew him, and by an unprejudiced writer who witnessed all his +movements. And we are perfectly willing to risk our reputation in this +life, and our salvation in the next, by stating our conviction that this +will be the unanimous verdict of posterity before fifty generations pass +away. + + +CHRIST'S MIRACLES RECONSTRUCTED FROM FORMER MIRACLES. + +There are other circumstances than those noticed in the preceding +chapter, which can aid us very materially in solving the problem +of Christ's divinity; or, in other words, can aid us in tracing his +miracles to their origin, and thus confirm the truth of the preceding +proposition. Moses and the prophets were considered by the evangelists +antetypes or archetypes of the coming Savior. Hence some of the more +important incidents of their lives were hunted up and worked over again, +to make them fit the life of Christ as the Messiah, reconstructed and +applied to him as the second Moses, and a new prophet; for Moses is +represented as saying, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up +like unto me." Hence Moses comes in with the prophets as an antetype of +Christ. The transfiguration of Christ is therefore constituted after +the model of the transfiguration of Moses on Mount Sinai. And Christ is +represented as raising the dead, not only because Elijah and Elisha had +performed such miracles, but did it under circumstances which prove, +as they suppose, he possessed superior power. For while they could only +reanimate the body immediately after the breath had left it, Christ +could raise a man after he had been dead four days (the case of +Lazarus). Hence the New Prophet was superior to the old, and more like +a God--the thing they desired to prove. Both Elijah and Christ are +represented as raising a widows son,--Elijah being considered the +special prototype of Christ, who, many believed, had re-appeared under +the changed name of Elias. (See John v. 17.) And then we observe that +while Elisha exhausted his skill in making three gallons of oil, Christ +could make thirty gallons of wine--another proof of the superiority of +the New Prophet. Then, again, the miracle of feeding one hundred +men with twenty loaves is far excelled by the latter, who feeds five +thousand men with five loaves. And both prophets, Elisha and Christ, +encountered unfordable streams in their travels; the expedient of the +former is to make a passage, but Christ performed the greater miracle +of walking on the surface. And while Moses had to send the leper without +the camp before he could heal him, Christ could heal him instantly with +a single touch. The same slaughter of the infants is commanded by Herod, +in order to destroy Christ, that Pharaoh had ordered to effect the +destruction of Moses. And thus many of the miracles of Jesus can be +accounted for as reconstructions of former miracles. It was simply a +competition or rivalry between the New Messianic prophet and the old +prophets. The New Prophet excels and comes off victorious in every case, +and is thus considered to be a God. The object of the competition is to +show that while the prophets, assisted by God, could perform marvelous +deeds, Christ, being God himself, could perform greater. This was to be +the proof of his being a God, that he could outvie the servants of God +in every miraculous thing ascribed to them. This was one way adopted to +prove his divinity. + + +CHRIST'S MIRACLES MANUFACTURED FROM PROPHECIES. + +Several of Christs miracles seem to have grown out of the Messianic +prophecies; that is, were manufactured in order to fulfill the +prophecies. There was, as we learn by the Gospels, an impression deep +and wide-spread among the disciples of Christ, that the Old Testament +was full of texts foretelling the advent of their Messiah, and +foreshadowing his practical life. Under this conviction, a number of +passages are quoted in the Gospels from the prophets as referring to +Christ, but which, however, the context shows could not possibly have +been written with any such thought or intention. Matthew has five +miracles appertaining to Christ, built on prophecies, in his first two +chapters. And they are represented as taking place "in order that the +prophecy might be fulfilled," that is, Matthew, writing sixty-four years +after Christ's advent, assumes those miracles had taken place because +the prophecy required their performance, and hence recorded it as a fact +without knowing it to be such. A great deal of that kind of license was +assumed in that and subsequent ages, as the facts of history are ample +to prove. It was done under the religious conviction that the cause of +God and the church required it to be done, and that therefore it was +justifiable. + + +STRICT VERACITY NOT REQUIRED OR OBSERVED. + +It is by no means necessary to assume that the recorders of the New +Testament miracles knew they had been performed, or that they would +hesitate to record them as facts because they did not know them to be +such. We are under no moral obligation to suppose they knew anything +about it. People in that age were not so nice or so morally exact, as +to require proof of a thing before they stated it, or never to state it +unless they had the proof for its being true. We would be Very far +from accusing the apostolic writers of malicious falsehood, or criminal +misrepresentation. But we find that the disciples of all religions, in +that age of the world, considered it not only allowable, but a religious +duty, in the absence of knowledge, to supply omissions by guess-work +or conjecture; that is, to use assumption in the place of proof, and to +state that a thing was so when there was no proof of it whatever, and +even when the proof was against it. All religious history is full of the +exhibition of this kind of elasticity of conscience. Even a species of +pious lying was considered justifiable in many cases. Paul furnishes +evidence of this, when he says, "If the truth of God hath more abounded +through my lie unto his glory, why am I judged a sinner?" (Rom. iii. +16.) "No sin to lie for the glory of God," seems to be the teaching of +this text. Although Paul does not clearly disclose for what purpose +this policy was employed, yet it can easily be inferred. A part of +the important business of the New Testament writers was to build a +reputation for Christ and his inspired band of disciples for working +miracles. A fame for achieving "signs and wonders" was the great set +off of the age. There seems to have been an almost boundless competition +amongst the disciples of the various religious orders, including Jews, +Pagans, and Christians, as to who could, or whose God could outstrip all +competitors in achieving astonishing prodigies that should set the laws +of nature at defiance. And no devout disciple, who had good inventive +powers, would allow any rival to outdo him. Nothing could authenticate +the claim of the adopted Messiah to the throne or heaven, or a +participation in the Divine Essence, like a miraculous display of divine +power. Hence the history of all the Gods and demi-gods of the illiterate +ages, including that of Christ, is loaded down with miraculous feats. +There is the clearest proof that Christ's disciples were in this general +rivalry--this universal miracle-working _mêlée_. + +Two things very necessary to be accomplished, in the estimation of the +apostles, were, first, to show that Christ outdid the heathen Gods, +and even the prophets, in the display of the wonder-exciting miraculous +power, and thus proved his divinity; and second, that the prophecies had +been fulfilled in his coming and his practical life. And there is reason +to believe all the New Testament miracles are founded on and grew out of +prophecy. For, although we do not find prophecies in the Old Testament +for every miracle related of Christ, yet it is probable, if we had the +Book of God, "the Book of Jehu," "the Like of Hezekiah," and other +lost books mentioned in the Old Testament, we should find the supposed +prophecy for every miracle of the New Testament. We should there find +the key to every miracle. The true explanation of the matter seems to +be, that the apostolic writers, looking through the Old Testament, and +finding texts therein which they believed to be prophetic of the display +of the miraculous power of Jesus, and passages which they religiously +believed foreshadowed his coming and mission, or some important event +in his history, they were impressed with the deepest conviction that God +would not suffer any prophecy to go unfulfilled. But when they sat down +to write the history of their Messiah, long after his death, they found +they had not the evidence before them that the prophecies had been +fulfilled. A third of a century had rolled away since his history had +been practically before the people. The subject of their narrative had +long since gone to "the house of many mansions," and left not a note, or +scratch of a pen, of any act of his life behind him. And the current of +time had washed away, or partially obliterated, nearly every event +of his earthly career. The witnesses had nearly all left the stage of +action, and their voices were forever hushed in the silent tomb. What +was to be done in such an emergency? It was all-important to show that +the prophecies had been fulfilled to the letter in his practical life. +This quandary, however, did not beset them long. The difficulty was +easily surmounted. Every religious country, including Judea, was full +of miraculous legends and astonishing prodigies appertaining to the +terrestrial movements of their Gods and demigods, some of which had +floated down on the stream of tradition from time immemorial. And all +had become blended, confounded, and mixed up together, until it was +impossible to know whence they originated, where they belonged, or to +what God they appertained. These miraculous stories were so numerous, +and so varied in character, that there was no little difficulty in +finding which seemed to be the fulfillment of any Messianic prophecy +that had been or might be found in the Old Testament; and thus of the +hundreds of miraculous stories afloat, one was picked out and assumed +to be the fulfillment of the prophecy. With the countless number of such +stories before them, which had been for half a century current in the +community, they set themselves to work to select and reject, prune and +remodel, honestly believing that this miracle was intended to fulfill +this prophecy, and that miracle that prophecy, &c. And accordingly we +now find it so stated in the New Testament. As, for example, a story had +long been going the rounds that the parents of a young God had to flee +with him out of the country, to save his life from being destroyed by +its jealous ruler. This they supposed must of course refer to Jesus, +because they had found a supposed prophecy of such an event in the +Jewish bible, when a more thorough acquaintance with history would have +taught them that the story did not refer to the ruler of Judea (Herod), +but to Cansa, an ancient, jealous, despotic king, who ruled India at a +much earlier period. And the story of the darkness at the crucifixion +they incorporated as a part of the history of Jesus, because they had +seen a text in Joel which they supposed presaged such an event, while, +if they had been well versed in oriental history, they would have known +that it had long been recorded as the last chapter in the earthly drama +of the Hindoo God Chrishna. And so of the other miracles now found +related as a part of the history of Jesus. A historical investigation of +the matter would have shown the Gospel writers that they were a part of +the written history of other and more ancient Gods, and had never +formed a part of the practical life of Jesus, or been realized in his +experience. This is a more charitable and honorable explanation of the +matter than that found in the assumption of some other writers, that +every miracle was constructed for the occasion--that it is a sheer +fabrication; and yet there are some plausible grounds for this solution +of the case. + +These critical writers tell us there was a religious persuasion deeply +enstamped upon the minds of all religious countries, that God often +justified a departure from the truth--the conscientious or veracious +faculty being in that age but feebly developed. And the bible itself +is full of evidence to establish the allegation. The prophets often +disclose it, and the apostles were their strict imitators. Ezekiel +represents God as saying, "If a prophet is deceived, I the Lord deceived +that prophet." (Ezek. xiv. 9.) And Jeremiah asks God, "Wilt thou be to +me as a liar?" (Jer. xv. 8.) While the writer of Kings represents God +as putting a lying spirit into the mouth of his own prophets, (i Kings +xxii. 23.) And most certainly if God himself might thus habitually +depart from the truth, it was an ample warrant for his apostles, as well +as the prophets, to adopt the same expedient. The case of Paul lying for +the glory of God, which we have cited from Romans iii. 4, proves they +were morally capable of doing this. Mosheim tells us that among the +early Christians, "it was an almost universally adopted maxim, that it +was an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by so doing they could +promote the interest of the church." (Mosh. vol. i. p. 198.) And Mr. +Higgins informs us that "great numbers, of every age and of every +religion, have been guilty of systematic frauds and falsehoods +to support their religions, to an extent of which we can have no +conception. They not only practiced it, but they reduced it to system. +They avowed it, and they justified it by declaring it to be meritorious +to lie in a good cause." (Ana. vol. i. p. 143.) The reader who can +hesitate to credit these statements only betrays his ignorance of the +moral weakness of human nature, and the imperfect growth in that era of +the veracious faculty, which consequently had but a feeble voice in +the councils of the mind. Even the most pious and devout professors +of religion did not consider a rigid conformity to truth necessary, or +morally obligatory, in their labors to promote the glory of God and the +salvation of souls. And when direct falsehood was not resorted to, the +writer still allowed himself to color, magnify, and invent largely; that +is, to draw copiously upon the resources of his imagination, in the way +of supplying omissions and defects, and filling out missing links in the +chain of history. And hence it is that all ancient sacred history is so +profusely inlaid with stories and statements manifestly fabricated +for the occasion, without any historical support, and therefore wholly +incredible. Let the Christian reader not, however, misapprehend us by +supposing we wish to drive him to the extreme alternative of accepting +this as the true explanation, or as indicating the real origin of the +incredible stories and senseless miraculous feats interwoven into the +Gospel life of Jesus. We only offer it as a plausible, but not as the +probable explanation. The above citations from the Scriptures and other +history prove most clearly that sacred writers were morally capable of +fabricating or manufacturing history to supply assumed omissions. And +this explanation is twofold more reasonable than to accept the miracles +as real occurrences, for such a belief would be at war with common +sense, and prostrate our reason beneath our feet. But there is no +necessity of adopting lying hypotheses, while the borrowing theory +is amply adequate to account for every Gospel miracle. There is not a +miraculous story or incredible legend incorporated in the New Testament +as a part of the history of Jesus, that was not afloat in some shape or +form, on the wings of tradition in nearly every religious country, +ages before his birth. The model for each and every miracle was already +constructed, was already in the market, and already a part of the +history or tradition of other and older Gods. And all that was wanted +to make it appear as a part of the history of the Christian's deified +Jesus, was to fill in names and dates. Yes, history with a hundred +tongues proclaims it as the real explanation of the incredible and +the impossible in the history of Jesus Christ. And the evidence is so +voluminous and so overwhelming to disprove the common Christian dogma +which makes the son of Joseph and Mary a miracle-working God (a portion +of which we have presented under the several propositions of this +chapter), that it really demolishes the last timber in the Christian +fabric, and leaves it a heap of ruins. And we are certain that if we +could divest the Christian reader's mind, for a few moments, of an +inherited and fostered prejudice, he would see that our explanation +is much more rational, more probable, more beautiful than the popular +belief, which degrades the illustrious Judean reformer to a level with +the heathen thaumaturgist, and gives him the same undignified reputation +as a miracle-worker. + +But we are sometimes told we are under as much moral obligation to +believe in the miracles reported of Jesus, as to believe in any other +portion of his history; that we must accept his Gospel history as a +whole, or reject it in toto. But this is manifestly a false assumption, +and one easily exploded. No person who is acquainted with Grecian +history doubts that Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia, and +founded a city in Egypt bearing his own name. Yet not one of those +readers will credit for a moment what one of his biographers relates +of him, that he stopped the sun in its course, or that he had no human +father. We all accept Pythagoras as a real entity, while we reject the +story of his walking on the air. Are we morally bound to accept Romulus +and Remus, founders of Rome, as mere fabulous beings, because their +biographers relate the incredible story of their being suckled by a +wolf? Many other illustrations might be given in proof of the falsity of +the assumption that, because a portion of a man's biography is found +to be incredible, the whole must be rejected as false, as unworthy of +credence. This would be to annihilate history. For no biography of any +person, and no history of any nation, can be accepted as plenarily pure, +unmixed truth. There is always more or less chaff with the grain, and it +is our privilege and our duty to separate them. And by so doing we not +only confer a favor on the cause of truth, but add to the luster and +honor of the name of the deceased reformer; and especially is this true +of the renowned Judean philanthropist and reformer. Much more lovely +and beautiful would his evangelical history stand before the world +if stripped of the wild, the weird, and the miraculous. Much more +interesting is he when viewed and venerated as a man than when +worshipped as a God, guilty of the frequent violation of his own laws, +by the display of the miracle-working power. + +And much more beautiful and much more rational is the doctrine which +accepts every event that ever occurred as the legitimate and harmonious +operation of the great machinery of nature, than as the smart trick, +the lawless caprice or wild feat, of an arbitrary, wonder-exciting God, +performed not to make the people better, more moral or more righteous +(for miracles cannot do this), but merely to make them gape and stare, +and shout, What a smart God we have got! + +And then the belief in miracles involves an utter repudiation of all +law, all order, and all system, and introduces in their stead chaos, +anarchy, and universal confusion. It is simply "the doctrine of +chance." which all orthodox Christendom professes to deprecate and +execrate as the quintessence of atheism. But they make a mistake; +"chance" is more legitimately the fruit of miracle than of atheism; an +assertion which we will here briefly prove. + +If the sun may be arrested in his course through the heavens, "the moon +turned into blood," and "the stars fall from the heaven,"--sticks turned +into serpents, water into blood, and dust into lice,--all of which +orthodox Christians profess to believe were witnessed in the days of +Moses and Christ, then everything is thrown upon the wheel of chance; +everything is involved in uncertainty. If the course of nature could be +arrested, or the natural qualities of objects changed by the prayer of +a prophet, patriarch, or apostle, then the food set before us to eat may +suddenly, in compliance with the prayers of some absent saint, become +a deadly poison; the clothes we wear may be instantly transformed into +virulent adders, which may inflict the fatal sting before we suspect it; +some favorite servant of God (a Moses or an Elijah) might be this +moment praying to God to stop the dews from falling, or the rain from +descending for the next three months, or three years, as the latter is +reported as doing (see James v. 17), so that we could not plant with any +certainty that the seed would grow, or that we should be rewarded by +a crop. Such would be the incertitude, such the "chance" against us +in everything in which we might engage, if it were true that God ever +intercepts the action of his laws by working a miracle, that we should +eventually become discouraged by this chaos of "chance," the wheels of +industry would stop, and the car of civilization go backward. If it were +true, as taught by orthodox Christians, that "God in his providence," or +"God in the dispensation of his providence," often "visits people with +sickness," then it would be useless to study the laws of health with a +view of complying with them. For we could not know in any case whether +our sickness had been brought upon us by, an "overruling providence," +or by our own imprudence. Our inventives to study and comply with these +laws, if there could be any, would consequently be very weak indeed, +for we might comply with every physiological requisition, and yet +there would be several "chances," against us that to-morrow we may be +stretched upon a "sick bed and rolling pillow by the visitation of God." +Thus the doctrine of miracles is shown to be pre-eminently the doctrine +of "chance." + +The doctrine of miraculous agency makes God an imperfect being, by +implying that his laws were defective in their original construction, +that by mistake he left some emergency unprovided for, and now has to +supply the omission by an afterclap exercise of power. Or if his laws +were originally perfect, then the working of a miracle would disturb +them, and make them imperfect; if originally imperfect, then God +himself must have been imperfect, and hence no God at all. Think of a +wonderworking God violating, suspending, or intercepting his own laws. +Such a God would be a puerile, short-sighted being, that only ignorant +and uncultivated minds could admire and adore. + +The age of miracles, however, is gone. The belief in divine prodigies +has receded before the advancing genius of civilization. It has +died away in the exact ratio of the progress of science and general +intelligence. And a thorough acquaintance with nature's laws will banish +the last vestige of such a belief. Hence it is that the most illiterate +and ignorant nations and tribes have always been able to recount the +longest