PAGAN ORIGIN OF THE DOCTRINE OF VICARIOUS ATONEMENT.
THE doctrine of Vicarious Atonement supposes the dogma of a Personal
Devil, the dogma of Original Sin, the dogma of Trinity, and the dogma of
the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ. As in four chapters of this work
we have proved that these four dogmas are of Pagan origin, we shall
examine, in this chapter, the true origin of the body itself of the
doctrine of Vicarious Atonement, which consists in the belief that a
small number of privileged Christians obtain the forgiveness of their
sins, and are exempted from the punishment of those sins through the
medium of a substitute. Our historical researches will also lead us to
the conclusion that it is of Pagan origin.
In the sixteenth century the Church of Rome held, and still now holds,
the doctrine that Jesus Christ had washed away with his blood all the
past, present and future sins of the men who would be within the pale of
his only true Church, which was herself, and also that he had exempted
them from the punishment of their sins. However, they were to enjoy
these two privileges only on the condition that they would obey her
prescriptions. The Partialist Protestant Churches rejected nearly all
the prescriptions of the Church of Rome; rejected the doctrine that she
was the only true Church of Jesus Christ; but they preserved the
substance of the doctrine, namely, that Jesus Christ had washed away all
the sins of those who would feel the descent of the Holy Spirit in their
souls; who would experience a supernatural change of heart, or, as they
commonly term it, would get religion; and also that through his
atonement they are exempted from the punishment of their sins.
Consequently, the Partialist Protestant Churches, as well as the Church
of Rome, hold the doctrine that a small number of privileged Christians
obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are exempted from the
punishment of those sins through the medium of a substitute. Then if it
is proved that the origin of the doctrine that a small number of
privileged Christians obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are
exempted from the punishment of those sins, through the medium of a
substitute--as held by the Church of Rome--is Pagan, it will thereby be
proved that the doctrine that a small number of privileged Christians
obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are exempted from the
punishment of those sins, through the medium of a substitute--as held by
the Partialist Protestant Churches--is also of Pagan origin.
In this chapter we shall prove that the origin of the doctrine that a
small number of privileged Christians obtain the forgiveness of their
sins, and are exempted from the punishment of those sins through the
medium of a substitute--as held by the Church of Rome--is Pagan.
It will be evident that the origin of the doctrine that a small number
of privileged Christians obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are
exempted from the punishment of their sins, through the medium of a
substitute--as held by the Church of Rome--is Pagan, if it is proved,
1st, That there is a striking similarity between the practices required
by the Church of Rome to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and to be
exempted from the punishment of those sins, and those which were, and
still now are, required in the Pagan religion for the same purpose; and,
2d, That those practices were not instituted among Christians in the
first two centuries. But it can be proved, 1st, That there is a striking
similarity between the practices required by the Church of Rome to
obtain the forgiveness of sins, and to be exempted from the punishment
of those sins, through the medium of a substitute, and those which were,
and still now are, required in the Pagan religion for the same purpose;
and, 2d, That those practices were not instituted among Christians in
the first two centuries.
1st. We prove that there is a striking similarity between the practices
required by the Church of Rome to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and
to be exempted from the punishment of those sins, through the medium of
a substitute, and those which were, and still now are, required in the
Pagan religion for the same purpose.
The Pagans, publicly and privately, used lustral water, which, they
thought, had the virtue of purifying the soul, and of remitting the
punishment of certain impurities and sins. The Priests, in solemn
religious ceremonies, aspersed the assistants with it; and the people
kept and used it in their families. In the same manner, the Church of
Rome believes that holy water has the virtue of purifying the soul, and
of remitting the punishment of certain impurities and sins. The Roman
Catholics use it publicly and privately. Every Sunday, before the
celebration of the high mass, the priests asperse the people with holy
water for the aforesaid end; and also pour it on the coffins of the dead
at the funerals. The laymen keep and use it in their families for the
same end.
