{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_31885/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_31885","id":"gutenberg_31885","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31885","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Mythology"],"text":"Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Lisa Reigel, and\nthe Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes: Greek words and some characters may not display\nproperly--in that case, try another version. Transliterations of Greek\nwords can be found in the ascii and html files. Words surrounded by\n_underscores_ are in italics in the original. Characters superscripted\nin the original are enclosed in {braces}. Ellipses match the original. A\nrow of asterisks represents a thought break.\n\nVariations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the\noriginal. A complete list of corrections follows the text.\n\nThe original sometimes uses two numbered columns for comparisons. This\ntext has the contents of the right column indented like a block quote\nbelow the contents of the left column.\n\nOther notes follow the text.\n\n\n\n\n                             BIBLE MYTHS\n\n                              AND THEIR\n\n                     PARALLELS IN OTHER RELIGIONS\n\n                      BEING A COMPARISON OF THE\n\n               Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles\n\n                                 WITH\n\n                THOSE OF HEATHEN NATIONS OF ANTIQUITY\n\n                           CONSIDERING ALSO\n\n                       THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING\n\n\n                            BY T. W. DOANE\n\n\n                    _WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_\n\n\n                           SEVENTH EDITION\n\n\n     \"_He who knows only one religion knows none._\"--PROF. MAX\n     MULLER.\n\n     \"The same thing which is now called CHRISTIAN RELIGION existed\n     among the Ancients. They have begun to call Christian the true\n     religion which existed before.\"--ST. AUGUSTINE.\n\n     \"Our love for what is old, our reverence for what our fathers\n     used, makes us keep still in the church, and on the very altar\n     cloths, symbols which would excite the smile of an _Oriental_,\n     and lead him to wonder why we send missionaries to his land,\n     while cherishing his faith in ours.\"--JAMES BONWICK.\n\n\n                              COPYRIGHT,\n                                1882.\n\n                          COPYRIGHT RENEWED,\n                                 1910\n\n\n                          Printed in U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe idea of publishing the work here presented did not suggest itself\nuntil a large portion of the material it contains had been accumulated\nfor the private use and personal gratification of the author. In\npursuing the study of the Bible Myths, facts pertaining thereto, in a\ncondensed form, seemed to be greatly needed, and nowhere to be found.\nWidely scattered through hundreds of ancient and modern volumes, most of\nthe contents of this book may indeed be found; but any previous attempt\nto trace exclusively the myths and legends of the Old and New Testament\nto their origin, published as a separate work, is not known to the\nwriter of this. Many able writers have shown our so-called Sacred\nScriptures to be unhistorical, and have pronounced them largely\nlegendary, but have there left the matter, evidently aware of the great\nextent of the subject lying beyond. As Thomas Scott remarks, in his\n_English Life of Jesus_: \"_How_ these narratives (_i. e._, the New\nTestament narratives), unhistorical as they have been shown to be, came\ninto existence, _it is not our business to explain_; and once again, at\nthe end of the task, as at the beginning and throughout, we must\nemphatically disclaim the obligation.\" To pursue the subject from the\npoint at which it is abandoned by this and many other distinguished\nwriters, has been the labor of the author of this volume for a number of\nyears. The result of this labor is herewith submitted to the reader,\nbut not without a painful consciousness of its many imperfections.\n\nThe work naturally begins with the Eden myth, and is followed by a\nconsideration of the principal Old Testament legends, showing their\nuniversality, origin and meaning. Next will be found the account of the\nbirth of Christ Jesus, with his history until the close of his life upon\nearth, showing, in connection therewith, the universality of the myth of\nthe Virgin-born, Crucified and Resurrected Saviour.\n\nBefore showing the _origin_ and _meaning_ of the myth (which is done in\nChapter XXXIX.), we have considered the _Miracles of Christ Jesus_, the\n_Eucharist_, _Baptism_, the _Worship of the Virgin_, _Christian\nSymbols_, the _Birthday of Christ Jesus_, the _Doctrine of the Trinity_,\n_Why Christianity Prospered_, and the _Antiquity of Pagan Religions_,\nbesides making a comparison of the legendary histories of _Crishna and\nJesus_, and _Buddha and Jesus_. The concluding chapter relates to the\nquestion, What do we really know about Jesus?\n\nIn the words of Prof. Max M\u00fcller (_The Science of Religion_, p. 11): \"A\ncomparison of all the religions of the world, in which none can claim a\nprivileged position, will no doubt seem to many dangerous and\nreprehensible, because ignoring that peculiar reverence which everybody,\ndown to the mere fetish worshiper, feels for his own religion, and for\nhis own god. Let me say, then, at once, that I myself have shared these\nmisgivings, but that I have tried to overcome them, because I would not\nand could not allow myself to surrender either what I hold to be the\ntruth, or what I hold still dearer than truth, the right of testing\ntruth. Nor do I regret it. I do not say that the _Science of Religion_\nis all gain. No, it entails losses, and losses of many things which we\nhold dear. But this I will say, that, as far as my humble judgment goes,\nit does not entail the loss of anything that is essential to _true\nreligion_, and that, if we strike the balance honestly, _the gain is\nimmeasurably greater than the loss_.\"\n\n\"All truth is safe, and nothing else is safe; and he who keeps back the\ntruth, or withholds it from men, from motives of expediency, is either a\ncoward or a criminal, or both.\"\n\nBut little beyond the arrangement of this work is claimed as original.\nIdeas, phrases, and even whole paragraphs have been taken from the\nwritings of others, and in most, if not in all cases, acknowledged; but\nwith the thought in mind of the many hours of research this book may\nsave the student in this particular line of study; with the\nconsciousness of having done for others that which I would have been\nthankful to have found done for myself; and more than all, with the hope\nthat it may in some way help to hasten the day when the mist of\nsuperstition shall be dispelled by the light of reason; with all its\ndefects, it is most cheerfully committed to its fate by the author.\n\nBOSTON, MASS., _November, 1882_.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n     PART I.\n                                                                  PAGE\n     INTRODUCTION                                                  iii\n\n     LIST OF AUTHORITIES, AND BOOKS QUOTED FROM                     xi\n\n     CHAPTER I.\n         THE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN                                1\n\n     CHAPTER II.\n         THE DELUGE                                                 19\n\n     CHAPTER III.\n         THE TOWER OF BABEL                                         33\n\n     CHAPTER IV.\n         THE TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH                               36\n\n     CHAPTER V.\n         JACOB'S VISION OF THE LADDER                               42\n\n     CHAPTER VI.\n         THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT                                      48\n\n     CHAPTER VII.\n         RECEIVING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS                             58\n\n     CHAPTER VIII.\n         SAMSON AND HIS EXPLOITS                                    62\n\n     CHAPTER IX.\n         JONAH SWALLOWED BY A BIG FISH                              77\n\n     CHAPTER X.\n         CIRCUMCISION                                               85\n\n     CHAPTER XI.\n         CONCLUSION OF PART FIRST                                   88\n\n\n     PART II.\n\n     CHAPTER XII.\n         THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF CHRIST JESUS                      111\n\n     CHAPTER XIII.\n         THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM                                     140\n\n     CHAPTER XIV.\n         THE SONG OF THE HEAVENLY HOST                             147\n\n     CHAPTER XV.\n         THE DIVINE CHILD RECOGNIZED, AND PRESENTED WITH GIFTS     150\n\n\n     CHAPTER XVI.\n         THE BIRTH-PLACE OF CHRIST JESUS                           154\n\n     CHAPTER XVII.\n         THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST JESUS                             160\n\n     CHAPTER XVIII.\n         THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS                            165\n\n     CHAPTER XIX.\n         THE TEMPTATION, AND FAST OF FORTY DAYS                    175\n\n     CHAPTER XX.\n         THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST JESUS                           181\n\n     CHAPTER XXI.\n         THE DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION                           206\n\n     CHAPTER XXII.\n         \"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL.\"                                 211\n\n     CHAPTER XXIII.\n         THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST JESUS            215\n\n     CHAPTER XXIV.\n         THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST JESUS, AND THE MILLENNIUM     233\n\n     CHAPTER XXV.\n         CHRIST JESUS AS JUDGE OF THE DEAD                         244\n\n     CHAPTER XXVI.\n         CHRIST JESUS AS CREATOR, AND ALPHA AND OMEGA              247\n\n     CHAPTER XXVII.\n         THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST JESUS, AND THE PRIMITIVE\n             CHRISTIANS                                            252\n\n     CHAPTER XXVIII.\n         CHRIST CRISHNA AND CHRIST JESUS                           278\n\n     CHAPTER XXIX.\n         CHRIST BUDDHA AND CHRIST JESUS                            289\n\n     CHAPTER XXX.\n         THE EUCHARIST OR LORD'S SUPPER                            305\n\n     CHAPTER XXXI.\n         BAPTISM                                                   316\n\n     CHAPTER XXXII.\n         THE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER                          326\n\n     CHAPTER XXXIII.\n         CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS                                         339\n\n     CHAPTER XXXIV.\n         THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS                             359\n\n     CHAPTER XXXV.\n         THE TRINITY                                               368\n\n     CHAPTER XXXVI.\n         PAGANISM IN CHRISTIANITY                                  384\n\n     CHAPTER XXXVII.\n         WHY CHRISTIANITY PROSPERED                                419\n\n     CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n         THE ANTIQUITY OF PAGAN RELIGIONS                          450\n\n     CHAPTER XXXIX.\n         EXPLANATION                                               466\n\n     CHAPTER XL.\n         CONCLUSION                                                508\n\n     APPENDIX                                                      531\n\n\n\n\nLIST\n\nOF\n\nAUTHORS AND BOOKS QUOTED\n\nIN THIS WORK.\n\n\nABBOT (LYMAN). A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, for Popular and\nProfessional Use; comprising full information on Biblical, Theological,\nand Ecclesiastical Subjects. Edited by Rev. Lyman Abbott, assisted by\nRev. T. J. Conant, D. D. New York: Harper & Bros., 1880.\n\nACOSTA (REV. JOSEPH DE). The Natural and Moral History of the Indies, by\nFather Joseph De Acosta. Translated by Edward Grimston. London: 1604.\n\n\u00c6SCHYLUS. The Poems of \u00c6schylus. Translated by the Rev. R. Potter, M. A.\nNew York: Harper & Bros., 1836.\n\nALLEN (REV. D. O.). India, Ancient and Modern, by David O. Allen, D. D.,\nMissionary of the American Board for twenty-five years in India. London:\nTr\u00fcbner & Co., 1856.\n\nAMBERLY (VISCOUNT). An Analysis of Religious Belief, by Viscount\nAmberly, from the late London Edition. New York: D. M. Bennett, 1879.\n\nASIATIC RESEARCHES. Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of the Society\ninstituted in Bengal, for inquiring in the History and Antiquities, the\nArts, Sciences, and Literature of Asia. London: J. Swain, 1801.\n\nBARING-GOULD (REV. S.). Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould, M. A. Boston: Roberts Bros., 1880.\n\n     ----. Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and other Old\n     Testament Characters, from various sources, by Rev. S.\n     Baring-Gould, M. A. New York: Holt & Williams, 1872.\n\n     ----. The Origin and Development of Religious Belief, by S.\n     Baring-Gould, M. A., in 2 vols. New York: D. Appleton & Co.,\n     1870.\n\nBARNABAS. The General Epistle of Barnabas, a companion and\nfellow-preacher with Paul.\n\nBARNES (ALBERT). Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels, by\nRev. Albert Barnes, in 2 vols. New York: Harper & Bros., 1860.\n\nBEAL (SAMUEL). The Romantic Legend of S\u00e2kya Buddha, from the Chinese\nSanscrit (being a translation of the Fo-pen-hing), by Samuel Beal.\nLondon: Tr\u00fcbner & Co., 1875.\n\nBELL (J.). Bell's New Pantheon, or Historical Dictionary of the Gods,\nDemi-Gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity; also of the\nImages and Idols, adored in the Pagan World, together with their\nTemples, Priests, Altars, Oracles, Fasts, Festivals, &c., in 2 vols.\nLondon: J. Bell, 1790.\n\nBHAGAVAT-GEETA. The Bhagavat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Crishna and Arjoon,\nin 18 Lectures, with notes. Translated from the original Sanscrit by\nCharles Wilkes. London: C. Nourse, 1785.\n\nBLAVATSKY (H. P.). Isis Unveiled: A Master Key to the Mysteries of\nAncient and Modern Science and Theology, by H. P. Blavatsky, in 2 vols.\nNew York: J. W. Bouton, 1877.\n\nBONWICK (JAMES). Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, by James Bonwick,\nF. R. G. S. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1878.\n\nBRINTON (DANIEL). The Myths of the New World: A Treatise on the\nSymbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America, by Daniel Brinton,\nA. M., M. D. New York: L. Holt & Co., 1868.\n\nBRITANNICA (ENCYCLO.). The Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, Ninth Edition.\n\nBUCKLEY (T. A.). The Great Cities of the Ancient World, in their Glory\nand their Desolation, by Theodore A. Buckley, M. A. London: G. Routledge\n& Co., 1852.\n\nBULFINCH (THOMAS). The Age of Fable, or Beauties of Mythology, by Thomas\nBulfinch. Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co., 1870.\n\nBUNCE (JOHN T.). Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning, with some\naccount of Dwellers in Fairy-land, by John Thackary Bunce. New York: D.\nAppleton & Co., 1878.\n\nBUNSEN (ERNEST DE). The Keys of St. Peter, or the House of Rochab,\nconnected with the History of Symbolism and Idolatry, by Ernest de\nBunsen. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1867.\n\n     ----. The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians,\n     by Ernest de Bunsen. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1880.\n\n     ----. The Chronology of the Bible, connected with\n     contemporaneous events in the history of Babylonians,\n     Assyrians, and Egyptians, by Ernest de Bunsen. London:\n     Longmans, Green & Co., 1874.\n\nCALMET. Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible (Taylor's). London: 1798.\n\nCHADWICK (J. W.). The Bible of To-day: A Course of Lectures by John W.\nChadwick, Minister of the Second Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, N. Y. New\nYork: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1878.\n\nCHAMBERS. Chambers' Encyclop\u00e6dia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge\nfor the People. American Revised Edition. Philadelphia: J. Lippincott &\nCo., 1877.\n\nCHAMPOLLION (M.). Pr\u00e9cis du syst\u00e8me Hi\u00e9roglyphique des Anciens \u00c9gyptiens\nou recherches sur les \u00e9l\u00e9mens premiers dec ette ecriture sacr\u00e9e, &c.,\npar M. Champollion Le Jeune. Seconde Edit. Paris: 1828.\n\nCHILD (L. M.). The Progress of Religious Ideas through Successive Ages,\nby L. Maria Child, in 3 vols. New York: C. S. Francis & Co., 1855.\n\nCLEMENT. The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians.\n\nCOLENSO (REV. J. W.). The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua critically\nexamined, by the Right Rev. John William Colenso, D. D., Bishop of\nNatal. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1863.\n\n     ----. Lectures on the Pentateuch and Moabite Stone, by the\n     Right Rev. John William Colenso, D. D., Bishop of Natal.\n     London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1873.\n\nCONSTANTINE (THE EMPEROR). The Emperor Constantine's Oration to the Holy\nCongregation of the Clergy. London: Thos. Coates, 1637.\n\nCONWAY (M. D.). The Sacred Anthology: A Book of Ethnical Scriptures,\ncollated and edited by Moncure D. Conway. London: Tr\u00fcbner & Co., 1874.\n\nCORY. Cory's Ancient Fragments of the Phenician, Carthagenian,\nBabylonian, Egyptian, and other Authors. A new and enlarged edition,\ncarefully revised by E. Richard Hodges, M. C. P. London: Reeves &\nTurner, 1876.\n\nCOULANGES (F. DE). The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and\nInstitutions of Greece and Rome, by Fustel de Coulanges. Translated from\nthe latest French Edition by Williard Small. Boston: Lee & Shepherd,\n1874.\n\nCOX (REV. G. W.). The Myths of the Aryan Nations, by George W. Cox, M.\nA., late Scholar of Trinity, Oxford, in 2 vols. London: Longmans, Green\n& Co., 1870.\n\n     ----. Tales of Ancient Greece, by Rev. George W. Cox, M. A.,\n     Bart. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1880.\n\nDARWIN (CHARLES). Journal of Researches into the Natural History and\nGeology of the Countries visited during the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle\nRound the World, by Charles Darwin, M. A., F. R. S. 2d Edit. London:\nJohn Murray, 1845.\n\n     ----. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, by\n     Charles Darwin, M. A. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1876.\n\nDAVIES (EDWARD). The Myths and Rites of the British Druids compared with\nCustoms and Traditions of Heathen Nations, by Edward Davies, Rector of\nBrampton. London: J. Booth, 1809.\n\nDAVIS (J. F.). The Chinese: A General Description of the Empire of China\nand its Inhabitants, by John Francis Davis, Esq. F. R. S., in 2 vols.\nNew York: Harper Bros., 1836.\n\nDELITCH (F.). See Keil (C. F.).\n\nDILLAWAY (C. K.). Roman Antiquities and Ancient Mythology, by Charles K.\nDillaway. Boston: Gould, Kendall & Lincoln, 1840.\n\nDRAPER (J. W.). History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, by\nJohn W. Draper, M. D. 8th Edit. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1876.\n\nDUNLAP (S. F.). Vestiges of the Spirit History of Man, by S. F. Dunlap,\nMember of the American Oriental Soc., New Haven. New York: D. Appleton &\nCo., 1858.\n\n     ----. The Mysteries of Adoni, by S. F. Dunlap London: Williams\n     & Northgate, 1861.\n\n     ----. Sod, the Son of the Man, by S. F. Dunlap. London:\n     Williams & Northgate, 1861.\n\nDUPUIS. The Origin of all Religious Worship, translated from the French\nof Mons. Dupuis. New Orleans: 1872.\n\nEUSEBIUS. The Life of Constantine, in Four Books, by Eusebius\nPamphilius, Bishop of Cesarea. London: Thomas Coates, 1637.\n\n     ----. The Ancient Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius\n     Pamphilius, Bishop of Cesarea in Palestine, in Ten Books.\n     London: George Miller, 1636.\n\nFARRAR (F. W.). The Life of Christ, by Frederick W. Farrar, D. D., F. R.\nS., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Albany: Rufus Wendell,\n1876.\n\nFERGUSSON (JAMES). Tree and Serpent Worship, or Illustrations of\nMythology and Art in India, by James Fergusson. London: 1868.\n\nFISKE (JOHN). Myths and Myth-Makers; Old Tales and Superstitions\nInterpreted by Comparative Mythology, by John Fiske, M. A., LL. B.,\nHarvard University. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co., 1877.\n\nFROTHINGHAM (O. B.). The Cradle of the Christ: A Study in Primitive\nChristianity, by Octavius Brooks Frothingham. New York: G. P. Putnam &\nSons, 1877.\n\nGAUGOOLY (J. C.). Life and Religion of the Hindoos, by Joguth Chunder\nGaugooly. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co., 1860.\n\nGEIKIE (C.) The Life and Words of Christ, by Cunningham Geikie, D. D.,\nin 2 vols. New York: D. Appleton & Co, 1880.\n\nGERBET (L'ABB\u00c9). The Lily of Israel, or the life of the Blessed Virgin\nMary, Mother of God. From the French of the Abb\u00e9 Gerbet New York: P. J.\nKennedy, 1878.\n\nGIBBON (EDWARD). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman\nEmpire, by Edward Gibbon, Esq., in 6 vols. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen\n& Hoffelfinger, 1876.\n\nGILES. Hebrew and Christian Records: An Historical Enquiry concerning\nthe Age and Authorship of the Old and New Testaments, by the Rev. Dr.\nGiles, in 2 vols. London: Tr\u00fcbner & Co., 1877.\n\nGINSBURGH (C. D.) The Essenes: Their History and Doctrines; an Essay, by\nCharles D. Ginsburgh. London: Longman, Green, Roberts & Green, 1864.\n\nGOLDZHIER (I.). Mythology among the Hebrews, and its Historical\nDevelopment, by Ignaz Goldzhier, Ph. D., Member of the Hungarian Academy\nof Sciences. Translated from the German by Russel Martineau. London:\nLongmans, Green & Co., 1877.\n\nGORI. Etrurische Alterth\u00fcmer. M\u00fcrnburg: G. Lichtensleger, 1770.\n\nGREG (W. R.). The Creed of Christendom: Its Foundations contrasted with\nits Superstructure, by William Rathbone Greg. Detroit: Rose-Belford Pub.\nCo., 1878.\n\nGROSS (J. B.). The Heathen Religion in its Popular and Symbolical\nDevelopment, by Rev. Joseph B. Gross. Boston; J. P. Jewett & Co., 1856.\n\nGUTZLAFF. The Journal of Two Voyages along the Coast of China (in\n1831-2), and Remarks on the Policy, Religion, &c., of China, by the Rev.\nMr. Gutzlaff. New York: John P. Haven, 1833.\n\nHARDY (R. S.). The Legends and Theories of the Buddhists compared with\nHistory and Science, with Introductory Notices of the Life of Gautama\nBuddha, by R. Spence Hardy, Hon. M. R. A. S. London: Williams &\nNorthgate, 1866.\n\n     ----. Eastern Monachism: An Account of the Origin, Laws,\n     Discipline, &c., of the Order of Mendicants founded by Gautama\n     Buddha, by R. Spence Hardy. London: Williams & Northgate,\n     1860.\n\n     ----. A Manual of Buddhism in its Modern Development.\n     Translated from the Singalese MSS. by R. S. Hardy. London:\n     Williams & Northgate, 1860.\n\nHERMAS. The First Book of Hermas, Brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome, which\nis called his _Vision_.\n\nHERODOTUS. The History of Herodotus, the Greek Historian: A New and\nLiteral Version, from the Text of Baehr, by Henry Cary, M. A. New York:\nHarper & Bros., 1871.\n\nHIGGINS (GODFREY). The Celtic Druids, by Godfrey Higgins, Esq., F. R.\nA. S. London: Hunter & Co., 1827.\n\n     ----. Anacalypsis: An Enquiry into the Origin of Languages,\n     Nations, and Religions, by Godfrey Higgins, Esq., F. R. S., F.\n     R. A. S., in 2 vols. London: Longman, Rees, Orne, Brown &\n     Longman.\n\nHOOYKAAS (I.). See Oort (H.).\n\nHUC (L'ABB\u00c9). Christianity in China, Tartary and Thibet, by M. L'Abb\u00e9\nHuc, formerly Missionary Apostolic in China, in 2 vols. London: Longman,\nBrown & Co., 1857.\n\nHUMBOLDT (A. DE). Researches concerning the Institutions and Monuments\nof the Ancient Inhabitants of Mexico, by Alexander de Humboldt, in 2\nvols. (Translated by Helen Maria Williams.) London: Longman, Rees & Co.,\n1814.\n\n     ----. Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, by\n     Alexander de Humboldt, in 2 vols. (Translated by John Black.)\n     London: Longman, Hurst & Co., 1822.\n\nHUME (DAVID). Essays and Treaties on Various Subjects, by David Hume\n(author of Hume's History of England). Boston: From the London Edit. J.\nP. Mendum.\n\nHUXLEY (T. H.). Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature, by Thomas H.\nHuxley, F. R. S., F. L. S. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1873.\n\nIGNATIUS. The Epistle of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch in Syria, to the\nEphesians.\n\n     ----. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians.\n\n     ----. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians.\n\n     ----. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians.\n\nINFANCY (APOC.). The Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ (Apocryphal).\n\nINMAN (THOMAS). Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism Exposed and\nExplained, by Thomas Inman, M. D., Physician to the Royal Infirmary, &c.\nLondon: 1869.\n\n     ----. Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names, or An Attempt\n     to Trace the Religious Belief, Sacred Rites, and Holy Emblems\n     of certain Nations, by Thomas Inman, M. D. London: Tr\u00fcbner &\n     Co., 1872.\n\n     ----. Ancient Faiths and Modern: A Dissertation upon Worship,\n     Legends, and Divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe,\n     and Elsewhere, before the Christian Era, by Thomas Inman, M.\n     D. London: Tr\u00fcbner & Co. 1876.\n\nJAMESON. The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art;\ncommenced by the late Mrs. Jameson, continued and completed by Lady\nEastlake, in 2 vols. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1864.\n\nJENNINGS (H.). The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries. Second\nEdit. revised by Hargrave Jennings. London: Catto & Windus, 1879.\n\nJOHNSON (SAMUEL). Oriental Religions, and their Relation to Universal\nReligion (India), by Samuel Johnson. Boston: J. R. Osgood, 1872.\n\nJOSEPHUS (FLAVIUS). Antiquities of the Jews, in Twenty Books, by Flavius\nJosephus, the learned and authentic Jewish Historian and celebrated\nWarrior. Translated by William Whiston, A. M. Baltimore: Armstrong &\nBerry, 1839.\n\n     ----. The Wars of the Jews, or the History of the Destruction\n     of Jerusalem, in Seven Books, by Flavius Josephus. Baltimore:\n     1839.\n\n     ----. Flavius Josephus Against Apion, in Two Books. Baltimore:\n     1839.\n\nKEIGHTLEY (T.). The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy, by Thomas\nKeightley. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1843.\n\nKEIL (C. F.). Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, by C. F. Keil,\nD. D., and F. Delitch, D. D., Professors in Theology, in 3 vols.\nTranslated from the German by Rev. James Martin, B. A. Edinboro': T. &\nT. Clarke, 1872.\n\nKENRICK (J.). Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs, by John Kenrick, M. A.,\nin 2 vols. London: B. Fellows, 1850.\n\nKING (C. W.). The Gnostics and their Remains, Ancient and Medi\u00e6val, by\nC. W. King, M. A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: Bell &\nDudley, 1864.\n\nKINGSBOROUGH (LORD). Antiquities of Mexico, comprising Fac-similes of\nAncient Mexican Paintings and Hieroglyphics, preserved in the Royal\nLibraries of Paris, Berlin, and Dresden, in the Imperial Library of\nVienna, &c., &c., together with the Monuments of New Spain, by Lord\nKingsborough, in 7 vols. London: Robert Havill & Coyglen, Son & Co.,\n1831.\n\nKNAPPERT (J.). The Religion of Israel, a Manual: Translated from the\nDutch of J. Knappert, pastor at Leiden, by Richard A. Armstrong, B. A.\nBoston: Roberts Bros., 1878.\n\nKNIGHT (R. P.). The Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology. An\nEnquiry, by Richard Payne Knight, author of \"The Worship of Priapus,\"\n&c. A new Edit. with Introduction, Notes and Additions, by Alexander\nWilder, M. D. New York: J. W. Bouton, 1876.\n\nKORAN. The Koran, commonly called the Al Coran of Mohammed; translated\ninto English immediately from the original Arabic, by Geo. Sale, Gent.\n\nKUNEN (A.). See Oort (H.).\n\nLARDNER (N.). The Works of Nathaniel Lardner, D. D., with a Life, by Dr.\nKipps, in 10 vols. London: Wm. Ball. 1838.\n\nLELAND (CHAS. G.). Fusang: or the Discovery of America by Buddhist\nPriests in the 5th Century, by Chas. C. Leland. London: Tr\u00fcbner & Co.,\n1875.\n\nLILLIE (ARTHUR). Buddha and Early Buddhism, by Arthur Lillie. London:\nTr\u00fcbner & Co., 1881.\n\nLUBBOCK (JOHN). Pre-historic Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains,\nand the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages, by Sir John Lubbock, F.\nR. S. London: Williams & Northgate, 1865.\n\nLUNDY (J. P.). Monumental Christianity, or the Art and Symbolism of the\nPrimitive Church as Witness and Teachers of the One Catholic Faith and\nPractice, by John P. Lundy, Presbyter. New York: J. W. Bouton, 1876.\n\nMAHAFFY (J. P.). Prolegomena to Ancient History, by John P. Mahaffy, A.\nM., M. R. I. A., Fellow and Tutor in Trinity College, and Lecturer in\nAncient History in the University of Dublin. London: Longmans, Green &\nCo., 1871.\n\nMALLET. Northern Antiquities; or an Historical Account of the Manners,\nCustoms, Religion and Laws of the Ancient Scandinavians, by M. Mallet.\nTranslated from the French by Bishop Percy. London: H. S. Bohn, 1847.\n\nMARSH (HERBERT). A Course of Lectures, containing a Description and\nSystematic Arrangement of the several Branches of Divinity by Herbert\nMarsh, D. D. Cambridge: W. Hillard, 1812.\n\nMARY (APOC.). The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, attributed to St.\nMatthew. Translated from the Works of St. Jerome.\n\nMAURICE (THOMAS). Indian Antiquities: or Dissertations on the\nGeographical Division, Theology, Laws, Government and Literature of\nHindostan, compared with those of Persia, Egypt and Greece, by Thomas\nMaurice, in 6 vols. London: W. Richardson, 1794.\n\n     ----. The History of Hindostan; Its Arts and its Sciences, as\n     connected with the History of the other Great Empires of Asia,\n     during the most Ancient Periods of the World, in 2 vols., by\n     Thomas Maurice. London: Printed by H. L. Galabin, 1798.\n\nMAURICE (F. D.). The Religions of the World, and Their Relation to\nChristianity, by Frederick Denison Maurice, M. A., Professor of Divinity\nin Kings' College. London: J. W. Parker, 1847.\n\nMIDDLETON (C.). The Miscellaneous Works of Conyers Middleton, D. D.,\nPrincipal Librarian of the University of Cambridge, in 4 vols. (\"Free\nEnquiry\" vol. I., \"Letters from Rome\" vol. III.). London: Richard Manby,\n1752.\n\nMONTFAUCON (B.). L'Antiquit\u00e9 Explique\u00e9; par Dom Bernard de Montfaucon.\nSecond edit. Paris: 1722.\n\nMOOR (EDWARD). Plates illustrating the Hindoo Pantheon, reprinted from\nthe work of Major Edward Moor, F. R. S., edited by Rev. Allen Moor, M.\nA. London: Williams & Norgate, 1816.\n\nMORTON (S. G.). Types of Mankind: or Ethnological Researches based upon\nthe Ancient Monuments, Paintings, Sculptures, and Crania of Races, by\nSamuel George Morton, M. D. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.,\n1854.\n\nM\u00dcLLER (MAX). A History of Ancient Sanscrit Literature, so far as it\nillustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmins, by Max M\u00fcller, M. A.\nLondon: Williams & Norgate, 1860.\n\n     ----. Introduction to the Science of Religion; Four Lectures\n     delivered at the Royal Institution, with Two Essays on False\n     Analogies, and the Philosophy of Mythology, by (F.) Max\n     M\u00fcller, M. A. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1873.\n\n     ----. Chips from a German Workshop; by Max M\u00fcller, M. A., in 3\n     vols. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1876.\n\n     ----. Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion, as\n     Illustrated by the Religious of India. Delivered in the Chapel\n     House, Westminster Abbey, by (F.) Max M\u00fcller, M. A. London:\n     Longmans, Green & Co., 1878.\n\nMURRAY (A. S.). Manual of Mythology, by Alexander S. Murray, Department\nof Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, 2d Edit. New York:\nArmstrong & Co., 1876.\n\nNICODEMUS (APOC.). The Gospel of Nicodemus the Disciple, concerning the\nSufferings and Resurrection of Our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ.\n\nOORT (H.). The Bible for Learners, by Dr. H. Oort, Prof. of Oriental\nLanguages, &c., at Amsterdam, and Dr. I. Hooykaas, pastor at Rotterdam,\nwith the assistance of Dr. A. Kunen, Prof. of Theology at Leiden, in 3\nvols. Translated from the Dutch by Philip A. Wicksteed, M. A. Boston:\nRoberts Bros., 1878.\n\nORTON (JAMES). The Andes and the Amazon; or Across the Continent of\nSouth America, by James Orton, M. A., 3d Edit. New York: Harper & Bros.,\n1876.\n\nOWEN (RICHARD). Man's Earliest History, an Address delivered before the\nInternational Congress of Orientalists, by Prof. Richard Owen. Tribune\nExtra, No. 23. New York Tribune Pub. Co., 1874.\n\nPESCHEL (OSCAR). The Races of Man, and their Geographical Distribution\nfrom the German of Oscar Peschel. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1876.\n\nPOLYCARP. The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, translated by\nArchbishop Wake.\n\nPORTER (SIR R. K.). Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient\nBabylonia, &c., by Sir Robert Kir Porter, in 2 vols. London: Longmans,\nHurst, Rees, Orm & Brown, 1821.\n\nPRESCOTT (WM. H.). History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a preliminary\nview of the Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the life of the conqueror,\nHernando Cortez, by Wm. H. Prescott, in 3 vols. Philadelphia: J. P.\nLippincott & Co., 1873.\n\nPRICHARD (J. C.). An Analysis of the Historical Records of Ancient\nEgypt, by J. C. Prichard, M. D., F. R. S. London: Sherwood, Gilbert &\nPiper, 1838.\n\n     ----. An Analysis of Egyptian Mythology, and the Philosophy of\n     the Ancient Egyptians, compared with those of the Indians and\n     others, by J. C. Prichard, M. D., F. R. S. London: Sherwood,\n     Gilbert & Piper, 1838.\n\nPRIESTLEY (JOSEPH). A Comparison of the Institutions of Moses with those\nof the Hindoos and other Ancient Nations, by Joseph Priestley, LL. D.,\nF. R. S. Northumberland: A. Kennedy, 1799.\n\nPROTEVANGELION APOC. The Protevangelion, or, An Historical Account of\nthe Birth of Christ, and the perpetual Virgin Mary, His Mother, by James\nthe Lesser, Cousin and Brother to the Lord Jesus.\n\nREBER (GEO.). The Christ of Paul, or the Enigmas of Christianity, by\nGeo. Reber. New York: C. P. Somerby, 1876.\n\nRENAN (ERNEST). Lectures on the Influence of the Institutions, Thought\nand Culture of Rome on Christianity, and the Development of the Catholic\nChurch, by Ernest Renan, of the French Academy. Translated by Charles\nBeard, B. A. London: Williams & Norgate, 1880.\n\nRENOUF (P. LE PAGE). Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as\nIllustrated by the Religion of Ancient Egypt, by P. Le Page Renouf.\nLondon: Williams & Norgate, 1880.\n\nREVILLE (ALBERT). History of the Dogma of the Deity of Jesus Christ, by\nAlbert Reville. London: Williams & Norgate, 1870.\n\nRHYS-DAVIDS (T. W.) Buddhism: Being a Sketch of the Life and Teachings\nof Gautama, the Buddha, by T. W. Rhys-Davids, of the Middle Temple,\nBarrister-at-Law, and late of the Ceylon Civil Service. London: Soc. for\nPromoting Christian Knowledge.\n\nSCOTT (THOMAS). The English Life of Jesus, by Thomas Scott. Published by\nthe Author. London: 1872.\n\nSEPTCHENES (M. LE CLERC DE). The Religion of the Ancient Greeks,\nIllustrated by an Explanation of their Mythology. Translated from the\nFrench of M. Le Clerc de Septchenes. London: 1788.\n\nSHARPE (SAMUEL). Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity, with\ntheir Influence on the Opinions of Modern Christendom, by Samuel Sharpe.\nLondon: J. R. Smith, 1863.\n\nSHIH-KING (THE). The Shih-King, or Book of Poetry. Translated from the\nChinese by James Legge. London: Macmillan & Co., 1879.\n\nSHOBEIL (F.). Persia; containing a description of the Country, with an\naccount of its Government, Laws, and Religion, by Frederick Shobeil.\nPhiladelphia: John Grigg, 1828.\n\nSMITH. Smith's Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible, with many\nimportant Additions and Improvements. Edited by Rev. Samuel Barnum. New\nYork: D. Appleton & Co., 1879.\n\nSMITH (GEORGE). Assyrian Discoveries: An account of Explorations and\nDiscoveries on the Site of Nineveh during 1873 and 1874, by George\nSmith, of the Department of Oriental Antiquity, British Museum. Now\nYork: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1875.\n\n     ----. The Chaldean Account of Genesis, containing the\n     description of the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Deluge, the\n     Tower of Babel, the Times of the Patriarchs and Nimrod;\n     Babylonian Fables, and Legends of the Gods, from the Cuneiform\n     Inscriptions, by George Smith, of the British Museum. New\n     York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1876.\n\nSOCRATES. The Ancient Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus,\nof Constantinople, in Seven Books. Translated out of the Greek Tongue by\nMeredith Hanmer, D. D. London: George Miller, 1636.\n\nSPENCER (HERBERT). The Principles of Sociology, by Herbert Spencer, in 2\nvols. New York; D. Appleton & Co., 1877.\n\nSQUIRE (E. G.). The Serpent Symbol, and the Worship of the Reciprocal\nPrinciples of Nature in America, by E. G. Squire, A. M. New York: George\nP. Putnam, 1861.\n\nSTANLEY (A. P.). Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, by Arthur\nP. Stanley, D. D., Dean of Westminster. New York: Charles Scribner,\n1863.\n\n     ----. In a Sermon preached in Westminster Abbey on February\n     28th, 1880, after the funeral of Sir Charles Lyell, entitled:\n     \"The Religious Aspect of Geology.\"\n\nSTEINTHAL (H.). The Legend of Samson: An Essay, by H. Steinthal,\nProfessor of the University of Berlin. Appendix to Goldzhier's Hebrew\nMythology.\n\nSYNCHRONOLOGY. Synchronology of the Principal Events in Sacred and\nProfane History from the Creation to the Present Time. Boston: S. Hawes,\n1870.\n\nTACITUS (C.). The Annals of Cornelius Tacitus, the Roman Historian.\nTranslated by Arthur Murphy, Esq. London: Jones & Co., 1831.\n\n     ----. The History of Cornelius Tacitus. Translated by Arthur\n     Murphy. London: Jones & Co., 1831.\n\n     ----. Treatise on the Situation, Manners, and People of\n     Germany, by Cornelius Tacitus. Translated by Arthur Murphy.\n     London: Jones & Co., 1831.\n\nTAYLOR (CHARLES). Taylor's Fragments: Being Illustrations of the\nManners, Incidents, and Phraseology of the Holy Scriptures. Intended as\nan Appendix to Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible. London: W. Stratford,\n1801.\n\nTAYLOR (ROBERT). The Diegesis: Being a Discovery of the Origin,\nEvidences, and Early History of Christianity, by Rev. Robert Taylor, A.\nB. (From the London Edit.) Boston: J. P. Mendum, 1873.\n\n     ----. Syntagma of the evidences of the Christian Religion, by\n     Rev. Robert Taylor, A. B., with a brief Memoir of the Author.\n     (From the London Edit.) Boston: J. P. Mendum, 1876.\n\nTAYLOR (THOMAS). Taylor's Mysteries; A Dissertation on the Eleusinian\nand Bacchic Mysteries, by Thomas Taylor. Amsterdam.\n\nTHORNTON (THOMAS). A History of China, from the Earliest Records to the\nTreaty with Great Britain in 1842, by Thomas Thornton, Esq., Member of\nthe R. A. S. London: William H. Allen & Co., 1844.\n\nTYLOR (E. B.). Researches Into the Early History of Mankind, and the\nDevelopment of Civilization, by Edward B. Tylor. 2d Edit. London: John\nMurray, 1870.\n\n     ----. Primitive Culture; Researches into the Development of\n     Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, &c., by Edward B. Tylor, in 2\n     vols. London: John Murray, 1871.\n\nVISHNU PURANA. The Vishnu Purana, A System of Hindoo Mythology and\nTradition, Translated from the Original Sanscrit, by H. H. Wilson, M.\nA., F. R. S. London: 1840.\n\nVOLNEY (C. F.). New Researches in Ancient History, Translated from the\nFrench of C. F. Volney, Count and Peer of France. (From the London\nEdit.) Boston: J. P. Mendum, 1874.\n\n     ----. The Ruins; or, Meditations on the Revolutions of\n     Empires, by Count de Volney, Translated under the immediate\n     inspection of the Author. (From the latest Paris Edit.)\n     Boston: J. P. Mendum, 1872.\n\nWAKE (C. S.). See Westropp.\n\nWESTROPP (H. M.). Ancient Symbol Worship. Influence of the Phallic Ideas\nin the Religions of Antiquity, by Hodder M. Westropp and C. S. Wake,\nwith Appendix by Alexander Wilder, M. D. London: Tr\u00fcbner & Co., 1874.\n\nWILLIAMS (MONIER). Indian Wisdom; or Examples of the Religious,\nPhilosophical, and Ethnical Doctrines of the Hindoos, by Monier\nWilliams, M. A., Prof. of Sanscrit in the University of Oxford. London:\nW. H. Allen, 1875.\n\n     ----. Hinduism; by Monier Williams, M. A., D. C. L., Published\n     under the Direction of the Committee of General Literature and\n     Education Appointed by the Society for Promoting Christian\n     Knowledge. London: 1877.\n\nWISDOM (APOC.). The Book of Wisdom, Attributed to Solomon, King of\nIsrael.\n\nWISE (ISAAC M.). The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth. A Historic Treatise\non the Last Chapters of the Gospel, by Dr Isaac M. Wise. Cincinnati.\n\n\nADDITIONS TO THIRD EDITION.\n\nBeausobre's _Histoire Critique de Manich\u00e9e et du Manicheisme_, Amsterdam\n1734; Baronius' _Annales Ecclesiastici_; Hydes' _Historia Religionis\nVeterum Persarum_; Rawlinson's _Herodotus_; Lenormant's _The Beginnings\nof History_; Hardwick's _Christ and other Masters_; Daill\u00e9's _Treatise\non the Right Use of the Fathers_, London, 1841; _Apollonius de Tyana, sa\nvie, ses voyages, et ses prodiges_, par Philostrate, Paris, 1862; Sir\nJohn Malcolm's _History of Persia_, in 2 vols., London, 1815; Michaelis'\n_Introduction to the New Testament_, in 4 vols. edited by Dr. Herbert\nMarsh, London, 1828; Archbishop Wake's _Genuine Epistles of the\nApostolical Fathers_, London, 1719; Jeremiah Jones' _Canon of the New\nTestament_, in 3 vols., Oxford, 1793; Milman's _History of\nChristianity_; Barrow's _Travels in China_, London, 1840; Deane's\n_Worship of the Serpent_, London, 1883; Baring-Gould's _Lost and Hostile\nGospels_, London, 1874; B. F. Westcott's _Survey of the History of the\nCanon of the New Testament_, 4th Edit., London, 1875; Mosheim's\n_Ecclesiastical History_, in 6 vols., Amer. ed. 1810; J. W. Rosses'\n_Tacitus and Bracciolini_, London, 1878; and the writings of the\nChristian Fathers, Justin Martyr, St. Clement of Alexandria, Iren\u00e6us,\nOrigen, Tertullian and Minucius Felix.\n\n\n\n\nBIBLE MYTHS.\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN.\n\n\nThe Old Testament commences with one of its most interesting myths, that\nof the Creation and Fall of Man. The story is to be found in the first\n_three_ chapters of Genesis, the substance of which is as follows:\n\nAfter God created the \"Heavens\" and the \"Earth,\" he said: \"Let there be\nlight, and there was light,\" and after calling the light Day, and the\ndarkness Night, the _first_ day's work was ended.\n\nGod then made the \"Firmament,\" which completed the _second_ day's work.\n\nThen God caused the dry land to appear, which he called \"Earth,\" and the\nwaters he called \"Seas.\" After this the earth was made to bring forth\ngrass, trees, &c., which completed the _third_ day's work.\n\nThe next things God created were the \"Sun,\"[1:1] \"Moon\" and \"Stars,\"\nand after he had _set them in the Firmament_, the _fourth_ day's work\nwas ended.[2:1]\n\nAfter these, God created great \"whales,\" and other creatures which\ninhabit the water, also \"winged fowls.\" This brought the _fifth_ day to\na close.\n\nThe work of creation was finally completed on the _sixth_ day,[2:2] when\nGod made \"beasts\" of every kind, \"cattle,\" \"creeping things,\" and lastly\n\"man,\" whom he created \"male and female,\" in his own image.[2:3]\n\n     \"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the\n     host of them. And on the _seventh_[2:4] day God ended his work\n     which he had made: and he _rested_ on the seventh day, from\n     all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh\n     day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had _rested_\n     from all his work which God created and made.\"\n\nAfter this information, which concludes at the _third_ verse of Genesis\nii., strange though it may appear, _another_ account of the Creation\ncommences, which is altogether different from the one we have just\nrelated. This account commences thus:\n\n     \"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when\n     they were created, in the day (not days) that the Lord God\n     made the earth and the heavens.\"\n\nIt then goes on to say that \"the Lord God formed man of the dust of the\nground,\"[2:5] which appears to be the _first_ thing he made. After\nplanting a garden eastward in Eden,[2:6] the Lord God put the man\ntherein, \"and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree\nthat is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the _Tree of\nLife_,[2:7] also in the midst of the garden, and the _Tree of\nKnowledge_ of good and evil. And a _river_ went out of Eden to water\nthe garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into _four_\nheads.\" These _four rivers_ were called, first Pison, second Gihon,\nthird Hiddekel, and the fourth Euphrates.[3:1]\n\nAfter the \"Lord God\" had made the \"Tree of Life,\" and the \"Tree of\nKnowledge,\" he said unto the man:\n\n     \"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of\n     the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat\n     of it, _for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt\n     surely die_.\" Then the Lord God, thinking that it would not be\n     well for man to live alone, formed--out of the ground--\"every\n     beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought\n     them unto Adam to see what he would call them, and whatever\n     Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.\"\n\nAfter Adam had given names to \"all cattle, and to the fowls of the air,\nand to every beast of the field,\" \"the Lord God caused a deep sleep to\nfall upon Adam, and he slept, and he (the Lord God) took one of his\n(Adam's) ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.\"\n\n     \"And of the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made\n     he a _woman_, and brought her unto Adam.\" \"And they were both\n     naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.\"\n\nAfter this everything is supposed to have gone harmoniously, until a\n_serpent_ appeared before the _woman_[3:2]--who was afterwards called\nEve--and said to her:\n\n     \"Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?\"\n\nThe woman, answering the serpent, said:\n\n     \"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of\n     the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God\n     hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, _lest ye die_.\"\n\nWhereupon the serpent said to her:\n\n     \"Ye shall _not_ surely die\" (which, according to the\n     narrative, was the truth).\n\nHe then told her that, upon eating the fruit, their eyes would be\nopened, and that they would be as _gods_, knowing good from evil.\n\nThe woman then looked upon the tree, and as the fruit was tempting, \"she\ntook of the fruit, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband, and he\ndid eat.\" The result was _not_ death (as the Lord God had told them),\nbut, as the serpent had said, \"the eyes of both were opened, and they\nknew they were naked, and they _sewed_ fig leaves together, and made\nthemselves aprons.\"\n\nTowards evening (_i. e._, \"in the cool of the day\"), Adam and his wife\n\"_heard_ the voice of the Lord God _walking_ in the garden,\" and being\nafraid, they hid themselves among the trees of the garden. The Lord God\nnot finding Adam and his wife, said: \"Where art thou?\" Adam answering,\nsaid: \"I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was\nnaked, and I hid myself.\"\n\nThe \"Lord God\" then told Adam that he had eaten of the tree which he had\ncommanded him not to eat, whereupon Adam said: \"The _woman_ whom thou\ngavest to be with me, _she_ gave me of the tree and I did eat.\"\n\nWhen the \"Lord God\" spoke to the woman concerning her transgression, she\nblamed the _serpent_, which she said \"beguiled\" her. This sealed the\nserpent's fate, for the \"Lord God\" cursed him and said:\n\n     \"Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and _dust_ shalt thou eat all\n     the days of thy life.\"[4:1]\n\nUnto the woman the \"Lord God\" said:\n\n     \"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception; in\n     sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall\n     be to thy husband, _and he shall rule over thee_.\"\n\nUnto Adam he said:\n\n     \"Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and\n     hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,\n     Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;\n     in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.\n     Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and\n     thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face\n     shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, _for\n     out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust\n     shalt thou return_.\"\n\nThe \"Lord God\" then made coats of skin for Adam and his wife, with\nwhich he clothed them, after which he said:\n\n     \"Behold, the man is become _as one of us_,[5:1] to know good\n     and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also\n     of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever\" (he must be\n     sent forth from Eden).\n\n     \"So he (the Lord God) drove out the man (and the woman); and\n     he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubims, and a\n     flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the\n     Tree of Life.\"\n\nThus ends the narrative.\n\nBefore proceeding to show from whence this legend, or legends, had their\norigin, we will notice a feature which is very prominent in the\nnarrative, and which cannot escape the eye of an observing reader, _i.\ne._, _the two different and contradictory accounts of the creation_.\n\nThe first of these commences at the first verse of chapter first, and\nends at the third verse of chapter second. The second account commences\nat the fourth verse of chapter second, and continues to the end of the\nchapter.\n\nIn speaking of these contradictory accounts of the Creation, Dean\nStanley says:\n\n     \"It is now clear to diligent students of the Bible, that the\n     first and second chapters of Genesis contain two narratives of\n     the Creation, side by side, differing from each other in most\n     every particular of time and place and order.\"[5:2]\n\nBishop Colenso, in his very learned work on the Pentateuch, speaking on\nthis subject, says:\n\n     \"The following are the most noticeable points of difference\n     between the two cosmogonies:\n\n     \"1. In the first, the earth emerges from the waters and is,\n     therefore, _saturated with moisture_.[5:3] In the second, the\n     'whole face of the ground' _requires to be moistened_.[5:4]\n\n     \"2. In the first, the birds and the beasts are created\n     _before man_.[6:1] In the second, man is created _before the\n     birds and the beasts_.[6:2]\n\n     \"3. In the first, 'all fowls that fly' are made out of the\n     _waters_.[6:3] In the second 'the fowls of the air' are made\n     out of the _ground_.[6:4]\n\n     \"4. In the first, man is created in the image of God.[6:5] In\n     the second, man is made of the dust of the ground, and merely\n     animated with the breath of life; and it is only after his\n     eating the forbidden fruit that 'the Lord God said, Behold,\n     the man has become _as one of us_, to know good and\n     evil.'[6:6]\n\n     \"5. In the first, man is made lord of the _whole earth_.[6:7]\n     In the second, he is merely placed in the garden of Eden, 'to\n     dress it and to keep it.'[6:8]\n\n     \"6. In the first, the man and the woman are _created\n     together_, as the closing and completing work of the whole\n     creation,--created also, as is evidently implied, in the same\n     kind of way, to be the complement of one another, and, thus\n     created, they are blessed _together_.[6:9]\n\n     \"In the second, the beasts and birds are created _between_ the\n     man and the woman. First, the man is made of the dust of the\n     ground; he is placed by _himself_ in the garden, charged with\n     a solemn command, and threatened with a curse if he breaks it;\n     _then the beasts and birds are made_, and the man gives names\n     to them, and, lastly, after all this, _the woman is made out\n     of one of his ribs_, but merely as a helpmate for the\n     man.[6:10]\n\n     \"The fact is, that the _second_ account of the Creation,[6:11]\n     together with the story of the Fall,[6:12] is manifestly\n     composed by a _different writer_ altogether from him who wrote\n     _the first_.[6:13]\n\n     \"This is suggested at once by the circumstance that,\n     throughout the _first_ narrative, the Creator is always spoken\n     of by the name Elohim (God), whereas, throughout the _second_\n     account, as well as the story of the Fall, he is always called\n     Jehovah Elohim (Lord God), except when the writer seems to\n     abstain, for some reason, from placing the name Jehovah in the\n     mouth of the serpent.[6:14] This accounts naturally for the\n     above contradictions. It would appear that, for some reason,\n     the productions of two pens have been here united, without any\n     reference to their inconsistencies.\"[6:15]\n\nDr. Kalisch, who does his utmost to maintain--as far as his knowledge of\nthe truth will allow--the general historical veracity of this narrative,\nafter speaking of the _first_ account of the Creation, says:\n\n     \"But now the narrative seems not only to pause, but to go\n     backward. The grand and powerful climax seems at once broken\n     off, and a languid repetition appears to follow. _Another\n     cosmogony is introduced, which, to complete the perplexity,\n     is, in many important features, in direct contradiction to the\n     former._\n\n     \"_It would be dishonesty to conceal these difficulties. It\n     would be weakmindedness and cowardice. It would be flight\n     instead of combat. It would be an ignoble retreat, instead of\n     victory. We confess there is an apparent dissonance._\"[6:16]\n\nDr. Knappert says:[7:1]\n\n     \"The account of the Creation from the hand of the _Priestly\n     author_ is utterly different from the _other narrative_,\n     beginning at the fourth verse of Genesis ii. Here we are told\n     that God created Heaven and Earth in six days, and rested on\n     the _seventh_ day, obviously with a view to bring out the\n     holiness of the Sabbath in a strong light.\"\n\nNow that we have seen there are two different and contradictory accounts\nof the Creation, to be found in the first two chapters of Genesis, we\nwill endeavor to learn if there is sufficient reason to believe they are\ncopies of _more ancient legends_.\n\nWe have seen that, according to the first account, God divided the work\nof creation into _six_ days. This idea agrees with that of the ancient\n_Persians_.\n\nThe Zend-Avesta--the sacred writings of the Parsees--states that the\nSupreme being Ahuramazd\u00e2 (Ormuzd), created the universe and man in _six_\nsuccessive periods of time, in the following order: First, the Heavens;\nsecond, the Waters; third, the Earth; fourth, the Trees and Plants;\nfifth, Animals; and sixth, Man. After the Creator had finished his work,\nhe rested.[7:2]\n\nThe Avesta account of the Creation is limited to this announcement, but\nwe find a more detailed history of the origin of the human species in\nthe book entitled _Bundehesh_, dedicated to the exposition of a complete\ncosmogony. This book states that Ahuramazd\u00e2 created the first man and\nwomen joined together at the back. After dividing them, he endowed them\nwith motion and activity, placed within them an intelligent soul, and\nbade them \"to be humble of heart; to observe the law; to be pure in\ntheir thoughts, pure in their speech, pure in their actions.\" Thus were\nborn Mashya and Mashy\u00e2na, the pair from which all human beings are\ndescended.[7:3]\n\nThe idea brought out in this story of the first human pair having\noriginally formed a single androgynous being with two faces, separated\nlater into two personalities by the Creator, is to be found in the\nGenesis account (v. 2). \"Male and female created he them, and blessed\nthem, and named their name Adam.\" Jewish tradition in the Targum and\nTalmud, as well as among learned rabbis, allege that Adam was created\nman and woman at the same time, having two faces turned in two opposite\ndirections, and that the Creator separated the feminine half from him,\nin order to make of her a distinct person.[7:4]\n\nThe ancient _Etruscan_ legend, according to Delitzsch, is almost the\nsame as the Persian. They relate that God created the world in _six_\nthousand years. In the first thousand he created the Heaven and Earth;\nin the second, the Firmament; in the third, the Waters of the Earth; in\nthe fourth, the Sun, Moon and Stars; in the fifth, the Animals belonging\nto air, water and land; and in the sixth, Man alone.[8:1]\n\nDr. Delitzsch, who maintains to the utmost the historical truth of the\nScripture story in Genesis, yet says:\n\n     \"Whence comes the surprising agreement of the _Etruscan_ and\n     _Persian_ legends with this section? How comes it that the\n     _Babylonian_ cosmogony in Berosus, and the _Phoenician_ in\n     Sanchoniathon, in spite of their fantastical oddity, come in\n     contact with it in remarkable details?\"\n\nAfter showing some of the similarities in the legends of these different\nnations, he continues:\n\n     \"These are only instances of that which they have in common.\n     _For such an account outside of Israel, we must, however,\n     conclude, that the author of Genesis i. has no vision before\n     him, but a tradition._\"[8:2]\n\nVon Bohlen tells us that the old _Chald\u00e6an_ cosmogony is also _the\nsame_.[8:3]\n\nTo continue the _Persian_ legend; we will now show that according to it,\nafter the Creation man was tempted, and _fell_. Kalisch[8:4] and Bishop\nColenso[8:5] tell us of the Persian legend that the first couple lived\noriginally in purity and innocence. Perpetual happiness was promised\nthem by the Creator if they persevered in their virtue. But an evil\ndemon came to them in the form of a _serpent_, sent by Ahriman, the\nprince of devils, and gave them fruit of a wonderful _tree_, which\nimparted immortality. Evil inclinations then entered their hearts, and\nall their moral excellence was destroyed. Consequently they fell, and\nforfeited the eternal happiness for which they were destined. They\nkilled beasts, and clothed themselves in their skins. The evil demon\nobtained still more perfect power over their minds, and called forth\nenvy, hatred, discord, and rebellion, which raged in the bosom of the\nfamilies.\n\nSince the above was written, Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum,\nhas discovered cuneiform inscriptions, which show conclusively that the\nBabylonians had this legend of the Creation and Fall of Man, some 1,500\nyears or more before the Hebrews heard of it.[9:1] The cuneiform\ninscriptions relating to the Babylonian legend of the Creation and Fall\nof Man, which have been discovered by English arch\u00e6ologists, are not,\nhowever, complete. The portions which relate to the _Tree_ and _Serpent_\nhave not been found, but Babylonian gem engravings show that these\nincidents were evidently a part of the original legend.[9:2] The _Tree\nof Life_ in the Genesis account appears to correspond with the sacred\ngrove of Anu, which was guarded by a sword turning to all the four\npoints of the compass.[9:3] A representation of this Sacred Tree, with\n\"_attendant cherubim_,\" copied from an Assyrian cylinder, may be seen in\nMr. George Smith's \"Chaldean Account of Genesis.\"[9:4] Figure No. 1,\nwhich we have taken from the same work,[9:5] shows the tree of\nknowledge, fruit, and the serpent. Mr. Smith says of it:\n\n     \"One striking and important specimen of early type in the\n     British Museum collection, has two figures sitting one on each\n     side of a _tree_, holding out their hands to the fruit, while\n     at the back of one (the _woman_) is scratched a _serpent_. We\n     know well that in these early sculptures none of these figures\n     were chance devices, but all represented events, or supposed\n     events, and figures in their legends; thus it is evident that\n     a form of the story of the Fall, similar to that of Genesis,\n     was known in early times in Babylonia.\"[9:5]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 1]\n\nThis illustration might be used to illustrate the narrative of\n_Genesis_, and as Friedrich Delitzsch has remarked (G. Smith's\n_Chald\u00e4ische Genesis_) is capable of no other explanation.\n\nM. Renan does not hesitate to join forces with the ancient commentators,\nin seeking to recover a trace of the same tradition among the Phenicians\nin the fragments of Sanchoniathon, translated into Greek by Philo of\nByblos. In fact, it is there said, in speaking of the first human pair,\nand of \u00c6on, which seems to be the translation of _Havv\u00e2h_ (in Phenician\n_Hav\u00e2th_) and stands in her relation to the other members of the pair,\nthat this personage \"has found out how to obtain nourishment from the\nfruits of the tree.\"\n\nThe idea of the Edenic happiness of the first human beings constitutes\none of the universal traditions. Among the Egyptians, the terrestrial\nreign of the god R\u00e2, who inaugurated the existence of the world and of\nhuman life, was a golden age to which they continually looked back with\nregret and envy. Its \"like has never been seen since.\"\n\nThe ancient Greeks boasted of their \"Golden Age,\" when sorrow and\ntrouble were not known. Hesiod, an ancient Grecian poet, describes it\nthus:\n\n     \"Men lived like Gods, without vices or passions, vexation or\n     toil. In happy companionship with divine beings, they passed\n     their days in tranquillity and joy, living together in perfect\n     equality, united by mutual confidence and love. The earth was\n     more beautiful than now, and spontaneously yielded an abundant\n     variety of fruits. Human beings and animals spoke the same\n     language and conversed with each other. Men were considered\n     mere boys at a hundred years old. They had none of the\n     infirmities of age to trouble them, and when they passed to\n     regions of superior life, it was in a gentle slumber.\"\n\nIn the course of time, however, all the sorrows and troubles came to\nman. They were caused by inquisitiveness. The story is as follows:\nEpimetheus received a gift from Zeus (God), in the form of a beautiful\nwoman (Pandora).\n\n     \"She brought with her a vase, the lid of which was (by the\n     command of God), to remain closed. The curiosity of her\n     husband, however, tempted him to open it, and suddenly there\n     escaped from it troubles, weariness and illness from which\n     mankind was never afterwards free. All that remained was\n     _hope_.\"[10:1]\n\nAmong the _Thibetans_, the paradisiacal condition was more complete and\nspiritual. The desire to eat of a certain sweet herb deprived men of\ntheir spiritual life. There arose a sense of shame, and the need to\nclothe themselves. Necessity compelled them to agriculture; the virtues\ndisappeared, and murder, adultery and other vices, stepped into their\nplace.[10:2]\n\nThe idea that the Fall of the human race is connected with _agriculture_\nis found to be also often represented in the legends of the East African\nnegroes, especially in the Calabar legend of the Creation, which\npresents many interesting points of comparison with the biblical story\nof the Fall. The first human pair are called by a bell at meal-times to\nAbasi (the Calabar God), in heaven; and in place of the forbidden tree\nof Genesis are put _agriculture_ and _propagation_, which Abasi\nstrictly denies to the first pair. The Fall is denoted by the\ntransgression of both these commands, especially through the use of\nimplements of tillage, to which the _woman_ is tempted by a female\nfriend who is given to her. From that moment man fell _and became\nmortal_, so that, as the Bible story has it, he can eat bread only in\nthe sweat of his face. There agriculture is a curse, a fall from a more\nperfect stage to a lower and imperfect one.[11:1]\n\nDr. Kalisch, writing of the Garden of Eden, says:\n\n     \"The _Paradise_ is no exclusive feature of the early history\n     of the Hebrews. _Most of the ancient nations have similar\n     narratives about a happy abode, which care does not approach,\n     and which re-echoes with the sounds of the purest\n     bliss._\"[11:2]\n\nThe _Persians_ supposed that a region of bliss and delight called\n_Heden_, more beautiful than all the rest of the world, _traversed by a\nmighty river_, was the original abode of the first men, before they were\ntempted by the evil spirit in the form of a _serpent_, to partake of the\nfruit of the forbidden tree _H\u00f4m_.[11:3]\n\nDr. Delitzsch, writing of the _Persian_ legend, observes:\n\n     \"Innumerable attendants of the Holy One keep watch against the\n     attempts of Ahriman, over the tree _H\u00f4m_, which contains in\n     itself the power of the resurrection.\"[11:4]\n\nThe ancient Greeks had a tradition concerning the \"Islands of the\nBlessed,\" the \"Elysium,\" on the borders of the earth, abounding in every\ncharm of life, and the \"Garden of the Hesperides,\" the Paradise, in\nwhich grew a _tree_ bearing the golden apples of Immortality. It was\nguarded by three nymphs, and a Serpent, or Dragon, the ever-watchful\nLadon. It was one of the labors of Hercules to gather some of these\napples of life. When he arrived there he found the garden protected by a\n_Dragon_. Ancient medallions represent a tree with a serpent twined\naround it. Hercules has gathered an apple, and near him stand the three\nnymphs, called Hesperides.[11:5] This is simply a parallel of the Eden\nmyth.\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Faber, speaking of _Hercules_, says:\n\n     \"On the _Sphere_ he is represented in the act of contending\n     with the Serpent, the head of which is placed under his foot;\n     and this Serpent, we are told, is that which guarded the tree\n     with golden fruit in the midst of the garden of the\n     Hesperides. But the garden of the Hesperides _was none other\n     than the garden of Paradise_; consequently the serpent of that\n     garden, the head of which is crushed beneath the heel of\n     Hercules, and which itself is described as encircling with its\n     folds the trunk of the mysterious tree, must necessarily be a\n     transcript of that Serpent whose form was assumed by the\n     tempter of our first parents. We may observe the same ancient\n     tradition in the Phoenician fable representing Ophion or\n     Ophioneus.\"[12:1]\n\nAnd Professor Fergusson says:\n\n     \"_Hercules'_ adventures in the garden of the Hesperides, is\n     the Pagan form of the myth that most resembles the precious\n     Serpent-guarded fruit of the Garden of Eden, though the moral\n     of the fable is so widely different.\"[12:2]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ also had the legend of the \"Tree of Life.\" It is\nmentioned in their sacred books that Osiris ordered the names of some\nsouls to be written on this \"Tree of Life,\" the fruit of which made\nthose who ate it to become as gods.[12:3]\n\nAmong the most ancient traditions of the _Hindoos_, is that of the \"Tree\nof Life\"--called _S\u00f4ma_ in Sanskrit--the juice of which imparted\nimmortality. This most wonderful tree was guarded by spirits.[12:4]\n\nStill more striking is the Hindoo legend of the \"Elysium\" or \"Paradise,\"\nwhich is as follows:\n\n     \"In the sacred mountain _Meru_, which is perpetually clothed\n     in the golden rays of the Sun, and whose lofty summit reaches\n     into heaven, no sinful man can exist. _It is guarded by a\n     dreadful dragon._ It is adorned with many celestial plants and\n     trees, and is watered by _four rivers_, which thence separate\n     and flow to the four chief directions.\"[12:5]\n\nThe Hindoos, like the philosophers of the Ionic school (Thales, for\ninstance), held _water_ to be the first existing and all-pervading\nprinciple, at the same time allowing the co-operation and influence of\nan _immaterial_ intelligence in the work of creation.[12:6] A Vedic\npoet, meditating on the Creation, uses the following expressions:\n\n     \"Nothing that is was then, even what is not, did not exist\n     then.\" \"There was no space, no life, and lastly there was no\n     time, no difference between day and night, no solar torch by\n     which morning might have been told from evening.\" \"Darkness\n     there was, and all at first was veiled in gloom profound, as\n     ocean without light.\"[12:7]\n\nThe Hindoo legend approaches very nearly to that preserved in the Hebrew\nScriptures. Thus, it is said that Siva, as the Supreme Being, desired to\ntempt Brahm\u00e1 (who had taken human form, and was called Swayambhura--son\nof the self-existent), and for this object he dropped from heaven a\nblossom of the sacred _fig_ tree.\n\nSwayambhura, instigated by his wife, Satarupa, endeavors to obtain this\nblossom, thinking its possession will render him immortal and divine;\nbut when he has succeeded in doing so, he is cursed by Siva, and doomed\nto misery and degradation.[13:1] The sacred Indian _fig_ is endowed by\nthe Brahmins and the Buddhists with mysterious significance, as the\n\"Tree of Knowledge\" or \"Intelligence.\"[13:2]\n\nThere is no Hindoo legend of the _Creation_ similar to the Persian and\nHebrew accounts, and Ceylon was never believed to have been the Paradise\nor home of our first parents, although such stories are in\ncirculation.[13:3] The Hindoo religion states--as we have already\nseen--Mount Meru to be the Paradise, out of which went _four rivers_.\n\nWe have noticed that the \"Gardens of Paradise\" are said to have been\nguarded by _Dragons_, and that, according to the Genesis account, it was\nCherubim that protected Eden. This apparent difference in the legends is\nowing to the fact that we have come in our modern times to speak of\nCherub as though it were an other name for an Angel. But the Cherub of\nthe writer of Genesis, the Cherub of Assyria, the Cherub of Babylon, the\nCherub of the entire Orient, at the time the Eden story was written, was\nnot at all an Angel, but an animal, and a mythological one at that. The\nCherub had, in some cases, the body of a lion, with the head of an other\nanimal, or a man, and the wings of a bird. In Ezekiel they have the body\nof a man, whose head, besides a human countenance, has also that of a\n_Lion_, an _Ox_ and an _Eagle_. They are provided with four wings, and\nthe whole body is spangled with innumerable eyes. In Assyria and Babylon\nthey appear as winged bulls with human faces, and are placed at the\ngateways of palaces and temples as guardian genii who watch over the\ndwelling, as the Cherubim in Genesis watch the \"Tree of Life.\"\n\nMost Jewish writers and Christian Fathers conceived the Cherubim as\nAngels. Most theologians also considered them as Angels, until Michaelis\nshowed them to be a mythological animal, a poetical creation.[13:4]\n\nWe see then, that our _Cherub_ is simply a _Dragon_.\n\nTo continue our inquiry regarding the prevalence of the Eden-myth among\nnations of antiquity.\n\nThe _Chinese_ have their Age of Virtue, when nature furnished abundant\nfood, and man lived peacefully, surrounded by all the beasts. In their\nsacred books there is a story concerning a mysterious _garden_, where\ngrew a _tree_ bearing \"apples of immortality,\" guarded by a winged\nserpent, called a Dragon. They describe a primitive age of the world,\nwhen the earth yielded abundance of delicious fruits without\ncultivation, and the seasons were untroubled by wind and storms. There\nwas no calamity, sickness, or death. Men were then good without effort;\nfor the human heart was in harmony with the peacefulness and beauty of\nnature.\n\nThe \"Golden Age\" of the past is much dwelt upon by their ancient\ncommentators. One of them says:\n\n     \"All places were then equally the native county of every man.\n     Flocks wandered in the fields without any guide; birds filled\n     the air with their melodious voices; and the fruits grew of\n     their own accord. Men lived pleasantly with the animals, and\n     all creatures were members of the same family. Ignorant of\n     evil, man lived in simplicity and perfect innocence.\"\n\nAnother commentator says:\n\n     \"In the first age of perfect purity, all was in harmony, and\n     the passions did not occasion the slightest murmur. Man,\n     united to sovereign reason within, conformed his outward\n     actions to sovereign justice. Far from all duplicity and\n     falsehood, his soul received marvelous felicity from heaven,\n     and the purest delights from earth.\"\n\nAnother says:\n\n     \"A delicious _garden_ refreshed with zephyrs, and planted with\n     odoriferous trees, was situated in the middle of a mountain,\n     which was the avenue of heaven. The _waters_ that moistened it\n     flowed from a source called the '_Fountain of Immortality_'.\n     He who drinks of it never dies. Thence flowed _four rivers_. A\n     Golden River, betwixt the South and East, a Red River, between\n     the North and East, the River of the Lamb between the North\n     and West.\"\n\nThe animal Kaiming guards the entrance.\n\nPartly by an undue thirst for knowledge, and partly by increasing\nsensuality, and the seduction of _woman_, man fell. Then passion and\nlust ruled in the human mind, and war with the animals began. In one of\nthe Chinese sacred volumes, called the Chi-King, it is said that:\n\n     \"All was subject to man at first, _but a woman threw us into\n     slavery_. The wise husband raised up a bulwark of walls, _but\n     the woman, by an ambitious desire of knowledge, demolished\n     them_. Our misery did not come from heaven, _but from a\n     woman_. _She lost the human race._ Ah, unhappy _Poo See!_ thou\n     kindled the fire that consumes us, and which is every day\n     augmenting. Our misery has lasted many ages. _The world is\n     lost._ Vice overflows all things like a mortal poison.\"[15:1]\n\nThus we see that the Chinese are no strangers to the doctrine of\noriginal sin. It is their invariable belief that man is a fallen being;\nadmitted by them from time immemorial.\n\nThe inhabitants of _Madagascar_ had a legend similar to the Eden story,\nwhich is related as follows:\n\n     \"The first man was created of the _dust of the earth_, and was\n     placed in a _garden_, where he was subject to none of the ills\n     which now affect mortality; he was also free from all bodily\n     appetites, and though surrounded by delicious _fruit_ and\n     limpid _streams_ yet felt no desire to taste of the fruit or\n     to quaff the water. The Creator had, moreover, _strictly\n     forbid him either to eat or to drink_. The great enemy,\n     however, came to him, and painted to him, in glowing colors,\n     the sweetness of the apple, and the lusciousness of the date,\n     and the succulence of the orange.\"\n\nAfter resisting the temptations for a while, he at last ate of the\nfruit, and consequently _fell_.[15:2]\n\nA legend of the Creation, similar to the Hebrew, was found by Mr. Ellis\namong the _Tahitians_, and appeared in his \"Polynesian Researches.\" It\nis as follows:\n\nAfter Taarao had formed the world, he created man out of ar\u00e6a, red\nearth, which was also the food of man until bread was made. Taarao one\nday called for the man by name. When he came, he caused him to fall\nasleep, and while he slept, he took out one of his _ivi_, or bones, and\nwith it made a woman, whom he gave to the man as his wife, and they\nbecame the progenitors of mankind. The woman's name was _Ivi_, which\nsignifies a bone.[15:3]\n\nThe prose Edda, of the ancient _Scandinavians_, speaks of the \"Golden\nAge\" when all was pure and harmonious. This age lasted until the arrival\nof _woman_ out of Jotunheim--the region of the giants, a sort of \"land\nof Nod\"--who corrupted it.[15:4]\n\nIn the annals of the _Mexicans_, the first woman, whose name was\ntranslated by the old Spanish writers, \"the woman of our flesh,\" is\nalways represented as accompanied by a great male serpent, who seems to\nbe talking to her. Some writers believe this to be the _tempter_\nspeaking to the primeval mother, and others that it is intended to\nrepresent the _father_ of the human race. This Mexican Eve is\nrepresented on their monuments as the mother of twins.[15:5]\n\nMr. Franklin, in his \"Buddhists and Jeynes,\" says:\n\n     \"A striking instance is recorded by the very intelligent\n     traveler (Wilson), regarding a representation of the Fall of\n     our first parents, sculptured in the magnificent temple of\n     Ipsambul, in Nubia. He says that a very exact representation\n     of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden is to be seen in that\n     cave, and that the _serpent_ climbing round the tree is\n     especially delineated, and the whole subject of the tempting\n     of our first parents most accurately exhibited.\"[16:1]\n\nNearly the same thing was found by Colonel Coombs in the _South of\nIndia_. Colonel Tod, in his \"Hist. Rajapoutana,\" says:\n\n     \"A drawing, brought by Colonel Coombs from a sculptured column\n     in a cave-temple in the South of India, represents the first\n     pair at the foot of the ambrosial tree, and a _serpent_\n     entwined among the heavily-laden boughs, presenting to them\n     some of the fruit from his mouth. The tempter appears to be at\n     that part of his discourse, when\n\n      '----his words, replete with guile,\n     Into her heart too easy entrance won:\n     Fixed on the fruit she gazed.'\n\n     \"_This is a curious subject to be engraved on an ancient Pagan\n     temple._\"[16:2]\n\nSo the Colonel thought, no doubt, but it is not so very curious after\nall. It is the same myth which we have found--with but such small\nvariations only as time and circumstances may be expected to\nproduce--among different nations, in both the Old and New Worlds.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 2]\n\nFig. No. 2, taken from the work of Montfaucon,[16:3] represents one of\nthese ancient Pagan sculptures. Can any one doubt that it is allusive to\nthe myth of which we have been treating in this chapter?\n\nThat man was originally created a perfect being, and is now only a\nfallen and broken remnant of what he once was, we have seen to be a\npiece of _mythology_, not only unfounded in fact, but, beyond\nintelligent question, proved untrue. What, then, is the significance of\nthe exposure of this myth? What does its loss as a scientific fact, and\nas a portion of Christian dogma, imply? It implies that with\nit--although many Christian divines who admit this to be a legend, do\nnot, or do not _profess_, to see it--_must fall the whole Orthodox\nscheme, for upon this_ MYTH _the theology of Christendom is built_. The\ndoctrine of the _inspiration of the Scriptures_, the _Fall_ of _man_,\nhis _total depravity_, the _Incarnation_, the _Atonement_, the _devil_,\n_hell_, in fact, the entire theology of the Christian church, falls to\npieces with the historical inaccuracy of this story, _for upon it is it\nbuilt; 'tis the foundation of the whole structure_.[17:1]\n\nAccording to Christian dogma, the Incarnation of Christ Jesus had become\nnecessary, merely _because he had to redeem the evil introduced into the\nworld by the Fall of man_. These two dogmas cannot be separated from\neach other. _If there was no Fall, there is no need of an atonement, and\nno Redeemer is required._ Those, then, who consent in recognizing in\nChrist Jesus a _God_ and _Redeemer_, and who, notwithstanding, cannot\nresolve upon admitting the story of the Fall of man to be _historical_,\nshould exculpate themselves from the reproach of _inconsistency_. There\nare a great number, however, in this position at the present day.\n\nAlthough, as we have said, many Christian divines do not, or do not\nprofess to, see the force of the above argument, there are many who do;\nand they, regardless of their scientific learning, cling to these old\nmyths, professing to believe them, _well knowing what must follow with\ntheir fall_. The following, though written some years ago, will serve to\nillustrate this style of reasoning.\n\nThe Bishop of Manchester (England) writing in the \"Manchester Examiner\nand Times,\" said:\n\n     \"The very _foundation of our faith_, the very _basis of our\n     hopes_, the very nearest and dearest of our consolations are\n     taken from us, _when one line of that sacred volume, on which\n     we base everything, is declared to be untruthful and\n     untrustworthy_.\"\n\nThe \"English Churchman,\" speaking of clergymen who have \"_doubts_,\"\nsaid, that any who are not throughly persuaded \"_that the Scriptures\ncannot in any particular be untrue_,\" should leave the Church.\n\nThe Rev. E. Garbett, M. A., in a sermon preached before the University\nof Oxford, speaking of the \"_historical truth_\" of the Bible, said:\n\n     \"It is the clear teaching of those doctrinal formularies, to\n     which we of the Church of England have expressed our solemn\n     assent, _and no honest interpretation of her language can get\n     rid of it_.\"\n\nAnd that:\n\n     \"In all consistent reason, _we must accept the whole of the\n     inspired autographs, or reject the whole_.\"\n\nDr. Baylee, Principal of a theological university--_St. Aiden's\nCollege_--at Birkenhead, England, and author of a \"Manual,\" called\nBaylee's \"_Verbal Inspiration_,\" written \"_chiefly for the youths of St.\nAiden's College_,\" makes use of the following words, in that work:\n\n     \"_The whole Bible_, as a revelation, is a declaration of the\n     mind of God towards his creatures on all the subjects of which\n     the Bible treats.\"\n\n     \"_The Bible is God's word_, in the same sense as if he had\n     made use of no human agent, but had _Himself spoken it_.\"\n\n     \"The Bible cannot be less than verbally inspired. _Every word,\n     every syllable, every letter_, is just what it would be, had\n     God spoken from heaven without any human intervention.\"\n\n     \"Every scientific statement is infallibly correct, all its\n     history and narrations of every kind, _are without any\n     inaccuracy_.\"[18:1]\n\nA whole volume might be filled with such quotations, not only from\nreligious works and journals published in England, but from those\npublished in the United States of America.[18:2]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1:1] The idea that the sun, moon and stars were _set_ in the firmament\nwas entertained by most nations of antiquity, but, as strange as it may\nappear, Pythagoras, the Grecian philosopher, who flourished from 540 to\n510 B. C.--as well as other Grecian philosophers--taught that the sun\nwas placed in the centre of the universe, _with the planets roving round\nit in a circle_, thus making day and night. (See Knight's Ancient Art\nand Mythology, p. 59, and note.) The Buddhists anciently taught that the\nuniverse is composed of limitless systems or worlds, called _sakwalas_.\n\nThey are scattered throughout space, and each sakwala has a sun and\nmoon. (See Hardy: Buddhist Legends, pp. 80 and 87.)\n\n[2:1] Origen, a Christian Father who flourished about A. D. 230, says:\n\"What man of sense will agree with the statement that the first, second,\nand third days, in which the _evening_ is named and the _morning_, were\nwithout sun, moon and stars?\" (Quoted in Mysteries of Adoni, p. 176.)\n\n[2:2] \"The geologist reckons not by _days_ or by _years_; the whole six\nthousand years, which were until lately looked on as the sum of the\nworld's age, are to him but as a unit of measurement in the long\nsuccession of past ages.\" (Sir John Lubbock.)\n\n\"It is now certain that the vast epochs of time demanded by scientific\nobservation are incompatible both with the six thousand years of the\nMosaic chronology, and the six days of the Mosaic creation.\" (Dean\nStanley.)\n\n[2:3] \"Let us make man in our own likeness,\" was said by Ormuzd, the\nPersian God of Gods, to his WORD. (See Bunsen's Angel Messiah, p. 104.)\n\n[2:4] The number SEVEN was sacred among almost every nation of\nantiquity. (See ch. ii.)\n\n[2:5] According to Grecian Mythology, the God Prometheus created men, in\nthe image of the gods, _out of clay_ (see Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p.\n26; and Goldzhier: Hebrew Myths, p. 373), and the God Hephaistos was\ncommanded by Zeus to mold of _clay_ the figure of a maiden, into which\nAth\u00ean\u00ea, the dawn-goddess, _breathed the breath of life_. This is\nPandora--the gift of all the gods--who is presented to Epimetheus. (See\nCox: Aryan Myths, vol. ii., p. 208.)\n\n[2:6] \"What man is found such an idiot as to suppose that God planted\ntrees in Paradise, in Eden, like a husbandman.\" (Origen: quoted in\nMysteries of Adoni, p. 176.) \"There is no way of preserving the literal\nsense of the first chapter of Genesis, without impiety, and attributing\nthings to God unworthy of him.\" (St. Augustine.)\n\n[2:7] \"The records about the '_Tree of Life_' are the sublimest proofs\nof the unity and continuity of tradition, and of its Eastern origin.\n_The earliest records of the most ancient Oriental tradition refer to a\n'Tree of Life,' which was guarded by spirits._ The juice of the fruit of\nthis sacred tree, like the tree itself, was called _S\u00f4ma_ in Sanscrit,\nand _Ha\u00f4ma_ in Zend; it was revered as the life preserving essence.\"\n(Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 414)\n\n[3:1] \"According to the Persian account of Paradise, _four_ great rivers\ncame from Mount Alborj; two are in the North, and two go towards the\nSouth. The river Arduisir nourishes the _Tree of Immortality_, the Holy\nHom.\" (Stiefelhagen: quoted in Mysteries of Adoni p. 149.)\n\n\"According to the _Chinese_ myth, the waters of the Garden of Paradise\nissue from the fountain of immortality, which divides itself into _four\nrivers_.\" (Ibid., p. 150, and Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i., p. 210.) The\nHindoos call their Mount Meru the Paradise, out of which went _four_\nrivers. (Anacalypsis, vol. i., p. 357.)\n\n[3:2] According to Persian legend, Arimanes, the Evil Spirit, _by eating\na certain kind of fruit_, transformed himself into a _serpent_, and went\ngliding about on the earth to tempt human beings. His Devs entered the\nbodies of men and produced all manner of diseases. They entered into\ntheir minds, and incited them to sensuality, falsehood, slander and\nrevenge. Into every department of the world they introduced discord and\ndeath.\n\n[4:1] Inasmuch as the physical construction of the serpent never could\nadmit of its moving in any other way, and inasmuch as it _does not eat\ndust_, does not the narrator of this myth reflect unpleasantly upon the\nwisdom of such a God as Jehovah is claimed to be, as well as upon the\nineffectualness of his first curse?\n\n[5:1] \"Our writer unmistakably recognizes the existence of _many gods_;\nfor he makes Yahweh say: 'See, the man has become as ONE OF US, knowing\ngood and evil;' and so he evidently implies the existence of other\nsimilar beings, to whom he attributes immortality and insight into the\ndifference between good and evil. Yahweh, then, was, in his eyes, the\ngod of gods, indeed, but not the _only_ god.\" (Bible for Learners, vol.\ni. p. 51.)\n\n[5:2] In his memorial sermon, preached in Westminster Abbey, after the\nfuneral of Sir Charles Lyell. He further said in this address:--\n\n\"It is well known that when the science of geology first arose, it was\ninvolved in endless schemes of _attempted_ reconciliation with the\nletter of Scripture. There was, there are perhaps still, two modes of\nreconciliation of Scripture and science, which have been each in their\nday attempted, _and each have totally and deservedly failed_. One is the\nendeavor to wrest the words of the Bible from their natural meaning,\n_and force it to speak the language of science_.\" After speaking of the\nearliest known example, which was the interpolation of the word \"_not_\"\nin Leviticus xi. 6, he continues: \"This is the earliest instance of _the\nfalsification of Scripture to meet the demands of science_; and it has\nbeen followed in later times by the various efforts which have been made\nto twist the earlier chapters of the book of Genesis into _apparent_\nagreement with the last results of geology--representing days not to be\ndays, morning and evening not to be morning and evening, the deluge not\nto be the deluge, and the ark not to be the ark.\"\n\n[5:3] Gen. i. 9, 10.\n\n[5:4] Gen. ii. 6.\n\n[6:1] Gen. i. 20, 24, 26.\n\n[6:2] Gen. ii. 7, 9.\n\n[6:3] Gen. i. 20.\n\n[6:4] Gen. ii. 19.\n\n[6:5] Gen. i. 27.\n\n[6:6] Gen. ii. 7: iii. 22.\n\n[6:7] Gen. i. 28.\n\n[6:8] Gen. ii. 8, 15.\n\n[6:9] Gen. i. 28.\n\n[6:10] Gen. ii. 7, 8, 15, 22.\n\n[6:11] Gen. ii. 4-25.\n\n[6:12] Gen. iii.\n\n[6:13] Gen. i. 1-ii. 8.\n\n[6:14] Gen. iii. 1, 3, 5.\n\n[6:15] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. pp. 171-173.\n\n[6:16] Com. on Old Test. vol. i. p. 59.\n\n[7:1] The Relig. of Israel, p. 186.\n\n[7:2] Von Bohlen: Intro. to Gen. vol. ii. p. 4.\n\n[7:3] Lenormant: Beginning of Hist. vol. i. p. 6.\n\n[7:4] See Ibid. p. 64; and Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 31.\n\n[8:1] \"The Etruscans believed in a creation of six thousand years, and\nin the successive production of different beings, the last of which was\nman.\" (Dunlap: Spirit Hist. p. 357.)\n\n[8:2] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p.\n115.\n\n[8:3] Intro. to Genesis, vol. ii. p. 4.\n\n[8:4] Com. on Old Test. vol. i. p. 63.\n\n[8:5] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 158.\n\n[9:1] See Chapter xi.\n\n[9:2] Mr. Smith says, \"Whatever the primitive account may have been from\nwhich the earlier part of the Book of Genesis was copied, it is evident\nthat the brief narration given in the Pentateuch omits a number of\nincidents and explanations--for instance, as to the origin of evil, the\nfall of the angels, the wickedness of the serpent, &c. Such points as\nthese are included in the cuneiform narrative.\" (Smith: Chaldean Account\nof Genesis, pp. 13, 14.)\n\n[9:3] Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 88.\n\n[9:4] Ibid. p. 89.\n\n[9:5] Ibid. p. 91.\n\n[10:1] Murray's Mythology, p. 208.\n\n[10:2] Kalisch's Com. vol. i. p. 64.\n\n[11:1] Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 87.\n\n[11:2] Com. on the Old Test. vol. i. p. 70.\n\n[11:3] Ibid.\n\n[11:4] Ibid. \"The fruit, and sap of this '_Tree of Life_' begat\nimmortality.\" (Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 240.)\n\n[11:5] See Montfaucon: L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e, vol. i. p. 211, and Pl.\ncxxxiii.\n\n[12:1] Faber: Origin Pagan Idolatry, vol. i. p. 443; in Anacalypsis,\nvol. i. p. 237.\n\n[12:2] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 13.\n\n[12:3] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 159.\n\n[12:4] See Bunsen's Keys of St. Peter, p. 414.\n\n[12:5] Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 153.\n\n[12:6] Buckley: Cities of the Ancient World, p. 148.\n\n[12:7] M\u00fcller: Hist. Sanskrit Literature, p. 559.\n\n[13:1] See Wake: Phallism in Ancient Religions, pp. 46, 47; and Maurice:\nHist. Hindostan, vol. i. p. 408.\n\n[13:2] Hardwick: Christ and Other Masters, p. 215.\n\n[13:3] See Jacolliot's \"Bible in India,\" which John Fisk calls a \"very\ndiscreditable performance,\" and \"a disgraceful piece of charlatanry\"\n(Myths, &c. p. 205). This writer also states that according to Hindoo\nlegend, the first man and woman were called \"Adima and Heva,\" which is\ncertainly not the case. The \"bridge of Adima\" which he speaks of as\nconnecting the island of Ceylon with the mainland, is called \"Rama's\nbridge;\" and the \"Adam's footprints\" are called \"Buddha's footprints.\"\nThe Portuguese, who called the mountain _Pico d' Adama_ (Adam's Peak),\nevidently invented these other names. (See Maurice's Hist. Hindostan,\nvol. i. pp. 301, 362, and vol. ii. p. 242).\n\n[13:4] See Smith's Bible Dic. Art. \"Cherubim,\" and Lenormant's Beginning\nof History, ch. iii.\n\n[15:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 206-210, The Pentateuch\nExamined, vol. iv. pp. 152, 153, and Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 38.\n\n[15:2] Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 31.\n\n[15:3] Quoted by M\u00fcller: The Science of Relig., p. 302.\n\n[15:4] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 409.\n\n[15:5] See Baring Gould's Legends of the Patriarchs; Squire's Serpent\nSymbol, p. 161, and Wake's Phallism in Ancient Religions, p. 41.\n\n[16:1] Quoted by Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 403.\n\n[16:2] Tod's Hist. Raj., p. 581, quoted by Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i.\np. 404.\n\n[16:3] L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e, vol. i.\n\n[17:1] Sir William Jones, the first president of the Royal Asiatic\nSociety, saw this when he said: \"Either the first eleven chapters of\nGenesis, all due allowance being made for a figurative Eastern style,\nare _true_, or the whole fabric of our religion is false.\" (In Asiatic\nResearches, vol. i. p. 225.) And so also did the learned Thomas Maurice,\nfor he says: \"If the Mosaic History be indeed a fable, the whole fabric\nof the national religion is false, since the main pillar of Christianity\nrests upon that important original promise, that the seed of the woman\nshould bruise the head of the serpent.\" (Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. p.\n20.)\n\n[18:1] The above extracts are quoted by Bishop Colenso, in The\nPentateuch Examined, vol. ii. pp. 10-12, from which we take them.\n\n[18:2] \"_Cosmogony_\" is the title of a volume lately written by Prof.\nThomas Mitchell, and published by the American News Co., in which the\nauthor attacks all the modern scientists in regard to the geological\nantiquity of the world, evolution, atheism, pantheism, &c. He\nbelieves--and rightly too--that, \"_if the account of Creation in Genesis\nfalls, Christ and the apostles follow: if the book of Genesis is\nerroneous, so also are the Gospels_.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE DELUGE.[19:1]\n\n\nAfter \"man's shameful fall,\" the earth began to be populated at a very\nrapid rate. \"The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were\nfair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. . . . . There\nwere _giants_ in the earth in those days,[19:2] and also . . . mighty\nmen . . . men of renown.\"\n\nBut these \"giants\" and \"mighty men\" were very wicked, \"and God saw the\nwickedness of man . . . _and it repented the Lord that he had made man\nupon the earth_,[19:3] and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord\nsaid; I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth,\nboth man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air,\nfor it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the\neyes of the Lord (for) Noah was a just man . . . and walked with God.\n. . . And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me,\nfor the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold, I will\ndestroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood, rooms\nshalt thou make in the ark, (and) a window shalt thou make to the ark;\n. . . . And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth,\nto destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven,\nand every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee shall I\nestablish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy\nsons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives, with thee. And of every living\nthing of all flesh, _two_ of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,\nto keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls\nafter their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping\nthing of the earth after his kind, _two_ of every sort shall come in to\nthee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is\neaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for\nthee and for them. _Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded\nhim._\"[20:1]\n\nWhen the ark was finished, the Lord said unto Noah:\n\n     \"Come thou and all thy house into the ark. . . . Of every clean\n     beast thou shalt take to thee by _sevens_, the male and his\n     female; and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and\n     his female. Of fowls also of the air by _sevens_, the male and\n     the female.\"[20:2]\n\nHere, again, as in the Eden myth, there is a _contradiction_. We have\nseen that the Lord told Noah to bring into the ark \"of every living\nthing, of all flesh, _two_ of _every sort_,\" and now that the ark is\nfinished, we are told that he said to him: \"Of every clean beast thou\nshalt take to thee by _sevens_,\" and, \"of fowls also of the air by\n_sevens_.\" This is owing to the story having been written by _two\ndifferent writers_--the Jehovistic, and the Elohistic--one of which took\nfrom, and added to the narrative of the other.[20:3] The account goes on\nto say, that:\n\n     \"Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives\n     with him, into the ark. . . . Of _clean_ beasts, and of beasts\n     _that are not clean_, and of _fowls_, and of _every thing_\n     that creepeth upon the earth, there went in _two and two_,\n     unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, _as God had\n     commanded Noah_.\"[20:4]\n\nWe see, then, that Noah took into the ark _of all kinds_ of beasts, of\n_fowls_, and of every thing that creepeth, _two of every sort_, and that\nthis was \"_as God had commanded Noah_.\" This clearly shows that the\nwriter of these words knew nothing of the command to take in _clean\nbeasts_, and _fowls_ of the air, by _sevens_. We are further assured,\nthat, \"_Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him_.\"\n\nAfter Noah and his family, and every beast after his kind, and all the\ncattle after their kind, the fowls of the air, and every creeping thing,\nhad entered the ark, the Lord shut them in. Then \"were all the fountains\nof the great deep broken up, _and the windows of heaven were opened_.\nAnd the rain was upon the earth _forty days and forty nights_. . . . .\nAnd the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the hills,\nthat were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upwards\ndid the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh\ndied that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of\nbeast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and\nevery man. And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in\nthe ark.\"[21:1] The object of the flood was now accomplished, \"_all\nflesh died that moved upon the earth_.\" The Lord, therefore, \"made a\nwind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains of\nthe deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped, and the rain from\nheaven was restrained. And the waters decreased continually. . . . . And\nit came to pass at the end of _forty days_, that Noah opened the window\nof the ark, which he had made. And he sent forth a raven, which went\nforth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. He\nalso sent forth a dove, . . . but the dove found no rest for the sole of\nher foot, and she returned unto him into the ark.\" . . .\n\nAt the end of _seven_ days he again \"sent forth the dove out of the ark,\nand the dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an\nolive leaf, plucked off.\"\n\nAt the end of another _seven_ days, he again \"sent forth the dove, which\nreturned not again to him any more.\"\n\nAnd the ark rested in the _seventh_ month, on the seventeenth day of the\nmonth, upon the mountains of Ararat. Then Noah and his wife, and his\nsons, and his sons' wives, and every living thing that was in the ark,\nwent forth out of the ark. \"And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord,\n. . . and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a\nsweet savour, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the\nground any more for man's sake.\"[21:2]\n\nWe shall now see that there is scarcely any considerable race of men\namong whom there does not exist, in some form, the tradition of a great\ndeluge, which destroyed all the human race, except _their own_\nprogenitors.\n\nThe first of these which we shall notice, and the one with which the\nHebrew agrees most closely, having been copied from it,[22:1] is the\n_Chaldean_, as given by Berosus, the Chaldean historian.[22:2] It is as\nfollows:\n\n     \"After the death of Ardates (the ninth king of the Chaldeans),\n     his son _Xisuthrus_ reigned eighteen sari. In his time\n     happened a great _deluge_, the history of which is thus\n     described: The deity Cronos appeared to him (Xisuthrus) in a\n     vision, and warned him that upon the fifteenth day of the\n     month Desius there would be a flood, by which mankind would be\n     destroyed. He therefore enjoined him to write a history of the\n     beginning, procedure, and conclusion of all things, and to\n     bury it in the City of the Sun at Sippara; and to build a\n     vessel, and take with him into it his friends and relations,\n     and to convey on board everything necessary to sustain life,\n     together with all the different animals, both birds and\n     quadrupeds, and trust himself fearlessly to the deep. Having\n     asked the deity whither he was to sail, he was answered: 'To\n     the Gods;' upon which he offered up a prayer for the good of\n     mankind. He then obeyed the divine admonition, and built a\n     vessel five stadia in length, and two in breadth. Into this he\n     put everything which he had prepared, and last of all conveyed\n     into it his wife, his children, and his friends. After the\n     flood had been upon the earth, and was in time abated,\n     Xisuthrus sent out birds from the vessel; which not finding\n     any food, nor any place whereupon they might rest their feet,\n     returned to him again. After an interval of some days, he sent\n     them forth a second time; and they now returned with their\n     feet tinged with mud. He made a trial a third time with these\n     birds; but they returned to him no more: from whence he judged\n     that the surface of the earth had appeared above the waters.\n     He therefore made an opening in the vessel, and upon looking\n     out found that it was stranded upon the side of some mountain;\n     upon which he immediately quitted it with his wife, his\n     daughter, and the pilot. Xisuthrus then paid his adoration to\n     the earth, and, having constructed an altar, offered\n     sacrifices to the gods.\"[22:3]\n\nThis account, given by Berosus, which agrees in almost every particular\nwith that found in Genesis, and with that found by George Smith of the\nBritish Museum on terra cotta tablets in Assyria, is nevertheless\ndifferent in some respects. But, says Mr. Smith:\n\n     \"When we consider the difference between the two countries of\n     Palestine and Babylonia, these variations do not appear\n     greater than we should expect. . . . It was only natural that, in\n     relating the same stories, each nation should color them in\n     accordance with its own ideas, and stress would naturally in\n     each case be laid upon points with which they were familiar.\n     Thus we should expect beforehand that there would be\n     differences in the narrative such as we actually find, and we\n     may also notice that the cuneiform account does not always\n     coincide even with the account of the same events given by\n     Berosus from Chaldean sources.\"[23:1]\n\nThe most important points are the same however, _i. e._, _in both cases_\nthe virtuous man is informed by the Lord that a flood is about to take\nplace, which would destroy mankind. _In both cases_ they are commanded\nto build a vessel or ark, to enter it with their families, and to take\nin beasts, birds, and everything that creepeth, also to provide\nthemselves with food. _In both cases_ they send out a bird from the ark\n_three times_--the third time it failed to return. _In both cases_ they\nland on a mountain, and upon leaving the ark they offer up a sacrifice\nto the gods. Xisuthrus was the tenth king,[23:2] and Noah the tenth\npatriarch.[23:3] Xisuthrus had three sons (Zerovanos, Titan and\nJapetosthes),[23:4] and Noah had three sons (Shem, Ham and\nJaphet).[23:5]\n\nAs Cory remarks in his \"Ancient Fragments,\" the history of the flood, as\ngiven by Berosus, so remarkably corresponds with the Biblical account of\nthe Noachian Deluge, that no one can doubt that both proceeded from one\nsource--they are evidently transcriptions, except the names, from some\nancient document.[23:6]\n\nThis legend became known to the Jews from Chaldean sources,[23:7] it was\nnot known in the country (Egypt) out of which they evidently came.[23:8]\nEgyptian history, it is said, had gone on uninterrupted for ten\nthousand years before the time assigned for the birth of Jesus.[24:1]\nAnd it is known as absolute fact that the land of Egypt was never\nvisited by other than its annual beneficent overflow of the river\nNile.[24:2] The Egyptian Bible, _which is by far the most ancient of all\nholy books[24:3], knew nothing of the Deluge_.[24:4] The Phra (or\nPharaoh) Khoufou-Cheops was building his pyramid, according to Egyptian\nchronicle, when the whole world was under the waters of a universal\ndeluge, according to the Hebrew chronicle.[24:5] A number of other\nnations of antiquity are found destitute of any story of a flood,[24:6]\nwhich they certainly would have had if a universal deluge had ever\nhappened. Whether this legend is of high antiquity in India has even\nbeen doubted by distinguished scholars.[24:7]\n\nThe _Hindoo_ legend of the Deluge is as follows:\n\n     \"Many ages after the creation of the world, Brahma resolved to\n     destroy it with a deluge, on account of the wickedness of the\n     people. There lived at that time a pious man named\n     _Satyavrata_, and as the lord of the universe loved this pious\n     man, and wished to preserve him from the sea of destruction\n     which was to appear on account of the depravity of the age, he\n     appeared before him in the form of _Vishnu_ (the Preserver)\n     and said: In _seven_ days from the present time . . . the\n     worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death, but in the midst\n     of the destroying waves, a large vessel, sent by me for thy\n     use, shall stand before thee. Then shalt thou take all\n     medicinal herbs, all the variety of feeds, and, accompanied by\n     _seven_ saints, encircled by _pairs_ of all brute animals,\n     thou shalt enter the spacious ark, and continue in it, secure\n     from the flood, on one immense ocean without light, except the\n     radiance of thy holy companions. When the ship shall be\n     agitated by an impetuous wind, thou shalt fasten it with a\n     large sea-serpent on my horn; for I will be near thee (in\n     the form of a fish), drawing the vessel, with thee and thy\n     attendants. I will remain on the ocean, O chief of men, until\n     a night of _Brahma_ shall be completely ended. Thou shalt then\n     know my true greatness, rightly named the Supreme Godhead; by\n     my favor, all thy questions shall be answered, and thy mind\n     abundantly instructed.\"\n\nBeing thus directed, Satyavrata humbly waited for the time which the\nruler of our senses had appointed. It was not long, however, before the\nsea, overwhelming its shores, began to deluge the whole earth, and it\nwas soon perceived to be augmented by showers from immense clouds. He,\nstill meditating on the commands of the Lord, saw a vessel advancing,\nand entered it with the saints, after having carried into effect the\ninstructions which had been given him.\n\n_Vishnu_ then appeared before them, in the form of a fish, as he had\nsaid, and Satyavrata fastened a cable to his horn.\n\nThe deluge in time abated, and Satyavrata, instructed in all divine and\nhuman knowledge, was appointed, by the favor of _Vishnu_, the Seventh\nMenu. After coming forth from the ark he offers up a sacrifice to\nBrahma.[25:1]\n\nThe ancient temples of Hindostan contain representations of Vishnu\nsustaining the earth while overwhelmed by the waters of the deluge. _A\nrainbow is seen on the surface of the subsiding waters._[25:2]\n\nThe _Chinese_ believe the earth to have been at one time covered with\nwater, which they described as flowing abundantly and then subsiding.\nThis great flood divided the higher from the lower age of man. It\nhappened during the reign of Yaou. This inundation, which is termed\n_hung-shwuy_ (great water), almost ruined the country, and is spoken of\nby Chinese writers with sentiments of horror. The _Shoo-King_, one of\ntheir sacred books, describes the waters as reaching to the tops of some\nof the mountains, covering the hills, and expanding as wide as the vault\nof heaven.[25:3]\n\nThe _Parsees_ say that by the temptation of the evil spirit men became\nwicked, and God destroyed them with a deluge, except a few, from whom\nthe world was peopled anew.[25:4]\n\nIn the _Zend-Avesta_, the oldest sacred book of the Persians, of whom\nthe Parsees are direct descendants, there are sixteen countries spoken\nof as having been given by Ormuzd, the Good Deity, for the Aryans to\nlive in; and these countries are described as a land of delight, which\nwas turned by Ahriman, the Evil Deity, into a land of death and cold,\npartly, it is said, by a great flood, which is described as being like\nNoah's flood recorded in the Book of Genesis.[26:1]\n\nThe ancient _Greeks_ had records of a flood which destroyed nearly the\nwhole human race.[26:2] The story is as follows:\n\n     \"From his throne in the high Olympos, Zeus looked down on the\n     children of men, and saw that everywhere they followed only\n     their lusts, and cared nothing for right or for law. And ever,\n     as their hearts waxed grosser in their wickedness, they\n     devised for themselves new rites to appease the anger of the\n     gods, till the whole earth was filled with blood. Far away in\n     the hidden glens of the Arcadian hills the sons of Lykaon\n     feasted and spake proud words against the majesty of Zeus, and\n     Zeus himself came down from his throne to see their way and\n     their doings. . . . Then Zeus returned to his home on Olympos,\n     and he gave the word that a flood of waters should be let\n     loose upon the earth, that the sons of men might die for their\n     great wickedness. So the west wind rose in its might, and the\n     dark rain-clouds veiled the whole heaven, for the winds of the\n     north which drive away the mists and vapors were shut up in\n     their prison house. On hill and valley burst the merciless\n     rain, and the rivers, loosened from their courses, rushed over\n     the whole plains and up the mountain-side. From his home on\n     the highlands of Phthia, Deukalion looked forth on the angry\n     sky, and, when he saw the waters swelling in the valleys\n     beneath, he called Pyrrha, his wife, and said to her: 'The\n     time has come of which my father, the wise Prometheus,\n     forewarned me. Make ready, therefore, the ark which I have\n     built, and place in it all that we may need for food while the\n     flood of waters is out upon the earth.' . . . Then Pyrrha\n     hastened to make all things ready, and they waited till the\n     waters rose up to the highlands of Phthia and floated away the\n     ark of Deukalion. The fishes swam amidst the old elm-groves,\n     and twined amongst the gnarled boughs on the oaks, while on\n     the face of the waters were tossed the bodies of men; and\n     Deukalion looked on the dead faces of stalwart warriors, of\n     maidens, and of babes, as they rose and fell upon the heavy\n     waves.\"\n\nWhen the flood began to abate, the ark rested on Mount Parnassus, and\nDeucalion, with his wife Pyrrha, stepped forth upon the desolate earth.\nThey then immediately constructed an altar, and offered up thanks to\nZeus, the mighty being who sent the flood and saved them from its\nwaters.[26:3]\n\nAccording to Ovid (a Grecian writer born 43 B. C.), Deucalion does not\nventure out of the ark until a dove which he sent out returns to him\nwith an olive branch.[26:4]\n\nIt was at one time extensively believed, even by intelligent scholars,\nthat the myth of Deucalion was a corrupted tradition of the Noachian\ndeluge, _but this untenable opinion is now all but universally\nabandoned_.[27:1]\n\nThe legend was found in the West among the Kelts. They believed that a\ngreat deluge overwhelmed the world and drowned all men except Drayan and\nDroyvach, who escaped in a boat, and colonized Britain. This boat was\nsupposed to have been built by the \"Heavenly Lord,\" and it received into\nit a pair of every kind of beasts.[27:2]\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ had their legend of a deluge. The _Edda_\ndescribes this deluge, from which only one man escapes, with his family,\nby means of a bark.[27:3] It was also found among the ancient Mexicans.\nThey believed that a man named Coxcox, and his wife, survived the\ndeluge. Lord Kingsborough, speaking of this legend,[27:4] informs us\nthat the person who answered to Noah entered the ark with six others;\nand that the story of sending birds out of the ark, &c., is the same in\ngeneral character with that of the Bible.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDr. Brinton also speaks of the _Mexican_ tradition.[27:5] They had not\nonly the story of sending out the _bird_, but related that the ark\nlanded _on a mountain_. The tradition of a deluge was also found among\nthe Brazilians, and among many Indian tribes.[27:6] The mountain upon\nwhich the ark is supposed to have rested, was pointed to by the\nresidents in nearly every quarter of the globe. The mountain-chain of\nArarat was considered to be--by the _Chaldeans_ and _Hebrews_--the place\nwhere the ark landed. The _Greeks_ pointed to Mount Parnassus; the\n_Hindoos_ to the Himalayas; and in Armenia numberless heights were\npointed out with becoming reverence, as those on which the few survivors\nof the dreadful scenes of the deluge were preserved. On the Red River\n(in America), near the village of the Caddoes, there was an eminence to\nwhich the Indian tribes for a great distance around paid devout homage.\nThe Cerro Naztarny on the Rio Grande, the peak of Old Zuni in New\nMexico, that of Colhuacan on the Pacific coast, Mount Apoala in Upper\nMixteca, and Mount Neba in the province of Guaymi, are some of many\nelevations asserted by the neighboring nations to have been places of\nrefuge for their ancestors when the fountains of the great deep broke\nforth.\n\nThe question now may naturally be asked, How could such a story have\noriginated unless there was some foundation for it?\n\nIn answer to this question we will say that we do not think such a story\ncould have originated without some foundation for it, and that most, if\nnot all, legends, have a basis of truth underlying the fabulous,\nalthough not always discernible. This story may have an _astronomical_\nbasis, as some suppose,[28:1] or it may not. At any rate, it would be\nvery easy to transmit by memory the fact of the _sinking_ of _an\nisland_, or that of _an earthquake_, or a _great flood_, caused by\noverflows of rivers, &c., which, in the course of time, would be added\nto, and enlarged upon, and, in this way, made into quite a lengthy tale.\nAccording to one of the most ancient accounts of the deluge, we are told\nthat at that time \"the forest trees were dashed against each other;\"\n\"the mountains were involved with smoke and flame;\" that there was\n\"fire, and smoke, and wind, which ascended in thick clouds replete with\nlightning.\" \"The roaring of the ocean, whilst violently agitated with\nthe whirling of the mountains, was like the bellowing of a mighty cloud,\n&c.\"[28:2]\n\nA violent earthquake, with eruptions from volcanic mountains, and the\nsinking of land into the sea, would evidently produce such a scene as\nthis. We know that at one period in the earth's history, such scenes\nmust have been of frequent occurrence. The science of geology\ndemonstrates this fact to us. _Local deluges_ were of frequent\noccurrence, and that some persons may have been saved on one, or perhaps\nmany, such occasions, by means of a raft or boat, and that they may have\nsought refuge on an eminence, or mountain, does not seem at all\nimprobable.\n\nDuring the _Champlain_ period in the history of the world--which came\nafter the _Glacial_ period--the climate became warmer, _the continents\nsank_, and there were, consequently, continued _local floods_ which must\nhave destroyed considerable animal life, including man. The foundation\nof the deluge myth may have been laid at this time.\n\nSome may suppose that this is dating the history of man too far back,\nmaking his history too remote; but such is not the case. There is every\nreason to believe that man existed for ages _before the Glacial epoch_.\nIt must not be supposed that we have yet found remains of the earliest\nhuman beings; there is evidence, however, that man existed during the\n_Pliocene_, if not during the _Miocene_ periods, when hoofed quadrupeds,\nand Proboscidians abounded, human remains and implements having been\nfound mingled with remains of these animals.[29:1]\n\nCharles Darwin believed that the animal called man, might have been\nproperly called by that name at an epoch as remote as the _Eocene_\nperiod.[29:2] Man had probably lost his hairy covering by that time, and\nhad begun to look human.\n\nProf. Draper, speaking of the antiquity of man, says:\n\n     \"So far as investigations have gone, they _indisputably_ refer\n     the existence of man to a date remote from us by many\n     _hundreds of thousands of years_,\" and that, \"it is difficult\n     to assign a shorter date from the last glaciation of Europe\n     than a quarter of a million of years, _and human existence\n     antedates that_.\"[29:3]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"Recent researches give reason to believe that, under low and\n     base grades, the existence of man can be traced back into the\n     _Tertiary_ times. He was contemporary with the Southern\n     Elephant, the Rhinoceros-leptorhinus, the great Hippopotamus,\n     perhaps even in the _Miocene_, contemporary with the\n     Mastodon.\"[29:4]\n\nProf. Huxley closes his \"Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature,\" by\nsaying:\n\n     \"Where must we look for primeval man? Was the oldest _Homo\n     Sapiens_ Pliocene or Miocene, _or yet more ancient_? . . .\n     If any form of the doctrine of progressive development is\n     correct, _we must extend by long epochs the most liberal\n     estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of\n     man_.\"[30:1]\n\nProf. Oscar Paschel, in his work on \"Mankind,\" speaking of the deposits\nof human remains which have been discovered in caves, mingled with the\nbones of wild animals, says:\n\n     \"The examination of one of these caves at Brixham, by a\n     geologist as trustworthy as Dr. Falconer, convinced the\n     specialists of Great Britain, as early as 1858, that man was a\n     contemporary of the Mammoth, the Woolly Rhinoceros, the\n     Cave-lion, the Cave-hyena, the Cave-bear, _and therefore of\n     the Mammalia of the Geological period antecedent to our\n     own_.\"[30:2]\n\nThe positive evidence of man's existence during the _Tertiary_ period,\nare facts which must firmly convince every one--who is willing to be\nconvinced--of _the great antiquity of man_. We might multiply our\nauthorities, but deem it unnecessary.\n\nThe observation of shells, corals, and other remains of _aquatic\nanimals_, in places above the level of the sea, and even on high\nmountains, may have given rise to legends of a great flood.\n\nFossils found imbedded in high ground have been appealed to, both in\nancient and modern times, both by savage and civilized man, as evidence\nin support of their traditions of a flood; and, moreover, the argument,\napparently unconnected with any tradition, is to be found, that because\nthere are marine fossils in places away from the sea, _therefore the sea\nmust once have been there_.\n\nIt is only quite recently that the presence of fossil shells, &c., on\nhigh mountains, has been abandoned as evidence of the Noachic flood.\n\nMr. Tylor tells us that in the ninth edition of \"Horne's Introduction to\nthe Scriptures,\" published in 1846, the evidence of fossils _is\nconfidently held to prove_ the universality of the Deluge; _but the\nargument disappears from the next edition, published ten years\nlater_.[30:3]\n\nBesides fossil remains of aquatic animals, _boats_ have been found on\ntops of mountains.[30:4] A discovery of this kind may have given rise to\nthe story of an _ark_ having been made in which to preserve the favored\nones from the waters, and of its landing on a mountain.[30:5]\n\nBefore closing this chapter, it may be well to notice a striking\nincident in the legend we have been treating, _i. e._, the frequent\noccurrence of the number _seven_ in the narrative. For instance: the\nLord commands Noah to take into the ark clean beasts by _sevens_, and\nfowls also by _sevens_, and tells him that in _seven_ days he will cause\nit to rain upon the earth. We are also told that the ark rested in the\n_seventh_ month, and the _seven_teenth day of the month, upon the\nmountains of Ararat. After sending the dove out of the ark the first\ntime, Noah waited _seven_ days before sending it out again. After\nsending the dove out the second time, \"he stayed yet another _seven_\ndays\" ere he again sent forth the dove.\n\n_This coincidence arises from the mystic power attached to the number\nseven, derived from its frequent occurrence in astrology._\n\nWe find that in _all religions_ of antiquity the number _seven_--which\napplied to the _sun_, _moon_ and the _five planets_ known to the\nancients--is a _sacred number_, represented in all kinds and sorts of\nforms;[31:1] for instance: The candlestick with _seven_ branches in the\ntemple of Jerusalem. The _seven_ inclosures of the temple. The _seven_\ndoors of the cave of Mithras. The _seven_ stories of the tower of\nBabylon.[31:2] The _seven_ gates of Thebes.[31:3] The flute of _seven_\npipes generally put into the hand of the god Pan. The lyre of _seven_\nstrings touched by Apollo. The book of \"Fate,\" composed of _seven_\nbooks. The _seven_ prophetic rings of the Brahmans.[31:4] The _seven_\nstones--consecrated to the _seven_ planets--in Laconia.[31:5] The\ndivision into _seven_ castes adopted by the Egyptians and Indians. The\n_seven_ idols of the Bonzes. The _seven_ altars of the monument of\nMithras. The _seven_ great spirits invoked by the Persians. The _seven_\narchangels of the Chaldeans. The _seven_ archangels of the Jews.[31:6]\n\nThe _seven_ days in the week.[32:1] The _seven_ sacraments of the\nChristians. The _seven_ wicked spirits of the Babylonians. The\nsprinkling of blood _seven_ times upon the altars of the Egyptians. The\n_seven_ mortal sins of the Egyptians. The hymn of _seven_ vowels chanted\nby the Egyptian priests.[32:2] The _seven_ branches of the Assyrian\n\"Tree of Life.\" Agni, the Hindoo god, is represented with _seven_ arms.\nSura's[32:3] horse was represented with _seven_ heads. _Seven_ churches\nare spoken of in the Apocalypse. Balaam builded _seven_ altars, and\noffered _seven_ bullocks and _seven_ rams on each altar. Pharaoh saw\n_seven_ kine, &c., in his dream. The \"Priest of Midian\" had _seven_\ndaughters. Jacob served _seven_ years. Before Jericho _seven_ priests\nbare _seven_ horns. Samson was bound with _seven_ green withes, and his\nmarriage feast lasted _seven_ days, &c., &c. We might continue with as\nmuch more, but enough has been shown to verify the statement that, \"in\nall religions of antiquity, the number SEVEN is a _sacred_ number.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[19:1] See \"The Deluge in the Light of Modern Science,\" by Prof. Wm.\nDenton: J. P. Mendum, Boston.\n\n[19:2] \"There were _giants_ in the earth in those days.\" It is a\nscientific fact that most races of men, in former ages, instead of being\n_larger_, were _smaller_ than at the present time. There is hardly a\nsuit of armor in the Tower of London, or in the old castles, that is\nlarge enough for the average Englishman of to-day to put on. Man has\ngrown in stature as well as intellect, and there is no proof\nwhatever--in fact, the opposite is certain--that there ever was a race\nof what might properly be called _giants_, inhabiting the earth. Fossil\nremains of large animals having been found by primitive man, _and a\nlegend invented to account for them_, it would naturally be that: \"There\nwere giants in the earth in those days.\" As an illustration we may\nmention the story, recorded by the traveller James Orton, we believe (in\n\"The Andes and the Amazon\"), that, near Punin, in South America, was\nfound the remains of an extinct species of the horse, the mastodon, and\nother large animals. This discovery was made, owing to the assurance of\nthe natives that _giants_ at one time had lived in that country, _and\nthat they had seen their remains at this certain place_. Many legends\nhave had a similar origin. But the originals of all the _Ogres_ and\n_Giants_ to be found in the mythology of almost all nations of\nantiquity, are the famous Hindoo demons, the _Rakshasas_ of our Aryan\nancestors. The Rakshasas were very terrible creatures indeed, and in the\nminds of many people, in India, are so still. Their natural form, so the\nstories say, is that of huge, unshapely _giants_, like _clouds_, with\nhair and beard of the color of the _red lightning_. This description\nexplains their origin. _They are the dark, wicked and cruel clouds_,\npersonified.\n\n[19:3] \"And it _repented_ the Lord that he had made man.\" (Gen. iv.)\n\"God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that _he\nshould repent_.\" (Numb. xxiii. 19.)\n\n[20:1] Gen. iv.\n\n[20:2] Gen. vi. 1-3.\n\n[20:3] See chapter xi.\n\n[20:4] The image of Osiris of Egypt was by the priests shut up in a\nsacred ark on the 17th of Athyr (Nov. 13th), the very day and month on\nwhich Noah is said to have entered his ark, (See Bonwick's Egyptian\nBelief, p. 165, and Bunsen's Angel Messiah, p. 22.)\n\n[21:1] Gen. vi.\n\n[21:2] Gen. viii.\n\n[22:1] See chapter xi.\n\n[22:2] Josephus, the Jewish historian, speaking of the flood of Noah\n(Antiq. bk. 1, ch. iii.), says: \"All the writers of the Babylonian\nhistories make mention of _this_ flood and this ark.\"\n\n[22:3] Quoted by George Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 43-44;\nsee also, The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 211; Dunlap's Spirit\nHist. p. 138; Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 61, et seq. for similar\naccounts.\n\n[23:1] Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 285, 286.\n\n[23:2] Volney: New Researches, p. 119; Chaldean Acct. of Genesis, p.\n290; Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. p. 417, and Dunlap's Spirit Hist. p. 277.\n\n[23:3] Ibid.\n\n[23:4] Legends of the Patriarchs, pp. 109, 110.\n\n[23:5] Gen. vi. 8.\n\n[23:6] The Hindoo ark-preserved Menu had _three_ sons; Sama, Cama, and\nPra-Japati. (Faber: Orig. Pagan Idol.) The Bhattias, who live between\nDelli and the Panjab, insist that they are descended from a certain king\ncalled Salivahana, who had three sons, Bhat, Maha and Thamaz. (Col.\nWilford, in vol. ix. Asiatic Researches.) The Iranian hero Thraetona had\n_three_ sons. The Iranian Sethite Lamech had _three_ sons, and Hellen,\nthe son of Deucalion, during whose time the flood is said to have\nhappened, had _three_ sons. (Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, pp. 70, 71.) All\nthe ancient nations of Europe also describe their origin from the\n_three_ sons of some king or patriarch. The Germans said that Mannus\n(son of the god Tuisco) had _three_ sons, who were the original\nancestors of the three principal nations of Germany. The Scythians said\nthat Targytagus, the founder of their nation, had _three_ sons, from\nwhom they were descended. A tradition among the Romans was that the\nCyclop Polyphemus had by Galatea _three_ sons. Saturn had _three_ sons,\nJupiter, Neptune, and Pluto; and Hesiod speaks of the _three_ sons which\nsprung from the marriage of heaven and earth. (See Mallet's Northern\nAntiquities, p. 509.)\n\n[23:7] See chap. xi.\n\n[23:8] \"It is of no slight moment that the Egyptians, with whom the\nHebrews are represented as in earliest and closest intercourse, had no\ntraditions of a flood, while the Babylonian and Hellenic tales bear a\nstrong resemblance in many points to the narrative in Genesis.\" (Rev.\nGeorge W. Cox: Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 340. See also Owen: Man's\nEarliest History, p. 28, and ch. xi. this work.)\n\n[24:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 198, and Knight's Ancient Art and\nMythology, p. 107. \"Plato was told that Egypt had hymns dating back ten\nthousand years before his time.\" (Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 185.)\nPlato lived 429 B. C. Herodotus relates that the priests of Egypt\ninformed him that from the first king to the present priest of Vulcan\nwho last reigned, were three hundred forty and one generations of men,\nand during these generations there were the same number of chief priests\nand kings. \"Now (says he) three hundred generations are equal to ten\nthousand years, for three generations of men are one hundred years; and\nthe forty-one remaining generations that were over the three hundred,\nmake one thousand three hundred and forty years,\" making _eleven\nthousand three hundred and forty years_. \"Conducting me into the\ninterior of an edifice that was spacious, and showing me wooden\ncolossuses to the number I have mentioned, they reckoned them up; for\nevery high priest places an image of himself there during his life-time;\nthe priests, therefore, reckoning them and showing them to me, pointed\nout that each was the son of his own father; going through them all,\nfrom the image of him who died last until they had pointed them all\nout.\" (Herodotus, book ii. chs. 142, 143.) The discovery of mummies of\nroyal and priestly personages, made at Deir-el-Bahari (Aug., 1881), near\nThebes, in Egypt, would seem to confirm this statement made by\nHerodotus. Of the thirty-nine mummies discovered, one--that of King\nRaskenen--is about three thousand seven hundred years old. (See a Cairo\n[Aug. 8th,] Letter to the London Times.)\n\n[24:2] Owen: Man's Earliest History, p. 28.\n\n[24:3] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 185.\n\n[24:4] Ibid. p. 411.\n\n[24:5] Owen: Man's Earliest History, pp. 27, 28.\n\n[24:6] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mytho. p. 319.\n\n[24:7] Ibid. p. 320.\n\n[25:1] Translated from the _Bhagavat_ by Sir Wm. Jones, and published in\nthe first volume of the \"Asiatic Researches,\" p. 230, _et seq._ See also\nMaurice: Ind. Ant. ii. 277, _et seq._, and Prof. Max M\u00fcller's Hist.\nAncient Sanskrit Literature, p. 425, _et seq._\n\n[25:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 55.\n\n[25:3] See Thornton's Hist. China, vol. i. p. 30, Prog. Relig. Ideas,\nvol. i. p. 205, and Priestley, p. 41.\n\n[25:4] Priestley, p. 42.\n\n[26:1] Bunce: Fairy Tales, Origin and Meaning, p. 18.\n\n[26:2] The _oldest_ Greek mythology, however, has no such idea; it\ncannot be proved to have been known to the Greeks earlier than the 6th\ncentury B. C. (See Goldzhier: Hebrew Mytho., p. 319.) This could not\nhave been the case had there ever been a _universal_ deluge.\n\n[26:3] Tales of Ancient Greece, pp. 72-74. \"Apollodorus--a Grecian\nmythologist, born 140 B. C.,--having mentioned Deucalion consigned to\nthe ark, takes notice, upon his quitting it, of his offering up an\nimmediate sacrifice to God.\" (Chambers' Encyclo., art, _Deluge_.)\n\n[26:4] In Lundy's Monumental Christianity (p. 209, Fig. 137) may be seen\na representation of Deucalion and Pyrrha landing from the ark. _A dove\nand olive branch_ are depicted in the scene.\n\n[27:1] Chambers' Encyclo., art. Deucalion.\n\n[27:2] Baring-Gould: Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 114. See also Myths\nof the British Druids, p. 95.\n\n[27:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 99.\n\n[27:4] Mex. Antiq. vol. viii.\n\n[27:5] Myths of the New World, pp. 203, 204.\n\n[27:6] See Squire: Serpent Symbol, pp. 189, 190.\n\n[28:1] Count de Volney says: \"The Deluge mentioned by Jews, Chaldeans,\nGreeks and Indians, as having destroyed the world, are one and the same\n_physico-astronomical event_ which is still repeated every year,\" and\nthat \"all those personages that figure in the Deluge of Noah and\nXisuthrus, are still in the celestial sphere. It was a real picture of\nthe calendar.\" (Researches in Ancient Hist., p. 124.) It was on the same\nday that Noah is said to have shut himself up in the ark, that the\npriests of Egypt shut up in their sacred coffer or ark the image of\nOsiris, a personification of the Sun. This was on the 17th of the month\nAthor, in which the Sun enters the Scorpion. (See Kenrick's Egypt, vol.\ni. p. 410.) The history of Noah also corresponds, in some respects, with\nthat of Bacchus, another personification of the Sun.\n\n[28:2] See Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 268.\n\n[29:1] \"In America, along with the bones of the _Mastodon_ imbedded in\nthe alluvium of the Bourbense, were found arrow heads and other traces\nof the savages who had killed this member of an order no longer\nrepresented in that part of the world.\" (Herbert Spencer: Principles of\nSociology, vol. i. p. 17.)\n\n[29:2] Darwin: Descent of Man, p. 156. We think it may not be out of\nplace to insert here what might properly be called: \"_The Drama of\nLife_,\" which is as follows:\n\n     Act i.                   Azoic: Conflict of Inorganic Forces.\n     Act ii.                  Paleozoic: Age of Invertebrates.\n                   { Scene i. Eozoic: Enter Protozoans and Protophytes.\n                   {   \"  ii. Silurian: Enter the Army of Invertebrates.\n     Primary       {   \" iii. Devonian: Enter Fishes.\n                   {   \"  iv. Carboniferous: (Age of Coal Plants) Enter\n                                  First _Air_ breathers.\n     Act iii.                 Mesozoic: Enter Reptiles.\n                   { Scene i. Triassic: Enter Batrachians.\n     Secondary     {   \"  ii. Jurassic: Enter huge Reptiles of Sea, Land\n                   {              and Air.\n                   {   \" iii. Cretaceous: (Age of Chalk) Enter Ammonites.\n     Act iv.                  Cenozoic: (Age of Mammals.)\n                   { Scene i. Eocene: Enter Marine Mammals, and probably\n                   {              _Man_.\n     Tertiary      {   \"  ii. Miocene: Enter Hoofed Quadrupeds.\n                   {   \" iii. Pliocene: Enter Proboscidians and Edentates.\n     Act v.                   Post Tertiary: _Positive_ Age of Man.\n                   { Scene i. Glacial: Ice and Drift Periods.\n                   {   \"  ii. Champlain: _Sinking Continents_; Warmer;\n                   {              Tropical Animals go _North_.\n     Post Tertiary {   \" iii. Terrace: Rising Continents; Colder.\n                   {   \"  iv. Present: Enter Science, Iconoclasts, &c., &c.\n\n[29:3] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 199.\n\n[29:4] Ibid. pp. 195, 196.\n\n[30:1] Huxley: Man's Place in Nature, p. 184.\n\n[30:2] Paschel: Races of Man, p. 36.\n\n[30:3] Tylor: Early History of Mankind, p. 328.\n\n[30:4] Ibid. pp. 329, 330\n\n[30:5] We know that many legends have originated in this way. For\nexample, Dr. Robinson, in his \"Travels in Palestine\" (ii. 586), mentions\na tradition that a city had once stood in a desert between Petra and\nHebron, the people of which had perished for their vices, and been\nconverted into stone. Mr. Seetzen, who went to the spot, found no traces\nof ruins, but a number of stony concretions, resembling in form and size\nthe human head. _They had been ignorantly supposed to be petrified\nheads, and a legend framed to account for their owners suffering so\nterrible a fate._ Another illustration is as follows:--The Kamchadals\nbelieve that volcanic mountains are the abode of devils, who, after they\nhave cooked their meals, fling the fire-brands out of the chimney. Being\nasked what these devils eat, they said \"_whales_.\" Here we see, _first_,\na story invented to account for the volcanic eruptions from the\nmountains; and, _second_, a story invented to account for the _remains\nof whales found on the mountains_. The savages _knew_ that this was\ntrue, \"because their old people had said so, and believed it\nthemselves.\" (Related by Mr. Tylor, in his \"_Early History of Mankind_,\"\np. 326.)\n\n[31:1] \"Everything of importance was calculated by, and fitted into,\nthis number (SEVEN) by the Aryan philosophers,--ideas as well as\nlocalities.\" (Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 407).\n\n[31:2] Each one being consecrated to a _planet_. First, to Saturn;\nsecond, to Jupiter; third, to Mars; fourth, to the Sun; fifth, to Venus;\nsixth, to Mercury; seventh, to the Moon. (The Pentateuch Examined, vol.\niv. p. 269. See also The Angel Messiah, p. 106.)\n\n[31:3] Each of which had the name of a _planet_.\n\n[31:4] On each of which the name of a _planet_ was engraved.\n\n[31:5] \"There was to be seen in Laconia, _seven_ columns erected in\nhonor of the _seven planets_.\" (Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p.\n34.)\n\n[31:6] \"The Jews believed that the Throne of Jehovah was surrounded by\nhis _seven_ high chiefs: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, &c.\" (Bible\nfor Learners, vol. iii. p. 46.)\n\n[32:1] Each one being consecrated to a planet, and the Sun and Moon.\nSunday, \"_Dies Solis_,\" sacred to the SUN. Monday, \"Dies Lunae,\" sacred\nto the MOON. Tuesday, sacred to Tuiso or MARS. Wednesday, sacred to Odin\nor Woden, and to MERCURY. Thursday, sacred to Thor and others. Friday,\nsacred to Freia and VENUS. Saturday, sacred to SATURN. \"The (ancient)\nEgyptians assigned a day of the week to the SUN, MOON, and five planets,\nand the number SEVEN was held there in great reverence.\" (Kenrick:\nEgypt, i. 238.)\n\n[32:2] \"The Egyptian priests chanted the _seven_ vowels as a hymn\naddressed to _Serapis_.\" (The Rosicrucians, p. 143.)\n\n[32:3] _Sura_: the Sun-god of the Hindoos.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE TOWER OF BABEL.\n\n\nWe are informed that, at one time, \"the whole earth was of one language,\nand of one speech. And it came to pass, as they (the inhabitants of the\nearth) journeyed from the East, that they found a plain in the land of\nShinar, and they dwelt there.\n\n\"And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them\nthoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.\n\n\"And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, _whose top\nmay reach unto heaven_, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered\nabroad upon the face of the whole earth. _And the Lord came down to see\nthe city and the tower_, which the children of men builded. And the Lord\nsaid, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and\nthis they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them,\nwhich they have imagined to do. Go to, _let us go down_, and there\nconfound their language, that they may not understand one another's\nspeech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of\nall the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the\nname of it called _Babel_, because the Lord did there confound the\nlanguage of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them\nabroad upon the face of all the earth.\"[33:1]\n\nSuch is the \"Scripture\" account of the origin of languages, which\ndiffers somewhat from the ideas of Prof. Max M\u00fcller and other\nphilologists.\n\nBishop Colenso tells us that:\n\n     \"The story of the dispensation of tongues is connected by the\n     Jehovistic writer with the famous unfinished temple of\n     _Belus_, of which probably some wonderful reports had reached\n     him. . . . The derivation of the name _Babel_ from the Hebrew\n     word _babal_ (confound) which seems to be the connecting point\n     between the story and the tower of Babel, _is altogether\n     incorrect_.\"[33:2]\n\nThe literal meaning of the word being _house_, or _court_, or _gate_ of\nBel, or gate of God.[34:1]\n\nJohn Fiske confirms this statement by saying:\n\n     \"The name '_Babel_' is really '_Bab-il_', or '_The Gate of\n     God_'; but the Hebrew writer _erroneously_ derives the word\n     from the root '_babal_'--to confuse--and hence arises the\n     _mystical explanation_, that Babel was a place where human\n     speech became confused.\"[34:2]\n\nThe \"wonderful reports\" that reached the Jehovistic writer who inserted\nthis tale into the Hebrew Scriptures, were from the Chaldean account of\nthe confusion of tongues. It is related by _Berosus_ as follows:\n\nThe first inhabitants of the earth, glorying in their strength and\nsize,[34:3] and despising the gods, undertook to raise a tower whose top\nshould reach the sky, in the place where Babylon now stands. But when it\napproached the heavens, the winds assisted the gods, and overthrew the\nwork of the contrivers, and also introduced a diversity of tongues among\nmen, who till that time had all spoken the same language. The ruins of\nthis tower are said to be still in Babylon.[34:4]\n\nJosephus, the Jewish historian, says that it was _Nimrod_ who built the\ntower, that he was a very wicked man, and that the tower was built in\ncase the Lord should have a mind to drown the world again. He continues\nhis account by saying that when Nimrod proposed the building of this\ntower, the multitude were very ready to follow the proposition, as they\ncould then avenge themselves on God for destroying their forefathers.\n\n     \"And they built a tower, neither sparing any pains nor being\n     in any degree negligent about the work. And by reason of the\n     multitude of hands employed on it, it grew very high, sooner\n     than any one could expect. . . . . It was built of burnt\n     brick, cemented together, with mortar made of bitumen, that it\n     might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they had\n     acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly,\n     _since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the\n     former sinners_, but he caused a tumult among them, by\n     producing in them divers languages, and causing, that through\n     the multitude of those languages they should not be able to\n     understand one another. The place where they built the tower\n     is now called Babylon.\"[34:5]\n\nThe tower in Babylonia, which seems to have been a foundation for the\nlegend of the confusion of tongues to be built upon, was evidently\noriginally built for _astronomical purposes_.[35:1] This is clearly seen\nfrom the fact that it was called the \"Stages of the Seven\nSpheres,\"[35:2] and that each one of these stages was consecrated to the\nSun, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury.[35:3]\nNebuchadnezzar says of it in his _cylinders_:\n\n     \"The building named the 'Stages of the Seven Spheres,' which\n     was the tower of Borsippa (Babel), had been built by a former\n     king. He had completed forty-two cubits, but he did not finish\n     its head. From the lapse of time, it had become ruined; they\n     had not taken care of the exits of the waters, so the rain and\n     wet had penetrated into the brick-work; the casing of burnt\n     brick had bulged out, and the terraces of crude brick lay\n     scattered in heaps. Merobach, my great Lord, inclined my heart\n     to repair the building. I did not change its site, nor did I\n     destroy its foundation, but, in a fortunate month, and upon an\n     auspicious day, I undertook the rebuilding of the crude brick\n     terraces and burnt brick casing, &c., &c.\"[35:4]\n\nThere is not a word said here in these cylinders about the confusion of\ntongues, nor anything pertaining to it. The ruins of this ancient tower\nbeing there in Babylonia, and a legend of how the gods confused the\nspeech of mankind also being among them, it was very convenient to point\nto these ruins as evidence that the story was true, just as the ancient\nMexicans pointed to the ruins of the tower of Cholula, as evidence of\nthe truth of the similar story which they had among them, and just as\nmany nations pointed to the remains of aquatic animals on the tops of\nmountains, as evidence of the truth of the deluge story.\n\nThe _Armenian_ tradition of the \"Confusion of Tongues\" was to this\neffect:\n\nThe world was formerly inhabited by men \"with strong bodies and huge\nsize\" (giants). These men being full of pride and envy, \"they formed a\ngodless resolve to build a high tower; but whilst they were engaged on\nthe undertaking, a fearful wind overthrew it, which the wrath of God had\nsent against it. _Unknown words were at the same time blown about among\nmen_, wherefore arose strife and confusion.\"[35:5]\n\nThe _Hindoo_ legend of the \"Confusion of Tongues,\" is as follows:\n\nThere grew in the centre of the earth, the wonderful \"_World Tree_,\" or\nthe \"_Knowledge Tree_.\" It was so tall that it reached almost to heaven.\n\"It said in its heart: 'I shall hold my head in heaven, and spread my\nbranches over all the earth, and gather all men together under my\nshadow, and protect them, and prevent them from separating.' But Brahma,\nto punish the pride of the tree, cut off its branches and cast them down\non the earth, when they sprang up as _Wata trees, and made differences\nof belief, and speech, and customs_, to prevail on the earth, to\ndisperse men over its surface.\"[36:1]\n\nTraces of a somewhat similar story have also been met with among the\n_Mongolian Tharus_ in the north of India, and, according to Dr.\nLivingston, among the Africans of Lake _Nganu_.[36:2] The ancient\n_Esthonians_[36:3] had a similar myth which they called \"The Cooking of\nLanguages;\" so also had the ancient inhabitants of the continent of\n_Australia_.[36:4] The story was found among the ancient Mexicans, and\nwas related as follows:\n\nThose, with their descendants, who were saved from the deluge which\ndestroyed all mankind, excepting the few saved in the ark, resolved to\nbuild a tower which would reach to the skies. The object of this was to\nsee what was going on in Heaven, and also to have a place of refuge in\ncase of another deluge.[36:5]\n\nThe job was superintended by one of the _seven_ who were saved from the\nflood.[36:6] He was a _giant_ called Xelhua, surnamed \"the\nArchitect.\"[36:7]\n\nXelhua ordered bricks to be made in the province of Tlamanalco, at the\nfoot of the Sierra of Cocotl, and to be conveyed to _Cholula_, where the\ntower was to be built. For this purpose, he placed a file of men\nreaching from the Sierra to Cholula, who passed the bricks from hand to\nhand.[36:8] The gods beheld with wrath this edifice,--the top of which\nwas nearing the clouds,--and were much irritated at the daring attempt\nof Xelhua. They therefore hurled fire from Heaven upon the pyramid,\nwhich threw it down, and killed many of the workmen. The work was then\ndiscontinued,[36:9] as each family interested in the building of the\ntower, _received a language of their own_,[36:10] and the builders could\nnot understand each other.\n\nDr. Delitzsch must have been astonished upon coming across this legend;\nfor he says:\n\n     \"_Actually_ the Mexicans had a legend of a _tower-building_ as\n     well as of a _flood_. Xelhua, one of the _seven giants_\n     rescued from the flood, built the great pyramid of Cholula, in\n     order to reach heaven, until the gods, angry at his audacity,\n     threw fire upon the building and broke it down, whereupon\n     every separate family received a language of its own.\"[37:1]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans pointed to the ruins of a tower at Cholula as\nevidence of the truth of their story. This tower was seen by Humboldt\nand Lord Kingsborough, and described by them.[37:2]\n\nWe may say then, with Dr. Kalisch, that:\n\n     \"Most of the ancient nations possessed myths concerning\n     impious giants who attempted to storm heaven, either to share\n     it with the immortal gods, or to expel them from it. In some\n     of these fables _the confusion of tongues_ is represented as\n     the punishment inflicted by the deities for such\n     wickedness.\"[37:3]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[33:1] Genesis xi. 1-9.\n\n[33:2] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 268.\n\n[34:1] Ibid. p. 268. See also Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 90.\n\n[34:2] Myths and Myth-makers, p. 72. See also Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica,\nart. \"Babel.\"\n\n[34:3] \"There were _giants_ in the earth in those days.\" (Genesis vi.\n4.)\n\n[34:4] Quoted by Rev. S. Baring-Gould: Legends of the Patriarchs, p.\n147. See also Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 48, and Volney's\nResearches in Ancient History, pp. 130, 131.\n\n[34:5] Jewish Antiquities, book 1, ch. iv. p. 30.\n\n[35:1] \"Diodorus states that the great tower of the temple of Belus was\nused by the Chaldeans as an _observatory_.\" (Smith's Bible Dictionary,\nart. \"Babel.\")\n\n[35:2] The Hindoos had a sacred _Mount Meru_, the abode of the gods.\nThis mountain was supposed to consist of _seven stages_, increasing in\nsanctity as they ascended. Many of the Hindoo temples, or rather altars,\nwere \"studied transcripts of the sacred Mount Meru;\" that is, they were\nbuilt, like the tower of Babel, in _seven stages_. Within the upper\ndwelt Brahm. (See Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 107.) Herodotus tells us\nthat the upper stage of the tower of Babel was the abode of the god\nBelus.\n\n[35:3] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 269. See also Bunsen: The\nAngel Messiah, p. 106.\n\n[35:4] Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 484.\n\n[35:5] Legends of the Patriarchs, pp. 148, 149.\n\n[36:1] Ibid. p. 148. The ancient _Scandinavians_ had a legend of a\nsomewhat similar tree. \"The Mundane Tree,\" called _Yggdrasill_, was in\nthe centre of the earth; its branches covered over the surface of the\nearth, and its top reached to the highest heaven. (See Mallet's Northern\nAntiquities.)\n\n[36:2] Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, art. \"Babel.\"\n\n[36:3] _Esthonia_ is one of the three Baltic, or so-called, provinces of\nRussia.\n\n[36:4] Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, art. \"Babel.\"\n\n[36:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 27.\n\n[36:6] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204.\n\n[36:7] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 96.\n\n[36:8] Ibid.\n\n[36:9] Ibid., and Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204.\n\n[36:10] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 272.\n\n[37:1] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p.\n272.\n\n[37:2] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 97. Lord Kingsborough:\nMexican Antiquities.\n\n[37:3] Com. on Old Test. vol. i. p. 196.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.\n\n\nThe story of the trial of Abraham's faith--when he is ordered by the\nLord to sacrifice his only son Isaac--is to be found in Genesis xxii.\n1-19, and is as follows:\n\n     \"And it came to pass . . . that God did tempt Abraham, and\n     said unto him: 'Abraham,' and he said: 'Behold, here I am.'\n     And he (God) said: 'Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac,\n     whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and\n     offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains\n     which I will tell thee of.'\n\n     \"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his\n     ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his\n     son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up\n     and went into the place which God had told him. . . . (When\n     Abraham was near the appointed place) he said unto his young\n     men: 'Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go\n     yonder and worship, and come again to thee. And Abraham took\n     the wood for the burnt offering, and laid it upon (the\n     shoulders of) Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his hand,\n     and a knife, and they went both of them together. And Isaac\n     spake unto Abraham his father, and said: 'Behold the fire and\n     the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' And\n     Abraham said: 'My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a\n     burnt offering.' So they went both of them together, and they\n     came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built\n     an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac\n     his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham\n     stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.\n     And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and\n     said: 'Abraham! Abraham! lay not thine hand upon the lad,\n     neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that thou\n     fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine\n     only son from me.'\n\n     \"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind\n     him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went\n     and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in\n     the stead of his son. . . . And the angel of the Lord called unto\n     Abraham, out of heaven, the second time, and said: 'By myself\n     have I _sworn_ saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this\n     thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, . . . I\n     will bless thee, and . . . I will multiply thy seed as the\n     stars in the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea\n     shore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And\n     in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blest,\n     because thou hast obeyed my voice.' So Abraham returned unto\n     his young men, and they rose up and went together to\n     Beer-sheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.\"\n\nThere is a Hindoo story related to the S\u00e2nkh\u00e2yana-s\u00fbtras, which, in\nsubstance, is as follows: King Hariscandra had no son; he then prayed to\nVaruna, promising, that if a son were born to him, he would sacrifice\nthe child to the god. Then a son was born to him, called Rohita. When\nRohita was grown up his father one day told him of the vow he had made\nto Varuna, and bade him prepare to be sacrificed. The son objected to\nbeing killed and ran away from his father's house. For six years he\nwandered in the forest, and at last met a starving Brahman. Him he\npersuaded to sell one of his sons named Sunahsepha, for a hundred cows.\nThis boy was bought by Rohita and taken to Hariscandra and about to be\nsacrificed to Varuna as a substitute for Rohita, when, on praying to the\ngods with verses from the Veda, he was released by them.[39:1]\n\nThere was an ancient _Phenician_ story, written by Sanchoniathon, who\nwrote about 1300 years before our era, which is as follows:\n\n     \"Saturn, whom the Phoenicians call _Israel_, had by a nymph of\n     the country a _male_ child whom he named Jeoud, that is, _one\n     and only_. On the breaking out of a war, which brought the\n     country into imminent danger, Saturn erected an altar, brought\n     to it his son, clothed in royal garments, and sacrificed\n     him.\"[39:2]\n\nThere is also a _Grecian_ fable to the effect that one Agamemnon had a\ndaughter whom he dearly loved, and she was deserving of his affection.\nHe was commanded by God, through the Delphic Oracle, _to offer her up as\na sacrifice_. Her father long resisted the demand, but finally\nsuccumbed. Before the fatal blow had been struck, however, the goddess\nArtemis or Ashtoreth interfered, and carried the maiden away, whilst in\nher place was substituted a stag.[39:3]\n\nAnother similar _Grecian_ fable relates that:\n\n     \"When the Greek army was detained at Aulis, by contrary winds,\n     the augurs being consulted, declared that one of the kings had\n     offended Diana, and she demanded the sacrifice of his daughter\n     Iphigenia. It was like taking the father's life-blood, but he\n     was persuaded that it was his duty to submit for the good of\n     his country. The maiden was brought forth for sacrifice, in\n     spite of her tears and supplications; but just as the priest\n     was about to strike the fatal blow, Iphigenia suddenly\n     disappeared, and a goat of uncommon beauty stood in her\n     place.\"[39:4]\n\nThere is yet still another, which belongs to the same country, and is\nrelated thus:\n\n     \"In _Sparta_, it being declared upon one occasion that the\n     gods demanded a human victim, the choice was made by lot, and\n     fell on a damsel named Helena. But when all was in readiness,\n     an eagle descended, carried away the priest's knife, and laid\n     it on the head of a heifer, which was sacrificed in her\n     stead.\"[40:1]\n\nThe story of Abraham and Isaac was written at a time when the Mosaic\nparty in Israel was endeavoring to abolish idolatry among their people.