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."