These lustrations are practiced, even in our days, by many of the
Pagans. The Madegasses believe that they can obtain the forgiveness of
the punishment of their sins in dipping a piece of gold in a vessel full
of water, and in drinking that water. The Father Jesuit Bouchet, a
missionary in India, writes: "The Indians say that in bathing in certain
rivers sins are _entirely_ remitted; and that their mysterious waters
wash not only the bodies, but also purify the souls in an admirable
manner."
This testimony, Chateaubriand adds, is confirmed by the Memoirs of the
English Society of Calcutta. The waters of the Ganges are reputed as
having the greatest expiatory virtue: so the Church of Rome holds that
the baptismal waters remit the original and all other sins, and exempt
those baptized from punishment.
The Pagans believed that certain ceremonies, and their medals
representing the gods, had an expiatory virtue: so the Church of Rome
holds that genuflexions, the Agnus Dei, the beads, the medals of the
saints, and of the virgin Mary, have an expiatory virtue. The Pagans
believed that certain prayers remitted certain sins and their
punishment; so the Church of Rome believes that Novenas, indulgences,
the recitation of the first chapter of the Gospel of John, etc., remit
venial sins, and their punishment. The Pagans went in pilgrimage to
chapels, where the prayers of the priests, they thought, had an
expiatory virtue greater than in other temples; this practice and this
belief have been preserved even by the Mahomedans. Now there are at the
door of the Mosque of Ali, at Mesched-Aly, dervishes, who, for money,
expiate with their prayers the sins of the pilgrims: so the Church of
Rome believes that the expiatory virtue of the prayers made by priests,
in certain chapels of saints and of Mary, where multitudes of pilgrims
resort, is greater than that of the prayers made in other temples.
In China, the invocation of Omyto is sufficient to remit the punishment
of the greatest crimes. It is on account of it that the followers of the
sect of Fo repeat oftentimes, every day, the words, O-myto-Fo! The
Indians believed, and still believe, that when a man expires in
pronouncing the name of God, and in holding, at the same time, the tail
of a cow, he immediately ascends to Paradise. The Bramas never failed,
and even do not now, to read every morning the mysterious legend of
Gosgendre-Mootsjam; because it is a dogma of the Indian religion that
any one who reads this legend every morning, obtains the forgiveness of
the punishment of all his sins; so the Church of Rome holds that any one
who recites the Angelus when the bell rings, in the morning, at noon,
and at sun down, or recites the acts of faith, of hope, and of charity,
obtains the remittance of the punishment of several of his venial sins;
and, also, that any one who regularly recites the prayers of Saint
Brigitte, or who, when he dies, recites with great devotion the prayer
Memorare o piissima, etc., will go to Paradise.
Greece was flooded with rituals, ascribed to Orpheus and to Museus,
prescribing ceremonies, rites, and practices, which had the virtue of
purifying the soul, and of exempting the sinners from the punishment of
their sins. The priests of the Pagans persuaded entire towns, cities,
and nations, that they could be purified of their crimes, and be
exempted from the punishment, which the Deity would inflict upon them,
through the means of expiatory rites, of feasts, and of initiations.
They made the people believe that this purification, and this exemption,
could extend to the living and to the dead, in what they called Teletes,
or mysteries; and it was as a consequence of this belief that the
priests of Cybel, those of Isis, the Orpheotelestes and others, went
among the people to initiate them; but on the condition that they would
pay to them large sums of money. This traffic was practiced even by
priestesses, and bad women. Demosthenes informs us that the mother of
Eschine made a living by it, and also in prostituting her body.
Likewise, the Church of Rome is flooded with rituals prescribing
ceremonies, rites, and practices, which have the virtue of purifying the
soul, and of exempting the sinners from the punishment of their sins.
The priests make towns, cities, and nations believe that they can be
purified of their crimes, and be exempted of the punishment they
deserve, by fasting, by going processionally to churches, or to chapels
of saints and of the virgin Mary. The priests, the monks, the
begging-friars, and even the nuns, go among the people; they pledge
themselves to obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and the exemption
from divine punishment, if they give them sums of money.