\nThey were offering up _human sacrifices_ to their gods Moloch, Baal, and\nChemosh, and the priestly author of this story was trying to make the\npeople think that the Lord had abolished such offerings, as far back as\nthe time of Abraham. The Grecian legends, which he had evidently heard,\nmay have given him the idea.[40:2]\n\nHuman offerings to the gods were at one time almost universal. In the\nearliest ages the offerings were simple, and such as shepherds and\nrustics could present. They loaded the altars of the gods with the first\nfruits of their crops, and the choicest products of the earth.\nAfterwards they sacrificed animals. When they had once laid it down as a\nprinciple that the effusion of the blood of these animals appeased the\nanger of the gods, and that their justice turned aside upon the victims\nthose strokes which were destined for men, their great care was for\nnothing more than to conciliate their favor by so easy a method. It is\nthe nature of violent desires and excessive fear to know no bounds, and\ntherefore, when they would ask for any favor which they ardently wished\nfor, or would deprecate some public calamity which they feared, the\nblood of animals was not deemed a price sufficient, but they began to\nshed that of men. It is probable, as we have said, that this barbarous\npractice was formerly almost universal, and that it is of very remote\nantiquity. In time of war the captives were chosen for this purpose, but\nin time of peace they took the slaves. The choice was partly regulated\nby the opinion of the bystanders, and partly by lot. But they did not\nalways sacrifice such mean persons. In great calamities, in a pressing\nfamine, for example, if the people thought they had some pretext to\nimpute the cause of it to their _king_, they even sacrificed him without\nhesitation, as the _highest price_ with which they could purchase the\nDivine favor. In this manner, the first King of Vermaland (a province of\nSweden) was burnt in honor of Odin, the Supreme God, to put an end to a\ngreat dearth; as we read in the history of Norway. The kings, in their\nturn, did not spare the blood of their subjects; and many of them even\nshed that of their children. Earl Hakon, of Norway, offered his son in\nsacrifice, to obtain of Odin the victory over the Jomsburg pirates. Aun,\nKing of Sweden, devoted to Odin the blood of his nine sons, to prevail\non that god to prolong his life. Some of the kings of Israel offered up\ntheir first-born sons as a sacrifice to the god Baal or Moloch.\n\nThe altar of Moloch reeked with blood. Children were sacrificed and\nburned in the fire to him, while trumpets and flutes drowned their\nscreams, and the mothers looked on, and were bound to restrain their\ntears.\n\nThe Phenicians offered to the gods, in times of war and drought, the\nfairest of their children. The books of Sanchoniathon and Byblian Philo\nare full of accounts of such sacrifices. In Byblos boys were immolated\nto Adonis; and, on the founding of a city or colony, a sacrifice of a\nvast number of children was solemnized, in the hopes of thereby averting\nmisfortune from the new settlement. The Phenicians, according to\nEusebius, yearly sacrificed their dearest, and even their only children,\nto Saturn. The bones of the victims were preserved in the temple of\nMoloch, in a golden ark, which was carried by the Phenicians with them\nto war.[41:1] Like the Fijians of the present day, those people\nconsidered their gods as beings like themselves. They loved and they\nhated; they were proud and revengeful; they were, in fact, savages like\nthemselves.\n\nIf the eldest born of the family of Athamas entered the temple of the\nLaphystian Jupiter, at Alos, in Achaia, he was sacrificed, crowned with\ngarlands, like an animal victim.[41:2]\n\nThe offering of human sacrifices to the Sun was extensively practiced in\nMexico and Peru, before the establishment of Christianity.[41:3]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[39:1] See M\u00fcller's Hist. Sanscrit Literature; and Williams' Indian\nWisdom, p. 29.\n\n[39:2] Quoted by Count de Volney; New Researches in Anc't Hist., p. 144.\n\n[39:3] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 104.\n\n[39:4] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 302.\n\n[40:1] Ibid.\n\n[40:2] See chapter xi.\n\n[41:1] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 368.\n\n[41:2] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 448.\n\n[41:3] See Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nJACOB'S VISION OF THE LADDER.\n\n\nIn the 28th chapter of Genesis, we are told that Isaac, after blessing\nhis son Jacob, sent him to Padan-aram, to take a daughter of Laban's\n(his mother's brother) to wife. Jacob, obeying his father, \"went out\nfrom Beer-sheba (where he dwelt), and went towards Haran. And he lighted\nupon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was\nset. And he took of the stones of the place, and put them for his\npillow, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold,\na _ladder_ set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. _And\nhe beheld the angels of God ascending and descending on it._ And,\nbehold, the Lord stood above it, and said: 'I am the Lord God of Abraham\nthy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee\nwill I give it, and to thy seed.' . . . And Jacob awoke out of his\nsleep, and he said: 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I know it\nnot.' And he was afraid, and said: 'How _dreadful_ is this place, _this\nis none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven_.'\nAnd Jacob rose up early in the morning, _and took the stone that he had\nput for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the\ntop of it_. And he called the name of that place _Beth-el_.\"\n\nThe doctrine of Metempsychosis has evidently something to do with this\nlegend. It means, in the theological acceptation of the term, the\nsupposed transition of the soul after death, into another substance or\nbody than that which it occupied before. The belief in such a transition\nwas common to the most civilized, and the most uncivilized, nations of\nthe earth.[42:1]\n\nIt was believed in, and taught by, the _Brahminical Hindoos_,[42:2] the\n_Buddhists_,[42:3] the natives of _Egypt_,[42:4] several philosophers of\nancient _Greece_,[43:1] the ancient _Druids_,[43:2] the natives of\n_Madagascar_,[43:3] several tribes of _Africa_,[43:4] and _North\nAmerica_,[43:5] the ancient _Mexicans_,[43:4] and by some _Jewish_ and\n_Christian_ sects.[43:5]\n\n     \"It deserves notice, that in both of these religions (_i. e._,\n     _Jewish_ and _Christian_), it found adherents as well in\n     ancient as in modern times. Among the _Jews_, the doctrine of\n     transmigration--the Gilgul Neshamoth--was taught in the\n     mystical system of the _Kabbala_.\"[43:6]\n\n     \"All the souls,\" the spiritual code of this system says, \"are\n     subject to the trials of transmigration; and men do not know\n     which are the ways of the Most High in their regard.\" \"The\n     principle, in short, of the _Kabbala_, is the same as that of\n     _Brahmanism_.\"\n\n     \"On the ground of this doctrine, which was shared in by Rabbis\n     of the highest renown, it was held, for instance, that the\n     soul of _Adam_ migrated into _David_, and will come in the\n     _Messiah_; that the soul of _Japhet_ is the same as that of\n     _Simeon_, and the soul of _Terah_, migrated into _Job_.\"\n\n     \"Of all these transmigrations, biblical instances are adduced\n     according to their mode of interpretation--in the writings of\n     Rabbi Manasse ben Israel, Rabbi Naphtali, Rabbi Meyer ben\n     Gabbai, Rabbi Ruben, in the Jalkut Khadash, and other works of\n     a similar character.\"[43:4]\n\nThe doctrine is thus described by Ovid, in the language of Dryden:\n\n     \"What feels the body when the soul expires,\n     By time corrupted, or consumed by fires?\n     Nor dies the spirit, but new life repeats\n     Into other forms, and only changes seats.\n     Ev'n I, who these mysterious truths declare,\n     Was once Euphorbus in the Trojan war;\n     My name and lineage I remember well,\n     And how in fight by Spartan's King I fell.\n     In Argive Juno's fame I late beheld\n     My buckler hung on high, and own'd my former shield\n     Then death, so called, is but old matter dressed\n     In some new figure, and a varied vest.\n     Thus all things are but alter'd, nothing dies,\n     And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.\"\n\nThe Jews undoubtedly learned this doctrine after they had been subdued\nby, and become acquainted with other nations; and the writer of this\nstory, whoever he may have been, was evidently endeavoring to strengthen\nthe belief in this doctrine--he being an advocate of it--by inventing\nthis story, _and making Jacob a witness to the truth of it_. Jacob would\nhave been looked upon at the time the story was written (_i. e._, after\nthe Babylonian captivity), as of great authority. We know that several\nwriters of portions of the Old Testament have written for similar\npurposes. As an illustration, we may mention the book of _Esther_. This\nbook was written for the purpose of explaining the origin of the\nfestival of _Purim_, and _to encourage the Israelites to adopt it_. The\nwriter, _who was an advocate of the feast_, lived long after the\nBabylonish captivity, and is quite unknown.[44:1]\n\nThe writer of the seventeenth chapter of Matthew has made Jesus a\nteacher of the doctrine of Transmigration.\n\nThe Lord had promised that he would send Elijah (Elias) the prophet,\n\"before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,\"[44:2] and\nJesus is made to say that he had already come, or, _that his soul had\ntransmigrated unto the body of John the Baptist_, and they knew it\nnot.[44:3]\n\nAnd in Mark (viii. 27) we are told that Jesus asked his disciples,\nsaying unto them; \"Whom do men say that _I_ am?\" whereupon they answer:\n\"Some say Elias; and others, one of the prophets;\" or, in other words,\nthat the soul of Elias, or one of the prophets, had transmigrated into\nthe body of Jesus. In John (ix. 1, 2), we are told that Jesus and his\ndisciples seeing a man \"_which was blind from his birth_,\" the disciples\nasked him, saying; \"Master, who did sin, _this man_ (in some former\nstate) or his parents.\" Being _born_ blind, how else could he sin,\n_unless in some former state_? These passages result from the fact,\nwhich we have already noticed, that some of the Jewish and Christian\nsects believed in the doctrine of Metempsychosis.\n\nAccording to some Jewish authors, _Adam_ was re-produced in _Noah_,\n_Elijah_, and other Bible celebrities.[44:4]\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Faber says:\n\n     \"Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, might in outward appearance be\n     _different_ men, but they were really the _self-same_ divine\n     persons who had been promised as the seed of the woman,\n     successively animating various human bodies.\"[44:5]\n\nWe have stated as our belief that the vision which the writer of the\ntwenty-eighth chapter of Genesis has made Jacob to witness, was intended\nto strengthen the belief in the doctrine of the Metempsychosis, that he\nwas simply seeing the souls of men ascending and descending from heaven\n_on a ladder_, during their transmigrations.\n\nWe will now give our reasons for thinking so.\n\nThe learned Thomas Maurice tells us that:\n\nThe _Indians_ had, in remote ages, in their system of theology, _the\nsidereal ladder of seven gates_, which described, in a symbolical\nmanner, the _ascending and descending of the souls of men_.[45:1]\n\nWe are also informed by Origen that:\n\n     This descent (_i. e._, the descent of souls from heaven to\n     enter into some body), was described in a symbolical manner,\n     _by a ladder which was represented as reaching from heaven to\n     earth_, and divided into _seven_ stages, at each of which was\n     figured a gate; the eighth gate was at the top of the ladder,\n     which belonged to the sphere of the celestial firmament.[45:2]\n\nThat souls dwell in the _Galaxy_ was a thought familiar to the\n_Pythagoreans_, who gave it on their master's word, that the souls that\ncrowd there, _descend and appear to men as dreams_.[45:3]\n\nThe fancy of the _Manicheans_ also transferred pure souls to this column\nof light, _whence they could come down to earth and again return_.[45:4]\n\nPaintings representing a scene of this kind may be seen in works of art\nillustrative of _Indian Mythology_.\n\nMaurice speaks of one, in which he says:\n\n     \"The souls of men are represented as ascending and descending\n     (on a ladder), according to the received opinion of the\n     sidereal Metempsychosis in Asia.\"[45:5]\n\nMons. Dupuis tells us that:\n\n     \"Among the mysterious pictures of the _Initiation_, in the\n     cave of the Persian God Mithras, there was exposed to the view\n     _the descent of the souls to the earth, and their return to\n     heaven_, through the seven planetary spheres.\"[45:6]\n\nAnd Count de Volney says:\n\n     \"In the cave of Mithra _was a ladder with seven steps_,\n     representing the seven spheres of the planets by means of\n     which _souls ascended and descended_. This is precisely the\n     ladder of Jacob's vision. There is in the Royal Library (of\n     France) a superb volume of pictures of the Indian gods, in\n     which the ladder is represented with the souls of men\n     ascending it.\"[45:7]\n\nIn several of the Egyptian sculptures also, the Transmigration of Souls\nis represented by the ascending and descending of souls from heaven to\nearth, _on a flight of steps_, and, as the souls of wicked men were\nsupposed to enter pigs and other animals, therefore pigs, monkeys, &c.,\nare to be seen on the steps, descending from heaven.[45:8]\n\n     \"And he dreamed, _and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and\n     the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God\n     ascending and descending on it_.\"\n\nThese are the words of the sacred text. Can anything be more\nconvincing? It continues thus:\n\n     \"And Jacob awoke out of his sleep . . . and he was afraid, and\n     said . . . this is none other but the house of God, _and this\n     is the gate of heaven_.\"\n\nHere we have \"the gate of heaven,\" mentioned by Origen in describing the\n_Metempsychosis_.\n\nAccording to the ancients, the _top_ of this ladder was supposed to\nreach _the throne_ of _the most high God_. This corresponds exactly with\nthe vision of Jacob. The ladder which he is made to see reached unto\nheaven, _and the Lord stood above it._[46:1]\n\n     \"And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the _stone_\n     that he had put for his pillow, _and set it up for a pillar,\n     and poured oil upon the top of it_.\"[46:2]\n\nThis concluding portion to the story has evidently an allusion to\n_Phallic_[46:3] worship. There is scarcely a nation of antiquity which\ndid not set up these stones (as emblems of the reproductive power of\nnature) and worship them. Dr. Oort, speaking of this, says:\n\nFew forms of worship were so universal in ancient times as the homage\npaid to sacred stones. In the history of the religion of even the most\ncivilized peoples, such as the Greeks, Romans, Hindoos, Arabs and\nGermans, we find traces of this form of worship.[46:4] The ancient\n_Druids_ of Britain also worshiped sacred stones, which were _set up on\nend_.[46:5]\n\nPausanias, an eminent Greek historian, says:\n\n     \"The _Hermiac_ statue, which they venerate in Cyllen\u00ea above\n     other _symbols_, is an erect _Phallus_ on a pedestal.\"[46:6]\n\nThis was nothing more than a smooth, oblong _stone_, set erect on a flat\none.[46:7]\n\nThe learned Dr. Ginsburg, in his \"Life of Levita,\" alludes to the\nancient mode of worship offered to the heathen deity Hermes, or Mercury.\nA \"Hermes\" (_i. e._, a _stone_) was frequently set up on the road-side,\nand each traveller, as he passed by, paid his homage to the deity by\neither throwing a stone on the heap (which was thus collected), or by\n_anointing_ it. This \"Hermes\" was the symbol of Phallus.[46:8]\n\nNow, when we find that _this form of worship was very prevalent among\nthe Israelites_,[47:1] that these sacred stones which were \"set up,\"\nwere called (by the heathen), B\u00c6TY-LI,[47:2] (which is not unlike\nBETH-EL), and that _they were anointed with oil_,[47:3] I think we have\nreasons for believing that the story of Jacob's _setting up_ a stone,\n_pouring oil upon it_, and calling the place _Beth-el_, \"has evidently\nan allusion to Phallic worship.\"[47:4]\n\nThe male and female powers of nature were denoted respectively by an\nupright and an oval emblem, and the conjunction of the two furnished at\nonce the altar and the _Ashera_, or grove, against which the Hebrew\nprophets lifted up their voices in earnest protest. In the kingdoms,\nboth of Judah and Israel, the rites connected with these emblems assumed\ntheir most corrupting form. Even in the temple itself, stood the\n_Ashera_, or the upright emblem, on the circular altar of Baal-Peor, the\nPriapos of the Jews, thus reproducing the _Linga_, and _Yoni_ of the\nHindu.[47:5] For this symbol, the women wove hangings, as the Athenian\nmaidens embroidered the sacred peplos for the ship presented to Ath\u00ean\u00ea,\nat the great Dionysiac festival. This _Ashera_, which, in the authorized\nEnglish version of the Old Testament is translated \"_grove_,\" was, in\nfact, a pole, or stem of a tree. It is reproduced in our modern\n\"Maypole,\" around which maidens dance, as maidens did of yore.[47:6]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[42:1] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Transmigration.\"\n\n[42:2] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Transmigration.\" Prichard's Mythology,\np. 213, and Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 59.\n\n[42:3] Ibid. Ernest de Bunsen says: \"The first traces of the doctrine of\nTransmigration of souls is to be found among the Brahmins and\nBuddhists.\" (The Angel Messiah, pp. 63, 64.)\n\n[42:4] Prichard's Mythology, pp. 213, 214.\n\n[43:1] Gross: The Heathen Religion. Also Chambers's Encyclo., art.\n\"Transmigration.\"\n\n[43:2] Ibid. Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 13; and Myths of the\nBritish Druids, p. 15.\n\n[43:3] Chambers's Encyclo.\n\n[43:4] Ibid.\n\n[43:5] Ibid. See also Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, pp. 63, 64. Dupuis, p.\n357. Josephus: Jewish Antiquities, book xviii. ch. 13. Dunlap: Son of\nthe Man, p. 94; and Beal: Hist. Buddha.\n\n[43:6] Chambers, art. \"Transmigration.\"\n\n[44:1] See The Religion of Israel, p. 18.\n\n[44:2] Malachi iv. 5.\n\n[44:3] Matthew xvii. 12, 13.\n\n[44:4] See Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 78.\n\n[44:5] Faber: Orig. Pagan Idol, vol. iii. p. 612; in Anacalypsis, vol.\ni. p. 210.\n\n[45:1] Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 202.\n\n[45:2] Contra Celsus, lib. vi. c. xxii.\n\n[45:3] Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 324.\n\n[45:4] Ibid.\n\n[45:5] Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 262.\n\n[45:6] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 344.\n\n[45:7] Volney's Ruins, p. 147, _note_.\n\n[45:8] See Child's Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 160, 162.\n\n[46:1] Genesis xxviii. 12, 13.\n\n[46:2] Genesis xxviii. 18, 19.\n\n[46:3] \"Phallic,\" from \"Phallus,\" a representation of the male\ngenerative organs. For further information on this subject, see the\nworks of R. Payne Knight, and Dr. Thomas Inman.\n\n[46:4] Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 175, 276. See, also, Knight:\nAncient Art and Mythology; and Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. and ii.\n\n[46:5] See Myths of the British Druids, p. 300; and Higgins: Celtic\nDruids.\n\n[46:6] Quoted by R. Payne Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 114,\n_note_.\n\n[46:7] See Illustrations in Dr. Inman's Pagan and Christian Symbolism.\n\n[46:8] See Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. pp. 543, 544.\n\n[47:1] Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 177, 178, 317, 321, 322.\n\n[47:2] Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 356.\n\n[47:3] Ibid.\n\n[47:4] We read in Bell's \"Pantheon of the Gods and Demi-Gods of\nAntiquity,\" under the head of BAELYLION, BAELYLIA or BAETYLOS, that they\nare \"_Anointed Stones_, worshiped among the Greeks, Phrygians, and other\nnations of the East;\" that \"these Baetylia were greatly venerated by the\nancient Heathen, many of their idols being no other;\" and that, \"in\nreality no sort of idol was more common in the East, than that of oblong\nstones _erected_, and hence termed by the Greeks _pillars_.\" The Rev.\nGeo. W. Cox, in his Aryan Mythology (vol. ii. p. 113), says: \"The\nerection of these stone columns or pillars, the forms of which in most\ncases tell their own story, are common throughout the East, some of the\nmost elaborate being found near Ghizni.\" And Mr. Wake (Phallism in\nAncient Religions, p. 60), says: \"Kiyun, or Kivan, the name of the deity\nsaid by Amos (v. 26), to have been worshiped in the wilderness by the\nHebrews, signifies GOD OF THE PILLAR.\"\n\n[47:5] We find that there was nothing gross or immoral in the worship of\nthe male and female generative organs among the ancients, when the\nsubject is properly understood. Being the most intimately connected with\nthe reproduction of life on earth, the _Linga_ became the symbol under\nwhich the _Sun_, invoked with a thousand names, has been worshiped\nthroughout the world _as the restorer of the powers of nature_ after the\nlong sleep or death of winter. But if the _Linga_ is the Sun-god in his\nmajesty, the _Yoni_ is the earth who yields her fruit under his\nfertilizing warmth.\n\nThe _Phallic tree_ is introduced into the narrative of the book of\nGenesis: but it is here called a tree, not of life, but of the knowledge\nof good and evil, that knowledge which dawns in the mind with the first\nconsciousness of difference between man and woman. In contrast with this\ntree of carnal indulgence, tending to death, is the tree of life,\ndenoting the higher existence for which man was designed, and which\nwould bring with it the happiness and the freedom of the children of\nGod. In the brazen serpent of the Pentateuch, the two emblems of the\n_cross_ and _serpent_, the quiescent and energising Phallos, are united.\n(See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 113, 116, 118.)\n\n[47:6] See Cox: Aryan Mytho., ii. 112, 113.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE EXODUS FROM EGYPT, AND PASSAGE THROUGH THE RED SEA.\n\n\nThe children of Israel, who were in bondage in Egypt, making bricks, and\nworking in the field,[48:1] were looked upon with compassion by the\nLord.[48:2] He heard their groaning, and remembered his covenant with\nAbraham,[48:3] with Isaac, and with Jacob. He, therefore, chose Moses\n(an Israelite, who had murdered an Egyptian,[48:4] and who, therefore,\nwas obliged to flee from Egypt, as Pharaoh sought to punish him), as his\nservant, to carry out his plans.\n\nMoses was at this time keeping the flock of Jeruth, his father-in-law,\nin the land of Midian. The angel of the Lord, or the Lord himself,\nappeared to him there, and said unto him:\n\n     \"I am the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham, the God of\n     Isaac, and the God of Jacob. . . . I have seen the affliction of\n     _my people_ which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by\n     reason of their tormentors; for I know their sorrows. And I am\n     _come down_ to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians,\n     and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and a\n     large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. I will send\n     thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the\n     children of Israel, out of Egypt.\"\n\nThen Moses said unto the Lord:\n\n     \"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall\n     say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,\n     and they shall say unto me: What is his name? What shall I say\n     unto them?\"\n\nThen God said unto Moses:\n\n     \"I AM THAT I AM.\"[48:5] \"Thus shalt thou say unto the children\n     of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.\"[48:6]\n\nAnd God said, moreover, unto Moses:\n\n     \"Go and gather the Elders of Israel together, and say unto\n     them: the Lord God of your fathers . . . appeared unto me,\n     saying: 'I have surely visited you, and seen that which is\n     done to you in Egypt. And I have said, I will bring you up out\n     of the affliction of Egypt . . . unto a land flowing with milk\n     and honey.' And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou\n     shall come, thou and the Elders of Israel, unto the king of\n     Egypt, and ye shall say unto him: 'the Lord God of the Hebrews\n     hath met with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, _three\n     days journey in the wilderness_, that we may sacrifice to the\n     Lord our God.'[49:1]\n\n     \"_I am sure_ that the king of Egypt will _not_ let you go, no,\n     not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and\n     smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst\n     thereof: _and after that he will let you go_. And I will give\n     this people (the Hebrews) favor in the sight of the Egyptians,\n     and it shall come to pass, that when ye go, _ye shall not go\n     empty_. But every woman shall _borrow_ of her neighbor, and of\n     her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver and jewels\n     of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them upon your sons and\n     upon your daughters, _and ye shall spoil the\n     Egyptians_.\"[49:2]\n\nThe Lord again appeared unto Moses, in Midian, and said:\n\n     \"Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought\n     thy life. And Moses took his wife, and his son, and set them\n     upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses\n     took the _rod of God_ (which the Lord had given him) in his\n     hand.\"[49:3]\n\nUpon arriving in Egypt, Moses tells his brother Aaron, \"all the words of\nthe Lord,\" and Aaron tells all the children of Israel. Moses, who was\nnot eloquent, but had a slow speech,[49:4] uses Aaron as his\nspokesman.[49:5] They then appear unto Pharaoh, and falsify, \"_according\nto the commands of the Lord_,\" saying: \"Let us go, we pray thee, _three\ndays' journey in the desert_, and sacrifice unto the Lord our\nGod.\"[49:6]\n\nThe Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart, so that he does not let the children\nof Israel go to sacrifice unto their God, in the desert.\n\nMoses and Aaron continue interceding with him, however, and, for the\npurpose of showing their miraculous powers, they change their rods into\nserpents, the river into blood, cause a plague of frogs and lice, and a\nswarm of flies, &c., &c., to appear. Most of these feats were imitated\nby the magicians of Egypt. Finally, the first-born of Egypt are slain,\nwhen Pharaoh, after having had his heart hardened, by the Lord, over and\nover again, consents to let Moses and the children of Israel go to serve\ntheir God, _as they had said_, that is, for _three_ days.\n\nThe Lord having given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,\nthey borrowed of them jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment,\n\"_according to the commands of the Lord_.\" And they journeyed toward\nSuccoth, there being _six hundred thousand, besides children_.[50:1]\n\n     \"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in\n     Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before\n     them by day, _in a pillar of a cloud_, to lead them the way;\n     and by night _in a pillar of fire_, to give them light to go\n     by day and night.\"[50:2]\n\n     \"And it was told the king of Egypt, that the people fled. . . .\n     And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him.\n     And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots\n     of Egypt, . . . and he pursued after the children of Israel,\n     and overtook them encamping beside the sea. . . . And when\n     Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel . . . were sore\n     afraid, and . . . (they) cried out unto the Lord. . . . And\n     the Lord said unto Moses, . . . speak unto the children of\n     Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and\n     stretch out thine hand over the Red Sea, and divide it, and\n     the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the\n     midst of the sea. . . . And Moses stretched out his hand over\n     the sea,[50:3] and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a\n     strong east wind that night, and made the sea dry land, and\n     the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into\n     the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; _and the waters were\n     a wall unto them upon the right hand, and on their left_. And\n     the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of\n     the sea, _even all Pharaoh's horses, and his chariots, and his\n     horse-men_.\"\n\nAfter the children of Israel had landed on the other side of the sea,\nthe Lord said unto Moses:\n\n     \"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come\n     again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their\n     horse-men. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea,\n     and the sea returned to his strength. . . . And the Lord\n     overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the\n     waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horse-men,\n     and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after\n     them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the\n     children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the\n     sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand,\n     and on their left. . . . And Israel saw the great work which\n     the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the\n     Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.\"[51:1]\n\nThe writer of this story, whoever he may have been, was evidently\nfamiliar with the legends related of the Sun-god, _Bacchus_, as he has\ngiven Moses the credit of performing some of the miracles which were\nattributed to that god.\n\nIt is related in the hymns of Orpheus,[51:2] that Bacchus had a _rod_\nwith which he performed miracles, and which he could change into a\n_serpent_ at pleasure. _He passed the Red Sea, dry shod, at the head of\nhis army._ He divided the waters of the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, by\nthe touch of his rod, and passed through them dry-shod.[51:3] _By the\nsame mighty wand, he drew water from the rock_,[51:4] and wherever they\nmarched, the land flowed with wine, milk and honey.[51:5]\n\nProfessor Steinthal, speaking of Dionysus (Bacchus), says:\n\nLike Moses, he strikes fountains of wine and water out of the rock.\nAlmost all the acts of Moses correspond to those of the Sun-gods.[51:6]\n\nMons. Dupuis says:\n\n     \"Among the different miracles of Bacchus and his Bacchantes,\n     there are prodigies very similar to those which are attributed\n     to Moses; for instance, such as the sources of water which the\n     _former_ caused to sprout from the innermost of the\n     rocks.\"[51:7]\n\nIn Bell's Pantheon of the Gods and Heroes of Antiquity,[51:8] an account\nof the prodigies attributed to Bacchus is given; among these, are\nmentioned his striking water from the rock, with his magic wand, his\nturning a twig of ivy into a snake, his passing through the Red Sea and\nthe rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, and of his enjoying the light of the\nSun (while marching with his army in India), when the day was spent, and\nit was dark to others. All these are parallels too striking to be\naccidental.\n\nWe might also mention the fact, that Bacchus, as well as Moses was\ncalled the \"_Law-giver_,\" and that it was said of Bacchus, as well as of\nMoses, that his laws were written on _two tables of stone_.[52:1]\nBacchus was represented _horned_, and so was Moses.[52:2] Bacchus \"was\npicked up in a box, that floated on the water,\"[52:3] and so was\nMoses.[52:4] Bacchus had two mothers, one by nature, and one by\nadoption,[52:5] and so had Moses.[52:6] And, as we have already seen,\nBacchus and his army enjoyed the light of the Sun, during the night\ntime, and Moses and his army enjoyed the light of \"a pillar of fire, by\nnight.\"[52:7]\n\nIn regard to the children of Israel going out from the land of Egypt, we\nhave no doubt that such an occurrence took place, although not in the\nmanner, and not for such reasons, as is recorded by the _sacred\nhistorian_. We find, from other sources, what is evidently nearer the\ntruth.\n\nIt is related by the historian Choeremon, that, at one time, the land of\nEgypt was infested with disease, and through the advice of the sacred\nscribe Phritiphantes, the king caused the infected people (who were none\nother than the brick-making slaves, known as the children of Israel), to\nbe collected, _and driven out of the country_.[52:8]\n\n_Lysimachus_ relates that:\n\n     \"A filthy disease broke out in Egypt, and the Oracle of Ammon,\n     being consulted on the occasion, commanded the king to purify\n     the land _by driving out the Jews_ (who were infected with\n     leprosy, &c.), a race of men who were hateful to the\n     Gods.\"[52:9] \"_The whole multitude of the people were\n     accordingly collected and driven out into the\n     wilderness._\"[52:10]\n\n_Diodorus Siculus_, referring to this event, says:\n\n     \"In ancient times Egypt was afflicted with a great plague,\n     which was attributed to the anger of God, on account of the\n     multitude of foreigners in Egypt: by whom the rites of the\n     native religion were neglected. _The Egyptians accordingly\n     drove them out._ The most noble of them went under Cadmus and\n     Danaus to Greece, but the greater number followed _Moses_, a\n     wise and valiant leader, to Palestine.\"[52:11]\n\nAfter giving the different opinions concerning the origin of the Jewish\nnation, Tacitus, the Roman historian, says:\n\n     \"In this clash of opinions, _one point seems to be universally\n     admitted_. A pestilential disease, disfiguring the race of\n     man, and making the body an object of loathsome deformity,\n     spread all over Egypt. Bocchoris, at that time the reigning\n     monarch, consulted the oracle of Jupiter Hammon, and received\n     for answer, that the kingdom must be purified, by\n     exterminating the infected multitude, as a race of men\n     detested by the gods. After diligent search, the wretched\n     sufferers were collected together, and in a wild and barren\n     desert abandoned to their misery. In that distress, while the\n     vulgar herd was sunk in deep despair, Moses, one of their\n     number, reminded them, that, by the wisdom of his councils,\n     they had been already rescued out of impending danger.\n     Deserted as they were by men and gods, he told them, that if\n     they did not repose their confidence in him, as their chief by\n     divine commission, they had no resource left. His offer was\n     accepted. Their march began, they knew not whither. Want of\n     water was their chief distress. Worn out with fatigue, they\n     lay stretched on the bare earth, heart broken, ready to\n     expire, when a troop of wild asses, returning from pasture,\n     went up the steep ascent of a rock covered with a grove of\n     trees. The verdure of the herbage round the place suggested\n     the idea of springs near at hand. Moses traced the steps of\n     the animals, and discovered a plentiful vein of water. By this\n     relief the fainting multitude was raised from despair. They\n     pursued their journey for six days without intermission. On\n     the seventh day they made halt, and, having expelled the\n     natives, took possession of the country, where they built\n     their city, and dedicated their temple.\"[53:1]\n\nOther accounts, similar to these, might be added, among which may be\nmentioned that given by Manetho, an Egyptian priest, which is referred\nto by Josephus, the Jewish historian.\n\nAlthough the accounts quoted above are not exactly alike, _yet the main\npoints are the same_, which are to the effect that Egypt was infected\nwith disease owing to the foreigners (among whom were those who were\nafterwards styled \"the children of Israel\") that were in the country,\nand who were an unclean people, and that they were accordingly driven\nout into the wilderness.\n\nWhen we compare this statement with that recorded in Genesis, it does\nnot take long to decide which of the two is nearest the truth.\n\nEverything putrid, or that had a tendency to putridity, was carefully\navoided by the ancient Egyptians, and so strict were the Egyptian\npriests on this point, that they wore no garments made of any animal\nsubstance, circumcised themselves, and shaved their whole bodies, even\nto their eyebrows, lest they should unknowingly harbor any filth,\nexcrement or vermin, supposed to be bred from putrefaction.[53:2] We\nknow from the laws set down in _Leviticus_, that the Hebrews were not a\nremarkably clean race.\n\nJewish priests, _in making a history for their race_, have given us but\na shadow of truth here and there; it is almost wholly mythical. The\nauthor of \"The Religion of Israel,\" speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"The history of the religion of Israel _must start from the\n     sojourn_ of _the Israelites in Egypt_. Formerly it was usual\n     to take a much earlier starting-point, and to begin with a\n     religious discussion of the religious ideas of the\n     _Patriarchs_. And this was perfectly right, so long as the\n     accounts of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were considered\n     _historical_. _But now that a strict investigation has shown\n     us that all these stories are entirely unhistorical_, of\n     course we have to begin the history later on.\"[54:1]\n\nThe author of \"The Spirit History of Man,\" says:\n\n     \"The Hebrews came out of Egypt and settled among the\n     Canaanites. _They need not be traced beyond the Exodus. That\n     is their historical beginning._ It was very easy to cover up\n     this remote event by the recital of mythical traditions, and\n     to prefix to it an account of their origin in which the gods\n     (Patriarchs), should figure as their ancestors.\"[54:2]\n\nProfessor Goldzhier says:\n\n     \"The residence of the Hebrews in Egypt, and their exodus\n     thence under the guidance and training of an enthusiast for\n     the freedom of his tribe, form a series of strictly historical\n     facts, which find confirmation even in the documents of\n     ancient Egypt (which we have just shown). But the traditional\n     narratives of these events (were) _elaborated by the Hebrew\n     people_.\"[54:3]\n\nCount de Volney also observes that:\n\n     \"What Exodus says of their (the Israelites) servitude under\n     the king of Heliopolis, and of the oppression of their hosts,\n     the Egyptians, is extremely probable. _It is here their\n     history begins. All that precedes . . . is nothing but\n     mythology and cosmogony._\"[54:4]\n\nIn speaking of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, Dr. Knappert\nsays:\n\n     \"According to the tradition preserved in Genesis, it was the\n     promotion of Jacob's son, Joseph, to be viceroy of Egypt, that\n     brought about the migration of the sons of Israel from Canaan\n     to Goshen. The story goes that this Joseph was sold as a slave\n     by his brothers, and after many changes of fortune received\n     the vice-regal office at Pharaoh's hands through his skill in\n     interpreting dreams. Famine drives his brothers--and\n     afterwards his father--to him, and the Egyptian prince gives\n     them the land of Goshen to live in. _It is by imagining all\n     this that the legend tries to account for the fact that\n     Israel passed some time in Egypt._ But we must look for the\n     real explanation in a migration of certain tribes which could\n     not establish or maintain themselves in Canaan, and were\n     forced to move further on.\n\n     \"We find a passage in Flavius Josephus, from which it appears\n     that in Egypt, too, a recollection survived of the sojourn of\n     some foreign tribes in the north-eastern district of the\n     country. For this writer gives us two fragments out of a lost\n     work by Manetho, a priest, who lived about 250 B. C. In one of\n     these we have a statement that pretty nearly agrees with the\n     Israelitish tradition about a sojourn in Goshen. _But the\n     Israelites were looked down on by the Egyptians as foreigners,\n     and they are represented as lepers and unclean._ Moses himself\n     is mentioned by name, and we are told that he was a priest and\n     joined himself to these _lepers_ and gave them laws.\"[55:1]\n\nTo return now to the story of the Red Sea being divided to let Moses and\nhis followers pass through--of which we have already seen one\ncounterpart in the legend related of Bacchus and his army passing\nthrough the same sea dry-shod--there is another similar story concerning\nAlexander the Great.\n\nThe histories of Alexander relate that the Pamphylian Sea was divided to\nlet him and his army pass through. Josephus, after speaking of the Red\nSea being divided for the passage of the Israelites, says:\n\n     \"For the sake of those who accompanied Alexander, king of\n     Macedonia, who yet lived comparatively but a little while ago,\n     the Pamphylian Sea retired and offered them a passage through\n     itself, when they had no other way to go . . . _and this is\n     confessed to be true by all who have written about the actions\n     of Alexander_.\"[55:2]\n\nHe seems to consider both legends of the same authority, quoting the\nlatter to substantiate the former.\n\n\"Callisthenes, who himself accompanied Alexander in the expedition,\"\n\"wrote, how the Pamphylian Sea did not only open a passage for\nAlexander, but, rising and elevating its waters, did pay him homage as\nits king.\"[55:3]\n\nIt is related in Egyptian mythology that Isis was at one time on a\njourney with the eldest child of the king of Byblos, when coming to the\nriver Phoedrus, which was in a \"rough air,\" and wishing to cross, she\ncommanded the stream to be _dried up_. This being done she crossed\nwithout trouble.[56:1]\n\nThere is a _Hindoo_ fable to the effect that when the infant Crishna was\nbeing sought by the reigning tyrant of Madura (King Kansa)[56:2] his\nfoster-father took him and departed out of the country. Coming to the\nriver Yumna, and wishing to cross, it was divided for them by the Lord,\nand they passed through.\n\nThe story is related by Thomas Maurice, in his \"History of Hindostan,\"\nwho has taken it from the _Bhagavat Pooraun_. It is as follows:\n\n     \"Yasodha took the child Crishna, and carried him off (from\n     where he was born), but, coming to the river Yumna, directly\n     opposite to Gokul, Crishna's father perceiving the current to\n     be very strong, it being in the midst of the rainy season, and\n     not knowing which way to pass it, Crishna commanded the water\n     to give way on both sides to his father, _who accordingly\n     passed dry-footed, across the river_.\"[56:3]\n\nThis incident is illustrated in Plate 58 of Moore's \"Hindu Pantheon.\"\n\nThere is another Hindoo legend, recorded in the _Rig Veda_, and quoted\nby Viscount Amberly, from whose work we take it,[56:4] to the effect\nthat an Indian sage called Visvimati, having arrived at a river which he\nwished to cross, that holy man said to it: \"Listen to the Bard who has\ncome to you from afar with wagon and chariot. Sink down, become\nfordable, and reach not up to our chariot axles.\" The river answers: \"I\nwill bow down to thee like a woman with full breast (suckling her\nchild), as a maid to a man, will I throw myself open to thee.\"\n\nThis is accordingly done, and the sage passes through.\n\nWe have also an Indian legend which relates that a courtesan named\nBindumati, _turned back the streams of the river Ganges_.[56:5]\n\nWe see then, that the idea of seas and rivers being divided for the\npurpose of letting some chosen one of God pass through is an old one\npeculiar to other peoples beside the Hebrews, and the probability is\nthat many nations had legends of this kind.\n\nThat Pharaoh and his host should have been drowned in the Red Sea, and\nthe fact not mentioned by any historian, is simply impossible,\nespecially when they have, as we have seen, noticed the fact of the\nIsraelites being driven out of Egypt.[56:6] Dr. Inman, speaking of this,\nsays:\n\n     \"We seek in vain amongst the Egyptian hieroglyphs for scenes\n     which recall such cruelties as those we read of in the Hebrew\n     records; and in the writings which have hitherto been\n     translated, we find nothing resembling the wholesale\n     destructions described and applauded by the Jewish historians,\n     as perpetrated by their own people.\"[57:1]\n\nThat Pharaoh should have pursued a tribe of diseased slaves, _whom he\nhad driven out of his country_, is altogether improbable. In the words\nof Dr. Knappert, we may conclude, by saying that:\n\n     \"_This story, which was not written until more than five\n     hundred years after the exodus itself, can lay no claim to be\n     considered historical_.\"[57:2]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[48:1] Exodus i. 14.\n\n[48:2] Exodus ii. 24, 25.\n\n[48:3] See chapter x.\n\n[48:4] Exodus ii. 12.\n\n[48:5] The Egyptian name for God was \"_Nuk-Pa-Nuk_,\" or \"I AM THAT I\nAM.\" (Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 395.) This name was found on a temple\nin Egypt. (Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 17.) \"'I AM' was a Divine\nname understood by all the initiated among the Egyptians.\" \"The 'I AM'\nof the Hebrews, and the 'I AM' of the Egyptians are identical.\" (Bunsen:\nKeys of St. Peter, p. 38.) The name \"_Jehovah_,\" which was adopted by\nthe Hebrews, was a name esteemed sacred among the Egyptians. They called\nit Y-HA-HO, or Y-AH-WEH. (See the Religion of Israel, pp. 42, 43; and\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 329, and vol. ii. p. 17.) \"None dare to enter\nthe temple of Serapis, who did not bear on his breast or forehead the\nname of JAO, or J-HA-HO, a name almost equivalent in sound to that of\nthe Hebrew _Jehovah_, and probably of identical import; and no name was\nuttered in Egypt with more reverence than this IAO.\" (Trans. from the\nGer. of Schiller, in Monthly Repos., vol. xx.; and Voltaire: _Commentary\non Exodus_; Higgins' Anac., vol. i. p. 329; vol. ii. p. 17.) \"That this\ndivine name was well-known to the _Heathen_ there can be no doubt.\"\n(Parkhurst: Hebrew Lex. in Anac., i. 327.) So also with the name _El\nShaddai_. \"The extremely common Egyptian expression _Nutar Nutra_\nexactly corresponds in sense to the Hebrew _El Shaddai_, the very title\nby which God tells Moses he was known to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.\"\n(Prof. Renouf: Relig. of Anc't Egypt, p. 99.)\n\n[48:6] Exodus iii. 1, 14.\n\n[49:1] Exodus iii. 15-18.\n\n[49:2] Exodus iii. 19-22. Here is a command from the Lord to _deceive_,\nand _lie_, and _steal_, which, according to the narrative, was carried\nout to the letter (Ex. xii. 35, 36); and yet we are told that this _same\nLord_ said: \"_Thou shalt not steal._\" (Ex. xx. 15.) Again he says:\n\"_That shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him._\" (Leviticus\nxix. 18.) Surely this is inconsistency.\n\n[49:3] Exodus iv. 19, 20.\n\n[49:4] Exodus iv. 10.\n\n[49:5] Exodus iv. 16.\n\n[49:6] Exodus v. 3.\n\n[50:1] Exodus vii. 35-37. Bishop Colenso shows, in his Pentateuch\nExamined, how ridiculous this statement is.\n\n[50:2] Exodus xiii. 20, 21.\n\n[50:3] \"The sea over which Moses stretches out his hand with the staff,\nand which he divides, so that the waters stand up on either side like\nwalls while he passes through, must surely have been originally the Sea\nof Clouds. . . . A German story presents a perfectly similar feature.\nThe conception of the cloud as sea, rock and wall, recurs very\nfrequently in mythology.\" (Prof. Steinthal: The Legend of Samson, p.\n429.)\n\n[51:1] Exodus xiv. 5-13.\n\n[51:2] Orpheus is said to have been the earliest poet of Greece, where\nhe first introduced the rites of Bacchus, which he brought from Egypt.\n(See Roman Antiquities, p. 134.)\n\n[51:3] The Hebrew fable writers not wishing to be outdone, have made the\nwaters of the river Jordan to be divided to let Elijah and Elisha pass\nthrough (2 Kings ii. 8), and also the children of Israel. (Joshua iii.\n15-17.)\n\n[51:4] Moses, with his rod, drew water from the rock. (Exodus xvii. 6.)\n\n[51:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 191, and Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii.\np. 19.\n\n[51:6] The Legend of Samson, p. 429.\n\n[51:7] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 135.\n\n[51:8] Vol. i. p. 122.\n\n[52:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122; and Higgins: Anacalypsis vol.\nii. p. 19.\n\n[52:2] Ibid. and Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 174.\n\n[52:3] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 190; Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. under\n\"Bacchus;\" and Higgins: Anacalypsis ii. 19.\n\n[52:4] Exodus ii. 1-11.\n\n[52:5] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 191; Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. under\n\"Bacchus;\" and Higgins: p. 19, vol. ii.\n\n[52:6] Exodus ii. 1-11.\n\n[52:7] Exodus xiii. 20, 21.\n\n[52:8] See Prichard's Historical Records, p. 74; also Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., p. 40; and Cory's Ancient Fragments, pp. 80, 81, for similar\naccounts.\n\n[52:9] \"All persons afflicted with leprosy were considered displeasing\nin the sight of the Sun-god, by the Egyptians.\" (Dunlap: Spirit. Hist.\np. 40.)\n\n[52:10] Prichard's Historical Records, p. 75.\n\n[52:11] Ibid. p. 78.\n\n[53:1] Tacitus: Hist. book v. ch. iii.\n\n[53:2] Knight: Anc't Art and Mythology, p. 89, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol.\ni. p. 447. \"The cleanliness of the Egyptian priests was extreme. They\nshaved their heads, and every three days shaved their whole bodies. They\nbathed two or three times a day, often in the night also. They wore\ngarments of white linen, deeming it more cleanly than cloth made from\nthe hair of animals. If they had occasion to wear a woolen cloth or\nmantle, they put it off before entering a temple; so scrupulous were\nthey that nothing impure should come into the presence of the gods.\"\n(Prog. Relig. Ideas, i. 168.)\n\n\"Thinking it better to be clean than handsome, the (Egyptian) priests\nshave their whole body every third day, that neither lice nor any other\nimpurity may be found upon them when engaged in the service of the\ngods.\" (Herodotus: book ii. ch. 37.)\n\n[54:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 27.\n\n[54:2] Dunlap: Spirit Hist. of Man, p. 266.\n\n[54:3] Hebrew Mythology, p. 23.\n\n[54:4] Researches in Ancient History, p. 146.\n\n[55:1] The Religion of Israel, pp. 31, 32.\n\n[55:2] Jewish Antiq. bk. ii. ch. xvi.\n\n[55:3] Ibid. _note_.\n\n\"It was said that the waters of the Pamphylian Sea miraculously opened a\npassage for the army of Alexander the Great. Admiral Beaufort, however,\ntells us that, 'though there are no tides in this part of the\nMediterranean, considerable depression of the sea is caused by\nlong-continued north winds; and Alexander, taking advantage of such a\nmoment, may have dashed on without impediment;' and we accept the\nexplanation as a matter of course. But the waters of the Red Sea are\nsaid to have miraculously opened a passage for the children of Israel;\nand we insist on the literal truth of _this_ story, and reject natural\nexplanations as monstrous.\" (Matthew Arnold.)\n\n[56:1] See Prichard's Egyptian Mytho. p. 60.\n\n[56:2] See ch. xviii.\n\n[56:3] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 312.\n\n[56:4] Analysis Relig. Belief, p. 552.\n\n[56:5] See Hardy: Buddhist Legends, p. 140.\n\n[56:6] In a cave discovered at Deir-el-Bahari (Aug., 1881), near Thebes,\nin Egypt, was found _thirty-nine_ mummies of royal and priestly\npersonages. Among these was King Ramses II., the third king of the\nNineteenth Dynasty, and the veritable Pharaoh of the Jewish captivity.\nIt is very strange that he should be _here_, among a number of other\nkings, if he had been lost in the Red Sea. The mummy is wrapped in\nrose-colored and yellow linen of a texture finer than the finest Indian\nmuslin, upon which lotus flowers are strewn. It is in a perfect state of\npreservation. (See a Cairo [Aug. 8th] letter to the _London Times_.)\n\n[57:1] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 58.\n\n[57:2] The Religion of Israel, p. 41.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nRECEIVING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.\n\n\nThe receiving of the _Ten Commandments_ by Moses, from the Lord, is\nrecorded in the following manner:\n\n     \"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone\n     forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into\n     the wilderness of Sinai, . . . and there Israel camped before\n     the Mount. . . .\n\n     \"And it came to pass on the third day that there were thunders\n     and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the Mount, and the\n     voice of the tempest exceedingly loud, so that all the people\n     that was in the camp trembled. . . .\n\n     \"And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord\n     descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as\n     the smoke of a furnace, and the whole Mount quaked greatly.\n     And when the voice of the tempest sounded long, and waxed\n     louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a\n     voice.\n\n     \"_And the Lord came down upon the Mount_, and called Moses up\n     to the top of the Mount, and Moses went up.\"[58:1]\n\nThe Lord there communed with him, and \"he gave unto Moses . . . . two\ntables of testimony, tables of stone, _written with the finger of\nGod_.\"[58:2]\n\nWhen Moses came down from off the Mount, he found the children of Israel\ndancing around a golden calf, which his brother Aaron had made, and, as\nhis \"anger waxed hot,\" he cast the tables of stone on the ground, and\nbroke them.[58:3] Moses again saw the Lord on the Mount, however, and\nreceived two more tables of stone.[58:4] When he came down this time\nfrom off Mount Sinai, \"the skin of his face did shine.\"[58:5]\n\nThese two tables of stone contained the _Ten Commandments_,[59:1] so it\nis said, which the Jews and Christians of the present day are supposed\nto take for their standard.\n\nThey are, in substance, as follows:\n\n      1--To have no other God but Jehovah.\n      2--To make no image for purpose of worship.\n      3--Not to take Jehovah's name in vain.\n      4--Not to work on the Sabbath-day.\n      5--To honor their parents.\n      6--Not to kill.\n      7--Not to commit adultery.\n      8--Not to steal.\n      9--Not to bear false witness against a neighbor.\n     10--Not to covet.[59:2]\n\nWe have already seen, in the last chapter, that Bacchus was called the\n\"_Law-giver_,\" and that his laws were written on _two tables of\nstone_.[59:3] This feature in the Hebrew legend was evidently copied\nfrom that related of Bacchus, but, the idea of his (Moses) receiving the\ncommandments from the Lord on a _mountain_ was obviously taken from the\n_Persian_ legend related of Zoroaster.\n\nProf. Max M\u00fcller says:\n\n     \"What applies to the religion of Moses applies to that of\n     Zoroaster. It is placed before us as a complete system from\n     the first, _revealed by Ahuramazda_ (Ormuzd), _proclaimed by\n     Zoroaster_.\"[59:4]\n\nThe disciples of Zoroaster, in their profusion of legends of the master,\nrelate that one day, as he prayed _on a high mountain_, in the midst of\nthunders and lightnings (\"fire from heaven\"), the Lord himself appeared\nbefore him, and delivered unto him the \"Book of the Law.\" While the King\nof Persia and the people were assembled together, Zoroaster came down\nfrom the mountain unharmed, bringing with him the \"Book of the Law,\"\nwhich had been revealed to him by Ormuzd. They call this book the\n_Zend-Avesta_, which signifies the _Living Word_.[59:5]\n\nAccording to the religion of the Cretans, Minos, their law-giver,\nascended a _mountain_ (Mount Dicta) and there received from the Supreme\nLord (Zeus) the sacred laws which he brought down with him.[60:1]\n\nAlmost all nations of antiquity have legends of their holy men ascending\na _mountain_ to ask counsel of the gods, such places being invested with\npeculiar sanctity, and deemed nearer to the deities than other portions\nof the earth.[60:2]\n\nAccording to Egyptian belief, it is Thoth, the Deity itself, that speaks\nand reveals to his elect among men the will of God and the arcana of\ndivine things. Portions of them are expressly stated to have been\nwritten by the very finger of Thoth himself; to have been the work and\ncomposition of the great god.[60:3]\n\nDiodorus, the Grecian historian, says:\n\nThe idea promulgated by the ancient Egyptians that their _laws_ were\nreceived direct from the Most High God, _has been adopted with success\nby many other law-givers, who have thus insured respect for their\ninstitutions_.[60:4]\n\nThe Supreme God of the ancient Mexicans was _Tezcatlipoca_. He occupied\na position corresponding to the Jehovah of the Jews, the Brahma of\nIndia, the Zeus of the Greeks, and the Odin of the Scandinavians. His\nname is compounded of Tezcatepec, the name of a _mountain_ (_upon which\nhe is said to have manifested himself to man_) _tlil_, dark, and _poca_,\nsmoke. The explanation of this designation is given in the _Codex\nVaticanus_, as follows:\n\nTezcatlipoca was one of their most potent deities; they say he once\nappeared on the top of a mountain. They paid him great reverence and\nadoration, and addressed him, in their prayers, as \"Lord, whose servant\nwe are.\" No man ever saw his face, for he appeared only \"as a shade.\"\nIndeed, the Mexican idea of the godhead was similar to that of the Jews.\nLike Jehovah, Tezcatlipoca dwelt in the \"midst of thick darkness.\" _When\nhe descended upon the mount of Tezcatepec, darkness overshadowed the\nearth, while fire and water, in mingled streams, flowed from beneath his\nfeet, from its summit._[61:1]\n\nThus, we see that other nations, beside the Hebrews, believed that their\nlaws were actually received from God, that they had legends to that\neffect, and that a _mountain_ figures conspicuously in the stories.\n\nProfessor Oort, speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"No one who has any knowledge of antiquity will be surprised\n     at this, for similar beliefs were very common. All peoples who\n     had issued from a life of barbarism and acquired regular\n     political institutions, more or less elaborate laws, and\n     established worship, and maxims of morality, attributed all\n     this--their birth as a nation, so to speak--to one or more\n     great men, all of whom, without exception, _were supposed to\n     have received their knowledge from some deity_.\n\n     \"Whence did Zoroaster, the prophet of the Persians, derive his\n     religion? According to the beliefs of his followers, and the\n     doctrines of their sacred writings, it was from Ahuramazda,\n     the God of light. Why did the Egyptians represent the god\n     Thoth with a writing tablet and a pencil in his hand, and\n     honor him especially as the god of the priests? Because he was\n     'the Lord of the divine Word,' the foundation of all wisdom,\n     from whose inspiration the priests, who were the scholars, the\n     lawyers, and the religious teachers of the people, derived all\n     their wisdom. Was not Minos, the law-giver of the Cretans, the\n     friend of Zeus, the highest of the gods? Nay, was he not even\n     his son, and did he not ascend to the sacred cave on Mount\n     Dicte to bring down the laws which his god had placed there\n     for him? From whom did the Spartan law-giver, Lycurgus,\n     himself say that he had obtained his laws? From no other than\n     the god Apollo. The Roman legend, too, in honoring Numa\n     Pompilius as the people's instructor, at the same time\n     ascribed all his wisdom to his intercourse with the nymph\n     Egeria. It was the same elsewhere; and to make one more\n     example,--this from later times--Mohammed not only believed\n     himself to have been called immediately by God to be the\n     prophet of the Arabs, but declared that he had received every\n     page of the Koran from the hand of the angel Gabriel.\"[61:2]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[58:1] Exodus xix.\n\n[58:2] Exodus xxxi. 18.\n\n[58:3] Exodus xxii. 19.\n\n[58:4] Exodus xxxiv.\n\n[58:5] Ibid.\n\nIt was a common belief among ancient Pagan nations that the gods\nappeared and conversed with men. As an illustration we may cite the\nfollowing, related by _Herodotus_, the Grecian historian, who, in\nspeaking of Egypt and the Egyptians, says: \"There is a large city called\nChemmis, situated in the Thebaic district, near Neapolis, in which is a\nquadrangular temple dedicated to (the god) Perseus, son of (the Virgin)\nDanae; palm-trees grow round it, and the portico is of stone, very\nspacious, and over it are placed two large stone statues. In this\ninclosure is a temple, and in it is placed a statue of Perseus. The\nChemmit\u00e6 (or inhabitants of Chemmis), _affirm that Perseus has\nfrequently appeared to them on earth, and frequently within the\ntemple_.\" (Herodotus, bk. ii. ch. 91.)\n\n[59:1] _Buddha_, the founder of Buddhism, had TEN commandments. 1. Not\nto kill. 2. Not to steal. 3. To be chaste. 4 Not to bear false witness.\n5. Not to lie. 6. Not to swear. 7. To avoid impure words. 8. To be\ndisinterested. 9. Not to avenge one's-self. 10. Not to be superstitious.\n(See Huc's Travels, p. 328, vol. i.)\n\n[59:2] Exodus xx. Dr. Oort says: \"The original ten commandments probably\nran as follows: I Yahwah am your God. Worship no other gods beside me.\nMake no image of a god. Commit no perjury. Remember to keep holy the\nSabbath day. Honor your father and your mother. Commit no murder. Break\nnot the marriage vow. Steal not. Bear no false witness. Covet not.\"\n(Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 18.)\n\n[59:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Higgins, vol. ii. p. 19. Cox:\nAryan Mytho. vol. ii. p. 295.\n\n[59:4] M\u00fcller: Origin of Religion, p. 130.\n\n[59:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 257, 258. This book, the\n_Zend-Avesta_, is similar, in many respects, to the _Vedas_ of the\n_Hindoos_. This has led many to believe that Zoroaster was a Brahman;\namong these are Rawlinson (See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 831)\nand Thomas Maurice. (See Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 219.)\n\nThe Persians themselves had a tradition that he came from some country\nto the East of them. That he was a foreigner is indicated by a passage\nin the _Zend-Avesta_ which represents Ormuzd as saying to him: \"Thou, O\nZoroaster, by the promulgation of my law, shalt restore to me my former\nglory, which was pure light. Up! haste thee to the land of _Iran_, which\nthirsteth after the law, and say, thus said Ormuzd, &c.\" (See Prog.\nRelig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 263.)\n\n[60:1] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 301.\n\n[60:2] \"The deities of the Hindoo Pantheon dwell on the sacred Mount\nMeru; the gods of Persia ruled from Albordj; the Greek Jove thundered\nfrom Olympus, and the Scandinavian gods made Asgard awful with their\npresence. . . . Profane history is full of examples attesting the\nattachment to high places for purpose of sacrifice.\" (Squire: Serpent\nSymbols, p. 78.)\n\n\"The offerings of the Chinese to the deities were generally on the\nsummits of high mountains, as they seemed to them to be nearer heaven,\nto the majesty of which they were to be offered.\" (Christmas's Mytho. p.\n250, in Ibid.) \"In the infancy of civilization, high places were chosen\nby the people to offer sacrifices to the gods. The first altars, the\nfirst temples, were erected on mountains.\" (Humboldt: American\nResearches.) The Himalayas are the \"_Heavenly mountains_.\" In Sanscrit\n_Himala_, corresponding to the M. Gothic, _Himins_; Alem., _Himil_;\nGer., Swed., and Dan., _Himmel_; Old Norse, _Himin_; Dutch, _Hemel_;\nAng.-Sax., _Heofon_; Eng., _Heaven_. (See Mallet's Northern Antiquities,\np. 42.)\n\n[60:3] Bunsen's Egypt, quoted in Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 367. Mrs.\nChild says: \"The _laws_ of Egypt were handed down from the earliest\ntimes, and regarded with the utmost veneration as a portion of religion.\nTheir first legislator represented them as dictated by the gods\nthemselves and framed expressly for the benefit of mankind by their\nsecretary _Thoth_.\" (Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 173.)\n\n[60:4] Quoted in Ibid.\n\n[61:1] See Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 175.\n\n[61:2] Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 301.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nSAMSON AND HIS EXPLOITS.\n\n\nThis Israelite hero is said to have been born at a time when the\nchildren of Israel were in the hands of the Philistines. His mother, who\nhad been barren for a number of years, is entertained by an angel, who\ninforms her that she shall conceive, and bear a son,[62:1] and that the\nchild shall be a _Nazarite_ unto God, from the womb, and he shall begin\nto deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.\n\nAccording to the prediction of the angel, \"the woman bore a son, and\ncalled his name _Samson_; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.\"\n\n     \"And Samson (after he had grown to man's estate), went down to\n     Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the\n     Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his\n     mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the\n     daughters of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me to\n     wife.\"\n\nSamson's father and mother preferred that he should take a woman among\nthe daughters of their own tribe, but Samson wished for the maid of the\nPhilistines, \"for,\" said he, \"she pleaseth me well.\"\n\nThe parents, after coming to the conclusion that it was the will of the\nLord, that he should marry the maid of the Philistines, consented.\n\n     \"Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to\n     Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath, and, behold, a\n     young lion roared against him (Samson). And the spirit of the\n     Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him (the lion) as he\n     would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand.\"\n\nThis was Samson's _first_ exploit, which he told not to any one, not\neven his father, or his mother.\n\nHe then continued on his way, and went down and talked with the woman,\nand she pleased him well.\n\nAnd, after a time, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see\nthe carcass of the lion, and behold, \"there was a swarm of bees, and\nhoney, in the carcass of the lion.\"\n\nSamson made a feast at his wedding, which lasted for _seven_ days. At\nthis feast, there were brought thirty companions to be with him, unto\nwhom he said: \"I will now put forth a riddle unto you, if ye can\ncertainly declare it me, within the _seven_ days of the feast, and find\nit out, then I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty changes of\ngarments. But, if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty\nsheets, and thirty changes of garments.\" And they said unto him, \"Put\nforth thy riddle, that we may hear it.\" And he answered them: \"Out of\nthe eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.\"\n\nThis riddle the thirty companions could not solve.\n\n\"And it came to pass, on the _seventh_ day, that they said unto Samson's\nwife: 'Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle.'\"\n\nShe accordingly went to Samson, and told him that he could not love her;\nif it were so, he would tell her the answer to the riddle. After she had\nwept and entreated of him, he finally told her, and she gave the answer\nto the children of her people. \"And the men of the city said unto him,\non the _seventh_ day, before the sun went down, 'What is sweeter than\nhoney, and what is stronger than a lion?'\"\n\nSamson, upon hearing this, suspected how they managed to find out the\nanswer, whereupon he said unto them: \"If ye had not ploughed with my\nheifer, ye had not found out my riddle.\"\n\nSamson was then at a loss to know where to get the thirty sheets, and\nthe thirty changes of garments; but, \"the spirit of the Lord came upon\nhim, and he went down to Ashkelon, _and slew thirty men of them_, and\ntook their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded\nthe riddle.\"\n\nThis was the hero's _second_ exploit.\n\nHis anger being kindled, he went up to his father's house, instead of\nreturning to his wife.[64:1] But it came to pass, that, after a while,\nSamson repented of his actions, and returned to his wife's house, and\nwished to go in to his wife in the chamber; but her father would not\nsuffer him to go. And her father said: \"I verily thought that thou hadst\nutterly hated her, therefore, I gave her to thy companion. Is not her\nyounger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her.\"\n\nThis did not seem to please Samson, even though the younger was fairer\nthan the older, for he \"went and caught three hundred foxes, and took\nfirebrands, and turned (the foxes) tail to tail, and put a firebrand in\nthe midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he\nlet them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burned up\nboth the shocks and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and\nolives.\"\n\nThis was Samson's _third_ exploit.\n\nWhen the Philistines found their corn, their vineyards, and their olives\nburned, they said: \"Who hath done this?\"\n\n     \"And they answered, 'Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,\n     because he had taken his wife, and given her to his\n     companion.' And the Philistines came up, and burned her and\n     her father with fire. And Samson said unto them: 'Though ye\n     have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I\n     will cease.' _And he smote them hip and thigh with a great\n     slaughter_, and he went and dwelt in the top of the rock\n     Etam.\"\n\nThis \"great slaughter\" was Samson's _fourth_ exploit.\n\n     \"Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and\n     spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said: 'Why are\n     ye come up against us?' And they answered: 'To bind Samson are\n     we come up, and to do to him as he hath done to us.' Then\n     three thousand men of Judah went up to the top of the rock\n     Etam, and said to Samson: 'Knowest thou not that the\n     Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast\n     done unto us?' And he said unto them: 'As they did unto me, so\n     have I done unto them.' And they said unto him: 'We are come\n     down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hands of\n     the Philistines.' And Samson said unto them: 'Swear unto me\n     that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.' And they spake unto\n     him, saying, 'No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee\n     into their hands: but surely we will not kill thee.' And they\n     bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the\n     rock. And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted\n     against him; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon\n     him, _and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax\n     that was burned with fire, and his bands loosed from off his\n     hands_. And he found a new jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth\n     his hand and took it, _and slew a thousand men with it_.\"\n\nThis was Samson's _fifth_ exploit.\n\nAfter slaying a thousand men he was \"sore athirst,\" and called unto the\nLord. And \"God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came\nwater thereout, and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he\nrevived.\"[65:1]\n\n     \"Then went Samson to Gaza and saw there a harlot, and went in\n     unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, 'Samson is come\n     hither.' And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all\n     night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night,\n     saying: 'In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.'\n     And Samson lay (with the harlot) till midnight, and arose at\n     midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the\n     two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them\n     upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill\n     that is in Hebron.\"\n\nThis was Samson's _sixth_ exploit.\n\n     \"And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the\n     valley of Soreck, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the\n     Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her: 'Entice him,\n     and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we\n     may prevail against him.'\"\n\nDelilah then began to entice Samson to tell her wherein his strength\nlay.\n\n     \"She pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that\n     his soul was vexed unto death. Then he told her all his heart,\n     and said unto her: 'There hath not come a razor upon mine\n     head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's\n     womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I\n     shall become weak, and be like any other man.' And when\n     Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she went and\n     called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: 'Come up this\n     once, for he hath showed me all his heart.' Then the lords of\n     the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their\n     hands (for her).\n\n     \"And she made him (Samson) sleep upon her knees; and she\n     called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the _seven_\n     locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his\n     strength went from him.\"\n\nThe Philistines then took him, put out his eyes, and put him in prison.\nAnd being gathered together at a great sacrifice in honor of their God,\nDagon, they said: \"Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.\" And they\ncalled for Samson, and he made them sport.\n\n     \"And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand.\n     Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house\n     standeth, that I may lean upon them.\n\n     \"Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords\n     of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof\n     about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson\n     made sport.\n\n     \"And Samson called unto the Lord, and said: 'O Lord God,\n     remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only\n     this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the\n     Philistines for my two eyes.'\n\n     \"And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the\n     house stood and on which it was borne up, of the one with his\n     right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said:\n     'Let me die with the Philistines.' And he bowed himself with\n     all his might; and (having regained his strength) the house\n     fell upon the lords, and upon the people that were therein. So\n     the dead which he slew at his death, were more than they which\n     he slew in his life.\"[66:1]\n\nThus ended the career of the \"strong man\" of the Hebrews.\n\nThat this story is a copy of the legends related of Hercules, or that\nthey have both been copied from similar legends existing among some\nother nations,[66:2] is too evident to be disputed. Many churchmen have\nnoticed the similarity between the history of Samson and that of\nHercules. In Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, under \"Samson,\" we read as\nfollows:\n\n     \"It has been matter of most contradictory speculations, how\n     far his existence is to be taken as a reality, or, in other\n     words, what substratum of historical truth there may be in\n     this supposed circle of popular legends, artistically rounded\n     off, in the four chapters of Judges which treat of him. . . .\n\n     \"The miraculous deeds he performed have taxed the ingenuity of\n     many commentators, and the text has been _twisted and turned\n     in all directions_, to explain, _rationally_, his slaying\n     those prodigious numbers single-handed; his carrying the gates\n     of Gaza, in one night, a distance of about fifty miles, &c.,\n     &c.\"\n\nThat this is simply a _Solar_ myth, no one will doubt, we believe, who\nwill take the trouble to investigate it.\n\nProf. Goldziher, who has made \"Comparative Mythology\" a special study,\nsays of this story:\n\n     \"The most complete and rounded-off _Solar myth_ extant in\n     Hebrew, is that of Shimsh\u00f4n (Samson), a cycle of mythical\n     conceptions fully comparable with the Greek myth of\n     Hercules.\"[66:3]\n\nWe shall now endeavor to ascertain if such is the case, by comparing the\nexploits of Samson with those of Hercules.\n\nThe first wonderful act performed by Samson was, as we have seen, _that\nof slaying a lion_. This is said to have happened when he was but a\nyouth. So likewise was it with Hercules. At the age of eighteen, he slew\nan enormous lion.[66:4]\n\nThe valley of Nemea was infested by a terrible lion; Eurystheus ordered\nHercules to bring him the skin of this monster. After using in vain his\nclub and arrows against the lion, Hercules strangled the animal with his\nhands. He returned, carrying the dead lion on his shoulders; but\nEurystheus was so frightened at the sight of it, and at this proof of\nthe prodigious strength of the hero, that he ordered him to deliver the\naccounts of his exploits in the future outside the town.[67:1]\n\nTo show the courage of Hercules, it is said that he entered the cave\nwhere the lion's lair was, closed the entrance behind him, and at once\ngrappled with the monster.[67:2]\n\nSamson is said to have torn asunder the _jaws_ of the lion, and we find\nhim generally represented slaying the beast in that manner. So likewise,\nwas this the manner in which Hercules disposed of the Nemean lion.[67:3]\n\nThe skin of the lion, Hercules tore off with his fingers, and knowing it\nto be impenetrable, resolved to wear it henceforth.[67:4] The statues\nand paintings of Hercules either represent him carrying the lion's skin\nover his arm, or wearing it hanging down his back, the skin of its head\nfitting to his crown like a cap, and the fore-legs knotted under his\nchin.[67:5]\n\nSamson's second exploit was when he went down to Ashkelon and slew\nthirty men.\n\nHercules, when returning to Thebes from the lion-hunt, and wearing its\nskin hanging from his shoulders, as a sign of his success, met the\nheralds of the King of the Miny\u00e6, coming from Orchomenos to claim the\nannual tribute of a hundred cattle, levied on Thebes. Hercules cut off\nthe ears and noses of the heralds, bound their hands, and sent them\nhome.[67:6]\n\nSamson's third exploit was when he caught three hundred foxes, and took\nfire-brands, and turned them tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the\nmidst between two tails, and let them go into the standing corn of the\nPhilistines.\n\nThere is no such feature as this in the legends of Hercules, the nearest\nto it in resemblance is when he encounters and kills the Learnean\nHydra.[67:7] During this encounter a _fire-brand_ figures conspicuously,\nand _the neighboring wood is set on fire_.[67:8]\n\nWe have, however, an explanation of this portion of the legend, in the\nfollowing from Prof. Steinthal:\n\nAt the festival of Ceres, held at Rome, in the month of April, a\nfox-hunt through the circus was indulged in, _in which burning torches\nwere bound to the foxes' tails_.\n\nThis was intended to be a symbolical reminder of the damage done to the\nfields by mildew, called the \"_red fox_,\" which was exorcised in various\nways at this momentous season (the last third of April). It is the time\nof the _Dog-Star_, at which the mildew was most to be feared; if at that\ntime great solar heat follows too close upon the hoar-frost or dew of\nthe cold nights, this mischief rages like a burning fox through the\ncorn-fields.[68:1]\n\nHe also says that:\n\n     \"This is the sense of the story of the foxes, which Samson\n     caught and sent into the Philistines' fields, with fire-brands\n     fastened to their tails, to burn the crops. Like the lion, the\n     fox is an animal that indicated the solar heat, being well\n     suited for this both by its color and by its long-haired\n     tail.\"[68:2]\n\nBouchart, in his \"Hierozoicon,\" observes that:\n\n     \"At this period (_i. e._, the last third of April) they cut\n     the corn in Palestine and Lower Egypt, and a few days after\n     the setting of the Hyads arose the _Fox_, in whose train or\n     tail comes the fires or torches of the dog-days, represented\n     among the Egyptians by red marks painted on the backs of their\n     animals.\"[68:3]\n\nCount de Volney also tells us that:\n\n     \"The inhabitants of Carseoles, an ancient city of Latium,\n     every year, in a religious festival, burned a number of foxes\n     _with torches tied to their tails_. They gave, as the reason\n     for this whimsical ceremony, that their corn had been formerly\n     burnt by a fox to whose tail a young man had fastened a bundle\n     of lighted straw.\"[68:4]\n\nHe concludes his account of this peculiar \"religious festival,\" by\nsaying:\n\n     \"This is exactly the story of Samson with the Philistines, but\n     it is a Phenician tale. _Car-Seol_ is a compound word in that\n     tongue, signifying _town of foxes_. The Philistines,\n     originally from Egypt, do not appear to have had any colonies.\n     The Phenicians had a great many; and it can scarcely be\n     admitted that they borrowed this story from the Hebrews, as\n     obscure as the Druses are in our own times, or that a simple\n     adventure gave rise to a religious ceremony; _it evidently can\n     only be a mythological and allegorical narration_.\"[68:4]\n\nSo much, then, for the foxes and fire-brands.\n\nSamson's fourth exploit was when he smote the Philistines \"hip and\nthigh,\" \"with great slaughter.\"\n\nIt is related of Hercules that he had a combat with an _army_ of\nCentaurs, who were armed with pine sticks, rocks, axes, &c. They flocked\nin wild confusion, and surrounded the _cave_ of Pholos, where Hercules\nwas, when a violent fight ensued. Hercules was obliged to contend\nagainst this large armed force single-handed, but he came off\nvictorious, and slew a great number of them.[69:1] Hercules also\nencountered and fought against _an army of giants_, at the Phlegraean\nfields, near Cumae.[69:2]\n\nSamson's next wonderful exploit was when \"three thousand men of Judah\"\nbound him with _cords_ and brought him up into Lehi, when the\nPhilistines were about to take his life. The cords with which he was\nbound immediately became as flax, and loosened from off his hands. He\nthen, with the jaw-bone of an ass, slew one thousand Philistines.[69:3]\n\nA very similar feature to this is found in the history of Hercules. He\nis made prisoner by the Egyptians, who wish to take his life, but while\nthey are preparing to slay him, he breaks loose his bonds--having been\ntied with _cords_--and kills Buseris, the leader of the band, _and the\nwhole retinue_.[69:4]\n\nOn another occasion, being refused shelter from a storm at Kos, he was\nenraged at the inhabitants, and accordingly _destroyed the whole\ntown_.[69:5]\n\nSamson, after he had slain a thousand Philistines, was \"sore athirst,\"\nand called upon _Jehovah_, his father in heaven, to succor him,\nwhereupon, water immediately gushed forth from \"a hollow place that was\nin the jaw-bone.\"\n\nHercules, departing from the Indies (or rather Ethiopia), and conducting\nhis army through the desert of Lybia, feels a burning thirst, and\nconjures _Ihou_, his father, to succor him in his danger.\n\nInstantly the (celestial) Ram appears. Hercules follows him and arrives\nat a place where the Ram scrapes with his foot, _and there instantly\ncomes forth a spring of water_.[70:1]\n\nSamson's sixth exploit happened when he went to Gaza to visit a harlot.\nThe Gazites, who wished to take his life, laid wait for him all night,\nbut Samson left the town at midnight, and took with him the gates of the\ncity, and the _two posts_, on his shoulders. He carried them to the top\nof a hill, some fifty miles away, and left them there.\n\nThis story very much resembles that of the \"Pillars of Hercules,\" called\nthe \"_Gates of Cadiz_.\"[70:2]\n\nCount de Volney tells us that:\n\n     \"Hercules was represented naked, carrying on his shoulders\n     _two columns_ called the Gates of Cadiz.\"[70:3]\n\n\"The _Pillars_ of Hercules\" was the name given by the ancients to the\ntwo rocks forming the entrance or _gate_ to the Mediterranean at the\nStrait of Gibraltar.[70:4] Their erection was ascribed by the Greeks to\nHercules, on the occasion of his journey to the kingdom of Geryon.\nAccording to one version of the story, they had been united, but\nHercules tore them asunder.[70:5]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 3.]\n\nFig. No. 3 is a representation of Hercules with the two posts or pillars\non his shoulders, as alluded to by Count de Volney. We have taken it\nfrom Montfaucon's \"L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e.\"[70:6]\n\nJ. P. Lundy says of this:\n\n     \"Hercules carrying his two columns to erect at the Straits of\n     Gibraltar, may have some reference to the Hebrew story.\"[71:1]\n\nWe think there is no doubt of it. By changing the name Hercules into\nSamson, the legend is complete.\n\nSir William Drummond tells us, in his \"OEdipus Judaicus,\" that:\n\n     \"_Gaza_ signifies a Goat, and was the type of the Sun in\n     Capricorn. The _Gates of the Sun_ were feigned by the ancient\n     Astronomers to be in Capricorn and Cancer (that is, in\n     _Gaza_), from which signs the tropics are named. Samson\n     carried away the gates from Gaza to Hebron, the city of\n     conjunction. Now, Count Gebelin tells us that at Cadiz, where\n     Hercules was anciently worshiped, there was a representation\n     of him, _with a gate on his shoulders_.\"[71:2]\n\nThe stories of the amours of Samson with Delilah and other females, are\nsimply counterparts of those of Hercules with Omphale and Iole.\nMontfaucon, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"Nothing is better known in the fables (related of Hercules)\n     than his amours with Omphale and Iole.\"[71:3]\n\nProf. Steinthal says:\n\n     \"The circumstance that Samson is so addicted to sexual\n     pleasure, has its origin in the remembrance that the _Solar\n     god_ is the god of fruitfulness and procreation. We have as\n     examples, the amours of Hercules and Omphale; Ninyas, in\n     Assyria, with Semiramis; Samson, in Philistia, with Delila,\n     whilst among the Phenicians, Melkart pursues Dido-Anna.\"[71:4]\n\nSamson is said to have had long hair. \"There hath not come a razor upon\nmy head,\" says he, \"for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's\nwomb.\"\n\nNow, strange as it may appear, Hercules is said to have had long hair\nalso, and he was often represented that way. In Montfaucon's\n\"L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e\"[71:5] may be seen a representation of Hercules\n_with hair reaching almost to his waist_. Almost all _Sun_-gods are\nrepresented thus.[71:6]\n\nProf. Goldzhier says:\n\n     \"Long locks of hair and a long beard are mythological\n     attributes of the Sun. The Sun's rays are compared with locks\n     of hair on the face or head of the Sun.\n\n     \"When the sun sets and leaves his place to the darkness, or\n     when the powerful Summer Sun is succeeded by the weak rays of\n     the Winter Sun, then Samson's long locks, in which alone his\n     strength lies, are cut off through the treachery of his\n     deceitful concubine, Delilah, the 'languishing, languid,'\n     according to the meaning of the name (Delilah). The Beaming\n     Apollo, moreover, is called the _Unshaven_; and Minos cannot\n     conquer the solar hero Nisos, _till the latter loses his\n     golden hair_.\"[72:1]\n\nThrough the influence of Delilah, Samson is at last made a prisoner. He\ntells her the secret of his strength, the _seven_ locks of hair are\nshaven off, and his strength leaves him. The shearing of the locks of\nthe Sun must be followed by darkness and ruin.\n\nFrom the shoulders of Phoibos Lyk\u00eag\u00eanes flow the sacred locks, over\nwhich no razor might pass, and on the head of Nisos they become a\npalladium, invested with a mysterious power.[72:2] The long locks of\nhair which flow over his shoulders are taken from his head by Skylla,\nwhile he is asleep, and, like another Delilah, she thus delivers him and\nhis people into the power of Minos.[72:3]\n\nProf. Steinthal says of Samson:\n\n     \"His hair is a figure of increase and luxuriant fullness. In\n     Winter, when nature appears to have lost all strength, the god\n     of growing young life has lost his hair. In the Spring the\n     hair grows again, and nature returns to life again. Of this\n     original conception the Bible story still preserves a trace.\n     Samson's hair, after being cut off, grows again, and his\n     strength comes back with it.\"[72:4]\n\nTowards the end of his career, Samson's eyes are put out. Even here, the\nHebrew writes with a singular fidelity to the old mythical speech. The\ntender light of evening is blotted out by the dark vapors; the light of\nthe _Sun_ is quenched in gloom. _Samson's eyes are put out._\n\nOEdipus, whose history resembles that of Samson and Hercules in many\nrespects, tears out his eyes, towards the end of his career. In other\nwords, the _Sun_ has blinded himself. Clouds and darkness have closed in\nabout him, and the clear light is blotted out of the heaven.[72:5]\n\nThe final act, Samson's death, reminds us clearly and decisively of the\nPhenician Hercules, as Sun-god, who died at the Winter Solstice in the\nfurthest West, where his _two pillars_ are set up to mark the end of his\nwanderings.\n\nSamson also died at the _two pillars_, but in his case they are not the\nPillars of the World, but are only set up in the middle of a great\nbanqueting-hall. A feast was being held in honor of Dagon, the\nFish-god; the Sun was in the sign of the Waterman, _Samson, the Sun-god,\ndied_.[73:1]\n\nThe ethnology of the _name_ of Samson, as well as his adventures, are\nvery closely connected with the _Solar_ Hercules. _\"Samson\" was the name\nof the Sun._[73:2] In Arabic, \"_Shams-on_\" means the _Sun_.[73:3] Samson\nhad _seven_ locks of hair, the number of the planetary bodies.[73:4]\n\nThe author of \"The Religion of Israel,\" speaking of Samson, says:\n\n     \"The story of Samson and his deeds originated in a _Solar\n     myth_, which was afterwards transformed by the narrator into a\n     _saga_ about a mighty hero and deliverer of Israel. The very\n     _name_ 'Samson,' is derived from the Hebrew word, and means\n     'Sun.' The hero's flowing locks were originally the _rays of\n     the sun_, and other traces of the old myth have been\n     preserved.\"[73:5]\n\nProf. Oort says:\n\n     \"The story of Samson is simply a solar myth. In some of the\n     features of the story the original meaning may be traced quite\n     clearly, but in others the myth can no longer be recognized.\n     The exploits of some Danite hero, such as Shamgar, who 'slew\n     six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad' (Judges iii. 31),\n     have been woven into it; the whole has been remodeled after\n     the ideas of the prophets of later ages, and finally, it has\n     been fitted into the framework of the period of the Judges, as\n     conceived by the writer of the book called after them.\"[73:6]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"The myth that lies at the foundation of this story is a\n     description of the sun's course during the six winter months.\n     The god is gradually encompassed by his enemies, mist and\n     darkness. At first he easily maintains his freedom, and gives\n     glorious proofs of his strength; but the fetters grow stronger\n     and stronger, until at last he is robbed of his crown of rays,\n     and loses all his power and glory. _Such is the Sun in\n     Winter._ But he has not lost his splendor forever. Gradually\n     his strength returns, at last he reappears; and though he\n     still seems to allow himself to be mocked, yet the power of\n     avenging himself has returned, and in the end he triumphs over\n     his enemies once more.\"[73:7]\n\nOther nations beside the Hebrews and Greeks had their \"mighty men\" and\nlion-killers. The Hindoos had their Samson. His name was Bala-Rama, the\n\"_Strong Rama_.\" He was considered by some an incarnation of\nVishnu.[73:8]\n\nCaptain Wilford says, in \"Asiatic Researches:\"\n\n     \"The _Indian_ Hercules, according to Cicero, was called\n     _Belus_. He is the same as _Bala_, the brother of Crishna, and\n     both are conjointly worshiped at Mutra; indeed, they are\n     considered as one Avatar or Incarnation of Vishnou. _Bala_ is\n     represented as a stout man, _with a club in his hand_. He is\n     also called _Bala-rama._\"[74:1]\n\nThere is a Hindoo legend which relates that Sevah had an encounter with\na tiger, \"whose mouth expanded like a cave, and whose voice resembled\nthunder.\" He slew the monster, and, like Hercules, covered himself with\nthe skin.[74:2]\n\nThe Assyrians and Lydians, both Semitic nations, worshiped a Sun-god\nnamed Sandan or Sandon. He also was believed to be a _lion-killer_, and\nfrequently figured struggling with the lion, or standing upon the slain\nlion.[74:3]\n\nNinevah, too, had her mighty hero and king, who slew a lion and other\nmonsters. Layard, in his excavations, discovered a _bas-relief_\nrepresentation of this hero triumphing over the lion and wild\nbull.[74:4]\n\nThe Ancient Babylonians had a hero lion-slayer, Izdubar by name. The\ndestruction of the lion, and other monsters, by Izdubar, is often\ndepicted on the cylinders and engraved gems belonging to the early\nBabylonian monarchy.[74:5]\n\nIzdubar is represented as a great or mighty man, who, in the early days\nafter the flood, destroyed wild animals, and conquered a number of petty\nkings.[74:6]\n\nIzdubar resembles the Grecian hero, Hercules, in other respects than as\na destroyer of wild animals, &c. We are told that he \"wandered to the\nregions where gigantic composite monsters held and controlled the rising\nand setting sun, from these learned the road to _the region of the\nblessed_, and passing across _a great waste of land_, he arrived at a\nregion where _splendid trees were laden with jewels_.\"[74:7]\n\nHe also resembles Hercules, Samson, and other solar-gods, in the\nparticular of _long flowing locks of hair_. In the Babylonian and\nAssyrian sculptures he is always represented with a marked physiognomy,\nand always indicated as a man with _masses of curls over his head_ and a\nlarge curly beard.[74:8]\n\nHere, evidently, is the Babylonian legend of Hercules. He too was a\n_wanderer_, going from the furthest East to the furthest West. He\ncrossed \"a great waste of land\" (the desert of Lybia), visited \"the\nregion of the blessed,\" where there were \"splendid trees laden with\njewels\" (golden apples).\n\nThe ancient Egyptians had their Hercules. According to Herodotus, he was\nknown several thousand years before the Grecian hero of that name. This\nthe Egyptians affirmed, and that he was _born_ in their country.[75:1]\n\nThe story of Hercules was known in the Island of Thasos, by the\nPhenician colony settled there, five centuries before he was known in\nGreece.[75:2] Fig. No. 4 is from an ancient representation of Hercules\nin conflict with the lion, taken from Gorio.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 4]\n\nAnother mighty hero was the Grecian Bellerophon. The minstrels sang of\nthe beauty and the great deeds of Bellerophon throughout all the land of\nArgos. His arm was strong in battle; his feet were swift in the chase.\nNone that were poor and weak and wretched feared the might of\nBellerophon. To them the sight of his beautiful form brought only joy\nand gladness; but the proud and boastful, the slanderer and the robber,\ndreaded the glance of his keen eye. For a long time he fought the Solymi\nand the Amazons, until all his enemies shrank from the stroke of his\nmighty arm, and sought for mercy.[75:3]\n\nThe second of the principal gods of the Ancient _Scandinavians_ was\nnamed Thor, and was no less known than Odin among the Teutonic nations.\nThe Edda calls him expressly the most valiant of the sons of Odin. He\nwas considered the \"_defender_\" and \"_avenger_.\" He always carried a\nmallet, which, as often as he discharged it, returned to his hand of\nitself; he grasped it with gauntlets of iron, and was further possessed\nof a girdle which had the virtue of renewing his strength as often as\nwas needful. It was with these formidable arms that he overthrew to the\nground the monsters and giants, when he was sent by the gods to oppose\ntheir enemies. He was represented of gigantic size, and as the stoutest\nand strongest of the gods.[76:1] Thor was simply the Hercules of the\nNorthern nations. He was the Sun personified.[76:2]\n\nWithout enumerating them, we can safely say, that there was not a nation\nof antiquity, from the remotest East to the furthest West, that did not\nhave its mighty hero, and counterpart of Hercules and Samson.[76:3]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[62:1] The idea of a woman conceiving, and bearing a son in her old age,\nseems to have been a Hebrew peculiarity, as a number of their remarkable\npersonages were born, so it is said, of parents well advanced in years,\nor of a woman who was supposed to have been _barren_. As illustrations,\nwe may mention this case of _Samson_, and that of _Joseph_ being born of\nRachel. The beautiful Rachel, who was so much beloved by Jacob, her\nhusband, was barren, and she bore him no sons. This caused grief and\ndiscontent on her part, and anger on the part of her husband. In her old\nage, however, she bore the wonderful child Joseph. (See Genesis, xxx.\n1-29.)\n\n_Isaac_ was born of a woman (Sarah) who had been barren many years. _An\nangel appeared to her_ when her lord (Abraham) \"was ninety years old and\nnine,\" and informed her that she would conceive and bear a son. (See\nGen. xvi.)\n\n_Samuel_, the \"holy man,\" was also born of a woman (Hannah) who had been\nbarren many years. In grief, she prayed to the Lord for a child, and was\nfinally comforted by receiving her wish. (See 1 Samuel, i. 1-20.)\n\n_John the Baptist_ was also a miraculously conceived infant. His mother,\nElizabeth, bore him _in her old age_. _An angel also informed her_ and\nher husband Zachariah, that this event would take place. (See Luke, i.\n1-25.)\n\n_Mary_, the mother of _Jesus_, was born of a woman (Anna) who was \"old\nand stricken in years,\" and who had been barren all her life. _An angel\nappeared to Anna and her husband_ (Joachim), and told them what was\nabout to take place. (See \"The Gospel of Mary,\" Apoc.)\n\nThus we see, that the idea of a wonderful child being born of a woman\nwho had passed the age which nature had destined for her to bear\nchildren, and who had been barren all her life, was a favorite one among\nthe Hebrews. The idea that the ancestors of a race lived to a fabulous\nold age, is also a familiar one among the ancients.\n\nMost ancient nations relate in their fables that their ancestors lived\nto be very old men. For instance; the _Persian_ patriarch Kaiomaras\nreigned 560 years; Jemshid reigned 300 years; Jahmurash reigned 700\nyears; Dah\u00e2k reigned 1000 years; Feridun reigned 120 years; Manugeher\nreigned 500 years; Kaikans reigned 150 years; and Bahaman reigned 112\nyears. (See Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 155, _note_.)\n\n[64:1] Judges, xiv.\n\n[65:1] Judges, xv.\n\n[66:1] Judges, xvi.\n\n[66:2] Perhaps that of Izdubar. See chapter xi.\n\n[66:3] Hebrew Mythology, p. 248.\n\n[66:4] Manual of Mythology, p. 248. The Age of Fable, p. 200.\n\n[67:1] Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 200.\n\n[67:2] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 249.\n\n[67:3] Roman Antiquities, p. 124; and Montfaucon, vol. i. plate cxxvi.\n\n[67:4] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 249.\n\n[67:5] See Ibid. Greek and Italian Mythology, p. 129, and Montfaucon,\nvol. i. plate cxxv. and cxxvi.\n\n[67:6] Manual of Mythology, p. 247.\n\n[67:7] \"It has many heads, one being immortal, as the storm must\nconstantly supply new clouds while the vapors are driven off by the\n_Sun_ into space. Hence the story went that although Herakles could burn\naway its mortal heads, as the _Sun_ burns up the clouds, still he can\nbut hide away the mist or vapor itself, which at its appointed time must\nagain darken the sky.\" (Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 48.)\n\n[67:8] See Manual of Mytho., p. 250.\n\n[68:1] Steinthal: The Legend of Samson, p. 398. See, also, Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 240, and Volney: Researches in Anc't History, p.\n42.\n\n[68:2] Ibid.\n\n[68:3] Quoted by Count de Volney: Researches in Ancient History, p. 42,\n_note_.\n\n[68:4] Volney: Researches in Ancient History, p. 42.\n\n[69:1] See Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 251.\n\n\"The slaughter of the Centaurs by Hercules is the conquest and\ndispersion of the vapors by the _Sun_ as he rises in the heaven.\" (Cox:\nAryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 47.)\n\n[69:2] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 257.\n\n[69:3] Shamgar also slew six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. (See\nJudges, iii. 31.)\n\n\"It is scarcely necessary to say that these weapons are the heritage of\nall the _Solar_ heroes, that they are found in the hands of Phebus and\nHerakles, of OEdipus, Achilleus, Philoktetes, of Siguard, Rustem, Indra,\nIsfendujar, of Telephos, Meleagros, Theseus, Kadmos, Bellerophon, and\nall other slayers of noxious and fearful things.\" (Rev. Geo. Cox: Tales\nof Ancient Greece, p. xxvii.)\n\n[69:4] See Volney: Researches in Ancient History, p. 41. Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 239; Montfaucon: L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e, vol. i.\np. 213, and Murray: Manual of Mythology, pp. 259-262.\n\nIt is evident that _Herodotus_, the Grecian historian, was somewhat of a\nskeptic, for he says: \"The Grecians say that 'When Hercules arrived in\nEgypt, the Egyptians, having crowned him with a garland, led him in\nprocession, as designing to sacrifice him to Jupiter, and that for some\ntime he remained quiet, but when they began the preparatory ceremonies\nupon him at the altar, he set about defending himself and slew every one\nof them.' Now, since Hercules was but one, and, besides, a mere man, as\nthey confess, how is it possible that he should slay many thousands?\"\n(Herodotus, book ii. ch. 45).\n\n[69:5] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 263.\n\n[70:1] Volney: Researches in Anc't History, pp. 41, 42.\n\nIn Bell's \"Pantheon of the Gods and Demi-Gods of Antiquity,\" we read,\nunder the head of _Ammon_ or _Hammon_ (the name of the Egyptian Jupiter,\nworshiped under the figure of a _Ram_), that: \"_Bacchus_ having subdued\nAsia, and passing with his army through the deserts of Africa, was in\ngreat want of water; but Jupiter, his father, assuming the shape of a\n_Ram_, led him to a fountain, where he refreshed himself and his army;\nin requital of which favor, Bacchus built there a temple to Jupiter,\nunder the title of _Ammon_.\"\n\n[70:2] Cadiz (ancient Gades), being situated near the _mouth_ of the\nMediterranean. The first author who mentions the Pillars of Hercules is\nPindar, and he places them there. (Chambers's Encyclo. \"Hercules.\")\n\n[70:3] Volney's Researches, p. 41. See also Tylor: Primitive Culture,\nvol. i. p. 357.\n\n[70:4] See Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, Art. \"Hercules.\" Cory's Ancient\nFragments, p. 36, _note_; and Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 201.\n\n[70:5] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Hercules.\"\n\n[70:6] Vol. i. plate cxxvii.\n\n[71:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 399.\n\n[71:2] OEd. Jud. p. 360, in Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 239.\n\n[71:3] \"Rien de plus connu dans la fable que ses amours avec Omphale et\nIole.\"--L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e, vol. i. p. 224.\n\n[71:4] The Legend of Samson, p. 404.\n\n[71:5] Vol. i. plate cxxvii.\n\n[71:6] \"Samson was remarkable for his long hair. The meaning of this\ntrait in the original myth is easy to guess, and appears also from\nrepresentations of the Sun-god amongst other peoples. _These long hairs\nare the rays of the Sun._\" (Bible for Learners, i. 416.)\n\n\"The beauty of the sun's rays is signified by the golden locks of\nPhoibos, _over which no razor has ever passed_; by the flowing hair\nwhich streams from the head of Kephalos, and falls over the shoulders of\nPerseus and Bellerophon.\" (Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. i. p. 107.)\n\n[72:1] Hebrew Mytho., pp. 137, 138.\n\n[72:2] Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. i. p. 84.\n\n[72:3] Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xxix.\n\n[72:4] The Legend of Samson, p. 408.\n\n[72:5] Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 72.\n\n[73:1] The Legend of Samson, p. 406.\n\n[73:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 237. Goldzhier: Hebrew\nMythology, p. 22. The Religion of Israel, p. 61. The Bible for Learners,\nvol. i. p. 418. Volney's Ruins, p. 41, and Stanley: History of the\nJewish Church, where he says: \"His _name_, which Josephus interprets in\nthe sense of 'strong,' was still more characteristic. He was 'the\nSunny'--the bright and beaming, though wayward, likeness of the great\nluminary.\"\n\n[73:3] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 237, and Volney's Researches, p.\n43, _note_.\n\n[73:4] See chapter ii.\n\n[73:5] The Religion of Israel, p. 61. \"The yellow hair of Apollo was a\nsymbol of the solar rays.\" (Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 679.)\n\n[73:6] Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 414.\n\n[73:7] Ibid. p. 422.\n\n[73:8] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 108 and 167.\n\n[74:1] Vol. v. p. 270.\n\n[74:2] Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 155.\n\n[74:3] Steinthal: The Legend of Samson, p. 386.\n\n[74:4] Buckley: Cities of the World, 41, 42.\n\n[74:5] Smith: Assyrian Discoveries, p. 167, and Chaldean Account of\nGenesis, p. 174.\n\n[74:6] Assyrian Discoveries, p. 205, and Chaldean Account of Genesis, p.\n174.\n\n[74:7] Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 310.\n\n[74:8] Ibid. pp. 193, 194, 174.\n\n[75:1] See Tacitus: Annals, book ii. ch. lix.\n\n[75:2] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 92.\n\n[75:3] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 153.\n\n[76:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 94, 417, and 514.\n\n[76:2] See Cox: Aryan Mythology.\n\n[76:3] See vol. i. of Aryan Mythology, by Rev. G. W. Cox.\n\n\"Besides the fabulous Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, there\nwas, in ancient times, no warlike nation who did not boast of its own\nparticular Hercules.\" (Arthur Murphy, Translator of Tacitus.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nJONAH SWALLOWED BY A BIG FISH.\n\n\nIn the book of Jonah, containing four chapters, we are told the word of\nthe Lord came unto Jonah, saying: \"Arise, go to Ninevah, that great\ncity, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up against me.\"\n\nInstead of obeying this command Jonah sought to flee \"from the presence\nof the Lord,\" by going to Tarshish. For this purpose he went to _Joppa_,\nand there took ship for Tarshish. But the Lord sent a great wind, and\nthere was a mighty tempest, so that the ship was likely to be broken.\n\nThe mariners being afraid, they cried every one unto _his_ God; and\ncasting lots--that they might know which of them was the cause of the\nstorm--the lot fell upon Jonah, showing him to be the guilty man.\n\nThe mariners then said unto him; \"What shall we do unto thee?\" Jonah in\nreply said, \"Take me up and cast me forth into the sea, for I know that\nfor my sake this great tempest is upon you.\" So they took up Jonah, and\ncast him into the sea, and the sea ceased raging.\n\nAnd the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, _and Jonah was\nin the belly of the fish three days and three nights_. Then Jonah prayed\nunto the Lord out of the fish's belly. And the Lord spake unto the fish,\nand it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.\n\nThe Lord again spake unto Jonah and said:\n\n\"Go unto Ninevah and preach unto it.\" So Jonah arose and went unto\nNinevah, according to the command of the Lord, and preached unto it.\n\nThere is a _Hindoo_ fable, very much resembling this, to be found in the\n_Somadeva Bhatta_, of a person by the name of _Saktideva_ who was\nswallowed by a huge fish, and finally came out unhurt. The story is as\nfollows:\n\n\"There was once a king's daughter who would marry no one but the man\nwho had seen the Golden City--of legendary fame--and Saktideva was in\nlove with her; so he went travelling about the world seeking some one\nwho could tell him where this Golden City was. In the course of his\njourneys _he embarked on board a ship_ bound for the Island of Utsthala,\nwhere lived the King of the Fishermen, who, Saktideva hoped, would set\nhim on his way. On the voyage _there arose a great storm_ and the ship\nwent to pieces, _and a great fish swallowed Saktideva whole_. Then,\ndriven by the force of fate, the fish went to the Island of Utsthala,\nand there the servants of the King of the Fishermen caught it, and the\nking, wondering at its size, had it cut open, _and Saktideva came out\nunhurt_.\"[78:1]\n\nIn Grecian fable, Hercules is said to have been swallowed by a whale, at\na place called Joppa, _and to have lain three days in his entrails_.\n\nBernard de Montfaucon, speaking of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and\ndescribing a piece of Grecian sculpture representing Hercules standing\nby a huge sea monster, says:\n\n     \"Some ancients relate to the effect that Hercules was also\n     swallowed by the whale that was watching Hesione, _that he\n     remained three days in his belly_, and that he came out\n     bald-pated after his sojourn there.\"[78:2]\n\nBouchet, in his \"Hist. d'Animal,\" tells us that:\n\n     \"The great fish which swallowed up _Jonah_, although it be\n     called a whale (Matt. xii. 40), yet it was not a whale,\n     properly so called, but a _Dog-fish_, called _Carcharias_.\n     Therefore in the Grecian fable _Hercules_ is said to have been\n     swallowed up of a _Dag_, and to have lain three days in his\n     entrails.\"[78:3]\n\nGodfrey Higgins says, on this subject:\n\n     \"The story of _Jonas_ swallowed up by a whale, is nothing but\n     part of the fiction of _Hercules_, described in the Heracleid\n     or Labors of Hercules, of whom the same story was told, and\n     who was swallowed up at the very same place, _Joppa_, and for\n     the same period of time, _three days_. Lycophron says that\n     Hercules was three nights in the belly of a fish.\"[78:4]\n\nWe have still another similar story in that of \"_Arion the Musician_,\"\nwho, being thrown overboard, was caught on the back of a _Dolphin_ and\nlanded safe on shore. The story is related in \"Tales of Ancient Greece,\"\nas follows:\n\nArion was a Corinthian harper who had travelled in Sicily and\n\nItaly, and had accumulated great wealth. Being desirous of again seeing\nhis native city, he set sail from Taras for Corinth. The sailors in the\nship, having seen the large boxes full of money which Arion had brought\nwith him into the ship, made up their minds to kill him and take his\ngold and silver. So one day when he was sitting on the bow of the ship,\nand looking down on the dark blue sea, three or four of the sailors came\nto him and said they were going to kill him. Now Arion knew they said\nthis because they wanted his money; so he promised to give them all he\nhad if they would spare his life. But they would not. Then he asked them\nto let him jump into the sea. When they had given him leave to do this,\nArion took one last look at the bright and sunny sky, and then leaped\ninto the sea, and the sailors saw him no more. But Arion was not drowned\nin the sea, for a great fish called a dolphin was swimming by the ship\nwhen Arion leaped over; and it caught him on its back and swam away with\nhim towards Corinth. So presently the fish came close to the shore and\nleft Arion on the beach, and swam away again into the deep sea.[79:1]\n\nThere is also a Persian legend to the effect that Jemshid was devoured\nby a great monster waiting for him at the bottom of the sea, but\nafterwards rises again out of the sea, like Jonah in the Hebrew, and\nHercules in the Phenician myth.[79:2] This legend was also found in the\nmyths of the _New World_.[79:3]\n\nIt was urged, many years ago, by Rosenm\u00fcller--an eminent German divine\nand professor of theology--and other critics, that the miracle recorded\nin the book of Jonah is not to be regarded as an historical fact, \"_but\nonly as an allegory, founded on the Phenician myth of Hercules rescuing\nHesione from the sea monster by leaping himself into its jaws, and for\nthree days and three nights continuing to tear its entrails_.\"[79:4]\n\nThat the story is an allegory, and that it, as well as that of\nSaktideva, Hercules and the rest, are simply different versions of the\nsame myth, the significance of which is the alternate swallowing up and\ncasting forth of _Day_, or the _Sun_, by _Night_, is now all but\nuniversally admitted by scholars. The _Day_, or the _Sun_, is swallowed\nup by _Night_, to be set free again at dawn, and from time to time\nsuffers a like but shorter durance in the maw of the eclipse and the\nstorm-cloud.[79:5]\n\nProfessor Goldzhier says:\n\n     \"The most prominent mythical characteristic of the story of\n     Jonah is his celebrated abode in the sea in the belly of a\n     whale. This trait is eminently _Solar_. . . . As on occasion\n     of the storm the storm-dragon or the storm-serpent _swallows\n     the Sun_, so when he sets, he (Jonah, as a personification of\n     the Sun) is swallowed by a mighty fish, waiting for him at the\n     bottom of the sea. Then, when he appears again on the horizon,\n     he is _spit out on the shore_ by the sea-monster.\"[80:1]\n\nThe _Sun_ was called Jona, as appears from Gruter's inscriptions, and\nother sources.[80:2]\n\nIn the _Vedas_--the four sacred books of the Hindoos--when _Day_ and\n_Night_, _Sun_ and _Darkness_, are opposed to each other, the one is\ndesignated _Red_, the other _Black_.[80:3]\n\nThe _Red Sun_ being swallowed up by the _Dark Earth_ at _Night_--as it\napparently is when it sets in the west--to be cast forth again at _Day_,\nis also illustrated in like manner. Jonah, Hercules and others personify\nthe _Sun_, and a huge _Fish_ represents the _Earth_.[80:4] _The Earth\nrepresented as a huge Fish is one of the most prominent ideas of the\nPolynesian mythology._[80:5]\n\nAt other times, instead of a _Fish_, we have a great raving _Wolf_, who\ncomes to devour its victim and extinguish the _Sun_-light.[80:6] The\nWolf is particularly distinguished in ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology,\nbeing employed as an emblem of the _Destroying Power_, which attempts to\ndestroy the _Sun_.[80:7] This is illustrated in the story of Little\n_Red_ Riding-Hood (the Sun)[80:8] who is devoured by the great _Black\nWolf_ (Night) and afterwards _comes out unhurt_.[80:9]\n\nThe story of Little Red Riding-Hood _is mutilated in the English\nversion_. The original story was that the little maid, in her _shining\nRed Cloak_, was swallowed by the great _Black Wolf_, and that _she came\nout safe and sound_ when the hunters cut open the sleeping beast.[80:10]\n\nIn regard to these heroes remaining _three days and three nights_ in\nthe bowels of the Fish, _they represent the Sun at the Winter Solstice_.\nFrom December 22d to the 25th--that is, _for three days and three\nnights_--the _Sun_ remains in the _Lowest Regions_, in the bowels of the\nEarth, in the belly of the Fish; it is then cast forth and renews its\ncareer.\n\nThus, we see that the story of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish,\nmeant originally the Sun swallowed up by Night, and that it is identical\nwith the well-known nursery-tale. How such legends are transformed from\nintelligible into unintelligible myths, is very clearly illustrated by\nProf. Max M\u00fcller, who, in speaking of \"the comparison of the different\nforms of Aryan Religion and Mythology,\" in India, Persia, Greece, Italy\nand Germany, says:\n\n     \"In each of these nations there was a tendency to change the\n     original conception of divine powers; to misunderstand the\n     many names given to these powers, and to misinterpret the\n     praises addressed to them. In this manner some of the divine\n     names were changed into half-divine, half-human heroes, _and\n     at last the myths which were true and intelligible as told\n     originally of the Sun, or the Dawn, or the Storms, were turned\n     into legends or fables too marvellous to be believed of common\n     mortals_. This process can be watched in _India_, in _Greece_,\n     and in _Germany_. The same story, or nearly the same, is told\n     of gods, of heroes, and of men. The _divine myth_ became an\n     _heroic legend_, and the _heroic legend_ fades away into a\n     _nursery tale_. Our nursery tales have well been called the\n     modern _patois_ of the ancient sacred mythology of the Aryan\n     race.\"[81:1]\n\nHow striking are these words; how plainly they illustrate the process by\nwhich the story, that was true and intelligible as told originally of\nthe _Day_ being swallowed up by _Night_, or the _Sun_ being swallowed up\nby the _Earth_, was transformed into a legend or fable, too marvellous\nto be believed by common mortals. How the \"_divine myth_\" became an\n\"_heroic legend_,\" and how the heroic legend faded away into a \"_nursery\ntale_.\"\n\nIn regard to Jonah's going to the city of Ninevah, and preaching unto\nthe inhabitants, we believe that the old \"Myth of Civilization,\" so\ncalled,[82:1] is partly interwoven here, and that, in this respect, he\nis nothing more than the Indian _Fish Avatar of Vishnou_, or the\nChaldean _Oannes_. At his first Avatar, _Vishnou_ is alleged to have\nappeared to humanity in form like a fish,[82:2] or half-man and\nhalf-fish, just as Oannes and Dagon were represented among the Chaldeans\nand other nations. In the temple of _Rama_, in India, there is a\nrepresentation of _Vishnou_ which answers perfectly to that of\n_Dagon_.[82:3] Mr. Maurice, in his \"Hist. Hindostan,\" has proved the\nidentity of the Syrian _Dagon_ and the Indian Fish Avatar, and concludes\nby saying:\n\n     \"From the foregoing and a variety of parallel circumstances, I\n     am inclined to think that the Chaldean _Oannes_, the Phenician\n     and Philistian _Dagon_, and the _Pisces_ of the Syrian and\n     Egyptian Zodiac, were the same deity with the Indian\n     _Vishnu_.\"[82:4]\n\nIn the old mythological remains of the Chaldeans, compiled by Berosus,\nAbydenus, and Polyhistor, there is an account of one _Oannes_, a\nfish-god, who rendered great service to mankind.[82:5] This being is\nsaid to have _come out of_ the Erythraean Sea.[82:6] This is evidently\n_the Sun rising out of the sea_, as it apparently does, in the\nEast.[82:7]\n\nProf. Goldzhier, speaking of Oannes, says:\n\n     \"That this founder of civilization has a _Solar character_,\n     like similar heroes in all other nations, is shown . . . in\n     the words of Berosus, who says: '_During the day-time_ Oannes\n     held intercourse with man, _but when the Sun set_, Oannes\n     fell into the sea, where he used to pass the night.' Here,\n     evidently, only the _Sun_ can be meant, who, in the evening,\n     dips into the sea, and comes forth again in the morning, and\n     passes the day on the dry land in the company of men.\"[82:8]\n\n_Dagon_ was sometimes represented as _a man emerging from a fish's\nmouth_, and sometimes as half-man and half-fish.[82:9] It was believed\nthat he came _in a ship_, and taught the people. Ancient history abounds\nwith such mythological personages.[82:10] There was also a _Durga_, a\nfish deity, among the _Hindoos_, represented as _a full grown man\nemerging from a fish's mouth_[82:9] The Philistines worshiped Dagon,\nand in Babylonian Mythology _Odakon_ is applied to a fish-like being,\nwho _rose from the waters of the Red Sea_ as one of the benefactors of\nmen.[83:1]\n\nOn the coins of Ascalon, where she was held in great honor, the goddess\nDerceto or Atergatis is represented as a woman with her lower\nextremities like a fish. This is Semiramis, who appeared at _Joppa_ as a\nmermaid. She is simply a personification of the _Moon_, who follows the\ncourse of the _Sun_. At times she manifests herself to the eyes of men,\nat others she seeks concealment in the Western flood.[83:2]\n\nThe Sun-god Phoibos traverses the sea in the form of a fish, and imparts\nlessons of wisdom and goodness when he has come forth from the green\ndepths. All these powers or qualities are shared by Proteus in Hellenic\nstory, as well as by the fish-god, Dagon or Oannes.[83:3]\n\nIn the Iliad and Odyssey, Atlas is brought into close connection with\nHelios, the bright god, the Latin Sol, and our Sun. In these poems he\nrises every morning from a beautiful lake by the deep-flowing stream of\nOcean, and having accomplished his journey across the heavens, plunges\nagain into the Western waters.[83:4]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans and Peruvians had likewise semi-fish gods.[83:5]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 5]\n\nJonah then, is like these other personages, in so far as they are all\n_personifications of the Sun_; they all _come out of the sea_; they are\nall represented as _a man emerging from a fish's mouth_; and they are\nall _benefactors of mankind_. We believe, therefore, that it is one and\nthe same myth, whether Oannes, Joannes, or Jonas,[83:6] differing to a\ncertain extent among different nations, just as we find to be the case\nwith other legends. This we have just seen illustrated in the story of\n\"Little Red Riding-Hood,\" which is considerably mutilated in the English\nversion.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 6]\n\nFig. No. 5 is a representation of _Dagon_, intended to illustrate a\ncreature half-man and half-fish; or, perhaps, a man emerging from a\nfish's mouth. It is taken from Layard. Fig. No. 6[84:1] is a\nrepresentation of the Indian Avatar of Vishnou, _coming forth from the\nfish_.[84:2] It would answer just as well for a representation of Jonah,\nas it does for the Hindoo divinity. It should be noticed that in both of\nthese, the god has a crown on his head, surmounted with a _triple_\nornament, both of which had evidently the same meaning, _i. e._, _an\nemblem of the trinity_.[84:3] The Indian Avatar being represented with\nfour arms, evidently means that he is god of the whole world, his _four_\narms extending to the _four corners of the world_. The _circle_, which\nis seen in one hand, is an emblem of eternal reward. The _shell_, with\nits eight convolutions, is intended to show the place in the number of\nthe cycles which he occupied. The _book_ and _sword_ are to show that he\nruled both in the right of the book and of the sword.[84:4]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[78:1] Tylor: Early Hist. Mankind, pp. 344, 345.\n\n[78:2] \"En effet, quelques anciens disent qu' Hercule fut aussi devor\u00e0\npar la beleine qui gurdoit Hesione, qu'il demeura trois jours dans son\nventre, et qu'il sortit chauve de ce sejour.\" (L'Antiquit\u00e9 Explique\u00e9,\nvol. i. p. 204.)\n\n[78:3] Bouchet: Hist. d'Animal, in Anac., vol. i. p. 240.\n\n[78:4] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 638. See also Tylor: Primitive Culture,\nvol. i. p. 306, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Jonah.\"\n\n[79:1] Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 296.\n\n[79:2] See Hebrew Mythology, p. 203.\n\n[79:3] See Tylor's Early Hist. Mankind, and Primitive Culture, vol. i.\n\n[79:4] Chambers's Encyclo., art. Jonah.\n\n[79:5] See Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77, and _note_; and Tylor:\nPrimitive Culture, i. 302.\n\n[80:1] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 102, 103.\n\n[80:2] This is seen from the following, taken from Pictet: \"_Du Culte\ndes Carabi_,\" p. 104, and quoted by Higgins: _Anac._, vol. i. p. 650:\n\"Vallancy dit que _Ionn_ \u00e9toit le m\u00eame que Baal. En Gallois _Jon_, le\nSeigneur, Dieu, la cause pr\u00e9mi\u00e8re. En Basque _Jawna_, _Jon_, _Jona_,\n&c., Dieu, et Seigneur, Ma\u00eetre. Les Scandinaves appeloient le _Soleil_\nJohn. . . . Une des inscriptions de Gruter montre ques les Troyens\nadoroient _le m\u00eame_ astre sous le nom de _Jona_. En Persan le _Soleil_\nest appel\u00e8 _Jawnah_.\" Thus we see that the _Sun_ was called _Jonah_, by\ndifferent nations of antiquity.\n\n[80:3] See Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 148.\n\n[80:4] See Tylor: Early History of Mankind, p. 845, and Goldzhier:\nHebrew Mythology, pp. 102, 103.\n\n[80:5] See Tylor: Early History of Mankind, p. 345.\n\n[80:6] Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77.\n\n[80:7] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 88, 89, and Mallet's\nNorthern Antiquities.\n\n[80:8] In ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology, the _Sun_ is personified in\nthe form of a beautiful _maiden_. (See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p.\n458.)\n\n[80:9] See Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77. Bunce: Fairy Tales, 161.\n\n[80:10] Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 307.\n\n\"The story of Little Red Riding-Hood, as we call her, or Little Red-Cap,\ncame from the same (_i. e._, the ancient Aryan) source, and refers to\nthe _Sun_ and the _Night_.\"\n\n\"One of the fancies of the most ancient Aryan or Hindoo stories was that\nthere was a great dragon that was trying to devour the Sun, and to\nprevent him from shining upon the earth and filling it with brightness\nand life and beauty, and that Indra, the Sun-god, killed the dragon.\nNow, this is the meaning of Little Red Riding-Hood, as it is told in our\nnursery tales. Little Red Riding-Hood is the evening Sun, which is\nalways described as red or golden; the old grandmother is the earth, to\nwhom the rays of the Sun bring warmth and comfort. The wolf--which is a\nwell-known figure for the clouds and darkness of night--is the dragon in\nanother form. First he devours the grandmother; that is, he wraps the\nearth in thick clouds, which the evening Sun is not strong enough to\npierce through. Then, with the darkness of night, he swallows up the\nevening Sun itself, and all is dark and desolate. Then, as in the German\ntale, the night-thunder and the storm-winds are represented by the loud\nsnoring of the wolf; and then the huntsman, the morning Sun, comes in\nall his strength and majesty, and chases away the night-clouds and kills\nthe wolf, and revives old Grandmother Earth, and brings Little Red\nRiding-Hood to life again.\" (Bunce, Fairy Tales, their Origin and\nMeaning, p. 161.)\n\n[81:1] M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 260.\n\n[82:1] See Goldzhier's Hebrew Mythology, p. 198, et seq.\n\n[82:2] See Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 277.\n\n[82:3] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 259. Also, Fig. No. 5, next page.\n\n[82:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. pp. 418-419.\n\n[82:5] See Pilchard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 190. Bible for Learners,\nvol. i. p. 87. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 646. Cory's Ancient\nFragments, p. 57.\n\n[82:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 646. Smith: Chaldean Account\nof Genesis, p. 39, and Cory's Ancient Fragments, p. 57.\n\n[82:7] Civilizing gods, who diffuse intelligence and instruct\nbarbarians, are also _Solar Deities_. Among these _Oannes_ takes his\nplace, as the _Sun-god_, giving knowledge and civilization. (Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 367.)\n\n[82:8] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 214, 215.\n\n[82:9] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 111.\n\n[82:10] See Chamber's Encyclo., art \"Dagon.\"\n\n[83:1] See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and Chambers's Encyclo.,\nart. \"Dagon\" in both.\n\n[83:2] See Baring-Gould's Curious Myths.\n\n[83:3] See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 26.\n\n[83:4] Ibid. p. 38.\n\n[83:5] Curious Myths, p. 372.\n\n[83:6] Since writing the above we find that Mr. Bryant, in his\n\"_Analysis of Ancient Mythology_\" (vol. ii. p. 291), speaking of the\nmystical nature of the name _John_, which is the same as _Jonah_, says:\n\"The prophet who was sent upon an embassy to the Ninevites, is styled\n_Ionas_: a title probably bestowed upon him as a messenger of the Deity.\nThe great Patriarch who preached righteousness to the Antediluvians, is\nstyled _Oan_ and _Oannes_, which is _the same as Jonah_.\"\n\n[84:1] From Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. i. p. 495.\n\n[84:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 634. See also, Calmet's\nFragments, 2d Hundred, p. 78.\n\n[84:3] See the chapter on \"The Trinity,\" in part second.\n\n[84:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 640.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nCIRCUMCISION.\n\n\nIn the words of the Rev. Dr. Giles:\n\n     \"The rite of circumcision must not be passed over in any work\n     that concerns the religion and literature of that (the Jewish)\n     people.\"[85:1]\n\nThe first mention of Circumcision, in the Bible, occurs in\nGenesis,[85:2] where God is said to have commanded the Israelites to\nperform this rite, and thereby establish a covenant between him and his\nchosen people:\n\n     \"This is my _covenant_ (said the Lord), which ye shall keep,\n     between me and you and thy seed after thee; every male child\n     among you shall be circumcised.\"\n\n\"We _need not doubt_,\" says the Rev. Dr. Giles, \"that a _Divine command_\nwas given to Abraham that all his posterity should practice the rite of\ncircumcision.\"[85:3]\n\nSuch may be the case. If we believe that the Lord of the Universe\ncommunes with man, we _need not doubt_ this; yet, we are compelled to\nadmit that nations other than the Hebrews practiced this rite. The\norigin of it, however, as practiced among other nations, has never been\nclearly ascertained. It has been maintained by some scholars that this\nrite drew its origin from considerations of health and cleanliness,\nwhich seems very probable, although doubted by many.[85:4] Whatever may\nhave been its origin, it is certain that it was practiced by many of the\nancient Eastern nations, who never came in contact with the Hebrews, in\nearly times, and, therefore, could not have learned it from them.\n\nThe _Egyptians_ practiced circumcision at a very early period,[85:5] at\nleast as early as the _fourth_ dynasty--pyramid one--and therefore, long\nbefore the time assigned for Joseph's entry into Egypt, from whom some\nwriters have claimed the Egyptians learned it.[86:1]\n\nIn the decorative pictures of Egyptian tombs, one frequently meets with\npersons on whom the denudation of the prepuce is manifested.[86:2]\n\nOn a stone found at Thebes, there is a representation of the\ncircumcision of Ramses II. A mother is seen holding her boy's arms back,\nwhile the operator kneels in front.[86:3] All Egyptian priests were\nobliged to be circumcised,[86:4] and Pythagoras had to submit to it\nbefore being admitted to the Egyptian sacerdotal mysteries.[86:5]\n\nHerodotus, the Greek historian, says:\n\n     \"As this practice can be traced both in Egypt and Ethiopia, to\n     the remotest antiquity, it is not possible to say which first\n     introduced it. The Phenicians and Syrians of Palestine\n     acknowledge that they borrowed it from Egypt.\"[86:6]\n\nIt has been recognized among the _Kaffirs_ and other tribes of\n_Africa_.[86:7] It was practiced among the _Fijians_ and _Samoans of\nPolynesia_, and some races of _Australia_.[86:8] The _Suzees_ and the\n_Mandingoes_ circumcise their women.[86:9] The _Assyrians_, _Colchins_,\n_Phenicians_, and others, practiced it.[86:10] It has been from time\nimmemorial a custom among the _Abyssinians_, though, at the present\ntime, Christians.[86:11]\n\nThe antiquity of the custom may be assured from the fact of the _New\nHollanders_, (never known to civilized nations until a few years ago)\nhaving practiced it.[86:12]\n\nThe _Troglodytes_ on the shore of the Red Sea, the _Idumeans_,\n_Ammonites_, _Moabites_ and _Ishmaelites_, had the practice of\ncircumcision.[86:11]\n\nThe _ancient Mexicans_ also practiced this rite.[86:13] It was also\nfound among the _Amazon_ tribes of _South America_.[87:1] These\nIndians, as well as some African tribes, were in the habit of\ncircumcising their women. Among the _Campas_, the women circumcised\nthemselves, and a man would not marry a woman who was not\ncircumcised.[87:2] They performed this singular rite upon arriving at\nthe age of puberty.[87:3]\n\nJesus of Nazareth was circumcised,[87:4] and had he been really the\nfounder of the Christian religion, so-called, it would certainly be\nincumbent on all Christians to be circumcised as he was, and to observe\nthat Jewish law which he observed, and which he was so far from\nabrogating, that he declared: \"heaven and earth shall pass away\" ere\n\"one jot or one tittle\" of that law should be dispensed with.[87:5] But\nthe Christians are not followers of the religion of Jesus.[87:6] They\nare followers of the religion of the _Pagans_. This, we believe, we\nshall be able to show in Part Second of this work.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[85:1] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. i. p. 249.\n\n[85:2] Genesis, xvii. 10.\n\n[85:3] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. i. p. 251.\n\n[85:4] Mr. Herbert Spencer shows (Principles of Sociology, pp. 290, 295)\nthat the sacrificing of a part of the body as a religious offering to\ntheir deity, was, and is a common practice among savage tribes.\nCircumcision may have originated in this way. And Mr. Wake, speaking of\nit, says: \"The _origin_ of this custom has not yet, so far as I am\naware, been satisfactorily explained. The idea that, under certain\nclimatic conditions, circumcision is necessary for cleanliness and\ncomfort, does not appear to be well founded, as the custom is not\nuniversal even within the tropics.\" (Phallism in Ancient Religs., p.\n36.)\n\n[85:5] \"Other men leave their private parts as they are formed by\nnature, except those who have learned otherwise from them; but the\nEgyptians are _circumcised_. . . . They are circumcised for the sake of\ncleanliness, thinking it better to be clean than handsome.\" (Herodotus,\nBook ii. ch. 36.)\n\n[86:1] We have it also on the authority of Sir J. G. Wilkinson, that:\n\"this custom was established long before the arrival of Joseph in\nEgypt,\" and that \"this is proved by the ancient monuments.\"\n\n[86:2] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, pp. 414, 415.\n\n[86:3] Ibid. p. 415.\n\n[86:4] Ibid. and Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 89.\n\n[86:5] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 415.\n\n[86:6] Herodotus: Book ii. ch. 36.\n\n[86:7] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 114. Amberly: Analysis\nReligious Belief, p. 67, and Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 309.\n\n[86:8] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 414, and Amberly's Analysis, pp.\n63, 73.\n\n[86:9] Amberly: Analysis of Relig. Belief, p. 73.\n\n[86:10] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 414: Amberly's Analysis, p. 63;\nProg. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 163, and Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii.\npp. 18, 19.\n\n[86:11] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 414.\n\n[86:12] Kendrick's Egypt, quoted by Dunlap; Mysteries of Adoni, p. 146.\n\n[86:13] Amberly's Analysis, p. 63, Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p.\n309, and Acosta, ii. 369.\n\n[87:1] Orton: The Andes and the Amazon, p. 322.\n\n[87:2] This was done by cutting off the _clytoris_.\n\n[87:3] Orton: The Andes and the Amazon, p. 322. Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv.\np. 563, and Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 319.\n\n\"At the time of the conquest, the Spaniards found circumcised nations in\nCentral America, and on the Amazon, the Tecuna and Manaos tribes still\nobserve this practice. In the South Seas it has been met with among\nthree different races, but it is performed in a somewhat different\nmanner. On the Australian continent, not all, but the majority of\ntribes, practiced circumcision. Among the Papuans, the inhabitants of\nNew Caledonia and the New Hebrides adhere to this custom. In his third\nvoyage, Captain Cook found it among the inhabitants of the Friendly\nIslands, in particular at Tongataboo, and the younger Pritchard bears\nwitness to its practice in the Samoa or Fiji groups.\" (Oscar Peschel:\nThe Races of Man, p. 22.)\n\n[87:4] Luke, ii. 21.\n\n[87:5] Matthew, v. 18.\n\n[87:6] In using the words \"the religion of Jesus,\" we mean simply _the\nreligion of Israel_. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a _Jew_, in\nevery sense of the word, and that he did not establish a new religion,\nor preach a new doctrine, in any way, shape, or form. \"The preacher from\nthe Mount, the prophet of the Beatitudes, does but repeat with\npersuasive lips what the law-givers of his race proclaimed in mighty\ntones of command.\" (See chap. xi.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nCONCLUSION OF PART FIRST.\n\n\nThere are many other legends recorded in the Old Testament which might\nbe treated at length, but, as we have considered the principal and most\nimportant, and as we have so much to examine in Part Second, which\ntreats of the New Testament, we shall take but a passing glance at a few\nothers.\n\nIn Genesis xli. is to be found the story of\n\n     PHARAOH'S TWO DREAMS,\n\nwhich is to the effect that Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by a river,\nand saw come up out of it _seven_ fat kine, and _seven_ lean kine, which\ndevoured the fat ones. He then dreamed that he saw _seven_ good ears of\ncorn, on one stalk, spring up out of the ground. This was followed by\n_seven_ poor ears, which sprang up after them, and devoured the good\nears.\n\nPharaoh, upon awaking from his sleep, and recalling the dreams which he\ndreamed, was greatly troubled, \"and he sent and called for all the\nmagicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof, and Pharaoh told them\nhis dreams, but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.\"\nFinally, his chief butler tells him of one Joseph, who was skilled in\ninterpreting dreams, and Pharaoh orders him to be brought before his\npresence. He then repeats his dreams to Joseph, who immediately\ninterprets them to the great satisfaction of the king.\n\nA very similar story is related in the Buddhist _Fo-pen-hing_--one of\ntheir sacred books, which has been translated by Prof. Samuel\nBeal--which, in substance, is as follows:\n\nSuddh\u00f4dana Raja dreamed _seven_ different dreams in one night, when,\n\"awaking from his sleep, and recalling the visions he had seen, was\ngreatly troubled, so that the very hair on his body stood erect, and his\nlimbs trembled.\" He forthwith summoned to his side, within his palace,\nall the great ministers of his council, and exhorted them in these\nwords: \"Most honorable Sirs! be it known to you that during the present\nnight I have seen in my dreams strange and potent visions--there were\n_seven_ distinct dreams, which I will now recite (he recites the\ndreams). I pray you, honorable Sirs! let not these dreams escape your\nmemories, but in the morning, when I am seated in my palace, and\nsurrounded by my attendants, let them be brought to my mind (that they\nmay be interpreted.)\"\n\nAt morning light, the king, seated in the midst of his attendants,\nissued his commands to all the Brahmans, interpreters of dreams, within\nhis kingdom, in these terms, \"All ye men of wisdom, explain for me by\ninterpretation the meaning of the dreams I have dreamed in my sleep.\"\n\nThen all the wise Brahmans, interpreters of dreams, began to consider,\neach one in his own heart, what the meaning of these visions could be;\ntill at last they addressed the king, and said: \"Mah\u00e2-raja! be it known\nto you that we never before have heard such dreams as these, _and we\ncannot interpret their meaning_.\"\n\nOn hearing this, Suddh\u00f4dana was very troubled in his heart, and\nexceeding distressed. He thought within himself: \"Who is there that can\nsatisfy these doubts of mine?\"\n\nFinally a \"holy one,\" called _T'so-Ping_, being present in the inner\npalace, and perceiving the sorrow and distress of the king, assumed the\nappearance of a Brahman, and under this form he stood at the gate of the\nking's palace, and cried out, saying: \"I am able fully to interpret the\ndreams of Suddh\u00f4dana R\u00e2ja, and with certainty to satisfy all the\ndoubts.\"\n\nThe king ordered him to be brought before his presence, and then related\nto him his dreams. Upon hearing them, _T'so-Ping_ immediately\ninterpreted them, to the great satisfaction of the king.[89:1]\n\nIn the second chapter of Exodus we read of\n\n     MOSES THROWN INTO THE NILE,\n\nwhich is done _by command of the king_.\n\nThere are many counterparts to this in ancient mythology; among them may\nbe mentioned that of the infant Perseus, who was, _by command of the\nking_ (Acrisius of Argos), shut up in a chest, and cast into the sea. He\nwas found by one Dictys, who took great care of the child, and--as\nPharaoh's daughter did with the child Moses--educated him.[89:2]\n\nThe infant Bacchus was confined in a chest, _by order of Cadmus, King\nof Thebes_, and thrown into the Nile.[90:1] He, like Moses, had two\nmothers, one by nature, the other by adoption.[90:2] He was also, like\nMoses, represented _horned_.[90:3]\n\nOsiris was also confined in a chest, and thrown into the river\nNile.[90:4]\n\nWhen Osiris was shut into the coffer, and cast into the river, he\nfloated to Phenicia, and was there received under the name of Adonis.\nIsis (his mother, or wife) wandered in quest of him, came to Byblos, and\nseated herself by a fountain in silence and tears. She was then taken by\nthe servants of the royal palace, and made to attend on the young prince\nof the land. In like manner, Demeter, after Aidoneus had ravished her\ndaughter, went in pursuit, reached Eleusis, seated herself by a well,\nconversed with the daughters of the queen, and became _nurse to her\nson_.[90:5] So likewise, when Moses was put into the ark made of\nbulrushes, and cast into the Nile, he was found by the daughters of\nPharaoh, and his own mother became his nurse.[90:6] This is simply\nanother version of the same myth.\n\nIn the second chapter of the second book of Kings, we read of\n\n     ELIJAH ASCENDING TO HEAVEN.\n\nThere are many counterparts to this, in heathen mythology.\n\nHindoo sacred writings relate many such stories--how some of their Holy\nOnes were taken up alive into heaven--and impressions on rocks are\nshown, said to be foot-prints, made when they ascended.[90:7]\n\nAccording to Babylonian mythology, _Xisuthrus_ was translated to\nheaven.[90:8]\n\nThe story of Elijah ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire may also be\ncompared to the fiery, flame-red chariot of _Ushas_.[90:9] This idea of\nsome Holy One ascending to heaven without dying was found in the ancient\nmythology of the _Chinese_.[90:10]\n\nThe story of\n\n     DAVID KILLING GOLIATH,\n\nby throwing a stone and hitting him in the forehead,[90:11] may be\ncompared to the story of _Thor_, the Scandinavian hero, throwing a\nhammer at Hrungnir, and striking him in the forehead.[91:1]\n\nWe read in Numbers[91:2] that\n\n     BALAAM'S ASS SPOKE\n\nto his master, and reproved him.\n\nIn ancient fables or stories in which animals play prominent parts, each\ncreature is endowed with the power of speech. This idea was common in\nthe whole of Western Asia and Egypt. It is found in various Egyptian and\nChaldean stories.[91:3] Homer has recorded that the _horse_ of Achilles\nspoke to him.[91:4]\n\nWe have also a very wonderful story in that of\n\n     JOSHUA'S COMMAND TO THE SUN.\n\nThis story is related in the tenth chapter of the book of Joshua, and is\nto the effect that the Israelites, who were at battle with the Amorites,\nwished the day to be lengthened that they might continue their\nslaughter, whereupon Joshua said: \"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon,\nand thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. _And the sun stood still_, and\nthe moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their\nenemies. . . . And there was no day like that before it or after it.\"\n\nThere are many stories similar to this, to be found among other nations\nof antiquity. We have, as an example, that which is related of Bacchus\nin the Orphic hymns, wherein it says that this god-man arrested the\ncourse of the sun and the moon.[91:5]\n\nAn Indian legend relates that the sun stood still to hear the pious\nejaculations of Arjouan after the death of Crishna.[91:6]\n\nA holy Buddhist by the name of M\u00e2tanga prevented the sun, at his\ncommand, from rising, and bisected the moon.[91:7] Arresting the course\nof the sun was a common thing among the disciples of Buddha.[91:8]\n\nThe _Chinese_ also, had a legend of the sun standing still,[91:9] and a\nlegend was found among the _Ancient Mexicans_ to the effect that one of\ntheir holy persons commanded the sun to stand still, which command was\nobeyed.[91:10]\n\nWe shall now endeavor to answer the question which must naturally arise\nin the minds of all who see, for the first time, the similarity in the\nlegends of the Hebrews and those of other nations, namely: have the\nHebrews copied from other nations, or, have other nations copied from\nthe Hebrews? To answer this question we shall; _first_, give a brief\naccount or history of the Pentateuch and other books of the Old\nTestament from which we have taken legends, and show about what time\nthey were written; and, _second_, show that other nations were possessed\nof these legends long before that time, _and that the Jews copied from\nthem_.\n\nThe Pentateuch is ascribed, in our _modern_ translations, to _Moses_,\nand he is generally supposed to be the author. This is altogether\nerroneous, as Moses had _nothing whatever_ to do with these five books.\nBishop Colenso, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"The books of the Pentateuch _are never ascribed to Moses in\n     the inscriptions of Hebrew manuscripts, or in printed copies\n     of the Hebrew Bible_. Nor are they styled the '_Books of\n     Moses_' in the Septuagint[92:1] or Vulgate,[92:2] _but only in\n     our modern translations_, after the example of many eminent\n     Fathers of the Church, who, with the exception of Jerome, and,\n     perhaps, Origen, were, one and all of them, very little\n     acquainted with the Hebrew language, and still less with its\n     criticism.\"[92:3]\n\nThe author of \"The Religion of Israel,\" referring to this subject, says:\n\n     \"The Jews who lived _after_ the Babylonish Captivity, and the\n     Christians following their examples, ascribed these books (the\n     Pentateuch) to Moses; and for many centuries the _notion_ was\n     cherished that he had really written them. _But strict and\n     impartial investigation has shown that this opinion must be\n     given up_; and that _nothing_ in the whole Law really comes\n     from Moses himself except the Ten Commandments. _And even\n     these were not delivered by him in the same form as we find\n     them now._ If we still call these books by his name, it is\n     only because the Israelites always thought of him as their\n     first and greatest law-giver, _and the actual authors grouped\n     all their narratives and laws around his figure, and\n     associated them with his name_.\"[92:4]\n\nAs we cannot go into an extended account, and show _how this is known_,\nwe will simply say that it is principally by _internal_ evidence that\nthese facts are ascertained.[92:5]\n\nNow that we have seen that Moses did not write the books of the\nPentateuch, our next endeavor will be to ascertain _when_ they were\nwritten, and _by whom_.\n\nWe can say that they were not written by any _one_ person, nor were they\nwritten _at the same time_.\n\nWe can trace _three_ principal redactions of the Pentateuch, that is to\nsay, the material was _worked over_, and _re-edited_, with\n_modifications_ and _additions_, by _different people_, at _three\ndistinct epochs_.[93:1]\n\nThe two principal writers are generally known as the _Jehovistic_ and\nthe _Elohistic_. We have--in speaking of the \"Eden Myth\" and the legend\nof the \"Deluge\"--already alluded to this fact, and have illustrated how\nthese writers' narratives conflict with each other.\n\nThe _Jehovistic_ writer is supposed to have been a prophet, who, it\nwould seem, was anxious to give Israel a history. He begins at Genesis,\nii. 4, with a _short_ account, of the \"_Creation_,\" and then he carries\nthe story on regularly until the Israelites enter Canaan. It is to him\nthat we are indebted for the _charming_ pictures of the patriarchs. _He\ntook these from other writings, or from the popular legends._[93:2]\n\nAbout 725 B. C. the Israelites were conquered by Salmanassar, King of\nAssyria, and many of them were carried away captives. _Their place was\nsupplied by Assyrian colonists from Babylon, Persia, and other\nplaces._[93:3] This fact is of the greatest importance, and should not\nbe forgotten, as we find that the _first_ of the three writers of the\nPentateuch, spoken of above, _wrote about this time_, and the Israelites\nheard, _from the colonists from Babylon, Persia, and other places--for\nthe first time--many of the legends which this writer wove into the\nfabulous history which he wrote, especially the accounts of the Creation\nand the Deluge_.\n\nThe Pentateuch remained in this, its _first_ form, until the year 620 B.\nC. Then a certain _priest_ of marked prophetic sympathies wrote a book\nof law which has come down to us in Deuteronomy, iv. 44, to xxvi., and\nxxviii. Here we find the demands which the _Mosaic_ party at _that day_\nwere making thrown into the form of laws. It was by King Josiah that\nthis book was first introduced and proclaimed as authoritative.[93:4] It\nwas soon afterwards _wove into_ the work of the _first_ Pentateuchian\nwriter, and at the same time \"_a few new passages_\" were added, some of\nwhich related to Joshua, the successor of Moses.[94:1]\n\nAt this period in Israel's history, Jehovah had become almost forgotten,\nand \"other gods\" had taken his place.[94:2] The Mosaic party, so\ncalled--who worshiped Jehovah exclusively--were in the minority, but\nwhen King Amon--who was a worshiper of Moloch--died, and was succeeded\nby his son Josiah, a change immediately took place. This young prince,\nwho was only eight years old at the death of his father, the Mosaic\nparty succeeded in winning over to their interests. In the year 621 B.\nC., Josiah, now in the eighteenth year of his reign, began a thorough\nreformation which completely answered to the ideas of the Mosaic\nparty.[94:3]\n\nIt was during this time that the _second_ Pentateuchian writer wrote,\nand _he_ makes _Moses_ speak as the law-giver. This writer was probably\nHilkiah, _who claimed to have found a book, written by Moses, in the\ntemple,[94:4] although it had only just been drawn up_.[94:5]\n\nThe principal objections which _were_ brought against the claims of\nHilkiah, _but which are not needed in the present age of inquiry_, was\nthat Shaphan and Josiah read it off, not as if it were an _old_ book,\n_but as though it had been recently written_, when any person who is\nacquainted, in the slightest degree, with language, must know that a man\ncould not read off, at once, _a book written eight hundred years\nbefore_. The phraseology would necessarily be so altered by time as to\nrender it comparatively unintelligible.\n\nWe must now turn to the _third_ Pentateuchian writer, _whose writings\nwere published 444 B. C._\n\nAt that time Ezra (or Ezdras) _added_ to the work of his two\n_predecessors_ a series of _laws_ and _narratives_ which had been drawn\nup _by some of the priests in Babylon_.[94:6] This \"series of laws and\nnarratives,\" which was written by \"some of the (Israelitish) priests in\nBabylon,\" was called \"_The Book of Origins_\" (probably containing the\nBabylonian account of the \"_Origin of Things_,\" or the \"_Creation_\").\nEzra brought the book from _Babylon_ to Jerusalem. He made some\nmodifications in it and constituted it a code of law for Israel,\n_dove-tailing it into those parts of the Pentateuch which existed\nbefore_. A few _alterations_ and _additions_ were subsequently made,\nbut these are of minor importance, and we may fairly say _that Ezra put\nthe Pentateuch into the form in which we have it_ (about 444 B. C.).\n\nThese priestly passages are partly occupied with historical matter,\ncomprising a very free account of things from the creation of the world\nto the arrival of Israel in Canaan. Everything is here presented from\nthe _priestly_ point of view; some events, elsewhere recorded, are\n_touched up in the priestly spirit, and others are entirely\ninvented_.[95:1]\n\nIt was the belief of the Jews, asserted by the _Pirke Aboth_ (Sayings of\nthe Fathers), one of the oldest books of the _Talmud_,[95:2] as well as\nother Jewish records, that Ezra, acting in accordance with a divine\ncommission, re-wrote the Old Testament, the manuscripts of which were\nsaid to have been lost in the destruction of the first temple, when\nNebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem.[95:3] This we _know_ could not have been\nthe case. The fact that Ezra wrote--adding to, and taking from the\nalready existing books of the Pentateuch--was probably the foundation\nfor this tradition. The account of it is to be found in the Apocryphal\nbook of Esdras, a book deemed authentic by the Greek Church.\n\nDr. Knappert, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"For many centuries, both the Christians and the Jews supposed\n     that Ezra had brought together the sacred writings of his\n     people, united them in one whole, and introduced them as a\n     book given by the Spirit of God--a Holy Scripture.\n\n     \"The only authority for this supposition was a very modern and\n     altogether untrustworthy _tradition_. The historical and\n     critical studies of our times have been emancipated from the\n     influence of this tradition, and the most ancient statements\n     with regard to the subject have been hunted up and compared\n     together. These statements are, indeed, scanty and incomplete,\n     and many a detail is still obscure; but the main facts have\n     been completely ascertained.\n\n     \"_Before the Babylonish captivity, Israel had no sacred\n     writings._ There were certain laws, prophetic writings, and a\n     few historical books, but no one had ever thought of ascribing\n     binding and divine authority to these documents.\n\n     \"_Ezra brought the priestly law with him from Babylon,\n     altering it and amalgamating it with the narratives and laws\n     already in existence, and thus produced the Pentateuch in\n     pretty much the same form_ (though not quite, as we shall\n     show) _as we still have it. These books got the name of the\n     'Law of Moses,' or simply the 'Law.'_ Ezra introduced them\n     into Israel (B. C. 444), and gave them binding authority, _and\n     from that time forward they were considered divine_.\"[95:4]\n\nFrom the time of Ezra until the year 287 B. C., when the Pentateuch was\ntranslated into Greek by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt,\nthese books evidently underwent some changes. This the writer quoted\nabove admits, in saying:\n\n     \"Later still (viz., after the time of Ezra), _a few more\n     changes and additions were made_, and so the Pentateuch grew\n     into its present form.\"[96:1]\n\nIn answer to those who claim that the Pentateuch was written by _one_\nperson, Bishop Colenso says:\n\n     \"It is certainly inconceivable that if the _Pentateuch_ be the\n     production of _one and the same hand throughout_, it should\n     contain _such a number of glaring inconsistencies_. . . . No\n     single author could have been guilty of such absurdities; but\n     it is quite possible, and what was almost sure to happen in\n     such a case, that, if the Pentateuch be the work of _different\n     authors_ in _different ages_, this fact should betray itself\n     _by the existence of contradictions in the narrative_.