list of miraculous prodigies achieved by a disorderly God, who +seems to have taken pleasure in violating his own laws, or suspending +them, for the most trivial purposes. + +Yes, the time is approaching when the belief in a "miraculous +interposition" or "special providences" must pass away under the lights +of science and civilization, and be numbered amongst the things which +have been and can be no more, and men will cherish more noble and +elevated ideas of the great Ruler of the universe, who is infinite +in order, infinite in wisdom, ay, infinite in all his attributes and +virtues, ever unchangeably the same. + + +II. Prophecy, the second Pillar of the Christian Faith, proves as much +for Heathenism and Spiritualism. + +Truthful prophecy, attested to be such by its fulfillment, is assumed to +be one of the basic pillars and one of the main proofs of the truth of +the Christian religion. But the following consideration will show that +this assumption has no logical force, or real, tangible foundation. + +First. Every ancient system of religion had its prophets and seers, who +professed to be able to foresee events of the future. And we find but +little difference in the proofs each one has left to the world that they +possessed this power, if we except the Greeks and Romans, some of whom +evidently excelled all the Jewish prophets in their ability to take +cognizance of events lying behind the curtain of time. Tacitus, the +Latin historian, prophesied the downfall of the Roman empire and its +attendant calamities more than five hundred years before its occurrence, +which was fulfilled to the letter. And Solon, one of the seven wise men +of Greece, foresaw and foretold a series of calamities which befell +the Athenians two hundred years before they were realized. A still more +remarkable example is furnished in the history of Marcus Tullius Cicero, +who, writing of the future, with his mind fixed on the west, about 50 B. +C., exclaimed, "There will arise after many ages (if we may credit the +Sibylline oracles), a hero who will deliver his oppressed countrymen +from bondage"--a prophecy most signally fulfilled in the life of +General Washington. Many other examples of heathen prophecy and their +fulfillment might be cited, if we had space for them. + +Second. The history of modern spiritualism furnishes many cases of +future events being predicted long before they took place. In fact, many +of the most important events of modern times which have occurred in this +and other countries, were foreseen and foretold by spiritual seers known +as "seeing mediums," when there was not the slightest probability that +such events would ever occur. We will cite one or two cases, by way +of proof and illustration. A few years ago John P. Coles, of New York, +known as a spiritual medium, prophesied, when under spirit control, +that Nicholas of Russia would shortly have difficulty with his secretary +Menzicoff, and just three months from that time would die--a prediction +that was fulfilled to the very letter and to the very hour. And yet +there was not the slightest probability, externally indicated, at the +time the prophecy was uttered, that either of these events would ever be +realized. And this prophecy, let it be noted, was published in the New +York Times at least two months before it was verified, thus proving that +the prediction was not an "afterclap" affair, but preceded the event. +Take another example. The serious calamity which befell the ill-fated +steamer known as the Arctic, which was lost at sea a number of years +ago, with all on board, was prophetically described in minute detail, +by a spirit medium, several months before it occurred; and was seen and +described by another medium, while taking place more than a thousand +miles distant. The proof is at our command. And the late disastrous +war was foreseen and described by Cora Tappan, of New York, and other +mediums, and its principal events pointed out long before the war broke +out--a fact which is now a matter of history. These are only a few cases +out of hundreds that might be cited of a similar character, drawn from +the practical history of modern spiritualism. If, then, prophecy can do +anything toward the truth or divine emanation of the Christian religion, +it must do the same for the heathen and spiritual systems. And thus +proving too much, it proves nothing at all. + +Third. The Jewish prophecies not fulfilled. We have examined critically +the various texts of the Christian bible called prophecies, and find +that, if claimed as predictions of the future events beyond the powers +of the natural mind to foresee, they have all failed. But few of them +have been fulfilled in any sense, and those few required no divine +prescience to foresee the result. Many events have transpired in every +country, which the natural sagacity of the most observant minds in that +country had anticipated as the result of natural causes, such as the +ravages and downfall of cities and the overthrow of empires by the +merciless hand of war. The Jewish prophet, fostering a spirit of envy +and enmity towards Egypt, Babylon, and other superior kingdoms, because +they had been overpowered by them and long held in subjection to +their superior sway, were always prophesying evil things of these +principalities. And though some of the evils which constituted the +burden of prophecy might have been reasonably anticipated as natural +occurrences, it is a signal fact they never transpired at all,--such +as the total destruction of Babylon, Tyre, Damascus, and other cities +belonging to those hostile kingdoms the Jews so much envied and +execrated. Look, for proof, at the case of Damascus. The prophets +Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, all poured out their fulminatory thunders +upon this city. Isaiah declared it should be a "ruinous heap." (Isa. +xvii. I.) And Jeremiah predicted its destruction by fire. (Jer. xlix. +27.) And yet, notwithstanding these predictions of ruin, Damascus still +stands as "one of the paradises of the earth," as one writer styles it, +with a population, according to Burckhart, of not less than two hundred +and fifty thousand, being one of the most magnificent and prosperous +commercial cities on the globe. Instead of being blotted out of +existence, as the Jewish prophets prayed and predicted, it has suffered +less by ravages of war and the scythe of time than almost any other city +of the east. It has stood nearly three thousand years without becoming +a "ruinous heap," or being consumed by fire or destroyed by war. (Jer. +xlix. 26.) And the prophecy against Tyre has most signally failed also. +Ezekiel declared it should be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and never be +found again. (Ezek. xxvi.-xxix.) But two hundred and fifty years after +Nebuchadnezzar's time Alexander found it a strong commercial city. And +it still contains a population of five thousand or more. St. Jerome, of +the fourth century, declared it to be then the finest city of Phoenicia, +and was astonished that Ezekiel's prophecy had so utterly failed. + +And Isaiah's famous prediction against Babylon furnishes another proof +of the utter failure of Jewish prophecy. He declared, after predicting +its destruction, "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt +in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent +there." (Isa. xiii. 20.) Of course he desired it should be so. But, +unfortunately for his credit as a prophet, it never suffered such a +calamity. On the contrary, according to Layard and Rawlinson, British +commissioners who recently visited the place, it now presents "all the +activity of a hive of bees" (to use Layard's language), and contains +several thousand inhabitants, though its name is, since rebuilt, called +Hillah. And thus the prophecy is falsified. "No," exclaims a good +Christian brother, in forlorn hope, it may be fulfilled yet. But if he +will examine the language of the prophecy, he will find he is entirely +cut off from this "saving clause." The prophet says, "Her time is near +to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." (Isa. xiii. 22.) Thus it +is evident the prophecy was to be fulfilled in that age and generation. +The failure, then, is absolute and indisputable. And these are but mere +samples of the complete failure of every text called a prophecy, when +applied to the prognostication of future events. Numerous texts can +be found in the prophets auguring evil for Egypt, which have made +no approximation toward fulfillment. Ezekiel prophesied "the fall of +Egypt," "the desolation of Egypt," "the destruction of Egypt," &c., +not one of which calamities has ever been realized in her experience. +Prophecies respecting the restoration of the lost tribes and the +perpetuity of the Israelitish throne are complete failures; also all +"the Messianic prophecies," so called. (See Chap. II.) With respect +to the prophecy on Babylon, it may be further observed that while the +prophet declares, "Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there" (Isa. +xiii. 22), Layard declares that is the very thing they did do while +he was there. He says he saw a number of Arabian tents pitched on +the ground; thus proving a failure of the prophecy all round in every +particular. (See note page Fourth). The bible itself is a witness that +truthful prophecy can do nothing toward authenticating a religion, +or toward proving the prophet divinely inspired. The same damaging +concession is made here as in the case of miracles, that a heathen and +an unbeliever could and did succeed as well as the true disciples of the +faith. The proof of this statement is found in the history of Balaam. +His figurative representation of a star coming out of Jacob and +a scepter out of Judah (see Numb. chap. xxiv.) is often quoted +by Christian writers as presaging or prefiguring the coming of +Christ,--thus making a heathen and an unbeliever the oracle of a +Messianic prophecy, and a heathen, too, of sinful and ungodly habits. +So that the Christian subterfuge is not available here, that "God might +make a righteous man of any nation the vehicle of prophecy." For we have +the express declaration of the bible itself that he was not a righteous +man, but the very reverse. Peter tells us, "He loved the wages of +unrighteousness," at the very time this prophecy so called was uttered +( see 2 Peter ii. 13 ), which prostrates forever the Christian plea the +"he might have possessed the true spirit of prophecy by virtue of being +a righteous man," and drives us to the admission that an unconverted +savage and ungodly heathen unbeliever could make a true prophecy. It not +being necessary, then, to be a Jew, or a Christian, or a believer, or +even a moral man, to foresee or foretell the far-off important events +of the future, the argument falls forever to the ground that the +fulfillment of the Jewish prophecies, if admitted to have been +fulfilled, could do anything toward proving the truth or divine +acceptance of the religion of the bible, or its superiority over any +heathen or oriental religion then or subsequently known to history, as +they all present the same evidence of being endowed with the true spirit +of prophecy. All argument for Christianity based on the prophecies, +or "the gift of prophecy," is, then, forever at an end, as it has been +shown that the power to foretell future events is not restricted by +the bible itself to any nation, to any religion, to any faith, to any +belief, or to any moral or religious qualification. What, then, is +prophecy worth, or what does it prove? Another case, and one similar to +that of Balaam in its essential points, is found in the New Testament. +Caiaphas, though not claiming to be any part of a believer, utters a +prophecy in the interest of the Christian religion for which the bible +itself gives him full credit as a prophet. Here, then, is another case +of a heathen stealing the Christian's thunder, and another proof that +the spirit of true prophecy has never been confined to any nation or +any religion; and hence, according to the teachings of the bible +itself, does nothing at all toward establishing the exalted claims of +Christianity, or toward proving its superiority over other systems of +religion. + + +III. Moral Precepts the third Pillar of the Christian Faith. + +It is declared, in view of the many wise precepts which issued from the +mouth of Jesus Christ, that "he spake as never man spake." (John vii. +46.) If this were true, then Gods must have been very numerous prior to +the Christian era. For there is not one of the moral maxims or preceptive +commands which he gave utterance to that cannot be found literally or +substantially in the older bibles of other nations, or the writings +of the Greek philosophers, and the religious dissertations of heathen +moralists, who gave out moral and religious lessons for the instruction +of the world long prior to the birth of Christ. Even the Golden Rule, +which Christian writers, ignorant or oriental history, have erroneously +ascribed to Jesus Christ, and lauded him as being the author of, is +found variously expressed in the writings of several heathen or oriental +nations. We find it in the Chinese bible at least live hundred years +older than ours, almost word for word as Jesus uttered it. We will here +present it as expressed by different writers. + +1. Golden Rule by Confucius, 500 B. C. + +"Do unto another what you would have him do unto you, and do not to +another what you would not have him do unto you. Thou needest this law +alone. It is the foundation of all the rest." + +2. Golden Rule by Aristotle, 385 B. C. + +"We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act +toward us." + +3. Golden Rule by Pittacus, 650 B. C. + +"Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him." + +4. Golden Rule by Thales, 464 B. C. + +"Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." + +5. Golden Rule by Isocrates, 338 B. C. + +"Act toward others as you desire them to act toward you." + +6. Golden Rule by Aristippus, 365 B. C. + +"Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as anxious for +another's welfare as your own." + +7. Golden Rule by Sextus, a Pythagorean, 406 B. C. + +"What you wish your neighbors to be to you, such be also to them." + +8. Golden Rule by Hillel, 50 B. C. + +"Do not to others what you would not like others to do to you." + +Here is the Golden Rule proclaimed by seven heathen moralists and a +Jew long before it was republished by the founder of Christianity; +thus proving it to be of heathen origin, and proving that it does not +transcend the natural capacity of the human brain to originate, and +hence needs no God to reveal it. Indeed, it is one of the most natural +sentiments of the human mind. "Would I like to be treated thus?" is +the first thought which naturally arises in the mind of a person +when maltreating a neighbor; thus showing that the Golden Rule is a +spontaneous utterance of the moral feelings of the human mind. + + +LOVE AND KIND TREATMENT OF ENEMIES. + +Love to enemies is considered to be another praiseworthy precept, which +Christ has erroneously the credit of being the author of. We have heard +the declaration made in the Christian pulpit, that Jesus Christ was the +first moral teacher who inculcated love to enemies; a most transcendent +error, as the following historical citations will show. Most of the +religious books and religious teachers of the ancient oriental heathen +breathe forth a spirit of love and kindness toward enemies. + +The following is from the old Persian bible, the Sadder:-- + +1. + + "Forgive thy foes, nor that alone; + Their evil deeds with good repay; + Fill those with joy who leave thee none, + And kiss the hand upraised to slay." + +The Christian bible would be searched in vain to find a moral sentiment +or precept superior to this. Certainly it is the loftiest sentiment of +kindness toward enemies that ever issued from human lips, or was ever +penned by mortal man. And yet it is found in an old heathen bible. Think +of "kissing the hand upraised to slay." Never was love, and kindness, +and forbearance toward enemies more sublimely expressed than in the old +Persian ballad. + +2. "Treat thine enemy as though a friend, and he will become thy +friend," was expressed by Publius Syrus, a Roman slave, which is a wiser +admonition than that of Christ, "Love thine enemy," as it is a moral +impossibility. + +3. "All nature cries aloud, 'Shall man do less than heal the smiter, and +the railer bless?'" (Hafiz, a Mahomedan.) + +4. "Bridle thine anger, and forgive thine enemy; give unto him who takes +from thee." (Koran, Mahomedan bible. ) + +5. "Let no man be offended with those who are angry at him, but reply +gently to those who curse him." (Code of Menu.) + +6. "Let him endure injuries, and despise no one." (Ibid.) + +7. "Commit no hostile action for your own preservation." (Ibid.) + +8. "To be revenged on enemies, become more virtuous." (Diogenes.) + +9. "To strike a man, or vex him with words, is a sin." (Zend-Avesta, +Persian bible.) + +10. "Even the intention to strike is a sin." (Ibid.) + +11. "Desire not the death of thine enemy." (Confucius.) + +12. "Acknowledge benefits, but never revenge injuries." (Ibid.) + +13. "We may dislike an enemy without desiring revenge." (Ibid.) + +14. "Pardon the offenses of others, but never your own." (Publius +Syrus.) + +15. "The noble spirit cures injustice by forgiving it." (Ibid.) + +16. "It is much better to be injured than to kill a man." (Pythagoras.) + +17. "You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force." (Publius +Syrus.) + +18. "Better overlook an injury than avenge it." (Publius Syrus.) + +19. "It is enough to think ill of an enemy without avenging it." +(Publius Syrus.) + +20. "It is a kingly spirit to return good deeds for evil ones." (Ibid.) + +21. + + "Learn for yon orient shell to love thy foe, + And store with pearls the hand that brings thee woe; + Flee, like yon rock, from base, vindictive pride, + Emblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side." + + (Hafiz.) + +22. "To revenge yourself on an enemy, make him your friend." +(Pythagoras.) + +23. "It is not permitted to a man who has received an injury to revenge +it by doing another." (Socrates, in his Crito.) + +24. "Seek him who turns thee out, and pardon him who injures thee." +(Koran.) + +25. "Return not evil for evil." (Socrates.) + +26. "Endure all things if you would serve God." (Sextus.) + +27. "Desire to be able to benefit your enemies." (Ibid.) + +28. "Receive an injury rather than do one." (Publius Syrus.) + +29. "Be at war with men's vices, but at peace with their persons." +(Ibid.) + +30. "Cultivate friendship for an enemy." (Pittacus.) + +31. "Be kind to your friends that they may continue so, and to your +enemies that they may become so." (Ibid.) + +32. "Prevent injuries if possible; if not, do not revenge them." (Ibid.) + +33. "An enemy should not be hated, but cured." (Seneca.) + +34. "To act unkindly toward an enemy will increase his hate." +(Antonius.) + +35. "Be to everybody kind and friendly." (Ibid.) + +36. "Speak evil of no one, not even your enemies." (Pittacus.) + +Thus it will be observed that love and kindness toward all mankind, both +friends and enemies, is not confined to the teachings of Christ or +to the Christian religion, as many have erroneously supposed, but +is unquestionably a natural sentiment of the moral instinct or moral +impulses of the human mind, and hence is no proof that their teacher is +either a God or divinely inspired. + +And we have in our possession nearly eight hundred more precepts (see +vol. ii.) from the pens or mouths of the ancient heathen, enjoining just +and kind treatment of women, and setting forth nearly all the duties of +life, and teaching the immortality of the soul, &c. And these precepts +breathe the same lofty moral sentiment and moral feeling as those quoted +above. How ignorant and how conceited must be the Christian professor +who supposes all goodness is confined to Christianity, or that it even +possesses any great superiority over other religious systems! And +how completely the three foregoing parts of this chapter, "Miracles," +"Prophecies," and "Precepts," prostrate the divine claims of +Christianity, and leave not an inch of ground for them to rest upon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. LOGICAL OR COMMON SENSE VIEW OF THE DOCTRINE OF DIVINE +INCARNATION + +THE incarnation of an infinite God is a shocking absurdity, and an +infinite impossibility. We ask in all solemn earnestness, and in the +name of the intuitive monitions of an unshackled reason and an unbiased +conscience, can any man in his sober senses, who has been in the habit +of reflecting before he believes, entertain for a moment the monstrous +absurdity that the Almighty and Infinite Maker of the universe was once +reduced to a little wailing infant, lying in senseless and helpless +weakness on the lap of its mother, unable to walk a step, or lisp a +word, or do aught but cry with pain or for nourishment stored in the +mother's breast? What! Almighty God fallen from his burnished, dazzling +throne in the lofty heavens, and reduced to helpless, senseless +babyhood! Omnipotence shorn of all power but to breathe, and cry, and +smile! What! that Omniscient Being, who "leads one world by day, and +ten thousand more by night," becoming suddenly transformed into a human +bantling, which knows no higher enjoyment that that of being "pleased +with a rattle, and tickled with a straw!" Who can believe it? Ay, who +dare believe it, if he would escape the charge of blasphemy? Then say +not that "the man Christ Jesus," though standing at the top of the +ladder of moral manhood, and high above the common plane of humanity, +was yet a God--"the Infinite Ruler of the infinite universe." Who can +believe that that Being, whose existence stretches to an eternity beyond +human conception, yea, whom "the heaven of heavens cannot contain," was +ever cooped up in a human body, reduced so near to nothing in dimensions +as to be susceptible (as was Jesus) of being weighed in scales, and +measured with a yardstick? + +We ask again, Who, from the deepest depths of his inmost, enlightened +consciousness, can believe such revolting, such atheistical doctrine +as this? Or who will venture to descend still lower, and conceive of +an Almighty, Omnipresent Being, who fills all space above, around, and +beneath, "from infinity below to yon fixed star above," and millions +upon millions of miles beyond it, sinking and dwindling to that mere +mite, speck, or monad state and condition comprehended in the initiatory +step of embryonic existence? And then think of the Almighty, Omnipotent +Creator of the universe lying in a manger with four-footed beasts and +creeping things, sleeping with oxen and asses in a stable. Next he +is seen an urchin on the street playing with marbles and jack-knives, +absorbed and forgetful of the world around him. Who can believe that +awfully majestic Being, who is represented by his own inspired book as +being so transcendently grand and awe-inspiring that "no man san see +him and live" (Ex. xxxiii. 