The priests of the Pagans offered expiatory sacrifices for the living
and for the dead for money; so, in the Church of Rome, the priests offer
the sacrifice of Mass for the expiation of the sins of the living and
of the dead, if they are well paid. The Pagans believed that the
foundation of temples, their endowment, and other gifts presented to the
gods and to their priests, had an expiatory virtue. Socrates portrayed
the unjust man in saying, that initiation to mysteries caused them to
despise the Tartarus with all its torments. He made the following
remark: "The apologist of injustice says, they frighten us with the
threat of the pains of the Tartarus; but who ignores that we find in the
initiations a remedy to that fear? They are a great resource to us; and
they inform us that there are gods who exempt us from the punishment
deserved by crime. True, we have committed injustice, but injustice has
been pecuniarily profitable to us. We are told that the gods are
appeased by prayers, sacrifices, and offerings." Biache, one of the
interlocutors in the Ezourvedam, said, that there is in the country
called Magouodechan, a sacred spot, where, through some offerings,
ancestors can be freed from the tortures of hell.
Likewise, the Church of Rome holds that the foundation of churches, of
priest's houses, of monasteries, of convents, and of nunneries, and
their endowment; or any other gift, presented to the saints, bishops,
priests, monks, and nuns have a virtue so much the more expiatory for
sins, as they are greater and more valuable. It is owing to this
horrible doctrine, that the Church of Rome has acquired so much church
property that its valuation is beyond any approximate calculation. The
French poet, Boileau, spoke the truth when, in his ninth satire, he
said:
"Si l'on vient à chercher pour quel secret mystère,
Alidor, à ses frais, bâtit un monastère....
C'est un homme d'honneur, de piété profonde,
Et qui veut rendre à Dieu ce qu'il a pris au monde."
_Translation_: "If we wish to inquire for what secret mystery Alidor, at
his own expense, built a monastery.... He is a man of honor, of profound
piety, and who wishes to restore to God what he stole from the world."
The Pagans believed that in piously gazing upon certain statues of the
gods their souls were purified; and that the punishment of their sins
was remitted; so, even now, the Indians believe that in simply gazing
upon the shrub Toulouschi they obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and
obtain the exemption from their punishment. Likewise the Church of Rome
holds, that, in gazing piously upon the cross, the Catholics obtain the
forgiveness of their venial sins, and the exemption from their
punishment. The ancient initiations of the Pagans had tribunals of
penance, where a priest, under the name of Koës, heard from the mouth of
the sinners themselves the avowal of their sins, of which their souls
were to be purified, and from the punishment of which they wished to be
exempted. One day the famous Lysandre, confessing his sins to one of
those Koës, was asked by him impudent questions. Lysandre answered him
with this question, "Do you address me those questions in your own name,
or in the name of the Deity?" The Koës answered: "In the name of the
Deity." "Well," Lysandre rejoined, "let me be; if God questions me, I
will answer him." Likewise the Church of Rome has tribunals of penance,
where priests hear from the mouth of the sinners themselves the avowal
of their sins, of which their souls are to be purified, and from the
punishment of which they wish to be exempted. Through the absolution of
the priests the greatest sins, without any exemption, are remitted
entirely, so that they not only are forgiven, but even their punishment.
Even the Church of Rome goes farther in regard to the pretended virtue
of her expiatory practices, than the Pagans ever went. Indeed, it was a
common thing among the Pagans to stigmatize certain crimes, and to call
them irremissible--unexpiable. They excluded from the sanctuaries of
Eleusis, the murderers, the traitors to their country, in a word, all
those who were guilty of atrocious crimes; they were to be excluded from
the Elysium forever, and to be endlessly tortured in the Tartarus. There
were purifications for murder, it is true, but only for involuntary or
necessary murder. When the ancient heroes had committed a murder, they
resorted to expiation; after the sacrifices which were required,
lustral water was poured on the murderous hand; from that moment they
were readmitted in society; and they prepared themselves to new deeds of
bravery. Hercules resorted to expiation when he had slain the Centaurs.