\"[96:2]\n\nHaving ascertained the origin of the Pentateuch, or first five books of\nthe Old Testament, it will be unnecessary to refer to the others _here_,\nas we have nothing to do with _them_ in our investigations. Suffice it\nto say then, that: \"In the earlier period after Ezra, _none of the other\nbooks_ which already existed, enjoyed the same authority as the\nPentateuch.\"[96:3]\n\nIt is probable[96:4] that Nehemiah made a collection of historical and\nprophetic books, songs, _and letters from Persian kings_, not to form a\nsecond collection, but for the purpose of saving them from being lost.\nThe scribes of Jerusalem, followers of Ezra, who were known as \"the men\nof the Great Synagogue,\" _were the collectors of the second and third\ndivisions of the Old Testament_. They collected together the historical\nand prophetic books, songs, &c., which were then in existence, _and\nafter altering many of them_, they were added to the collection of\n_sacred_ books. It must not be supposed that any fixed plan was pursued\nin this work, _or that the idea was entertained from the first, that\nthese books would one day stand on the same level with the\nPentateuch_.[96:5]\n\nIn the course of time, however, many of the Jews began to consider\n_some_ of these books as _sacred_. The Alexandrian Jews adopted books\ninto the canon which those of Jerusalem did not, _and this difference of\nopinion lasted for a long time, even till the second century after\nChrist. It was not until this time that all the books of the Old\nTestament acquired divine authority._[96:6] It is not known, however,\n_just when_ the canon of the Old Testament was closed. _The time and\nmanner in which it was done is altogether obscure._[97:1] Jewish\ntradition indicates that the full canonicity of several books was not\nfree from doubt till the time of the famous Rabbi Akiba,[97:2] who\nflourished about the beginning of the second century after Christ.[97:3]\n\nAfter giving a history of the books of the Old Testament, the author of\n\"The Religion of Israel,\" whom we have followed in this investigation,\nsays:\n\n     \"The great majority of the writers of the Old Testament had no\n     other source of information about the past history of Israel\n     than simple _tradition_. Indeed, it could not have been\n     otherwise, for in primitive times no one used to record\n     anything in writing, and the only way of preserving a\n     knowledge of the past was to hand it down by word of mouth.\n     The father told the son what his elders had told him, and the\n     son handed it on to the next generation.\n\n     \"Not only did the historian of Israel draw from tradition with\n     perfect freedom, and write down without hesitation anything\n     they heard and what was current in the mouths of the people,\n     _but they did not shrink from modifying their representation\n     of the past in any way that they thought would be good and\n     useful_. It is difficult for us to look at things from this\n     point of view, because our ideas of historical good faith are\n     so utterly different. When we write history, we know that we\n     ought to be guided solely by a desire to represent facts\n     exactly as they really happened. All that we are concerned\n     with is _reality_; we want to make the old times live again,\n     and we take all possible pains not to remodel the past from\n     the point of view of to-day. All we want to know is what\n     happened, and how men lived, thought, and worked in those\n     days. The Israelites had a very different notion of the nature\n     of historical composition. When a prophet or a priest related\n     something about bygone times, his object was not to convey\n     knowledge about those times; on the contrary, he used history\n     merely as a vehicle for the conveyance of instruction and\n     exhortation. Not only did he confine his narrative to such\n     matters as he thought would serve his purpose but he never\n     hesitated to modify what he knew of the past, _and he did not\n     think twice about touching it up from his own imagination,\n     simply that it might be more conducive to the end he had in\n     view and chime in better with his opinions. All the past\n     became colored through and through with the tinge of his own\n     mind._ Our own notions of honor and good faith would never\n     permit all this; but we must not measure ancient writers by\n     our own standard; they considered that they were acting quite\n     within their rights and in strict accordance with duty and\n     conscience.\"[97:4]\n\nIt will be noticed that, in our investigations on the authority of the\nPentateuch, we have followed, principally, Dr. Knappert's ideas as set\nforth in \"The Religion of Israel.\"\n\nThis we have done because we could not go into an extended\ninvestigation, and because his words are very expressive, and just to\nthe point. To those who may think that his ideas are not the same as\nthose entertained by other Biblical scholars of the present day, we\nsubjoin, in a note below, a list of works to which they are\nreferred.[98:1]\n\nWe shall now, after giving a brief history of the Pentateuch, refer to\nthe legends of which we have been treating, and endeavor to show from\nwhence the Hebrews borrowed them. The first of these is \"_The Creation\nand Fall of Man_.\"\n\nEgypt, the country out of which the Israelites came, had no story of the\nCreation and Fall of Man, _such as we have found among the Hebrews_;\nthey therefore could not have learned it from _them_. The _Chaldeans_,\nhowever, as we saw in our first chapter, had this legend, and it is from\nthem that the Hebrews borrowed it.\n\nThe account which we have given of the Chaldean story of the Creation\nand Fall of Man, was taken, as we stated, from the writings of Berosus,\nthe Chaldean historian, who lived in the time of Alexander the Great\n(356-325 B. C.), and as the Jews were acquainted with the story some\ncenturies earlier than this, his works did not prove that these\ntraditions were in Babylonia before the Jewish captivity, and could not\nafford testimony in favor of the statement that the Jews borrowed this\nlegend from the Babylonians _at that time_. It was left for Mr. George\nSmith, of the British Museum, to establish, without a doubt, the fact\nthat this legend was known to the Babylonians at least _two thousand\nyears before the time assigned for the birth of Jesus_. The cuneiform\ninscriptions discovered by him, while on an expedition to Assyria,\norganized by the London \"Daily Telegraph,\" was the means of doing this,\nand although by far the greatest number of these tablets belong to the\nage of Assurbanipal, who reigned over Assyria B. C. 670, it is\n\"acknowledged on all hands that these tablets are not the originals,\n_but are only copies from earlier texts_.\" \"The Assyrians acknowledge\nthemselves that this literature was borrowed from Babylonian sources,\nand of course it is to Babylonia we have to look to ascertain the\napproximate dates of the original documents.\"[98:2] Mr. Smith then\nshows, from \"fragments of the Cuneiform account of the Creation and\nFall\" which have been discovered, that, \"_in the period from B. C. 2000\nto 1500, the Babylonians believed in a story similar to that in\nGenesis_.\" It is probable, however, says Mr. Smith, that this legend\nexisted as _traditions_ in the country _long before it was committed to\nwriting_, and some of these traditions exhibited great difference in\ndetails, _showing that they had passed through many changes_.[99:1]\n\nProfessor James Fergusson, in his celebrated work on \"Tree and Serpent\nWorship,\" says:\n\n     \"The two chapters which refer to this (_i. e._, the Garden,\n     the Tree, and the Serpent), as indeed the whole of the first\n     eight of Genesis, are now generally admitted by scholars to be\n     made up of fragments of earlier books or earlier traditions,\n     belonging, properly speaking, to Mesopotamia rather than to\n     Jewish history, the exact meaning of which the writers of the\n     Pentateuch seem hardly to have appreciated when they\n     transcribed them in the form in which they are now\n     found.\"[99:2]\n\nJohn Fiske says:\n\n     \"The story of the Serpent in Eden is an Aryan story in every\n     particular. The notion of Satan as the author of evil appears\n     only in the later books, _composed after the Jews had come\n     into close contact with Persian ideas_.\"[99:3]\n\nProf. John W. Draper says:\n\n     \"In the old legends of dualism, the evil spirit was said to\n     have _sent a serpent to ruin Paradise_. These legends became\n     known to the Jews _during their Babylonian captivity_.\"[99:4]\n\nProfessor Goldziher also shows, in his \"Mythology Among the\nHebrews,\"[99:5] that the story of the creation was borrowed by the\nHebrews from the Babylonians. He also informs us that the notion of the\n_b\u00f4r\u00ea_ and _y\u00f4s\u00ear_, \"Creator\" (the term used in the cosmogony in\nGenesis) as an integral part of the idea of God, _are first brought into\nuse by the prophets of the captivity_. \"Thus also the story of the\n_Garden of Eden_, as a supplement to the history of the Creation, _was\nwritten down at Babylon_.\"\n\nStrange as it may appear, after the _Genesis_ account, we may pass\nthrough the whole Pentateuch, and other books of the Old Testament,\nclear to the end, and will find that the story of the \"_Garden of Eden_\"\nand \"_Fall of Man_,\" is hardly alluded to, if at all. Lengkerke says:\n\"One single _certain_ trace of the employment of the story of Adam's\nfall is entirely wanting in the Hebrew Canon (after the Genesis\naccount). Adam, Eve, the Serpent, the woman's seduction of her husband,\n&c., are all images, _to which the remaining words of the Israelites\nnever again recur_.\"[100:1]\n\nThis circumstance can only be explained by the fact that the first\nchapters of Genesis were not written until _after_ the other portions\nhad been written.\n\nIt is worthy of notice, that this story of the Fall of Man, upon which\nthe whole orthodox scheme of a divine Saviour or Redeemer is based, was\n_not_ considered by the learned Israelites as _fact_. They simply looked\nupon it as a story which satisfied the ignorant, but which should be\nconsidered as _allegory_ by the learned.[100:2]\n\nRabbi Maimonides (Moses Ben Maimon), one of the most celebrated of the\nRabbis, says on this subject:--\n\n     \"We must not understand, or take in a literal sense, what is\n     written in _the book_ on the _Creation_, nor form of it the\n     same ideas which are participated by the generality of\n     mankind; _otherwise our ancient sages would not have so much\n     recommended to us, to hide the real meaning of it, and not to\n     lift the allegorical veil, which covers the truth contained\n     therein_. When taken in its _literal sense_, the work gives\n     the most absurd and most extravagant ideas of the Deity.\n     'Whosoever should divine its true meaning ought to take great\n     care in not divulging it.' This is a maxim repeated to us by\n     all our sages, principally concerning the understanding of the\n     work of the six days.\"[100:3]\n\nPhilo, a Jewish writer contemporary with Jesus, held the same opinion of\nthe character of the sacred books of the Hebrews. He has made two\nparticular treatises, bearing the title of \"_The Allegories_,\" and he\ntraces back to the _allegorical_ sense the \"Tree of Life,\" the \"Rivers\nof Paradise,\" and the other fictions of the Genesis.[100:4]\n\nMany of the early Christian Fathers declared that, in the story of the\nCreation and Fall of Man, there was but an _allegorical fiction_. Among\nthese may be mentioned St. Augustine, who speaks of it in his \"City of\nGod,\" and also Origen, who says:\n\n     \"What man of sense will agree with the statement that the\n     first, second, and third days, in which the _evening_ is named\n     and the _morning_, were without sun, moon and stars? What man\n     is found such an idiot as to suppose that God planted trees in\n     Paradise like an husbandman? _I believe that every man must\n     hold these things for images under which a hidden sense is\n     concealed._\"[100:5]\n\nOrigen believed aright, as it is now almost universally admitted, that\nthe stories of the \"Garden of Eden,\" the \"Elysian Fields,\" the \"Garden\nof the Blessed,\" &c., which were the abode of the blessed, where grief\nand sorrow could not approach them, where plague and sickness could not\ntouch them, were founded on _allegory_. These abodes of delight were far\naway in the _West_, where the sun goes down beyond the bounds of the\nearth. They were the \"Golden Islands\" sailing in a sea of blue--_the\nburnished clouds floating in the pure ether_. In a word, _the \"Elysian\nFields\" are the clouds at eventide_. The picture was suggested by the\nimages drawn from the phenomena of sunset and twilight.[101:1]\n\nEating of the forbidden fruit was simply a figurative mode of expressing\nthe performance of the act necessary to the perpetuation of the human\nrace. The \"Tree of Knowledge\" was a Phallic tree, and the fruit which\ngrew upon it was Phallic fruit.[101:2]\n\nIn regard to the story of \"_The Deluge_,\" we have already seen[101:3]\nthat \"Egyptian records tell nothing of a cataclysmal deluge,\" and that,\n\"the land was _never_ visited by other than its annual beneficent\noverflow of the river Nile.\" Also, that \"the Pharaoh Khoufou-cheops was\nbuilding his pyramid, according to Egyptian chronicle, when the whole\nworld was under the waters of a universal deluge, according to the\nHebrew chronicle.\" This is sufficient evidence that the Hebrews did not\nborrow the legend from the Egyptians.\n\nWe have also seen, in the chapter that treated of this legend, that it\ncorresponded in all the principal features with the _Chaldean_ account.\nWe shall now show that it was taken from this.\n\nMr. Smith discovered, on the site of Ninevah, during the years 1873-4,\ncylinders belonging to the early Babylonian monarchy, (from 2500 to 1500\nB. C.) which contained the legend of the flood,[101:4] and which we gave\nin Chapter II. _This was the foundation for the Hebrew legend, and they\nlearned it at the time of the Captivity._[101:5] The myth of Deucalion,\nthe Grecian hero, was also taken from the same source. The Greeks\nlearned it from the Chaldeans.\n\nWe read in Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, that:\n\n     \"It was at one time extensively believed, even by intelligent\n     scholars, that the myth of Deucalion was a corrupted\n     tradition of the _Noachian_ deluge, but this _untenable_\n     opinion is now all but universally abandoned.\"[102:1]\n\nThis idea was abandoned after it was found that the Deucalion myth was\nolder than the Hebrew.\n\nWhat was said in regard to the Eden story not being mentioned in other\nportions of the Old Testament save in Genesis, also applies to this\nstory of the Deluge. _Nowhere_ in the other books of the Old Testament\nis found any reference to this story, except in Isaiah, where \"the\nwaters of Noah\" are mentioned, and in Ezekiel, where simply the _name_\nof Noah is mentioned.\n\nWe stated in Chapter II. that some persons saw in this story an\n_astronomical_ myth. Although not generally admitted, yet there are very\nstrong reasons for believing this to be the case.\n\nAccording to the _Chaldean_ account--which is the oldest one\nknown--there were _seven_ persons saved in the ark.[102:2] There were\nalso _seven_ persons saved, according to some of the _Hindoo_\naccounts.[102:3] That this referred to the sun, moon, and five planets\nlooks very probable. We have also seen that Noah was the _tenth_\npatriarch, and Xisuthrus (who is the Chaldean hero) was the _tenth_\nking.[102:4] Now, according to the Babylonian table, their _Zodiac_\ncontained _ten_ gods called the \"_Ten Zodiac_ gods.\"[102:5] They also\nbelieved that whenever all the _planets_ met in the sign of Capricorn,\n_the whole earth was overwhelmed with a deluge of water_.[102:6] The\n_Hindoos_ and other nations had a similar belief.[102:7]\n\nIt is well known that the Chaldeans were great astronomers. When\nAlexander the Great conquered the city of Babylon, the Chaldean priests\nboasted to the Greek philosophers, who followed his army, that they had\ncontinued their astronomical calculations through a period of more than\nforty thousand years.[102:8] Although this statement cannot be credited,\nyet the great antiquity of Chaldea cannot be doubted, and its immediate\nconnection with Hindostan, or Egypt, is abundantly proved by the little\nthat is known concerning its religion, and by the few fragments that\nremain of its former grandeur.\n\nIn regard to the story of \"_The Tower of Babel_\" little need be said.\nThis, as well as the story of the Creation and Fall of Man, and the\nDeluge, was borrowed from the Babylonians.[102:9]\n\n\"It seems,\" says George Smith, \"from the indications in the (cuneiform)\ninscriptions, that there happened in the interval between 2000 and 1850\nB. C. a general _collection_ of the development of the various\ntraditions of the Creation, Flood, Tower of Babel, and other similar\nlegends.\" \"These legends were, however, traditions before they were\ncommitted to writing, _and were common in some form to all the\ncountry_.\"[103:1]\n\nThe Tower of Babel, or the confusion of tongues, is nowhere alluded to\nin the Old Testament outside of Genesis, where the story is related.\n\nThe next story in order is \"_The Trial of Abraham's Faith_.\"\n\nIn this connection we have shown similar legends taken from _Grecian_\nmythology, which legends may have given _the idea_ to the writer of the\nHebrew story.\n\nIt may appear strange that the _Hebrews_ should have been acquainted\nwith _Grecian_ mythology, yet we know this was the case. The fact is\naccounted for in the following manner:\n\nMany of the Jews taken captive at the Edomite sack of Jerusalem were\nsold to the _Grecians_,[103:2] who took them to their country. While\nthere, they became acquainted with Grecian legends, and when they\nreturned from \"the Islands of the Sea\"--as they called the Western\ncountries--_they brought them to Jerusalem_.[103:3]\n\nThis legend, as we stated in the chapter which treated of it, was\nwritten at the time when the Mosaic party in Israel were endeavoring to\nabolish human sacrifices and other \"abominations,\" and the author of the\nstory invented it to make it appear that the Lord had abolished them in\nthe time of Abraham. The earliest _Targum_[103:4] knows nothing about\nthe legend, showing that the story was not in the Pentateuch at the time\nthis Targum was written.\n\nWe have also seen that a story written by Sanchoniathon (about B. C.\n1300) of one Saturn, whom the Phenicians called _Israel_, bore a\nresemblance to the Hebrew legend of Abraham. Now, Count de Volney\ntells us that \"a similar tradition prevailed among the _Chaldeans_,\"\nand that they had the history of one _Zerban_--which means\n\"rich-in-gold\"[103:5]--that corresponded in many respects with the\nhistory of Abraham.[103:6] It may, then, have been from the Chaldean\nstory that the Hebrew fable writer got his idea.\n\nThe next legend which we examined was that of \"_Jacob's Vision of the\nLadder_.\" We claimed that it probably referred to the doctrine of the\ntransmigration of souls from one body into another, and also gave the\napparent reason for the invention of the story.\n\nThe next story was \"_The Exodus from Egypt, and Passage through the Red\nSea_,\" in which we showed, from Egyptian history, that the Israelites\nwere _turned out_ of the country on account of their uncleanness, and\nthat the wonderful exploits recorded of Moses were simply copies of\nlegends related of the sun-god Bacchus. These legends came from \"the\nIslands of the Sea,\" and came in very handy for the Hebrew fable\nwriters; they saved them the trouble of _inventing_.\n\nWe now come to the story relating to \"_The Receiving of the Ten\nCommandments_\" by Moses from the Lord, on the top of a mountain, 'mid\nthunders and lightnings.\n\nAll that is likely to be historical in this account, is that Moses\nassembled, not, indeed, the whole of the people, but the heads of the\ntribes, and gave them the code which he had prepared.[104:1] The\n_marvellous_ portion of the story was evidently copied from that related\nof the law-giver Zoroaster, by the _Persians_, and the idea that there\nwere _two_ tables of stone with the Law written thereon was evidently\ntaken from the story of Bacchus, the Law-giver, who had _his_ laws\nwritten on _two tables of stone_.[104:2]\n\nThe next legend treated was that of \"_Samson and his Exploits_.\"\n\nThose who, _like the learned of the last century_, maintain that the\nPagans copied from the Hebrews, may say that Samson was the model of all\ntheir similar stories, but now that our ideas concerning antiquity are\nenlarged, and when we know that Hercules is well known to have been the\nGod _Sol_, whose _allegorical history_ was spread among many nations\nlong before the Hebrews were ever heard of, we are authorized to believe\nand to say that some Jewish _mythologist_--for what else are their\nso-called historians--composed the anecdote of Samson, by partly\ndisfiguring the popular traditions of the Greeks, Phenicians and\nChaldeans, and claiming that hero for his own nation.[104:3]\n\nThe Babylonian story of Izdubar, the lion-killer, who wandered to _the\nregions of the blessed_ (the Grecian Elysium), who crossed _a great\nwaste of land_ (the desert of _Lybia_, according to the Grecian mythos),\nand arrived at a region _where splendid trees were laden with jewels_\n(the Grecian Garden of the Hesperides), is probably the foundation for\nthe Hercules and other corresponding myths. This conclusion is drawn\nfrom the fact that, although the story of Hercules was known in the\nisland of Thasus, by the _Phenician_ colony settled there, _five\ncenturies before he was known in Greece_,[105:1] yet _its antiquity\namong the Babylonians antedates that_.\n\nThe age of the legends of Izdubar among the Babylonians cannot be placed\nwith certainty, yet, the cuneiform inscriptions relating to this hero,\nwhich have been found, may be placed at about 2000 years B. C.[105:2]\n\"As these stories were _traditions_,\" says Mr. Smith, the discoverer of\nthe cylinders, \"before they were committed to writing, their antiquity\nas tradition is probably much greater than that.\"[105:3]\n\nWith these legends before them, the Jewish priests in Babylon had no\ndifficulty in arranging the story of Samson, and adding it to their\nalready fabulous history.\n\nAs the Rev. Dr. Isaac M. Wise remarks, in speaking of the ancient\nHebrews: \"They adopted forms, terms, ideas and myths of all nations with\nwhom they came in contact, and, like the Greeks, in their way, _cast\nthem all in a peculiar Jewish religious mold_.\"\n\nWe have seen, in the chapter which treats of this legend, that it is\nrecorded in the book of Judges. _This book was not written till after\nthe first set of Israelites had been carried into captivity, and perhaps\nstill later._[105:4]\n\nAfter this we have \"_Jonah swallowed by a Big Fish_,\" which is the last\nlegend treated.\n\nWe saw that it was a _solar myth_, known to many nations of antiquity.\nThe writer of the book--whoever he may have been--_lived in the fifth\ncentury before Christ_--after the Jews had become acquainted and had\nmixed with other nations. The writer of this wholly fictitious story,\ntaking the prophet Jonah--who was evidently an historical personage--for\nhis hero, was perhaps intending to show the loving-kindness of\nJehovah.[105:5]\n\nWe have now examined all the _principal_ Old Testament legends, and,\nafter what has been seen, we think that no _impartial_ person can still\nconsider them _historical facts_. That so great a number of educated\npersons still do so seems astonishing, in our way of thinking. They have\nrepudiated Greek and Roman mythology with disdain; why then admit with\nrespect the mythology of the Jews? Ought the miracles of Jehovah to\nimpress us more than those of Jupiter? We think not; they should all be\nlooked upon as _relics of the past_.\n\nThat Christian writers are beginning to be aroused to the idea that\nanother tack should be taken, differing from the old, is very evident.\nThis is clearly seen by the words of Prof. Richard A. Armstrong, the\ntranslator of Dr. Knappert's \"Religion of Israel\" into English. In the\n_Preface_ of this work, he says:\n\n     \"It appears to me to be profoundly important that the youthful\n     English mind should be faithfully and accurately informed of\n     the results of modern research into the early development of\n     the Israelitish religion. Deplorable and irreparable mischief\n     will be done to the generation, now passing into manhood and\n     womanhood, if their educators leave them ignorant or loosely\n     informed on these topics; for they will then be rudely\n     awakened by the enemies of Christianity from a blind and\n     unreasoning faith in the supernatural inspiration of the\n     Scriptures; and being suddenly and bluntly made aware that\n     Abraham, Moses, David, and the rest did not say, do, or write\n     what has been ascribed to them, they will fling away all care\n     for the venerable religion of Israel and all hope that it can\n     nourish their own religious life. How much happier will those\n     of our children and young people be who learn what is now\n     known of the actual origin of the Pentateuch and the Writings,\n     from the same lips which have taught them that the Prophets\n     indeed prepared the way for Jesus, and that God is indeed our\n     Heavenly Father. For these will, without difficulty, perceive\n     that God's love is none the feebler and that the Bible is no\n     less precious, because Moses knew nothing of the Levitical\n     legislation, or because it was not the warrior monarch on his\n     semi-barbaric throne, but some far later son of Israel, who\n     breathed forth the immortal hymn of faith, 'The Lord is my\n     Shepherd; I shall not want.'\"\n\nFor the benefit of those who may think that the evidence of plagiarism\non the part of the Hebrew writers has not been sufficiently\nsubstantiated, we will quote a few words from Prof. Max M\u00fcller, who is\none of the best English authorities on this subject that can be\nproduced. In speaking of this he says:\n\n     \"The opinion that the _Pagan_ religions were mere corruptions\n     of the religion of the Old Testament, once supported by men of\n     high authority and great learning, _is now as completely\n     surrendered as the attempts of explaining Greek and Latin as\n     the corruptions of Hebrew_.\"[106:1]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"As soon as the ancient language and religion of India became\n     known in Europe it was asserted that Sanskrit, _like all other\n     languages_, was to be derived from Hebrew, and the ancient\n     religion of the Brahmans from the Old Testament. There was at\n     that time an enthusiasm among Oriental scholars, particularly\n     at Calcutta, and an interest for Oriental antiquities in the\n     public at large, of which we, in these days of apathy for\n     Eastern literature, can hardly form an adequate idea.\n     Everybody wished to be first in the field, and to bring to\n     light some of the treasures which were supposed to be hidden\n     in the sacred literature of the Brahmans. . . . No doubt the\n     temptation was great. No one could look down for a moment into\n     the rich mine of religious and mythological lore that was\n     suddenly opened before the eyes of scholars and theologians,\n     _without being struck by a host of similarities, not only in\n     the languages, but also in the ancient traditions of the\n     Hindoos_, the Greeks, and the Romans; and if at that time the\n     Greeks and Romans were still _supposed_ to have borrowed their\n     language and their religion from Jewish quarters, _the same\n     conclusion could hardly be avoided with regard to the language\n     and the religion of the Brahmans of India_. . . .\n\n     \"The student of Pagan religion as well as Christian\n     missionaries were bent on discovering more striking and more\n     startling coincidences, _in order to use them in confirmation\n     of their favorite theory that some rays of a primeval\n     revelation, or some reflection of the Jewish religion, had\n     reached the uttermost ends of the world_.\"[107:1]\n\nThe result of all this is summed up by Prof. M\u00fcller as follows:\n\n     \"_It was the fate of all (these) pioneers, not only to be left\n     behind in the assault which they had planned, but to find that\n     many of their approaches were made in a false direction, and\n     had to be abandoned._\"[107:2]\n\nBefore closing this chapter, we shall say a few words on the religion of\nIsrael. It is supposed by many--in fact, we have heard it asserted by\nthose who should know better--that the Israelites were always\n_monotheists_, that they worshiped One God only--_Jehovah_.[107:3] This\nis altogether erroneous; they were not different from their\nneighbors--the Heathen, so-called--in regard to their religion.\n\nIn the first place, we know that they revered and worshiped a _Bull_,\ncalled _Apis_,[107:4] just as the ancient Egyptians did. They worshiped\nthe _sun_,[108:1] the _moon_,[108:2] the _stars_ and all the host of\nheaven.[108:3]\n\nThey worshiped _fire_, and kept it burning on an altar, just as the\nPersians and other nations.[108:4] They worshiped _stones_,[108:5]\nrevered an _oak tree_,[108:6] and \"bowed down\" to _images_.[108:7] They\nworshiped a \"Queen of Heaven\" called the goddess _Astarte_ or _Mylitta_,\nand \"burned incense\" to her.[108:8] They worshiped _Baal_,[108:9]\nMoloch,[108:10] and _Chemosh_,[108:11] _and offered up human sacrifices\nto them_,[108:12] after which in some instances, _they ate the\nvictim_.[108:13]\n\nIt was during the Captivity that idolatry ceased among the\nIsraelites.[108:14] The Babylonian Captivity is clearly referred to in\nthe book of Deuteronomy, as the close of Israel's idolatry.[108:15]\n\nThere is reason to believe that the real genius of the people was first\ncalled into full exercise, and put on its career of development at this\ntime; that Babylon was a _forcing nursery_, not a prison cell; _creating\ninstead of stifling a nation_. The astonishing outburst of intellectual\nand moral energy that accompanied the return from the Babylonish\nCaptivity, attests the spiritual activity of that \"mysterious and\nmomentous\" time. As Prof. Goldziher says: \"The intellect of _Babylon_\nand _Assyria_ exerted a more than passing influence on that of the\n_Hebrews_, not merely touching it, but _entering deep into it_, and\n_leaving its own impression upon it_.\"[108:16]\n\nThis impression we have already partly seen in the legends which they\nborrowed, and it may also be seen in the religious ideas which they\nimbibed.\n\nThe Assyrian colonies which came and occupied the land of the tribes of\nIsrael filled the kingdom of Samaria with the dogma of the _Magi_, which\nvery soon penetrated into the kingdom of Judah. Afterward, Jerusalem\nbeing subjugated, the defenseless country was entered by persons of\ndifferent nationalities, who introduced their opinions, and in this way,\nthe religion of Israel was doubly mutilated. Besides, the priests and\ngreat men, who were transported to Babylon, were educated in the\nsciences of the Chaldeans, and imbibed, during a residence of fifty\nyears, nearly the whole of their theology. It was not until this time\nthat the dogmas of the hostile genius (Satan), the angels Michael,\nUriel, Yar, Nisan, &c., the rebel angels, the battle in heaven, the\nimmortality of the soul, and the resurrection, were introduced and\nnaturalized among the Jews.[109:1]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNOTE.--It is not generally known that the Jews were removed from their\nown land until the time of the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, but there is\nevidence that Jerusalem was plundered by the _Edomites_ about 800 B. C.,\nwho sold some of the captive Jews to the Greeks (Joel, iii. 6). When the\ncaptives returned to their country from \"the Islands which are beyond\nthe sea\" (Jer. xxv. 18, 22), they would naturally bring back with them\nmuch of the Hellenic lore of their conquerors. In Isaiah (xi. 11), we\nfind a reference to this first captivity in the following words: \"In\nthat day the Lord shall set his hand again the _second time_ to recover\nthe remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from\nEgypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar,\nand from Hamath, and from the _Islands of the sea_;\" i. e., GREECE.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[89:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 111, _et seq._\n\n[89:2] Bell's Pantheon, under \"Perseus;\" Knight: Ancient Art and Mytho.,\np. 178, and Bulfinch: Age of Fables, p. 161.\n\n[90:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 118. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 190.\nHiggins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.\n\n[90:2] Ibid.\n\n[90:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Dupuis: Origin of Religious\nBelief, p. 174. Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 179. Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.\n\n[90:4] Bell's Pantheon, art. \"Osiris;\" and Bulfinch: Age of Fable, p.\n391\n\n[90:5] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, i. 159.\n\n[90:6] Exodus, ii.\n\n[90:7] See Child: Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 6, and most any work on\nBuddhism.\n\n[90:8] See Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis.\n\n[90:9] See Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 128, _note_.\n\n[90:10] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 213, 214.\n\n[90:11] I. Samuel, xvii.\n\n[91:1] See Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 430, and Bulfinch: Age of\nFable, 440.\n\n[91:2] Chapter xxii.\n\n[91:3] See Smith's Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 188, _et seq._\n\n[91:4] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 323.\n\n[91:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.\n\n[91:6] Ibid. i. 191, and ii. 241; Franklin: Bud. & Jeynes, 174.\n\n[91:7] Hardy: Buddhist Legends, pp. 50, 53, and 140.\n\n[91:8] See Ibid.\n\n[91:9] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 191.\n\n[91:10] Ibid. p. 39.\n\n[92:1] \"Septuagint.\"--The Old _Greek_ version of the Old Testament.\n\n[92:2] \"Vulgate.\"--The _Latin_ version of the Old Testament.\n\n[92:3] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. pp. 186, 187.\n\n[92:4] The Religion of Israel, p. 9.\n\n[92:5] Besides the many other facts which show that the Pentateuch was\nnot composed until long after the time of Moses and Joshua, the\nfollowing may be mentioned as examples: _Gilgal_, mentioned in Deut. xi.\n30, was not given as the name of that place till _after_ the entrance\ninto Canaan. _Dan_, mentioned in Genesis xiv. 14, was not so called till\nlong _after_ the time of Moses. In Gen. xxxvi. 31, the beginning of the\nreign of the kings over Israel is spoken of _historically_, an event\nwhich did not occur before the time of Samuel. (See, for further\ninformation, Bishop Colenso's Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. ch. v. and\nvi.)\n\n[93:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 9.\n\n[93:2] Ibid. p. 10.\n\n[93:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Jews.\"\n\n[93:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 10, 11.\n\n[94:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 11.\n\n[94:2] See Ibid. pp. 120, 122.\n\n[94:3] See Ibid. p. 122.\n\n[94:4] The account of the _finding_ of this book by Hilkiah is to be\nfound in II. Chronicles, ch. xxxiv.\n\n[94:5] See Religion of Israel, pp. 124, 125.\n\n[94:6] Ibid. p. 11.\n\n[95:1] The Religion of Israel, pp. 186, 187.\n\n[95:2] \"_Talmud._\"--The books containing the Jewish traditions.\n\n[95:3] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Bible.\"\n\n[95:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 240, 241.\n\n[96:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 11.\n\n[96:2] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. p. 178.\n\n[96:3] The Religion of Israel, p. 241.\n\n[96:4] On the strength of II. Maccabees, ii. 12.\n\n[96:5] The Religion of Israel, p. 242.\n\n[96:6] Ibid. p. 243.\n\n[97:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Bible.\"\n\n[97:2] Ibid.\n\n[97:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Akiba.\"\n\n[97:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 19, 23.\n\n[98:1] \"What is the Bible,\" by J. T. Sunderland. \"The Bible of To-day,\"\nby J. W. Chadwick. \"Hebrew and Christian Records,\" by the Rev. Dr.\nGiles, 2 vols. Prof. W. R. Smith's article on \"The Bible,\" in the last\nedition of the Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica. \"Introduction to the Old\nTestament,\" by Davidson. \"The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua\nExamined,\" by Bishop Colenso. Prof. F. W. Newman's \"Hebrew Monarchy.\"\n\"The Bible for Learners\" (vols. i. and ii.), by Prof. Oort and others.\n\"The Old Testament in the Jewish Church,\" by Prof. Robertson Smith, and\nKuenen's \"Religion of Israel.\"\n\n[98:2] Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 22, 29.\n\n[99:1] Ibid. pp. 29, 100. Also, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 397.\n\n[99:2] Tree and Serpent Worship, pp. 6, 7.\n\n[99:3] Myths and Myth-Makers, p. 112.\n\n[99:4] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 62.\n\n[99:5] Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 328, _et seq._\n\n[100:1] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, iv. 283.\n\n[100:2] \"Much of the Old Testament which Christian divines, in their\nignorance of Jewish lore, have insisted on receiving and interpreting\n_literally_, the informed Rabbis never dreamed of regarding as anything\nbut _allegorical_. The '_literalists_' they called fools. The account of\nthe _Creation_ was one of the portions which the unlearned were\nspecially forbidden to meddle with.\" (Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p.\n80.)\n\n[100:3] Quoted by Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 226.\n\n[100:4] See Ibid. p. 227.\n\n[100:5] Quoted by Dunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 176. See also, Bunsen:\nKeys of St. Peter, p. 406.\n\n[101:1] See Appendix, c.\n\n[101:2] See Westropp & Wakes, \"Phallic Worship.\"\n\n[101:3] In chap. ii.\n\n[101:4] See Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 167, 168, and Chaldean Account of\nGenesis.\n\n[101:5] \"Upon the carrying away of the Jews to Babylon, they were\nbrought into contact with a flood of Iranian as well as Chaldean myths,\n_and adopted them without hesitation_.\" (S. Baring-Gould; Curious Myths,\np. 316.)\n\n[102:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Deucalion.\"\n\n[102:2] See chapter ii.\n\n[102:3] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 185, and Maurice: Indian\nAntiquities, vol. ii. p. 277.\n\n[102:4] Chapter ii.\n\n[102:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 153, _note_.\n\n[102:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 254.\n\n[102:7] See Ibid. p. 367.\n\n[102:8] See Ibid. p. 252.\n\n[102:9] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 130-135, and Smith's Chaldean\nAccount of Genesis.\n\n[103:1] Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 27, 28.\n\n[103:2] See Note, p. 109.\n\n[103:3] See Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 685.\n\n[103:4] \"_Targum._\"--The general term for the Aramaic versions of the\nOld Testament.\n\n[103:5] In Genesis xxiii. 2, Abraham is called rich in gold and in\nsilver.\n\n[103:6] See Volney's Researches in Ancient History, pp. 144-147.\n\n[104:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 49.\n\n[104:2] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Higgins: vol. ii. p. 19.\n\n[104:3] In claiming the \"mighty man\" and \"lion-killer\" as one of their\nown race, the Jews were simply doing what other nations had done before\nthem. The Greeks claimed Hercules as _their_ countryman; stated where he\nwas born, and showed his tomb. The Egyptians affirmed that he was born\nin _their_ country (see Tacitus, Annals, b. ii. ch. lix.), and so did\nmany other nations.\n\n[105:1] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 92, 93.\n\n[105:2] Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 168 and 174; and Assyrian\nDiscoveries, p. 167.\n\n[105:3] Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 168.\n\n[105:4] See The Religion of Israel, p. 12; and Chadwick's Bible of\nTo-Day, p. 55.\n\n[105:5] See The Religion of Israel, p. 41, and Chadwick's Bible of\nTo-Day, p. 24.\n\n[106:1] The Science of Religion, p. 48.\n\n[107:1] They even claimed that one of the \"lost tribes of Israel\" had\nfound their way to America, and had taught the natives _Hebrew_.\n\n[107:2] The Science of Religion, pp. 285, 292.\n\n[107:3] \"It is an _assumption_ of the popular theology, and an almost\nuniversal belief in the popular mind, that the Jewish nation was\nselected by the Almighty to preserve and carry down to later ages a\nknowledge of the _One_ and true God--that the Patriarchs possessed this\nknowledge--that Moses delivered and enforced this doctrine as the\nfundamental tenet of the national creed; and that it was, in fact, the\nreceived and distinctive dogma of the Hebrew people. This _alleged\npossession of the true faith_ by one only people, while all surrounding\ntribes were lost in Polytheism, or something worse, has been adduced by\ndivines in general as a proof of the truth of the sacred history, and of\nthe divine origin of the Mosaic dispensation.\" (Greg: The Creed of\nChristendom, p. 145.)\n\nEven such authorities as Paley and Milman have written in this strain.\n(See quotations from Paley's \"_Evidences of Christianity_,\" and Dean\nMilman's \"_History of the Jews_,\" made by Mr. Greg in his \"_Creed of\nChristendom_,\" p. 145.)\n\n[107:4] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 321, vol. ii. p. 102; and\nDunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 108.\n\n[108:1] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 317, 418; vol. ii. p.\n301. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3, and his Spirit Hist., pp. 68 and\n182. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783; and Goldziher: Hebrew\nMythol., pp. 227, 240, 242.\n\n[108:2] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 317. Dunlap's Son of the Man,\np. 3; and Spirit Hist., p. 68. Also, Goldziher: Hebrew Mythol., p. 159.\n\n[108:3] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 26, and 317; vol. ii. p. 301\nand 328. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., 68;\nMysteries of Adoni, pp. xvii. and 108; and The Religion of Israel, p.\n38.\n\n[108:4] Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, pp. 101, 102.\n\n[108:5] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 175-178, 317, 322, 448.\n\n[108:6] Ibid. 115.\n\n[108:7] Ibid. i. 23, 321; ii. 102, 103, 109, 264, 274. Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., p. 108. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 438; vol. ii. p. 30.\n\n[108:8] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 88, 318; vol. ii. pp. 102,\n113, 300. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3; and Mysteries of Adoni, p. xvii.\nM\u00fcller: The Science of Religion, p. 261.\n\n[108:9] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 21-25, 105, 391; vol. ii.\npp. 102, 136-138. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3. Mysteries of Adoni, pp.\n106, 177. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783. Bunsen: The Keys\nof St. Peter, p. 91. M\u00fcller: The Science of Religion, p. 181. _Bal_,\n_Bel_ or _Belus_ was an idol of the Chaldeans and Phenicians or\nCanaanites. The word _Bal_, in the Punic language, signifies Lord or\nMaster. The name _Bal_ is often joined with some other, as _Bal_-berith,\n_Bal_-peor, _Bal_-zephon, &c. \"The Israelites made him their god, and\nerected altars to him on which they offered human sacrifices,\" and \"what\nis still more unnatural, they _ate_ of the victims they offered.\"\n(Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. pp. 113, 114.)\n\n[108:10] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 17, 26; vol. ii. pp. 102,\n299, 300. Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 110. M\u00fcller: The Science of\nReligion, p. 285. _Moloch_ was a god of the Ammonites, also worshiped\namong the Israelites. Solomon built a temple to him, on the Mount of\nOlives, _and human sacrifices were offered to him_. (Bell's Pantheon,\nvol. ii. pp. 84, 85.)\n\n[108:11] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 153; vol. ii. pp. 71, 83,\n125. Smith's Bible Dictionary art. \"Chemosh.\"\n\n[108:12] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 26, 117, 148, 319, 320;\nvol. ii. pp. 16, 17, 299, 300. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 108, 222.\nInman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 100, 101. M\u00fcller: Science of\nReligion, p. 261. Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. 113, 114; vol. ii. 84, 85.\n\n[108:13] See note 9 above.\n\n[108:14] See Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, 291.\n\n[108:15] Ibid. p. 27.\n\n[108:16] Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 319\n\n[109:1] The _Talmud_ of Jerusalem expressly states that the names of the\nangels and the months, such as Gabriel, Michael, Yar, Nisan, &c., came\nfrom Babylon with the Jews. (Goldziher, p. 319.) \"There is no trace of\nthe doctrine of Angels in the Hebrew Scriptures composed or written\nbefore the exile.\" (Bunsen: The Angel Messiah, p. 285) \"The Jews\nadopted, during the Captivity, the idea of angels, Michael, Raphael,\nUriel, Gabriel,\" &c. (Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 54.) See,\nfor further information on this subject, Dr. Knappert's \"Religion of\nIsrael,\" or Prof. Kuenen's \"Religion of Israel.\"\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nTHE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nAccording to the dogma of the deity of Jesus, he who is said to have\nlived on earth some eighteen centuries ago, as _Jesus of Nazareth_, is\nsecond of the three persons in the Trinity, the SON, God as absolutely\nas the Father and the Holy Spirit, except as eternally deriving his\nexistence from the Father. What, however, especially characterizes the\nSon, and distinguishes him from the two other persons united with him in\nthe unity of the Deity, is this, that the Son, at a given moment of\ntime, became incarnate, and that, without losing anything of his divine\nnature, he thus became possessed of a complete human nature; so that he\nis at the same time, without injury to the unity of his person, \"_truly\nman and truly God_.\"\n\nThe story of the miraculous birth of Jesus is told by the _Matthew_\nnarrator as follows:[111:1]\n\n     \"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his\n     mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,\n     she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her\n     husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a\n     public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while\n     he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord\n     appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of\n     David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that\n     which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall\n     bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he\n     shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done,\n     that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the\n     prophet, saying: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and\n     shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name\n     Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.\"[111:2]\n\nA Deliverer was hoped for, expected, prophesied, in the time of Jewish\nmisery[112:1] (and _Cyrus_ was perhaps the first referred to); but as no\none appeared who did what the Messiah, according to prophecy, should do,\nthey went on degrading each successive conqueror and hero from the\nMessianic dignity, and are still expecting the true Deliverer. Hebrew\nand Christian divines both start from the same assumed unproven\npremises, viz.: that a Messiah, having been foretold, must appear; but\nthere they diverge, and the Jews show themselves to be the sounder\nlogicians of the two: the Christians assuming that Jesus was the Messiah\n_intended_ (though not the one _expected_), wrest the obvious meaning of\nthe prophecies to show that they were fulfilled in him; while the Jews,\nassuming the obvious meaning of the prophecies to be their real meaning,\nargue that they were not fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and therefore that\nthe Messiah is yet to come.\n\nWe shall now see, in the words of Bishop Hawes: \"that God should, in\nsome extraordinary manner, visit and dwell with man, is an idea which,\nas we read the writings of the _ancient Heathens_, meets us in a\nthousand different forms.\"\n\nImmaculate conceptions and celestial descents were so currently received\namong the ancients, that whoever had greatly distinguished himself in\nthe affairs of men was thought to be of supernatural lineage. Gods\ndescended from heaven and were made incarnate in men, and men ascended\nfrom earth, and took their seat among the gods, so that these\nincarnations and apotheosises were fast filling Olympus with divinities.\n\nIn our inquiries on this subject we shall turn first to _Asia_, where,\nas the learned Thomas Maurice remarks in his _Indian Antiquities_, \"in\nevery age, and in almost every region of the Asiatic world, there seems\nuniformly to have flourished an immemorial tradition that one god had,\nfrom all eternity, _begotten another god_.\"[112:2]\n\nIn India, there have been several _Avatars_, or incarnations of\nVishnu,[112:3] the most important of which is _Heri Crishna_,[112:4] or\n_Crishna the Saviour_.\n\nIn the _Maha-bharata_, an Indian epic poem, written about the sixth\ncentury B. C., Crishna is associated or identified with Vishnu the\nPreserving god or Saviour.[113:1]\n\nSir William Jones, first President of the Royal Asiatic Society,\ninstituted in Bengal, says of him:\n\n     \"Crishna continues to this hour the darling god of the Indian\n     woman. The sect of Hindoos who adore him with enthusiastic,\n     and almost exclusive devotion, have broached a doctrine, which\n     they maintain with eagerness, and which seems general in these\n     provinces, that he was distinct from all the _Avatars_\n     (incarnations) who had only an _ansa_, or a portion, of his\n     (_Vishnu's_) divinity, _while Crishna was the person of Vishnu\n     himself in human form_.\"[113:2]\n\nThe Rev. D. O. Allen, Missionary of the American Board, for twenty-five\nyears in India, speaking of Crishna, says:\n\n     \"He was greater than, and distinct from, all the _Avatars_\n     which had only a portion of the divinity in them, while he was\n     the very person of Vishnu himself in human form.\"[113:3]\n\nThomas Maurice, in speaking of _Mathura_, says:\n\n     \"It is particularly celebrated for having been the birth-place\n     of _Crishna_, who is esteemed in India, not so much an\n     incarnation of the divine Vishnu, _as the deity himself in\n     human form_.\"[113:4]\n\nAgain, in his \"_History of Hindostan_,\" he says:\n\n     \"It appears to me that the Hindoos, idolizing some eminent\n     character of antiquity, distinguished, in the early annals of\n     their nation, by heroic fortitude and exalted piety, have\n     applied to that character those ancient traditional accounts\n     of an _incarnate God_, or, as they not improperly term it, an\n     _Avatar_, which had been delivered down to them from their\n     ancestors, the virtuous Noachid\u00e6, to descend amidst the\n     darkness and ignorance of succeeding ages, at once to reform\n     and instruct mankind. We have the more solid reason to affirm\n     this of the Avatar of Crishna, because it is allowed to be the\n     most illustrious of them all; since we have learned, that, in\n     the _seven_ preceding Avatars, the deity brought only an\n     _ansa_, or portion of his divinity; but, in the _eighth_, he\n     descended in all the plentitude of the Godhead, _and was\n     Vishnu himself in a human form_.\"[113:5]\n\nCrishna was born of a chaste virgin,[113:6] called _Devaki_, who, on\naccount of her purity, was selected to become the \"_mother of God_.\"\n\nAccording to the \"BHAGAVAT POORAUN,\" _Vishnu_ said:\n\n     \"I will become incarnate at Mathura in the house of _Yadu_,\n     and will issue forth to mortal birth from the womb of\n     Devaki. . . . It is time I should display my power, and\n     relieve the oppressed earth from its load.\"[114:1]\n\nThen a chorus of angels exclaimed:\n\n     \"In the delivery of this favored woman, all nature shall have\n     cause to exult.\"[114:2]\n\nIn the sacred book of the Hindoos, called \"_Vishnu Purana_,\" we read as\nfollows:\n\n     \"Eulogized by the gods, Devaki bore in her womb the lotus-eyed\n     deity, the protector of the world. . . .\n\n     \"No person could bear to gaze upon Devaki, from the light that\n     invested her, and those who contemplated her radiance felt\n     their minds disturbed. The gods, invisible to mortals,\n     celebrated her praises continually from the time that _Vishnu_\n     was contained in her person.\"[114:3]\n\nAgain we read:\n\n     \"The divine _Vishnu himself_, the root of the vast universal\n     tree, inscrutable by the understandings of all gods, demons,\n     sages, and men, past, present, or to come, adored by Brahma\n     and all the deities, he who is without beginning, middle, or\n     end, being moved to relieve the earth of her load, descended\n     into the womb of Devaki, and was born as her son, Vasudeva,\"\n     _i. e._, _Crishna_.[114:4]\n\nAgain:\n\n     \"Crishna is the very _Supreme Brahma_, though it be a\n     _mystery_[114:5] how the Supreme _should assume the form of a\n     man_.\"[114:6]\n\nThe Hindoo belief in a divine incarnation has at least, above many\nothers, its logical side of conceiving that God manifests himself on\nearth whenever the weakness or the errors of humanity render his\npresence necessary. We find this idea expressed in one of their sacred\nbooks called the \"_Bh\u00e1gavat Geeta_,\" wherein it says:\n\n     \"I (the Supreme One said), I am made evident by my own power,\n     and as often as there is a decline of virtue, and an\n     insurrection of vice and injustice in the world, I make myself\n     evident, _and thus I appear from age to age_, for the\n     preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and\n     the establishment of virtue.\"[114:7]\n\nCrishna is recorded in the \"_Bh\u00e1gavat Geeta_\" as saying to his beloved\ndisciple Arjouna:\n\n     \"He, O Arjoun, who, from conviction, acknowledgeth my _divine\n     birth_ (upon quitting his mortal form), entereth into\n     me.\"[115:1]\n\nAgain, he says:\n\n     \"The foolish, being _unacquainted with my supreme and divine\n     nature, as Lord of all things_, despise me in this _human\n     form_, trusting to the evil, diabolic, and deceitful principle\n     within them. They are of vain hope, of vain endeavors, of vain\n     wisdom, and void of reason; whilst men of great minds,\n     trusting to their divine natures, _discover that I am before\n     all things and incorruptible_, and serve me with their hearts\n     undiverted by other gods.\"[115:2]\n\nThe next in importance among the _God-begotten_ and _Virgin-born_\nSaviours of India, is _Buddha_[115:3] who was born of the Virgin Maya or\nMary. He in mercy left Paradise, and came down to earth because he was\nfilled with compassion for the sins and miseries of mankind. He sought\nto lead them into better paths, and took their sufferings upon himself,\nthat he might expiate their crimes, and mitigate the punishment they\nmust otherwise inevitably undergo.[115:4]\n\nAccording to the _Fo-pen-hing_,[115:5] when Buddha was about to descend\nfrom heaven, to be born into the world, the angels in heaven, calling to\nthe inhabitants of the earth, said:\n\n     \"Ye mortals! adorn your earth! for B\u00f4dhisatwa, the great\n     Mah\u00e2satwa, not long hence shall descend from Tusita to be born\n     amongst you! make ready and prepare! Buddha is about to\n     descend and be born!\"[115:6]\n\nThe womb that bears a Buddha is like a casket in which a relic is\nplaced; no other being can be conceived in the same receptacle; the\nusual secretions are not formed; and from the time of conception,\nMaha-maya was free from passion, and lived in the strictest\ncontinence.[115:7]\n\nThe resemblance between this legend and the doctrine of the _perpetual\nvirginity_ of Mary the mother of Jesus, cannot but be remarked. The\nopinion that she had ever borne other children was called heresy by\nEpiphanius and Jerome, long before she had been exalted to the station\nof supremacy she now occupies.[115:8]\n\nM. l'Abb\u00e9 Huc, a French Missionary, in speaking of Buddha, says:\n\n     \"In the eyes of the Buddhists, this personage is sometimes a\n     man and sometimes a god, or rather both one and the other, _a\n     divine incarnation_, _a man-god_; who came into the world to\n     enlighten men, to redeem them, and to indicate to them the way\n     of safety.\n\n     \"This idea of redemption by a _divine incarnation_ is so\n     general and popular among the Buddhists, that during our\n     travels in Upper Asia, we everywhere found it expressed in a\n     neat formula. If we addressed to a Mongol or a Thibetan the\n     question, 'Who is Buddha?' he would immediately reply: '_The\n     Saviour of Men._'\"[116:1]\n\nHe further says:\n\n     \"The miraculous birth of Buddha, his life and instructions,\n     contain a great number of the moral and dogmatic truths\n     professed in Christianity.\"[116:2]\n\nThis Angel-Messiah was regarded as the divinely chosen and incarnate\nmessenger, the vicar of God. He is addressed as \"God of Gods,\" \"Father\nof the World,\" \"Almighty and All-knowing Ruler,\" and \"Redeemer of\nAll.\"[116:3] He is called also \"The Holy One,\" \"The Author of\nHappiness,\" \"The Lord,\" \"The Possessor of All,\" \"He who is Omnipotent\nand Everlastingly to be Contemplated,\" \"The Supreme Being, the Eternal\nOne,\" \"The Divinity worthy to be Adored by the most praiseworthy of\nMankind.\"[116:4] He is addressed by Amora--one of his followers--thus:\n\n     \"Reverence be unto thee in the form of Buddha! Reverence be\n     unto thee, the Lord of the Earth! Reverence be unto thee, an\n     incarnation of the Deity! Of the Eternal One! Reverence be\n     unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of Mercy; the\n     dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the\n     deity, the guardian of the universe, the emblem of\n     mercy.\"[116:5]\n\nThe incarnation of Gautama Buddha is recorded to have been brought about\nby the descent of the divine power called The \"_Holy Ghost_\" upon the\nVirgin _Maya_.[116:6] This Holy Ghost, or Spirit, descended in the form\nof a _white elephant_. The _Tikas_ explain this as indicating power and\nwisdom.[117:1]\n\nThe incarnation of the angel destined to become Buddha took place in a\nspiritual manner. The Elephant is the symbol of power and wisdom; and\nBuddha was considered the organ of divine power and wisdom, as he is\ncalled in the Tikas. For these reasons Buddha is described by Buddhistic\nlegends as having descended from heaven in the form of an Elephant to\nthe place where the Virgin Maya was. But according to Chinese Buddhistic\nwritings, it was the Holy Ghost, or _Shing-Shin_, who descended on the\nVirgin Maya.[117:2]\n\nThe _Fo-pen-hing_ says:\n\n     \"If a mother, in her dream, behold\n     A white elephant enter her right side,\n     That mother, when she bears a son,\n     Shall bear one chief of all the world (Buddha);\n     Able to profit all flesh;\n     Equally poised between preference and dislike;\n     Able to save and deliver the world and men\n     From the deep sea of misery and grief.\"[117:3]\n\nIn Prof. Fergusson's \"_Tree and Serpent Worship_\" may be seen (Plate\nxxxiii.) a representation of Maya, the mother of Buddha, asleep, and\ndreaming that a white elephant appeared to her, and entered her womb.\n\nThis dream being interpreted by the Brahmans learned in the _Rig Veda_,\nwas considered as announcing the incarnation of him who was to be in\nfuture the deliverer of mankind from pain and sorrow. It is, in fact,\nthe form which the Annunciation took in Buddhist legends.[117:4]\n\n                                   \"----Awaked,\n     Bliss beyond mortal mother's filled her breast,\n     And over half the earth a lovely light\n     Forewent the morn. The strong hills shook; the waves\n     Sank lulled; all flowers that blow by day came forth\n     As 'twere high noon; down to the farthest hells\n     Passed the Queen's joy, as when warm sunshine thrills\n     Wood-glooms to gold, and into all the deeps\n     A tender whisper pierced. 'Oh ye,' it said,\n     'The dead that are to live, the live who die,\n     Uprise, and hear, and hope! Buddha is come!'\n     Whereat in Limbos numberless much peace\n     Spread, and the world's heart throbbed, and a wind blew\n     With unknown freshness over land and seas.\n     And when the morning dawned, and this was told,\n     The grey dream-readers said, 'The dream is good!\n     The Crab is in conjunction with the Sun;\n     The Queen shall bear a boy, a holy child\n     Of wondrous wisdom, profiting all flesh,\n     Who shall deliver men from ignorance,\n     Or rule the world, if he will deign to rule.'\n     In this wise was the holy Buddha born.\"\n\nIn Fig. 4, Plate xci., the same subject is also illustrated. Prof.\nFergusson, referring to it, says:\n\n     \"Fig. 4 is another edition of a legend more frequently\n     repeated than almost any other in Buddhist Scriptures. It was,\n     with their artists, as great a favorite as the Annunciation\n     and Nativity were with Christian painters.\"[118:1]\n\nWhen Buddha _avatar_ descended from the regions of the souls, and\nentered the body of the Virgin Maya, her womb suddenly assumed the\nappearance of clear, transparent crystal, in which Buddha appeared,\nbeautiful as a flower, kneeling and reclining on his hands.[118:2]\n\nBuddha's representative on earth is the _Dalai Lama_, or _Grand Lama_,\nthe High Priest of the Tartars. He is regarded as the vicegerent of God,\nwith power to dispense divine blessings on whomsoever he will, and is\nconsidered among the Buddhists to be a sort of divine being. He is the\nPope of Buddhism.[118:3]\n\nThe _Siamese_ had a Virgin-born God and Saviour whom they called\n_Codom_. His mother, a beautiful young virgin, being inspired from\nheaven, quitted the society of men and wandered into the most\nunfrequented parts of a great forest, there to await the coming of a god\nwhich had long been announced to mankind. While she was one day\nprostrate in prayer, she was _impregnated by the sunbeams_. She\nthereupon retired to the borders of a lake, between Siam and Cambodia,\nwhere she was delivered of a \"_heavenly boy_,\" which she placed within\nthe folds of a _lotus_, that opened to receive him. When the boy grew\nup, he became a prodigy of wisdom, performed miracles, &c.[118:4]\n\nThe first Europeans who visited Cape Comorin, the most southerly\nextremity of the peninsula of Hindostan, were surprised to find the\ninhabitants worshiping a Lord and Saviour whom they called _Salivahana_.\nThey related that his father's name was Taishaca, but that he was _a\ndivine child horn of a Virgin_, in fact, an incarnation of the Supreme\n_Vishnu_.[119:1]\n\nThe belief in a virgin-born god-man is found in the religions of China.\nAs Sir John Francis Davis remarks,[119:2] \"China has her mythology in\ncommon with all other nations, and under this head we must range the\npersons styled _Fo-hi_ (or Fuh-he), _Shin-noong_, _Hoang-ty_ and their\nimmediate successors, who, like the demi gods and heroes of Grecian\nfable, rescued mankind by their ability or enterprise from the most\nprimitive barbarism, and have since been invested with _superhuman_\nattributes. The most extravagant prodigies are related of these persons,\nand the most incongruous qualities attributed to them.\"\n\nDean Milman, in his \"History of Christianity\" (Vol. i. p. 97), refers to\nthe tradition, found among the Chinese, that _Fo-hi_ was born of a\nvirgin; and remarks that, the first Jesuit missionaries who went to\nChina were appalled at finding, in the mythology of that country, a\ncounterpart of the story of the virgin of Judea.\n\nFo-hi is said to have been born 3463 years B. C., and, according to some\nChinese writers, with him begins the historical era and the foundation\nof the empire. When his mother conceived him in her womb, a rainbow was\nseen to surround her.[119:3]\n\nThe Chinese traditions concerning the birth of Fo-hi are, some of them,\nhighly poetical. That which has received the widest acceptance is as\nfollows:\n\n     \"Three nymphs came down from heaven to wash themselves in a\n     river; but scarce had they got there before the herb _lotus_\n     appeared on one of their garments, with its coral fruit upon\n     it. They could not imagine whence it proceeded, and one was\n     tempted to taste it, whereby she became pregnant and was\n     delivered of a boy, who afterwards became a great man, a\n     founder of religion, a conqueror, and legislator.\"[119:4]\n\nThe sect of _Xaca_, which is evidently a corruption of Buddhism, claim\nthat their master was also of supernatural origin. Alvarez Semedo,\nspeaking of them, says:\n\n     \"The third religious sect among the Chinese is from India,\n     from the parts of Hindostan, which sect they call _Xaca_, from\n     the founder of it, concerning whom they fable--that he was\n     conceived by his mother Maya, from a white elephant, which\n     she saw in her sleep, and for more purity she brought him from\n     one of her sides.\"[120:1]\n\n_Lao-kiun_, sometimes celled _Lao-tsze_, who is said to have been born\nin the third year of the emperor _Ting-wang_, of the Chow dynasty (604\nB. C.), was another miraculously-born man. He acquired great reputation\nfor sanctity, and marvelous stories were told of his birth. It was said\nthat he had existed from all eternity; that he had descended on earth\n_and was born of a virgin_, black in complexion, described \"marvelous\nand beautiful as jasper.\" Splendid temples were erected to him, and he\nwas worshiped as a _god_. His disciples were called \"Heavenly Teachers.\"\nThey inculcated great tenderness toward animals, and considered strict\ncelibacy necessary for the attainment of perfect holiness. Lao-kiun\nbelieved in _One God_ whom he called _Tao_, and the sect which he formed\nis called _Tao-tse_, or \"Sect of Reason.\" Sir Thomas Thornton, speaking\nof him, says:\n\n     \"The mythological history of this 'prince of the doctrine of\n     the _Taou_,' which is current amongst his followers,\n     _represents him as a divine emanation incarnate in a human\n     form_. They term him the 'most high and venerable prince of\n     the portals of gold of the palace of the _genii_,' and say\n     that he condescended to a contact with humanity when he became\n     incorporated with the 'miraculous and excellent Virgin of\n     jasper.' Like Buddha, he came out of his mother's side, and\n     was born under a tree.\n\n     \"The legends of the _Taou-tse_ declare their founder to have\n     existed antecedent to the birth of the elements, in the Great\n     Absolute; that he is the 'pure essence of the t\u00eben;' that he\n     is the 'original ancestor of the prime breath of life;' and\n     that he gave form to the heavens and the earth.\"[120:2]\n\nM. Le Compte says:\n\n     \"Those who have made this (the religion of Taou-tsze) their\n     professed business, are called _Tien-se_, that is, 'Heavenly\n     Doctors;' they have houses (Monasteries) given them to live\n     together in society; they erect, in divers parts, temples to\n     their master, and king and people honor him with _divine_\n     worship.\"\n\n_Yu_ was another _virgin-born_ Chinese sage, who is said to have lived\nupon earth many ages ago. Confucius--as though he had been questioned\nabout him--says: \"I see no defect in the character of Yu. He was sober\nin eating and drinking, and eminently pious toward spirits and\nancestors.\"[120:3]\n\n_H\u00e2u-ki_, the Chinese hero, was of supernatural origin.\n\nThe following is the history of his birth, according to the \"Shih-King:\"\n\n     \"His mother, who was childless, had presented a pure offering\n     and sacrificed, that her childlessness might be taken away.\n     She then trod on a toe-print made by God, and was\n     moved,[121:1] in the large place where she rested. She became\n     pregnant; she dwelt retired; she gave birth to and nourished a\n     son, who was _H\u00e2u-ki_. When she had fulfilled her months, her\n     first-born son came forth like a lamb. There was no bursting,\n     no rending, no injury, no hurt; showing how wonderful he would\n     be. Did not God give her comfort? Had he not accepted her pure\n     offering and sacrifice, so that thus easily she brought forth\n     her son?\"[121:2]\n\nEven the sober Confucius (born B. C. 501) was of supernatural origin.\nThe most important event in Chinese literary and ethical history is the\nbirth of _Kung-foo-tsze_ (Confucius), both in its effects on the moral\norganization of this great empire, and the study of Chinese philosophy\nin Europe.\n\nKung-foo-tsze (meaning \"the sage Kung\" or \"the wise excellence\") was of\n_royal descent_; and his family the most ancient in the empire, as his\ngenealogy was traceable directly up to Hwang-te, the reputed organizer\nof the state, the first emperor of the semi-historical period (beginning\n2696 B. C.).\n\nAt his birth a prodigious quadruped, called the Ke-lin, appeared and\nprophesied that the new-born infant \"would be a king without throne or\nterritory.\" Two dragons hovered about the couch of _Yen-she_ (his\nmother), and five celestial sages, or angels, entered at the moment of\nthe birth of the wondrous child; heavenly strains were heard in the air,\nand harmonious chords followed each other, fast and full. Thus was\nConfucius ushered into the world.\n\nHis disciples, who were to expound his precepts, were seventy-two in\nnumber, _twelve_ of whom were his ordinary companions, the depositories\nof his thoughts, and the witnesses of all his actions. To them he\nminutely explained his doctrines, and charged them with their\npropagation after his death. YAN-HWUY was his favorite disciple, who, in\nhis opinion, had attained the highest degree of moral perfection.\nConfucius addressed him in terms of great affection, which denoted that\nhe relied mainly upon him for the accomplishment of his work.[121:3]\n\nEven as late as the seventeenth century of our era, do we find the myth\nof the virgin-born God in China.[121:4]\n\nAll these god-begotten and virgin-born men were called _Tien-tse_, _i.\ne._, \"Sons of Heaven.\"\n\nIf from China we should turn to Egypt we would find that, for ages\nbefore the time of Jesus of Nazareth, the mediating deity, born of a\nvirgin, and without a worldly father, was a portion of the Egyptian\nbelief.[122:1]\n\n_Horus_, who had the epithet of \"_Saviour_,\" was born of the virgin\nIsis. \"His birth was one of the greatest Mysteries of the Egyptian\nreligion. Pictures representing it appear on the walls of\ntemples.\"[122:2] He is \"the second emanation of _Amon_, the son whom he\nbegot.\"[122:3] Egyptian monuments represent the infant Saviour in the\narms of his virgin mother, or sitting on her knee.[122:4] An inscription\non a monument, translated by Champollion, reads thus:\n\n     \"O thou avenger, God, son of a God; O thou avenger, Horus,\n     manifested by Osiris, engendered of the goddess Isis.\"[122:5]\n\nThe Egyptian god _Ra_ was born from the side of his mother, _but was not\nengendered_.[122:6]\n\nThe ancient Egyptians also deified kings and heroes, in the same manner\nas the ancient Greeks and Romans. An Egyptian king became, in a sense,\n\"the vicar of God on earth, the infallible, and the personated\ndeity.\"[122:7]\n\nP. Le Page Renouf, in his Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of Ancient\nEgypt, says:\n\n     \"I must not quit this part of my subject without a reference\n     to the belief that the ruling sovereign of Egypt was the\n     living image and vicegerent of the Sun-god (_Ra_). _He was\n     invested with the attributes of divinity_, and that in the\n     earliest times of which we possess monumental\n     evidence.\"[122:8]\n\n_Menes_, who is said to have been the first king of Egypt, was believed\nto be a god.[122:9]\n\nAlmost all the temples of the left bank of the Nile, at Thebes, had been\nconstructed in view of the worship rendered to the Pharaohs, their\nfounders, after their death.[122:10]\n\nOn the wall of one of these Theban temples is to be seen a picture\nrepresenting the god Thoth--the messenger of God--telling the _maiden_,\nQueen Mautmes, that she is to give birth to a _divine son_, who is to be\nKing _Amunothph_ III.[123:1]\n\nAn inscription found in Egypt makes the god _Ra_ say to his son Ramses\nIII.:\n\n     \"I am thy father; by me are begotten all thy members as\n     divine; I have formed thy shape like the Mendesian god; I have\n     begotten thee, impregnating thy venerable mother.\"[123:2]\n\n_Raam-ses_, or _Ra-m\u00e9-ses_, means \"Son of the Sun,\" and _Ramses Hek An_,\na name of Ramses III., means \"engendered by Ra (the Sun), Prince of An\n(Heliopolis).\"[123:3]\n\n\"_Thotmes_ III., on the tablet of Karnak, presents offerings to his\npredecessors; so does _Ramses_ on the tablet of Abydos. Even during his\nlife-time the Egyptian king was denominated '_Beneficent God_.'\"[123:4]\n\nThe ancient Babylonians also believed that their kings were gods upon\nearth. A passage from M\u00e9naut's translation of the great inscription of\nNebuchadnezzar, reads thus:\n\n     \"I am Nabu-kuder-usur . . . the first-born son of Nebu-pal-usur,\n     King of Babylon. The god _Bel_ himself created me, the god\n     _Marduk_ engendered me, and deposited himself the germ of my\n     life in the womb of my mother.\"[123:5]\n\nIn the life of _Zoroaster_, the law-giver of the _Persians_, the common\nmythos is apparent. He was born in innocence, of an immaculate\nconception, of a ray of the Divine Reason. As soon as he was born the\nglory from his body enlightened the whole room.[123:6] Plato informs us\nthat Zoroaster was said to be \"the son of Oromasdes, which was the name\nthe Persians gave to the Supreme God\"[123:7]--therefore he was the _Son\nof God_.\n\nFrom the East we will turn to the West, and shall find that many of the\nancient heroes of Grecian and Roman mythology were regarded as of divine\norigin, were represented as men, possessed of god-like form, strength\nand courage; were believed to have lived on earth in the remote, dim\nages of the nation's history; to have been occupied in their life-time\nwith thrilling adventures and extraordinary services in the cause of\nhuman civilization, and to have been after death in some cases\ntranslated to a life among the gods, and entitled to sacrifice and\nworship. In the hospitable Pantheon of the Greeks and Romans, a niche\nwas always in readiness for every new divinity who could produce\nrespectable credentials.\n\nThe Christian Father Justin Martyr, says:\n\n     \"It having reached the Devil's ears that the prophets had\n     foretold the coming of Christ (_the Son of God_), he set the\n     _Heathen Poets_ to bring forward a great many who should be\n     called _the sons of Jove_. The Devil laying his scheme in\n     this, to get men to imagine that the _true_ history of Christ\n     was of the same character as the _prodigious fables_ related\n     of the sons of Jove.\"\n\nAmong these \"sons of Jove\" may be mentioned the following: _Hercules_\nwas the son of Jupiter by a mortal mother, Alcmene, Queen of\nThebes.[124:1] Zeus, the god of gods, spake of Hercules, his son, and\nsaid: \"This day shall a child be born of the race of Perseus, who shall\nbe the mightiest of the sons of men.\"[124:2]\n\n_Bacchus_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, Semele, daughter\nof Kadmus, King of Thebes.[124:3] As Montfaucon says, \"It is the son of\nJupiter and Semele which the poets celebrate, and which the monuments\nrepresent.\"[124:4]\n\nBacchus is made to say:\n\n     \"I, son of Deus, am come to this land of the Thebans, Bacchus,\n     whom formerly Semele the daughter of Kadmus brings forth,\n     being delivered by the lightning-bearing flame: _and having\n     taken a mortal form_ instead of a god's, I have arrived at the\n     fountains of Dirce and the water of Ismenus.\"[124:5]\n\n_Amphion_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, Antiope, daughter\nof Nicetus, King of Boeotia.[124:6]\n\n_Prometheus_, whose name is derived from a Greek word signifying\nforesight and providence, was a deity who united the divine and human\nnature in one person, and was confessedly both man and god.[124:7]\n\n_Perseus_ was the son of Jupiter by the virgin Danae, daughter of\nAcrisius, King of Argos.[124:8] Divine honors were paid him, and a\ntemple was erected to him in Athens.[124:9]\n\nJustin Martyr (A. D. 140), in his Apology to the Emperor Adrian, says:\n\n     \"By declaring the Logos, the first-begotten of God, our\n     Master, Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin, without any\n     human mixture, we (Christians) _say no more in this than what\n     you_ (Pagans) _say of those whom you style the Sons of Jove_.\n     For you need not be told what a parcel of sons the writers\n     most in vogue among you assign to Jove. . . .\n\n     \"As to the Son of God, called Jesus, should we allow him to be\n     nothing more than man, yet the title of 'the Son of God' is\n     very justifiable, upon the account of his wisdom, considering\n     that you (Pagans) have your Mercury in worship under the title\n     of the Word, a messenger of God. . . .\n\n     \"As to his (Jesus Christ's) being born of a virgin, _you have\n     your Perseus to balance that_.\"[125:1]\n\n_Mercury_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, Maia, daughter of\nAtlas. Cyllene, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth\nand education, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there.[125:2]\n\n_\u00c6olus_, king of the Lipari Islands, near Sicily, was the son of Jupiter\nand a mortal mother, Acasta.[125:3]\n\n_Apollo_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, Latona.[125:4] Like\nBuddha and Lao-Kiun, Apollo, so the Ephesians said, was born under a\ntree; Latona, taking shelter under an olive-tree, was delivered\nthere.[125:5] Then there was joy among the undying gods in Olympus, and\nthe Earth laughed beneath the smile of Heaven.[125:6]\n\n_Aethlius_, who is said to have been one of the institutors of the\nOrphic games, was the son of Jupiter by a mortal mother,\nProtogenia.[125:7]\n\n_Arcas_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother.[125:8]\n\n_Aroclus_ was the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother.[125:9]\n\nWe might continue and give the names of many more sons of Jove, but\nsufficient has been seen, we believe, to show, in the words of Justin,\nthat Jove had a great \"parcel of sons.\" \"The images of self-restraint,\nof power used for the good of others, are prominent in the lives of all\nor almost all the Zeus-born heroes.\"[125:10]\n\nThis Jupiter, who begat so many sons, was the supreme god of the Pagans.\nIn the words of _Orpheus_:\n\n     \"Jupiter is omnipotent; the first and the last, the head and\n     the midst; Jupiter, the giver of all things, the foundation of\n     the earth, and the starry heavens.\"[125:11]\n\nThe ancient Romans were in the habit of deifying their living and\ndeparted emperors, and gave to them the title of DIVUS, or the Divine\nOne. It was required throughout the whole empire that divine honors\nshould be paid to the emperors.[125:12] They had a ceremony called\n_Apotheosis_, or deification. After this ceremony, temples, altars, and\nimages, with attributes of divinity, were erected to the new deity. It\nis related by Eusebius, Tertullian, and Chrysostom, that Tiberius\nproposed to the Roman Senate the Apotheosis or deification of Jesus\nChrist.[126:1] \u00c6lius Lampridius, in his Life of Alexander Severus (who\nreigned A. D. 222-235), says:\n\n     \"This emperor had two private chapels, one more honorable than\n     the other; and in the former were placed the deified emperors,\n     and also some _eminent good men_, among them Abraham, Christ,\n     and Orpheus.\"[126:2]\n\n_Romulus_, who is said to have been the founder of Rome, was believed to\nhave been the son of God by a pure virgin, Rhea-Sylvia.[126:3] One\nJulius Proculus took a solemn oath, that Romulus himself appeared to him\nand ordered him to inform the Senate of his being called up to the\nassembly of the gods, under the name of Quirinus.[126:4]\n\n_Julius C\u00e6sar_ was supposed to have had a god for a father.[126:5]\n\n_Augustus C\u00e6sar_ was also believed to have been of celestial origin, and\nhad all the honors paid to him as to a divine person.[126:6] His\ndivinity is expressed by Virgil, in the following lines:\n\n           \"----Turn, turn thine eyes, see here thy race divine,\n     Behold thy own imperial Roman Sine:\n     C\u00e6sar, with all the Julian name survey;\n     See where the glorious ranks ascend to-day!--\n     This--this is he--_the chief so long foretold_,\n     To bless the land where Saturn ruled of old,\n     And give the Learnean realms a second eye of gold!\n     The promised prince, _Augustus the divine_,\n     Of C\u00e6sar's race, and Jove's immortal line.\"[126:7]\n\n\"The honors due to the gods,\" says Tacitus, \"were no longer sacred:\n_Augustus_ claimed equal worship. Temples were built, and statues were\nerected, to him; a mortal man was adored, and priests and pontiffs were\nappointed to pay him impious homage.\"[126:8]\n\nDivine honors were declared to the memory of Claudius, after his death,\nand he was added to the number of the gods. The titles \"Our Lord,\" \"Our\nMaster,\" and \"Our God,\" were given to the Emperors of Rome, even while\nliving.[126:9]\n\nIn the deification of the C\u00e6sars, a testimony upon oath, of an eagle's\nflying out of the funeral pile, toward heaven, which was supposed to\nconvey the soul of the deceased, was the established proof of their\ndivinity.[127:1]\n\n_Alexander the Great_, King of Macedonia (born 356 B. C.), whom genius\nand uncommon success had raised above ordinary men, was believed to have\nbeen a god upon earth.[127:2] He was believed to have been the son of\nJupiter by a mortal mother, Olympias.\n\nAlexander at one time visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was\nsituated in an oasis in the Libyan desert, and the _Oracle_ there\ndeclared him to be a son of the god. He afterwards issued his orders,\nletters, decrees, &c., styling himself \"_Alexander, son of Jupiter\nAmmon_.\"[127:3]\n\nThe words of the oracle which declared him to be divine were as follows,\nsays Socrates:\n\n     \"Let altars burn and incense pour, please Jove Minerva eke;\n     The potent Prince though nature frail, his favor you must seek,\n     For Jove from heaven to earth him sent, lo! Alexander king,\n     As God he comes the earth to rule, and just laws for to bring.\"[127:4]\n\n_Ptolemy_, who was one of Alexander's generals in his Eastern campaigns,\nand into whose hands Egypt fell at the death of Alexander, was also\nbelieved to have been of divine origin. At the siege of Rhodes, Ptolemy\nhad been of such signal service to its citizens that in gratitude they\npaid _divine honors_ to him, and saluted him with the title of _Soter_,\n_i. e._, Saviour. By that designation, \"_Ptolemy Soter_,\" he is\ndistinguished from the succeeding kings of the Macedonian dynasty in\nEgypt.[127:5]\n\n_Cyrus_, King of Persia, was believed to have been of _divine origin_;\nhe was called the \"_Christ_,\" or the \"_Anointed_ of God,\" and God's\nmessenger.[127:6]\n\n_Plato_, born at Athens 429 B. C., was believed to have been the son of\nGod by a _pure virgin_, called Perictione.[127:7]\n\nThe reputed father of Plato (Aris) was admonished in a dream to respect\nthe person of his wife until after the birth of the child of which she\nwas then pregnant by a god.[127:8]\n\nProf. Draper, speaking of Plato, says:\n\n     \"The Egyptian disciples of Plato would have looked with anger\n     on those who rejected the legend that Perictione, the mother\n     of that great philosopher, a pure virgin, had suffered an\n     immaculate conception through the influences of (the god)\n     Apollo, _and that the god had declared to Aris, to whom she\n     was betrothed, the parentage of the child_.\"[128:1]\n\nHere we have the legend of the angel appearing to Joseph--to whom Mary\nwas betrothed--believed in by the disciples of Plato for centuries\nbefore the time of Christ Jesus, the only difference being that the\nvirgin's name was Perictione instead of Mary, and the confiding\nhusband's name Aris instead of Joseph. We have another similar case.\n\nThe mother of _Apollonius_ (B. C. 41) was informed by a god, who\nappeared to her, _that he himself should be born of her_.[128:2] In the\ncourse of time she gave birth to Apollonius, who became a great\nreligious teacher, and performer of miracles.[128:3]\n\n_Pythagoras_, born about 570 B. C., had divine honors paid him. His\nmother is said to have become impregnated through a _spectre_, or Holy\nGhost. His father--or foster-father--was also informed that his wife\nshould bring forth a son, who should be a benefactor to mankind.[128:4]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, the great performer of miracles,[128:5] was supposed to be\nthe son of a god and a worldly mother, Coronis. The Messenians, who\nconsulted the oracle at Delphi to know where \u00c6sculapius was born, and of\nwhat parents, were informed that a god was his father, Coronis his\nmother, and that their son was born at Epidaurus.\n\nCoronis, to conceal her pregnancy from her father, went to Epidaurus,\nwhere she was delivered of a son, whom she exposed on a mountain.\nAristhenes, a goat-herd, going in search of a goat and a dog missing\nfrom his fold, discovered the child, whom he would have carried to his\nhome, had he not, upon approaching to lift him from the earth,\n_perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made him believe\nthe child was divine_. The voice of fame soon published the birth of a\nmiraculous infant, upon which the people flocked from all quarters _to\nbehold this heaven-born child_.[128:6]\n\nBeing honored as a god in Phenicia and Egypt, his worship passed into\nGreece and Rome.[128:7]\n\n_Simon the Samaritan_, surnamed \"_Magus_\" or the \"Magician,\" who was\ncontemporary with Jesus, was believed to be a _god_. In Rome, where he\nperformed wonderful miracles, he was honored as a god, and his picture\nplaced among the gods.[129:1]\n\nJustin Martyr, quoted by Eusebius, tells us that Simon Magus attained\ngreat honor among the Romans. That he was believed to be a _god_, and\nthat he was worshiped as such. Between two bridges upon the River\nTibris, was to be seen this inscription: \"Simoni Deo Sancto,\" _i. e._\n\"To Simon the Holy God.\"[129:2]\n\nIt was customary with all the heroes of the northern nations (Danes,\nSwedes, Norwegians and Icelanders), to speak of themselves as sprung\nfrom their supreme deity, _Odin_. The historians of those times, that is\nto say, the poets, never failed to bestow the same honor on all those\nwhose praises they sang; and thus they multiplied the descendants of\nOdin as much as they found convenient. The first-begotten son of Odin\nwas Thor, whom the Eddas call the most valiant of his sons. \"Baldur the\nGood,\" the \"Beneficent Saviour,\" was the son of the Supreme Odin and the\ngoddess Frigga, whose worship was transferred to that of the Virgin\nMary.[129:3]\n\nIn the mythological systems of _America_, a virgin-born god was not less\nclearly recognized than in those of the Old World. Among the savage\ntribes his origin and character were, for obvious reasons, much\nconfused; but among the more advanced nations he occupied a well-defined\nposition. Among the nations of Anahuac, he bore the name of\n_Quetzalcoatle_, and was regarded with the highest veneration.\n\nFor ages before the landing of Columbus on its shores, the inhabitants\nof ancient Mexico worshiped a \"Saviour\"--as they called\nhim--(_Quetzalcoatle_) who was _born of a pure virgin_.[129:4] _A\nmessenger from heaven announced to his mother that she should bear a son\nwithout connection with man._[129:5] Lord Kingsborough tells us that the\nannunciation of the _virgin Sochiquetzal_, mother of Quetzalcoatle,--who\nwas styled the \"_Queen of Heaven_\"[129:6]--was the subject of a Mexican\nhieroglyph.[129:7]\n\nThe embassador was sent from heaven to this virgin, who had two sisters,\nTzochitlique and Conatlique. \"These three being alone in the house, two\nof them, on perceiving the embassador from heaven, died of fright,\nSochiquetzal remaining alive, to whom the ambassador announced that it\nwas the will of God that she should conceive a son.\"[130:1] She\ntherefore, according to the prediction, \"conceived a son, _without\nconnection with man_, who was called Quetzalcoatle.\"[130:2]\n\nDr. Daniel Brinton, in his \"Myths of the New World,\" says:\n\n     \"The Central figure of Toltec mythology is _Quetzalcoatle_.\n     Not an author on ancient Mexico, but has something to say\n     about the glorious days when he ruled over the land. No one\n     denies him to have been a god. _He was born of a virgin_ in\n     the land of _Tula_ or _Tlopallan_.\"[130:3]\n\nThe Mayas of _Yucatan_ had a virgin-born god, corresponding entirely\nwith Quetzalcoatle, if he was not the same under a different name, a\nconjecture very well sustained by the evident relationship between the\nMexican and Mayan mythologies. He was named _Zama_, and was the\nonly-begotten son of their supreme god, Kinchahan.[130:4]\n\nThe _Muyscas_ of Columbia had a similar hero-god. According to their\ntraditionary history, he bore the name of _Bochica_. He was the\nincarnation of the Great Father, whose sovereignty and paternal care he\nemblematized.[130:5]\n\nThe inhabitants of _Nicaragua_ called their principal god Thomathoyo;\nand said that he had a _son_, who came down to earth, whose name was\nTheotbilahe, and that he was their general instructor.[130:6]\n\nWe find a corresponding character in the traditionary history of _Peru_.\nThe Sun--the god of the Peruvians--deploring their miserable condition,\nsent down his son, _Manco Capac_, to instruct them in religion,\n&c.[130:7]\n\nWe have also traces of a similar personage in the traditionary _Votan_\nof _Guatemala_; but our accounts concerning him are more vague than in\nthe cases above mentioned.\n\nWe find this traditional character in countries and among tribes where\nwe would be least apt to suspect its existence. In _Brazil_, besides the\ncommon belief in an age of violence, during which the world was\ndestroyed by water, there is a tradition of a supernatural personage\ncalled _Zome_, whose history is similar, in some respects, to that of\nQuetzalcoatle.[130:8]\n\nThe semi-civilized agricultural tribes of _Florida_ had like traditions.\nThe _Cherokees_, in particular, had a priest and law-giver _essentially\ncorresponding to Quetzalcoatle and Bochica_. He was their great prophet,\nand bore the name of _Wasi_. \"He told them what had been from the\nbeginning of the world, and what would be, and gave the people in all\nthings directions what to do. He appointed their feasts and fasts, and\nall the ceremonies of their religion, and enjoined upon them to obey his\ndirections from generation to generation.\"[131:1]\n\nAmong the savage tribes the same notions prevailed. The _Edues_ of the\nCalifornians taught that there was a supreme Creator, _Niparaga_, and\nthat his son, _Quaagagp_, came down upon the earth and instructed the\nIndians in religion, &c. Finally, through hatred, the Indians killed\nhim; but although dead, he is incorruptible and beautiful. To him they\npay adoration, as the _mediatory power_ between earth and the Supreme\nNiparaga.[131:2]\n\nThe _Iroquois_ also had a beneficent being, uniting in himself the\ncharacter of _a god and man_, who was called _Tarengawagan_. He imparted\nto them the knowledge of the laws of the Great Spirit, established their\nform of government, &c.[131:3]\n\nAmong the _Algonquins_, and particularly among the _Ojibways_ and other\nremnants of that stock of the North-west, this intermediate great\nteacher (denominated, by Mr. Schoolcraft, in his \"_Notes of the\nIroquois_,\" \"the great incarnation of the North-west\") is fully\nrecognized. He bears the name of _Michabou_, and is represented as _the\nfirst-born son of a great celestial Manitou_, or _Spirit, by an earthly\nmother_, and is esteemed the friend and protector of the human\nrace.[131:4]\n\nI think we can now say with M. Dupuis, that \"the idea of a God, who came\ndown on earth to save mankind, is neither new nor peculiar to the\nChristians,\" and with Cicero, the great Roman orator and philosopher,\nthat \"brave, famous or powerful men, after death, came to be _gods_, and\nthey are the very ones whom we are accustomed to worship, pray to and\nvenerate.\"\n\nTaking for granted that the synoptic Gospels are historical, there is no\nproof that Jesus ever claimed to be either God, or a god; on the other\nhand, it is quite the contrary.[131:5] As Viscount Amberly says: \"The\nbest proof of this is that Jesus never, at any period of his life,\ndesired his followers to worship him, either as God, or as the Son of\nGod,\" in the sense in which it is now understood. Had he believed of\nhimself what his followers subsequently believed of him, that he was one\nof the constituent persons in a divine Trinity, he must have enjoined\nhis Apostles both to address him in prayer themselves, and to desire\ntheir converts to do likewise. It is quite plain that he did nothing of\nthe kind, and that they never supposed him to have done so.\n\nBelief in Jesus _as the Messiah_ was taught as the first dogma of\nChristianity, but adoration of Jesus _as God_ was not taught at all.\n\nBut we are not left in this matter to depend on conjectural inferences.\nThe words put into the mouth of Jesus are plain. Whenever occasion\narose, _he asserted his inferiority to the Father_, though, as no one\nhad then dreamt of his equality, it is natural that the occasions should\nnot have been frequent.\n\nHe made himself _inferior in knowledge_ when he said that of the day and\nhour of the day of judgment no one knew, neither the angels in heaven\nnor the Son; no one except the Father.[132:1]\n\nHe made himself _inferior in power_ when he said that seats on his right\nhand and on his left in the kingdom of heaven were not his to\ngive.[132:2]\n\nHe made himself _inferior in virtue_ when he desired a certain man not\nto address him as \"Good Master,\" for there was none good but God.[132:3]\n\nThe words of his prayer at Gethsemane, \"all things are possible unto\n_thee_,\" imply that all things were _not_ possible to _him_, while its\nconclusion \"not what _I will_, but what _thou wilt_,\" indicates\nsubmission to a superior, not the mere execution of a purpose of his\nown.[132:4] Indeed, the whole prayer would have been a mockery, useless\nfor any purpose but the deception of his disciples, if he had himself\nbeen identical with the Being to whom he prayed, and had merely been\ngiving effect by his death to their common counsels. While the cry of\nagony from the cross, \"_My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken\nme?_\"[132:5] would have been quite unmeaning if _the person forsaken_,\nand _the person forsaking_, had been _one and the same_.\n\n_Either, then, we must assume that the language of Jesus has been\nmisreported, or we must admit that he never for a moment pretended to be\nco-equal, co-eternal or consubstantial with God._\n\nIt also follows of necessity from _both the genealogies_,[133:1] that\ntheir compilers entertained no doubt that _Joseph_ was the father of\nJesus. Otherwise the descent of Joseph would not have been in the least\nto the point. All attempts to reconcile this inconsistency with the\ndoctrine of the Angel-Messiah has been without avail, although the most\nlearned Christian divines, for many generations past, have endeavored to\ndo so.\n\nSo, too, of the stories of the Presentation in the Temple,[133:2] and of\nthe child Jesus at Jerusalem,[133:3] _Joseph is called his father_.\nJesus is repeatedly described as _the son of the carpenter_,[133:4] or\nthe _son of Joseph_, without the least indication that the expression is\nnot strictly in accordance with the fact.[133:5]\n\nIf his parents fail to understand him when he says, at twelve years old,\nthat he must be about his Father's business;[133:6] if he afterwards\ndeclares that he finds no faith among his nearest relations;[133:7] if\nhe exalts his faithful disciples above his _unbelieving mother_ and\nbrothers;[133:8] above all, if Mary and her other sons put down his\nprophetic enthusiasm to _insanity_;[133:9]--then the untrustworthy\nnature of these stories of his birth is absolutely certain. If even a\n_little_ of what they tell us had been true, then _Mary at least_ would\nhave believed in Jesus, and would not have failed so utterly to\nunderstand him.[133:10]\n\nThe Gospel of Mark--which, in this respect, at least, abides most\nfaithfully by the old apostolic tradition--says not a word about\nBethlehem or _the miraculous birth_. The congregation of Jerusalem to\nwhich Mary and the brothers of Jesus belonged,[133:11] and over which\nthe eldest of them, James, presided,[133:12] can have known nothing of\nit; for the later Jewish-Christian communities, the so-called Ebionites,\nwho were descended from the congregation at Jerusalem, called Jesus _the\nson of Joseph_. Nay, the story that the _Holy Spirit_ was the father of\nJesus, must have risen among the _Greeks_, or elsewhere, and not among\nthe first believers, who were Jews, for the Hebrew word for _spirit_ is\nof _the feminine gender_.[134:1]\n\nThe immediate successors of the \"congregation at Jerusalem\"--to which\nMary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers belonged--were, as we have\nseen, the Ebionites. Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian (born\nA. D. 264), speaking of the _Ebionites_ (_i. e._ \"poor men\"), tell us\nthat they believed Jesus to be \"_a simple and common man_,\" born as\nother men, \"_of Mary and her husband_.\"[134:2]\n\nThe views held by the Ebionites of Jesus were, it is said, derived from\nthe Gospel of Matthew, _and what they learned direct from the Apostles_.\nMatthew had been a hearer of Jesus, a companion of the Apostles, and had\nseen and no doubt conversed with Mary. When he wrote his Gospel\neverything was fresh in his mind, and there could be no object, on his\npart, in writing the life of Jesus, to state falsehoods or omit\nimportant truths in order to deceive his countrymen. If what is stated\nin the _interpolated_ first two chapters, concerning the miraculous\nbirth of Jesus, were true, Matthew would have known of it; and, knowing\nit, why should he omit it in giving an account of the life of\nJesus?[134:3]\n\nThe Ebionites, or Nazarenes, as they were previously called were\nrejected by the Jews _as apostates_, and by the Egyptian and Roman\nChristians _as heretics_, therefore, until they completely disappear,\ntheir history is one of tyrannical persecution. Although some traces of\nthat obsolete sect may be discovered as late as the fourth century, they\ninsensibly melted away, either into the Roman Christian Church, or into\nthe Jewish Synagogue,[134:4] and with them perished the _original_\nGospel of Matthew, _the only Gospel written by an apostle_.\n\n\"Who, where masses of men are burning to burst the bonds of time and\nsense, to deify and to adore, wants what seems earth-born, prosaic fact?\nWoe to the man that dares to interpose it! Woe to the sect of faithful\nEbionites even, and on the very soil of Palestine, that dare to maintain\nthe earlier, humbler tradition! Swiftly do they become heretics,\nrevilers, blasphemers, though sanctioned by a James, brother of the\nLord.\"\n\nEdward Gibbon, speaking of this most unfortunate sect, says:\n\n     \"A laudable regard for the honor of the first proselytes has\n     countenanced the belief, the hope, the wish, that the\n     Ebionites, or at least the Nazarenes, were distinguished only\n     by their obstinate perseverance in the practice of the Mosaic\n     rites. Their churches have disappeared, _their books are\n     obliterated_, their obscure freedom might allow a latitude of\n     faith, and the softness of their infant creed would be\n     variously moulded by the zeal of prejudice of three hundred\n     years. Yet the most charitable criticism must refuse these\n     sectaries any knowledge of the pure and proper _divinity of\n     Christ_. Educated in the school of Jewish prophecy and\n     prejudice, they had never been taught to elevate their hope\n     above _a human_ and temporal Messiah. If they had courage to\n     hail their king when he appeared in a plebeian garb, their\n     grosser apprehensions were incapable of discerning their God,\n     _who had studiously disguised his celestial character under\n     the name and person of a mortal_.\n\n     \"The familiar companions of Jesus of Nazareth conversed with\n     their friend and countryman, who, in all the actions of\n     rational and human life, appeared of the same species with\n     themselves. His progress from infancy to youth and manhood was\n     marked by a regular increase in stature and wisdom; and after\n     a painful agony of mind and body, he expired on the\n     cross.\"[135:1]\n\nThe Jewish Christians then--the congregation of Jerusalem, and their\nimmediate successors, the Ebionites or Nazarenes--saw in their master\nnothing more than _a man_. From this, and the other facts which we have\nseen in this chapter, it is evident that the man Jesus of Nazareth was\ndeified long after his death, just as many other men had been deified\ncenturies before his time, and even _after_. Until it had been settled\nby a council of bishops that Jesus was not only _a God_, but \"_God\nhimself in human form_,\" who appeared on earth, as did Crishna of old,\nto redeem and save mankind, there were many theories concerning his\nnature.\n\nAmong the early Christians there were a certain class called by the\nlater Christians _Heretics_. Among these may be mentioned the\n\"_Carpocratians_,\" named after one Carpocrates. They maintained that\nJesus was a _mere man_, born of Joseph and Mary, _like other men_, but\nthat he was good and virtuous. \"Some of them have the vanity,\" says\n_Iren\u00e6us_, \"to think that they may equal, or in some respects exceed,\nJesus himself.\"[135:2]\n\nThese are called by the general name of _Gnostics, and comprehend almost\nall the sects of the first two ages_.[135:3] They said that \"all the\nancients, and even the Apostles themselves, received and taught the same\nthings which they held; and that the truth of the Gospel had been\npreserved till the time of _Victor_, the thirteenth Bishop of Rome, but\nby his successor, _Zephyrinus_, the truth had been corrupted.\"[135:4]\n\nEusebius, speaking of _Artemon_ and his followers, who denied the\ndivinity of Christ, says:\n\n     \"They affirm that all our ancestors, yea, and the Apostles\n     themselves, were of the same opinion, and taught the same with\n     them, and that this their true doctrine (for so they call it)\n     was preached and embraced unto the time of Victor, the\n     thirteenth Bishop of Rome after Peter, and corrupted by his\n     successor Zephyrinus.\"[136:1]\n\nThere were also the \"_Cerinthians_,\" named after one Cerinthus, who\nmaintained that Jesus was _not_ born of a virgin, which to them\nappeared impossible, but that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, _born\naltogether as other men are_; but he excelled all men in virtue,\nknowledge and wisdom. At the time of his baptism, \"_the Christ_\" came\ndown upon him in the shape of a dove, and _left him_ at the time of his\ncrucifixion.[136:2]\n\nIren\u00e6us, speaking of Cerinthus and his doctrines, says:\n\n     \"He represents Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary, according\n     to the ordinary course of human generation, and _not_ as\n     having been born of a virgin. He believed nevertheless that he\n     was more righteous, prudent and wise than most men, and that\n     _the Christ_ descended upon, and entered into him, at the time\n     of his baptism.\"[136:3]\n\nThe _Docetes_ were a numerous and learned sect of Asiatic Christians who\ninvented the _Phantastic_ system, which was afterwards promulgated by\nthe Marcionites, the Manicheans, and various other sects.\n\nThey denied the truth and authenticity of the Gospels, as far as they\nrelated to the conception of Mary, the birth of Jesus, and the thirty\nyears that preceded the exercise of his ministry.\n\nBordering upon the Jewish and Gentile world, the _Cerinthians_ labored\nto reconcile the _Gnostic_ and the _Ebionite_, by confessing in the\n_same Messiah_ the supernatural union of a man and a god; and this\n_mystic_ doctrine was adopted, with many fanciful improvements, by many\nsects. The hypothesis was this: that Jesus of Nazareth was a mere\nmortal, the legitimate son of Joseph and Mary, but he was _the best_ and\nwisest of the human race, selected as the worthy instrument to restore\nupon earth the worship of the true and supreme Deity. When he was\nbaptized in the Jordan, _and not till then_, he became _more than man_.\nAt that time, _the Christ_, the first of the _\u00c6ons_, the Son of God\nhimself, descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, _to inhabit his\nmind_, and direct his actions during the allotted period of _his\nministry_. When he was delivered into the hands of the Jews, _the\nChrist_ forsook him, flew back to the world of spirits, and left the\n_solitary Jesus_ to suffer, to complain, and to die. This is why he\nsaid, while hanging on the cross: \"My God! My God! why hast thou\nforsaken me?\"[137:1]\n\nHere, then, we see the _first_ budding out of--what was termed by the\n_true_ followers of Jesus--_heretical doctrines_. The time had not yet\ncome to make Jesus _a god_, to claim that he had been born of a virgin.\nAs he _must_, however, have been different from other mortals--throughout\nthe period of his ministry, at least--the Christ _must_ have entered\ninto him at the time of his baptism, and _as mysteriously_ disappeared\nwhen he was delivered into the hands of the Jews.\n\nIn the course of time, the seeds of the faith, which had slowly arisen\nin the rocky and ungrateful soil of Judea, were transplanted, in full\nmaturity, to the happier climes of the _Gentiles_; and the strangers of\n_Rome_ and _Alexandria, who had never beheld the manhood_, were more\nready to embrace the _divinity_ of Jesus.\n\nThe polytheist and the philosopher, the Greek and the barbarian, were\nalike accustomed to receive--as we have seen in this chapter--a long\nsuccession and infinite chain of angels, or deities, or _\u00e6ons_, or\nemanations, issuing from the throne of light. Nor could it seem strange\nand incredible _to them_, that the first of the _\u00e6ons_, the Logos, or\nWord of God, of the same substance with the Father, should descend upon\nearth, to deliver the human race from vice and error. The histories of\ntheir countries, their odes, and their religions were teeming with such\nideas, as happening in the past, and they were also _looking for and\nexpecting an Angel-Messiah_.[137:2]\n\nCenturies rolled by, however, before the doctrine of Christ Jesus, the\nAngel-Messiah, became a settled question, an established tenet in the\nChristian faith. The dignity of Christ Jesus was measured by _private\njudgment_, according to the indefinite _rule of Scripture_, or\n_tradition_ or _reason_. But when his pure and proper divinity had been\nestablished _on the ruins of Arianism_, the faith of the Catholics\ntrembled _on the edge of a precipice_ where it was impossible to recede,\ndangerous to stand, dreadful to fall; and the _manifold inconveniences\nof their creed_ were aggravated by the sublime character of their\ntheology. They hesitated to pronounce that _God himself_, the second\nperson of an equal and consubstantial Trinity, was _manifested in the\nflesh_,[137:3] that the Being who pervades the universe _had been\nconfined in the womb of Mary_; that his eternal duration had been\nmarked by the days, and months, and years of human existence; _that the\nAlmighty God had been scourged and crucified_; that his impassible\nessence _had felt pain and anguish_; that his omniscience was _not\nexempt from ignorance_; and that _the source of life and immortality\nexpired on Mount Calvary_.\n\nThese alarming consequences were affirmed with unblushing simplicity by\nApollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, and one of the luminaries of the\nChurch. The son of a learned grammarian, he was skilled in all the\nsciences of Greece; eloquence, erudition, and philosophy, conspicuous in\nthe volumes of Apollinaris, were humbly devoted to the service of\nreligion.\n\nThe worthy friend of Athanasius, the worthy antagonist of Julian, he\nbravely wrestled with the Arians and polytheists, _and though he\naffected the rigor of geometrical demonstration_, his commentaries\nrevealed the literal and allegorical sense of the Scriptures.\n\n_A mystery_, which had long floated in the looseness of popular belief,\nwas defined by his perverse diligence in a technical form, _and he first\nproclaimed the memorable words, \"One incarnate nature of\nChrist._\"[138:1]\n\nThis was about A. D. 362, he being Bishop of Laodicea, in Syria, at that\ntime.[138:2]\n\nThe recent zeal against the errors of Apollinaris reduced the Catholics\nto a seeming agreement with the _double-nature_ of Cerinthus. But\ninstead of a temporary and occasional alliance, they established, and\nChristians _still embrace_, the substantial, indissoluble, and\neverlasting _union of a perfect God with a perfect man_, of the second\nperson of the Trinity with a reasonable soul and human flesh. In the\nbeginning of the _fifth century_, the unity of the two natures was the\nprevailing doctrine of the church.[138:3] From that time, until a\ncomparatively recent period, the cry was: \"_May those who divide\nChrist[138:4] be divided with the sword; may they be hewn in pieces,\nmay they be burned alive!_\" These were actually the words of a\n_Christian_ synod.[139:1] Is it any wonder that after this came the\n_dark ages_? How appropriate is the name which has been applied to the\ncenturies which followed! _Dark_ indeed they were. Now and then,\nhowever, a ray of light was seen, which gave evidence of the coming\n_morn_, whose glorious light we now enjoy. But what a grand light is yet\nto come from the noon-day sun, which must shed its glorious rays over\nthe whole earth, ere it sets.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[111:1] Matthew, i. 18-25.\n\n[111:2] The Luke narrator tells the story in a different manner. His\naccount is more like that recorded in the KORAN, which says that Gabriel\nappeared unto Mary in the shape of a perfect man, that Mary, upon seeing\nhim, and seeming to understand his intentions, said: \"If thou fearest\nGod, thou wilt not approach me.\" Gabriel answering said: \"Verily, I am\nthe messenger of the Lord, and am sent to give thee a holy son.\" (Koran,\nch. xix.)\n\n[112:1] Instead, however, of the benevolent Jesus, the \"Prince of\nPeace\"--as Christian writers make him out to be--the Jews were expecting\na daring and irresistible warrior and conqueror, who, armed with greater\npower than C\u00e6sar, was to come upon earth to rend the fetters in which\ntheir hapless nation had so long groaned, to avenge them upon their\nhaughty oppressors, and to re-establish the kingdom of Judah.\n\n[112:2] Vol. v. p. 294.\n\n[112:3] Moor, in his \"_Pantheon_,\" tells us that a learned Pandit once\nobserved to him that the English were a new people, and had only the\nrecord of one Avatara, but the Hindoos were an ancient people, and had\naccounts of a great many.\n\n[112:4] This name has been spelled in many different ways, such as\nKrishna, Khrishna, Krishnu, Chrisna, Cristna, Christna, &c. We have\nfollowed Sir Wm. Jones's way of spelling it, and shall do so throughout.\n\n[113:1] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259-275.\n\n[113:2] Ibid. p. 260. We may say that, \"In him dwelt the fulness of the\nGodhead bodily.\" (Colossians, ii. 9.)\n\n[113:3] Allen's India, p. 397.\n\n[113:4] Indian Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 45.\n\n[113:5] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 270.\n\n[113:6] Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Devaki is called the \"_Virgin\nMother_,\" although she, as well as Mary, is said to have had other\nchildren.\n\n[114:1] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 327.\n\n[114:2] Ibid. p. 329.\n\n[114:3] Vishnu Purana, p. 502.\n\n[114:4] Ibid. p. 440.\n\n[114:5] \"Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my\ngospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation\nof the _mystery_, which was kept secret since the world began.\" (Romans,\nxvi. 15.) \"And without controversy, great is the _mystery_ of godliness:\nGod was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,\npreached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into\nglory.\" (1 Timothy, iii. 16.)\n\n[114:6] Vishnu Purana, p. 492, _note_ 3.\n\n[114:7] Geeta, ch. iv.\n\n[115:1] Bhagavat Geeta, Lecture iv. p. 52.\n\n[115:2] Ibid., Lecture iv. p. 79.\n\n[115:3] It is said that there have been several Buddhas (see ch. xxix).\nWe speak of _Gautama_. Buddha is variously pronounced and expressed\nBoudh, Bod, Bot, But, Bud, Budd, Buddou, Bouttu, Bota, Budso, Pot, Pout,\nPota, Poti, and Pouti. The Siamese make the final _t_ or _d_ quiescent,\nand sound the word Po; whence the Chinese still further vary it to Pho\nor Fo. BUDDHA--which means _awakened_ or _enlightened_ (see M\u00fcller: Sci.\nof Relig., p. 308)--is the proper way in which to spell the name. We\nhave adopted this throughout this work, regardless of the manner in\nwhich the writer from which we quote spells it.\n\n[115:4] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 86.\n\n[115:5] FO-PEN-HING is the life of Gautama Buddha, translated from the\nChinese Sanskrit by Prof. Samuel Beal.\n\n[115:6] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 25.\n\n[115:7] Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 141.\n\n[115:8] A Christian sect called Collyridians believed that Mary was born\nof a virgin, as Christ is related to have been born of her (See _note_\nto the \"Gospel of the Birth of Mary\" [Apocryphal]; also King: The\nGnostics and their Remains, p. 91, and Gibbon's Hist. of Rome, vol. v.\np. 108, _note_). This idea has been recently adopted by the Roman\nCatholic Church. They now claim that Mary was born as immaculate as her\nson. (See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 75, and The Lily of Israel,\npp. 6-15; also fig. 17, ch. xxxii.)\n\n\"The gradual _deification_ of Mary, though slower in its progress,\nfollows, in the Romish Church, a course analogous to that which the\nChurch of the first centuries followed, in elaborating the deity of\nJesus. With almost all the Catholic writers of our day, Mary is the\nuniversal mediatrix; _all power has been given to her in heaven and upon\nearth_. Indeed, more than one serious attempt has been already made in\nthe Ultramontane camp to unite Mary in some way to the _Trinity_; and if\nMariolatry lasts much longer, this will probably be accomplished in the\nend.\" (Albert R\u00e9ville.)\n\n[116:1] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 327.\n\n[116:2] Ibid. p. 327.\n\n[116:3] Oriental Religions, p. 604.\n\n[116:4] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah.\n\n[116:5] Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. p. 309, and King's Gnostics, p.\n167.\n\n[116:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 10, 25 and 44.\n\n[117:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 36, _note_. Ganesa, the Indian God of\nWisdom, is either represented as an elephant or a man with an elephant's\nhead. (See Moore's Hindu Pantheon, and vol. i. of Asiatic Researches.)\n\n[117:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 83.\n\n[117:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 38, 39.\n\n[117:4] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 131.\n\n[118:1] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 212.\n\n[118:2] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 168, and Hist.\nHindostan, vol. ii. p. 485. R. Spence Hardy says: \"The body of the Queen\nwas transparent, and the child could be distinctly seen, like a priest\nseated upon a throne in the act of saying bana, or like a golden image\nenclosed in a vase of crystal; so that it could be known how much he\ngrew every succeeding day.\" (Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 144.) The\nsame thing was said of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Early art represented\nthe infant distinctly visible in her womb. (See Inman's Ancient Pagan\nand Modern Christian Symbolism, and chap. xxix. this work.)\n\n[118:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 34.\n\n[118:4] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 185. See also Anacalypsis, vol. i.\npp. 162 and 308.\n\n[119:1] See Asiatic Res., vol. x., and Anac., vol. i. p. 662.\n\n[119:2] Davis: Hist. China, vol. i. p. 161.\n\n[119:3] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. pp. 21, 22.\n\n[119:4] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 184.\n\n[120:1] Semedo: Hist. China, p. 89, in Anac., vol. ii. p. 227.\n\n[120:2] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. pp. 134-137. See also Chambers's\nEncyclo., art. Lao-tsze.\n\n[120:3] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 204, 205.\n\n[121:1] \"The '_toe-print made by God_' has occasioned much speculation\nof the critics. We may simply draw the conclusion that the poet meant to\nhave his readers believe with him that the conception of his hero was\nSUPERNATURAL.\" (James Legge.)\n\n[121:2] The Shih-King, Decade ii. Ode 1.\n\n[121:3] See Thornton's Hist. China, vol. i. pp. 199, 200, and Buckley's\nCities of the Ancient World, pp. 168-170.\n\n[121:4] \"Le Dieu LA des LAMAS est n\u00e9 d'une _Vierge_: plusieurs princes\nde l'Asie, entr'autres _l'Empereur Kienlong_, aujourd'hui regnant \u00e0 la\nChine, et qui est de la race de ces Tartares Mandhuis, qui conquirent\ncet empire en 1644, croit, et assure lui-m\u00eame, \u00eatre descendu d'une\n_Vierge_.\" (D'Hancarville: Res. Sur l'Orig., p. 186, in Anac., vol. ii.\np. 97.)\n\n[122:1] See Mahaffy: Proleg. to Anct. Hist., p. 416, and Bonwick's\nEgyptian Belief, p. 406.\n\n[122:2] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 157.\n\n[122:3] Renouf: Relig. Anct. Egypt, p. 162.\n\n[122:4] See the chapter on \"The Worship of the Virgin Mother.\"\n\n[122:5] \"O toi vengeur, Dieu fils d'un Dieu; O toi vengeur, Horus,\nmanifest\u00e9 par Osiris, engendr\u00e9 d'Isis d\u00e9esee.\" (Champollion, p. 190.)\n\n[122:6] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 406.\n\n[122:7] Ibid. p. 247.\n\n[122:8] Renouf: Religion of Ancient Egypt, p. 161.\n\n[122:9] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. pp. 67 and 147.\n\n[122:10] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 248.\n\n[123:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 407.\n\n[123:2] Renouf: Relig. of Anct. Egypt, p. 163.\n\n[123:3] See Herbert Spencer's Principles of Sociology, vol. i. p. 420.\n\n[123:4] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 431.\n\n[123:5] Spencer's Principles of Sociology, vol. i. p. 421.\n\n[123:6] Malcolm: Hist. Persia, vol. i. p. 494.\n\n[123:7] Anac. vol. i. p. 117.\n\n[124:1] Roman Antiq., p. 124. Bell's Panth., i. 128. Dupuis, p. 258.\n\n[124:2] Tales of Anct. Greece, p. 55.\n\n[124:3] Greek and Italian Mytho., p. 81. Bell's Panth., i. 117. Roman\nAntiq., p. 71, and Murray's Manual Mytho., p. 118.\n\n[124:4] L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e, vol. i. p. 229.\n\n[124:5] Euripides: Bacchae. Quoted by Dunlap: Spirit Hist. of Man, p.\n200.\n\n[124:6] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 58. Roman Antiquities, p. 133.\n\n[124:7] See the chapter on \"The Crucifixion of Jesus,\" and Bell's\nPantheon, ii. 195.\n\n[124:8] Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 170. Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p.\n161.\n\n[124:9] Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 171.\n\n[125:1] Apol. 1, ch. xxii.\n\n[125:2] Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 67. Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p.\n19.\n\n[125:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 25.\n\n[125:4] Ibid. p. 74, and Bulfinch: p. 248.\n\n[125:5] Tacitus: Annals, iii. lxi.\n\n[125:6] Tales of Anct. Greece, p. 4.\n\n[125:7] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 31.\n\n[125:8] Ibid. p. 81.\n\n[125:9] Ibid. p. 16.\n\n[125:10] Bell's Pantheon, ii. p. 30.\n\n[125:11] Cox: Aryan Mythology, ii. 45.\n\n[125:12] The Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 3.\n\n[126:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 78.\n\n[126:2] Quoted by Lardner, vol. iii. p. 157.\n\n[126:3] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 8.\n\n[126:4] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 37. In the case of _Jesus_,\none _Saul_ of Tarsus, said to be of a worthy and upright character,\ndeclared most solemnly, that Jesus himself appeared to him while on his\nway to Damascus, and again while praying in the temple at Jerusalem.\n(Acts xxii.)\n\n[126:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 345. Gibbon's Rome, vol.\ni. pp. 84, 85.\n\n[126:6] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 611.\n\n[126:7] \u00c6neid, lib. iv.\n\n[126:8] Tacitus: Annals, bk. i. ch. x.\n\n[126:9] Ibid. bk. ii, ch. lxxxii. and bk. xiii. ch. ii.\n\n[127:1] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, pp. 37, 38.\n\n[127:2] See Religion of the Ancient Greeks, p. 81, and Gibbon's Rome,\nvol. i. pp. 84, 85.\n\n[127:3] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 8.\n\n[127:4] Socrates: Eccl. Hist. Lib. 3, ch. xix.\n\n[127:5] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 17.\n\n[127:6] See Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 418. Bunsen: Bible\nChronology, p. 5, and The Angel-Messiah, pp. 80 and 298.\n\n[127:7] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 113, and Draper: Religion\nand Science, p. 8.\n\n[127:8] Hardy: Manual Budd., p. 141. Higgins: Anac., i. 618.\n\n[128:1] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 8. Compare Luke i. 26-35.\n\n[128:2] Philostratus, p. 5.\n\n[128:3] See the chapter on Miracles.\n\n[128:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 151.\n\n[128:5] See the chapter on Miracles.\n\n[128:6] Bell's Pantheon, i. 27. Roman Ant., 136. Taylor's Diegesis, p.\n150.\n\n[128:7] Ibid.\n\n[129:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xiii.\n\n[129:2] Ibid. ch. xiii.\n\n[129:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.\n\n[129:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 32, Kingsborough: Mexican\nAntiquities, vol. vi. 166 and 175-6.\n\n[129:5] Ibid.\n\n[129:6] See Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 176.\n\n[129:7] Ibid. p. 175.\n\n[130:1] See Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 176.\n\n[130:2] Ibid. p. 166.\n\n[130:3] Brinton: Myths of the New World, pp. 180, 181.\n\n[130:4] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 187.\n\n[130:5] Ibid. p. 188.\n\n[130:6] Ibid.\n\n[130:7] Ibid.\n\n[130:8] Ibid. p. 190.\n\n[131:1] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 191.\n\n[131:2] Ibid.\n\n[131:3] Ibid.\n\n[131:4] Ibid. p. 192.\n\n[131:5] \"If we seek, in the first three Gospels, to know what his\nbiographers thought of Jesus, we find his _true humanity_ plainly\nstated, and if we possessed only the Gospel of _Mark_ and the discourses\nof the Apostles in the _Acts_, the whole Christology of the New\nTestament would be reduced to this: that Jesus of Nazareth was '_a\nprophet mighty in deeds and in words_, made by God Christ and Lord.'\"\n(Albert R\u00e9ville.)\n\n[132:1] Mark, xiii. 32.\n\n[132:2] Mark, x. 40.\n\n[132:3] Mark, x. 18.\n\n[132:4] Mark, xiv. 36.\n\n[132:5] Mark, xv. 34.\n\n[133:1] Matt. and Luke.\n\n\"The passages which appear most confirmatory of Christ's Deity, or\nDivine nature, are, in the first place, the narratives of the\nIncarnation and of the Miraculous Conception, as given by Matthew and\nLuke. Now, the two narratives do not harmonize with each other; they\nneutralize and negative the _genealogies_ on which depend so large a\nportion of the proof of Jesus being the Messiah--the marvellous\nstatement they contain is not referred to in any subsequent portion of\nthe two Gospels, and is tacitly but positively negatived by several\npassages--it is never mentioned in the Acts or in the Epistles, and was\nevidently unknown to all the Apostles--and, finally, the tone of the\nnarrative, especially in Luke, is poetical and legendary, and bears a\nmarked similarity to the stories contained in the Apocryphal Gospels.\"\n(W. R. Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p. 229.)\n\n[133:2] Luke, ii. 27.\n\n[133:3] Luke, ii. 41-48.\n\n[133:4] Matt. xiii. 55.\n\n[133:5] Luke, iv. 22. John, i. 46; vi. 42. Luke, iii. 23.\n\n[133:6] Luke, ii. 50.\n\n[133:7] Matt. xiii. 57. Mark, vi. 4.\n\n[133:8] Matt. xii. 48-50. Mark, iii. 33-35.\n\n[133:9] Mark, iii. 21.\n\n[133:10] Dr. Hooykaas.\n\n[133:11] Acts, i. 14.\n\n[133:12] Acts, xxi. 18. Gal. ii. 19-21.\n\n[134:1] See The Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 57.\n\n[134:2] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 3, ch. xxiv.\n\n[134:3] Mr. George Reber has thoroughly investigated this subject in his\n\"Christ of Paul,\" to which the reader is referred.\n\n[134:4] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. pp. 515-517.\n\n[135:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. pp. 488, 489.\n\n[135:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. pp. 395, 396.\n\n[135:3] Ibid. p. 306.\n\n[135:4] Ibid. p. 571.\n\n[136:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 5, ch. xxv.\n\n[136:2] Lardner: vol. viii. p. 404.\n\n[136:3] Iren\u00e6us: Against Heresies, bk. i. c. xxiv.\n\n[137:1] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. pp. 492-495.\n\n[137:2] Not a _worldly Messiah_, as the Jews looked for, but an\n_Angel-Messiah_, such an one as always came at the end of a _cycle_. We\nshall treat of this subject anon, when we answer the question _why_\nJesus was believed to be an _Avatar_, by the Gentiles, and not by the\nJews; why, in fact, the doctrine of _Christ incarnate_ in Jesus\nsucceeded and prospered.\n\n[137:3] \"This strong expression might be justified by the language of\nSt. Paul (_God_ was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen\nof angels, &c. I. Timothy, iii. 16), but we are deceived by our modern\nBibles. The word _which_ was altered to _God_ at Constantinople in the\nbeginning of the sixth century: the true meaning, which is visible in\nthe Latin and Syriac versions, still exists in the reasoning of the\nGreek, as well as of the Latin fathers; and this fraud, with that of the\n_three witnesses of St. John_ (I. John, v. 7), is admirably detected by\nSir Isaac Newton.\" (Gibbon's Rome, iv. 496, _note_.) _Dean Milman_ says:\n\"The weight of authority is so much against the common reading of both\nthese points (_i. e._, I. Tim. iii. 16, and I. John, v. 7), that they\nare no longer urged by prudent controversialists.\" (Note in Ibid.)\n\n[138:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. pp. 492-497.\n\n[138:2] See Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, art. \"Apollinaris.\"\n\n[138:3] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. p. 498.\n\n[138:4] That is, separate _him_ from God the Father, by saying that\n_he_, Jesus of Nazareth, was _not_ really and truly God Almighty himself\nin human form.\n\n[139:1] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. p. 516.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.\n\n\nBeing born in a miraculous manner, as other great personages had been,\nit was necessary that the miracles attending the births of these\nvirgin-born gods should be added to the history of Christ Jesus,\notherwise the legend would not be complete.\n\nThe first which we shall notice is the story of the _star_ which is said\nto have heralded his birth, and which was designated \"_his_ star.\" It is\nrelated by the _Matthew_ narrator as follows:[140:1]\n\n     \"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of Judea, in the days of\n     Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to\n     Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews?\n     for we have seen _his star_ in the east, and are come to\n     worship him.'\"\n\nHerod the king, having heard these things, he privately called the wise\nmen, and inquired of them what time the star appeared, at the same time\nsending them to Bethlehem to search diligently for the young child. The\nwise men, accordingly, departed and went on their way towards Bethlehem.\n\"The star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came _and\nstood over_ where the young child was.\"\n\nThe general legendary character of this narrative--its similarity in\nstyle with those contained in the apocryphal gospels--and more\nespecially its conformity with those _astrological notions_ which,\nthough prevalent in the time of the Matthew narrator, have been exploded\nby the sounder scientific knowledge of our days--all unite to stamp upon\nthe story the impress of poetic or mythic fiction.\n\nThe fact that the writer of this story speaks not of _a star_ but of\n_his star_, shows that it was the popular belief of the people among\nwhom he lived, that each and every person was born under a star, and\nthat this one which had been seen was _his star_.\n\nAll ancient nations were very superstitious in regard to the influence\nof the stars upon human affairs, and this ridiculous idea has been\nhanded down, in some places, even to the present day. Dr. Hooykaas,\nspeaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"In ancient times the Jews, like other peoples, might very\n     well believe that there was some immediate connection between\n     the stars and the life of man--an idea which we still preserve\n     in the forms of speech that so-and-so was born under a lucky\n     or under an evil star. They might therefore suppose that the\n     birth of great men, such as Abraham, for instance, was\n     announced in the heavens. In our century, however, if not\n     before, all serious belief in astrology has ceased, and it\n     would be regarded as an act of the grossest superstition for\n     any one to have his horoscope drawn; for the course, the\n     appearance and the disappearance of the heavenly bodies have\n     been long determined with mathematical precision by\n     science.\"[141:1]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Geikie says, in his _Life of Christ_:[141:2]\n\n     \"The Jews had already, long before Christ's day, dabbled\n     in astrology, and the various forms of magic which became\n     connected with it. . . . They were much given to cast horoscopes\n     from the numerical value of a name. Everywhere throughout the\n     whole Roman Empire, Jewish magicians, dream expounders, and\n     sorcerers, were found.\n\n     \"'The life and portion of children,' says the _Talmud_, 'hang\n     not on righteousness, but on _their_ star.' 'The planet of the\n     day has no virtue, but the planet of the hour (of nativity)\n     has much.' 'When the Messiah is to be revealed,' says the book\n     _Sohar_, 'a star will rise in the east, shining in great\n     brightness, and _seven_ other stars round it will fight\n     against it on every side.' 'A star will rise in the east,\n     which is the star of the Messiah, and will remain in the east\n     fifteen days.'\"\n\nThe moment of every man's birth being supposed to determine every\ncircumstance in his life, it was only necessary to find out in what mode\nthe _celestial bodies_--supposed to be the primary wheels to the\nuniversal machine--operated at that moment, in order to discover all\nthat would happen to him afterward.\n\nThe regularity of the risings and settings of the fixed stars, though it\nannounced the changes of the seasons and the orderly variations of\nnature, could not be adapted to the capricious mutability of human\nactions, fortunes, and adventures: wherefore the astrologers had\nrecourse to the planets, whose more complicated revolutions offered more\nvaried and more extended combinations. Their different returns to\ncertain points of the Zodiac, their relative positions and conjunctions\nwith each other, were supposed to influence the affairs of men; whence\ndaring impostors presumed to foretell, not only the destinies of\nindividuals, but also the rise and fall of empires, and the fate of the\nworld itself.[141:3]\n\nThe inhabitants of _India_ are, and have always been, very superstitious\nconcerning the stars. The Rev. D. O. Allen, who resided in India for\ntwenty-five years, and who undoubtedly became thoroughly acquainted with\nthe superstitions of the inhabitants, says on this subject:\n\n     \"So strong are the superstitious feelings of many, concerning\n     the supposed influence of the stars on human affairs, that\n     some days are _lucky_, and others again are _unlucky_, that no\n     arguments or promises would induce them to deviate from the\n     course which these _stars_, signs, &c., indicate, as the way\n     of safety, prosperity, and happiness. The evils and\n     inconveniences of these superstitions and prejudices are among\n     the things that press heavily upon the people of\n     India.\"[142:1]\n\nThe _Nakshatias_--twenty-seven constellations which in Indian astronomy\nseparate the moon's path into twenty-seven divisions, as the signs of\nthe Zodiac do that of the sun into twelve--are regarded as deities who\nexert a vast influence on the destiny of men, not only at the moment of\ntheir entrance into the world, but during their whole passage through\nit. These formidable constellations are consulted at births, marriages,\nand on all occasions of family rejoicing, distress or calamity. No one\nundertakes a journey or any important matter except on days which the\naspect of the Nakshatias renders lucky and auspicious. If any\nconstellation is unfavorable, it must by all means be propitiated by a\nceremony called S'anti.\n\nThe _Chinese_ were very superstitious concerning the stars. They\nannually published astronomical calculations of the motions of the\nplanets, for every hour and minute of the year. They considered it\nimportant to be very exact, because the hours, and even the minutes, are\nlucky or unlucky, according to the aspect of the stars. Some days were\nconsidered peculiarly fortunate for marrying, or beginning to build a\nhouse; and the gods are better pleased with sacrifice offered at certain\nhours than they are with the same ceremony performed at other\ntimes.[142:2]\n\nThe ancient _Persians_ were also great astrologers, and held the stars\nin great reverence. They believed and taught that the destinies of men\nwere intimately connected with their motions, and therefore it was\nimportant to know under the influence of what star a human soul made its\nadvent into this world. Astrologers swarmed throughout the country, and\nwere consulted upon all important occasions.[142:3]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ were exactly the same in this respect. According\nto Champollion, the tomb of Ramses V., at Thebes, contains tables of the\nconstellations, and of their influence on human beings, for every hour\nof every month of the year.[142:4]\n\nThe Buddhists' sacred books relate that the birth of _Buddha_ was\nannounced in the heavens by an _asterim_ which was seen rising on the\nhorizon. It is called the \"_Messianic star_.\"[143:1]\n\nThe Fo-pen-hing says:\n\n     \"The time of B\u00f4dhisatwa's incarnation is, when the\n     constellation _Kwei_ is in conjunction with the Sun.\"[143:2]\n\n\"Wise men,\" known as \"Holy Rishis,\" were informed by these celestial\nsigns that the Messiah was born.[143:3]\n\nIn the _Ramayana_ (one of the sacred books of the Hindoos) the horoscope\nof Rama's birth is given. He is said to have been born on the 9th Tithi\nof the month Caitra. _The planet Jupiter_ figured at his birth; it being\nin Cancer at that time.[143:4] Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu. When\n_Crishna_ was born \"_his stars_\" were to be seen in the heavens. They\nwere pointed out by one Nared, a great prophet and astrologer.[143:5]\n\nWithout going through the list, we can say that the birth of every\nIndian _Avatar_ was foretold by _celestial signs_.[143:6]\n\nThe same myth is to be found in the legends of China. Among others they\nrelate that a star figured at the birth of _Yu_, the founder of the\nfirst dynasty which reigned in China,[143:7] who--as we saw in the last\nchapter--was of heavenly origin, having been born of a virgin. It is\nalso said that a star figured at the birth of _Laou-tsze_, the Chinese\nsage.[143:8]\n\nIn the legends of the Jewish patriarchs and prophets, it is stated that\na _brilliant star_ shone at the time of the birth of _Moses_. It was\nseen by the _Magi_ of Egypt, who immediately informed the king.[143:9]\n\nWhen _Abraham_ was born \"_his star_\" shone in the heavens, if we may\nbelieve the popular legends, and its brilliancy outshone all the other\nstars.[143:10] Rabbinic traditions relate the following:\n\n     \"Abraham was the son of Terah, general of Nimrod's army. He\n     was born at Ur of the Chaldees 1948 years after the Creation.\n     On the night of his birth, Terah's friends--among whom were\n     many of Nimrod's councillors and soothsayers--were feasting in\n     his house. On leaving, late at night, _they observed an\n     unusual star in the east_, it seemed to run from one quarter\n     of the heavens to the other, and to devour four stars which\n     were there. All amazed in astonishment at this wondrous\n     sight, 'Truly,' said they, '_this can signify nothing else but\n     that Terah's new-born son will become great and\n     powerful_.'\"[144:1]\n\nIt is also related that Nimrod, in a dream, saw a star rising above the\nhorizon, which was very brilliant. The soothsayers being consulted in\nregard to it, foretold that a child was born who would become a great\nprince.[144:2]\n\nA brilliant star, which eclipsed all the other stars, was also to be\nseen at the birth of the C\u00e6sars; in fact, as Canon Farrar remarks, \"The\nGreeks and Romans had _always_ considered that the births and deaths of\ngreat men were symbolized by the appearance and disappearance of\nheavenly bodies, and the same belief has continued down to comparatively\nmodern times.\"[144:3]\n\nTacitus, the Roman historian, speaking of the reign of the Emperor Nero,\nsays:\n\n     \"A comet having appeared, in this juncture, the phenomenon,\n     according to the _popular opinion_, announced that governments\n     were to be changed, and kings dethroned. In the imaginations\n     of men, Nero was already dethroned, and who should be his\n     successor was the question.\"[144:4]\n\nAccording to Moslem authorities, the birth of _Ali_--Mohammed's great\ndisciple, and the chief of one of the two principal sects into which\nIslam is divided--was foretold by celestial signs. \"A light was\ndistinctly visible, resembling a bright column, extending from\nthe earth to the firmament.\"[144:5] Even during the reign of the\nEmperor Hadrian, a hundred years after the time assigned for the\ndeath of Jesus, a certain Jew who gave himself out as the \"_Messiah_,\"\nand headed the last great insurrection of his country, assumed the name\nof _Bar-Cochba_--that is, \"_Son of a Star_.\"[144:6]\n\nThis myth evidently extended to the New World, as we find that the\nsymbol of _Quetzalcoatle_, the virgin-born Saviour, was the \"_Morning\nStar_.\"[144:7]\n\nWe see, then, that among the ancients there seems to have been a very\ngeneral idea that the birth of a great person would be announced by a\nstar. The Rev. Dr. Geikie, who maintains to his utmost the truth of the\nGospel narrative, is yet constrained to admit that:\n\n     \"It was, indeed, universally believed, that extraordinary\n     events, especially the birth and death of great men, were\n     heralded by appearances of stars, and still more of comets, or\n     by conjunctions of the heavenly bodies.\"[145:1]\n\nThe whole tenor of the narrative recorded by the _Matthew_ narrator is\nthe most complete justification of the science of _astrology_; that the\nfirst intimation of the birth of the Son of God was given to the\nworshipers of Ormuzd, who have the power of distinguishing with\ncertainty _his_ peculiar star; that from these _heathen_ the tidings of\nhis birth are received by the Jews at Jerusalem, _and therefore that the\ntheory must be right which connects great events in the life of men with\nphenomena in the starry heavens_.\n\nIf this _divine sanction of astrology_ is contested on the ground that\nthis was an _exceptional_ event, in which, simply to bring the Magi to\nJerusalem, God caused the star to appear in accordance with their\nsuperstitious science, the difficulty is only pushed one degree\nbackwards, for in this case God, it is asserted, wrought an event which\nwas perfectly certain to strengthen the belief of the Magi, of Herod, of\nthe Jewish priests, and of the Jews generally, in the truth of\nastrology.\n\nIf, to avoid the alternative, recourse be had to the notion that the\nstar appeared _by chance_, or that this _chance_ or _accident_ directed\nthe Magi aright, is the position really improved? Is _chance_ consistent\nwith any notion of supernatural interposition?\n\nWe may also ask the question, why were the Magi brought to Jerusalem at\nall? If they knew that the star which they saw was the star of Christ\nJesus--as the narrative states[145:2]--and were by this knowledge\nconducted to Jerusalem, why did it not suffice to guide them _straight\nto Bethlehem_, and thus prevent the Slaughter of the Innocents? Why did\nthe star desert them after its first appearance, not to be seen again\ntill they issued from Jerusalem? or, if it did not desert them, why did\nthey ask of Herod and the priests the road which they should take, when,\nby the hypothesis, the star was ready to guide them?[145:3]\n\nIt is said that in the oracles of Zoroaster there is to be found a\nprophecy to the effect that, _in the latter days_, a virgin would\nconceive and bear a son, and that, at the time of his birth, a star\nwould shine at noonday. Christian divines have seen in this a prophecy\nof the birth of _Christ_ Jesus, but when critically examined, it does\nnot stand the test. The drift of the story is this:\n\nOrmuzd, the Lord of Light, who created the universe in _six_ periods of\ntime, accomplished his work by making the first man and woman, and\ninfusing into them the breath of life. It was not long before Ahriman,\nthe evil one, contrived to seduce the first parents of mankind by\npersuading them to eat of the forbidden fruit. Sin and death are now in\nthe world; the principles of _good_ and _evil_ are now in deadly strife.\nOrmuzd then reveals to mankind his _law_ through his prophet Zoroaster;\nthe strife between the two principles continues, however, and will\ncontinue until the end of a destined term. During the last three\nthousand years of the period Ahriman is predominant. The world now\nhastens to its doom; religion and virtue are nowhere to be found;\nmankind are plunged in sin and misery. _Sosiosh_ is born of a virgin,\nand redeems them, subdues the Devs, awakens the dead, _and holds the\nlast judgment_. A comet sets the world in flames; the Genii of Light\ncombat against the Genii of Darkness, and cast them into Duzakh, where\nAhriman and the Devs and the souls of the wicked are thoroughly cleansed\nand purified by fire. Ahriman then submits to Ormuzd; evil is absorbed\ninto goodness; the unrighteous, thoroughly purified, are united with the\nrighteous, and _a new earth and a new heaven_ arise, free from all evil,\nwhere peace and innocence will forever dwell.\n\nWho can fail to see that this virgin-born _Sosiosh_ was to come, _not\neighteen hundred years ago_, but, in the \"_latter days_,\" when the world\nis to be set on fire by a _comet_, the _judgment_ to take place, and the\n\"new heaven and new earth\" is to be established? Who can fail to see\nalso, by a perusal of the New Testament, that the idea of a _temporal\nMessiah_ (a mighty king and warrior, who should liberate and rule over\nhis people Israel), and the idea of an _Angel-Messiah_ (who had come to\nannounce that the \"kingdom of heaven was at hand,\" that the \"stars\nshould fall from heaven,\" and that all men would shortly be judged\naccording to their deeds), are both jumbled together in a heap?\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[140:1] Matthew, ch. ii.\n\n[141:1] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 72.\n\n[141:2] Vol. i. p. 145.\n\n[141:3] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 52.\n\n[142:1] Allen's India, p. 456.\n\n[142:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 221.\n\n[142:3] Ibid. p. 261.\n\n[142:4] See Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 456.\n\n[143:1] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 22, 23, 38.\n\n[143:2] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 23, 33, 35.\n\n[143:3] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 36.\n\n[143:4] Williams's Indian Wisdom, p. 347.\n\n[143:5] See Hist. Hindostan, ii. 336.\n\n[143:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 561. For that of Crishna,\nsee Vishnu Purana, book v. ch. iii.\n\n[143:7] See Ibid. p. 618.\n\n[143:8] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. p. 137.\n\n[143:9] See Anac., i. p. 560, and Geikie's Life of Christ, i. 559.\n\n[143:10] See Ibid., and The Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 72, and\nCalmet's Fragments, art. \"Abraham.\"\n\n[144:1] Baring-Gould: Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 149.\n\n[144:2] Calmet's Fragments, art. \"Abraham.\"\n\n[144:3] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 52.\n\n[144:4] Tacitus: Annals, bk. xiv. ch. xxii.\n\n[144:5] Amberly's Analysis of Religious Belief, p. 227.\n\n[144:6] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 73.\n\n[144:7] Brinton: Myths of the New World, pp. 180, 181, and Squire:\nSerpent Symbol.\n\n[145:1] Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 144.\n\n[145:2] Matthew ii. 2.\n\n[145:3] See Thomas Scott's English Life of Jesus for a full\ninvestigation of this subject.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nTHE SONG OF THE HEAVENLY HOST.\n\n\nThe story of the Song of the Heavenly Host belongs exclusively to the\n_Luke_ narrator, and, in substance, is as follows:\n\nAt the time of the birth of Christ Jesus, there were shepherds abiding\nin the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of\nthe Lord appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone round\nabout them, and the angel said: \"I bring you good tidings of great joy,\nwhich shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city\nof David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\"\n\nAnd suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host,\npraising God in song, saying: \"Glory to God in the highest; and on earth\npeace, good will towards men.\" After this the angels went _into\nheaven_.[147:1]\n\nIt is recorded in the _Vishnu Purana_[147:2] that while the virgin\nDevaki bore _Crishna_, \"the protector of the world,\" in her womb, she\nwas eulogized by the gods, and on the day of Crishna's birth, \"the\nquarters of the horizon were irradiate with joy, as if moonlight was\ndiffused over the whole earth.\" \"_The spirits and the nymphs of heaven\ndanced and sang_,\" and, \"at _midnight_,[147:3] when the support of all\nwas born, _the clouds emitted low pleasing sounds, and poured down rain\nof flowers_.\"[147:4]\n\nSimilar demonstrations of celestial delight were not wanting at the\nbirth of _Buddha_. All beings everywhere were full of joy. Music was to\nbe heard all over the land, and, as in the case of Crishna, there fell\nfrom the skies a gentle shower of flowers and perfumes. Caressing\nbreezes blew, and a marvellous light was produced.[147:5]\n\nThe Fo-pen-hing relates that:\n\n     \"The attending spirits, who surrounded the Virgin Maya and the\n     infant Saviour, singing praises of 'the Blessed One,' said:\n     'All joy be to you, Queen Maya, rejoice and be glad, for the\n     child you have borne is holy.' Then the Rishis and Devas who\n     dwelt on earth exclaimed with great joy: 'This day Buddha is\n     born for the good of men, to dispel the darkness of their\n     ignorance.' Then the four heavenly kings took up the strain\n     and said: 'Now because B\u00f4dhisatwa is born, to give joy and\n     bring peace to the world, therefore is there this brightness.'\n     Then the gods of the thirty-three heavens took up the burden\n     of the strain, and the Yama Devas and the T\u00fbsita Devas, and so\n     forth, through all the heavens of the Kama, Rupa, and Arupa\n     worlds, even up to the Akanishta heavens, all the Devas joined\n     in this song, and said: '_To-day B\u00f4dhisatwa is born on earth,\n     to give joy and peace to men and Devas, to shed light in the\n     dark places, and to give sight to the blind._\"[148:1]\n\nEven the sober philosopher _Confucius_ did not enter the world, if we\nmay believe Chinese tradition, without premonitory symptoms of his\ngreatness.[148:2]\n\nSir John Francis Davis, speaking of Confucius, says:\n\n     \"Various prodigies, _as in other instances_, were the\n     forerunners of the birth of this extraordinary person. On the\n     eve of his appearance upon earth, _celestial music_ sounded in\n     the ears of his mother; and when he was born, this inscription\n     appeared on his breast: 'The maker of a rule for setting the\n     World.'\"[148:3]\n\nIn the case of _Osiris_, the Egyptian Saviour, at his birth, a voice was\nheard proclaiming that: \"The Ruler of all the Earth is born.\"[148:4]\n\nIn Plutarch's \"_Isis_\" occurs the following:\n\n     \"At the birth of Osiris, there was heard a voice that the Lord\n     of all the Earth was coming in being; and some say that a\n     woman named Pamgle, as she was going to carry water to the\n     temple of Ammon, in the city of Thebes, heard that voice,\n     which commanded her to proclaim it with a loud voice, that the\n     great beneficent god Osiris was born.\"[148:5]\n\nWonderful demonstrations of delight also attended the birth of the\nheavenly-born _Apollonius_. According to Flavius Philostratus, who wrote\nthe life of this remarkable man, a flock of swans surrounded his mother,\nand clapping their wings, as is their custom, they sang in unison, while\nthe air was fanned by gentle breezes.\n\nWhen the god _Apollo_ was born of the virgin Latona in the Island of\nDelos, there was joy among the undying gods in Olympus, and the Earth\nlaughed beneath the smile of Heaven.[148:6]\n\nAt the time of the birth of \"_Hercules the Saviour_,\" his father Zeus,\nthe god of gods, spake from heaven and said:\n\n     \"This day shall a child be born of the race of Perseus, who\n     shall be the mightiest of the sons of men.\"[149:1]\n\nWhen _\u00c6sculapius_ was a helpless infant, and when he was about to be put\nto death, a voice from the god Apollo was heard, saying:\n\n     \"Slay not the child with the mother; _he is born to do great\n     things_; but bear him to the wise centaur Cheiron, and bid him\n     train the boy in all his wisdom and teach him to do brave\n     deeds, that men may praise his name in the generations that\n     shall be hereafter.\"[149:2]\n\nAs we stated above, the story of the Song of the Heavenly Host belongs\nexclusively to the _Luke_ narrator; none of the other writers of the\nsynoptic Gospels know anything about it, which, if it really happened,\nseems very strange.\n\nIf the reader will turn to the apocryphal Gospel called\n\"_Protevangelion_\" (chapter xiii.), he will there see one of the reasons\nwhy it was thought best to leave this Gospel out of the canon of the New\nTestament. It relates the \"Miracles at Mary's labor,\" similar to the\n_Luke_ narrator, but in a still more wonderful form. It is probably from\nthis apocryphal Gospel that the Luke narrator copied.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[147:1] Luke, ii. 8-15.\n\n[147:2] Translated from the original Sanscrit by H. H. Wilson, M. D., F.\nR. S.\n\n[147:3] All the virgin-born Saviours are born at _midnight or early\ndawn_.\n\n[147:4] Vishnu Purana, book v. ch. iii. p. 502.\n\n[147:5] See Amberly's Analysis, p. 226. Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 45, 46,\n47, and Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 35.\n\n[148:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 43, 55, 56, and Bunsen's\nAngel-Messiah, p. 35.\n\n[148:2] See Amberly: Analysis of Religious Belief, p. 84.\n\n[148:3] Davis: History of China, vol. ii. p. 48. See also Thornton:\nHist. China, i. 152.\n\n[148:4] See Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 56, and Kenrick's Egypt,\nvol. i. p. 408.\n\n[148:5] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 424, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i.\np. 408.\n\n[148:6] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 4.\n\n[149:1] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 55.\n\n[149:2] Ibid. p. 45.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE DIVINE CHILD RECOGNIZED AND PRESENTED WITH GIFTS.\n\n\nThe next in order of the wonderful events which are related to have\nhappened at the birth of Christ Jesus, is the recognition of the divine\nchild, and the presentation of gifts.\n\nWe are informed by the _Matthew_ narrator, that being guided by a star,\nthe _Magi_[150:1] from the east came to where the young child was.\n\n     \"And when they were come into the _house_ (not _stable_) they\n     saw the young child, with Mary his mother, and fell down and\n     worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they\n     presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense, and\n     myrrh.\"[150:2]\n\nThe _Luke_ narrator--who seems to know nothing about the Magi from the\neast--informs us that _shepherds_ came and worshiped the young child.\nThey were keeping their flocks by night when the angel of the Lord\nappeared before them, saying:\n\n     \"Behold, I bring you good tidings--for unto you is born this\n     day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\"\n\nAfter the angel had left them, they said one to another:\n\n     \"Let us go unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to\n     pass, which the Lord hath made known to us. And they came with\n     haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a\n     _manger_.\"[150:3]\n\nThe Luke narrator evidently borrowed this story of the _shepherds_ from\nthe \"_Gospel of the Egyptians_\" (of which we shall speak in another\nchapter), or from other sacred records of the biographies of Crishna or\nBuddha.\n\nIt is related in the legends of _Crishna_ that the divine child was\ncradled among shepherds, to whom were first made known the stupendous\nfeats which stamped his character with marks of the divinity. He was\nrecognized as the promised _Saviour_ by Nanda, a shepherd, or cowherd,\nand his companions, who prostrated themselves before the heaven-born\nchild. After the birth of Crishna, the Indian prophet Nared, having\nheard of his fame, visited his father and mother at Gokool, examined the\nstars, &c., and declared him to be of celestial descent.[151:1]\n\nNot only was Crishna adored by the shepherds and Magi, and received with\n_divine honors_, but he was _also presented with gifts_. These gifts\nwere \"sandal wood and perfumes.\"[151:2] (Why not \"frankincense and\nmyrrh?\")\n\nSimilar stories are related of the infant _Buddha_. He was visited, at\nthe time of his birth, by _wise men_, who at once recognized in the\nmarvellous infant all the characters of the divinity, and he had\nscarcely seen the day before he was hailed god of gods.[151:3]\n\n                    \"'Mongst the strangers came\n     A grey-haired saint, Asita, one whose ears,\n     Long closed to earthly things, caught heavenly sounds,\n     And heard at prayer beneath his peepul-tree,\n     The Devas singing songs at Buddha's birth.\"\n\nViscount Amberly, speaking of him, says:[151:4]\n\n     \"He was visited and adored by a very eminent _Rishi_, or\n     hermit, known as _Asita_, who predicted his future greatness,\n     but wept at the thought that he himself was too old to see the\n     day when the law of salvation would be taught by the infant\n     whom he had come to contemplate.\"\n\n     \"I weep (said Asita), because I am old and stricken in years,\n     and shall not see all that is about to come to pass. The\n     Buddha Bhagavat (God Almighty Buddha) comes to the world only\n     after many kalpas. This bright boy will be Buddha. _For the\n     salvation of the world_ he will teach the law. He will succor\n     the old, the sick, the afflicted, the dying. He will release\n     those who are bound in the meshes of _natural corruption_. He\n     will quicken the spiritual vision of those whose eyes are\n     darkened by the thick darkness of ignorance. Hundreds of\n     thousands of millions of beings will be carried by him to the\n     'other shore'--will put on immortality. And I shall not see\n     this perfect Buddha--this is why I weep.\"[151:5]\n\nHe returns rejoicing, however, to his mountain-home, for his eyes had\nseen the promised and expected Saviour.