Angels. The ideas associated therewith. Why winged. Wishing-
caps. Jehovah and His Angels made to walk by the historian.
The belief in Angels incompatible with that of an
omnipresent and omniscient God. Pictorial representations.
Absurd conceptions of angelic wings. Angela want birds'
tails. Men have tried to fly. Difference between birds and
men. Arms and wings. A writer at fault about this world is
not to be trusted in his accounts of another. Bats and
similar mammals. The Devil better winged than Michael--Yet
Satan, a roaring lion, goes about as a bull with bat's
wings. Angels and beetles. Harmony in creation. Strange idea
of spirits. Spiritualism. Varieties of angelic forms. Not
the products of lunacy. Angels and demigods. Egyptian ideas.
Assyrian notions. Christian fancies. Birds and Men united in
human celestialism. Persian Angels. Mithra winged. Angels in
Persia twelve in number. Job, the work of a Persian Jew.
Angels referred to therein. Darius had a consecrated table.
Babylonian belief. Daniel. Greece and Rome. Gods, Demigods,
Angels, and Saints. Christian demigods. Angels' duties.
Book-keeping, clerks of wind and weather;--police-agents.
The inventor of Heaven admired centralization. Babylonian
tutelary Angels. Christian ones. Christian saintly imagery.
The bleeding heart of Mary. A funny Chaldean goddess to
match. Popish saints have an aureole, but no wings. Francis
of Assisi could make stigmata but could not change his arms
into pinions. Babylonian and Papal emblems identical
Development of Angels amongst the Jews in Babylon. Angelic
mythology founded upon Astronomy and Astrology. Planets are
Archangels. Angels and Devils mentioned on bowls found in
Mesopotamia by Layard. The probable meaning of their names.
Hebrews adopted Chaldee beliefs: evidence. Juvenal. Jews and
Chaldeans. Sadducees and Pharisees. Sadducees and our
Reformers compared. A legal anecdote. Angels in Ancient
Italy. Our angelic forms are of Etruscan origin. Some such
beings had three pairs of wings. Etruscans had guardian
angels for infants and children. Angels carry various
matters. Angels of marriage. Angels for heirs of salvation.
Etruscan angel of marriage. Jewish match-maker. Raphael.
Description of an Etruscan painting in tomb of Tarquin. The
angel of death. The Greek theology. The Greeks taught the
Jews. The Jews never taught other nations. Greeks had a
supreme god and a host of inferior deities. War in heaven.
Titans--giants. Children of the sons of God and daughters of
men. Greek origin of Christian and Miltonian angelic
mythology. The begotten Son of God (Hercules born to Jupiter
by Alcmena). Restores the kingdom to his father. Greek ideas
of demons. Hebrew and Christian ideas of good and bad
spirits. The recording angel. Demigods and archangels. Greek
deities not winged except Mercury. Some minor gods have
pinions.--Pegasus has wings. Hymen, the angel of the
covenant of marriage. Genius loci and cherubim. Alcmena and
Mary. Jupiter and "the power of the Highest" Roman
mythology. Romans adopted the Etruscan form of angels.
Christians adopted it from Romans. The Christian crozier is
the Etruscan and Roman _lituus_, or "divining staff." Rome
and London both avid of religious novelty. Instability in
religion a proof of infidelity in the old. Hence a desire
for infallibility, to crush doubt. Angelic mythology of the
Bible. Christians use words in parrot fashion. Words ought
not to stand for ideas. Prayer-cylinder in Thibet.
Contradictions. Figures and metaphors are theologian cities
of refuge. Prophet who says that he converses with an angel-
-is he to be credited? A spirit without flesh and bones,
cannot move his tongue to utter words. Drunkards see "blue
devils"--they are unreal If the appearance of a man in a
dream is an illusion, his words are so too. Absurd ideas
about phantoms. Notice of the deeds of a few Hebrew angels.
A resume of their history. Inspiration did not reveal
angels. Human fancy did. Conspiracy in Heaven! The Genesis
of Hell. What sort of a place it is supposed to be. God made
the Devil, so man must multiply his imps! Lucifer taught
Elohim! Old Testament less knowing than the New. The Devil
not a fallen angel. The book of Enoch. Deductions drawn.
There is scarcely a single article in our current belief which does not
prove, on examination, to have descended to us from Pagan sources, or to
be identical with heathen beliefs older than the Hebrew. The idea of a
personal God dwelling in some locality, vaguely described as "Heaven,"
in which He reigns, and rules, like a modern emperor, has been found to
exist in almost every nation whose language we know, and whose history
has descended to us. Human weakness makes it so. Such a ruler has been
called Brahma, Siva, Vishnu, Mahadeva, Bel or Baal, Melech or Moloch,
Ormazd, Elohim, Jah, Jehovah, Jupiter, Yahu, God, and a variety of other
names; but He has always been hailed as king, and lord of all creation,
having a throne beside which attend a number of servitors, standing
before and around him, all ready to do his bidding and to go wherever
they are sent. As a potentate rules on earth over provinces far distant
from the central government, so the heavenly monarch was, and is yet,
supposed to have "viceroys," "lieutenants," or "vicars," who have
authority delegated to them, and exercise it under his superintendence.
A scheme such as we have described does not seem to have existed from
the first amongst the Jews; for, when men of reasoning powers conceived
the idea of a Creator, He was regarded as omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent. It became gradually interwoven with theology; for when men
of limited capacity thought of such a vast empire as the universe, they,
under the influence of a grovelling anthropomorphism, recognized, as
they imagined, the necessity of furnishing it with a system of acquiring
intelligence, and promulgating decrees which should be far superior to
any postal plan devised by human kings. Amongst the Kaffirs, men with
missives race against time, and by means of relays, messages are sent
to vast distances in a comparatively short period. By means of horses,
skilfully engaged beforehand, an ancient Persian tyrant could make his
commands known all over his vast empire in the course of a few days,
and moderns, by means of railways and the electric wire, can forward
information at a still more rapid rate.
Yet, to old theologians, and even to observant men of the present day,
all these means of communication between God and his subjects seemed to
be slow. We may, for example, notice a fly buzzing round the head of
the running Kaffir, or the ears of the fleetest of Persian steeds, and
a swallow on the wing outstrips a railway express. The velocity of the
carrier-pigeon has long been known. All these were, therefore, regarded
as swift-winged creatures, and fit for message bearers. As then, it was
observed, that of all beings who could move, the bird is the swiftest
in its movement from place to place, it was very natural that dogmatists
should represent the messengers of the great king with powerful pinions,
like those of the eagle or the albatross. In this manner the addition
of wings to any mythological character sufficed to show that he who bore
them was a celestial being; one who stood before the supreme ruler,
and received from him delegated power--either as vicar, viceroy, or
messenger. Thus the Greeks depicted Mercury with wings on his legs
and elsewhere, and the Hebrews gave large pinions to their
seraphim--sometimes as many as six being used by each (Isa. vi. 2.)
The Etruscans pictured their angels with two wings only, and we have
followed, implicitly, their lead. But the Hindoos did not in early times
adopt ideas such as this. They noticed the speed of the sunbeam, the
velocity of the hurricane, and the rapidity of thought; and since they
saw many birds borne away by the wind, they imagined that celestial
messengers must travel in a corresponding fashion. For one who rode upon
the clouds of the typhoon, pinions were useless. I have in my possession
a plate,* in which the celestial attendants on the god are all wingless,
but have sex. The name given to the attendants referred to is "Apsaras,"
who are described as having been produced in myriads when the ocean was
churned. They are said to reside between the waters above the firmament
and those below it, and are represented as being of consummate beauty
and elegance of form, their business being to attend upon the gods and
give them pleasure, by singing, music, dancing, and in every possible
way. They are sometimes represented as being of both sexes, all having
the power to change their gender. Generally, they are described as
females, and take the business of Venus in the Greek heaven, and of the
Houris in that provided by Mahomet and his followers. The Hindoos have
in their theology an abode of bliss, in which the pleasures are wholly
sensual. In this they do not differ from the Christians, except that the
latter only expect to indulge in music and a sanctified vengeance.
* Plate x., vol. 1, "Recherches sur l'origine, &c., des Arts
de la Grece," D'Harcanville, London, 1785. The author states
that the plate is copied from Le Voyage de Niebuhr, T. 1,
Tab. vi.
With great ingenuity the Hebrews conceived that the will of God must
be equivalent to His wish--that His wish must be the same as a command,
and, consequently, that He could send His messenger from one spot
to another in an instant; or, if He chose, He could go Himself and
communicate personally, as He did with Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, and
Joshua. For such a Being even light would be too slow (see Psalm xviii.
10; civ. 3, 4).
From a similar thought arose the stories which have found their way into
our fairy mythology of "wishing caps" which would enable the bearer to
pass in an instant of time, and wholly invisibly, from one part of the
world to another. In oriental countries, a carpet or a coat was the
carrying agent, whilst amongst the more clumsy story-tellers of Europe,
a pair of boots was furnished, whose wearer could cover twenty miles at
a stride.
In the plenitude of our prejudice we may smile at the caprice which
invented the "wishing cap;" but if we reflect calmly upon the matter,
we discover more depth of thought in this than has been shown in the
formation of tales in which winged angels are introduced. The contrast
will readily be recognized if we take a scene from "Fortunatus," and
another from the Old Testament The former, by putting on a cap, could
transport himself in a moment from Formosa to Great Britain. Whereas
we learn, from Genesis xviii, that three angelic men took "a walk" from
somewhere to Sodom, that they might see what sort of a place it really
was. The hero in the fairy tale was not fatigued; the angels of the
Hebrew mythology were glad to wash their feet, and to eat and drink, so
as to recruit their energies (v. 8; Ps. lxxviii. 25.) A mythical
tale like this demonstrates incontestably the mean condition of the
story-teller, who does not furnish Jehovah even with a mule or ass, but
makes Him go afoot.
We must, therefore, regard the theological contrivance which furnished
angels with wings, as being a clumsy one; indicating superficiality,
rather than profound thought, and emanating from human infirmity rather
than divine inspiration or direct revelation. We shall see this more
distinctly if we inquire into the ideas necessarily associated with
wings.
The theologians who have furnished their ideal messengers with wings
show, in the first place, that they have the idea of an air upon which
the sails can strike--of muscular structures to move the pinions, and
of the necessity for food to enable the motive power to be kept up. The
idea of a winged angel, therefore, necessarily implies a belief in the
presence of a solid material body moving through an aeriform fluid,
resembling the atmosphere just above the earth's surface. That there
really was this belief associated with celestial messengers we find
in the Jewish scriptures, wherein it is stated, as if it were a common
occurrence, that angels came to talk familiarly with men; as, for
example, Gen. xviii, xix., xxxii.; and Judges i., where we are told
that an angel came from Gilgal to Bochim, to deliver a statement, to the
Hebrews, such as a silly girl at Lourdes asserted the Virgin Mary had
come from Heaven to make to her; see also Judges xiii., and the book of
Tobit.
That angels were, moreover, supposed to possess thews and sinews, we
find from Gen. xxxii. 24-30, wherein we are told that some celestial
being wrestled with Jacob, but could not prevail against him. In a
previous chapter, although it is only in a dream, Jacob saw them mount
and descend a ladder as if their wings--if they then had them--were
useless.
We shall not now be far from the truth, if we affirm that winged
messengers, envoys, or angels, can only be supposed to exist by
individuals whose god is nothing more than a man without universal power
and knowledge. To any one who believes God to be omnipresent, the idea
of His having ambassadors, or vicars upon earth, is blasphemous.
The comparative coarseness of those minds which fabricated the notion
of winged men, as celestial messengers, will be the more certainly
recognised, if we examine into the pictorial conception which they have
permitted, and still allow, to pass, for the embodiment of their idea.
Let me, for example, invite the reader to cast his mental eye over the
winged men-like bulls, &c., of Assyria and Babylonia; the winged genii
of the ancient Egyptians; the winged soul and angel of Death of the
Etruscans; the angels of ancient and modern Christian painters; and the
pinioned heads which came from the walls to listen to the music of Saint
Cecilia--according to Papal legends--and then to try to discover the
locality of the muscular organs which are necessary to give movement to
the wings. Everybody who has ever carved, at his dinner-table, a grouse,
partridge, pheasant, duck, or other fowl, must be aware of the enormous
mass of flesh which is associated with the wings. If we bare the breast
and remove the pinion bones from any bird which flies--(it is necessary
to make this proviso, for such as the dodo, the apteryx, the ostrich,
emu, and others, have wings which are only rudimentary, and not used for
flight)--we find but a very meagre body remaining behind. Hence we see
the necessity of furnishing an imaginary angel which has wings with
muscles that will enable the pinions to be used; but in no pictorial
representation of an angelic messenger do we ever find the ordinary
figure of a man departed from, or any provision made for muscles to
move the feathered organs. And we must notice, in passing, that it is
monstrous to suppose that a man must become, in part, a bird ere he can
be useful to a god!