20), was not only daily seen by hundreds and +thousands, but was on such familiar terms with men, that they regarded +him as their companion, and equal, and even sometimes coolly reprimanded +him for supposed misdemeanors and errors? Could they believe this to be +Almighty God? Impossible! Impossible! And then who can believe that that +infinite Being, whom we have been taught to regard as absolutely and +eternally unchangeable, could become subject to hunger and thirst +(as did Jesus)? Or who can believe that the eternally and unceasingly +watchful Omnipotent Deity, whose eye, we are told, "never slumbers," +could sink into unconscious sleep, become "to dumb forgetfulness a +prey," night after night, for thirty years, oblivious, and unconscious +of the world around him? Think of a being of incomprehensible majesty, +dignity, and power, able to "shake the heavens and the earth also," +being unable to protect himself from insult, and was therefore derided +and "spit upon," and finally overcome by his enemies, as is related of +Jesus. Can any man believe, who has not made shipwreck of his senses, or +banished Reason from her courts, that God 'Almighty, who comprehends +in himself the most absolute and boundless perfection of goodness and +wisdom, was tempted by demons, devils, and crawling serpents? Who can +believe that the Lord, who owns "the cattle upon a thousand hills" +(Psalm 1. io), and the countless host of worlds besides, that wheel +their course through infinite space, had not "where to lay his head"? +Who can believe that that was the all-wise, omnipotent, and omnipresent +God, possessing all power in heaven above and the earth beneath, who was +betrayed by weak, finite mortals? What! the Almighty Creator betrayed by +a puny being of his own creation into the hands of his disobedient and +rebellious children? Why could he not, if possessing "power to lay +down his life, and take it up again" (John x. 17), cause that all these +children of his (as we must assume they were, if he was Almighty God, +and hence the Father of all) should love him, instead of hating him? +Can any man believe that Jesus was possessed with omnipotent power +while standing to be whipped (scourged) by Pontius Pilate, or that +he possessed a power above that of finite mortals while in the act of +praying, with such extreme ardor that the sweat dropped from his face, +that the cup of death might pass from his lips, or while calling for an +angel to support him in the hour of his mortal dissolution? or that He, +"by whom all things exist," could cease himself to exist, by dying upon +the cross between malefactors? Think of this, reader! and think of the +eternal Creator, the infinite Deity, the omnipotent Jehovah, the Maker +of worlds as numberless as the sands upon the sea-shore for multitude, +fainting, bleeding, dying, and pouring out his own blood to appease his +own wrath; dying an ignominious death to satisfy an implacable revenge! +Away with such insulting mockery, such blasphemous flummery! It can +only find place in the dark chambers of an unenlightened mind. + +Well has Watts said of Locke's skepticism,-- + + "Reason could scarcely sustain to see, + Or bear the infant Deity: + A ransomed world, a bleeding God, + And heaven appeased by flowing blood, + Were themes too painful to be understood." + +Yes, and too painful to be believed, too, Mr. Watts! Here we have a +"bleeding God," an "infant Deity," and a vengeful God, appeased by +murder and streams of "flowing blood." Gracious heavens! Whose reason +does not revolt at such a picture? Whose soul does not sicken at +the thought, and who would not prefer, infinitely prefer, to sink +to annihilation, if not to perdition itself, to being thus saved by +navigating a river of blood?? Dr. South hits off some of the absurdities +involved in the Christian doctrine of the incarnation so forcibly and so +lucidly, that we cannot resist the temptation to subjoin---here a few +extracts from his sermon on the subject' "But now," says this Christian +clergyman, "was there ever any wonder comparable to this, to behold the +Lord (Jesus Christ) thus clothed in flesh, the Creator of all things, +humbled, not only to the company, but also to the cognation, of his +creatures? It is as if one should imagine the whole world not only +represented upon, but also contained in, one of our own artificial +globes, or the body of the sun enveloped in a cloud as big as a man's +hand, all of which would be looked upon as astonishing impossibilities, +and yet is as short of the other as the finite is of the infinite, +between which the disparity is immeasurable. It is, as it were, to +cancel the essential distances of things, to remove the bounds of +nature, to bring heaven and earth, and what is more, both ends of the +contradiction, together. Men cannot persuade themselves that a Deity and +infinity should lie within so narrow a compass as the dimensions of +a human body; that omnipotence, omnipresence should ever be wrapped in +swaddling clothes, and debased to the homely usages of a stable and a +manger; that the glorious Artificer of the whole universe, who spread +out the heaven like a curtain, and laid the foundations of the earth, +could ever turn carpenter, and exercise an inglorious trade in a little +cell. They cannot imagine that He who once created and at present +governs the world, and shall hereafter judge the world, should be abased +in all his concerns and relations, be scourged, spit upon, mocked and at +last crucified. All which are passages which lie extremely close to the +notions of conceptions which reason has made to itself of that high +and impossible perfection that resided in the divine Creator." (Sermon, +1665.) Dr. South, it will be observed, admits that the doctrine of +the divine incarnation involves many palpable absurdities and +contradictions, and lies directly across the path of reason. Fatal +admission to the doctrine of the deityship of Christ, but true, as his +own elucidation of the subject demonstrates. To the author, since he +first subjected the question to a logical scrutiny, and looked at it +with an unbiased mind, it presents difficulties insurmountable, and +absurdities innumerable. He can imagine nothing more transcendently +shocking, revolting, and dwarfing to the mind, both morally and +intellectually, than the thought of believing that a being born of and +suckled by a woman, and possessing the mere form and dimensions of +a man, can be regarded as the great Almighty and Omnipotent God, the +Creator of unnumbered worlds, millions of which are larger than this +planet, on which Jesus was born. + +And then, reader, look for a moment at some of the many childish +incongruities and logical difficulties this giant absurdity drags with +it. It represents Almighty God as coming into the world through the +hands of a midwife, as passing through the process of gestation and +parturition. It insults our reason with the idea that the great, +infinite Jehovah could be molded into the human form--a thought that is +shocking to the moral sense, and withering, cramping, and dwarfing to +the intellectual mind, imposing upon it a heavy drag-chain which checks +its expansion, and forbids its onward progress. Christians tell us that +the human and the divine were united in "the man Christ Jesus." But this +is a monstrous absurdity, which no truly rational and unbiased mind can +accept for an instant--that of hitching, splicing, tying, or dovetailing +together finite man with the infinite Jehovah, that of amalgamating +and commingling human foibles with divine perfection. Think of wedding +mortal weakness to omnipotent power, local man with the omnipresent +Deity! Think of compounding the creature and the Creator in one and the +same being! Think of the omnipresent "I AM," whose illimitable existence +stretches far away throughout the expansive arena of a boundless +universe, occupying a dwelling within the narrow confines of the human +temple! As well essay to crowd the universe into your pocket, or the +Himalayas Mountains into a thimble. On the other hand, think of a small +compound of flesh, blood, and bones, a few feet in dimensions, and +weighing perhaps not more than one hundred and fifty pounds avoirdupois, +containing that infinite, omnipresent Being, whom, we are told (we +repeat the quotation), "the heaven of heavens cannot contain"! And more +than all, kind reader, I ask you if you can accept for a moment, without +the immolation of your common sense, and the trampling of your reason +beneath you feet, the monstrous thought that that mighty and almighty +Architect who who created the countless myriads upon myriads of +ponderous worlds, which now roll in majestic order, and eternal rotation +along the great cerulean causeway of heaven, that mighty Architect who, +from time beyond human computation, has been rolling out orb after orb, +world after world, if not myriads at a time, ten thousand times, ten +thousand of which would dwindle our little pygmy, Lilliputian planet +into insignificance, if compared with it in size. + +I ask, and drive home the query to your inward consciousness, and the +inmost temples of your sacred reason: + +Can you believe, after a moment's reflection, that a Being who is too +vast, infinitely too vast in power and ubiquity to be grasped by the +human understanding, did become (as did the finite and humble Jesus) +a helpless, senseless, unconscious, human infant; a suckling, crying, +squalling babe, powerless of speech, and unable to walk? Ay, worse, +more startling still, we are shocked with the thought that this mighty +World-builder, this infinite, omnipotent Creator, was reduced so near to +the verge of nonenity, so near to the last glimmering spark or speck +of existence, and the world so near without a God, as to become an +inanimate foetus--a monad in the matrix of a human virgin? Shocking the +thought! Blasphemous the doctrine! Believe it who will; believe it who +can! We cannot; we would not; we are infinitely beyond it. Such a belief +may be deposited by educational tradition in the affections, but to +enter the temple of Reason, it never did, it never can. She never +unbarred her doors to admit such monstrous, such enormous incongruities. +and all these logical absurdities, and a thousand more, grow +legitimately out of the doctrine of the divine incarnation,--out of +the postulate which would (following in the line of the pagan +superstitutions) elevate the finite, humble, mortal Jesus to the throne +of heaven, the exclusive prerogative of Almighty God. Come away, my +Christian friends, from such disparaging, such dishonorable views of the +Deity, such blasphemous caricatures of Almighty God. Come away from such +morally darkening and such intellectually dwarfing superstitutions, the +moldering relics of oriental mythology, the expiring embers of childish +credulity and tradition, which originated far back in the dark cradle +of human existence, in the infancy of an undeveloped age, ruled by +ignorance, superstition, and priestcraft. Yet millions of people laying +claim to sense and intelligence, even now profess to believe it. Talk +not to me of infidelity or blasphemy for denying the divinity or +Godhead of Jesus Christ. The blasphemy lies in the other direction. The +infidelity is with the opposite party. It is with those who thus make +the dignity and character of Deity the sport of childish I baubles, the +game of priestly tawdryism. And be assured, dear friends, one and +all, that coming generations will mark the man who now worships "the +man Christ Jesus" as being "very God" as an idolater, if not a +blasphemer--for worshipping a finite man for an infinite God, even +though the motives for such worship may be as pure as the pearly stream +that issues forth from the golden fount which rolls and sparkles beneath +the throne of Almighty God. + + Note. The words Creator, Maker, &c., are used from a + Christian standpoint Science knows no Creator. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. PHILOSOPHICAL ABSURDITIES OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINE +INCARNATION + +THERE is a philosophical principle underlying the doctrine of the Divine +Incarnation, whose logical deductions completely overthrow the claim of +Jesus of Nazareth to the Godhead, and which we regard as settling the +question as conclusively as any demonstrated problem in mathematics. +This argument is predicated upon the philosophical axiom, that two +infinite beings of any description of conception, cannot exist, either +in whole or in part, at the same time; and per consequence, it is +impossible that the Father and Son should both be God in a divine sense, +either conjointly or separately. The word infinite comprehends all; it +covers the whole ground; it fills the immensity of the universe, and +fills it to repletion! so that there is no room left for any other being +to exist. And whoever and whatever does exist must constitute a part of +this infinite whole. + +Now, the Christian world concedes ( for it is the teaching of their +Scriptures), that the Father is God, always and truly, perfect, +complete, and absolute; that there is nothing wanting in him to +constitute him God in the most comprehensive and absolute sense of the +term; that he is all we can conceive of as constituting God, "the one +only true God" (John xvii. 3), and was such from all eternity, before +Jesus Christ was born into the world; and Paul puts the keystone into +the arch by proclaiming, "To us there is but one God, the Father." ( +1 Cor. viii. 6.) Hence we have here a logical proposition (despite the +sophistry of Christendom) as impregnable as the rocks of Gibraltar, that +the Father alone is or can be God, which effectually shuts out every +other and all other beings in the universe from any participation in the +Godhead with the Father. And thus this parity of reasoning demonstrates +that the very moment you attempt to make Christ God, or any part of the +Godhead, you attempt a philosophical impossibility. You cannot introduce +another being as God in the infinite sense until the first-named +infinite God is dethroned and put out of existence, and this, of course, +is a self-evident impossibility. It it were not such, then we should +have two Gods, both absolute and infinite. On the other hand, if that +other being (who with the Christians is Jesus Christ, with the Hindoos +Chrishna, with the Budhists Sakia, &c. ) is introduced as only a part of +the infinite and perfect God, then it is evident to every mind with the +least philosophical perception, that some change or alteration must +take place in the latter before such a union can be effected. But such +a change, or any alteration, in a perfect infinite being would at once +reduce him to a changeable and finite being, and thus he would cease to +be God. For it is a clear philosophical and mathematical axiom, that a +perfect and infinite being cannot become more than infinite. And if +he could and should become less than infinite, he would at once become +finite, and thus lose all the attributes of the Godhead. To say or +assume, then, that Christ was God in the absolute or divine sense, and +the Father also God absolute, and yet that there is but one God, or that +the two could in any manner be united, so as to constitute but one God, +is not only a glaring solecism, but a positive contradiction in terms, +and an utter violation of the first axiomatic principles of philosophy +and mathematics. It also asserts the illogical hypothesis, that a part +can be equal to the whole; it first assumes the Father to be absolutely +God, then assumes the Son also to be absolutely God, and finally +assumes each to be only a part, and has to unite them to make whole and +culminates the theological farce. Such is Christian ratiocination. + +Again, it is conceded by Christians, that the Father is an omnipresent +being; and we have shown that it is a mathematical impossibility for two +omnipresent beings, or two beings possessing any infinite attributes, to +exist at one and the same time. Hence the clear logical deducsequence, +not God. Again, we have another philosophical maxim or axiom familiar +to every schoolboy, that no two substances or beings can occupy the same +place at the same time; the first must be removed before the second can +by any possibility be introduced, in order thus to make room for the +latter. But as omnipresent means existing everywhere, there can be no +place to remove on omnipresent being to, or rather there can be no place +or space he can be withdrawn from in order to make room for another +being, without his ceasing to be omnipresent himself, and thereby +ceasing to be God. + +It is thus shown to be a demonstrable truth that the omnipresence of +the Father does and must exclude that of the Son, and thus exclude the +possibility of his apatheosis or incarnated deityship. In other words, +it is established as a scientific principle upon a philosophical and +mathematical basis, that Jesus Christ was not and could not be "the +great I AM," "the only true God." + +We will notice one other philosophical absurdity involved in the +doctrine of the divine incarnation--one other solecism comprehended +in the childish notion which invests the infinite God with finite +attributes. It is a well-established and well-understood axiom in +philosocomplete God; and thereby that the Son could not be +omnipresent, and that "the less cannot be made to contain the +greater." A pint bottle cannot be made to contain a quart of wine. For +the same reason a finite body cannot contain an infinite spirit. Hence +philosophy presses the conclusion that "the man Christ Jesus" could not +have comprehended in himself "the Godhead bodily," inasmuch as it would +have required the infinite God to be incorporated in a finite human +body. We are therefore compelled to reject the doctrine of the incarnate +divinity, the belief in the deityship of Jesus Christ, because (with +many other reasons enumerated elsewhere) it involves a direct tilt +against some of the plainest principles of science, and challenges, ay, +virtually overthrows, some of the fundamental laws of both natural and +moral philosophy. No philosopher, therefore, does, or can believe in +the absolute divinity of Jesus Christ. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. PHYSIOLOGICAL ABSURDITIES OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINE +INCARNATION + +THERE is also a physiological principle (discovered by the author) +comprised in the doctrine of the Divine Incarnation fatal in its +practical and logical application to the divinity of Jesus Christ, +and all the other incarnate or flesh-invested Gods of antiquity. It is +evidently fraught with much logical force. It is based upon the law of +mental and physical correspondence. As is the physical conformation, so +is the mentality, is a law of analogy which pilots us to nearly all our +practical knowledge of the natural world. A knowledge of either serves +as an index to the other. + +When we observe an animal possessing that physical form and construction +peculiar to its species, we expect to find it practically exhibiting +the nature, character, disposition, and habits peculiar to that class of +animals. If it possesses, for example, the conformation of a sheep, we +infer at once that it has the disposition of a sheep, and we are never +disappointed in this conclusion. And when we encounter an animal with +the tiger form, we expect to see exhibited the tiger spirit. If it +possesses the well-known physical conformation of the tiger, we are +never deceived or misled when we assign it a predatory disposition. If +it is a tiger form, it is sure to be a tiger in character and habits. +And so of all the genera and species of animals that range upon the face +of the globe. We may travel through the whole field of animated +nature, and observe the infallible operation of this beautiful law +of correspondence till we come, however, to the crowning work of God, +called Man. Here we find this law, this beautiful chain of analogy, +broken by the doctrine of the "divine incarnation." God becomes a man, +at least is made to exhibit every external appearance of a man. All +external distinction between God and man is thus obliterated. So that +the very first being we meet in the street or on the highway possessing +the form, size, and physical conformation of a man, and presenting every +other external appearance of being a man, may nevertheless be a God. And +no less is this objection practically exemplified, and not less is the +infraction of this beautiful law of analogy observable in the case of +Jesus Christ, than in the numerous other incarnate Gods and demigods of +antiquity. Being in appearance a man, how was he to be, or how could he +be, visually distinguished from a man? Or how could those men who +were cotemporary with him, know, as they approached him, or as they +approached each other, whether they were meeting a man or a God? Seeing +that "he was found in fashion as a man" (Phil. ii. 8), either he might +be mistaken for a man, or they for a God. They were constantly liable to +be confounded. If, then, the infinite deityship was lodged in the person +of Jesus Christ, it is evident that that important fundamental law of +nature--"as is the form, so is the character"--was utterly annulled, +prostrated, annihilated, and banished from the world by the act. So +that all was, and is henceforth and forever, chaos, confusion, and +uncertainty. For if the principle can be violated in one instance, it +may be in another, and in thousands of cases, ad infinitum. If one case +could be allowed to occur, the principle is established, and nature's +universal chain of analogy is broken and destroyed; for to intercept the +law is to "break the tenth and ten thousandth link alike." + +Hence it is evident that if a being resembling a man may be a God, an +animal resembling a cow may be a horse, and yonder stick a poisonous +adder; and fatal may be the consequences, in thousands of instances, in +judging or inferring the nature and character of an animal by its form +and size. A supposed innocent animal might be a deadly enemy, or +vice versa. Can we then believe, or dare we believe, a doctrine +so atheistical in its tendencies as that the Infinite Diety was +incorporated in the person of the meek and lowly Jesus, when it would +thus set at naught, violate, prostrate, and utterly cancel from the +world one of God's own fundamental laws, and one of the essential +principles of natural science, and banish forever the co-ordinate +harmony of the universe, and thus inaugurate a state of universal +disorder, incertitude, anarchy, and misrule into the otherwise +beautifully law-governed, well-regulated domain of nature? Certainly, +most certainly not! If the incarnation of the Deity, should or +could take place, there should be something strikingly peculiar, ay, +infinitely peculiar, in his figure, size, and general appearance, in +order to make him susceptible of being distinguished from the human. +Otherwise, men would be liable to be constantly mistaking and worshiping +each other for the Great Almighty and Ubiquitous God, and thus +constantly blundering into idolatry. And we actually find several cases +reported in the Scriptures (mark the fact well) of men, ay, the +saints themselves, being led into this error; being led to commit "the +high-handed sin of idolatry" in consequence of their previous acceptance +of the belief in a man-God--that is, a God of human size and type. St. +John, in two instances, was in the act of worshipping a being possessing +the human form, whom he mistook for the omnipotent and omnipresent God. +(See Rev. xix. 10, and xxii. 4.) Having, perhaps, been taught that +"the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ Jesus," he probably +mistook the being he met for Him, and hence offered to worship him. If, +then, Christ's own "inspired disciples" could thus be betrayed into "the +sin of idolatry" by having abolished the infinite distinction between +the divine and the human, we surely find here a very weighty argument +against such a leveling and equalizing doctrine. And certainly nothing +could be better calculated to promote "the sin of idolatry" than thus to +obliterate the broad, the infinitely grand line of demarkation between +the infinite God and his finite creature man. Indeed, may we not here +find the very origin and the cause of the now general prevalence +of idolatry in pagan countries? Is it not directly traceable to the +demolition of the broad, high, and insurmountable wall of distinction +which ought forever to stand between a God of infinite attributes, and a +being caged up in the human form? Certainly, most certainly it is. Hence +here I would ask, How can Christians, after subscribing to the doctrine, +"that the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in the man Christ Jesus" +(as Paul very appropriately calls him), condemn the people of any age or +nation for worshipping as God their fellow-beings--that is, beings with +the human form? Certainly the man who could believe that the infinite +God could be comprehended or incorporated in the person of Jesus, could +easily be brought to believe that the Grand Lama of Thibet is a proper +object of divine worship. He only lacks the substitution of names. +Substitute the Grand Lama for that of Jesus Christ, and the thing is +done. And idolatry thus becomes an easily established institution, and +its abolition in any country an absolute moral impossibility. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. A HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. + +A MOST fatal distrust is thrown upon the miraculous portions of the +history of Jesus Christ, as found in his Gospel narratives, by the +discovery of the fact (brought to light through recent archaeological +researches), that the same marvelous feats, the same miraculous +incidents, which were recorded in his life, were long previously +ingrafted into the sacred biographies of Gods and demigods no less +adored and worshipped as beings possessing divine attributes. We +shall leave the reader to account for the long list of astonishing +coincidences, as we proceed to recapitulate and abridge from previous +chapters, the almost innumerable parallel incidents running through +the legendary history of the many demigods and sin-atoning saviors of +antiquity. The historical vouchers are given. We shall first direct +attention to the long string of corresponding events recorded in the +sacred histories of ancient Hindoo Gods, as compared with those of Jesus +Christ at a much later period. + +As far back as 1200 B. C., sacred records were extant and traditions +were current, in the East, which taught that the heathen Savior +(Chrishna) was, 1st, Immaculately conceived and born of a spotless +virgin, "who had never known man." 2d, That the author of, or agent in, +the conception, was a spirit or ghost (of course a Holy Ghost). 3d, +That he was threatened in early infancy with death by the ruling tyrant, +Cansa. 4th, That his parents had, consequently, to flee with him to +Gokul for safety. 5th, That all the young male children under two years +of age were slain by an order issued by Cansa, similar to that of Herod +in Judea. 6th, That angels and shepherds attended his birth. 7th, That +his birth and advent occurred on the 25th of December. 8th, That it +occurred in accordance with previous prophecy. 9th, That he was presented +at birth with frankincense, myrrh, &c. 10th, That he was saluted and +worshipped as "the Savior of men," according to the report of the late +Christian Missionary Huelith, That he led a life of humility and +practical moral usefulness. 12th, That he wrought various astounding +miracles, such as healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, +casting out devils, raising the dead to life, &c. 13th, That he was +finally put to death upon the cross (i. e., crucified) between two +thieves. 14th. After which he descended to hell, rose from the dead, +and ascended back to heaven "in the sight of all men," as his biblical +history declares. For hundreds of other similar parallels, including his +doctrines and precepts, see Chapter XXXII. + +Now, all these were matters of the firmest belief, more than three +thousand years ago, in the minds of millions of the most devout +worshippers that ever bowed the knee in humble prayer to the Father of +Mercies. The reader can draw his own deduction. + +And then we have presented similar brief lists of parallels in Chapter +XXIII., comprised in a comparative view of the miraculous lives of the +Judean and Egyptian Saviors, Christ, Alcides, Osiris, Tulis, &c. In +this analogous exhibition, it will be observed the Egyptian Gods are +reported, as remotely as 900 B. C, as performing, besides several of +the miraculous achievements enumerated above, other miracles equally +indicative of divine power, such as converting water into wine, +causing "rain to descend from heaven," &c. And on the occasion of the +crucifixion of Tulis we are told "the sun became darkened and the moon +refused to shine." + +We find, also, several well-authenticated instances of raising the dead +to life, in works portraying the miraculous achievements of the Egyptian +Gods, the relation being given in such specific detail in some cases +that the names of the reanimated dead are furnished. Tyndarus and +Hypolitus were instances of this kind, both (according to Julius) having +been raised from the dead. Descending the line of history, until we +arrive at the confines of Grecian theology, we find here the same train +of marvelous events recorded in the histories of their virgin-born Gods, +as we have shown in Chapter XXXIII., such as their healing the sick and +the cripples, causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dead to be +resuscitated to life, &c. And cases, as we have shown, are reported of +their reading the thoughts of their disciples, as Jesus did those of +the woman of Samaria. Apollonius declares he knew many Hindoo saints to +perform this achievement with entire strangers. + +Likewise Apollonius of Tyana and Simon Magus, both cotemporary with +Jesus Christ, we have arranged in the historic parallel (see Chapter +XXXIII.), with their long train of miracles, constituting an exact +counterpart with those related in the Gospel history of Christ, and +including in Apollonius's case, besides those specified in the +histories of the Gods above named, the miracle of transfiguration, the +resurrection from the dead, his visible ascent to heaven, &c., while +Simon Magus was very expert in casting out devils, raising the dead, +allaying storms, walking on the sea, &c. + +But without recapitulating further, we will recite some new historic +facts not embraced in any of the preceding chapters of this work, +and tending to demonstrate still further the universal analogy of all +religions, past and present, in their claims for a miraculous power +for their Gods and incarnate Saviors. The "New York Correspondent," +published in 1828, furnishes us the following brief history of an +ancient Chinese God, known as Beddou:-- + +"All the Eastern writers agree in placing the birth of Beddou 1027 B. +C. The doctrines of this Deity prevailed over Japan, China, and Ceylon. +According to the sacred tenets of his religion, 'God is incessantly +rendering himself incarnate,' but his greatest and most solemn +incarnation was three thousand years ago, in the province of Cashmere, +under the name of Fot, or Beddou. He was believed to have sprung from +the right intercostal of a virgin of the royal blood, who, when she +became a mother, did not the less continue to be a virgin; that the king +of the country, uneasy at his birth, was desirous to put him to death, +and hence caused all the males that were born at the same period to be +put to death, and also that, being saved by shepherds, he lived in +the desert to the age of thirty years, at which time he opened his +commission, preaching the doctrines of truth, and casting out devils; +that he performed a multitude of the most astonishing miracles, spent +his life fasting, and in the severest mortifications, and at his death +bequeathed to his disciples the volume in which the principles of his +religion are contained." + +Here, it will be observed, are some very striking counterparts to +the miraculous incidents found related in the Gospel history of Jesus +Christ. And no less analogous is the no less well-authenticated story +of Quexalcote of Mexico, which the Rev. Mr. Maurice concedes to be, and +Lord Kingsborough and Niebuhr (in his history of Rome) prove to be much +older than the Gospel account of Jesus Christ According to Maurice's +"Ind. Ant.," Humboldt's "Researches in Mexico," Lord Kingsbor-ough's +"Mexican Ant.," and other works, the incarnate God Quexalcote was born +(about 300 B. C.) of a spotless virgin, by the name Chimalman, and led a +life of the deepest humility and piety; retired to a wilderness, fasted +forty days, was worshipped as a God, and was finally crucified between +two thieves; after which he was buried and descended into hell, but +rose again the third day. The following is a part of Lord Kingsborough's +testimony in the case: "The temptation of Quexalcote, the fast of forty +days ordained by the Mexican ritual, the cup with which he was presented +to drink (on the cross), the reed which was his sign, the 'Morning +Star,' which he is designated, the 'Teoteepall, or Divine Stone,' +which was laid on his altar, and which was likewise an object of +adoration,--all these circumstances, connected with many others relating +to Quexalcote of Mexico, but which are here omitted, are very curious +and mysterious." (Vol. vi. p. 237, Mexican Ant.) + +Again "Quexalcote is represented, in the painting of Codex Borgianus, as +nailed to the cross." (See Mex. Ant. vol. vi. p. 166.) One plate in +this work represents him as being crucified in the heavens, one as being +crucified between two thieves. Sometimes he is represented as being +nailed to the cross, and sometimes as hanging with the cross in his +hands. The same work speaks of his burial, descent into hell, and +his resurrection; while the account of his immaculate conception and +miraculous birth are found in a work called "Codex Vaticanus." + +Other parallel incidents could be cited, if we had space for them, +appertaining to the history of this Mexican God. And parallels might +also be constructed upon the histories of other ancient Gods,--as that +of Sakia of India, Salivahana of Bermuda, Hesus, or Eros, of the Celtic +Druids, Mithra of Persia, Hil and Feta of the Mandaites, &c. + +But we will close with the testimony of a French philosopher (Bagin) on +the subject of deific incarnations. This writer says, "The most ancient +histories are those of Gods who became incarnate in order to govern +mankind. All those fables are the same in spirit, and sprang up +everywhere from confused ideas, which have universally prevailed among +mankind,--that Gods formerly descended upon earth." + +Now, we ask the Christian reader,--and it will be the first query +of every man whose religious faith has not made shipwreck of his +reason,--"What does all this mean? How are you going to sustain the +declaration that Jesus Christ was the only son and sent of God, in +view of these historic facts? Where are the superior credentials of his +claim? How will you prove his apparently legendary history (that is, the +miraculous portion of his history) to be real, and the others false?" +We boldly aver it cannot be done. Please answer these questions, or +relinquish your doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. THE SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF CHRIST'S DIVINITY. + +THE monstrous scientific paradox (as coming ages will regard it) +comprehended in the conception of an almighty, omnipresent, and infinite +Being, "the Creator of innumerable worlds," ("by him [Christ] were all +things made that were made," John i. 3-10), being born of a frail and +finite woman, as taught by both the oriental and Christian religion, is +so exceedingly shocking to every rational mind, which has not been sadly +warped, perverted, and coerced into the belief by early psychological +influence, that we would naturally presume that those who, on the +assumption of the remotest possibility of its truth, should venture +to put forth a doctrine so glaringly unreasonable and so obviously +untenable, would of course vindicate it and establish it by the +strongest arguments and by the most unassailable and most irrefragable +proofs; and that in setting forth a doctrine so manifestly at war with +every law and analogy of nature and every principle of science, no +language should have been used, nor the slightest admission made, +that could possibly lead to the slightest degree of suspicion that the +original authors and propagators of this doctrine had either any doubt +of the truth of the doctrine themselves, or were wanting in the most +ample, the most abundant proof to sustain it. No language, no text, +not a word, not a syllable should have been used making the most remote +concession damaging to the validity of the doctrine, so that not "the +shadow of a shade of doubt" could be left on any mind of its truth. +Omnipotent indeed should be the logic, and irresistible the proof, +in support of a thesis or a doctrine which so squarely confronts and +contradicts all the observation, all the experience, the whole range +of scientific knowledge, and the common sense of mankind. How startling +then, to every devout and honest professor of the Christian faith ought +to be the recent discovery of the fact, that the great majority of the +texts having any bearing upon the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus +Christ,--a large majority of the passages in the very book on which the +doctrine is predicated, and which is acknowledged as the sole warranty +for such a belief,--are actually at variance with the doctrine, and +actually amount to its virtual denial and overthrow. For we find, upon +a critical examination of the matter, that at least three-fourths of the +texts, both in the Gospels and Epistles, which relate to the divinity +of Christ, specifically or by implication either teach a different and +a contrary doctrine, or make concessions entirely fatal to it, by +investing him with finite human qualities utterly incompatible with the +character and attributes of a divine or infinite Being. How strange, +then, how superlatively strange, that millions should yet hold to such +a strange "freak of nature," such a dark relic of oriental heathenism, +such a monstrously foolish and childish superstition, as that which +teaches the infinite Creator and "Upholder of the universe" could +be reduced so near to nonentity, as was required to pass through the +ordinary stages of human generation, human birth, and human parturition, +--a puerile notion which reason, science, nature, philosophy, and common +sense, proclaim to be supremely absurd and self-evidently impossible, +and which even the Scriptures fail to sustain,--a logical, scriptural +exposition, of which we will here present a brief summary:-- + +1. The essential attributes of a self-existing God and Creator, and +"Upholder of all things." are infinitude, omnipotence, omniscience, +and omnipresence, and any being not possessing all these attributes to +repletion, or possessing any quality or characteristic in the slightest +degree incompatible with any one of these attributes, cannot be a God +in a divine sense, but must of necessity be a frail, fallible, finite +being. + +2. Jesus Christ disclaims, hundreds of times over, directly or +impliedly, the inherent possession of any one of these divine +attributes. + +3. His evangelical biographers have invested him with the entire +category of human qualities and characteristics, each one of which +is entirely unbefitting a God, and taken together are the only +distinguishing characteristics by which we can know a man from a God. + +4. Furthermore, there issued from his own mouth various sayings and +concessions most fatal to the conception of his being a God. + +5. His devout biographers have reported various actions and movements +in his practical life which we are compelled to regard as absolutely +irreconcilable with the infinite majesty, lofty character, and supreme +attributes of an almighty Being. + +6. These human qualities were so obvious to all who saw him and all +who became acquainted with him, that doubts sprang up among his own +immediate followers, which ultimately matured into an open avowal of +disbelief in his divinity in that early age. + +7. Upon the axiomatical principles of philosophy it is an utter and +absolute impossibility to unite in repletion the divine and the human in +the same being. + +8. And then Christ had a human birth. + +9. He was constituted in part, like human beings, of flesh and blood. + +10. He became, on certain occasions, "an hungered," like finite beings. + +11. He also became thirsty (John xix. 28), like perishable mortals. + +12. He often slept, like mortals, and thus became "to dumb forgetfulness +a prey." + +13. He sometimes became weary, like human beings. (See John iv. 6.) + +14. He was occasionally tempted, like fallible mortals. (Matt. iv. 1.) + +15. His "soul became exceeding sorrowful," as a frail, finite being. +(Matt. xxvi. 38.) + +16. He disclosed the weakness of human passion by weeping. (John xi. +35.) + +17. He was originally an imperfect being, "made perfect through +suffering." (Heb. ii. 10.) + +18. He "increased in wisdom and stature" (Luke ii. 52); therefore he +must have possessed finite, changeable, mortal attributes. + +19. And he finally died and was buried, like all perishable mortals. He +could not possibly, from these considerations, have been a God. It +is utterly impracticable to associate with or comprehend, in a God of +infinite powers and infinite attributes, all or any of these finite +human qualities. + +20. Dark, intellectually dark, indeed, must be that mind, and sunk, +sorrowfully sunk in superstition, that can worship a being as the great +omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent "I AM," who possessed all those +qualities which were constitutionally characteristic of the pious, the +noble, the devout, the Godlike, yet finite and fallible Jesus, according +to his own admissions and the representations of his own interested +biographers. + +21. The only step which the disciples of the Christian faith have made +toward disproving or setting aside these arguments, objections, and +difficulties, is that of assigning the incarnate Jesus a double or +twofold nature--the amalgamation of the human and divine; a postulate +and a groundless assumption, which we have proved and demonstrated by +thirteen arguments, which we believe to be unanswerable, is not only +absurd, illogical, and impossible, but foolish and ludicrous in the +highest degree. (See vol. ii.) + +22. This senseless hypothesis, and every other assumption and argument +made use of by the professors of the Christian faith to vindicate their +favorite dogma of the divinity of Jesus, we have shown to be equally +applicable to the demigods of the ancient heathen, more than twenty +of whom were invested with the same combination of human and divine +qualities which the followers and worshippers of Jesus claim for him. + +23. Testimony of the Father against the divinity of the Son. The Father +utterly precludes the Son from any participation in the divine essence, +or any claim in the Godhead, by such declarations as the following: "I +am Jehovah, and beside me there is no Savior." (Isaiah xliii. 