[151:6]\n\nPaintings in the _cave_ of Ajunta represent Asita with the infant\nBuddha in his arms.[152:1] The marvelous gifts of this child had become\nknown to this eminent ascetic by _supernatural signs_.[152:2]\n\nBuddha, as well as Crishna and Jesus, was presented with \"costly jewels\nand precious substances.\"[152:3] (Why not gold and perfumes?)\n\n_Rama_--the seventh incarnation of Vishnu for human deliverance from\nevil--is also hailed by \"_aged saints_\"--(why not \"wise _men_\"?)--who\ndie gladly when their eyes see the long-expected one.[152:4]\n\n_How-tseich_, who was one of those personages styled, in China,\n\"Tien-Tse,\" or \"Sons of Heaven,\"[152:5] and who came into the world in a\nmiraculous manner, was laid in a narrow lane. When his mother had\nfulfilled her time:\n\n     \"Her first-born son (came forth) like a lamb.\n      There was no bursting, no rending,\n      No injury, no hurt--\n      Showing how wonderful he would be.\"\n\nWhen born, the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care.[152:6]\n\nThe birth of _Confucius_ (B. C. 551), like that of all the demi-gods and\nsaints of antiquity, is fabled to have been attended with allegorical\nprodigies, amongst which was the appearance of the _Ke-lin_, a\nmiraculous quadruped, prophetic of happiness and virtue, which announced\nthat the child would be \"a king without a throne or territory.\" _Five\ncelestial sages, or \"wise men\" entered the house at the time of the\nchild's birth, whilst vocal and instrumental music filed the\nair._[152:7]\n\n_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, and mediator between God and man, was\nalso visited by \"wise men\" called Magi, at the time of his birth.[152:8]\nHe was presented with gifts consisting of gold, frankincense and\nmyrrh.'[152:9]\n\nAccording to Plato, at the birth of _Socrates_ (469 B. C.) there came\nthree Magi from the east to worship him, bringing gifts of gold,\nfrankincense and myrrh.[152:10]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, the virgin-born Saviour, was protected by goatherds (why\nnot shepherds?), who, upon seeing the child, knew at once that he was\ndivine. The voice of fame soon published the birth of this miraculous\ninfant, upon which people flocked from all quarters to behold and\nworship this heaven-born child.[153:1]\n\nMany of the Grecian and Roman demi-gods and heroes were either fostered\nby or worshiped by shepherds. Amongst these may be mentioned _Bacchus_,\nwho was educated among shepherds,[153:2] and _Romulus_, who was found on\nthe banks of the Tiber, and educated by shepherds.[153:3] _Paris_, son\nof Priam, was educated among shepherds,[153:4] and _\u00c6gisthus_ was\nexposed, like \u00c6sculapius, by his mother, found by shepherds and educated\namong them.[153:5]\n\nViscount Amberly has well said that: \"Prognostications of greatness in\ninfancy are, indeed, among the stock incidents in the mythical or\nsemi-mythical lives of eminent persons.\"\n\nWe have seen that the _Matthew_ narrator speaks of the infant Jesus, and\nMary, his mother, being in a \"_house_\"--implying that he had been born\nthere; and that the _Luke_ narrator speaks of the infant \"lying in a\nmanger\"--implying that he was born in a stable. We will now show that\nthere is still _another_ story related of the _place_ in which he was\nborn.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[150:1] \"The original word here is '_Magoi_,' from which comes our word\n'_Magician_.' . . . The persons _here_ denoted were philosophers,\npriests, or _astronomers_. They dwelt chiefly in Persia and Arabia. They\nwere the learned men of the Eastern nations, devoted to _astronomy_, to\nreligion, and to medicine. They were held in high esteem by the Persian\ncourt; were admitted as councilors, and followed the camps in war to\ngive advice.\" (Barnes's Notes, vol. i. p. 25.)\n\n[150:2] Matthew, ii. 2.\n\n[150:3] Luke, ii. 8-16.\n\n[151:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 129, 130, and Maurice: Hist.\nHindostan, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257 and 317. Also, The Vishnu Purana.\n\n[151:2] Oriental Religions, pp. 500, 501. See also, Ancient Faiths, vol.\nii. p. 353.\n\n[151:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 157.\n\n[151:4] Amberly's Analysis, p. 177. See also, Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p.\n36.\n\n[151:5] Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 76.\n\n[151:6] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 6, and Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 58,\n60.\n\n[152:1] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 36.\n\n[152:2] See Amberly's Analysis p. 231, and Bunsen's Angel Messiah, p.\n36.\n\n[152:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 58.\n\n[152:4] Oriental Religions, p. 491.\n\n[152:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 200.\n\n[152:6] See Amberly's Analysis of Religious Belief, p. 226.\n\n[152:7] See Thornton's Hist. China, vol. i. p. 152.\n\n[152:8] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, pp. 134 and 149.\n\n[152:9] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 353.\n\n[152:10] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 96.\n\n[153:1] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150. Roman Antiquities, p. 136, and Bell's\nPantheon, vol. i. p. 27.\n\n[153:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322.\n\n[153:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 213.\n\n[153:4] Ibid. vol. i. p. 47.\n\n[153:5] Ibid. p. 20.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE BIRTH-PLACE OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nThe writer of that portion of the Gospel according to _Matthew_ which\ntreats of the _place_ in which Jesus was born, implies, as we stated in\nour last chapter, that he was born in a _house_. His words are these:\n\n     \"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea _in the days of\n     Herod the king_, behold, there came wise men from the east\" to\n     worship him. \"And when they were come _into the house_, they\n     saw the young child with Mary his mother.\"[154:1]\n\nThe writer of the _Luke_ version implies that he was born in _a stable_,\nas the following statement will show:\n\n     \"The days being accomplished that she (Mary) should be\n     delivered . . . she brought forth her first-born son, and\n     wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and _laid him in a manger_,\n     there being no room for him in the _inn_.\"[154:2]\n\nIf these accounts were contained in these Gospels in the time of\nEusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian, who flourished during the\nCouncil of Nice (A. D. 327), it is very strange that, in speaking of the\nbirth of Jesus, he should have omitted even mentioning them, and should\nhave given an altogether different version. He tells us that Jesus was\nneither born in a _house_, nor in a _stable_, but in a _cave_, and that\nat the time of Constantine a magnificent temple was erected on the spot,\nso that the Christians might worship in the place where their Saviour's\nfeet had stood.[154:3]\n\nIn the apocryphal Gospel called \"_Protevangelion_,\" attributed to James,\nthe brother of Jesus, we are informed that Mary and her husband, being\naway from their home in Nazareth, and when within three miles of\nBethlehem, to which city they were going, Mary said to Joseph:\n\n     \"Take me down from the ass, for that which is in me presses to\n     come forth.\"\n\nJoseph, replying, said:\n\n     \"Whither shall I take thee, _for the place is desert_?\"\n\nThen said Mary again to Joseph:\n\n     \"Take me down, for that which is within me mightily presses\n     me.\"\n\nJoseph then took her down from off the ass, and he found there a _cave_\nand put her into it.\n\nJoseph then left Mary in the cave, and started toward Bethlehem for a\nmidwife, whom he found and brought back with him. When they neared the\nspot a bright cloud overshadowed the cave.\n\n     \"But on a sudden the cloud became _a great light in the cave_,\n     so their eyes could not bear it. But the light gradually\n     decreased, until the infant appeared and sucked the breast of\n     his mother.\"[155:1]\n\nTertullian (A. D. 200), Jerome (A. D. 375) and other Fathers of the\nChurch, also state that Jesus was born in a _cave_, and that the\n_heathen_ celebrated, in their day, the birth and _Mysteries_ of their\nLord and Saviour Adonis in this very cave near Bethlehem.[155:2]\n\nCanon Farrar says:\n\n     \"That the actual place of Christ's birth was a _cave_, is a\n     very ancient tradition, and this cave used to be shown as the\n     scene of the event even so early as the time of Justin Martyr\n     (A. D. 150).\"[155:3]\n\nMr. King says:\n\n     \"The place _yet_ shown as the scene of their (the Magi's)\n     adoration at Bethlehem is a _cave_.\"[155:4]\n\nThe Christian ceremonies in the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem are\ncelebrated to this day in a _cave_,[155:5] and are undoubtedly nearly\nthe same as were celebrated, _in the same place_, in honor of _Adonis_,\nin the time of Tertullian and Jerome; and as are yet celebrated in Rome\nevery Christmas-day, _very early in the morning_.\n\nWe see, then, that there are _three_ different accounts concerning the\n_place_ in which Jesus was born. The first, and evidently true one, was\nthat which is recorded by the _Matthew_ narrator, namely, that he was\nborn in a _house_. The stories about his being born in a _stable_ or in\na _cave_[155:6] were later inventions, caused from the desire to place\nhim in as _humble_ a position as possible in his infancy, and from the\nfact that the virgin-born Saviours who had _preceded_ him had almost\nall been born in a position the most humiliating--such as a cave, a\ncow-shed, a sheep-fold, &c.--or had been placed there after birth. This\nwas a part of the _universal mythos_. As illustrations we may mention\nthe following:\n\n_Crishna_, the Hindoo virgin-born Saviour, was born in a _cave_,[156:1]\nfostered by an honest _herdsman_,[156:2] and, it is said, placed in a\n_sheep-fold_ shortly after his birth.\n\n_How-Tseih_, the Chinese \"Son of Heaven,\" when an infant, was left\nunprotected by his mother, but the _sheep_ and _oxen_ protected him with\nloving care.[156:3]\n\n_Abraham_, the Father of Patriarchs, is said to have been _born in a\ncave_.[156:4]\n\n_Bacchus_, who was the son of God by the virgin Semele, is said to have\nbeen _born in a cave_, or placed in one shortly after his birth.[156:5]\nPhilostratus, the Greek sophist and rhetorician, says, \"the inhabitants\nof India had a tradition that Bacchus was born at _Nisa_, and was\nbrought up in a _cave_ on Mount Meros.\"\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, who was the son of God by the virgin Coronis, was left\nexposed, when an infant, on a mountain, where he was found and cared for\nby a _goatherd_.[156:6]\n\n_Romulus_, who was the son of God by the virgin Rhea-Sylvia, was left\nexposed, when an infant, on the banks of the river Tiber, where he was\nfound and cared for by a _shepherd_.[156:7]\n\n_Adonis_, the \"Lord\" and \"Saviour,\" was placed in a _cave_ shortly after\nhis birth.[156:8]\n\n_Apollo_ (Phoibos), son of the Almighty Zeus, was born in a cave at\nearly dawn.[156:9]\n\n_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, was born in a _cave or grotto_,[156:10]\nat early dawn.\n\n_Hermes_, the son of God by the mortal _Maia_, was born early in the\nmorning, in _a cave or grotto_ of the Kyllemian hill.[156:11]\n\n_Attys_, the god of the Phrygians,[156:12] was born in a _cave_ or\ngrotto.[156:13]\n\nThe _object_ is the same in all of these stories, however they may\ndiffer in detail, which is to place the heaven-born infant in the most\nhumiliating position in infancy.\n\nWe have seen it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Jesus\n\"there was a _great light_ in the cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and\nthe midwife could not bear it.\" This feature is also represented in\nearly Christian art. \"Early Christian painters have represented the\ninfant Jesus as welcoming three Kings of the East, _and shining as\nbrilliantly as if covered with phosphuretted oil_.\"[157:1] In all\npictures of the Nativity, the light is made to arise from the body of\nthe infant, and the father and mother are often depicted with glories\nround their heads. This too was a part of the old mythos, as we shall\nnow see.\n\nThe moment _Crishna_ was born, his mother became beautiful, and her form\nbrilliant. The whole cave was splendidly illuminated, being filled with\na _heavenly light_, and the countenances of his father and his mother\nemitted rays of glory.[157:2]\n\nSo likewise, it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Buddha,\n\"the Saviour of the World,\" which, according to one account, took place\nin an _inn_, \"_a divine light diffused around his person_,\" so that \"the\nBlessed One\" was \"heralded into the world by a supernatural\nlight.\"[157:3]\n\nWhen _Bacchus_ was born, a _bright light_ shone round him,[157:4] so\nthat, \"_there was a brilliant light in the cave_.\"\n\nWhen _Apollo_ was born, _a halo of serene light encircled his cradle_,\nthe nymphs of heaven attended, and bathed him in pure water, and girded\na broad golden band around his form.[157:5]\n\nWhen the Saviour _\u00c6sculapius_ was born, his countenance shone like the\nsun, and he was surrounded by a fiery ray.[157:6]\n\nIn the life of _Zoroaster_ the common mythos is apparent. He was born in\ninnocence of an immaculate conception of a Ray of the Divine Reason. As\nsoon as he was born, _the glory arising from his body enlightened the\nwhole room_, and he laughed at his mother.[157:7]\n\nIt is stated in the legends of the Hebrew Patriarchs that, at the birth\nof _Moses_, a bright light appeared and shone around.[157:8]\n\nThere is still another feature which we must notice in these narratives,\nthat is, the contradictory statements concerning the _time_ when Jesus\nwas born. As we shall treat of this subject more fully in the chapter on\n\"The Birthday of Christ Jesus,\" we shall allude to it here simply as far\nas necessary.\n\nThe _Matthew_ narrator informs us that Jesus was born _in the days of\nHerod the King_, and the _Luke_ narrator says he was born _when\nCyrenius_ was _Governor of Syria_, or later. This is a very awkward and\nunfortunate statement, as Cyrenius was not Governor of Syria until some\n_ten years after the time of Herod_.[158:1]\n\nThe cause of this dilemma is owing to the fact that the Luke narrator,\nafter having interwoven into _his_ story, of the birth of Jesus, the\n_old myth_ of the tax or tribute, which is said to have taken place at\nthe time of the birth of some _previous_ virgin-born Saviours, looked\namong the records to see if a taxing had ever taken place in Judea, so\nthat he might refer to it in support of his statement. He found the\naccount of the taxing, referred to above, and without stopping to\nconsider _when_ this taxing took place, or whether or not it would\nconflict with the statement that Jesus was born _in the days of Herod_,\nhe added to his narrative the words: \"And this taxing was _first made_\nwhen Cyrenius was governor of Syria.\"[158:2]\n\nWe will now show the ancient myth of the taxing. According to the\n_Vishnu Purana_, when the infant Saviour _Crishna_ was born, his foster\nfather, _Nanda_, had come to the city _to pay his tax or yearly tribute\nto the king_. It distinctly speaks of Nanda, and other cowherds,\n\"_bringing tribute or tax to Kansa_\" the reigning monarch.[158:3]\n\nIt also describes a scene which took place after the taxes had been\npaid.\n\nVasudeva, an acquaintance of Nanda's, \"went to the wagon of Nanda, and\nfound Nanda there, rejoicing that a son (Crishna) had been born to him.\n\n\"Vasudeva spoke to him kindly, and congratulated him _on having a son in\nhis old age_.[158:4]\n\n\"'Thy yearly tribute,' he added, 'has been paid to the king . . . why do\nyou delay, now that your affairs are settled? Up, Nanda, quickly, and\nset off to your own pastures.' . . . Accordingly Nanda and the other\ncowherds returned to their village.\"[158:5]\n\nNow, in regard to _Buddha_, the same myth is found.\n\nAmong the thirty-two signs which were to be fulfilled by the mother of\nthe expected Messiah (Buddha), the fifth sign was recorded to be, \"_that\nshe would be on a journey at the time of her child's birth_.\"\nTherefore, \"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the\nprophets,\" the virgin Maya, in the tenth month after her heavenly\nconception, was on a journey to her father, when lo, the birth of the\nMessiah took place under a tree. One account says that \"she had alighted\nat an _inn_ when Buddha was born.\"[159:1]\n\nThe mother of _Lao-tsze_, the Virgin-born Chinese sage, was away from\nhome when her child was born. She stopped to rest _under a tree_, and\nthere, like the virgin Maya, gave birth to her son.[159:2]\n\n_Pythagoras_ (B. C. 570), whose real father was the Holy Ghost,[159:3]\nwas also born at a time when his mother was away from home on a journey.\nShe was travelling with her husband, who was _about his mercantile\nconcerns_, from Samos to Sidon.[159:4]\n\n_Apollo_ was born when his mother was away from home. The Ionian legend\ntells the simple tale that Leto, the mother of the unborn Apollo, could\nfind no place to receive her in her hour of travail until she came to\nDelos. The child was born like Buddha and Lao-tsze--_under a\ntree_.[159:5] The mother knew that he was destined to be a being of\nmighty power, ruling among the undying gods and mortal men.[159:6]\n\nThus we see that the stories, one after another, relating to the birth\nand infancy of Jesus, are simply old myths, and are therefore not\nhistorical.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[154:1] Matthew, ii.\n\n[154:2] Luke, ii.\n\n[154:3] Eusebius's Life of Constantine, lib. 3, chs. xl., xli. and xlii.\n\n[155:1] Protevangelion. Apoc. chs. xii., xiii., and xiv., and Lily of\nIsrael, p. 95.\n\n[155:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 98, 99.\n\n[155:3] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 38, and _note_. See also, Hist.\nHindostan, ii. 311.\n\n[155:4] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 134.\n\n[155:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 95.\n\n[155:6] Some writers have tried to connect these by saying that it was a\n_cave-stable_, but why should a stable be in a _desert place_, as the\nnarrative states?\n\n[156:1] Aryan Myths, vol. ii. p. 107.\n\n[156:2] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259.\n\n[156:3] See Amberly's Analysis, p. 226.\n\n[156:4] See Calmet's Fragments, art. \"Abraham.\"\n\n[156:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 321. Bell's Pantheon, vol.\ni. p. 118, and Dupuis, p. 284.\n\n[156:6] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150, and Bell's Pantheon under\n\"\u00c6sculapius.\"\n\n[156:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 218.\n\n[156:8] See Ibid. vol. i. p. 12.\n\n[156:9] Aryan Mythology, vol. i. pp. 72, 158.\n\n[156:10] See Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 124, and Aryan Mythology,\nvol. ii. p. 134.\n\n[156:11] Ibid.\n\n[156:12] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 255.\n\n[156:13] See Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 124.\n\n[157:1] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 460.\n\n[157:2] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 133. Higgins: Anacalypsis,\nvol. i. p. 130. See also, Vishnu Purana, p. 502, where it says:\n\n\"No person could bear to gaze upon Devaki from the light that invested\nher.\"\n\n[157:3] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 43, 46, or Bunsen's Angel-Messiah,\npp. 34, 35.\n\n[157:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322, and Dupuis: Origin of\nRelig. Belief, p. 119.\n\n[157:5] Tales of Anct. Greece, p. xviii.\n\n[157:6] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. Roman Antiquities, p. 136.\n\n[157:7] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 460. Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.\n649.\n\n[157:8] See Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 145.\n\n[158:1] See the chapter on \"Christmas.\"\n\n[158:2] It may be that this verse was added by another hand some time\nafter the narrative was written. We have seen it stated somewhere that,\nin the manuscript, this verse is in brackets.\n\n[158:3] See Vishnu Purana, book v. chap. iii.\n\n[158:4] Here is an exact counterpart to the story of Joseph--the\nfoster-father, so-called--of Jesus. He too, had a son in his old age.\n\n[158:5] Vishnu Purana, book v. chap. v.\n\n[159:1] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 34. See also, Beal: Hist. Buddha,\np. 32, and Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 73.\n\n[159:2] Thornton: Hist. China, i. 138.\n\n[159:3] As we saw in Chapter XII.\n\n[159:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 150.\n\n[159:5] See Rhys David's Buddhism, p. 25.\n\n[159:6] See Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. ii. p. 31.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nTHE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nThe biographers of Jesus, although they have placed him in a position\nthe most humiliating in his infancy, and although they have given him\npoor and humble parents, have notwithstanding made him to be of _royal\ndescent_. The reasons for doing this were twofold. First, because,\naccording to the Old Testament, the expected Messiah was to be of the\nseed of Abraham,[160:1] and second, because the Angel-Messiahs who had\npreviously been on earth to redeem and save mankind had been of _royal\ndescent_, therefore Christ Jesus must be so.\n\nThe following story, taken from Colebrooke's \"_Miscellaneous\nEssays_,\"[160:2] clearly shows that this idea was general:\n\n     \"The last of the Jinas, Vardham\u00e2na, was _at first_ conceived\n     by Devananda, a Brahmana. The conception was announced to\n     her by a dream. Sekra, being apprised of his incarnation,\n     prostrated himself and worshiped the future saint (who was in\n     the womb of Devananda); but reflecting that _no great saint\n     was ever born in an indigent or mendicant family_, as that of\n     a Brahmana, Sekra commanded his chief attendant to remove the\n     child from the womb of Devananda to that of Trisala, wife of\n     Siddhartha, _a prince of the race of Jeswaca_, of the Kasyapa\n     family.\"\n\nIn their attempts to accomplish their object, the biographers of Jesus\nhave made such poor work of it, that all the ingenuity Christianity has\nyet produced, has not been able to repair their blunders.\n\nThe genealogies are contained in the first and third Gospels, and\nalthough they do not agree, yet, if either is right, then Jesus was\n_not_ the son of God, engendered by the \"Holy Ghost,\" but the legitimate\nson of Joseph and Mary. In any other sense they amount to nothing. That\nJesus can be of royal descent, and yet be the Son of God, in the sense\nin which these words are used, is a conclusion which can be acceptable\nto those only who believe in _alleged_ historical narratives on no other\nground than that they wish them to be true, and dare not call them into\nquestion.\n\nThe _Matthew_ narrator states that _all_ the generations from Abraham to\nDavid are _fourteen_, from David until the carrying away into Babylon\nare _fourteen_, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Jesus are\n_fourteen_ generations.[161:1] Surely nothing can have a more\n_mythological_ appearance than this. But, when we confine our attention\nto the genealogy itself, we find that the generations in the third\nstage, including Jesus himself, amount to only _thirteen_. All attempts\nto get over this difficulty have been without success; the genealogies\nare, and have always been, hard nuts for theologians to crack. Some of\nthe early Christian fathers saw this, and they very wisely put an\n_allegorical_ interpretation to them.\n\nDr. South says, in Kitto's Biblical Encyclop\u00e6dia:\n\n     \"Christ's being the true Messiah depends upon his being the\n     son of David and king of the Jews. _So that unless this be\n     evinced the whole foundation of Christianity must totter and\n     fall._\"\n\nAnother writer in the same work says:\n\n     \"In these two documents (Matthew and Luke), which profess to\n     give us the genealogy of Christ, there is no notice whatever\n     of the connection of his only earthly parent with the stock of\n     David. On the contrary, both the genealogies profess to give\n     us the descent of Joseph, to connect our Lord with whom by\n     natural generation, would be to falsify the whole story of his\n     miraculous birth, and overthrow the Christian faith.\"\n\nAgain, when the idea that one of the genealogies is Mary's is spoken of:\n\n     \"One thing is certain, that our belief in Mary's descent from\n     David is grounded on inference and tradition and not on any\n     direct statement of the sacred writings. And there has been a\n     ceaseless endeavor, both among ancients and moderns, to\n     gratify the natural cravings for knowledge on this subject.\"\n\nThomas Scott, speaking of the genealogies, says:\n\n     \"It is a favorite saying with those who seek to defend the\n     history of the Pentateuch against the scrutiny of modern\n     criticism, that the objections urged against it were known\n     long ago. The objections to the _genealogy_ were known long\n     ago, indeed; and perhaps nothing shows more conclusively than\n     this knowledge, the disgraceful dishonesty and willful\n     deception of the most illustrious of Christian\n     doctors.\"[161:2]\n\nReferring to the two genealogies, Albert Barnes says:\n\n     \"No two passages of Scripture have caused more difficulty than\n     these, and various attempts have been made to explain them.\n     . . . Most interpreters have supposed that Matthew gives the\n     genealogy of Joseph, and Luke that of Mary. _But though this\n     solution is plausible and may be true, yet it wants\n     evidence._\"\n\nBarnes furthermore admits the fallibility of the Bible in his remarks\nupon the genealogies; 1st, by comparing them to _our_ fallible family\nrecords; and 2d, by the remark that \"the only inquiry which can now be\nfairly made _is whether they copied these tables correctly_.\"\n\nAlford, Ellicott, Hervey, Meyer, Mill, Patritius and Wordsworth hold\nthat both genealogies are Joseph's; and Aubertin, Ebrard, Greswell,\nKurtz, Lange, Lightfoot and others, hold that one is Joseph's, and the\nother Mary's.\n\nWhen the genealogy contained in _Matthew_ is compared with the Old\nTestament _they are found to disagree_; there are omissions which any\nwriter with the least claim to historical sense would never have made.\n\nWhen the genealogy of the _third_ Gospel is turned to, the difficulties\ngreatly increase, instead of diminish. It not only contradicts the\nstatements made by the _Matthew_ narrator, but it does not agree with\nthe Old Testament.\n\nWhat, _according to the three first evangelists_, did Jesus think of\nhimself? In the first place he made no allusion to any miraculous\ncircumstances connected with his birth. He looked upon himself as\nbelonging to _Nazareth_, not as the child of Bethlehem;[162:1] _he\nreproved the scribes for teaching that the Messiah must necessarily be a\ndescendant of David,[162:2] and did not himself make any express claim\nto such descent_.[162:3]\n\nAs we cannot go into an extended inquiry concerning the genealogies, and\nas there is no real necessity for so doing, as many others have already\ndone so in a masterly manner,[162:4] we will continue our investigations\nin another direction, and show that Jesus was not the only Messiah who\nwas claimed to be of royal descent.\n\nTo commence with _Crishna_, the Hindoo Saviour, he was of _royal\ndescent_, although born in a state the most abject and humiliating.[163:1]\nThomas Maurice says of him:\n\n     \"Crishna, in the _male_ line, was of royal descent, being of\n     the Yadava line, the oldest and noblest of India; and nephew,\n     by his _mother's_ side, to the reigning sovereign; but, though\n     royally descended, he was actually born in a state the most\n     abject and humiliating; and, though not in a stable, yet in a\n     dungeon.\"[163:2]\n\n_Buddha_ was of _royal descent_, having descended from the house of\nSakya, the most illustrious of the caste of Brahmans, which reigned in\nIndia over the powerful empire of Mogadha, in the Southern Bahr.[163:3]\n\nR. Spence Hardy says, in his \"Manual of Buddhism:\"\n\n     \"The ancestry of Gotama Buddha is traced from his father,\n     Sodh\u00f3dana, through various individuals and races, all of royal\n     dignity, to Maha Sammata, the first monarch of the world.\n     Several of the names, and some of the events, are met with in\n     the Puranas of the Brahmins, but it is not possible to\n     reconcile one order of statement with the other; and it would\n     appear that the Buddhist historians have introduced races, and\n     invented names, that they may invest their venerated sage with\n     all the honors of heraldry, in addition to the attributes of\n     divinity.\"\n\nHow remarkably these words compare with what we have just seen\nconcerning the genealogies of Jesus!\n\n_Rama_, another Indian _avatar_--the seventh incarnation of Vishnu--was\nalso of _royal descent_.[163:4]\n\n_Fo-hi_; or _Fuh-he_, the virgin-born \"Son of Heaven,\" was of _royal\ndescent_. He belonged to the oldest family of monarchs who ruled in\nChina.[163:5]\n\n_Confucius_ was of _royal descent_. His pedigree is traced back in a\nsummary manner to the monarch _Hoang-ty_, who is said to have lived and\nruled more than two thousand years before the time of Christ\nJesus.[163:6]\n\n_Horus_, the Egyptian virgin-born Saviour, was of _royal descent_,\nhaving descended from a line of kings.[163:7] He had the title of \"Royal\nGood Shepherd.\"[163:8]\n\n_Hercules_, the Saviour, was of _royal descent_.[163:9]\n\n_Bacchus_, although the Son of God, was of _royal descent_.[164:1]\n\n_Perseus_, son of the virgin Danae, was of _royal descent_.[164:2]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, the great performer of miracles, although a son of God,\nwas notwithstanding of _royal descent_.[164:3]\n\nMany more such cases might be mentioned, as may be seen by referring to\nthe histories of the virgin-born gods and demi-gods spoken of in Chapter\nXII.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[160:1] That is, a passage in the Old Testament was construed to mean\nthis, although another and more plausible meaning might be inferred. It\nis when Abraham is blessed by the Lord, who is made to say: \"_In thy\nseed_ shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast\nobeyed my voice.\" (Genesis, xxii. 18.)\n\n[160:2] Vol. ii. p. 214.\n\n[161:1] Matthew, i. 17.\n\n[161:2] Scott's English Life of Jesus.\n\n[162:1] Matthew, xiii. 54; Luke, iv. 24.\n\n[162:2] Mark, ii. 35.\n\n[162:3] \"There is no doubt that the authors of the genealogies regarded\nhim (Jesus), as did his countrymen and contemporaries generally, as the\neldest son of Joseph, Mary's husband, and that they had no idea of\nanything miraculous connected with his birth. All the attempts of the\nold commentators to reconcile the inconsistencies of the evangelical\nnarratives are of no avail.\" (Albert R\u00e9ville: Hist. Dogma, Deity, Jesus,\np. 15.)\n\n[162:4] The reader is referred to Thomas Scott's English Life of Jesus,\nStrauss's Life of Jesus, The Genealogies of Our Lord, by Lord Arthur\nHervey, Kitto's Biblical Encyclop\u00e6dia, and Barnes' Notes.\n\n[163:1] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 130. Asiatic Researches,\nvol. i. p. 259, and Allen's India, p. 379.\n\n[163:2] Hist. Hindostan, ii. p. 310.\n\n[163:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 157. Bunsen: The\nAngel-Messiah. Davis: Hist. of China, vol. ii. p. 80, and Huc's Travels,\nvol. i. p. 327.\n\n[163:4] Allen's India, p. 379.\n\n[163:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 200, and Chambers's Encyclo.,\nart. \"Fuh-he.\"\n\n[163:6] Davis: History of China, vol. ii. p. 48, and Thornton: Hist.\nChina, vol. i. p. 151.\n\n[163:7] See almost any work on Egyptian history or the religions of\nEgypt.\n\n[163:8] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 403.\n\n[163:9] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 152. Roman Antiquities, p. 124, and\nBell's Pantheon, i. 382.\n\n[164:1] See Greek and Italian Mythology, p. 81. Bell's Pantheon, vol. i.\np. 117. Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 118, and Roman Antiquities, p.\n71.\n\n[164:2] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 170, and Bulfinch: The Age of\nFable, p. 161.\n\n[164:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. Roman Antiquities, p. 136,\nand Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTHE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS.\n\n\nInterwoven with the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus, the star,\nthe visit of the Magi, &c., we have a myth which belongs to a common\nform, and which, in this instance, is merely adapted to the special\ncircumstances of the age and place. This has been termed \"the myth of\nthe dangerous child.\" Its general outline is this: A child is born\nconcerning whose future greatness some prophetic indications have been\ngiven. But the life of the child is fraught with danger to some powerful\nindividual, generally a monarch. In alarm at his threatened fate, this\nperson endeavors to take the child's life, but it is preserved by divine\ncare.\n\nEscaping the measures directed against it, and generally remaining long\nunknown, it at length fulfills the prophecies concerning its career,\nwhile the fate which he has vainly sought to shun falls upon him who had\ndesired to slay it. There is a departure from the ordinary type, in the\ncase of Jesus, inasmuch as Herod does not actually die or suffer any\ncalamity through his agency. But this failure is due to the fact that\nJesus did not fulfill the conditions of the Messiahship, according to\nthe Jewish conception which Matthew has here in mind. Had he--as was\nexpected of the Messiah--become the actual sovereign of the Jews, he\nmust have dethroned the reigning dynasty, whether represented by Herod\nor his successors. But as his subsequent career belied the expectations,\nthe evangelist was obliged to postpone to a future time his accession to\nthat throne of temporal dominion which the incredulity of his countrymen\nhad withheld from him during his earthly life.\n\nThe story of the slaughter of the infants which is said to have taken\nplace in Judea about the time of the birth of Jesus, is to be found in\nthe second chapter of _Matthew_, and is as follows:\n\n     \"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of\n     Herod the king, there came wise men from the East to\n     Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is he that is born _king of the\n     Jews_? for we have seen _his star_ in the East and have come\n     to worship him.' When Herod the king had heard these things,\n     he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Then Herod, when\n     he had privately called the wise men, enquired of them\n     diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to\n     Bethlehem, and said: 'Go and search diligently for the young\n     child; and when ye have found him, bring me word.'\"\n\nThe wise men went to Bethlehem and found the young child, but instead of\nreturning to Herod as he had told them, they departed into their own\ncountry another way, having been warned of God _in a dream_, that they\nshould not return to Herod.\n\n     \"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,\n     was exceeding wroth, _and sent forth, and slew all the\n     children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts\n     thereof, from two years old and under_.\"\n\nWe have in this story, told by the _Matthew_ narrator--which the writers\nof the other gospels seem to know nothing about,--almost a counterpart,\nif not an exact one, to that related of _Crishna_ of India, which shows\nhow closely the mythological history of Jesus has been copied from that\nof the Hindoo Saviour.\n\nJoguth Chunder Gangooly, a \"Hindoo convert to Christ,\" tells us, in his\n\"Life and Religion of the Hindoos,\" that:\n\n     \"A _heavenly voice_ whispered to the foster father of Crishna\n     and told him to fly with the child across the river Jumna,\n     which was immediately done.[166:1] This was owing to the fact\n     that the reigning monarch, King Kansa, sought the life of the\n     infant Saviour, and to accomplish his purpose, he sent\n     messengers '_to kill all the infants in the neighboring\n     places_.'\"[166:2]\n\nMr. Higgins says:\n\n     \"Soon after Crishna's birth he was carried away by night and\n     concealed in a region remote from his natal place, for fear of\n     a tyrant whose destroyer it was foretold he would become; and\n     who had, for that reason, ordered all the male children born\n     at that period to be slain.\"[166:3]\n\nSir William Jones says of Crishna:\n\n     \"He passed a life, according to the Indians, of a most\n     extraordinary and incomprehensible nature. His birth was\n     concealed through fear of the reigning tyrant Kansa, who, at\n     the time of his birth, _ordered all new-born males to be\n     slain, yet this wonderful babe was preserved_.\"[166:4]\n\nIn the Epic poem Mahabarata, composed more than two thousand years ago,\nwe have the whole story of this incarnate deity, born of a virgin, and\nmiraculously escaping in his infancy from the reigning tyrant of his\ncountry, related in its original form.\n\nRepresentations of this flight with the babe at midnight are sculptured\non the walls of ancient Hindoo temples.[167:1]\n\nThis story is also the subject of an immense sculpture in the\ncave-temple at Elephanta, where the children are represented as being\nslain. The date of this sculpture is lost in the most remote antiquity.\nIt represents a person holding a drawn sword, surrounded by slaughtered\n_infant boys_. Figures of men and women are also represented who are\nsupposed to be supplicating for their children.[167:2]\n\nThomas Maurice, speaking of this sculpture, says:\n\n     \"The event of Crishna's birth, and the attempt to destroy him,\n     took place by night, and therefore the shadowy mantle of\n     darkness, _upon which mutilated figures of infants are\n     engraved_, darkness (at once congenial with his crime and the\n     season of its perpetration), involves the tyrant's bust; the\n     string of _death heads_ marks the multitude of infants slain\n     by his savage mandate; and every object in the sculpture\n     illustrates the events of that Avatar.\"[167:3]\n\nAnother feature which connects these stories is the following:\n\nSir Wm. Jones tells us that when Crishna was taken out of reach of the\ntyrant Kansa who sought to slay him, he was fostered at _Mathura_ by\nNanda, the herdsman;[167:4] and Canon Farrar, speaking of the sojourn of\nthe Holy Family in Egypt, says:\n\n     \"St. Matthew neither tells us where the Holy Family abode in\n     Egypt, nor how long their exile continued; but ancient legends\n     say that they remained two years absent from Palestine, and\n     lived at Matar\u00e9\u00ebh, a few miles north-east of Cairo.\"[167:5]\n\nChemnitius, out of Stipulensis, who had it from Peter Martyr, Bishop of\nAlexandria, in the third century, says, that the place in Egypt where\nJesus was banished, is now called Matarea, about ten miles beyond Cairo,\nthat the inhabitants constantly burn a lamp in remembrance of it, and\nthat there is a garden of trees yielding a balsam, which was planted by\nJesus when a boy.[167:6]\n\nHere is evidently one and the same legend.\n\n_Salivahana_, the virgin-born Saviour, anciently worshiped near Cape\nComorin, the southerly part of the Peninsula of India, had the same\nhistory. It was attempted to destroy him in infancy by a tyrant who was\nafterward killed by him. Most of the other circumstances, with slight\nvariations, are the same as those told of Crishna and Jesus.[167:7]\n\n_Buddha's_ life was also in danger when an infant. In the southern\ncountry of Magadha, there lived a king by the name of Bimbasara, who,\nbeing fearful of some enemy arising that might overturn his kingdom,\nfrequently assembled his principal ministers together to hold discussion\nwith them on the subject. On one of these occasions they told him that\naway to the north there was a respectable tribe of people called the\nS\u00e2kyas, and that belonging to this race there was a youth newly-born,\nthe first-begotten of his mother, &c. This youth, who was Buddha, they\nsaid was liable to overturn him, they therefore advised him to \"at once\nraise an army and destroy the child.\"[168:1]\n\nIn the chronicles of the East Mongols, the same tale is to be found\nrepeated in the following story:\n\n     \"A certain king of a people called Patsala, had a son whose\n     peculiar appearance led the Brahmins at court to prophesy that\n     he would bring evil upon his father, and to advise his\n     destruction. Various modes of execution having failed, _the\n     boy was laid in a copper chest and thrown into the Ganges_.\n     Rescued by an old peasant who brought him up as his son, he,\n     in due time, learned the story of his escape, and returned to\n     seize upon the kingdom destined for him from his\n     birth.\"[168:2]\n\n_Hau-ki_, the Chinese hero of supernatural origin, was exposed in\ninfancy, as the \"Shih-king\" says:\n\n     \"He was placed in a narrow lane, but the sheep and oxen\n     protected him with loving care. He was placed in a wide\n     forest, where he was met with by the wood-cutters. He was\n     placed on the cold ice, and a bird screened and supported him\n     with its wings,\" &c.[168:3]\n\nMr. Legge draws a comparison with this to the Roman legend of Romulus.\n\n_Horus_, according to the Egyptian story, was born in the winter, and\nbrought up secretly in the Isle of Buto, for fear of Typhon, who sought\nhis life. Typhon at first schemed to prevent his birth and then sought\nto destroy him when born.[168:4]\n\nWithin historical times, _Cyrus_, king of Persia (6th cent. B. C.), is\nthe hero of a similar tale. His grandfather, Astyages, had dreamed\ncertain dreams which were interpreted by the Magi to mean that the\noffspring of his daughter Mandane would expel him from his kingdom.\n\nAlarmed at the prophecy, he handed the child to his kinsman Harpagos to\nbe slain; but this man having entrusted it to a shepherd to be exposed,\nthe latter contrived to save it by exhibiting to the emissaries of\nHarpagos the body of a still-born child of which his own wife had just\nbeen delivered. Grown to man's estate Cyrus of course justified the\nprediction of the Magi by his successful revolt against Astyages and\nassumption of the monarchy.\n\nHerodotus, the Grecian Historian (B. C. 484), relates that Astyages, in\na vision, appeared to see a vine grow up from Mandane's womb, which\ncovered all Asia. Having seen this and communicated it to the\ninterpreters of dreams, he put her under guard, resolving to destroy\nwhatever should be born of her; for the Magian interpreters had\nsignified to him from his vision that the child born of Mandane would\nreign in his stead. Astyages therefore, guarding against this, as soon\nas Cyrus was born sought to have him destroyed. The story of his\nexposure on the mountain, and his subsequent good fortune, is then\nrelated.[169:1]\n\n_Abraham_ was also a \"dangerous child.\" At the time of his birth,\nNimrod, king of Babylon, was informed by his soothsayers that \"a child\nshould be born in Babylonia, who would shortly become a great prince,\nand that he had reason to fear him.\" The result of this was that Nimrod\nthen issued orders that \"all women with child should be guarded with\ngreat care, _and all children born of them should be put to\ndeath_.\"[169:2]\n\nThe mother of Abraham was at that time with child, but, of course, _he_\nescaped from being put to death, although many children were\nslaughtered.\n\n_Zoroaster_, the chief of the religion of the Magi, was a \"dangerous\nchild.\" Prodigies had announced his birth; he was exposed to dangers\nfrom the time of his infancy, and was obliged to fly into Persia, like\nJesus into Egypt. Like him, he was pursued by a king, his enemy, who\nwanted to get rid of him.[169:3]\n\nHis mother had alarming dreams of evil spirits seeking to destroy the\nchild to whom she was about to give birth. But a good spirit came to\ncomfort her and said: \"Fear nothing! Ormuzd will protect this infant. He\nhas sent him as a prophet to the people. The world is waiting for\nhim.\"[169:4]\n\n_Perseus_, son of the Virgin Danae, was also a \"dangerous child.\"\nAcrisius, king of Argos, being told by the oracle that a son born of his\nvirgin daughter would destroy him, immured his daughter Danae in a\ntower, _where no man could approach her_, and by this means hoped to\nkeep his daughter from becoming _enceinte_. The god Jupiter, however,\nvisited her there, as it is related of the Angel Gabriel visiting the\nVirgin Mary,[170:1] the result of which was that she bore a\nson--_Perseus_. Acrisius, on hearing of his daughter's disgrace, caused\nboth her and the infant to be shut up in a chest and cast into the sea.\nThey were discovered by one Dictys, and liberated from what must have\nbeen anything but a pleasant position.[170:2]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, when an infant, was exposed on the Mount of Myrtles, and\nleft there to die, but escaped the death which was intended for him,\nhaving been found and cared for by _shepherds_.[170:3]\n\n_Hercules_, son of the virgin Leto, was left to die on a plain, but was\nfound and rescued by a maiden.[170:4]\n\n_OEdipous_ was a \"dangerous child.\" Laios, King of Thebes, having been\ntold by the Delphic Oracle that OEdipous would be his destroyer, no\nsooner is OEdipous born than the decree goes forth that the child must\nbe slain: but the servant to whom he is intrusted contents himself with\nexposing the babe on the slopes of Mount Kithairon, where a _shepherd_\nfinds him, and carries him, like Cyrus or Romulus, to his wife, who\ncherishes the child with a mother's care.[170:5]\n\nThe Theban myth of OEdipous is repeated substantially in the Arcadian\ntradition of _Telephos_. He is exposed, when a babe, on Mount Parthenon,\nand is suckled by a doe, which represents the wolf in the myth of\nRomulus, and the dog of the Persian story of Cyrus. Like Moses, he is\nbrought up in the palace of a king.[170:6]\n\nAs we read the story of Telephos, we can scarcely fail to think of the\nstory of the Trojan _Paris_, for, like Telephos, Paris is exposed as a\nbabe on the mountain-side.[170:7] Before he is born, there are portents\nof the ruin which he is to bring upon his house and people. Priam, the\nruling monarch, therefore decrees that the child shall be left to die on\nthe hill-side. But the babe lies on the slopes of _Ida_ and is nourished\nby a she-bear. He is fostered, like Crishna and others, by _shepherds_,\namong whom he grows up.[170:8]\n\n_Iamos_ was left to die among the bushes and violets. Aipytos, the\nchieftain of Phaisana, had learned at Delphi that a child had been born\nwho should become the greatest of all the seers and prophets of the\nearth, and he asked all his people where the babe was: but none had\nheard or seen him, for he lay away amid the thick bushes, with his soft\nbody bathed in the golden and pure rays of the violets. So when he was\nfound, they called him Iamos, the \"violet child;\" and as he grew in\nyears and strength, he went down into the Alpheian stream, and prayed to\nhis father that he would glorify his son. Then the voice of Zeus was\nheard, bidding him come to the heights of Olympus, where he should\nreceive the gift of prophecy.[171:1]\n\n_Chandragupta_ was also a \"dangerous child.\" He is exposed to great\ndangers in his infancy at the hands of a tributary chief who has\ndefeated and slain his suzerain. His mother, \"relinquishing him to the\nprotection of the Devas, places him in a vase, and deposits him at the\ndoor of a _cattle pen_.\" A _herdsman_ takes the child and rears it as\nhis own.[171:2]\n\n_Jason_ is another hero of the same kind. Pelias, the chief of Iolkos,\nhad been told that one of the children of Aiolos would be his destroyer,\nand decreed, therefore, that all should be slain. Jason only is\npreserved, and brought up by Cheiron.[171:3]\n\n_Bacchus_, son of the virgin Semele, was destined to bring ruin upon\nCadmus, King of Thebes, who therefore orders the infant to be put into a\nchest and thrown into a river. He is found, and taken from the water by\nloving hands, and lives to fulfill his mission.[171:4]\n\nHerodotus relates a similar story, which is as follows:\n\n     \"The constitution of the _Corinthians_ was formerly of this\n     kind; it was an _oligarchy_, (a government in the hands of a\n     selected few), and those who were called _Bacchiad\u00e6_ governed\n     the city. About this time one Eetion, who had been married to\n     a maiden called Labda, and having no children by her, went to\n     Delphi to inquire of the oracle about having offspring. Upon\n     entering the temple he was immediately saluted as follows;\n     'Eetion, no one honors thee, though worthy of much honor.\n     Labda is pregnant and will bring forth a round stone; it will\n     fall on monarchs, and vindicate Corinth.' This oracle,\n     pronounced to Eetion, was by chance reported to the\n     _Bacchiad\u00e6_, who well knew that it prophesied the birth of a\n     son to Eetion who would overthrow them, and reign in their\n     stead; and though they comprehended, they kept it secret,\n     purposing to destroy the offspring that should be born to\n     Eetion. As soon as the woman brought forth, they sent ten\n     persons to the district where Eetion lived, to put the child\n     to death; but, the child, _by a divine providence_, was saved.\n     His mother hid him in a chest, and as they could not find the\n     child they resolved to depart, and tell those who sent them\n     that they had done all that they had commanded. After this,\n     Eetion's son grew up, and having escaped this danger, the name\n     of Cypselus was given him, from the chest. When Cypselus\n     reached man's estate, and consulted the oracle, an ambiguous\n     answer was given him at Delphi; relying on which he attacked\n     and got possession of Corinth.\"[171:5]\n\n_Romulus_ and _Remus_, the founders of Rome, were exposed on the banks\nof the Tiber, when infants, and left there to die, but escaped the death\nintended for them.\n\nThe story of the \"dangerous child\" was well known in ancient Rome, and\nseveral of their emperors, so it is said, were threatened with death at\ntheir birth, or when mere infants. Julius Marathus, in his life of the\nEmperor Augustus C\u00e6sar, says that before his birth there was a prophecy\nin Rome that a king over the Roman people would soon be born. To obviate\nthis danger to the republic, the Senate ordered that all the male\nchildren born in that year should be abandoned or exposed.[172:1]\n\nThe flight of the virgin-mother with her babe is also illustrated in the\nstory of Astrea when beset by Orion, and of Latona, the mother of\nApollo, when pursued by the monster.[172:2] It is simply the same old\nstory, over and over again. Someone has predicted that a child born at a\ncertain time shall be great, he is therefore a \"dangerous child,\" and\nthe reigning monarch, or some other interested party, attempts to have\nthe child destroyed, but he invariably escapes and grows to manhood, and\ngenerally accomplishes the purpose for which he was intended. This\nalmost universal mythos was added to the fictitious history of Jesus by\nits fictitious authors, who have made him escape in his infancy from the\nreigning tyrant with the usual good fortune.\n\nWhen a marvellous occurrence is said to have happened _everywhere_, we\nmay feel sure that it never happened anywhere. Popular fancies propagate\nthemselves indefinitely, but historical events, especially the striking\nand dramatic ones, are rarely repeated. That this is a fictitious story\nis seen from the narratives of the birth of Jesus, which are recorded by\nthe first and third Gospel writers, without any other evidence. In the\none--that related by the _Matthew_ narrator--we have a birth at\nBethlehem--implying the ordinary residence of the parents there--and a\n_hurried flight_--almost immediately after the birth--from that place\ninto Egypt,[172:3] the slaughter of the infants, and a journey, after\nmany months, from Egypt to Nazareth in Galilee. In the other story--that\ntold by the _Luke_ narrator--the parents, who have lived in Nazareth,\ncame to Bethlehem only for business of the State, and the casual birth\nin the cave or stable is followed by a quiet sojourn, during which the\nchild is circumcised, and by a leisurely journey to Jerusalem; whence,\neverything having gone off peaceably and happily, they return naturally\nto their own former place of abode, full, _it is said over and over\nagain_, of wonder at the things that had happened, and deeply impressed\nwith the conviction that their child had a special work to do, and was\nspecially gifted for it. _There is no fear of Herod, who seems never to\ntrouble himself about the child, or even to have any knowledge of him.\nThere is no trouble or misery at Bethlehem, and certainly no mourning\nfor children slain._ Far from flying hurriedly away by night, his\nparents _celebrate openly_, and at the usual time, the circumcision of\nthe child; and when he is presented in the temple, there is not only no\nsign that enemies seek his life, _but the devout saints give public\nthanks for the manifestation of the Saviour_.\n\nDr. Hooykaas, speaking of the slaughter of the innocents, says:\n\n     \"Antiquity in general delighted in representing great men,\n     such as Romulus, Cyrus, and many more, as having been\n     threatened in their childhood by fearful dangers. This served\n     to bring into clear relief both the lofty significance of\n     their future lives, and the special protection of the deity\n     who watched over them.\n\n     \"The brow of many a theologian has been bent over this\n     (Matthew) narrative! For, as long as people believed in the\n     miraculous inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, of course they\n     accepted every page as literally true, and thought that there\n     _could_ not be any contradiction between the different\n     accounts or representations of Scripture. The worst of all\n     such pre-conceived ideas is, that they compel those who hold\n     them to do violence to their own sense of truth. For when\n     these so-called religious prejudices come into play, people\n     are afraid to call things by their right names, and, without\n     knowing it themselves, become guilty of all kinds of evasive\n     and arbitrary practices; for what would be thought quite\n     unjustifiable in any other case is here considered a duty,\n     inasmuch as it is supposed to tend toward the maintenance of\n     faith and the glory of God!\"[173:1]\n\nAs we stated above, this story is to be found in the fictitious gospel\naccording to Matthew only; contemporary history has nowhere recorded\nthis audacious crime. It is mentioned neither by Jewish nor Roman\nhistorians. Tacitus, who has stamped forever the crimes of despots with\nthe brand of reprobation, it would seem then, did not think such\ninfamies worthy of his condemnation. Josephus also, who gives us a\nminute account of the atrocities perpetrated by Herod up to even the\nvery last moment of his life, does not say a single word about this\nunheard-of crime, which must have been so notorious. Surely he must have\nknown of it, and must have mentioned it, had it ever been committed. \"We\ncan readily imagine the Pagans,\" says Mr. Reber, \"who composed the\nlearned and intelligent men of their day, at work in exposing the story\nof Herod's cruelty, by showing that, considering the extent of\nterritory embraced in the order, and the population within it, the\nassumed destruction of life stamped the story false and ridiculous. A\ngovernor of a Roman province who dared make such an order would be so\nspeedily overtaken by the vengeance of the Roman people, that his head\nwould fall from his body before the blood of his victims had time to\ndry. Archelaus, his son, was deposed for offenses not to be spoken of\nwhen compared with this massacre of the infants.\"\n\nNo wonder that there is no trace at all in the Roman catacombs, nor in\nChristian art, of this fictitious story, until about the beginning of\nthe fifth century.[174:1] Never would Herod dared to have taken upon\nhimself the odium and responsibility of such a sacrifice. _Such a crime\ncould never have happened at the epoch of its professed perpetration._\nTo such lengths were the early Fathers led, by the servile adaptation of\nthe ancient traditions of the East, they required a _second edition_ of\nthe tyrant Kansa, and their holy wrath fell upon Herod. The Apostles of\nJesus counted too much upon human credulity, they trusted too much that\nthe future might not unravel their maneuvers, the sanctity of their\nobject made them too reckless. They destroyed all the evidence against\nthemselves which they could lay their hands upon, but they did not\ndestroy it all.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[166:1] _A heavenly voice_ whispered to the foster-father of Jesus, and\ntold him to fly with the child into Egypt, which was immediately done.\n(See Matthew, ii. 13.)\n\n[166:2] Life and Relig. of the Hindoos, p. 134.\n\n[166:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 129. See also, Cox: Aryan Mythology,\nvol. ii. p. 134, and Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 331.\n\n[166:4] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 273 and 259.\n\n[167:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 61.\n\n[167:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. 130, 13-, and Maurice: Indian\nAntiquities, vol. i. pp. 112, 113, and vol. iii. pp. 45, 95.\n\n[167:3] Indian Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 112, 113.\n\n[167:4] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259.\n\n[167:5] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 58.\n\n[167:6] See Introduction to Gospel of Infancy, Apoc.\n\n[167:7] See vol. x. Asiatic Researches.\n\n[168:1] Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 103, 104.\n\n[168:2] Amberly's Analysis, p. 229.\n\n[168:3] The Shih-king. Decade ii, ode 1.\n\n[168:4] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, pp. 158 and 186.\n\n[169:1] Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 110.\n\n[169:2] Calmet's Fragments, art. \"Abraham.\"\n\n[169:3] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 240.\n\n[169:4] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. \"Religions of Persia.\"\n\n[170:1] In the Apocryphal Gospel of the Birth of Mary and\n\"Protevangelion.\"\n\n[170:2] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 9. Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol.\nii. p. 58, and Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 161.\n\n[170:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. Cox: Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p.\n34.\n\n[170:4] Cox: Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p. 44.\n\n[170:5] Ibid. p. 69, and Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xlii.\n\n[170:6] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 14.\n\n[170:7] Ibid. p. 75.\n\n[170:8] Ibid. p. 78.\n\n[171:1] Cox: Aryan Mytho. ii. p. 81.\n\n[171:2] Ibid. p. 84.\n\n[171:3] Ibid. p. 150.\n\n[171:4] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 188. Cox: Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p.\n296.\n\n[171:5] Herodotus: bk. v. ch. 92.\n\n[172:1] See Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 60.\n\n[172:2] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 168.\n\n[172:3] There are no very early examples in Christian art of the flight\nof the Holy Family into Egypt. (See Monumental Christianity, p. 289.)\n\n[173:1] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. pp. 71-74.\n\n[174:1] See Monumental Christianity, p. 238.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nTHE TEMPTATION, AND FAST OF FORTY DAYS.\n\n\nWe are informed by the _Matthew_ narrator that, after being baptized by\nJohn in the river Jordan, Jesus was led by the spirit into the\nwilderness \"_to be tempted of the devil_.\"\n\n     \"And when he had fasted _forty days and forty nights_, he was\n     afterward an hungered. And when the _tempter_ came to him he\n     said: 'If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be\n     made bread.' . . . Then the devil taketh him up into the holy\n     city, _and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple_, and saith\n     unto him: 'If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down.'\n     . . . Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high\n     mountain, _and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world_, and\n     the glory of them, and saith unto him:' _All these things will\n     I give thee_ if thou wilt fall down and worship me.' Then\n     saith Jesus unto him, 'Get thee hence, Satan: for it is\n     written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only\n     shalt thou serve.' Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,\n     angels came and ministered unto him.\"[175:1]\n\nThis is really a very peculiar story; it is therefore not to be wondered\nat that many of the early Christian Fathers rejected it as being\nfabulous,[175:2] but this, according to orthodox teaching, cannot be\ndone; because, in all consistent reason, \"_we must accept the whole of\nthe inspired autographs or reject the whole_,\"[175:3] and, because, \"the\nvery foundations of our faith, the very basis of our hopes, the very\nnearest and dearest of our consolations, are taken from us, when _one\nline_ of that sacred volume, on which we base everything, is declared to\nbe untruthful and untrustworthy.\"[175:4]\n\nThe reason why we have this story in the New Testament is because the\nwriter wished to show that Christ Jesus was proof against all\ntemptations, that _he_ too, as well as _Buddha_ and others, could resist\nthe powers of the prince of evil. This Angel-Messiah was tempted by the\ndevil, and he fasted for forty-seven days and nights, without taking an\natom of food.[175:5]\n\nThe story of Buddha's temptation, presented below, is taken from the\n\"_Siamese Life of Buddha_,\" by Moncure D. Conway, and published in his\n\"_Sacred Anthology_,\" from which we take it.[176:1] It is also to be\nfound in the _Fo-pen-hing_,[176:2] and other works on Buddha and\nBuddhism. Buddha went through a more lengthy and severe trial than did\nJesus, having been tempted in many different ways. The portion which\nmost resembles that recorded by the Matthew narrator is the following:\n\n     \"The Grand Being (Buddha) applied himself to practice\n     asceticism of the extremest nature. _He ceased to eat_ (that\n     is, _he fasted_) and held his breath. . . . _Then it was that\n     the royal Mara_ (the Prince of Evil) _sought occasion to tempt\n     him._ Pretending compassion, he said: 'Beware, O Grand Being,\n     your state is pitiable to look on; you are attenuated beyond\n     measure, . . . you are practicing this mortification in vain;\n     I can see that you will not live through it. . . . Lord, that\n     art capable of such vast endurance, go not forth to adopt a\n     religious life, but return to thy kingdom, and in _seven_ days\n     thou shalt become _the Emperor of the World_, riding over the\n     four great continents.'\"\n\nTo this the Grand Being, Buddha, replied:\n\n     \"'Take heed, O Mara; I also know that in seven days I might\n     gain universal empire, but I desire not such possessions. I\n     know that the pursuit of religion is better than the empire of\n     the world. You, thinking only of evil lusts, would force me to\n     leave all beings without guidance into your power. _Avaunt!\n     Get thou away from me!_'\n\n     \"The Lord (then) rode onwards, intent on his purpose. The\n     skies rained flowers, and delicious odors pervaded the\n     air.\"[176:3]\n\nNow, mark the similarity between these two legends.\n\nWas Jesus about \"beginning to preach\" when he was tempted by the evil\nspirit? So was Buddha about to go forth \"to adopt a religious life,\"\nwhen he was tempted by the evil spirit.\n\nDid Jesus fast, and was he \"afterwards an hungered\"? So did Buddha\n\"cease to eat,\" and was \"attenuated beyond measure.\"\n\nDid the evil spirit take Jesus and show him \"all the kingdoms of the\nworld,\" which he promised to give him, provided he did not lead the life\nhe contemplated, but follow him?\n\nSo did the evil spirit say to Buddha: \"Go not forth to adopt a religious\nlife, and in seven days thou shalt become an emperor of the world.\"\n\nDid not Jesus resist these temptations, and say unto the evil one, \"Get\nthee behind me, Satan\"?\n\nSo did Buddha resist the temptations, and said unto the evil one, \"Get\nthee away from me.\"\n\nAfter the evil spirit left Jesus did not \"angels come and minister unto\nhim\"?\n\nSo with Buddha. After the evil one had left him \"the skies rained\nflowers, and delicious odors pervaded the air.\"\n\nThese parallels are too striking to be accidental.\n\n_Zoroaster_, the founder of the religion of the Persians, was tempted by\nthe devil, who made him magnificent promises, in order to induce him to\nbecome his servant and to be dependent on him, but the temptations were\nin vain.[177:1] \"His temptation by the devil, forms the subject of many\ntraditional reports and legends.\"[177:2]\n\n_Quetzalcoatle_, the virgin-born Mexican Saviour, was also tempted by\nthe devil, and the forty days' fast was found among them.[177:3]\n\nFasting and self-denial were observances practiced by all nations of\nantiquity. The _Hindoos_ have days set apart for fasting on many\ndifferent occasions throughout the year, one of which is when the\nbirth-day of their Lord and Saviour Crishna is celebrated. On this\noccasion, the day is spent in fasting and worship. They abstain entirely\nfrom food and drink for more than thirty hours, at the end of which\nCrishna's image is worshiped, and the story of his miraculous birth is\nread to his hungry worshipers.[177:4]\n\nAmong the ancient _Egyptians_, there were times when the priests\nsubmitted to abstinence of the most severe description, being forbidden\nto eat even bread, and at other times they only ate it mingled with\nhyssop. \"The priests in Heliopolis,\" says Plutarch, \"have many fasts,\nduring which they meditate on divine things.\"[177:5]\n\nAmong the _Sabians_, fasting was insisted on as an essential act of\nreligion. During the month _Tammuz_, they were in the habit of fasting\nfrom sunrise to sunset, without allowing a morsel of food or drop of\nliquid to pass their lips.[177:6]\n\nThe Jews also had their fasts, and on special occasions they gave\nthemselves up to prolonged fasts and mortifications.\n\nFasting and self-denial were observances required of the Greeks who\ndesired initiation into the _Mysteries_. Abstinence from food, chastity\nand hard couches prepared the neophyte, who broke his fast on the third\nand fourth day only, on consecrated food.[177:7]\n\nThe same practice was found among the ancient _Mexicans_ and\n_Peruvians_. Acosta, speaking of them, says:\n\n     \"These priests and religious men used great fastings, of five\n     and ten days together, before any of their great feasts, and\n     they were unto them as our four ember weeks. . . .\n\n     \"They drank no wine, and slept little, for the greatest part\n     of their exercises (of penance) were at night, committing\n     great cruelties and martyring themselves for the devil, and\n     all to be reputed great fasters and penitents.\"[178:1]\n\nIn regard to the number of days which Jesus is said to have fasted being\nspecified as _forty_, this is simply owing to the fact that the number\n_forty_ as well as _seven_ was a sacred one among most nations of\nantiquity, particularly among the Jews, and because _others_ had fasted\nthat number of days. For instance; it is related[178:2] that _Moses_\nwent up into a mountain, \"and he was there with the Lord _forty days and\nforty nights, and he did neither eat bread, nor drink water_,\" which is\nto say that he _fasted_.\n\nIn Deuteronomy[178:3] Moses _is made to say_--for he did not write it,\n\"When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, . . .\nthen I abode in the mount _forty days and forty nights_, I neither did\neat bread nor drink water.\"\n\n_Elijah_ also had a long fast, which, _of course_, was continued for a\nperiod of _forty days and forty nights_.[178:4]\n\n_St. Joachim_, father of the \"ever-blessed Virgin Mary,\" had a long\nfast, which was also continued for a period of _forty days and forty\nnights_. The story is to be found in the apocryphal gospel\n_Protevangelion_.[178:5]\n\nThe ancient _Persians_ had a religious festival which they annually\ncelebrated, and which they called the \"Salutation of Mithras.\" During\nthis festival, _forty days_ were set apart for thanksgiving and\nsacrifice.[178:6]\n\nThe _forty days' fast_ was found in the New World.\n\nGodfrey Higgins tells us that:\n\n     \"The ancient _Mexicans_ had a _forty days' fast_, in memory of\n     one of their sacred persons (Quetzalcoatle) who was tempted\n     (and fasted) _forty days_ on a mountain.\"[178:7]\n\nLord Kingsborough says:\n\n     \"The temptation of Quetzalcoatle, and _the fast of forty days,\n     . . . are very curious and mysterious_.\"[178:8]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans were also in the habit of making their prisoners\nof war fast for a term of _forty days_ before they were put to\ndeath.[179:1]\n\nMr. Bonwick says:\n\n     \"The Spaniards were surprised to see the _Mexicans_ keep the\n     vernal _forty days' fast_. The Tammuz month of Syria was in\n     the spring. The _forty days_ were kept for Proserpine. Thus\n     does history repeat itself.\"[179:2]\n\nThe Spanish monks accounted for what Lord Kingsborough calls \"very\ncurious and mysterious\" circumstances, by the agency of the devil, and\nburned all the books containing them, whenever it was in their power.\n\nThe forty days' fast was also found among some of the Indian tribes in\nthe New World. Dr. Daniel Brinton tells us that \"the females of the\n_Orinoco_ tribes _fasted forty days_ before marriage,\"[179:3] and Prof.\nMax M\u00fcller informs us that it was customary for some of the females of\nthe South American tribes of Indians \"to fast before and after the birth\nof a child,\" and that, among the _Carib-Coudave_ tribe, in the West\nIndies, \"when a child is born the mother goes presently to work, but the\nfather begins to complain, and takes to his hammock, and there he is\nvisited as though he were sick. _He then fasts for forty days._\"[179:4]\n\nThe females belonging to the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, were held\nunclean for _forty days_ after childbirth.[179:5] The prince of the\nTezcuca tribes _fasted forty days_ when he wished an heir to his throne,\nand the Mandanas supposed it required _forty days and forty nights_ to\nwash clean the earth at the deluge.[179:6]\n\nThe number _forty_ is to be found in a great many instances in the Old\nTestament; for instance, at the end of _forty days_ Noah sent out a\nraven from the ark.[179:7] Isaac and Esau were each _forty years_ old\nwhen they married.[179:8] _Forty days_ were fulfilled for the embalming\nof Jacob.[179:9] The spies were _forty days_ in search of the land of\nCanaan.[179:10] The Israelites wandered _forty years_ in the\nwilderness.[179:11] The land \"had rest\" _forty years_ on three\noccasions.[179:12] The land was delivered into the hand of the\nPhilistines _forty years_.[179:13] Eli judged Israel _forty\nyears_.[179:14] King David reigned _forty years_.[179:15]\n\nKing Solomon reigned _forty years_.[180:1] Goliath presented himself\n_forty days_.[180:2] The rain was upon the earth _forty days_ at the\ntime of the deluge.[180:3] And, as we saw above, Moses was on the mount\n_forty days_ and _forty nights_ on each occasion.[180:4] Can anything be\nmore mythological than this?\n\nThe number forty was used by the ancients in constructing temples. There\nwere _forty_ pillars around the temple of Chilminar, in Persia; the\ntemple at Baalbec had _forty_ pillars; on the frontiers of China, in\nTartary, there is to be seen the \"Temple of the _forty_ pillars.\"\n_Forty_ is one of the most common numbers in the Druidical temples, and\nin the plan of the temple of Ezekiel, the four oblong buildings in the\nmiddle of the courts have each _forty_ pillars.[180:5] Most temples of\nantiquity were imitative--were microcosms of the Celestial Templum--and\non this account they were surrounded with pillars recording\n_astronomical_ subjects, and intended both to do honor to these\nsubjects, and to keep them in perpetual remembrance. In the Abury\ntemples were to be seen the cycles of 650-608-600-60-40-30-19-12,\netc.[180:6]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[175:1] Matthew, iv. 1-11.\n\n[175:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. p. 491.\n\n[175:3] Words of the Rev. E. Garbett, M. A., in a sermon preached before\nthe University of Oxford, England.\n\n[175:4] The Bishop of Manchester (England), in the \"Manchester Examiner\nand Times.\"\n\n[175:5] See Lillie's Buddhism, p. 100.\n\n[176:1] Pp. 44 and 172, 173.\n\n[176:2] Translated by Prof. Samuel Beal.\n\n[176:3] See also Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 38, 39. Beal: Hist. Buddha,\npp. xxviii., xxix., and 190, and Hardy: Buddhist Legends, p. xvii.\n\n[177:1] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 240.\n\n[177:2] Chambers's Encyclo. art. \"Zoroaster.\"\n\n[177:3] See Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 200.\n\n[177:4] Life and Relig. of the Hindoos, p. 134.\n\n[177:5] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 341.\n\n[177:6] Ibid.\n\n[177:7] Ibid. p. 340.\n\n[178:1] Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 339.\n\n[178:2] Exodus, xxiv. 28.\n\n[178:3] Deut. ix. 18.\n\n[178:4] 1 Kings, xix. 8.\n\n[178:5] Chapter i.\n\n[178:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 272.\n\n[178:7] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.\n\n[178:8] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. pp. 197-200.\n\n[179:1] See Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 223.\n\n[179:2] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 370.\n\n[179:3] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 94.\n\n[179:4] Max M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 279.\n\n[179:5] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 94.\n\n[179:6] Ibid. According to Genesis, vii. 12, \"the rain was upon the\nearth forty days and forty nights\" at the time of the flood.\n\n[179:7] Genesis, viii. 6.\n\n[179:8] Gen. xxv. 20-xxvi. 34.\n\n[179:9] Gen. i. 3.\n\n[179:10] Numbers, xiii. 25.\n\n[179:11] Numbers, xiii. 13.\n\n[179:12] Jud. iii. 11; v. 31; viii. 28.\n\n[179:13] Jud. xiii. 1.\n\n[179:14] I. Samuel, iv. 18.\n\n[179:15] I. Kings, ii. 11.\n\n[180:1] I. Kings, xi. 42.\n\n[180:2] I. Samuel, xvii. 16.\n\n[180:3] Gen. vii. 12.\n\n[180:4] Exodus, xxiv. 18-xxxiv. 28.\n\n[180:5] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 798; vol. ii. p. 402.\n\n[180:6] See Ibid. vol. ii. p. 708.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nTHE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nThe punishment of an individual by crucifixion, for claiming to be \"King\nof the Jews,\" \"Son of God,\" or \"The Christ;\" which are the causes\nassigned by the Evangelists for the Crucifixion of Jesus, would need but\na passing glance in our inquiry, were it not for the fact that there is\nmuch attached to it of a _dogmatic_ and _heathenish_ nature, which\ndemands considerably more than a \"passing glance.\" The doctrine of\natonement for sin had been preached long before the doctrine was deduced\nfrom the Christian Scriptures, long before these Scriptures are\npretended to have been written. Before the period assigned for the birth\nof Christ Jesus, the poet _Ovid_ had assailed the demoralizing delusion\nwith the most powerful shafts of philosophic scorn: \"_When thou thyself\nart guilty,_\" says he, \"_why should a victim die for thee? What folly it\nis to expect salvation from the death of another._\"\n\nThe idea of expiation by the sacrifice of a _god_ was to be found among\nthe Hindoos even in _Vedic_ times. _The sacrificer was mystically\nidentified with the victim_, which was regarded as the ransom for sin,\nand the instrument of its annulment. The _Rig-Veda_ represents the gods\nas sacrificing _Purusha_, the primeval male, supposed to be coeval with\nthe Creator. This idea is even more remarkably developed in the\n_Tandya-brahmanas_, thus:\n\n     \"The lord of creatures (_praja-pati_) _offered himself a\n     sacrifice for the gods_.\"\n\nAnd again, in the _Satapatha-brahmana_:\n\n     \"He who, knowing this, sacrifices the _Purusha-medha_, or\n     sacrifice of the primeval male, becomes everything.\"[181:1]\n\nProf. Monier Williams, from whose work on _Hindooism_ we quote the\nabove, says:\n\n     \"Surely, in these mystical allusions to the sacrifice of a\n     representative man, we may perceive traces of the original\n     institution of sacrifice as a _divinely-appointed ordinance\n     typical of the one great sacrifice of the Son of God for the\n     sins of the world_.\"[182:1]\n\nThis idea of redemption from sin through the sufferings and death of a\nDivine Incarnate Saviour, is simply the crowning-point of the idea\nentertained by primitive man that the gods _demanded_ a sacrifice of\nsome kind, to atone for some sin, or avert some calamity.\n\nIn primitive ages, when men lived mostly on vegetables, they offered\nonly grain, water, salt, fruit, and flowers to the gods, to propitiate\nthem and thereby obtain temporal blessings. But when they began to eat\nmeat and spices, and drink wine, they offered the same; naturally\nsupposing the deities would be pleased with whatever was useful or\nagreeable to themselves. They imagined that some gods were partial to\nanimals, others to fruits, flowers, etc. To the celestial gods they\noffered _white_ victims at sunrise, or at open day. To the infernal\ndeities they sacrificed _black_ animals in the night. Each god had some\ncreature peculiarly devoted to his worship. They sacrificed a _bull_ to\nMars, a _dove_ to Venus, and to Minerva, a _heifer_ without blemish,\nwhich had never been put to the yoke. If a man was too poor to sacrifice\na living animal, he offered an image of one made of bread.\n\nIn the course of time, it began to be imagined that the gods demanded\nsomething more sacred as offerings or atonements for sin. This led to\nthe sacrifice of _human beings_, principally slaves and those taken in\nwar, then, their own children, even their most beloved \"first-born.\" It\ncame to be an idea that every sin must have its prescribed amount of\npunishment, _and that the gods would accept the life of one person as\natonement for the sins of others_. This idea prevailed even in Greece\nand Rome: but there it mainly took the form of heroic self-sacrifice for\nthe public good. Cicero says: \"The force of religion was so great among\nour ancestors, that some of their commanders have, with their faces\nveiled, and with the strongest expressions of sincerity, _sacrificed\nthemselves to the immortal gods to save their country_.\"[182:2]\n\nIn Egypt, offerings of human sacrifices, for the atonement of sin,\nbecame so general that \"if the eldest born of the family of Athamas\nentered the temple of the Laphystan Jupiter at Alos in Achaia, he was\nsacrificed, crowned with garlands like an animal victim.\"[182:3]\n\nWhen the Egyptian priests offered up a sacrifice to the gods, they\npronounced the following imprecations on the head of the victim:\n\n     \"If any evil is about to befall either those who now\n     sacrifice, or Egypt in general, _may it be averted on this\n     head_.\"[183:1]\n\nThis idea of atonement finally resulted in the belief that the incarnate\n_Christ_, the _Anointed_, the _God among us_, was to _save_ mankind from\na curse by God imposed. Man had sinned, and God could not and did not\nforgive without a propitiatory _sacrifice_. The curse of God must be\nremoved from the _sinful_, and the _sinless_ must bear the load of that\ncurse. It was asserted that _divine justice_ required BLOOD.[183:2]\n\nThe belief of redemption from sin by the sufferings of a _Divine\nIncarnation_, whether by death on the cross or otherwise, was general\nand popular among the heathen, centuries before the time of Jesus of\nNazareth, and this dogma, no matter how sacred it may have become, or\nhow _consoling_ it may be, must fall along with the rest of the material\nof which the Christian church is built.\n\nJulius Firmicius, referring to this popular belief among the _Pagans_,\nsays: \"The _devil_ has _his Christs_.\"[183:3] This was the general\noff-hand manner in which the Christian Fathers disposed of such matters.\nEverything in the religion of the Pagans which corresponded to their\nreligion was of the devil. Most Protestant divines have resorted to the\n_type_ theory, of which we shall speak anon.\n\nAs we have done heretofore in our inquiries, we will first turn to\n_India_, where we shall find, in the words of M. l'Abb\u00e9 Huc, that \"_the\nidea of redemption by a divine incarnation_,\" who came into the world\nfor the express purpose of redeeming mankind, was \"general and\npopular.\"[183:4]\n\n\"A sense of _original corruption_,\" says Prof. Monier Williams, seems\nto be felt by all classes of Hindoos, as indicated by the following\nprayer used after the _Gayatri_ by some Vaishnavas:\n\n     \"'I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, _I am\n     conceived in sin_. Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Heri (Saviour),\n     the remover of sin.'\"[184:1]\n\nMoreover, the doctrine of _bhakti_ (_salvation by faith_) existed among\nthe Hindoos from the earliest times.[184:2]\n\nCrishna, the virgin-born, \"the Divine Vishnu himself,\"[184:3] \"he who is\nwithout beginning, middle or end,\"[184:4] being moved \"to relieve the\nearth of her load,\"[184:5] came upon earth and redeemed man by his\n_sufferings_--to _save_ him.\n\nThe accounts of the deaths of most all the virgin-born Saviours of whom\nwe shall speak, are conflicting. It is stated in one place that such an\none died in such a manner, and in another place we may find it stated\naltogether differently. Even the accounts of the death of Jesus, as we\nshall hereafter see, are conflicting; therefore, until the chapter on\n\"_Explanation_\" is read, these myths cannot really be thoroughly\nunderstood.\n\nAs the Rev. Geo. W. Cox remarks, in his _Aryan Mythology_, Crishna is\ndescribed, in one of his aspects, as a self-sacrificing and unselfish\nhero, a being who is filled with divine wisdom and love, who offers up a\nsacrifice which he alone can make.[184:6]\n\nThe _Vishnu Purana_[184:7] speaks of _Crishna_ being shot in the _foot_\nwith an arrow, and states that _this_ was the cause of his death. Other\naccounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other\nwords, _crucified_.\n\nMons. Guigniaut, in his \"_Religion de l'Antiquit\u00e9_\" says:\n\n     \"The death of Crishna is very differently related. One\n     remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a\n     _tree_, to which he was _nailed_ by the stroke of an\n     arrow.\"[184:8]\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy alludes to this passage of Guigniaut's in his\n\"Monumental Christianity,\" and translates the passage \"un bois fatal\"\n(see note below) \"_a cross_.\" Although we do not think he is justified\nin doing this, as M. Guigniaut has distinctly stated that this \"bois\nfatal\" (which is applied to a gibbet, a cross, a scaffold, etc.) was \"un\narbre\" (a _tree_), yet, he is justified in doing so on other accounts,\nfor we find that _Crishna_ is represented _hanging on a cross_, and we\nknow that a _cross_ was frequently called the \"accursed _tree_.\" It was\nan ancient custom to use trees as gibbets for crucifixion, or, if\nartificial, to call the cross a tree.[185:1]\n\nA writer in _Deuteronomy_[185:2] speaks of hanging criminals upon a\n_tree_, as though it was a general custom, and says:\n\n     \"He that is hanged (on a tree) is accursed of God.\"\n\nAnd _Paul_ undoubtedly refers to this text when he says:\n\n     \"Christ hath redeemed us from the _curse_ of the law, being\n     made a curse for us; for it is written, 'Cursed is every one\n     that hangeth on a tree.'\"[185:3]\n\nIt is evident, then, that to be hung on a cross was anciently called\nhanging on a _tree_, and to be hung on a tree was called crucifixion. We\nmay therefore conclude from this, and from what we shall now see, that\nCrishna was said to have been _crucified_.\n\nIn the earlier copies of Moor's \"_Hindu Pantheon_,\" is to be seen\nrepresentations of Crishna (as _Wittoba_),[185:4] with marks of holes in\nboth feet, and in others, of holes in the hands. In Figures 4 and 5 of\nPlate 11 (Moor's work), the figures have _nail-holes in both feet_.\nFigure 6 has a _round hole in the side_; to his collar or shirt hangs\nthe emblem of a _heart_ (which we often see in pictures of Christ Jesus)\nand on his head he has a _Yoni-Linga_ (which we _do not_ see in pictures\nof Christ Jesus.)\n\nOur Figure No. 7 (next page), is a pre-Christian crucifix of _Asiatic_\norigin,[185:5] evidently intended to represent Crishna crucified. Figure\nNo. 8 we can speak more positively of, it is surely Crishna crucified.\nIt is unlike any Christian crucifix ever made, and, with that described\nabove with the _Yoni-Linga_ attached to the head, would probably not be\nclaimed as such. Instead of the _crown of thorns_ usually put on the\nhead of the Christian Saviour, it has the turreted coronet of the\nEphesian Diana, the ankles are tied together by a cord, _and the dress\nabout the loins is exactly the style with which Crishna is almost always\nrepresented_.[185:6]\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy, speaking of the Christian crucifix, says:\n\n     \"I object to the crucifix because it is an _image_, and\n     liable to gross abuse, _just as the old Hindoo crucifix was an\n     idol_.\"[186:1]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 7]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 8]\n\nAnd Dr. Inman says:\n\n     \"Crishna, whose history so closely resembles our Lord's, was\n     also like him in his being crucified.\"[186:2]\n\nThe Evangelist[186:3] relates that when Jesus was crucified two others\n(malefactors) were crucified with him, one of whom, through his favor,\nwent to heaven. One of the malefactors reviled him, but the other said\nto Jesus: \"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.\" And\nJesus said unto him: \"Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with\nme in paradise.\" According to the _Vishnu Purana_, the hunter who shot\nthe arrow at Crishna afterwards said unto him: \"Have pity upon me, who\nam consumed by my crime, for thou art able to consume me!\" Crishna\nreplied: \"Fear not thou in the least. _Go, hunter, through my favor, to\nheaven, the abode of the gods._\" As soon as he had thus spoken, a\ncelestial car appeared, and the hunter, ascending it, forthwith\nproceeded to heaven. Then the illustrious Crishna, having united himself\nwith his own pure, spiritual, inexhaustible, inconceivable, unborn,\nundecaying, imperishable and universal spirit, which is one with\n_Vasudeva_ (God),[186:4] abandoned his mortal body, and the condition of\nthe threefold equalities.[186:5] One of the titles of Crishna is\n\"_Pardoner of sins_,\" another is \"_Liberator from the Serpent of\ndeath_.\"[187:1]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 9]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 10]\n\nThe monk Georgius, in his _Tibetinum Alphabetum_ (p. 203), has given\nplates of _a crucified god_ who was worshiped in _Nepal_. These\ncrucifixes were to be seen at the corners of roads and on eminences. He\ncalls it the god _Indra_. Figures No. 9 and No. 10 are taken from this\nwork. They are also different from any Christian crucifix yet produced.\nGeorgius says:\n\n     \"If the matter stands as Beausobre thinks, then the\n     inhabitants of India, and the Buddhists, whose religion is the\n     same as that of the inhabitants of Thibet, have received these\n     new portents of fanatics nowhere else than from the\n     Manicheans. For those nations, especially in the city of\n     Nepal, in the month of August, being about to celebrate the\n     festival days of the god _Indra_, erect crosses, wreathed with\n     _Abrotono_, to his memory, everywhere. You have the\n     description of these in letter B, the picture following after;\n     for A is the representation of _Indra_ himself _crucified_,\n     bearing on his forehead, hands and feet the signs\n     _Telech_.\"[187:2]\n\nP. Andrada la Crozius, one of the first Europeans who went to Nepal and\nThibet, in speaking of the god whom they worshiped there--_Indra_--tells\nus that they said _he spilt his blood for the salvation of the human\nrace_, and that he was pierced through the body with nails. He further\nsays that, although they do not say he suffered the penalty of the\ncross, yet they find, nevertheless, figures of it in their books.[188:1]\n\nIn regard to Beausobre's ideas that the religion of India is corrupted\nChristianity, obtained from the Manicheans, little need be said, as all\nscholars of the present day know that the religion of India is many\ncenturies older than Mani or the Manicheans.[188:2]\n\nIn the promontory of India, in the South, at Tanjore, and in the North,\nat Oude or Ayoudia, was found the worship of the _crucified god Bal-li_.\nThis god, who was believed to have been an incarnation of Vishnu, was\nrepresented with holes in his hands and side.[188:3]\n\nThe incarnate god Buddha, although said to have expired peacefully at\nthe foot of a tree, is nevertheless described as a suffering Saviour,\nwho, \"when his mind was moved by pity (for the human race) _gave his\nlife like grass for the sake of others_.\"[188:4]\n\nA hymn, addressed to Buddha, says:\n\n     \"Persecutions without end,\n      Revilings and many prisons,\n      _Death and murder_,\n      These hast thou suffered with love and patience\n      (To secure the happiness of mankind),\n      Forgiving thine executioners.\"[188:5]\n\nHe was called the \"Great Physician,\"[188:6] the \"Saviour of the\nWorld,\"[188:7] the \"Blessed One,\"[188:8] the \"God among Gods,\"[188:9]\nthe \"Anointed,\" or the \"Christ,\"[188:10] the \"Messiah,\"[188:11] the\n\"Only Begotten,\"[188:12] etc. He is described by the author of the\n\"Cambridge Key\"[188:13] as sacrificing his life to wash away the\noffenses of mankind, and thereby to make them partakers of the kingdom\nof heaven. This induces him to say \"Can a Christian doubt that this\nBuddha was the TYPE of the Saviour of the World.\"[189:1]\n\nAs a spirit in the fourth heaven, he resolves to give up \"all that\nglory, in order to be born into the world,\" \"to rescue all men from\ntheir misery and every future consequence of it.\" He vows \"to deliver\nall men, who are left as it were without a _Saviour_.\"[189:2]\n\nWhile in the realms of the blest, and when about to descend upon earth\nto be born as man, he said:\n\n     \"I am now about to assume a body; not for the sake of gaining\n     wealth, or enjoying the pleasures of sense, but I am about to\n     descend and be born, among men, _simply to give peace and rest\n     to all flesh; to remove all sorrow and grief from the\n     world_.\"[189:3]\n\nM. l'Abb\u00e9 Huc says:\n\n     \"In the eyes of the Buddhists, this personage (Buddha) is\n     sometimes a man and sometimes a god, or rather both one and\n     the other--a divine incarnation, a man-god--who came into the\n     world to enlighten men, to _redeem them_, and to indicate to\n     them the way of safety. This idea of _redemption by a divine\n     incarnation_ is so general and popular among the Buddhists,\n     that during our travels in Upper Asia we everywhere found it\n     expressed in a neat formula. If we addressed to a Mongol or a\n     Thibetan the question 'Who is Buddha?' he would immediately\n     reply: '_The Saviour of Men!_'\"[189:4]\n\nAccording to Prof. Max M\u00fcller, Buddha is reported as saying:\n\n     \"_Let all the sins that were committed in this world fall on\n     me, that the world may be delivered._\"[189:5]\n\nThe _Indians_ are no strangers to the doctrine of _original sin_. It is\ntheir invariable belief that _man is a fallen being_; admitted by them\nfrom time immemorial.[189:6] And what we have seen concerning their\nbeliefs in _Crishna_ and _Buddha_ unmistakably shows a belief in a\n_divine Saviour_, who _redeems man_, and takes upon himself the sins of\nthe world; so that \"_Baddha_ paid it all, all to him is due.\"[189:7]\n\nThe idea of redemption through the sufferings and death of a _Divine\nSaviour_, is to be found even in the ancient religions of China. One of\ntheir five sacred volumes, called the _Y-King_, says, in speaking of\n_Tien, the \"Holy One\"_:\n\n     \"The _Holy One_ will unite in himself all the virtues of\n     heaven and earth. By his justice the world will be\n     re-established in the ways of righteousness. He will labor and\n     suffer much. He must pass the great torrent, whose waves shall\n     enter into his soul; _but he alone can offer up to the Lord a\n     sacrifice worthy of him_.\"[190:1]\n\nAn ancient commentator says:\n\n     \"The common people sacrifice their lives to gain bread; the\n     philosophers to gain reputation; the nobility to perpetuate\n     their families. The _Holy One_ (_Tien_) does not seek himself,\n     but the good of others. _He dies to save the world._\"[190:2]\n\n_Tien_, the Holy One, is always spoken of as one with God, existing with\nhim from all eternity, \"before anything was made.\"\n\n_Osiris_ and _Horus_, the Egyptian virgin-born gods, suffered\ndeath.[190:3] Mr. Bonwick, speaking of _Osiris_, says:\n\n     \"He is one of the _Saviours_ or deliverers of humanity, to be\n     found in almost all lands.\" \"In his efforts to do good, he\n     encounters evil; in struggling with that he is overcome; he is\n     killed.\"[190:4]\n\nAlexander Murray says:\n\n     \"_The Egyptian Saviour Osiris_ was gratefully regarded as the\n     great exemplar of self-sacrifice, in _giving his life for\n     others_.\"[190:5]\n\nSir J. G. Wilkinson says of him:\n\n     \"The sufferings and death of _Osiris_ were the great Mystery\n     of the Egyptian religion, and some traces of it are\n     perceptible among other peoples of antiquity. His being the\n     _Divine Goodness_, and the abstract idea of 'good,' his\n     manifestation upon earth (like a Hindoo god), his death and\n     resurrection, and his office as judge of the dead in a future\n     state, _look like the early revelation of a future\n     manifestation of the deity converted into a mythological\n     fable_.\"[190:6]\n\n_Horus_ was also called \"The Saviour.\" \"As Horus Sneb, he is the\n_Redeemer_. He is the Lord of Life and the Eternal One.\"[190:7] He is\nalso called \"The Only-Begotten.\"[190:8]\n\n_Attys_, who was called the \"_Only Begotten Son_\"[190:9] and\n\"_Saviour_,\" was worshiped by the Phrygians (who were regarded as one of\nthe oldest races of Asia Minor). He was represented by them as _a man\ntied to a tree_, at the foot of which was a _lamb_,[191:1] and, without\ndoubt, also _as a man nailed to the tree, or stake_, for we find\nLactantius making this Apollo of Miletus (anciently, the greatest and\nmost flourishing city of Ionia, in Asia Minor) say that:\n\n     \"He was a mortal according to the flesh; wise in miraculous\n     works; but, being arrested by an armed force by command of the\n     Chaldean judges, _he suffered a death made bitter with nails\n     and stakes_.\"[191:2]\n\nIn this god of the Phrygians, we again have the myth of the _crucified\nSaviour of Paganism_.\n\nBy referring to Mrs. Jameson's \"History of Our Lord in Art,\"[191:3] or\nto illustrations in chapter xl. this work, it will be seen that a common\nmode of representing a crucifixion was that of a man, tied with cords by\nthe hands and feet, to an upright beam or stake. The _lamb_, spoken of\nabove, which signifies considerable, we shall speak of in its proper\nplace.\n\n_Tammuz_, or _Adonis_, the Syrian and Jewish _Adonai_ (in Hebrew \"Our\nLord\"), was another _virgin-born_ god, who suffered for mankind, and who\nhad the title of _Saviour_. The accounts of his death are conflicting,\njust as it is with almost all of the so-called Saviours of mankind\n(_including the Christian Saviour_, as we shall hereafter see) one\naccount, however, makes him a _crucified Saviour_.[191:4]\n\nIt is certain, however, that the ancients who honored him as their Lord\nand Saviour, celebrated, annually, a feast in commemoration of his\ndeath. An image, intended as a representation of their Lord, was laid on\na bed or bier, and bewailed in mournful ditties--just as the Roman\nCatholics do at the present day in their \"Good Friday\" mass.\n\nDuring this ceremony the priest murmured:\n\n     \"_Trust ye in your Lord, for the pains which he endured, our\n     salvation have procured._\"[191:5]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, in his \"Hebrew Lexicon,\" after referring to what\nwe have just stated above, says:\n\n     \"I find myself _obliged_ to refer _Tammuz_ to that class of\n     idols which were originally designed to represent the promised\n     Saviour, the Desire of all Nations. His other name, _Adonis_,\n     is almost the very Hebrew _Adoni_ or _Lord_, a well-known\n     title of Christ.\"[191:6]\n\n_Prometheus_ was a crucified Saviour. He was \"an immortal god, a friend\nof the human race, _who does not shrink even from sacrificing himself\nfor their salvation_.\"[192:1]\n\nThe tragedy of the crucifixion of Prometheus, written by \u00c6schylus, was\nacted in Athens five hundred years before the Christian Era, and is by\nmany considered to be the most ancient dramatic poem now in existence.\nThe plot was derived from materials even at that time of an infinitely\nremote antiquity. Nothing was ever so exquisitely calculated to work\nupon the feelings of the spectators. No author ever displayed greater\npowers of poetry, with equal strength of judgment, in supporting through\nthe piece the august character of the _Divine Sufferer_. The spectators\nthemselves were unconsciously made a party to the interest of the scene:\nits hero was their friend, their benefactor, their creator, and their\n_Saviour_; his wrongs were incurred in their quarrel--_his sorrows were\nendured for their salvation_; \"he was wounded for their transgressions,\nand bruised for their iniquities; the chastisement of their peace was\nupon him, and by his stripes they were healed;\" \"he was oppressed and\nafflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.\" The majesty of his silence,\nwhilst the ministers of an offended god were _nailing him by the hands\nand feet to Mount Caucasus_,[192:2] could be only equaled by the modesty\nwith which he relates, _while hanging with arms extended in the form of\na cross_, his services to the human race, which had brought on him that\nhorrible crucifixion.[192:3] \"None, save myself,\" says he, \"opposed his\n(Jove's) will,\"\n\n                                \"I dared;\n     And boldly pleading saved them from destruction,\n     Saved them from sinking to the realms of night.\n     For this offense I bend beneath these pains,\n     Dreadful to suffer, piteous to behold:\n     For mercy to mankind I am not deem'd\n     Worthy of mercy; but with ruthless hate\n     In this uncouth appointment am fix'd here\n     A spectacle dishonorable to Jove.\"[192:4]\n\nIn the catastrophe of the plot, his especially professed friend,\nOceanus, _the Fisherman_--as his name _Petr\u00e6us_ indicates,[193:1]--being\nunable to prevail on him to make his peace with Jupiter, by throwing the\ncause of human redemption out of his hands,[193:2] forsook him and fled.\nNone remained to be witness of his dying agonies but the chorus of\never-amiable and ever-faithful which also bewailed and lamented\nhim,[193:3] but were unable to subdue his inflexible philanthropy.[193:4]\n\nIn the words of Justin Martyr: \"Suffering was common to all the sons of\nJove.\" They were called the \"Slain Ones,\" \"Saviours,\" \"Redeemers,\" &c.\n\n_Bacchus_, the offspring of Jupiter and Semele,[193:5] was called the\n\"_Saviour_.\"[193:6] He was called the \"_Only Begotten Son_,\"[193:7] the\n\"Slain One,\"[193:8] the \"Sin Bearer,\"[193:9] the \"Redeemer,\"[193:10] &c.\nEvil having spread itself over the earth, through the inquisitiveness of\nPandora, the Lord of the gods is begged to come to the relief of\nmankind. Jupiter lends a willing ear to the entreaties, \"and wishes that\nhis _son_ should be the _redeemer_ of the misfortunes of the world; _The\nBacchus Saviour_. He promises to the earth a _Liberator_ . . The\nuniverse shall worship him, and shall praise in songs his blessings.\" In\norder to execute his purpose, Jupiter overshadows the beautiful young\nmaiden--the virgin Semele--who becomes the mother of the\n_Redeemer_.[193:11]\n\n     \"It is I (says the lord Bacchus to mankind), who guides you;\n     it is I who protects you, and who saves you; I who am Alpha\n     and Omega.\"[193:12]\n\n_Hercules_, the son of Zeus, was called \"The Saviour.\"[193:13] The words\n\"Hercules the Saviour\" were engraven on ancient coins and\nmonuments.[193:14] He was also called \"The Only Begotten,\" and the\n\"Universal Word.\" He was re-absorbed into God. He was said by Ovid to be\nthe \"Self-produced,\" the Generator and Ruler of all things, and the\nFather of time.[193:15]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_ was distinguished by the epithet \"The Saviour.\"[194:1] The\ntemple erected to his memory in the city of Athens was called: \"_The\nTemple of the Saviour_.\"[194:2]\n\n_Apollo_ was distinguished by the epithet \"_The Saviour_.\"[194:3] In a\nhymn to _Apollo_ he is called: \"The willing _Saviour_ of distressed\nmankind.\"[194:4]\n\n_Serapis_ was called \"The Saviour.\"[194:5] He was considered by Hadrian,\nthe Roman emperor (117-138 A. D.), and the Gentiles, to be the peculiar\ngod of the Christians.[194:6] A _cross_ was found under the ruins of his\ntemple in Alexandria in Egypt.[194:7] Fig. No. 11 is a representation of\nthis Egyptian Saviour, taken from Murray's \"Manual of Mythology.\" It\ncertainly resembles the pictures of \"the peculiar God of the\nChristians.\" It is very evident that the pictures of Christ Jesus, as we\nknow them to-day, are simply the pictures of some of the Pagan gods, who\nwere, for certain reasons which we shall speak of in a subsequent\nchapter, always represented with _long yellow or red hair, and a florid\ncomplexion_. If such a person as Jesus of Nazareth ever lived in the\nflesh, he was undoubtedly a _Jew_, and would therefore have _Jewish\nfeatures_; this his pictures do not betray.[194:8]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 11]\n\n_Mithras_, who was \"Mediator between God and man,\"[194:9] was called\n\"The Saviour.\" He was the peculiar god of the Persians, who believed\nthat he had, by his sufferings, worked their salvation, and on this\naccount he was called their _Saviour_.[194:10] He was also called \"_The\nLogos_.\"[194:11]\n\nThe Persians believed that they were tainted with _original sin_, owing\nto the fall of their first parents who were tempted by the evil one in\nthe form of a serpent.[194:12]\n\nThey considered their law-giver _Zoroaster_ to be also a _Divine\nMessenger_, sent to redeem men from their evil ways, and they always\nworshiped his memory. To this day his followers mention him with the\ngreatest reverence, calling him \"_The Immortal Zoroaster_,\" \"_The\nBlessed Zoroaster_,\" \"The First-Born of the Eternal One,\" &c.[195:1]\n\n\"In the life of Zoroaster the common mythos is apparent. He was born in\ninnocence, of an immaculate conception, of a ray of the Divine Reason.\nAs soon as he was born, the glory arising from his body enlightened the\nroom, and he laughed at his mother. He was called a _Splendid Light from\nthe Tree of Knowledge_, and, in fine, he or his soul was _suspensus a\nlingo_, hung upon a tree, and this was the Tree of Knowledge.\"[195:2]\n\nHow much this resembles \"the mystery which hath been hid from ages and\nfrom generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.\"[195:3]\n\n_Hermes_ was called \"_The Saviour_.\" On the altar of Pepi (B. C. 3500)\nare to be found prayers to Hermes--\"_He who is the good\nSaviour._\"[195:4] He was also called \"_The Logos._\" The church fathers,\nHippolytus, Justin Martyr, and Plutarch (_de Iside et Osir_) assert that\nthe _Logos_ is _Hermes_.[195:5] The term \"_Logos_\" is Greek, and\nsignifies literally \"_Word_.\"[195:6] He was also \"_The Messenger of\nGod_.\"[195:7]\n\nDr. Inman says:\n\n     \"There are few words which strike more strongly upon the\n     senses of an inquirer into the nature of ancient faiths, than\n     _Salvation_ and _Saviour_. Both were used long before the\n     birth of Christ, and they are still common among those who\n     never heard of Jesus, or of that which is known among us as\n     the Gospels.\"[195:8]\n\nHe also tells us that there is a very remarkable figure copied in Payne\nKnight's work, in which we see on a man's shoulders a _cock's_ head,\nwhilst on the pediment are placed the words: \"_The Saviour of the\nWorld._\"[195:9]\n\nBesides the titles of \"God's First-Born,\" \"Only Begotten,\" the\n\"Mediator,\" the \"Shepherd,\" the \"Advocate,\" the \"Paraclete or\nComforter,\" the \"Son of God,\" the \"Logos,\" &c.,[195:10] being applied to\nheathen virgin-born gods, before the time assigned for the birth of\nJesus of Nazareth, we have also that of _Christ_ and _Jesus_.\n\n_Cyrus_, King of Persia, was called the \"Christ,\" or the \"Anointed of\nGod.\"[196:1] As Dr. Giles says, \"_Christ_\" is \"a name having no\nspiritual signification, and importing nothing more than an _ordinary\nsurname_.\"[196:2] The worshipers of _Serapis_ were called\n\"_Christians_,\" and those devoted to Serapis were called \"Bishops of\nChrist.\"[196:3] _Eusebius_, the ecclesiastical historian, says, that the\nnames of \"Jesus\" and \"Christ,\" were both known and honored among the\nancients.[196:4]\n\n_Mithras_ was called the \"Anointed\" or the \"Christ;\"[196:5] and _Horus_,\n_Mano_, _Mithras_, _Bel-Minor_, _Iao_, _Adoni_, &c., were each of them\n\"God of Light,\" \"Light of the World,\" the \"Anointed,\" or the\n\"Christ.\"[196:6]\n\nIt is said that Peter called his Master _the Christ_, whereupon \"he\nstraightway charged them (the disciples), and commanded them to tell no\nman _that thing_.\"[196:7]\n\nThe title of \"_Christ_\" or \"The Anointed,\" was held by the kings of\nIsrael. \"Touch not my Christ and do my prophets no harm,\" says the\nPsalmist.[196:8]\n\nThe term \"Christ\" was applied to religious teachers, leaders of\nfactions, necromancers or wonder-workers, &c. This is seen by the\npassage in _Matthew_, where the writer says:\n\n     \"There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall\n     show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were\n     possible, they shall deceive the very elect.\"[196:9]\n\nThe virgin-born Crishna and Buddha were incarnations of Vishnu, called\nAvatars. An Avatar is an _Angel-Messiah_, a _God-man_, a CHRIST; for the\nword _Christ_ is from the Greek _Christos_, an _Anointed One_, a\n_Messiah_.\n\nThe name _Jesus_, which is pronounced in Hebrew _Yezua_, and is\nsometimes Grecized into _Jason_, was very common. After the Captivity it\noccurs quite frequently, and is interchanged with the name _Joshua_.\nIndeed Joshua, the successor of Moses, is called Jesus in the New\nTestament more than once,[196:10] though the meaning of the two names is\nnot really quite the same. We know of a Jesus, son of Sirach, a writer\nof proverbs, whose collection is preserved among the apocryphal books\nof the Old Testament. The notorious _Barabbas_[197:1] or _son of Abbas_,\nwas himself called Jesus. Among Paul's opponents we find a magician\ncalled Elymas, _the Son of Jesus_. Among the early Christians a certain\nJesus, also called Justus, appears. Flavius Josephus mentions more than\n_ten_ distinct persons--priests, robbers, peasants, and others--who bore\nthe name of Jesus, all of whom lived during the last century of the\nJewish state.[197:2]\n\nTo return now to our theme--_crucified gods before the time of Jesus of\nNazareth_.\n\nThe holy Father _Minucius Felix_, in his _Octavius_, written as late as\nA. D. 211, indignantly _resents the supposition that the sign of the\ncross should be considered exclusively as a Christian symbol_, and\nrepresents his advocate of the Christian argument as retorting on an\ninfidel opponent. His words are:\n\n     \"As for the adoration of _crosses_ which you (_Pagans_) object\n     against us (_Christians_), I must tell you, _that we neither\n     adore crosses nor desire them; you it is, ye Pagans_ . . . who\n     are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses . . . for\n     what else are your ensigns, flags, and standards, _but crosses\n     gilt and beautiful_. Your victorious trophies not only\n     represent a simple cross, _but a cross with a man upon\n     it_.\"[197:3]\n\nThe existence, in the writings of Minucius Felix, of this passage, is\nprobably owing to an oversight of the destroyers of all evidences\nagainst the Christian religion that could be had. The practice of the\nRomans, here alluded to, of carrying _a cross with a man on it_, or, in\nother words, a _crucifix_, has evidently been concealed from us by the\ncareful destruction of such of their works as alluded to it. The priests\nhad everything their own way for centuries, and to destroy what was\nevidence against their claims was a very simple matter.\n\nIt is very evident that this celebrated Christian Father alludes to some\nGentile mystery, of which the prudence of his successors has deprived\nus. When we compare this with the fact that for centuries after the time\nassigned for the birth of Christ Jesus, he was not represented as a man\non a cross, and that the Christians did not have such a thing as a\n_crucifix_, we are inclined to think that the effigies of a black or\n_dark-skinned crucified man_, which were to be seen in many places in\nItaly even during the last century, may have had something to do with\nit.[197:4]\n\nWhile speaking of \"_a cross with a man on it_\" as being carried by the\nPagan Romans as a _standard_, we might mention the fact, related by\nArrian the historian,[198:1] that the troops of Porus, in their war with\nAlexander the Great, carried on their standards _the figure of a\nman_.[198:2] Here is evidently the _crucifix standard_ again.\n\n     \"This must have been (says Mr. Higgins) a Staurobates or\n     Salivahana, and looks very like the figure of a man carried on\n     their standards by the Romans. This was similar to the dove\n     carried on the standards of the Assyrians. This must have been\n     the crucifix of Nepaul.\"[198:3]\n\nTertullian, a Christian Father of the second and third centuries,\nwriting to the Pagans, says:\n\n     \"The origin of _your_ gods is derived from _figures moulded on\n     a cross_. All those rows of _images on your standards_ are the\n     appendages of crosses; those hangings on your standards and\n     banners are the robes of crosses.\"[198:4]\n\nWe have it then, on the authority of a Christian Father, as late as A.\nD. 211, that the Christians \"_neither adored crosses nor desired them_,\"\nbut that the _Pagans_ \"adored crosses,\" and not that alone, but \"_a\ncross with a man upon it_.\" This we shall presently find to be the case.\nJesus, in those days, nor for centuries after, was _not_ represented as\na _man on a cross_. He was represented as a _lamb_, and the adoration of\nthe crucifix, by the Christians, was a later addition to their religion.\nBut this we shall treat of in its place.\n\nWe may now ask the question, who was this _crucified man_ whom the\nPagans \"_adored_\" before and after the time of Jesus of Nazareth? Who\ndid the crucifix represent? It was, undoubtedly, \"the Saviour crucified\nfor the salvation of mankind,\" long before the Christian Era, _whose\neffigies were to be seen in many places all over Italy_. These Pagan\ncrucifixes were either destroyed, corrupted, or adopted; the latter was\nthe case with many ancient paintings of the _Bambino_,[198:5] on which\nmay be seen the words _Deo Soli_. Now, these two words can never apply\nto Christ Jesus. He was _not Deus Solus_, in any sense, according to the\nidiom of the Latin language, and the Romish faith. Whether we construe\nthe words to \"the only God,\" or \"God alone,\" they are equally heretical.\nNo priest, in any age of the Church, would have thought of putting them\nthere, _but finding them there_, they tolerated them.\n\nIn the \"_Celtic Druids_,\" Mr. Higgins describes a _crucifix_, a _lamb_,\nand an _elephant_, which was cut upon the \"fire tower\"--so-called--at\nBrechin, a town of Forfarshire, in Scotland. Although they appeared to\nbe of very ancient date, he supposed, at that time, that they were\nmodern, and belonged to Christianity, but some years afterwards, he\nwrote as follows:\n\n     \"I now doubt (the modern date of the tower), for we have, over\n     and over again, seen the crucified man before Christ. We have\n     also found 'The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world,'\n     among the Carnutes of Gaul, before the time of Christ; and\n     when I contemplate these, and the _Elephant_ or\n     _Ganesa_,[199:1] and the _Ring_[199:2] and its Cobra,[199:3]\n     _Linga_,[199:4] _Iona_,[199:5] and Nandies, found not far from\n     the tower, on the estate of Lord Castles, with the Colidei,\n     the island of Iona, and Ii, . . . I am induced to doubt my\n     former conclusions. The Elephant, the Ganesa of India, is a\n     very stubborn fellow to be found here. The Ring, too, when\n     joined with other matters, I cannot get over. _All these\n     superstitions must have come from India._\"[199:6]\n\nOn one of the Irish \"round towers\" is to be seen _a crucifix of\nunmistakable Asiatic origin_.[199:7]\n\nIf we turn to the New World, we shall find strange though it may appear,\nthat the ancient _Mexicans_ and _Peruvians_ worshiped a _crucified\nSaviour_. This was the virgin-born _Quetzalcoatle_ whose crucifixion is\nrepresented in the paintings of the \"_Codex Borgianus_,\" and the \"_Codex\nVaticanus_.\"\n\nThese paintings illustrate the religious opinions of the ancient\nMexicans, and were copied from the hieroglyphics found in Mexico. The\nSpaniards destroyed nearly all the books, ancient monuments and\npaintings which they could find; had it not been for this, much more\nregarding the religion of the ancient Mexicans would have been handed\ndown to us. Many chapters were also taken--by the Spanish\nauthorities--from the writings of the first historians who wrote on\nancient Mexico. _All manuscripts had to be inspected previous to being\npublished._ Anything found among these heathens resembling the religion\nof the Christians, was destroyed when possible.[199:8]\n\nThe first Spanish monks who went to Mexico were surprised to find the\n_crucifix_ among the heathen inhabitants, and upon inquiring what it\nmeant, were told that it was a representation of _Bacob_\n(Quetzalcoatle), the Son of God, who was put to death by _Eopuco_. They\nsaid that he was placed on a beam of wood, _with his arms stretched\nout_, and that he died there.[200:1]\n\nLord Kingsborough, from whose very learned and elaborate work we have\ntaken the above, says:\n\n     \"Being questioned as to the manner in which they became\n     acquainted with these things, they replied that the lords\n     instructed their sons in them, and that thus this doctrine\n     descended from one to another.\"[200:2]\n\nSometimes Quetzalcoatle or Bacob is represented as _tied_ to the\ncross--just as we have seen that _Attys_ was represented by the\nPhrygians--and at other times he is represented \"in the attitude of a\nperson crucified, with impressions of nail-holes in his hands and feet,\nbut not actually upon a cross\"--just as we have found the Hindoo\n_Crishna_, and as he is represented in Fig. No. 8. Beneath _this_\nrepresentation of Quetzalcoatle crucified, is an image of Death, which\nan angry serpent seems threatening to devour.[200:3]\n\nOn the 73d page of the Borgian MS., he is represented _crucified on a\ncross of the Greek form_. In this print there are also _impressions of\nnails_ to be seen on the _feet and hands_, and his body is strangely\ncovered with _suns_.[200:4]\n\nIn vol. ii. plate 75, the god is crucified in a circle of nineteen\nfigures, and a _serpent_ is depriving him of the organs of generation.\n\nLord Kingsborough, commenting on these paintings, says:\n\n     \"It is remarkable that in these Mexican paintings the faces of\n     many of the figures are _black_, and that the visage of\n     Quetzalcoatle is frequently painted in a very deformed\n     manner.\"[200:5]\n\nHis lordship further tells us that (according to the belief of the\nancient Mexicans), \"the death of Quetzalcoatle upon the cross\" was \"_an\natonement for the sins of mankind_.\"[200:6]\n\nDr. Daniel Brinton, in his \"_Myths of the New World_,\" tells us that the\n_Aztecs_ had a feast which they celebrated \"_in the early spring_,\" when\n\"_victims were nailed to a cross and shot with an arrow_.\"[200:7]\n\nAlexander Von Humboldt, in his \"_American Researches_,\" also speaks of\nthis feast, when the Mexicans crucified a man, and pierced him with an\narrow.[200:8]\n\nThe author of _Monumental Christianity_, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"Here is the old story of the _Prometheus crucified_ on the\n     Caucasus, _and of all other Pagan crucifixions of the young\n     incarnate divinities of India, Persia, Asia Minor and\n     Egypt_.\"[201:1]\n\nThis we believe; _but how did this myth get there_? He does not say, but\nwe shall attempt to show, in a future chapter, how _this_ and _other_\nmyths of Eastern origin became known in the New World.[201:2]\n\nIt must not be forgotten, in connection with what we have seen\nconcerning the Mexican crucified god being sometimes represented as\n_black_, and the feast when the _crucified man_ was shot with an arrow,\nthat effigies of a _black crucified man were found in Italy_; that\nCrishna, the crucified, is very often represented _black_; and that\n_Crishna_ was shot with an arrow.\n\nCrosses were also found in _Yucatan_, as well as Mexico, _with a man\nupon them_.[201:3] Cogolludo, in his \"History of Yucatan,\" speaking of a\ncrucifix found there, says:\n\n     \"Don Eugenio de Alcantara (one of the true teachers of the\n     Gospel), told me, not only once, that I might safely write\n     that the Indians of Cozumel possessed this holy cross in the\n     time of their paganism; and that some years had elapsed since\n     it was brought to Medira; for having heard from many persons\n     what was reported of it, he had made particular inquiries of\n     some very old Indians who resided there, who assured him that\n     it was the fact.\"\n\nHe then speaks of the difficulty in accounting for this crucifix being\nfound among the Indians of Cozumel, and ends by saying:\n\n     \"But if it be considered that these Indians believed that the\n     Son of God, whom they called Bacob, _had died upon a cross,\n     with his arms stretched out upon it_, it cannot appear so\n     difficult a matter to comprehend that they should have formed\n     his image according to the religious creed which they\n     possessed.\"[201:4]\n\nWe shall find, in another chapter, that these virgin-born \"_Saviours_\"\nand \"Slain Ones;\" Crishna, Osiris, Horus, Attys, Adonis, Bacchus,\n&c.--whether torn in pieces, killed by a boar, or crucified--_will all\nmelt into_ ONE.\n\nWe now come to a very important fact not generally known, namely: _There\nare no early representations of Christ Jesus suffering on the cross._\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"Why should a fact so well known to the heathen as the\n     crucifixion be concealed? _And yet its actual realistic\n     representation never once occurs in the monuments of\n     Christianity, for more than six or seven centuries._\"[202:1]\n\nMrs. Jameson, in her \"History of Our Lord in Art,\" says:\n\n     \"The crucifixion is _not_ one of the subjects of early\n     Christianity. The death of our Lord was represented by various\n     _types_, but _never in its actual form_.\n\n     \"The _earliest_ instances of the _crucifixion_ are found in\n     illustrated manuscripts of various countries, and in those\n     _ivory and enameled forms_ which are described in the\n     Introduction. Some of these are ascertained, by historical or\n     by internal evidence, to have been executed in the _ninth\n     century_, there is one also, of an extraordinary rude and\n     fantastic character, in a MS. in the ancient library of St.\n     Galle, which is ascertained to be of the _eighth century_. _At\n     all events, there seems no just grounds at present for\n     assigning an earlier date._\"[202:2]\n\n     \"Early Christian art, such as it appears in the bas-reliefs on\n     sarcophagi, gave but one solitary incident from the story of\n     Our Lord's Passion, _and that utterly divested of all\n     circumstances of suffering_. Our Lord is represented as young\n     and beautiful, free from bonds, with no '_accursed tree_' on\n     his shoulders.\"[202:3]\n\nThe oldest representation of Christ Jesus was a figure of a\n_lamb_,[202:4] to which sometimes a vase was added, into which his blood\nflowed, and at other times couched at the foot of a cross. _This custom\nsubsisted up to the year 680, and until the pontificate of Agathon,\nduring the reign of Constantine Pogonat._ By the sixth synod of\nConstantinople (canon 82) it was ordained that instead of the ancient\nsymbol, which had been the LAMB, _the figure of a man fastened to a\ncross_ (such as the _Pagans_ had adored), should be represented. All\nthis was confirmed by Pope Adrian I.[202:5]\n\nA simple cross, which was the symbol of eternal life, or of salvation,\namong the ancients, was sometimes, as we have seen, placed alongside of\nthe _Lamb_. In the course of time, the _Lamb_ was put on the cross, as\nthe ancient _Israelites_ had put the paschal lamb centuries\nbefore,[202:6] and then, as we have seen, they put a _man_ upon it.\n\nChrist Jesus is also represented in early art as the \"Good Shepherd,\"\nthat is, as a young man with a lamb on his shoulders.[202:7]\n\nThis is just the manner in which the Pagan Apollo, Mercury and others\nwere represented centuries before.[203:1]\n\nMrs. Jameson says:\n\n     \"_Mercury_ attired as a _shepherd_, with a _ram_ on his\n     shoulders, borne in the same manner as in many of the\n     Christian representations, was no unfrequent object (in\n     ancient art) and in some instances led to a difficulty in\n     distinguishing between the two,\"[203:2] that is, between\n     _Mercury_ and _Christ Jesus_.\n\nM. Renan says:\n\n     \"The Good Shepherd of the catacombs in Rome is a copy from the\n     _Aristeus_, or from the _Apollo Nomius_, which figured in the\n     same posture on the _Pagan_ sarcophagi; and still carries the\n     flute of _Pan_, in the midst of the four half-naked\n     seasons.\"[203:3]\n\nThe Egyptian Saviour _Horus_ was called the \"Shepherd of the\nPeople.\"[203:4]\n\nThe Hindoo Saviour _Crishna_ was called the \"Royal Good\nShepherd.\"[203:5]\n\nWe have seen, then, on the authority of a Christian writer who has made\nthe subject a special study, that, \"there seems no just grounds at\npresent for assigning an earlier date,\" for the \"earliest instances of\nthe crucifixion\" of Christ Jesus, represented in art, than the _eighth_\nor _ninth_ century. Now, a few words in regard to _what these crucifixes\nlooked like_. If the reader imagines that the crucifixes which are\nfamiliar to us at the present day are similar to those early ones, we\nwould inform him that such is not the case. The earliest artists of the\ncrucifixion represent the Christian Saviour as _young and beardless_,\nalways without the crown of thorns, alive, and erect, apparently elate;\nno signs of bodily suffering are there.[203:6]\n\nOn page 151, plate 181, of Jameson's \"History of Our Lord in Art\" (vol.\nii.), he is represented standing on a foot-rest on the cross, alive, and\neyes open. Again, on page 330, plate 253, he is represented standing\n\"with body upright and arms extended straight, with _no nails_, _no\nwounds_, _no crown of thorns_--frequently clothed, and with a regal\ncrown--a God, young and beautiful, hanging, as it were, without\ncompulsion or pain.\"\n\nOn page 167, plate 188, are to be seen \"the thieves _bound_ to their\n_cross (which is simply an upright beam, without cross-bars)_, with the\nfigure of the Lord _standing_ between them.\" He is not bound nor nailed\nto a cross; no cross is there. He is simply standing erect in the form\nof a cross. This is a representation of what is styled, \"_Early\ncrucifixion with thieves_.\" On page 173, plate 190, we have a\nrepresentation of the crucifixion, in which Jesus and the thieves are\nrepresented crucified on the Egyptian _tau_ (see Fig. No. 12). The\nthieves are _tied_, but the man-god is _nailed_ to the cross. A similar\nrepresentation may be seen on page 189, plate 198.\n\nOn page 155, plate 183, there is a representation of what is called\n\"Virgin and St. John at foot of _cross_,\" but this _cross_ is simply _an\nupright beam_ (as Fig. No. 13). There are no cross-bars attached. On\npage 167, plate 188, the thieves are _tied_ to an upright beam (as Fig.\n13), and Jesus stands between them, _with arms extended in the form of a\ncross_, as the Hindoo Crishna is to be seen in Fig. No. 8. On page 157,\nplate 185, Jesus is represented crucified on the Egyptian cross (as No.\n12).\n\nSome ancient crucifixes represent the Christian Saviour crucified on a\ncross similar in form to the Roman figure which stands for the number\n_ten_ (see Fig. No. 14). Thus we see that there was no uniformity in\nrepresenting the \"cross of Christ,\" among the early Christians; even the\ncross which Constantine put on his \"Labarum,\" or sacred banner, was\nnothing more than the monogram of the Pagan god Osiris (Fig. No.\n15),[204:1] as we shall see in a subsequent chapter.\n\n[Illustration: No. 12, No. 13, No. 14, No. 15]\n\nThe dogma of the _vicarious atonement_ has met with no success whatever\namong the Jews. The reason for this is very evident. The idea of\nvicarious atonement, in any form, is contrary to Jewish ethics, but it\nis in full accord with the _Gentile_. The _law_ ordains that[205:1]\n\"every man shall be put to death for _his own_ sin,\" and not for the sin\nor crime committed by any other person. No ransom should protect the\nmurderer against the arm of justice.[205:2] The principle of equal\nrights and equal responsibilities is fundamental in the law. If the law\nof _God_--for as such it is received--denounces the vicarious atonement,\nviz., _to slaughter an innocent person to atone for the crimes of\nothers_, then God must abhor it. What is more, Jesus is said to have\nsanctioned this law, for is he not made to say: \"Think not that I am\ncome to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but\nto fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one\njot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.\"[205:3]\n\n\"Salvation is and can be nothing else than learning the laws of life and\nkeeping them. There is, in the modern world, neither place nor need for\nany of the theological 'schemes of salvation' or theological 'Saviours.'\nNo wrath of either God or devil stands in man's way; and therefore no\n'sacrifice' is needed to get them out of the way. Jesus saves only as he\nhelps men know and keep God's laws. Thousands of other men, in their\ndegree, are Saviours in precisely the same way. As there has been no\n'fall of man,' all the hundreds of theological devices for obviating its\nsupposed effects are only imaginary cures for imaginary ills. What man\ndoes need is to be taught the necessary laws of life, and have brought\nto bear upon him adequate motives for obeying them. To know and keep\nGod's laws is being reconciled to him. This is health; and out of\nhealth--that is, the perfect condition of the whole man, called holiness\nor wholeness--comes happiness, in this world and in all worlds.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[181:1] Monier Williams: Hinduism, pp. 36-40.\n\n[182:1] Monier Williams: Hinduism, p. 36.\n\n[182:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 303.\n\n[182:3] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 443.\n\n[183:1] Herodotus: bk. ii. ch. 39.\n\n[183:2] In the trial of Dr. Thomas (at Chicago) for \"_doctrinal\nheresy_,\" one of the charges made against him (Sept. 8, 1881) was that\nhe had said \"the BLOOD of the Lamb had nothing to do with salvation.\"\nAnd in a sermon preached in Boston, Sept. 2, 1881, at the Columbus\nAvenue Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar. D. D., the\npreacher said: \"No sinner dares to meet the holy God until his sin has\nbeen forgiven, or until he has received _remission_. The penalty of sin\nis death, _and this penalty is not remitted by anything the sinner can\ndo for himself_, but only through the BLOOD of Jesus. If you have\naccepted Jesus as your Saviour, you can take the blood of Jesus, and\nwith boldness present it to the Father _as payment in full of the\npenalties of all your sins_. Sinful man has no right to the benefits and\nthe beauties and glories of nature. _These were all lost to him through\nAdam's sin_, but to the blood of Christ's sacrifice he has a right; it\nwas shed for him. It is Christ's death that does the blessed work of\nsalvation for us. It was _not_ his life nor his Incarnation. His\nIncarnation could not pay a farthing of our debt, but his _blood_ shed\nin redeeming love, _pays it all_.\" (See Boston Advertiser, Sept. 3,\n1881.)\n\n[183:3] _Habet ergo Diabolus Christos suos._\n\n[183:4] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326 and 327.\n\n[184:1] Hinduism, p. 214.\n\n[184:2] Ibid. p. 115.\n\n[184:3] Vishnu Purana, p. 440.\n\n[184:4] Ibid.\n\n[184:5] Ibid.\n\n[184:6] Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 132.\n\n[184:7] Pages 274 and 612.\n\n[184:8] \"On reconte fort diversement la mort de Crishna. Une tradition\nremarquable et av\u00e9r\u00e9e le fait p\u00e9rir sur un bois fatal (un arbre), ou il\nfut clou\u00e9 d'un coup de fl\u00e8che.\" (Quoted by Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i.\np. 144.)\n\n[185:1] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 499, and Mrs. Jameson's\n\"History of Our Lord in Art,\" ii. 317, where the cross is called the\n\"accursed tree.\"\n\n[185:2] Chap. xxi. 22, 23: \"If a man have committed a sin worthy of\ndeath, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his\nbody shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any\nwise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that\nthy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an\ninheritance.\"\n\n[185:3] Galatians, iii. 13.\n\n[185:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 146, and Inman's Ancient\nFaiths, vol. i. p. 402.\n\n\"The crucified god Wittoba is also called Bal\u00fc. He is worshiped in a\nmarked manner at Pander-poor or Bunder-poor, near Poonah.\" (Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 750, _note_ 1.)\n\n\"A form of Vishnu (Crishna), called _Viththal_ or _Vithoba_, is the\npopular god at Pandharpur in Maha-r\u00e1shtr\u00e1, the favorite of the\ncelebrated Marathi poet Tukarama.\" (Prof. Monier Williams: Indian\nWisdom, p. xlviii.)\n\n[185:5] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 160.\n\n[185:6] This can be seen by referring to Calmet, Sonnerat, or Higgins,\nvol. ii., which contain plates representing Crishna.\n\n[186:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 128.\n\n[186:2] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 411.\n\n[186:3] Luke, xxiii. 39-43.\n\n[186:4] Vasudeva means God. See Vishnu Purana, p. 274.\n\n[186:5] Vishnu Purana, p. 612.\n\n[187:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 72.\n\n[187:2] \"Si ita se res habet, ut existimat Beausobrius, _Indi_, et\n_Budist\u00e6_ quorum religio, eadem est ac Tibetana, nonnisi a Manich\u00e6is\nnova h\u00e6c deliriorum portenta acceperunt. H\u00e6namque gentes pr\u00e6sertim in\nurbe Nepal, Luna XII. _Badr_ seu _Bhadon Augusti_ mensis, dies festos\nauspicatur\u00e6 Dei _Indr\u00e6_, erigunt ad illius memoriam ubique locorum\n_cruces_ amictas _Abrotono_. Earum figuram descriptam habes ad lit. B,\nTabula pone sequenti. Nam A effigies est ipsius _Indr\u00e6 crucifixi_ signa\nTelech in fronte manibus pedibusque gerentis.\" (Alph Tibet, p. 203.\nQuoted in Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 130.)\n\n[188:1] \"Ils conviennent qu'il a r\u00e9pandu son sang pour le salut du genre\nhumain, ayant \u00e9t\u00e9 perc\u00e9 de clous par tout son corps. Quoiqu'ils ne\ndisent pas qu'il a souffert le supplice de la croix, ou en trouve\npourtant la figure dans leurs livres.\" (Quoted in Higgins' Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. p. 118.)\n\n[188:2] \"Although the nations of Europe have changed their religions\nduring the past eighteen centuries, the Hindoo has not done so, except\nvery partially. . . . The religious creeds, rites, customs, and habits\nof thought of the Hindoos generally, have altered little since the days\nof Manu, 500 years B. C.\" (Prof. Monier Williams: Indian Wisdom, p. iv.)\n\n[188:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 147, 572, 667 and 750;\nvol. ii. p. 122, and note 4, p. 185, this chapter.\n\n[188:4] See Max M\u00fcller's Science of Religion, p. 224.\n\n[188:5] Quoted in Lillie's Buddhism, p. 93.\n\n[188:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.\n\n[188:7] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 20, 25, 85. Prog. Relig. Ideas,\nvol. i. p. 247. Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 327, and almost any work\non Buddhism.\n\n[188:8] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.\n\n[188:9] Ibid. Johnson's Oriental Religions, p. 604. See also Asiatic\nResearches, vol. iii., or chapter xii. of this work.\n\n[188:10] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 18.\n\n[188:11] Ibid.\n\n[188:12] Ibid.\n\n[188:13] Vol. i. p. 118.\n\n[189:1] Quoted in Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 118.\n\n[189:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.\n\n[189:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 33.\n\n[189:4] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 337.\n\n[189:5] M\u00fcller: Hist. Sanscrit Literature, p. 80.\n\n[189:6] See Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 95, and Williams:\nHinduism, p. 214.\n\n[189:7] \"He in mercy left paradise, and came down to earth, because he\nwas filled with compassion for the sins and miseries of mankind. He\nsought to lead them into better paths, _and took their sufferings upon\nhimself, that he might expiate their crimes_, and mitigate the\npunishment they must otherwise inevitably undergo.\" (Prog. Relig. Ideas,\nvol. ii. p. 86.)\n\n\"The object of his mission on earth was to instruct those who were\nstraying from the right path, _expiate the sins of mortals by his own\nsufferings_, and produce for them a happy entrance into another\nexistence by obedience to his precepts and prayers in his name. They\nalways speak of him as one with God from all eternity. His most common\ntitle is '_The Saviour of the World_.'\" (Ibid. vol. i. p. 247.)\n\n[190:1] Quoted in Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 211.\n\n[190:2] Ibid.\n\n[190:3] See Renouf: Religions of Ancient Egypt, p. 178.\n\n[190:4] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 155.\n\n[190:5] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 848.\n\n[190:6] In Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 171. Quoted in Knight's\nArt and Mythology, p. 71.\n\n[190:7] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 185.\n\n[190:8] See Mysteries of Adoni, p. 88.\n\n[190:9] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii. note.\n\n[191:1] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 255.\n\n[191:2] Vol. ii.\n\n[191:3] Lactant. Inst., div. iv. chap. xiii. In Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.\n544.\n\n[191:4] See chapter xxxix. this work.\n\n[191:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 114, and Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 163.\n\n[191:6] See the chapter on \"The Resurrection of Jesus.\"\n\n[192:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Prometheus.\"\n\n[192:2] \"_Prometheus_ has been a favorite subject with the poets. He is\nrepresented as the friend of mankind, who interposed in their behalf\nwhen Jove was incensed against them.\" (Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p.\n32.)\n\n\"In the mythos relating to Prometheus, he always appears as the friend\nof the human race, suffering in its behalf the most fearful tortures.\"\n(John Fiske: Myths and Myth-makers, pp. 64, 65.) \"Prometheus was\n_nailed_ to the rocks on Mount Caucasus, _with arms extended_.\"\n(Alexander Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 82.) \"Prometheus is said to\nhave been _nailed up with arms extended_, near the Caspian Straits, on\nMount Caucasus. The history of Prometheus on the Cathedral at Bordeaux\n(France) here receives its explanation.\" (Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii.\np. 113.)\n\n[192:3] See \u00c6schylus' \"Prometheus Chained.\" Translated by the Rev. R.\nPotter: Harper & Bros., N. Y.\n\n[192:4] Ibid. p. 82.\n\n[193:1] Petr\u00e6us was an interchangeable synonym of the name Oceanus.\n\n[193:2] \"Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying: Be it far\nfrom thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.\" (Matt. xvi. 22.)\n\n[193:3] \"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women,\nwhich also bewailed and lamented him.\" (Luke, xxiii. 27.)\n\n[193:4] See Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 193, 194, or Potter's \u00c6schylus.\n\n[193:5] \"They say that the god (Bacchus), the offspring of Zeus and\nDemeter, was torn to pieces.\" (Diodorus Siculus, in Knight, p. 156,\n_note_.)\n\n[193:6] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mythology, p. 98, _note_. Dupuis:\nOrigin of Religious Belief, 258. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102.\n\n[193:7] Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii. _note_.\n\n[193:8] Ibid.\n\n[193:9] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 169.\n\n[193:10] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 135.\n\n[193:11] Ibid.\n\n[193:12] Beausobre quotes the inscription on a monument of Bacchus,\nthus: \"C'est moi, dit il, qui vous conduis, C'est moi, qui vous\nconserve, ou qui vous sauve; Je sui Alpha et Omega, &c.\" (See chap.\nxxxix this work.)\n\n[193:13] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322. Dupuis: Origin of\nReligious Belief, p. 195. Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 152. Dunlap:\nMysteries of Adoni, p. 94.\n\n[193:14] See Celtic Druids, Taylor's Diegesis, p. 153, and Montfaucon,\nvol. i.\n\n[193:15] See Mysteries of Adoni, p. 91, and Higgins: Anac., vol. i. p.\n322.\n\n[194:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 153.\n\n[194:2] See the chapter on \"Miracles of Jesus.\"\n\n[194:3] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 254.\n\n[194:4] See Monumental Christianity, p. 186.\n\n[194:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 15.\n\n[194:6] See Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 86.\n\n[194:7] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 15, and _our_ chapter on Christian\nSymbols.\n\n[194:8] This subject will be referred to again in chapter xxxix.\n\n[194:9] See Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 237, 241, 242, and Mysteries of\nAdoni, p. 123, _note_.\n\n[194:10] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[194:11] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 20.\n\n\"According to the most ancient tradition of the East-Iranians recorded\nin the _Zend-Avesta_, the God of Light (Ormuzd) communicated his\nmysteries to some men through his _Word_.\" (Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p.\n75.)\n\n[194:12] Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 47.\n\n[195:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 258, 259.\n\n[195:2] Malcolm: Hist. Persia, vol. i. Ap. p. 494; Nimrod, vol. ii. p.\n31. Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 649.\n\n[195:3] Col. i. 26.\n\n[195:4] See Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 102.\n\n[195:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 89, _marginal note_.\n\n[195:6] \"In the beginning was the _Word_, and the _Word_ was with God,\nand the _Word_ was God.\" (John, i. 1.)\n\n[195:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. 69 and 71.\n\n[195:8] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 652.\n\n[195:9] Ibid. vol. i. p. 537.\n\n[195:10] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 119. Knight's Ancient Art and\nMythology, pp. xxii. and 98. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 71, and Spirit\nHistory, pp. 183, 205, 206, 249. Bible for Learners, vol. ii. p. 25.\nIsis Unveiled, vol. ii. pp. 195, 237, 516, besides the authorities\nalready cited.\n\n[196:1] See Bunsen's Bible Chronology, p. 5. Keys of St. Peter, 135.\nVolney's Ruins, p. 168.\n\n[196:2] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, p. 64, vol. ii.\n\n[196:3] Ibid. p. 86, and Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 202, 206, 407. Dupuis:\np. 267.\n\n[196:4] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. iv.\n\n[196:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 78.\n\n[196:6] See Ibid. p. 39.\n\n[196:7] Luke, iv. 21.\n\n[196:8] Psalm, cv. 15. The term \"an _Anointed One_,\" which we use in\nEnglish, is _Christos_ in Greek, and _Messiah_ in Hebrew. (See Bible for\nLearners, and Religion of Israel, p. 147.)\n\n[196:9] Matthew, xxiv. 24.\n\n[196:10] Acts, vii. 45; Hebrews, iv. 8; compare Nehemiah, viii. 17.\n\n[197:1] He who, it is said, was liberated at the time of the crucifixion\nof Jesus of Nazareth.\n\n[197:2] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 60.\n\n[197:3] Octavius, c. xxix.\n\n[197:4] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 116.\n\n[198:1] In his _History of the Campaigns of Alexander_.\n\n[198:2] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 118.\n\n[198:3] Ibid.\n\n[198:4] Apol. c. 16; Ad Nationes, c. xii.\n\n[198:5] See the chapter on \"The Worship of the Virgin.\"\n\n[199:1] _Ganesa_ is the _Indian_ God of Wisdom. (See Asiatic Researches,\nvol. i.)\n\n[199:2] The _Ring_ and circle was an emblem of god, or eternity, among\nthe _Hindoos_. (See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 87.)\n\n[199:3] The Cobra, or hooded snake, is a native of the _East Indies_,\nwhere it is held as sacred. (See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 16,\nand Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship.)\n\n[199:4] _Linga_ denotes, in the sectarian worship of the _Hindoos_, the\n_Phallus_, an emblem of the male or generative power of nature.\n\n[199:5] _Iona_, or _Yoni_, is the counterpart of Linga, _i. e._, an\nemblem of the female generative power. We have seen that these were\nattached to the effigies of the _Hindoo_ crucified Saviour, Crishna.\n\n[199:6] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 130.\n\n[199:7] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, pp. 253, 254, 255.\n\n[199:8] See Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. pp. 165 and 179.\n\n[200:1] See Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 166.\n\n[200:2] Ibid. p. 162.\n\n[200:3] Ibid. p. 161.\n\n[200:4] Ibid. p. 167.\n\n[200:5] Ibid. p. 167.\n\n[200:6] Ibid. p. 166.\n\n[200:7] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 95.\n\n[200:8] See, also, Monumental Christianity, p. 393.\n\n\"Once a year the ancient Mexicans made an image of one of their gods,\nwhich was pierced by an arrow, shot by a priest of Quetzalcoatle.\"\n(Dunlap's Spirit Hist., 207.)\n\n[201:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 393.\n\n[201:2] See Appendix A.\n\n[201:3] See Monumental Christianity, p. 390, and Mexican Antiquities,\nvol. vi. p. 169.\n\n[201:4] Quoted by Lord Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p.\n172.\n\n[202:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 246.\n\n[202:2] History of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 137.\n\n[202:3] Ibid. p. 317.\n\n[202:4] See Illustrations in Ibid. vol. i.\n\n[202:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 252. Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. 111, and Monumental Christianity, p. 246, _et\nseq._\n\n[202:6] The paschal lamb was roasted on a _cross_, by ancient Israel,\nand is still so done by the Samaritans at Nablous. (See Lundy's\nMonumental Christianity, pp. 19 and 247.)\n\n\"The _lamb_ slain (at the feast of the passover) was roasted whole, with\ntwo spits thrust through it--one lengthwise, and one\ntransversely--crossing each other near the fore legs; so that the animal\nwas, in a manner, _crucified_. Not a bone of it might be broken--a\ncircumstance strongly representing the sufferings of our Lord Jesus,\n_the passover slain for us_.\" (Barnes's Notes, vol. i. p. 292.)\n\n[202:7] See King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 138. Also,\nMonumental Christianity, and Jameson's History of Our Lord in Art, for\nillustrations.\n\n[203:1] See King's Gnostics, p. 178. Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology,\np. xxii., and Jameson's History of Our Lord in Art, ii. 340.\n\n[203:2] Jameson: Hist. of Our Lord in Art, p. 340, vol. ii.\n\n[203:3] Quoted in Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii. _note_.\n\n[203:4] Dunlap: Spirit Hist., p. 185.\n\n[203:5] See chapter xvii. and vol. ii. Hist. Hindostan.\n\n[203:6] See Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 142.\n\n[204:1] \"It would be difficult to prove that the cross of Constantine\nwas of the simple construction as now understood. . . . As regards the\n_Labarum_, the coins of the time, in which it is especially set forth,\nprove that the so-called cross upon it was nothing else than the same\never-recurring monogram of Christ\" (that is, the XP). (History of Our\nLord in Art, vol. ii. p. 310. See also, Smith's Bible Dictionary, art.\n\"Labarum.\")\n\n[205:1] Deut. xxiv. 16.\n\n[205:2] Num. xxv. 31-34.\n\n[205:3] Matt. v. 17, 18.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nTHE DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION.\n\n\nThe _Luke_ narrator informs us that at the time of the death of Christ\nJesus, the sun was darkened, and there was darkness over the earth from\nthe sixth until the ninth hour; also the veil of the temple was rent in\nthe midst.[206:1]\n\nThe _Matthew_ narrator, in addition to this, tells us that:\n\n     \"The earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and the graves\n     were opened, _and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,\n     and came out of their graves_ . . . and went into the holy\n     city and appeared unto many.\"[206:2]\n\n\"_His star_\" having shone at the time of his birth, and his having been\nborn in a miraculous manner, it was necessary that at the death of\nChrist Jesus, something miraculous should happen. Something of an\nunusual nature had happened at the time of the death of other\nsupernatural beings, therefore something must happen at _his_ death;\n_the myth would not have been complete without it_. In the words of\nViscount Amberly: \"The darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the\nrending of the temple veil, the earthquake, the rending of the rocks,\n_are altogether like the prodigies attending the decease of other great\nmen_.\"[206:3]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Geikie, one of the most orthodox writers, says:[206:4]\n\n     \"It is impossible to explain the _origin_ of this darkness.\n     The passover moon was then at the full, so that it could not\n     have been an _eclipse_. The early Fathers, relying on a notice\n     of _an_ eclipse that _seemed_ to coincide in time, though it\n     really _did not_, fancied that the darkness was caused by it,\n     but incorrectly.\"\n\nPerhaps \"the _origin_ of this darkness\" may be explained from what we\nshall now see.\n\nAt the time of the death of the Hindoo Saviour _Crishna_, there came\ncalamities and bad omens of every kind. A black circle surrounded the\nmoon, _and the sun was darkened at noon-day_; the sky rained fire and\nashes; flames burned dusky and livid; demons committed depredations on\nearth; at sunrise and sunset, thousands of figures were seen skirmishing\nin the air; spirits were to be seen on all sides.[207:1]\n\nWhen the conflict began between _Buddha_, the Saviour of the World, and\nthe Prince of Evil, _a thousand appalling meteors fell; clouds and\ndarkness prevailed_. Even this earth, with the oceans and mountains it\ncontains, though it is unconscious, _quaked like a conscious\nbeing_--like a fond bride when forcibly torn from her bridegroom--like\nthe festoons of a vine shaken under the blast of a whirlwind. The ocean\nrose under the vibration of this earthquake; rivers flowed back toward\ntheir sources; peaks of lofty mountains, where countless trees had grown\nfor ages, rolled crumbling to the earth; a fierce storm howled all\naround; the roar of the concussion became terrific; _the very sun\nenveloped itself in awful darkness, and a host of headless spirits\nfilled the air_.[207:2]\n\nWhen _Prometheus_ was crucified on Mount Caucasus, _the whole frame of\nnature became convulsed_. The earth did quake, thunder roared, lightning\nflashed, the wild winds rent the vexed air, the boisterous billows rose,\nand the dissolution of the universe seemed to be threatened.[207:3]\n\nThe ancient Greeks and Romans, says Canon Farrar,[207:4] had always\nconsidered that the _births_ and _deaths_ of great men were announced by\n_celestial signs_. We therefore find that at the death of _Romulus_, the\nfounder of Rome, the sun was darkened, _and there was darkness over the\nface of the earth for the space of six hours_.[207:5]\n\nWhen _Julius C\u00e6sar_, who was the son of a god, was murdered, there was a\ndarkness over the earth, _the sun being eclipsed for the space of six\nhours_.[207:6]\n\nThis is spoken of by _Virgil_, where he says:\n\n     \"He (the Sun) covered his luminous head with a sooty darkness,\n      And the impious ages feared eternal night.\"[207:7]\n\nIt is also referred to by Tibullus, Ovid, and Lucian (poets), Pliny,\nAppian, Dion Cassius, and Julius Obsequenes (historians.)[207:8]\n\nWhen _\u00c6sculapius_ the Saviour was put to death, _the sun shone dimly\nfrom the heavens_; the birds were silent in the darkened groves; the\ntrees bowed down their heads in sorrow; and the hearts of all the sons\nof men fainted within them, because the healer of their pains and\nsickness lived no more upon the earth.[208:1]\n\nWhen _Hercules_ was dying, he said to the faithful female (Iole) who\nfollowed him to the last spot on earth on which he trod, \"Weep not, my\ntoil is done, and now is the time for rest. I shall see thee again in\nthe bright land which is never trodden by the feet of night.\" Then, as\nthe dying god expired, _darkness was on the face of the earth_; from the\nhigh heaven came down the thick cloud, _and the din of its thunder\ncrashed through the air_. In this manner, Zeus, the god of gods, carried\nhis son home, and the halls of Olympus were opened to welcome the bright\nhero who rested from his mighty toil. There he now sits, clothed in a\nwhite robe, with a crown upon his head.[208:2]\n\nWhen _OEdipus_ was about to leave this world of pain and sorrow, he\nbade Antigone farewell, and said, \"Weep not, my child, I am going to my\nhome, and I rejoice to lay down the burden of my woe.\" Then there were\n_signs_ in the heaven above and on the earth beneath, that the end was\nnigh at hand, _for the earth did quake, and the thunder roared_ and\nechoed again and again through the sky.[208:3]\n\n\"The Romans had a god called _Quirinius_. His soul emanated from the\nsun, and was restored to it. He was begotten by the god of armies upon a\n_virgin_ of the royal blood, and exposed by order of the jealous tyrant\nAmulius, and was preserved and educated among _shepherds_. He was torn\nto pieces at his death, when he ascended into heaven; _upon which the\nsun was eclipsed or darkened_.\"[208:4]\n\nWhen _Alexander the Great_ died, similar prodigies are said to have\nhappened; again, when foul murders were committed, it is said that the\nsun seemed to hide its face. This is illustrated in the story of\n_Atreus_, King of Mycenae, who foully murdered the children of his\nbrother Thyestes. At that time, the sun, unable to endure a sight so\nhorrible, \"_turned his course backward and withdrew his light._\"[208:5]\n\nAt the time of the death of the virgin-born _Quetzalcoatle_, the\nMexican crucified Saviour, _the sun was darkened_, and withheld its\nlight.[209:1]\n\nLord Kingsborough, speaking of this event, considers it very strange\nthat the Mexicans should have preserved an account of it among their\nrecords, when \"the great eclipse which sacred history records\" is _not_\nrecorded in profane history.\n\nGibbon, the historian, speaking of this phenomenon, says:\n\n     \"Under the reign of Tiberius, the whole earth,[209:2] or at\n     least a celebrated province of the Roman empire,[209:3] was\n     involved in a perpetual darkness of three hours. Even this\n     miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the\n     curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice\n     in an age of science and history. It happened during the\n     life-time of Seneca[209:4] and the elder Pliny,[209:5] who\n     must have experienced the immediate effects, or received the\n     earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these\n     philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great\n     phenomena of nature, earthquakes, meteors, comets and\n     eclipses, which his indefatigable curiosity could\n     collect.[209:6] But the one and the other have omitted to\n     mention the greatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye has\n     been witness since the creation of the globe.\"[209:7]\n\nThis account of the darkness at the time of the death of Jesus of\nNazareth, is one of the prodigies related in the New Testament which no\nChristian commentator has been able to make appear reasonable. The\nfavorite theory is that it was a _natural_ eclipse of the sun, which\n_happened_ to take place at that particular time, but, if this was the\ncase, there was nothing _supernatural_ in the event, and it had nothing\nwhatever to do with the death of Jesus. Again, it would be necessary to\nprove from other sources that such an event happened at that time, but\nthis cannot be done. The argument from the duration of the\ndarkness--_three hours_--is also of great force against such an\noccurrence having happened, _for an eclipse seldom lasts in great\nintensity more than six minutes_.\n\nEven if it could be proved that an eclipse really happened at the time\nassigned for the crucifixion of Jesus, how about the earthquake, when\nthe rocks were rent and the graves opened? and how about the \"saints\nwhich slept\" rising _bodily_ and walking in the streets of the Holy City\nand _appearing to many_? Surely, the faith that would remove\nmountains,[209:8] is required here.\n\nShakespeare has embalmed some traditions of the kind exactly analogous\nto the present case:\n\n     \"In the most high and palmy state of Rome,\n      A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,\n      The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead\n      Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.\"[210:1]\n\nBelief in the influence of the _stars_ over life and death, _and in\nspecial portents at the death of great men_, survived, indeed, to recent\ntimes. Chaucer abounds in allusions to it, and still later Shakespeare\ntells us:\n\n     \"When beggars die there are no comets seen;\n      The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.\"\n\nIt would seem that this superstition survives even to the present day,\nfor it is well known that the dark and yellow atmosphere which settled\nover so much of the country, on the day of the removal of President\nGarfield from Washington to Long Branch, was sincerely held by hundreds\nof persons to be a death-warning sent from heaven, and there were\nnumerous predictions that dissolution would take place before the train\narrived at its destination.\n\nAs Mr. Greg remarks, there can, we think, remain little doubt in\nunprepossessed minds, that the whole legend in question was one of those\nintended to magnify Christ Jesus, which were current in great numbers at\nthe time the Matthew narrator wrote, and which he, with the usual want\nof discrimination and somewhat omnivorous tendency, which distinguished\nhim as a compiler, admitted into his Gospel.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[206:1] Luke, xxiii. 44, 45.\n\n[206:2] Matthew, xxvii. 51-53.\n\n[206:3] Amberly: Analysis of Religious Belief, p. 268.\n\n[206:4] Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 643.\n\n[207:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 71.\n\n[207:2] Rhys David's Buddhism, pp. 36, 37.\n\n[207:3] See Potter's \u00c6schylus, \"Prometheus Chained,\" last stanza.\n\n[207:4] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 52.\n\n[207:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 616, 617.