Again, we recognize in the conventional form of angels a total absence
of knowledge of natural history, of gravity, of force, &c. Let us, for
example, imagine for a moment that the metaphorical wings are real ones
used in flight. We see directly that they will only raise the individual
perpendicularly into the air. The angelic human creature, even if his
wings were--as they ought to do--to replace his arms, would still lack
a tail, to use as a rudder to direct his flight. It is clear, then, that
no one has seen an angel, and that those who have pretended to have done
so, were deeply ignorant men. To make our observations upon this point
somewhat more comprehensible, we may just refer to the fact that many
individuals, misled apparently by the mass of ideal celestial men--or
angels--which are to be seen in almost every cathedral or parish church
in Europe, have conceived the idea that they could fly, if only they
could contrive the necessary apparatus to append to their arms, legs,
or both; in other words, many men have fancied that they could do better
for themselves than nature has done for them. But a few minutes' calm
thought would teach any one familiar with the composition of forces,
that an attempt at the imitation of a bird's flight must be a failure in
man. Let me show this by a simple observation: A bird extends its wings,
and by a strong stroke towards its own body, rises into the air, though
neither solid nor rigid, both wings and air have apparently been so. In
imitation of this bird, we will now suppose that a man places himself,
with arms outspread, like the letter T between two uprights, forming
something like the letter U.
The individual would then be represented thus [J]--unlike the bird,
his _point d' appui_ would be solid, and his arms would be far more
unyielding than feathers. Yet not one athlete in a million could spring
upwards, so as to stand upon the summit of the U. Man's "pectoral
muscles"--as physiologists call the mass of flesh below the collar bone
and above the nipple--are intended to move the arm; the bird's pectoral
muscles are intended to move the body. Cut off a man's arms and
pectorals--the counterpart of the bird's wings and fleshy breast--and he
has barely lost a tenth part of his weight; on the other hand, cut off
the corresponding parts of a bird, i.e.t the pinions and the muscles
which move them, and not a tenth part of the original weight is left
behind. Speaking coarsely, we may then affirm that man's body is
relatively about a hundred times heavier--air being the standard--than
that of a bird, and his pectoral muscles, relatively to his body, a
hundred times less in bulk. Consequently, even if a human being could,
by muscular action, develop the bulk of his "pectorals," so that they
should be relatively to the rest of his frame, equal to those of a
bird, still his bulk would be so much more solid than that of the bird's
bones, flesh, and feathers, that his power of flight would be a hundred
times less. A man, with the exception of his lungs, is in health, solid
or fluid, in every part of him; a bird's bones, on the contrary, are
everywhere permeated by air cavities, which make them as light as pith
or cotton wool. A pound of lead and a pound of feathers are certainly
equal in weight, yet, if both are allowed to drop from a balloon, the
first will reach the ground a long time before the second. In like
manner, by contrivance, I could with my breath sustain an ounce of
eiderdown in the air, although I am quite powerless to sustain, by like
means, the same quantity of solid meat. I say nothing of the relative
position of the shoulder-joint in man and birds--although the point is
physiologically important.
Again, we may assert that the originators of the angelic mythology were
absolutely ignorant of that which is called comparative anatomy. We
have already expressed our belief that no one has a right to expect that
people will believe in the reality of a man's knowledge respecting
the unseen world, so long as he is palpably at fault in his notions
respecting the visible creation. Consequently we assert that one who
is careless as regards actual phenomena and ignorant of common truths,
cannot be trusted in metaphorical, mythological, or divine lore.
A comparatively small amount of observation proves to us that amongst
the highest classes of animal life, the wing is the counterpart of the
arm or of the fore-leg. In the creature called the "flying squirrel,"
there is no pinion as there is in the "condor,"--there is simply an
unusual development of skin which unites the fore and hind limbs much in
the same way as the web unites together the toes of the goose or duck.
In the bat, which, though a mammal, is allied, as regards its power of
flight, to the birds, we find that the fore-leg is developed so as to
make a bony frame on which a thin skin may be stretched, which is still
farther strengthened by being attached to the hind leg. In the ordinary
bird, the skin which we see in the bat and flying squirrel is replaced
by feathers, which are longer, broader, and lighter than a fold of skin.
The ordinary method, therefore, in which angelic beings are depicted
does not associate them with the highest classes of animal life.
Our modern artists are much more skilful in depicting Satan than in
pourtraying Raphael, Gabriel, or Michael.
Our last remarks would be comparatively unimportant, were it not that
the close observation which the moderns have given, to every thing
connected with natural history, has shown us that there is a harmony
throughout creation. No animals have noses on their backs, nor eyes in
their hind legs. No insect--so far as I can remember--has a thick neck;
nor has any mammal or bird a thin one, like the wasp, bee, or fly. As we
imagine that it is proper to extend our knowledge rather by the lights
which we have already attained, than by silly or hap-hazard guessing, so
we think that it is better to investigate the subject of angelic forms
by comparative anatomy, than by the dreams of divines, who probably have
never studied any other subject than the best means of gaining influence
over their fellow-mortals. We assert that there is not in all the
creation, known to man, any creature with arms and legs--or their
equivalents, legs and wings, or fore-legs and hind legs--which has, in
addition, wings upon arms, legs, head, or back. In such a combination
there is something monstrous. I confess that I could, if satisfactory
evidence were given, credit the occurrence of a devil with a tail--of a
centaur with a horse's body and a human head--but I could not possibly
believe that Satan went about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he could
devour in the dress of a bull with bat-like wings, as well as horns and
hoofs; or that an angel of God approaches us in a form nearer to the
scarabseus of Egypt than to the human form divine. Yet when we say that
a pictorial angel approaches nearer to a beetle that revels in
filth, than to an etherial essence which ought to be very close upon
perfection, we are still far from precision. Ladybirds, cockchafers, and
others of the class allied to the scarabseus that was almost deified
in Egypt, have six legs, two wings, and two wing cases--ten means of
locomotion in all. Butterflies, moths, and the like, have six legs and
two wings. Consequently, if there be any design in creation, and angels
have been created, they can only be regarded as the connecting link
between the highest and the lowest classes of animal life.
If then, there be such a thing as harmony of design in Creation--if the
Creator be not the author of confusion (1 Cor. xiv. 33)--if matter be
material, and imponderable forces cannot be weighed or made otherwise
recognisable by the senses, except by their effects--if the Almighty be
omnipresent and omniscient, it is absolutely impossible for a thoughtful
mind to believe in the existence of angels in any shape--whether
material, immaterial, or essential. But this consideration forces us
still further, and we feel compelled to ask ourselves, whether, with
our minds constituted as they are, we can believe in, or understand
any thing wholly immaterial? Whether we can imagine the existence, for,
example, of "force" without matter?--a shape which is formless?--a form
visible to the eye, yet wholly immaterial?
It seems to me to be desirable, at the present day, to call attention to
this point in a particular manner, inasmuch as there are vast numbers,
both in Europe and America, who believe in what is called Spiritualism,
and are, in reality, as greatly the dupes of charlatans as were the
disciples of Alexander the false prophet, whose history we gave in vol.
II. The jargon of these pretenders is based upon the assertion in the
Bible that there are spirits--the accounts of certain of these returning
to the earth which they have quitted, or conversing with human beings in
dreams, or in reality. But both they and their victims fail to see that
a spirit, being without a material existence, cannot put matter into
motion--it cannot produce the waves in the ether that cause those
impressions on eye and ear which give the idea of sight and sound.
We may best give our reader a glimpse of our meaning, if we compare a
spirit to a picture projected on a sheet by a magic lantern. It is true
that we can see it--yet we know that it is powerless to hear, to speak,
to move; it cannot of itself even vanish. Yet there are many onlookers
who, by a ventriloquist, can be made to believe that the picture speaks.
After prolonged observation, I believe that spirits, angels, demons, &c.,
have no reality except in the delusions of individuals whose diseased
brains induce them to believe that they see apparitions and hear them
speak. To this matter we shall probably return by and by.
We may now revert to a subject which we mentioned incidentally a few
pages back--viz., the ideas which induced priestly inventors to depict
the angels of their imagination in a particular form. Those who are
familiar with the Bible, and not with any other book, and who decline to
examine into the ways of God in the universe generally, will naturally
reply to our strictures that the angels of the Jews were described in
a particular fashion, because they were seen "in the visions of Elohim"
(Ezek. i. 1; Dan. x. 5, 6; and Rev. i. 10-20). But this observation
involves the idea that the angels which have appeared are so various
in shape, that an individual who had seen and described one, could not
enable another man to recognize a similar messenger when seen under
another form. In Genesis xviii, xix., xxxii., and Judges xiii, angels
assume the form of men; in Isaiah vi. they have six wings--one pair being
used to cover the face, another to cover the feet, and another to
fly with. To this it may be objected that what Isaiah described were
seraphim; yet verse 6 shows that one of these, at least, was a messenger
or envoy. In Ezekiel i. we find an apparent description of angels, or an
envoy, which is so involved that it is most difficult to understand it.
In Daniel x. an archangel is described as a brilliant man whose body was
like the beryl--_tarshish_--a stone of a sea-green colour probably; or,
possibly, a topaz, "whose eyes were like lightning, and whose arms and
feet were like polished brass, and whose loins were girded with fine
gold"--as if to conceal his sex--a characteristic which we find, from
Matt. xxii. 30, angels do not possess. The writer's description must,
therefore, be classed with that of afreets, genii, and the like, in the
_Arabian Nights_ tales. In Zechariah, again, we find an angel or envoys
described (ch. i.)--(a), "as a man riding upon a red horse," having
behind him "red horses, speckled and white" (v. 8); (6), as "four horns"
(vv. 18,19); (c), as "four carpenters" (w. 20, 21.) Again, in chap, v.,
we find an angel in "a flying roll;" another in "an ephah;" another in
a big piece of lead, and another in a woman, and still another in two
beings of the same nature.
We can readily understand that some who are unacquainted with lunatics,
would describe these portraitures as the result of insanity or
hallucination; but those who are more conversant with persons of unsound
mind will doubt whether any ordinary insane persons ever see or describe
things which they have never met with. One or two, certainly, have
wonderful flights of imagination, but these have been highly educated
men of extensive reading, &c. In mania, when visions are seen, some
person or other whose description has been read by the lunatic, or who
has really been observed, appears--or something which the individual has
seen depicted, or otherwise been told of, presents itself, or there is
a strange jumble of reality and possibility--just as in dreams,
comical, grotesque, or horrible combinations are common, and cause us no
surprise. There is, however, too much consistency in the method in which
angels are depicted, to enable us to believe that their form was decided
by any lunatic or dreamer.
We scarcely can form an idea whether the Egyptians had a definite belief
in angels, as the word is understood by moderns. With them, as it was
with the Greeks, it is most probable that all beings which Jews
and Christians alike would call angels, were designated "gods" or
"demigods." Be this as it may, we find that the Mizraim had deities who
wore wings. A round disc, apparently intended to represent the sun, two
erected serpents to support it, and a long broad pinion on each side of
the body, was symbolic of "the Supreme." The same may be said to be true
of Assyria and Persia--only that in the symbolism of the two last,
the serpents did not, generally, appear. In plate 30a, of Wilkinson's
_Ancient Egyptians, 2d series_, a human figure is represented as winged,
and before him is a five-rayed star. In plate 35 of the same book, Isis
is represented as a nude woman, winged; the position of one pinion being
such that it serves to conceal the body from the waist almost to
the knees. In plate 36, "Athor" is depicted as being attended by a
human-headed bird. On the other hand, in plate 39, where the gods are
instructing the king in the use of the bow, the former are bird-headed
men without wings. Whilst in plate 44, the soul of a dying man is
represented as a human-headed bird with wings, arms, and legs. In plates
52, 53 of the same work, we notice specimens of winged serpents. In
plate 63, Isis again appears as a wing bearer, and in this figure we
find, as we ought to do, that the feathers of the pinions are attached
to the arms of the goddess.