But those sorts of expiations did not purify the soul from all
impurities and crimes.
The great criminals had to dread all their lifetime the horrors of the
Tartarus, or could not expiate their crimes, except by constantly
practicing virtue, and constantly doing good to their fellow men. The
legal purifications were not considered as having the virtue of securing
to all criminals the hope of bliss, to which the righteous were
entitled. Nero did not dare present himself to the temple of Eleusis;
because he was debarred from entering its sanctuary on account of his
atrocious crimes.
The famous Constantine I., to whom the Church of Rome is indebted for
all her past and present aggrandizement, wealth, and power; and whose
name has been, is, and shall always be, accursed by nations, because of
the rivers of blood, of the deluge of ignorance, of superstition, in one
word, of the ocean of crimes against God, against Christ, and against
mankind, which the Church of Rome, enabled by his protection, poured
over the world: Constantine, we say, guilty of all sorts of crimes; his
hands reeking with the blood of his own mother, whom he had slain; and
with the blood of the many, whom he had murdered; and guilty of many
perjuries, presented himself to the Pagan priests to obtain the
absolution of those atrocious crimes, and the exemption from their
punishment.
Constantine was answered, that, among the various sorts of expiations,
there was not one which had the virtue of purifying his soul from so
many and so atrocious crimes, and of exempting him from the punishment
they deserved; and that no religion had resources enough to appease the
justice of the irritated gods; and, let us mark: Constantine was a
mighty emperor. One of his courtiers, seeing the trouble and agitation
of his soul, devoured by the restless and undying remorse, told him that
his sufferings were not hopeless; that there were in the Church of Rome,
purifications which had the virtue of expiating all crimes, without any
exception, that this Church held, that whoever joined it, whatever may
be his crimes, might hope that all his crimes will be forgiven by the
Deity, and that the exemption from their punishment will be obtained.
From that time Constantine took the Church of Rome under his protection.
He was a wicked man who tried to deceive himself, and to appease the
remorse of his conscience. He gave then full scope to his
flagitiousness; and he postponed being baptized until the hour of his
death, because it was, as it is now, a dogma of the Church of Rome, that
baptism purifies the soul from the original and all other sins and
crimes, and that it has also the virtue of exempting those baptized
from the punishment of all their sins. Thus the entry of the temple of
Eleusis was interdicted to Nero; and yet the Church of Rome would have
admitted him within her pale; would have purified his soul; and would
have exempted him from the punishment of all his monstrous crimes, if he
had taken her under his protection. How abominable a Church must be,
when she deals so with tyrants and monsters with a human face! What! if
Nero had been a Roman Catholic and had protected the Church of Rome, she
would have canonized him! Why not? Constantine, as great a criminal as
he was, has been canonized. In the ninth century his name was invoked at
Rome in the ceremonies of the Church, and even now he is considered as a
saint.
In England several churches have been built under the invocation of this
pretended Saint Constantine, who founded at Constantinople a vast and
costly establishment of ill fame. Such are the saints worshiped by the
Church of Rome when she obtains their protection. Christ, reason, and
nature, would never have absolved Nero from his crimes, and from the
punishment they deserved; and yet the Church of Rome would have done it.
Sophocles, in his Ædipe, says, that all the waters of the Danube, and of
the Phase, would have been insufficient to purify, from their crimes,
the souls of the family of Laïus; and yet the Church of Rome would have
done it. How truly the Arab poet Abu-Naovas exclaimed: "Lord, we have
indulged to sin and to crime, because we saw that forgiveness soon
followed them."
Therefore there is a striking similarity between the practices required
by the Church of Rome, to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and to be
exempted from the punishment of those sins, through the medium of a
substitute, and those which were required in the Pagan religion for the
same purpose.
2. We prove that the practices required by the Church of Rome to obtain
the forgiveness of sins, and to be exempted from the punishment of those
sins, through the medium of a substitute, were not instituted among
Christians in the first two centuries.