\n\n[207:6] See Ibid. and Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. pp. 159 and 590, also\nJosephus: Jewish Antiquities, book xiv. ch. xii. and _note_.\n\n[207:7]\n\n     \"Cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit\n      Impiaqu\u00e6 \u00e6ternam timuerunt s\u00e6cula noctem.\"\n\n[207:8] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. pp. 159 and 590.\n\n[208:1] Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 46.\n\n[208:2] Ibid. pp. 61, 62.\n\n[208:3] Ibid. p. 270.\n\n[208:4] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 822.\n\n[208:5] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 106.\n\n[209:1] See Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 5.\n\n[209:2] The Fathers of the Church seem to cover the whole earth with\ndarkness, in which they are followed by most of the moderns. (Gibbon.\nLuke, xxiii. 44, says \"_over all the earth_.\")\n\n[209:3] Origen (a Father of the third century) and a few modern critics,\nare desirous of confining it to the land of Judea. (Gibbon.)\n\n[209:4] Seneca, a celebrated philosopher and historian, born in Spain a\nfew years B. C., but educated in Rome, and became a \"Roman.\"\n\n[209:5] Pliny the elder, a celebrated Roman philosopher and historian,\nborn about 23 A. D.\n\n[209:6] Seneca: Quaest. Natur. l. i. 15, vi. l. vii. 17. Pliny: Hist.\nNatur. l. ii.\n\n[209:7] Gibbon's Rome, i. 589, 590.\n\n[209:8] Matt. xvi. 20.\n\n[210:1] Hamlet, act 1, s. 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n\"HE DESCENDED INTO HELL.\"\n\n\nThe doctrine of Christ Jesus' descent into hell is emphatically part of\nthe Christian belief, although not alluded to by Christian divines\nexcepting when unavoidable.\n\nIn the first place, it is taught in the _Creed_ of the Christians,\nwherein it says:\n\n     \"_He descended into hell, and on the third day he rose again\n     from the dead._\"\n\nThe doctrine was also taught by the Fathers of the Church. St.\nChrysostom (born 347 A. D.) asks:\n\n     \"Who but an infidel would deny that Christ was in\n     hell?\"[211:1]\n\nAnd St. Clement of Alexandria, who flourished at the beginning of the\nthird century, is equally clear and emphatic as to Jesus' descent into\nhell. He says:\n\n     \"The Lord preached the gospel to those in Hades, as well as to\n     all in earth, in order that all might believe and be saved,\n     wherever they were. If, then, the Lord descended to Hades for\n     no other end but to preach the gospel, _as He did descend_, it\n     was either to preach the gospel to all, or to the Hebrews\n     only. If accordingly to all, then all who believe shall be\n     saved, although they may be of the Gentiles, on making their\n     profession there.\"[211:2]\n\nOrigen, who flourished during the latter part of the second, and\nbeginning of the third centuries, also emphatically declares that Christ\nJesus descended into hell.[211:3]\n\nAncient Christian works of art represent his descent into hell.[211:4]\n\nThe apocryphal gospels teach the doctrine of Christ Jesus' descent into\nhell, the object of which was to preach to those in bondage there, and\nto liberate the _saints_ who had died before his advent on earth.\n\nOn account of the sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden, all\nmankind were doomed, all had gone to hell--excepting those who had been\ntranslated to heaven--even those persons who were \"after God's own\nheart,\" and who had belonged to his \"chosen people.\" The coming of\nChrist Jesus into the world, however, made a change in the affairs of\nman. The _saints_ were then liberated from their prison, and all those\nwho believe in the efficacy of his name, shall escape hereafter the\ntortures of hell. This is the doctrine to be found in the apocryphal\ngospels, and was taught by the Fathers of the Church.[212:1]\n\nIn the \"_Gospel of Nicodemus_\" (apoc.) is to be found the whole story of\nChrist Jesus' descent into hell, and of his liberating the saints.\n\nSatan, and the Prince of Hell, having heard that Jesus of Nazareth was\nabout to descend to their domain, began to talk the matter over, as to\nwhat they should do, &c. While thus engaged, on a sudden, there was a\nvoice as of thunder and the rushing of winds, saying: \"Lift up your\ngates, O ye Princes, and be ye lifted up, O ye everlasting gates, and\nthe King of Glory shall come in.\"\n\nWhen the Prince of Hell heard this, he said to his impious officers:\n\"Shut the brass gates . . . and make them fast with iron bars, and fight\ncourageously.\"\n\nThe _saints_ having heard what had been said on both sides, immediately\nspoke with a loud voice, saying: \"Open thy gates, that the King of Glory\nmay come in.\" The divine prophets, _David_ and _Isaiah_, were\nparticularly conspicuous in this protest against the intentions of the\nPrince of Hell.\n\nAgain the voice of Jesus was heard saying: \"Lift up your gates, O\nPrince; and be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell, and the King of Glory\nwill enter in.\" The Prince of Hell then cried out: \"Who is the King of\nGlory?\" upon which the prophet _David_ commenced to reply to him, but\nwhile he was speaking, the mighty Lord Jesus appeared in the form of a\nman, and broke asunder the fetters which before could not be broken, and\ncrying aloud, said: \"Come to me, all ye saints, who were created in my\nimage, who were condemned by the tree of the forbidden fruit . . . live\nnow by the word of my cross.\"\n\nThen presently all the saints were joined together, hand in hand, and\nthe Lord Jesus laid hold on Adam's hand, and ascended from hell, and all\nthe saints of God followed him.[212:2]\n\nWhen the saints arrived in paradise, two \"very ancient men\" met them,\nand were asked by the saints: \"Who are ye, who have not been with us in\nhell, and have had your bodies placed in paradise?\" One of these \"very\nancient men\" answered and said: \"I am _Enoch_, who was translated by the\nword of God, and this man who is with me is Elijah the Tishbite, who was\ntranslated in a fiery chariot.\"[213:1]\n\nThe doctrine of the descent into hell may be found alluded to in the\n_canonical_ books; thus, for instance, in I. Peter:\n\n     \"It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for\n     well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath suffered\n     for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to\n     God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the\n     spirit: _by which also he went and preached unto the spirits\n     in prison_.\"[213:2]\n\nAgain, in \"Acts,\" where the writer is speaking of David as a _prophet_,\nhe says:\n\n     \"He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,\n     _that his soul was not left in hell_, neither his flesh did\n     see corruption.\"[213:3]\n\nThe reason why Christ Jesus has been made to descend into hell, is\nbecause _it is a part of the universal mythos_, even the _three days'_\nduration. The _Saviours_ of mankind had all done so, _he_ must therefore\ndo likewise.\n\n_Crishna_, the Hindoo Saviour, _descended into hell_, for the purpose of\nraising the dead (the doomed),[213:4] before he returned to his heavenly\nseat.\n\n_Zoroaster_, of the Persians, _descended into hell_.[213:5]\n\n_Osiris_, the Egyptian Saviour, _descended into hell_.[213:6]\n\n_Horus_, the virgin-born Saviour, _descended into hell_.[213:7]\n\n_Adonis_, the virgin-born Saviour, _descended into hell_.[213:8]\n\n_Bacchus_, the virgin-born Saviour, _descended into hell_.[213:9]\n\n_Hercules_, the virgin-born Saviour, _descended into hell_.[213:10]\n\n_Mercury_, the _Word_ and Messenger of God, _descended into\nhell_.[213:11]\n\n_Baldur_, the Scandinavian god, after being killed, _descended into\nhell_.[214:1]\n\n_Quetzalcoatle_, the Mexican crucified Saviour, _descended into\nhell_.[214:2]\n\nAll these gods, and many others that might be mentioned, _remained in\nhell for the space of three days and three nights_. \"They descended into\nhell, and on the third day rose again.\"[214:3]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[211:1] Quoted by Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 46.\n\n[211:2] Strom, vi. c. 6.\n\n[211:3] Contra Celsus, bk. ii. c. 43.\n\n[211:4] See Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. pp. 354, 355.\n\n[212:1] See Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. pp. 250, 251.\n\n[212:2] Nicodemus: Apoc. ch. xvi. and xix.\n\n[213:1] Nicodemus: Apoc. ch. xx.\n\n[213:2] I. Peter, iii. 17-19.\n\n[213:3] Acts, ii. 31.\n\n[213:4] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 237. Bonwick's Egyptian\nBelief, p. 168, and Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 85.\n\n[213:5] See Monumental Christianity, p. 286.\n\n[213:6] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 256, Bonwick's\nEgyptian Belief, and Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, pp. 125, 152.\n\n[213:7] See Chap. XXXIX.\n\n[213:8] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 12.\n\n[213:9] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322. Dupuis: Origin of\nReligious Belief, p. 257, and Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 33.\n\n[213:10] See Taylor's Mysteries, p. 40, and Mysteries of Adoni, pp.\n94-96.\n\n[213:11] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 72. Our Christian writers\ndiscover considerable apprehension, and a jealous caution in their\nlanguage, when the resemblance between _Paganism_ and _Christianity_\nmight be apt to strike the mind too cogently. In quoting Horace's\naccount of Mercury's descent into hell, and his causing a cessation of\nthe sufferings there, Mr. Spence, in \"Bell's Pantheon,\" says: \"As this,\nperhaps, may be a mythical part of his character, _we had better let it\nalone_.\"\n\n[214:1] See Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 169, and Mallet, p. 448.\n\n[214:2] See Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 166.\n\n[214:3] See the chapter on _Explanation_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nTHE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nThe story of the resurrection of Christ Jesus is related by the four\nGospel narrators, and is to the effect that, after being crucified, his\nbody was wrapped in a linen cloth, laid in a tomb, and a \"great stone\"\nrolled to the door. The sepulchre was then made sure by \"sealing the\nstone\" and \"setting a watch.\"\n\nOn the first day of the week some of Jesus' followers came to see the\nsepulchre, when they found that, in spite of the \"sealing\" and the\n\"watch,\" the angel of the Lord had descended from heaven, had rolled\nback the stone from the door, and that \"_Jesus had risen from the\ndead_.\"[215:1]\n\nThe story of his _ascension_ is told by the _Mark_[215:2] narrator, who\nsays \"he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God;\"\nby _Luke_,[215:3] who says \"he was carried up into heaven;\" and by the\nwriter of the _Acts_,[215:4] who says \"he was taken up (to heaven) and a\ncloud received him out of sight.\"\n\nWe will find, in stripping Christianity of its robes of Paganism, that\nthese miraculous events must be put on the same level with those we have\nalready examined.\n\n_Crishna_, the crucified Hindoo Saviour, _rose from the dead_,[215:5]\nand _ascended bodily into heaven_.[215:6] At that time a great light\nenveloped the earth and illuminated the whole expanse of heaven.\nAttended by celestial spirits, and luminous as on that night when he was\nborn in the house of Vasudeva, _Crishna_ pursued, by his own light, the\njourney between earth and heaven, to the bright paradise from whence he\nhad descended. All men saw him, and exclaimed, \"_Lo, Crishna's soul\nascends its native skies!_\"[215:7]\n\nSamuel Johnson, in his \"Oriental Religions,\" tells us that _R\u00e2ma_--an\nincarnation of Vishnu--after his manifestations on earth, \"_at last\nascended to heaven_,\" \"resuming his divine essence.\"\n\n\"By the blessings of R\u00e2ma's name, and through previous faith in him, all\nsins are remitted, and every one who shall at death pronounce his name\nwith sincere worship shall be forgiven.\"[216:1]\n\nThe mythological account of _Buddha_, the son of the Virgin Maya, who,\nas the God of Love, is named _Cam-deo_, _Cam_, and _Cama_, is of the\nsame character as that of other virgin-born gods. When he died there\nwere tears and lamentations. Heaven and earth are said equally to have\nlamented the loss of \"_Divine Love_,\" insomuch that _Maha-deo_ (the\nsupreme god) was moved to pity, and exclaimed, \"_Rise, holy love!_\" on\nwhich _Cama_ was restored and the lamentations changed into the most\nenthusiastic joy. The heavens are said to have echoed back the exulting\nsound; then the deity, supposed to be lost (_dead_), was restored,\n\"_hell's great dread and heaven's eternal admiration_.\"[216:2]\n\nThe coverings of the body unrolled themselves, and the lid of his coffin\nwas opened by supernatural powers.[216:3]\n\n_Buddha_ also ascended bodily to the celestial regions when his mission\non earth was fulfilled, and marks on the rocks of a high mountain are\nshown, and believed to be the last impression of his footsteps on this\nearth. By prayers in his name his followers expect to receive the\nrewards of paradise, and finally to become one with him, as he became\none with the Source of Life.[216:4]\n\n_Lao-Kiun_, the virgin-born, he who had existed from all eternity, when\nhis mission of benevolence was completed on earth, _ascended bodily into\nthe paradise above_. Since this time he has been worshiped as a _god_,\nand splendid temples erected to his memory.[216:5]\n\n_Zoroaster_, the founder of the religion of the ancient Persians, who\nwas considered \"a divine messenger sent to redeem men from their evil\nways,\" _ascended to heaven_ at the end of his earthly career. To this\nday his followers mention him with the greatest reverence, calling him\n\"The Immortal Zoroaster,\" \"The Blessed Zoroaster,\" \"The Living Star,\"\n&c.[216:6]\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_, the Son of God, the Saviour, after being put to death,\n_rose from the dead_. His history is portrayed in the following lines of\n_Ovid's_, which are prophecies foretelling his life and actions:\n\n     \"Once, as the sacred infant she surveyed,\n      The god was kindled in the raving maid;\n      And thus she uttered her prophetic tale:\n      Hail, great Physician of the world! all hail!\n      Hail, mighty infant, who in years to come\n      Shalt heal the nations, and defraud the tomb!\n      Swift be thy growth, thy triumphs unconfined,\n      Make kingdoms thicker, and increase mankind.\n      Thy daring art shall animate the dead,\n      And draw the thunder on thy guilty head;\n      _Then shalt thou die, but from the dark abode\n      Shalt rise victorious, and be twice a god_.\"[217:1]\n\nThe Saviour _Adonis_ or _Tammuz_, after being put to death, _rose from\nthe dead_. The following is an account given of the rites of Tammuz or\nof Adonis by Julius Firmicius (who lived during the reign of\nConstantine):\n\n     \"On a certain night (while the ceremony of the Adonia, or\n     religious rites in honor of Adonis, lasted), an image was laid\n     upon a bed (or bier) and bewailed in doleful ditties. After\n     they had satiated themselves with fictitious lamentations,\n     light was brought in: then the mouths of all the mourners were\n     anointed by the priests (_with oil_), upon which he, with a\n     gentle murmur, whispered:\n\n          'Trust, ye Saints, your God restored.\n           Trust ye, _in your risen Lord_;\n           For the pains which he endured\n           Our salvation have procured.'\n\n     \"Literally, 'Trust, ye _communicants_: the God having been\n     saved, there shall be to us out of pain, _Salvation_.'\"[217:2]\n\nUpon which their sorrow was turned into joy.\n\nGodwyn renders it:\n\n     \"_Trust ye in God, for out of pains,\n      Salvation is come unto us._\"[217:3]\n\nDr. Prichard, in his \"_Egyptian Mythology_,\" tells us that the Syrians\ncelebrated, _in the early spring_, this ceremony in honor of _the\nresurrection of Adonis_. After lamentations, his restoration was\ncommemorated with joy and festivity.[217:4]\n\nMons. Dupuis says:\n\n     \"The obsequies of _Adonis_ were celebrated at _Alexandria_ (in\n     Egypt) with the utmost display. His image was carried with\n     great solemnity to a tomb, which served the purpose of\n     rendering him the last honors. Before singing his return to\n     life, there were mournful rites celebrated in honor of his\n     suffering and his death. The large wound he had received was\n     shown, just as the wound was shown which was made to Christ by\n     the thrust of the spear. _The feast of his resurrection was\n     fixed at the 25th of March._\"[218:1]\n\nIn Calmet's \"Fragments,\" the resurrection of _Adonis_ is referred to as\nfollows:\n\n     \"In these _mysteries_, after the attendants had for a long\n     time bewailed the death of this _just person_, he was at\n     length understood to be _restored to life_, to have\n     experienced a _resurrection_; signified by the re-admission of\n     light. On this the priest addressed the company, saying,\n     'Comfort yourselves, all ye who have been partakers of the\n     mysteries of the deity, thus preserved: for we shall now enjoy\n     some respite from our labors:' to which were added these\n     words: 'I have scaped a sad calamity, and my lot is greatly\n     mended.' The people answered by the invocation: 'Hail to the\n     Dove! the Restorer of Light!'\"[218:2]\n\nAlexander Murray tells us that the ancient Greeks also celebrated this\nfestival in honor of the resurrection of Adonis, in the course of which\na figure of him was produced, and the ceremony of burial, with weeping\nand songs of wailing, gone through. After these a joyful shout was\nraised: \"_Adonis lives and is risen again._\"[218:3]\n\nPlutarch, in his life of Alcibiades and of Nicias, tells us that it was\nat the time of the celebration of the death of _Adonis_ that the\nAthenian fleet set sail for its unlucky expedition to Sicily; that\nnothing but images of dead Adonises were to be met with in the streets,\nand that they were carried to the sepulchre in the midst of an immense\ntrain of women, crying and beating their breasts, and imitating in every\nparticular the lugubrious pomp of interments. Sinister omens were drawn\nfrom it, which were only too much realized by subsequent events.[218:4]\n\nIt was in an oration or address delivered to the Emperors Constans and\nConstantius that Julius Firmicius wrote concerning the rites celebrated\nby the heathens in commemoration of the resurrection of Adonis. In his\ntide of eloquence he breaks away into indignant objurgation of the\npriest who officiated in those _heathen mysteries_, which, he admitted,\nresembled the _Christian sacrament_ in honor of the death and\nresurrection of Christ Jesus, so closely that there was really no\ndifference between them, except that no sufficient proof had been given\nto the world of the resurrection of Adonis, _and no divine oracle had\nborne witness to his resurrection_, nor had he shown himself alive\nafter his death to those who were concerned to have assurance of the\nfact that they might believe.\n\nThe _divine oracle_, be it observed, which Julius Firmicius says had\nborne testimony to Christ Jesus' resurrection, _was none other than the\nanswer of the god Apollo, whom the Pagans worshiped at Delphos_, which\nthis writer derived from Porphyry's books \"_On the Philosophy of\nOracles_.\"[219:1]\n\nEusebius, the celebrated ecclesiastical historian, has also condescended\nto quote this claimed testimony from _a Pagan oracle_, as furnishing one\nof the most convincing proofs that could be adduced in favor of the\nresurrection of Christ Jesus.\n\n     \"But thou at least (says he to the Pagans), _listen to thine\n     own gods, to thy oracular deities themselves_, who have borne\n     witness, and ascribed to our Saviour (Jesus Christ) not\n     imposture, but piety and wisdom, and ascent into heaven.\"\n\nThis was vastly obliging and liberal of the god Apollo, but, it happens\nawkwardly enough, that the whole work (consisting of several books)\nascribed to Porphyry, in which this and other admissions equally\nhonorable to the evidences of the Christian religion are made, was _not_\nwritten by Porphyry, but is altogether the pious fraud of Christian\nhands, who have kindly fathered the great philosopher with admissions,\nwhich, as he would certainly never have made himself, they have very\ncharitably made for him.[219:2]\n\nThe festival in honor of the resurrection of Adonis was observed in\nAlexandria in Egypt--_the cradle of Christianity_--in the time of St.\nCyril, Bishop of Alexandria (A. D. 412), and at Antioch--the ancient\ncapital of the Greek Kings of Syria--even as late as the time of the\nEmperor Julian (A. D. 361-363), whose arrival there, during the\nsolemnity of the festival, was taken as an ill omen.[219:3]\n\nIt is most curious that the arrival of the Emperor Julian at\nAntioch--where the followers of Christ Jesus, it is said, were first\ncalled Christians--at that time, should be considered an _ill omen_. Why\nshould it have been so? He was not a Christian, but a known apostate\nfrom the Christian religion, and a zealous patron of _Paganism_. The\nevidence is very conclusive; _the celebration in honor of the\nresurrection of Adonis had become to be known as a Christian festival,\nwhich has not been abolished even unto this day_. The ceremonies held in\nRoman Catholic countries on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday, are\nnothing more than the festival of the death and resurrection of Adonis,\nas we shall presently see.\n\nEven as late as the year A. D. 386, the resurrection of Adonis was\ncelebrated in _Judea_. St. Jerome says:\n\n     \"Over Bethlehem (in the year 386 after Christ) the grove of\n     Tammuz, that is, of Adonis, was casting its shadow! And in the\n     _grotto_ where formerly the infant Anointed (_i. e._, _Christ\n     Jesus_) cried, the lover of Venus was being mourned.\"[220:1]\n\nIn the idolatrous worship practiced by the _children of Israel_ was that\nof the worship of _Adonis_.\n\nUnder the designation of _Tammuz_, this god was worshiped, and had his\naltar even in the Temple of the Lord which was at Jerusalem. Several of\nthe Psalms of David were parts of the liturgical service employed in his\nworship; the 110th, in particular, is an account of a friendly alliance\nbetween the two gods, Jehovah and Adonis, in which Jehovah adorns Adonis\nfor his priest, as sitting at his right hand, and promises to fight for\nhim against his enemies. This god was worshiped at Byblis in Phoenicia\nwith precisely the same ceremonies: the same articles of faith as to his\nmystical incarnation, his precious death and burial, and his glorious\nresurrection and ascension, and even in the very same words of religious\nadoration and homage which are now, with the slightest degree of\nvariation that could well be conceived, addressed to the Christ of the\nGospel.\n\nThe prophet Ezekiel, when an exile, painted once more the scene he had\nso often witnessed of the Israelitish women in the Temple court\nbewailing the death of Tammuz.[220:2]\n\nDr. Parkhurst says, in his \"Hebrew Lexicon\":\n\n     \"I find myself _obliged_ to refer Tammuz, as well as the Greek\n     and Roman Hercules, to that class of idols _which were\n     originally designed to represent the promised Saviour_ (Christ\n     Jesus), the desire of all nations. His other name, Adonis, is\n     almost the very Hebrew word 'Our Lord,' a well-known title of\n     Christ.\"[220:3]\n\nSo it seems that the ingenious and most learned orthodox Dr. Parkhurst\nwas _obliged_ to consider Adonis a type of \"the promised Saviour (Christ\nJesus), the desire of all nations.\" This is a very favorite way for\nChristian divines to express themselves, when pushed thereto, by the\nstriking resemblance between the Pagan, virgin-born, crucified, and\nresurrected gods and Christ Jesus.\n\nIf the reader is satisfied that all these things are types or symbols of\nwhat the \"_real Saviour_\" was to do and suffer, he is welcome to such\nfood. The doctrine of Dr. Parkhurst and others comes with but an ill\ngrace, however, from Roman Catholic priests, _who have never ceased to\nsuppress information when possible_, and when it was impossible for them\nto do so, they claimed these things to be the work of the devil, in\nimitation of their predecessors, the Christian Fathers.\n\nJulius Firmicius has said: \"The devil has his Christs,\" and does not\ndeny that _Adonis_ was one. Tertullian and St. Justin explain all the\nconformity which exists between _Christianity_ and _Paganism_, by\nasserting \"that a long time before there were Christians in existence,\nthe devil had taken pleasure to have their future mysteries and\nceremonies copied by his worshipers.\"[221:1]\n\n_Osiris_, the Egyptian Saviour, after being put to death, _rose from the\ndead_,[221:2] and bore the title of \"_The Resurrected One_.\"[221:3]\n\nProf. Mahaffy, lecturer on ancient history in the University of Dublin,\nobserves that:\n\n     \"The _Resurrection_ and reign over an eternal kingdom, by an\n     _incarnate mediating deity_ born of a virgin, was a\n     theological conception which pervaded the oldest religion of\n     Egypt.\"[221:4]\n\nThe ancient Egyptians celebrated annually, in early spring, about the\ntime known in Christian countries as Easter, the resurrection and\nascension of Osiris. During these mysteries the misfortunes and tragical\ndeath of the \"_Saviour_\" were celebrated in a species of drama, in which\nall the particulars were exhibited, accompanied with loud lamentations\nand every mark of sorrow. At this time his image was carried in a\nprocession, covered--as were those in the temples--_with black veils_.\nOn the 25th of March his _resurrection from the dead_ was celebrated\nwith great festivity and rejoicings.[221:5]\n\nAlexander Murray says:\n\n     \"The worship of _Osiris_ was universal throughout Egypt, where\n     he was gratefully regarded as the great exemplar of\n     _self-sacrifice_--in giving his life for others--as the\n     manifestor of good, as the opener of truth, and as being full\n     of goodness and truth. _After being dead, he was restored to\n     life._\"[221:6]\n\nMons. Dupuis says on this subject:\n\n     \"The Fathers of the Church, and the writers of the Christian\n     sect, speak frequently of these feasts, celebrated in honor of\n     Osiris, _who died and arose from the dead_, and they draw a\n     parallel with the adventurers of _their_ Christ. Athanasius,\n     Augustin, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Minucius Felix, Lactantius,\n     Firmicius, as also the ancient authors who have spoken of\n     _Osiris_ . . . all agree in the description of the universal\n     mourning of the Egyptians at the festival, when the\n     commemoration of that death took place. They describe the\n     ceremonies which were practiced at his sepulchre, the tears,\n     which were there shed during several days, and the festivities\n     and rejoicings, which followed after that mourning, at the\n     moment when his resurrection was announced.\"[222:1]\n\nMr. Bonwick remarks, in his \"Egyptian Belief,\" that:\n\n     \"It is astonishing to find that, at least, five thousand years\n     ago, men trusted an _Osiris_ as the '_Risen Saviour_,' and\n     confidently hoped to rise, as he arose, from the\n     grave.\"[222:2]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"Osiris was, unquestionably, the popular god of Egypt. . . .\n     Osiris was dear to the hearts of the people. He was\n     pre-eminently '_good_.' He was in life and death their friend.\n     His birth, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, embraced\n     the leading points of Egyptian theology.\" \"In his efforts to\n     do good, he encounters evil. In struggling with that, he is\n     overcome. He is killed. The story, entered into in the account\n     of the Osiris myth, is a circumstantial one. Osiris is buried.\n     His tomb was the object of pilgrimage for thousands of years.\n     _But he did not rest in his grave. At the end of three days,\n     or forty, he arose again_, and ascended to heaven. This is the\n     story of his humanity.\" \"As the _invictus Osiris_, his tomb\n     was illuminated, as is the holy sepulchre of Jerusalem now.\n     The mourning song, whose plaintive tones were noted by\n     Herodotus, and has been compared to the '_miserere_' of Rome,\n     was followed, _in three days_, by the language of\n     triumph.\"[222:3]\n\nHerodotus, who had been initiated into the Egyptian and Grecian\n\"_Mysteries_,\" speaks thus of them:\n\n     \"At Sais (in Egypt), in the sacred precinct of Minerva; behind\n     the chapel and joining the wall, is the tomb of one whose name\n     I consider it impious to divulge on such an occasion; and in\n     the inclosure stand large stone obelisks, and there is a lake\n     near, ornamented with a stone margin, formed in a circle, and\n     in size, as appeared to me, much the same as that in Delos,\n     which is called the circular. In this lake they perform by\n     night the representation of that person's adventures, which\n     they call _mysteries_. On these matters, however, though\n     accurately acquainted with the particulars of them, _I must\n     observe a discreet silence_; and respecting the sacred rites\n     of Ceres, which the Greeks call Thesmyphoria, although I am\n     acquainted with them, I must observe silence except so far as\n     is lawful for me to speak of them.\"[222:4]\n\n_Horus_, son of the virgin _Isis_, experienced similar misfortunes. The\nprincipal features of this sacred romance are to be found in the\nwritings of the Christian Fathers. They give us a description of the\ngrief which was manifested at his death, and of the rejoicings at his\n_resurrection_, which are similar to those spoken of above.[222:5]\n\n_Atys_, the Phrygian Saviour, was put to death, _and rose again from\nthe dead_. Various histories were given of him in various places, but\nall accounts terminated in the usual manner. He was one of the \"Slain\nOnes\" who rose to life again on the 25th of March, or the \"_Hilaria_\" or\nprimitive Easter.[223:1]\n\n_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, and mediator between God and man, was\nbelieved by the inhabitants of Persia, Asia Minor and Armenia, to have\nbeen put to death, _and to have risen again from the dead_. In their\nmysteries, the body of a young man, apparently dead, was exhibited,\nwhich was feigned to be restored to life. By his sufferings he was\nbelieved to have worked their salvation, and on this account he was\ncalled their \"_Saviour_.\" His priests watched his tomb to the midnight\nof the veil of the 25th of March, _with loud cries, and in darkness_;\nwhen all at once the lights burst forth from all parts, and the priest\ncried:\n\n     \"_Rejoice, Oh sacred Initiated, your god is risen. His death,\n     his pains, his sufferings, have worked our salvation._\"[223:2]\n\nMons. Dupuis, speaking of the resurrection of this god, says:\n\n     \"It is chiefly in the religion of _Mithras_. . . . that we\n     find mostly these features of analogy with the death and\n     resurrection of Christ, and with the mysteries of the\n     Christians. _Mithras_, who was also born on the 25th of\n     December, like Christ, died as he did; and he had his\n     sepulchre, over which his disciples came to shed tears. During\n     the night, the priests carried his image to a tomb, expressly\n     prepared for him; he was laid out on a litter, like the\n     Phoenician _Adonis_.\n\n     \"These funeral ceremonies, like those on Good Friday (in Roman\n     Catholic churches), were accompanied with funeral dirges and\n     groans of the priests; after having spent some time with these\n     expressions of feigned grief; after having lighted the sacred\n     _flambeau_, or their paschal candle, and anointed the image\n     with _chrism_ or perfumes, one of them came forward and\n     pronounced with the gravest mien these words: '_Be of good\n     cheer, sacred band of Initiates, your god has risen from the\n     dead. His pains and his sufferings shall be your\n     salvation._'\"[223:3]\n\nIn King's \"_Gnostics and their Remains_\" (Plate XI.), may be seen the\nrepresentation of a bronze medal, or rather disk, engraved in the\ncoarsest manner, on which is to be seen a female figure, standing in the\nattitude of adoration, the object of which is expressed by the\ninscription--ORTVS SALVAT, \"_The Rising of the Saviour_\"--_i. e._, of\n_Mithras_.[224:1]\n\n     \"This medal\" (says Mr. King), \"doubtless had accompanied the\n     interment of some individual initiated into the Mithraic\n     mysteries; and is certainly the most curious relic of that\n     faith that has come under my notice.\"[224:2]\n\n_Bacchus_, the Saviour, son of the virgin Semele, after being put to\ndeath, also _arose from the dead_. During the commemoration of the\nceremonies of this event the dead body of a young man was exhibited with\ngreat lamentations, in the same manner as the cases cited above, and at\ndawn on the 25th of March his resurrection from the dead was celebrated\nwith great rejoicings.[224:3] After having brought solace to the\nmisfortunes of mankind, he, after his resurrection, _ascended into\nheaven_.[224:4]\n\n_Hercules_, the Saviour, the son of Zeus by a mortal mother, was put to\ndeath, but arose from the funeral pile, _and ascended into heaven_ in a\n_cloud_, 'mid peals of thunder. His followers manifested gratitude to\nhis memory by erecting an altar on the spot from whence be\nascended.[224:5]\n\n_Memnon_ is put to death, but rises again to life and immortality. His\nmother Eos weeps tears at the death of her son--as Mary does for Christ\nJesus--but her prayers avail to bring him back, like Adonis or Tammuz,\nand Jesus, from the shadowy region, to dwell always in Olympus.[224:6]\n\nThe ancient Greeks also believed that _Amphiaraus_--one of their most\ncelebrated prophets and demi-gods--_rose from the dead_. They even\npointed to the place of his resurrection.[224:7]\n\n_Baldur_, the Scandinavian Lord and Saviour, is put to death, but does\nnot rest in his grave. He too rises again to life and immortality.[224:8]\n\nWhen \"Baldur the Good,\" the beneficent god, descended into hell, Hela\n(Death) said to Hermod (who mourned for Baldur): \"If all things in the\nworld, both living and lifeless, weep for him, then shall he return to\nthe \u00c6sir (the gods).\" Upon hearing this, messengers were dispatched\nthroughout the world to beg everything to weep in order that Baldur\nmight be delivered from hell. All things everywhere willingly complied\nwith this request, both men and every other living being, so that\n_wailing_ was heard in all quarters.[225:1]\n\nThus we see the same myth among the northern nations. As Bunsen says:\n\n     \"The tragedy of the _murdered and risen god_ is familiar to us\n     from the days of ancient Egypt: must it not be of equally\n     primeval origin here?\" [In Teutonic tradition.]\n\nThe ancient Scandinavians also worshiped a god called _Frey_, who was\nput to death, _and rose again from the dead_.[225:2]\n\nThe ancient _Druids_ celebrated, in the British Isles, in heathen times,\nthe rites of the resurrected Bacchus, and other ceremonies, similar to\nthe Greeks and Romans.[225:3]\n\n_Quetzalcoatle_, the Mexican crucified Saviour, after being put to\ndeath, _rose from the dead_. His resurrection was represented in Mexican\n_hieroglyphics_, and may be seen in the _Codex Borgianus_.[225:4]\n\nThe Jews in Palestine celebrated their _Passover_ on the same day that\nthe Pagans celebrated the resurrection of their gods.\n\nBesides the resurrected gods mentioned in this chapter, who were\nbelieved in for centuries before the time assigned for the birth of\nChrist Jesus, many others might be named, as we shall see in our chapter\non \"Explanation.\" In the words of Dunbar T. Heath:\n\n     \"We find men taught everywhere, from Southern Arabia to\n     Greece, by hundreds of symbolisms, the birth, death, and\n     resurrection of deities, and a resurrection too, apparently\n     after the second day, _i. e._, _on the third_.\"[225:5]\n\nAnd now, to conclude all, _another god_ is said to have been born on the\n_same day_[225:6] as these Pagan deities; he is crucified and buried,\nand on the _same day_[225:7] rises again from the dead. Christians of\nEurope and America celebrate annually the resurrection of _their_\nSaviour in almost the identical manner in which the Pagans celebrated\nthe resurrection of _their_ Saviours, centuries before the God of the\nChristians is said to have been born. In Roman Catholic churches, in\nCatholic countries, the body of a young man is laid on a bier, and\nplaced before the altar; the wound in his side is to be seen, and his\ndeath is bewailed in mournful dirges, and the verse, _Gloria Patri_, is\ndiscontinued in the mass. All the images in the churches and the altar\n_are covered with black_, and the priest and attendants are robed in\nblack; nearly all lights are put out, and the windows are darkened. This\nis the \"Agonie,\" the \"Miserere,\" the \"Good Friday\" mass. On Easter\nSunday[226:1] all the drapery has disappeared; the church is\n_illuminated_, and rejoicing, in place of sorrow, is manifest. The\nEaster hymns partake of the following expression:\n\n     \"_Rejoice, Oh sacred Initiated, your God is risen. His death,\n     his pains, his sufferings, have worked our salvation._\"\n\nCedrenus (a celebrated Byzantine writer), speaking of the 25th of March,\nsays:\n\n     \"The first day of the first month, is the first of the month\n     _Nisan_; it corresponds to the 25th of March of the _Romans_,\n     and the _Phamenot_ of the _Egyptians_. On that day Gabriel\n     saluted Mary, in order to make her conceive the Saviour. I\n     observe that it is the same month, _Phamenot_, that _Osiris_\n     gave fecundity to _Isis_, according to the Egyptian theology.\n     _On the very same day, our God Saviour _(Christ Jesus)_, after\n     the termination of his career, arose from the dead_; that is,\n     what our forefathers called the _Pass-over_, or the passage of\n     the Lord. It is also on the _same day_, that our ancient\n     theologians have fixed his return, or his second\n     advent.\"[226:2]\n\nWe have seen, then, that a festival celebrating the resurrection of\ntheir several gods was annually held among the Pagans, before the time\nof Christ Jesus, and that it was almost universal. That it dates to a\nperiod of great antiquity is very certain. The adventures of these\nincarnate gods, exposed in their infancy, put to death, and rising again\nfrom the grave to life and immortality, were acted on the _Deisuls_ and\nin the sacred theatres of the ancient Pagans,[226:3] just as the\n\"Passion Play\" is acted to-day.\n\nEusebius relates a _tale_ to the effect that, at one time, the\nChristians were about to celebrate \"the solemn vigils of Easter,\" when,\nto their dismay, they found that _oil_ was wanted. Narcissus, Bishop of\nJerusalem, who was among the number, \"commanded that such as had charge\nof the _lights_, speedily to bring unto him water, drawn up out of the\nnext well.\" This water Narcissus, \"by the wonderful power of God,\"\nchanged into _oil_, and the celebration was continued.[227:1]\n\nThis tells the whole story. Here we see the _oil_--which the Pagans had\nin their ceremonies, and with which the priests anointed the lips of the\nInitiates--and the _lights_, which were suddenly lighted when the god\nwas feigned to have risen from the dead.\n\nWith her usual policy, the Christian Church endeavored to give a\n_Christian_ significance to the rites borrowed from Paganism, and in\nthis case, as in many others, the conversion was particularly easy.\n\nIn the earliest times, the Christians did not celebrate the resurrection\nof their Lord from the grave. They made the _Jewish Passover_ their\nchief festival, celebrating it on the same day as the Jews, the 14th of\nNisan, no matter in what part of the week that day might fall.\nBelieving, according to the tradition, that Jesus on the eve of his\ndeath had eaten the Passover with his disciples, they regarded such a\nsolemnity as a commemoration of the Supper and not as a memorial of the\nResurrection. But in proportion as Christianity more and more separated\nitself from Judaism and imbibed paganism, this way of looking at the\nmatter became less easy. A new tradition gained currency among the Roman\nChristians to the effect that Jesus before his death had not eaten the\nPassover, but had died on the very day of the Passover, thus\nsubstituting himself for the Paschal Lamb. The great Christian festival\nwas then made the Resurrection of Jesus, and was celebrated on the first\npagan holiday--_Sun-day_--after the Passover.\n\nThis _Easter_ celebration was observed in _China_, and called a\n\"Festival of Gratitude to Tien.\" From there it extended over the then\nknown world to the extreme West.\n\nThe ancient Pagan inhabitants of Europe celebrated annually this same\nfeast, which is yet continued over all the Christian world. This\nfestival began with a week's indulgence in all kinds of sports, called\nthe _carne-vale_, or the taking _a farewell to animal_ food, because it\nwas followed by a fast of forty days. This was in honor of the Saxon\ngoddess _Ostrt_ or _Eostre_ of the Germans, whence our _Easter_.[227:2]\n\nThe most characteristic Easter rite, and the one most widely diffused,\nis the use of _Easter eggs_. They are usually stained of various colors\nwith dye-woods or herbs, and people mutually make presents of them;\nsometimes they are kept as _amulets_, sometimes eaten. Now, \"dyed eggs\nwere sacred Easter offerings in _Egypt_;\"[228:1] the ancient _Persians_,\n\"when they kept the festival of the solar new year (in March), mutually\npresented each other with colored eggs;\"[228:2] \"the _Jews_ used eggs in\nthe feast of the Passover;\" and the custom prevailed in Western\ncountries.[228:3]\n\nThe stories of the resurrection written by the Gospel narrators are\naltogether different. This is owing to the fact that the story, as\nrelated by one, was written to correct the mistakes and to endeavor to\nreconcile with common sense the absurdities of the other. For instance,\nthe \"_Matthew_\" narrator says: \"And when they saw him (after he had\nrisen from the dead) they worshiped him; _but some doubted_.\"[228:4]\n\nTo leave the question where this writer leaves it would be fatal. In\nsuch a case there must be no doubt. Therefore, the \"_Mark_\" narrator\nmakes Jesus appear _three times_, under such circumstances as to render\na mistake next to impossible, and to silence the most obstinate\nskepticism. He is first made to appear to Mary Magdalene, who was\nconvinced that it was Jesus, because she went and told the disciples\nthat he had risen, and that she had seen him. They--_notwithstanding\nthat Jesus had foretold them of his resurrection_[228:5]--disbelieved,\nnor could they be convinced until he appeared to _them_. They in turn\ntold it to the other disciples, who were also skeptical; and, that they\nmight be convinced, Jesus also appeared to _them_ as they sat at meat,\nwhen he upbraided them for their unbelief.\n\nThis story is much improved in the hands of the \"_Mark_\" narrator, but,\nin the anxiety to make a clear case, it is overdone, as often happens\nwhen the object is to remedy or correct an oversight or mistake\npreviously made. In relating that the disciples _doubted_ the words of\nMary Magdalene, he had probably forgotten Jesus had promised them that\nhe should rise, for, if he had told them this, _why did they doubt_?\n\nNeither the \"_Matthew_\" nor the \"_Mark_\" narrator says in what _way_\nJesus made his appearance--whether it was in the _body_ or only in the\n_spirit_. If in the latter, it would be fatal to the whole theory of\nthe resurrection, as it is a _material_ resurrection that Christianity\ntaught--just like their neighbors the Persians--and not a\nspiritual.[229:1]\n\nTo put this disputed question in its true light, and to silence the\nobjections which must naturally have arisen against it, was the object\nwhich the \"_Luke_\" narrator had in view. He says that when Jesus\nappeared and spoke to the disciples they were afraid: \"But they were\nterrified and affrighted, and _supposed_ they had seen a\n_spirit_.\"[229:2] Jesus then--to show that he was _not_ a spirit--showed\nthe wounds in his hands and feet. \"And they gave him a piece of a\nbroiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, _and did eat before\nthem_.\"[229:3] After this, who is there that can doubt? but, if the\n_fish_ and _honeycomb_ story was true, why did the \"_Matthew_\" and\n\"_Mark_\" narrators fail to mention it?\n\nThe \"_Luke_\" narrator, like his predecessors, had also overdone the\nmatter, and instead of convincing the skeptical, he only excited their\nridicule.\n\nThe \"_John_\" narrator now comes, and endeavors to set matters right. He\ndoes not omit entirely the story of Jesus eating fish, _for that would\nnot do, after there had been so much said about it_. He might leave it\nto be inferred that the \"_Luke_\" narrator made a mistake, so he modifies\nthe story and omits the ridiculous part. The scene is laid on the shores\nof the Sea of Tiberias. Under the direction of Jesus, Peter drew his net\nto land, full of fish. \"Jesus said unto them: Come and dine. And none of\nthe disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.\nJesus then cometh, and taketh _bread_, and _giveth them_, and _fish_\nlikewise.\"[229:4]\n\nIt does not appear from _this_ account that Jesus ate the fish at all.\nHe took the fish and _gave to the disciples_; the inference is that\n_they_ were the ones that ate. In the \"_Luke_\" narrator's account _the\nstatement is reversed_; the disciples gave the fish to Jesus, _and he\nate_. The \"_John_\" narrator has taken out of the story that which was\nabsurd, but he leaves us to infer that the \"_Luke_\" narrator was\n_careless_ in stating the account of what took place. If we leave out of\nthe \"_Luke_\" narrator's account the part that relates to the fish and\nhoneycomb, he fails to prove what it really was which appeared to the\ndisciples, as it seems from this that the disciples could not be\nconvinced that Jesus was not a spirit until he had actually eaten\nsomething.\n\nNow, if the _eating_ part is struck out--which the \"_John_\" narrator\ndoes, and which, no doubt, the ridicule cast upon it drove him to\ndo--the \"_Luke_\" narrator leaves the question _just where he found it_.\nIt was the business of the \"_John_\" narrator to attempt to leave it\nclean, and put an end to all cavil.\n\nJesus appeared to the disciples when they assembled at Jerusalem. \"And\nwhen he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side.\"[230:1]\nThey were satisfied, and no doubts were expressed. But Thomas was not\npresent, and when he was told by the brethren that Jesus had appeared to\nthem, he refused to believe; nor would he, \"Except I shall see in his\nhands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the\nnails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.\"[230:2]\nNow, if Thomas could be convinced, with all _his_ doubts, it would be\nfoolish after _that_ to deny that Jesus was not in the _body_ when he\nappeared to his disciples.\n\nAfter eight days Jesus again appears, for no other purpose--as it would\nseem--but to convince the doubting disciple Thomas. Then said he to\nThomas: \"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither\nthy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but\nbelieving.\"[230:3] This convinced Thomas, and he exclaimed: \"My Lord and\nmy God.\" After _this evidence_, if there were still unbelievers, they\nwere even more skeptical than Thomas himself. We should be at a loss to\nunderstand _why the writers of the first three Gospels entirely omitted\nthe story of Thomas_, if we were not aware that when the \"_John_\"\nnarrator wrote the state of the public mind was such that proof of the\nmost unquestionable character was demanded that Christ Jesus had risen\nin the body. The \"_John_\" narrator selected a person who claimed he was\nhard to convince, and if the evidence was such as to satisfy _him_, it\nought to satisfy the balance of the world.[230:4]\n\nThe first that we knew of the fourth Gospel--attributed to _John_--is\nfrom the writings of _Iren\u00e6us_ (A. D. 177-202), and the evidence is that\n_he is the author of it_.[230:5] That controversies were rife in his day\nconcerning the resurrection of Jesus, is very evident from other\nsources. We find that at this time the resurrection of the dead\n(according to the accounts of the Christian forgers) was very far from\nbeing esteemed an uncommon event; that the miracle was frequently\nperformed on necessary occasions by great fasting and the joint\nsupplication of the church of the place, and that the persons thus\nrestored by their prayers had lived afterwards among them many years. At\nsuch a period, when faith could boast of so many wonderful victories\nover death, it seems difficult to account for the skepticism of those\nphilosophers, who still rejected and derided the doctrine of the\nresurrection. A noble Grecian had rested on this important ground the\nwhole controversy, and promised Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, _that if\nhe could be gratified by the sight of a single person who had been\nactually raised from the dead, he would immediately embrace the\nChristian religion_.\n\n\"It is somewhat remarkable,\" says Gibbon, the historian, from whom we\ntake the above, \"that the prelate of the first Eastern Church, however\nanxious for the conversion of his friend, thought proper to _decline_\nthis fair and reasonable challenge.\"[231:1]\n\nThis Christian _saint_, Iren\u00e6us, had invented many stories of others\nbeing raised from the dead, for the purpose of attempting to strengthen\nthe belief in the resurrection of Jesus. In the words of the Rev.\nJeremiah Jones:\n\n     \"Such _pious frauds_ were very common among Christians even in\n     the first three centuries; and a forgery of this nature, with\n     the view above-mentioned, _seems natural and probable_.\"\n\nOne of these \"_pious frauds_\" is the \"_Gospel of Nicodemus the Disciple,\nconcerning the Sufferings and Resurrection of our Master and Saviour\nJesus Christ_.\" Although attributed to Nicodemus, a disciple of Jesus,\nit has been shown to be a forgery, written towards the close of the\nsecond century--during the time of _Iren\u00e6us_, the well-known pious\nforger. In this book we find the following:\n\n     \"And now hear me a little. We all know the blessed Simeon, the\n     high-priest, who took Jesus when an infant into his arms in\n     the temple. This same Simeon had two sons of his own, _and we\n     were all present at their death and funeral_. Go therefore and\n     see their _tombs_, for these are open, _and they are risen_;\n     and behold, they are in the city of Arimath\u00e6a, spending their\n     time together in offices of devotion.\"[231:2]\n\nThe purpose of this story is very evident. Some \"zealous believer,\"\nobserving the appeals for proof of the resurrection, wishing to make it\nappear that resurrections from the dead were common occurrences,\ninvented this story _towards the close of the second century_, and\nfathered it upon Nicodemus.\n\nWe shall speak, anon, more fully on the subject of the frauds of the\nearly Christians, the \"lying and deceiving _for the cause of Christ_,\"\nwhich is carried on even to the present day.\n\nAs President Cheney of Bates College has lately remarked, \"_The\nresurrection is the doctrine of Christianity and the foundation of the\nentire system_,\"[232:1] but outside of the four spurious gospels this\ngreatest of all recorded miracles is hardly mentioned. \"We have epistles\nfrom Peter, James, John, and Jude--all of whom are said by the\nevangelists to have _seen_ Jesus after he rose from the dead, in none of\nwhich epistles is the fact of the resurrection even stated, much less\nthat Jesus was seen by the writer after his resurrection.\"[232:2]\n\nMany of the early Christian sects denied the resurrection of Christ\nJesus, but taught that he will rise, when there shall be a general\nresurrection.\n\nNo actual representation of the resurrection of the Christian's Saviour\nhas yet been found among the monuments of _early_ Christianity. The\nearliest representation of this event that has been found is an ivory\ncarving, and belongs to the _fifth or sixth_ century.[232:3]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[215:1] See Matthew, xxviii. Mark, xvi. Luke, xxiv. and John, xx.\n\n[215:2] Mark, xvi. 19.\n\n[215:3] Luke, xxiv. 51.\n\n[215:4] Acts, i. 9.\n\n[215:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 240. Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 142 and 145.\n\n[215:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 131. Bonwick's Egyptian\nBelief, p. 168. Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259 and 261.\n\n[215:7] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 72. Hist. Hindostan, ii. pp.\n466 and 473.\n\n\"In Hindu pictures, Vishnu, who is identified with Crishna, is often\nseen mounted on the Eagle Garuda.\" (Moore: Hindu Panth. p. 214.) And M.\nSonnerat noticed \"two basso-relievos placed at the entrance of the choir\nof Bordeaux Cathedral, one of which represents the ascension of our\nSaviour to heaven on an Eagle.\" (Higgins: Anac., vol. i. p. 273.)\n\n[216:1] Oriental Religions, pp. 494, 495.\n\n[216:2] Asiatic Res., vol. x. p. 129. Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 103.\n\n[216:3] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 49.\n\n[216:4] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 86. See also, Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 159.\n\n[216:5] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 214.\n\n[216:6] Ibid. p. 258.\n\n[217:1] Ovid's Metamorphoses, as rendered by Addison. Quoted in Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 148.\n\n[217:2] Quoted by Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 114. See also,\nTaylor's Diegesis, pp. 163, 164.\n\n[217:3] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 164.\n\n[217:4] Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, pp. 66, 67.\n\n[218:1] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 161. See also, Dunlap's\nMysteries of Adoni, p. 23, and Spirit Hist. of Man, p. 216.\n\n[218:2] Calmet's Fragments, vol. ii. p. 21.\n\n[218:3] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 86.\n\n[218:4] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 261.\n\n[219:1] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 247, and Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 164.\n\n[219:2] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 164. We shall speak of _Christian_\nforgeries anon.\n\n[219:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 2.\n\n[220:1] Quoted in Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. vii. See also, Knight:\nAncient Art and Mythology, p. xxvii.\n\n\"From the days of the prophet Daniel, down to the time when the red\ncross knights gave no quarter (fighting for _the Christ_) in the streets\nof Jerusalem, the Anointed was worshiped in Babylon, Basan, Galilee and\nPalestine.\" (Son of the Man, p. 38.)\n\n[220:2] Ezekiel, viii. 14.\n\n[220:3] Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 162, and Higgins: Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. p. 114.\n\n[221:1] See Justin: Cum. Typho, and Tertullian: De Bap.\n\n[221:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 16, and vol. i. p. 519.\nAlso, Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 66, and Bonwick's Egyptian\nBelief, p. 163.\n\n[221:3] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 166, and Dunlap's Mysteries of\nAdoni, pp. 124, 125.\n\n[221:4] Prolegomena to Ancient History.\n\n[221:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102.\n\n[221:6] Murray: Manual of Mythology, pp. 347, 348.\n\n[222:1] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 256.\n\n[222:2] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. vi.\n\n[222:3] Ibid. pp. 150-155, 178.\n\n[222:4] Herodotus, bk. ii. chs. 170, 171.\n\n[222:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 263, and Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. 108.\n\n[223:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 169. Higgins: Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. p. 104. Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 255. Dunlap's\nMysteries of Adoni, p. 110, and Knight: Anct. Art and Mythology, p. 86.\n\n[223:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99. _Mithras_ remained in the\ngrave a period of _three days_, as did Christ _Jesus_, and the other\nChrists. \"The Persians believed that the soul of man remained yet _three\ndays_ in the world after its separation from the body.\" (Dunlap:\nMysteries of Adoni, p. 63.)\n\n\"In the Zoroastrian religion, after soul and body have separated, the\nsouls, _in the third night_ after death--as soon as the shining sun\nascends--come over the Mount Berezaiti upon the bridge Tshinavat which\nleads to Garonmana, the dwelling of the good gods.\" (Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., p. 216, and Mysteries of Adoni, 60.)\n\nThe Ghost of Polydore says:\n\n\"Being raised up this _third day_--light, Having deserted my body!\"\n\n(Euripides, Hecuba, 31, 32.)\n\n[223:3] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, pp. 246, 247.\n\n[224:1] King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. 225.\n\n[224:2] Ibid. p. 226.\n\n[224:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102. Dupuis: Origin of\nReligious Belief, pp. 256, 257, and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 169.\n\n[224:4] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 135, and Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. 322.\n\n[224:5] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 294. See also, Goldzhier's Hebrew\nMythology, p. 127. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322, and Chambers's\nEncyclo., art. \"Hercules.\"\n\n[224:6] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 90.\n\n[224:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 56.\n\n[224:8] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii p. 94.\n\n[225:1] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 449.\n\n[225:2] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 85.\n\n[225:3] See Davies: Myths and Rites of the British Druids, pp. 89 and\n208.\n\n[225:4] See Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 166.\n\n[225:5] Quoted in Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 174.\n\n[225:6] As we shall see in the chapter on \"The Birth-day of Christ\nJesus.\"\n\n[225:7] _Easter_, the triumph of Christ, was originally solemnized on\nthe 25th of March, the very day upon which the Pagan gods were believed\nto have risen from the dead. (See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief,\npp. 244, 255.)\n\nA very long and terrible schism took place in the Christian Church upon\nthe question whether _Easter_, the day of the resurrection, was to be\ncelebrated on the 14th day of the first month, after the Jewish custom,\nor on the Lord's day afterward; and it was at last decided in favor of\nthe Lord's day. (See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 90, and\nChambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, art. \"Easter.\")\n\nThe day upon which Easter should be celebrated was not settled until the\nCouncil of Nice. (See Euseb. Life of Constantine, lib. 3, ch. xvii.\nAlso, Socrates' Eccl. Hist. lib. 1, ch. vi.)\n\n[226:1] Even the name of \"EASTER\" is derived from the heathen goddess,\n_Ostrt_, of the Saxons, and the _Eostre_ of the Germans.\n\n\"Many of the popular observances connected with Easter are clearly of\n_Pagan origin_. The goddess Ostara or Eastre seems to have been the\npersonification of the morning or East, and also of the opening year or\nSpring. . . . With her usual policy, the church endeavored to give a\nChristian significance to such of the rites as could not be rooted out;\nand in this case the conversion was practically easy.\" (Chambers's\nEncyclo., art. \"Easter.\")\n\n[226:2] Quoted in Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 244.\n\n[226:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 340.\n\n[227:1] Eccl. Hist., lib. 6, c. viii.\n\n[227:2] Anacalypsis, ii. 59.\n\n[228:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 24.\n\n[228:2] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Easter.\"\n\n[228:3] Ibid.\n\n[228:4] Matthew, xxviii. 17.\n\n[228:5] See xii. 40; xvi. 21; Mark, ix. 31; xiv. 23; John, ii. 10.\n\n[229:1] \"And let not any one among you say, that _this very flesh_ is\nnot judged, neither raised up. Consider, in what were ye saved? in what\ndid ye look up, if not whilst ye were in this flesh? We must, therefore,\nkeep our flesh as the temple of God. For in like manner as ye were\ncalled in the flesh, _ye shall also come to judgment_ in the flesh. Our\none Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us, being first a spirit, was made\nflesh, and so called us: _even so we also in this flesh, shall receive\nthe reward_ (_of heaven_).\" (II. Corinthians, ch. iv. _Apoc._ See also\nthe Christian Creed: \"I believe in the resurrection of the _body_.\")\n\n[229:2] Luke, xxiv. 37.\n\n[229:3] Luke, xxiv. 42, 43.\n\n[229:4] John, xxi. 12, 13.\n\n[230:1] John, xx. 20.\n\n[230:2] John, xx. 25.\n\n[230:3] John, xx. 27.\n\n[230:4] See, for a further account of the resurrection, Reber's Christ\nof Paul; Scott's English Life of Jesus; and Greg's Creed of Christendom.\n\n[230:5] See the Chapter xxxviii.\n\n[231:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. p. 541.\n\n[231:2] Nicodemus, Apoc. ch. xii.\n\n[232:1] Baccalaureate Sermon, June 26th, 1881.\n\n[232:2] Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p. 284.\n\n[232:3] See Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii., and Lundy's\nMonumental Christianity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nTHE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST JESUS, AND THE MILLENNIUM.\n\n\nThe second coming of Christ Jesus is clearly taught in the canonical, as\nwell as in the apocryphal, books of the New Testament. Paul teaches, or\n_is made to teach it_,[233:1] in the following words:\n\n     \"If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them\n     also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we\n     say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive\n     _and remain unto the coming of the Lord_, shall not prevent\n     them which are asleep. _For the Lord himself shall descend\n     from heaven_ with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,\n     and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise\n     first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be _caught up_\n     together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord _in the\n     air_: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.\"[233:2]\n\nHe further tells the Thessalonians to \"abstain from all appearance of\nevil,\" and to \"be preserved blameless _unto the coming of our Lord Jesus\nChrist_.\"[233:3]\n\nJames,[233:4] in his epistle to the brethren, tells them not to be in\ntoo great a hurry for the coming of their Lord, but to \"be patient\" and\nwait for the \"coming of the Lord,\" as the \"husbandman waiteth for the\nprecious fruit of the earth.\" But still he assures them that \"the coming\nof the Lord draweth nigh.\"[233:5]\n\nPeter, in his first epistle, tells his brethren that \"the end of all\nthings is at hand,\"[233:6] and that when the \"chief shepherd\" does\nappear, they \"shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not\naway.\"[233:7]\n\nJohn, in his first epistle, tells the Christian community to \"abide in\nhim\" (Christ), so that, \"when he shall appear, we may have confidence,\nand not be ashamed before him.\"[234:1]\n\nHe further says:\n\n     \"Behold, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet\n     appear what we shall be, but we know that, _when he shall\n     appear_, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he\n     is.\"[234:2]\n\nAccording to the writer of the book of \"The Acts,\" when Jesus ascended\ninto heaven, the Apostles stood looking _up_ towards heaven, where he\nhad gone, and while thus engaged: \"behold, two men stood by them\n(dressed) in white apparel,\" who said unto them:\n\n     \"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This\n     same Jesus which is _taken up_ from you into heaven, _shall so\n     come in like manner as ye have seen him go_ (up) _into\n     heaven_.\"[234:3]\n\nThe one great object which the writer of the book of Revelations wished\nto present to view, was \"_the second coming of Christ_.\" This writer,\nwho seems to have been anxious for that time, which was \"surely\" to come\n\"quickly;\" ends his book by saying: \"Even so, come Lord Jesus.\"[234:4]\n\nThe two men, dressed in white apparel, who had told the Apostles that\nJesus should \"come again,\" were not the only persons whom they looked to\nfor authority. He himself (according to the Gospel) had told them so:\n\n     \"The Son of man shall come (again) in the glory of his Father\n     with his angels.\"\n\nAnd, as if to impress upon their minds that his second coming should not\nbe at a distant day, he further said:\n\n     \"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which\n     shall not taste of death, _till they see the Son of man coming\n     in his kingdom_.\"[234:5]\n\nThis, surely, is very explicit, but it is not the only time he speaks of\nhis second advent. When foretelling the destruction of the temple, his\ndisciples came unto him, saying:\n\n     \"Tell us when shall these things be, _and what shall be the\n     sign of thy coming_?\"[234:6]\n\nHis answer to this is very plain:\n\n     \"Verily I say unto you, _this generation shall not pass till\n     all these things be fulfilled_ (_i. e_, the destruction of the\n     temple and his second coming), but of that day and hour\n     knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father\n     only.\"[234:7]\n\nIn the second Epistle _attributed_ to Peter, which was written after\nthat generation had passed away,[235:1] there had begun to be some\nimpatience manifest among the _believers_, on account of the long delay\nof Christ Jesus' second coming. \"Where is the promise of his coming?\"\nsay they, \"for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they\nwere from the beginning of the creation.\"[235:2] In attempting to\nsmoothe over matters, this writer says: \"There shall come in the last\ndays scoffers, saying: 'Where is the promise of his coming?'\" to which\nhe replies by telling them that they were ignorant of all the ways of\nthe Lord, and that: \"One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a\nthousand years as one day.\" He further says: \"The Lord is not slack\nconcerning his promise;\" and that \"the day of the Lord _will come_.\"\nThis coming is to be \"as a thief in the night,\" that is, when they least\nexpect it.[235:3]\n\nNo wonder there should have been scoffers--as this writer calls\nthem--the generation which was not to have passed away before his\ncoming, had passed away; all those who stood there had been dead many\nyears; the sun had not yet been darkened; the stars were still in the\nheavens, and the moon still continued to reflect light. None of the\npredictions had yet been fulfilled.\n\nSome of the early Christian Fathers have tried to account for the words\nof Jesus, where he says: \"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing\nhere which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming\nin his kingdom,\" by saying that he referred to _John_ only, and that\nthat Apostle was not dead, but sleeping. This fictitious story is\nrelated by Saint Augustin, \"from the report,\" as he says, \"of credible\npersons,\" and is to the effect that:\n\n     \"At Ephesus, where St. John the Apostle lay buried, he was not\n     believed to be dead, _but to be sleeping only in the grave_,\n     which he had provided for himself till our Saviour's second\n     coming: in proof of which, they affirm, that the earth, under\n     which he lay, was seen to heave up and down perpetually, in\n     conformity to the motion of his body, in the act of\n     breathing.\"[235:4]\n\nThis story clearly illustrates the stupid credulity and superstition of\nthe primitive age of the church, and the faculty of imposing any\nfictions upon the people, which their leaders saw fit to inculcate.\n\nThe doctrine of the _millennium_ designates a certain period in the\nhistory of the world, lasting for a long, indefinite space (vaguely a\n_thousand years_, as the word \"_millennium_\" implies) during which the\nkingdom of _Christ Jesus_ will be visibly established on the earth. The\nidea undoubtedly originated proximately in the Messianic expectation of\nthe Jews (as Jesus _did not_ sit on the throne of David and become an\nearthly ruler, it _must be_ that he is _coming again_ for this purpose),\nbut more remotely in the Pagan doctrine of the final triumph of the\nseveral \"Christs\" over their adversaries.\n\nIn the first century of the Church, _millenarianism_ was a _whispered_\nbelief, to which the book of Daniel, and more particularly the\npredictions of the _Apocalypse_[236:1] gave an apostolical authority,\nbut, when the church imbibed _Paganism_, their belief on this subject\nlent it a more vivid coloring and imagery.\n\nThe unanimity which the early Christian teachers exhibit in regard to\n_millenarianism_, proves how strongly it had laid hold of the\nimagination of the Church, to which, in this early stage, immortality\nand future rewards were to a great extent things of this world as yet.\nNot only did Cerinthus, but even the orthodox doctors--such as Papias\n(Bishop of Hierapolis), Iren\u00e6us, Justin Martyr and others--delighted\nthemselves with dreams of the glory and magnificence of the millennial\nkingdom. Papias, in his collection of traditional sayings of Christ\nJesus, indulges in the most monstrous representations of the re-building\nof Jerusalem, and the colossal vines and grapes of the millennial reign.\n\nAccording to the general opinion, the millennium was to be preceded by\ngreat calamities, after which the Messiah, _Christ Jesus_, would appear,\nand would bind Satan for a thousand years, annihilate the godless\nheathen, or make them slaves of the believers, overturn the Roman\nempire, from the ruins of which a new order of things would spring\nforth, in which \"the dead in Christ\" would rise, and along with the\nsurviving saints enjoy an incomparable felicity in the city of the \"New\nJerusalem.\" Finally, all nations would bend their knee to _him_, and\nacknowledge _him only_ to be _the Christ_--his religion would reign\nsupreme. This is the \"Golden Age\" of the future, which all nations of\nantiquity believed in and looked forward to.\n\nWe will first turn to _India_, and shall there find that the _Hindoos_\nbelieved their \"_Saviour_,\" or \"Preserver\" _Vishnu_, who appeared in\nmortal form as _Crishna_, is _to come again in the latter days_. Their\nsacred books declare that in the last days, when the fixed stars have\nall apparently returned to the point whence they started, at the\nbeginning of all things, in the month _Scorpio_, Vishnu will appear\namong mortals, in the form of an armed warrior, riding a winged _white\nhorse_.[236:2] In one hand he will carry a scimitar, \"blazing like a\ncomet,\" to destroy all the impure who shall then dwell on the face of\nthe earth. In the other hand he will carry a large shining ring, to\nsignify that the great circle of _Yugas_ (ages) is completed, and that\nthe end has come. At his approach _the sun and moon will be darkened,\nthe earth will tremble, and the stars fall from the firmament_.[237:1]\n\nThe Buddhists believe that _Buddha_ has repeatedly assumed a human form\nto facilitate the reunion of men with his own universal soul, so they\nbelieve that _\"in the latter days\" he will come again_. Their sacred\nbooks predict this coming, and relate that his mission will be to\nrestore the world to order and happiness.[237:2] This is exactly the\nChristian idea of the millennium.\n\nThe _Chinese_ also believe that \"_in the latter days_\" there is to be a\n_millennium_ upon earth. Their five sacred volumes are full of\nprophesies concerning this \"Golden Age of the Future.\" It is the\nuniversal belief among them that a \"_Divine Man_\" will establish himself\non earth, and everywhere restore peace and happiness.[237:3]\n\nThe ancient _Persians_ believed that in the last days, there would be a\nmillennium on earth, when the religion of Zoroaster would be accepted by\nall mankind. The Parsees of to-day, who are the remnants of the once\nmighty Persians, have a tradition that a holy personage is waiting in a\nregion called Kanguedez, for a summons from the Ized Serosch, who in the\nlast days will bring him to Persia, to restore the ancient dominion of\nthat country, and spread the religion of Zoroaster over the whole\nearth.[237:4]\n\nThe Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his \"Heathen Religion,\"[237:5] speaking of\nthe belief of the ancient Persians in the millennium, says:\n\n     \"The dead would be raised,[237:6] and he who has made all\n     things, cause the earth and the sea to return again the\n     remains of the departed.[237:7] Then Ormuzd shall clothe them\n     with flesh and blood, while they that live at the time of the\n     resurrection, must die in order to likewise participate in its\n     advantage.\n\n     \"Before this momentous event takes place, three illustrious\n     prophets shall appear, who will announce their presence by the\n     performance of miracles.\n\n     \"During this period of its existence, and till its final\n     removal, the earth will be afflicted with pestilence,\n     tempests, war, famine, and various other baneful\n     calamities.\"[237:8]\n\n     \"After the resurrection, every one will be apprised of the\n     good or evil which he may have done, and the righteous and the\n     wicked will be separated from each other.[238:1] Those of the\n     latter whose offenses have not yet been expiated, will be cast\n     into hell during the term of three days and three\n     nights,[238:2] in the presence of an assembled world, in order\n     to be purified in the burning stream of liquid ore.[238:3]\n     After this, they enjoy endless felicity in the society of the\n     blessed, and the pernicious empire of Ahriman (the devil), is\n     fairly exterminated.[238:4] Even this lying spirit will be\n     under the necessity to avail himself of this fiery ordeal, and\n     made to rejoice in its expurgating and cleansing efficacy.\n     Nay, hell itself is purged of its mephitic impurities, and\n     washed clean in the flames of a universal regeneration.[238:5]\n\n     \"The earth is now the habitation of bliss, all nature glows in\n     light; and the equitable and benignant laws of Ormuzd reign\n     supremely through the illimitable universe.[238:6] Finally,\n     after the resurrection, mankind will recognize each other\n     again; wants, cares, and passions will cease;[238:7] and\n     everything in the paradisian and all-embracing empire of\n     light, shall rebound to the praise of the benificent\n     God.\"[238:8]\n\nThe disciples of _Bacchus_ expected his _second advent_. They hoped he\nwould assume at some future day the government of the universe, and that\nhe would restore to man his primary felicity.[238:9]\n\nThe _Esthonian_ from the time of the German invasion lived a life of\nbondage under a foreign yoke, and the iron of his slavery entered into\nhis soul. He told how the ancient hero Kalewipoeg sits in the realms of\nshadows, waiting until his country is in its extremity of distress, when\nhe will _return to earth_ to avenge the injuries of the Esths, and\nelevate the poor crushed people into a mighty power.[238:10]\n\nThe suffering _Celt_ has his Brian Boroihme, or Arthur, _who will come\nagain_, the first to inaugurate a Fenian millennium, the second to\nregenerate Wales. Olger Dansk waits till the time arrives when he is to\nstart from sleep to the assistance of the _Dane_ against the hated\nPrussian. The Messiah is to come and restore the kingdom of the _Jews_.\nCharlemagne was the Messiah of medi\u00e6val Teutondom. He it was who founded\nthe great German empire, and shed over it the blaze of Christian truth,\nand now he sleeps in the Kyffhauserberg, waiting till German heresy has\nreached its climax and Germany is wasted through internal conflicts, to\nrush to earth once more, and revive the great empire and restore the\nCatholic faith.[239:1]\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ believed that in the \"latter days\" great\ncalamities would befall mankind. The earth would tremble, and the stars\nfall from heaven. After which, the great _serpent_ would be chained, and\nthe religion of Odin would reign supreme.[239:2]\n\nThe disciples of _Quetzalcoatle_, the Mexican Saviour, expected his\nsecond advent. Before he departed this life, he told the inhabitants of\nCholula that he would return again to govern them.[239:3] This\nremarkable tradition was so deeply cherished in their hearts, says Mr.\nPrescott in his \"Conquest of Mexico,\" that \"the Mexicans looked\nconfidently to the return of their benevolent deity.\"[239:4]\n\nSo implicitly was this believed by the subjects, that when the Spaniards\nappeared on the coast, they were joyfully hailed as the returning god\nand his companions. Montezuma's messengers reported to the Inca that \"it\nwas Quetzalcoatle who was coming, bringing his temples (ships) with\nhim.\" All throughout New Spain they expected the reappearance of this\n\"Son of the Great God\" into the world, who would renew all\nthings.[239:5]\n\nAcosta alludes to this, in his \"History of the Indies,\" as follows:\n\n     \"In the beginning of the year 1518, they (the Mexicans),\n     discovered a fleet at sea, in the which was the Marques del\n     Valle, Don Fernando Cortez, with his companions, a news which\n     much troubled Montezuma, and conferring with his council, they\n     all said, that without doubt, their great and ancient lord\n     Quetzalcoatle was come, who had said that he would return from\n     the East, whither he had gone.\"[239:6]\n\nThe doctrine of the millennium and the second advent of Christ Jesus,\nhas been a very important one in the Christian church. The ancient\nChristians were animated by a contempt for their present existence, and\nby a just confidence of immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect\nfaith of modern ages cannot give us any adequate notion. In the\nprimitive church, the influence of truth was powerfully strengthened by\nan opinion, which, however much it may deserve respect for its\nusefulness and antiquity, has not been found agreeable to experience.\n_It was universally believed, that the end of the world and the kingdom\nof heaven were at hand._[240:1] The near approach of this wonderful\nevent had been predicted, as we have seen, by the Apostles; the\ntradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those who\nbelieved that the discourses _attributed_ to Jesus were really uttered\nby him, were _obliged_ to expect the second and glorious coming of the\n\"Son of Man\" in the clouds, _before that generation was totally\nextinguished_ which had beheld his humble condition upon earth, and\nwhich might still witness the calamities of the Jews under Vespasian or\nHadrian. The revolution of seventeen centuries has instructed us not to\npress too closely the _mysterious_ language of prophecy and revelation;\nbut as long as this error was permitted to subsist in the church, it was\nproductive of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of\nChristians, who lived in the awful expectation of that moment when the\nglobe itself and all the various races of mankind, _should tremble at\nthe appearance of their divine judge_. This expectation was\ncountenanced--as we have seen--by the twenty-fourth chapter of St.\nMatthew, and by the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. Erasmus\n(one of the most vigorous promoters of the Reformation) removes the\ndifficulty by the help of _allegory_ and _metaphor_; and the learned\nGrotius (a learned theologian of the 16th century) ventures to\ninsinuate, that, for wise purposes, _the pious deception was permitted\nto take place_.\n\n_The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium_ was intimately\nconnected with the second coming of Christ Jesus. As the works of the\ncreation had been fixed in _six days_, their duration in the present\nstate, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet\nElijah, was fixed to _six thousand years_.[240:2] By the same analogy it\nwas inferred, that this long period of labor and contention, which had\nnow almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a\n_thousand years_, and that Christ Jesus, with the triumphant band of the\nsaints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously\nrevived, would reign upon earth until the time appointed for the last\nand general resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of the\nbelievers, that the \"New Jerusalem,\" the seat of this blissful kingdom,\nwas quickly adorned with all the gayest colors of the imagination. A\nfelicity consisting only of pure and spiritual pleasure would have been\ntoo refined for its inhabitants, who were still supposed to possess\ntheir human nature and senses. A \"Garden of Eden,\" with the amusements\nof the pastoral life, was no longer suited to the advanced state of\nsociety which prevailed under the Roman empire. A city was therefore\nerected of gold and precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn\nand wine was bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment\nof whose spontaneous productions, the happy and benevolent people were\nnever to be restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive property. Most\nof these pictures were borrowed from a misrepresentation of Isaiah,\nDaniel, and the Apocalypse. One of the grossest images may be found in\nIren\u00e6us (l. v.) the disciple of Papias, who had seen the Apostle St.\nJohn. Though it might not be universally received, it appears to have\nbeen the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; and it seems so\nwell adapted to the desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must\nhave contributed in a very considerable degree to the progress of the\nChristian faith. But when the edifice of the church was almost\ncompleted, the temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ\nJesus' reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound _allegory_,\nwas considered by degrees as a _doubtful_ and _useless_ opinion, and was\nat length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism. But\nalthough this doctrine had been \"laid aside,\" and \"rejected,\" it was\nagain resurrected, and is alive and rife at the present day, even among\nthose who stand as the leaders of the orthodox faith.\n\nThe expectation of the \"last day\" in the year 1000 A. D., reinvested the\ndoctrine with a transitory importance; but it lost all credit again when\nthe hopes so keenly excited by the _crusades_ faded away before the\nstern reality of Saracenic success, and the predictions of the\n\"Everlasting Gospel,\" a work of Joachim de Floris, a Franciscan abbot,\nremained unfulfilled.[241:1]\n\nAt the period of the _Reformation_, millenarianism once more experienced\na partial revival, because it was not a difficult matter to apply some\nof its symbolism to the papacy. The Pope, for example, was\n_Antichrist_--a belief still adhered to by some extreme Protestants. Yet\nthe doctrine was not adopted by the great body of the reformers, but by\nsome fanatical sects, such as the Anabaptists, and by the Theosophists\nof the seventeenth century.\n\nDuring the civil and religious wars in France and England, when great\nexcitement prevailed, it was also prominent. The \"Fifth Monarchy Men\" of\nCromwell's time were millenarians of the most exaggerated and dangerous\nsort. Their peculiar tenet was that the millennium _had_ come, and that\n_they_ were the saints who were to inherit the earth. The excesses of\nthe French Roman Catholic Mystics and Quietists terminated in\n_chiliastic_[242:1] views. Among the Protestants it was during the\n\"Thirty Years' War\" that the most enthusiastic and learned chiliasts\nflourished. The awful suffering and wide-spread desolation of that time\nled pious hearts to solace themselves with the hope of a peaceful and\nglorious future. Since then the _penchant_ which has sprung up for\nexpounding the prophetical books of the Bible, and particularly the\n_Apocalypse_, with a view to present events, has given the doctrine a\nfaint semi-theological life, very different, however, from the earnest\nfaith of the first Christians.\n\nAmong the foremost chiliastic teachers of modern centuries are to be\nmentioned Ezechiel Meth, Paul Felgenhauer, Bishop Comenius, Professor\nJurien, Seraris, Poiret, J. Mede; while Thomas Burnet and William\nWhiston endeavored to give chiliasm a geological foundation, but without\nfinding much favor. Latterly, especially since the rise and extension of\nmissionary enterprise, the opinion has obtained a wide currency, that\nafter the conversion of the whole world to Christianity, a blissful and\nglorious era will ensue; but not much stress--except by extreme\nliteralists--is now laid on the nature or duration of this far-off\nfelicity.\n\nGreat eagerness, and not a little ingenuity have been exhibited by many\npersons in fixing a _date_ for the commencement of the millennium. The\ncelebrated theologian, Johann Albrecht Bengel, who, in the eighteenth\ncentury, revived an earnest interest in the subject amongst orthodox\nProtestants, asserted from a study of the prophecies that the millennium\nwould begin in 1836. This date was long popular. Swedenborg held that\nthe last judgment _took place_ in 1757, and that the new church, or\n\"_Church of the New Jerusalem_,\" as his followers designate\nthemselves--in other words, the millennial era--_then began_.\n\nIn America, considerable agitation was excited by the preaching of one\nWilliam Miller, who fixed the second advent of Christ Jesus about 1843.\nOf late years, the most noted English millenarian was Dr. John Cumming,\nwho placed the end of the _present dispensation_ in 1866 or 1867; but as\nthat time passed without any millennial symptoms, he modified his\noriginal views considerably, before he died, and conjectured that the\nbeginning of the millennium would not differ so much after all from the\nyears immediately preceding it, as people commonly suppose.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[233:1] We say \"is made to teach it,\" for the probability is that Paul\nnever wrote this passage. The authority of _both_ the Letters to the\n_Thessalonians_, attributed to Paul, is undoubtedly spurious. (See The\nBible of To-Day, pp. 211, 212.)\n\n[233:2] I. Thessalonians, iv. 14-17.\n\n[233:3] Ibid. v. 22, 23.\n\n[233:4] We say \"James,\" but, it is probable that we have, in this\nepistle of James, another pseudonymous writing which appeared after the\ntime that James must have lived. (See The Bible of To-Day, p. 225.)\n\n[233:5] James, v. 7, 8.\n\n[233:6] I. Peter, iv. 7.\n\n[233:7] I. Peter, v. 7. This Epistle is not authentic. (See The Bible of\nTo-Day, pp. 226, 227, 228.)\n\n[234:1] I. John, ii. 26. This epistle is not authentic. (See Ibid. p.\n231.)\n\n[234:2] I. John, v. 2.\n\n[234:3] Acts, i. 10, 11.\n\n[234:4] Rev. xxii. 20.\n\n[234:5] Matt. xvi. 27, 28.\n\n[234:6] Ibid. xxiv. 3.\n\n[234:7] Ibid. xxiv. 34-36.\n\n[235:1] Towards the close of the second century. (See Bible of To-Day.)\n\n[235:2] II. Peter, iii. 4.\n\n[235:3] II. Peter, iii. 8-10.\n\n[235:4] See Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 188.\n\n[236:1] Chapters xx. and xxi. in particular.\n\n[236:2] The _Christian Saviour_, as well as the _Hindoo Saviour_, will\nappear \"in the latter days\" among mortals \"in the form of an armed\nwarrior, riding a _white horse_.\" St. John sees this in his _vision_,\nand prophecies it in his \"Revelation\" thus: \"And I saw, and behold a\n_white horse_: and he that sat on him had a _bow_; and a _crown_ was\ngiven unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.\" (Rev. vi.\n2.)\n\n[237:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 75. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp.\n497-503. See also, Williams: Hinduism, p. 108.\n\n[237:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, i. 247, and Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 48.\n\n[237:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 209.\n\n[237:4] See Ibid. p. 279. The Angel-Messiah, p. 287, and chap. xiii.\nthis work.\n\n[237:5] Pp. 122, 123.\n\n[237:6] \"And I saw the _dead_, small and great, stand before God.\" (Rev.\nxx. 12.)\n\n[237:7] \"And the _sea_ gave up the dead which were in it.\" (Rev. xx.\n13.)\n\n[237:8] \"And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars.\" \"Nation shall\nrise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be\nfamines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.\" (Matt. xxiv. 6,\n7.)\n\n[238:1] \"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall\nseparate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from\nthe goats.\" (Matt. xxv. 32, 33.)\n\n[238:2] \"He descended into hell, the third day he rose (again) from the\ndead.\" (Apostles' Creed.)\n\n[238:3] Purgatory--a place in which souls are supposed by the papists to\nbe purged by fire from carnal impurities, before they are received into\nheaven.\n\n[238:4] \"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the\nDevil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.\" (Rev. xx. 2.)\n\n[238:5] \"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.\" (Rev. xx.\n14.)\n\n[238:6] \"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first earth,\nand the first heaven were passed away.\" (Rev. xxi. 1.)\n\n[238:7] \"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there\nshall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there\nbe any more pain: for the former things are passed away.\" (Rev. xxi. 1.)\n\n[238:8] \"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in\nheaven, saying, 'Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power,\nunto the Lord, our God.'\" (Rev. xix. 1.) \"For the Lord God omnipotent\nreigneth.\" (Rev. xix. 6.)\n\n[238:9] Dupuis: Orig. Relig. Belief.\n\n[238:10] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 407.\n\n[239:1] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 407.\n\n[239:2] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.\n\n[239:3] Humboldt: Amer. Res., vol. i. p. 91.\n\n[239:4] Prescott: Con. of Mexico, vol. i. p. 60.\n\n[239:5] Fergusson: Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 87. Squire: Serpent\nSymbol, p. 187.\n\n[239:6] Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 513.\n\n[240:1] Over all the Higher Asia there seems to have been diffused an\nimmemorial tradition relative to a second grand convulsion of nature,\nand the final dissolution of the earth by the terrible agency of FIRE,\nas the first is said to have been by that of WATER. It was taught by the\nHindoos, the Egyptians, Plato, Pythagoras, Zoroaster, the Stoics, and\nothers, and was afterwards adopted by the Christians. (II. Peter, iii.\n9. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp. 498-500.)\n\n[240:2] \"And God made, in six days, the works of his hands, . . . the\nmeaning of it is this; that in _six thousand years_ the Lord will bring\nall things to an end.\" (Barnabas. _Apoc._ c. xiii.)\n\n[241:1] After the devotees and followers of the new gospel had in vain\nexpected the _Holy One_ who was to come, they at last pitched upon St.\nFrancis as having been the expected one, and, of course, the most\nsurprising and absurd miracles were said to have been performed by him.\nSome of the fanatics who believed in this man, maintained that St.\nFrancis was \"wholly and entirely transformed into the person of\nChrist\"--_Totum Christo configuratum_. Some of them maintained that the\ngospel of Joachim was expressly preferred to the gospel of Christ.\n(Mosheim: Hist. Cent., xiii. pt. ii. sects. xxxiv. and xxxvi.\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 695.)\n\n[242:1] _Chiliasm_--the thousand years when Satan is bound.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nCHRIST JESUS AS JUDGE OF THE DEAD.\n\n\nAccording to Christian dogma, \"God the Father\" is not to be the judge at\nthe last day, but this very important office is to be held by \"God the\nSon.\" This is taught by the writer of \"The Gospel according to St.\nJohn\"--whoever he may have been--when he says:\n\n     \"For the Father judgeth no man, _but hath committed all\n     judgment unto the Son_.\"[244:1]\n\nPaul also, in his \"Epistle to the Romans\" (or some other person who has\ninterpolated the passage), tells us that:\n\n     \"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men,\" this\n     judgment shall be done \"by _Jesus Christ_,\" his son.[244:2]\n\nAgain, in his \"Epistle to Timothy,\"[244:3] he says:\n\n     \"_The Lord Jesus Christ_ shall judge the quick and the dead,\n     at his appearing and his kingdom.\"[244:4]\n\nThe writer of the \"Gospel according to St. Matthew,\" also describes\nChrist Jesus as judge at the last day.[244:5]\n\nNow, the question arises, _is this doctrine original with Christianity_?\nTo this we must answer _no_. It was taught, for ages before the time of\nChrist Jesus or Christianity, that the Supreme Being--whether \"Brahm\u00e1,\"\n\"Zeru\u00e2n\u00e9 Aker\u00e9n\u00e9,\" \"Jupiter,\" or \"Yahweh,\"[244:6]--was not to be the\njudge at the last day, but that their _sons_ were to hold this position.\n\nThe sectarians of _Buddha_ taught that he (who was the _Son of God_\n(Brahm\u00e1) and the Holy Virgin Maya), is to be the judge of the\ndead.[244:7]\n\nAccording to the religion of the Hindoos, _Crishna_ (who was the _Son\nof God_, and the Holy Virgin Devaki), is to be the judge at the last\nday.[245:1] And _Yama_ is the god of the departed spirits, and the judge\nof the dead, according to the _Vedas_.[245:2]\n\n_Osiris_, the Egyptian \"Saviour\" and son of the \"Immaculate Virgin\"\nNeith or Nout, was believed by the ancient Egyptians to be the judge of\nthe dead.[245:3] He is represented on Egyptian monuments, seated on his\nthrone of judgment, bearing a staff, and carrying the _crux ansata_, or\ncross with a handle.[245:4] _St. Andrew's cross_ is upon his breast. His\n_throne_ is in checkers, to denote the good and evil over which he\npresides, or to indicate the good and evil who appear before him as the\njudge.[245:5]\n\nAmong the many hieroglyphic titles which accompany his figure in these\nsculptures, and in many other places on the walls of temples and tombs,\nare \"Lord of Life,\" \"The Eternal Ruler,\" \"Manifester of Good,\" \"Revealer\nof Truth,\" \"Full of Goodness and Truth,\" &c.[245:6]\n\nMr. Bonwick, speaking of the Egyptian belief in the last judgment, says:\n\n     \"A perusal of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew will prepare\n     the reader for the investigation of the Egyptian notion of the\n     last judgment.\"[245:7]\n\nProf. Carpenter, referring to the Egyptian Bible--which is by far the\nmost ancient of all holy books[245:8]--says:\n\n     \"In the 'Book of the Dead,' there are used the very phrases we\n     find in the New Testament, _in connection with the day of\n     judgment_.\"[245:9]\n\nAccording to the religion of the _Persians_, it is _Ormuzd_, \"_The First\nBorn of the Eternal One_,\" who is judge of the dead. He had the title of\n\"The All-Seeing,\" and \"The Just Judge.\"[245:10]\n\nZeru\u00e2n\u00e9 Aker\u00e9n\u00e9 is the name of him who corresponds to \"God the Father\"\namong other nations. He was the \"One Supreme essence,\" the \"Invisible\nand Incomprehensible.\"[245:11]\n\nAmong the ancient _Greeks_, it was _Aeacus_--Son of the Most High\nGod--who was to be judge of the dead.[245:12]\n\nThe Christian Emperor Constantine, in his oration to the clergy,\nspeaking of the ancient poets of Greece, says:\n\n     \"They affirm that men who are the _sons of the gods_, do\n     judge departed souls.\"[246:1]\n\nStrange as it may seem, \"there are no examples of Christ Jesus\nconceived as judge, or the last judgment, in the _early_ art of\nChristianity.\"[246:2]\n\nThe author from whom we quote the above, says, \"It would be difficult to\ndefine the _cause_ of this, though many may be conjectured.\"[246:3]\n\nWould it be unreasonable to \"conjecture\" that the _early_ Christians did\nnot teach this doctrine, but that it was imbibed, in after years, with\nmany other heathen ideas?\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[244:1] John, v. 22.\n\n[244:2] Romans, ii. 16.\n\n[244:3] Not authentic. (See The Bible of To-Day, p. 212.)\n\n[244:4] II. Timothy, iv. 1.\n\n[244:5] Matt. xxv. 31-46.\n\n[244:6] Through an error we pronounce this name _Jehovah_.\n\n[244:7] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 366.\n\n[245:1] See Samuel Johnson's Oriental Religions, p. 504.\n\n[245:2] See Williams' Hinduism, p. 25.\n\n[245:3] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 120. Renouf: Religions of the\nAncient Egyptians, p. 110, and Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 152.\n\n[245:4] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 151, and Prog. Relig. Ideas,\nvol. i. p. 152.\n\n[245:5] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 151.\n\n[245:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 154.\n\n[245:7] Egyptian Belief, p. 419.\n\n[245:8] See Ibid. p. 185.\n\n[245:9] Quoted in Ibid. p. 419.\n\n[245:10] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 259.\n\n[245:11] Ibid. p. 258.\n\n[245:12] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 16.\n\n[246:1] Constantine's Oration to the Clergy, ch. x.\n\n[246:2] Jameson: History of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 392.\n\n[246:3] Ibid.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nCHRIST JESUS AS CREATOR, AND ALPHA AND OMEGA.\n\n\nChristian dogma also teaches that it was not \"God the Father,\" but \"God\nthe Son\" who created the heavens, the earth, and all that therein is.\n\nThe writer of the fourth Gospel says:\n\n     \"_All things were made by him_, and without him was not\n     anything made that was made.\"[247:1]\n\nAgain:\n\n     \"He was in the world _and the world was made by him_, and the\n     world knew him not.\"[247:2]\n\nIn the \"Epistle to the Colossians,\" we read that:\n\n     \"By _him_ were all things created that are in heaven and that\n     are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,\n     or dominions, or principalities, or powers; _all things were\n     created by him_.\"[247:3]\n\nAgain, in the \"Epistle to the Hebrews,\" we are told that:\n\n     \"God hath spoken unto us by _his son_, whom he hath appointed\n     heir of all things, _by whom also he made the world_.\"[247:4]\n\nSamuel Johnson, D. O. Allen,[247:5] and Thomas Maurice,[247:6] tell us\nthat, according to the religion of the _Hindoos_, it is _Crishna_, the\nSon, and the second person in the ever blessed Trinity,[247:7] \"who is\nthe origin and end of all the worlds; _all this universe, came into\nbeing through him, the eternal maker_.\"[247:8]\n\nIn the holy book of the Hindoos, called the \"_Bhagvat Geeta_,\" may be\nfound the following words of _Crishna_, addressed to his \"beloved\ndisciple\" Ar-jouan:\n\n     \"I am _the Lord of all created beings_.\"[247:9] \"_Mankind was\n     created by me_ of four kinds, distinct in their principles and\n     in their duties; _know me then to be the Creator of mankind_,\n     uncreated, and without decay.\"[247:10]\n\nIn Lecture VII., entitled: \"Of the Principles of Nature, and the Vital\nSpirit,\" he also says:\n\n     \"I am the creation and the dissolution of the whole universe.\n     There is not anything greater than I, and all things hang on\n     me.\"\n\nAgain, in Lecture IX., entitled, \"Of the Chief of Secrets and Prince of\nScience,\" Crishna says:\n\n     \"The whole world was spread abroad by me in my invisible form.\n     All things are dependent on me.\" \"I am the Father and the\n     Mother of this world, the Grandsire and the Preserver. I am\n     the Holy One worthy to be known; the mystic figure OM.[248:1]\n     . . . I am the journey of the good; the _Comforter_; the\n     _Creator_; the _Witness_; the _Resting-place_; the _Asylum_\n     and the _Friend_.\"[248:2]\n\nIn Lecture X., entitled, \"Of the diversity of the Divine Nature,\" he\nsays:\n\n     \"_I am the Creator of all things_, and all things proceed from\n     me. Those who are endued with spiritual wisdom, believe this\n     and worship me; their very hearts and minds are in me; they\n     rejoice amongst themselves, and delight in speaking of my\n     name, and teaching one another my doctrine.\"[248:3]\n\nInnumerable texts, similar to these, might be produced from the Hindoo\nScriptures, but these we deem sufficient to show, in the words of Samuel\nJohnson quoted above, that, \"According to the religion of the Hindoos,\nit is Crishna who is the origin and the end of all the worlds;\" and that\n\"all this universe came into being through him, the Eternal Maker.\" The\n_Chinese_ believed in One Supreme God, to whose honor they burnt\nincense, but of whom they had no image. This \"God the Father\" was _not_\nthe Creator, according to their theology or mythology; but they had\nanother god, of whom they had statues or idols, called _Natigai_, who\nwas the god of all terrestrial things; in fact, God, _the Creator of\nthis world_--inferior or subordinate to the Supreme Being--from whom\nthey petition for fine weather, or whatever else they want--a sort of\n_mediator_.[248:4]\n\n_Lanthu_, who was born of a \"pure, spotless virgin,\" is believed by his\nfollowers or disciples to be the Creator of all things;[248:5] and\n_Taou_, a deified hero, who is mentioned about 560 B. C., is believed by\nsome sects and affirmed by their books, to be \"the original source and\nfirst productive cause of all things.\"[248:6]\n\nIn the _Chaldean_ oracles, the doctrine of the \"Only Begotten Son,\" I A\nO, as _Creator_, is plainly taught.\n\nAccording to ancient _Persian_ mythology, there is one supreme essence,\ninvisible and incomprehensible, named \"_Zeru\u00e2n\u00e9 Aker\u00e9n\u00e9_\" which\nsignifies \"unlimited time,\" or \"the eternal.\" From him emanated\n_Ormuzd_, the \"King of Light,\" the \"First-born of the Eternal One,\" &c.\nNow, this \"First-born of the Eternal One\" is he by whom all things were\nmade, all things came into being through him; _he is the\nCreator_.[249:1]\n\nA large portion of the _Zend-Avesta_--the Persian Sacred Book or\nBible--is filled with prayers to Ormuzd, God's First-Born. The following\nare samples:\n\n     \"I address my prayer to Ormuzd, _Creator of all_ things; who\n     always has been, who is, and who will be forever; who is wise\n     and powerful; who made the great arch of heaven, the sun, the\n     moon, stars, winds, clouds, waters, earth, fire, trees,\n     animals and men, whom Zoroaster adored. Zoroaster, who brought\n     to the world knowledge of the law, who knew by natural\n     intelligence, and by the ear, what ought to be done, all that\n     has been, all that is, and all that will be; the science of\n     sciences, _the excellent word_, by which souls pass the\n     luminous and radiant bridge, separate themselves from the evil\n     regions, and go to light and holy dwellings, full of\n     fragrance. _O Creator_, I obey thy laws, I think, act, speak,\n     according to thy orders. I separate myself from all sin. I do\n     good works according to my power. I adore thee with purity of\n     thought, word, and action. I pray to Ormuzd, who recompenses\n     good works, who delivers unto the end all those who obey his\n     laws. Grant that I may arrive at paradise, where all is\n     fragrance, light, and happiness.\"[249:2]\n\nAccording to the religion of the ancient _Assyrians_, it was _Narduk_,\nthe Logos, the WORD, \"the eldest son of Hea,\" \"the Merciful One,\" \"the\nLife-giver,\" &c., who created the heavens, the earth, and all that\ntherein is.[249:3]\n\n_Adonis_, the Lord and Saviour, was believed to be the Creator of men,\nand god of the resurrection of the dead.[249:4]\n\n_Prometheus_, the Crucified Saviour, is the divine forethought, existing\nbefore the souls of men, and the creator Hominium.[249:5]\n\nThe writer of \"The Gospel according to St. John,\" has made Christ Jesus\n_co-eternal_ with God, as well as Creator, in these words:\n\n     \"In the beginning was the _Word_, and the Word was with God.\"\n     \"The same was in the beginning with God.\"[249:6]\n\nAgain, in praying to his Father, he makes Jesus say:\n\n     \"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with\n     the glory _which I had with thee before the world\n     was_.\"[249:7]\n\nPaul is made to say:\n\n     \"And he (Christ) is before all things.\"[250:1]\n\nAgain:\n\n     \"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and\n     forever.\"[250:2]\n\nSt. John the Divine, in his \"Revelation,\" has made Christ Jesus say:\n\n     \"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end\"--\"which is,\n     and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty,\"[250:3]\n     \"the first and the last.\"[250:4]\n\nHindoo scripture also makes _Crishna_ \"the first and the last,\" \"the\nbeginning and the end.\" We read in the \"Geeta,\" where Crishna is\nreported to have said:\n\n     \"I myself never was not.\"[250:5] \"Learn that he by whom all\n     things were formed\" (meaning himself) \"is\n     incorruptible.\"[250:6] \"I am eternity and\n     non-eternity.\"[250:7] \"I am before all things, and the mighty\n     ruler of the universe.\"[250:8] \"I am the beginning, the middle\n     and the end of all things.\"[250:9]\n\nArjouan, his disciple, addresses him thus:\n\n     \"Thou art the Supreme Being, incorruptible, worthy to be\n     known; thou art prime supporter of the universal orb; thou art\n     the never-failing and eternal guardian of religion; _thou art\n     from all beginning_, and I esteem thee.\"[250:10] Thou art \"the\n     Divine Being, before all other gods.\"[250:11]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"Reverence! Reverence be unto thee, before and behind!\n     Reverence be unto thee on all sides, O thou who art all in\n     all! Infinite in thy power and thy glory! Thou includest all\n     things, wherefore thou art all things.\"[250:12]\n\nIn another Holy Book of the Hindoos, called the \"Vishnu Purana,\" we also\nread that Vishnu--in the form of Crishna--\"who descended into the womb\nof the (virgin) Devaki, and was born as her son\" was \"_without\nbeginning, middle or end_.\"[250:13]\n\n_Buddha_ is also Alpha and Omega, without beginning or end, \"The Lord,\"\n\"the Possessor of All,\" \"He who is Omnipotent and Everlastingly to be\nContemplated,\" \"the Supreme Being, the Eternal One.\"[250:14]\n\n_Lao-kiun_, the Chinese virgin-born God, who came upon earth about six\nhundred years before Jesus, was without beginning. It was said that he\nhad existed from all eternity.[250:15]\n\nThe legends of the Taou-tsze sect in China declare their founder to\nhave existed antecedent to the birth of the elements, in the Great\nAbsolute; that he is the \"pure essence of the _t\u00eben_;\" that he is the\noriginal ancestor of the prime breath of life; that he gave form to the\nheavens and the earth, and caused creations and annihilations to succeed\neach other, in an endless series, during innumerable periods of the\nworld. He himself is made to say:\n\n     \"I was in existence prior to the manifestation of any\n     corporeal shape; I appeared anterior to the supreme being, or\n     first motion of creation.\"[251:1]\n\nAccording to the _Zend Avesta_, Ormuzd, the first-born of the Eternal\nOne, is he \"who is, always has been, and who will be forever.\"[251:2]\n\n_Zeus_ was Alpha and Omega. An Orphic line runs thus:\n\n     \"Zeus is the beginning, Zeus is the middle, out of Zeus all\n     things have been made.\"[251:3]\n\n_Bacchus_ was without beginning or end. An inscription on an ancient\nmedal, referring to him, reads thus:\n\n     \"It is I who leads you; it is I who protects you, and who\n     saves you, I am Alpha and Omega.\"\n\nBeneath this inscription is a serpent, with his tail in his mouth, thus\nforming a _circle_, which was an emblem of _eternity_ among the\nancients.[251:4]\n\nWithout enumerating them, we may say that the majority of the\nvirgin-born gods spoken of in Chapter XII. were like Christ\nJesus--without beginning or end--and that many of them were considered\nCreators of all things. This has led M. Dridon to remark (in his Hist.\nde Dieu), that in _early works of art_, Christ Jesus is made to take the\nplace of his Father in _creation_ and in similar labors, just as in\nheathen religions an inferior deity does the work under a superior one.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[247:1] John, i. 3.\n\n[247:2] John, i. 10.\n\n[247:3] Colossians, i.\n\n[247:4] Hebrews, i. 2.\n\n[247:5] Allen's India, pp. 137 and 380.\n\n[247:6] Indian Antiq., vol. ii. p. 288.\n\n[247:7] See the chapter on the Trinity.\n\n[247:8] Oriental Religions, p. 502.\n\n[247:9] Lecture iv. p. 51.\n\n[247:10] Geeta, p. 52.\n\n[248:1] O. M. or A. U. M. is the Hindoo ineffable name; the mystic\nemblem of the deity. It is never uttered aloud, but only mentally by the\ndevout. It signifies Brahma, Vishnou, and Siva, the _Hindoo Trinity_.\n(See Charles Wilkes in Geeta, p. 142, and King's Gnostics and their\nRemains, p. 163.)\n\n[248:2] Geeta, p. 80.\n\n[248:3] Geeta, p. 84.\n\n[248:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 48.\n\n[248:5] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 35.\n\n[248:6] See Davis: Hist. China, vol. ii. pp. 109 and 113, and Thornton,\nvol. i. p. 137.\n\n[249:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 259. In the most ancient\nparts of the Zend-Avesta, Ormuzd is said to have created the world by\nhis WORD. (See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 104, and Gibbon's Rome, vol.\nii. p. 302, Note by Guizot.) \"In the beginning was the WORD, and the\nWORD was with God, and the WORD was God.\" (John, i. 1.)\n\n[249:2] Quoted in Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 267.\n\n[249:3] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 404.\n\n[249:4] See Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 156.\n\n[249:5] See Ibid. p. 156, and Bulfinch, Age of Fable.\n\n[249:6] John, i. 1, 2.\n\n[249:7] John, xvii. 5.\n\n[250:1] Col. i. 17.\n\n[250:2] Hebrews, xiii. 8.\n\n[250:3] Rev. i. 8, 23, 13.\n\n[250:4] Rev. i. 17; xii. 13.\n\n[250:5] Geeta, p. 35.\n\n[250:6] Geeta, p. 36.\n\n[250:7] Lecture ix. p. 80.\n\n[250:8] Lecture x. p. 83.\n\n[250:9] Lecture x. p. 85.\n\n[250:10] Lecture ix. p. 91.\n\n[250:11] Lecture x. p. 84.\n\n[250:12] Lecture xi. p. 95.\n\n[250:13] See Vishnu Purana, p. 440.\n\n[250:14] See chapter xii.\n\n[250:15] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 200.\n\n[251:1] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. p. 137.\n\n[251:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, ii. p. 267.\n\n[251:3] M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 15.\n\n[251:4] \"C'est moi qui vous conduis, vous et tout ce qui vous regarde.\nC'est moi, qui vous conserve, on qui vous sauve. Je suis Alpha et Omega.\nIl y a au dessous de l'inscription un serpent qui tient sa queue dans sa\ngueule et dans la cercle qu'il d\u00e9crit, cest trois lettre Greques {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~},\nqui sont le nombre 365. Le serpent, qui est'ordinaire un embl\u00e8me de\nl'\u00e9ternit\u00e9 est ici celui de soleil et de ses revolutions.\" Beausobre:\nHist. de Manichee, Tom. ii. p. 56.\n\n\"I say that I am immortal, Dionysus (Bacchus), son of Deus.\"\n_Aristophanes_, in Myst. Of Adoni, pp. 80, and 105.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nTHE MIRACLES OF CHRIST JESUS AND THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS.\n\n\nThe legendary history of Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the books of\nthe New Testament, is full of prodigies and wonders. These alleged\nprodigies, and the faith which the people seem to have put in such a\ntissue of falsehoods, indicate the prevalent disposition of the people\nto believe in everything, and it was among such a class that\nChristianity was propagated. All leaders of religion had the reputation\nof having performed miracles; the biographers of Jesus, therefore, not\nwishing _their_ Master to be outdone, have made him also a\nwonder-worker, and a performer of miracles; without them Christianity\ncould not prosper. Miracles were needed in those days, on all special\noccasions. \"There is not a single historian of antiquity, whether Greek\nor Latin, who has not recorded oracles, prodigies, prophecies, and\n_miracles_, on the occasion of some memorable events, or revolutions of\nstates and kingdoms. Many of these are attested in the gravest manner by\nthe gravest writers, _and were firmly believed at the time by the\npeople_.\"[252:1]\n\nHindoo sacred books represent _Crishna_, their Saviour and Redeemer, as\nin constant strife against the evil spirit. He surmounts extraordinary\ndangers; strews his way with miracles; raising the dead, healing the\nsick, restoring the maimed, the deaf and the blind; everywhere\nsupporting the weak against the strong, the oppressed against the\npowerful. The people crowded his way and adored him as a GOD, and these\nmiracles were the evidences of his divinity for centuries before the\ntime of Jesus.\n\nThe learned Thomas Maurice, speaking of Crishna, tells us that he passed\nhis innocent hours at the home of his foster-father, in rural\ndiversions, his divine origin not being suspected, _until repeated\nmiracles soon discovered his celestial origin_;[252:2] and Sir William\nJones speaks of his _raising the dead_, and saving multitudes _by his\nmiraculous powers_.[253:1] To enumerate the miracles of Crishna would\nbe useless and tedious; we shall therefore mention but a few, of which\nthe Hindoo sacred books are teeming.\n\nWhen Crishna was born, his life was sought by the reigning monarch,\nKansa, who had the infant Saviour and his father and mother locked in a\ndungeon, guarded, and barred by seven iron doors. While in this dungeon\nthe father heard a secret voice distinctly utter these words: \"Son of\nYadu, take up this child and carry it to Gokool, to the house of Nanda.\"\nVasudeva, struck with astonishment, answered: \"How shall I obey this\ninjunction, thus vigilantly guarded and barred by seven iron doors that\nprohibit all egress?\" The unknown voice replied: \"The doors shall open\nof themselves to let thee pass, and behold, I have caused a deep slumber\nto fall upon thy guards, which shall continue till thy journey be\naccomplished.\" Vasudeva immediately felt his chains miraculously\nloosened, and, taking up the child in his arms, hurried with it through\nall the doors, the guards being buried in profound sleep. When he came\nto the river Yumna, which he was obliged to cross to get to Gokool, the\nwaters immediately rose up to kiss the child's feet, and then\nrespectfully retired on each side to make way for its transportation, so\nthat Vasudeva passed dry-shod to the opposite shore.[253:2]\n\nWhen Crishna came to man's estate, one of his first miracles was the\ncure of a leper.\n\nA passionate Brahman, having received a slight insult from a certain\nRajah, on going out of his doors, uttered this curse: \"That he should,\nfrom head to foot, be covered with boils and leprosy;\" which being\nfulfilled in an instant upon the unfortunate king, he prayed to Crishna\nto deliver him from his evil. At first, Crishna did not heed his\nrequest, but finally he appeared to him, asking what his request was? He\nreplied, \"To be freed from my distemper.\" The Saviour then cured him of\nhis distemper.[253:3]\n\nCrishna was one day walking with his disciples, when \"they met a poor\ncripple or lame woman, having a vessel filled with spices, sweet-scented\noils, sandal-wood, saffron, civet and other perfumes. Crishna making a\nhalt, she made a certain sign with her finger on his forehead, _casting\nthe rest upon his head_. Crishna asking her what it was she would\nrequest of him, the woman replied, nothing but the use of my limbs.\nCrishna, then, setting his foot upon hers, and taking her by the hand,\nraised her from the ground, and not only restored her limbs, but\nrenewed her age, so that, instead of a wrinkled, tawny skin, she\nreceived a fresh and fair one in an instant. At her request, Crishna and\nhis company lodged in her house.\"[254:1]\n\nOn another occasion, Crishna having requested a learned Brahman to ask\nof him whatever boon he most desired, the Brahman said, \"Above all\nthings, I desire to have my two dead sons restored to life.\" Crishna\nassured him that this should be done, and immediately the two young men\nwere restored to life and brought to their father.[254:2]\n\nThe learned Orientalist, Thomas Maurice, after speaking of the miracles\nperformed by Crishna, says:\n\n     \"In regard to the numerous miracles wrought by Crishna, it\n     should be remembered that miracles are never wanting to the\n     decoration of an Indian romance; they are, in fact, the life\n     and soul of the vast machine; nor is it at all a subject of\n     wonder that the dead should be raised to life in a history\n     expressly intended, like all other sacred fables of Indian\n     fabrication, for the propagation and support of the whimsical\n     doctrine of the Metempsychosis.\"[254:3]\n\nTo speak thus of the miracles of Christ Jesus, would, of course, be\nheresy--although what applies to the miracles of Crishna apply to those\nof Jesus--we, therefore, find this gentleman branding as \"_infidel_\" a\nlearned French orientalist who was guilty of doing this thing.\n\n_Buddha_ performed great miracles for the good of mankind, and the\nlegends concerning him are full of the most extravagant prodigies and\nwonders.[254:4] \"By miracles and preaching,\" says Burnouf, \"was the\nreligion of Buddha established.\"\n\nR. Spence Hardy says of Buddha:\n\n     \"All the principal events of his life are represented as being\n     attended by incredible prodigies. He could pass through the\n     air at will, and know the thoughts of all beings.\"[254:5]\n\nProf. Max M\u00fcller says:\n\n     \"The Buddhist legends teem with miracles attributed to Buddha\n     and his disciples--miracles which in wonderfulness certainly\n     surpass the miracles of any other religion.\"[254:6]\n\nBuddha was at one time going from the city of Rohita-vastu to the city\nof Benares, when, coming to the banks of the river Ganges, and wishing\nto go across, he addressed himself to the owner of a ferry-boat, thus;\n\"Hail! respectable sir! I pray you take me across the river in your\nboat!\" To this the boatman replied, \"If you can pay me the fare, I will\nwillingly take you across the river.\" Buddha said, \"Whence shall I\nprocure money to pay you your fare, I, who have given up all worldly\nwealth and riches, &c.\" The boatman still refusing to take him across,\nBuddha, pointing to a flock of geese flying from the south to the north\nbanks of the Ganges, said:\n\n     \"See yonder geese in fellowship passing o'er the Ganges,\n      They ask not as to fare of any boatman,\n      But each by his inherent strength of body\n      Flies through the air as pleases him.\n      So, by my power of spiritual energy,\n      Will I transport myself across the river,\n      Even though the waters on this southern bank\n      Stood up as high and firm as (Mount) Semeru.\"[255:1]\n\nHe then floats through the air across the stream.\n\nIn the _Lalita Vistara_ Buddha is called the \"Great Physician\" who is to\n\"dull all human pain.\" At his appearance the \"sick are healed, the deaf\nare cured, the blind see, the poor are relieved.\" He visits the sick\nman, Su-ta, and heals soul as well as body.\n\nAt Vaisali, a pest like modern cholera was depopulating the kingdom, due\nto an accumulation of festering corpses. Buddha, summoned, caused a\nstrong rain which carried away the dead bodies and cured every one. At\nGaudh\u00e2r\u00e2 was an old mendicant afflicted with a disease so loathsome that\nnone of his brother monks could go near him on account of his fetid\nhumors and stinking condition. The \"Great Physician\" was, however, not\nto be deterred; he washed the poor old man and attended to his maladies.\nA disciple had his feet hacked off by an unjust king, and Buddha cured\neven him. To convert certain skeptical villagers near Sr\u00e2vast\u00ee, Buddha\nshowed them a man walking across the deep and rapid river without\nimmersing his feet. P\u00fbrna, one of Buddha's disciples, had a brother in\nimminent danger of shipwreck in a \"black storm.\" The \"spirits that are\nfavorable to P\u00fbrna and Arya\" apprised him of this and he at once\nperformed the miracle of transporting himself to the deck of the ship.\n\"Immediately the black tempest ceased, as if Sumera arrested it.\"[255:2]\n\nWhen Buddha was told that a woman was suffering in severe labor, unable\nto bring forth, he said, Go and say: \"I have never knowingly put any\ncreature to death since I was born; by the virtue of this obedience may\nyou be free from pain!\" When these words were repeated in the presence\nof the mother, the child was instantly born with ease.[256:1]\n\nInnumerable are the miracles ascribed to Buddhist saints, and to others\nwho followed their example. Their garments, and the staffs with which\nthey walked, are supposed to imbibe some mysterious power, and blessed\nare they who are allowed to touch them.[256:2] A Buddhist saint who\nattains the power called \"_perfection_,\" is able to rise and float along\nthrough the air.[256:3] Having this power, the saint exercises it by\nmere determination of his will, his body becoming imponderous, as when a\nman in the common human state determines to leap, and leaps. Buddhist\nannals relate the performance of the miraculous suspension by Gautama\nBuddha, himself, as well as by other _saints_.[256:4]\n\nIn the year 217 B. C., a Buddhist missionary priest, called by the\nChinese historians Shih-le-fang, came from \"the west\" into Shan-se,\naccompanied by eighteen other priests, with their sacred books, in order\nto propagate the faith of Buddha. The emperor, disliking foreigners and\nexotic customs, imprisoned the missionaries; but an angel, genii, or\nspirit, came and opened the prison door, and liberated them.[256:5]\n\nHere is a third edition of \"Peter in prison,\" for we have already seen\nthat the Hindoo sage Vasudeva was liberated from prison in like manner.\n\n_Zoroaster_, the founder of the religion of the Persians, opposed his\npersecutors by performing miracles, in order to confirm his divine\nmission.[256:6]\n\n_Bochia_ of the Persians also performed miracles; the places where he\nperformed them were consecrated, and people flocked in crowds to visit\nthem.[256:7]\n\n_Horus_, the Egyptian Saviour, performed great miracles, among which was\nthat of raising the dead to life.[256:8]\n\n_Osiris_ of Egypt also performed great miracles;[256:9] and so did the\nvirgin goddess _Isis_.\n\nPilgrimages were made to the temples of Isis, in Egypt, by the sick.\nDiodorus, the Grecian historian, says that:\n\n     \"Those who go to consult in dreams the goddess Isis recover\n     perfect health. Many whose cure has been despaired of by\n     physicians have by this means been saved, and others who have\n     long been deprived of sight, or of some other part of the\n     body, by taking refuge, so to speak, in the arms of the\n     goddess, have been restored to the enjoyment of their\n     faculties.\"[257:1]\n\n_Serapis_, the Egyptian Saviour, performed great miracles, principally\nthose of healing the sick. He was called \"The Healer of the\nWorld.\"[257:2]\n\n_Marduk_, the Assyrian God, the \"Logos,\" the \"Eldest Son of Hea;\" \"He\nwho made Heaven and Earth;\" the \"Merciful One;\" the \"Life-Giver,\" &c.,\nperformed great miracles, among which was that of raising the dead to\nlife.[257:3]\n\n_Bacchus_, son of Zeus by the virgin Semele, was a great performer of\nmiracles, among which may be mentioned his changing water into\nwine,[257:4] as it is recorded of Jesus in the Gospels.\n\n\"In his gentler aspects he is the giver of joy, the healer of\nsicknesses, the guardian against plagues. As such he is even a law-giver\nand a promoter of peace and concord. As kindling new or strange thoughts\nin the mind, he is a giver of wisdom and the revealer of hidden secrets\nof the future.\"[257:5]\n\nThe legends related of this god state that on one occasion Pantheus,\nKing of Thebes, sent his attendants to seize Bacchus, the \"vagabond\nleader of a faction\"--as he called him. This they were unable to do, as\nthe multitude who followed him were too numerous. They succeeded,\nhowever, in capturing one of his disciples, Acetes, who was led away and\nshut up fast in prison; but while they were getting ready the\ninstruments of execution, _the prison doors came open of their own\naccord, and the chains fell from his limbs_, and when they looked for\nhim he was nowhere to be found.[257:6] Here is still another edition of\n\"Peter in prison.\"\n\n_\u00c6sculapius_ was another great performer of miracles. The ancient Greeks\nsaid of him that he not only cured the sick of the most malignant\ndiseases, _but even raised the dead_.\n\nA writer in Bell's Pantheon says:\n\n     \"As the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men\n     beyond the truth, so they feigned that \u00c6sculapius was so\n     expert in medicine as not only to cure the sick, but even to\n     raise the dead.\"[258:1]\n\nEusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, speaking of \u00c6sculapius, says:\n\n     \"He sometimes appeared unto them (the Cilicians) in dreams and\n     visions, and sometimes restored the sick to health.\"\n\nHe claims, however, that this was the work of the DEVIL, \"who by this\nmeans did withdraw the minds of men from the knowledge of the _true_\nSAVIOUR.\"[258:2]\n\nFor many years after the death of \u00c6sculapius, miracles continued to be\nperformed by the efficacy of faith in his name. Patients were conveyed\nto the temple of \u00c6sculapius, and there cured of their disease. A short\nstatement of the symptoms of each case, and the remedy employed, were\ninscribed on tablets and hung up in the temples.[258:3] There were also\na multitude of eyes, ears, hands, feet, and other members of the human\nbody, made of wax, silver, or gold, and presented by those whom the god\nhad cured of blindness, deafness, and other diseases.[258:4]\n\nMarinus, a scholar of the philosopher Proclus, relates one of these\nremarkable cures, in the life of his master. He says:\n\n     \"Asclipigenia, a young maiden who had lived with her parents,\n     was seized with a grievous distemper, incurable by the\n     physicians. All help from the physicians failing, the father\n     applied to the philosopher, earnestly entreating him to pray\n     for his daughter. Proclus, full of faith, went to the temple\n     of \u00c6sculapius, intending to pray for the sick young woman to\n     the god--for the city (Athens) was at that time blessed in\n     him, and still enjoyed the undemolished temple of THE\n     SAVIOUR--but while he was praying, a sudden change appeared in\n     the damsel, and she immediately became convalescent, for the\n     _Saviour_, \u00c6sculapius, as being God, easily healed\n     her.\"[258:5]\n\nDr. Conyers Middleton says:\n\n     \"Whatever proof the primitive (Christian) Church might have\n     among themselves, of the miraculous gift, yet it could have\n     but little effect towards making proselytes among those who\n     pretended to the same gift--possessed more largely and exerted\n     more openly, than in the private assemblies of the Christians.\n     For in the temples of _\u00c6sculapius_, all kinds of diseases were\n     believed to be publicly cured, by the pretended help of that\n     deity, in proof of which there were erected in each temple,\n     columns or tables of brass or marble, on which a distinct\n     narrative of each particular cure was inscribed.\n     Pausanias[258:6] writes that in the temple at Epidaurus there\n     were many columns anciently of this kind, and six of them\n     remaining to his time, _inscribed with the names of men and\n     women who had been cured by the god_, with an account of their\n     several cases, and the method of their cure; and that there\n     was an old pillar besides, which stood apart, dedicated to the\n     memory of Hippolytus, _who had been raised from the dead_.\n     Strabo, also, another grave writer, informs us that these\n     temples were constantly filled with the sick, imploring the\n     help of the god, and that they had tables hanging around them,\n     in which all the miraculous cures were described. There is a\n     remarkable fragment of one of these tables still extant, and\n     exhibited by Gruter in his collection, as it was found in the\n     ruins of \u00c6sculapius's temple in the Island of the Tiber, in\n     Rome, which gives an account of two blind men restored to\n     sight by \u00c6sculapius, in the open view,[259:1] and with the\n     loud acclamation of the people, acknowledging the manifest\n     power of the god.\"[259:2]\n\nLivy, the most illustrious of Roman historians (born B. C. 61), tells us\nthat temples of _heathen gods_ were rich in the number of offerings\n_which the people used to make in return for the cures and benefits\nwhich they received from them_.[259:3]\n\nA writer in _Bell's Pantheon_ says:\n\n     \"Making presents to the gods was a custom even from the\n     earliest times, either to deprecate their wrath, obtain some\n     benefit, or acknowledge some favor. These donations consisted\n     of garlands, garments, cups of gold, or whatever conduced to\n     the decoration or splendor of their temples. They were\n     sometimes laid on the floor, sometimes hung upon the walls,\n     doors, pillars, roof, or any other conspicuous place.\n     Sometimes the occasion of the dedication was inscribed, either\n     upon the thing itself, or upon a tablet hung up with\n     it.\"[259:4]\n\nNo one custom of antiquity is so frequently mentioned by ancient\nhistorians, as the practice which was so common among the _heathens_, of\nmaking votive offerings to their deities, and hanging them up in their\ntemples, many of which are preserved to this day, viz., images of metal,\nstone, or clay, as well as legs, arms, and other parts of the body, _in\ntestimony of some divine cure effected in that particular\nmember_.[259:5]\n\nHorace says:\n\n        \"----Me tabula sacer\n     Votiv\u00e2 paries indicat humida\n     Suspendisse potenti\n     Vestimenta maris Deo.\" (Lib. 1, Ode V.)\n\nIt was the custom of offering _ex-votos_ of _Priapic_ forms, at the\nchurch of Isernia, in the _Christian_ kingdom of Naples, during the last\ncentury, which induced Mr. R. Payne Knight to compile his remarkable\nwork on Phallic Worship.\n\nJuvenal, who wrote A. D. 81-96, says of the goddess _Isis_, whose\nreligion was at that time in the greatest vogue at Rome, that the\npainters get their livelihood out of her. This was because \"the most\ncommon of all offerings (made by the heathen to their deities) were\n_pictures_ presenting the history of the miraculous cure or deliverance,\nvouchsafed upon the vow of the donor.\"[260:1] One of their prayers ran\nthus:\n\n     \"Now, Goddess, help, for thou canst help bestow,\n      _As all these pictures round thy altars show_.\"[260:2]\n\nIn _Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia_ may be found the following:\n\n     \"Patients that were cured of their ailments (by _\u00c6sculapius_,\n     or through faith in him) hung up a tablet in his temple,\n     recording the name, the disease, and the manner of cure. _Many\n     of these votive tablets are still extant._\"[260:3]\n\nAlexander S. Murray, of the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities in\nthe British Museum, speaking of the miracles performed by _\u00c6sculapius_,\nsays:\n\n     \"A person who had recovered from a local illness would dictate\n     a sculptured representation of the part that had been\n     affected. _Of such sculptures there are a number of examples\n     in the British Museum._\"[260:4]\n\nJustin Martyr, in his _Apology_ for the Christian religion, addressed to\nthe Emperor Hadrian, says:\n\n     \"As to _our_ Jesus curing the lame, and the paralytic, and\n     such as were crippled from birth, this is little more than\n     what you say of your _\u00c6sculapius_.\"[260:5]\n\nAt a time when the Romans were infested with the plague, having\nconsulted their sacred books, they learned that in order to be delivered\nfrom it, they were to go in quest of _\u00c6sculapius_ at Epidaurus;\naccordingly, an embassy was appointed of ten senators, at the head of\nwhom was Quintus Ogulnius, and the worship of \u00c6sculapius was established\nat Rome, A. U. C. 462, that is, B. C. 288. But the most remarkable\ncoincidence is that the worship of this god continued with scarcely any\ndiminished splendor, for several hundred years after the establishment\nof Christianity.[260:6]\n\nHermes or Mercury, the Lord's Messenger, was a wonder-worker. The staff\nor rod which Hermes received from Phoibos (Apollo), and which connects\nthis myth with the special emblem of Vishnu (the Hindoo Saviour), was\nregarded as denoting his heraldic office. It was, however, always\nendowed with magic properties, and had the power even of raising the\ndead.[261:1]\n\nHerodotus, the Grecian historian, relates a wonderful miracle which\nhappened among the _Spartans_, many centuries before the time assigned\nfor the birth of Christ Jesus. The story is as follows:\n\n     A Spartan couple of great wealth and influence, had a daughter\n     born to them who was a cripple from birth. Her nurse,\n     perceiving that she was misshapen, and knowing her to be the\n     daughter of opulent persons, and deformed, and seeing,\n     moreover, that her parents considered her form a great\n     misfortune, considering these several circumstances, devised\n     the following plan. She carried her every day to the temple of\n     the Goddess _Helen_, and standing before her image, prayed to\n     the goddess to free the child from its deformity. One day, as\n     the nurse was going out of the temple, a woman appeared to\n     her, and having appeared, asked what she was carrying in her\n     arms; and she answered that she was carrying an infant;\n     whereupon she bid her show it to her, but the nurse refused,\n     for she had been forbidden by the parents to show the child to\n     any one. The woman, however--who was none other than the\n     Goddess herself--urged her by all means to show it to her, and\n     the nurse, seeing that the woman was so very anxious to see\n     the child, at length showed it; upon which she, stroking the\n     head of the child with her hands, said that she would surpass\n     all the women in Sparta in beauty. From that day her\n     appearance began to change, her deformed limbs became\n     symmetrical, and when she reached the age for marriage she was\n     the most beautiful woman in all Sparta.[261:2]\n\n_Apollonius_ of Tyana, in Cappadocia, who was born in the latter part of\nthe reign of Augustus, about four years before the time assigned for the\nbirth of Jesus, and who was therefore contemporary with him, was\ncelebrated for the wonderful miracles he performed. Oracles in various\nplaces declared that he was endowed with a portion of Apollo's power to\ncure diseases, and foretell events; and those who were affected were\ncommanded to apply to him. The priests of Iona made over the diseased to\nhis care, and his cures were considered so remarkable, that divine\nhonors were decreed to him.[261:3]\n\nHe at one time went to Ephesus, but as the inhabitants did not hearken\nto his preaching, he left there and went to Smyrna, where he was well\nreceived by the inhabitants. While there, ambassadors came from\nEphesus, begging him to return to that city, where a terrible plague was\nraging, _as he had prophesied_. He went immediately, and as soon as he\narrived, he said to the Ephesians: \"Be not dejected, I will this day put\na stop to the disease.\" According to his words, the pestilence was\nstayed, and the people erected a statue to him, in token of their\ngratitude.[262:1]\n\nIn the city of Athens, there was one of the dissipated young citizens,\nwho laughed and cried by turns, and talked and sang to himself, without\napparent cause. His friends supposed these habits were the effects of\nearly intemperance, but Apollonius, who happened to meet the young man,\ntold him he was possessed of a _demon_; and, as soon as he fixed his\neyes upon him, the demon broke out into all those horrid, violent\nexpressions used by people on the rack, and then swore he would depart\nout of the youth, and never enter another.[262:2] The young man had not\nbeen aware that he was possessed by a devil, but from that moment, his\nwild, disturbed looks changed, he became very temperate, and assumed the\ngarb of a Pythagorean philosopher.\n\nApollonius went to Rome, and arrived there after the emperor Nero had\npassed very severe laws against _magicians_. He was met on the way by a\nperson who advised him to turn back and not enter the city, saying that\nall who wore the philosopher's garb were in danger of being arrested as\nmagicians. He heeded not these words of warning, but proceeded on his\nway, and entered the city. It was not long before he became an object of\nsuspicion, was closely watched, and finally arrested, but when his\naccusers appeared before the tribunal and unrolled the parchment on\nwhich the charges against him had been written, they found that all the\ncharacters had disappeared. Apollonius made such an impression on the\nmagistrates by the bold tone he assumed, that he was allowed to go where\nhe pleased.[262:3]\n\nMany miracles were performed by him while in Rome, among others may be\nmentioned his restoring a _dead maiden to life_.\n\nShe belonged to a family of rank, and was just about to be married, when\nshe died suddenly. Apollonius met the funeral procession that was\nconveying her body to the tomb. He asked them to set down the bier,\nsaying to her betrothed: \"I will dry up the tears you are shedding for\nthis maiden.\" They supposed he was going to pronounce a funeral oration,\nbut he merely _took her hand_, bent over her, and uttered a few words in\na low tone. She opened her eyes, and began to speak, and was carried\nback alive and well to her father's house.[263:1]\n\nPassing through Tarsus, in his travels, a young man was pointed out to\nhim who had been bitten thirty days before by a mad dog, and who was\nthen running on all fours, barking and howling. Apollonius took his case\nin hand, and it was not long before the young man was restored to his\nright mind.[263:2]\n\nDomitian, Emperor of Rome, caused Apollonius to be arrested, during one\nof his visits to that city, on charge of allowing himself to be\nworshiped (the people having given him _divine honors_), speaking\nagainst the reigning powers, and pretending that his words were inspired\nby the gods. He was taken, loaded with irons, and cast into prison. \"I\nhave bound you,\" said the emperor, \"and you will not escape me.\"\n\nApollonius was one day visited in his prison by his steadfast disciple,\nDamus, who asked him when he thought he should recover his liberty,\nwhereupon he answered: \"This instant, if it depended upon myself,\" and\ndrawing his legs out of the shackles, he added: \"Keep up your spirits,\nyou see the freedom I enjoy.\" He was brought to trial not long after,\nand so defended himself, that the emperor was induced to acquit him, but\nforbade him to leave Rome. Apollonius then addressed the emperor, and\nended by saying: \"You cannot kill me, because I am not mortal;\" and as\nsoon as he had said these words, _he vanished from the tribunal_.[263:3]\nDamus (the disciple who had visited him in prison) had previously been\nsent away from Rome, with the promise of his master that he would soon\nrejoin him. Apollonius vanished from the presence of the emperor (at\nRome) at noon. _On the evening of the same day, he suddenly appeared\nbefore Damus and some other friends who were at Puteoli, more than a\nhundred miles from Rome._ They started, being doubtful whether or not it\nwas his spirit, but he stretched out his hand, saying: \"Take it, and if\nI escape from you regard me as an apparition.\"[263:4]\n\nWhen Apollonius had told his disciples that he had made his defense in\nRome, only a few hours before, they marveled how he could have performed\nthe journey so rapidly. He, in reply, said that they must ascribe it to\na god.[264:1]\n\nThe Empress Julia, wife of Alexander Severus, was so much interested in\nthe history of Apollonius, that she requested Flavius Philostratus, an\nAthenian author of reputation, to write an account of him. The early\nChristian Fathers, alluding to this life of Apollonius, do not deny the\nmiracles it recounts, but attribute to them the aid of evil\nspirits.[264:2]\n\nJustin Martyr was one of the believers in the miracles performed by\nApollonius, and by others through him, for he says:\n\n     \"How is it that the talismans of Apollonius have power in\n     certain members of creation? for they prevent, _as we see_,\n     the fury of the waves, and the violence of the winds, and the\n     attacks of wild beasts, and whilst _our_ Lord's miracles _are\n     preserved by tradition alone, those of Apollonius are most\n     numerous, and actually manifested in present facts, so as to\n     lead astray all beholders_.\"[264:3]\n\nSo much for Apollonius. We will now speak of another miracle performer,\n_Simon Magus_.\n\nSimon the Samaritan, generally called Simon _Magus_, produced marked\neffects on the times succeeding him; being the progenitor of a large\nclass of sects, which long troubled the Christian churches.\n\nIn the time of Jesus and Simon Magus it was almost universally believed\nthat men could foretell events, cure diseases, and obtain control over\nthe forces of nature, by the aid of spirits, if they knew how to invoke\nthem. It was Simon's proficiency in this occult science which gained him\nthe surname of _Magus_, or _Magician_.\n\nThe writer of the eighth chapter of \"_The Acts of the Apostles_\" informs\nus that when Philip went into Samaria, \"to preach Christ unto them,\" he\nfound there \"a certain man called Simon, which beforetime in the same\ncity used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that\nhimself was some great one. To whom they all gave heed, from the least\nto the greatest, saying: This man is the great power of God.\"[264:4]\n\nSimon traveled about preaching, and made many proselytes. He professed\nto be \"_The Wisdom of God_,\" \"_The Word of God_,\" \"_The Paraclete_, or\n_Comforter_,\" \"_The Image of the Eternal Father, Manifested in the\nFlesh_,\" and his followers claimed that he was \"_The First Born of the\nSupreme_.\"[265:1] All of these are titles, which, in after years, were\napplied to Christ Jesus. His followers had a gospel called \"_The Four\nCorners of the World_,\" which reminds us of the reason given by Iren\u00e6us,\nfor there being _four_ Gospels among the Christians. He says:\n\n     \"It is impossible that there could be more or less than\n     _four_. For there are _four_ climates, and _four_ cardinal\n     winds; but the _Gospel_ is the pillar and foundation of the\n     Church, and its breath of life. The Church, therefore, was to\n     have _four pillars_, blowing immortality from every quarter,\n     and giving life to men.\"[265:2]\n\nSimon also composed some works, of which but slight fragments remain,\nChristian authority having evidently destroyed them. That he made a\nlively impression on his contemporaries is indicated by the subsequent\nextension of his doctrines, under varied forms, by the wonderful stories\nwhich the Christian Fathers relate of him, and by the strong dislike\nthey manifested toward him.\n\nEusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, says of him:\n\n     \"The malicious power of _Satan_, enemy to all honesty, and foe\n     to all human salvation, brought forth at that time this\n     monster Simon, a father and worker of all such mischiefs, _as\n     a great adversary unto the mighty and holy Apostles_.\n\n     \"Coming into the city of Rome, he was so aided by that power\n     which prevaileth in this world, that in short time he brought\n     his purpose to such a pass, that his picture was there placed\n     with others, and he honored as a god.\"[265:3]\n\nJustin Martyr says of him:\n\n     \"After the ascension of _our_ Savior into heaven, the DEVIL\n     brought forth certain men which called themselves gods, who\n     not only suffered no vexation of you (Romans), but attained\n     unto honor amongst you, by name one _Simon_, a Samaritan, born\n     in the village of Gitton, who (under Claudius C\u00e6sar) by the\n     art of _devils_, through whom he dealt, wrought devilish\n     enchantments, was esteemed and counted in your regal city of\n     Rome for a _god_, and honored by you as a _god_, with a\n     picture between two bridges upon the river Tibris, having this\n     Roman inscription: '_Simoni deo Sancto_' (To Simon the Holy\n     God). And in manner all the Samaritans, and certain also of\n     other nations, do worship him, acknowledging him for their\n     chief god.\"[265:4]\n\nAccording to accounts given by several other Christian Fathers, he could\nmake his appearance wherever he pleased to be at any moment; could poise\nhimself on the air; make inanimate things move without visible\nassistance; produce trees from the earth suddenly; cause a stick to reap\nwithout hands; change himself into the likeness of any other person, or\neven into the forms of animals; fling himself from high precipices\nunhurt, walk through the streets accompanied by spirits of the dead; and\nmany other such like performances.[266:1]\n\nSimon went to Rome, where he gave himself out to be an \"Incarnate Spirit\nof God.\"[266:2] He became a favorite with the Emperor Claudius, and\nafterwards with Nero. His Christian opponents, as we have seen in the\ncases cited above, did not deny the miracles attributed to him, but said\nthey were done through the agency of evil spirits, which was a common\nopinion among the Fathers. They claimed that every _magician_ had an\nattendant evil spirit, who came when summoned, obeyed his commands, and\ntaught him ceremonies and forms of words, by which he was able to do\nsupernatural things. In this way they were accustomed to account for all\nthe miracles performed by Gentiles and heretics.[266:3]\n\n_Menander_--who was called the \"Wonder-Worker\"--was another great\nperformer of miracles. Eusebius, speaking of him, says that he was\nskilled in magical art, and performed _devilish_ operations; and that\n\"as yet there be divers which can testify the same of him.\"[266:4]\n\nDr. Conyers Middleton, speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"It was universally received and believed through all ages of\n     the primitive church, that there was a number of magicians,\n     necromancers, or conjurors, both among the _Gentiles_, and the\n     _heretical Christians_, who had each their peculiar _demon_ or\n     evil spirit, for their associates, perpetually attending on\n     their persons and obsequious to their commands, by whose help\n     they could perform miracles, foretell future events, call up\n     the souls of the dead, exhibit them to open view, and infuse\n     into people whatever dreams or visions they saw fit, all which\n     is constantly affirmed by the primitive writers and\n     apologists, and commonly applied by them to prove the\n     immortality of the soul.\"[266:5]\n\nAfter quoting from Justin Martyr, who says that these _magicians_ could\nconvince any one \"that the souls of men exist still after death,\" he\ncontinues by saying:\n\n     \"Lactantius, speaking of certain philosophers who held that\n     the soul perished with the body, says: 'they durst not have\n     declared such an opinion, in the presence of _any magician_,\n     for if they had done it, he would have confuted them upon the\n     spot, by sensible experiments; _by calling up souls from the\n     dead, and rendering them visible to human eyes, and making\n     them speak and foretell future events_.\"[267:1]\n\nThe Christian Father Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, who was contemporary\nwith Iren\u00e6us (A. D. 177-202), went so far as to declare that it was evil\nspirits who inspired the old poets and prophets of Greece and Rome. He\nsays:\n\n     \"The truth of this is manifestly shown; because those who are\n     possessed by devils, even at this day, are sometimes exorcised\n     by us in the name of God; and the seducing spirits confess\n     themselves to be the same demons who before inspired the\n     Gentile poets.\"[267:2]\n\nEven in the second century after Christianity, foreign conjurors were\nprofessing to exhibit miracles among the Greeks. Lucian gives an account\nof one of these \"foreign barbarians\"--as he calls them[267:3]--and says:\n\n     \"I believed and was overcome in spite of my resistance, for\n     what was I to do when I saw him carried through the air in\n     daylight, and walking on the water,[267:4] and passing\n     leisurely and slowly through the fire?\"[267:5]\n\nHe further tells us that this \"foreign barbarian\" was able to raise the\ndead to life.[267:6]\n\nAthenagoras, a Christian Father who flourished during the latter part of\nthe second century, says on this subject:\n\n     \"We (Christians) do not deny that in several places, cities,\n     and countries, there are some extraordinary works performed in\n     the name of _idols_,\" _i. e._, heathen gods.[267:7]\n\nMiracles were not uncommon things among the Jews before and during the\ntime of Christ Jesus. Casting out devils was an every-day\noccurrence,[267:8] and miracles frequently happened to confirm the\nsayings of Rabbis. One cried out, when his opinion was disputed, \"May\nthis tree prove that I am right!\" and forthwith the tree was torn up by\nthe roots, and hurled a hundred ells off. But his opponents declared\nthat a tree could prove nothing. \"May this stream, then, witness for\nme!\" cried Eliezar, and at once it flowed the opposite way.[268:1]\n\nJosephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that _King Solomon_ was expert\nin casting out devils who had taken possession of the body of mortals.\nThis gift was also possessed by many Jews throughout different ages. He\n(Josephus) relates that he saw one of his own countrymen (Eleazar)\ncasting out devils, in the presence of a vast multitude.[268:2]\n\nDr. Conyers Middleton says:\n\n     \"It is remarkable that all the Christian Fathers, who lay so\n     great a stress on the particular gift of _casting out devils_,\n     allow the same power both to the Jews and the Gentiles, _as\n     well before as after our Saviour's coming_.\"[268:3]\n\n_Vespasian_, who was born about ten years after the time assigned for\nthe birth of Christ Jesus, performed wonderful miracles, for the good of\nmankind. Tacitus, the Roman historian, informs us that he cured a _blind\nman_ in Alexandria, by means of his spittle, and a _lame man_ by the\nmere touch of his foot.\n\nThe words of Tacitus are as follows:\n\n     \"Vespasian passed some months at Alexandria, having resolved\n     to defer his voyage to Italy till the return of summer, when\n     the winds, blowing in a regular direction, afford a safe and\n     pleasant navigation. During his residence in that city, a\n     number of incidents, out of the ordinary course of nature,\n     seemed to mark him as the peculiar favorite of the gods. A man\n     of mean condition, born at Alexandria, had lost his sight by a\n     defluxion on his eyes. He presented himself before Vespasian,\n     and, falling prostrate on the ground, implored the emperor to\n     administer a cure for his blindness. He came, he said, by the\n     admonition of Serapis, the god whom the superstition of the\n     Egyptians holds in the highest veneration. The request was,\n     that the emperor, with his spittle, would condescend to\n     moisten the poor man's face and the balls of his eyes.[268:4]\n     Another, who had lost the use of his hand, inspired by the\n     same god, begged that he would tread on the part affected.\n     . . . In the presence of a prodigious multitude, all erect\n     with expectation, he advanced with an air of serenity, and\n     hazarded the experiment. The paralytic hand recovered its\n     functions, and the blind man saw the light of the sun.[268:5]\n     By living witnesses, who were actually on the spot, both\n     events are confirmed at this hour, when deceit and flattery\n     can hope for no reward.\"[268:6]\n\nThe striking resemblance between the account of these miracles, and\nthose attributed to Jesus in the Gospels \"_according to_\" Matthew and\nMark, would lead us to think that one had been copied from the other,\nbut when we find that Tacitus wrote his history A. D. 98,[269:1] and\nthat the \"_Matthew_\" and Mark narrators' works were not known until\n_after_ that time,[269:2] the evidence certainly is that Tacitus was\n_not_ the plagiarist, but that this charge must fall on the shoulders of\nthe Christian writers, whoever they may have been.\n\nTo come down to earlier times, even the religion of the Mahometans is a\nreligion of miracles and wonders. Mahomet, like Jesus of Nazareth, did\nnot claim to perform miracles, but the votaries of Mahomet are more\nassured than himself of his miraculous gifts; and their confidence and\ncredulity increase as they are farther removed from the time and place\nof his spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm that trees went forth\nto meet him; that he was saluted by stones; that water gushed from his\nfingers; that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead;\nthat a beam groaned to him; that a camel complained to him; that a\nshoulder of mutton informed him of its being poisoned; and that both\nanimate and inanimate nature were equally subject to the apostle of God.\nHis dream of a nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and\ncorporeal transaction. A mysterious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from\nthe temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem; with his companion Gabriel he\nsuccessively ascended the seven heavens, and received and repaid the\nsalutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the angels in their\nrespective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was\npermitted to proceed; he passed the veil of unity, approached within two\nbow-shots of the throne, and felt a cold that pierced him to the heart,\nwhen his shoulder was touched by the hand of God. After a familiar,\nthough important conversation, he descended to Jerusalem, remounted the\nBorak, returned to Mecca, and performed in the tenth part of a night the\njourney of many thousand years. His resistless word split asunder the\norb of the moon, and the obedient planet stooped from her station in the\nsky.[269:3]\n\nThese and many other wonders, similar in character to the story of Jesus\nsending the demons into the swine, are related of Mahomet by his\nfollowers.\n\nIt is very certain that the same circumstances which are claimed to have\ntaken place with respect to the Christian religion, are also claimed to\nhave taken place in the religions of Crishna, Buddha, Zoroaster,\n\u00c6sculapius, Bacchus, Apollonius, Simon Magus, &c. Histories of these\npersons, with miracles, relics, circumstances of locality, suitable to\nthem, were as common, as well authenticated (if not better), and as much\nbelieved by the devotees as were those relating to Jesus.\n\nAll the Christian theologians which the world has yet produced have not\nbeen able to procure any evidence of the miracles recorded in the\n_Gospels_, half so strong as can be procured in evidence of miracles\nperformed by heathens and heathen gods, both before and after the time\nof Jesus; and, as they cannot do this, let them give us a reason why we\nshould reject the one and receive the other. And if they cannot do this,\nlet them candidly confess that we must either admit them all, or reject\nthem all, for they all stand on the same footing.\n\nIn the early times of the Roman republic, in the war with the Latins,\nthe gods Castor and Pollux are said to have appeared on white horses in\nthe Roman army, which by their assistance gained a complete victory: in\nmemory of which, the General Posthumius vowed and built a temple to\nthese deities; and for a proof of the fact, there was shown, we find, in\nCicero's time (106 to 43 B. C.), the marks of the horses' hoofs on a\nrock at Regillum, where they first appeared.[270:1]\n\nNow this miracle, with those which have already been mentioned, and many\nothers of the same kind which could be mentioned, has as authentic an\nattestation, if not more so, as any of the Gospel miracles. It has, for\ninstance: The decree of a senate to confirm it; visible marks on the\nspot where it was transacted; and all this supported by the best authors\nof antiquity, amongst whom Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, who says that\nthere was subsisting in his time at Rome many evident proofs of its\nreality, besides a yearly festival, with a solemn sacrifice and\nprocession, in memory of it.[270:2]\n\nWith all these evidences in favor of this miracle having really\nhappened, it seems to us so ridiculous, that we wonder how there could\never have been any so simple as to believe it, yet we should believe\nthat Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been in the tomb\nfour days, our only authority being that _anonymous_ book known as the\n\"Gospel according to St. John,\" which was not known until after A. D.