In Assyria, we may gather from the sculptures which have been preserved,
that there was not any idea of angels being essentially different to
gods. Indeed, it is very difficult wherever there is a polytheism in any
form, to understand the distinction between a god and an angel Even in
the religion which passes current as "the Christian," which acknowledges
three gods as "coeternal together and coequal," we are distinctly
told that one of the three "proceeds" from the father and the son
(_Athanasian Creed_). The New Testament, again, repeatedly informs
us that the son was "sent" into this world by his father to effect a
special purpose--e.g.t "God sent his only begotten son into the world,
that we might live through him" (1 John iv. 9; see also John iii. 16, 17;
Matt. xxi. 37; Mark xii. 4; John v. 38; vi. 29; vii. 28, 29; and compare
with John i. 33 and Mal.iii. 1-3). If, therefore, we regard the bearer
of a message or an order from the supreme king as an "angel," Jesus of
Nazareth was certainly one, inasmuch as he said that he was sent hither
by the father of all; and the Holy Ghost was another, for we find John
(xv. 26) stating that Jesus would send him to the earth--an assertion
repeated in chap, xvi. 7--whilst in the fourteenth chapter of the same
book we observe that the father was to send this comforter, who was
to abide in this world for ever (v. 16). Indeed, the presumed
identification of Jesus with the promised Messiah, "the prince" of Dan.
ix. 25, shows the belief that he was one who was as much appointed to
do a certain duty as was that "angel of death" which went out to destroy
the Assyrian army (2 Kin. xix. 35).
With such indicated reservation, we notice that the angel which the gods
sent to watch over various Assyrian kings is depicted almost invariably
with wings. Now he is an archer, standing in a disc representing the
sun, having wings below him; now he stands in front of the circle, the
pinions and sometimes his body terminating in feathers resembling a
bird's expanded tail. Then, again, the minor divinities bear wings, some
of them no less than four (Bonomi's _Nineveh_, 2d ed. p. 157). It would
be superfluous to linger over a description of the winged bulls with
human heads, and the winged men with eagle or hawks' faces, which are
so familiar to us in consequence of the researches of Layard and others.
All alike bear testimony to the connection, in human celestialism,
between birds and men. Nor can we reasonably doubt, that the idea
intended to be conveyed by the inventor of the Assyrian composition
which we refer to was, that the being, thus symbolized, was famous for
strength like the bull; for rapidity of movement, like the eagle; and
for wisdom, like a man.
There is to be found amongst the relics of the ancient Persians a symbol
of an angel who was supposed specially to guard the king. This somewhat
resembles that used at Nineveh. There are, however, many forms of it.
For example, we find in Hyde's _De Religione veterum Persarum_ (Table
6) a figure of a Persepolitan king, above whom, in the air, and quite
distinct from the sun, stands a venerable man fully draped, standing
upon what seems to be a large pine cone reversed, which is surrounded
by clouds instead of being furnished with wings. The man thus depicted
extends the forefinger of one hand to the sun, whilst with the other
he holds a ring. In Table 6 Mithra is represented as winged, after the
modern fashion of angels.
Hyde assures us, in chapter twelve, that twelve angels were recognized
by the ancient Persians, in addition to those who presided over the
months and days. One of these appears to be the same as the Greek
Rhadamanthus, who sat as supreme judge in the invisible world, and
apportioned to the dead their rewards or punishments. A second was
equivalent to Neptune and ruled the sea, but he had also under his
charge everything which related to generation, or production generally.
The third was much the same as the more modern Lares and Penates, and
superintended dwelling-houses and families. The fourth had a somewhat
similar and subordinate office. The fifth was named after the stars, and
had his kingdom in the south heavens. The sixth the learned author does
not describe. The seventh really seems to be a sort of duplicate angel,
called Haruts and Maruts, who were two naughty ones that rebelled, and
are, according to some, imprisoned still in Babylon, being hung up by
the heels. The eighth, Hyde is himself doubtful about, and does not
describe. The ninth is the same as the German "storm-king." The tenth
may fairly be styled the "angel of the victualling department." The
eleventh is the giver of life, the opponent of Azrael, the minister of
death; and the twelfth angel is one which we may call either by the name
of "conscience" or "judgment" for he it is who approves or reprobates
the works of man.
Though I quote from Hyde, I am somewhat doubtful of the value of his
authority. He relies to a considerable extent upon the work known as the
"Zend Avesta," and supposed to represent the tenets of Zoroaster and his
followers. This book is, as I have mentioned, generally believed to be
a genuine relic of antiquity by Continental scholars, though it is
mistrusted by British orientalists, who regard it as a modern production
founded upon Aryanism, Christianity, and Maho-metanism. In my judgment,
my compatriots are right; and if it be proper to trust such a man as
Sir H. Rawlinson in the matter of the "Avesta," one may be pardoned for
believing with him that the book of Job was written by a Persian Jew, or
translated by a Hebrew from a work in the time of Darius, or some other
of the Achoemenidae.
In Job angels are only once mentioned--viz., in chap. iv. 18, and then
they are spoken of in such a way, that we are doubtful whether or not
to regard the verse simply as a poetic metaphor. The idea which runs
through the part of the chapter in which the passage occurs is this:
"Job, you are suffering; the innocent do not perish; the righteous are
not cut off; you have been very proper; man has nothing to say against
you; but you are not right in accusing God of injustice; you doubtless
have done some wrong, for even God's servants are not wholly trusted;
they sometimes misbehave unknowingly, and his own angels are called
perverse by him (Job iv. 18); you cannot expect to be better than they,
and it is no shame to you to be in the same category as they are."
But it must be allowed that the words of the story--"There was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and
Satan came also among them; and the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest
thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in
the earth, and from walking up and down in it"--do really intimate
a full belief in good angels and bad, who were not so much angels,
messengers, or envoys, as subordinate powers resembling the barons of
ancient England, the Paladins of Charlemagne, or the kings created by
Buonaparte; amongst whom all were, so to speak, "good angels," except
Bernadotte, of Sweden, who rebelled against the imperial thraldom, and
became to his late master a modern satan. In whichever way we regard the
subject of angels, amongst the Persians there is little doubt that
the Iranian conception of God was wholly anthropomorphic, and that
the Medians and their magi, as well as their Persian neighbours,
acknowledged a "father of lies," who was antagonistic to the deity.*
* Quintus Curtius informs us (_Life of Alexander the Great_,
b. v. a ii.) that Darius had in Babylon a consecrated table,
from which he used to eat; that Alexander began to be
ashamed of his sacrilege in treading upon it--(it had been
placed as a footstool for his imperial chair)--the sacrilege
being against the gods presiding over hospitality, carved
upon the table. These may be regarded as angels or
otherwise, according to fancy.
Our knowledge of the angelic mythology of Babylonia is comparatively
slight. The main thing which shrouds the subject in darkness is the
difficulty which exists to distinguish between god, gods, and angels. If
we could put any confidence in the book of Daniel, we should recognize
therefrom that his "Nebuchadnezzar" most distinctly believed in the
existence of angels, for in chap. iii. 25 he believes that he sees the
son of God (_bar elohim_), and in verse 28 of the same chap. he remarks
that "God hath sent his angel (_malachah_), and delivered his servants
that trusted in him." Again, in the fourth chapter, in which he recounts
a dream, he declares that he saw "a watcher and a holy one" (_geer and
kadesk_) come down from heaven with a message to him. But Daniel is not
an adequate authority upon ancient Babylonian beliefs. We are, in the
absence of direct testimony upon this subject" driven to such evidence
as is drawn from sculptured or other remains in ruins and on gems, and
to cuneiform and other writings. George Rawlinson sums up his account
thus--(_Ancient Monarchies_, vol. I, ch. vii., pp. 138, 9): "Various
deities, whom it was not considered at all necessary to trace to a
single stock, divided the allegiance of the people, and even of the
kings, who regarded with equal respect, and glorified with exalted
epithets, some fifteen or sixteen personages. Next to these principal
gods were a far more numerous assemblage of inferior or secondary
divinities, less often mentioned, and regarded as less worthy of honour,
but still recognized generally through the country. Finally, the
Pantheon contained a host of mere local gods or genii, every town and
almost every village in Babylonia being under the protection of its own
particular divinity."
The passage above quoted, which represents very fairly our existent
knowledge, suggests to the thoughtful mind a comparison with other
religions. In Greece there were many great gods and goddesses, and
other divinities of less renown. In Rome there were gods for almost
everything. But what these nations called "gods" the Hebrews called
"angels," as we shall see shortly. In Christendom angels and gods have,
as a general rule, been deposed, and "saints" have taken their
places. Not only has every town a cathedral which is dedicated to some
particular name--said to have been borne by a holy man or woman, whose
aid in heaven is thus secured by his votaries upon earth--but every
church in every parish, and every chapel in every church is set apart to
a particular "saint." Still farther, every trade and every position in
life has its tutelary patron in heaven, and secondary gods are as
common in Papal districts as they were in the land of the Chaldeans. The
philosopher cannot find a valid distinction between Ishtar, Venus, and
Mary, Dionysus and Denis, and a host of other gods, saints, or angels.
Assuming that the minor gods of Greece and Rome, and those essences
generally called "angels" are substantially the same order of beings,
we find that the Babylonians had a great number of celestial envoys,
viceroys, or messengers who ruled over the land and sea,
the sky and storms, the thunder and the rain, crops, men, war,
buildings--everything, indeed, was superintended by some one on behalf
of the Supreme Ruler.
We might pause here to speculate upon the question whether there is any
difference in kind between such a kingdom as Babylonia or Russia and the
heaven believed in by the ancient Jews and the modern Christians. In
all there is an autocratic sovereign who has a prime minister and
secretaries of state, who keep his books and perform his will according
to his bidding; under these again there are private clerks, who
superintend wind and weather, rain and hail, snow and frost; governors
of provinces, mayors, or prefects of cities; police, and so large a host
of subordinates, that nothing, great or small, can be done which escapes
the notice of one of the imperial envoys or ministers. The inventor
of heaven, such as we know it, was certainly an admirer of
'centralization'. Those who desire to see the description of the unseen
world modified are those who are opposed to an absolute monarchy, and
who see in everything, everybody, and in all the world a proof of the
presence of a supreme, omniscient, omnipresent, Creator, Ruler, or
Governor.
Without going into an account of the Chaldean mythology, we may say that
there is strong reason to believe, both from the nomenclature which has
survived, and from such gems as are preserved from destruction, that
every Babylonian, whether bond or free, was called after some deity, who
was supposed ever afterwards to be his tutelary angel In modern times
Roman Catholics hold a similar belief, and each parent imagines that by
making selection, for his offspring, of the name of a particular saint,
the latter can be induced to take the child under its special care.
The learned in papal mythology know that every saint is depicted in
such a manner that none shall be mistaken. To such an extent indeed is
pictorial contrivance carried, that the art of recognising a particular
saint demands a special study. It is all but certain that the same
custom prevailed in Babylon; but, as all the professors which taught the
means of identification have passed away, we can only guess at the
name or nature of the angel. Let us imagine, for example, what an
archaeologist could make of the figure of Mary--of the bleeding or
burning heart, two thousand years after all history of the mother of
Jesus has passed away, like that of Ishtar has done. A curious figure,
called heart-shaped, but really not so, is found placed on the central
part of a woman's breast; from it flames appear to arise and blood
to drop, and through it is a dagger, and this mass of imagery is put
outside the body, and the dress is held open to enable any one to see
it.
Without a key to the enigma, this is a mystery; but when the key is
given, and the inquirer hears the explanation, he finds it so absurd
that it is difficult to believe it. In like manner, when I see upon a
Babylonian gem, copied as a vignette on the title-page of Landseer's
_Sabean Researches_, a woman who has a beard, a necklace, two small
breasts, from each of which she squeezes apparently a river of milk;
over whose breastbone there is one large globe and two small ones,
placed perpendicularly; who has a spider waist, and wears a skirt
covered with pistol-shaped ornaments, I, not knowing whether the
Chaldeans adored "our lady of the flowing bosom," cannot frame an idea
as to the name of the saint, angel, virgin, or martyr which is depicted,
or what may have been her peculiar duties, who she was, and what trade
she patronised.
Whatever idea the Papal Church entertains respecting her canonised
saints, one thing is remarkable, viz., that they are not portrayed as
having wings. Each has an aureole of some sort round his or her head--a
painter's contrivance for saying "This individual, who seems like a man
or woman, is not a common but a divine creature." Francis of Assisi is,
in addition, depicted with stigmata, or marks on his hands, feet, and
side, which, though they resemble those made with nails in the case of
Jesus of Nazareth, were doubtless, in the case of the "saint," made with
the strong caustic called "spirit of salt" or other escharotic. We
might speculate upon the state of mind which sees in the assumption
of "stigmata" a greater evidence of faith than would be offered by the
conversion of the arms into the pinions of Michael the archangel; but,
as it is so much easier for even the most potent saint to make breaches
in his skin, than to persuade feathers to grow on his arms, we do not
think the task worthy of our care.