11.) How, +then, we would ask, can Jesus Christ be the Savior? "I, Jehovah, am thy +Savior and thy Redeemer." Then Christ can be neither the Savior nor +Redeemer. "There is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior; +there is none beside me." (Isaiah xiv. 21.) So the Father virtually +declares, according to "the inspired prophet Isaiah," that the Son, in a +divine sense, cannot be either God, Savior, or Redeemer. Again, "I am +Jehovah, thy God, and thou shalt not acknowledge a God beside me." +(Hosea xiii. 4.) Here Christ is not only by implication cut off from the +Godhead, but positively prohibited from being worshipped as God. And +thus the testimony of the Father disproves and sets aside the divinity +of the Son. + +24. Testimony of the mother. When Mary found, after a long search, +her son Jesus in the temple, disputing with the doctors, and chided or +reproved him for staying from home without the consent of his parents, +and declared, "thy father and I sought thee, sorrowing" (Luke ii. 48), +she proclaimed a twofold denial of his divinity. In the first place it +cannot be possible that she regarded her son Jesus as "that awful Being, +before whom e'en the devout saints bow in trembling fear," when she used +such language and evinced such a spirit as she did. "Why hast thou thus +dealt with us?" (Luke ii. 48) is her chiding language. And then, when +she speaks of Joseph as his father, "thy father and I," she issues a +declaration against his divinity which ought to be regarded as settling +the question forever. For who could know better than the mother, or +rather, who could know but the mother, who the father of the child Jesus +was? And as she acknowledges it was Joseph, she thus repudiates the +story of the immaculate conception, which constitutes the whole basis +for the claim of his divinity. Hence the testimony of the mother, also, +disproves his title to the Godhead. + +25. Testimony or disclaimer of the Son. We will show by a specific +citation of twenty-five texts that there is not one attribute +comprehended in or peculiar to a divine and infinite Being, but that +Christ rejects as applicable to himself--that he most conclusively +disclaims every attribute of a divine Being, both by precept and +practice, and often in the most explicit language. + +26. By declaring, "The Son can do nothing of himself" (John v. 19), +he most emphatically disclaims the attribute of omnipotence. For an +omnipotent Being can need no aid, and can accept of none. + +27. When he acknowledged and avowed his ignorance of the day of +judgment, which must be presumed to be the most important event in the +world's history, he disclaimed the attribute of omniscience. "Of that +day and hour knoweth no man, neither the Son, but the Father only." +(Matt. xxiv. 36.) Now, as an omniscient Being must possess all +knowledge, his avowed ignorance in this case is a confession he was not +omniscient, and hence not a God. + +28. And when he declares, "I am glad for your sakes I was not there" (at +the grave of Lazarus), he most distinctly disavows being omnipresent, +and thus denies to himself another essential attribute of an infinite +God. + +29. And the emphatic declaration, "I live by the Father" (John vi. 57), +is a direct disclaimer of the attributes of self-existence; as a being +who lives by another cannot be self-existent, and, per consequence, not +the infinite God. + +30 He disclaims possessing infinite goodness, another essential +attribute of a supreme divine Being. "Why callest thou me good? there is +none good but one, that is God." (Mark x. 18.) + +31. He disclaim divine honors, and directed them to the father. "I honor +my Father." (John viii. 49.) "I receive not honor from men." (John v. +41.) + +32. He recommended supreme worship to the Father, and not to himself. +"The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." +(John iv. 21.) + +33. He ascribed supreme dominion to the Father. "Thine is the kingdom, +and the power, and the glory forever." (Matt. vi. 13.) + +34. It will be seen, from the foregoing text, that Christ also +acknowledges that the kingdom is the Father's. A God without a kingdom +would be a ludicrous state of things. + +35. He conceded supreme authority to the Father. + +"My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." (John vii. 16.) + +36. He considered the Father as the supreme protector and preserver of +even his own disciples. "I pray that thou shouldst keep them from the +evil." (John xvii. 15.) What, omnipotence not able to protect his own +disciples? + +37. In fine, he humbly acknowledged that his power, his will, his +ministry, his mission, his authority, his works, his knowledge, and his +very life, were all from, and belonged to and were under the control of, +the Father. "I can do nothing of myself;" "I came to do the will of him +that sent me." "The Father that dwelleth within me, he doeth the work," +&c. "A God within a God," is an old pagan Otaheitan doctrine. + +38. He declared that even spiritual communion was the work of the +Father. (See John vi. 45.) + +39. He acknowledged himself controlled by the Father. (See John v. 30.) + +40. He acknowledged his entire helplessness and dependence on the +Father. "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father +do." (John v. 19.) + +41. He acknowledged that even his body was the work of his Father; in +other words, that he was dependent on his Father for his physical life. +(See Heb. xvi. 5.) + +42. And more than all, he not only called the Father "the only true God" +(John xvii. 3), but calls him "my Father and my God." (John xx. 17.) +Now, it would be superlative nonsense to consider a being himself a +God, or the God, who could use such language as is here ascribed to the +humble Jesus. This text, this language, is sufficient of itself to +show that Christ could not have laid any claim to the Godhead on any +occasion, unless we degrade him to the charge of the most palpable and +shameful contradiction. + +43. He uniformly directed his disciples to pray, not to him, but the +Father. (See Matt. vi. 6.) + +44. On one occasion, as we have cited the proof (in Matt. xi. 11), he +even acknowledged John the Baptist to be greater than he; while it +must be patent to every reader that no man could be greater than the +almighty, supreme Potentate of heaven and earth, in any sense whatever. + +45. Testimony of the disciples. Another remarkable proof of the human +sireship of Jesus is, that one of his own disciples--ay, one of the +chosen twelve, selected by him as being endowed with a perfect knowledge +of his character, mission, and origin--this witness, thus posted and +thus authorized, proclaims, in unequivocal language, that Jesus was the +son of Joseph. Hear the language of Philip addressed to Nathanael. +"We have found him of whom Moses, in the law and the prophets, did +write--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (John i. 45.) No language +could be more explicit, no declaration more positive, that Jesus was the +son of Joseph. And no higher authority could be adduced to settle the +question, coming as it does from "headquarters." And what will, or +what can, the devout stickler for the divinely paternal origin of Jesus +Christ do with such testimony? It is a clincher which no sophistry can +set aside, no reasoning can grapple with, and no logic overthrow. + +46. His disciples, instead of representing him as being "the only true +God," often speak of him in contradistinction to God. + +47. They never speak of him as the God Christ Jesus, but as "the man +Christ Jesus." ( 1 Tim. ii. 5.) "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of +God." (Acts ii. 23.) It would certainly be blasphemy to speak of the +Supreme Being as "a man approved of God." Christian reader, reflect upon +this text. "By that man whom he (die Father) hath ordained" (Acts xvii. +3), by the assumption of the Godhead of Christ, we would be presented +with the double or twofold solecism, 1st. Of God being "ordained" by +another God; and 2d. That of his being blasphemously called a "man." + +48. Paul's declaration has been cited, that "unto us there is but one +God--the Father." ( 1 Cor. iv. 8. ) Now, it is plain to common sense, +that if there is but one God, and that God is comprehended in the +Father, then Christ is entirely excluded from the Godhead. + +49. If John's declaration be true, that "no man hath seen God at any +time" (John iv. 12), then the important question arises, How could +Christ be God, as he was seen by thousands of men, and seen hundreds of +times? + +50. God the Father is declared to be the "One," "the Holy One," "the +only One," &c., more than one hundred times, as if purposely to exclude +the participation of any other being in the Godhead. + +51. This one, this only God, is shown to be the Father alone in more +than four thousand texts, thirteen hundred and twenty-six of which are +found in the New Testament. + +52. More than fifty texts have been found which declare, either +explicitly or by implication, that God the Father has no equal, which +effectually denies or shuts out the divine equality of the Son. "To whom +will ye liken me, or shall I be equal with, saith the holy One." (Isaiah +xl. 25.) + +53. Christ in the New Testament is called "man," and "the Son of +man," eighty-four times,--egregious and dishonorable misnomers, most +certainly, to apply to a supreme and infinite Deity. On the other hand, +he is called God but three times, and denominates himself "the Son of +God" but once, and that rather obscurely. + +54. The Father is spoken of, in several instances, as standing in the +relation of God to the Son, as "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts +iii. 2.) "Ye are Christ's, and Christ is Gods." (i Cor. xi. 3.) Now, +the God of a God is a polytheistic, heathen conception; and 1 no +meaning or interpretation, as we have shown, can be I forced upon such +texts as these, that will not admit a plurality of Gods, if we admit +the titles as applicable to Christ, or that his scriptural biographers +intend to apply such a title in a superior or supreme sense. + +55. Many texts make Christ the mere tool, agent, image, servant, or +representative of God, as Christ, "the image of God" (Heb. i. 3), +Christ, the appointed of God (Heb. iii. 1), Christ, "the servant of God" +(Matt. xii. | 18), &c. To consider a being thus spoken of as himself the +supreme God, is, as we have demonstrated, the very climax of absurdity +and nonsense. To believe "the servant of God" is God himself,--that is, +the servant of himself,--and that God and his "image" are the same, is +to descend within one step of buffoonery. + +56. And then it has been ascertained that there are more than three +hundred texts which declare, either expressly or by implication, +Christ's subordination to and dependence on the Father, as, "I can do +nothing of myself;" "Not mine, but his that sent me;" "I came to do the +will of him that sent me" (John iv. 34); "I seek the will of my Father," +&c. + +57. And more than one hundred and fifty texts make the Son inferior to +the Father, as "the Son knoweth not, but the Father does" (Mark viii. +32); "My Father is greater than I;" "The Son can do nothing of himself" +(John v. 19), &c. + +58. There are many divine titles applied to the Father which are never +used in reference to the Son, as "Jehovah," "The Most High," "God +Almighty," "The Almighty," &c. + +On the other hand, those few divine epithets or titles which are used in +application to Jesus Christ, as Lord, God, Savior, Redeemer, +Intercessor, &c., it has been shown were all used prior to the birth of +Christ, in application to beings known and acknowledged to be men, and +some of them are found so applied in the bible itself; as, for example, +Moses is called a God in two instances, as we have shown, and cited the +proof (in Ex. iv. 16, vii. 1), while the title of Lord is applied to men +at this day, even in Christian countries. And instances have been cited +in the bible of the term Savior being applied to men, both in the +singular and plural numbers. (See 2 Kings xiii. 5, and Neh. ix. 27.) +Seeing, then, that the most important divine titles which the writers of +the New Testament have applied to Jesus were previously used in +application to men, known and admitted to be such, it is therefore at +once evident that those titles do nothing toward proving him to be the +Great Divine Being, as the modern Christian world assume him to be, even +if we base the argument wholly on scriptural grounds. While, on the +other hand, we have demonstrated it to be an absolute impossibility to +apply with any propriety or any sense to a divine infinite omnipotent +Being those finite human qualities which are so frequently used with +reference to Jesus throughout the New Testament. And hence, even if we +should suppose or concede that the writers of the New Testament did +really believe him to be the great Infinite Spirit, or the almighty, +omnipotent God,'we must conclude they were mistaken, from their own +language, from their own description of him, as well as his own virtual +denial and rejection of such a claim, when he applied to himself, as he +did in nine cases out of ten, strictly finite human qualities and human +titles (as we have shown), wholly incompatible with the character of an +infinite divine Being. We say, from the foregoing considerations, if the +primitive disciples of Jesus did really believe him to be the great +Infinite, both their descriptions of him and his description or +representation of himself, would amply and most conclusively prove that +they were mistaken. At least we are compelled to admit that there is +either an error in applying divine titles to Jesus, or often an error in +describing his qualities and powers, by himself and his original +followers, as there is no compatibility or agreement between the two. +Divine titles to such a being as they represent him to be, would be an +egregious misnomer. We say, then, that it must be clearly and +conclusively evident to every unbiased mind, from evidence furnished by +the bible itself, that if the divine titles applied to Jesus were +intended to have a divine significance, then they are misapplied. Yet we +would not here conclude an intentional misrepresentation in the case, +but simply a mistake growing out of a misconception, and the very +limited childish conception, of the nature, character, and attributes +of the "great positive Mind," so universally prevalent in that +semi-barbarous age, and the apparently total ignorance of the +distinguishing characteristics which separate the divine and the human. +We will illustrate: some children, on passing through a wild portion of +the State of Maine recently, reported they encountered a bear; and to +prove they could not be mistaken in the animal, they described it as +being a tall, slight-built animal, with long slender legs, of yellowish +auburn hue, a short, white, bushy tail, cloven feet, large branchy +horns, &c. Now, it will be seen at once that, while their description of +the animal is evidently in the main correct, they had simply mistaken a +deer for a bear, and hence misnamed the animal. + +In like manner we must conclude, from the repeated instances in which +Christ's biographers have ascribed to him all the foibles, frailties, +and finite qualities and characteristics of a human being, that if they +have in any instance called him a God in a divine sense, it is an +egregious misnomer. Their description of him makes him a man, and but a +man, whatever may have been their opinion with respect to the propriety +of calling him a God. And if the two do not harmonize, the former must +rule the judgment in all cases. The truth is, the Jewish founders of +Christianity entertained such a low, narrow, contracted, and mean +opinion of Deity and the infinite distinction and distance between the +divine and the human, that their theology reduced him to a level with +man; and hence they usually described him as a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. A METONYMIC VIEW OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST + +IF Jesus Christ were truly God, or if there existed such a co-equal +and co-essential oneness between the Father and the Son that they +constituted but one being or divine essence, then what is true of one +is true of the other, and a change of names and titles from one to the +other cannot alter the sense of the text. Let us, then, substitute the +titles found applied to the Son in the New Testament, to the Father, and +observe the effect:-- + +"My Son is greater than I." (John vii. 28.) + +"God can do nothing of himself." (John v. 19.) + +"I must be about my Son's business." (Luke ii. 49.) + +"The kingdom of heaven is not mine to give, but the Son's." (Matt. xx. +23.) + +"I am come in my Son's name, and ye receive me not" (John v. 43.) + +"God cried, Jesus, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. xiii. 28.) + +"No man hath seen Jesus at any time." (1 John i. 5-) + +"Jesus created all things by his Son." (Eph. iii. 9.) + +"God sat down (in heaven) at the right hand of Jesus." (Luke xxii. 69.) + +"There is one Jesus, one mediator between Jesus and men." (Gal. iii. +20.) + +"Jesus gave his only begotten Father." (1 John iv. 9) + +"God knows not the hour, but Jesus does." (Mark viii. 32.) + +"God is the servant of Jesus." (Mark xii. 18.) + +"God is ordained by Jesus." (Acts xvii. 31.) + +"The head of God is Christ." (Eph. i. 3.) + +"We have an advocate with Jesus, God the righteous." (1 John ii. 1.) + +"Jesus gave all power to God." (Matt, xxviii. 18.) + +"God abode all night in prayer to Jesus." (Luke vi. 12.) + +"God came down from heaven to do the will of Jesus." (John vi. 38.) + +"Jesus has made the Father his high priest." (Heb. x. 24.) + +"Last of all, the Son sent the Father." (Matt. xxi. 39.) + +"Jesus will save the world by that God whom he hath ordained." + +"Jesus is God of the Father." (John xx. 17.) + +"Jesus hath exalted God, and given him a more excellent name." (Phil. +ii. 9.) + +"Jesus hath made God a little lower than the angels." (Heb. ii. 9.) + +"God can do nothing except what he seeth Jesus do." (John v. 19.) + +Now, the question arises, Is the above representation a true one? Most +certainly it must be, if Jesus and the Father are but one almighty +Being. A change of names and titles cannot alter the truth nor the +sense. + +To say that Chief Justice Chase has gone south; Secretary Chase has gone +south; Governor Chase has gone south; Ex-Senator Chase has gone south, +or Salmon P. Chase has gone south, are affirmations equally true and +equally sensible, because they all have reference to the same being; the +case is to plain to need argument. + +The above reversal of names and titles of Jesus and the Father may sound +very unpleasant and rather grating to Christ-adoring Christians, simply +because it is the transposition of the tides of two very scripturally +dissimilar beings, instead of being, as generally taught by orthodox +Christians, "one in essence, one in mind, one in body or being, and one +in name," as the Rev. Mr. Barnes affirms. Most self-evidently false +is his statement, based solely on scriptural ground. If Jesus is "very +God," and there is but one God, then the foregoing transposition cannot +mar the sense nor altar the truth of one text quoted. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. THE PRECEPTS AND PRACTICAL LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST; HIS TWO +HUNDRED ERRORS + +THE exaltation of men to the character and homage of divine beings +has always had the effect to draw a vail over their errors and +imperfections, so as to render them imperceptible to those who worship +them as Gods. This is true of nearly all the deified men of antiquity, +who were adored as incarnate divinities, among which may be included +the Christian's man-God, Jesus Christ. The practice of the followers of +these Gods has been, when an error was pointed out in their teachings, +brought to light by the progress of science and general intelligence, +to bestow upon the text some new and unwarranted meaning, entirely +incompatible with its literal reading, or else to insist with a godly +zeal on the correctness of the sentiment inculcated by the text, and +thus essay to make error pass for truth. In this way millions of the +disciples of' these Gods have been misled and blinded, and made to +believe by their religious teachers and their religious education, that +everything taught by their assumed-to-be divine exemplars is perfect +truth, in perfect harmony with science, sense, and true morals. Indeed, +the perversion of the mind and judgment by a religious education has +been in many cases carried to such an extreme as to cause their devout +and prejudiced followers either to entirely overlook and ignore their +erroneous teachings, or to magnify them into God-given truths, and thus, +as before stated, clothe error with the livery of truth. This state of +things, it has long been noticed by unprejudiced minds, exists amongst +the millions of professed believers in the divinity of Jesus Christ. +Hence the errors, both in his moral lessons and his practical life, have +passed from age to age unnoticed, because his pious and awe-stricken +followers, having been taught that he was a divine teacher, have assumed +that his teachings must all be true; and hence, too, have instituted no +scrutiny to determine their truth or falsity. But we will now proceed to +show that the progress of' science and general intelligence has brought +to light many errors, not only in his teachings, but in his practical +life also. In enumerating them, we will arrange them under the head + + +MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ERRORS. + +1. The first moral precept in the teachings of Christ, which we will +bring to notice, is one of a numerous class, which may very properly +be arranged under the head of Moral Extremism. We find many of his +admonitions of this character. Nearly everything that is said is +oversaid, carried to extremes--thus constituting an overwrought, +extravagant system of morality, impracticable in its requisitions; as, +for example, "Take no thought for the morrow." (Matt, v.) If the spirit +of this injunction were carried out in practical life, there would be +no grain sown and no seed planted in spring, no reaping done in harvest, +and no crop garnered in autumn; and the result would be universal +starvation in less than twelve months. But, fortunately for society, the +Christian world have laid this positive injunction upon the table under +the rule of "indefinite postponement." + +2. Christ's assumed-to-be most important requisition is found in the +injunction, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, +and all else shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33.) His early +followers understood by this injunction, and doubtless understood it +correctly, that they were to spend their lives in religious devotion, +and neglect the practical duties of life, leaving "Providence" to take +care of their families--a course of life which reduced many of them to +the point of starvation. + +3. The disciple of Christ is required, "when smitten on one cheek," to +turn the other also that is, when one cheek is pommeled into a jelly by +some vile miscreant or drunken wretch, turn the other, to be smashed up +in like manner. This is an extravagant requisition, which none of his +modern disciples even attempt to observe. + +4. "Resist not evil" (Matt. v. 34) breathes forth a kindred spirit. This +injunction requires you to stand with your hands in your pocket while +being maltreated so cruelly and unmercifully that the forfeiture of +your life may be the consequence--at least Christ's early followers so +understood it. + +5. The disciple of Christ is required, when his cloak is formally +wrested from him, to give up his coat also. (See Matt, v.) And to carry +out the principle, if the marauder demands it, he must next give up his +boots, then his shirt, and thus strip himself of all his garments, and +go naked. This looks like an invitation and bribe to robbery. + +6. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth." (Matt. vi. 19.) This +is another positive command of Christ, which the modern Christian world, +by common consent, have laid on the table under the rule of "indefinite +postponement," under the conviction that the wants of their families and +the exigencies of sickness and old age cannot be served if they should +live up to such an injunction. + +7. "Sell all that thou hast,... and come and follow me," is another +command which bespeaks more piety than wisdom, as all who have attempted +to comply with it have reduced their families to beggary and want. + +8. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." +Then he must hate it, as there are but the two principles, and "from +hate proceed envy, strife, evil surmisings, and persecution." Evidently +the remedy in this case for "worldly-mindedness" is worse than the +disease. + +9. "He that cometh to me, and hateth not father, mother, brother, and +sister, &c., cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv. 26). This breathes forth +the same spirit as the last text quoted above. Many learned expositions +have been penned by Christian writers to make it appear, that hate in +this case does not mean hate. But certainly it would be a slander upon +infinite wisdom to leave it to be inferred that he could not say or +"inspire" his disciples to say exactly what he meant, and to say it so +plainly as to leave no possibility of being misunderstood, or leave any +ground for dispute about the meaning. + +10. "Rejoice and be exceeding glad" when persecuted. (Matt. v. 4.) Now, +as a state of rejoicing is the highest condition of happiness that can +be realized, such advice must naturally prompt the religious zealot +to court persecution, in order to obtain complete happiness, and +consequently to pursue a dare-devil life to provoke persecution. + +11. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it," &c. (Luke +xvii. 33.) Here is displayed the spirit of martyrdom which has made +millions reckless of life, and goaded on the frenzied bigot to seek the +fiery fagot and the halter. We regard it as another display of religious +fanaticism. + +12. "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." (Matt. x. 12.) +How repulsive must have been their doctrines or their conduct! No +sensible religion could excite the universal hatred of mankind. For it +would contain something adapted to the moral, religious, or spiritual +taste of some class or portion of society, and hence make it and its +disciples loved instead of hated. And then how could they be "hated of +all men," when not one man in a thousand ever heard of them? Here is +more of the extravagance of religious enthusiasm. + +13. "Shake off the dust of your feet" against those who cannot see +the truth or utility of your doctrines. (Matt. x. 14.) Here Christ +encourages in his disciples a spirit of contempt for the opinions of +others calculated to make them "hated." A proper regard for the rules of +good-breeding would have forbidden such rudeness toward strangers for a +mere honest difference of opinion. + +14. "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor scrip, nor purse" +(Mark vi. 8); that is "sponge on your friends, and force yourselves on +your enemies," the latter class of which seem to have been much the most +numerous. A preacher who should attempt to carry out this advice at the +present day would be stopped at the first toll-gate, and compelled to +return. Here is more violation of the rules of good-breeding, and the +common courtesies of civilized life. + +15. "Go and teach all nations," &c. Why issue an injunction that could +not possibly be carried out? It never has been, and never will be, +executed, for three-fourths of the human race have never yet heard of +Christianity. It was not, therefore, a mark of wisdom, or a superior +mind, to issue such an injunction. + +16. "And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that +believeth not shall be damned." What intolerance, bigotry, relentless +cruelty, and ignorance of the science of mind are here displayed! No +philosopher would give utterance to, or indorse such a sentiment. +It assumes that belief is a creature of the will, and that a man +can believe anything he chooses, which is wide of the truth. And the +assumption has been followed by persecution, misery, and bloodshed. + +17. "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall +receive." (Matt. xxi. 22.) Here is an entire negation of natural law in +the necessity of physical labor as a means to procure the comforts of +life. When anything is wanted in the shape of food or raiment, it is +to be obtained, according to this text, by going down on your knees +and asking God to bestow it. But no Christian ever realized "all things +whatsoever asked for in prayer," thought "believing with all his heart" +he should obtain it. The author knows, by his own practical experience, +that this declaration is not true. This promise has been falsified +thousands of times by thousands of praying Christians. + +18. "Be not called rabbi." "Call no man your father." (Matt, xxiii.) +The Christian world assume that much of what Christ taught is mere idle +nonsense, or the incoherent utterings of a religious fanatic; for +they pay no more practical attention to it than the barking of a dog. +And here is one command treated in this manner: "Call no man father." +Where is the Christian who refuses to call his earthly sire a father? + +19. "Call no man master." (Matt, xxiii.) And yet mister, which is the +same thing, is the most common title in Christendom. + +20. He who enunciates the two words, "'Thou fool.' shall be in danger of +hell fire." (Matt, xxii.) Mercy! Who, then, can be saved? For there is +probably not a live Christian in the world who has not called somebody a +"fool," when he knew him to be such, and could not with truthfulness be +called anything else. Here, then, is another command universally ignored +and "indefinitely postponed." + +21. "Swear not at all, neither by heaven nor earth." (Matt, v.) And yet +no Christian refuses to indulge in legal, if not profane, swearing which +the text evidently forbids. + +22. "Men ought always to pray." (Luke xviii.) No time to be allowed for +eating or sleeping. More religious fanaticism. + +23. "Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant" (Matt. +xx. 27); that is, no Christian professor shall be a president, governor, +major-general, deacon, or priest. Another command laid on the table. + +24. "Love your enemies." (Matt. v. 44.) Then what kind of feeling should +we cultivate toward friends? And how much did he love his enemies when +he called them "fools," "liars," "hypocrites," "generation of vipers," +&c.? And yet he is held up as "our" example in love, meekness, +and forbearance. But no man ever did love an enemy. It is a moral +impossibility, as much so as to love bitter or nauseating food. +The advice of the Roman slave Syrus is indicative of more sense and +wisdom--"Treat your enemy kindly, and thus make him a friend." + +25. We are required to forgive an enemy four hundred and ninety times; +that is, "seventy times seven." (Matt, vii.) Another outburst of +religious enthusiasm; another proof of an overheated imagination. + +26. "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. +48.) Here is more of the religious extravagance of a mind uncultured +by science. For it is self-evident that human beings can make no +approximation to divine perfection. The distance between human +imperfection and a perfect God is, and ever must be, infinite. + +27. Christ commended those who "became eunuchs for the kingdom of +heaven's sake" (Matt. xix. 12)--a custom requiring a murderous, +self-butchering process; destructive of the energies of life and the +vigor of manhood, and rendering the subject weak, effeminate, and +mopish, and unfit for the business of life. It is a low species of +piety, and discloses a lamentable lack of a scientific knowledge of the +true functions of the sexual organs on the part of Jesus. + +28. Christ also encouraged his disciples to "pluck out the eye," and +"cut off the hand," as a means of rendering it impossible to perpetrate +evil with those members. And we would suggest, if such advice is +consistent with sound reasoning, the head also should be cut off, as a +means of more effectually carrying out the same principle. Such advice +never came from the mouth of a philosopher. It is a part of Christ's +system of extravagant piety. + +29. He also taught the senseless, oriental tradition of "the +unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost"--a fabulous being who figured +more anciently in the history of various countries. (See Chapter +XXII.) No philosopher or man of science could harbor such childish +misconceptions as are embodied in this tradition, which neither +describes the being nor explains the nature of the sin. + +30. We find many proofs, in Christ's Gospel history, that he believed +in the ancient heathen tradition which taught that disease is caused by +demons and evil spirits. (See Luke vii. 21, and viii. 2.) + +31. Many cases are reported of his relieving the obsessed by casting out +the diabolical intruders, in imitation of the oriental custom long in +vogue in various countries, by which he evinced a profound ignorance of +the natural causes of disease. + +32. Christ also taught the old pagan superstition that "God is a God of +anger," while modern science teaches that it would be as impossible for +a God of perfect and infinite attributes to experience the feeling of +anger as to commit suicide; and recent discoveries in physiology prove +that anger is a species of suicide, and that it is also a species of +insanity. Hence an angry God would be an insane God--an omnipotent +lunatic, "ruling the kingdom of heaven," which would make heaven a +lunatic asylum, and rather a dangerous place to live. + +33. And Christ's injunction to "fear God" also implies that he is an +angry being. (See Luke xxiii. 40.) But y past history proves that "the +fear of God" has always been the great lever of priestcraft, and the +most paltry and pitiful motive that ever moved the human mind. It has +paralyzed the noblest intellects, crushed the elasticity of youth, and +augmented the hesitating indecision of old age, and finally filled the +world with cowardly, trembling slaves. No philosopher will either love +or worship a God he fears. "The fear of the Lord" is a very ancient +heathen superstition. + +34. The inducement Christ holds out for leading a virtuous life by +the promise of "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," bespeaks a +childish ignorance of the nature of the human mind and the true science +of life. It ranks with the promise of the nurse of sugar-plums to the +boy if he would keep his garments unsoiled. (For the remainder of the +two hundred errors of Christ, see Vol. II.) + +There are many other errors found in the precepts and practical life +of Jesus Christ (which we are compelled to omit an exposition of +here), such as his losing his temper, and abusing the money-changers by +overthrowing their counting-table, and expelling them from the temple +with a whip of cords when engaged in a lawful' and laudable business; +his getting mad at and cursing the fig tree; his dooming Capernaum +to hell in a fit of anger; his being deceived by two of his disciples +(Peter and Judas), which prompted him to call them devils; his implied +approval of David, with his fourteen crimes and penitentiary deeds, and +also Abraham, with his falsehoods, polygamy, and incest, and his implied +sanction of the Old Testament, with all its errors and numerous crimes; +his promise to his twelve apostles to "sit upon the twelve thrones of +Israel" in heaven, thus evincing a very limited and childish conception +of the enjoyments of the future life; his puerile idea of sin, +consisting in a personal affront to a personal God; his omission to say +anything about human freedom, the inalienable rights of man, &c. + + +THE SCIENTIFIC ERRORS OF CHRIST. + +That Jesus Christ was neither a natural or moral philosopher is evident +from the following facts:-- + +1. He never made any use of the word "philosophy." + +2. Never gave utterance to the word "science." + +3. Never spoke of a natural law, or assigned a natural cause for +anything. The fact that he never made use of these words now so current +in all civilized countries, is evidence that he was totally ignorant of +these important branches of knowledge, the cultivation of which is now +known to be essential to the progress of civilization. And yet it +is claimed his religion has been a great lever in the advancement of +civilization. But this is a mistake--a solemn mistake, as elsewhere +shown. (See Chap. XLV.) + +4. Everything to Christ was miracle; everything was produced and +controlled by the arbitrary power of an angry or irascible God. +He evidently had no idea of a ruling principle in nature or of the +existence of natural law, as controlling any event he witnessed. Hence +he set no bounds to anything, and recognized no limits to the possible. +He believed God to be a supernatural personal being, who possessed +unlimited power, and who ruled and controlled everything by his +arbitrary will, without any law or any limitation to its exercises. +Hence he told his disciples they would have anything they prayed for in +faith; that by faith they could roll mountains into the sea, or bring +to a halt the rolling billows of the mighty deep. He evidently believed +that the forked lightning, the out-bursting earth-shaking thunder, +and the roaring, heaving volcano were but pliant tools or obsequious +servants to the man of faith. And he displays no less ignorance of the +laws of mind than the laws of nature; thus proving him to have been +neither a natural, moral, nor mental philosopher. He omitted to teach +the great moral lessons learned by human experience, of which he was +evidently totally ignorant. + +5. He never taught that the practice of virtue contains its own reward. + +6. That the question of right and wrong of any action is to be decided +by its effect upon the individual, or upon society. + +7. That no life can be displeasing to God which is useful to man. + +8. And he omitted to teach the most important lesson that can engage +the attention of man, viz.: that the great purpose of life is +self-development. + +9. That no person can attain or approximate to real happiness without +bestowing a special attention to the cultivation and exercise of all +the mental and physical faculties, so far as to keep them in a healthy +condition. None of the important lessons above named are hinted at in +his teachings, which, if punctually observed, would do more to advance +the happiness of the human race than all the sermons Christ or Chrishna +ever preached, or ever taught. + +10. And then he taught many doctrines which are plainly contradicted by +the established principle of modern science, such as,-- + +11. Diseases being produced by demons, devils, or wicked spirits. (See +Mark ix. 20.) + +Christ nowhere assigns a natural cause for disease, or a scientific +explanation for its cure. + +12. His rebuking a fever discloses a similar lack of scientific +knowledge. ( See Luke iv. 39.) + +13. His belief in a literal hell and a lake of fire and brimstone (see +Matt, xviii. 8) is an ancient heathen superstition science knows nothing +about, and has no use for. + +14. His belief in a personal devil also (see Matt. xvii. 88), which is +another oriental tradition, furnishes more sad proof of an utter want of +scientific knowledge, as science has no place for and no use for such a +being. + +15. Christ taught the unphilosophical doctrine of repentance, as he +declared he "came to call sinners to repentance" (Matt. ix. 13)--a +mental process, which consists merely in a revival of early impressions, +and often leads a person to condemn that which is right, as well as that +which is wrong. (For proof, see Chapter XLIII.) + +16. The doctrine of "forgiveness," which Christ so often inculcated, +is also at variance with the teachings of science, as it can do nothing +toward changing the nature of the act forgiven, or toward cancelling its +previous effects upon society. Science teaches that every crime has its +penalty attached to it, which no act of forgiveness, by God or man, can +arrest or set aside. + +17. But nothing evinces, perhaps, more clearly Christ's total lack of +scientific knowledge than his holding a man responsible for his belief, +and condemning for disbelief, as he does in numerous instances (see Mark +xvi. 16), for a man could as easily control the circulation of the blood +in his veins as control his belief. Science teaches that belief depends +upon evidence, and without it, it is impossible to believe, and with +it, it is impossible to disbelieve. How foolish and unphilosophical, +therefore, to condemn for either belief or disbelief! + +18. The numerous cases in which Christ speaks of the heart as being +the seat of consciousness, instead of the brain, evinces a remarkable +ignorance of the science of mental philosophy. He speaks of an "upright +heart," "a pure heart," &'c., when "an upright liver," "a pure liver," +would be as sensible, as the latter has as much to do with the character +as the former. + +19. And the many cases in which he makes it meritorious to have a right +"faith," and places it above reason, and assumes it to be a voluntary +act, shows his utter ignorance of the nature of the human mind. + +20. And Christ evinced a remarkable ignorance of the cause of physical +defects, when he told his hearers a certain man was born blind, in order +that he might cure him. (Matt. vii. 22.) + +21. And Christ's declaration, that those who marry are not worthy of +being saved (see Luke xx. 34), shows that he was very ignorant of the +nature of the sexual functions of the human system. + +22. Nothing could more completely demonstrate a total ignorance of the +grand science of astronomy than Christ's prediction of the stars falling +to the earth. (See Luke xxi. 25.) + +23. And the conflagration of the world, "the gathering of the elect," +and the realization of a fancied millennium, which he several times +predicted would take place in his time, "before this generation pass +away" (Matt, xxiv. 34), proves a like ignorance, both of astronomy and +philosophy. + +24. And his cursing of the fig tree for not bearing fruit in the winter +season (see Matt. xxi. 20), not only proves his ignorance of the laws of +nature, but evinces a bad temper. + +25. Christ indorses the truth of Noah's flood story (see Luke xvii. 27), +which every person at the present day, versed in science and natural +law, knows is mere fiction, and never took place. + +And numerous other errors, evincing the most profound ignorance of +science and natural law, might be pointed out in Christ's teachings, +if we had space for them. It has always been alleged by orthodox +Christendom, that Christ's teaching and moral system are so faultless as +to challenge criticism, and so perfect as to defy improvement. But this +is a serious mistake. For most of his precepts and moral inculcations +which are not directly at war with the principles of science, or do not +involve a flagrant violation of the laws of nature, are, nevertheless, +characterized by a lawless and extravagant mode of expression peculiar +to semi-savage life, and which, as it renders it impossible to reduce +them to practice, shows they could not have emanated from a philosopher, +or man of science, or a man of evenly-balanced mind. They impose upon +the world a system of morality, pushed to such extremes that its own +professed admirers do not live it out, or even attempt to do so. They +long ago abandoned it as an impracticable duty. We will prove this by +enumerating most of its requisitions, and showing that they are daily +violated and trampled under foot by all Christendom. Where can the +Christian professor be found who, 1. "takes no thought for the morrow" +or, 2. who "lays not up treasure on earth," or, at least, tries to do +it; or, 3. who "gives up all his property to the poor;" or who, "when +his cloak is wrested from him by a robber," gives up his coat also; +or who calls no man master or mister (the most common title in +Christendom); or who calls no man father (if he has a father); or who +calls no man a fool (when he knows he is a fool); or who, when one cheek +is pommeled into a jelly by some vile miscreant or drunken wretch, +turns the other to be battered up in the same way; or who prays without +ceasing; or who rejoices when persecuted; or who forgives an enemy four +hundred and ninety times (70 times 7); or who manifests by his practical +life that he loves his enemies (the way he loves him is to report him to +the grand jury, or hand him over to the sheriff); or who forsakes +houses and land, and everything, "for the kingdom of heaven's sake." No +Christian professor lives up to these precepts, or any of them, or even +tries to do so. To talk, therefore, of finding a practical Christian, +while nearly the whole moral code of Christ is thus daily and habitually +outraged and trampled under foot by all the churches and every one of +the two hundred millions of Christian professors, is bitter irony and +supreme solecism. We would go five hundred miles, or pay five hundred +dollars, to see a Christian. If a man can be a Christian while openly +and habitually violating every precept of Christ, then the word has no +meaning. These precepts, the Christian world finding to be impossible +to practice, have unanimously laid upon the table under the rule of +"indefinite postponement." They are the product of a mind with an +ardent temperament, and the religious faculties developed to excess, and +unrestrained by scientific or intellectual culture. A similar vein +of extravagant religious duty is found in the Essenian, Budhist, and +Pythagorean systems. As Zera Colburn possessed the mathematical faculty +to excess, and Jenny Lind the musical talent, Christ in like manner was +all religion. And from the extreme ardor of his religious feeling, thus +derived, sprang his extravagant notions of the duties of life. This +peculiarity of his organization explains the whole mystery. + + +CHRIST AS A MAN, AND CHRIST AS A SECTARIAN. + +To every observant and unbiased mind a strange contrast must be visible +in the practical life of Jesus Christ when viewed in his twofold +capacity of a man and a priest. While standing upon the broad plane of +humanity, with his deep sympathetic nature directed toward the poor, +the unfortunate, and the downtrodden, there often gushed forth from +his impassioned bosom the most sublime expressions of pity, and the +strongest outburst of commiseration for wrongs and sufferings, and +his noble goodness and tender love yearned with a throbbing heart to +relieve them. But the moment he put on the sacerdotal robe, and assumed +the character of a priest, that moment, if any one crossed his path by +refusing to yield to his requisitions of faith, or dissented from his +religious creed, his whole nature was seemingly changed. It was no +longer, "Blessed are ye," but "Cursed are ye," or "Woe unto you." Like +the founders of other religious systems, he was ardent toward friends +and bitter toward enemies, and extolled his own religion, while he +denounced all others. His way was the only way, and all who did not walk +threin, or conform thereto, were loaded with curses and imprecations, +and all who could not accomplish the impossible mental achievement of +believing everything he set forth or urged upon their credence, and +that, too, without evidence, were to be eternally damned. All who +climbed up any other way were thieves and robbers. All who professed +faith in any other religion than his were on the road to hell. Like the +oriental Gods, he taught that the world was to be saved through faith in +him and his religion. All who did not honor him were to be dishonored +by the Father. And "without faith (in him and his religion), it is +impossible to please God." He declared that all who were not for him +were against him; and all who were not on the same road are "heathens +and publicans." His disciples were enjoined to shake off the dust from +their feet as a manifestation of displeasure toward those who could not +conscientiously subscribe to their creeds and dogmas. Thus we discover +a strong vein of intolerance and sectarianism in the religion of the +otherwise, and in other respects, the kind and loving Jesus. Though +most benignantly kind and affectionate while moving and acting under the +controlling impulses of his lofty manhood, yet when his ardent religious +feelings were touched, he became chafed, irritated, and sometimes +intolerant. He then could tolerate no such thing as liberty of +conscience, or freedom of thought, or the right to differ with him in +religious belief. His extremely ardent devotional nature, when roused +into action in defense of a stereotyped faith, eclipsed his more noble, +lofty, and lovely traits, and often dimmed his mental vision, thus +presenting in the same individual a strange medley, and a strange +contrast of the most opposite traits of character. That such a being +should have been considered and worshipped as a God, and for the +very reason that he possessed such strange, contradictory traits of +character, and often let his religion run riot with his reason, will be +looked upon by posterity as one of the strangest chapters in the history +of the human race. But so it is. Extraordinary good qualities, though +intermingled with many errors and human foibles, have deified many men. + +Note. One Christian writer alleges, in defense of the objectionable +precepts of Jesus Christ, that "He taught some errors in condescension +to the ignorance of the people." If this be true, that he taught both +truth and falsehood, then the question arises, How can we know which is +which? By what rule can we discriminate them, as he himself furnishes +none? Or how are we to determine that he taught truth at all? And then +this plea would account for and excuse all the errors found in the +teachings of the oriental Gods. If it will apply in one case, it will in +the other. And thus it proves too much. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. CHRIST AS A SPIRITUAL MEDIUM + +THERE are many incidents related in the life of Christ, which, when +critically examined, furnish abundant evidence that he was what is now +known as a spiritual medium. He unquestionably represented, and often +practically exhibited, several important phases of modern mediumship. + +1. The many instantaneous cures which he wrought, as reported in his +Gospel narrative, performed in the same manner that "spirit doctors" now +heal the sick, prove that he was an excellent "healing medium." + +2. His declaration to Nathanael, "When thou wast under the fig tree, I +saw thee," and his recounting to the woman of Samaria the deeds of +her past life (acts similar to which are now performed every day by +spiritualists), are evidence that he was also a "clairvoyant medium." + +3. His walking on the water (if the story is true), as D. D. Home has +frequently, within the past few years, walked or floated on the air +in the presence of many witnesses (including men of science, royal +personages, and members of parliament), entitles him to the appellation +of a "physical medium." + +4. And the circumstance of his pointing his disciples to the mark of +the spear in his side, and the print of the nails in his hands, while +amongst them as a spirit, has led many spiritualists to conclude he was +also a "medium for materialization." His spirit was made to present the +peculiar marks which had been inflicted upon his physical body, cases +parallel to which are now witnessed every day by modern spiritualists. +Hundreds of cases have occurred of departed spirits presenting +themselves to their friends with all the peculiar marks which their +physical bodies had long worn while in the earth life. And the former +physical wounds have often been exhibited by the spirit in the same +manner Christ exhibited his. And thus spiritualism explains the +phenomenon which otherwise would be entirely incredible. + +5. And there is yet another phase of mediumship which Christ often +exhibited in his practical life. He claimed to have frequent intercourse +with some invisible being, whom he called "the Father." But as modern +science has settled the question of the personality of God in the +negative, we are led to conclude that Christ, like many eminent persons +since his time, mistook some finite spirit for the great infinite but +impersonal Father spirit--though his attendant invisible companion +was probably a spirit of a very high order. And the great beauty and +grandeur of his life are exhibited by his frequent intercourse with and +dependence upon this his "guardian spirit." He declared he did nothing +of himself, so dependent was he upon his invisible guide. And the +strongest proof that he had a spirit companion, which he often looked to +for counsel and aid, and that this was the being he called the Father, +is furnished by the fact, that when he prayed to the Father, his +petition was answered by an angel spirit. (See Luke xxii. 44.) And there +is no account and no evidence of any invisible or spiritual being ever +presenting itself to him but an angel or spirit. That he should have +supposed this spirit to be the great infinite Father God was very +natural. Thousands since, and some before his time, committed a +similar mistake. The author has known several persons who had long had +intercourse with some invisible being they supposed to be God, who have +recently, by the light afforded by modern spiritualism, become entirely +convinced that they had simply mistaken a finite spirit for the great +Infinite Spirit. And did Christ live in our day, he would probably be +rescued from a similar error in the same way. In conclusion, we will +remark that it was doubtless his frequent displays of several very +remarkable phases of spiritual mediumship that contributed much to lead +the people into the error of supposing him to be God. And this fact will +yet be known. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. CONVERSION, REPENTANCE, AND "GETTING RELIGION" OF HEATHEN +ORIGIN + + +THEIR NUMEROUS EVILS AND ABSURDITIES. + +OF all the follies ever enacted or exhibited under the sun, and of all +the ignorance of history, science, and human nature ever displayed in +the history of the human race, that which stands out in bold relief, +as pre-eminent, is the fashionable custom of conversion, or "getting +religion." When the evidence lies all around us as thick as the fallen +leaves of autumn, clustering on the pages of history, and proclaimed +by every principle of mental science, that what is called conversion +is nothing but a mental and temperamental or nervous phenomenon--a +psychological process--how can we rank those amongst intelligent people +who still claim it to be "the power of God operating upon the soul of +the sinner"? Ignorance is the only plea that can acquit them of the +charge of imbecility. The number who daily fall victims to this priestly +delusion in various parts of the country may be reckoned by thousands. +We propose in this chapter to exhibit some of the evils and absurdities +of this widespread delusion and religious mono-mania. To do so the more +effectually, we will arrange the presentation of the subject under four +separate heads. We will attempt to show,-- + +1. Its historical errors. + +2. Its logical errors. + +3. Its philosophical or scientific errors. + +4. Its moral evils. + +1st. _Its Historical Errors_.--Can we conceive it possible that the +thousands of priests who are now employed in "converting souls to +God" are so ignorant of history as not to know that it is an old pagan +custom? that it was prevalent in heathen countries long before a single +soul was converted to Christianity, and is carried on to some extent +now, both among pagans and Mahomedans? From such facts it would +appear (viewing the matter from the Christian stand-point) that God +is indifferent as to what kind of religion, or what sort of religious +nonsense, people are converted to, or whether it is truth or error they +embrace, or whether it is a true religion or a false one they imbibe, +so he gets them converted. According to Mr. Higgins, the practice of +converting people from one sect to another by the popular priesthood +was prevalent under the ancient Persian system, and was carried on there +quite extensively more than three thousand years ago; and the process +was essentially the same as that now in vogue amongst modem Methodists, +and the effect the same. At their large revival meetings the whole +congregation would sometimes become so affected under the eloquent +ministrations of the officiating priest, as to cry, and shout, and +prostrate themselves upon the ground, which was afterward found to be +drenched with their tears; and on these occasions they would confess +their sins to each other, and to their priests; and yet those very sins +they condemned were, perhaps, amongst the best acts of their lives, +while their real crimes were overlooked and justified, instead of being +condemned, thus showing that an honest, just, and sensible God could +have had nothing to do with it. And we have reports of similar scenes +witnessed more recently among the Mahomedans. Major Denham furnishes us +an account of some "revival meetings" he attended a few years since in +Arabia, carried on by one of the Mahomedan sects. On one occasion the +effect of the discourse of the preacher upon the audience in the way of +"converting souls to God" was so powerful, that he could only convince +himself that he was not in a Methodist revival meeting by a knowledge +of his geographical position. The preacher's name was Malem Chadily, and +here is a specimen of some of his language. "Turn, turn, sinner, unto +God; confess he is good, and that Mahomet is his prophet; wash, and +become clean of your sins, and paradise is open before you: without +this nothing can save you from eternal fire." During this earnest appeal +(says the major), tears flowed plentifully, and everybody appeared to be +affected. One of his hearers, becoming converted, shouted, "Your words +pierce my soul," and fell upon the floor. Now let it be borne in mind, +that Mahomet is stigmatized and condemned by the Christian churches as +"a false prophet," and his religion denounced as "a system of fraud," +"a false religion," &c. Of course, then, Christians will not argue, nor +admit, that conversion, and "getting religion," in this case, is the +work of God. A just God would have nothing to do in converting people +to "a false religion." What explanation shall we adopt for it then? +To assume it to be the work of the devil (the dernier resort for all +religious difficulties), and conversions among Christians the work of +God, when both are so clearly and obviously alike, is to insult common +sense. To assume that two things, exactly alike in character, can be +exactly and diametrically unlike in origin, is a scientific paradox +which no person of common intelligence can swallow, or accept for a +moment. Both, then, we must admit, have the same origin. This train of +argument leads us to speak of-- + +2d. _The Logical Absurdities of the Doctrine of Conversion_.--There +are several circumstances which point, unmistakably as the needle to the +pole, to the mundane origin of the phenomenon of conversion. + +The character of many of the priestly conductors who "run the battery," +is sufficient of itself to preclude the hypothesis of any divine agency +in the matter. The most powerful revivalist we ever knew, the priest who +could convert an audience the quickest, and bring down sinners to the +mourners' bench faster than any other clergyman we ever heard "dealing +out damnation" to the people, was a broad-shouldered, muscular, +stentorian-voiced circuit rider of the "Buckeye State," who, as was +afterward learned, was guilty of perpetrating some of the blackest +crimes that ever blotted the page of human history, at the very time of +his most successful career in the way of "convicting souls of sin, and +converting them to God." He was apprehended by the officers of the law +in the midst of one of his most flourishing revivals, under the twofold +charge, i. Of being the father of an illegitimate child, the young +mother of which was a member of his church; 2. Of defrauding one of his +neighbors in a trade, to the amount of nearly a thousand dollars--both +of which charges he was convicted of. A similar case, but possessing +some worse features, occurred a few years since in the county in which +the author now resides. A preacher, who had had criminal connection with +a young woman of his church, in order to conceal his guilt resorted to +the damnable expedient of administering poison to his victim shortly +before his illicit intercourse with her would have been made manifest +by the birth of a child, thus committing a double murder. He was +apprehended for the crime while carrying on "a most glorious revival," +as it was styled by some of the deluded congregation. Now to ascribe the +irresistible power which these two preachers exerted over their audience +(in the way of "converting them to God") to a divine source, as they +claimed for it, would be to trifle with common sense, common decency, +and all honorable conceptions of a God. These reverend scamps often +instituted the high claim of being "called of God" to their ministerial +labors. But if we concede the claim, we should have to conclude that God +knew but little about them, for he certainly would not knowingly employ +such moral outlaws upon such an important mission. + +Having thus briefly spoken of the character of some of the actors and +agents in the work of conversion, we will now glance at the character of +some of the religions and religious ideas, and moral course of conduct, +to which the sinner is converted. It is evident that if an All-wise God +had anything to do in the process of converting people to any system +of religion, he would also convert them to correct moral habits. But in +many cases, after conversion they are no nearer right in this respect, +and in some cases further from it than before being thus sanctified. +In some cases their religion becomes worse, their religious ideas less +sensible, and their moral conduct more objectionable, by "the change of +heart" in "getting religion." Mr. Spencer informs us that the Vewas, a +sect or tribe of the Feegees, often cry for hours under conviction for +sin. And what is that sin? Why, the neglect to offer sacrifices to their +God. And those sacrifices consist in human beings, sometimes their own +children. And their conviction, conversion, and repentance only make +them more diligent in practicing this crime. It is evident, then, that +their religion is at war with their humanity, and the former always +triumphs in the contest. They are addicted to cannibalism, infanticide, +and polygamy. But as the process of "getting religion" never makes +anybody more intelligent, the "change of heart," with the Vewas, never +changes their views, or opens their eyes to see the enormity of their +crimes. In "getting religion" people get neither sense, knowledge, nor +morality. They get neither a larger stock, nor an improved quality, of +either. Their moral conduct is not often sensibly improved, materially +or permanently. + +3d. _Scientific Errors, and Scientific Explanations of Conversion_.--The +phenomena of conversion and "getting religion" are so easily explained +in the light of science and philosophy, and that explanation is +susceptible of so many proofs and demonstrations, that it seems +remarkably strange that any persons claiming to be intelligent, and +situated in the focal, scientific light of the nineteenth century, +should still be hampered with the delusion that such phenomena are the +direct display of the power of God. It requires but little investigation +and reflection to convince any person that what is called conversion, +and "repentance for sin," is nothing but the revival of early +educational impressions resuscitated by the influence of mind on mind. +No person has ever been known to get or embrace a religion he was not +biased in favor of prior to the time of his conversion, unless we except +a few weak-minded persons negative to any influence, and convertible +to any religion the priest may urge upon their attention. A very strong +proof of this statement is furnished by the history of the Christian +missionary enterprise. The reports of travelers and sojourners in India +show, that with two hundred years' labor, and two hundred missionaries +in the field during a part of that period, the churches have not +succeeded in converting one in ten thousand of the Hindoos to the +Christian religion--unless we except those who, while children, were +sent to Christian schools instituted by the missionaries for the special +purpose of converting and warping the young mind, and welding it to the +Christian faith before It should receive an unchangeable and unyielding +bias in favor of another religion. So fruitless has been the effort +to convert to Christianity those who were already established in the +religion of the country, that, according to the estimate of Colonel Dow, +each convert, on an average, has cost the missionary enterprise not +less than ten thousand dollars. An intelligent Hindoo, while lecturing +recently in London, made the remarkable statement, that conversions +which are made to the Christian religion are not amongst the intelligent +or learned classes, but are confined to the low, ignorant, and +superstitious classes, "who have not sense or intelligence enough to +perceive the difference between the _religion they are converted to, +and that which they are converted from._" And the effort to convert the +Mahomedans, Chinese, Persians, and the disciples of other religions has +been attended with the same fruitless results--all seeming to warrant +the conclusion that God can do but little toward converting any nation +to Christianity which has always been biased in favor of another +religion. The reason why people are so easily converted from one sect to +another in Christian countries is owing to the fact that their religious +convictions are unsettled. The members of the different Christian sects +are all mixed up together in the various settlements throughout the +country, and are brought in daily contact with each other in the busy +scenes of life. + +Hence the children have the seeds of Methodism, Presbyterianism, +Baptistism, Quakerism, and various other isms implanted in their minds +in very early life. And which one of these will ultimately predominate +depends upon what priest they fall victims to first. Having thus the +germs of so many religious isms implanted in their minds, they are +easily shifted about, and converted from one sect to another. And this +shuttlecock process is called "getting religion," while, if they had +lived in a country where only one form of religion exists, they would be +as hard to convert as Mahomedans and Hindoos. + +_Repentance_.--Much importance is attached by the orthodox churches +to the act of getting religion in the dying hour,--called "death-bed +repentance,"--as if the person were better capable of discriminating +between right and wrong when his brain is deranged with fever, and his +whole system racked with disease and pain, than when in health. Such +repentance can do nothing more than prove the honesty of the dying man +or woman. For very often their doctrines, or religious belief, will be +found no nearer right, and sometimes more erroneous after repentance +than before, as repentance merely consists in the return to early +impressions--the revival of former convictions, which may be either +right or wrong, and are about as likely to be the latter as the former. +No instance can be found of a person condemning a wrong act, or a wrong +course of life, in his dying moments, unless he had previously believed +it to be wrong, or if he had always believed it to be right. How much, +then, does repentance do toward deciding what is right and what is +wrong? Mahomedanism we know to be deeply fraught with error, but we +never read nor heard of an instance of the many millions who had been +educated to believe it is right, condemning it on their death-beds, or +repenting for not having embraced Christianity, and led the life of +a Christian, or for adoring Mahomet instead of Jesus Christ. On the +contrary we have a well-authenticated instance of a Mahomedan (a Mr. +Merton) who had embraced Christianity, and lived the life of a Christian +for many years, renouncing it all, and returning to his primitive faith, +when he was taken sick and became apprehensive he was going to die: +his early religious impressions, returning involuntarily, wiped out +his Christianity, and he died glorying in Mahomedanism. And we have an +equally well authenticated case of an Indian of the Choctaw tribe, who +had been taught to believe from early life that the white man was his +natural enemy, and that it was his right and duty to kill him, repenting +on his death-bed for having a short time previously neglected, when the +opportunity presented, to despatch a "pale face" he met in his travels. +Instead of killing him, he yielded for the moment to the impulse of his +better feelings, and passed him by. But on reviewing his past life +at the approach of death, he came to the conclusion he had sinned in +omitting to kill this man, and he grieved and lamented sorely over +this dereliction of apprehended duty. Here we have a case of repentance +sanctioning murder. Must we, therefore, conclude that murder is morally +right, or a righteous act? Certainly, according to orthodox logic. + +Their religious tracts assume that repentance is always for the right, +and is _prima facie_ evidence of being right. If not, what does it +prove, or what moral value is it? According to orthodox teaching, being +"a murderer at heart," he was as consignable to perdition as if he had +committed the act. There is no escaping the conclusion, therefore, that +his repentance landed him in hell, or else proves murder to be right +according to orthodox logic. + +We have known Quakers to leave their dying testimony against water +baptism; and Baptists, with their last breath, declare it is right, and +a sin to neglect it. Which is right? Who can tell? We have also known +Quakers to condemn dancing in their dying hours, but Shakers never; +because one had been taught that it is wrong, and the other that it +is right. And which testimony must we accept? Mahomedans often, when +approaching the confines of time, repent (sometimes in tears) for not +having lived out more rigidly the injunctions of the Koran, but never +regret not having been Christians. They often call upon Mohamet to aid +them through the gates of death: but not one of the million who die +every year ever calls upon Jesus Christ. What, then, does such a +conflicting jargon of death-bed repentance prove? What good can grow +out of it, or what moral value can possibly attach to it? It establishes +simply two principles,-- + +1st. That repentance grows out of education. + +2d. That it depends entirely upon previous convictions as to what it may +sanction, and what it may condemn. + +No Christian ever repents in favor of Mahomedan-ism; and no Mahomedan +ever lifts up his dying voice in favor of Christianity as being superior +to his own religion; and no Hindoo has ever been known to indulge +in death-bed lamentation for not having previously embraced either +Christianity or Mahomedanism; because their earlier education never +turned their minds in that direction. The mind has to be educated over +again before it can embrace a new religion, or even condemn a wrong act, +which, up to that period, it had always believed to be right. + +Hence it is evident repentance may lead a person to condemn what is +right and sanction what is wrong. How profoundly ignorant of religious +history and mental science must those persons therefore be who attach +any importance to those diseased and often incoherent utterances, called +"death-bed recantations," or who believe a thing the sooner because +sanctioned by a dying man or woman, or that they do anything toward +proving what is right or what is wrong with respect to either our belief +or our moral conduct! And yet we find the orthodox churches printing +every year, through their tract societies, stories of death-bed +repentance in tract form, and scattering them over the country by the +million. As they prove nothing but the honesty of the dying man or +woman, they are not worth the paper on which they are printed. + +The phenomenon of repentance is simply the operation of a natural law, +by which the last impressions made upon the mind are generally cancelled +from the memory first, by the progress of fever and disease, thus +leaving the earlier impressions to rule the judgment. The person is then +virtually a child, controlled by his early youthful convictions, with +which, if his late belief and conduct disagree, it causes a mental +conflict, called repentance. Thus, instead of being the visitation +of God, as Christians claim, repentance is shown to be the product of +natural causes. The conclusion is thus established beyond disproof, +that the mental processes called conversion, repentance, and "getting +religion" are simply natural psychological operations, depending +upon education, organization, and intelligence. They depend also upon +intellect and scientific knowledge. For persons of large intellectual +brains, or extensive scientific culture, never fall victims to these +mental derangements. Hence those priests who claim God as their author +are either deplorably and inexcusably ignorant, or lacking in moral +honesty. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. THE MORAL LESSONS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY. + +1. The most important lesson deducible from all the religious systems, +commemorated in history, and noticed in this work, is, that all +religious conceptions, whether in the shape of doctrine, precept, +prophecy, prayer, religious devotion, or a belief in miracles, are a +spontaneous outgrowth of the moral and religious elements of the human +mind. And to assign them a higher origin is to ignore the developments +of modern science, and insult the highest intelligence of the age. + +2. From the elevated scientific plane occupied by the most enlightened +portion of the present age, there is no difficulty in finding a +satisfactory solution for every event, every occurrence, and every +performance recorded in any of the numerous bibles which have long been +afloat in the world, and which have always constituted the sole basis +for the claim to a divine origin of all the religious systems of the +past; so that such a claim can be no longer vindicated by historically +intelligent people. + +3. We have shown in this work that all the miraculous incidents related +in the history of Jesus Christ as a proof of his divinity can find a +more rational explanation than that which assigns them to divine agency. +Some of them are now known to lie within the natural capacity of the +human mind to achieve, others are explained by recently discovered +natural laws. Another class are now well understood mental or nervous +phenomena. Other stories, now regarded by the Christian world as +referring to miraculous achievements, were probably designed by the +writer as mere fable or metaphor. All the events in Christ's history, we +have shown, are susceptible of a hundred fold more rational explanation +than that which regards them as the feats of a God in violation of his +own laws. + +4. We have also shown that the same marvelous incidents now found +incorporated in the Gospel history of Jesus Christ were related long +previously as a part of the sacred history of other Gods; such as +being miraculously conceived and born of a virgin; born on the 25th of +December; visited in infancy by angels and shepherds;' threatened by the +ruler of the country; being of royal lineage; receiving the same divine +titles; performing the same miracles, &c. + +In a word, we have shown that various heathen Gods and Demigods had, +long before Christ's advent, filled the same chapter in history now +reported of him in the Christian New Testament. All these stories of +the heathen Gods prove as conclusively as any scientific problem can be +demonstrated by figures, that the same stories related of Jesus Christ +have no other foundation than that of heathen tradition. And will the +Christian world, then, hereafter stultify their common sense by ignoring +these facts of history so fatal to their claims? Past history points to +an affirmative answer to this question, as we will illustrate. + +In the early history of this country, several reports were published +of showers of blood being seen to fall in some of the sea-coast states, +which were regarded as a divine judgment. But the use of the telescope +revealed the fact that it was the ordure of butterflies, as those +insects were seen at the time in vast swarms. But the devout Christian, +whose faith in his religion has always been proof against the +demonstrations of science, would give it up. He would not accept the +butterfly explanation, but continued to teach his children that it came +from God out of heaven as a manifestation of displeasure toward the +sins of the people. And it now remains to be seen whether Christian +professors at the present day will manifest a similar folly by standing +out against the demonstrated truths and facts of this work. + +5. We here cite it as the last and most sorrowful lesson of history, +that no facts, no proofs, no demonstrations of science can eradicate +religious errors from the human mind, if instilled in early life, and +never disturbed till the possessor arrives at mature age or middle life. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. CONCLUSION AND REVIEW. + +IN writing the concluding chapter of this work, the author deems it +proper to re-state some points, and elaborate others, and anticipate +some objections to some of the positions advanced. Each division of the +subject will be marked by a separate figure, and treated in a brief and +succinct manner, as follows:-- + +1. Several persons, who examined this work before it went to press, have +expressed the opinion that it must exert a powerful influence in the +way of producing an entire revolution in the religion of orthodox +Christendom sooner or later. But this must of course be the work of +time, as moral revolutions are not the work of a day. When the human +system has been long prostrated with chronic disease, no system +of medication can restore it at once to health. The same principle +governing the mind makes it morally impossible to eradicate its +deeply-seated moral and religious errors in a day by even the +presentation of the most powerful and convincing truths and +demonstrations that can be brought to bear or operate upon the human +judgment. The mind instinctively repels everything (no difference how +true or how beautiful) that conflicts with its long-established opinions +and convictions. The fires of truth usually require much time to burn +their way through those incrustations of moral and religious error which +often environ the human mind as the products of a false education. But +when they once enter, the work of convincement is complete. + +2. It has been stated that the resemblance between Christianity and the +more ancient heathen systems is complete and absolute throughout in all +their essential doctrines, and principles, and precepts. And if it shall +be found, on a critical reading of this work after it comes from the +press, that there is one feature of Christianity which has not been +traced to pagan origin, or that any points of resemblance have been +omitted, they will be supplied in an appendix. + +3. It has been stated that a transfiguration is related of Chrishna of +India (1200 B. C.) in the Hindoo bible (the Baghavat Gita), which is +strikingly similar to that of Christ. We will here present the proof. +"Abandoning the mortal form, he (Chrishna) appeared to his disciples in +all the divine eclat of his Divine Majesty, his brow encircled with such +a brilliant light that Adjouma and the other disciples, unable to bear +it, fell with their faces in the dust, and prayed the Lord (Chrishna) to +pardon their unworthiness. He replied, 'Have you not faith in me? Know +ye not, that whether present or absent in body, I will be ever present +with you to guard and protect you?'" (Gaghavat Gita.) How remarkable +this to the story of Christ's transfiguration! + +4. Some readers, perhaps, will be surprised to observe that we have +named so many crucified gods to whom some writers assign a different +death. But we have followed, as we believe, the best authorities in +doing so. + +5. In our work, "The Bibles of Bibles," we have shown that the score of +bibles which have been extant in the world teach essentially the same +doctrines, principles, and precepts. There are to be found in the old +pagan bibles the same grand and beautiful truths mixed up with the same +mind-enslaving errors and deleterious superstitions as those contained +in the Christian bible. And the same exalted claim is set up by the +disciples of each for their respective holy books--that of being a +direct revelation from God, and inspired at the fountain of infinite +wisdom. And all were exalted, adored, and idolized by their respective +admirers, as containing a perfect embodiment of truth, without any +admixture of error. The ancient Persians carried their bibles in their +bosoms, and read them and prayed over them daily. The Hindoos often read +their bible through on their bended knees, and sometimes committed it +all to memory. The Baghavat has the following text: "The most important +of all duties is to study the Holy Scriptures, which is the word of +Brahma and Chrishna, revealed to the world." Some of the Mahomedans +claim that immortal life can only be obtained by reading the Koran, and +that the reading of it is essential to the progress and practice of good +morals, and the advancement of civilization; and that it will ultimately +reform and civilize the world. Both they and the Hindoos, like the +Christian world, have numerous commentaries, explaining the obscure +texts of their bibles, and aiming to reconcile their teachings with +reason and science. And the disciples of all bibles had a mode of doing +away with the immoral teachings, and concealing the worst features +of their sacred books by bestowing on them a spiritual meaning, as +Christians do theirs, thus dressing up error in the guise of truth. The +Hindoo bible, the Mahomedan bible, and other holy books, consign those +who disbelieve in their teachings to eternal damnation, denouncing them +as infidels. In this respect, also, they are like the Christian's bible. + +6. "But then, after all (as some good pious Christian will probably +exclaim after reading this work), the bible and Christianity are +essential to the progress of good morals, and the advancement of the +cause of civilization, and the civilized world would sink into a state +of heathen darkness, demoralization, and savagism without them; for +every enlightened nation owes its present moral and intellectual +greatness to the Christian bible and the Christian religion, and +would relapse into barbarism without them." This is a mistake, a most +egregious mistake, my good brother Christian, as the following facts of +history will show:-- + +1. There are heathen nations now existing who never saw a bible, and +others which flourished in the past, before our bible was written, who +nevertheless attained to a higher state of morals, and a higher state +of civilization in some respects, than any Christian nation known to +history. A whole volume of facts might be adduced, if we had space for +them, drawn from the ablest and most reliable authorities, to prove that +India, Egypt, Greece, and other countries had reached a high state of +civilization centuries before Christianity or any of its founders +were even heat'd of, or made their appearance in the world. India was +distinguished for her teaming, her laws, her legislation, her civil +courts, her judicial tribunals, her astronomers, her poets, her +philosophers, her writers, her moralists, her libraries, her men of +literature, and her good morals before Moses was found in the bulrushes. + +Jacolliot says, "India gave civilization to the world." Egypt borrowed +of India, the Greeks of the Egyptians, and the Jews and Christians are +indebted to the Greeks for both their morals and their civilization. +Dubois, a Christian missionary, in his "Memoirs of India," +testifies that "kindness, justice, humanity, good faith, compassion, +disinterestedness, and in fact nearly all the moral virtues, were +familiar to the ancient Brahmans and Hindoos, and they taught them both +by precept and example." Can as much be said of any Christian nation? +Certainly not. And the Rev. D. O. Allen says they were distinguished for +all the arts and refinement of civilized life--thus placing them on the +highest plane of civilization and moral elevation. And other nations +might be referred to. Egypt had her vast temples of science, Chaldea her +astronomical observatories, and Greece her distinguished academies of +learning, her profound philosophers, and her high-toned moral writers +and moral teachers, while the Jews, "God's holy people." were in a +state of semibarbarism. So affirms the Rev. Albert Barnes. + +2. No advancement has often been made in morals or civilization in any +country by the introduction of the Christian bible or the Christian +religion. It is the arts and sciences which accompany or follow the +bible which do the work. A proof of this statement is found in the +fact, that no improvement takes place in the morals of the people by +the introduction of the bible till the arts and sciences are also +introduced amongst them. On the contrary, the morals of many +deteriorate by reading the bible alone, because it sanctions as well as +condemns every species of crime then known to society. (For proof see +Chap. XXXIX. of this work.) That India has become corrupted and sunk in +morals since the introduction of the Christian bible, is admitted by the +Rev. D. O. Allen, for twenty-five years a missionary in that country. +But science, especially moral science, imparts a different influence. It +explains the nature of crimes, and teaches and demonstrates that a life +of honesty and virtue can alone produce true and real happiness, while +the bible augments the temptation to commit sin by teaching that "it +is a sweet morsel to be rolled under the tongue," and that its punitive +effects may be entirely escaped by an act of divine forgiveness. But +science, either directly or by the enlightening of the mind, teaches and +convinces the wrong-doer that there is no escape from the evil effects +of a wrong or wicked act, and that sin is not a "sweet morsel," but +ultimately a _bitter pill_. And thus it arrests the demoralizing effects +of this pernicious doctrine of the Christian bible. + +3. It may startle some of the bible devotees to be told that their +sacred book, instead of being a prompter to civilization and good +morals, is really a hindrance to those ends; and that consequently +nations without bibles advance faster in these respects than those +who are well supplied with this book. But the facts of history seem +to establish this as a fact. As a proof we will contrast the present +condition of heathen Japan with that of Christian Abyssinia. Colonel +Hall and Dr. Oliphant both testify that no drunkenness, no fighting, +no quarreling, no thefts, no robberies, no rapes, no fornication, no +domestic feuds or broils, and no fraudulent dealing take place in Japan. +No locks or keys are used, for none are needed. There is no disposition +to steal, or even to cheat, or overreach in dealing. But in Christian +Abyssinia, on the other hand, according to Mr. Goodrich, where bibles +and churches are numerous, and preaching and praying are heard every +day, nearly all the crimes above enumerated are daily committed. The +people go naked, eat raw flesh, cheat, lie, and murder, and practice +polygamy. Such a thing as a legitimate child, he tells us, is not known. +And thus it has been for fifteen hundred years, while in the daily +practice of reading their bible. The arts and sciences have never been +introduced amongst them. And this fact explains the cause of their +continued moral degradation. + +4. According to Noah Webster, the cultivation of the arts and sciences +is essential to the progress of civilization and good morals. But bible +religion knows nothing about the arts and sciences. It don't even use +the words. Paul uses the word science only once, and then to condemn it. +But Jesus omits any allusion to science, philosophy, or natural law. +So thoroughly convinced were the early disciples of the Christian faith +that the teachings of their bible are inimical to the arts and sciences, +that they destroyed works of art wherever they could find them, and +opposed with a deadly aim every new discovery in the sciences. + +5. As bibles represent only the morals and state of society in the +age in which they are written, and are not allowed to be altered or +transcended, they thus hold their disciples back in all coming time, and +compel them to teach and practice the morals of that semi-barbarous +age as found taught in their bibles. And thus bibles prevent the moral +growth of the people as effectually as the Chinese wooden shoes prevent +the growth of the feet. For a fuller exposition of this matter, see The +Bible of Bibles, Chap. XIV. + + + + +NOTES + + +NOTE OF EXPLANATION. + +In Chapter XXXI. we have traced Christianity to Essenism. This may need +a fuller explanation than we have yet devoted to this point, though we +have stated several times we consider them essentially one. The Essenes +had their "Exoteric" and their "Esoteric" doctrines. The latter, which +seems to have included the incarnation atonement, trinity, and all the +other Budhist doctrines as set forth in Chapter XXXII. (and now included +in the term Christianity), they never published to the world. Hence +Chapter XXXI. sets forth only their Exoteric doctrines. But as Philo, +Milman, Tytler, and other eminent authors show they held all the +doctrines of Budhism, we assume they were a Budhist sect Hence, when we +speak of Christianity growing out of Budhism, in Chapter XXXII., we +mean Budhism under the name of Essenism. We believe Christianity is from +Essenism and Budhism both, because they are essentially one; and that +Christianity is merely a continuation of Budhism as taught by the +Essenian sect of Budhists. Hence we have sometimes used the term +Essenism, and sometimes the term Budhism, as being the fountain head of +Christianity. We have stated Christ may have been an Essene either by +birth or by conversion. But our conviction now is, that he was one by +birth. And we now think it probable that that portion of the Jewish +nation which became known as Essenes sprang up in the Budhist school of +Pythagoras, in Alexandria, in the second or third century before Christ, +and thus became Essenian Budhists; i. e., a sect of Jewish Budhists +who called themselves Essenes. And consequently, neither Christ nor his +disciples made any changes in the Essenian religion, when they changed +its name to Christianity, except to ingraft a few unimportant tenets +borrowed from the principal Budhist sect We are now convinced that +Essenism was complete Budhism, that Christ was born of Essene parents, +and that no important changes were made by dropping the term Essenism, +and adopting the term Christianity in its place. + + +NOTE TO PAGE 178. + +It may not be improper to explain more fully the reason for the opinion +expressed on page 178, that the Gospel writer John did not believe that +Christ first came into existence through human birth, but believed that +he, like some of the oriental Gods, was "The Word" personified, without +the process of birth; though he may, like the heathen orientalists, +have cherished the tradition that the second God in the trinity (as he +represents Christ to be), after having sprung into existence as "The +Word" was subsequently subjected to human birth. Either so, or else +his allusion to "the mother of Christ" was done in condescension to the +general belief among the people, that he had a human mother. Be that as +it may, he declares, '"His Word was made flesh" (John i. 14); nearly the +same language used by the orientalists,--which with them did not imply +human birth. And the declaration, "All things were made by him" (John i. +3), is proof positive he believed in Christ's existence as the creator, +before his human birth. Much of John's language is so strikingly similar +to that employed by the disciples of some of the oriental religions, who +believed that a second God emanated from the mouth of the Supreme, to +perform the act of creation, that we cannot resist the conviction that +this was John's belief; especially as many of them believed, like him, +that this creative "Word" became afterward a subject of human birth. +Thus, as we conceive, the proposition is established. + + +NOTE TO PAGE 346. + +Our most reliable authorities testify that Babylon never was destroyed, +but successfully resisted, for one hundred and fifty years after +Isaiah's time, many of the most powerful sieges, and "the mightiest +munitions of war," conducted by seven of the most skilful generals that +ever wielded the sword--Cyrus, Darius, Alexander the Great, Antigonus, +Demetrius, Poliorcetes, and Antiochus. She then gradually declined +by the removal of her inhabitants to other and newer cities; thus +falsifying the prediction of Jeremiah (li. 8), "Her end has come," +and of Isaiah (xiii. 22), "Her days shall not be prolonged," and that +"desolation shall come upon her in a day," and her destruction shall +be effected suddenly--all of which are falsified by the facts just +presented. And even if Babylon had been destroyed, the present existence +of Hillah, built in 1101 upon the same spot, with a population, +according to Wellstead, of twenty-five thousand, is a signal overthrow +of Jeremiah's prophecy, that it "shall become a wilderness, wherein no +man dwelleth" (li. 43), and of Isaiah, also, that it should not be dwelt +in from generation to generation. Jeremiah first predicted that her sea +and springs should dry up (li. 38), and then declared the waves of the +sea should come upon her (li. 42); and finally, that she should sink to +rise no more (li. 64). And Isaiah's prediction of ruin and destruction +included with Babylon, "the land of the Chaldeans" (l. 39), which was +then, and is yet, a great commercial country, with an annual revenue at +this time, according to Harvey Brydges, of a million pounds sterling. +Here, then, is a long series of prophecies falsified. Our authority for +saying that Hillah occupies the site of ancient Babylon is Malte-Brun's +Geography (page 655), which declares, "Hillah is situated within the +precincts of Babylon;" thus proving it is not "a wilderness, wherein no +man dwelleth." Had we space, we should present an extended view of the +prophecies. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, by +Kersey Graves + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIXTEEN SAVIORS *** + +***** This file should be named 38600-8.txt or 38600-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/6/0/38600/ + +Produced by David Widger + +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. 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