The Roman Catholic theologians do not pretend that the Christians of the
first two centuries held those practices, nor that the Church of Rome
herself held them; but they say that the Church of Rome established them
successively, as the good of Christians required it, according to the
power of government and infallibility granted to her, and to her alone,
by Jesus Christ.
Consequently, the practices required by the Church of Rome, to obtain
the forgiveness of sins, and to be exempted from the punishment of those
sins, were not instituted among Christians in the first two centuries.
We draw the general conclusions of this chapter:
It has been proved that there is a striking similarity between the
practices required by the Church of Rome to obtain the forgiveness of
sins, and to be exempted from the punishment of those sins, and those
which were, and still now are, required in the Pagan religion for the
same purpose; and that those practices were not instituted among
Christians in the first two centuries.
Therefore the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans the doctrine of
Vicarious Atonement, namely, that a small number of privileged
Christians obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are exempted from
the punishment of their sins, through the medium of a substitute.
Since, though the other Partialist Christian Churches rejected the most
of the practices used by the Church of Rome to obtain the forgiveness of
sins, and the exemption from the punishment of those sins, they
preserved the substance of the doctrine, namely, that Jesus Christ had
washed away, or, in other words, atoned for all the sins of those who
would feel the descent of the Holy Spirit in their souls; who would
experience a supernatural change of heart, or, as they commonly term it,
would get religion; and also that through his atonement they were
exempted from the punishment of their sins--the doctrine which they hold
is nothing but the very doctrine, though modified in its circumstances,
of the Church of Rome. Therefore its origin is the same. But it has been
proved that the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans, the doctrine
that a small number of privileged Christians obtain the forgiveness of
their sins, and are exempted from the punishment of those sins, through
the medium of a substitute--as she holds it. Therefore it is thereby
proved, that the other Partialist Christian Churches truly borrowed,
from the Pagans, though through the medium of the Church of Rome, the
doctrine that a small number of privileged Christians obtain the
forgiveness of their sins, and are exempted from the punishment of those
sins, through the medium of a substitute--as she holds it.
Therefore the doctrine that a small number of privileged Christians
obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and are exempted from the
punishment of those sins, through the medium of a substitute, is of
Pagan origin. And as, on another hand, it has been proved, in four other
chapters of this work, that the doctrine of a Personal Devil, the
doctrine of Original Sin, the doctrine of Trinity, and the doctrine of
the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ, are of Pagan origin--then we
logically draw the conclusion that all the characteristics of the
doctrine of Vicarious Atonement are of Pagan origin. Since all the
characteristics of the doctrine of Vicarious Atonement are of Pagan
origin, then the body itself of the doctrine of Vicarious Atonement is
of Pagan origin.
_Therefore the doctrine of Vicarious Atonement is of Pagan origin._
CONCLUSION OF ALL THE CHAPTERS.
THEREFORE PARTIALIST DOCTRINES ARE OF PAGAN ORIGIN.
_Corollary._--Since the Partialist doctrines are of Pagan origin they
are not taught in the Scriptures, for the Scriptures do not reveal
Paganism. Consequently they ought to be rejected from Christian
Churches, as being Heathen doctrines.
VALEDICTORY.
_Dear Reader_,--Before I drop the pen permit me to address to you a few
valedictory words. If you believe the _Impartialist_, namely,
Universalist doctrines, you are now in possession of an irrefutable
historical proof corroborating your beloved faith, which is satisfactory
to your mind, and sweet to your heart. If from your infancy up to this
day you have been taught, and have believed, the Partialist doctrines,
perhaps you say to yourself: My religious creed is now shaken to its
very foundation; what then will my religious belief be, for the want of
religious principles is the most earnest longing of my soul? Friend,
study the _Impartialist_, namely, Universalist doctrines; compare them
with the teaching of the Scriptures, and you will find them recorded
therein. They truly are the embodiment of the teaching of the
Scriptures, which are themselves embodied in these two vital maxims of
Jesus Christ, written in golden letters on the Universalist banner:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind.--This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.--On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Blank pages have been eliminated.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the
original.
A few typographical errors have been corrected.