The Babylonians in this respect were predecessors of papal pagans. It is
a rare thing to find on any of their gems a winged angel or genius. One
such is depicted on the frontispiece of Landseer's _Sabean Researches_,
which is birdlike both as regards the head and pinions; and four other
winged creatures are given in Lajard's _Culte de Venus_. In two the
figures are human headed, and combined with the body of a quadruped.
At a later period of Babylonian mythology "grotesques" were introduced,
apparently from Egypt.
It is not to be lightly passed by, that the symbol which represented the
presence of the deity--which, if we may adopt a phrase, we should call
"the angel of his presence" (see Exod. xxxiii. 14,15; Isa, lxiii. 9), is
almost identical in the Chaldean and the papal religions, viz., a circle
containing a cross, an emblem as common in our churchyards as in the
capital of Nebuchadnezzar.
The resemblance between papal and Chaldean emblems and doctrines have
repeatedly attracted the attention of theologians; and I am not far
wrong in asserting that Protestants generally have identified "the
woman" of Revelation xvii., spoken of as "Mystery, Babylon the Great,
the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth," with Rome under
the popes. For myself I do not care to express any opinion on the point,
beyond a general dissent from the popular estimation of the dictum and
its interpretation. At the same time I must declare that every year,
over which my inquiries have extended, has imbued me more and more with
wonder at the similarity between the ancient Babylonian and the modern
papal religion. The two resemble children of the same parents, only that
one is older than the other; and it requires but little penetration in
an observer to trace in both, the lineaments of a grovelling
superstition, united with a base priestly cunning.
In our own estimation the strongest evidence in favour of a belief in
angels, of every degree, amongst the Chaldeans and Babylonians is the
enormous development of angelic mythology amongst the Jews, who lived
in the city of Nebuchadnezzar, and in those who migrated thence into
Palestine subsequent to the period of the captivity. From indications,
which are necessarily imperfect, we have formed the opinion that the
Babylonians were astronomical students of great proficiency, from a very
remote antiquity; that many of these professors turned their attention
to what is called judicial astrology--i.e., they attempted to judge
of future events by certain phenomena occurring in the heavens, and
especially in the relationship between different planets and the various
constellations.
As the planets wander through the sky, naturally they were regarded as
the messengers of El--"the Supreme," who sent them to investigate the
condition of groups of stars, many of which formed a sort of community
that was unvisited by the Great King, for months together, and, in
many instances, not at all.As the heliacal rising of one star seemed
generally to be followed by good weather, and the corresponding rise
of another intimated the reverse, it was natural that one should be
regarded as an angel of happiness, the other as a harbinger of misery
or death. So strongly rooted is this belief amongst some, that it even
"holds its own" in educated England. The astronomer Royal is often asked
to cast a nativity; and a living merchant of Liverpool does so yet,
having confidence that his deductions suffice to prove their value.
The formula is "_Astra regunt homines, sed regit astra Deus_"--"The
stars rule men, but God rules the stars." A guardian star, then, that is
to say, the particular planet or other conspicuous celestial body which
was "in the ascendant" at the period of the birth of each individual,
was regarded in the same light as Christians esteem protective angels
and Romanists estimate patron saints. There can be, we think, little
doubt that the seven archangels are the seven planets known to the
ancients, each of which had a day dedicated to it, and who thus
originated the week of seven days. These amongst the Phoenicians were
called the Cabeiri, or the powerful ones. In the conclusion at which we
have arrived we are greatly strengthened by the discovery in Babylonian
ruins of certain bowls; facsimiles and descriptions of which are given
in Layard's Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 510-526. The inscriptions which
have been translated appear to be forms of exorcism, or amulets, by
which evil spirits are to be driven away; and reference is made in these
writings to the devil, for example, under the name _shida_; and to
Satan under the cognomen _Satanah_, evidently the same as the Satanas
habitually used in the New Testament; also to Nirich, probably from
a root like the Hebrew _narag_, "a noise maker or screamer." This
creature, as I think, is the same as the "Satyr" of Isaiah xiii. 21,
and xxxiv. 14, and represents or personifies those unseen but howling
maniacs who wandered about at night (see _Lilith and Satyr_ in my second
volume). Another demon is called _Zachiah_, a cognomen which I cannot
satisfactorily explain unless it is allied to _Zachar,_ and indicates
the power which, as the French would say, "can tie a knot in the needle"
(nouer l'aiguilette) or "a levin brand." Another of the devils is called
"Abitur of the Mountain," whose name resembling, as it does, the Jewish
_Abiathar_, is more likely to belong to the good than the bad angels.
Lilith is another demon still feared by the Jews, who employ charms
against her to this day. She is supposed to be a sort of spiritual
vampyre, and to suck the life out of infants and young people. These
names of angels occur in the first inscription given by Layard; in
the second we find Satan, associated with idolatry, curses, vows,
whisperings, witchcraft, and _Zevatta_--a concealer, rider, or enchanter
from root like this and answering to the fairy which steals away.
"It was between the night and day
When the fairy king has power,
That I sank down in a sinful fray,
And 'twixt life and death was snatcht away
To the joyless Elfin bower."
--Lady of the Lake, canto iv., stanza xv.
Another is named _Nidra_, which I take to signify vows made by supposed
sorcerers. This demon is associated in the same line with _Zevatta_
above described. _Patiki_ is another bad influence, probably now, "a
sword," for the charm has reference to freedom from captivity. Another
devil is called _Isarta_, which I take to be a leader of banditti or
marauders, from the Assyrian word (Furst's lexicon s.v. _asar_),
"a leader, head or commander," and a word from a root like _ta_, "to
drive," "to push forward," "to sweep away." We should call such an one
"the demon of destruction."
In this same inscription two good angels are named, Batiel or Bethiail,
probably a variant of Bethuel, "the residence of El," and Katuel or
Kathuail, the executioner or sword of El, from _katal_, to kill; compare
this with the expression, "Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and
say, sword, go through that land, so that I put off man and beast
from it" (Ezek. xiv. 17). In addition to these two angels another
is mentioned who has eleven names, not one of which is written in
full--e.g. SS. BB. CCC.
In a third inscription a devil is named "Abdi," which may be derived
from the root _abad_, and be regarded as the same as the New Testament
Abaddon (Rev. ix. 10)--the king of the slaughterers, bucaneers, rovers,
&c. We can fancy that Negroes who are captured and sold in droves
to foreigners, might imagine that Abdi was the devil which ruled the
African slave drivers and Christian purchasers. This demon is associated
with Levatta,--with tribulations, the machinations of the Assyrians,
misery, treachery, rebellion; Nidra, with sorrows generally; and _Shoq_,
which I take to be from a root like _shuq, or shaqaq_--i.e., "enemies
thirsting for booty, rangers, bands of robbers." Compare--"And the
spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies"
(1 Sam. xiii. 17). See also--He "delivered them into the hand of the
spoilers" (Jud. ii. 14; 2 Kin. xvii. 20). Amongst the devils must, I
think, also be classed _Asdarta_, which is clearly the same as the
goddess Astarte, and she is closely associated with "the machinations of
the Assyrians."
The good angels of this inscription are Barakiel, Ramiel, Raamiel,
Nahabiel, and Sharmiel, over whose names we will not now linger, except
to notice that the devils have names compounded with _jah_, whilst the
good ones are derived from EL.
In the fifth inscription, amongst the bad things are mentioned evil
spirits, both male and female, the evil eye, sorcery, and enchantments
both from men and women, along with Nidra and Levatta. The good angels
are called Babnaa, Ninikia, and Umanel, which I take to be intended
for Wu, _banahel_=El builds, or "the strong one who establishes us;"
_nachaghel_. El is powerful, or the Angel of Strength; and amanel, or
"the fostering angel."
In some fragments the names of good angels found have been Nadkiel,
Ramiel, Damael, Hachael, and Sharmiel, which we shall probably notice
again subsequently.
We do not lay any particular stress upon the fact of the bowls, on which
these inscriptions were found, having been dug up amongst Babylonian
ruins; nor do we care to prove either that they were of Jewish or
Chaldean origin. What we here desire to show is, that there existed in
Babylon a full belief in the existence of evil and good influences which
were invisible; that some individuals had, or were thought to possess,
supernatural powers for harm, which could be counteracted by those
who placed themselves under the protection of potencies supposed to be
holier, wiser, or stronger than the evil genii From the method in which
everything connected with witchcraft, magic, astrology, and the like, is
spoken of in the Old Testament, and from the fact that slaves are much
more likely to imitate their masters than conquerors to become pupils of
the vanquished, we conclude that it was not the Hebrews who taught the
Chaldees, but that the contrary was the case.
In the view thus enunciated we are confirmed by the manner in which old
Jewish writers spoke of the nation that enslaved them--e.g., "Babylon,
the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency" (Isa. xiii. 19); "All of them
princes to look at after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea."...
And "she (Jerusalem) doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into
Chaldea; and... she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated
from (or by) them" (Ezek. xxiii. 15-17); "It is a mighty nation, it is
an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not" (Jerem.
v. 15)--Jeremiah knew more about the people than Isaiah (see Isa.
xxiii. 13). Habakkuk, again, speaking of the same people, says (chap,
i. 6-10)--"The Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation... terrible and
dreadful:... they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a
scorn unto them." Such being the estimation of the Babylonians by Hebrew
prophets, it is morally certain that the Jews would regard them with
respect, admire, study, and copy them. To what extent the imitation went
it is difficult to say.
When, therefore, we find that the descendants of Abraham, a patriarch
whom a veneration for the ancient Babylonians induced the Israelite
mythologists to represent as being a Chaldee; and those who were taught
on the banks of the Euphrates, were spoken of in Rome about the time of
our era, and shortly afterwards, as being almost synonymous epithets
for sorcerers, astrologers, charmers, &c., we must conclude that the
Mesopotamian was the master, the Palestinian the pupil. That the
two were regarded as relatives we infer from Juvenal (sat. vi.
544-552)--"For a small piece of money the Jews sell whatever dreams you
may choose, but an Armenian or Commagenian soothsayer promises a tender
love;... but her (i.e., the lady who consults such folk) confidence in
Chaldeans will be the greater."
But, ere we leave this portion of our Essay, we must notice one other
piece of evidence of considerable value which is drawn from the New
Testament. We find, for example, in Acts xxiii. 8, "The Sadducees
say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but
the Pharisees confess both." If we inquire into the origin of these
sects--and we shall be greatly assisted in doing so by two very
elaborate articles by the erudite Dr. Ginsburg, in Kitto's _Cyclopaedia
of Biblical Knowledge_--we shall see reason to believe that the
Sadducees were a sect who considered that they were not bound to believe
any tenet as necessary unless they could find it distinctly enunciated
in the Pentateuch. They resolutely declined, therefore, to accept
as revelation such stories as had been adopted by the Hebrews from
Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and possibly from the Romans.
We might institute a comparison between the Sadducees and those whom
we know as "reformers." The first acknowledged the authority of
Moses alone, such as they found it in "the five books;" the second
acknowledged the authority of Jesus and his apostles, such as they found
it in the New Testament: the first rejected the commentaries of Rabbis;
the second those of "the fathers." Both appealed to antiquity, and both
traced to what we may designate paganism, heathenism, or foreign sources
generally, a large portion of the current faith which they saw around
them. The Sadducees regarded the doctrine of seraphic interference,
and all the angelic mythology common in their time, as the fond fancy of
those who desired to harmonize Judaism with Gentilism. The Reformers, in
their turn, rejected all the fables of Papal anchorites, &c.; denied the
power of any martyr to influence the condition of the living after their
death; and generally opposed the saintly, as the Sadducees opposed the
angelic, hierarchy. Individuals who sympathize with Luther, Calvin,
and those of a similar way of thinking, may readily understand the
Sadducees, whereas, those of what is called the "High Church," will give
their interest to the Pharisees, who upheld the then mediaeval customs,
&c.