\n173. Albert Barnes, in his \"Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity,\"\nspeaking of the authenticity of the Gospel miracles, makes the following\ndamaging confession:\n\n     \"An important question is, whether there is any stronger\n     evidence in favor of miracles, than there is in favor of\n     witchcraft, or sorcery, or the re-appearance of the dead, of\n     ghosts, of apparitions? Is not the evidence in favor of these\n     as strong as any that can be adduced in favor of miracles?\n     Have not these things been matters of universal belief? In\n     what respect is the evidence in favor of the miracles of the\n     Bible stronger than that which can be adduced in favor of\n     witchcraft and sorcery? Does it differ in nature and degrees;\n     and if it differs, is it not in favor of witchcraft and\n     sorcery? Has not the evidence in favor of the latter been\n     derived from as competent and reliable witnesses? Has it not\n     been brought to us from those who saw the facts alleged? Has\n     it not been subjected to a close scrutiny in the courts of\n     justice, to cross-examination, to tortures? Has it not\n     convinced those of highest legal attainments; those accustomed\n     to sift testimony; those who understood the true principles of\n     evidence? Has not the evidence in favor of witchcraft and\n     sorcery had, what the evidence in favor of miracles has not\n     had, the advantage of strict judicial investigation? and been\n     subjected to trial, where evidence should be, before courts of\n     law? Have not the most eminent judges in the most civilized\n     and enlightened courts of Europe and America admitted the\n     force of such evidence, and on the ground of it committed\n     great numbers of innocent persons to the gallows and to the\n     stake? _I confess that of all the questions ever asked on the\n     subject of miracles, this is the most perplexing and the most\n     difficult to answer._ It is rather to be wondered at that it\n     has not been pressed with more zeal by those who deny the\n     reality of miracles, and that they have placed their\n     objections so extensively on other grounds.\"\n\nIt was a common adage among the Greeks, \"_Miracles for fools_,\" and the\nsame proverb obtained among the shrewder Romans, in the saying: \"_The\ncommon people like to be deceived--deceived let them be._\"\n\nSt. Chrysostom declares that \"miracles are proper only to excite\nsluggish and vulgar minds, _men of sense have no occasion for them_;\"\nand that \"they frequently carry some untoward suspicion along with\nthem;\" and Saint Chrysostom, Jerome, Euthemius, and Theophylact, prove\nby several instances, that _real miracles_ had been performed by those\nwho were not Catholic, but heretic, Christians.[271:1]\n\nCelsus (an Epicurean philosopher, towards the close of the second\ncentury), the first writer who entered the lists against the claims of\nthe Christians, in speaking of the miracles which were claimed to have\nbeen performed by Jesus, says:\n\n     \"His miracles, _granted to be true_, were nothing more than\n     the common works of those _enchanters_, who, for a few\n     _oboli_, will perform greater deeds in the midst of the Forum,\n     calling up the souls of heroes, exhibiting sumptuous banquets,\n     and tables covered with food, which have no reality. Such\n     things do not prove these jugglers to be sons of God; nor do\n     Christ's miracles.\"[271:2]\n\nCelsus, in common with most of the Grecians, looked upon Christianity\nas a _blind faith_, that shunned the light of reason. In speaking of the\nChristians, he says:\n\n     \"They are forever repeating: 'Do not examine. _Only believe_,\n     and thy _faith_ will make thee blessed. _Wisdom_ is a bad\n     thing in life; _foolishness_ is to be preferred.'\"[272:1]\n\nHe jeers at the fact that _ignorant men_ were allowed to preach, and\nsays that \"weavers, tailors, fullers, and the most illiterate and rustic\nfellows,\" set up to teach strange paradoxes. \"They openly declared that\nnone but the ignorant (were) fit disciples for the God they worshiped,\"\nand that one of their rules was, \"let no man that is learned come among\nus.\"[272:2]\n\nThe _miracles_ claimed to have been performed by the Christians, he\nattributed to _magic_,[272:3] and considered--as we have seen\nabove--their miracle performers to be on the same level with all Gentile\nmagicians. He says that the \"wonder-workers\" among the Christians\n\"rambled about to play tricks at fairs and markets,\" that they never\nappeared in the circles of the wiser and better sort, but always took\ncare to intrude themselves among the ignorant and uncultured.[272:4]\n\n     \"The magicians in Egypt (says he), cast out evil spirits, cure\n     diseases by a breath, call up the spirits of the dead, make\n     inanimate things move as if they were alive, and so influence\n     some uncultured men, that they produce in them whatever sights\n     and sounds they please. But because they do such things shall\n     we consider them the sons of God? Or shall we call such things\n     the tricks of pitiable and wicked men?\"[272:5]\n\nHe believed that Jesus was like all these other wonder-workers, that is,\nsimply a _necromancer_, and that he learned his magical arts in\nEgypt.[272:6] All philosophers, during the time of the Early Fathers,\nanswered the claims that Jesus performed miracles, in the same manner.\n\"They even ventured to call him a _magician_ and a deceiver of the\npeople,\" says Justin Martyr,[272:7] and St. Augustine asserted that it\nwas generally believed that Jesus had been initiated in _magical art_ in\nEgypt, and that he had written books concerning magic, one of which was\ncalled \"_Magia Jesu Christi_.\"[272:8] In the Clementine Recognitions,\nthe charge is brought against Jesus that he did not perform his miracles\nas a Jewish prophet, but as a magician, an initiate of the heathen\ntemples.[272:9]\n\nThe casting out of devils was the most frequent and among the most\nstriking and the oftenest appealed to of the miracles of Jesus; yet, in\nthe conversation between himself and the Pharisees (Matt. xii. 24-27),\nhe speaks of it as one that was constantly and habitually performed by\ntheir own _exorcists_; and, so far from insinuating any difference\nbetween the two cases, _expressly puts them on a level_.\n\nOne of the best proofs, and most unquestionable, that Jesus was accused\nof being a _magician_, or that some of the early Christians believed him\nto have been such, may be found in the representations of him performing\nmiracles. On a _sarcophagus_ to be found in the _Museo Gregoriano_,\nwhich is paneled with bas-reliefs, is to be seen a representation of\nJesus raising Lazarus from the grave. He is represented as a young man,\nbeardless, and equipped with a _wand_ in the received guise of a\n_necromancer_, whilst the corpse of Lazarus is swathed in bandages\nexactly as an Egyptian mummy.[273:1] On other Christian monuments\nrepresenting the miracles of Jesus, he is pictured in the same manner.\nFor instance, when he is represented as turning the water into wine, and\nmultiplying the bread in the wilderness, he is a necromancer with a\n_wand_ in his hand.[273:2]\n\n_Horus_, the Egyptian Saviour, is represented on the ancient monuments\nof Egypt, _with a wand in his hand raising the dead to life_, \"just as\nwe see Christ doing the same thing,\" says J. P. Lundy, \"in the same way,\nto Lazarus, in our Christian monuments.\"[273:3]\n\nDr. Conyers Middleton, speaking of the primitive Christians, says:\n\n     \"In the performance of their miracles, they were always\n     charged with fraud and imposture, by their adversaries. Lucian\n     (who flourished during the second century), tells us that\n     whenever any crafty juggler, expert in his trade, and who knew\n     how to make a right use of things, went over to the\n     Christians, he was sure to grow rich immediately, by making a\n     prey of their simplicity. And Celsus represents all the\n     Christian wonder-workers as mere vagabonds and common cheats,\n     who rambled about to play their tricks at fairs and markets;\n     not in the circles of the wiser and the better sort, for among\n     such they never ventured to appear, but wherever they observed\n     a set of raw young fellows, slaves or fools, there they took\n     care to intrude themselves, and to display all their\n     arts.\"[273:4]\n\nThe same charge was constantly urged against them by Julian, Porphyry\nand others. Similar sentiments were entertained by Polybius, the Pagan\nphilosopher, who considered all miracles as fables, invented to preserve\nin the unlearned a due sense of respect for the deity.[273:5]\n\nEdward Gibbon, speaking of the miracles of the Christians, writes in\nhis familiar style as follows:\n\n     \"How shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and\n     philosophic world, to those evidences which were represented\n     by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their\n     senses? During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and of\n     their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was\n     confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind\n     saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, demons were\n     expelled, and the laws of nature were frequently suspended for\n     the benefit of the church. But the sages of Greece and Rome\n     turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the\n     ordinary occupations of life and study, appeared unconscious\n     of any alterations in the moral or physical government of the\n     world.\"[274:1]\n\nThe learned Dr. Middleton, whom we have quoted on a preceding page,\nafter a searching inquiry into the miraculous powers of the Christians,\nsays:\n\n     \"From these short hints and characters of the primitive\n     wonder-workers, as given both by friends and enemies, we may\n     fairly conclude, that the celebrated gifts of these ages were\n     generally engrossed and exercised by the primitive Christians,\n     chiefly of the laity, who used to travel about from city to\n     city, to assist the ordinary pastors of the church, and\n     preachers of the Gospel, in the conversion of Pagans, by the\n     extraordinary gifts with which they were supposed to be indued\n     by the spirit of God, and the miraculous works which they\n     pretended to perform. . . .\n\n     \"We have just reason to suspect that there was some original\n     fraud in the case; and that the strolling wonder-workers, by a\n     dexterity of jugglery which art, not heaven, had taught them,\n     imposed upon the credulity of the pious Fathers, whose strong\n     prejudices and ardent zeal for the interest of Christianity\n     would dispose them to embrace, without examination, whatever\n     seemed to promote so good a cause. That this was really the\n     case in some instances, is certain and notorious, and that it\n     was so in all, will appear still more probable, when we have\n     considered the particular characters of the several Fathers,\n     on whose testimony the credit of these wonderful narratives\n     depends.\"[274:2]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"The pretended miracles of the primitive church were all mere\n     fictions, which the pious and zealous Fathers, partly from a\n     weak credulity, and partly from reasons of policy, believing\n     some perhaps to be true, and knowing all of them to be useful,\n     were induced to espouse and propagate, for the support of a\n     righteous cause.\"[274:3]\n\nOrigen, a Christian Father of the third century, uses the following\nwords in his answer to Celsus:\n\n     \"A vast number of persons who have left those horrid\n     debaucheries in which they formerly wallowed, and have\n     professed to embrace the Christian religion, shall receive a\n     bright and massive crown when this frail and short life is\n     ended, _though they don't stand to examine the grounds on\n     which their faith is_ built, nor defer their conversion till\n     they have a fair opportunity and capacity to apply themselves\n     to rational and learned studies. And since our adversaries are\n     continually making such a stir about our _taking things on\n     trust_, I answer, that we, who see plainly and have found the\n     vast advantage that the common people do manifestly and\n     frequently reap thereby (who make up by far the greater\n     number), I say, we (the Christian clergy), who are so well\n     advised of these things, _do professedly teach men to believe\n     without examination_.\"[275:1]\n\nOrigen flourished and wrote A. D. 225-235, which shows that at that\nearly day there was no rational evidence for Christianity, but it was\nprofessedly taught, and men were supposed to believe \"_these things_\"\n(_i. e._ the Christian legends) _without severe examination_.\n\nThe primitive Christians were perpetually reproached for their gross\ncredulity, by all their enemies. Celsus, as we have already seen,\ndeclares that they cared neither to receive nor give any reason for\ntheir faith, and that it was a usual saying with them: \"Do not examine,\nbut believe only, and thy faith will save thee;\" and Julian affirms\nthat, \"the sum of all their wisdom was comprised in the single precept,\n'_believe_.'\"\n\nArnobius, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"The Gentiles make it their constant business to laugh at our\n     faith, and to lash our credulity with their facetious jokes.\"\n\nThe Christian Fathers defended themselves against these charges by\ndeclaring that they did nothing more than the heathens themselves had\nalways done; and reminds them that they too had found the same method\nuseful with the uneducated or common people, who were not at leisure to\nexamine things, and whom they taught therefore, to believe without\nreason.[275:2]\n\nThis \"believing without reason\" is illustrated in the following words of\nTertullian, a Christian Father of the second century, who reasons on the\nevidence of Christianity as follows:\n\n     \"I find no other means to prove myself to be impudent with\n     success, and happily a fool, than by my contempt of shame; as,\n     for instance--I maintain that the son of God was born: why am\n     I not ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why! but because it\n     is a shameful thing. I maintain that the son of God died:\n     well, _that_ is wholly credible because it is monstrously\n     absurd. I maintain that after having been buried, he rose\n     again: and _that_ I take to be absolutely true, because it was\n     manifestly impossible.\"[275:3]\n\nAccording to the very books which record the miracles of Jesus, he never\nclaimed to perform such deeds, and Paul declares that the great reason\nwhy Israel did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah was that \"the Jews\nrequired a sign.\"[276:1] He meant: \"Signs and wonders are the only\nproofs they will admit that any one is sent by God and is preaching the\ntruth. If they cannot have this palpable, external proof, they withhold\ntheir faith.\"\n\nA writer of the second century (John, in ch. iv. 18) makes Jesus aim at\nhis fellow-countrymen and contemporaries, the reproach: \"Unless you see\nsigns and wonders, you do not believe.\" In connection with Paul's\ndeclaration, given above, these words might be paraphrased: \"The reason\nwhy the Jews never believed in Jesus was that they never saw him do\nsigns and wonders.\"\n\nListen to the reply he (Jesus) made when told that if he wanted people\nto believe in him he must first prove his claim by a miracle: \"A wicked\nand adulterous generation asks for a _sign_, and no sign shall be given\nit except the sign of the prophet Jonas.\"[276:2] Of course, this answer\ndid not in the least degree satisfy the questioners; so they presently\ncame to him again with a more direct request: \"If the kingdom of God is,\nas you say, close at hand, show us at least some _one_ of the signs in\nheaven which are to precede the Messianic age.\" What could appear more\nreasonable than such a request? Every one knew that the end of the\npresent age was to be heralded by fearful signs in heaven. The light of\nthe sun was to be put out, the moon turned to blood, the stars robbed of\ntheir brightness, and many other fearful signs were to be shown![276:3]\nIf any _one_ of these could be produced, they would be content; but if\nnot, they must decline to surrender themselves to an idle joy which must\nend in a bitter disappointment; and surely Jesus himself could hardly\nexpect them to believe in him on his bare word.\n\n_Historians_ have recorded miracles said to have been performed by other\npersons, but not a word is said by _them_ about the miracles claimed to\nhave been performed by Jesus.\n\nJustus of Tiberias, who was born about five years after the time\nassigned for the crucifixion of Jesus, wrote a _Jewish History_. Now, if\nthe miracles attributed to Christ Jesus, and his death and resurrection,\nhad taken place in the manner described by the Gospel narrators, he\ncould not have failed to allude to them. But Photius, Patriarch of\nConstantinople, tells us that it contained \"_no mention of the coming of\nChrist, nor of the events concerning him, nor of the prodigies he\nwrought_.\" As Theodore Parker has remarked: \"The miracle is of a most\n_fluctuating_ character. The miracle-worker of to-day is a\nmatter-of-fact juggler to-morrow. Science each year adds new wonders to\nour store. The master of a locomotive steam-engine would have been\nthought greater than Jupiter Tonans, or the Elohim, thirty centuries\nago.\"\n\nIn the words of Dr. Oort: \"Our increased knowledge of nature has\ngradually undermined the belief in the possibility of miracles, and the\ntime is not far distant when in the mind of every man, of any culture,\nall accounts of miracles will be banished together to their proper\nregion--_that of legend_.\"\n\nWhat had been said to have been done in _India_ was said by the \"_half\nJew_\"[277:1] writers of the Gospels to have been done in Palestine. The\nchange of names and places, with the mixing up of various sketches of\n_Egyptian_, _Phenician_, _Greek_ and _Roman_ mythology, was all that was\nnecessary. They had an abundance of material, and with it they built. A\nlong-continued habit of imposing upon others would in time subdue the\nminds of the impostors themselves, and cause them to become at length\nthe dupes of their own deception.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[252:1] Dr. Conyers Middleton: Free Enquiry, p. 177.\n\n[252:2] Indian Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 46.\n\n[253:1] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 237.\n\n[253:2] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 331.\n\n[253:3] Ibid. p. 319.\n\n[254:1] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 320. Vishnu Parana, bk. v. ch. xx.\n\n[254:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 68.\n\n[254:3] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 269.\n\n[254:4] See Hardy's Buddhist Legends, and Eastern Monachism. Beal's\nRomantic Hist. Buddha. Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, and Huc's Travels, &c.\n\n[254:5] Hardy: Buddhist Legends, pp. xxi. xxii.\n\n[254:6] The Science of Religion, p. 27.\n\n[255:1] Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 246, 247.\n\n[255:2] Dhammapada, pp. 47, 50 and 90. Bigandet, pp. 186 and 192.\nBournouf: Intro. p. 156. In Lillie's Buddhism, pp. 139, 140.\n\n[256:1] Hardy: Manual of Buddhism.\n\n[256:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 229.\n\n[256:3] See Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 135, and Hardy:\nBuddhist Legends, pp. 98, 126, 137.\n\n[256:4] See Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 135.\n\n[256:5] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. p. 341.\n\n[256:6] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 240, and Inman's\nAncient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 460.\n\n[256:7] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 34.\n\n[256:8] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, pp. 303-405.\n\n[256:9] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief.\n\n[257:1] Quoted by Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 397.\n\n[257:2] See Prichard's Mythology, p. 347.\n\n[257:3] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 404.\n\n[257:4] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, 258, and Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. p. 102. Compare John, ii. 7.\n\nA _Grecian_ festival called THYIA was observed by the Eleans _in honor\nof Bacchus_. The priests conveyed three empty vessels into a chapel, in\nthe presence of a large assembly, after which the doors were shut and\n_sealed_. \"On the morrow the company returned, and after every man had\nlooked upon his own seal, and seen that it was unbroken, the doors being\nopened, the vessels were found full of wine.\" The god himself is said to\nhave appeared in person and filled the vessels. (Bell's Pantheon.)\n\n[257:5] Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 295.\n\n[257:6] Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 225. \"And they laid their hands\non the apostles, and put them in the common prison; but the angel of the\nLord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth.\" (Acts,\nv. 18, 19.)\n\n[258:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 28.\n\n[258:2] Eusebius: Life of Constantine, lib. 3, ch. liv.\n\n\"_\u00c6sculapius_, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such\nskill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to life.\"\n(Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 246.)\n\n[258:3] Murray: Manual of Mythology, pp. 179, 180.\n\n[258:4] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 304.\n\n[258:5] Marinus: Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 151.\n\n[258:6] Pausanias was one of the most eminent Greek geographers and\nhistorians.\n\n[259:1] \"And when Jesus departed thence, _two blind men_ followed him,\ncrying and saying: thou son of David, have mercy on us. . . . And Jesus\nsaid unto them: Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto\nhim, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying: According to your\nfaith be it unto you, and their eyes were opened.\" (Matt. ix. 27-30.)\n\n[259:2] Middleton's Works, vol. i. pp. 63, 64.\n\n[259:3] Ibid. p. 48.\n\n[259:4] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 62.\n\n[259:5] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 76.\n\n[260:1] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 76.\n\n[260:2]\n\n     \"Nunc Dea, nunc succurre mihi, nam posse mederi\n      Picta docet temptes multa tabella tuis.\"\n\n(Horace: Tibull. lib. 1, Eleg. iii. In Ibid.)\n\n[260:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"\u00c6sculapius.\"\n\n[260:4] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 180.\n\n[260:5] Apol. 1, ch. xxii.\n\n[260:6] Deane: Serp. Wor. p. 204. See also, Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p.\n29.\n\n\"There were numerous oracles of \u00c6sculapius, but the most celebrated one\nwas at Epidaurus. Here the sick sought responses and the recovery of\ntheir health by sleeping in the temple. . . . The worship of \u00c6sculapius\nwas introduced into Rome in a time of great sickness, and an embassy\nsent to the temple Epidaurus to entreat the aid of the god.\" (Bulfinch:\nThe Age of Fable, p. 397.)\n\n[261:1] Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p. 238.\n\n[261:2] Herodotus: bk. vi. ch. 61.\n\n[261:3] See Philostratus: Vie d'Apo.\n\nGibbon, the historian, says of him: \"Apollonius of Tyana, born about the\nsame time as Jesus Christ. His life (that of the former) is related in\nso fabulous a manner by his disciples, that we are at a loss to discover\nwhether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic.\" (Gibbon's Rome, vol.\ni. p. 353, _note_.) What this learned historian says of Apollonius\napplies to Jesus of Nazareth. _His_ disciples have related his life in\nso fabulous a manner, that some consider him to have been an impostor,\nothers a fanatic, others a sage, and others a GOD.\n\n[262:1] See Philostratus, p. 146.\n\n[262:2] Ibid. p. 158.\n\n[262:3] See Ibid. p. 182.\n\n[263:1] Compare Matt. ix. 18-25. \"There came a certain ruler and\nworshiped him, saying: 'My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay\nthy hand upon her, and she shall live.' And Jesus arose and followed\nhim, and so did his disciples. . . . And when Jesus came into the\nruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he\nsaid unto them: 'Give peace, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.'\nAnd they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he\nwent in, _and took her by the hand_, and the maid arose.\"\n\n[263:2] See Philostratus, pp. 285-286.\n\n[263:3] \"He could render himself invisible, evoke departed spirits,\nutter predictions, and discover the thoughts of other men.\" (Hardy:\nEastern Monachism, p. 380.)\n\n[263:4] \"And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of\nthem, and said unto them: 'Peace be unto you.' But they were terrified\nand affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said\nunto them: 'Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your\nhearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is myself; handle me and\nsee; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.\" (Luke,\nxxiv. 36-39.)\n\n[264:1] See Philostratus, p. 342.\n\n[264:2] Ibid. p. 5.\n\n[264:3] Justin Martyr's \"_Qu\u00e6st._\" xxiv. Quoted in King's Gnostics, p.\n242.\n\n[264:4] Acts, viii. 9, 10.\n\n[265:1] See Mosheim, vol. i. pp. 137, 140.\n\n[265:2] Iren\u00e6us: Against Heresies, bk. iii. ch. xi. The _authorship_ of\nthe fourth gospel, attributed to John, has been traced to this same\n_Iren\u00e6us_. He is the _first_ person who speaks of it; and adding this\nfact to the statement that \"it is impossible that there could be more or\nless than _four_,\" certainly makes it appear very suspicious. We shall\nallude to this again.\n\n[265:3] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist. lib. 2, ch. xiv.\n\n[265:4] Apol. 1, ch. xxiv.\n\n[266:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. ii. pp. 241, 242.\n\n[266:2] According to Hieronymus (a Christian Father, born A. D. 348),\nSimon Magus applied to himself these words: \"I am the Word (or Logos) of\nGod; I am the Beautiful, I the Advocate, I the Omnipotent; I am all\nthings that belong to God.\" (See \"Son of the Man,\" p. 67.)\n\n[266:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. ii. p. 316, and Middleton's Free\nInquiry, p. 62.\n\n[266:4] Eusebius: Ecc. Hist., lib. 3, ch. xiv.\n\n[266:5] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 54.\n\n[267:1] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 54.\n\n[267:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. ii. p. 312, and Middleton's Works, vol.\ni. p. 10.\n\n[267:3] \"The Egyptians call all men '_barbarians_' who do not speak the\nsame language as themselves.\" (Herodotus, book ii. ch. 158.)\n\n\"By '_barbarians_' the Greeks meant all who were not sprung from\nthemselves--all foreigners.\" (Henry Cary, translator of _Herodotus_.)\n\nThe Chinese call the English, and all foreigners from western countries,\n\"_western barbarians_;\" the Japanese were called by them the \"_eastern\nbarbarians_.\" (See Thornton's History of China, vol. i.)\n\nThe Jews considered all who did not belong to their race to be\n_heathens_ and _barbarians_.\n\nThe Christians consider those who are not followers of Christ Jesus to\nbe _heathens_ and _barbarians_.\n\nThe Mohammedans consider all others to be _dogs_, _infidels_, and\n_barbarians_.\n\n[267:4] \"And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them,\nwalking on the sea.\" (Matt. xiv. 25.)\n\n[267:5] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. ii. p. 236. We have it on the authority\nof _Strabo_ that Roman priests walked barefoot over burning coals,\nwithout receiving the slightest injury. This was done in the presence of\ncrowds of people. _Pliny_ also relates the same story.\n\n[267:6] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. ii. p. 236.\n\n[267:7] Athenagoras, Apolog. p. 25. Quoted in Middleton's Works, vol. i.\np. 62.\n\n[267:8] Geikie: Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 619.\n\n[268:1] Geikie: Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 75.\n\n[268:2] Jewish Antiquities, bk. viii. ch. ii.\n\n[268:3] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 68.\n\n[268:4] \"And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a _blind man_ unto\nhim, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the\nhand . . . _and when he had spit on his eyes_, . . . he looked up and\nsaid: 'I see men and trees,' . . . and he was restored.\" (Mark, viii.\n22-25.)\n\n[268:5] \"And behold there was a man _which had his hand withered_. . . .\nThen said he unto the man, 'Stretch forth thine hand;' and he stretched\nit forth, and it was restored whole, like as the other.\" (Matt. xii.\n10-13.)\n\n[268:6] Tacitus: Hist., lib. iv. ch. lxxxi.\n\n[269:1] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Tacitus.\"\n\n[269:2] See The Bible of To-Day, pp. 273, 278.\n\n[269:3] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. pp. 539-541.\n\n[270:1] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 102. See also, Bell's\nPantheon, vol. i. p. 16.\n\n[270:2] Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of the most accurate historians\nof antiquity, says: \"In the war with the Latins, Castor and Pollux\nappeared visibly on white horses, and fought on the side of the Romans,\nwho by their assistance gained a complete victory. As a perpetual\nmemorial of it, a temple was erected and a yearly festival instituted in\nhonor of these deities.\" (Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 323, and\nMiddleton's Letters from Rome, p. 103.)\n\n[271:1] See Prefatory Discourse to vol. iii. Middleton's Works, p. 54.\n\n[271:2] See Origen: Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. lxviii.\n\n[272:1] See Origen: Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. ix.\n\n[272:2] Ibid. bk. iii. ch. xliv.\n\n[272:3] Ibid.\n\n[272:4] Ibid. bk. 1, ch. lxviii.\n\n[272:5] Ibid.\n\n[272:6] Ibid.\n\n[272:7] Dial. Cum. Typho. ch. lxix.\n\n[272:8] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 148.\n\n[272:9] See Baring-Gould's Lost and Hostile Gospels. A knowledge of\nmagic had spread from Central Asia into Syria, by means of the return of\nthe Jews from Babylon, and had afterwards extended widely, through the\nmixing of nations produced by Alexander's conquests.\n\n[273:1] See King's Gnostics, p. 145. Monumental Christianity, pp. 100\nand 402, and Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. i. p. 16.\n\n[273:2] See Monumental Christianity, p. 402, and Hist. of Our Lord, vol.\ni. p. 16.\n\n[273:3] Monumental Christianity, pp. 403-405.\n\n[273:4] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 19.\n\n[273:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 59.\n\n[274:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. p. 588. An eminent heathen challenged his\nChristian friend Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, a champion of the\nGospel, to show him but one person who had been raised from the dead, on\nthe condition of turning Christian himself upon it. _The Christian\nbishop was unable to give him that satisfaction._ (See Gibbon's Rome,\nvol. i. p. 541, and Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 60.)\n\n[274:2] Middleton's Works, vol. i. pp. 20, 21.\n\n[274:3] Ibid. p. 62. The Christian Fathers are noted for their frauds.\nTheir writings are full of falsehoods and deceit.\n\n[275:1] Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. ix. x.\n\n[275:2] See Middleton's Works, pp. 62, 63, 64.\n\n[275:3] On The Flesh of Christ, ch. v.\n\n[276:1] I. Corinthians, i. 22, 23.\n\n[276:2] Matt. xii. 29.\n\n[276:3] See for example, Joel, ii. 10, 31; iii. 15; Matt. xxiv. 29, 30;\nActs, ii. 19, 20; Revelations, vi. 12, 13; xvi. 18, _et seq._\n\n[277:1] The writers of the Gospels were \"I know not what sort of _half_\nJews, not even agreeing with themselves.\" (Bishop Faustus.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nCHRIST CRISHNA AND CHRIST JESUS COMPARED.\n\n\nBelieving and affirming, that the _mythological portion_ of the history\nof Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the books forming the Canon of the\nNew Testament, is nothing more or less than a copy of the mythological\nhistories of the Hindoo Saviour _Crishna_, and the Buddhist Saviour\n_Buddha_,[278:1] with a mixture of mythology borrowed from the Persians\nand other nations, we shall in this and the chapter following, compare\nthe histories of these _Christs_, side by side with that of Christ\nJesus, the Christian Saviour.\n\nIn comparing the history of Crishna with that of Jesus, we have the\nfollowing remarkable parallels:\n\n1. \"Crishna was born of a chaste virgin, called Devaki, who was selected\nby the Lord for this purpose on account of her purity.\"[278:2]\n\n     1. Jesus was born of a chaste virgin, called Mary, who was\n     selected by the Lord for this purpose, on account of her\n     purity.[278:3]\n\n2. A chorus of Devatas celebrated with song the praise of Devaki,\nexclaiming: \"In the delivery of this favored woman all nature shall have\ncause to exult.\"[278:4]\n\n     2. The angel of the Lord saluted Mary, and said: \"Hail Mary!\n     the Lord is with you, you are blessed above all women, . . .\n     for thou hast found favor with the Lord.\"[278:5]\n\n3. The birth of Crishna was announced in the heavens by _his\nstar_.[278:6]\n\n     3. The birth of Jesus was announced in the heavens by _his\n     star_.[278:7]\n\n4. On the morn of Crishna's birth, \"the quarters of the horizon were\nirradiate with joy, as if moonlight was diffused over the whole earth;\"\n\"the spirits and nymphs of heaven danced and sang,\" and \"the clouds\nemitted low pleasing sounds.\"[279:1]\n\n     4. When Jesus was born, the angels of heaven sang with joy,\n     and from the clouds there came pleasing sounds.[279:2]\n\n5. Crishna, though royally descended, was actually born in a state the\nmost abject and humiliating, having been brought into the world in a\n_cave_.[279:3]\n\n     5. \"The birth of Jesus, the King of Israel, took place under\n     circumstances of extreme indigence; and the place of his\n     nativity, according to the united voice of the ancients, and\n     of oriental travelers, was in a _cave_.\"[279:4]\n\n6. \"The moment Crishna was born, the whole cave was splendidly\nilluminated, and the countenances of his father and his mother emitted\nrays of glory.\"[279:5]\n\n     6. The moment Jesus was born, \"there was a great light in the\n     cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and the midwife could not\n     bear it.[279:6]\"\n\n7. \"Soon after Crishna's mother was delivered of him, and while she was\nweeping over him _and lamenting his unhappy destiny_, the compassionate\ninfant assumed the power of speech, and soothed and comforted his\nafflicted parent.\"[279:7]\n\n     7. \"Jesus spake even when he was in his cradle, and said to\n     his mother: 'Mary, I am Jesus, the Son of God, that _Word_\n     which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of\n     the Angel Gabriel unto thee, and my Father hath sent me for\n     the salvation of the world.'\"[279:8]\n\n8. The divine child--Crishna--was recognized, and adored by cowherds,\nwho prostrated themselves before the heaven-born child.[279:9]\n\n     8. The divine child--Jesus--was recognized, and adored by\n     shepherds, who prostrated themselves before the heaven-born\n     child.[279:10]\n\n9. Crishna was received with divine honors, and presented with gifts of\nsandal-wood and perfumes.[279:11]\n\n     9. Jesus was received with divine honors, and presented with\n     gifts of frankincense and myrrh.[279:12]\n\n10. \"Soon after the birth of Crishna, the holy Indian prophet Nared,\nhearing of the fame of the infant Crishna, pays him a visit at Gokul,\nexamines the _stars_, and declares him to be of celestial\ndescent.\"[279:13]\n\n     10. \"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, behold,\n     there came wise men from the East, saying: Where is he that is\n     born King of the Jews, for we have seen his _star_ in the East\n     and have come to worship him.\"[279:14]\n\n11. Crishna was born at a time when Nanda--his foster-father--was away\nfrom home, having come to the city to pay his tax or yearly tribute, to\nthe king.[279:15]\n\n     11. Jesus was born at a time when Joseph--his\n     foster-father--was away from home, having come to the city to\n     pay his tax or tribute to the governor.[279:16]\n\n12. Crishna, although born in a state the most abject and humiliating,\nwas of royal descent.[280:1]\n\n     12. Jesus, although born in a state the most abject and\n     humiliating, was of royal descent.[280:2]\n\n13. Crishna's father was warned by a \"heavenly voice,\" to \"fly with the\nchild to Gacool, across the river Jumna,\" as the reigning monarch sought\nhis life.[280:3]\n\n     13. Jesus' father was warned \"in a dream\" to \"take the young\n     child and his mother, and flee into Egypt,\" as the reigning\n     monarch sought his life.[280:4]\n\n14. The ruler of the country in which Crishna was born, having been\ninformed of the birth of the divine child, sought to destroy him. For\nthis purpose, he ordered \"the massacre in all his states, of all the\nchildren of the male sex, born during the night of the birth of\nCrishna.\"[280:5]\n\n     14. The ruler of the country in which Jesus was born, having\n     been informed of the birth of the divine child, sought to\n     destroy him. For this purpose, he ordered \"all the children\n     that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,\" to be\n     slain.[280:6]\n\n15. \"Mathura (pronounced Mattra), was the city in which Crishna was\nborn, where his most extraordinary miracles were performed, and which\ncontinues at this day the place where his name and _Avatar_ are held in\nthe most sacred veneration of any province in Hindostan.\"[280:7]\n\n     15. Matarea, near Hermopolis, in Egypt, is said to have been\n     the place where Jesus resided during his absence from the land\n     of Judea. At this place he is reported to have wrought many\n     miracles.[280:8]\n\n16. Crishna was preceded by _Rama_, who was born a short time before\nhim, and whose life was sought by Kansa, the ruling monarch, at the time\nhe attempted to destroy the infant Crishna.[280:9]\n\n     16. Jesus was preceded by _John_ the \"divine herald,\" who was\n     born a short time before him, and whose life was sought by\n     Herod, the ruling monarch, at the time he attempted to destroy\n     the infant Jesus.[280:10]\n\n17. Crishna, being brought up among shepherds, wanted the advantage of a\npreceptor to teach him the sciences. Afterwards, when he went to\nMathura, a tutor, profoundly learned, was obtained for him; but, in a\nvery short time, he became such a scholar as utterly to astonish and\nperplex his master with a variety of the most intricate questions in\nSanscrit science.[280:11]\n\n     17. Jesus was sent to Zaccheus the schoolmaster, who wrote out\n     an alphabet for him, and bade him say _Aleph_. \"Then the Lord\n     Jesus said to him, Tell me first the meaning of the letter\n     Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth, and when the master\n     threatened to whip him, the Lord Jesus explained to _him_ the\n     meaning of the letters Aleph and Beth; also which where the\n     straight figures of the letters, which the oblique, and what\n     letters had double figures; which had points, and which had\n     none; why one letter went before another; and many other\n     things he began to tell him and explain, of which the master\n     himself had never heard, nor read in any book.\"[281:1]\n\n18. \"At a certain time, Crishna, taking a walk with the other cowherds,\nthey chose him their _King_, and every one had his place assigned him\nunder the new King.\"[281:2]\n\n     18. \"In the month Adar, Jesus gathered together the boys, and\n     ranked them as though he had been a KING. . . . And if any one\n     happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come\n     hither, and worship the King.\"[281:3]\n\n19. Some of Crishna's play-fellows were stung by a serpent, and he,\nfilled with compassion at their untimely fate, \"and casting upon them an\neye of divine mercy, they immediately rose,\" and were restored.[281:4]\n\n     19. When Jesus was at play, a boy was stung by a serpent, \"and\n     he (Jesus) touched the boy with his hand,\" and he was restored\n     to his former health.[281:5]\n\n20. Crishna's companions, with some calves, were stolen, and hid in a\ncave, whereupon Crishna, \"by his power, created other calves and boys,\nin all things, perfect resemblances of the others.\"[281:6]\n\n     20. Jesus' companions, who had hid themselves in a furnace,\n     were turned into kids, whereupon Jesus said: \"Come hither, O\n     boys, that we may go and play; and immediately the kids were\n     changed into the shape of boys.\"[281:7]\n\n21. \"One of the first miracles performed by Crishna, when mature, was\nthe curing of a leper.\"[281:8]\n\n     21. One of the first miracles performed by Jesus, when mature,\n     was the curing of a leper.[281:9]\n\n22. A poor cripple, or lame woman, came, with \"a vessel filled with\nspices, sweet-scented oils, sandal-wood, saffron, civet, and other\nperfumes, and made a certain sign on his (Crishna's) forehead, _casting\nthe rest upon his head_.\"[281:10]\n\n     22. \"Now, when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the\n     leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of\n     very precious ointment, _and poured it on his head_, as he sat\n     at meat.\"[281:11]\n\n23. Crishna was crucified, and he is represented with arms extended,\nhanging on a cross.[281:12]\n\n     23. Jesus was crucified, and he is represented with arms\n     extended, hanging on a cross.\n\n24. At the time of the death of Crishna, there came calamities and bad\nomens of every kind. A black circle surrounded the moon, and the sun was\ndarkened at noon-day; the sky rained fire and ashes; flames burned dusky\nand livid; demons committed depredations on earth; at sunrise and\nsunset, thousands of figures were seen skirmishing in the air; spirits\nwere to be seen on all sides.[282:1]\n\n     24. At the time of the death of Jesus, there came calamities\n     of many kinds. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from\n     the top to the bottom, the sun was darkened from the sixth to\n     the ninth hour, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of\n     the saints which slept arose and came out of their\n     graves.[282:2]\n\n25. Crishna was pierced with an arrow.[282:3]\n\n     25. Jesus was pierced with a spear.[282:4]\n\n26. Crishna said to the hunter who shot him: \"Go, hunter, through my\nfavor, to heaven, the abode of the gods.\"[282:5]\n\n     26. Jesus said to one of the malefactors who was crucified\n     with him: \"Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with\n     me in paradise.\"[282:6]\n\n27. Crishna descended into hell.[282:7]\n\n     27. Jesus descended into hell.[282:8]\n\n28. Crishna, after being put to death, rose again from the dead.[282:9]\n\n     28. Jesus, after being put to death, rose again from the\n     dead.[282:10]\n\n29. Crishna ascended bodily into heaven, and many persons witnessed his\nascent.[282:11]\n\n     29. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, and many persons\n     witnessed his ascent.[282:12]\n\n30. Crishna is to come again on earth in the latter days. He will appear\namong mortals as an armed warrior, riding a white horse. At his approach\nthe sun and moon will be darkened, the earth will tremble, and the stars\nfall from the firmament.[282:13]\n\n     30. Jesus is to come again on earth in the latter days. He\n     will appear among mortals as an armed warrior, riding a white\n     horse. At his approach, the sun and moon will be darkened, the\n     earth will tremble, and the stars fall from the\n     firmament.[282:14]\n\n31. Crishna is to be judge of the dead at the last day.[282:15]\n\n     31. Jesus is to be judge of the dead at the last day.[282:16]\n\n32. Crishna is the creator of all things visible and invisible; \"all\nthis universe came into being through him, the eternal maker.\"[282:17]\n\n     32. Jesus is the creator of all things visible and invisible;\n     \"all this universe came into being through him, the eternal\n     maker.\"[282:18]\n\n33. Crishna is Alpha and Omega, \"the beginning, the middle, and the end\nof all things.\"[282:19]\n\n     33. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the beginning, the middle, and\n     the end of all things.[282:20]\n\n34. Crishna, when on earth, was in constant strife against the evil\nspirit.[282:21] He surmounts extraordinary dangers, strews his way with\nmiracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring the maimed, the\ndeaf and the blind, everywhere supporting the weak against the strong,\nthe oppressed against the powerful. The people crowded his way, and\nadored him as a _God_.[283:1]\n\n     34. Jesus, when on earth, was in constant strife against the\n     evil spirit.[282:22] He surmounts extraordinary dangers,\n     strews his way with miracles, raising the dead, healing the\n     sick, restoring the maimed, the deaf and the blind,\n     everywhere supporting the weak against the strong, the\n     oppressed against the powerful. The people crowded his way and\n     adored him as a _God_.[283:2]\n\n35. Crishna had a beloved disciple--_Arjuna_.[283:3]\n\n     35. Jesus had a beloved disciple--_John_.[283:4]\n\n36. Crishna was transfigured before his disciple Arjuna. \"All in an\ninstant, with a thousand suns, blazing with dazzling luster, so beheld\nhe the glories of the universe collected in the one person of the God of\nGods.\"[283:5]\n\nArjuna bows his head at this vision, and folding his hands in reverence,\nsays:\n\n\"Now that I see thee as thou really art, I thrill with terror! Mercy!\nLord of Lords, once more display to me thy human form, thou habitation\nof the universe.\"[283:6]\n\n     36. \"And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John\n     his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart,\n     and was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as\n     the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. . . While he\n     yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and\n     behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said: &c.\" \"And when\n     the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were\n     sore afraid.\"[283:7]\n\n37. Crishna was \"the meekest and best tempered of beings.\" \"He preached\nvery nobly indeed, and sublimely.\" \"He was pure and chaste in\nreality,\"[283:8] and, as a lesson of humility, \"he even condescended to\nwash the feet of the Brahmins.\"[283:9]\n\n     37. Jesus was the meekest and best tempered of beings. He\n     preached very nobly indeed, and sublimely. He was pure and\n     chaste, and he even condescended to wash the feet of his\n     disciples, to whom he taught a lesson of humility.[283:10]\n\n38. \"Crishna is the very Supreme Brahma, though it be a _mystery_ how\nthe Supreme should assume the form of a man.\"[283:11]\n\n     38. Jesus is the very Supreme Jehovah, though it be a\n     _mystery_ how the Supreme should assume the form of a man, for\n     \"Great is the mystery of Godliness.\"[283:12]\n\n39. Crishna is the second person in the Hindoo Trinity.[283:13]\n\n     39. Jesus is the second person in the Christian\n     Trinity.[283:14]\n\n40. Crishna said: \"Let him if seeking God by deep abstraction, abandon\nhis possessions and his hopes, betake himself to some secluded spot, and\nfix his heart and thoughts on God alone.\"[284:1]\n\n     40. Jesus said: \"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy\n     closet, and when then hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father,\n     which is in secret.\"[284:2]\n\n41. Crishna said: \"Whate'er thou dost perform, whate'er thou eatest,\nwhate'er thou givest to the poor, whate'er thou offerest in sacrifice,\nwhate'er thou doest as an act of holy presence, do all as if to me, O\nArjuna. I am the great Sage, without beginning; I am the Ruler and the\nAll-sustainer.\"[284:3]\n\n     41. Jesus said: \"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or\n     whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God\"[284:4] who is\n     the great Sage, without beginning; the Ruler and the\n     All-sustainer.\n\n42. Crishna said: \"I am the cause of the whole universe; through me it\nis created and dissolved; on me all things within it hang and suspend,\nlike pearls upon a string.\"[284:5]\n\n     42. \"Of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things.\"\n     \"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything\n     made that was made.\"[284:6]\n\n43. Crishna said: \"I am the light in the Sun and Moon, far, far beyond\nthe darkness. I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance in all that's\nradiant, and the light of lights.\"[284:7]\n\n     43. \"Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying: I am the light\n     of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,\n     but shall have the light of life.\"[284:8]\n\n44. Crishna said: \"I am the sustainer of the world, its friend and Lord.\nI am its way and refuge.\"[284:9]\n\n     44. \"Jesus said unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the\n     life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.\"[284:10]\n\n45. Crishna said: \"I am the Goodness of the good; I am Beginning,\nMiddle, End, Eternal Time, the Birth, the Death of all.\"[284:11]\n\n     45. \"I am the first and the last; and have the keys of hell\n     and of death.\"[284:12]\n\n46. Crishna said: \"Then be not sorrowful, from all thy sins I will\ndeliver thee. Think thou on me, have faith in me, adore and worship me,\nand join thyself in meditation to me; thus shalt thou come to me, O\nArjuna; thus shalt thou rise to my supreme abode, where neither sun nor\nmoon hath need to shine, for know that all the lustre they possess is\nmine.\"[284:13]\n\n     46. Jesus said: \"Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven\n     thee.\"[284:14] \"My son, give me thine heart.\"[284:15] \"The\n     city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in\n     it; for the glory of God did lighten it.\"[284:16]\n\nMany other remarkable passages might be adduced from the Bhagavad-gita,\nthe following of which may be noted:[284:17]\n\n     \"He who has brought his members under subjection, but sits\n     with foolish minds thinking in his heart of sensual things, is\n     called a hypocrite.\" (Compare Matt. v. 28.)\n\n     \"Many are my births that are past; many are thine too, O\n     Arjuna. I know them all, but thou knowest them not.\" (Comp.\n     John, viii. 14.)\n\n     \"For the establishment of righteousness am I born from time to\n     time.\" (Comp. John, xviii. 37; I. John, iii. 3.)\n\n     \"I am dearer to the wise than all possessions, and he is\n     dearer to me.\" (Comp. Luke, xiv. 33; John, xiv. 21.)\n\n     \"The ignorant, the unbeliever, and he of a doubting mind\n     perish utterly.\" (Comp. Mark, xvi. 16.)\n\n     \"Deluded men despise me when I take human form.\" (Comp. John,\n     i. 10.)\n\nCrishna had the titles of \"Saviour,\" \"Redeemer,\" \"Preserver,\"\n\"Comforter,\" \"Mediator,\" &c. He was called \"The Resurrection and the\nLife,\" \"The Lord of Lords,\" \"The Great God,\" \"The Holy One,\" \"The Good\nShepherd,\" &c. All of which are titles applied to Christ Jesus.\n\nJustice, humanity, good faith, compassion, disinterestedness, in fact,\nall the virtues, are said[285:1] to have been taught by Crishna, both by\nprecept and example.\n\nThe Christian missionary Georgius, who found the worship of the\ncrucified God in India, consoles himself by saying: \"That which P.\nCassianus Maceratentis had told me before, I find to have been observed\nmore fully in French by the Living De Guignes, a most learned man; _i.\ne._, that _Crishna_ is the very name corrupted of Christ the\nSaviour.\"[285:2] Many others have since made a similar statement, but\nunfortunately for them, the name _Crishna_ has nothing whatever to do\nwith \"Christ the Saviour.\" It is a purely Sanscrit word, and means \"_the\ndark god_\" or \"_the black god_.\"[285:3] The word _Christ_ (which is not\na name, but a title), as we have already seen, is a Greek word, and\nmeans \"the Anointed,\" or \"the Messiah.\" The fact is, the history of\nChrist Crishna is older than that of Christ Jesus.\n\nStatues of Crishna are to be found in the very oldest cave temples\nthroughout India, and it has been satisfactorily proved, on the\nauthority of a passage of _Arrian_, that the _worship_ of Crishna was\npracticed in the time of Alexander the Great at what still remains one\nof the most famous temples of India, the temple of Mathura, on the Jumna\nriver,[285:4] which shows that he was considered a _god_ at that\ntime.[286:1] We have already seen that, according to Prof. Monier\nWilliams, he was _deified_ about the fourth century B. C.\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy says:\n\n     \"If we may believe so good an authority as Edward Moor (author\n     of Moor's \"Hindu Pantheon,\" and \"Oriental Fragments\"), both\n     the name of Crishna, and the general outline of his history,\n     were long anterior to the birth of our Saviour, _as very\n     certain things_, and probably extended to the time of Homer,\n     nearly nine hundred years before Christ, or more than a\n     hundred years before Isaiah lived and prophesied.\"[286:2]\n\nIn the Sanscrit Dictionary, compiled more than two thousand years ago,\nwe have the whole story of Crishna, the incarnate deity, born of a\nvirgin, and miraculously escaping in his infancy from Kansa, the\nreigning monarch of the country.[286:3]\n\nThe Rev. J. B. S. Carwithen, known as one of the \"Brampton Lecturers,\"\nsays:\n\n     \"Both the name of Crishna and the general outline of his story\n     are long anterior to the birth of our Saviour; and this we\n     know, _not on the presumed antiquity of the Hindoo records\n     alone_. Both Arrian and Strabo assert that the god Crishna was\n     anciently worshiped at Mathura, on the river Jumna, where he\n     is worshiped at this day. But the emblems and attributes\n     essential to this deity are also transplanted into the\n     mythology of the West.\"[286:4]\n\nOn the walls of the most ancient Hindoo temples, are sculptured\nrepresentations of the flight of Vasudeva and the infant Saviour\nCrishna, from King Kansa, who sought to destroy him. The story of the\nslaughtered infants is also the subject of an immense sculpture in the\ncave temple of Elephanta. A person with a drawn sword is represented\nsurrounded by slaughtered infant boys, while men and women are\nsupplicating for their children. The date of this sculpture is lost in\nthe most remote antiquity.[286:5]\n\nThe _flat roof_ of this cavern-temple, and that of Ellora, and every\nother circumstance connected with them, prove that their origin must be\nreferred to a very remote epoch. The _ancient_ temples can easily be\ndistinguished from the more modern ones--such as those of Solsette--by\nthe shape of the roof. The ancient are flat, while the more modern are\narched.[286:6]\n\nThe _Bhagavad gita_, which contains so many sentiments akin to\nChristianity, and which was not written until about the first or second\ncentury,[287:1] has led many _Christian_ scholars to believe, and\nattempt to prove, that they have been borrowed from the New Testament,\nbut unfortunately for them, their premises are untenable. Prof. Monier\nWilliams, _the_ accepted authority on Hindooism, and a thorough\nChristian, writing for the \"Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,\"\nknowing that he could not very well overlook this subject in speaking of\nthe _Bhagavad-gita_, says:\n\n     \"To any one who has followed me in tracing the outline of this\n     remarkable philosophical dialogue, and has noted the numerous\n     parallels it offers to passages in _our_ Sacred Scriptures, it\n     may seem strange that I hesitate to concur to any theory which\n     explains these coincidences by supposing that the author had\n     access to the New Testament, or that he derived some of his\n     ideas from the first propagaters of Christianity. Surely it\n     will be conceded that the probability of contact and\n     interaction between Gentile systems and the Christian religion\n     of the first two centuries of our era must have been greater\n     in Italy than in India. Yet, if we take the writings and\n     sayings of those great Roman philosophers, Seneca, Epictetus,\n     and Marcus Aurelius, we shall find them full of resemblances\n     to passages in our Scriptures, while their appears to be no\n     ground whatever for supposing that these eminent Pagan writers\n     and thinkers derived any of their ideas from either Jewish or\n     Christian sources. In fact, the Rev. F. W. Farrar, in his\n     interesting and valuable work 'Seekers after God,' has clearly\n     shown that 'to say that Pagan morality kindled its faded taper\n     at the Gospel light, whether furtively or unconsciously, that\n     it dissembled the obligation and made a boast of the splendor,\n     as if it were originally her own, is to make an assertion\n     wholly untenable.' He points out that the attempts of the\n     Christian Fathers to make out Pythagoras a debtor to Hebraic\n     wisdom, Plato an 'Atticizing Moses,' Aristotle a picker-up of\n     ethics from a Jew, Seneca a correspondent of St. Paul, were\n     due 'in some cases to ignorance, in some to a want of perfect\n     honesty in controversial dealing.'[287:2]\n\n     \"_His arguments would be even more conclusive if applied to\n     the Bhagavad-gita_, the author of which was probably\n     contemporaneous with Seneca.[287:3] It must, indeed, be\n     admitted that the flames of true light which emerge from the\n     mists of pantheism in the writings of Indian philosophers,\n     must spring from the same source of light as the Gospel\n     itself; but it may reasonably be questioned whether there\n     could have been any actual contact of the Hindoo systems with\n     Christianity without a more satisfactory result in the\n     modification of pantheistic and anti-Christian ideas.\"[288:1]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"It should not be forgotten that although the nations of\n     Europe have changed their religions during the past eighteen\n     centuries, _the Hindu has not done so, except very partially_.\n     Islam converted a certain number by force of arms in the\n     eighth and following centuries, and Christian truth is at last\n     slowly creeping onwards and winning its way by its own\n     inherent energy in the nineteenth; _but the religious creeds,\n     rites, customs, and habits of thought of the Hindus generally,\n     have altered little since the days of Manu, five hundred years\n     B. C._\"[288:2]\n\nThese words are conclusive; comments, therefore, are unnecessary.\n\nGeo. W. Cox, in his \"Aryan Mythology,\" speaking on this subject says:\n\n     \"It is true that these myths have been crystallized around the\n     name of Crishna in ages subsequent to the period during which\n     the earliest _vedic_ literature came into existence; _but the\n     myths themselves are found in this older literature associated\n     with other gods_, and not always only in germ. _There is no\n     more room for inferring foreign influence in the growth of any\n     of these myths than, as Bunsen rightly insists, there is room\n     for tracing Christian influence in the earlier epical\n     literature of the Teutonic tribes._ Practically the myths of\n     Crishna seems to have been fully developed in the days of\n     Megasthenes (fourth century B. C.) who identifies him with the\n     Greek Hercules.\"[288:3]\n\nIt should be remembered, in connection with this, that Dr. Parkhurst and\nothers have considered _Hercules_ a type of Christ Jesus.\n\nIn the ancient epics Crishna is made to say:\n\n     \"I am Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, and the source as well as the\n     destruction of things, the creator and the annihilator of the\n     whole aggregate of existences. While all men live in\n     unrighteousness, I, the unfailing, build up the bulwark of\n     righteousness, as the ages pass away.\"[288:4]\n\nThese words are almost identical with what we find in the\n_Bhagavad-gita_. In the _Maha-bharata_, Vishnu is associated or\nidentified with Crishna, just as he is in the _Bhagavad-gita_ and\n_Vishnu Purana_, showing, in the words of Prof. Williams, that: the\n_Puranas_, although of a comparatively modern date, are nevertheless\ncomposed of matter to be found in the two great epic poems the\n_Ramayana_ and the _Maha-bharata_.[288:5]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[278:1] It is also very evident that the history of Crishna--or that\npart of it at least which has a _religious aspect_--is taken from that\nof Buddha. Crishna, in the ancient epic poems, is simply a great hero,\nand it is not until about the fourth century B. C., that he is _deified_\nand declared to be an incarnation of Vishnu, or Vishnu himself in human\nform. (See Monier Williams' Hinduism, pp. 102, 103.)\n\n\"If it be urged that the attribution to Crishna of qualities or powers\nbelonging to the other deities is a mere device by which his devotees\nsought to supersede the more ancient gods, _the answer must be that\nnothing is done in his case which has not been done in the case of\nalmost every other member of the great company of the gods_, and that\nthe systematic adoption of this method is itself conclusive proof of the\nlooseness and flexibility of the materials of which the cumbrous\nmythology of the Hindu epic poems is composed.\" (Cox: Aryan Mythology,\nvol. ii. p. 130.) These words apply very forcibly to the history of\nChrist Jesus. He being attributed with qualities and powers belonging to\nthe deities of the heathen is a mere device by which _his_ devotees\nsought to supersede the more ancient gods.\n\n[278:2] See ch. xii.\n\n[278:3] See The Gospel of Mary, _Apoc._, ch. vii.\n\n[278:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 329.\n\n[278:5] Mary, _Apoc._, vii. Luke, i. 28-30.\n\n[278:6] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp. 317 and 336.\n\n[278:7] Matt. ii. 2.\n\n[279:1] Vishnu Purana, p. 502.\n\n[279:2] Luke, ii. 13.\n\n[279:3] See ch. xvi.\n\n[279:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 311. See also, chap. xvi.\n\n[279:5] See ch. xvi.\n\n[279:6] Protevangelion, _Apoc._, chs. xii. and xiii.\n\n[279:7] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. 311.\n\n[279:8] Infancy, _Apoc._, ch. i. 2, 3.\n\n[279:9] See ch. xv.\n\n[279:10] Luke, ii. 8-10.\n\n[279:11] See Oriental Religions, p. 500, and Inman's Ancient Faiths,\nvol. ii. p. 353.\n\n[279:12] Matt. ii. 2.\n\n[279:13] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 317.\n\n[279:14] Matt., ii. 1, 2.\n\n[279:15] Vishnu Purana, bk. v. ch. iii.\n\n[279:16] Luke, ii. 1-17.\n\n[280:1] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p.\n310.\n\n[280:2] See the Genealogies in Matt. and Luke.\n\n[280:3] See ch. xviii.\n\n[280:4] Matt. ii. 13.\n\n[280:5] See ch. xviii.\n\n[280:6] Matt. ii. 16.\n\n[280:7] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 317. Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p.\n259.\n\n[280:8] Introduc. to Infancy, Apoc. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.\n130. Savary: Travels in Egypt, vol. i. p. 126, in Hist. Hindostan, vol.\nii. p. 318.\n\n[280:9] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 316.\n\n[280:10] \"Elizabeth, hearing that her son John was about to be searched\nfor (by Herod), took him and went up into the mountains, and looked\naround for a place to hide him. . . . But Herod made search after John,\nand sent servants to Zacharias,\" &c. (Protevangelion, Apoc. ch. xvi.)\n\n[280:11] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 321.\n\n[281:1] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xx. 1-8.\n\n[281:2] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 321.\n\n[281:3] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xviii. 1-3.\n\n[281:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 343.\n\n[281:5] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xviii.\n\n[281:6] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 340. Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 136.\n\n[281:7] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xvii.\n\n[281:8] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 319, and ch. xxvii. this work.\n\n[281:9] Matthew, viii. 2.\n\n[281:10] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 320.\n\n[281:11] Matt. xxvi. 6-7.\n\n[281:12] See ch. xx.\n\n[282:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 71.\n\n[282:2] Matt. xxii. Luke, xxviii.\n\n[282:3] See ch. xx.\n\n[282:4] John, xix. 34.\n\n[282:5] See Vishnu Purana, p. 612.\n\n[282:6] Luke, xxiii. 43.\n\n[282:7] See ch. xxii.\n\n[282:8] See Ibid.\n\n[282:9] See ch. xxiii.\n\n[282:10] Matt. xxviii.\n\n[282:11] See ch. xxiii.\n\n[282:12] See Acts, i. 9-11.\n\n[282:13] See ch. xxiv.\n\n[282:14] See passages quoted in ch. xxiv.\n\n[282:15] See Oriental Religions, p. 504.\n\n[282:16] Matt. xxiv. 31. Rom. xiv. 10.\n\n[282:17] See ch. xxvi.\n\n[282:18] John, i. 3. I. Cor. viii. 6. Eph. iii. 9.\n\n[282:19] See Geeta, lec. x. p. 85.\n\n[282:20] Rev. i. 8, 11; xxii. 13; xxi. 6.\n\n[282:21] He is described as a superhuman organ of light, to whom the\nsuperhuman organ of darkness, the evil serpent, was opposed. He is\nrepresented \"bruising the head of the serpent,\" and standing upon him.\n(See illustrations in vol. i. Asiatic Researches; vol. ii. Higgins'\nAnacalypsis; Calmet's Fragments, and other works illustrating Hindoo\nMythology.)\n\n[282:22] Jesus, \"the Sun of Righteousness,\" is also described as a\nsuperhuman organ of light, opposed by Satan, \"the old serpent.\" He is\nclaimed to have been the seed of the woman who should \"bruise the head\nof the serpent.\" (Genesis, iii. 15.)\n\n[283:1] See ch. xxvii.\n\n[283:2] According to the New Testament.\n\n[283:3] See Bhagavat Geeta.\n\n[283:4] John, xiii. 23.\n\n[283:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 215.\n\n[283:6] Ibid. p. 216.\n\n[283:7] Matt. xvii. 1-6.\n\n[283:8] \"He was pure and chaste in _reality_,\" although represented as\nsporting amorously, when a youth, with cowherdesses. According to the\npure Vaishnava faith, however, Crishna's love for the Gopis, and\nespecially for his favorite Radha, is to be explained allegorically, as\nsymbolizing the longing of the human soul for the Supreme. (Prof. Monier\nWilliams: Hinduism, p. 144.) Just as the amorous \"_Song of Solomon_\" is\nsaid to be _allegorical_, and to mean \"Christ's love for his church.\"\n\n[283:9] See Indian Antiquities, iii. 46, and Asiatic Researches, vol. i.\np. 273.\n\n[283:10] John, xiii.\n\n[283:11] Vishnu Purana, p. 492, _note_ 3.\n\n[283:12] I. Timothy, iii. 16.\n\n[283:13] Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. _Crishna is Vishnu in human form._ \"A\nmore personal, and, so to speak, _human_ god than Siva was needed for\nthe mass of the people--a god who could satisfy the yearnings of the\nhuman heart for religion of faith (_bhakti_)--a god who could sympathize\nwith, and condescend to human wants and necessities. Such a god was\nfound in the second member of the Tri-murti. It was as _Vishnu_ that the\nSupreme Being was supposed to exhibit his sympathy with human trials,\nand his love for the human race.\n\n\"If _Siva_ is the great god of the Hindu Pantheon, to whom adoration is\ndue from all indiscriminately, _Vishnu_ is certainly its most popular\ndeity. He is the god selected by far the greater number of individuals\nas their Saviour, protector and friend, who rescues them from the power\nof evil, interests himself in their welfare, and finally admits them to\nhis heaven. But it is not so much _Vishnu_ in his own person as _Vishnu_\nin his _incarnations_, that effects all this for his votaries.\" (Prof.\nMonier Williams: Hinduism, p. 100.)\n\n[283:14] Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus is the Son in human form.\n\n[284:1] Williams' Hinduism, p. 211.\n\n[284:2] Matt. vi. 6.\n\n[284:3] Williams' Hinduism, p. 212.\n\n[284:4] I. Cor. x. 31.\n\n[284:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.\n\n[284:6] John, i. 3.\n\n[284:7] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.\n\n[284:8] John, viii. 12.\n\n[284:9] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.\n\n[284:10] John, xiv. 6.\n\n[284:11] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.\n\n[284:12] Rev. i. 17, 18.\n\n[284:13] Williams' Hinduism, p. 214.\n\n[284:14] Matt. ix. 2.\n\n[284:15] Prov. xxiii. 26.\n\n[284:16] Rev. xxi. 23.\n\n[284:17] Quoted from Williams' Hinduism, pp. 217-219.\n\n[285:1] It is said in the Hindoo sacred books that Crishna was a\nreligious teacher, but, as we have previously remarked, this is a later\naddition to his legendary history. In the ancient epic poems he is\nsimply a great hero and warrior. The portion pertaining to his religious\ncareer, is evidently a copy of the history of Buddha.\n\n[285:2] \"Est Crishna (quod ut mihi pridem indicaverat P. Cassianus\nMaceratentis, sic nunc uberius in Galliis observatum intelligo avivo\nlitteratissimo De Guignes) nomen ipsum corruptum Christi Servatoris.\"\n\n[285:3] See Williams' Hinduism, and Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii.\np. 269.\n\n[285:4] See Celtic Druids, pp. 256, 257.\n\n[286:1] \"Alexander the Great made his expedition to the banks of the\nIndus about 327 B. C., and to this invasion is due the first trustworthy\ninformation obtained by Europeans concerning the north-westerly portion\nof India and the region of the five rivers, down which the Grecian\ntroops were conducted in ships by Nearchus. Megasthenes, who was the\nambassador of Seleukos Nikator (Alexander's successor, and ruler over\nthe whole region between the Euphrates and India, B. C. 312), at the\ncourt of Candra-gupa (Sandrokottus), in Pataliputra (Patna), during a\nlong sojourn in that city collected further information, of which\nStrabo, Pliny, _Arrian_, and others availed themselves.\" (Williams'\nHinduism, p. 4.)\n\n[286:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 151. See also, Asiatic Researches,\ni. 273.\n\n[286:3] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259-273.\n\n[286:4] Quoted in Monumental Christianity, pp. 151, 152.\n\n[286:5] See chapter xviii.\n\n[286:6] See Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 112.\n\n[287:1] In speaking of the antiquity of the _Bhagavad-gita_, Prof.\nMonier Williams says: \"The author was probably a Brahman and nominally a\nVishnava, but really a philosopher whose mind was cast in a broad and\ncomprehensive mould. He is supposed to have lived in India during the\nfirst and second century of our era. Some consider that he lived as late\nas the third century, and some place him even later, _but with these I\ncannot agree_.\" (Indian Wisdom, p. 137.)\n\n[287:2] In order that the resemblances to Christian Scripture in the\nwritings of Roman philosophers may be compared, Prof. Williams refers\nthe reader to \"Seekers after God,\" by the Rev. F. W. Farrar, and Dr.\nRamage's \"Beautiful Thoughts.\" The same sentiments are to be found in\n_Mann_, which, says Prof. Williams, \"few will place later than the fifth\ncentury B. C.\" The _Mahabhrata_, written many centuries B. C., contains\nnumerous parallels to New Testament sayings. (See our chapter on\n\"Paganism in Christianity.\")\n\n[287:3] Seneca, the celebrated Roman philosopher, was born at Cordoba,\nin Spain, a few years B. C. When a child, he was brought by his father\nto Rome, where he was initiated in the study of eloquence.\n\n[288:1] Indian Wisdom, pp. 153, 154. Similar sentiments are expressed in\nhis Hinduism, pp. 218-220.\n\n[288:2] Indian Wisdom, p. iv.\n\n[288:3] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 137, 138.\n\n[288:4] Ibid. p. 131.\n\n[288:5] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 119-110. It was from these sources that\nthe doctrine of _incarnation_ was first evolved by the Brahman. They\nwere written many centuries B. C. (See Ibid.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nCHRIST BUDDHA AND CHRIST JESUS COMPARED.\n\n     \"The more I learn to know Buddha the more I admire him, and\n     the sooner all mankind shall have been made acquainted with\n     his doctrines the better it will be, for he is certainly one\n     of the heroes of humanity.\"\n                                                 _Fausb\u00f6ll._\n\n\nThe _mythological_ portions of the histories of Buddha and Jesus are,\nwithout doubt, nearer in resemblance than that of any two characters of\nantiquity. The _cause_ of this we shall speak of in our chapter on \"Why\nChristianity Prospered,\" and shall content ourselves for the present by\ncomparing the following analogies:\n\n1. Buddha was born of the Virgin Mary,[289:1] who conceived him without\ncarnal intercourse.[289:2]\n\n     1. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, who conceived him\n     without carnal intercourse.[289:3]\n\n2. The incarnation of Buddha is recorded to have been brought about by\nthe descent of the divine power called the \"_Holy_ Ghost,\" upon the\nVirgin Maya.[289:4]\n\n     2. The incarnation of Jesus is recorded to have been brought\n     about by the descent of the divine power called the \"Holy\n     Ghost,\" upon the Virgin Mary.[289:3]\n\n3. When Buddha descended from the regions of the souls,[290:1] and\nentered the body of the Virgin Maya, her womb assumed the appearance of\nclear transparent crystal, in which Buddha appeared, beautiful as a\nflower.[290:2]\n\n     3. When Jesus descended from his heavenly seat, and entered\n     the body of the Virgin Mary, her womb assumed the appearance\n     of clear transparent crystal, in which Jesus appeared\n     beautiful as a flower.[290:3]\n\n4. The birth of Buddha was announced in the heavens by an _asterim_\nwhich was seen rising on the horizon. It is called the \"Messianic\nStar.\"[290:4]\n\n     4. The birth of Jesus was announced in the heavens by \"his\n     star,\" which was seen rising on the horizon.[290:5] It might\n     properly be called the \"Messianic Star.\"\n\n5. \"The son of the Virgin Maya, on whom, according to the tradition, the\n'Holy Ghost' had descended, was said to have been born on Christmas\nday.\"[290:6]\n\n     5. The Son of the Virgin Mary, on whom, according to the\n     tradition, the 'Holy Ghost' had descended, was said to have\n     been born on Christmas day.[290:7]\n\n6. Demonstrations of celestial delight were manifest at the birth of\nBuddha. The _Devas_[290:8] in heaven and earth sang praises to the\n\"Blessed One,\" and said: \"To day, _Bodhisatwa_ is born on earth, to give\njoy and peace to men and Devas, to shed light in the dark places, and to\ngive sight to the blind.\"[290:9]\n\n     6. Demonstrations of celestial delight were manifest at the\n     birth of Jesus. The angels in heaven and earth sang praises to\n     the \"Blessed One,\" saying: \"Glory to God in the highest, and\n     on earth peace, good will toward men.\"[290:10]\n\n7. \"Buddha was visited by wise men who recognized in this marvelous\ninfant all the characters of the divinity, and he had scarcely seen the\nday before he was hailed God of Gods.\"[290:11]\n\n     7. Jesus was visited by wise men who recognized in this\n     marvelous infant all the characters of the divinity, and he\n     had scarcely seen the day before he was hailed God of\n     Gods.[290:12]\n\n8. The infant Buddha was presented with \"costly jewels and precious\nsubstances.\"[290:13]\n\n     8. The infant Jesus was presented with gifts of gold,\n     frankincense, and myrrh.[290:14]\n\n9. When Buddha was an infant, just born, he spoke to his mother, and\nsaid: \"I am the greatest among men.\"[290:15]\n\n     9. When Jesus was an infant in his cradle, he spoke to his\n     mother, and said: \"I am Jesus, the Son of God.\"[290:16]\n\n10. Buddha was a \"dangerous child.\" His life was threatened by King\nBimbasara, who was advised to destroy the child, as he was liable to\noverthrow him.[291:1]\n\n     10. Jesus was a \"dangerous child.\" His life was threatened by\n     King Herod,[291:2] who attempted to destroy the child, as he\n     was liable to overthrow him.[291:3]\n\n11. When sent to school, the young Buddha surprised his masters. Without\nhaving ever studied, he completely worsted all his competitors, not only\nin writing, but in arithmetic, mathematics, metaphysics, astrology,\ngeometry, &c.[291:4]\n\n     11. When sent to school, Jesus surprised his master Zaccheus,\n     who, turning to Joseph, said: \"Thou hast brought a boy to me\n     to be taught, who is more learned than any master.\"[291:5]\n\n12. \"When _twelve_ years old the child Buddha is presented in the\ntemple. He explains and asks learned questions; he excels all those who\nenter into competition with him.\"[291:6]\n\n     12. \"And when he was _twelve_ years old, they brought him to\n     (the temple at) Jerusalem . . . . While in the temple among\n     the doctors and elders, and learned men of Israel, he proposed\n     several questions of learning, and also gave them\n     answers.\"[291:7]\n\n13. Buddha entered a temple, on which occasion forthwith all the statues\nrose and threw themselves at his feet, in act of worship.[291:8]\n\n     13. \"And as Jesus was going in by the ensigns, who carried the\n     standards, the tops of them bowed down and worshiped\n     Jesus.\"[291:9]\n\n14. \"The ancestry of Gotama Buddha is traced from his father,\n\n_Sodhodana_, through various individuals and races, all of royal\ndignity, to _Maha Sammata_, the first monarch of the world. Several of\nthe names and some of the events are met with in the Puranas of the\nBrahmans, but it is not possible to reconcile one order of statement\nwith the other; and it would appear that the Buddhist historians have\nintroduced races, and invented names, that they may invest their\nvenerated Sage with all the honors of heraldry, in addition to the\nattributes of divinity.\"[292:1]\n\n     14. The ancestry of Jesus is traced from his father, Joseph,\n     through various individuals, nearly all of whom were of royal\n     dignity, to Adam, the first monarch of the world. Several of\n     the names, and some of the events, are met with in the sacred\n     Scriptures of the Hebrews, but it is not possible to reconcile\n     one order of statement with the other; and it would appear\n     that the Christian historians have invented and introduced\n     names, that they may invest their venerated Sage with all the\n     honors of heraldry, in addition to the attributes of\n     divinity.[292:2]\n\n15. When Buddha was about to go forth \"to adopt a religious life,\"\n_Mara_[292:3] appeared before him, to tempt him.[292:4]\n\n     15. When Jesus was about \"beginning to preach,\" the _devil_\n     appeared before him, to tempt him.[292:5]\n\n16. _Mara_ said unto Buddha: \"Go not forth to adopt a religious life,\nand in seven days thou shalt become an emperor of the world.\"[292:6]\n\n     16. The _devil_ said to Jesus: If thou wilt fall down and\n     worship me, I will give thee all the kingdoms of the\n     world.[292:7]\n\n17. Buddha would not heed the words of the Evil One, and said to him:\n\"Get thee away from me.\"[292:8]\n\n     17. Jesus would not heed the words of the Evil One, and said\n     to him: \"Get thee behind me, Satan.\"[292:9]\n\n18. After _Mara_ had left Buddha, \"the skies rained flowers, and\ndelicious odors pervaded the air.\"[292:10]\n\n     18. After the _devil_ had left Jesus, \"angels came and\n     ministered unto him.\"[292:11]\n\n19. Buddha fasted for a long period.[292:12]\n\n     19. Jesus fasted forty days and nights.[292:13]\n\n20. Buddha, the Saviour, was baptized, and at this recorded water\nbaptism the Spirit of God was present; that is, not only the highest\nGod, but also the \"Holy Ghost,\" through whom the incarnation of Gautama\nBuddha is recorded to have been brought about by the descent of that\nDivine power upon the Virgin Maya.[292:14]\n\n     20. Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, at which\n     time the Spirit of God was present; that is, not only the\n     highest God, but also the \"Holy Ghost,\" through whom the\n     incarnation of Jesus is recorded to have been brought about,\n     by the descent of that Divine power upon the Virgin\n     Mary.[292:15]\n\n21. \"On one occasion toward the end of his life on earth, Gautama Buddha\nis reported to have been _transfigured_. When _on a mountain_ in Ceylon,\nsuddenly a flame of light descended upon him and encircled the crown of\nhis head with a circle of light. The mount is called _Pandava_, or\nyellow-white color. It is said that 'the glory of his person shone forth\nwith double power,' that his body was 'glorious as a bright golden\nimage,' that he 'shone as the brightness of the sun and moon,' that\nbystanders expressed their opinion, that he could not be 'an every-day\nperson,' or 'a mortal man,' and that his body was divided into\n_three_[293:1] parts, from each of which a ray of light issued\nforth.\"[293:2]\n\n     21. On one occasion during his career on earth, Jesus is\n     reported to have been transfigured: \"Jesus taketh Peter,\n     James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a _high\n     mountain_ apart. And was transfigured before them: and his\n     face did shine as the sun, and his raiment as white as the\n     light.\"[292:16]\n\n22. \"Buddha performed great miracles for the good of mankind, and the\nlegends concerning him are full of the greatest prodigies and\nwonders.\"[293:3]\n\n     22. Jesus performed great miracles for the good of the\n     mankind, and the legends concerning him are full of the\n     greatest prodigies and wonders.[293:4]\n\n23. By prayers in the name of Buddha, his followers expect to receive\nthe rewards of paradise.[293:5]\n\n     23. By prayers in the name of Jesus, his followers expect to\n     receive the rewards of paradise.\n\n24. When Buddha died and was buried, \"the coverings of the body unrolled\nthemselves, and the lid of his coffin was opened by supernatural\npowers.\"[293:6]\n\n     24. When Jesus died and was buried, the coverings of the body\n     were unrolled from off him, and his tomb was opened by\n     supernatural powers.[293:7]\n\n25. Buddha ascended bodily to the celestial regions, when his mission on\nearth was fulfilled.[293:8]\n\n     25. Jesus ascended bodily to the celestial regions, when his\n     mission on earth was fulfilled.[293:9]\n\n26. Buddha is to come upon the earth again in the latter days, his\nmission being to restore the world to order and happiness.[293:10]\n\n     26. Jesus is to come upon the earth again in the latter days,\n     his mission being to restore the world to order and\n     happiness.[293:11]\n\n27. Buddha is to be judge of the dead.[293:12]\n\n     27. Jesus is to be judge of the dead.[293:13]\n\n28. Buddha is Alpha and Omega, without beginning or end, \"the Supreme\nBeing, the Eternal One.\"[293:14]\n\n     28. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, without beginning or\n     end,[293:15] \"the Supreme Being, the Eternal One.\"[293:16]\n\n29. Buddha is represented as saying: \"Let all the sins that were\ncommitted in this world fall on me, that the world may be\ndelivered.\"[293:17]\n\n     29. Jesus is represented as the Saviour of mankind, and all\n     the sins that are committed in this world may fall on him,\n     that the world may be delivered.[293:18]\n\n30. Buddha said: \"Hide your good deeds, and confess before the world the\nsins you have committed.\"[293:19]\n\n     30. Jesus taught men to hide their good deeds,[293:20] and\n     confess before the world the sins they had committed.[293:21]\n\n31. \"Buddha was described as a superhuman organ of light, to whom a\nsuperhuman organ of darkness, Mara or Naga, the Evil Serpent, was\nopposed.\"[294:1]\n\n     31. Jesus was described as a superhuman organ of light--\"the\n     _Sun_ of Righteousness\"[294:2]--opposed by \"the old Serpent,\"\n     the Satan, hinderer, or adversary.[294:3]\n\n32. Buddha came, not to destroy, but to fulfill, the law. He delighted\nin \"representing himself as a _mere link_ in a long chain of enlightened\nteachers.\"[294:4]\n\n     32. Jesus said: \"Think not that I am come to destroy the law,\n     or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to\n     fulfill.\"[294:5]\n\n33. \"One day Ananda, the disciple of Buddha, after a long walk in the\ncountry, meets with M\u00e2tang\u00ee, a woman of the low caste of the K\u00e2nd\u00e2las,\nnear a well, and asks her for some water. She tells him what she is, and\nthat she must not come near him. But he replies, 'My sister, I ask not\nfor thy caste or thy family, I ask only for a draught of water.' She\nafterwards became a disciple of Buddha.\"[294:6]\n\n     33. One day Jesus, after a long walk, cometh to the city of\n     Samaria, and being wearied with his journey, sat on a well.\n     While there, a woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus\n     said unto her: \"give me to drink.\" \"Then said the woman unto\n     him: How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me,\n     which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings\n     with the Samaritans.\"[294:7]\n\n34. \"According to Buddha, the motive of all our actions should be _pity_\nor _love_ for our neighbor.\"[294:8]\n\n     34. \"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to\n     them that hate you.\"[294:9]\n\n35. During the early part of his career as a teacher, \"Buddha went to\nthe city of Benares, and there delivered a discourse, by which Kondanya,\nand afterwards _four_ others, were induced to become his disciples. From\nthat period, whenever he preached, multitudes of men and women embraced\nhis doctrines.\"[294:10]\n\n     35. During the early part of his career as a teacher, Jesus\n     went to the city of Capernaum, and there delivered a\n     discourse. It was at this time that _four_ fishermen were\n     induced to become his disciples.[294:11] From that period,\n     whenever he preached, multitudes of men and women embraced his\n     doctrines.[294:12]\n\n36. Those who became disciples of Buddha were told that they must\n\"renounce the world,\" give up all their riches, and avow\npoverty.[294:13]\n\n     36. Those who became disciples of Jesus were told that they\n     must renounce the world, give up all their riches, and avow\n     poverty.[294:14]\n\n37. It is recorded in the \"Sacred Canon\" of the Buddhists that the\nmultitudes \"_required a sign_\" from Buddha \"that they might\nbelieve.\"[295:1]\n\n     37. It is recorded in the \"Sacred Canon\" of the Christians\n     that the multitudes required a sign from Jesus that they might\n     believe.[295:2]\n\n38. When Buddha's time on earth was about coming to a close, he,\n\"foreseeing the things that would happen in future times,\" said to his\ndisciple Ananda: \"Ananda, when I am gone, you must not think there is no\nBuddha; the _discourses_ I have delivered, and the _precepts_ I have\nenjoined, _must be my successors_, or representatives, and be to you as\nBuddha.\"[295:3]\n\n     38. When Jesus' time on earth was about coming to a close, he\n     told of the things that would happen in future times,[295:4]\n     and said unto his disciples: \"Go ye therefore, and teach all\n     nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have\n     commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end\n     of the world.\"[295:5]\n\n39. In the Buddhist _Somadeva_, is to be found the following: \"To give\naway our riches is considered the most difficult virtue in the world; he\nwho gives away his riches is like a man who gives away his life: for our\nvery life seems to cling to our riches. But Buddha, when his mind was\nmoved by pity, _gave his life_ like grass, for the sake of others; why\nshould we think of miserable riches! By this exalted virtue, Buddha,\nwhen he was freed from all desires, and had obtained divine knowledge,\nattained unto Buddhahood. Therefore let a wise man, after he has turned\naway his desires from all pleasures, do good to all beings, even unto\nsacrificing his own life, that thus he may attain to true\nknowledge.\"[295:6]\n\n     39. \"And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what\n     good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? . . .\n     Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that\n     thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure\n     in heaven: and come and follow me.\"[295:7] \"Lay not up for\n     yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth\n     corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up\n     for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor\n     rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor\n     steal.\"[295:8]\n\n40. Buddha's aim was to establish a \"Religious Kingdom,\" a \"_Kingdom of\nHeaven_.\"[296:1]\n\n     40. \"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,\n     Repent: for the _Kingdom of Heaven_ is at hand.\"[296:2]\n\n41. Buddha said: \"I now desire to turn the wheel of the excellent\nlaw.[296:3] For this purpose am I going to the city of Benares,[296:4]\nto give light to those enshrouded in darkness, and to open the gate of\nImmortality to man.\"[296:5]\n\n     41. Jesus, after his temptation by the devil, began to\n     establish the dominion of his religion, and he went for this\n     purpose to the city of Capernaum. \"The people which sat in\n     darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region\n     and shadow of death, light is sprung up.\"[296:6]\n\n42. Buddha said: \"Though the heavens were to fall to earth, and the\ngreat world be swallowed up and pass away: Though Mount Sumera were to\ncrack to pieces, and the great ocean be dried up, yet, Ananda, be\nassured, the words of Buddha are true.\"[296:7]\n\n     42. \"The law was given by Moses, but grace and _truth_ came by\n     Jesus Christ.\"[296:8]\n\n     \"_Verily_ I say unto you . . . heaven and earth shall pass\n     away, _but my words shall not pass away_.\"[296:9]\n\n43. Buddha said: \"There is no passion more violent than voluptuousness.\nHappily there is but one such passion. If there were two, not a man in\nthe whole universe could follow the truth.\" \"Beware of fixing your eyes\nupon women. If you find yourself in their company, let it be as though\nyou were not present. If you speak with them, guard well your\nhearts.\"[296:10]\n\n     43. Jesus said: \"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old\n     time. Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, that\n     whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed\n     adultery with her already in his heart.\"[296:11]\n\n44. Buddha said: \"A wise man should avoid married life as if it were a\nburning pit of live coals. One who is not able to live in a state of\ncelibacy should not commit adultery.\"[297:1]\n\n     44. \"It is good for a man not to touch a woman,\" \"but if they\n     cannot contain let them marry, for it is better to marry than\n     to burn.\" \"To avoid fornication, let every man have his own\n     wife and let every woman have her own husband.\"[297:2]\n\n45. \"Buddhism is convinced that if a man reaps sorrow, disappointment,\npain, he himself, and no other, must at some time have sown folly,\nerror, sin; and if not in this life then in some former birth.\"[297:3]\n\n     45. \"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was _blind\n     from his birth_. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master,\n     who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born\n     blind.\"[297:4]\n\n46. Buddha knew the thoughts of others: \"By directing his mind to the\nthoughts of others, he can know the thoughts of all beings.\"[297:5]\n\n     46. Jesus knew the thoughts of others. By directing his mind\n     to the thoughts of others, he knew the thoughts of all\n     beings.[297:6]\n\n47. In the _Somadeva_ a story is related of a Buddhist ascetic whose eye\noffended him, he therefore plucked it out, and cast it away.[297:7]\n\n     47. It is related in the New Testament that Jesus said: \"If\n     thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from\n     thee.\"[297:8]\n\n48. When Buddha was about to become an ascetic, and when riding on the\nhorse \"Kantako,\" his path was strewn with flowers, thrown there by\nDevas.[297:9]\n\n     48. When Jesus was entering Jerusalem, riding on an ass, his\n     path was strewn with palm branches, thrown there by the\n     multitude.[297:10]\n\nNever were devotees of any creed or faith as fast bound in its thraldom\nas are the disciples of Gautama Buddha. For nearly two thousand four\nhundred years it has been the established religion of Burmah, Siam,\nLaos, Pega, Cambodia, Thibet, Japan, Tartary, Ceylon and Loo-Choo, and\nmany neighboring islands, beside about two-thirds of China and a large\nportion of Siberia; and at the present day no inconsiderable number of\nthe simple peasantry of Swedish Lapland are found among its firm\nadherents.[297:11]\n\nWell authenticated records establish indisputably the facts, that\ntogether with a noble physique, superior mental endowments, and high\nmoral excellence, there were found in Buddha a purity of life, sanctity\nof character, and simple integrity of purpose, that commended themselves\nto all brought under his influence. Even at this distant day, one cannot\nlisten with tearless eyes to the touching details of his pure, earnest\nlife, and patient endurance under contradiction, often fierce\npersecution for those he sought to benefit. Altogether he seems to have\nbeen one of those remarkable examples, of genius and virtue occasionally\nmet with, unaccountably superior to the age and nation that produced\nthem.\n\nThere is no reason to believe that he ever arrogated to himself any\nhigher authority than that of a teacher of religion, but, _as in modern\nfactions_, there were readily found among his followers those who\ncarried his peculiar tenets much further than their founder. These, not\ncontent with lauding during his life-time the noble deeds of their\nteacher, exalted him, within a quarter of a century after his death, to\na place among their deities--worshiping as a God one they had known only\nas a simple-hearted, earnest, truth-seeking philanthropist.[298:1]\n\nThis worship was at first but the natural upgushing of the veneration\nand love Gautama had inspired during his noble life, and his sorrowing\ndisciples, mourning over the desolation his death had occasioned, turned\nfor consolation to the theory that he still lived.\n\nThose who had known him in life cherished his name as the very synonym\nof all that was generous and good, and it required but a step to exalt\nhim to divine honors; and so it was that Gautama Buddha became a God,\nand continues to be worshiped as such.\n\nFor more than forty years Gautama thus dwelt among his followers,\ninstructing them daily in the sacred law, and laying down many rules\nfor their guidance when he should be no longer with them.[299:1]\n\nHe lived in a style the most simple and unostentatious, bore\nuncomplainingly the weariness and privations incident to the many long\njourneys made for the propagation of the new faith; and performed\ncountless deeds of love and mercy.\n\n\"When the time came for him to be perfected, he directed his followers\nno longer to remain together, but to go out in companies, and proclaim\nthe doctrines he had taught them, found schools and monasteries, build\ntemples, and perform acts of charity, that they might 'obtain merit,'\nand gain access to the blessed shade of Nigban, which he told them he\nwas about to enter, and where they believe he has now reposed more than\ntwo thousand years.\"\n\nTo the pious Buddhist it seems irreverent to speak of Gautama by his\nmere ordinary and human name, and he makes use therefore, of one of\nthose numerous epithets which are used only of the Buddha, \"the\nEnlightened One.\" Such are _Sakya-sinha_, \"the Lion of the Tribe of\nSakya;\" _Sakya-muni_, \"the Sakya Sage;\" _Sugata_, \"the Happy One;\"\n_Sattha_, \"the Teacher;\" _Jina_, \"the Conqueror;\" _Bhagavad_, \"the\nBlessed One;\" _Loka-natha_, \"the Lord of the World;\" _Sarvajna_, \"the\nOmniscient One;\" _Dharma-raja_, \"the King of Righteousness;\" he is also\ncalled \"the Author of Happiness,\" \"the Possessor of All,\" \"the Supreme\nBeing,\" \"the Eternal One,\" \"the Dispeller of Pain and Trouble,\" \"the\nGuardian of the Universe,\" \"the Emblem of Mercy,\" \"the Saviour of the\nWorld,\" \"the Great Physician,\" \"the God among Gods,\" \"the Anointed\" or\n\"the Christ,\" \"the Messiah,\" \"the Only-Begotten,\" \"the Heaven-Descended\nMortal,\" \"the Way of Life, and of Immortality,\" &c.[299:2]\n\nAt no time did Buddha receive his knowledge from a human source, that\nis, from flesh and blood. His source was the power of his divine wisdom,\nthe spiritual power of Maya, which he already possessed before his\nincarnation. It was by this divine power, which is also called the \"Holy\nGhost,\" that he became the Saviour, the Kung-teng, the Anointed or\nMessiah, to whom prophecies had pointed. Buddha was regarded as the\nsupernatural light of the world; and this world to which he came was his\nown, his possession, for he is styled: \"The Lord of the World.\"[300:1]\n\n\"Gautama Buddha taught that all men are brothers;[300:2] that charity\nought to be extended to all, even to enemies; that men ought to love\ntruth and hate the lie; that good works ought not be done openly, but\nrather in secret; that the dangers of riches are to be avoided; that\nman's highest aim ought to be purity in thought, word and deed, since\nthe higher beings are pure, whose nature is akin to that of man.\"[300:3]\n\n\"Sakya-Muni healed the sick, performed miracles and taught his doctrines\nto the poor. He selected his first disciples among laymen, and even two\nwomen, the mother and wife of his first convert, the sick Yasa, became\nhis followers. He subjected himself to the religious obligations imposed\nby the recognized authorities, avoided strife, and illustrated his\ndoctrines by his life.\"[300:4]\n\nIt is said that eighty thousand followers of Buddha went forth from\nHindostan, as missionaries to other lands; and the traditions of various\ncountries are full of legends concerning their benevolence, holiness,\nand miraculous power. His religion has never been propagated by the\nsword. It has been effected entirely by the influence of peaceable and\npersevering devotees.[300:5] The era of the Siamese is the death of\nBuddha. In Ceylon, they date from the introduction of his religion into\ntheir island. It is supposed to be more extensively adopted than any\nreligion that ever existed. Its votaries are computed at four hundred\nmillions; more than one-third of the whole human race.[300:6]\n\nThere is much contradiction among writers concerning the _date_ of the\nBuddhist religion. This confusion arises from the fact that there are\nseveral Buddhas,[301:1] objects of worship; because the word is not a\nname, but a title, signifying an extraordinary degree of holiness. Those\nwho have examined the subject most deeply have generally agreed that\nBuddha Sakai, from whom the religion takes its name, must have been a\nreal, historical personage, who appeared many centuries before the time\nassigned for the birth of Christ Jesus.[301:2] There are many things to\nconfirm this supposition. In some portions of India, his religion\nappears to have flourished for a long time side by side with that of the\nBrahmans. This is shown by the existence of many ancient temples, some\nof them cut in subterranean rock, with an immensity of labor, which it\nmust have required a long period to accomplish. In those old temples,\nhis statues represent him with hair knotted all over his head, which was\na very ancient custom with the anchorites of Hindostan, before the\npractice of shaving the head was introduced among their devotees.[301:3]\nHis religion is also mentioned in one of the very ancient epic poems of\nIndia. The severity of the persecution indicates that their numbers and\ninfluence had became formidable to the Brahmans, who had everything to\nfear from a sect which abolished hereditary priesthood, and allowed the\nholy of all castes to become teachers.[301:4]\n\nIt may be observed that in speaking of the pre-existence of Buddha in\nheaven--his birth of a virgin--the songs of the angels at his birth--his\nrecognition as a divine child--his disputation with the doctors--his\ntemptation in the wilderness--his transfiguration on the Mount--his life\nof preaching and working miracles--and finally, his ascension into\nheaven, we referred to Prof. Samuel Beal's \"History of Buddha,\" as one\nof our authorities. This work is simply a translation of the\n\"_Fo-pen-hing_,\" made by Professor Beal from a Chinese copy, in the\n\"Indian Office Library.\"\n\nNow, in regard to the antiquity of this work, we will quote the words\nof the translator in speaking on this subject.\n\nFirst, he says:\n\n     \"_We know_ that the _Fo-pen-hing_ was translated into Chinese\n     from _Sanscrit_ (the ancient language of _Hindostan_) so early\n     as the eleventh year of the reign of Wing-ping (Ming-ti), of\n     the Han dynasty, _i. e._, 69 or 70 A. D. _We may, therefore,\n     safely suppose that the original work was in circulation in\n     India for some time previous to this date._\"[302:1]\n\nAgain, he says:\n\n     \"There can be no doubt that the present work (_i. e._ the\n     Fo-pen-hing, or Hist. of Buddha) contains as a woof (so to\n     speak) some of the earliest verses (G\u00e2thas) in which the\n     History of Buddha was sung, _long before the work itself was\n     penned_.\n\n     \"These G\u00e2thas were evidently composed in different Prakrit\n     forms (during a period of disintegration) _before the more\n     modern type of Sanscrit_ was fixed by the rules of Panini, and\n     the popular epics of the M\u00e2habharata and the Ram\u00e2yana.\"[302:2]\n\nAgain, in speaking of the points of resemblance in the history of Buddha\nand Jesus, he says:\n\n     \"These points of agreement with the Gospel narrative naturally\n     arouse curiosity _and require explanation_. If we could prove\n     that they (the legends related of Buddha) were unknown in the\n     East for some centuries _after_ Christ, the explanation would\n     be easy. _But all the evidence we have goes to prove the\n     contrary._\n\n     \"It would be a natural inference that many of the events in\n     the legend of Buddha were borrowed from the Apocryphal\n     Gospels, if we were quite certain that these Apocryphal\n     Gospels had not borrowed from it. How then may we explain the\n     matter? It would be better at once to say that in our present\n     state of knowledge there is no complete explanation to\n     offer.\"[302:3]\n\nThere certainly is no \"complete explanation\" to be offered by one who\nattempts to uphold the historical accuracy of the New Testament. The\n\"Devil\" and \"Type\" theories having vanished, like all theories built on\nsand, nothing now remains for the honest man to do but acknowledge the\ntruth, which is, _that the history of Jesus of Nazareth as related in\nthe books of the New Testament, is simply a copy of that of Buddha, with\na mixture of mythology borrowed from other nations_. Ernest de Bunsen\nalmost acknowledges this when he says:\n\n     \"With the remarkable exception of the death of Jesus on the\n     cross, and of the doctrine of atonement by vicarious\n     suffering, which is absolutely excluded by Buddhism, the _most\n     ancient_ of the Buddhistic records known to us contain\n     statements about the life and the doctrines of Gautama Buddha\n     which correspond in a remarkable manner, _and impossibly by\n     mere chance_, with the traditions recorded in the Gospels\n     about the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ. It is still more\n     strange that these Buddhistic legends about Gautama _as the\n     Angel-Messiah_ refer to a doctrine which we find only in the\n     Epistles of Paul and in the fourth Gospel. This can be\n     explained by the assumption of a common source of revelation;\n     but then the serious question must be considered, why the\n     doctrine of the Angel-Messiah, supposing it to have been\n     revealed, and which we find in the East and in the West, is\n     not contained in any of the Scriptures of the Old Testament\n     which can possibly have been written before the Babylonian\n     Captivity, nor in the first three Gospels. _Can the systematic\n     keeping-back of essential truth be attributed to God or to\n     man?_\"[303:1]\n\nBeside the work referred to above as being translated by Prof. Beal,\nthere is another copy originally composed in verse. This was translated\nby the learned Fonceau, who gives it an antiquity of _two thousand\nyears_, \"although the original treatise must be attributed to an earlier\ndate.\"[303:2]\n\nIn regard to the teachings of Buddha, which correspond so strikingly\nwith those of Jesus, Prof. Rhys Davids, says:\n\n     \"With regard to Gautama's teaching we have more reliable\n     authority than we have with regard to his life. It is true\n     that none of the books of the Three Pitakas can at present be\n     satisfactorily traced back before the Council of Asoka, held\n     at Patna, about 250 B. C., that is to say, at least one\n     hundred and thirty years after the death of the teacher; but\n     they undoubtedly contain a great deal of much older\n     matter.\"[303:3]\n\nProf. Max M\u00fcller says:\n\n     \"Between the language of Buddha and his disciples, and the\n     language of Christ and his apostles, there are strange\n     coincidences. Even some of the Buddhist legends and parables\n     sound as if taken from the New Testament; _though we know that\n     many of them existed before the beginning of the Christian\n     Era_.\"[303:4]\n\nJust as many of the myths related of the Hindoo Saviour Crishna were\n_previously current_ regarding some of the Vedic gods, so likewise, many\nof the myths _previously current_ regarding the god _Sumana_, worshiped\nboth on Adam's peak, and at the cave of Dambulla, _were added to the\nBuddha myth_.[303:5] Much of the legend which was transferred to the\nBuddha, had previously existed, and had clustered around the idea of a\n_Chakrawarti_.[303:6] Thus we see that the legend of _Christ_ Buddha, as\nwith the legend of _Christ_ Jesus, _existed before his time_.[303:7]\n\nWe have established the fact then--_and no man can produce better\nauthorities_--that Buddha and Buddhism, which correspond in such a\nremarkable manner with Jesus and Christianity, were long anterior to the\nChristian era. Now, as Ernest de Bunsen says, this remarkable similarity\nin the histories of the founders and their religion, could not possibly\nhappen by chance.\n\nWhenever two religious or legendary histories of mythological personages\nresemble each other so completely as do the histories and teachings of\nBuddha and Jesus, the older must be the parent, and the younger the\nchild. We must therefore conclude that, since the history of Buddha and\nBuddhism is very much older than that of Jesus and Christianity, the\nChristians are incontestably _either sectarians or plagiarists of the\nreligion of the Buddhists_.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[289:1] Maya, and Mary, as we have already seen, are one and the same\nname.\n\n[289:2] See chap. xii. Buddha is considered to be an incarnation of\nVishnu, although he preached against the doctrines of the Brahmans. The\nadoption of Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu was really owning to the\ndesire of the Brahmans to effect a compromise with Buddhism. (See\nWilliams' Hinduism, pp. 82 and 108.)\n\n\"Buddha was brought forth not from the matrix, but from the right side,\nof a virgin.\" (De Guignes: Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 224.)\n\n\"Some of the (Christian) heretics maintained that Christ was born from\nthe side of his mother.\" (Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 157.)\n\n\"In the eyes of the Buddhists, this personage is sometimes a man and\nsometimes a god, or rather both one and the other, a divine incarnation,\na man-god; who came into the world to enlighten men, to redeem them, and\nto indicate to them the way of safety. This idea of redemption by a\ndivine incarnation is so general and popular among the Buddhists, that\nduring our travels in Upper Asia, we everywhere found it expressed in a\nneat formula. If we addressed to a Mongol or Thibetan the question, 'Who\nis Buddha?' he would immediately reply, 'The Saviour of Men.'\" (M.\nL'Abb\u00e9 Huc: Travels, vol. i. p. 326.)\n\n\"The miraculous birth of Buddha, his life and instructions, contain a\ngreat number of the moral and dogmatic truths professed in\nChristianity.\" (Ibid. p. 327.)\n\n\"He in mercy left paradise, and came down to earth because he was filled\nwith compassion for the sins and misery of mankind. He sought to lead\nthem into better paths, and took their sufferings upon himself, that he\nmight expiate their crimes, and mitigate the punishment they must\notherwise inevitably undergo.\" (L. Maria Child.)\n\n[289:3] Matt. ch. i.\n\n[289:4] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 10, 25 and 44. Also, ch. xiii.\nthis work.\n\n[290:1] \"As a spirit in the fourth heaven he resolves to give up all\nthat glory in order to be born in the world for the purpose of rescuing\nall men from their misery and every future consequence of it: he vows to\ndeliver all men who are left as it were without a _Saviour_.\" (Bunsen:\nThe Angel-Messiah, p. 20.)\n\n[290:2] See King's Gnostics, p. 168, and Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p.\n144.\n\n[290:3] See chap. xii. _note_ 2, page 117.\n\n\"On a painted glass of the sixteenth century, found in the church of\nJouy, a little village in France, the Virgin is represented standing,\nher hands clasped in prayer, and the naked body of the child in the same\nattitude appears upon her stomach, apparently supposed to be seen\nthrough the garments and body of the mother. M. Drydon saw at Lyons a\nSalutation painted on shutters, in which the two infants (Jesus and\nJohn) likewise depicted on their mothers' stomachs, were also saluting\neach other. This precisely corresponds to Buddhist accounts of the\nBoddhisattvas ante-natal proceedings.\" (Viscount Amberly: Analysis of\nRelig. Belief, p. 224, _note_.)\n\n[290:4] See chap. xiii.\n\n[290:5] Matt. ii. 1, 2.\n\n[290:6] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. x.\n\n[290:7] We show, in our chapter on \"The Birth-Day of Christ Jesus,\" that\nthis was not the case. This day was adopted by his followers long after\nhis death.\n\n[290:8] \"_Devas_,\" _i. e._, angels.\n\n[290:9] See chap. xiv.\n\n[290:10] Luke, ii. 13, 14.\n\n[290:11] See chap. xv.\n\n[290:12] Matt. ii. 1-11.\n\n[290:13] See chap. xi.\n\n[290:14] Matt. ii. 11.\n\n[290:15] See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, pp. 145, 146.\n\n[290:16] Gospel of Infancy, _Apoc._, i. 3. No sooner was _Apollo_ born\nthan he spoke to his virgin-mother, declaring that he should teach to\nmen the councils of his heavenly father Zeus. (See Cox: Aryan Mythology,\nvol. ii. p. 22.) _Hermes_ spoke to his mother as soon as he was born,\nand, according to Jewish tradition, so did _Moses_. (See Hardy's Manual\nof Buddhism, p. 145.)\n\n[291:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 103, 104.\n\n[291:2] See Matt. ii. 1.\n\n[291:3] That is, provided he was the expected Messiah, who was to be a\nmighty prince and warrior, and who was to rule his people Israel.\n\n[291:4] See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism; Bunsen's Angel-Messiah; Beal's\nHist. Buddha, and other works on Buddhism.\n\nThis was a common myth. For instance: A Brahman called _Dashthaka_, a\n\"_heaven descended mortal_,\" after his birth, _without any human\ninstruction whatever_, was able thoroughly to explain the four _Vedas_,\nthe collective body of the sacred writings of the Hindoos, which were\nconsidered as directly revealed by Brahma. (See Beal's Hist. Buddha, p.\n48.)\n\n_Confucius_, the miraculous-born Chinese sage, was a wonderful child. At\nthe age of seven he went to a public school, the superior of which was a\nperson of eminent wisdom and piety. The faculty with which Confucius\nimbibed the lessons of his master, the ascendency which he acquired\namongst his fellow pupils, and the superiority of his genius and\ncapacity, raised universal admiration. He appeared to acquire knowledge\n_intuitively_, and his mother found it superfluous to teach him what\n\"heaven had already engraven upon his heart.\" (See Thornton's Hist.\nChina, vol. i. p. 153.)\n\n[291:5] See Infancy, _Apoc._, xx. 11, and Luke, ii. 46, 47.\n\n[291:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 37, and Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp.\n67-69.\n\n[291:7] See Infancy, _Apoc._, xxi. 1, 2, and Luke, ii. 41-48.\n\n[291:8] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 37, and Beal: Hist. Bud. 67-69.\n\n[291:9] Nicodemus, _Apoc._, ch. i. 20.\n\n[292:1] R. Spence Hardy, in Manual of Buddhism.\n\n[292:2] See chap. xvii.\n\n[292:3] \"_Mara_\" is the \"Author of Evil,\" the \"King of Death,\" the \"God\nof the World of Pleasure,\" &c., _i. e._, the _Devil_. (See Beal: Hist.\nBuddha, p. 36.)\n\n[292:4] See ch. xix.\n\n[292:5] Matt. iv. 1-18.\n\n[292:6] See ch. xix.\n\n[292:7] Matt. iv. 8-19.\n\n[292:8] See ch. xix.\n\n[292:9] Luke, iv. 8.\n\n[292:10] See ch. xix.\n\n[292:11] Matt. iv. 11.\n\n[292:12] See ch. xix.\n\n[292:13] Matt. iv. 2.\n\n[292:14] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 45.\n\n[292:15] Matt. iii. 13-17.\n\n[292:16] Matt. xvii. 1, 2.\n\n[293:1] This has evidently an allusion to the Trinity. Buddha, as an\nincarnation of Vishnu, would be one god and yet three, three gods and\nyet one. (See the chapter on the _Trinity_.)\n\n[293:2] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 45, and Beal: Hist. Buddha, p.\n177.\n\n_Iamblichus_, the great _Neo-Platonic mystic_, was at one time\n_transfigured_. According to the report of his servants, _while in\nprayer to the gods_, his body and clothes were changed to a beautiful\ngold color, but after he ceased from prayer, his body became as before.\nHe then returned to the society of his followers. (Primitive Culture, i.\n136, 137.)\n\n[293:3] See ch. xxvii.\n\n[293:4] See that recorded in Matt. viii. 28-34.\n\n[293:5] See ch. xxiii.\n\n[293:6] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 49.\n\n[293:7] See Matt. xxviii. John, xx.\n\n[293:8] See chap. xxiii.\n\n[293:9] See Acts, i. 9-12.\n\n[293:10] See ch. xxiv.\n\n[293:11] See Ibid.\n\n[293:12] See ch. xxv.\n\n[293:13] Matt. xvi. 27; John, v. 22.\n\n[293:14] \"Buddha, the Angel-Messiah, was regarded as the divinely chosen\nand incarnate messenger, the vicar of God, and God himself on earth.\"\n(Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 33. See also, our chap. xxvi.)\n\n[293:15] Rev. i. 8; xxii. 13.\n\n[293:16] John, i. 1. Titus, ii. 13. Romans, ix. 5. Acts, vii. 59, 60.\n\n[293:17] M\u00fcller: Hist. Sanscrit Literature, p. 80.\n\n[293:18] This is according to Christian dogma:\n\n     \"Jesus paid it all,\n        All to him is due,\n      Nothing, either great or small,\n        Remains for me to do.\"\n\n[293:19] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 28.\n\n[293:20] \"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of\nthem: otherwise ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven.\"\n(Matt. vi. 1.)\n\n[293:21] \"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another,\nthat ye may be healed.\" (James, v. 16.)\n\n[294:1] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, pp. x. and 39.\n\n[294:2] \"That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh\ninto the world.\" (John, i. 9.)\n\n[294:3] Matt. iv. 1; Mark, i. 13; Luke, iv. 2.\n\n[294:4] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 140.\n\n[294:5] Matt. v. 17.\n\n[294:6] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 243. See also, Bunsen's\nAngel-Messiah, pp. 47, 48, and Amberly's Analysis, p. 285.\n\n[294:7] John, iv. 1-11.\n\nJust as the Samaritan woman wondered that Jesus, a Jew, should ask drink\nof _her_, one of a nation with whom the Jews had no dealings, so this\nyoung Matangi warned Ananda of her caste, which rendered it unlawful for\nher to approach a monk. And as Jesus continued, nevertheless, to\nconverse with the woman, so Ananda did not shrink from this outcast\ndamsel. And as the disciples \"marvelled\" that Jesus should have\nconversed with this member of a despised race, so the respectable\nBrahmans and householders who adhered to Brahmanism were scandalized to\nlearn that the young Matangi had been admitted to the order of\nmendicants.\n\n[294:8] M\u00fcller: Religion of Science, p. 249.\n\n[294:9] Matt. v. 44.\n\n[294:10] Hardy: Eastern Monachism, p. 6.\n\n[294:11] See Matt. iv. 13-25.\n\n[294:12] \"And there followed him great multitudes of people.\" (Matt. iv.\n25.)\n\n[294:13] Hardy: Eastern Monachism, pp. 6 and 62 _et seq._\n\nWhile at Rajageiha Buddha called together his followers and addressed\nthem at some length on the means requisite for Buddhist salvation. This\nsermon was summed up in the celebrated verse:\n\n     \"To cease from all sin,\n      To get virtue,\n      To cleanse one's own heart--\n      This is the religion of the Buddhas.\"\n\n                             --(Rhys David's Buddha, p. 62.)\n\n\n\n[294:14] See Matt. viii. 19, 20; xvi. 25-28.\n\n[295:1] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 27.\n\n[295:2] Hardy: Eastern Monachism, p. 230.\n\n\"Gautama Buddha is said to have announced to his disciples that the time\nof his departure had come: 'Arise, let us go hence, my time is come.'\nTurned toward the East and with folded arms he prayed to the highest\nspirit who inhabits the region of purest light, to Maha-Brahma, to the\nking in heaven, to Devaraja, who from his throne looked down on Gautama,\nand appeared to him in a self-chosen personality.\" (Bunsen: The\nAngel-Messiah. Compare with Matt. xxvi. 36-47.)\n\n[295:3] \"Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying,\nMaster, we would see a sign from thee.\" (Matt. xii. 38.)\n\n[295:4] See Matt. xxiv; Mark, viii. 31; Luke, ix. 18.\n\n[295:5] Mark, xxviii. 18-20.\n\nBuddha at one time said to his disciples: \"Go ye now, and preach the\nmost excellent law, expounding every point thereof, and unfolding it\nwith care and attention in all its bearings and particulars. Explain the\nbeginning, the middle, and the end of the law, to all men without\nexception; let everything respecting it be made publicly known and\nbrought to the broad daylight.\" (Rhys David's Buddhism, p. 55, 56.)\n\nWhen Buddha, just before his death, took his last formal farewell of his\nassembled followers, he said unto them: \"Oh mendicants, thoroughly\nlearn, and practice, and perfect, and spread abroad the law thought out\nand revealed by me, in order that this religion of mine may last long,\nand be perpetuated for the good and happiness of the great multitudes,\nout of pity for the world, to the advantage and prosperity of gods and\nmen.\" (Ibid. p. 172.)\n\n[295:6] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 244.\n\n[295:7] Matt. xix. 16-21.\n\n[295:8] Matt. vi. 19, 20.\n\n[296:1] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. x, _note_.\n\n[296:2] Matt. iv. 17.\n\n[296:3] _i. e._, to establish the dominion of religion. (See Beal: p.\n244, _note_.)\n\n[296:4] The Jerusalem, the Rome, or the Mecca of India.\n\nThis celebrated city of Benares, which has a population of 200,000, out\nof which at least 25,000 are Brahmans, was probably one of the first to\nacquire a fame for sanctity, and it has always maintained its reputation\nas the most sacred spot in all India. Here, in this fortress of\nHindooism, Brahmanism displays itself in all its plentitude and power.\nHere the degrading effect of idolatry is visibly demonstrated as it is\nnowhere else except in the extreme south of India. Here, temples, idols,\nand symbols, sacred wells, springs, and pools, are multiplied beyond all\ncalculation. Here every particle of ground is believed to be hallowed,\nand the very air holy. The number of temples is at least two thousand,\nnot counting innumerable smaller shrines. In the principal temple of\nSiva, called Visvesvara, are collected in one spot several thousand\nidols and symbols, the whole number scattered throughout the city,\nbeing, it is thought, at least half a million.\n\nBenares, indeed, must always be regarded as the Hindoo's Jerusalem. The\ndesire of a pious man's life is to accomplish at least one pilgrimage to\nwhat he regards as a portion of heaven let down upon earth; and if he\ncan die within the holy circuit of the Pancakosi stretching with a\nradius of ten miles around the city--nay, if any human being die there,\nbe he Asiatic or European--no previously incurred guilt, however\nheinous, can prevent his attainment of celestial bliss.\n\n[296:5] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 245.\n\n[296:6] Matt. iv. 13-17.\n\n[296:7] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 11.\n\n[296:8] John, i. 17.\n\n[296:9] Luke, xxi. 32, 33.\n\n[296:10] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 228.\n\n[296:11] Matt. v. 27, 28.\n\nOn one occasion Buddha preached a sermon on the five senses and the\nheart (which he regarded as a sixth organ of sense), which pertained to\nguarding against the passion of lust. Rhys Davids, who, in speaking of\nthis sermon, says: \"One may pause and wonder at finding such a sermon\npreached so early in the history of the world--more than 400 years\nbefore the rise of Christianity--and among a people who have long been\nthought peculiarly idolatrous and sensual.\" (Buddhism, p. 60.)\n\n[297:1] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 138.\n\n[297:2] I. Corinth. vii. 1-7.\n\n[297:3] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 103.\n\n[297:4] John, ix. 1, 2.\n\nThis is the doctrine of transmigration clearly taught. If this man was\nborn blind, as punishment for some sin committed by him, this sin must\nhave been committed in _some former birth_.\n\n[297:5] Hardy: Buddhist Legends, p. 181.\n\n[297:6] See the story of his conversation with the woman of Samaria.\n(John, iv. 1.) And with the woman who was cured of the \"bloody issue.\"\n(Matt. ix. 20.)\n\n[297:7] M\u00fcller: Science of Religion, p. 245.\n\n[297:8] Matt. v. 29.\n\n[297:9] Hardy: Buddhist Legends, p. 134.\n\n[297:10] Matt. xxi. 1-9.\n\n_Bacchus_ rode in a triumphal procession, on approaching the city of\n_Thebes_. \"Pantheus, the king, who had no respect for the new worship\n(instituted by Bacchus) forbade its rites to be performed. But when it\nwas known that Bacchus was advancing, men and women, but chiefly the\nlatter, young and old, poured forth to meet him and to join his\ntriumphal march. . . . It was in vain Pantheus remonstrated, commanded\nand threatened. 'Go,' said he to his attendants, 'seize this vagabond\nleader of the rout and bring him to me. I will soon make him confess his\nfalse claim of heavenly parentage and renounce his counterfeit\nworship.'\" (Bulfinch: Age of Fable, p. 222. Compare with Matt. xxvi.;\nLuke, xxii.; John xviii.)\n\n[297:11] \"There are few names among the men of the West that stand forth\nas saliently as Gotama Buddha, in the annals of the East. In little more\nthan two centuries from his decease the system he established had spread\nthroughout the whole of India, overcoming opposition the most\nformidable, and binding together the most discordant elements; and at\nthe present moment Buddhism is the prevailing religion, under various\nmodifications, of Tibet, Nepal, Siam, Burma, Japan, and South Ceylon;\nand in China it has a position of at least equal prominence with its two\ngreat rivals, Confucianism and Taouism. A long time its influence\nextended throughout nearly three-fourths of Asia; from the steppes of\nTartary to the palm groves of Ceylon, and from the vale of Cashmere to\nthe isles of Japan.\" (R. Spence Hardy: Buddhist Leg. p. xi.)\n\n[298:1] \"Gautama was _very early_ regarded as omniscient, and absolutely\nsinless. His perfect wisdom is declared by the ancient epithet of\n_Samma-sambuddha_, 'the Completely Enlightened One;' found at the\ncommencement of every Pali text; and at the present day, in Ceylon, the\nusual way in which Gautama is styled is _Sarwajnan-wahanse_,' the\nVenerable Omniscient One.' From his perfect wisdom, according to\nBuddhist belief, _his sinlessness would follow as a matter of course_.\nHe was the first and the greatest of the Arahats. _As a consequence of\nthis doctrine_ the belief soon sprang up that he could not have been,\nthat he was not, born as ordinary men are; that he had no earthly\nfather; that he descended of his own accord into his mother's womb from\nhis throne in heaven; and that he gave unmistakable signs, immediately\nafter his birth of his high character and of his future greatness.\"\n(Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 162.)\n\n[299:1] Gautama Buddha left behind him no written works, but the\nBuddhists believe that he composed works which his immediate disciples\nlearned by heart in his life-time, and which were handed down by memory\nin their original state until they were committed to writing. This is\nnot impossible: it is known that the _Vedas_ were handed down in this\nmanner for many hundreds of years, and none would now dispute the\nenormous powers of memory to which Indian priests and monks attained,\nwhen written books were not invented, or only used as helps to memory.\nEven though they are well acquainted with writing, the monks in Ceylon\ndo not use books in their religions services, but, repeat, for instance,\nthe whole of the _Patimokkha_ on Uposatha (Sabbath) days by heart. (See\nRhys Davids' Buddhism, pp. 9, 10.)\n\n[299:2] Compare this with the names, titles, and characters given to\nJesus. He is called the \"Deliverer,\" (Acts, vii. 35); the \"First\nBegotten\" (Rev. i. 5); \"God blessed forever\" (Rom. ix. 5); the \"Holy\nOne\" (Luke, iv. 34; Acts, iii. 14); the \"King Everlasting\" (Luke, i.\n33); \"King of Kings\" (Rev. xvii. 14); \"Lamb of God\" (John, i. 29, 36);\n\"Lord of Glory\" (I. Cor. ii. 8); \"Lord of Lords\" (Rev. xvii. 14); \"Lion\nof the tribe of Judah\" (Rev. v. 5); \"Maker and Preserver of all things\"\n(John, i. 3, 10; I. Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 16); \"Prince of Peace\" (Isai.\nix. 6); \"Redeemer,\" \"Saviour,\" \"Mediator,\" \"Word,\" &c., &c.\n\n[300:1] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 41.\n\n[300:2] \"He joined to his gifts as a thinker a prophetic ardor and\nmissionary zeal which prompted him to popularize his doctrine, and to\npreach to all without exception, men and women, high and low, ignorant\nand learned alike.\" (Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 53.)\n\n[300:3] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 45.\n\n[300:4] Ibid. p. 46.\n\n[300:5] \"The success of Buddhism was in great part due to the reverence\nthe Buddha inspired by his own personal character. He practiced honestly\nwhat he preached enthusiastically. He was sincere, energetic, earnest,\nself-sacrificing, and devout. Adherents gathered in thousands around the\nperson of the consistent preacher, and the Buddha himself became the\nreal centre of Buddhism.\" (Williams' Hinduism, p. 102.)\n\n[300:6] \"It may be said to be the prevailing religion of the world. Its\nadherents are estimated at _four hundred millions_, more than a third of\nthe human race.\" (Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Buddhism.\" See also,\nBunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 251.)\n\n[301:1] It should be understood that the Buddha of this chapter, and in\nfact, the Buddha of _this_ work, is _Gautama_ Buddha, the Sakya Prince.\nAccording to Buddhist belief there have been many different Buddhas on\nearth. _The names_ of _twenty-four_ of the Buddhas who appeared previous\nto Gautama have been handed down to us. The _Buddhavansa_ or \"History of\nthe Buddhas,\" gives the lives of all the previous Buddhas before\ncommencing the account of Gautama himself. (See Rhys Davids' Buddhism,\npp. 179, 180.)\n\n[301:2] \"The date usually fixed for Buddha's death is 543 B. C. Whether\nthis precise year for one of the greatest epochs in the religious\nhistory of the human race can be accepted is doubtful, but it is\ntolerably certain that Buddhism arose in Behar and Eastern Hindustan\nabout five centuries B. C.; and that it spread with great rapidity, _not\nby force of arms, or coercion of any kind_, like Muhammedanism, but by\nthe sheer persuasiveness of its doctrine.\" (Monier Williams' Hinduism,\np. 72.)\n\n[301:3] \"Of the high antiquity of Buddhism there is much collateral as\nwell as direct evidence--evidence that neither internecine nor foreign\nstrife, not even religious persecution, has been able to destroy. . . .\nWitness the gigantic images in the caves of Elephanta, near Bombay and\nthose of Lingi Sara, in the interior of Java, all of which are known to\nhave been in existence at least four centuries prior to our Lord's\nadvent.\" (The Mammoth Religion.)\n\n[301:4] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 250.\n\n[302:1] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. vi.\n\n[302:2] Ibid. pp. x. and xi.\n\n[302:3] Ibid. pp. vii., ix. and _note_.\n\n[303:1] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 50.\n\n[303:2] Quoted by Prof. Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. viii.\n\n[303:3] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 86.\n\n[303:4] Science of Religion, p. 243.\n\n[303:5] Rhys Davids' Buddhism.\n\n[303:6] Ibid. p. 184.\n\n\"It is surprising,\" says Rhys Davids, \"that, like Romans worshiping\nAugustus, or Greeks adding the glow of the sun-myth to the glory of\nAlexander, the Indians should have formed an ideal of their Chakravarti,\nand transferred to this new ideal many of the dimly sacred and half\nunderstood traits of the Vedic heroes? Is it surprising that the\nBuddhists should have found it edifying to recognize in _their_ hero the\nChakravarti of Righteousness, and that the story of the Buddha should be\ntinged with the coloring of these Chakravarti myths?\" (Ibid. Buddhism,\np. 220.)\n\n[303:7] In Chapter xxxix., we shall explain the _origin_ of these myths.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nTHE EUCHARIST OR LORD'S SUPPER.\n\n\nWe are informed by the _Matthew_ narrator that when Jesus was eating his\nlast supper with the disciples,\n\n     \"He took bread and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to\n     the disciples, and said, Take, eat, _this is my body_. And he\n     took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,\n     drink ye all of it, _for this is my blood_ of the New\n     Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of\n     sins.\"[305:1]\n\nAccording to Christian belief, Jesus _instituted_ this\n\"_Sacrament_\"[305:2]--as it is called--and it was observed by the\nprimitive Christians, as he had enjoined them; but we shall find that\nthis breaking of bread, and drinking of wine,--_supposed to be the body\nand blood of a god_[305:3]--is simply another piece of Paganism imbibed\nby the Christians.\n\nThe _Eucharist_ was instituted many hundreds of years before the time\nassigned for the birth of Christ Jesus. Cicero, the greatest orator of\nRome, and one of the most illustrious of her statesmen, born in the year\n106 B. C., mentions it in his works, and wonders at the strangeness of\nthe rite. \"How can a man be so stupid,\" says he, \"as to imagine that\nwhich he eats to be a God?\" There had been an esoteric meaning attached\nto it from the first establishment of the _mysteries_ among the Pagans,\nand the Eucharistia is one of the oldest rites of antiquity.\n\nThe adherents of the Grand Lama in Thibet and Tartary offer to their god\na sacrament of _bread and wine_.[305:4]\n\nP. Andrada La Crozius, a French missionary, and one of the first\nChristians who went to Nepaul and Thibet, says in his \"History of\nIndia:\"\n\n     \"Their Grand Lama celebrates a species of sacrifice with\n     _bread_ and _wine_, in which, after taking a small quantity\n     himself, he distributes the rest among the Lamas present at\n     this ceremony.\"[306:1]\n\nIn certain rites both in the _Indian_ and the _Parsee_ religions, the\ndevotees drink the juice of the Soma, or _Haoma_ plant. They consider it\na _god_ as well as a plant, just as the wine of the Christian sacrament\nis considered both the juice of the grape, and the blood of the\nRedeemer.[306:2] Says Mr. Baring-Gould:\n\n     \"Among the ancient Hindoos, _Soma_ was a chief deity; he is\n     called 'the Giver of Life and of health,' the 'Protector,' he\n     who is 'the Guide to Immortality.' He became incarnate among\n     men, was taken by them and slain, and brayed in a mortar. But\n     he rose in flame to heaven, to be the 'Benefactor of the\n     World,' and the 'Mediator between God and Man.' Through\n     communion with him in his sacrifice, man, (who partook of this\n     god), has an assurance of immortality, for by that _sacrament_\n     he obtains union with his divinity.\"[306:3]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_--as we have seen--annually celebrated the\n_Resurrection_ of their God and Saviour _Osiris_, at which time they\ncommemorated his death by the _Eucharist_, eating the sacred cake, or\nwafer, _after it had been consecrated by the priest, and become\nveritable flesh of his flesh_.[306:4] The bread, after sacerdotal rites,\nbecame mystically the body of _Osiris_, and, in such a manner, _they ate\ntheir god_.[306:5] Bread and wine were brought to the temples by the\nworshipers, as offerings.[306:6]\n\nThe _Therapeutes_ or _Essenes_, whom we believe to be of Buddhist\norigin, and who lived in large numbers in Egypt, also had the ceremony\nof the sacrament among them.[306:7] Most of them, however, being\ntemperate, substituted water for wine, while others drank a mixture of\nwater and wine.\n\nPythagoras, the celebrated Grecian philosopher, who was born about the\nyear 570 B. C., performed this ceremony of the _sacrament_.[306:8] He is\nsupposed to have visited Egypt, and there availed himself of all such\nmysterious lore as the priests could be induced to impart. He and his\nfollowers practiced asceticism, and peculiarities of diet and clothing,\nsimilar to the Essenes, which has led some scholars to believe that he\ninstituted the order, but this is evidently not the case.\n\nThe Kenite \"King of Righteousness,\" _Melchizedek_, \"a priest of the Most\nHigh God,\" brought out BREAD _and_ WINE as a _sign_ or _symbol_ of\nworship; as _the mystic elements of Divine presence_. In the visible\nsymbol of _bread and wine_ they worshiped _the invisible presence of the\nCreator of heaven and earth_.[307:1]\n\nTo account for this, Christian divines have been much puzzled. The Rev.\nDr. Milner says, in speaking of this passage:\n\n     \"It was in offering up a sacrifice of bread and wine, instead\n     of slaughtered animals, that Melchizedek's sacrifice differed\n     from the generality of those in the old law, and that he\n     _prefigured_ the sacrifice which Christ was to _institute_ in\n     the new law from the same elements. No other sense than this\n     can be elicited from the Scripture as to this matter; and\n     accordingly the holy fathers unanimously adhere to this\n     meaning.\"[307:2]\n\nThis style of reasoning is in accord with the TYPE theory concerning the\nVirgin-born, Crucified and Resurrected Saviours, but it is not\naltogether satisfactory. If it had been said that the religion of\nMelchizedek, and the religion of the Persians, were the _same_, there\nwould be no difficulty in explaining the passage.\n\nNot only were bread and wine brought forth by Melchizedek when he\nblessed Abraham, but it was offered to God and eaten before him by\nJethro and the elders of Israel, and some, at least, of the _mourning_\nIsraelites broke bread and drank \"the cup of consolation,\" in\nremembrance of the departed, \"to comfort them for the dead.\"[307:3]\n\nIt is in the ancient religion of Persia--the religion of Mithra, the\nMediator, the Redeemer and Saviour--that we find the nearest resemblance\nto the sacrament of the Christians, and from which it was evidently\nborrowed. Those who were initiated into the mysteries of Mithra, or\nbecame _members_, took the sacrament of bread and wine.[307:4]\n\nM. Renan, speaking of _Mithraicism_, says:\n\n     \"It had its mysterious meetings: its chapels, which bore a\n     strong resemblance to little churches. It forged a very\n     lasting bond of brotherhood between its initiates: it had a\n     _Eucharist_, a Supper so like the Christian Mysteries, that\n     good Justin Martyr, the Apologist, can find only one\n     explanation of the apparent identity, namely, that Satan, in\n     order to deceive the human race, determined to imitate the\n     Christian ceremonies, and so stole them.\"[307:5]\n\nThe words of St. Justin, wherein he alludes to this ceremony, are as\nfollows:\n\n     \"The apostles, in the commentaries written by themselves,\n     which we call Gospels, have delivered down to us how that\n     Jesus thus commanded them: He having taken bread, _after he\n     had given thanks_,[308:1] said, Do this in commemoration of\n     me; this is my body. And having taken a cup, and returned\n     thanks, he said: This is my blood, and delivered it to them\n     alone. Which thing indeed the evil spirits have taught to be\n     done out of mimicry in the Mysteries and Initiatory rites of\n     Mithra.\n\n     \"For you either know, or can know, that bread and a cup of\n     water (or wine) are given out, with certain incantations, in\n     the consecration of the person who is being initiated in the\n     Mysteries of Mithra.\"[308:2]\n\nThis food they called the Eucharist, of which no one was allowed to\npartake but the persons who believed that the things they taught were\ntrue, and who had been washed with the washing that is for the remission\nof sin.[308:3] Tertullian, who flourished from 193 to 220 A. D., also\nspeaks of the Mithraic devotees celebrating the Eucharist.[308:4]\n\nThe Eucharist of the Lord and Saviour, as the Magi called Mithra, the\nsecond person in their Trinity, or their Eucharistic sacrifice, was\nalways made exactly and in every respect the same as that of the\northodox Christians, for both sometimes used water instead of wine, or a\nmixture of the two.[308:5]\n\nThe Christian Fathers often liken their rites to those of the Therapeuts\n(Essenes) and worshipers of Mithra. Here is Justin Martyr's account of\nChristian initiation:\n\n     \"But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced\n     and assented to our teachings, bring him to the place where\n     those who are called _brethren_ are assembled, in order that\n     we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and the\n     _illuminated_ person. Having ended our prayers, we salute one\n     another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of\n     the brethren _bread and a cup of wine mixed with water_. When\n     the president has given thanks, and all the people have\n     expressed their assent, those that are called by us _deacons_\n     give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine\n     mixed with water.\"[308:6]\n\nIn the service of Edward the Sixth of England, water is directed to be\nmixed with the wine.[309:1] This is a union of the two; not a half\nmeasure, but a double one. If it be correct to take it with wine, then\nthey were right; if with water, they still were right; as they took\nboth, they could not be wrong.\n\nThe _bread_, used in these Pagan Mysteries, was carried in _baskets_,\nwhich practice was also adopted by the Christians. St. Jerome, speaking\nof it, says:\n\n     \"Nothing can be richer than one who carries _the body of\n     Christ_ (viz.: _the bread_) in a basket made of twigs.\"[309:2]\n\nThe Persian Magi introduced the worship of Mithra into Rome, and his\nmysteries were solemnized in a _cave_. In the process of initiation\nthere, candidates were also administered the sacrament of _bread and\nwine_, and were marked on the forehead with the sign of the\ncross.[309:3]\n\nThe ancient _Greeks_ also had their \"_Mysteries_,\" wherein they\ncelebrated the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The Rev. Robert Taylor,\nspeaking of this, says:\n\n     \"The _Eleusinian_ Mysteries, or, Sacrament of the Lord's\n     Supper, was the most august of all the Pagan ceremonies\n     celebrated, more especially by the Athenians, every fifth\n     year,[309:4] in honor of _Ceres_, the goddess of corn, who, in\n     allegorical language, _had given us her flesh to eat_; as\n     _Bacchus_, the god of wine, in like sense, _had given us his\n     blood to drink_. . . .\n\n     \"From these ceremonies is derived the very name attached to\n     our _Christian_ sacrament of the Lord's Supper,--'_those holy\n     Mysteries_;'--and not one or two, but absolutely all and every\n     one of the observances used in our Christian solemnity. Very\n     many of our forms of expression in that solemnity are\n     precisely the same as those that appertained to the Pagan\n     rite.\"[309:5]\n\nProdicus (a Greek sophist of the 5th century B. C.) says that, the\nancients worshiped _bread_ as Demeter (_Ceres_) and _wine_ as Dionysos\n(_Bacchus_);[309:6] therefore, when they ate the bread, and drank the\nwine, after it had been consecrated, they were doing as the Romanists\nclaim to do at the present day, _i. e._, _eating the flesh and drinking\nthe blood of their god_.[309:7]\n\nMosheim, the celebrated ecclesiastical historian, acknowledges that:\n\n     \"The profound respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman\n     _Mysteries_, and the extraordinary sanctity that was\n     attributed to them, induced the Christians of the second\n     century, to give _their_ religion a _mystic_ air, in order to\n     put it upon an equal footing in point of dignity, with that of\n     the Pagans. For this purpose they gave the name of _Mysteries_\n     to the institutions of the Gospels, and decorated particularly\n     the 'Holy Sacrament' with that title; they used the very terms\n     employed in the _Heathen Mysteries_, and adopted some of the\n     rites and ceremonies of which those renowned mysteries\n     consisted. This imitation began in the eastern provinces; but,\n     after the time of Adrian, who first introduced the mysteries\n     among the Latins, it was followed by the Christians who dwelt\n     in the western part of the empire. A great part, therefore, of\n     the service of the Church in this--the second--century, had a\n     certain air of the Heathen Mysteries, and resembled them\n     considerably in many particulars.\"[310:1]\n\n\n_Eleusinian Mysteries_ and _Christian Sacraments Compared_.\n\n1. \"But as the benefit of Initiation was great, such as were convicted\nof witchcraft, murder, even though unintentional, or any other heinous\ncrimes, were debarred from those mysteries.\"[310:2]\n\n     1. \"For as the benefit is great, if, with a true penitent\n     heart and lively faith, we receive that holy sacrament, &c.,\n     if any be an open and notorious evil-liver, or hath done wrong\n     to his neighbor, &c., that he presume not to come to the\n     Lord's table.\"[310:3]\n\n2. \"At their entrance, purifying themselves, by washing their hands in\n_holy water_, they were at the same time admonished to present\nthemselves with pure minds, without which the external cleanness of the\nbody would by no means be accepted.\"[310:4]\n\n     2. See the fonts of _holy water_ at the entrance of every\n     Catholic chapel in Christendom for the same purpose.\n\n     \"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of\n     faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,\n     and our bodies washed with pure water.\"[310:5]\n\n3. \"The priests who officiated in these sacred solemnities, were called\nHierophants, or '_revealers of holy things_.'\"[310:6]\n\n     3. The priests who officiate at these Christian solemnities\n     are supposed to be 'revealers of holy things.'\n\n4. The Pagan Priest dismissed their congregation with these words:\n\n          \"_The Lord be with you._\"[310:7]\n\n     4. The Christian priests dismiss their congregation with these\n     words:\n\n          \"_The Lord be with you._\"\n\nThese Eleusinian Mysteries were accompanied with various rites,\nexpressive of the purity and self-denial of the worshiper, and were\ntherefore considered to be an expiation of past sins, and to place the\ninitiated under the special protection of the awful and potent goddess\nwho presided over them.[310:8]\n\nThese _mysteries_ were, as we have said, also celebrated in honor of\n_Bacchus_ as well as _Ceres_. A consecrated cup of wine was handed\naround after supper, called the \"Cup of the Agathodaemon\"--the Good\nDivinity.[311:1] Throughout the whole ceremony, the name of the _Lord_\nwas many times repeated, and his brightness or glory not only exhibited\nto the eye by the rays which surrounded his name (or his monogram, I. H.\nS.), but was made the peculiar theme or subject of their triumphant\nexultation.[311:2]\n\nThe mystical wine and bread were used during the Mysteries of _Adonis_,\nthe Lord and Saviour.[311:3] In fact, the communion of bread and wine\nwas used in the worship of nearly every important deity.[311:4]\n\nThe rites of _Bacchus_ were celebrated in the British Islands in heathen\ntimes,[311:5] and so were those of _Mithra_, which were spread over Gaul\nand Great Britain.[311:6] We therefore find that the ancient _Druids_\noffered the sacrament of bread and wine, during which ceremony they were\ndressed in white robes,[311:7] just as the Egyptian priests of Isis were\nin the habit of dressing, and as the priests of many Christian sects\ndress at the present day.\n\nAmong some negro tribes in Africa there is a belief that \"on eating and\ndrinking consecrated food they eat and drink the god himself.\"[311:8]\n\nThe ancient _Mexicans_ celebrated the mysterious sacrament of the\nEucharist, called the \"most holy supper,\" during which they ate the\nflesh of their god. The bread used at their Eucharist was made of _corn_\nmeal, which they mixed with _blood_, instead of wine. This was\n_consecrated_ by the priest, and given to the people, who ate it with\nhumility and penitence, _as the flesh of their god_.[311:9]\n\nLord Kingsborough, in his \"_Mexican Antiquities_,\" speaks of the ancient\nMexicans as performing this sacrament; when they made a cake, which they\ncalled _Tzoalia_. The high priest blessed it in his manner, after which\nhe broke it into pieces, and put it into certain very clean vessels. He\nthen took a thorn of _maguery_, which resembles a thick needle, with\nwhich he took up with the utmost reverence single morsels, _which he put\ninto the mouth of each individual, after the manner of a\ncommunion_.[311:10]\n\nThe writer of the \"Explanation of Plates of the _Codex\nVaticanus_,\"--which are copies of Mexican _hieroglyphics_--says:\n\n     \"I am disposed to believe that these poor people have had the\n     knowledge of our mode of communion, or of the annunciation of\n     the gospel; or perhaps the _devil_, most envious of the honor\n     of God, may have led them into this superstition, in order\n     that by this ceremony he might be adored and served as Christ\n     our Lord.\"[312:1]\n\nThe Rev. Father Acosta says:\n\n     \"That which is most admirable in the hatred and presumption of\n     Satan is, that he hath not only counterfeited in idolatry and\n     sacrifice, but also in certain ceremonies, _our Sacraments_,\n     which Jesus Christ our Lord hath instituted and the holy\n     Church doth use, having especially pretended to imitate in\n     some sort the _Sacrament of the Communion_, which is the most\n     high and divine of all others.\"\n\nHe then relates how the _Mexicans_ and _Peruvians_, in certain\nceremonies, ate the flesh of their god, and called certain morsels of\npaste, \"the flesh and bones of _Vitzilipuzlti_.\"\n\n     \"After putting themselves in order about these morsels and\n     pieces of paste, they used certain ceremonies with singing, by\n     means whereof they (the pieces of paste) were blessed and\n     consecrated for the flesh and bones of this idol.\"[312:2]\n\nThese facts show that the _Eucharist_ is another piece of Paganism\nadopted by the Christians. The story of Jesus and his disciples being at\nsupper, where the Master did break bread, may be true, but the statement\nthat he said, \"Do this in remembrance of me,\"--\"this is my body,\" and\n\"this is my blood,\" was undoubtedly invented to give authority to the\n_mystic_ ceremony, which had been borrowed from Paganism.\n\nWhy should they do this in remembrance of Jesus? Provided he took this\nsupper with his disciples--which the _John_ narrator denies[312:3]--he\ndid not do anything on that occasion new or unusual among Jews. To\npronounce the benediction, break the bread, and distribute pieces\nthereof to the persons at table, was, and is now, a common usage of the\nHebrews. Jesus could not have commanded born Jews to do in remembrance\nof him what they already practiced, and what every religious Jew does to\nthis day. The whole story is evidently a myth, as a perusal of it with\nthe eye of a critic clearly demonstrates.\n\nThe _Mark_ narrator informs us that Jesus sent two of his disciples to\nthe city, and told them this:\n\n     \"Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a\n     pitcher of water; follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in,\n     say ye to the _goodman_ of the house, The Master saith, Where\n     is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my\n     disciples? And he will show you a large upper room _furnished\n     and prepared_: there make ready for us. And his disciples went\n     forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto\n     them: and they made ready the passover.\"[313:1]\n\nThe story of the passover or the last supper, seems to be introduced in\nthis unusual manner to make it manifest that a divine power is\ninterested in, and conducting the whole affair, parallels of which we\nfind in the story of Elieser and Rebecca, where Rebecca is to identify\nherself in a manner pre-arranged by Elieser with God;[313:2] and also in\nthe story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, where by God's\ndirections a journey is made, and the widow is found.[313:3]\n\nIt suggests itself to our mind that this style of connecting a\nsupernatural interest with human affairs was not entirely original with\nthe Mark narrator. In this connection it is interesting to note that a\nman in Jerusalem should have had an unoccupied and _properly_ furnished\nroom just at _that_ time, when two millions of pilgrims sojourned in and\naround the city. The man, it appears, was not distinguished either for\nwealth or piety, for his _name_ is not mentioned; he was not present at\nthe supper, and no further reference is made to him. It appears rather\nthat the Mark narrator imagined an ordinary man who had a furnished room\nto let for such purposes, and would imply that Jesus knew it\n_prophetically_. He had only to pass in his mind from Elijah to his\ndisciple Elisha, for whom the great woman of Shunem had so richly\nfurnished an upper chamber, to find a like instance.[313:4] _Why should\nnot somebody have furnished also an upper chamber for the Messiah?_\n\nThe Matthew narrator's account is free from these embellishments, and\nsimply runs thus: Jesus said to some of his disciples--the number is not\ngiven--\n\n     \"Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master\n     saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy\n     house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had\n     appointed them; and _they_ made ready the passover.\"[313:5]\n\nIn this account, no pitcher, no water, no prophecy is mentioned.[313:6]\n\nIt was many centuries before the genuine heathen doctrine of\n_Transubstantiation_--a change of the elements of the Eucharist into\nthe _real_ body and blood of Christ Jesus--became a tenet of the\nChristian faith. This greatest of mysteries was developed gradually. As\nearly as the second century, however, the seeds were planted, when we\nfind Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and Iren\u00e6us advancing the opinion, that\nthe mere bread and wine became, in the Eucharist, _something\nhigher_--the earthly, something heavenly--without, however, ceasing to\nbe bread and wine. Though these views were opposed by some eminent\nindividual Christian teachers, yet both among the people and in the\nritual of the Church, the miraculous or supernatural view of the Lord's\nSupper gained ground. After the third century the office of presenting\nthe bread and wine came to be confined to the _ministers_ or _priests_.\nThis practice arose from, and in turn strengthened, the notion which was\ngaining ground, that in this act of presentation by the priest, a\nsacrifice, similar to that once offered up in the death of Christ Jesus,\nthough bloodless, was ever anew presented to God. This still deepened\nthe feeling of _mysterious_ significance and importance with which the\nrite of the Lord's Supper was viewed, and led to that gradually\nincreasing splendor of celebration which took the form of the _Mass_. As\nin Christ Jesus two distinct natures, the divine and the human, were\nwonderfully combined, so in the Eucharist there was a corresponding\nunion of the earthly and the heavenly.\n\nFor a long time there was no formal declaration of the mind of the\nChurch on the _real presence_ of Christ Jesus in the Eucharist. At\nlength a _discussion_ on the point was raised, and the most\ndistinguished men of the time took part in it. One party maintained that\n\"the bread and wine are, in the act of consecration, transformed by the\nomnipotence of God into the _very body_ of Christ which was once born of\nMary, nailed to the cross, and raised from the dead.\" According to this\nconception, nothing remains of the bread and wine but the outward form,\nthe taste and the smell; while the other party would only allow that\nthere is _some change_ in the bread and wine themselves, but granted\nthat an actual transformation of their power and efficacy takes place.\n\nThe greater accordance of the first view with the credulity of the age,\nits love for the wonderful and magical, the interest of the priesthood\nto add lustre, in accordance with the heathens, to a rite which enhanced\ntheir own office, resulted in the doctrine of Transubstantiation being\ndeclared an article of faith of the Christian Church.\n\nTransubstantiation, the invisible change of the bread and wine into the\nbody and blood of Christ, is a tenet that may defy the powers of\nargument and pleasantry; but instead of consulting the evidence of their\nsenses, of their sight, their feeling, and their taste, the first\nProtestants were entangled in their own scruples, and awed by the\nreputed words of Jesus in the institution of the sacrament. Luther\nmaintained a _corporeal_, and Calvin a _real_ presence of Christ in the\nEucharist; and the opinion of Zuinglius, that it is no more than a\nspiritual communion, a simple memorial, has slowly prevailed in the\nreformed churches.[315:1]\n\nUnder Edward VI. the reformation was more bold and perfect, but in the\nfundamental articles of the Church of England, a strong and explicit\ndeclaration against the real presence was _obliterated_ in the original\ncopy, to please the people, or the Lutherans, or Queen Elizabeth. At the\npresent day, the Greek and Roman Catholics alone hold to the original\ndoctrine of the _real presence_.\n\nOf all the religious observances among heathens, Jews, or Turks, none\nhas been the cause of more hatred, persecution, outrage, and bloodshed,\nthan the Eucharist. Christians persecuted one another like relentless\nfoes, and thousands of Jews were slaughtered on account of the Eucharist\nand the Host.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[305:1] Matt. xxvi. 26. See also, Mark, xiv. 22.\n\n[305:2] At the heading of the chapters named in the above note may be\nseen the words: \"Jesus keepeth the Passover (and) _instituteth_ the\nLord's Supper.\"\n\n[305:3] According to the Roman Christians, the Eucharist is the natural\nbody and blood of Christ Jesus _ver\u00e8 et realiter_, but the Protestant\nsophistically explains away these two plain words _verily_ and _indeed_,\nand by the grossest abuse of language, makes them to mean _spiritually\nby grace and efficacy_. \"In the sacrament of the altar,\" says the\nProtestant divine, \"is the _natural_ body and blood of Christ _ver\u00e8 et\nrealiter_, verily and indeed, if you take these terms for _spiritually\nby grace and efficacy_; but if you mean _really and indeed_, so that\nthereby you would include a lively and movable body under the form of\nbread and wine, then in that sense it is _not_ Christ's body in the\nsacrament really and indeed.\"\n\n[305:4] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 203, and Anacalypsis, i.\n232.\n\n[306:1] \"Leur grand Lama c\u00e9l\u00e8bre une esp\u00e8ce de sacrifice avec du pain et\ndu vin dont il prend une petite quantit\u00e9, et distribue le reste aux\nLamas presens \u00e0 cette c\u00e9r\u00e9monie.\" (Quoted in Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p.\n118.)\n\n[306:2] Viscount Amberly's Analysis, p. 46.\n\n[306:3] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 401.\n\n[306:4] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 163.\n\n[306:5] See Ibid. p. 417.\n\n[306:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 179.\n\n[306:7] See Bunsen's Keys of St. Peter, p. 199; Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p.\n60, and Lillie's Buddhism, p. 136.