A story emanating from a superstitious and unscientific people would be
received with more doubt than a story emanating from people possessing a
knowledge of science, and not prone to accept stories of the marvellous
without strict and full investigation.
A miracle story from an Arab of the Soudan would be received with a
smile; a statement of some occult mystery made by a Huxley or a Darwin
would be accorded a respectful hearing and a serious criticism.
Now, the accounts of the Resurrection in the Gospels belong to the
less credible form of statement. They emanated from a credulous and
superstitious people in an unscientific age and country.
The Jews in the days of which the Gospels are supposed to tell, and the
Jews of Old Testament times, were unscientific and superstitious people,
who believed in sorcery, in witches, in demons and angels, and in all
manner of miracles and supernatural agents. We have only to read the
Scriptures to see that it was so. But I shall quote here, in support
of my assertion, the opinions taken by the author of _Supernatural
Religion_ from the works of Dean Milman and Dr. Lightfoot. In his
_History of Christianity_ Dean Milman speaks of the Jews as follows:
The Jews of that period not only believed that the Supreme
Being had the power of controlling the course of Nature, but
that the same influence was possessed by multitudes of subordinate
spirits, both good and evil. Where the pious Christian of the
present day would behold the direct Agency of the Almighty, the
Jews would invariably have interposed an angel as the author
or ministerial agent in the wonderful transaction. Where the
Christian moralist would condemn the fierce passion, the
ungovernable lust, or the inhuman temper, the Jew discerned
the workings of diabolical possession. Scarcely a malady was
endured, or crime committed, which was not traced to the
operation of one of these myriad demons, who watched every
opportunity of exercising their malice in the sufferings and
the sins of men.
Read next the opinion of John Lightfoot, D.D., Master of Catherine Hall,
Cambridge:
... Let two things only be observed: (1) That the nation under
the Second Temple was given to magical arts beyond measure;
and (2) that it was given to an easiness of believing all
manner of delusions beyond measure... It is a disputable
case whether the Jewish nation were more mad with superstition
in matters of religion, or with superstition in curious arts:
(1) There was not a people upon earth that studied or attributed
more to dreams than they; (2) there was hardly any people in
the whole world that more used, or were more fond of amulets,
charms, mutterings, exorcisms, and all kinds of enchantments.
It is from this people, "mad with superstition" in religion and
in sorcery, the most credulous people in the whole world, a people
destitute of the very rudiments of science, as science is understood
to-day--it is from this people that the unreasonable and impossible
stories of the Resurrection, coloured and distorted on every page with
miracles, come down to us.
We do not believe that miracles happen now. Are we, on the evidence of
such a people, to believe that miracles happened two thousand years ago?
We in England to-day do not believe that miracles happen now. Some of us
believe, or persuade ourselves that we believe, that miracles did happen
a few thousand years ago.
But amongst some peoples the belief in miracles still persists, and
wherever the belief in miracles is strongest we shall find that the
people who believe are ignorant of physical science, are steeped in
superstition, or are abjectly subservient to the authority of priests or
fakirs. Scientific knowledge and freedom of thought and speech are fatal
to superstition. It is only in those times, or amongst those people,
where ignorance is rampant, or the priest is dominant, or both, that
miracles are believed.
It will be urged that many educated Englishmen still believe the Gospel
miracles. That is true; but it will be found in nearly all such cases
that the believers have been mentally marred by the baneful authority
of the Church. Let a person once admit into his system the poisonous
principle of "faith," and his judgment in religious matters will be
injured for years, and probably for life.
But let me here make clear what I mean by the poisonous principle of
"faith." I mean, then, the deadly principle that we are to believe any
statement, historical or doctrinal, without evidence.
Thus we are to believe that Christ rose from the dead because the
Gospels say so. When we ask why we are to accept the Gospels as true, we
are told because they are inspired by God. When we ask who says that the
Gospels are inspired by God, we are told that the Church says so. When
we ask how the Church knows, we are told that we must have faith. That
is what I call a poisonous principle. That is the poison which saps the
judgment and perverts the human kindness of men.
The late Dr. Carpenter wrote as follows:
It has been my business lately to inquire into the mental
condition of some of the individuals who have reported the
most remarkable occurrences. I cannot--it would not be fair--
say all I could with regard to that mental condition; but I can
only say this, that it all fits in perfectly well with the
result of my previous studies upon the subject, namely, that
there is nothing too strange to be believed by those who have
once surrendered their judgment to the extent of accepting as
credible things which common sense tells us are entirely incredible.
It is unwise and immoral to accept any important statement without
proof. HAVE THE DOCUMENTS BEEN TAMPERED WITH?
I come now to a phase of this question which I touch with regret. It
always pains me to acknowledge that any man, even an adversary, has
acted dishonourably. In this discussion I would, if I could, avoid the
imputation of dishonesty to any person concerned in the foundation or
adaptation of the Christian religion. But I am bound to point out the
probability that the Gospels have been tampered with by unscrupulous or
over-zealous men. That probability is very strong, and very important.
In the first place, it is too well known to make denial possible
that many Gospels have been rejected by the Church as doubtful or as
spurious. In the second place, some of the books in the accepted canon
are regarded as of doubtful origin. In the third place, certain passages
of the Gospels have been relegated to the margin by the translators of
the Revised Version of the New Testament. In the fourth place, certain
historic Christian evidence--as the famous interpolation in Josephus,
for instance--has been branded as forgeries by eminent Christian
scholars.
Many of the Christian fathers were holy men; many priests have been, and
are, honourable and sincere; but it is notorious that in every Church
the world has ever known there has been a great deal of fraud and
forgery and deceit. I do not say this with any bitterness, I do not wish
to emphasise it; but I must go so far as to show that the conduct
of some of the early Christians was of a character to justify us in
believing that the Scriptures have been seriously tampered with.
Mosheim, writing on this subject, says:
A pernicious maxim which was current in the schools, not only
of the Egyptians, the Platonists, and the Pythagoreans, but
also of the Jews, was very early recognised by the Christians,
and soon found among them numerous patrons--namely, that those
who made it their business to deceive, with a view of promoting
the cause of truth, were deserving rather of commendation than
of censure.
And if we seek internal evidence in support of this charge we need go no
further than St. Paul, who is reported (Rom. iii. 7) as saying: "For if
the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto His Glory, why
yet am I also judged as a sinner?" I do not for a moment suppose that
Paul ever wrote those words. But they are given as his in the Epistle
bearing his name. I daresay they may be interpreted in more than one
way: my point is that they were interpreted in an evil way by many
primitive Christians, who took them as a warranty that it was right to
lie for the glory of God.