It is probable that some will say, that Jesus of Nazareth, being the
son of God, a deity incarnate, and consequently familiar with everything
which goes on in the court of heaven; having adopted the angelic
mythology; having conversed familiarly with the devil; having sent, at
least, two thousand devils out of one man into a herd of swine; having
gone down to hell, wherever that may be; and having preached to the
spirits imprisoned there, whoever they may be or have been; having,
still further, had an angel to comfort him; having had a conference with
Moses and Elijah on a certain hill; having asserted that he had only to
pray to his father to obtain the assistance of twelve legions of angels;
and having also told us that every child has an angel who stands before
the face of God--seeing these things, I say, one can imagine persons
asseverating that all our current notions of angels, which are built
upon the New Testament, must be true.
To this we rejoin, that these assertions beg the question. The
philosopher affirms that the idea of angels is incompatible with that
of an omnipresent God--that the belief of Jesus in an angelic mythology
proves him to have had an anthropomorphic notion of "the Supreme," and,
as a consequence, it follows that Jesus was nothing more than a Jew,
although very superior to the generality of his countrymen, having
possibly been taught by some Buddhist.* The bigot, on the other hand,
can only scream out the formularies which the so-called orthodox provide
for him. Johanna Southcote once made some folks believe that she was
pregnant with a Messiah, and she had most enthusiastic followers; but
neither argument nor rhetoric sufficed to beget the promised baby and,
in like manner, no amount of declamation can convert an assumption into
a fact. But of this truth most of our theologians appear to be ignorant,
and, like the heathen with their litanies, they think that they will
obtain their will by "much speaking."
* It will be noticed by the reader, that the remarks in the
text have reference to the supernatural stories which were
interwoven into the biography of Jesus by those whom we call
Evangelists. The bibliolaters must, however, stand or fall
by the many legendary tales which pass current for truth. If
Jesus, as an ordinary Jew, believed in angels--just as our
king, James I., believed in the existence of modern witches
--we cannot use his evidence to prove the existence of angels
and devils, any more than the Christian laws against
witchcraft demonstrate that old women and men sold their
souls and bodies to Satan. If, on the other hand, we allow
that the spiritual mythology of the New Testament is due to
Pharasaic influence, all the testimony propounded in favour
of the assertion, that Jesus was, in reality, "a son of
Jehovah," crumbles away.
When summoned, a long time ago, to give evidence in a court of justice,
the question was put to me--"Now, doctor, you have heard the symptoms
from which the deceased suffered; do you believe that they were produced
by arsenic?" Being doubtful about the propriety of the query in a court
of law so prudish as ours is, I remained silent, and in an instant the
judge, Baron Alderson, said--"I won't allow that question to be put or
answered; you want the witness to take the place of the jury, and it
shall not be done. You may ask the doctor, if you will, what are the
symptoms produced by arsenic, when taken in a poisonous dose, and then
it is the business of the jury to compare those, with such as have
already been sworn to as occurring in the man before he died." This
anecdote is frequently in my mind when I am composing an essay like the
present. If I wish to convince the jury who reads my papers of the truth
of a particular conclusion to which I have arrived, it is not enough for
me to express my own opinions. I may assert, in the matter in question,
that I am a skilled witness, and have closely investigated the subject,
but it is open to any one to doubt my industry and to distrust my
judgment; consequently, it is necessary for me to adduce evidence, as
well as to draw deductions therefrom.
The hypothesis which I have formed, after a pretty extensive reading,
is, that the belief in the mythology of angels which is current amongst
Christians at the present time, and which is based upon a series of
pretended revelations, said to have been made exclusively to Jews of
ancient times, is, in reality, founded upon fancies of pagan priests or
poets; and, as a corollary, I infer, either that our celestial mythology
must be given up to oblivion, as being heathenish, or that we must
abandon those claims to an exclusive inspiration which have been made
for, and accorded by many to, the Bible. I have already described the
ideas associated with angels in some ancient peoples, and I now propose
to examine those of other nations with whom the Jews and Christians,
directly or indirectly, came in contact.
The reader of ancient Roman history cannot doubt that the city on the
Tiber was indebted to the Etruscans for all, or nearly all, of its early
knowledge. It is probable that the original gods and goddesses of Rome
were those of their northern neighbours, and everything which the Romans
knew of augury was due to the priests of Etruria; consequently it is not
unprofitable to inquire, as far as we can, whether these had any idea
of beings such as we call angels. As we have not many available written
remains of the remarkable people to whom we refer, we are obliged to be
satisfied with pictorial and other relics which have survived until our
days. Some of the scenes depicted on urns, vases, and walls, in tombs
and elsewhere, are sufficiently explanatory of the subjects which
the artist has desired to pourtray; others, on the contrary, can be
interpreted in a variety of ways. Paying no attention to the latter,
we may safely affirm, that the Etruscans had ideas upon the subject of
angels very similar to our own. The form which their artists gave to
them is precisely that which is current at the present day, except
that, unlike the Christian, the Etruscan angels were of different sexes.
Sometimes both males and females were draped from the neck to the
feet, in other drawings they were partially or wholly nude. In the vast
majority of cases each one possessed two wings that were attached to the
back, behind the arms, precisely as they are in modern pictures; but in
one very remarkable instance (plate 7, _Description de quelques Vases
Etrusques_, par H. D. de Luynes--folio, Paris, 1840) the beings to
whom we refer had each three pairs of pinions, the one attached to the
shoulder blades, a second to the loins, and a third to the calves of the
legs. These creatures correspond to our demons or imps of Satan, or the
devils of the New Testament which were sent into a herd of swine.
Some of the winged Etruscan demons must be regarded as "angels
of death," for they are represented as hovering in the air over
individuals, such as Cassandra and Polynices, who are about to be
sacrificed. One angel, who, as usual, Diaitized bv is spoken of by the
Christian describer thereof as a goddess, is designated "Cunina." Her
business was to look after and take charge of infants in their cradle.
A being such as this, by whatever name we may designate her, cannot fail
to remind us of the expression in the New Testament--"Take heed that ye
despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven"
(Matt, xviii. 10). In another Etruscan painting we find two angelic
beings, fully draped, carrying a nude corpse apparently to the future
or invisible state. These naturally remind us of the passage in Rev.
xx. 1--"I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." In some Etruscan
paintings we have scenes which are supposed to indicate the preparation
of a bride for the wedding ceremony. In these there are diminutive
angels introduced, which are sometimes hovering in the air and sometimes
seated on the edge of the bath; these are by the learned supposed to
represent Cupid, Eros, Hymen, or Love, and they indicate the devout
feeling, that an angel watches over those who contract marriage in an
orthodox manner.*
* Whether the Romans obtained all their inferior deities
from the Etruscans, or whether the priests of the Eternal
City in ancient times improved upon the mythology which came
to them from their predecessors, just as the priests of
modern Rome have expanded, without improving, the
Christianised paganism which came to them, is a matter
difficult to decide. But it is certain that the old Romans
multiplied their "gods," as the modern ones have multiplied
their "saints." Amongst the former were many curious
deities, who presided at the wedding of young people, some at
the public ceremony, and others at the private rites.
"PRema" was the angel of quietness, whose business it was to
see "ne subacta virgo se ultra modum commovens semen a vulva
ejiceret." "Subigus" was another angel or demigod, whose
duty it was to see that the consummation should take place
in an appropriate manner--lovingly, pleasantly, and
peacefully. There was another--Pertunda--of whom Augustine
(Civ. Dei, vol. 9) remarks--"Si adest dea Prema ut subacta se
non commoveat quum prematur, dea Pertunda quid ea facit?" In
modern times the Papal saints, Cosmo, Damian, Foutin, and
sundry others, have had the special duty assigned to them to
make the husband fit for his marital duties.
That the absence of such a spirit was looked upon as unlucky we gather
from an expression in Propertius (b. v. el. 3) in which a wife, whose
husband has been obliged to leave her, and go to a distant war, when
bewailing her destiny, amongst other references says--"I wedded without
a god to accompany me." This calls to memory the statement in Hebrews
i. 14, wherein, after speaking of angels, the writer asks--"Are they not
all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation?"--a sentence which implies the idea that those who
are not heirs of salvation have not angels which minister for them. The
doctrine was certainly not exclusively Christian. Of this any one may
assure himself by referring to Eccles. v. 6--"Neither say thou before
the angel that it was an error; wherefore... should God destroy the
works of thine hands?"
Again, we find an angel seated between two young folk of opposite sexes,
and archaeologists tell us that the winged creature thus figured is
a nuptial god--one whose business is to induce appropriate couples to
meet, to love, and to marry. Such a celestial match-maker was the Jewish
Raphael, who, though "one of the seven holy angels, which present the
prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the
Holy One" (Tobit xii. 15)--yet condescended to conduct Tobias a long way
to meet Sara, and instructed him how he could marry her with safety, and
defeat a devil.
Amongst other individuals, in the Etruscan mythological paintings who
are winged, are the following, which are named thus by the authors who
describe the vases, &c., whether rightly or wrongly it is not necessary
for me to prove:--Janus; Furina, the goddess of thieves; Mercury, the
messenger of Jupiter and the patron of robbers; Vacuna, or Desideria,
or Venus, the goddess of indolence, desire, or love; Hymen, the angel
or god of marriage; Cupid, the god of love; Victory, Bacchus, Silenus,
Dryads, Calliope, Tempest, Fame, Proserpine; Iibitina, the goddess of
funerals; Venus, infera, Nemesis, or fate; Death, life, Charybdis, The
Furies, Geryon, Justice, Peace, Iris, and Diana. On such a subject the
reader may consult with advantage Augustine (_de Civitate Dei_, b. vl.
c. 9); Arnobius (_Adversus Gentes_, b. iv. c. 7); and Tertullian (_Ad
Nationes_, b. ii. c. 11).
We may now refer to a remarkable series of drawings, representing the
funeral of Patroclus, described by Homer, which were discovered in the
Etruscan sepulchre of the Tarquinii near what once was Vulci and is now
"Ponte della Badia," in the year 1857, and which is described in _Noel
des Vergers L'Etrurie et les Etrusques_, and in _Corpus Inscriptionum
Italicarum_ (Turin 1867), the latter of which I use as my authority. In
one of the scenes we find depicted the sacrifice of the Trojan youths
at the grave of Patroclus. The artist has not left to the fancy of the
observer the identification of his figures, but has written in Etruscan
letters the modified names of the actors. Beginning from the right hand,
we find Ajax Oileus, and next to him a naked Trojan youth, whose hands
are bound behind his back, and who is guarded by Telamonian Ajax. Behind
and besides him is Charon, and in front of the latter is another Trojan
youth, nude, seated on the ground, and receiving his death-wound from
Achilles. Behind the latter stands a winged, draped, tall female figure,
whom at one time I took to be the glorified soul of Patroclus; but,
having seen a similar figure on other Etruscan designs depicting human
sacrifice or death, and finding over the head of this one the word
_fanth, vanth, or fano_--according to the value which we assign to the
digamma or F and O--which is, I think, equivalent to the Latin _Fatum_,
fate, &c., we must regard the figure as resembling Azrael--"the angel
of death." Besides and behind her stands a draped man unarmed, having a
fixed countenance of settled melancholy, and regarding without a shade
of exultation the death of the young Trojan whom Achilles slaughters.
Over his head are the words _hinthial patrucles_, which is believed
to signify "the shade of Patroclus." The last figure in the group is
Agamemnon.
This and the other sculptures in the tomb are extremely interesting
to the archaeologists, firstly, because they bear evidence of a very
superior style of art; secondly, because they testify to the antiquity
of Homer's _Iliad_, and its popularity in other nations than the Greek.
They show, moreover, that the wealthy men amongst the Etrurians were not
ignorant of the Grecian language, or rather literature, although they
had difficulty in adapting the Hellenic words to their own alphabet;
lastly, they ought to be especially valuable to us inasmuch as
they demonstrate the existence of a belief in ancient Italy of the
resurrection of the body, and of the existence of angels precisely the
same in shape as those which pious Christians delight to see in their
churches, and in their manuals of devotion. It is worthy of notice
that upon some Etruscan vases in the museum at Munich there are angelic
warriors covered with armour--a winged female carrying a caduceus, and
winged horses--like Pegasus, and probably like those seen by Zechariah,
the Hebrew vaticinator.
We consider it best to omit making any remarks respecting the ideas
entertained about angels by the Phoenicians, for we have scarcely any
information about their mythology beyond the names of certain gods and
goddesses. It will be more profitable to pass on to the Greeks, and
inquire into the general system of their theological belief. This is,
we think, a matter of some importance, for this people, as victors and
masters, came into contact with the Jews in the time of Joel, about b.c.