\n\n[306:8] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 60.\n\n[307:1] See Bunsen's Keys of St. Peter, p. 55, and Genesis, xiv. 18, 19.\n\n[307:2] St. Jerome says: \"Melchiz\u00e9dek in typo Christi panem et vinum\nobtulit: et mysterium Christianum in Salvatoris sanguine et corpore\ndedicavit.\"\n\n[307:3] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 227.\n\n[307:4] See King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. xxv., and Higgins'\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 58, 59.\n\n[307:5] Renan's Hibbert Lectures, p. 35.\n\n[308:1] In the words of Mr. King: \"This expression shows that the notion\nof blessing or consecrating the elements was _as yet_ unknown to the\nChristians.\"\n\n[308:2] Apol. 1. ch. lxvi.\n\n[308:3] Ibid.\n\n[308:4] De Pr\u00e6scriptione H\u00e6reticorum, ch. xl. Tertullian explains this\nconformity between Christianity and Paganism, by asserting that the\ndevil copied the Christian mysteries.\n\n[308:5] \"De Tinctione, de oblatione panis, et de imagine resurrectionis,\nvideatur doctiss, de la Cerda ad ea Tertulliani loca ubi de hiscerebus\nagitur. Gentiles citra Christum, talia cel\u00e9bradant Mithriaca qu\u00e6\nvidebantur cum doctrin\u00e2 _eucharist\u00e6_ et _resurrectionis_ et aliis\nritibus Christianis convenire, qu\u00e6 fecerunt ex industria ad imitationem\nChristianismi: unde Tertulliani et Patres aiunt eos talia fecisse, duce\ndiabolo, quo vult esse simia Christi, &c. Volunt itaque eos res suas ita\ncomp\u00e2rasse, ut _Mithr\u00e6 mysteria essent eucharisti\u00e6 Christian\u00e6 imago_.\nSic Just. Martyr (p. 98), et Tertullianus et Chrysostomus. In suis etiam\nsacris habebant Mithriaci lavacra (quasi regenerationis) in quibus\ntingit et ipse (sc. sacerdos) quosdam utique credentes et fideles suos,\net expiatoria delictorum de lavacro repromittit et sic adhuc initiat\nMithr\u00e6.\" (Hyde: De Relig. Vet. Persian, p. 113.)\n\n[308:6] Justin: 1st Apol., ch. lvi.\n\n[309:1] Dr. Grabes' Notes on Iren\u00e6us, lib. v. c. 2, in Anac., vol. i. p.\n60.\n\n[309:2] Quoted in Monumental Christianity, p. 370.\n\n[309:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 369.\n\n\"The Divine Presence called his angel of mercy and said unto him: 'Go\nthrough the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set\nthe mark of Tau ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}, the headless cross) upon the foreheads of the men\nthat sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the\nmidst thereof.'\" Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 305.\n\n[309:4] They were celebrated every fifth year at _Eleusis_, a town of\nAttica, from whence their name.\n\n[309:5] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 212.\n\n[309:6] M\u00fcller: Origin of Religion, p. 181.\n\n[309:7] \"In the _Bacchic_ Mysteries a consecrated cup (of wine) was\nhanded around after supper, called the cup of the _Agathodaemon_.\"\n(Cousin: Lec. on Modn. Phil. Quoted in Isis Unveiled, ii. 513. See also,\nDunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 217.)\n\n[310:1] Eccl. Hist. cent. ii. pt. 2, sec. v.\n\n[310:2] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 282.\n\n[310:3] Episcopal Communion Service.\n\n[310:4] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 282.\n\n[310:5] Hebrews, x. 22.\n\n[310:6] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 213.\n\n[310:7] See Ibid.\n\n[310:8] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 471.\n\n[311:1] See Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 217, and Isis Unveiled, vol. ii.\np. 513.\n\n[311:2] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 214.\n\n[311:3] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 139.\n\n[311:4] See Ibid. p. 513.\n\n[311:5] See Myths of the British Druids, p. 89.\n\n[311:6] See Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Belief, p. 238.\n\n[311:7] See Myths of the British Druids, p. 280, and Prog. Relig. Ideas,\nvol. i. p. 376.\n\n[311:8] Herbert Spencer: Principles of Sociology, vol. i. p. 299.\n\n[311:9] See Monumental Christianity, pp. 390 and 393.\n\n[311:10] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 220.\n\n[312:1] Quoted In Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 221.\n\n[312:2] Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii. chs. xiii. and xiv.\n\n[312:3] According to the \"_John_\" narrator, Jesus ate no Paschal meal,\nbut was captured the evening before Passover, and was crucified before\nthe feast opened. According to the _Synoptics_, Jesus partook of the\nPaschal supper, was captured the first night of the feast, and executed\non the first day thereof, which was on a Friday. If the _John_\nnarrator's account is true, that of the _Synoptics_ is not, or _vice\nversa_.\n\n[313:1] Mark, xiv. 13-16.\n\n[313:2] Gen. xxiv.\n\n[313:3] I. Kings, xvii. 8.\n\n[313:4] II. Kings, iv. 8.\n\n[313:5] Matt. xxvi. 18, 19.\n\n[313:6] For further observations on this subject, see Dr. Isaac M.\nWise's \"Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth,\" a valuable little work,\npublished at the office of the American Israelite, Cincinnati, Ohio.\n\n[315:1] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. v. pp. 399, 400. Calvin, after quoting\n_Matt._ xxvi. 26, 27, says: \"There is no doubt that as soon as these\nwords are added to the bread and the wine, the bread and the wine become\nthe _true_ body and the _true_ blood of Christ, so that the substance of\nbread and wine is transmuted into the _true_ body and blood of Christ.\nHe who denies this calls the omnipotence of Christ in question, and\ncharges Christ himself with foolishness.\" (Calvin's Tracts, p. 214.\nTranslated by Henry Beveridge, Edinburgh, 1851.) In other parts of his\nwritings, Calvin seems to contradict this statement, and speaks of the\nbread and wine in the Eucharist as being _symbolical_. Gibbon evidently\nrefers to the passage quoted above.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nBAPTISM.\n\n\nBaptism, or purification from sin by water, is supposed by many to be an\nexclusive _Christian_ ceremony. The idea is that circumcision was given\nup, but _baptism took its place_ as a compulsory form indispensable to\nsalvation, and was declared to have been instituted by Jesus himself or\nby his predecessor John.[316:1] That Jesus was baptized by John may be\ntrue, or it may not, but that he never directly enjoined his followers\nto call the _heathen_ to a share in the privileges of the _Golden Age_\nis gospel doctrine;[316:2] and this saying:\n\n     \"Go out into _all the world_ to preach the gospel to every\n     creature. And whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved,\n     but whoever believes not shall be damned,\"\n\nmust therefore be of comparatively late origin, dating from a period at\nwhich the mission to the heathen was not only fully recognized, but even\ndeclared to have originated with the followers of Jesus.[316:3] When the\nearly Christians received members among them they were _not_ initiated\nby baptism, but with prayer and laying on of hands. This, says\n_Eusebius_, was the \"_ancient custom_,\" which was followed until the\ntime of Stephen. During his bishopric controversies arose as to whether\nmembers should be received \"after the ancient Christian custom\" or by\nbaptism,[316:4] after the heathen custom. Rev. J. P. Lundy, who has made\nancient religions a special study, and who, being a thorough Christian\nwriter, endeavors to get over the difficulty by saying that:\n\n     \"John the Baptist simply _adopted_ and practiced the\n     _universal custom_ of sacred bathing _for the remission of\n     sins_. Christ sanctioned it; the church inherited it from his\n     example.\"[316:5]\n\nWhen we say that baptism is a _heathen_ rite adopted by the Christians,\nwe come near the truth. Mr. Lundy is a strong advocate of the _type_\ntheory--of which we shall speak anon--therefore the above mode of\nreasoning is not to be wondered at.\n\nThe facts in the case are that baptism by immersion, or sprinkling in\ninfancy, _for the remission of sin_, was a common rite, to be found in\ncountries the most widely separated on the face of the earth, and the\nmost unconnected in religious genealogy.[317:1]\n\nIf we turn to India we shall find that in the vast domain of the\nBuddhist faith the birth of children is regularly the occasion of a\nceremony, at which the priest is present. In Mongolia and Thibet this\nceremony assumes the special form of _baptism_. Candles burn and incense\nis offered on the domestic altar, the priest reads the prescribed\nprayers, _dips the child three times in water, and imposes on it a\nname_.[317:2]\n\n_Brahmanism_, from the very earliest times, had its initiatory rites,\nsimilar to what we shall find among the ancient Persians, Egyptians,\nGreeks and Romans. Mr. Mackenzie, in his \"Royal Masonic Cyclop\u00e6dia,\"\n(_sub voce_ \"Mysteries of Hindustan,\") gives a capital digest of these\nmysteries from the \"Indische Alterthum-Skunde\" of Lassen. After an\ninvocation to the SUN, an oath was demanded of the aspirant, to the\neffect of implicit obedience to superiors, purity of body, and\ninviolable secrecy. _Water was then sprinkled over him_, suitable\naddresses were made to him, &c. This was supposed to constitute the\n_regeneration_ of the candidate, and he was now invested with the white\nrobe and the tiara. A peculiar cross was marked on his forehead, and the\nTau cross on his breast. Finally, he was given the sacred word, A. U.\nM.[317:3]\n\nThe Brahmans had also a mode of baptism similar to the Christian sect of\nBaptists, the ceremony being performed in a river.\n\nThe officiating Brahman priest, who was called Gooroo, or\nPastor,[318:1] rubbed mud on the candidate, _and then plunged him three\ntimes into the water_. During the process the priest said:\n\n     \"O Supreme Lord, this man is impure, like the mud of this\n     stream; but as water cleanses him from this dirt, _do thou\n     free him from his sin_.\"[318:2]\n\nRivers, as sources of fertility and purification, were at an early date\ninvested with a sacred character. Every great river was supposed to be\npermeated with the divine essence, and its waters held to cleanse from\nall moral guilt and contamination. And as the Ganges was the most\nmajestic, so it soon became the holiest and most revered of all rivers.\nNo sin too heinous to be removed, no character too black to be washed\nclean by its waters. Hence the countless temples, with flights of steps,\nlining its banks; hence the array of priests, called \"Sons of the\nGanges,\" sitting on the edge of its streams, ready to aid the ablutions\nof conscience-stricken bathers, and stamp them as white-washed when they\nemerge from its waters. Hence also the constant traffic carried on in\ntransporting Ganges water in small bottles to all parts of the\ncountry.[318:3]\n\nThe ceremony of baptism was a practice of the followers of _Zoroaster_,\nboth for infants and adults.\n\nM. Beausobre tells us that:\n\n     \"The ancient _Persians_ carried their infants to the temple a\n     few days after they were born, and presented them to the\n     priest before the sun, and before the fire, which was his\n     symbol. _Then the priest took the child and baptized it for\n     the purification of the soul._ Sometimes he plunged it into a\n     great vase full of water: it was in the same ceremony that the\n     father gave a name to the child.\"[318:4]\n\nThe learned Dr. Hyde also tells us that infants were brought to the\ntemples and baptized by the priests, sometimes by sprinkling and\nsometimes by immersion, plunging the child into a large vase filled with\nwater. This was to them a regeneration, or a purification of their\nsouls. A name was at the same time imposed upon the child, as indicated\nby the parents.[318:5]\n\nThe rite of baptism was also administered to adults in the _Mithraic_\nmysteries during initiation. The foreheads of the initiated being marked\nat the same time with the \"_sacred sign_,\" which was none other than the\nsign of the CROSS.[319:1] The Christian Father Tertullian, who believed\nit to be the work of the devil, says:\n\n     \"He BAPTIZES his believers and followers; he promises the\n     remission of sins at the _sacred fount_, and thus initiates\n     them into the religion of _Mithra_; he _marks on the forehead_\n     his own soldiers,\" &c.[319:2]\n\n\"He marks on the forehead,\" _i. e._, he marks _the sign of the cross_ on\ntheir foreheads, just as priests of Christ Jesus do at the present day\nto those who are initiated into the Christian mysteries.\n\nAgain, he says:\n\n     \"The nations who are strangers to all spiritual powers (the\n     heathens), ascribe to their idols (gods) the power of\n     impregnating the waters with the same efficacy as in Christian\n     baptism.\" For, \"in certain sacred rites of theirs, the mode of\n     initiation is by baptism,\" and \"whoever had defiled himself\n     with murder, expiation was sought in purifying water.\"[319:3]\n\nHe also says that:\n\n     \"The devil signed his soldiers in the forehead, in imitation\n     of the Christians.\"[319:4]\n\nAnd St. Augustin says:\n\n     \"The _cross_ and _baptism_ were never parted.\"[319:5]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ performed their rite of baptism, and those who\nwere initiated into the mysteries of Isis were baptized.[319:6]\n\nApuleius of Madura, in Africa, who was initiated into these mysteries,\nshows that baptism was used; that the ceremony was performed by the\nattending priest, and that purification and forgiveness of sin was the\nresult.[319:7]\n\nThe custom of baptism in Egypt is known by the hieroglyphic term of\n\"_water of purification_.\" The water so used in immersion absolutely\ncleansed the soul, _and the person was said to be regenerated_.[320:1]\n\nThey also believed in baptism _after death_, for it was held that the\ndead were washed from their sins by Osiris, the beneficent saviour, in\nthe land of shades, and the departed are often represented (on the\nsarcophagi) kneeling before Osiris, who pours over them water from a\npitcher.[320:2]\n\nThe ancient _Etruscans_ performed the rite of baptism. In _Tab._ clxxii.\nGorius gives two pictures of ancient Etruscan baptism by water. In the\nfirst, the youth is held in the arms of one priest, and another is\npouring water upon his head. In the second, the young person is going\nthrough the same ceremony, kneeling on a kind of altar. At the time of\nits baptism the child was named, blessed and marked on the forehead with\n_the sign of the cross_.[320:3]\n\nBaptism, or the application of water, was a rite well known to the Jews\nbefore the time of Christ Jesus, and was practiced by them when they\nadmitted proselytes to their religion from heathenism. When children\nwere baptized they received the sign of the cross, were anointed, and\nfed with milk and honey.[320:4] \"It was not customary, however, among\nthem, to baptize those who were converted to the Jewish religion, _until\nafter the Babylonish captivity_.\"[320:5] This clearly shows that they\nlearned the rite from their heathen oppressors.\n\nBaptism was practiced by the ascetics of Buddhist origin, known as the\n_Essenes_.[320:6] John the Baptist was, evidently, nothing more than a\nmember of this order, with which the deserts of Syria and the Thebais of\nEgypt abounded.\n\nThe idea that man is restrained from perfect union with God by his\nimperfection, uncleanness and sin, was implicitly believed by the\nancient _Greeks_ and _Romans_. In Thessaly was yearly celebrated a great\nfestival of cleansing. A work bearing the name of \"_Museus_\" was a\ncomplete ritual of purifications. The usual mode of purification was\ndipping in water (immersion), or it was performed by aspersion. These\nsacraments were held to have virtue independent of the dispositions of\nthe candidates, an opinion which called forth the sneer of Diogenes, the\nGrecian historian, when he saw some one undergoing baptism by aspersion.\n\n     \"Poor wretch! do you not see that since these sprinklings\n     cannot repair your grammatical errors, they cannot repair\n     either, the faults of your life.\"[321:1]\n\nAnd the belief that water could wash out the stains of original sin, led\nthe poet _Ovid_ (43 B. C.) to say:\n\n     \"Ah, easy fools, to think that a whole flood\n      Of water e'er can purge the stain of blood.\"\n\nThese ancient Pagans had especial gods and goddesses who presided over\nthe birth of children. The goddess _Nundina_ took her name from the\nninth day, _on which all male children were sprinkled with holy\nwater_,[321:2] as females were on the eighth, at the same time receiving\ntheir name, of which _addition_ to the ceremonial of Christian baptism\nwe find no mention in the Christian Scriptures. When all the forms of\nthe Pagan nundination were duly complied with, the priest gave a\ncertificate to the parents of the regenerated infant; it was, therefore,\nduly recognized as a legitimate member of the family and of society, and\nthe day was spent in feasting and hilarity.[321:3]\n\nAdults were also baptized; and those who were initiated in the sacred\nrites of the _Bacchic_ mysteries were regenerated and admitted by\nbaptism, just as they were admitted into the mysteries of Mithra.[321:4]\nJustin Martyr, like his brother Tertullian, claimed that this ablution\nwas invented by demons, in imitation of the _true_ baptism, that their\nvotaries might also have their pretended purification by water.[321:5]\n\nInfant Baptism was practiced among the ancient inhabitants of northern\nEurope--the Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Icelanders--long before the\nfirst dawn of Christianity had reached those parts. Water was poured on\nthe head of the new-born child, and a name was given it at the same\ntime. Baptism is expressly mentioned in the _Hava-mal_ and _Rigs-mal_,\nand alluded to in other epic poems.[322:1]\n\nThe ancient _Livonians_ (inhabitants of the three modern Baltic\nprovinces of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia), observed the same\nceremony; which also prevailed among the ancient _Germans_. This is\nexpressly stated in a letter which the famous Pope Gregory III. sent to\ntheir apostle Boniface, directing him how to act in respect to\nit.[322:2]\n\nThe same ceremony was performed by the ancient Druids of Britain.[322:3]\n\nAmong the _New Zealanders_ young children were baptized. After the\nceremony of baptism had taken place, prayers were offered to make the\nchild sacred, and clean from all impurities.[322:4]\n\nThe ancient _Mexicans_ baptized their children shortly after birth.\nAfter the relatives had assembled in the court of the parents' house,\nthe midwife placed the child's head to the east, and prayed for a\nblessing from the _Saviour_ Quetzalcoatle, and the goddess of the water.\nThe breast of the child was then touched with the fingers dipped in\nwater, and the following prayer said:\n\n     \"May it (the water) destroy and separate from thee all the\n     evil that was beginning in thee before the beginning of the\n     world.\"\n\nAfter this the child's body was washed with water, and all things that\nmight injure him were requested to depart from him, \"that now he may\nlive again and be born again.\"[322:5]\n\nMr. Prescott alludes to it as follows, in his \"Conquest of\nMexico:\"[322:6]\n\n     \"The lips and bosom of the infant were sprinkled with water,\n     and the Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash\n     away that sin that was given to it before the foundation of\n     the world, so that the child might be born anew.\" \"This\n     interesting rite, usually solemnized with great formality, in\n     the presence of assembled friends and relations, is detailed\n     with minuteness by Sahagun and by Zuazo, both of them\n     eyewitnesses.\"\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy says:\n\n     \"Now, as baptism of some kind has been the _universal custom_\n     of all religious nations and peoples for purification and\n     regeneration, it is not to be wondered at that it had found\n     its way from high Asia, the centre of the Old World's religion\n     and civilization, into the American continent. . . .\n\n     \"American priests were found in Mexico, beyond Darien,\n     baptizing boys and girls a year old in the temples at the\n     cross, pouring the water upon them from a small\n     pitcher.\"[323:1]\n\nThe water which they used was called the \"WATER OF REGENERATION.\"[323:2]\n\nThe Rev. Father Acosta alludes to this baptism by saying:\n\n     \"The Indians had an infinite number of other ceremonies and\n     customs which resembled to the ancient law of Moses, and some\n     to those which the Moores use, and some approaching near to\n     the Law of the Gospel, as the baths or _Opacuna_, as they\n     called them; _they did wash themselves in water to cleanse\n     themselves from sin_.\"[323:3]\n\nAfter speaking of \"_confession which the Indians used_,\" he says:\n\n     \"When the Inca had been confessed, he made a certain bath to\n     cleanse himself, in a running river, saying these words: '_I\n     have told my sins to the Sun_ (his god); _receive them, O thou\n     River, and carry them to the Sea, where they may never appear\n     more._'\"[323:4]\n\nHe tells us that the Mexicans also had a baptism for infants, which they\nperformed with great ceremony.[323:5]\n\nBaptism was also practiced in Yucatan. They administered it to children\nthree years old; and called it REGENERATION.[323:6]\n\nThe ancient Peruvians also baptized their children.[323:7]\n\nHistory, then, records the fact that all the principal nations of\nantiquity administered the rite of baptism to their children, and to\nadults who were initiated into the sacred mysteries. The words\n\"_regenerationem et impunitatem perjuriorum suorum_\"--used by the\nheathen in this ceremony--prove that the doctrines as well as the\noutward forms were the same. The giving of a name to the child, the\nmarking of him with the _cross_ as a sign of his being a soldier of\nChrist, followed at fifteen years of age by his admission into the\nmysteries of the ceremony of _confirmation_, also prove that the two\ninstitutions are identical. But the most striking feature of all is the\n_regeneration_--and consequent forgiveness of sins--the being \"_born\nagain_.\" This shows that the Christian baptism in _doctrine_ as well as\nin _outward ceremony_, was precisely that of the heathen. We have seen\nthat it was supposed to destroy all the evil in him, and all things that\nmight injure him were requested to depart from him. So likewise among\nthe Christians; the priest, looking upon the child, and baptizing him,\nwas formerly accustomed to say:\n\n     \"I command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father,\n     of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out and\n     depart from this infant, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has\n     vouchsafed to call to this holy baptism, to be made member of\n     his body and of his holy congregation. And presume not\n     hereafter to exercise any tyranny towards this infant, whom\n     Christ hath bought with his precious blood, and by this holy\n     baptism called to be of his flock.\"\n\nThe ancients also baptized with _fire_ as well as water. This is what is\nalluded to many times in the gospels; for instance, Matt. (iii. 11)\nmakes John say, \"I, indeed, baptize you with water; he shall baptize you\nwith the Holy Ghost and with FIRE.\"\n\nThe baptism by _fire_ was in use by the Romans; it was performed by\njumping _three times_ through the flames of a sacred fire. This is still\npracticed in India. Even at the present day, in some parts of Scotland,\nit is a custom at the baptism of children to swing them in their clothes\nover a fire _three times_, saying, \"_Now, fire, burn this child, or\nnever._\" Here is evidently a relic of the heathen _baptism by fire_.\n\nChristian baptism was not originally intended to be administered to\nunconscious infants, but to persons in full possession of their\nfaculties, and responsible for their actions. Moreover, it was\nperformed, as is well known, not merely by sprinkling the forehead, but\nby causing the candidate to descend naked into the water, the priest\njoining him there, and pouring the water over his head. The catechumen\ncould not receive baptism until after he understood something of the\nnature of the faith he was embracing, and was prepared to assume its\nobligations. A rite more totally unfitted for administration to\n_infants_ could hardly have been found. Yet such was the need that was\nfelt for a solemn recognition by religion of the entrance of a child\ninto the world, that this rite, in course of time, completely lost its\noriginal nature, and, as with the heathen, _infancy_ took the place of\nmaturity: sprinkling of immersion. But while the age and manner of\nbaptism were altered, the ritual remained under the influence of the\nprimitive idea with which it had been instituted. The obligations were\nno longer confined to the persons baptized, hence they must be\nundertaken for them. Thus was the Christian Church landed in the\nabsurdity--unparalleled, we believe, in any other natal ceremony--of\nrequiring the most solemn promises to be made, not by those who were\nthereafter to fulfill them, _but by others in their name_; these others\nhaving no power to enforce their fulfillment, and neither those actually\nassuming the engagement, nor those on whose behalf it was assumed, being\nmorally responsible in case it should be broken. Yet this strange\nincongruity was forced upon the church by an imperious want of human\nnature itself, and the insignificant sects who have adopted the baptism\nof adults only, have failed, in their zeal for historical consistency,\nto recognize a sentiment whose roots lie far deeper than the\nchronological foundation of Christian rites, and stretch far wider than\nthe geographical boundaries of the Christian faith.\n\nThe intention of all these forms of baptism is identical. Water, as the\nnatural means of physical cleansing, is the universal symbol of\nspiritual purification. Hence immersion, or washing, or sprinkling,\nimplies the deliverance of the infant from the stain of original\nsin.[325:1] The _Pagan_ and _Christian_ rituals, as we have seen, are\nperfectly clear on this head. In both, the avowed intention is to wash\naway the sinful nature common to humanity; in both, the infant is\ndeclared to be born again by the agency of water. Among the early\nChristians, as with the Pagans, the sacrament of baptism was supposed to\ncontain a full and absolute expiation of sin; and the soul was instantly\nrestored to its original purity, and entitled to the promise of eternal\nsalvation. Among the proselytes of Christianity, there were many who\njudged it imprudent to precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be\nrepeated; to throw away an inestimable privilege, which could never be\nrecovered. By the delay of their baptism, they could venture freely to\nindulge their passions in the enjoyments of this world, while they still\nretained in their own hands the means of a sure and easy absolution. St.\nConstantine was one of these.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[316:1] The Rev. Dr. Geikie makes the assertion that: \"With the call to\nrepent, John united a significant rite for all who were willing to own\ntheir sins, and promise amendment of life. It was the _new_ and striking\nrequirement of baptism, _which John had been sent by divine appointment\nto_ INTRODUCE.\" (Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 394.)\n\n[316:2] See Galatians, ii. 7-9. Acts, x. and xi.\n\n[316:3] See The Bible for Learners, vol. iii. pp. 658 and 472.\n\n[316:4] See Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 7, ch. ii.\n\n[316:5] Monumental Christianity, p. 385.\n\n[317:1] \"Among all nations, and from the very earliest period, WATER has\nbeen used as a species of religious sacrament. . . . Water was the agent\nby means of which everything was _regenerated or born again_. Hence, in\nall nations, we find the Dove, or Divine Love, operating by means of its\nagent, water, and all nations using the ceremony of plunging, or, as we\ncall it, baptizing, for the remission of sins, to introduce the\ncandidate to a regeneration, to a new birth unto righteousness.\"\n(Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 529.)\n\n\"Baptism is a very ancient rite pertaining to _heathen_ religions,\nwhether of Asia, Africa, Europe or America.\" (Bonwick: Egyptian Belief,\np. 416.)\n\n\"Baptism, or purification by water, was a ceremony common to all\nreligions of antiquity. It consists in being made clean from some\nsupposed pollution or defilement.\" (Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 201.)\n\n\"L'usage de ce _Bapt\u00e9me_ par immersion, qui subsista dans l'Occident\njusqu' au 8{e} ci\u00e8cle, se maintient encore dans l'Eglise Greque: c'est\ncelui que Jean le _Pr\u00e9curseur_ administra, dans le Jourdain, \u00e0 Jesus\nChrist m\u00eame. Il fut pratiqu\u00e9 chez les Juifs, chez les Grecs, _et chez\npresque tous les peuples_, bien des si\u00e8cles _avant_ l'existence de la\nreligion Chr\u00e9tienne.\" (D'Ancarville: Res., vol. i. p. 292.)\n\n[317:2] See Amberly's Analysis, p. 61. Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 42.\nHiggins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 69, and Lillie's Buddhism, pp. 55 and\n184.\n\n[317:3] Lillie's Buddhism, p. 134.\n\n[318:1] Life and Religion of the Hindus, p. 94.\n\n[318:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 125.\n\n\"Every orthodox Hindu is perfectly persuaded that the dirtiest water, if\ntaken from a _sacred stream_ and applied to his body, either externally\nor internally, _will purify his soul_.\" (Prof. Monier Williams:\nHinduism, p. 157.) The Egyptians bathed in the water of the Nile; the\nChaldeans and Persians in the Euphrates, and the Hindus, at we have\nseen, in the Ganges, all of which were considered as \"sacred waters\" by\nthe different nations. The Jews looked upon the Jordan in the same\nmanner.\n\nHerodotus, speaking of the Persians' manners, says:\n\n\"They (the Persians) neither make water, nor spit, nor wash their hands\nin a river, nor defile the stream with urine, nor do they allow any one\nelse to do so, but they pay extreme veneration to all rivers.\" (Hist.\nlib. i. ch. 138.)\n\n[318:3] Williams' Hinduism, p. 176.\n\n[318:4] Hist. Manichee, lib. ix. ch. vi. sect. xvi. in Anac., vol. ii.\np. 65. See also, Dupuis: Orig. Relig. Belief, p. 249, and Baring-Gould:\nOrig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 392.\n\n[318:5] \"Pro infantibus non utuntur circumcisione, sed tantum baptismo\nseu lotione ad anim\u00e6 purificationem internam. Infantem ad sacerdotem in\necclesiam adductum sistunt coram sole et igne, qu\u00e2 fact\u00e2 ceremoni\u00e2,\neundem sanctiorem existimant. D. Lord dicit quod aquam ad hoc afferunt\nin cortice arboris Holm: ea autem arbor revers est Haum Magorum, cujus\nmentionem ali\u00e2 occasione supra fecimus. Alias, aliquando fit immergendo\nin magnum vas aqu\u00e6, ut dicit Tavernier. Post talem lotionem seu\nbaptismum, sacerdos imponit nomen \u00e0 parentibus inditum.\" (Hyde de Rel.\nVet. Pers., p. 414.) After this Hyde goes on to say, that when he comes\nto be fifteen years of age he is confirmed by receiving the girdle, and\nthe sudra or cassock.\n\n[319:1] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. xxv. Higgins: _Anac._, vol.\ni pp. 218 and 222. Dunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 189. King: The\nGnostics and their Remains, p. 51.\n\n[319:2] De Pr\u00e6scrip. ch. xi.\n\n[319:3] Ibid.\n\n[319:4] \"Mithra signat illic in frontibus milites suos.\"\n\n[319:5] \"Semper enim cruci baptismus jungitur.\" (Aug. Temp. Ser. ci.)\n\n[319:6] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 69, and Monumental Christianity, p.\n385.\n\n[319:7] \"Sacerdos, stipatum me religiosa cohorte, deducit ad proximas\nbalucas; et prius sueto lavraco traditum, proefatus de\u00fbm veniam,\npurissime circumrorans abluit.\" (Apuleius: Milesi, ii. citat. a\nHiggins: Anac., vol. ii. p. 69.)\n\n[320:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 416. Dunlap: Mysteries Adoni, p.\n139.\n\n[320:2] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 392.\n\n[320:3] See Higgins: Anac., vol. ii. pp. 67-69.\n\n[320:4] Barnes: Notes, vol. i. p. 38. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p.\n65.\n\n[320:5] Barnes: Notes, vol. i. p. 41.\n\n[320:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 121, Gainsburgh's Essenes, and\nHiggins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 66, 67.\n\n[321:1] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 391.\n\n[321:2] \"_Holy Water_\"--water wherein the person is baptized, in the\nname of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (Church of\nEngland Catechism.)\n\n[321:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 333, 334, and Higgins' Anacalypsis,\nii. p. 65.\n\n[321:4] See Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 80 and 232, and Baring-Gould's Orig.\nRelig. Belief, vol. i. p. 391.\n\n\"De-l\u00e0-vint, que pour devenir capable d'entendre les secrets de la\ncr\u00e9ation, r\u00e9v\u00e9l\u00e9s dans ces m\u00eames myst\u00e8res, il fallut se faire\n_r\u00e9g\u00e9n\u00e9rer_ par _l'initiation_. Cette c\u00e9r\u00e9monie, par laquelle, _on\napprenoit les vrais principes de la vie_, s'op\u00e9roit par le moyen de\n_l'eau_ qui voit \u00e9t\u00e9 celui de la _r\u00e9g\u00e9n\u00e9ration_ du monde. On conduisoit\nsur les bords de l'Ilissus le candidat qui devoit \u00eatre initi\u00e9; apres\nl'avoir purifi\u00e9 avec le sel et l'eau de la mer, on repandoit de l'orge\nsur lui, on le couronnoit de fleurs, et _l'Hydranos_ ou le _Baptisseur_\nle plongeoit dans le fleuve.\" (D'Ancarville: Res., vol. i. p. 292.\nAnac., ii. p. 65.)\n\n[321:5] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 232.\n\n[322:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 306, 313, 320, 366.\nBaring-Gould's Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. pp. 392, 393, and Dupuis, p.\n242.\n\n[322:2] Mallet: Northern Antiquities, p. 206.\n\n[322:3] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 393. Higgins:\nAnac., vol. ii. p. 67, and Davies: Myths of the British Druids.\n\n[322:4] Sir George Grey: Polynesian Mytho., p. 32, in Baring-Gould:\nOrig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 392.\n\n[322:5] See Viscount Amberly's Analysis Relig. Belief, p. 59.\n\n[322:6] Vol. i. p. 64.\n\n[323:1] Monumental Christianity, pp. 389, 390.\n\n[323:2] Kingsborough: Mex. Antiq., vol. vi. p. 114.\n\n[323:3] Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 369.\n\n[323:4] Ibid. p. 361.\n\n[323:5] Ibid. p. 369.\n\n[323:6] Monumental Christianity, p. 390.\n\n[323:7] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 416.\n\n[325:1] That man is born in _original sin_ seems to have been the belief\nof all nations of antiquity, especially the Hindus. This sense of\noriginal corruption is expressed in the following prayer, used by them:\n\n\"I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, _I am conceived in\nsin_. Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Heri, the remover of Sin.\" (Williams'\nHinduism, p. 214.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nTHE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER.\n\n\nThe worship of the \"Virgin,\" the \"Queen of Heaven,\" the \"Great Goddess,\"\nthe \"Mother of God,\" &c., which has become one of the grand features of\nthe Christian religion--the Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431) having\ndeclared Mary \"Mother of God,\" her assumption being declared in 813, and\nher Immaculate Conception by the Pope and Council in 1851[326:1]--was\nalmost universal, for ages before the birth of Jesus, and \"the _pure\nvirginity_ of the celestial mother was a tenet of faith for two thousand\nyears before the virgin now adored was born.\"[326:2]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 16]\n\nIn _India_, they have worshiped, for ages, _Devi_, _Maha-Devi_--\"The One\nGreat Goddess\"[326:3]--and have temples erected in honor of her.[326:4]\nGonzales states that among the Indians he found a temple \"_Paritur\u00e6\nVirginis_\"--of the Virgin about to bring forth.[326:5]\n\n_Maya_, the mother of Buddha, and _Devaki_ the mother of Crishna, were\nworshiped as _virgins_,[326:6] and represented with the infant Saviours\nin their arms, just as the virgin of the Christians is represented at\nthe present day. Maya was so pure that it was impossible for God, man,\nor Asura to view her with carnal desire. Fig. No. 16 is a\nrepresentation of the Virgin Devaki, with, the infant Saviour Crishna,\ntaken from Moor's \"Hindu Pantheon.\"[327:1] \"No person could bear to gaze\nupon Devaki, because of the light that invested her.\" \"The gods,\ninvisible to mortals, celebrated her praise continually from the time\nthat _Vishnu_ was contained in her person.\"[327:2]\n\n\"Crishna and his mother are almost always represented _black_,\"[327:3]\nand the word \"_Crishna_\" means \"_the black_.\"\n\nThe _Chinese_, who have had several _avatars_, or virgin-born gods,\namong them, have also worshiped a Virgin Mother from time immemorial.\nSir Charles Francis Davis, in his \"History of China,\" tells us that the\nChinese at Canton worshiped an idol, to which they gave the name of \"The\nVirgin.\"[327:4]\n\nThe Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his \"Heathen Religion,\" tells us that:\n\n     \"Upon the altars of the Chinese temples were placed, behind a\n     screen, an image of _Shin-moo_, or the '_Holy Mother_,'\n     _sitting with a child in her arms_, in an alcove, with rays of\n     glory around her head, and tapers constantly burning before\n     her.\"[327:5]\n\nShin-moo is called the \"Mother Goddess,\" and the \"Virgin.\" Her child,\nwho was exposed in his infancy, was brought up by poor fishermen. He\nbecame a great man, and performed wonderful miracles. In wealthy houses\nthe sacred image of the \"Mother Goddess\" is carefully kept in a recess\nbehind an altar, veiled with a silken screen.[327:6]\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his \"Travels,\" speaking of the Chinese people,\nsays:\n\n     \"Though otherwise very reasonable men, they have always showed\n     themselves bigoted heathens. . . . They have everywhere built\n     splendid temples, chiefly in honor of _Ma-tsoo-po_, the\n     '_Queen of Heaven_.'\"[327:7]\n\n_Isis_, mother of the Egyptian Saviour, Horus, was worshiped as a\nvirgin. Nothing is more common on the religious monuments of Egypt than\nthe infant Horus seated in the lap of his virgin mother. She is styled\n\"Our Lady,\" the \"Queen of Heaven,\" \"Star of the Sea,\" \"Governess,\"\n\"Mother of God,\" \"Intercessor,\" \"Immaculate Virgin,\" &c.;[328:1] all of\nwhich epithets were in after years applied to the Virgin Mother\nworshiped by the Christians.[328:2]\n\n\"The most common representation of Horus is being nursed on the knee of\nIsis, or suckled at her breast.\"[328:3] In _Monumental Christianity_\n(Fig. 92), is to be seen a representation of \"Isis and Horus.\" The\ninfant Saviour is sitting on his mother's knee, while she gazes into his\nface. A cross is on the back of the seat. The author, Rev. J. P. Lundy,\nsays, in speaking of it:\n\n     \"Is this Egyptian mother, too, meditating her son's conflict,\n     suffering, and triumph, as she holds him before her and gazes\n     into his face? And is this CROSS meant to convey the idea of\n     life through suffering, and conflict with Typho or Evil?\"\n\nIn some statues and _basso-relievos_, when Isis appears alone, she is\nentirely veiled from head to foot, in common with nearly every other\ngoddess, as a symbol of a mother's chastity. No mortal man hath ever\nlifted her veil.\n\nIsis was also represented standing on the _crescent_ moon, with _twelve\nstars_ surrounding her head.[328:4] In almost every Roman Catholic\nChurch on the continent of Europe may be seen pictures and statues of\n_Mary_, the \"Queen of Heaven,\" standing on the crescent moon, and her\nhead surrounded with _twelve_ stars.\n\nDr. Inman, in his \"Pagan and Christian Symbolism,\" gives a figure of the\nVirgin Mary, with her infant, standing on the _crescent moon_. In\nspeaking of this figure, he says:\n\n     \"In it the Virgin is seen as the 'Queen of Heaven,' nursing\n     her infant, and identified with the crescent moon. . . . Than\n     this, nothing could more completely identify the Christian\n     mother and child, with Isis and Horus.\"[328:5]\n\nThis _crescent moon_ is the symbol of Isis and Juno, and is the _Yoni_\nof the Hindoos.[328:6]\n\nThe priests of Isis yearly dedicated to her a new ship (emblematic of\nthe YONI), laden with the first fruits of spring. Strange as it may\nseem, the carrying in procession of ships, in which the Virgin Mary\ntakes the place of the heathen goddesses, has not yet wholly gone out of\nuse.[328:7]\n\nIsis is also represented, with the infant Saviour in her arms, enclosed\nin a framework of the flowers of the Egyptian bean, or _lotus_.[328:8]\nThe Virgin _Mary_ is very often represented in this manner, as those who\nhave studied medi\u00e6val art, well know.\n\nDr. Inman, describing a painting of the Virgin Mary, which is to be\nseen in the South Kensington Museum, and which is enclosed in a\nframework of flowers, says:\n\n     \"It represents the Virgin and Child precisely as she used to\n     be represented in Egypt, in India, in Assyria, Babylonia,\n     Phoenicia, and Etruria.\"[329:1]\n\nThe lotus and poppy were sacred among all Eastern nations, and were\nconsecrated to the various virgins worshiped by them. These virgins are\nrepresented holding this plant in their hands, just as the Virgin,\nadored by the Christians, is represented at the present day.[329:2] Mr.\nSquire, speaking of this plant, says:\n\n     \"It is well known that the '_Nymphe_'--lotus or water-lily--is\n     held sacred throughout the East, and the various sects of that\n     quarter of the globe represented their deities either\n     decorated with its flowers, holding it as a sceptre, or seated\n     on a lotus throne or pedestal. _Lacshmi_, the beautiful Hindoo\n     goddess, is associated with the lotus. The Egyptian _Isis_ is\n     often called the 'Lotus-_crowned_,' in the ancient\n     invocations. The Mexican goddess _Corieotl_, is often\n     represented with a water-plant resembling the lotus in her\n     hand.\"[329:3]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 17]\n\nIn Egyptian and Hindoo mythology, the offspring of the virgin is made to\nbruise the head of the serpent, but the Romanists have given this office\nto the mother. Mary is often seen represented standing on the serpent.\nFig. 17 alludes to this, and to her _immaculate conception_, which, as\nwe have seen, was declared by the Pope and council in 1851. The notion\nof the divinity of Mary was broached by some at the Council of Nice, and\nthey were thence named Marianites.\n\nThe Christian Father Epiphanius accounts for the fact of the Egyptians\nworshiping a virgin and child, by declaring that the prophecy--\"Behold,\na virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son\"--must have been revealed\nto them.[329:4]\n\nIn an ancient Christian work, called the \"Chronicle of Alexandria,\"\noccurs the following:\n\n     \"Watch how Egypt has constructed the childbirth of a virgin,\n     and the birth of her son, _who was exposed in a crib to the\n     adoration of the people_.\"[330:1]\n\nWe have another Egyptian Virgin Mother in Neith or Nout, mother of\n\"Osiris the Saviour.\" She was known as the \"Great Mother,\" and yet\n\"Immaculate Virgin.\"[330:2] M. Beauregard speaks of\n\n     \"The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin (Mary), who can\n     henceforth, as well as the Egyptian Minerva, the mysterious\n     Neith, boast of having come from herself, and of having given\n     birth to god.\"[330:3]\n\nWhat is known in Christian countries as \"Candlemas day,\" or the\nPurification of the Virgin Mary, is of Egyptian origin. The feast of\nCandlemas was kept by the ancient Egyptians in honor of the goddess\nNeith, and on the very day that is marked on our Christian almanacs as\n\"Candlemas day.\"[330:4]\n\nThe ancient _Chaldees_ believed in a celestial virgin, who had purity of\nbody, loveliness of person, and tenderness of affection; and who was one\nto whom the erring sinner could appeal with more chance of success than\nto a stern father. She was portrayed as a mother, although a virgin,\nwith a child in her arms.[330:5]\n\nThe ancient Babylonians and Assyrians worshiped a goddess mother, and\nson, who was represented in pictures and in images as an infant in his\nmother's arms (see Fig. No. 18). Her name was _Mylitta_, the divine son\nwas _Tammuz_, the Saviour, whom we have seen rose from the dead. He was\ninvested with all his father's attributes and glory, and identified with\nhim. He was worshiped as _mediator_.[330:6]\n\nThere was a temple at Paphos, in Cyprus, dedicated to the Virgin\nMylitta, and was the most celebrated one in Grecian times.[330:7]\n\nThe ancient _Etruscans_ worshiped a Virgin Mother and Son, who was\nrepresented in pictures and images in the arms of his mother. This was\nthe goddess _Nutria_, to be seen in Fig. No. 19. On the arm of the\nmother is an inscription in Etruscan letters. This goddess was also\nworshiped in Italy. Long before the Christian era temples and statues\nwere erected in memory of her. \"To the Great Goddess Nutria,\" is an\ninscription which has been found among the ruins of a temple dedicated\nto her. No doubt the Roman Church would have claimed her for a Madonna,\nbut most unluckily for them, she has the name \"_Nutria_,\" in Etruscan\nletters on her arm, after the Etruscan practice.\n\nThe Egyptian _Isis_ was also worshiped in Italy, many centuries before\nthe Christian era, and all images of her, with the infant Horus in her\narms, have been adopted, as we shall presently see, by the Christians,\neven though they represent her and her child as _black_ as an Ethiopian,\nin the same manner as we have seen that Devaki and Crishna were\nrepresented.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 18]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 19]\n\nThe children of Israel, who, as we have seen in a previous chapter, were\nidolaters of the worst kind--worshiping the sun, moon and stars, and\noffering human sacrifices to their god, Moloch--were also worshipers of\na Virgin Mother, whom they styled the \"Queen of Heaven.\"\n\nJeremiah, who appeared in Jerusalem about the year 625 B. C., and who\nwas one of the prophets and reformers, rebukes the Israelites for their\nidolatry and worship of the \"Queen of Heaven,\" whereupon they answer him\nas follows:\n\n     \"As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us, in the name of\n     the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly\n     do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn\n     incense unto the _Queen of Heaven_, and to pour out drink\n     offerings unto her, _as we have done, we, and our fathers, our\n     kings, and our princes, in the city of Judah, and in the\n     streets of Jerusalem_: for then we had plenty of victuals, and\n     were well, and saw no evil.\n\n     \"But since we left off to burn incense to the _Queen of\n     Heaven_, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have\n     wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by\n     the famine. And when we burned incense to the _Queen of\n     Heaven_, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make\n     her _cakes_ to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto\n     her, without our men?\"[332:1]\n\nThe \"_cakes_\" which were offered to the \"Queen of Heaven\" by the\nIsraelites were marked with a _cross_, or other symbol of sun\nworship.[332:2] The ancient Egyptians also put a cross on their \"sacred\ncakes.\"[332:3] Some of the early Christians offered \"sacred cakes\" to\nthe Virgin Mary centuries after.[332:4]\n\nThe ancient Persians worshiped the Virgin and Child. On the monuments of\nMithra, the Saviour, the Mediating and Redeeming God of the Persians,\nthe Virgin Mother of this god is to be seen suckling her infant.[332:5]\n\nThe ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped the Virgin Mother and Child for\ncenturies before the Christian era. One of these was _Myrrha_,[332:6]\nthe mother of _Bacchus_, the Saviour, who was represented with the\ninfant in her arms. She had the title of \"Queen of Heaven.\"[332:7] At\nmany a _Christian_ shrine the infant Saviour Bacchus may be seen\nreposing in the arms of his deified mother. The names are changed--the\nideas remain as before.[332:8]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Stuckley writes:\n\n     \"Diodorus says Bacchus was born of Jupiter, the Supreme God,\n     and Ceres (Myrrha). Both Ceres and Proserpine were called\n     _Virgo_ (Virgin). The story of this woman being deserted by a\n     man, and espoused by a god, has somewhat so exceedingly like\n     that passage, Matt. i. 19, 20, of the blessed Virgin's\n     history, that we should wonder at it, _did we not see the\n     parallelism infinite between the sacred and the profane\n     history before us_.\n\n     \"There are many similitudes between the Virgin (Mary) and the\n     mother of Bacchus (also called Mary--see note 6 below)--in all\n     the old fables. Mary, or Miriam, St. Jerome interprets Myrrha\n     Maris. Orpheus calls the mother of Bacchus a _Sea Goddess_\n     (and the mother of Jesus is called '_Mary, Star of the\n     Sea_.'\")[332:9]\n\nThus we see that the reverend and learned Dr. Stuckley has clearly made\nout that the story of Mary, the \"Queen of Heaven,\" the \"Star of the\nSea,\" the mother of the Lord, with her translation to heaven, &c., was\nan _old story_ long before Jesus of Nazareth was born. After this\nStuckley observes that the _Pagan_ \"Queen of Heaven\" has upon her head a\ncrown of twelve stars. This, as we have observed above, is the case of\nthe _Christian_ \"Queen of Heaven\" in almost every Romish church on the\ncontinent of Europe.\n\nThe goddess _Cybele_ was another. She was equally called the \"Queen of\nHeaven\" and the \"Mother of God.\" As devotees now collect alms in the\nname of the Virgin Mary, so did they in ancient times in the name of\nCybele. The _Galli_ now used in the churches of Italy, were anciently\nused in the worship of Cybele (called _Galliambus_, and sang by her\npriests). \"Our Lady Day,\" or the day of the Blessed Virgin of the Roman\nChurch, was heretofore dedicated to Cybele.[333:1]\n\n_Minerva_, who was distinguished by the title of \"Virgin Queen,\"[333:2]\nwas extensively worshiped in ancient Greece. Among the innumerable\ntemples of Greece, the most beautiful was the _Parthenon_, meaning, the\n_Temple of the Virgin Goddess_. It was a magnificent Doric edifice,\ndedicated to Minerva, the presiding deity of Athens.\n\n_Juno_ was called the \"Virgin Queen of Heaven.\"[333:3] She was\nrepresented, like _Isis_ and _Mary_, standing on the crescent\nmoon,[333:4] and was considered the special protectress of women, from\nthe cradle to the grave, just as Mary is considered at the present day.\n\n_Diana_, who had the title of \"Mother,\" was nevertheless famed for her\nvirginal purity.[333:5] She was represented, like _Isis_ and _Mary_,\nwith stars surrounding her head.[333:6]\n\nThe ancient _Muscovites_ worshiped a sacred group, composed of a woman\nwith a _male child_ in her lap, and another _standing by her_. They had\nlikewise another idol, called _the golden heifer_, which, says Mr.\nKnight, \"seems to have been the animal _symbol_ of the same\npersonage.\"[333:7] Here we have the Virgin and infant Saviour, with the\ncompanion (John the Baptist), and \"The _Lamb_ that taketh away the sins\nof the world,\" among the ancient _Muscovites_ before the time of Christ\nJesus. This goddess had also the title of \"Queen of Heaven.\"[334:1]\n\nThe ancient _Germans_ worshiped a virgin goddess under the name of\n_Hertha_, or Ostara, who was fecundated by the active spirit, _i. e._,\nthe \"Holy Spirit.\"[334:2] She was represented in images as a woman with\na child in her arms. This image was common in their consecrated forests,\nand was held peculiarly sacred.[334:3] The Christian celebration called\n_Easter_ derived its _name_ from this goddess.\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ worshiped a virgin goddess called Disa. Mr.\nR. Payne Knight tells us that:\n\n     \"This goddess is delineated on the sacred drums of the\n     Laplanders, _accompanied by a child_, similar to the _Horus_\n     of the Egyptians, who so often appears in the lap of Isis on\n     the religious monuments of that people.\"[334:4]\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ also worshiped the goddess Frigga. She was\nmother of \"Baldur the Good,\" his father being Odin, the supreme god of\nthe northern nations. It was she who was addressed, as Mary is at the\npresent day, in order to obtain happy marriages and easy childbirths.\nThe Eddas style her the most favorable of the goddesses.[334:5]\n\nIn _Gaul_, the ancient Druids worshiped the _Virgo-Paritura_ as the\n\"Mother of God,\" and a festival was annually celebrated in honor of this\nvirgin.[334:6]\n\nIn the year 1747 a monument was found at Oxford, England, of pagan\norigin, on which is exhibited a female nursing an infant.[334:7] Thus we\nsee that the Virgin and Child were worshiped, in pagan times, from China\nto Britain, and, if we turn to the New World, we shall find the same\nthing there; for, in the words of Dr. Inman, \"even in Mexico the 'Mother\nand Child' were worshiped.\"[334:8]\n\nThis mother, who had the title of \"Virgin,\" and \"Queen of\nHeaven,\"[334:9] was Chimalman, or Sochiquetzal, and the infant was\nQuetzalcoatle, the crucified Saviour. Lord Kingsborough says:\n\n     \"She who represented 'Our Lady' (among the ancient Mexicans)\n     had her hair tied up in the manner in which the Indian women\n     tie and fasten their hair, and in the knot behind was\n     inserted a small _cross_, by which it was intended to show\n     that she was the Most Holy.\"[335:1]\n\nThe Mexicans had pictures of this \"Heavenly Goddess\" on long pieces of\nleather, which they rolled up.[335:2]\n\nThe annunciation to the Virgin Chimalman, that she should become the\nmother of the Saviour Quetzalcoatle, was the subject of a Mexican\nhieroglyphic, and is remarkable in more than one respect. She appears to\nbe receiving a bunch of flowers from the embassador or angel,[335:3]\nwhich brings to mind the _lotus_, the sacred plant of the East, which is\nplaced in the hands of the Pagan and Christian virgins.\n\nThe 25th of March, which was celebrated throughout the ancient Grecian\nand Roman world, in honor of \"the Mother of the Gods,\" was appointed to\nthe honor of the Christian \"Mother of God,\" and is now celebrated in\nCatholic countries, and called \"Lady day.\"[335:4] The festival of the\nconception of the \"Blessed Virgin Mary\" is also held on the very day\nthat the festival of the miraculous conception of the \"Blessed Virgin\nJuno\" was held among the pagans,[335:5] which, says the author of the\n\"Perennial Calendar,\" \"is a remarkable coincidence.\"[335:6] It is not\nsuch a very \"remarkable coincidence\" after all, when we find that, even\nas early as the time of St. Gregory, Bishop of Neo-C\u00e6sarea, who\nflourished about A. D. 240-250, Pagan festivals were changed into\nChristian holidays. This saint was commended by his namesake of Nyssa\nfor changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays, the better to\ndraw the heathens to the religion of Christ.[335:7]\n\nThe month of _May_, which was dedicated to the heathen Virgin Mothers,\nis also the month of Mary, the Christian Virgin.\n\nNow that we have seen that the worship of the Virgin and Child was\nuniversal for ages before the Christian era, we shall say a few words on\nthe subject of pictures and images of the Madonna--so called.\n\nThe most ancient pictures and statues in Italy and other parts of\nEurope, of what are supposed to be representations of the Virgin _Mary_\nand the infant Jesus, are _black_. The infant god, in the arms of his\nblack mother, his eyes and drapery white, is himself perfectly\nblack.[335:8]\n\nGodfrey Higgins, on whose authority we have stated the above, informs us\nthat, at the time of his writing--1825-1835--images and paintings of\nthis kind were to be seen at the cathedral of Moulins; the famous chapel\nof \"the Virgin\" at Loretto; the church of the Annunciation, the church\nof St. Lazaro, and the church of St. Stephens, at _Genoa_; St. Francis,\nat _Pisa_; the church at _Brixen_, in the Tyrol; the church at _Padua_;\nthe church of St. Theodore, at _Munich_--in the two last of which the\nwhite of the eyes and teeth, and the studied redness of the lips, are\nvery observable.[336:1]\n\n\"The _Bambino_[336:2] at _Rome_ is black,\" says Dr. Inman, \"and so are\nthe Virgin and Child at Loretto.\"[336:3] Many more are to be seen in\nRome, and in innumerable other places; in fact, says Mr. Higgins,\n\n     \"There is scarcely an old church in Italy where some remains\n     of the worship of the _black Virgin_, and _black child_, are\n     not met with;\" and that \"pictures in great numbers are to be\n     met with, where the white of the eyes, and of the teeth, and\n     the lips a little tinged with red, like the black figures in\n     the museum of the Indian company.\"[336:4]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 20]\n\nFig. No. 20 is a copy of the image of the Virgin of Loretto. Dr. Conyers\nMiddleton, speaking of it, says:\n\n     \"The mention of Loretto puts me in mind of the surprise that I\n     was in at the first sight of the Holy Image, for its face is\n     as black as a negro's. But I soon recollected, that this very\n     circumstance of its complexion made it but resemble the more\n     exactly the _old idols of Paganism_.\"[336:5]\n\nThe reason assigned by the Christian priests for the images being black,\nis that they are made so by smoke and incense, but, we may ask, if they\nbecame black by smoke, why is it that the _white_ drapery, _white_\nteeth, and the _white_ of the eyes have not changed in color? Why are\nthe lips of a bright red color? Why, we may also ask, are the black\nimages crowned and adorned with jewels, just as the images of the Hindoo\nand Egyptian virgins are represented?\n\nWhen we find that the Virgin Devaki, and the Virgin Isis were\nrepresented just as these so-called _ancient Christian_ idols represent\nMary, we are led to the conclusion that they are Pagan idols adopted by\nthe Christians.\n\nWe may say, in the words of Mr. Lundy, \"what jewels are doing on the\nneck of this poor and lowly maid, it is not easy to say.\"[337:1] The\n_crown_ is also foreign to early representations of the Madonna and\nChild, but not so to Devaki and Crishna,[337:2] and Isis and Horus. The\n_coronation_ of the Virgin Mary is unknown to primitive Christian art,\nbut is common in Pagan art.[337:3] \"It may be well,\" says Mr. Lundy, \"to\ncompare some of the oldest _Hindoo_ representations of the subject with\nthe Romish, and see how complete the resemblance is;\"[337:4] and Dr.\nInman says that, \"the head-dress, as put on the head of the Virgin Mary,\nis of Grecian, Egyptian, and Indian origin.\"[337:5]\n\nThe whole secret of the fact of these early representations of the\nVirgin Mary and Jesus--so-called--being _black_, crowned, and covered\nwith jewels, is that they are of pre-Christian origin; they are _Isis_\nand _Horus_, and perhaps, in some cases, Devaki and Crishna, baptized\nanew.\n\nThe Egyptian \"Queen of Heaven\" was worshiped in Europe for centuries\nbefore and after the Christian Era.[337:6] Temples and statues were also\nerected in honor of Isis, one of which was at Bologna, in Italy.\n\nMr. King tells us that the Emperor Hadrian zealously strove to reanimate\nthe forms of that old religion, whose spirit had long since passed away,\nand it was under his patronage that the creed of the Pharaohs blazed up\nfor a moment with a bright but fictitious lustre.[337:7] To this period\nbelongs a beautiful sard, in Mr. King's collection, representing\nSerapis[337:8] and Isis, with the legend: \"Immaculate is Our Lady\nIsis.\"[337:9]\n\nMr. King further tells us that:\n\n     \"The '_Black Virgins_' so highly reverenced in certain French\n     cathedrals during the long night of the middle ages, proved,\n     when at last examined critically, basalt figures of\n     Isis.\"[337:10]\n\nAnd Mr. Bonwick says:\n\n     \"We may be surprised that, as Europe has _Black_ Madonnas,\n     Egypt had _Black_ images and pictures of Isis. At the same\n     time it is a little odd that the Virgin Mary copies most\n     honored should not only be _Black_, but have a decided _Isis\n     cast_ of feature.\"[338:1]\n\nThe shrine now known as that of the \"Virgin in Amadon,\" in France, was\nformerly an old Black _Venus_.[338:2]\n\n     \"To this we may add,\" (says Dr. Inman), \"that at the Abbey of\n     Einsiedelen, on Lake Zurich, the object of adoration is an old\n     _black doll_, dressed in gold brocade, and glittering with\n     jewels. She is called, apparently, the Virgin of the Swiss\n     Mountains. My friend, Mr. Newton, also tells me that he saw,\n     over a church door at Ivrea, in Italy, twenty-nine miles from\n     Turin, the fresco of a _Black_ Virgin and child, the former\n     bearing a _triple crown_.\"[338:3]\n\nThis _triple crown_ is to be seen on the heads of Pagan gods and\ngoddesses, especially those of the Hindoos.\n\nDr. Barlow says:\n\n     \"The doctrine of the Mother of God was of Egyptian origin. It\n     was brought in along with the worship of the Madonna by Cyril\n     (Bishop of Alexandria, and the Cyril of Hypatia) and the monks\n     of Alexandria, in the fifth century. The earliest\n     representations of the Madonna have quite a Greco-Egyptian\n     character, and there can be little doubt that Isis nursing\n     Horus was the origin of them all.\"[338:4]\n\nAnd Arthur Murphy tells us that:\n\n     \"The superstition and religious ceremonies of the _Egyptians_\n     were diffused over Asia, Greece, _and the rest of Europe_.\n     Brotier says, that inscriptions of Isis and Serapis (Horus?)\n     have been frequently found in _Germany_. . . . The missionaries\n     who went in the eighth and ninth centuries to propagate the\n     Christian religion in those parts, _saw many images and\n     statues of these gods_.\"[338:5]\n\nThese \"many images and statues of these gods\" were evidently baptized\nanew, given other names, and allowed to remain where they were.\n\nIn many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the Virgin with her\ninfant in her arms, inscribed with the words: \"Deo Soli.\" This betrays\ntheir Pagan origin.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[326:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 115, and Monumental\nChristianity, pp. 206 and 226.\n\n[326:2] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 159.\n\n[326:3] See Williams' Hinduism.\n\n[326:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 540.\n\n[326:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.\n\n[326:6] _St. Jerome_ says: \"It is handed down as a tradition among the\nGymnosophists of India, that _Buddha_, the founder of their system was\nbrought forth by a virgin from her side.\" (_Contra Jovian_, bk. i.\nQuoted in Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 183.)\n\n[327:1] Plate 59.\n\n[327:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 218.\n\nOf the Virgin _Mary_ we read: \"Her face was shining as snow, and its\nbrightness could hardly be borne. Her conversation was with the angels,\n&c.\" (Nativity of Mary, _Apoc._)\n\n[327:3] See Ancient Faiths, i. 401.\n\n[327:4] Davis' China, vol. ii. p. 95.\n\n[327:5] The Heathen Relig., p. 60.\n\n[327:6] Barrows: Travels in China, p. 467.\n\n[327:7] Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 154.\n\n[328:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 141.\n\n[328:2] See The Lily of Israel, p. 14.\n\n[328:3] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 425.\n\n[328:4] See Draper's Science and Religion, pp. 47, 48, and Higgins'\nAnacalypsis, vol. i. p. 804.\n\n[328:5] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, p. 50.\n\n[328:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 307, and Dr. Inman's Ancient\nFaiths.\n\n[328:7] See Cox's Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 119, _note_.\n\n[328:8] See Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 13, 14.\n\n[329:1] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 4, 5.\n\n[329:2] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 45, 104, 105.\n\n\"We see, in pictures, that the Virgin and Child are associated in modern\ntimes with the split apricot, the pomegranate, rimmon, and the Vine,\njust as was the ancient Venus.\" (Dr. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p.\n528.)\n\n[329:3] Serpent Symbol, p. 39.\n\n[329:4] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.\n\n[330:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 143.\n\n[330:2] Ibid. p. 115.\n\n[330:3] Quoted in Ibid. p. 115.\n\n[330:4] Ibid., and Kenrick's Egypt.\n\n[330:5] Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 59.\n\n[330:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 211, and Ancient Faiths, vol.\nii. p. 350.\n\n[330:7] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 213.\n\n[332:1] Jeremiah, xliv. 16-22.\n\n[332:2] See Colenso's Lectures, p. 297, and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief,\np. 148.\n\n[332:3] See the Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 115, App., and\nBonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 148.\n\n[332:4] See King's Gnostics, p. 91, and Monumental Christianity, p. 224.\n\n[332:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Belief, p. 237.\n\n[332:6] It would seem more than chance that so many of the virgin\nmothers and goddesses of antiquity should have the same name. The mother\nof _Bacchus_ was Myrrha: the mother of Mercury or Hermes was Myrrha or\nMaia (See Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 186, and Inman's\nAncient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 233); the mother of the Siamese\nSaviour--Sommona Cadom--was called Maya Maria, _i. e._, \"the Great\nMary;\" the mother of Adonis was Myrrha (See Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 314,\nand Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 253); the mother of Buddha was\nMaya; now, all these names, whether Myrrha, Maia or Maria, are the same\nas _Mary_, the name of the mother of the Christian Saviour. (See Inman's\nAncient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 353 and 780. Also, Dunlap's Mysteries of\nAdoni, p. 124.) The month of _May_ was sacred to these goddesses, so\nlikewise is it sacred to the Virgin Mary at the present day. _She_ was\nalso called Myrrha and Maria, as well as Mary. (See Anacalypsis, vol. i.\np. 304, and Son of the Man, p. 26.)\n\n[332:7] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 303, 304.\n\n[332:8] Prof. Wilder, in \"Evolution,\" June, '77. Isis Unveiled, vol. ii.\n\n[332:9] Stuckley: Pal. Sac. No. 1, p. 34, in Anacalypsis, i. p. 304.\n\n[333:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 305.\n\n[333:2] See Bell's Pantheon, and Knight: Ancient Art and Mytho., p. 175.\n\n[333:3] See Roman Antiquities, p. 73. Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 82, and\nBell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 160.\n\n[333:4] See Monumental Christianity, p. 308--Fig. 144.\n\n[333:5] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., pp. 175, 176.\n\n[333:6] See Montfaucon, vol. i. plate xcii.\n\n[333:7] Knight's Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 147.\n\n[334:1] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 109, 110.\n\n[334:2] See Knight's Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 21.\n\n[334:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 374, and Mallet: Northern\nAntiquities.\n\n[334:4] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 147.\n\n[334:5] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.\n\n[334:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 108, 109, 259. Dupuis:\nOrig. Relig. Belief, p. 257. Celtic Druids, p. 163, and Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 184.\n\n[334:7] See Celtic Druids, p. 163, and Dupuis, p. 237.\n\n[334:8] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 100.\n\n[334:9] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 33, and Mexican Antiquities, vol.\nvi. p. 176.\n\n[335:1] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 176.\n\n[335:2] Ibid.\n\n[335:3] Ibid.\n\n[335:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 304.\n\n[335:5] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 82.\n\n[335:6] Quoted in Ibid.\n\n[335:7] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 236.\n\n[335:8] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.\n\n[336:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.\n\n[336:2] _Bambino_--a term in art, descriptive of the swaddled figure of\nthe infant Saviour.\n\n[336:3] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 401.\n\n[336:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.\n\n[336:5] Letters from Rome, p. 84.\n\n[337:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 208.\n\n[337:2] See Ibid. p. 229, and Moore's Hindu Pantheon, Inman's Christian\nand Pagan Symbolism, Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii., where the figures\nof Crishna and Devaki may be seen, crowned, laden with jewels, and a ray\nof glory surrounding their heads.\n\n[337:3] Monumental Christianity, p. 227.\n\n[337:4] Ibid.\n\n[337:5] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 767.\n\n[337:6] In King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. 109, the author gives a\ndescription of a procession, given during the second century by\nApuleius, in honor of _Isis_, the \"Immaculate Lady.\"\n\n[337:7] King's Gnostics, p. 71.\n\n[337:8] \"Serapis does not appear to be one of the native gods, or\nmonsters, who sprung from the fruitful soil of Egypt. The first of the\nPtolemies had been commanded, by a dream, to import the mysterious\nstranger from the coast of Pontus, where he had been long adored by the\ninhabitants of Sinope; but his attributes and his reign were so\nimperfectly understood, that it became a subject of dispute, whether he\nrepresented the bright orb of day, or the gloomy monarch of the\nsubterraneous regions.\" (Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 143.)\n\n[337:9] Ibid.\n\n[337:10] King's Gnostics, p. 71, _note_.\n\n[338:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 141. \"_Black_ is the color of the\nEgyptian Isis.\" (The Rosecrucians, p. 154.)\n\n[338:2] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 159. In Montfaucon, vol. i. plate\nxcv., may be seen a representation of a _Black_ Venus.\n\n[338:3] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 264.\n\n[338:4] Quoted in Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 142.\n\n[338:5] Notes 3 and 4 to Tacitus' Manners of the Germans.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nCHRISTIAN SYMBOLS.\n\n\nA thorough investigation of this subject would require a volume,\ntherefore, as we can devote but a chapter to it, it must necessarily be\ntreated somewhat slightingly.\n\nThe first of the Christian Symbols which we shall notice is the CROSS.\n\nOverwhelming historical facts show that the cross was used, _as a\nreligious emblem_, many centuries before the Christian era, by every\nnation in the world. Bishop Colenso, speaking on this subject, says:--\n\n     \"From the dawn of organized Paganism in the Eastern world, to\n     the final establishment of Christianity in the West, the cross\n     was undoubtedly one of the commonest and most sacred of\n     symbolical monuments. Apart from any distinctions of social or\n     intellectual superiority, of caste, color, nationality, or\n     location in either hemisphere, it appears to have been the\n     aboriginal possession of every people in antiquity.\n\n     \"Diversified forms of the symbol are delineated more or less\n     artistically, according to the progress achieved in\n     civilization at the period, on the ruined walls of temples and\n     palaces, on natural rocks and sepulchral galleries, on the\n     hoariest monoliths and the rudest statuary; on coins, medals,\n     and vases of every description; and in not a few instances,\n     are preserved in the architectural proportions of subterranean\n     as well as superterranean structures of tumuli, as well as\n     fanes.\n\n     \"Populations of essentially different culture, tastes, and\n     pursuits--the highly-civilized and the semi-civilized, the\n     settled and the nomadic--vied with each other in their\n     superstitious _adoration_ of it, and in their efforts to\n     extend the knowledge of its exceptional import and virtue\n     amongst their latest posterities.\n\n     \"Of the several varieties of the cross still in vogue, as\n     national and ecclesiastical emblems, and distinguished by the\n     familiar appellations of St. George, St. Andrew, the Maltese,\n     the Greek, the Latin, &c., &c., _there is not one amongst\n     them, the existence of which may not be traced to the remotest\n     antiquity. They were the common property of the Eastern\n     nations._\n\n     \"That each known variety has been derived from a common\n     source, and is emblematical of one and the same truth may be\n     inferred from the fact of forms identically the same, whether\n     simple or complex, cropping out in contrary directions, in the\n     Western as well as the Eastern hemisphere.\"[339:1]\n\nThe cross has been adored in _India_ from time immemorial, and was a\nsymbol of mysterious significance in Brahmanical iconography. It was the\nsymbol of the Hindoo god Agni, the \"Light of the World.\"[340:1]\n\nIn the Cave of Elephanta, over the head of the figure represented as\ndestroying the infants, whence the story of Herod and the infants of\nBethlehem (which was unknown to all the Jewish, Roman, and Grecian\nhistorians) took its origin, may be seen the Mitre, the Crosier, and the\nCross.[340:2]\n\nIt is placed by M\u00fcller in the hand of Siva, Brahma, Vishnu, Crishna,\nTvashtri and Jama. To it the worshipers of Vishnu attribute as many\nvirtues as does the devout Catholic to the Christian cross.[340:3] Fra\nPaolino tells us it was used by the ancient kings of India as a\nsceptre.[340:4]\n\nTwo of the principal pagodas of India--Benares and Mathura--were erected\nin the forms of vast crosses.[340:5] The pagoda at Mathura was sacred to\nthe memory of the Virgin-born and crucified Saviour Crishna.[340:6]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 21]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 22]\n\nThe cross has been an object of profound veneration among the Buddhists\nfrom the earliest times. One is the sacred Swastica (Fig. No. 21). It is\nseen in the old Buddhist Zodiacs, and is one of the symbols in the Asoka\ninscriptions. It is the sectarian mark of the Jains, and the distinctive\nbadge of the sect of Xaca Japonicus. The Vaishnavas of India have also\nthe same sacred sign.[340:7] And, according to Arthur Lillie,[340:8]\n\"_the only Christian cross in the catacombs is this Buddhist Swastica_.\"\n\nThe cross is adored by the followers of the Lama of Thibet.[340:9] Fig.\nNo. 22 is a representation of the most familiar form of Buddhist cross.\nThe close resemblance between the ancient religion of Thibet and that\nof the Christians has been noticed by many European travellers and\nmissionaries, among whom may be mentioned Pere Grebillon, Pere Grueber,\nHorace de la Paon, D'Orville, and M. L'Abb\u00e9 Huc. The Buddhists, and\nindeed all the sects of India, marked their followers on the head with\nthe sign of the cross.[341:1] This was undoubtedly practiced by almost\nall heathen nations, as we have seen in the chapter on the _Eucharist_\nthat the initiates into the Heathen mysteries were marked in that\nmanner.\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ adored the cross with the profoundest\nveneration. This sacred symbol is to be found on many of their ancient\nmonuments, some of which may be seen at the present day in the British\nMuseum.[341:2] In the museum of the London University, a cross upon a\nCalvary is to be seen upon the breast of one of the Egyptian\nmummies.[341:3] Many of the Egyptian images hold a cross in their hand.\nThere is one now extant of the Egyptian Saviour Horus holding a cross in\nhis hand,[341:4] and he is represented as an infant sitting on his\nmother's knee, with a cross on the back of the seat they occupy.[341:5]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 23]\n\nThe commonest of all the Egyptian crosses, the CRUX ANSATA (Fig. No. 23)\nwas adopted by the Christians. Thus, beside one of the Christian\ninscriptions at Phile (a celebrated island lying in the midst of the\nNile) is seen both a _Maltese cross_ and a _crux ansata_.[341:6] In a\npainting covering the end of a church in the cemetery of El Khargeh, in\nthe Great Oasis, are three of these crosses round the principal subject,\nwhich seems to have been a figure of a saint.[341:7] In an inscription\nin a Christian church to the east of the Nile, in the desert, these\ncrosses are also to be seen. Beside, or in the hand of, the Egyptian\ngods, this symbol is generally to be seen. When the Saviour Osiris is\nrepresented holding out the _crux ansata_ to a mortal, it signifies that\nthe person to whom he presents it has put off mortality, and entered on\nthe life to come.[341:8]\n\nThe Greek cross, and the cross of St. Anthony, are also found on\nEgyptian monuments. A figure of a Shari (Fig. No. 24), from Sir Gardner\nWilkinson's book, has a necklace round his throat, from which depends a\npectoral cross. A third Egyptian cross is that represented in Fig. No.\n25, which is apparently intended for a Latin cross rising out of a\nheart, like the medi\u00e6val emblem of \"_Cor in Cruce, Crux in Corde_:\" it\nis the hieroglyph of goodness.[342:1]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 24]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 25]\n\nIt is related by the ecclesiastical historians Socrates and Sozomon,\nthat when the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, in Egypt, was demolished\nby one of the Christian emperors, beneath the foundation was discovered\na cross. The words of Socrates are as follows:\n\n     \"In the temple of Serapis, now overthrown and rifled\n     throughout, there were found engraven in the stones certain\n     letters . . . resembling the form of the cross. The which when\n     both Christians and Ethnics beheld, every one applied to his\n     proper religion. The Christians affirmed that the cross was a\n     sign or token of the passion of Christ, and the proper\n     cognizance of their profession. _The Ethnics avouched that\n     therein was contained something in common, belonging as well\n     to Serapis as to Christ._\"[342:2]\n\nIt should be remembered, in connection with this, that the Emperor\nHadrian saw no difference between the worshipers of Serapis and the\nworshipers of Christ Jesus. In a letter to the Consul Servanus he says:\n\n     \"There are there (in Egypt) _Christians_ who worship\n     _Serapis_, and devoted to Serapis are those who call\n     themselves '_Bishops of Christ_.'\"[342:3]\n\nThe ancient Egyptians were in the habit of putting a cross on their\nsacred cakes, just as the Christians of the present day do on Good\nFriday.[342:4] The plan of the chamber of some Egyptian sepulchres has\nthe form of a cross,[342:5] and the cross was worn by Egyptian ladies as\nan ornament, in precisely the same manner as Christian ladies wear it at\nthe present day.[342:6]\n\nThe ancient Babylonians honored the cross as a religious symbol. It is\nto be found on their oldest monuments. Anu, a deity who stood at the\nhead of the Babylonian mythology, had a cross for his sign or\nsymbol.[343:1] It is also the symbol of the Babylonian god Bal.[343:2] A\ncross hangs on the breast of Tiglath Pileser, in the colossal tablet\nfrom Nimroud, now in the British Museum. Another king, from the ruins of\nNinevah, wears a Maltese cross on his bosom. And another, from the hall\nof Nisroch, carries an emblematic necklace, to which a Maltese cross is\nattached.[343:3] The most common of crosses, the _crux ansata_ (Fig. No.\n21) was also a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. It occurs repeatedly\non their cylinders, bricks and gems.[343:4]\n\nThe ensigns and standards carried by the Persians during their wars with\nAlexander the Great (B. C. 335), were made in the form of a cross--as we\nshall presently see was the style of the ancient _Roman_ standards--and\nrepresentations of these cross-standards have been handed down to the\npresent day.\n\nSir Robert Ker Porter, in his very valuable work entitled: \"Travels in\nGeorgia, Persia, Armenia, and Ancient Babylonia,\"[343:5] shows the\nrepresentation of a _bas-relief_, of very ancient antiquity, which he\nfound at Nashi-Roustam, or the Mountain of Sepulchres. It represents a\ncombat between two horsemen--Baharam-Gour, one of the old Persian kings,\nand a Tartar prince. Baharam-Gour is in the act of charging his opponent\nwith a spear, and behind him, scarcely visible, appears an almost\neffaced form, which must have been his standard-bearer, as the _ensign_\nis very plainly to be seen. _This ensign is a cross._ There is another\nrepresentation of the same subject to be seen in a _bas-relief_, which\nshows the standard-bearer and his _cross_ ensign very plainly.[343:6]\nThis _bas-relief_ belongs to a period when the Arsacedian kings governed\nPersia,[343:7] which was within a century after the time of Alexander,\nand consequently more than two centuries B. C.\n\nSir Robert also found at this place, sculptures cut in the solid rock,\nwhich are in the form of crosses. These belong to the early race of\nPersian monarchs, whose dynasty terminated under the sword of Alexander\nthe Great.[343:8] At the foot of Mount Nakshi-Rajab, he also found\n_bas-reliefs_, among which were two figures carrying a cross-standard.\nFig. No. 26 is a representation of this.[343:9] It is coeval with the\nsculptures found at Nashi-Roustam,[343:10] and therefore belongs to a\nperiod before the time of Alexander's invasion.\n\nThe cross is represented frequently and prominently on the coins of\nAsia Minor. Several have a ram or lamb on one side, and a cross on the\nother.[344:1] On some of the early coins of the Phenicians, the cross is\nfound attached to a chaplet of beads placed in a circle, so as to form a\ncomplete rosary, such as the Lamas of Thibet and China, the Hindoos, and\nthe Roman Catholics, now tell over while they pray.[344:2] On a\nPhenician medal, found in the ruins of Citium, in Cyprus, and printed in\nDr. Clark's \"Travels\" (vol. ii. c. xi.), are engraved a cross, a rosary,\nand a lamb.[344:3] This is the \"Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of\nthe world.\"\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 26]\n\nThe ancient Etruscans revered the cross as a religious emblem. This\nsacred sign, accompanied with the heart, is to be seen on their\nmonuments. Fig. No. 27, taken from the work of Gorrio (Tab. xxxv.),\nshows an ancient tomb with angels and the cross thereon. It would answer\nperfectly for a Christian cemetery.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 27]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 28]\n\nThe cross was adored by the ancient Greeks and Romans for centuries\nbefore the Augustan era. An ancient inscription in Thessaly is\naccompanied by a Calvary cross (Fig. No. 28); and Greek crosses of equal\narms adorn the tomb of Midas (one of the ancient kings), in\nPhrygia.[344:4]\n\nThe adoration of the cross by the Romans is spoken of by the Christian\nFather Minucius Felix, when denying the charge of idolatry which was\nmade against his sect.\n\n     \"As for the adoration of cross,\" (says he to the Romans),\n     \"which you object against us, I must tell you that we neither\n     adore crosses nor desire them. You it is, ye Pagans, who\n     worship wooden gods, who are the most likely people to adore\n     wooden crosses, as being part of the same substance with your\n     deities. For what else are your ensigns, flags, and standards,\n     but crosses, gilt and beautiful. Your victorious trophies not\n     only represent a cross, but a cross with a man upon\n     it.\"[345:1]\n\nThe principal silver coin among the Romans, called the _denarius_, had\non one side a personification of Rome as a warrior with a helmet, and on\nthe reverse, a chariot drawn by four horses. The driver had a\ncross-standard in one hand. This is a representation of a denarius of\nthe earliest kind, which was first coined 296 B. C.[345:2] The cross was\nused on the roll of the Roman soldiery as the sign of _life_.[345:3]\n\nBut, long before the Romans, long before the Etruscans, there lived in\nthe plains of Northern Italy a people to whom the cross was a religious\nsymbol, the sign beneath which they laid their dead to rest; a people of\nwhom history tells nothing, knowing not their name; but of whom\nantiquarian research has learned this, that they lived in ignorance of\nthe arts of civilization, that they dwelt in villages built on platforms\nover lakes, and that they trusted to the cross to guard, and may be to\nrevive, their loved ones whom they committed to the dust.\n\nThe examination of the tombs of Golasecca proves, in a most convincing,\npositive, and precise manner that which the terramares of Emilia had\nonly indicated, but which had been confirmed by the cemetery of\nVillanova, that above a thousand years B. C., the cross was already a\nreligious emblem of frequent employment.[345:4]\n\n     \"It is more than a coincidence,\" (says the Rev. S.\n     Baring-Gould), \"that Osiris by the cross should give life\n     eternal to the spirits of the just; that with the cross Thor\n     should smite the head of the great Serpent, and bring to life\n     those who were slain; that beneath the cross the Muysca\n     mothers should lay their babes, trusting to that sign to\n     secure them from the power of evil spirits; that with that\n     symbol to protect them, the ancient people of Northern Italy\n     should lay them down in the dust.\"[345:5]\n\nThe cross was also found among the ruins of Pompeii.[345:6]\n\nIt was a sacred emblem among the ancient Scandinavians.\n\n     \"It occurs\" (says Mr. R. Payne Knight), \"on many Runic\n     monuments found in Sweden and Denmark, which are of an age\n     long anterior to the approach of Christianity to those\n     countries, and, probably, to its appearance in the\n     world.\"[346:1]\n\nTheir god Thor, son of the Supreme god Odin, and the goddess Freyga, had\nthe hammer for his symbol. It was with this hammer that Thor crushed the\nhead of the great Mitgard serpent, that he destroyed the giants, that he\nrestored the dead goats to life, which drew his car, that he consecrated\nthe pyre of Baldur. _This hammer was a cross._[346:2]\n\nThe cross of Thor is still used in Iceland as a magical sign in\nconnection with storms of wind and rain.\n\nKing Olaf, Longfellow tells us, when keeping Christmas at Drontheim:\n\n     \"O'er his drinking-horn, the sign\n     He made of the Cross Divine,\n     And he drank, and mutter'd his prayers;\n     But the Berserks evermore\n     Made the sign of the hammer of Thor\n                             Over theirs.\"\n\nActually, they both made the same symbol.\n\nThis we are told by Snorro Sturleson, in the Heimskringla (Saga iv. c.\n18), when he describes the sacrifice at Lade, at which King Hakon,\nAthelstan's foster-son, was present:\n\n     \"Now when the first full goblet was filled, Earl Sigurd spoke\n     some words over it, and blessed it in Odin's name, and drank\n     to the king out of the horn; and the king then took it, and\n     made the sign of the cross over it. Then said Kaare of\n     Greyting, 'What does the king mean by doing so? will he not\n     sacrifice?' But Earl Sigurd replied, 'The King is doing what\n     all of you do who trust in your power and strength; for he is\n     blessing the full goblet in the name of Thor, by making the\n     sign of his hammer over it before he drinks it.\"[346:3]\n\nThe cross was also a _sacred_ emblem among the _Laplanders_. \"In solemn\nsacrifices, all the Lapland idols were marked with it from the blood of\nthe victims.\"[346:4]\n\nIt was adored by the ancient _Druids_ of Britain, and is to be seen on\nthe so-called \"fire towers\" of Ireland and Scotland. The \"consecrated\ntrees\" of the Druids had a _cross beam_ attached to them, making the\nfigure of a cross. On several of the most curious and most ancient\nmonuments of Britain, the cross is to be seen, evidently cut thereon by\nthe Druids. Many large stones throughout Ireland have these Druid\ncrosses cut in them.[346:5]\n\nCleland observes, in his \"Attempt to Revive Celtic Literature,\" that\nthe Druids taught the doctrine of an overruling providence, and the\nimmortality of the soul: that they had also their Lent, their Purgatory,\ntheir Paradise, their Hell, their Sanctuaries, and the similitude of the\nMay-pole _in form to the cross_.[347:1]\n\n\"In the Island of I-com-kill, at the monastery of the Culdees, at the\ntime of the Reformation, there were three hundred and sixty\ncrosses.\"[347:2] The Caaba at Mecca was surrounded by three hundred and\nsixty crosses.[347:3] This number has nothing whatever to do with\nChristianity, but is to be found everywhere among the ancients. It\nrepresents the number of days of the ancient year.[347:4]\n\nWhen the Spanish missionaries first set foot upon the soil of _America_,\nin the fifteenth century, they were amazed to find that the _cross_ was\nas devoutly worshiped by the red Indians as by themselves. The hallowed\nsymbol challenged their attention on every hand, and in almost every\nvariety of form. And, what is still more remarkable, the cross was not\nonly associated with other objects corresponding in every particular\nwith those delineated on Babylonian monuments; but it was also\ndistinguished by the Catholic appellations, \"the tree of subsistence,\"\n\"the wood of health,\" \"the emblem of life,\" &c.[347:5]\n\nWhen the Spanish missionaries found that the cross was no new object of\nveneration to the red men, they were in doubt whether to ascribe the\nfact to the pious labors of St. Thomas, whom they thought might have\nfound his way to America, or the sacrilegious subtlety of Satan. It was\nthe central object in the great temple of Cozamel, and is still\npreserved on the _bas-reliefs_ of the ruined city of Palenque. From time\nimmemorial it had received the prayers and sacrifices of the Aztecs and\nToltecs, and was suspended as an august emblem from the walls of temples\nin Popogan and Cundinamarca.[347:6]\n\nThe ruined city of Palenque is in the depths of the forests of Central\nAmerica. It was not inhabited at the time of the conquest of Mexico by\nthe Spaniards. They discovered the temples and palaces of Chiapa, but of\nPalenque they knew nothing. According to tradition it was founded by\nVotan in the ninth century before the Christian era. The principal\nbuilding in this ruined city is the palace. A noble tower rises above\nthe courtyard in the centre. In this building are several small temples\nor chapels, with altars standing. At the back of one of these altars is\na slab of gypsum, on which are sculptured two figures, one on each side\nof a cross (Fig. No. 29). The cross is surrounded with rich\nfeather-work, and ornamental chains.[348:1] \"The style of scripture,\"\nsays Mr. Baring-Gould, \"and the accompanying hieroglyphic inscriptions,\nleave no room for doubting it to be a heathen representation.\"[348:2]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 29]\n\nThe same cross is represented on old pre-Mexican MSS., as in the Dresden\nCodex, and that in the possession of Herr Fejervary, at the end of which\nis a colossal cross, in the midst of which is represented a bleeding\ndeity, and figures stand round a _Tau_ cross, upon which is perched the\nsacred bird.[348:3]\n\nThe cross was also used in the north of Mexico. It occurs among the\nMixtecas and in Queredaro. Siguenza speaks of an Indian cross which was\nfound in the cave of Mixteca Baja. Among the ruins on the island of\nZaputero, in Lake Nicaragua, were also found old crosses reverenced by\nthe Indians. White marble crosses were found on the island of St. Ulloa,\non its discovery. In the state of Oaxaca, the Spaniards found that\nwooden crosses were erected as sacred symbols, so also in Aguatoleo, and\namong the Zapatecas. The cross was venerated as far as Florida on one\nside, and Cibola on the other. In South America, the same sign was\nconsidered symbolical and sacred. It was revered in Paraguay. In Peru\nthe Incas honored a cross made out of a single piece of jasper; it was\nan emblem belonging to a former civilization.[348:4]\n\nAmong the Muyscas at Cumana the cross was regarded with devotion, and\nwas believed to be endowed with power to drive away evil spirits;\nconsequently new-born children were placed under the sign.[348:5]\n\nThe Toltecs said that their national deity Quetzalcoatle--whom we have\nfound to be a virgin-born and crucified Saviour--had introduced the\nsign and ritual of the cross, and it was called the \"Tree of Nutriment,\"\nor \"Tree of Life.\"[349:1]\n\nMalcom, in his \"Antiquities of Britain,\" says\n\n     \"Gomara tells that St. Andrew's cross, which is the same with\n     that of Burgundy, was in great veneration among the Cumas, in\n     South America, and that they fortified themselves with the\n     cross against the incursions of evil spirits, and were in use\n     to put them upon new-born infants; which thing very justly\n     deserves admiration.\"[349:2]\n\nFelix Cabrara, in his \"Description of the Ancient City of Mexico,\" says:\n\n     \"The adoration of the cross has been more general in the\n     world, than that of any other emblem. It is to be found in the\n     ruins of the fine city of Mexico, near Palenque, where there\n     are many examples of it among the hieroglyphics on the\n     buildings.\"[349:3]\n\nIn \"Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia\" we find the following:\n\n     \"It appears that the sign of the _cross_ was in use _as an\n     emblem having certain religious and mystic meanings attached\n     to it, long before the Christian era_; and the Spanish\n     conquerors were astonished to find it _an object of religious\n     veneration_ among the nations of Central and South\n     America.\"[349:4]\n\nLord Kingsborough, in his \"Antiquities of Mexico,\" speaks of crosses\nbeing found in Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan.[349:5] He also informs us that\nthe _banner_ of Montezuma was a cross, and that the historical paintings\nof the \"Codex Vaticanus\" represent him carrying a cross as his\nbanner.[349:6]\n\nA very fine and highly polished marble cross which was taken from the\nIncas, was placed in the Roman Catholic cathedral at Cuzco.[349:7]\n\nFew cases have been more powerful in producing mistakes in ancient\nhistory, than the idea, hastily taken by Christians in all ages, that\nevery monument of antiquity marked with a cross, or with any of those\nsymbols which they conceived to be monograms of their god, was of\nChristian origin. The early Christians did not adopt it as one of their\nsymbols; it was not until Christianity began to be paganized that it\nbecame a Christian monogram, and even then it was not the cross as we\nknow it to-day. \"It is not until the middle of the _fifth_ century that\nthe pure form of the cross emerges to light.\"[349:8] The cross of\nConstantine was nothing more than the [Symbol: PX], the monogram of\nOsiris, and afterwards of Christ.[349:9] This is seen from the fact\nthat the \"_Labarum_,\" or sacred banner of Constantine--on which was\nplaced the sign by which he was to conquer--was inscribed with this\nsacred monogram. Fig. No. 30 is a representation of the Labarum, taken\nfrom Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. The author of \"The History of Our\nLord in Art\" says:\n\n     \"It would be difficult to prove that the cross of Constantine\n     was of the simple construction as now understood. As regards\n     the Labarum, the coins of the time, in which it is expressly\n     set forth, proves that the so-called cross upon it was nothing\n     else than the same ever-recurring monogram of Christ.\"[350:1]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 30]\n\nNow, this so-called monogram of Christ, like everything else called\nChristian, is of Pagan origin. It was the monogram of the Egyptian\nSaviour, Osiris, and also of Jupiter Ammon.[350:2] As M. Basnage remarks\nin his _Hist. de Juif_:[350:3]\n\n     \"Nothing can be more opposite to Jesus Christ, than the Oracle\n     of _Jupiter Ammon_. And yet the _same cipher_ served the false\n     god as well as the true one; for we see a medal of Ptolemy,\n     King of Cyrene, having an eagle carrying a thunderbolt, _with\n     the monogram of Christ to signify the Oracle of Jupiter\n     Ammon_.\"\n\nRev. J. P. Lundy says:\n\n     \"Even the P.X., which I had thought to be exclusively\n     Christian, are to be found in combination thus: [Symbol: PX]\n     (just as the early Christians used it), on coins of the\n     Ptolemies, and on those of Herod the Great, struck forty years\n     before our era, together with this other form, so often seen\n     on the early Christian monuments, viz.: [Symbol: P with\n     horizontal cross-bar].\"[350:4]\n\nThis monogram is also to be found on the coins of Decius, a Pagan Roman\nemperor, who ruled during the commencement of the third century.[350:5]\n\nAnother form of the same monogram is [Symbol: X over H] and X H. The\nmonogram of the _Sun_ was [Symbol: Y with superimposed circle]. P. H.\nAll these are now called monograms of Christ, and are to be met with in\ngreat numbers in almost every church in Italy.[351:1] The monogram of\nMercury was a cross.[351:2] The monogram of the Egyptian Taut was formed\nby three crosses.[351:3] The monogram of Saturn was a cross and a ram's\nhorn; it was also a monogram of Jupiter.[351:4] The monogram of Venus\nwas a cross and a circle.[351:5] The monogram of the Phenician Astarte,\nand the Babylonian Bal, was also a cross and a circle.[351:6] It was\nalso that of Freya, Holda, and Aphrodite.[351:7] Its true significance\nwas the Linga and Yoni.\n\nThe cross, which was so universally adored, in its different forms among\nheathen nations, was intended as an emblem or symbol of the _Sun_, of\n_eternal life_, the _generative powers_, &c.[351:8]\n\nAs with the cross, and the X. P., so likewise with many other so-called\nChristian symbols--they are borrowed from Paganism. Among these may be\nmentioned the mystical three letters I. H. S., to this day retained in\nsome of our Protestant, as well as Roman Catholic churches, and falsely\nsupposed to stand for \"_Jesu Hominium Salvator_,\" or \"In Hoc Signo.\" It\nis none other than the identical monogram of the heathen god\n_Bacchus_,[351:9] and was to be seen on the coins of the Maharajah of\n_Cashmere_.[351:10] Dr. Inman says:\n\n     \"For a long period I. H. S., I. E. E. S., was a monogram of\n     Bacchus; letters now adopted by Romanists. _Hesus_ was an old\n     divinity of Gaul, possibly left by the Phenicians. We have the\n     same I. H. S. in _Jazabel_, and reproduced in our _Isabel_.\n     The idea connected with the word is '_Phallic\n     Vigor_.'\"[351:11]\n\nThe TRIANGLE, which is to be seen at the present day in Christian\nchurches as an emblem of the \"Ever-blessed Trinity,\" is also of Pagan\norigin, and was used by them for the same purpose.\n\nAmong the numerous symbols, the Triangle is conspicuous in _India_.\nHindoos attached a mystic signification to its _three_ sides, and\ngenerally placed it in their temples. It was often composed of lotus\nplants, with an eye in the center.[351:12] It was sometimes represented\nin connection with the mystical word AUM[351:13] (Fig. No. 31), and\nsometimes surrounded with rays of glory.[351:14]\n\nThis symbol was engraved upon the tablet of the ring which the religious\nchief, called the _Brahm-\u00e2tma_ wore, as one of the signs of his\ndignity, and it was used by the Buddhists as emblematic of the\nTrinity.[352:1]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ signified their divine _Triad_ by a single\n_Triangle_.[352:2]\n\nMr. Bonwick says:\n\n     \"The _Triangle_ was a religious form from the first. It is to\n     be recognized in the Obelisk and Pyramid (of Egypt). To this\n     day, in some Christian churches, the priest's blessing is\n     given as it was in Egypt, by the sign of a triangle; viz.: two\n     fingers and a thumb. An Egyptian god is seen with a triangle\n     over his shoulders. This figure, in ancient Egyptian theology,\n     was the type of the Holy Trinity--three in one.\"[352:3]\n\nAnd Dr. Inman says:\n\n     \"The Triangle is a sacred symbol in our modern churches, and\n     it was the sign used in ancient temples before the initiated,\n     to indicate the Trinity--three persons 'co-eternal together,\n     and co-equal.'\"[352:4]\n\nThe Triangle is found on ancient Greek monuments.[352:5] An ancient seal\n(engraved in the M\u00e9moires de l'Acad\u00e9mie royale des Inscriptions et\nBelles Lettres), supposed to be of Phenician origin, \"has as subject a\nstanding figure between two stars, beneath which are handled crosses.\nAbove the head of the deity is the TRIANGLE, or symbol of the\nTrinity.\"[352:6]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 31]\n\nOne of the most conspicuous among the symbols intended to represent the\nTrinity, to be seen in Christian churches, is the compound leaf of the\n_trefoil_. Modern story had attributed to St. Patrick the idea of\ndemonstrating a trinity in unity, by showing the _shamrock_ to his\nhearers; but, says Dr. Inman, \"like many other things attributed to the\nmoderns, the idea belongs to the ancients.\"[352:7]\n\nThe _Trefoil_ adorned the head of _Osiris_, the Egyptian Saviour, and is\nto be found among the Pagan symbols or representations of the\n_three-in-one_ mystery.[353:1] Fig. No. 32 is a representation of the\n_Trefoil_ used by the ancient Hindoos as emblematic of their celestial\nTriad--Brahma, Vishnu and Siva--and afterwards adopted by the\nChristians.[353:2] The leaf of the _Vila_, or _Bel-tree_, is typical of\nSiva's attributes, because _triple_ in form.[353:3]\n\nThe _Trefoil_ was a sacred plant among the ancient Druids of Britain. It\nwas to them an emblem of the mysterious _three in one_.[353:4] It is to\nbe seen on their _coins_.[353:5]\n\nThe _Tripod_ was very generally employed among the ancients as an emblem\nof the _Trinity_, and is found composed in an endless variety of ways.\nOn the coins of Menecratia, in Phrygia, it is represented between two\nasterisks, with a serpent wreathed around a battle-axe, inserted into\nit, as an accessory symbol, signifying preservation and destruction. In\nthe ceremonial of worship, the number _three_ was employed with mystic\nsolemnity.[353:6]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 32]\n\nThe three lines, or three human legs, springing from a central disk or\ncircle, which has been called a _Trinacria_, and supposed to allude to\nthe island of Sicily, is simply an ancient emblem of the _Trinity_. \"It\nis of _Asiatic_ origin; its earliest appearance being upon the very\nancient coins of Aspendus in Pamphylia; sometimes alone in the square\nincuse, and sometimes upon the body of an eagle or the back of a\nlion.\"[353:7]\n\nWe have already seen, in the chapter on the _crucifixion_, that the\nearliest emblems of the Christian Saviour were the \"Good Shepherd\" and\nthe \"Lamb.\" Among these may also be mentioned the _Fish_. \"The only\nsatisfactory explanation why Jesus should be represented as a _Fish_,\"\nsays Mr. King, in his Gnostics and their Remains,[353:8] \"seems to be\nthe circumstance that in the quaint jargon of the Talmud the Messiah is\noften designated 'Dag,' or 'The Fish;'\" and Mr. Lundy, in his\n\"Monumental Christianity,\" says:\n\n     \"Next to the sacred monogram (the [Symbol: PX]) the _Fish_\n     takes its place in importance as a sign of Christ in his\n     special office of _Saviour_.\" \"In the Talmud the Messiah is\n     called 'Dag' or 'Fish.'\" \"Where did the Jews learn to apply\n     'Dag' to their Messiah? And why did the primitive Christians\n     adopt it as a sign of Christ?\" \"I cannot disguise facts. Truth\n     demands no concealment or apology. _Paganism_ has its types\n     and prophecies of Christ as well as Judaism. What then is the\n     Dag-on of the old Babylonians? The _fish_-god or being that\n     taught them all their civilization.\"[354:1]\n\nAs Mr. Lundy says, \"truth demands no concealment or apology,\" therefore,\nwhen the truth is exposed, we find that _Vishnu_, the Hindoo Messiah,\nPreserver, Mediator and _Saviour_, was represented as a \"dag,\" or fish.\nThe _Fish_ takes its place in importance as a sign of _Vishnu_ in his\nspecial office of _Saviour_.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 33]\n\nProf. Monier Williams says:\n\n     \"It is as _Vishnu_ that the Supreme Being, according to the\n     Hindoos, exhibited his sympathy with human trials, his love\n     for the human race. Nine principal occasions have already\n     occurred in which the god has thus interposed for the\n     salvation of his creatures. The first was _Matsaya_, the\n     _Fish_. In this Vishnu became a fish to save the seventh Manu,\n     the progenitor of the human race, from the universal\n     deluge.\"[354:2]\n\nWe have already seen, in Chap. IX., the identity of the Hindoo _Matsaya_\nand the Babylonian Dagon.\n\nThe fish was sacred among the Babylonians, Assyrians and Phenicians, as\nit is among the Romanists of to-day. It was sacred also to _Venus_, and\nthe Romanists still eat it on the very day of the week which was called\n\"_Dies veneris_,\" Venus' day; fish day.[354:3] It was an emblem of\n_fecundity_. The most ancient symbol of the productive power was a fish,\nand it is accordingly found to be the universal symbol upon many of the\nearliest coins.[354:4] Pythagoras and his followers did not eat fish.\nThey were ascetics, and the eating of fish was supposed to tend to\ncarnal desires. This ancient superstition is entertained by many even at\nthe present day.\n\nThe fish was the earliest symbol of Christ Jesus. Fig. No. 33 is a\ndesign from the catacombs.[354:5] This cross-fish is not unlike the\nsacred monogram.\n\nThat the Christian Saviour should be called a fish may at first appear\nstrange, but when the mythos is properly understood (as we shall\nendeavor to make it in Chap. XXXIX.), it will not appear so. The Rev.\nDr. Geikie, in his \"Life and Words of Christ,\" says that a fish stood\nfor his _name_, from the significance of the Greek letters in the word\nthat expresses the idea, and for this reason he was called a fish. But,\nwe may ask, why was Buddha not only called Fo, or Po, but _Dag-Po_,\nwhich was literally the Fish Po, or Fish Buddha? The fish did not stand\nfor his name. The idea that Jesus was called a fish because the Messiah\nis designated \"Dag\" in the Talmud, is also an unsatisfactory\nexplanation.\n\nJulius Africanus (an early Christian writer) says:\n\n     \"Christ is the great Fish taken by the fish-hook of God, and\n     whose flesh nourishes the whole world.\"[355:1]\n\n          \"The fish fried\n           Was Christ that died,\"\n\nis an old couplet.[355:2]\n\nProsper Africanus calls Christ,\n\n     \"The great fish who satisfied for himself the disciples on the\n     shore, and offered himself as a fish to the whole\n     world.\"[355:3]\n\nThe _Serpent_ was also an emblem of Christ Jesus, or in other words,\nrepresented Christ, among some of the early Christians.\n\nMoses _set up_ a brazen _serpent_ in the wilderness, and Christian\ndivines have seen in this a type of Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Gospels\nsanction this; for it is written:\n\n     \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the\n     Son of man be lifted up.\"\n\nFrom this serpent, Tertullian asserts, the early sect of Christians\ncalled _Ophites_ took their rise. Epiphanius says, that the \"Ophites\nsprung out of the Nicolaitans and Gnostics, who were so called from the\n_serpent_, which they worshiped.\" \"The Gnostics,\" he adds, \"_taught that\nthe ruler of the world was of a dracontic form_.\" The Ophites preserved\nlive serpents in their sacred chest, and looked upon them as the\n_mediator_ between them and God. Manes, in the third century, taught\nserpent worship in Asia Minor, under the name of Christianity,\npromulgating that\n\n     \"_Christ was an incarnation of the Great Serpent, who glided\n     over the cradle of the Virgin Mary, when she was asleep, at\n     the age of a year and a half._\"[355:4]\n\n\"The Gnostics,\" says Irenaeus, \"represented the Mind (the Son, the\nWisdom) in the form of a serpent,\" and \"the Ophites,\" says Epiphanius,\n\"have a veneration for the serpent; they esteem him the same as Christ.\"\n\"They even quote the Gospels,\" says Tertullian, \"to prove that Christ\nwas an imitation of the serpent.\"[356:1]\n\nThe question now arises, Why was the Christian Saviour represented as a\nserpent? Simply because the heathen Saviours were represented in like\nmanner.\n\nFrom the earliest times of which we have any historical notice, the\nserpent has been connected with the preserving gods, or Saviours; the\ngods of goodness and of wisdom. In Hindoo mythology, the serpent is\nintimately associated with Vishnu, the preserving god, the\nSaviour.[356:2] Serpents are often associated with the Hindoo gods, as\nemblems of eternity.[356:3] It was a very sacred animal among the\nHindoos.[356:4]\n\nWorshipers of Buddha venerate serpents. \"This animal,\" says Mr. Wake,\n\"became equal in importance as Buddha himself.\" And Mr. Lillie says:\n\n     \"That God was worshiped at an early date by the Buddhists\n     under the symbol of the _Serpent_ is proved from the\n     sculptures of oldest topes, where worshipers are represented\n     so doing.\"[356:5]\n\nThe Egyptians also venerated the serpent. It was the special symbol of\nThoth, a primeval deity of Syro-Egyptian mythology, and of all those\ngods, such as Hermes and Seth, who can be connected with him.[356:6]\nKneph and Apap were also represented as serpents.[356:7]\n\nHerodotus, when he visited Egypt, found sacred serpents in the temples.\nSpeaking of them, he says:\n\n     \"In the neighborhood of Thebes, there are sacred serpents, not\n     at all hurtful to men: they are diminutive in size, and carry\n     two horns that grow on the top of the head. When these\n     serpents die, they bury them in the temple of Jupiter; for\n     they say they are sacred to that god.\"[356:8]\n\nThe third member of the Chaldean triad, H\u00e9a, or Hoa, was represented by\na serpent. According to Sir Henry Rawlinson, the most important titles\nof this deity refer \"to his functions as the source of all knowledge and\nscience.\" Not only is he \"The Intelligent Fish,\" but his name may be\nread as signifying both \"Life\" and a \"Serpent,\" and he may be considered\nas \"figured by the great serpent which occupies so conspicuous a place\namong the symbols of the gods on the black stones recording Babylonian\nbenefactors.\"[357:1]\n\nThe Phenicians and other eastern nations venerated the serpent as\nsymbols of their beneficent gods.[357:2]\n\nAs god of medicine, Apollo, the central figure in Grecian mythology, was\noriginally worshiped under the form of a serpent, and men invoked him as\nthe \"Helper.\" He was the Solar Serpent-god.[357:3]\n\n\u00c6sculapius, the healing god, the Saviour, was also worshiped under the\nform of a serpent.[357:4] \"Throughout Hellas,\" says Mr. Cox, \"\u00c6sculapius\nremained the 'Healer,' and the 'Restorer of Life,' and accordingly the\nserpent is everywhere his special emblem.\"[357:5]\n\nWhy the serpent was the symbol of the Saviours and beneficent gods of\nantiquity, will be explained in Chap. XXXIX.\n\nThe _Dove_, among the Christians, is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The\nMatthew narrator relates that when Jesus went up out of the water, after\nbeing baptized by John, \"the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw\nthe Spirit of God descending like a _dove_, and lighting upon him.\"\n\nHere is another piece of Paganism, as we find that the _Dove_ was the\nsymbol of the Holy Spirit among all nations of antiquity. Rev. J. P.\nLundy, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"It is a remarkable fact that this spirit (_i. e._, the Holy\n     Spirit) has been symbolized among all religious and civilized\n     nations by the _Dove_.\"[357:6]\n\nAnd Earnest De Bunsen says:\n\n     \"The symbol of the Spirit of God was the _Dove_, in Greek,\n     _peleia_, and the Samaritans had a brazen fiery dove, instead\n     of the brazen fiery serpent. Both referred to fire, the symbol\n     of the Holy Ghost.\"[357:7]\n\nBuddha is represented, like Christ Jesus, with a dove hovering over his\nhead.[357:8]\n\nThe virgin goddess Juno is often represented with a dove on her head. It\nis also seen on the heads of the images of Astarte, Cybele, and Isis; it\nwas sacred to Venus, and was intended as a symbol of the Holy\nSpirit.[357:9]\n\nEven in the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean, a _bird_ is believed to\nbe an emblem of the Holy Spirit.[357:10]\n\nR. Payne Knight, in speaking of the \"mystic Dove,\" says:\n\n     \"A bird was probably chosen for the emblem of the third\n     person (_i. e._, the Holy Ghost) to signify incubation, by\n     which was figuratively expressed the fructification of inert\n     matter, caused by the vital spirit moving upon the waters.\n\n     \"The _Dove_ would naturally be selected in the East in\n     preference to every other species of bird, on account of its\n     domestic familiarity with man; it usually lodging under the\n     same roof with him, and being employed as his messenger from\n     one remote place to another. Birds of this kind were also\n     remarkable for the care of their offspring, and for a sort of\n     conjugal attachment and fidelity to each other, as likewise\n     for the peculiar fervency of their sexual desires, whence they\n     were sacred to Venus, and emblems of love.\"[358:1]\n\nMasons' marks are conspicuous among the Christian symbols. On some of\nthe most ancient Roman Catholic cathedrals are to be found figures of\nChrist Jesus with Mason's marks about him.\n\nMany are the so-called Christian symbols which are direct importations\nfrom paganism. To enumerate them would take, as we have previously said,\na volume of itself. For further information on this subject the reader\nis referred to Dr. Inman's \"Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian\nSymbolism,\" where he will see how many ancient Indian, Egyptian,\nEtruscan, Grecian and Roman symbols have been adopted by Christians, a\ngreat number of which are _Phallic_ emblems.[358:2]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[339:1] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 113.\n\n[340:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 14.\n\n[340:2] Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 301. Higgins: Anac., vol. i. p.\n220.\n\n[340:3] Curious Myths, p. 301.\n\n[340:4] Ibid. p. 302.\n\n[340:5] Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 350.\n\n[340:6] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 47.\n\n[340:7] Curious Myths, pp. 280-282. Buddha and Early Buddhism, pp. 7, 9,\nand 22, and Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 223.\n\n[340:8] Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 227.\n\n[340:9] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 409. Higgins: Anac., vol. i.\np. 230.\n\n[341:1] See Ibid.\n\n[341:2] See Celtic Druids, p. 126; Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 217, and\nBonwick's Egyptian Belief, pp. 216, 217 and 219.\n\n[341:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 217.\n\n[341:4] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 58.\n\n[341:5] See Inman's \"Symbolism,\" and Lundy's Monu. Christianity, Fig.\n92.\n\n[341:6] Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 285.\n\n[341:7] Hoskins' Visit to the great Oasis, pl. xii. in Curious Myths, p.\n286.\n\n[341:8] Curious Myths, p. 286.\n\n[342:1] Curious Myths, p. 287.\n\n[342:2] Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. v. ch. xvii.\n\n[342:3] Quoted by Rev. Dr. Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii.\np. 86, and Rev. Robert Taylor: Diegesis, p. 202.\n\n[342:4] See Colenso's Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 115.\n\n[342:5] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 12.\n\n[342:6] Ibid. p. 219.\n\n[343:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 218, and Smith's Chaldean Account\nof Genesis, p. 54.\n\n[343:2] Egyptian Belief, p. 218.\n\n[343:3] Bonomi: Ninevah and Its Palaces, in Curious Myths, p. 287.\n\n[343:4] Curious Myths, p. 287.\n\n[343:5] Vol. i. p. 337, pl. xx.\n\n[343:6] Travels in Persia, vol. i. p. 545, pl. xxi.\n\n[343:7] Ibid. p. 529, and pl. xvi\n\n[343:8] Ibid., and pl. xvii.\n\n[343:9] Ibid. pl. xxvii.\n\n[343:10] Ibid. p. 573.\n\n[344:1] Curious Myths, p. 290.\n\n[344:2] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 31.\n\n[344:3] See Illustration in Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 224.\n\n[344:4] Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 291.\n\n[345:1] Octavius, ch. xxix.\n\n[345:2] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Denarius.\"\n\n[345:3] Curious Myths, p. 291.\n\n[345:4] Ibid. pp. 291, 296.\n\n[345:5] Ibid. p. 311.\n\n[345:6] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 115.\n\n[346:1] Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 30.\n\n[346:2] Curious Myths, pp. 280, 281.\n\n[346:3] Ibid. pp. 281, 282.\n\n[346:4] Knight: Ancient Art and Mytho., p. 30.\n\n[346:5] See Celtic Druids, pp. 126, 130, 131.\n\n[347:1] Cleland, p. 102, in Anac., i. p. 716.\n\n[347:2] Celtic Druids, p. 242, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Cross.\"\n\n[347:3] Ibid.\n\n[347:4] See Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. 103.\n\n[347:5] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 114.\n\n[347:6] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 95.\n\n[348:1] Stephens: Central America, vol. ii. p. 346, in Curious Myths, p.\n298.\n\n[348:2] Curious Myths, p. 298\n\n[348:3] Klemm Kulturgeschichte, v. 142, in Curious Myths, pp. 298, 299.\n\n[348:4] Curious Myths, p. 299.\n\n[348:5] M\u00fcller: Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urreligionen, in Ibid.\n\n[349:1] Curious Myths, p. 301.\n\n[349:2] Quoted in Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 30.\n\n[349:3] Quoted in Celtic Druids, p. 131.\n\n[349:4] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Cross.\"\n\n[349:5] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. pp. 165, 180.\n\n[349:6] Ibid. p. 179.\n\n[349:7] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 32.\n\n[349:8] Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 318.\n\n[349:9] \"These two letters in the old Samaritan, as found on coins,\nstand, the first for 400, the second for 200-600. This is the staff of\nOsiris. It is also the monogram of Osiris, and has been adopted by the\nChristians, and is to be seen in the churches in Italy in thousands of\nplaces. See Basnage (lib. iii. c. xxxiii.), where several other\ninstances of this kind may be found. In Addison's 'Travels in Italy'\nthere is an account of a medal, at Rome, of Constantius, with this\ninscription; _In hoc signo Victor eris_ [Symbol: PX].\" (Anacalypsis, vol.\ni. p. 222.)\n\n[350:1] Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 316.\n\n[350:2] See Celtic Druids, p. 127, and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p.\n218.\n\n[350:3] Bk. iii. c. xxiii. in Anac., i. p. 219.\n\n[350:4] Monumental Christianity, p. 125.\n\n[350:5] See Celtic Druids, pp. 127, 128.\n\n[351:1] See Ibid. and Monumental Christianity, pp. 15, 92, 123, 126,\n127.\n\n[351:2] See Celtic Druids, p. 101. Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 220. Indian\nAntiq., ii. 68.\n\n[351:3] See Celtic Druids, p. 101. Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 103.\n\n[351:4] See Celtic Druids, p. 127, and Taylor's Diegesis, p. 201.\n\n[351:5] See Celtic Druids, p. 127.\n\n[351:6] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 218.\n\n[351:7] See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. 115.\n\n[351:8] See The Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. pp. 113-115.\n\n[351:9] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 221 and 328. Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 187. Celtic Druids, p. 127, and Isis Unveiled, p. 527, vol.\nii.\n\n[351:10] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 212.\n\n[351:11] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. pp. 518, 519.\n\n[351:12] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 94.\n\n[351:13] This word--AUM--stood for Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, the Hindoo\nTrinity.\n\n[351:14] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 31.\n\n[352:1] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 81.\n\n[352:2] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 196.\n\n[352:3] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 213.\n\n[352:4] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 328.\n\n[352:5] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 196.\n\n[352:6] Curious Myths, p. 289.\n\n[352:7] Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. pp. 153, 154.\n\n[353:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 242.\n\n[353:2] See Inman's Pagan and Christian Symbolism, p. 30.\n\n[353:3] See Williams' Hinduism, p. 99.\n\n[353:4] See Myths of the British Druids, p. 448.\n\n[353:5] Ibid. p. 601.\n\n[353:6] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 170.\n\n[353:7] Ibid. pp. 169, 170.\n\n[353:8] Page 138.\n\n[354:1] Monumental Christianity, pp. 130, 132, 133.\n\n[354:2] Indian Wisdom, p. 329.\n\n[354:3] Inman: Anct. Faiths, vol. i. pp. 528, 529, and M\u00fcller: Science\nof Relig., p. 315.\n\n[354:4] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 111.\n\n[354:5] Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 227.\n\n[355:1] Quoted in Monumental Christianity, p. 134.\n\n[355:2] Ibid. p. 135.\n\n[355:3] Ibid. p. 372.\n\n[355:4] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 246.\n\n[356:1] Fergusson: Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 9.\n\n[356:2] Wake: Phallism in Ancient Religs., p. 72.\n\n[356:3] Williams' Hinduism, p. 169.\n\n[356:4] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 16, and Fergusson: Tree and\nSerpent Worship.\n\n[356:5] Wake, p. 73. Lillie: p. 20.\n\n[356:6] Wake, p. 40, and Bunsen's Keys, p. 101.\n\n[356:7] Champollion, pp. 144, 145.\n\n[356:8] Herodotus, bk. ii. ch. 74.\n\n[357:1] Wake: Phallism in Anct. Religs., p. 30.\n\n[357:2] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 16. Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol.\nii. p. 128. Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, and Squire's Serpent\nSymbol.\n\n[357:3] Deane: Serpent Worship, p. 213.\n\n[357:4] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 7, and Bulfinch: Age of Fable, p.\n397.\n\n[357:5] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 36.\n\n[357:6] Monumental Christianity, p. 293.\n\n[357:7] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 44.\n\n[357:8] See ch. xxix.\n\n[357:9] Monumental Christianity, pp. 323 and 234.\n\n[357:10] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 169.\n\n[358:1] Knight's Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 170.\n\n[358:2] See also R. Payne Knight's Worship of Priapus, and the other\nworks of Dr. Thomas Inman.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nTHE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS.\n\n\nChristmas--December the 25th--is a day which has been set apart by the\nChristian church on which to celebrate the birth of their Lord and\nSaviour, Christ Jesus, and is considered by the majority of persons to\nbe really the day on which he was born. This is altogether erroneous, as\nwill be seen upon examination of the subject.\n\nThere was no uniformity in the period of observing the Nativity among\nthe early Christian churches; some held the festival in the month of May\nor April, others in January.[359:1]\n\nThe _year_ in which he was born is also as uncertain as the month or\nday. \"The year in which it happened,\" says Mosheim, the ecclesiastical\nhistorian, \"has not hitherto been fixed with certainty, notwithstanding\nthe deep and laborious researches of the learned.\"[359:2]\n\nAccording to IREN\u00c6US (A. D. 190), on the authority of \"The Gospel,\" and\n\"all the elders who were conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of\nthe Lord,\" Christ Jesus lived to be nearly, if not quite, _fifty years\nof age_. If this celebrated Christian father is correct, and who can say\nhe is not, Jesus was born some twenty years before the time which has\nbeen assigned as that of his birth.[359:3]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Giles says:\n\n     \"Concerning the _time_ of Christ's birth there are even\n     greater doubts than about the _place_; for, though the four\n     Evangelists have noticed several contemporary facts, which\n     would seem to settle this point, yet on comparing these dates\n     with the general history of the period, we meet with serious\n     discrepancies, which involve the subject in the greatest\n     uncertainty.\"[359:4]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"Not only do we date our time from the exact year in which\n     Christ _is said to have been born_, but our ecclesiastical\n     calendar has determined with scrupulous minuteness the day and\n     almost the hour at which every particular of Christ's\n     wonderful life is stated to have happened. All this is\n     implicitly believed by millions; _yet all these things are\n     among the most uncertain and shadowy that history has\n     recorded. We have no clue to either the day or the time of\n     year, or even the year itself, in which Christ was\n     born._\"[360:1]\n\nSome Christian writers fix the year 4 B. C., as the time when he was\nborn, others the year 5 B. C., and again others place his time of birth\nat about 15 B. C. The Rev. Dr. Geikie, speaking of this, in his _Life of\nChrist_, says:\n\n     \"The whole subject is _very uncertain_. Ewald appears to fix\n     the date of the birth at _five_ years earlier than our era.\n     Petavius and Usher fix it on the 25th of December, _five_\n     years before our era. Bengel on the 25th of December, _four_\n     years before our era; Anger and Winer, _four_ years before our\n     era, _in the Spring_; Scaliger, _three_ years before our era,\n     in _October_; St. Jerome, _three_ years before our era, on\n     December 25th; Eusebius, _two_ years before our era, on\n     _January_ 6th; and Idler, _seven_ years before our era, in\n     _December_.\"[360:2]\n\nAlbert Barnes writes in a manner which implies that he knew all about\nthe _year_ (although he does not give any authorities), but knew nothing\nabout the _month_. He says:\n\n     \"The birth of Christ took place _four_ years before the common\n     era. That era began to be used about A. D. 526, being first\n     employed by Dionysius, and is supposed to have been placed\n     about four years too late. Some make the difference two,\n     others three, four, five, and even eight years. He was born at\n     the commencement of the last year of the reign of Herod, or at\n     the close of the year preceding.\"[360:3]\n\n     \"The Jews sent out their flocks into the mountainous and\n     desert regions during the summer months, and took them up in\n     the latter part of October or the first of November, when the\n     cold weather commenced. . . . It is clear from this that our\n     Saviour was born before the 25th of December, or before what\n     we call _Christmas_. At that time it is cold, and especially\n     in the high and mountainous regions about Bethlehem. _God has\n     concealed the time of his birth. There is no way to ascertain\n     it._ By different learned men it has been fixed at each month\n     in the year.\"[360:4]\n\nCanon Farrar writes with a little more caution, as follows:\n\n     \"Although the date of Christ's birth cannot be fixed with\n     absolute certainty, there is at least a large amount of\n     evidence to render it _probable_ that he was born _four_ years\n     before our present era. It is universally admitted that our\n     received chronology, which is not older than Dionysius\n     Exiguus, in the sixth century, is wrong. But all attempts to\n     discover the _month_ and the _day_ are useless. No data\n     whatever exists to enable us to determine them with even\n     approximate accuracy.\"[360:5]\n\nBunsen attempts to show (on the authority of _Iren\u00e6us_, above quoted),\nthat Jesus was born some _fifteen_ years before the time assigned, and\nthat he lived to be nearly, if not quite, fifty years of age.[361:1]\n\nAccording to Basnage,[361:2] the Jews placed his birth near a century\nsooner than the generally assumed epoch. Others have placed it even in\nthe _third century_ B. C. This belief is founded on a passage in the\n\"_Book of Wisdom_,\"[361:3] written about 250 B. C., which is supposed to\nrefer to Christ _Jesus_, and none other. In speaking of some individual\nwho lived _at that time_, it says:\n\n     \"He professeth to have the knowledge of God, and he calleth\n     himself _the child of the Lord_. He was made to reprove our\n     thoughts. He is grievous unto us even to behold; for his life\n     is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion. We\n     are esteemed of him as counterfeits; he abstaineth from our\n     ways as from filthiness; he pronounceth the end of the just to\n     be blessed, _and maketh his boast that God is his father_. Let\n     us see if his words be true; and let us prove what shall\n     happen in the end of him. For if the _just man_ be the son of\n     God, he (God) will help him, and deliver him from the hand of\n     his enemies. Let us examine him with despitefulness and\n     torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his\n     patience. Let us condemn him with a shameful death; for by his\n     own saying he shall be respected.\"\n\nThis is a very important passage. Of course, the church claim it to be a\n_prophecy_ of what Christ Jesus was to do and suffer, but this does not\nexplain it.\n\nIf the writer of the \"_Gospel according to Luke_\" is correct, Jesus was\nnot born until about A. D. 10, for he explicitly tells us that this\nevent did not happen until Cyrenius was governor of Syria.[361:4] Now it\nis well known that Cyrenius was not appointed to this office until long\nafter the death of Herod (during whose reign the Matthew narrator\ninforms us Jesus was born[361:5]), and that the taxing spoken of by the\nLuke narrator as having taken place at this time, did not take place\nuntil about ten years after the time at which, according to the Matthew\nnarrator, Jesus was born.[361:6]\n\nEusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian,[361:7] places his birth at\nthe time Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and therefore at about A. D.\n10. His words are as follows:\n\n     \"It was the two and fortieth year after the reign of Augustus\n     the Emperor, and the eight and twentieth year after the\n     subduing of Egypt, and the death of Antonius and Cleopatra,\n     when last of all the Ptolemies in Egypt ceased to bear rule,\n     when our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, at the time of the\n     first taxing--Cyrenius, then President of Syria--was born in\n     Bethlehem, a city of Judea, according unto the prophecies in\n     that behalf premised.\"[362:1]\n\nHad the Luke narrator known anything about Jewish history, he never\nwould have made so gross a blunder as to place the taxing of Cyrenius in\nthe days of Herod, and would have saved the immense amount of labor that\nit has taken in endeavoring to explain away the effects of his\nignorance. One explanation of this mistake is, that there were _two_\nassessments, one about the time Jesus was born, and the other ten years\nafter; but this has entirely failed. Dr. Hooykaas, speaking of this,\nsays:\n\n     \"The Evangelist (Luke) falls into the most extraordinary\n     mistakes throughout. In the first place, history is silent as\n     to a census of the whole (Roman) world ever having been made\n     at all. In the next place, though Quirinius certainly did make\n     such a register in Judea and Samaria, it did not extend to\n     Galilee; so that Joseph's household was not affected by it.\n     Besides, _it did not take place until ten years after the\n     death of Herod_, when his son Archelaus was deposed by the\n     emperor, and the districts of Judea and Samaria were thrown\n     into a Roman province. Under the reign of Herod, nothing of\n     the kind took place, nor was there any occasion for it.\n     Finally, at the time of the birth of Jesus, the Governor of\n     Syria was not Quirinius, but Quintus Sentius\n     Saturninus.\"[362:2]\n\nThe institution of the festival of the Nativity of Christ Jesus being\nheld on the 25th of December, among the Christians, is attributed to\nTelesphorus, who flourished during the reign of Antonius Pius (A. D.\n138-161), but the first _certain_ traces of it are found about the time\nof the Emperor Commodus (A. D. 180-192).[362:3]\n\nFor a long time the Christians had been trying to discover upon what\nparticular day Jesus had possibly or probably come into the world; and\nconjectures and traditions that rested upon absolutely no foundation,\nled one to the 20th of May, another to the 19th or 20th of April, and a\nthird to the 5th of January. At last the opinion of the _community at\nRome_ gained the upper hand, and the 25th of December was fixed\nupon.[362:4] It was not until the _fifth_ century, however, that this\nday had been _generally_ agreed upon.[362:5] _How it happened_ that this\nday finally became fixed as the birthday of Christ Jesus, may be\ninferred from what we shall now see.\n\nOn the first moment after midnight of the 24th of December (_i. e._, on\nthe morning of the 25th), nearly all the nations of the earth, as if by\ncommon consent, celebrated the accouchement of the \"_Queen of Heaven_,\"\nof the \"_Celestial Virgin_\" of the sphere, and the birth of the god\n_Sol_.\n\nIn _India_ this is a period of rejoicing everywhere.[363:1] It is a\ngreat religious festival, and the people _decorate their houses with\ngarlands_, and _make presents to friends and relatives_. This custom is\nof very great antiquity.[363:2]\n\nIn _China_, religious solemnities are celebrated at the time of the\n_winter solstice_, the last week in _December_, when all shops are shut\nup, and the courts are closed.[363:3]\n\n_Buddha_, the son of the Virgin M\u00e2ya, on whom, according to Chinese\ntradition, \"the Holy Ghost\" had descended, was said to have been born on\nChristmas day, December 25th.[363:4]\n\nAmong the ancient _Persians_ their most splendid ceremonials were in\nhonor of their Lord and Saviour _Mithras_; they kept his birthday, with\nmany rejoicings, on the 25th of December.\n\nThe author of the \"_Celtic Druids_\" says:\n\n     \"It was the custom of the heathen, long before the birth of\n     Christ, to celebrate the birth-day of their gods,\" and that,\n     \"the 25th of December was a great festival with the\n     _Persians_, who, in very early times, celebrated the birth of\n     their god _Mithras_.\"[363:5]\n\nThe Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his \"_Heathen Religion_,\" also tells us\nthat:\n\n     \"The ancient Persians celebrated a festival in honor of\n     _Mithras_ on the first day succeeding the _Winter Solstice_,\n     the object of which was to _commemorate the Birth of\n     Mithras_.\"[363:6]\n\nAmong the ancient _Egyptians_, for centuries before the time of Christ\nJesus, the 25th of December was set aside as the birthday of their gods.\nM. Le Clerk De Septchenes speaks of it as follows:\n\n     \"The ancient Egyptians fixed the pregnancy of _Isis_ (the\n     _Queen of Heaven_, and the _Virgin Mother_ of the Saviour\n     Horus), on the last days of March, and towards the end of\n     _December_ they placed the commemoration of her\n     delivery.\"[363:7]\n\nMr. Bonwick, in speaking of _Horus_, says:\n\n     \"He is the great God-loved of Heaven. His birth was one of the\n     greatest mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Pictures\n     representing it appeared on the walls of temples. One passed\n     through the holy _Adytum_[364:1] to the still more sacred\n     quarter of the temple known as the birth-place of Horus. He\n     was presumably the child of Deity. _At Christmas time_, or\n     that answering to our festival, his image was brought out of\n     that sanctuary with peculiar ceremonies, as the image of the\n     infant _Bambino_[364:2] is still brought out and exhibited in\n     Rome.\"[364:3]\n\nRigord observes that the Egyptians not only worshiped a _Virgin Mother_\n\"prior to the birth of our Saviour, but exhibited the effigy of her son\nlying in the manger, in the manner the infant Jesus was afterwards laid\nin the cave at Bethlehem.\"[364:4]\n\nThe \"Chronicles of Alexandria,\" an ancient Christian work, says:\n\n     \"Watch how Egypt has constructed the childbirth of a Virgin,\n     and the birth of her son, _who was exposed in a crib to the\n     adoration of the people_.\"[364:5]\n\n_Osiris_, son of the \"_Holy Virgin_,\" as they called Ceres, or Neith,\nhis mother, was born on the 25th of December.[364:6]\n\nThis was also the time celebrated by the ancient _Greeks_ as being the\nbirthday of _Hercules_. The author of \"_The Religion of the Ancient\nGreeks_\" says:\n\n     \"The night of the _Winter Solstice_, which the Greeks named\n     the triple night, was that which they thought gave birth to\n     _Hercules_.\"[364:7]\n\nHe further says:\n\n     \"It has become an epoch of singular importance in the eyes of\n     the Christian, who has destined it to celebrate the birth of\n     the Saviour, the _true_ Sun of Justice, who alone came to\n     dissipate the darkness of ignorance.\"[364:8]\n\n_Bacchus_, also, was born at early dawn on the 25th of December. Mr.\nHiggins says of him:\n\n     \"The birth-place of Bacchus, called Sabizius or Sabaoth, was\n     claimed by several places in Greece; but on Mount Zelmissus,\n     in Thrace, his worship seems to have been chiefly celebrated.\n     He was born of a virgin on the 25th of December, and was\n     always called the SAVIOUR. In his Mysteries, he was shown to\n     the people, as an infant is by the Christians at this day, on\n     Christmas-day morning, in Rome.\"[364:9]\n\nThe birthday of _Adonis_ was celebrated on the 25th of December. This\ncelebration is spoken of by Tertullian, Jerome, and other Fathers of\nthe Church,[365:1] who inform us that the ceremonies took place in a\ncave, and that the cave in which they celebrated his mysteries in\nBethlehem, was that in which Christ Jesus was born.\n\nThis was also a great holy day in ancient Rome. The Rev. Mr. Gross says:\n\n     \"In _Rome_, before the time of Christ, a festival was observed\n     on the 25th of December, under the name of '_Natalis Solis\n     Invicti_' (Birthday of Sol the Invincible). It was a day of\n     universal rejoicings, illustrated by illuminations and public\n     games.\"[365:2] \"All public business was suspended,\n     declarations of war and criminal executions were postponed,\n     _friends made presents to one another_, and the slaves were\n     indulged with great liberties.\"[365:3]\n\nA few weeks before the winter solstice, the Calabrian shepherds came\ninto Rome to play on the pipes. Ovid alludes to this when he says:\n\n              \"Ante De\u00fbm matrem cornu tibicen adunco\n               Cum canit, exigu\u00e6 quis stipis aera neget.\"\n\n                                        --(Epist. i. l. ii.)\n\n     _i. e._, \"When to the mighty mother pipes the swain,\n               Grudge not a trifle for his pious strain.\"\n\nThis practice is kept up to the present day.\n\nThe ancient _Germans_, for centuries before \"the _true_ Sun of Justice\"\nwas ever heard of, celebrated annually, at the time of the _Winter\nsolstice_, what they called their Yule-feast. At this feast agreements\nwere renewed, the gods were consulted as to the future, sacrifices were\nmade to them, and the time was spent in jovial hospitality. Many\nfeatures of this festival, such as burning the yule-log on\nChristmas-eve, still survive among us.[365:4]\n\n_Yule_ was the old name for Christmas. In French it is called _Noel_,\nwhich is the Hebrew or Chaldee word _Nule_.[365:5]\n\nThe greatest festival of the year celebrated among the ancient\n_Scandinavians_, was at the _Winter solstice_. They called the night\nupon which it was observed, the \"_Mother-night_.\" This feast was named\n_Jul_--hence is derived the word _Yule_--and was celebrated in honor of\n_Freyr_ (son of the Supreme God Odin, and the goddess Frigga), who was\nborn on that day. Feasting, nocturnal assemblies, and all the\ndemonstrations of a most dissolute joy, were then authorized by the\ngeneral usage. At this festival the principal guests _received\npresents_--generally horses, swords, battle-axes, and gold rings--at\ntheir departure.[365:6]\n\nThe festival of the 25th of December was celebrated by the ancient\n_Druids_, in Great Britain and Ireland, with great fires lighted on the\ntops of hills.[366:1]\n\nGodfrey Higgins says:\n\n     \"Stuckley observes that the worship of Mithra was spread all\n     over Gaul and Britain. The Druids kept this night as a great\n     festival, and called the day following it Nolagh or Noel, or\n     the day of regeneration, and celebrated it with great fires on\n     the tops of their mountains, which they repeated on the day of\n     the Epiphany or twelfth night. The Mithraic monuments, which\n     are common in Britain, have been attributed to the Romans, but\n     this festival proves that the Mithraic worship was there prior\n     to their arrival.\"[366:2]\n\nThis was also a time of rejoicing in Ancient Mexico. Acosta says:\n\n     \"In the first month, which in Peru they call Rayme, and\n     answering to our _December_, they made a solemn feast called\n     _Capacrayme_ (the Winter Solstice), wherein they made many\n     sacrifices and ceremonies, which continued many days.\"[366:3]\n\nThe evergreens, and particularly the mistletoe, which are used all over\nthe Christian world at Christmas time, betray its heathen origin.\nTertullian, a Father of the Church, who flourished about A. D. 200,\nwriting to his brethren, affirms it to be \"_rank idolatry_\" to deck\ntheir doors \"_with garlands or flowers, on festival days, according to\nthe custom of the heathen_.\"[366:4]\n\nThis shows that the heathen in those days, did as the Christians do now.\nWhat have evergreens, and garlands, and Christmas trees, to do with\nChristianity? Simply _nothing_. It is the old Yule-feast which was held\nby all the northern nations, from time immemorial, handed down to, and\nobserved at the present day. In the greenery with which Christians deck\ntheir houses and temples of worship, and in the Christmas-trees laden\nwith gifts, we unquestionably see a relic of the symbols by which our\nheathen forefathers signified their faith in the powers of the returning\nsun to clothe the earth again with green, and hang new fruit on the\ntrees. Foliage, such as the laurel, myrtle, ivy, or oak, and in general,\n_all evergreens_, were _Dionysiac plants_, that is, symbols of the\ngenerative power, signifying perpetuity of youth and vigor.[366:5]\n\nAmong the causes, then, that co-operated in fixing this period--December\n25th--as the birthday of Christ Jesus, was, as we have seen, that almost\nevery ancient nation of the earth held a festival on this day in\ncommemoration of the birth of _their_ virgin-born god.\n\nOn this account the Christians _adopted it_ as the time of the birth of\n_their_ God. Mr. Gibbon, speaking of this in his \"Decline and Fall of\nthe Roman Empire,\" says:\n\n     \"The Roman Christians, ignorant of the real date of his\n     (Christ's) birth, fixed the solemn festival to the 25th of\n     December, the _Brumalia_, or Winter Solstice, when the Pagans\n     annually celebrated the birth of _Sol_.\"[367:1]\n\nAnd Mr. King, in his \"Gnostics and their Remains,\" says:\n\n     \"The ancient festival held on the 25th of December in honor of\n     the 'Birthday of the Invincible One,' and celebrated by the\n     'great games' at the circus, was afterwards transferred to the\n     commemoration of the birth of Christ, the precise day of which\n     many of the Fathers confess was then unknown.\"[367:2]\n\nSt. Chrysostom, who flourished about A. D. 390, referring to this Pagan\nfestival, says:\n\n     \"_On this day, also, the birth of Christ was lately fixed at\n     Rome_, in order that whilst the heathen were busy with their\n     _profane_ ceremonies, the Christians might perform their _holy\n     rites_ undisturbed.\"[367:3]\n\nAdd to this the fact that St. Gregory, a Christian Father of the third\ncentury, was instrumental in, and commended by other Fathers for,\nchanging _Pagan festivals_ into Christian _holidays_, for the purpose,\nas they said, of drawing the heathen to the religion of Christ.[367:4]\n\nAs Dr. Hooykaas remarks, the church was always anxious to meet the\nheathen _half way_, by allowing them to retain the feasts they were\naccustomed to, only giving them a _Christian dress_, or attaching a new\nor Christian signification to them.[367:5]\n\nIn doing these, and many other such things, which we shall speak of in\nour chapter on \"_Paganism in Christianity_,\" the Christian Fathers,\ninstead of drawing the heathen to their religion, drew themselves into\nPaganism.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[359:1] See Bible for Learners vol. iii. p. 66; Chambers's Encyclo.,\nart. \"_Christmas_.\"\n\n[359:2] Eccl. Hist., vol. i. p. 53. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 104.\n\n[359:3] See Chapter XL., this work.\n\n[359:4] Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 189.\n\n[360:1] Hebrew and Christian Records, p. 194.\n\n[360:2] Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 556.\n\n[360:3] Barnes' Notes, vol. ii. p. 402.\n\n[360:4] Ibid. p. 25.\n\n[360:5] Farrar's Life of Christ, App., pp. 673, 4.\n\n[361:1] Bible Chronology, pp. 73, 74.\n\n[361:2] Hist. de Juif.\n\n[361:3] Chap. ii. 13-20.\n\n[361:4] Luke, ii. 1-7.\n\n[361:5] Matt. ii. 1.\n\n[361:6] See Josephus: Antiq., bk. xviii. ch. i. sec. i.\n\n[361:7] Eusebius was Bishop of Cesarea from A. D. 315 to 340, in which\nhe died, in the 70th year of his age, thus playing his great part in\nlife chiefly under the reigns of Constantine the Great and his son\nConstantine.\n\n[362:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. vi.\n\n[362:2] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 56.\n\n[362:3] See Chamber's Encyclo., art. \"_Christmas_.\"\n\n[362:4] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 66.\n\n[362:5] \"By the fifth century, however, whether from the influence of\nsome tradition, or from the desire to supplant _Heathen Festivals_ of\nthat period of the year, such as the Saturnalia, the 25th of December\nhad been generally agreed upon.\" (Encyclop\u00e6dia Brit., art. \"Christmas.\")\n\n[363:1] See Monier Williams: Hinduism, p. 181.\n\n[363:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 126.\n\n[363:3] Ibid. 216.\n\n[363:4] See Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, pp. x.-25, and 110, and Lillie:\nBuddha and Buddhism, p. 73.\n\nSome writers have asserted that _Crishna_ is said to have been born on\nDecember 25th, but this is not the case. His birthday is held in\nJuly-August. (See Williams' Hinduism, p. 183, and Life and Religion of\nthe Hindoos, p. 134.)\n\n[363:5] Celtic Druids, p. 163. See also, Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p.\n272; Monumental Christianity, p. 167; Bible for Learners, iii. pp. 66,\n67.\n\n[363:6] The Heathen Religion, p. 287. See also, Dupuis: p. 246.\n\n[363:7] Relig. of the Anct. Greeks, p. 214. See also, Higgins:\nAnacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[364:1] \"_Adytum_\"--the interior or sacred part of a heathen temple.\n\n[364:2] \"_Bambino_\"--a term used for representations of the infant\nSaviour, Christ Jesus, in _swaddlings_.\n\n[364:3] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 157. See also, Dupuis, p. 237.\n\n[364:4] \"Deinceps Egyptii PARITURAM VIRGINEM magno in honore habuerunt;\nquin soliti sunt puerum effingere jacentem in pr\u00e6sepe, quali POSTEA in\nBethlehemetic\u00e2 spelunc\u00e2 natus est.\" (Quoted in Anacalypsis, p. 102, of\nvol. ii.)\n\n[364:5] Quoted by Bonwick, p. 143.\n\n[364:6] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[364:7] Relig. Anct. Greece, p. 215.\n\n[364:8] Ibid.\n\n[364:9] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102; Dupuis, p. 237, and Baring Gould:\nOrig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 322.\n\n[365:1] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[365:2] The Heathen Religion, p. 287; Dupuis, p. 283.\n\n[365:3] Bulfinch, p. 21.\n\n[365:4] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 67, and Chambers, art.\n\"Yule.\"\n\n[365:5] See Chambers's, art. \"Yule,\" and \"Celtic Druids,\" p. 162.\n\n[365:6] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 110 and 355. Knight: p. 87.\n\n[366:1] Dupuis, 160; Celtic Druids, and Monumental Christianity, p. 167.\n\n[366:2] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[366:3] Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 354.\n\n[366:4] See Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 80.\n\n[366:5] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 82.\n\n[367:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 383.\n\n[367:2] King's Gnostics, p. 49.\n\n[367:3] Quoted in Ibid.\n\n[367:4] See the chapter on \"Paganism in Christianity.\"\n\n[367:5] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 67.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\n\nTHE TRINITY.\n\n     \"Say not there are three Gods, God is but One God.\"--(Koran.)\n\n\nThe doctrine of the Trinity is the highest and most mysterious doctrine\nof the Christian church. It declares that there are _three_ persons in\nthe Godhead or divine nature--the Father, the Son, and the Holy\nGhost--and that \"these three are _one_ true, eternal God, the same in\nsubstance, equal in power and glory, although distinguished by their\npersonal propensities.\" The most celebrated statement of the doctrine is\nto be found in the Athanasian creed,[368:1] which asserts that:\n\n     \"The Catholic[368:2] faith is this: That we worship _One_ God\n     as Trinity, and Trinity in Unity--neither confounding the\n     persons, nor dividing the substance--for there is One person\n     of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy\n     Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of\n     the Holy Ghost _is all one_; the glory equal, the majesty\n     co-eternal.\"\n\nAs M. Reville remarks:\n\n     \"The dogma of the Trinity displayed its contradictions with\n     true bravery. The Deity divided into _three_ divine persons,\n     _and yet_ these _three_ persons forming only _One_ God; of\n     these three _the first only_ being self-existent, the two\n     others _deriving their existence_ from the first, _and yet_\n     these three persons being considered as _perfectly equal_;\n     each having his special, distinct character, his individual\n     qualities, wanting in the other two, _and yet_ each one of the\n     three being supposed to possess the fullness of\n     perfection--here, it must be confessed, we have the\n     deification of the contradictory.\"[368:3]\n\nWe shall now see that this very peculiar doctrine of three in one, and\none in three, is of _heathen_ origin, and that it must fall with all the\nother dogmas of the Christian religion.\n\nThe number _three_ is sacred in all theories derived from oriental\nsources. Deity is always a trinity of some kind, or the successive\nemanations proceeded in threes.[369:1]\n\nIf we turn to _India_ we shall find that one of the most prominent\nfeatures in the Indian theology is the doctrine of a divine triad,\ngoverning all things. This triad is called _Tri-murti_--from the\nSanscrit word _tri_ (three) and _murti_ (form)--and consists of Brahma,\nVishnu, and Siva. It is an _inseparable_ unity, though three in\nform.[369:2]\n\n\"When the universal and infinite being Brahma--the only really existing\nentity, wholly without form, and unbound and unaffected by the three\nGunas or by qualities of any kind--wished to create for his own\nentertainment the phenomena of the universe, he assumed the quality of\nactivity and became a male person, as _Brahma_ the creator. Next, in the\nprogress of still further self-evolution, he willed to invest himself\nwith the second quality of goodness, as _Vishnu_ the preserver, and with\nthe third quality of darkness, as _Siva_ the destroyer. This development\nof the doctrine of triple manifestation (_tri-murti_), which appears\nfirst in the Brahmanized version of the Indian Epics, had already been\nadumbrated in the Veda in the triple form of fire, and in the triad of\ngods, Agni, Surya, and Indra; and in other ways.\"[369:3]\n\nThis divine _Tri-murti_--says the Brahmans and the sacred books--is\nindivisible in essence, and indivisible in action; mystery profound!\nwhich is explained in the following manner:\n\n_Brahma_ represents the _creative_ principle, the unreflected or\nunevolved protogoneus state of divinity--the _Father_.\n\n_Vishnu_ represents the _protecting_ and _preserving_ principle, the\nevolved or reflected state of divinity--the _Son_.[369:4]\n\n_Siva_ is the principle that presides at destruction and\nre-construction--the Holy Spirit.[369:5]\n\nThe third person was the Destroyer, or, in his good capacity, the\nRegenerator. The dove was the emblem of the Regenerator. As the\n_spiritus_ was the passive cause (brooding on the face of the waters) by\nwhich all things sprang into life, the dove became the emblem of the\nSpirit, or Holy Ghost, the third person.\n\nThese three gods are the first and the highest manifestations of the\nEternal Essence, and are typified by the three letters composing the\nmystic syllable OM or AUM. They constitute the well known Trimurti or\nTriad of divine forms which characterizes Hindooism. It is usual to\ndescribe these three gods as Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, but this\ngives a very inadequate idea of their complex characters. Nor does the\nconception of their relationship to each other become clearer when it is\nascertained that their functions are constantly interchangeable, and\nthat each may take the place of the other, according to the sentiment\nexpressed by the greatest of Indian poets, Kalidasa (Kumara-sambhava,\nGriffith, vii. 44):\n\n     \"In those three persons the One God was shown--\n     Each first in place, each last--not one alone;\n     Of Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, each may be\n     First, second, third, among the blessed three.\"\n\nA devout person called Attencin, becoming convinced that he should\nworship but _one_ deity, thus addressed Brahma, Vishnu and Siva:\n\n     \"O you _three_ Lords; know that I recognize only _One_ God;\n     inform me therefore, _which of you is the true divinity_, that\n     I may address to him alone my vows and adorations.\"\n\nThe three gods became manifest to him, and replied:\n\n     \"Learn, O devotee, that there is no real distinction between\n     us; what to you _appears_ such is only by semblance; _the\n     Single Being appears under three forms, but he is\n     One_.\"[370:1]\n\nSir William Jones says:\n\n     \"Very respectable natives have assured me, that one or two\n     missionaries have been absurd enough in their zeal for the\n     conversion of the Gentiles, to urge that the Hindoos were even\n     now almost Christians; because their Brahma, Vishnou, and\n     Mahesa (Siva), were no other than the Christian\n     Trinity.\"[370:2]\n\nThomas Maurice, in his \"Indian Antiquities,\" describes a magnificent\npiece of Indian sculpture, of exquisite workmanship, and of stupendous\nantiquity, namely:\n\n     \"A bust composed of _three heads_, united to _one body_,\n     adorned with the _oldest_ symbols of the Indian theology, and\n     thus expressly fabricated according to the unanimous\n     confession of the sacred sacerdotal tribe of India, to\n     indicate _the Creator_, the _Preserver_, and the\n     _Regenerator_, of mankind; which _establishes the solemn fact,\n     that from the remotest eras, the Indian nations had adored a\n     triune deity_.\"[371:1]\n\nFig. No. 34 is a representation of an Indian sculpture, intended to\nrepresent the Triune God,[371:2] evidently similar to the one described\nabove by Mr. Maurice. It is taken from \"a very ancient granite\" in the\nmuseum at the \"Indian House,\" and was dug from the ruins of a temple in\nthe island of Bombay.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 34]\n\nThe Buddhists, as well as the Brahmans, have had their Trinity from a\nvery early period.\n\nMr. Faber, in his \"Origin of Heathen Idolatry,\" says:\n\n     \"Among the Hindoos, we have the Triad of Brahma, Vishnu,\n     and Siva; so, among the votaries of Buddha, we find the\n     self-triplicated Buddha declared to be the same as the Hindoo\n     Trimurti. Among the Buddhist sect of the Jainists, we have the\n     triple Jiva, in whom the Trimurti is similarly declared to be\n     incarnate.\"\n\nIn this Trinity _Vajrapani_ answers to Brahma, or Jehovah, the\n\"All-father,\" _Manjusri_ is the \"deified teacher,\" the counterpart of\nCrishna or Jesus, and _Avalokitesvara_ is the \"Holy Spirit.