Can anything be more subtle than the answer of Jesus concerning
the woman taken in adultery? The Jews having demanded of him if
they should stone her, instead of answering the question directly--a
negative answer being directly contrary to the law, and an affirmative
convicting him of severity and cruelty, which would have alienated
their minds from him--instead, therefore, of replying as an ordinary
individual would have done on the occasion--"Let him," said he,
"who is without sin amongst you cast the first stone at her." [45]
A shrewd reply, and one evincing great presence of mind. On another
occasion, being shown a piece of money with the emperor's image and
superscription upon it, and asked if it were lawful to pay tribute
money unto Cæsar, he eluded the difficulty of answering: "Render
unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's." [46] The false position
in which they wished to place him was this: that if he denied that
it was lawful, he was guilty of high treason; and if he said that
it was, he went directly against the law of Moses, which he always
protested that he never intended to do--knowing no doubt that he was
too helpless to do so with impunity at that time. Afterwards, when he
became more celebrated, he endeavoured to abrogate it almost totally:
acting in this way not unlike those princes, who, until their power
is thoroughly established, always promise to confirm the privileges
of their subjects, but who, after that has been secured, care little
for their promises.
When the Pharisees asked him by what authority he taught the people
and preached to them, he penetrated their intention--which was to
convict him of falsehood; whether he answered that it was by human
authority--he not being of the order of the priesthood, who alone were
charged with the instruction of the people; or whether he preached
by the express orders of God--his own doctrine being opposed to the
law of Moses; he avoided their snare, and embarrassed themselves,
by asking them in what name John baptised. [47]
The Pharisees, who from political motives, rejected the baptism of
John, would have condemned themselves if they had said that it was in
the name of God; and if they had not said so, they would have exposed
themselves to the rage of the populace, who maintained the opposite
opinion. To get out of this dilemma, they answered that they could
not tell: on which Jesus Christ replied, that neither was he obliged
to tell them by what name or authority he taught the people.
§ 14.
Such was the character of the destroyer of the ancient law, and the
founder of the new religion that was built upon its ruins; in which
religion a disinterested mind can perceive nothing more divine than
in any of those which preceded it. Its founder, who was not altogether
ignorant, having witnessed extreme corruption in the Jewish republic,
judged that its end was near, and thought it a favorable opportunity
for forwarding his own designs.
The fear of being anticipated by men more able than himself, made
him hasten to secure his ground by means entirely opposite to those
adopted by Moses. The former began by rendering himself terrible to
other nations. Jesus Christ, on the contrary, attracted mankind to
himself by the hope of blessings in a life beyond the grave, which he
said they would obtain by believing in him. Whilst Moses only promised
temporal benefits to the observers of his law, Jesus Christ led his
followers to hope for those which would never end. The laws of the one
only regarded exterior observances; those of the other looked into
the heart, influenced the thoughts, and stood on opposite grounds
to the law of Moses. Whence it follows, that Jesus Christ believed
with Aristotle, that it is the same with religion and nations as with
individuals who are born and who die; and as there is nothing which
is not subject to dissolution, there is no law which must not in turn
give place to another. [48] But as there is difficulty in passing from
one law to another, and as the greater part of men are stubborn in
religious matters, Jesus Christ, in imitation of other innovators,
had recourse to miracles, which have at all times confounded the
ignorant, and advanced the projects of ambitious and designing men.
§ 15.
Christianity having been founded in this way, Jesus Christ wisely
imagined that he could profit by the errors in the politics of Moses,
and render his new law eternal--an undertaking in which he finally
succeeded a little perhaps beyond his expectation. The Hebrew prophets
intended to do honour to Moses, by predicting a successor who should
resemble him--a Messiah great in virtues, powerful in wealth, and
terrible to his enemies. These prophecies, however, produced altogether
a different effect from what they expected; a number of ambitious
demagogues having embraced the opportunity of palming themselves off
for the coming Messiah, which led to those insurrections and civil
convulsions which lasted until the entire destruction of the ancient
republic of the Hebrews. Jesus Christ, more subtle than the prophets
who succeeded Moses, predicted that a man of this description would
appear--the great enemy of God--the favorite of the demons--the
aggregation of all the vices and the cause of all the desolation in
the world. After such a splendid eulogy, one would think that nobody
could resist the temptation of calling himself Antichrist; and I do
not believe that it is possible to discover a secret equal to it for
eternalizing a law, although there can be nothing more fabulous than
what we read of concerning this pretended Antichrist. St. Paul says
that he was a ready born; whence it follows that he must have been
on the watch for the coming of Jesus Christ: nevertheless, more than
sixteen years rolled on after the prediction of the nativity of this
formidable personage, without any one having heard of his appearance. I
acknowledge that some have applied the terms to Ebion and Cerinthus,
two great adversaries of Jesus Christ, whose pretended divinity they
disputed. But if this interpretation be the meaning of the Apostle,
which is far from being credible, the words referred to must point
out a host of Antichrists in all ages--it being impossible that truly
learned men should think of injuring the cause of truth, by declaring
that the history of Jesus Christ was a contemptible fable, [49] and
that his law was nothing but a series of dreams and reveries, which
ignorance had brought in repute, which self-interest had encouraged,
and which tyranny had taken under its especial protection.
§ 16.
They pretend, nevertheless, that a religion built upon so weak
foundations is divine and supernatural, as if it were not an
ascertained fact that there is no class of people more fitted to give
currency to the most absurd opinions than women and lunatics. It is
not to be wondered at that Jesus Christ reckoned none of the learned
amongst his followers. He well knew that his law was inconsistent with
common sense; and therefore he always declaimed against the sages,
excluding them from that kingdom into which he admitted the poor
in spirit, the simple and the imbecile. Rational minds ought to be
thankful that they have nothing to do with such insanities.
§ 17.