800; and if any captive Hebrews came back from Grecia (see Joel iii. 6),
we believe that they would naturally bring back with them much of the
Hellenic lore of their conquerors. The reader must not be carried away
here with the once popular notion that everything which was found
in heathendom, which resembled something biblical or Jewish, came of
necessity from scriptural or Israelitish sources. The reverse is
much more likely, for the Hebrews in old times are described by their
historians and preachers as hankering after novelty--"going whoring
after other gods," as the Bible has it. They, on the other hand, were
encouraged to keep themselves aloof from others, and were never a
missionary nation; nor, had they been so, were they sufficiently
honourable or wealthy, as a race, ever to command respect. They were,
indeed, generally despised by the people round about them, who would
no more think of adopting Jewish fables than we should care to learn
theology and cosmogony from African negroes.
If we endeavour to reduce Grecian mythology to its simplest expression,
we find that it consisted of a belief in a creator--grand beyond
conception, and one whom the mind could not conceive, nor pencil nor
the chisel depict. Under him there was thought to be a host of minor
deities, who agreed, more or less, amongst themselves, each having
a particular department of creation to preside over, or a definite
function to perform. Jupiter, for example, had the air and the heavens
generally under his management; Neptune superintended the sea; Rhea, or
Gaia, or Gee, was the goddess of the surface of the earth; and Pluto had
the management of the interior of the globe and of those who were buried
therein. If corpses were unburied, they did not come under his immediate
cognizance. Then, as it was quite possible that one deity might be
counteracting another, as, indeed, they are represented to have done
during the Trojan war, another god was necessary to be a medium of
communication between the others, and Mercury became the messenger, or
go-between.
Below the major gods was an infinity of smaller ones, who presided
over physical and moral matters. There were, for example, wood and
tree nymphs; Dryads and hamadryads--gods of rivers, such as Simois
and Scamander. Pan presided over husbandmen; Hermes, over thieves, &c.
Others, like Eros, fulfilled the duty of bringing the sexes together.
Hymen secured them in marriage, and Venus had the duty of insuring
connubial happiness, whilst Lucina's business was to bring the offspring
of the marriage into the world--with as little pain or danger as
possible. Then, again, Fortune brought good luck. The "furies" brought
evil, and the "fates" ruled the destiny of mortals.
Against some of these gods others rebelled. For example, there were the
Titans, the sons of Heaven and Earth (Caelus et Terra), who were all of
gigantic stature, and may be said to be identical with the giants spoken
of in Gen. vi. 2-4, as being the offspring of the sons of God and the
daughters of men. These Titans were much disliked by their father, and
confined in the bowels of the earth, or, as we should say, in Hell; but
their mother relieved them, and they in turn revenged themselves upon
their progenitor. When Jupiter succeeded to Cronos or Saturn, the
giants, the sons of Tartarus and Terra, or Hell and Earth, united with
their half-brothers, the Titans, and attacked Olympus, and its gods, in
dismay, assumed disguises and fled into Egypt--a rare spot, whence also
came as history tells us, the founder of Christianity and the doctrine
of the Trinity. To regain his position, Jupiter found a man--a son of
his own--whom he had begotten by lying three nights in the heart of
the earth, or, as the fable has it, in the arms of Alcmena--Hercules by
name, to attack the allied monsters, and thus with the aid of a mortal
the gods became victorious. Just as in more modern days the divine
mission and position of Jesus of Nazareth and Mahomet of Mecca, have
been determined by the arms of human warriors. The power of men in
heaven is wonderful, considering how great is their weakness upon earth!
It is probable, that to the Greeks, Milton owed his ideas of _Paradise
Lost_.
According to the ordinary ideas of angels, the gods, demigods,
goddesses, genii, and the like, were essentially the same amongst the
Hebrews as the archangels and inferior hierarchy are in modern christian
mythology. We shall the more readily see this if we inquire into the
ideas of the Greeks respecting _demons_. "The latter were regarded as
spirits which presided over the actions of mankind, and watched over
their secret intentions." Many Greek theologians thought that each
man had two, the one good, the other bad. These sprites could change
themselves into any form, and at death the individual was delivered up
to judgment by these companions, who testified to his actions during
life. Socrates often spoke of his own peculiar "spirit." Not only were
these creatures supposed to influence men, but they were also believed
to guard places, and a genius loci was the same as the God of Ekron, or
any other locality.
It is almost impossible for a thoughtful man not to compare with the
Greek ideas those held by moderns. We hear in familiar discourse, and
read in popular books, about a good angel and a bad one. God is said to
use both (see Ps. lxxviii. 49, and 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22.) Many, too, of
the readers of Sterne will remember the remarks which he makes about a
recording angel who was obliged to register an oath, but who contrived
to blot out the entry with a tear (com. Mal. iii. 16.) As we have already
adverted to the belief of Jesus that every child had an angel, who
is always in the presence of. God, we need not remark again upon the
matter.
But though the Grecian gods and demigods were the counterparts of the
archangels and lesser powers of the Jews and Christians, they were not
pictorially depicted, as they were in other places, like winged men or
other creatures.
Arnobius, for example, in _Advenus genies_, when writing about the
divinities of the heathen, remarks, that they are so like ordinary men
and women, that the artist has to resort to some contrivance to show
that any offspring of his brush, or of his chisel, is a god or goddess.
A painter, he observes, will select the finest young women he can
discover--or the handsomest prostitute in his country, and from one
maiden, or from the collective charms of many, will paint a lovely woman
and style her Venus; yet she is only a courtezan after all. His remark is
a certainly true one. Jupiter is never represented otherwise than as a
man, nor does Minerva ever figure except as a woman. None of the greater
gods of Hellas are winged like the tutelar gods of the Assyrians and
Persians were. Even Hermes, though he does bear pinions, does not carry
them in the usual form. Instead of having powerful wings behind his
arms, like the Gabriel or Michael of Christian mythology, he has little
nippers attached to each side of a cap, of a pair of socks, and of a
curiously-shaped wand--all of which he can put off when he pleases,
or don when he is sent with a message. Jupiter's thunders bear similar
wings. But such minor deities, or devils, as Eros or love; Hymen or
marriage; Fame, or victory; Aurora, or day-break; the winds, the Genii,
the Gorgons, the Furies, the Harpies, Iris, Isis, Hebe, Psyche, and even
Pegasus--a wondrous horse, are winged with pinions which resemble those
of the eagle.
If we now pause for a moment to compare one thing with another, we
readily see that Hymen may fairly be described as the angel of the
covenant of marriage, and that Mercury is identical with Raphael. The
"genius loci," the "dryad" or "hamadryad," is the counterpart of the
cherubim guarding the ark and the mercyseat of the Jewish temple. Apollo
is the angel in the sun (Rev. xix. 17.) Neptune is "the angel of the
waters" (Rev. xvi. 5.) Nay, we may--indeed we must go further, and affirm
that either the angel Gabriel, or "the power of the Highest," which,
we are told in Luke i. 26, 35, overshadowed Mary, the espoused wife
of Joseph, is a perfect counterpart of the Hellenic Jupiter who
overshadowed Alcmena.
Both produced a being equally celebrated--for we may fairly assert that
Hercules was believed in by as many individuals as have faith in Jesus.
For ourselves, we do not credit the myth of the Hellenists; of the very
existence of a Hercules we are profoundly incredulous. Yet we do not
doubt for a moment that Jesus of Nazareth lived as a man upon this
earth, and founded, with the subsequent assistance of Paul, the religion
which is called Christian. But of the supernatural conception of Mary
and of her impregnation by a deity we are intensely sceptical.
Of the theology of the Romans in the times prior to, and somewhat
subsequent to, our era, we need say little. It resembled both the
Etruscan and the Greek at the first, and subsequently it was modified by
the Egyptian and by the Persian. But it was in Rome, whilst pagan, that
the present pictorial type of angels was perfected (see Plates ix. to
xiii, Lajard's _Culte de Venus_), in which allegorical figures, from old
Roman bas-reliefs, precisely like modern angels, are represented killing
the Mithraic bull. I may also add, in passing, that the crozier borne by
Romanist bishops is a reproduction of the Etruscan _lituus_, the augurs'
or diviners' staff of office.
The Roman nation, like the Papist and Peruvian religions, was
omnivorous, and not only venerated the old gods of the soil, but adopted
new divinities eagerly. Whoever chose to import a new deity, and a novel
style of worship was hailed, patronized and enriched, much in the same
way as at London during recent times, Mesmerists, "spirit rappers,"
"cord-conjurors," clairvoyants, male and female, spiritualists like
Home, very High Churchmen, and many other classes of a similar stamp
have been encouraged. As in Athens, we are told that "the Athenians and
strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either
to tell or to hear some new thing" (Acts xvii), no matter whether the
novelty was religious or otherwise, so it has been elsewhere. London
really, and Rome metaphorically are constantly adopting new ideas, some
highly commendable and philosophical, others quite the reverse. Amongst
the latter, we may mention that which professes that a certain man
can, like Jesus is said to have done, heal by a touch. This assertion,
however, is only sparsely credited on the Thames. Far more general is
the belief which professes, that an Ecumenical Council can by a vote
make one man and his official successors "infallible."
We cannot pass by this subject without remarking that instability in
religion is evidence of infidelity; and the adoption of new tenets is a
proof of the low estimation in which old ones have been held. Even the
new, or Christian dispensation, as it is called, is founded upon the
insufficiency of the old or Jewish covenant, which, by those who adopt
the one, is a confession that they believe the other was imperfect and
therefore not of God. Consequently, when we find a "church," like the
Roman, habitually patching its old clothes, we conclude that its leaders
are dissatisfied with them and desire better. A lover who finds his
mistress perfect neither seeks nor wishes to change her for another; nor
endeavours to induce her to modify her attire until he is dissatisfied
therewith. When he insists upon an alteration it is because his ardent
love has faded. The philosopher may see clearly why certain prelates
desire to have some infallible man to appeal to--for it is easier
to find out the opinion of one individual than to harmonize the
contradictory hypotheses of fifty dogmatical or authoritative writers.
Yet the same man will not fail to see that such a proceeding, whilst it
strengthens the hold of the church upon the weak-minded, cuts it adrift
from the strong. The policy is not altogether bad, for it seeks to bind
closer those who, whilst wearing the chains of captivity, regard them
as ornaments. But all those who adopt such tactics ought, boldly and
unequivocally, to withdraw from the rank of truth-seekers, and of envoys
of that God who is not "the author of confusion but of peace."
We may now proceed to the consideration of the angelic mythology of the
Old and New Testaments. In our inquiry we shall endeavour to arrive
at the ideas contained in the words which are used, and not content
ourselves with simple quotation. There is strong reason to believe that
Christians in general rarely examine into the real signification of
words which they are taught to use, or which, from some fancy or other,
they commit to memory. They imagine--if they think on the subject at
all--that to repeat a text or a creed is to perform an act of faith,
which, in itself, is praiseworthy and a good work. Such do not, in any
appreciable degree, differ from the Thibetans, described by the Abbe
Hue, who perform their devotions by turning round upon their axles
certain cylinders, upon which some prayers are engraved. Not only these
Asiatics, but Europeans of large mental calibre are often contented with
vague ideas; and when they are challenged to support "the faith which
is in them," show that they have never yet examined it. If, for example,
they are asked how they can believe in the truth of such passages,
"I have seen God (Kohim) face to face" (Gen. xxxii. 30); "The Lord
(Jehovah) spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his
friend" (Exod. xxxiii. 11); "Moses whom the Lord knew face to face"
(Deut. xxxiv. 10), and the opposite one, "Thou canst not see my face,
for there shall no man see me and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20)--the sole
reply rendered is that the first passages are figurative, passing by
entirely the comparison in the second, which asserts that God talked
with Moses as one friend with another.
As a farther illustration of my meaning, I may point to the glibness
with which Christians talk, sing, and listen to discourses about blood.
If people really gave heed to what they chant, and to the words of their
ministers, they would really be puzzled to find a distinction between
the god whom they worship and that idol deity of Mexico, which called
constantly for the hearts and the blood of his worshippers. "Without
shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22) is a dogma that puts
the Europeans' God on the same level as the deities worshipped in pagan
Africa, New Zealand, and by the Anthropophagi generally.
In like manner, if ordinary people are asked to reconcile such passages
as the following--"Who maketh his angels spirits;" "A spirit hath not
flesh and bones as ye see me have" (Luke xxiv. 39)--with a host of
others, in which angels are said to have appeared, talked, and acted
like men, they allege that "much of the phraseology of the Bible is
metaphorical." But if it be granted that the language is metaphorical,
must we not equally believe that the facts referred to are mythical; and
if so, how much of the so-called inspired book can we trust? If metaphor
and figure-imagery are cities of refuge for theologians, those who fly
to them must remember, that there they must remain and live therein all
their days; they cannot be citizens of the world, and yet never leave
their asylum: if, for them, facts are fictions, by parity of reason
fictions are facts.
If, when an individual, said to be a prophet, and, as such, the
mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost or of Jehovah, tells us that he saw and
talked with an angel, who imparted to him such and such information,
we are bound either to believe the whole statement or to reject it as
valueless, _quoad_ revelation. If the man did see an angel, and that
angel spoke, it must have been material; and if material, it could not
be a spirit, and if not a spirit, it was not an angel.* If to this it be
answered that individuals do see what they deem to be spirits--just
as many a drunken man avers that he sees "blue devils," we grant it at
once. We go still farther, and state that we know individuals in full
possession, apparently, of all their senses, who see, occasionally, men,
women, horses, dogs, and other things, which have no more existence
than the figures which appear to us in dreams. Such men not only see
imaginary beings, but they hear conversations or speeches which have no
reality in them. But we cannot for a moment allow that such delusions of
the senses are sterling, and such utterances, messages from the Almighty
delivered by angels. To be logical, therefore, the theologian must
either accept the stories told in the Bible about angelic beings as
literally true, to the exclusion of all metaphor, or believe that
every thing tainted by such celestial mythology is entirely of human
invention.
* The authority for this is Ps. civ. 4; Heb. L 7, 14,--"Who
maketh his angels spirits;" "Are they not all ministering
spirits?"
As an illustration, let us consider two episodes in the history of
Elisha. We find in 2 Kings ii. 11, that a chariot of fire and horses of
fire, appeared to this prophet, and parted him from Elijah, with whom
he was walking, and carried the latter away into heaven; and we see in
2 Kings vi. 17, that Elisha's servant could really see a multitude
of chariots and horses of fire round about his master. We must also
remember that "the chariots of the Lord are thousands of angels"
(Ps. lxviii. 17; see also Ps. xxxiv. 7.) Now these were, or were not,
realities--if the chariots and horsemen existed, then we infer that some
sort of stables and ostlers exist in heaven; if none such exist, then
the chariots and horses could neither have been seen, nor have separated
the two prophets.
It may be urged that supernatural beings do exist for those who can
see them, and for no other; just as the angel was seen by Balaam's ass
thrice (see Numbers xxii. 22-33) before he was recognized by her master.
But this observation is worthless, for it amounts to nothing more than
this--viz., that the persons seen in dreams exist for the dreamers and
for no one else; but it in no way proves the reality of the asserted
apparition.
It would be as useless to discuss, at this point, the actuality of what
are called "spectres," as of other things named fairies, pixies, gnomes,
or sprites. Of the existence of such there is abundance of evidence; and
for hundreds of years there was not a human being who did not believe in
them. But there was even stronger proof that the world stood still, and
the sun went round it, and during untold centuries all who thought on
the matter believed the statement. Yet in these days all the testimony
is regarded as worthless in the presence of the stern facts of science;
and ghosts are only believed in by such as write treatises upon squaring
the circle, perpetual motion, and the plane figure of the earth. We
shall take up the subject at length in our next chapter.
If we were to follow the bent of our inclination, we should now
endeavour to prove that the Jews had no idea of an angelic mythology
prior to the Babylonian captivity, and that they had no distinct
literature prior to the Grecian and Edomite captivity referred to in
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Micah, except possibly such records and written
laws as may be styled "annals" or "year-books;" and, as a consequence,
that all parts of the Old Testament in which angelic beings figure are
comparatively modern, having been fabricated after the long sojourn of
the Jews in Babylon. But to carry out this intention would require a
treatise rather than an essay, and I must content myself with saying
that I believe it to be affirmed by all Hebrew scholars, that up to the
time of Nebuchadnezzar--or Hezekiah--the sole unseen power recognized
by the Jews was Jehovah alone. They did not believe either in angel or
devil What their ideas were we may shortly describe*:--
* Long after the remark in the text was written, and long
before it was in type, Dr. Kalisch, in his second part of a
commentary on Leviticus, published his views upon the point
referred to. When I can refer my readers to so masterly a
composition as his essay upon Angels in the Jewish theology,
it is seedless for me to say much on the subject. I may also
refer those who are interested in the matter to a work
entitled _The Devil: his Origin, Greatness, and Decadence_
(Williams & Norgate, London, 1871--small 8vo., pp. 72). My
essay supplements these, and in no way clash therewith.
1. Angels were spirits, being also ministers (Heb. L 7.) They were a
flaming fire (Ps. civ. 4); compare Jud. xiii. 20, and Acts vii. 35--that
is, spirits are made of a combustible material which is, however,
incombustible!
2. They could assume the form of men, and were identical with God (see
Gen. xviii. 19; Tobit, and Luke i.): that is to say, they were masters,
yet servants--the sender and the sent at the same time!
3. Their faces were terrible (Jud. xiii. 6); but they also shone (Acts
vi. 15) and yet they were so good-looking and handsome that the Sodomites
fell in love with them as Jupiter did with Ganymede (Gen. xix).
4 One was the superintendent of destruction, and was visible on one
occasion to David (2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17), to Oman, his sons, and to the
elders of Israel (1 Chron. xxi. 16-20.) His weapon was a sword (_ibid._)
He certainly must have had flesh and bones. It would be an interesting
matter to inquire whether the sword was as spiritual as the angel was.
5. One angel was outwitted by a donkey (see Numb. xxii. 22-33.) Yet
this angel was God (comp. Numb. xxii. 35, and xxiv. 4, 15,16). It is
marvellous to me how any one can read this history of Balaam and his
ass, and notice how the animal turned God from His purpose (see chap,
xxii. 33), and yet believe the story to be of _divine_ origin!
6. They are made of light (Luke ii. 9), yet can talk the vernacular, and
can be counterfeited by Satan (2 Cor. xi. 14); but how he manages it, and
whether he then ceases to be a roaring lion or a fallen angel "reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day"
(Jude 6), is a matter for surmise.
7. One of them fought with the Devil, and kept his temper (Jude 9.) Of
the language used in the disputation we do not know; nor can we tell how
the two recognized each other.
8. Some of them are guilty of folly (Job. iv. 18), and some sinned--how,
one does not know--and were cast down to hell, and delivered into chains
of darkness. It is fitting that beings who have no flesh and bones
should be bound by fetters that have no reality (2 Peter ii. 4).
9. Some were discontented with their home and were punished (Jude 6);
but where their original habitation was, or why it was regarded as so
miserable that another place was desired, is a mystery.
10. They have food provided for them (Ps. lxxviii. 25), and they eat like
men (Gen. xviii. 8; and xix. 3), consequently angels must have flesh,
blood, and a stomach to digest victuals. Sometimes instead of eating
food they order it to be burned, and the smoke from the viands serves as
a vehicle to heaven (Jud. xiii. 19, 20).
11. Their number is twenty thousand (Ps. lxviii. 17).
12. They are chariots (_ibid_), yet they walk and get their feet dusty
(Gen. xviii. and xix. 2; compare Jud. ii. 1; vi. 12); the chariots are of
fire, and so are the horses (2 Kings vi. 17); but they are also clouds
(Ps. civ. 3).
13. They are taught military discipline and arranged in "legions" (Matt
xxvi. 53).
14. They are sexless (Mark xii. 25), yet were men when they appeared to
Abraham, Sarah, and the Sodomites (Gen. xviii, xix.).
15. They are liable to do wrong, and will be judged by men, some time or
other (1 Oor. vi. 2, 3). As in this passage the angels are put below the
saints, and in Gen. xviii. and xix., it is clear that Elohim and Jehovah
were angels, it follows that holy men, when raised, will be superior to
the power that gave them heaven!
16. Though sexless, the angels, or sons of God, may be captivated by the
beauty of woman, and engender giants with them in a very human fashion
(Gen. vi).
17. They are very sensitive respecting the hair of women, and require
it to be covered in worship--at other times they probably are not so
particular. Although they minister upon those who are heirs of salvation
(Heb. i. 14), they might be tempted from their business, if they were to
see a pretty snood in golden tresses hid (1 Cor. xi. 10).
18. Every child has an angel, or rather angels, to look after it (Matt,
xviii. 10), which leads to the belief that the number of angels has
increased since the sixty-eighth Psalm was written, when there were only
20,000, and perhaps a few more.*
* The words of the christian father, Tertullian, upon this
subject are so very apposite to our subject of angels, that
I am tempted to quote them--Clark's edition, vol. i. p. 487-
8.
Speaking to the heathens, he says--"And you are not content
to assert the divinity of such as were once known to you,
whom you heard and handled, and whose portraits have been
painted, and actions recounted, and memory retained amongst
you; but men insist upon consecrating with a heavenly life,
i.e.t they insist on deifying, I know not what incorporeal
inanimate shadows and the names of things, dividing man's
entire existence amongst separate powers, even from his
conception in the womb, so that there is a god (read
_angel_) Consevius, to preside over concubital generation,
and Fluviona to preserve the infant in the womb; after these
come Vitumnus and Sentinus through whom the babe begins to
have life and its earliest sensation; then Diespiter, by
whose office the child accomplishes its birth. But when
women begin their parturition Candelifera also comes in aid,
since child-bearing requires the light of the candle; and
other goddesses there are (such as Lucina, Partula, Nona,
Decima, and Alemona) who get their names from the parts they
bear in the stages of travail There were two Carmentas
likewise, according to the general view. To one of them,
called Postverta, belonged the function of assisting the
birth of the malpresented child; whilst the other, Prosa or
Prorso, executed the like office for the rightly born. The
god Farinus was so called from his inspiring the first
utterance, whilst others believed in Locutius from his gift
of speech. Cunina is present as the protector of the child's
deep slumber, and supplies to it refreshing rest. To lift
them when fallen there is Levana, and along with her Rumina
(from the old word _ruma_, a teat). It is a wonderful
oversight that no gods were appointed for clearing up the
filth of children. Then to preside over their first pap and
earliest drink you have Potina and Edula; to teach the child
to stand erect is the work of Statina (or Statilinus),
whilst Adeona helps him to come to dear mamma-, and Abeona
to toddle back again. Then there is Domiduca, to bring home
the bride, and the goddess Mens, to influence the mind to
either good or evil. They have likewise Volumnus and Voleta,
to control the will; Paventina, the goddess of fear;
Venilia, of hope; Volnpia, of pleasure; Praastitia, of
beauty. Then, again, they give his name to Peragenor, from
his teaching men to go through their work; to Consus, from
his suggesting to them counsel. Juventa is their guide on
assuming the manly gown, and 'bearded Fortune,' when they
come to full manhood. If I must touch on their nuptial
duties, there is Afferenda, whose appointed function is to
see to the offering of the dower. But fie on you--you have
your Mutunus, and Tutunus, and Pertunda, and Subigus, and
the goddess Prema, and likewise Perfica. O spare yourselves,
ye impudent gods."
19. Some angels are evil, but are much the same as the good (Ps. lxxviii
49), in their power of doing mischief.
20. Every heir of salvation has an angel to minister to him in some way
or other (Heb. i. 14); so have Roman babies--see note.
21. The angels are only a trifle superior to men (Ps. viii. 5), and in
the invisible world will be inferior to them if the latter be saints (1
Cor. vi. 3; Heb. ii. 5).
22. They can speak all sorts of languages (1 Cor. xiii. 1); that which
Michael and the devil used (Jude 9) has not been revealed to us.
23. They use a trumpet, probably as immaterial as themselves, and make a
great noise thereby (Matt xxiv. 31); and horses (Zech. i. and Rev. vi).
24. They have wings and can fly (Rev. viii. 13; xiv. 6), although they
are chariots.
25. When on earth they are clothed with a long white garment, have a
face like lightning, and one can appear to be two, or not appear at all
to some, though very distinctly seen by others (see Matt xxviii. 2, 3;
Mark xvi. 5; Luke xxiv. 4; John xx. 12).
Of all the angels mentioned in the Apocalypse we need not write. One
of the best accounts I have met with of the angelic mythology of
the Hebrews is in Coheleth, or The Book of Ecclesiastes, by Rev. Dr.
Ginsburg (Longman, London, 1861). It is written in explanation of Ch. v.
5, wherein is the expression, "Do not say before the angel that it was
error" (page 340), and the following remarks are condensed therefrom:--
"The angels occupy different rank and offices--seven of them as the
highest functionaries; princes or archangels surround the throne of God
and form the cabinet--(1) Michael, the prime minister, the guardian
of the Jewish nation, the opponent of Satan (Zech. iii. 1, 2), of the
prince of Persia (Dan. x. 13, 20), the conservator of the corpse of
Moses (Jude 9), and the dragon (Rev. xii); (2) Raphael, who presides
over the sanitary affairs (Tobit iii. 17, xii. 15)--'When God would cure
any sick person,' says St. Jerome, 'he sends the archangel Raphael, one
of the seven spirits before his throne, to accomplish the cure.' There
can be little doubt that this was the angel who went down at certain
seasons to move the waters of the pool to cure the impotent people (John
v. 4); (3) Gabriel, the messenger to announce or to effect deliverance,
also a presence angel (Luke i. 11-20, 26-35); (4) Uriel, mentioned
in Esdras (2 b., ch. iv., w. 1 and 20). In Targums these four are
represented as surrounding the throne of the divine majesty, but all do
not agree; Jonathan's arrangement is--Michael at the right, Uriel at the
left, Gabriel before, and Raphael behind.* The fifth, sixth, and seventh
archangels are Phaniel, Raguel, and Sarakiel."
* An observation such as this distinctly shows how
completely the ideas of angels are associated with gross
anthropomorphism.
"Next to the cabinet comes the privy council, composed of four and
twenty crowned elders (1 Kings xxii. 19; Rev. iv. 4; vii. 13; viii. 3), who
surround the throne, before whom Christ will confess those who
confessed him. Then comes the council, consisting of the seventy angel
princes--the provincial governors presiding over the affairs of the
seventy nations into which the human family is divided." Hence the
Targumic paraphrase on Gen. xi. 7, 8--"_The Lord said to the seventy
presence angels, Come now and let us go down, and there let us confound
their language, so that one may not understand the language of the
other. And the Lord manifested himself against that city, and with him
were the seventy angels according to the seventy nations_." Hence the
Septuagint translation of Deut xxxii. 8--"When the Most High divided
the nations... he set the boundaries... according to the number of the
angels." The doctor also notices the four angels mentioned in Zech. vi,
who seem to have the management of four great monarchies, but he
does not advert to the angels of the seven churches spoken of in the
Apocalypse. He then proceeds--"Then comes the innumerable company of
presence angels, since every individual has a guardian angel as well
as every nation"... St Jerome, remarking upon Matt, xviii. 10,
says,--"_Great is the dignity of these little ones, for every one of
them has from his very birth an angel dedicated to guard him_."* When
St. Peter was chained in his prison, his angel released him (Acts xiii.
7,11), and the damsel who opened a house door for him was told that he
who was knocking was Peter's angel.
* We have never been able to see the force of this remark,
unless the idea of children having guardian angels was
associated with the belief that these beings left them when
they grew up. If the adults standing round Jesus had each an
individual warden, there would be nothing peculiar in the
warning given in the verse referred to. It is, however, just
possible that the notion existed that it was to adults only
that tutelary spirits were assigned, and that the prophet of
Nazareth declared that each infant had a protecting genius
as well as every man.
Then there are angels who preside over all the phenomena of nature.
One presides over the sun (Eev. xix. 17); angels guard the storm and
lightning (Ps. civ. 4); four angels have charge over the four winds
(Rev. vii. 1, 2); an angel presides over the waters (Rev. xvi. 5); and
another over the temple altar (Rev. xiv. 18).
We need not pursue this subject further; enough has been said to show
that the Hebrew ideas of angels differ in no essential respect from
those of other nations, who, if not older than the Jews, were certainly
never influenced by the Hebrews. From the evidence before us, we are
constrained to believe that the knowledge which we assume to possess of
the celestial court has descended to us from heathen or pagan sources,
and that the pictorial designs which pass current for likenesses of
angels or archangels have descended from Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians,
Grecians, Etruscans, and Romans, and cannot pretend to anything
approaching to a revelation from God.
We have already remarked that the Hebrew notions of the heavenly
hierarchy are evidence of a gross anthropomorphism; they indicate a
belief in the existence of a monarch having a face and back, a right
hand and a left, ears and a mouth, and a wherewithal for sitting upon a
throne--the part which was shown, as we are told, to Moses; they tell of
a theology that recognizes places in the universe where God is not, and
of which He has no cognizance save through messengers. If this be so,
what shall we say of the hagiology which tells us that there was on one
occasion a conspiracy amongst the courtiers of the celestial ruler, a
discovery of treason, and a punishment of the offenders as dire as the
most malignant man could invent? We have often thought that no human
being, unless he were vile, brutal, sensual, clever, disappointed, and
revengeful, could have invented the idea of hell, and that none would
ever have believed in it unless he was both timid, thoughtless, and
malignant The dormant hate of the orthodox against opponents is an
awful quantity. The expression of "fallen angels" is a pregnant text; it
recalls to our mind the passage--"Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom
I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against
me" (Ps. xli. 9). It reminds us of David, Absalom and Ahitophel, of
Solomon and Jeroboam, of Joram and Jehu, Benhadad and Hazael, Louis
XVIII. and Marshal Ney. We feel sure that an individual who could
write the words--"If we sin wilfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries" (Heb. x. 26, 27), could readily have
invented a hell, if he had not found one already made to his hand. The
sentence just quoted bears evidence of intense theological spitefulness,
and a petty meanness that neither Sakya nor Jesus would have shown. Such
thoughts are womanish, not manly, although apostolic.
We can fancy it having been penned by James or John, who once asked
Jesus whether they should not call down fire from heaven to consume
the Samaritans, simply because the latter were not polite to the
master--"because he seemed to be going to Jerusalem" (Luke ix. 53, 54).
But if so, those disciples must have forgotten the rebuke of Jesus--"Ye
know not what manner of spirit ye are of."
Here we must pause awhile, and consider the idea of various peoples
about Hell.
Some, perhaps we ought to say, many, earthly potentates have encouraged
the belief that there is a place in which evildoers, who have escaped
punishment for crime in this world will, after their death here, receive
their deserts. A place of torment which no man has seen, or can see
in life, and which, consequently, anyone can describe, is a wonderful
supplement to imperfect police arrangements, and as such, has been
fabricated or adopted in various nations. But in all the nations of
antiquity, and those which we call pagan, Hell has been assigned to
those who have committed crimes upon earth, such as murder, theft, and
the like, and whose evil deeds have outnumbered their good ones. The
idea of a torture vault for heretics has, so far as I can learn, been
reserved for Christian times, and for nations who punish ecclesiastical
offences more severely than the most atrocious crimes. The papal church,
wherever she has had power, has punished rejection of her communion far
more cruelly than she has dealt with rape, robbery, and murder; and all,
who think with her, draw their arguments for so doing from what is said
to be God's method of dealing with His rebellious angels. Surely, the
idea runs, if the Almighty, who cannot do wrong, has punished with fire
and everlasting torment the ministers who stood in His presence and
around His throne, simply because they kept not their position, or did
not watch over their principality--for both meanings may be assigned
to the original words--surely man must treat his heretic fellow on
a similar plan. God, runs the argument, made the Devil, and man must
multiply his imps. It is true, according to Hebrew and Christian
mythology, that the idea of a Devil was not originally in the mind of
Jehovah. But when Satan rebelled he was immediately invested with power!
In other words, Lucifer taught Elohim, and thoughtful Christians believe
this!!
If we now attempt to frame a history of the modern Hell, its rulers,
its angels, or its devils, we find, in the first place, that the Old
Testament contains no idea whatever of Satan being an angel originally
bright and fair, but subsequently disobedient, rebellious, conquered,
and punished. Nor is the New Testament much more communicative--we
find the arch-fiend described as a murderer and as a liar; he also is
associated with angels, as in the words, "the Devil and his angels."
He is described as "the Prince of the power of the air,"--as "a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour." He is "the spirit which worketh in
the children of disobedience." He is also represented as telling Jesus,
that he is able to dispose of all the kingdoms of the globe, and to give
their glory to whom he will. Yet nowhere is a hint breathed that he
was once an angel in heaven. The only verse in the whole Bible which is
supposed to bear upon this matter, shows that the devil and his imps
are not identical with the fallen angels, for Jude distinctly declares
(verse 6) that the latter are "reserved in everlasting chains, under
darkness, unto the judgment of the great day," a condition quite
incompatible with their identity with Satan, who is represented as
telling God that he had been going to and fro through the earth, and
walking up and down in it (Job ch. i., v. 7). A conversation then
follows the question, which must have been quite impossible had God
recognized him as an escaped convict.
Again, if we turn to the book of Enoch (an apocryphal production,
supposed for ages to have been lost, but discovered at the close of the
last century in Abyssinia, now first translated from an Ethiopian MS. in
the Bodleian Library, by Richard Laurence, LL.D., Archbishop of Cashel;
3d edition, 8vo. Oxford, 1838),--which is, and I think justly, believed
to be the authority quoted by Jude, we find a full confirmation of our
view of the independence of the Devil or Satan, and the fallen angels.
The foundation of the work is the story-told in the sixth chapter of
Genesis. In that work, the angels which kept not their first estate are
described as those who preferred intercourse with human females to
a celestial celibacy, for in those days there were sons of God and
daughters of men. Nay, in one verse (chap, liii. 6) it is distinctly
declared that one cause why the wrath of God came upon them was that
"they became ministers of Satan, and seduced those who dwell upon the
earth." In many places a reference is made to the close imprisonment of
the angels who had "been polluted with women;" one such will suffice,
(chap, xxi. 6), where, on seeing a terrific place, Enoch is told by Uriel
"this is the prison of the angels, and here are they kept for ever."
It is not even Satan who tempts the angels, for chapter lxviii. tells us
that it was Yekun and Kesabel, two of themselves, who gave evil counsel,
and induced their fellows to corrupt their bodies by generating mankind.
It is clear that such a writer does not conceive the possible existence
of angelic women.
The nearest approach to evidence of identification is the statement made
in the same chapter (w. 6, 7), that Gradrel was the name of one of the
leaders of the fallen, and that he seduced Eve. But this testimony is
wholly worthless in the face of the fact that he, like all his company,
are kept chained up, which Satan certainly is not.
From the foregoing facts and considerations, we can come to no other
conclusion than that there is no truth in the angelic mythology current
amongst ourselves--for which Milton and his _Paradise Lost_ are mainly
responsible. We may, indeed, affirm that a belief in angelic mythology
is wholly incompatible with an enlightened religion. If we regard the
Almighty as omnipresent and omniscient, we cannot imagine that He can
require messengers, or organize an "intelligence department" in Heaven.
A man who is present with his family requires no servant to tell him
what each is doing, or to deliver his orders to one or other. So, if God
be always with us, it is downright blasphemy to say that He requires a
go-between to let Him know what we are doing, or what He wishes us to
do.
In our next chapter we shall enter upon the consideration of a subject
closely allied to that of Angels--namely, that of Ghosts, Apparitions,
Disembodied Spirits, or by whatever name they are called. These mainly
differ from the beings of whom we have treated in the fact that, whereas
an angel is a messenger--one sent to do certain duties--a ghost is a
being who comes upon the scene, which he or she has quitted, to do or to
persuade somebody else to perform something that has been omitted to be
done during the life-time of the deceased. In nine-tenths of the stories
which we read of "revenans," the returned one is not sent as a
messenger, nor does he come for any definite purpose. A man or woman
barbarously murdered is painted as haunting the scene where the violence
was committed, as flies flit over a carcase. Misers come to brood over
their hoards, not to use them. In no case which I can remember do the
tales represent the ghosts as being sent from either of the two
powers--God and Satan; and to fancy that a deceased man or woman is a
free agent after death is, to say the least of it, a proof that the
believers in the doctrine do not believe the biblical text--"As the tree
falleth so it must lie."
The ideas of Angels and of Ghosts have their origin in what may be
called a superstitious education; and credence in the latter is an
almost necessary pendant to a belief in the former. Indeed, if we put
ourselves into the position of Manoah's wife, Zacharias (Luke i), and
Mary, we feel sure that we should not have known whether the being who
appeared was an angel or a ghost.
Note.--The reader interested in the subject of this chapter, will find
additional information thereupon in Records of the Past (Bag-ster,
London, 1873-74; vol. i. 131-135, and vol. iii.139-154). The volumes
are inexpensive, and extremely valuable to the student of Assyrian,
Babylonian, and Egyptian mythology.