\"\n\nBuddha was believed by _his_ followers to be, not only an incarnation of\nthe deity, but \"God himself in human form\"--as the followers of Crishna\nbelieved him to be--and therefore \"three gods in one.\" This is clearly\nillustrated by the following address delivered to Buddha by a devotee\ncalled Amora:\n\n     \"Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of\n     mercy, the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all\n     things, the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy\n     towards those who serve thee--OM! the possessor of all things\n     in vital form. Thou art Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa; thou art\n     Lord of all the universe. Thou art under the proper form of\n     all things, movable and immovable, the possessor of the whole,\n     and thus I adore thee. I adore thee, who art celebrated by a\n     thousand names, and under various forms; in the shape of\n     Buddha, the god of mercy.\"[371:3]\n\nThe inhabitants of _China_ and _Japan_, the majority of whom are\nBuddhists, worship God in the form of a Trinity. Their name for him\n(Buddha) is Fo, and in speaking of the Trinity they say: \"The three\npure, precious or honorable Fo.\"[372:1] This triad is represented in\ntheir temples by images similar to those found in the pagodas of India,\nand when they speak of God they say: \"_Fo is one person, but has three\nforms._\"[372:2]\n\nIn a chapel belonging to the monastery of Poo-ta-la, which was found in\nManchow-Tartary, was to be seen representations of Fo, in the form of\nthree persons.[372:3]\n\nNavarette, in his account of China, says:\n\n     \"This sect (of Fo) has another idol they call _Sanpao_. It\n     consists of _three_, equal in all respects. This, which has\n     been represented as an image of the Most Blessed Trinity, is\n     exactly the same with that which is on the high altar of the\n     monastery of the Trinitarians at Madrid. If any Chinese\n     whatsoever saw it, he would say that _Sanpao_ of his country\n     was worshiped in these parts.\"\n\nAnd Mr. Faber, in his \"Origin of Heathen Idolatry,\" says:\n\n     \"Among the Chinese, who worship Buddha under the name of _Fo_,\n     we find this God mysteriously multiplied into _three\n     persons_.\"\n\nThe mystic syllable O. M. or A. U. M. is also reverenced by the Chinese\nand Japanese,[372:4] as we have found it reverenced by the inhabitants\nof India.\n\nThe followers of Laou-tsze, or Laou-keum-tsze--a celebrated philosopher\nof China, and deified hero, born 604 B. C.--known as the Taou sect, are\nalso worshipers of a Trinity.[372:5] It was the leading feature in\nLaou-keun's system of philosophical theology, that Taou, the eternal\nreason, produced _one_; one produced _two_; two produced _three_; and\nthree produced all things.[372:6] This was a sentence which Laou-keun\ncontinually repeated, and which Mr. Maurice considers, \"a most singular\naxiom for a _heathen_ philosopher.\"[372:7]\n\nThe sacred volumes of the Chinese state that:\n\n     \"The Source and Root of all is _One_. This self-existent unity\n     necessarily produced a _second_. The first and second, by\n     their union, produced a _third_. These _Three_ produced\n     all.\"[372:8]\n\nThe ancient emperors of China solemnly sacrificed, every three years, to\n\"Him who is One and Three.\"[372:9]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ worshiped God in the form of a Trinity, which\nwas represented in sculptures on the most ancient of their temples. The\ncelebrated symbol of the wing, the globe, and the serpent, is supposed\nto have stood for the different attributes of God.[373:1]\n\nThe priests of Memphis, in Egypt, explained this mystery to the novice,\nby intimating that the premier (first) _monad_ created the _dyad_, who\nengendered the _triad_, and that it is this triad which shines through\nnature.\n\nThulis, a great monarch, who at one time reigned over all Egypt, and who\nwas in the habit of consulting the oracle of Serapis, is said to have\naddressed the oracle in these words:\n\n     \"Tell me if ever there was before one greater than I, or will\n     ever be one greater than me?\"\n\nThe oracle answered thus:\n\n     \"First _God_, afterward the _Word_, and with them the _Holy\n     Spirit_, all these are of the same nature, and make but _one_\n     whole, of which the power is eternal. Go away quickly,\n     _mortal_, thou who hast but an uncertain life.\"[373:2]\n\nThe idea of calling the second person in the Trinity the _Logos_, or\n_Word_[373:3] is an Egyptian feature, and was engrafted into\nChristianity many centuries after the time of Christ Jesus.[373:4]\n_Apollo_, who had his tomb at Delphi in Egypt, was called the\nWord.[373:5]\n\nMr. Bonwick, in his \"Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought,\" says:\n\n     \"Some persons are prepared to admit that the most astonishing\n     development of the old religion of Egypt was in relation to\n     the _Logos_ or Divine _Word_, by whom all things were made,\n     and who, though from God, was God. It had long been known that\n     Plato, Aristotle, and others before the Christian era,\n     cherished the idea of this Demiurgus; but it was not known\n     till of late that Chaldeans and Egyptians recognized this\n     mysterious principle.\"[373:6]\n\n     \"The _Logos_ or _Word_ was a great mystery (among the\n     Egyptians), in whose sacred books the following passages may\n     be seen: 'I know the mystery of the divine Word;' 'The Word of\n     the Lord of All, which was the maker of it;' 'The Word--this\n     is the first person after himself, uncreated, infinite ruling\n     over all things that were made by him.'\"[374:1]\n\nThe Assyrians had Marduk for their Logos;[374:2] one of their sacred\naddresses to him reads thus:\n\n     \"Thou art the powerful one--Thou art the life-giver--Thou also\n     the prosperer--Merciful one among the gods--Eldest son of Hea,\n     who made heaven and earth--Lord of heaven and earth, who an\n     equal has not--Merciful one, who dead to life raises.\"[374:3]\n\nThe Chaldeans had their _Memra_ or \"Word of God,\" corresponding to the\nGreek _Logos_, which designated that being who organized and who still\ngoverns the world, and is inferior to God only.[374:4]\n\nThe Logos was with Philoa most interesting subject of discourse,\ntempting him to wonderful feats of imagination. There is scarcely a\npersonifying or exalting epithet that he did not bestow on the Divine\nReason. He described it as a distinct being; called it \"a Rock,\" \"The\nSummit of the Universe,\" \"Before all things,\" \"First-begotten Son of\nGod,\" \"Eternal Bread from Heaven,\" \"Fountain of Wisdom,\" \"Guide to God,\"\n\"Substitute for God,\" \"Image of God,\" \"Priest,\" \"Creator of the Worlds,\"\n\"Second God,\" \"Interpreter of God,\" \"Ambassador of God,\" \"Power of God,\"\n\"King,\" \"Angel,\" \"Man,\" \"Mediator,\" \"Light,\" \"The Beginning,\" \"The\nEast,\" \"The Name of God,\" \"The Intercessor.\"[374:5]\n\nThis is exactly the Logos of John. It becomes a man, \"is made flesh;\"\nappears as an _incarnation_; in order that the God whom \"no man has seen\nat any time,\" may be manifested.\n\nThe worship of God in the form of a Trinity was to be found among the\nancient _Greeks_. When the priests were about to offer up a sacrifice to\nthe gods, the altar was _three times_ sprinkled by dipping a laurel\nbranch in holy water, and the people assembled around it were _three\ntimes_ sprinkled also. Frankincense was taken from the censer with\n_three fingers_, and strewed upon the altar _three times_. This was done\nbecause an oracle had declared that _all sacred things ought to be in\nthrees_, therefore, that number was scrupulously observed in most\nreligious ceremonies.[374:6]\n\nOrpheus[374:7] wrote that:\n\n     \"All things were made by _One_ godhead in _three_ names, and\n     that this god is all things.\"[375:1]\n\nThis Trinitarian view of the Deity he is said to have brought from\nEgypt, and the Christian Fathers of the third and fourth centuries\nclaimed that Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Plato--who taught the doctrine\nof the Trinity--had drawn their theological philosophy from the writings\nof Orpheus.[375:2]\n\nThe works of Plato were extensively studied by the Church Fathers, one\nof whom joyfully recognizes in the great teacher, the schoolmaster who,\nin the fullness of time, was destined to educate the heathen for Christ,\nas Moses did the Jews.[375:3]\n\nThe celebrated passage: \"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was\nwith God, and the Word was God,\"[375:4] is a fragment of some Pagan\ntreatise on the Platonic philosophy, evidently written by\nIren\u00e6us.[375:5] It is quoted by _Amelius_, a Pagan philosopher, as\nstrictly applicable to the Logos, or Mercury, the Word, apparently as an\nhonorable testimony borne to the Pagan deity by a barbarian--for such is\nwhat he calls the writer of John i. 1. His words are:\n\n     \"This plainly was the Word, by whom all things were made, he\n     being himself eternal, as Heraclitus also would say; and by\n     Jove, the same whom the _barbarian_ affirms to have been in\n     the place and dignity of a principal, and to be with God, and\n     to be God, by whom all things were made, and in whom\n     everything that was made has its life and being.\"[375:6]\n\nThe Christian Father, Justin Martyr, _apologizing_ for the Christian\nreligion, tells the Emperor Antoninus Pius, that the Pagans need not\ntaunt the Christians for worshiping the Logos, which \"was with God, and\nwas God,\" as _they were also guilty of the same act_.\n\n     \"If we (Christians) hold,\" says he, \"some opinions near of kin\n     to the poets and philosophers, in great repute among you, why\n     are we thus unjustly hated?\" \"There's _Mercury_, Jove's\n     interpreter, in imitation of the Logos, in worship among you,\"\n     and \"as to the Son of God, called Jesus, should we allow him\n     to be nothing more than man, yet the title of the 'Son of God'\n     is very justifiable, upon the account of his wisdom,\n     considering _you_ have your _Mercury_, (also called the 'Son\n     of God') in worship under the title of the _Word_ and\n     Messenger of God.\"[375:7]\n\nWe see, then, that the title \"Word\" or \"Logos,\" being applied to Jesus,\nis another piece of Pagan amalgamation with Christianity. _It did not\nreceive its authorized Christian form until the middle of the second\ncentury after Christ._[376:1]\n\nThe ancient Pagan _Romans_ worshiped a Trinity. An oracle is said to\nhave declared that there was, \"first God, then the Word, and with them\nthe Spirit.\"[376:2]\n\nHere we see distinctly enumerated, God, the Logos, and the Spirit or\nHoly Ghost, in ancient Rome, where the most celebrated temple of this\ncapital--that of Jupiter Capitolinus--was dedicated to _three_ deities,\nwhich three deities were honored with joint worship.[376:3]\n\nThe ancient _Persians_ worshiped a Trinity.[376:4] This trinity\nconsisted of Oromasdes, Mithras, and Ahriman.[376:5] It was virtually\nthe same as that of the Hindoos: Oromasdes was the Creator, Mithras was\nthe \"Son of God,\" the \"Saviour,\" the \"Mediator\" or \"Intercessor,\" and\nAhriman was the Destroyer. In the oracles of Zoroaster the Persian\nlawgiver, is to be found the following sentence:\n\n     \"A _Triad_ of Deity shines forth through the whole world, of\n     which a _Monad_ (an invisible thing) is the head.\"[376:6]\n\nPlutarch, \"De Iside et Osiride,\" says:\n\n     \"Zoroaster is said to have made a _threefold_ distribution of\n     things: to have assigned the first and highest rank to\n     Oromasdes, who, _in the Oracles_, is called the _Father_; the\n     lowest to Ahrimanes; and the middle to Mithras; who, in the\n     _same Oracles_, is called the _second Mind_.\"\n\nThe _Assyrians_ and _Phenicians_ worshiped a Trinity.[376:7]\n\n\"It is a curious and instructive fact, that the Jews had symbols of the\ndivine Unity in Trinity as well as the Pagans.\"[376:8] The _Cabbala_ had\nits Trinity: \"the _Ancient_, whose name is sanctified, is with _three_\nheads, which make but _one_.\"[376:9]\n\nRabbi Simeon Ben Jochai says:\n\n     \"Come and see the _mystery_ of the word _Elohim_: there are\n     _three degrees_, and each degree by itself alone, and yet,\n     notwithstanding, _they are all One_, and _joined together in\n     One_, and cannot be divided from each other.\"\n\nAccording to Dr. Parkhurst:\n\n     \"The _Vandals_[376:10] had a god called Triglaff. One of these\n     was found at Hertungerberg, near Brandenburg (in Prussia). He\n     was represented with _three heads_. This was apparently the\n     _Trinity of Paganism_.\"[377:1]\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ worshiped a triple deity who was yet one\ngod. It consisted of Odin, Thor, and Frey. A triune statue representing\nthis Trinity in Unity was found at Upsal in Sweden.[377:2] The three\nprincipal nations of Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, and Norway) vied with\neach other in erecting temples, but none were more famous than the\ntemple at Upsal in Sweden. It glittered on all sides with gold. It\nseemed to be particularly consecrated to the _Three Superior Deities_,\nOdin, Thor and Frey. The statues of these gods were placed in this\ntemple on three thrones, one above the other. _Odin_ was represented\nholding a sword in his hand: _Thor_ stood at the left hand of Odin, with\na crown upon his head, and a scepter in his hand; _Frey_ stood at the\nleft hand of Thor, and was represented of both sexes. Odin was the\nsupreme God, the _Al-fader_; Thor was the first-begotten son of this\ngod, and Frey was the bestower of fertility, peace and riches. King\nGylfi of Sweden is supposed to have gone at one time to _Asgard_ (the\nabode of the gods), where he beheld three thrones raised one above\nanother, with a man sitting on each of them. Upon his asking what the\nnames of these lords might be, his guide answered: \"He who sitteth on\nthe lowest throne is _the Lofty One_; the second is _the equal to the\nLofty One_; and he who sitteth on the highest throne is called _the\nThird_.\"[377:3]\n\nThe ancient _Druids_ also worshiped: \"_Ain Treidhe Dia ainm Taulac, Fan,\nMollac_;\" which is to say: \"Ain triple God, of name Taulac, Fan,\nMollac.\"[377:4]\n\nThe ancient inhabitants of _Siberia_ worshiped a triune God. In remote\nages, wanderers from India directed their eyes northward, and crossing\nthe vast Tartarian deserts, finally settled in Siberia, bringing with\nthem the worship of a triune God. This is clearly shown from the fact\nstated by Thomas Maurice, that:\n\n     \"The first Christian missionaries who arrived in those\n     regions, found the people already in possession of that\n     fundamental doctrine of the true religion, which, among\n     others, they came to impress upon their minds, and universally\n     adored an idol fabricated to resemble, as near as possible, _a\n     Trinity in Unity_.\"\n\nThis triune God consisted of, first \"the Creator of all things,\" second,\n\"the God of Armies,\" third, \"the Spirit of Heavenly Love,\" and yet these\nthree were but _one_ indivisible God.[377:5]\n\nThe _Tartars_ also worshiped God as a Trinity in Unity. On one of their\nmedals, which is now in the St. Petersburgh Museum, may be seen a\nrepresentation of the triple God seated on the lotus.[378:1]\n\nEven in the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean, the supreme deities are\nGod the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, the latter of which is\nsymbolized as a bird.[378:2]\n\nThe ancient _Mexicans_ and _Peruvians_ had their Trinity. The supreme\nGod of the Mexicans (_Tezcatlipoca_), who had, as Lord Kingsborough\nsays, \"all the attributes and powers which were assigned to Jehovah by\nthe Hebrews,\" had associated with him two other gods, _Huitzlipochtli_\nand _Tlaloc_; one occupied a place upon his left hand, the other on his\nright. This was the Trinity of the Mexicans.[378:3]\n\nWhen the bishop Don Bartholomew de las Casas proceeded to his bishopric,\nwhich was in 1545, he commissioned an ecclesiastic, whose name was\nFrancis Hernandez, who was well acquainted with the language of the\nIndians (as the natives were called), to visit them, carrying with him a\nsort of catechism of what he was about to preach. In about one year from\nthe time that Francis Hernandez was sent out, he wrote to Bishop las\nCasas, stating that:\n\n     \"The Indians believed in the God who was in heaven; that this\n     God was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that the Father\n     was named _Yzona_, the Son _Bacab_, who was born of a Virgin,\n     and that the Holy Ghost was called _Echiah_.\"[378:4]\n\nThe Rev. Father Acosta says, in speaking of the _Peruvians_:\n\n     \"It is strange that the devil after his manner hath brought a\n     Trinity into idolatry, for the three images of the Sun called\n     _Apomti_, _Churunti_, and _Intiquaoqui_, signifieth Father and\n     Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the Brother Sun.\n\n     \"Being in Chuquisaca, an honorable priest showed me an\n     information, which I had long in my hands, where it was proved\n     that there was a certain oratory, whereat the Indians did\n     worship an idol called _Tangatanga_, which they said was 'One\n     in Three, and Three in One.' And as this priest stood amazed\n     thereat, I said that the devil by his internal and obstinate\n     pride (whereby he always pretends to make himself God) did\n     steal all that he could from the truth, to employ it in his\n     lying and deceits.\"[378:5]\n\nThe doctrine was recognized among the Indians of the Californian\npeninsula. The statue of the principal deity of the New Granadian\nIndians had \"three heads on one body,\" and was understood to be \"three\npersons with one heart and one will.\"[378:6]\n\nThe result of our investigations then, is that, for ages before the\ntime of Christ Jesus or Christianity, God was worshiped in the form of a\nTRIAD, and that this doctrine was extensively diffused through all\nnations. That it was established in regions as far distant as China and\nMexico, and immemorially acknowledged through the whole extent of Egypt\nand India. That it flourished with equal vigor among the snowy mountains\nof Thibet, and the vast deserts of Siberia. That the barbarians of\ncentral Europe, the Scandinavians, and the Druids of Britain and\nIreland, bent their knee to an idol of a _Triune God_. What then becomes\nof \"the Ever-Blessed Trinity\" of Christianity? It must fall, together\nwith all the rest of its dogmas, and be buried with the Pagan d\u00e9bris.\n\nThe learned Thomas Maurice imagined that this mysterious doctrine must\nhave been revealed by God to Adam, or to Noah, or to Abraham, or to\nsomebody else. Notice with what caution he wrote (A. D. 1794) on this\nsubject. He says:\n\n     \"In the course of the wide range which I have been compelled\n     to take in the field of Asiatic mythology, certain topics have\n     arisen for discussion, _equally delicate and perplexing_.\n     Among them, in particular, a species of Trinity forms a\n     constant and prominent feature in nearly all the systems of\n     Oriental theology.\"\n\nAfter saying, \"_I venture with a trembling step_,\" and that, \"It was not\nfrom _choice_, but from _necessity_, that I entered thus upon this\nsubject,\" he concludes:\n\n     \"This extensive and interesting subject engrosses a\n     considerable portion of this work, _and my anxiety to prepare\n     the public mind to receive it_, my efforts to elucidate so\n     _mysterious_ a point of theology, induces me to remind the\n     candid reader, that visible traces of this doctrine are\n     discovered, not only in the _three_ principals of the Chaldaic\n     theology; in the _Triplasios_ Mithra of Persia; in the\n     _Triad_, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, of India--where it was\n     evidently promulgated in the Geeta, _fifteen hundred years\n     before the birth of Plato_;[379:1] but in the Numen Triplex of\n     Japan; in the inscription upon the famous medal found in the\n     deserts of Siberia, \"To the Triune God,\" to be seen at this\n     day in the valuable cabinet of the Empress, at St.\n     Petersburgh; in the Tanga-Tanga, or Three in One, of the South\n     Americans; and, finally, without mentioning the vestiges of it\n     in Greece, in the Symbol of the Wing, the Globe, and the\n     Serpent, conspicuous on most of the ancient temples of Upper\n     Egypt.\"[379:2]\n\nIt was a long time after the followers of Christ Jesus had made him _a_\nGod, before they ventured to declare that he was \"_God himself in human\nform_,\" and, \"_the second person in the Ever-Blessed Trinity_.\" It was\n_Justin Martyr, a Christian convert from the Platonic school_,[380:1]\nwho, about the middle of the second century, first promulgated the\nopinion, that Jesus of Nazareth, the \"Son of God,\" was the second\nprinciple in the Deity, and the Creator of all material things. He is\nthe earliest writer to whom the opinion can be traced. This knowledge,\nhe does not ascribe to the Scriptures, but to the special favor of\nGod.[380:2]\n\nThe passage in I. John, v. 7, which reads thus: \"For there are three\nthat bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,\nand these three are one,\" is _one of the numerous interpolations which\nwere inserted into the books of the New Testament, many years after\nthese books were written_.[380:3] These passages are retained and\ncirculated as the _word of God_, or as of equal authority with the rest,\nthough known and admitted by the learned on all hands, to be forgeries,\nwillful and wicked interpolations.\n\nThe subtle and profound questions concerning the nature, generation, the\ndistinction, and the quality of the three divine persons of the\nmysterious triad, or Trinity, were agitated in the philosophical and in\nthe Christian schools of _Alexandria in Egypt_,[380:4] but it was not a\npart of the established Christian faith until as late as A. D. 327, when\nthe question was settled at the Councils of Nice and Constantinople. _Up\nto this time there was no understood and recognized doctrine on this\nhigh subject._ The Christians were for the most part accustomed to use\nscriptural expressions in speaking of the Father, and the Son, and the\nSpirit, without defining articulately their relation to one\nanother.[380:5]\n\nIn these trinitarian controversies, which first broke out in\nEgypt--_Egypt, the land of Trinities_--the chief point in the discussion\nwas to define the position of \"the Son.\"\n\nThere lived in _Alexandria_ a presbyter of the name of _Arius_, a\ndisappointed candidate for the office of bishop. He took the ground\nthat there was a time when, from the very nature of _Sonship_, the Son\ndid not exist, and a time at which he commenced to be, asserting that it\nis the necessary condition of the filial relation _that a father must be\nolder than his son_. But this assertion evidently denied the\n_co-eternity_ of the three persons of the Trinity, it suggested a\n_subordination_ or _inequality_ among them, and indeed implied a time\nwhen the Trinity did not exist. Hereupon, the bishop, who had been the\nsuccessful competitor against Arius, displayed his rhetorical powers in\npublic debates on the question, and, the strife spreading, the Jews and\nPagans, who formed a very large portion of the population of Alexandria,\n_amused themselves with theatrical representations of the contest on the\nstage--the point of their burlesques being the equality of age of the\nFather and the Son_. Such was the violence the controversy at length\nassumed, that the matter had to be referred to the emperor\n(Constantine).\n\nAt first he looked upon the dispute as altogether frivolous, and perhaps\nin truth inclined to the assertion of Arius, that in the very nature of\nthe thing a father must be older than his son. So great, however, was\nthe pressure laid upon him, that he was eventually compelled to summon\nthe Council of Nicea, which, to dispose of the conflict, set forth a\nformulary or creed, and attached to it this anathema:\n\n     \"The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes those\n     who say that there was a time when the Son of God was not, and\n     that, before he was begotten, he was not, and that, he was\n     made out of nothing, or out of another substance or essence,\n     and is created, or changeable, or alterable.\"\n\nConstantine at once _enforced_ the decision of the council by the civil\npower.[381:1]\n\nEven after this \"subtle and profound question\" had been settled at the\nCouncil of Nice, those who settled it did not understand the question\nthey had settled. Athanasius, who was a member of the first general\ncouncil, and who is said to have written the _creed_ which bears his\nname, which asserts that the true Catholic faith is this:\n\n     \"That we worship _One_ God as Trinity, and Trinity in\n     Unity--neither confounding the persons nor dividing the\n     substance--for there is one person of the Father, another of\n     the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost, but the Godhead of the\n     Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost _is all one_,\n     the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal,\"\n\n--also confessed that whenever he forced his understanding to meditate\non the divinity of the Logos, his toilsome and unavailing efforts\nrecoiled on themselves; _that the more he thought the less he\ncomprehended; and the more he wrote the less capable was he of\nexpressing his thoughts_.[382:1]\n\nWe see, then, that this great question was settled, not by the consent\nof all members of the council, but simply because the _majority_ were in\nfavor of it. Jesus of Nazareth was \"God himself in human form;\" \"one of\nthe persons of the Ever-Blessed Trinity,\" who \"had no beginning, and\nwill have no end,\" _because the majority of the members of this council\nsaid so_. Hereafter--so it was decreed--_all must believe it_; if not,\nthey must not oppose it, but forever hold their peace.\n\nThe Emperor Theodosius declared his resolution of expelling from all the\nchurches of his dominions, the bishops and their clergy who should\nobstinately refuse to believe, _or at least to profess_, the doctrine of\nthe Council of Nice. His lieutenant, Sapor, was armed with the ample\npowers of a general law, a special commission, _and a military force_;\nand this ecclesiastical resolution was conducted _with so much\ndiscretion and vigor, that the religion of the Emperor was\nestablished_.[382:2]\n\nHere we have the historical fact, that bishops of the Christian church,\nand their clergy, _were forced to profess their belief in the doctrine\nof the Trinity_.\n\nWe also find that:\n\n     \"This orthodox Emperor (Theodosius) considered every heretic\n     (as he called those who did not believe as he and his\n     ecclesiastics professed) as a rebel against the supreme powers\n     of heaven and of earth (he being one of the supreme powers of\n     earth) _and each of the powers_ might exercise their peculiar\n     jurisdiction _over the soul and body of the guilty_.\n\n     \"The decrees of the Council of Constantinople had ascertained\n     the _true_ standard of the faith, _and the ecclesiastics, who\n     governed the conscience of Theodosius, suggested the most\n     effectual methods of persecution_. In the space of fifteen\n     years he promulgated at least fifteen severe edicts against\n     the heretics, _more especially against those who rejected the\n     doctrine of the Trinity_.\"[382:3]\n\nThus we see one of the many reasons why the \"most holy Christian\nreligion\" spread so rapidly.\n\nArius--who declared that in the nature of things a father must be older\nthan his son--was excommunicated for his so-called heretical notions\nconcerning the Trinity. His followers, who were very numerous, were\ncalled Arians. Their writings, if they had been permitted to\nexist,[383:1] would undoubtedly contain the lamentable story of the\npersecution which affected the church under the reign of the impious\nEmperor Theodosius.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[368:1] The celebrated passage (I. John, v. 7) \"For there are three that\nbear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and\nthese three are one,\" is now admitted on all hands to be an\ninterpolation into the epistle many centuries after the time of Christ\nJesus. (See Giles' Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 12.\nGibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 556. Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p.\n886. Taylor's Diegesis and Reber's Christ of Paul.)\n\n[368:2] That is, the _true_ faith.\n\n[368:3] Dogma Deity Jesus Christ, p. 95.\n\n[369:1] \"The notion of a _Triad_ of Supreme Powers is indeed common to\nmost ancient religions.\" (Prichard's Egyptian Mytho., p. 285.)\n\n\"Nearly all the Pagan nations of antiquity, in their various theological\nsystems, acknowledged a trinity in the divine nature.\" (Maurice: Indian\nAntiquities, vol. vi. p. 35.)\n\n\"The ancients imagined that their _triad_ of gods or persons, only\nconstituted one god.\" (Celtic Druids, p. 197.)\n\n[369:2] The three attributes called Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, are\nindicated by letters corresponding to our A. U. M., generally pronounced\nOM. This mystic word is never uttered except in prayer, and the sign\nwhich represents it in their temples is an object of profound adoration.\n\n[369:3] Monier Williams' Indian Wisdom, p. 324.\n\n[369:4] That is, the Lord and Saviour _Crishna_. The Supreme Spirit, in\norder to preserve the world, produced Vishnu. Vishnu came upon earth for\nthis purpose, in the form of Crishna. He was believed to be an\nincarnation of the Supreme Being, one of the persons of their holy and\nmysterious trinity, to use their language, \"The Lord and Savior--three\npersons and one god.\" In the Geita, Crishna is made to say: \"I am the\nLord of all created beings.\" \"I am the mystic figure O. M.\" \"I am\nBrahma Vishnu, and Siva, three gods in one.\"\n\n[369:5] See The Heathen Religion, p. 124.\n\n[370:1] Allen's India, pp. 382, 383.\n\n[370:2] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 272.\n\n[371:1] Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 372.\n\n[371:2] Taken from Moore's \"Hindoo Pantheon,\" plate 81.\n\n[371:3] Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. pp. 285, 286. See also, King's\nGnostics, 167.\n\n[372:1] Davis' China, vol. ii. p. 104.\n\n[372:2] Ibid. pp. 103 and 81.\n\n[372:3] Ibid. pp. 105, 106.\n\n[372:4] Ibid. pp. 103, 81.\n\n[372:5] Ibid. 110, 111. Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 36. Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., 150.\n\n[372:6] Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 41. Dupuis, p. 285. Dunlap's\nSpirit Hist., 150.\n\n[372:7] Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 41.\n\nThis Taou sect, according to John Francis Davis, and the Rev. Charles\nGutzlaff, both of whom have resided in China--call their trinity \"the\nthree pure ones,\" or \"the three precious ones in heaven.\" (See Davis'\nChina, vol. ii. p. 110, and Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 307.)\n\n[372:8] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 210.\n\n[372:9] Ibid.\n\n[373:1] Indian Antiquities, vol. i. p. 127.\n\n[373:2] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 14.\n\nThe following answer is stated by Manetho, an Egyptian priest, to have\nbeen given by an Oracle to Sesostris: \"On his return through Africa he\nentered the sanctuary of the Oracle, saying: 'Tell me, O thou strong in\nfire, who before me could subjugate all things? and who shall after me?'\nBut the Oracle rebuked him, saying, 'First, _God_; then the _Word_; and\nwith them, the _Spirit_.'\" (Nimrod, vol. i. p. 119, in Ibid. vol. i. p.\n805.)\n\nHere we have distinctly enumerated God, the Logos, and the Spirit or\nHoly Ghost, in a very early period, long previous to the Christian era.\n\n[373:3] I. John, v. 7. John, i. 1.\n\n[373:4] The _Alexandrian_ theology, of which the celebrated _Plato_ was\nthe chief representative, taught that the _Logos_ was \"_the second\nGod_;\" a being of divine essence, but distinguished from the Supreme\nGod. It is also called \"_the first-born Son of God_.\"\n\n\"The _Platonists_ furnished brilliant recruits to the Christian churches\nof Asia Minor and Greece, and brought with them their love for system\nand their idealism.\" \"It is in the Platonizing or Alexandrian, branch of\nJudaism that we must seek for the antecedents of the Christian doctrine\nof the _Logos_.\" (A. Revill\u00e9: Dogma Deity Jesus, p. 29.)\n\n[373:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102. _Mithras_, the Mediator,\nand Saviour of the Persians, was called the _Logos_. (See Dunlap's Son\nof the Man, p. 20. Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 75.) _Hermes_ was called\nthe _Logos_. (See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 39, _marginal note_.)\n\n[373:6] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 402.\n\n[374:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 404.\n\n[374:2] Ibid.\n\n[374:3] Ibid.\n\n[374:4] Ibid. p. 28.\n\n[374:5] Frothingham's Cradle of the Christ, p. 112.\n\n[374:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 307.\n\n[374:7] Orpheus is said to have been a native of Thracia, the oldest\npoet of Greece, and to have written before the time of Homer; but he is\nevidently a mythological character.\n\n[375:1] See Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 332, and Taylor's Diegesis,\np. 189.\n\n[375:2] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Orpheus.\"\n\n[375:3] Ibid., art. \"Plato.\"\n\n[375:4] John, i. 1.\n\n[375:5] The first that we know of this gospel for certain is during the\ntime of Iren\u00e6us, the great Christian forger.\n\n[375:6] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.\n\n[375:7] Apol. 1. ch. xx.-xxii.\n\n[376:1] See Fiske: Myths and Myth-makers, p. 205. _Celsus_ charges the\nChristians with a _recoinage_ of the misunderstood doctrine of the\nLogos.\n\n[376:2] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 105.\n\n[376:3] See Indian Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 158.\n\n[376:4] See Indian Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 346. Monumental\nChristianity, p. 65, and Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 819.\n\n[376:5] Ibid.\n\n[376:6] Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 259.\n\n[376:7] See Monumental Christianity, p. 65, and Ancient Faiths, vol. ii.\np. 819.\n\n[376:8] Monumental Christianity, p. 923. See also, Maurice's Indian\nAntiquities.\n\n[376:9] Idra Suta, Sohar, iii. 288. B. Franck, 138. Son of the Man, p.\n78.\n\n[376:10] _Vandals_--a race of European barbarians, either of Germanic or\nSlavonic origin.\n\n[377:1] Parkhurst: Hebrew Lexicon, Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 216.\n\n[377:2] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 169. Maurice: Indian\nAntiq., vol. v. p. 14, and Gross: The Heathen Religion, p. 210.\n\n[377:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.\n\n[377:4] Celtic Druids, p. 171; Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 123; and Myths of\nthe British Druids, p. 448.\n\n[377:5] Indian Antiquities, vol. v. pp. 8, 9.\n\n[378:1] Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 48.\n\n[378:2] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 169.\n\n[378:3] Squire: Serpent Symbol, pp. 179, 180. Mexican Ant., vol. vi. p.\n164.\n\n[378:4] Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 164.\n\n[378:5] Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 373. See also, Indian Antiq.,\nvol. v. p. 26, and Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 181.\n\n[378:6] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 181.\n\n[379:1] The ideas entertained concerning the antiquity of the Geeta, at\nthe time Mr. Maurice wrote his Indian Antiquities, were erroneous. This\nwork, as we have elsewhere seen, is not as old as he supposed. The\ndoctrine of the _Trimurti_ in India, however, is to be found in the\n_Veda_, and epic poems, which are of an antiquity long anterior to the\nrise of Christianity, preceding it by many centuries. (See Monier\nWilliams' Indian Wisdom, p. 324, and Hinduism, pp. 109, 110-115.)\n\n\"The grand cavern pagoda of Elephants, the oldest and most magnificent\ntemple in the world, is neither more nor less than a superb temple of a\nTriune God.\" (Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. iii. p. ix.)\n\n[379:2] Indian Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 125-127.\n\n[380:1] We have already seen that Plato and his followers taught the\ndoctrine of the Trinity centuries before the time of Christ Jesus.\n\n[380:2] Israel Worsley's Enquiry, p. 54. Quoted in Higgins' Anacalypsis,\nvol. i. p. 116.\n\n[380:3] \"The memorable test (I. John v. 7) which asserts the unity of\nthe three which bear witness in heaven, is condemned by the universal\nsilence of the orthodox Fathers, ancient versions, and authentic\nmanuscripts. It was first alleged by the Catholic Bishop whom Hunneric\nsummoned to the Conference of Carthage (A. D. 254), or, more properly,\nby the four bishops who composed and published the profession of faith,\nin the name of their brethren.\" (Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 556, and\nnote 117.) None of the ancient manuscripts now extant, above four-score\nin number, _contain this passage_. (Ibid. note 116.) In the eleventh and\ntwelfth centuries, the Bible was corrected. Yet, notwithstanding these\ncorrections, the passage is still wanting in twenty-five Latin\nmanuscripts. (Ibid. note 116. See also Dr. Giles' Hebrew and Christian\nRecords, vol. ii. p. 12. Dr. Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 886.\nRev. Robert Taylor's Diegesis, p. 421, and Reber's Christ of Paul.)\n\n[380:4] See Gibbon's Rome, ii. 309.\n\n[380:5] Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Trinity.\"\n\n[381:1] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 53, 54.\n\n[382:1] Athanasius, tom. i. p. 808. Quoted in Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p.\n310.\n\nGennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was so much amazed by the\nextraordinary composition called \"Athanasius' Creed,\" that he frankly\npronounced it to be the work of a drunken man. (Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii.\np. 555, note 114.)\n\n[382:2] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 87.\n\n[382:3] Ibid. pp. 91, 92.\n\n[383:1] All their writings were ordered to be destroyed, and any one\nfound to have them in his possession was severely punished.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\n\nPAGANISM IN CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\nOur assertion that that which is called Christianity is nothing more\nthan the religion of Paganism, we consider to have been fully verified.\nWe have found among the heathen, centuries before the time of Christ\nJesus, the belief in an incarnate God born of a virgin; his previous\nexistence in heaven; the celestial signs at the time of his birth; the\nrejoicing in heaven; the adoration by the magi and shepherds; the\nofferings of precious substances to the divine child; the slaughter of\nthe innocents; the presentation at the temple; the temptation by the\ndevil; the performing of miracles; the crucifixion by enemies; and the\ndeath, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. We have also found the\nbelief that this incarnate God was from all eternity; that he was the\nCreator of the world, and that he is to be Judge of the dead at the last\nday. We have also seen the practice of Baptism, and the sacrament of the\nLord's Supper or Eucharist, added to the belief in a Triune God,\nconsisting of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Let us now compare the\nChristian creed with ancient Pagan belief.\n\n_Christian Creed._\n\n1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:\n\n     _Ancient Pagan Belief._\n\n     1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and\n     earth:[384:1]\n\n2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, Our Lord.\n\n     2. And in his only Son, our Lord.[384:2]\n\n3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,\n\n     3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin\n     Mary.[384:3]\n\n4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.\n\n     4. Suffered under (whom it might be), was crucified, dead, and\n     buried.[384:4]\n\n5. He descended into Hell;\n\n     5. He descended into Hell;[385:1]\n\n6. The third day he rose again from the dead;\n\n     6. The third day he rose again from the dead;[385:2]\n\n7. He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the\nFather Almighty;\n\n     7. He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of\n     God the Father Almighty;[385:3]\n\n8. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.\n\n     8. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the\n     dead.[385:4]\n\n9. I believe in the Holy Ghost;\n\n     9. I believe in the Holy Ghost;[385:5]\n\n10. The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints;\n\n     10. The Holy Catholic Church,[385:6] the Communion of Saints;\n\n11. The forgiveness of sins;\n\n     11. The forgiveness of sins;[385:7]\n\n12. The resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.\n\n     12. The resurrection of the body; and the life\n     everlasting.[385:8]\n\nThe above is the so-called \"_Apostles' Creed_,\" as it now stands in the\nbook of common prayer of the United Church of England and Ireland, as by\nlaw established.\n\nIt is affirmed by Ambrose, that:\n\n     \"The twelve apostles, as skilled artificers, assembled\n     together, and made a key by their common advice, that is, the\n     Creed, by which the darkness of the devil is disclosed, that\n     the light of Christ may appear.\"\n\nOthers fable that every Apostle inserted an article, by which the Creed\nis divided into twelve articles.\n\nThe earliest account of its origin we have from Ruffinus, an historical\ncompiler and traditionist of the _fourth_ century, but not in the form\nin which it is known at present, it having been added to since that\ntime. The most important addition is that which affirms that Jesus\ndescended into hell, which has been added since A. D. 600.[385:9]\n\nBeside what we have already seen, the ancient Pagans had many beliefs\nand ceremonies which are to be found among the Christians. One of these\nis the story of \"_The War in Heaven_.\"\n\nThe New Testament version is as follows:\n\n     \"There was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought\n     against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels, and\n     prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in\n     heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,\n     called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,\n     he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out\n     with him.\"[386:1]\n\nThe cause of the revolt, it is said, was that Satan, who was then an\nangel, desired to be as great as God. The writer of Isaiah, xiv. 13, 14,\nis supposed to refer to it when he says:\n\n     \"Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I\n     will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also\n     upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the North;\n     I will ascend before the heights of the clouds; I will be like\n     the Most High.\"\n\nThe Catholic theory of the fall of the angels is as follows:\n\n     \"In the beginning, before the creation of heaven and earth,\n     God made the angels, free intelligences, and free wills, out\n     of his love He made them, that they might be eternally happy.\n     And that their happiness might be complete, he gave them the\n     perfection of a created nature, that is, he gave them freedom.\n     But happiness is only attained by the free will agreeing in\n     its freedom to accord with the will of God. Some of the angels\n     by an act of free will obeyed the will of God, and in such\n     obedience found perfect happiness. Other angels, by an act of\n     free will, rebelled against the will of God, and in such\n     disobedience found misery.\"[386:2]\n\nThey were driven out of heaven, after having a combat with the obedient\nangels, and cast into hell. The writer of second _Peter_ alludes to it\nin saying that God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down\ninto hell.[386:3]\n\nThe writer of _Jude_ also alludes to it in saying:\n\n     \"The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their\n     own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under\n     darkness unto the judgment of the great day.\"[386:4]\n\nAccording to the _Talmudists_, Satan, whose proper name is Sammael, was\none of the Seraphim of heaven, with six wings.\n\n     \"He was not driven out of heaven until after he had led Adam\n     and Eve into sin; then Sammael and his host were precipitated\n     out of the place of bliss, with God's curse to weigh them\n     down. In the struggle between Michael and Sammael, the falling\n     Seraph caught the wings of Michael, and tried to drag him down\n     with him, but God saved him, when Michael derived his\n     name,--the Rescued.\"[386:5]\n\nSammael was formerly chief among the angels of God, and now he is\nprince among devils. His name is derived from Simme, which means, to\nblind and deceive. He stands on the left side of men. He goes by various\nnames; such as \"The Old Serpent,\" \"The Unclean Spirit,\" \"Satan,\"\n\"Leviathan,\" and sometimes also \"Asael.\"[387:1]\n\nAccording to _Hindoo_ mythology, there is a legion of evil spirits\ncalled _Rakshasas_, who are governed by a prince named _Ravana_. These\nRakshasas are continually aiming to do injury to mankind, and are the\nsame who fought desperate battles with _Indra_, and his Spirits of\nLight. They would have taken his paradise by storm, and subverted the\nwhole order of the universe, if Brahma had not sent _Vishnou_ to\ncircumvent their plans.\n\nIn the _Aitareya-brahmana_ (Hindoo) written, according to Prof. Monier\nWilliams, seven or eight centuries B. C., we have the following legend:\n\n     \"The gods and demons were engaged in warfare.\n     The evil demons, like to mighty kings,\n     Made these worlds castles; then they formed the earth\n     Into an iron citadel, the air\n     Into a silver fortress, and the sky\n     Into a fort of gold. Whereat the gods\n     Said to each other, 'Frame me other worlds\n     In opposition to these fortresses.'\n     Then they constructed sacrificial places,\n     Where they performed a triple burnt oblation.\n     By the first sacrifice they drove the demons\n     Out of their earthly fortress, by the second\n     Out of the air, and by the third oblation\n     Out of the sky. Thus were the evil spirits\n     Chased by the gods in triumph from the worlds.\"[387:2]\n\nThe ancient _Egyptians_ were familiar with the tale of the war in\nheaven; and the legend of the revolt against the god Ra, the Heavenly\nFather, and his destruction of the revolters, was discovered by M.\nNaville in one of the tombs at Biban-el-moluk.[387:3]\n\nThe same story is to be found among the ancient _Persian_ legends, and\nis related as follows:\n\n     \"Ahriman, the devil, was not created evil by the eternal one,\n     but he became evil by revolting against his will. This revolt\n     resulted in a 'war in heaven.' In this war the _Iveds_ (good\n     angels) fought against the _Divs_ (rebellious ones) headed by\n     _Ahriman_, and flung the conquered into Douzahk or\n     hell.\"[387:4]\n\nAn extract from the Persian _Zend-avesta_ reads as follows:\n\n     \"_Ahriman_ interrupted the order of the universe, raised an\n     army against _Ormuzd_, and having maintained a fight against\n     him during ninety days, was at length vanquished by Honover,\n     the divine Word.\"[388:1]\n\nThe _Assyrians_ had an account of a war in heaven, which was like that\ndescribed in the book of Enoch and the Revelation.[388:2]\n\nThis legend was also to be found among the ancient Greeks, in the\nstruggle of the _Titans_ against _Jupiter_. Titan and all his rebellious\nhost were cast out of heaven, and imprisoned in the dark abyss.[388:3]\n\nAmong the legends of the ancient _Mexicans_ was found this same story of\nthe war in heaven, and the downfall of the rebellious angels.[388:4]\n\n\"The natives of the _Caroline Islands_ (in the North Pacific Ocean),\nrelated that one of the inferior gods, named _Merogrog_, was driven by\nthe other gods out of heaven.\"[388:5]\n\nWe see, therefore, that this also was an almost universal legend.\n\nThe belief in _a future life_ was almost universal among nations of\nantiquity. The _Hindoos_ have believed from time immemorial that man has\nan invisible body within the material body; that is, a soul.\n\nAmong the ancient _Egyptians_ the same belief was to be found. All the\ndead, both men and women, were spoken of as \"_Osiriana_;\" by which they\nintended to signify \"gone to Osiris.\"\n\nTheir belief in One Supreme Being, and the immortality of the soul, must\nhave been very ancient; for on a monument, which dates ages before\nAbraham is said to have lived, is found this epitaph: \"May thy soul\nattain to the Creator of all mankind.\" Sculptures and paintings in these\ngrand receptacles of the dead, as translated by Champollion, represent\nthe deceased ushered into the world of spirits by funeral deities, who\nannounce, \"A soul arrived in Amenti.\"[388:6]\n\nThe Hindoo idea of a subtile invisible body within the material body,\nreappeared in the description of Greek poets. They represented the\nconstitution of man as consisting of three principles: the soul, the\ninvisible body, and the material body. The invisible body they called\nthe ghost or shade, and considered it as the material portion of the\nsoul. At death, the soul, clothed in this subtile body, went to enjoy\nparadise for a season, or suffer in hell till its sins were expiated.\nThis paradise was called the \"Elysian Fields,\" and the hell was called\nTartarus.\n\nThe paradise, some supposed to be a part of the lower world, some placed\nthem in a middle zone in the air, some in the moon, and others in\nfar-off isles in the ocean. There shone more glorious sun and stars than\nilluminated this world. The day was always serene, the air forever pure,\nand a soft, celestial light clothed all things in transfigured beauty.\nMajestic groves, verdant meadows, and blooming gardens varied the\nlandscape. The river Eridanus flowed through winding banks fringed with\nlaurel. On its borders lived heroes who had died for their country,\npriests who had led a pure life, artists who had embodied genuine beauty\nin their work, and poets who had never degraded their muse with subjects\nunworthy of Apollo. There each one renewed the pleasures in which he\nformerly delighted. Orpheus, in long white robes, made enrapturing music\non his lyre, while others danced and sang. The husband rejoined his\nbeloved wife; old friendships were renewed, the poet repeated his\nverses, and the charioteer managed his horses.\n\nSome souls wandered in vast forests between Tartarus and Elysium, not\ngood enough for one, or bad enough for the other. Some were purified\nfrom their sins by exposure to searching winds, others by being\nsubmerged in deep waters, others by passing through intense fires. After\na long period of probation and suffering, many of them gained the\nElysian Fields. This belief is handed down to our day in the Roman\nCatholic idea of _Purgatory_.\n\nA belief in the existence of the soul after death was indicated in all\nperiods of history of the world, by the fact that man was always\naccustomed to address prayers to the spirits of their ancestors.[389:1]\n\nThese _heavens_ and _hells_ where men abode after death, vary, in\ndifferent countries, according to the likes and dislikes of each nation.\n\nAll the Teutonic nations held to a fixed Elysium and a hell, where the\nvaliant and the just were rewarded, and where the cowardly and the\nwicked suffered punishment. As all nations have made a god, and that god\nhas resembled the persons who made it, so have all nations made a\nheaven, and that heaven corresponds to the fancies of the people who\nhave created it.\n\nIn the prose Edda there is a description of the joys of _Valhalla_ (the\nHall of the Chosen), which states that: \"All men who have fallen in\nfight since the beginning of the world are gone to Odin (the Supreme\nGod), in Valhalla.\" A mighty band of men are there, \"and every day, as\nsoon as they have dressed themselves, they ride out into the court (or\nfield), and there fight until they cut each other into pieces. This is\ntheir pastime, but when the meal-tide approaches, they remount their\nsteeds, and return to drink in _Valhalla_. As it is said (in\nVafthrudnis-mal):\n\n     'The Einherjar all\n     On Odin's plain\n     Hew daily each other,\n     While chosen the slain are.\n     From the frey they then ride,\n     And drink ale with the \u00c6sir.'\"[390:1]\n\nThis description of the palace of Odin is a natural picture of the\nmanners of the ancient Scandinavians and Germans. Prompted by the wants\nof their climate, and the impulse of their own temperament, they formed\nto themselves a delicious paradise in their own way; where they were to\neat and drink, and fight. The women, to whom they assigned a place\nthere, were introduced for no other purpose but to fill their cups.\n\nThe Mohammedan paradise differs from this. Women _there_, are for man's\npleasure. The day is always serene, the air forever pure, and a soft\ncelestial light clothes all things in transfigured beauty. Majestic\ngroves, verdant meadows, and blooming gardens vary the landscape. There,\nin radiant halls, dwell the departed, ever blooming and beautiful, ever\nlaughing and gay.\n\nThe American Indian calculates upon finding successful chases after wild\nanimals, verdant plains, and no winter, as the characteristics of his\n\"future life.\"\n\nThe red Indian, when told by a missionary that in the \"promised land\"\nthey would neither eat, drink, hunt, nor marry a wife, contemptuously\nreplied, that instead of wishing to go there, he should deem his\nresidence in such a place as the greatest possible calamity. Many not\nonly rejected such a destiny for themselves, but were indignant at the\nattempt to decoy their children into such a comfortless region.\n\nAll nations of the earth have had their heavens. As Moore observes:\n\n     \"A heaven, too, ye must have, ye lords of dust--\n     A splendid paradise, poor souls, ye must:\n     That prophet ill sustains his holy call\n     Who finds not heavens to suit the tastes of all.\n     Vain things! as lust or _vanity_ inspires,\n     The heaven of each is but what each desires.\"\n\n_Heaven_ was born of the sky,[391:1] and nurtured by cunning priests,\nwho made man a coward and a slave.\n\n_Hell_ was built by priests, and nurtured by the fears and servile\nfancies of man during the ages when dungeons of torture were a\nrecognized part of every government, and when God was supposed to be an\ninfinite tyrant, with infinite resources of vengeance.\n\n_The devil_ is an imaginary being, invented by primitive man to account\nfor the existence of evil, and relieve God of his responsibility. The\nfamous Hindoo _Rakshasas_ of our Aryan ancestors--the dark and evil\n_clouds_ personified--are the originals of all devils. The cloudy shape\nhas assumed a thousand different forms, horrible or grotesque and\nludicrous, to suit the changing fancies of the ages.\n\nBut strange as it may appear, the god of one nation became the devil of\nanother.\n\nThe rock of Behistun, the sculptured chronicle of the glories of Darius,\nking of Persia, situated on the western frontier of Media, on the\nhigh-road from Babylon to the eastward, was used as a \"holy of holies.\"\nIt was named _Bagistane_--\"the place of the _Baga_\"--referring to\nOrmuzd, chief of the Bagas. When examined with the lenses of linguistic\nscience, the \"_Bogie_\" or \"_Bug-a-boo_\" or \"_Bugbear_\" of nursery lore,\nturns out to be identical with the Slavonic \"_Bog_\" and the \"_Baga_\" of\nthe cuneiform inscriptions, both of which are names of the _Supreme\nBeing_. It is found also in the old Aryan \"_Bhaga_,\" who is described in\na commentary of the _Rig-Veda_ as the lord of life, the giver of bread,\nand the bringer of happiness. Thus, the same name which, to the _Vedic_\npoet, to the Persian of the time of Xerxes, and to the modern Russian,\nsuggests the supreme majesty of deity, is in English associated with an\nugly and ludicrous fiend. Another striking illustration is to be found\nin the word _devil_ itself. When traced back to its primitive source, it\nis found to be a name of the Supreme Being.[391:2]\n\nThe ancients had a great number of festival days, many of which are\nhanded down to the present time, and are to be found in Christianity.\n\nWe have already seen that the 25th of December was almost a universal\nfestival among the ancients; so it is the same with the _spring_\nfestivals, when days of fasting are observed.\n\nThe _Hindoos_ hold a festival, called _Siva-ratri_, in honor of _Siva_,\nabout the middle or end of February. _A strict fast is observed during\nthe day._ They have also a festival in April, when a strict fast is kept\nby some.[392:1]\n\nAt the _spring equinox_ most nations of antiquity set apart a day to\nimplore the blessings of their god, or gods, on the fruits of the earth.\nAt the autumnal equinox, they offered the fruits of the harvest, and\nreturned thanks. In China, these religious solemnities are called\n\"Festivals of gratitude to Tien.\"[392:2] The last named corresponds to\n_our_ \"Thanksgiving\" celebration.\n\nOne of the most considerable festivals held by the ancient\n_Scandinavians_ was the _spring_ celebration. This was held in honor of\nOdin, at the beginning of spring, in order to welcome in that pleasant\nseason, and to obtain of their god happy success in their projected\nexpeditions.\n\nAnother festival was held toward the autumn equinox, when they were\naccustomed to kill all their cattle in good condition, and lay in a\nstore of provision for the winter. This festival was also attended with\nreligious ceremonies, when Odin, the supreme god, was thanked for what\nhe had given them, by having his altar loaded with the fruits of their\ncrops, and the choicest products of the earth.[392:3]\n\nThere was a grand celebration in Egypt, called the \"Feast of Lamps,\"\nheld at Sais, in honor of the goddess Neith. Those who did not attend\nthe ceremony, as well as those who did, burned lamps before their houses\nall night, filled with oil and salt: thus all Egypt was illuminated. It\nwas deemed a great irreverence to the goddess for any one to omit this\nceremony.[392:4]\n\nThe _Hindoos_ also held a festival in honor of the goddesses Lakshmi and\nBhavanti, called \"_The feast of Lamps_.\"[392:5] This festival has been\nhanded down to the present time in what is called \"Candlemas day,\" or\nthe purification of the Virgin Mary.\n\nThe most celebrated Pagan festival held by modern Christians is that\nknown as \"_Sunday_,\" or the \"Lord's day.\"\n\nAll the principal nations of antiquity kept the _seventh_ day of the\nweek as a \"holy day,\" just as the ancient Israelites did. This was owing\nto the fact that they consecrated the days of the week to the Sun, the\nMoon, and the five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.\n_The seventh day was sacred to Saturn from time immemorial._ Homer and\nHesiod call it the \"Holy Day.\"[393:1] The people generally visited the\ntemples of the gods, on that day, and offered up their prayers and\nsupplications.[393:2] The Acadians, thousands of years ago, kept holy\nthe 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of each month as _Salum_ (rest), on which\ncertain works were forbidden.[393:3] The _Arabs_ anciently worshiped\nSaturn under the name of Hobal. In his hands he held _seven_ arrows,\nsymbols of the planets that preside over the seven days of the\nweek.[393:4] The _Egyptians_ assigned a day of the week to the sun,\nmoon, and five planets, and the number _seven_ was held there in great\nreverence.[393:5]\n\nThe planet _Saturn_ very early became the chief deity of Semitic\nreligion. Moses consecrated the number seven to him.[393:6]\n\nIn the _old_ conception, which finds expression in the Decalogue in\nDeuteronomy (v. 15), the Sabbath has a purely theocratic significance,\nand is intended to remind the Hebrews of their miraculous deliverance\nfrom the land of Egypt and bondage. When the story of _Creation_ was\nborrowed from the _Babylonians_, the celebration of the Sabbath was\nestablished on entirely new grounds (Ex. xx. 11), for we find it is\nbecause the \"Creator,\" after his six days of work, rested on the\nseventh, that the day should be kept holy.\n\nThe Assyrians kept this day holy. Mr. George Smith says:\n\n     \"In the year 1869, I discovered among other things a curious\n     religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is\n     divided into four weeks, and the _seventh_ days or\n     '_Sabbaths_,' are marked out as days on which no work should\n     be undertaken.\"[393:7]\n\nThe ancient _Scandinavians_ consecrated one day in the week to their\nSupreme God, _Odin_ or _Wodin_.[393:8] Even at the present time we call\nthis day _Odin's-day_.[393:9]\n\nThe question now arises, how was the great festival day changed from\nthe _seventh_--Saturn's day--to the _first_--_Sun_-day--among the\nChristians?\n\n\"If we go back to the founding of the church, we find that the most\nmarked feature of that age, so far as the church itself is concerned, is\nthe grand division between the 'Jewish faction,' as it was called, and\nthe followers of Paul. This division was so deep, so marked, so\ncharacteristic, that it has left its traces all through the New\nTestament itself. It was one of the grand aspects of the time, and the\npoint on which they were divided was simply this: the followers of\nPeter, those who adhered to the teachings of the central church in\nJerusalem, held that all Christians, both converted Jews and Gentiles,\nwere under obligation to keep the Mosaic law, ordinances, and\ntraditions. That is, a Christian, according to their definition, was\nfirst a Jew; Christianity was something _added to_ that, not something\ntaking the place of it.\n\n\"We find this controversy raging violently all through the early\nchurches, and splitting them into factions, so that they were the\noccasion of prayer and counsel. Paul took the ground distinctly that\nChristianity, while it might be spiritually the lineal successor of\nJudaism, was not Judaism; and that he who became a Christian, whether a\nconverted Jew or Gentile, was under no obligation whatever to keep the\nJewish law, so far as it was separate from practical matters of life and\ncharacter. We find this intimated in the writings of Paul; for we have\nto go to the New Testament for the origin of that which, we find,\nexisted immediately after the New Testament was written. Paul says: 'One\nman esteemeth one day above another: another man esteemeth every day\nalike' (Rom. xiv. 5-9). He leaves it an open question; they can do as\nthey please. Then: 'Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I\nam afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain' (Gal. iv.\n10, 11). And if you will note this Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, you\nwill find that the whole purpose of his writing it was to protest\nagainst what he believed to be the viciousness of the Judaizing\ninfluences. That is, he says: 'I have come to preach to you the perfect\ntruth, that Christ hath made us free; and you are going back and taking\nupon yourselves this yoke of bondage. My labor is being thrown away; my\nefforts have been in vain.' Then he says, in his celebrated Epistle to\nthe Colossians, that has never yet been explained away or met: 'Let no\nman therefore judge you any more in meat, or in drink, or in respect of\nan holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days' (Col. ii. 16,\n17), distinctly abrogating the binding authority of the Sabbath on the\nChristian church. So that, if Paul's word anywhere means anything--if\nhis authority is to be taken as of binding force on any point\nwhatever--then Paul is to be regarded as authoritatively and distinctly\nabrogating the Sabbath, and declaring that it is no longer binding on\nthe Christian church.\"[395:1]\n\nThis breach in the early church, this controversy, resulted at last in\nPaul's going up to Jerusalem \"to meet James and the representatives of\nthe Jerusalem church, to see if they could find any common platform of\nagreement--if they could come together so that they could work with\nmutual respect and without any further bickering. What is the platform\nthat they met upon? It was distinctly understood that those who wished\nto keep up the observance of Judaism should do so; and the church at\nJerusalem gave Paul this grand freedom, substantially saying to him: 'Go\nback to your missionary work, found churches, and teach them that they\nare perfectly free in regard to all Mosaic and Jewish observances, save\nonly these four: Abstain from pollutions of idols, from fornication,\nfrom things strangled, and from blood.\"[395:2]\n\nThe point to which our attention is forcibly drawn is, that the question\nof Sabbath-keeping is one of those that is left out. The point that Paul\nhad been fighting for was conceded by the central church at Jerusalem,\nand he was to go out thenceforth free, so far as that was concerned, in\nhis teaching of the churches that he should found.\n\nThere is no mention of the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, as binding in the\nNew Testament. What, then, was the actual condition of affairs? What did\nthe churches do in the first three hundred years of their existence?\nWhy, they did just what Paul and the Jerusalem church had agreed upon.\nThose who wished to keep the Jewish Sabbath did so; and those who did\nnot wish to, did not do so. This is seen from the fact that Justin\nMartyr, a Christian Father who flourished about A. D. 140, did not\nobserve the day. In his \"Dialogue\" with Typho, the Jew reproaches the\nChristians for not keeping the \"Sabbath.\" Justin admits the charge by\nsaying:\n\n     \"Do you not see that the Elements keep no Sabbaths and are\n     never idle? Continue as you were created. If there was no need\n     of circumcision before Abraham's time, and no need of the\n     Sabbath, of festivals and oblations, before the time of Moses,\n     _neither of them are necessary after the coming of Christ_. If\n     any among you is guilty of perjury, fraud, or other crimes,\n     let him cease from them and repent, and he will have kept\n     _the_ kind of Sabbath pleasing to God.\"\n\nThere was no binding authority then, among the Christians, as to\nwhether they should keep the first or the seventh day of the week holy,\nor not, until the time of the first Christian Roman Emperor.\n\"_Constantine, a Sun worshiper, who had, as other Heathen, kept the\nSun-day, publicly ordered this to supplant the Jewish Sabbath._\"[396:1]\nHe commanded that this day should be kept holy, throughout the whole\nRoman empire, and sent an edict to all governors of provinces to this\neffect.[396:2] _Thus we see how the great Pagan festival, in honor of\nSol the invincible, was transformed into a Christian holy-day._\n\nNot only were Pagan festival days changed into Christian holy-days, but\nPagan idols were converted into Christian saints, and Pagan temples into\nChristian churches.\n\nA Pagan temple at Rome, formerly sacred to the \"_Bona Dea_\" (the \"Good\nGoddess\"), was Christianized and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In a\nplace formerly sacred to Apollo, there now stands the church of Saint\nApollinaris. Where there anciently stood the temple of Mars, may now be\nseen the church of Saint Martine.[396:3] A Pagan temple, originally\ndedicated to \"_C\u00e6lestis Dea_\" (the \"Heavenly Goddess\"), by one Aurelius,\na Pagan high-priest, was converted into a Christian church by another\nAurelius, created Bishop of Carthage in the year 390 of Christ. He\nplaced his episcopal chair in the very place where the statue of the\nHeavenly Goddess had stood.[396:4]\n\nThe noblest heathen temple now remaining in the world, is the _Pantheon_\nor _Rotunda_, which, as the inscription over the portico informs us,\nhaving been _impiously_ dedicated of old by Agrippa to \"Jove and all the\ngods,\" was _piously_ reconsecrated by Pope Boniface the Fourth, to \"The\nMother of God and all the Saints.\"[396:5]\n\nThe church of Saint Reparatae, at Florence, was formerly a Pagan temple.\nAn inscription was found in the foundation of this church, of these\nwords: \"To the Great Goddess Nutria.\"[396:6] The church of St. Stephen,\nat Bologna, was formed from heathen temples, one of which was a temple\nof Isis.[396:7]\n\nAt the southern extremity of the present Forum at Rome, and just under\nthe Palatine hill--where the noble babes, who, miraculously preserved,\nbecame the founders of a state that was to command the world, were\nexposed--stands the church of St. Theodore.\n\nThis temple was built in honor of Romulus, and the brazen\nwolf--commemorating the curious manner in which the founders of Rome\nwere nurtured--occupied a place here till the sixteenth century. And, as\nthe Roman matrons of old used to carry their children, when ill, to the\ntemple of Romulus, so too, the women still carry their children to St.\nTheodore on the same occasions.\n\nIn _Christianizing_ these Pagan temples, free use was made of the\nsculptured and painted stones of heathen monuments. In some cases they\nevidently painted over one name, and inserted another. This may be seen\nfrom the following\n\nINSCRIPTIONS FORMERLY IN PAGAN TEMPLES.\n\n1. To Mercury and Minerva, Tutelary Gods.\n\n_and_\n\n     INSCRIPTIONS NOW IN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.\n\n     1. To St. Mary and St. Francis, My Tutelaries.\n\n2. To the Gods who preside over this Temple.\n\n     2. To the Divine Eustrogius, who presides over this Temple.\n\n3. To the Divinity of Mercury the Availing, the Powerful, the\nUnconquered.\n\n     3. To the Divinity of St. George the Availing, the Powerful,\n     the Unconquered.\n\n4. Sacred to the Gods and Goddesses, with Jove the best and greatest.\n\n     4. Sacred to the presiding helpers, St. George and St.\n     Stephen, with God the best and greatest.\n\n5. Venus' Pigeon.\n\n     5. The Holy Ghost represented as a Pigeon.\n\n6. The Mystical Letters I. H. S.[397:1]\n\n     6. The Mystical Letters I. H. S.[397:2]\n\nIn many cases the _Images_ of the Pagan gods were allowed to remain in\nthese temples, and, after being _Christianized_, continued to receive\ndivine honors.[397:3]\n\n\"In St. Peter's, Rome, is a statue of _Jupiter_, deprived of his\nthunderbolt, which is replaced by the emblematic keys. In like manner,\nmuch of the religion of the lower orders, which we regard as essentially\n_Christian_, is ancient _heathenism_, refitted with Christian\nsymbols.\"[397:4] We find that as early as the time of St. Gregory,\nBishop of Neo-Cesarea (A. D. 243), the \"simple\" and \"unskilled\"\nmultitudes of Christians were allowed to pay divine honors to these\nimages, hoping that in the process of time they would learn\nbetter.[398:1] In fact, as Prof. Draper says:\n\n     \"Olympus was restored, but the divinities passed under other\n     names. The more powerful provinces insisted upon the adoption\n     of their time-honored conceptions. . . . Not only was the\n     adoration of _ISIS_ under a new name restored, but even her\n     image, standing on the crescent moon, reappeared. The\n     well-known effigy of that goddess with the infant Horus in her\n     arms, has descended to our days in the beautiful, artistic\n     creations of the Madonna and child. Such restorations of old\n     conceptions under novel forms were everywhere received with\n     delight. When it was announced to the Ephesians, that the\n     Council of that place, headed by Cyril, had declared that the\n     Virgin (Mary) should be called the '_Mother of God_,' with\n     tears of joy they embraced the knees of their bishop; it was\n     the old instinct cropping out; their ancestors would have done\n     the same for Diana.\"[398:2]\n\n          \"O bright goddess; once again\n           Fix on earth thy heav'nly reign;\n           Be thy sacred name ador'd,\n           Altars rais'd, and rites restor'd.\"\n\nNestorius, Bishop of Constantinople from 428 A. D., refused to call Mary\n\"_the mother of God_,\" on the ground that she could be the mother of the\nhuman nature only, which the divine Logos used as its organ. Cyril,\nBishop of Alexandria, did all in his power to stir up the minds of the\npeople against Nestorius; the consequence was that, both at Rome and at\nAlexandria, Nestorius was accused of heresy. The dispute grew more\nbitter, and Theodosius II. thought it necessary to convoke an\nOEcumenical Council at Ephesus in 431. On this, as on former occasions,\nthe affirmative party overruled the negative. The person of Mary began\nto rise in the new empyrean. The paradoxical name of \"_Mother of God_\"\npleased the popular piety. Nestorius was condemned, and died in exile.\n\nThe shrine of many an old hero was filled by the statue of some\nimaginary saint.\n\n     \"They have not always\" (says Dr. Conyers Middleton), \"as I am\n     well informed, given themselves the trouble of making even\n     this change, but have been contented sometimes to take up with\n     the _old image_, just as they found it; after baptizing it\n     only, as it were, or consecrating it anew, by the imposition\n     of a Christian name. This their antiquaries do not scruple to\n     put strangers in mind of, in showing their churches, as it\n     was, I think, in that of St. Agnes, where they showed me an\n     antique statue of a young _BACCHUS_, which, with a new name,\n     and some little change of drapery, stands now worshiped under\n     the title of a female saint.\"[398:3]\n\nIn many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the \"Holy Family,\" of\nextreme antiquity, the grounds of them often of gold.\n\nThese pictures represent the mother with a child on her knee, and a\nlittle boy standing close by her side; the _Lamb_ is generally seen in\nthe picture. They are inscribed \"_Deo Soli_,\" and are simply ancient\nrepresentations of Isis and Horus. The _Lamb_ is \"The Lamb that taketh\naway the sins of the world,\" which, as we have already seen, was\nbelieved on in the Pagan world centuries before the time of Christ\nJesus.[399:1] Some half-pagan Christian went so far as to forge a book,\nwhich he attributed to Christ Jesus himself, which was for the purpose\nof showing that he--Christ Jesus--was in no way against these heathen\ngods.[399:2]\n\nThe _Icelanders_ were induced to embrace Christianity, with its legends\nand miracles, and sainted divinities, as the Christian monks were ready\nto substitute for Thor, their warrior-god, Michael, the warrior-angel;\nfor Freyja, their goddess, the Virgin Mary; and for the god Vila, a St.\nValentine--probably manufactured for the occasion.\n\n\"The statues of Jupiter, Apollo, Mercury, Orpheus, did duty for _The\nChrist_.[399:3] The Thames River god officiates at the baptism of Jesus\nin the Jordan. Peter holds the keys of Janus.[399:4] Moses wears the\nhorns of Jove. Ceres, Cybele, Demeter assume new names, as '_Queen of\nHeaven_,' '_Star of the Sea_,' '_Maria Illuminatrix_;' Dionysius is St.\nDenis; Cosmos is St. Cosmo; Pluto and Proserpine resign their seats in\nthe hall of final judgment to the Christ and his mother. The Parc\u00e6\ndepute one of their number, Lachesis, the disposer of lots, to set the\nstamp of destiny upon the deaths of Christian believers. The _aura\nplacida_ of the poets, the gentle breeze, is personified as Aura and\nPlacida. The _perpetua felicitas_ of the devotee becomes a lovely\npresence in the forms of St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas, guardian angels\nof the pious soul. No relic of Paganism was permitted to remain in its\ncasket. The depositories were all ransacked. The shadowy hands of\nEgyptian priests placed the urn of holy water at the porch of the\nbasilica, which stood ready to be converted into a temple. Priests of\nthe most ancient faiths of Palestine, Assyria, Babylon, Thebes, Persia\nwere permitted to erect the altar at the point where the transverse beam\nof the cross meets the main stem. The hands that constructed the temple\nin cruciform shape had long become too attenuated to cast the faintest\nshadow. There Devaki with the infant Crishna, Maya with the babe Buddha,\nJuno with the child Mars, represent Mary with Jesus in her arms. Coarse\nemblems are not rejected; the Assyrian dove is a tender symbol of the\nHoly Ghost. The rag-bags and toy boxes were explored. A bauble which the\nRoman schoolboy had thrown away was picked up, and called an '_agnus\ndei_.' The musty wardrobes of forgotten hierarchies furnished costumes\nfor the officers of the new prince. Alb and chasuble recalled the\nfashions of Numa's day. The cast-off purple habits and shoes of Pagan\nemperors beautified the august persons of Christian popes. The cardinals\nmust be contented with the robes once worn by senators. Zoroaster bound\nabout the monks the girdle he invented as a protection against evil\nspirits, and clothed them in the frocks he had found convenient for his\nritual. The pope thrust out his foot to be kissed, as Caligula,\nHeliogabalus, and Julius Cesar had thrust out theirs. Nothing came amiss\nto the faith that was to discharge henceforth the offices of spiritual\nimpression.\"[400:1]\n\nThe ascetic and monastic life practiced by some Christians of the\npresent day, is of great antiquity. Among the Buddhists there are\npriests who are ordained, tonsured, live in monasteries, and make vows\nof celibacy. There are also nuns among them, whose vows and discipline\nare the same as the priests.[400:2]\n\nThe close resemblance between the ancient religion of _Thibet_ and\n_Nepaul_--where the worship of a crucified God was found--and the Roman\nCatholic religion of the present day, is very striking. In Thibet was\nfound the pope, or head of the religion, whom they called the \"Dalai\nLama;\"[400:3] they use holy water, they celebrate a sacrifice with bread\nand wine; they give extreme unction, pray for the sick; they have\nmonasteries, and convents for women; they chant in their services, have\nfasts; they worship one God in a trinity, believe in a hell, heaven, and\na half-way place or purgatory; they make prayers and sacrifices for the\ndead, have confession, adore the cross; have chaplets, or strings of\nbeads to count their prayers, and many other practices common to the\nRoman Catholic Church.[400:4]\n\nThe resemblance between Buddhism and Christianity has been remarked by\nmany travelers in the eastern countries. Sir John Francis Davis, in his\n\"History of China,\" speaking of Buddhism in that country, says:\n\n     \"Certain it is--and the observance may be daily made even at\n     Canton--that they (the Buddhist priests) practice the\n     ordinances of celibacy, fasting, and prayers for the dead;\n     they have holy water, rosaries of beads, which they count with\n     their prayers, the worship of relics, and a monastic habit\n     resembling that of the Franciscans\" (an order of Roman\n     Catholic monks).\n\nP\u00e8re Premere, a Jesuit missionary to China, was driven to conclude that\nthe devil had practiced a trick to perplex his friends, the Jesuits. To\nothers, however, it is not so difficult to account for these things as\nit seemed for the good Father. Sir John continues his account as\nfollows:\n\n     \"These priests are associated in monasteries attached to the\n     temples of Fo. They are in China precisely a society of\n     mendicants, and go about, like monks of that description in\n     the Romish Church, asking alms for the support of their\n     establishment. Their tonsure extends to the hair of the whole\n     head. There is a regular gradation among the priesthood; and\n     according to his reputation for sanctity, his length of\n     service and other claims, each priest may rise from the lowest\n     rank of servitor--whose duty it is to perform the menial\n     offices of the temple--to that of officiating priest--and\n     ultimately of 'Tae Hoepang,' Abbot or head of the\n     establishment.\"\n\nThe five principal precepts, or rather interdicts, addressed to the\nBuddhist priests are:\n\n     1. Do not kill.\n     2. Do not steal.\n     3. Do not marry.\n     4. Speak not falsely.\n     5. Drink no wine.\n\nPoo-ta-la is the name of a monastery, described in Lord Macartney's\nmission, and is an extensive establishment, which was found in\nManchow-Tartary, beyond the great wall. This building offered shelter to\nno less than eight hundred Chinese Buddhist priests.[401:1]\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his \"Journal of Voyages along the coast of\nChina,\" tells us that he found the Buddhist \"Monasteries, nuns, and\nfriars very numerous;\" and adds that: \"their priests are generally very\nignorant.\"[401:2]\n\nThis reminds us of the fact that, for centuries during the \"dark ages\"\nof Christianity, Christian bishops and prelates, the teachers, spiritual\npastors and masters, were mostly _marksmen_, that is, they supplied, by\nthe sign of the cross, their inability to write their own name.[402:1]\nMany of the bishops in the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, it is\nsaid, could not write their names. Ignorance was not considered a\ndisqualification for ordination. A cloud of ignorance overspread the\nwhole face of the Church, hardly broken by a few glimmering lights, who\nowe almost the whole of their distinction to the surrounding\ndarkness.[402:2]\n\nOne of the principal objects of curiosity to the Europeans who first\nwent to China, was a large monastery at Canton. This monastery, which\nwas dedicated to Fo, or Buddha, and which is on a very large scale, is\nsituated upon the southern side of the river. There are extensive\ngrounds surrounding the building, planted with trees, in the center of\nwhich is a broad pavement of granite, which is kept very clean. An\nEnglish gentleman, Mr. Bennett, entered this establishment, which he\nfully describes. He says that after walking along this granite pavement,\nthey entered a temple, where the priesthood happened to be assembled,\nworshiping. They were arranged in rows, chanting, striking gongs, &c.\nThese priests, with their shaven crowns, and arrayed in the yellow robes\nof the religion, appeared to go through the mummery with devotion. As\nsoon as the mummery had ceased, the priests all flocked out of the\ntemple, adjourned to their respective rooms, divested themselves of\ntheir official robes, and the images--among which were evidently\nrepresentations of Shin-moo, the \"Holy Mother,\" and \"Queen of Heaven,\"\nand \"The Three Pure Ones,\"--were left to themselves, with lamps burning\nbefore them.\n\nTo expiate sin, offerings made to these priests are--according to the\nBuddhist idea--sufficient. To facilitate the release of some unfortunate\nfrom purgatory, they said masses. Their prayers are counted by means of\na rosary, and they live in a state of celibacy.\n\nMr. Gutzlaff, in describing a temple dedicated to Buddha, situated on\nthe island of Poo-ta-la, says:\n\n     \"We were present at the vespers of the priests, which they\n     chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin service of\n     the Romish church. They held their rosaries in their hands,\n     which rested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a\n     small bell, by the tingling of which the service was\n     regulated.\"\n\nThe Buddhists in _India_ have similar institutions. The French\nmissionary, M. L'Abb\u00e9 Huc, says of them:\n\n     \"The Buddhist ascetic not aspiring to elevate himself only, he\n     practiced virtue and applied himself to perfection to make\n     other men share in its belief; and by the institution of an\n     order of religious mendicants, which increased to an immense\n     extent, he attached towards him, and restored to society, the\n     poor and unfortunate. It was, indeed, precisely because Buddha\n     received among his disciples miserable creatures who were\n     outcasts from the respectable class of India, that he became\n     an object of mockery to the Brahmins. But he merely replied to\n     their taunts, 'My law is a law of mercy for all.'\"[403:1]\n\nIn the words of Viscount Amberly, we can say that, \"Monasticism, in\ncountries where Buddhism reigns supreme, is a vast and powerful\ninstitution.\"\n\nThe _Essenes_, of whom we shall speak more fully anon, were an order of\nascetics, dwelling in monasteries. Among the order of Pythagoras, which\nwas very similar to the Essenes, there was an order of nuns.[403:2] The\nancient Druids admitted females into their sacred order, and initiated\nthem into the mysteries of their religion.[403:3] The priestesses of the\nSaxon Frigga devoted themselves to perpetual virginity.[403:4] The\nvestal virgins[403:5] were bound by a solemn vow to preserve their\nchastity for a space of thirty years.[403:6]\n\nThe Egyptian priests of Isis were obliged to observe perpetual\nchastity.[403:7] They were also tonsured like the Buddhist\npriests.[403:8] The Assyrian, Arabian, Persian and Egyptian priests wore\n_white_ surplices,[403:9] and so did the ancient Druids. The Corinthian\nAphrodite had her Hierodoulio, the pure Gerairai ministered to the\ngoddess of the Parthenon, the altar of the Latin Vesta was tended by her\nchosen virgins, and the Romish \"Queen of Heaven\" has her nuns.\n\nWhen the Spaniards had established themselves in Mexico and Peru, they\nwere astonished to find, among other things which closely resembled\ntheir religion, _monastic institutions_ on a large scale.\n\nThe Rev. Father Acosta, in his \"Natural and Moral History of the\nIndies,\" says:\n\n     \"There is one thing worthy of special regard, the which is,\n     how the Devil, by his pride, hath opposed himself to God; and\n     that which God, by his wisdom, hath decreed for his honor and\n     service, and for the good and health of man, the devil strives\n     to imitate and pervert, to be honored, and to cause men to be\n     damned: for as we see the great God hath Sacrifices, Priests,\n     Sacraments, Religious Prophets, and Ministers, dedicated to\n     his divine service and holy ceremonies, so likewise the devil\n     hath his Sacrifices, Priests, his kinds of Sacraments, his\n     Ministers appointed, his secluded and feigned holiness, with a\n     thousand sorts of false prophets.\"[403:10]\n\n     \"We find among all the nations of the world, men especially\n     dedicated to the service of the true God, or to the false,\n     which serve in sacrifices, and declare unto the people what\n     their gods command them. There was in Mexico a strange\n     curiosity upon this point. And the devil, counterfeiting the\n     use of the church of God, hath placed in the order of his\n     Priests, some greater or superiors, and some less, the one as\n     Acolites, the other as Levites, and that which hath made most\n     to wonder, was, that the devil would usurp to himself the\n     service of God; yea, and use the same name: for the Mexicans\n     in their ancient tongue call their high priests _Papes_, as\n     they should say sovereign bishops, as it appears now by their\n     histories.\"[404:1]\n\nIn Mexico, within the circuit of the great temple, there were two\nmonasteries, one for virgins, the other for men, which they called\nreligious. These men lived poorly and chastely, and did the office of\nLevites.[404:2]\n\n     \"These priests and religious men used great fastings, of five\n     or ten days together, before any of their great feasts, and\n     they were unto them as our four ember week; they were so\n     strict in continence that some of them (not to fall into any\n     sensuality) slit their members in the midst, and did a\n     thousand things to make themselves unable, lest they should\n     offend their gods.\"[404:3]\n\n     \"There were in Peru many monasteries of virgins (for there are\n     no other admitted), at the least one in every province. In\n     these monasteries there were two sorts of women, one ancient,\n     which they called Mamacomas (mothers), for the instruction of\n     the young, and the other was of young maidens placed there for\n     a certain time, and after they were drawn forth, either for\n     their gods or for the Inca.\" \"If any of the Mamacomas or\n     Acllas were found to have trespassed against their honor, it\n     was an inevitable chastisement to bury them alive or to put\n     them to death by some other kind of cruel torment.\"[404:4]\n\nThe Rev. Father concludes by saying:\n\n     \"In truth it is very strange to see that this false opinion of\n     religion hath so great force among these young men and maidens\n     of Mexico, that they will serve the devil with so great rigor\n     and austerity, which many of us do not in the service of the\n     most high God, the which is a great shame and\n     confusion.\"[404:5]\n\nThe religious orders of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians are described\nat length in Lord Kingsborough's \"Mexican Antiquities,\" and by most\nevery writer on ancient Mexico. Differing in minor details, the grand\nfeatures of self-consecration are everywhere the same, whether we look\nto the saintly Rishis of ancient India, to the wearers of the yellow\nrobe in China or Ceylon, to the Essenes among the Jews, to the devotees\nof Vitziliputzli in pagan Mexico, or to the monks and nuns of Christian\ntimes in Africa, in Asia, and in Europe. Throughout the various creeds\nof these distant lands there runs the same unconquerable impulse,\nproducing the same remarkable effects.\n\nThe \"_Sacred Heart_,\" was a great mystery with the ancients.\n\n_Horus_, the Egyptian virgin-born Saviour, was represented carrying the\nsacred heart outside on his breast. _Vishnu_, the Mediator and Preserver\nof the Hindoos, was also represented in that manner. So was it with\n_Bel_ of Babylon.[405:1] In like manner, Christ Jesus, the Christian\nSaviour, is represented at the present day.\n\nThe amulets or charms which the Roman Christians wear, to drive away\ndiseases, and to protect them from harm, are other relics of paganism.\nThe ancient pagans wore these charms for the same purpose. The name of\ntheir favorite god was generally inscribed upon them, and we learn by a\nquotation from Chrysostom that the Christians at Antioch used to bind\nbrass coins of Alexander the Great about their heads, to keep off or\ndrive away diseases.[405:2] The Christians also used amulets with the\nname or monogram of the god _Serapis_ engraved thereon, which show that\nit made no difference whether the god was their own or that of another.\nEven the charm which is worn by the Christians at the present day, has\nnone other than the monogram of _Bacchus_ engraved thereon, _i. e._, I.\nH. S.[405:3]\n\nThe ancient Roman children carried around their necks a small ornament\nin the form of a heart, called _Bulla_. This was imitated by the early\nChristians. Upon their ancient monuments in the Vatican, the heart is\nvery common, and it may be seen in numbers of old pictures. After some\ntime it was succeeded by the _Agnus Dei_, which, like the ancient\n_Bulla_, was supposed to avert dangers from the children and the wearers\nof them. Cardinal Baronius (an eminent Roman Catholic ecclesiastical\nhistorian, born at Sora, in Naples, A. D. 1538) says, that those who\nhave been baptized carry pendent from their neck an _Agnus Dei_, in\nimitation of a devotion of the Pagans, who hung to the neck of their\nchildren little bottles in the form of a heart, which served as\npreservatives against charms and enchantments. Says Mr. Cox:\n\n     \"That ornaments in the shape of a _vesica_ have been popular\n     in all countries as preservatives against dangers, and\n     especially from evil spirits, can as little be questioned as\n     the fact that they still retain some measure of their ancient\n     popularity in England, where horse-shoes are nailed to walls\n     as a safeguard against unknown perils, where a shoe is thrown\n     by way of good-luck after newly-married couples, and where the\n     villagers have not yet ceased to dance round the May-pole on\n     the green.\"[405:4]\n\nAll of these are emblems of either the Linga or Yoni.\n\nThe use of amulets was carried to the most extravagant excess in\nancient Egypt, and their Sacred Book of the Dead, even in its earliest\nform, shows the importance attached to such things.[406:1]\n\nWe can say with M. Renan that:\n\n     \"Almost all our superstitions are the remains of a religion\n     anterior to Christianity, and which Christianity has not been\n     able entirely to root out.\"[406:2]\n\nBaptismal fonts were used by the pagans, as well as the little cisterns\nwhich are to be seen at the entrance of Catholic churches. In the temple\nof Apollo, at Delphi, there were two of these; one of silver, and the\nother of gold.[406:3]\n\nTemples always faced the east, to receive the rays of the rising sun.\nThey contained an outer court for the public, and an inner sanctuary for\nthe priests, called the \"_Adytum_.\" Near the entrance was a large\nvessel, of stone or brass, filled with water, made holy by plunging into\nit a burning torch from the altar. All who were admitted to the\nsacrifices were sprinkled with this water, and none but the unpolluted\nwere allowed to pass beyond it. In the center of the building stood the\nstatue of the god, on a pedestal raised above the altar and enclosed by\na railing. On festival occasions, the people brought laurel, olive, or\nivy, to decorate the pillars and walls. Before they entered they always\nwashed their hands, as a type of purification from sin.[406:4] A story\nis told of a man who was struck dead by a thunderbolt because he omitted\nthis ceremony when entering a temple of Jupiter. Sometimes they crawled\nup the steps on their knees, and bowing their heads to the ground,\nkissed the threshold. Always when they passed one of these sacred\nedifices they kissed their right hand to it, in token of veneration.\n\nIn all the temples of Vishnu, Crishna, Rama, Durga, and Kali, in India,\nthere are to be seen idols before which lights and incense are burned.\nMoreover, the idols of these gods are constantly decorated with flowers\nand costly ornaments, especially on festive occasions.[406:5] The\nancient Egyptian worship had a great splendor of ritual. There was a\nmorning service, a kind of mass, celebrated by a priest, shorn and\nbeardless; there were sprinklings of holy water, &c., &c.[406:6] All of\nthis kind of worship was finally adopted by the Christians.\n\nThe sublime and simple theology of the primitive Christians was\ngradually corrupted and degraded by the introduction of a popular\nmythology, which tended to restore the reign of polytheism.\n\nAs the objects of religion were gradually reduced to the standard of the\nimagination, the rites and ceremonies were introduced that seemed most\npowerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar. If, in the beginning of\nthe fifth century, Tertullian, or Lactantius, had been suddenly raised\nfrom the dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint or\nmartyr, they would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the\nprofane spectacle, which had succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship\nof a Christian congregation.[407:1]\n\nDr. Draper, in speaking of the early Christian Church, says:\n\n     \"Great is the difference between Christianity under Severus\n     (born 146) and Christianity under Constantine (born 274). Many\n     of the doctrines which at the latter period were pre-eminent,\n     in the former were unknown. Two causes led to the amalgamation\n     of Christianity with Paganism. 1. The political necessities of\n     the new dynasty: 2. The policy adopted by the new religion to\n     insure its spread.\n\n     \"Though the Christian party had proved itself sufficiently\n     strong to give a master to the empire, it was never\n     sufficiently strong to destroy its antagonist, Paganism. The\n     issue of the struggle between them _was an amalgamation of the\n     principles of both_. In this, Christianity differed from\n     Mohammedanism, which absolutely annihilated its antagonist,\n     and spread its own doctrines without adulteration.\n\n     \"Constantine continually showed by his acts that he felt he\n     must be the impartial sovereign of all his people, not merely\n     the representative of a successful faction. Hence, if he built\n     Christian churches, he also restored Pagan temples; if he\n     listened to the clergy, he also consulted the haruspices; if\n     he summoned the Council of Nicea, he also honored the statue\n     of Fortune; if he accepted the rite of Baptism, he also struck\n     a medal bearing his title of 'God.' His statue, on top of the\n     great porphyry pillar at Constantinople, consisted of an\n     ancient image of Apollo, whose features were replaced by those\n     of the emperor, and its head surrounded by the nails feigned\n     to have been used at the crucifixion of Christ, arranged so as\n     to form a crown of glory.\n\n     \"Feeling that there must be concessions to the defeated Pagan\n     party, in accordance with its ideas, he looked with favor on\n     the idolatrous movements of his court. In fact, the leaders of\n     these movements were persons of his own family.\n\n     \"To the emperor,--a mere worldling--a man without any\n     religious convictions, doubtless it appeared best for himself,\n     best for the empire, and best for the contending parties,\n     Christian and Pagan, to promote their _union or amalgamation\n     as much as possible_. Even sincere Christians do not seem to\n     have been averse to this; perhaps they believed that the new\n     doctrines would diffuse most thoroughly by incorporating in\n     themselves ideas borrowed from the old; that Truth would\n     assert herself in the end, and the impurities be cast off. In\n     accomplishing this amalgamation, Helen, the Empress-mother,\n     aided by the court ladies, led the way.\n\n     \"As years passed on, the faith described by Tertullian (A. D.\n     150-195) was transformed into one more fashionable and more\n     debased. It was incorporated with the old Greek mythology.\n     Olympus was restored, but the divinities passed under new\n     names. . . .\n\n     \"Heathen rites were adopted, a pompous and splendid ritual,\n     gorgeous robes, mitres, tiaras, wax-tapers, processional\n     services, lustrations, gold and silver vases, were introduced.\n\n     \"The festival of the Purification of the Virgin was invented\n     to remove the uneasiness of heathen converts on account of the\n     loss of their Lupercalia, or feasts of Pan.\n\n     \"The apotheosis of the old Roman times was replaced by\n     canonization; tutelary _saints_ succeeded to local\n     mythological divinities. Then came the mystery of\n     _transubstantiation_, or the conversion of bread and wine by\n     the priest into the flesh and blood of Christ. As centuries\n     passed, the _paganization_ became more and more\n     complete.\"[408:1]\n\nThe early Christian saints, bishops, and fathers, _confessedly_ adopted\nthe liturgies, rites, ceremonies, and terms of heathenism; making it\ntheir boast, that the pagan religion, properly explained, really was\nnothing else than Christianity; that the best and wisest of its\nprofessors, in all ages, had been Christians all along; that\nChristianity was but a name more recently acquired to a religion which\nhad previously existed, and had been known to the Greek philosophers, to\nPlato, Socrates, and Heraclitus; and that \"if the writings of Cicero had\nbeen read as they ought to have been, there would have been no occasion\nfor the Christian Scriptures.\"\n\nAnd our Protestant, and most orthodox Christian divines, the best\nlearned on ecclesiastical antiquity, and most entirely persuaded of the\ntruth of the Christian religion, unable to resist or to conflict with\nthe constraining demonstration of the data that prove the absolute\nsameness and identity of Paganism and Christianity, and unable to point\nout so much as one single idea or notion, of which they could show that\nit was peculiar to Christianity, or that Christianity had it, and\nPaganism had it not, have invented the apology of an hypothesis, that\nthe Pagan religion was _typical_, and that Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus,\nHercules, Adonis, Osiris, Horus, &c., were all of them _types_ and\nforerunners of the _true_ and _real_ Saviour, Christ Jesus. Those who\nare satisfied with this kind of reasoning are certainly welcome to it.\n\nThat Christianity is nothing more than Paganism under a new name, has,\nas we said above, been admitted over and over again by the Fathers of\nthe Church, and others. Aringhus (in his account of subterraneous Rome)\nacknowledges the conformity between the Pagan and Christian form of\nworship, and defends the admission of the ceremonies of heathenism into\nthe service of the Church, by the authority of the wisest prelates and\ngovernors, whom, he says, found it necessary, in the conversion of the\nGentiles, to dissemble, and wink at many things, and yield to the times;\nand not to use force against customs which the people were so\nobstinately fond of.[409:1]\n\nMelito (a Christian bishop of Sardis), in an _apology_ delivered to the\nEmperor Marcus Antoninus, in the year 170, claims the patronage of the\nemperor, for the _now_ called Christian religion, which he calls \"_our\nphilosophy_,\" \"on account of its _high antiquity_, as having been\n_imported_ from countries lying beyond the limits of the Roman empire,\nin the region of his ancestor Augustus, who found its _importation_\nominous of good fortune to his government.\"[409:2] This is an absolute\ndemonstration that Christianity did _not_ originate in Judea, which was\na Roman province, but really was an exotic oriental fable, _imported_\nfrom India, and that Paul was doing as he claimed, viz.: preaching a God\nmanifest in the flesh who had been \"believed on in the world\" centuries\nbefore his time, and a doctrine which had already been preached \"unto\nevery creature under heaven.\"\n\nBaronius (an eminent Catholic ecclesiastical historian) says:\n\n     \"It is permitted to the Church to use, _for the purpose of\n     piety_, the ceremonies which the pagans used _for the purpose\n     of impiety_ in a superstitious religion, after having first\n     expiated them by consecration--to the end, that the devil\n     might receive a greater affront from employing, in honor of\n     Jesus Christ, that which his enemy had destined for his own\n     service.\"[409:3]\n\nClarke, in his \"Evidences of Revealed Religion,\" says:\n\n     \"Some of the ancient writers of the church have not scrupled\n     expressly to call the Athenian _Socrates_, and some others of\n     the best of the _heathen moralists_, by the name of\n     _Christians_, and to affirm, as the law was as it were a\n     schoolmaster, to bring the Jews unto Christ, so true moral\n     philosophy was to the Gentiles a preparative to receive the\n     gospel.\"[409:4]\n\nClemens Alexandrinus says:\n\n     \"Those who lived according to the _Logos_ were really\n     _Christians_, though they have been thought to be atheists; as\n     Socrates and Heraclitus were among the Greeks, and such as\n     resembled them.\"[409:5]\n\nAnd St. Augustine says:\n\n     \"_That_, in our times, is the _Christian religion_, which to\n     know and follow is the most sure and certain health, called\n     according to that name, but not according to the thing\n     itself, of which it is the name; for the thing itself which is\n     now called the _Christian religion_, really was known to the\n     ancients, nor was wanting at any time from the beginning of\n     the human race, until the time when Christ came in the flesh,\n     from whence the true religion, _which had previously existed_,\n     began to be called _Christian_; and this in our days is the\n     Christian religion, not as having been wanting in former\n     times, but as having in later times received this\n     name.\"[410:1]\n\nEusebius, the great champion of Christianity, admits that that which is\ncalled the Christian religion, is neither new nor strange, but--if it be\nlawful to testify the truth--was known to the _ancients_.[410:2]\n\nHow the common people were Christianized, we gather from a remarkable\npassage which Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, has preserved for\nus, in the life of Gregory, surnamed \"_Thaumaturgus_,\" that is, \"the\nwonder worker.\" The passage is as follows:\n\n     \"When Gregory perceived that the simple and unskilled\n     multitude persisted in their worship of images, on account of\n     the pleasures and sensual gratifications which they enjoyed at\n     the Pagan festivals, _he granted them a permission to indulge\n     themselves in the like pleasures_, in celebrating the memory\n     of the holy martyrs, hoping that in process of time, they\n     would return of their own accord, to a more virtuous and\n     regular course of life.\"[410:3]\n\nThe historian remarks that there is no sort of doubt, that by this\npermission, Gregory allowed the Christians to dance, sport, and feast at\nthe tombs of the martyrs, upon their respective festivals, and to do\neverything which the Pagans were accustomed to do in their temples,\nduring the feasts celebrated in honor of their gods.\n\nThe learned Christian advocate, M. Turretin, in describing the state of\nChristianity in the fourth century, has a well-turned rhetoricism, the\npoint of which is, that \"it was not so much the empire that was brought\nover to the faith, as the faith that was brought over to the empire; not\nthe Pagans who were converted to Christianity, but Christianity that was\nconverted to Paganism.\"[410:4]\n\nEdward Gibbon says:\n\n     \"It must be confessed that the ministers of the Catholic\n     church imitated the profane model which they were impatient to\n     destroy. The most respectable bishops had persuaded\n     themselves, that the ignorant rusties would more cheerfully\n     renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if they found some\n     resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity.\n     The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century,\n     the final conquest of the Roman empire: _but the victors\n     themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their\n     vanquished rivals_.\"[411:1]\n\nFaustus, writing to St. Augustine, says:\n\n     \"You have substituted your agap\u00e6 for the sacrifices of the\n     Pagans; for their idols your martyrs, whom you serve with the\n     very same honors. You appease the shades of the dead with wine\n     and feasts; you celebrate the solemn festivities of the\n     _Gentiles_, their calends, and their solstices; and, as to\n     their manners, those you have retained without any alteration.\n     _Nothing distinguishes you from the Pagans, except that you\n     hold your assemblies apart from them._\"[411:2]\n\nAmmonius Saccus (a Greek philosopher, founder of the Neo-platonic\nschool) taught that:\n\n     \"Christianity and Paganism, when rightly understood, differ in\n     no essential points, but had a common origin, _and are really\n     one and the same thing_.\"[411:3]\n\nJustin explains the thing in the following manner:\n\n     \"It having reached the devil's ears that the prophets had\n     foretold that Christ would come . . . he (the devil) set the\n     heathen poets to bring forward a great many who should be\n     called sons of Jove, (_i. e._, \"The Sons of God.\") The devil\n     laying his scheme in this, to get men to imagine that the\n     _true_ history of Christ was of the same character as the\n     prodigious fables and poetic stories.\"[411:4]\n\nC\u00e6cilius, in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, says:\n\n     \"All these fragments of crack-brained opiniatry and silly\n     solaces played off in the sweetness of song by (the) deceitful\n     (Pagan) poets, by you too credulous creatures (_i. e._, the\n     Christians) have been shamefully reformed and made over to\n     your own god.\"[411:5]\n\nCelsus, the Epicurean philosopher, wrote that:\n\n     \"The Christian religion contains nothing but what Christians\n     hold in common with heathens; nothing new, or truly\n     great.\"[411:6]\n\nThis assertion is fully verified by Justin Martyr, in his apology to the\nEmperor Adrian, which is one of the most remarkable admissions ever made\nby a Christian writer. He says:\n\n     \"In saying that all things were made in this beautiful order\n     by God, what do we seem to say more than Plato? When we teach\n     a general conflagration, what do we teach more than the\n     Stoics? By opposing the worship of the works of men's hands,\n     we concur with Menander, the comedian; and by declaring the\n     Logos, the first begotten of God, our master Jesus Christ, to\n     be born of a virgin, without any human mixture, to be\n     crucified and dead, and to have rose again, and ascended into\n     heaven: _we say no more in this, than what you say of those\n     whom you style the Sons of Jove_. For you need not be told\n     what a parcel of sons, the writers most in vogue among you,\n     assign to Jove; there's Mercury, Jove's interpreter, in\n     imitation of the Logos, in worship among you. There's\n     \u00c6sculapius, the physician, smitten by a thunderbolt, and after\n     that ascending into heaven. There's Bacchus, torn to pieces;\n     and Hercules, burnt to get rid of his pains. There's Pollux\n     and Castor, the sons of Jove by Leda, and Perseus by Danae;\n     and not to mention others, I would fain know why you always\n     deify the departed emperors and have a fellow at hand to make\n     affidavit that he saw C\u00e6sar mount to heaven from the funeral\n     pile?\n\n     \"As to the son of God, called Jesus, should we allow him to be\n     nothing more than man, yet the title of the son of God is very\n     justifiable, upon the account of his wisdom, considering that\n     you have your Mercury in worship, under the title of the Word\n     and Messenger of God.\n\n     \"_As to the objection of our Jesus's being crucified_, I say,\n     that suffering was common to all the forementioned sons of\n     Jove, but only they suffered another kind of death. As to his\n     being born of a virgin, you have your Perseus to balance that.\n     As to his curing the lame, and the paralytic, and such as were\n     cripples from birth, this is little more than what you say of\n     your \u00c6sculapius.\"[412:1]\n\nThe most celebrated Fathers of the Christian church, the most frequently\nquoted, and those whose names stand the highest were nothing more nor\nless than Pagans, being born and educated Pagans. Pantaenus (A. D. 193)\nwas one of these half-Pagan, half-Christian, Fathers. He at one time\npresided in the school of the faithful in _Alexandria_ in Egypt, and was\ncelebrated on account of his learning. He was brought up in the Stoic\nphilosophy.[412:2]\n\nClemens Alexandrinus (A. D. 194) or St. Clement of Alexandria, was\nanother Christian Father of the same sort, being originally a Pagan. He\nsucceeded Pantaenus as president of the _monkish_ university at\nAlexandria. His works are very extensive, and his authority very high in\nthe church.[412:3]\n\nTertullian (A. D. 200) may next be mentioned. He also was originally a\nPagan, and at one time Presbyter of the Christian church of Carthage, in\nAfrica. The following is a specimen of his manner of reasoning on the\nevidences of Christianity. He says:\n\n     \"I find no other means to prove myself to be impudent with\n     success, and happily a fool, than by my contempt of shame; as,\n     for instance--I maintain that the Son of God was born; why am\n     I not ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why! but because it\n     is itself a shameful thing. I maintain that the Son of God\n     died: well, that is wholly credible because it is monstrously\n     absurd. I maintain that after having been buried, he rose\n     again: and that I take to be absolutely true, because it was\n     manifestly impossible.\"[412:4]\n\nOrigen (A. D. 230), one of the shining lights of the Christian church,\nwas another Father of this class. Porphyry (a Neo-platonist philosopher)\nobjects to him on this account.[413:1]\n\nHe also was born in the great cradle and nursery of\nsuperstition--Egypt--and studied under that celebrated philosopher,\nAmmonius Saccus, who taught that \"Christianity and Paganism, when\nrightly understood, differed in no essential point, but had a common\norigin.\" This man was so sincere in his devotion to the cause of\nmonkery, or Essenism, that he made himself an eunuch \"for the kingdom of\nheaven's sake.\"[413:2] The writer of the twelfth verse of the nineteenth\nchapter of Matthew, was without doubt an Egyptian monk. The words are\nput into the mouth of the _Jewish_ Jesus, which is simply ridiculous,\nwhen it is considered that the Jews did not allow an eunuch so much as\nto enter the congregation of the Lord.[413:3]\n\nSt. Gregory (A. D. 240), bishop of Neo-C\u00e6sarea in Pontus, was another\ncelebrated Christian Father, born of Pagan parents and educated a Pagan.\nHe is called Thaumaturgus, or the wonder-worker, and is said to have\nperformed miracles when still a Pagan.[413:4] He, too, was an\nAlexandrian student. This is the Gregory who was commended by his\nnamesake of Nyssa for changing the Pagan festivals into Christian\nholidays, the better to draw the heathen to the religion of\nChrist.[413:5]\n\nMosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, in speaking of the Christian\nchurch during the second century, says:\n\n     \"The profound respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman\n     _mysteries_, and the extraordinary sanctity that was\n     attributed to them, induced the Christians to give their\n     religion a _mystic_ air, in order to put it upon an equal\n     footing, in point of dignity, with that of the Pagans. For\n     this purpose they gave the name of _mysteries_ to the\n     institutions of the gospel, and decorated, particularly the\n     holy sacrament, with that solemn title. They used, in that\n     sacred institution, as also in that of baptism, several of the\n     terms employed in the heathen mysteries, and proceeded so far\n     at length, as even to adopt some of the rites and ceremonies\n     of which those renowned mysteries consisted.\"[413:6]\n\nWe have seen, then, that the only difference between Christianity and\nPaganism is that Brahma, Ormuzd, Osiris, Zeus, Jupiter, etc., are called\nby another name; Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus, Adonis, Mithras, etc., have\nbeen turned into Christ Jesus: Venus' pigeon into the Holy Ghost; Diana,\nIsis, Devaki, etc., into the Virgin Mary; and the demi-gods and heroes\ninto saints. The exploits of the one were represented as the miracles of\nthe other. Pagan festivals became Christian holidays, and Pagan temples\nbecame Christian churches.\n\nMr. Mahaffy, Fellow and Tutor in Trinity College, and Lecturer on\nAncient History in the University of Dublin, ends his \"Prolegomena to\nAncient History\" in the following manner:\n\n     \"There is indeed, hardly a great or fruitful idea in the\n     Jewish or Christian systems, which has not its analogy in the\n     (ancient) Egyptian faith. The development of the one God into\n     a _trinity_; the incarnation of the mediating deity in a\n     Virgin, and without a father; his conflict and his momentary\n     defeat by the powers of darkness; his partial victory (for the\n     enemy is not destroyed); his resurrection and reign over an\n     eternal kingdom with his justified saints; his distinction\n     from, and yet identity with, the uncreate incomprehensible\n     Father, whose form is unknown, and who dwelleth not in temples\n     made with hands--_all these theological conceptions pervade\n     the oldest religion of Egypt_. So, too, the contrast and even\n     the apparent inconsistencies between our moral and theological\n     beliefs--the vacillating attribution of sin and guilt partly\n     to moral weakness, partly to the interference of evil spirits,\n     and likewise of righteousness to moral worth, and again to the\n     help of good genii or angels; the immortality of the soul and\n     its final judgment--_all these things have met us in the\n     Egyptian ritual and moral treatises_. So, too, the purely\n     human side of morals, and the catalogue of virtues and vices,\n     are by natural consequences as like as are the theological\n     systems. _But I recoil from opening this great subject now; it\n     is enough to have lifted the veil and shown the scene of many\n     a future contest._\"[414:1]\n\nIn regard to the _moral sentiments_ expressed in the books of the New\nTestament, and believed by the majority of Christians to be peculiar to\nChristianity, we shall touch them but lightly, as this has already been\ndone so frequently by many able scholars.\n\nThe moral doctrines that appear in the New Testament, even the sayings\nof the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer, are found with slight\nvariation, among the Rabbins, who have certainly borrowed nothing out of\nthe New Testament.\n\nChristian teachers have delighted to exhibit the essential superiority\nof Christianity to Judaism, have quoted with triumph the maxims that are\nsaid to have fallen from the lips of Jesus, and which, they surmised,\ncould not be paralleled in the elder Scriptures, and have put the least\nfavorable construction on such passages in the ancient books as seemed\nto contain the thoughts of evangelists and apostles. A more ingenious\nstudy of the Hebrew law, according to the oldest traditions, as well as\nits later interpretations by the prophets, reduces these differences\nmaterially by bringing into relief sentiments and precepts whereof the\nNew Testament morality is but an echo.\n\nThere are passages in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, even tenderer in\ntheir humanity than anything in the Gospels. The preacher from the\nMount, the prophet of the Beatitudes, does but repeat with persuasive\nlips what the law-givers of his race proclaimed in mighty tones of\ncommand. Such an acquaintance with the later literature of the Jews as\nis really obtained now from popular sources, will convince the\nordinarily fair mind that the originality of the New Testament has been\ngreatly over-estimated.\n\n     \"To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the\n     naked, bury the dead, loyally serve the king, forms the first\n     duty of a pious man and faithful subject,\"\n\nis an abstract from the Egyptian \"Book of the Dead,\" the oldest Bible in\nthe world.\n\nConfucius, the Chinese philosopher, born 551 B. C., said:\n\n     \"Obey Heaven, and follow the orders of Him who governs it.\n     _Love your neighbor as yourself._ Do to another what you would\n     he should do unto you; and do not unto another what you would\n     should not be done unto you; thou only needest this law alone,\n     it is the foundation and principle of all the rest.\n     Acknowledge thy benefits by the return of other benefits, _but\n     never revenge injuries_.\"[415:1]\n\nThe following extracts from Manu and the _Maha-bharata_, an Indian epic\npoem, written many centuries before the time of Christ Jesus,[415:2]\ncompared with similar sentiment contained in the books of the New\nTestament, are very striking.\n\n\"An evil-minded man is quick to see his neighbor's faults, though small\nas mustard-seed; but when he turns his eyes towards his own, though\nlarge as Bilva fruit, he none descries.\" (Maha-bharata.)\n\n     \"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,\n     but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?\" (Matt.\n     vii. 3.)\n\n\"Conquer a man who never gives by gifts; subdue untruthful men by\ntruthfulness; vanquish an angry man by gentleness; and overcome the evil\nman by goodness.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.\"\n     (Romans, xii. 21.)\n\n\"To injure none by thought or word or deed, to give to others, and be\nkind to all--this is the constant duty of the good. High-minded men\ndelight in doing good, without a thought of their own interest; when\nthey confer a benefit on others, they reckon not on favors in return.\"\n(Ibid.)\n\n     \"Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing\n     again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the\n     children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful\n     and to the evil.\" (Luke, vii. 35.)\n\n\"Two persons will hereafter be exalted above the heavens--the man with\nboundless power, who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, and he who is\nnot rich, and yet can give.\" (Ibid.)\n\n\"Just heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts, offered in hope of\nfuture recompense, as with the merest trifle set apart from honest\ngains, and sanctified by faith.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how\n     people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich\n     cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she\n     threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto\n     him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you,\n     that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which\n     have cast into the treasury: For all _they_ did cast in of\n     their abundance, but she of her want did cast all that she\n     had, even all her living.\" (Mark, xii. 41-44.)\n\n\"To curb the tongue and moderate the speech, is held to be the hardest\nof all tasks. The words of him who talk too volubly have neither\nsubstance nor variety.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of\n     deadly poison.\" (James, iii. 8.)\n\n\"Even to foes who visit us as guests due hospitality should be\ndisplayed; the tree screens with its leaves, the man who fells it.\"\n(Ibid.)\n\n     \"Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst,\n     give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire\n     on his head.\" (Rom. xii. 20.)\n\n\"In granting or refusing a request, a man obtains a proper rule of\naction by looking on his neighbor as himself.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.\" (Matt. xxii. 39.)\n\n     \"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them\n     likewise.\" (Luke vi. 31.)\n\n\"Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh; before decay impairs thy\nstrength and mars the beauty of thy limbs; before the Ender, whose\ncharioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, breaks up thy fragile frame\nand ends thy life, lay up the only treasure: Do good deeds; practice\nsobriety and self-control; amass that wealth which thieves cannot\nabstract, nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, which never\nwastes away, nor is corrupted.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the\n     evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt\n     say: I have no pleasure in them.\" (Ecc. xii. 1.)\n\n     \"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth\n     and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and\n     steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where\n     neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not\n     break through and steal.\" (Matt. vi. 19-20.)\n\n\"This is the sum of all true righteousness--Treat others as thou wouldst\nthyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor, which hereafter thou\nwould'st not have thy neighbor do to thee. In causing pleasure, or in\ngiving pain, in doing good or injury to others, in granting or refusing\na request, a man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his\nneighbor as himself.\" (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Ye have heard that it hath been said: Thou shall love thy\n     neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your\n     enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate\n     you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and\n     persecute you.\" (Matt. v. 43-44.)\n\n     \"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another:\n     as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.\" (John,\n     xii. 34.)\n\n     \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" (Matt, xi 39.)\n\n     \"Think constantly, O Son, how thou mayest please\n      Thy father, mother, teacher,--these obey.\n      By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay.\n      This is thy highest duty and religion.\"\n\n                                                     (Manu.)\n\n     \"Wound not another, though by him provoked.\n      Do no one injury by thought or deed.\n      Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Treat no one with disdain, with patience bear\n      Reviling language; with an angry man\n      Be never angry; blessings give for curses.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds,\n      Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions,\n      Which, running wild, will hurry thee away.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Pride not thyself on thy religious works.\n      Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts.\n      By pride religious merit melts away,\n      The merit of thy alms by ostentation.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions\n      A wise man ever culls from every quarter,\n      E'en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn.\"\n\n                                             (Maha-bharata.)\n\n     \"Repeated sin destroys the understanding,\n      And he whose reason is impaired, repeats\n      His sins. The constant practice of virtue\n      Strengthens the mental faculties, and he\n      Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always right.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"If thou art wise seek ease and happiness\n      In deeds of virtue and of usefulness;\n      And ever act in such a way by day\n      That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be;\n      And so comport thyself when thou art young\n      That when thou art grown old, thy age may pass\n      In calm serenity. So ply thy talk\n      Through thy life, that when thy days are ended,\n      Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Do naught to others which if done to thee\n      Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"No sacred lore can save the hypocrite,--\n      Though he employ it craftily,--from hell;\n      When his end comes, his pious texts take wings,\n      Like fledglings eager to forsake their nest.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Iniquity once practiced, like a seed,\n      Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it,\n      If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons.\"\n\n                                                     (Manu.)\n\n     \"Single is every living creature born,\n      Single he passes to another world.\n      Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds,\n      Single, the fruit of good; and when he leaves\n      His body like a log or heap of clay\n      Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away;\n      Virtue alone stands by him at the tomb,\n      And bears him through the dreary, trackless gloom.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow;\n      As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n     \"He who pretends to be what he is not,\n      Acts a part, commits the worst of crimes,\n      For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man's heart.\"\n\n                                                     (Ibid.)\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[384:1] \"Before the separation of the Aryan race, before the existence\nof Sanscrit, Greek, or Latin, before the gods of the Veda had been\nworshiped, ONE SUPREME DEITY had been found, had been named, and had\nbeen invoked by the ancestors of our race.\" (Prof. Max M\u00fcller: The\nScience of Religion, p. 67.)\n\n[384:2] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XX., for Only-begotten Sons.\n\n[384:3] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XXXII., where we have shown that many\nother virgin-born gods were conceived by the Holy Ghost, and that the\nname MARY is the same as Maia, Maya, Myrra, &c.\n\n[384:4] See Chap. XX., for Crucified Saviours.\n\n[385:1] See Chap. XXII.\n\n[385:2] See Chaps. XXII. and XXXIX., for Resurrected Saviours.\n\n[385:3] See Ibid.\n\n[385:4] See Chap. XXIV., and Chap. XXV.\n\n[385:5] See Chap. XII., and Chap. XXXV.\n\n[385:6] That is, the holy _true_ Church. All peoples who have had a\nreligion believe that _theirs_ was the _Catholic_ faith.\n\n[385:7] There was no nation of antiquity who did not believe in \"the\nforgiveness of sins,\" especially if some innocent creature _redeemed_\nthem by the shedding of his blood (see Chap. IV., and Chap. XX.), and as\nfar as _confession_ of sins is concerned, and thereby being forgiven,\nthis too is almost as old as humanity. Father Acosta found it even among\nthe Mexicans, and said that \"the father of lies (the Devil)\ncounterfeited the sacrament of confession, so that he might be honored\nwith ceremonies very like the Christians.\" (See Acosta, vol. ii. p.\n360.)\n\n[385:8] \"No doctrine except that of a supreme and subtly-pervading\ndeity, is so extended, and has retained its primitive form so\ndistinctly, _as a belief in immortality_, and a future state of rewards\nand punishments. Among the most savage races, the idea of a future\nexistence in a place of delight is found.\" (Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie.)\n\n\"Go back far as we may in the history of the Indo-European race, of\nwhich the Greeks and Italians are branches, and we do not find that this\nrace has ever thought that after this short life all was finished for\nman. The most ancient generations, long before there were philosophers,\nbelieved in a second existence after the present. They looked upon death\nnot as a dissolution of our being, but simply as a change of life.\" (M.\nDe Coulanges: The Ancient City, p. 15.)\n\n[385:9] For full information on this subject see Archbishop Wake's\nApostolic Fathers, p. 108, Justice Bailey's Common Prayer, Taylor's\nDiegesis, p. 10, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Creeds.\"\n\n[386:1] Rev. xi. 7-9.\n\n[386:2] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 25.\n\n[386:3] II. Peter, ii. 4.\n\n[386:4] Jude, 6.\n\n[386:5] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 16.\n\n[387:1] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 17.\n\n[387:2] Indian Wisdom, p. 39.\n\n[387:3] See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, p. 165. Dupuis: Origin of Relig.\nBeliefs, p. 73, and Baring-Gould's Legends of the Prophets, p. 19.\n\n[387:4] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 19.\n\n[388:1] Priestley, p. 35.\n\n[388:2] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 411.\n\n[388:3] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 819. Taylor's Diegesis,\np. 215, and Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Beliefs, p. 78.\n\n[388:4] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 31.\n\n[388:5] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 20.\n\n[388:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 159, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i.\n\n[389:1] This subject is most fully entered into by Mr. Herbert Spencer,\nin vol. i. of \"Principles of Sociology.\"\n\n[390:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 426.\n\n[391:1] See Appendix C.\n\n[391:2] See Fiske, pp. 104-107.\n\n[392:1] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 182, 183.\n\n[392:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 216.\n\n[392:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 111.\n\n[392:4] See Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 466.\n\n[392:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 184.\n\n[393:1] \"The _Seventh_ day was sacred to _Saturn_ throughout the East.\"\n(Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 35, 36.)\n\n\"Saturn's day was made sacred to God, and the planet is now called\ncochab shabbath, 'The Sabbath Star.'\n\n\"The sanctification of the Sabbath is clearly connected with the word\nShabua or Sheba, _i. e._, _seven_.\" (Inman's Anct. Faiths, vol. ii. p.\n504.) \"The Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, and the natives of India,\nwere acquainted with the _seven_ days' division of time, as were the\nancient Druids.\" (Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 412.) \"With the\nEgyptians the _Seventh_ day was consecrated to God the Father.\" (Ibid.)\n\"Hesiod, Herodotus, Philostratus, &c., mention that day. Homer,\nCallimachus, and other ancient writers call the _Seventh_ day the _Holy\nOne_. Eusebius confesses its observance by almost all philosophers and\npoets.\" (Ibid.)\n\n[393:2] Ibid.\n\n[393:3] Ibid. p. 413.\n\n[393:4] Pococke Specimen: Hist. Arab., p. 97. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., p. 274. \"Some of the families of the Israelites worshiped\n_Saturn_ under the name of Kiwan, which may have given rise to the\nreligious observance of the Seventh day.\" (Bible for Learners, vol. i,\np. 317.)\n\n[393:5] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 283.\n\n[393:6] Mover's Ph\u00f6nizier, vol. i. p. 313. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit\nHist., p. 36.\n\n[393:7] Assyrian Discoveries.\n\n[393:8] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 92.\n\n[393:9] Old Norse, _Odinsdagr_; Swe. and Danish, _Onsdag_; Ang. Sax.,\n_Wodensdeg_; Dutch, _Woensdag_; Eng., _Wednesday_.\n\n[395:1] Rev. M. J. Savage.\n\n[395:2] Acts, xv. 20.\n\n[396:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 182.\n\n[396:2] See Eusebius' Life of Constantine, lib. iv. chs. xviii. and\nxxiii.\n\n[396:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237.\n\n[396:4] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 187, and Gibbon's Rome, vol.\niii. pp. 142, 143.\n\n[396:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 236, and Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp.\n142, 143.\n\n[396:6] Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 137.\n\n[396:7] Ibid. p. 307.\n\n[397:1] Gruter's Inscriptions. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237.\n\n[397:2] Boldonius' Epigraphs. Quoted in Ibid.\n\n[397:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 237. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48,\nand Middleton's Letters from Rome.\n\n[397:4] Baring-Gould's Curious Myths, p. 428.\n\n[398:1] Mosheim, Cent. ii. p. 202. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48.\n\n[398:2] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 48, 49.\n\n[398:3] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 84.\n\n[399:1] See Higgins' Anacalypsis.\n\n[399:2] Jones on the Canon, vol. i. p. 11. Diegesis, p. 49.\n\n[399:3] Compare \"Apollo among the Muses,\" and \"The Vine and its\nBranches\" (that is, Christ Jesus and his Disciples), in Lundy's\n_Monumental Christianity_, pp. 141-143. As Mr. Lundy says, there is so\nstriking a resemblance between the two, that one looks very much like a\ncopy of the other. Apollo is also represented as the \"_Good Shepherd_,\"\nwith a lamb upon his back, just exactly as Christ Jesus is represented\nin Christian Art. (See Lundy's Monumental Christianity, and Jameson's\nHist. of Our Lord in Art.)\n\n[399:4] The Roman god Jonas, or Janus, with his keys, was changed into\nPeter, who was surnamed Bar-Jonas. Many years ago a statue of the god\nJanus, in bronze, being found in Rome, he was perched up in St. Peter's\nwith his keys in his hand: the very identical god, in all his native\nugliness. This statue sits as St. Peter, under the cupola of the church\nof St. Peter. It is looked upon with the most profound veneration: the\ntoes are nearly kissed away by devotees.\n\n[400:1] Frothingham: The Cradle of the Christ, p. 179.\n\n[400:2] See Hardy's Eastern Monachism.\n\n[400:3] The \"_Grand Lama_\" is the head of a priestly order in Thibet and\nTartar. The office is not hereditary, but, like the Pope of Rome, he is\nelected by the priests. (Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 203. See\nalso, Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. pp. 32-34.)\n\n[400:4] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 233, Inman's Ancient\nFaiths, vol. ii. p. 203, and Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 211.\n\n[401:1] Davis: Hist. China, vol. ii. pp. 105, 106.\n\n[401:2] Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 309.\n\n[402:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 34.\n\n[402:2] See Hallam's Middle Ages.\n\n[403:1] Huc's Travels, vol. i. p. 329.\n\n[403:2] See Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 163.\n\n[403:3] Ibid.\n\n[403:4] Ibid.\n\n[403:5] \"Vestal Virgins,\" an order of virgins consecrated to the goddess\nVesta.\n\n[403:6] Hardy: Eastern Monachism, p. 163.\n\n[403:7] Ibid. p. 48.\n\n[403:8] See Herodotus, b. ii. ch. 36.\n\n[403:9] Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. x.\n\n[403:10] Acosta, vol. ii. p. 324.\n\n[404:1] Acosta, vol. ii. p. 330.\n\n[404:2] Ibid. p. 336.\n\n[404:3] Ibid. p. 338.\n\n[404:4] Ibid. pp. 332, 333.\n\n[404:5] Ibid. p. 337.\n\n[405:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 241.\n\n[405:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. pp. 375, 376.\n\n[405:3] See Chap. XXXIII.\n\n[405:4] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 127.\n\n[406:1] Renouf: Hibbert Lectures, p. 191.\n\n[406:2] Renan: Hibbert Lectures, p. 32.\n\n[406:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 232.\n\n[406:4] \"At their entrance, purifying themselves by washing their hands\nin _holy water_, they were at the same time admonished to present\nthemselves with pure minds, without which the external cleanness of the\nbody would by no means be accepted.\" (Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 282.)\n\n[406:5] See Williams' Hinduism, p. 99.\n\n[406:6] See Renan's Hibbert Lectures, p. 35.\n\n[407:1] Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall, vol. iii. p. 161.\n\n[408:1] Draper: Science and Religion, pp. 46-49.\n\n[409:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237.\n\n[409:2] Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 249. See also, Eusebius: Eccl.\nHist., book iv. ch. xxvi. who alludes to it.\n\n[409:3] Baronius' Annals, An. 36.\n\n[409:4] Quoted by Rev. R. Taylor, Diegesis p. 41.\n\n[409:5] Strom. bk. i. ch. xix.\n\n[410:1] \"Es est nostris temporibus Christiana religio, quam cognoscere\nac sequi securissima et certissima salus est: secundum hoc nomen dictum\nest non secundum ipsam rem cujus hoc nomen est: nam res ipsa qu\u00e6 nunc\nChristiana religio nuncupatur erat et apud antiquos, nec defuit ab\ninitio generis humani, quousque ipse Christus veniret in carne, unde\nvera religio qu\u00e6 jam erat c\u00e6pit appellari Christiana. H\u00e6c est nostris\ntemporibus Christiana religio, non quia prioribus temporibus non fuit,\nsed quia posterioribus hoc nomen accepit.\" (Opera Augustini, vol. i. p.\n12. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 42.)\n\n[410:2] See Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. v.\n\n[410:3] \"Cum animadvertisset Gregorius quod ob corporeas delectationes\net voluptates, simplex et imperitum vulgus in simulacrorum cultus errore\npermaneret--permisit eis, ut in memoriam et recordationem sanctorum\nmartyrum sese oblectarent, et in l\u00e6titiam effunderentur, quod successu\ntemporis aliquando futurum esset, ut sua sponte, ad honestiorem et\naccuratiorem vit\u00e6 rationem, transirent.\" (Mosheim, vol. i. cent. 2, p.\n202.)\n\n[410:4] \"Non imperio ad fidem adducto, sed et imperii pompa ecclesiam\ninficiente. Non ethnicis ad Christum conversis, sed et Christi religione\nad Ethnic\u00e6 formam depravata.\" (Orat. Academ. De Variis Christ. Rel.\nfatis.)\n\n[411:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 163.\n\n[411:2] Quoted by Draper: Science and Religion, p. 48.\n\n[411:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 329.\n\n[411:4] Justin: Apol. 1, ch. lix.\n\n[411:5] Octavius, ch. xi.\n\n[411:6] See Origen: Contra Celsus.\n\n[412:1] Apol. 1, ch. xx, xii, xxii.\n\n[412:2] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 323.\n\n[412:3] See Ibid. p. 324.\n\n[412:4] On the Flesh of Christ, ch. v.\n\n[413:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 328.\n\n[413:2] Matt. xix. 12.\n\n[413:3] Deut. xxiii. 1.\n\n[413:4] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 339.\n\n[413:5] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 236; Mosheim, vol. i.\ncent. 2, pt. 2, ch. 4.\n\n[413:6] Eccl. Hist. vol. 1. p. 199.\n\n[414:1] Prolegomena to Ancient History, pp. 416, 417.\n\n[415:1] Tindal: Christianity as Old as the Creation.\n\n[415:2] Manu's works were written during the _sixth_ century B. C. (see\nWilliams' Indian Wisdom, p. 215), and the Maha-bharata about the same\ntime.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\n\nWHY CHRISTIANITY PROSPERED.\n\n\nWe now come to the question, Why did Christianity prosper, and why was\nJesus of Nazareth believed to be a divine incarnation and Saviour?\n\nThere were many causes for this, but as we can devote but one chapter to\nthe subject, we must necessarily treat it briefly.\n\nFor many centuries before the time of Christ Jesus there lived a sect of\nreligious monks known as _Essenes_, or _Therapeut\u00e6_;[419:1] _these\nentirely disappeared from history shortly after the time assigned for\nthe crucifixion of Jesus_. There were thousands of them, and their\n_monasteries_ were to be counted by the score. Many have asked the\nquestion, \"What became of them?\" We now propose to show, 1. That they\nwere expecting the advent of an _Angel-Messiah_; 2. That they considered\nJesus of Nazareth to be _the_ Messiah; 3. That they came over to\nChristianity in a body; and, 4. That they brought the legendary\nhistories of the former Angel-Messiahs with them.\n\nThe origin of the sect known as _Essenes_ is enveloped in mist, and will\nprobably never be revealed. To speak of all the different ideas\nentertained as to their origin would make a volume of itself, we can\ntherefore but glance at the subject. It has been the object of Christian\nwriters up to a comparatively recent date, to claim that almost\neverything originated with God's chosen people, the _Jews_, and that\neven all languages can be traced to the _Hebrew_. Under these\ncircumstances, then, it is not to be wondered at that we find they have\nalso traced the Essenes to Hebrew origin.\n\nTheophilus Gale, who wrote a work called \"The Court of the Gentiles\"\n(Oxford, 1671), to demonstrate that \"the origin of _all human\nliterature_, both philology and philosophy, is from the Scriptures and\nthe Jewish church,\" undoubtedly hits upon the truth when he says:\n\n     \"Now, the origination or rise of these Essenes (among the\n     Jews) I conceive by the best conjectures I can make from\n     antiquity, _to be in or immediately after the Babylonian\n     captivity_, though some make them later.\"\n\nSome Christian writers trace them to Moses or some of the prophets, but\nthat they originated in _India_, and were a sort of Buddhist sect, we\nbelieve is their true history.\n\nGfr\u00f6rer, who wrote concerning them in 1835, and said that \"_the Essenes\nand the Therapeut\u00e6 are the same sect, and hold the same views_,\" was\nundoubtedly another writer who was touching upon historical ground.\n\nThe identity of many of the precepts and practices of _Essenism_ and\nthose of the _New Testament_ is unquestionable. Essenism urged on its\ndisciples to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.[420:1]\nThe Essenes forbade the laying up of treasures upon earth.[420:2] The\nEssenes demanded of those who wished to join them to sell all their\npossessions, and to divide it among the poor brethren.[420:3] The\nEssenes had all things in common, and appointed one of the brethren as\nsteward to manage the common bag.[420:4] Essenism put all its members on\nthe same level, forbidding the exercise of authority of one over the\nother, and enjoining mutual service.[420:5] Essenism commanded its\ndisciples to call no man master upon the earth.[420:6] Essenism laid the\ngreatest stress upon being meek and lowly in spirit.[420:7] The Essenes\ncommended the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after\nrighteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemaker. They\ncombined the healing of the body with that of the soul. They declared\nthat the power to cast out evil spirits, to perform miraculous cures,\n&c., should be possessed by their disciples as signs of their\nbelief.[420:8] The Essenes did not swear at all; their answer was yea,\nyea, and nay, nay.[420:9] When the Essenes started on a mission of\nmercy, they provided neither gold nor silver, neither two coats, neither\nshoes, but relied on hospitality for support.[420:10] The Essenes,\nthough repudiating offensive war, yet took weapons with them when they\nwent on a perilous journey.[421:1] The Essenes abstained from connubial\nintercourse.[421:2] The Essenes did not offer animal sacrifices, but\nstrove to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable\nunto God, which they regarded as a reasonable service.[421:3] It was the\ngreat aim of the Essenes to live such a life of purity and holiness as\nto be the temples of the Holy Spirit, and to be able to prophesy.[421:4]\n\nMany other comparisons might be made, but these are sufficient to show\nthat there is a great similarity between the two.[421:5] These\nsimilarities have led many Christian writers to believe that Jesus\nbelonged to this order. Dr. Ginsburg, an advocate of this theory, says:\n\n     \"It will hardly be doubted that _our_ Saviour himself belonged\n     to this holy brotherhood. This will especially be apparent\n     when we remember that the whole Jewish community, at the\n     advent of Christ, was divided into three parties, the\n     Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes, and that every Jew\n     had to belong to one of these sects. Jesus, who, in all\n     things, conformed to the Jewish law, and who was holy,\n     harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, would\n     therefore naturally associate himself with that order of\n     Judaism which was most congenial to his holy nature. Moreover,\n     the fact that Christ, with the exception of once, was not\n     heard of in public until his thirtieth year, implying that he\n     lived in seclusion with this fraternity, and that though he\n     frequently rebuked the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, he\n     never denounced the Essenes, strongly confirms this\n     conclusion.\"[421:6]\n\nThe _facts_--as Dr. Ginsburg calls them--which confirm his conclusions,\nare simply _no facts at all_. Jesus may or may not have been a member of\nthis order; but when it is stated as a fact that he never rebuked the\nEssenes, it is implying too much. We know not whether the words _said to\nhave been_ uttered by Jesus were ever uttered by him or not, and it is\nalmost certain that _had he_ rebuked the Essenes, and had his words been\nwritten in the Gospels, _they would not remain there long_. We hear very\nlittle of the Essenes after A. D. 40,[421:7] therefore, when we read of\nthe \"_primitive Christians_,\" we are reading of _Essenes_, and others.\n\nThe statement that, with the exception of once, Jesus was not heard in\npublic life till his _thirtieth_ year, is also uncertain. One of the\nearly Christian Fathers (Iren\u00e6us) tells us that he did not begin to\nteach until he was _forty_ years of age, or thereabout, and that he\nlived to be nearly _fifty_ years old.[422:1] \"_The records of his life\nare very scanty; and these have been so shaped and colored and modified\nby the hands of ignorance and superstition and party prejudice and\necclesiastical purpose, that it is hard to be sure of the original\noutlines._\"\n\nThe similarity of the sentiments of the Essenes, or Therapeut\u00e6, to those\nof the Church of Rome, induced the learned Jesuit, Nicolaus Serarius, to\nseek for them an honorable origin. He contended therefore, that they\nwere Asideans, and derived them from the Rechabites, described so\ncircumstantially in the thirty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah; at the same\ntime, he asserted that the first Christian monks were Essenes.[422:2]\n\nMr. King, speaking of the _Christian_ sect called Gnostics, says:\n\n     \"Their chief doctrines had been held for centuries before\n     (their time) in many of the cities of Asia Minor. There, it is\n     probable, they first came into existence as 'Myst\u00e6,' _upon the\n     establishment of a direct intercourse with India under the\n     Seleucid\u00e6 and the Ptolemies_. The colleges of _Essenes_ and\n     Megabyzae at Ephesus, the Orphics of Thrace, the Curetes of\n     Crete, _are all merely branches of one antique and common\n     religion, and that originally Asiatic_.\"[422:3]\n\nAgain:\n\n     \"The introduction of _Buddhism_ into Egypt and Palestine\n     _affords the only true solution of innumerable difficulties in\n     the history of religion_.\"[422:4]\n\nAgain:\n\n     \"That Buddhism had actually been planted in the dominions of\n     the Seleucid\u00e6 and Ptolemies (Palestine belonging to the\n     former) before the beginning of the third century B. C., is\n     _proved to demonstration_ by a passage in the Edicts of Asoka,\n     grandson of the famous Chandragupta, the Sandracottus of the\n     Greeks. These edicts are engraven on a rock at Girnur, in\n     Guzerat.\"[422:5]\n\nEusebius, in quoting from Philo concerning the Essenes, seems to take it\nfor granted that _they and the Christians were one and the same_, and\nfrom the manner in which he writes, it would appear that it was\ngenerally understood so. He says that Philo called them \"Worshipers,\"\nand concludes by saying:\n\n     \"But whether he himself gave them this name, or whether at the\n     _beginning_ they were so called, _when as yet the name of\n     Christians was not everywhere published_, I think it not\n     needful curiosity to sift out.\"[422:6]\n\nThis celebrated ecclesiastical historian considered it very probable\nthat the writings of the Essenic Therapeuts in Egypt had been\nincorporated into the gospels of the New Testament, and into some\nPauline epistles. His words are:\n\n     \"It is very likely that the commentaries (Scriptures) which\n     were among them (the Essenes) were the Gospels, and the works\n     of the apostles, and certain expositions of the ancient\n     prophets, such as partly that epistle unto the Hebrews, and\n     also the other epistles of Paul do contain.\"[423:1]\n\nThe principal doctrines and rites of the Essenes can be connected with\nthe _East_, with Parsism, and especially with _Buddhism_. Among the\ndoctrines which Essenes and Buddhists had in common was that of the\n_Angel-Messiah_.[423:2]\n\nGodfrey Higgins says:\n\n     \"The _Essenes_ were called physicians of the soul, or\n     _Therapeut\u00e6_; being resident both in Judea and Egypt, they\n     probably spoke or had their sacred books in Chaldee. They were\n     _Pythagoreans_, as is proved by all their forms, ceremonies,\n     and doctrines, and they called themselves sons of Jesse. If\n     the Pythagoreans or Conobit\u00e6, as they are called by Jamblicus,\n     were Buddhists, the Essenes were Buddhists. The Essenes lived\n     in Egypt, on the lake of Parembole or Maria, in _monasteries_.\n     These are the very places in which we formerly found the\n     _Gymnosophists_, or _Samaneans_, or _Buddhist_ priests to have\n     lived; which Gymnosophist\u00e6 are placed also by Ptolemy in\n     north-eastern India.\"\n\n     \"Their (the Essenes) parishes, churches, bishops, priests,\n     deacons, festivals are all identically the same (as the\n     Christians). They had apostolic founders; the manners which\n     distinguished the immediate apostles of Christ; scriptures\n     divinely inspired; the same allegorical mode of interpreting\n     them, which has since obtained among Christians, and the same\n     order of performing public worship. They had missionary\n     stations or colonies of their community established in Rome,\n     Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Phillippi, Colosse, and\n     Thessalonica, precisely such, and in the same circumstances,\n     as were those to whom St. Paul addressed his letters in those\n     places. All the fine moral doctrines which are attributed to\n     the Samaritan Nazarite, and I doubt not justly attributed to\n     him, are to be found among the doctrines of these\n     ascetics.\"[423:3]\n\nAnd Arthur Lillie says:\n\n     \"It is asserted by calm thinkers like Dean Mansel that within\n     two generations of the time of Alexander the Great, the\n     missionaries of Buddha made their appearance at\n     _Alexandria_.[423:4] This theory is confirmed--in the east by\n     the Asoka monuments--in the west by Philo. He expressly\n     maintains the identity in creed of the higher Judaism and that\n     of the _Gymnosophists_ of India who abstained from the\n     'sacrifice of living animals'--in a word, the BUDDHISTS. It\n     would follow from this that the priestly religion of\n     Babylonia, Palestine, Egypt, and Greece were undermined by\n     certain kindred mystical societies organized by Buddha's\n     missionaries under the various names of Therapeutes, Essenes,\n     Neo-Pythagoreans, Neo-Zoroastrians, &c. _Thus Buddhism\n     prepared the way for Christianity._\"[424:1]\n\nThe Buddhists have the \"eight-fold holy path\" (Dhammapada), eight\nspiritual states leading up to Buddhahood. The first state of the\nEssenes resulted from baptism, and it seems to correspond with the first\nBuddhistic state, those who have entered the (mystic) stream. Patience,\npurity, and the mastery of passion were aimed at by both devotees in the\nother stages. In the last, magical powers, healing the sick, casting\nout evil spirits, etc., were supposed to be gained. Buddhists and\nEssenes seem to have doubled up this eight-fold path into four, for\nsome reason or other. Buddhists and Essenes had three orders of\nascetics or monks, but this classification is distinct from the\nspiritual classifications.[424:2]\n\nThe doctrine of the \"_Anointed Angel_,\" of the man from heaven, the\nCreator of the world, the doctrine of the atoning sacrificial death of\nJesus by the blood of his cross, the doctrine of the Messianic antetype\nof the Paschal lamb of the Paschal omer, and thus of the resurrection of\nChrist Jesus, the third day, according to the Scriptures, these\ndoctrines of Paul can, with more or less certainty, be connected with\nthe Essenes. It becomes almost a certainty that Eusebius was right in\nsurmising that _Essenic writings have been used by Paul and the\nevangelists_. Not Jesus, but Paul, is the cause of the separation of the\nJews from the Christians.[424:3]\n\nThe probability, then, that that sect of vagrant quack-doctors, the\nTherapeut\u00e6, who were established in Egypt and its neighborhood many ages\nbefore the period assigned by later theologians as that of the birth of\nChrist Jesus, were the original fabricators of the writings contained in\nthe New Testament, becomes a certainty on the basis of evidence, than\nwhich history has nothing more certain, furnished by the unguarded, but\nexplicit, unwary, but most unqualified and positive statement of the\nhistorian Eusebius, that \"_those ancient Therapeut\u00e6 were Christians, and\nthat their ancient writings were our gospels and epistles_.\"\n\nThe Essenes, the Therapeuts, the Ascetics, the Monks, the Ecclesiastics,\nand the Eclectics, are but different names for one and the self-same\nsect.\n\nThe word \"_Essene_\" is nothing more than the Egyptian word for that of\nwhich Therapeut is the Greek, each of them signifying \"healer\" or\n\"doctor,\" and designating the character of the sect as professing to be\nendued with the miraculous gift of healing; and more especially so with\nrespect to diseases of the mind.\n\nTheir name of \"_Ascetics_\" indicated the severe discipline and exercise\nof self-mortification, long fastings, prayers, contemplation, and even\nmaking of themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake, as did\nOrigen, Melito, and others who derived their Christianity from the same\nschool; Jesus himself is represented to have recognized and approved\ntheir practice.\n\nTheir name of \"_Monks_\" indicated their delight in solitude, their\ncontemplative life, and their entire segregation and abstraction from\nthe world, which Jesus, in the Gospel, is in like manner represented as\ndescribing, as characteristic of the community of which he was a member.\n\nTheir name of \"_Ecclesiastics_\" was of the same sense, and indicated\ntheir being called out, elected, separated from the general fraternity\nof mankind, and set apart to the more immediate service and honor of\nGod.\n\nThey had a flourishing university, or corporate body, established upon\nthese principles, at Alexandria in Egypt, long before the period\nassigned for the birth of Christ Jesus.[425:1]\n\nFrom this body they sent out missionaries, and had established colonies,\nauxiliary branches, and affiliated communities, in various cities of\nAsia Minor, which colonies were in a flourishing condition, before the\npreaching of St. Paul.\n\n\"_The very ancient and Eastern doctrine of an Angel-Messiah had been\napplied to Gautama-Buddha, and so it was applied to Jesus Christ by the\nEssenes of Egypt and of Palestine, who introduced this new Messianic\ndoctrine into Essenic Judaism and Essenic Christianity._\"[425:2]\n\nIn the Pali and Sanscrit texts the word _Buddha_ is always used as a\n_title_, not as a name. It means \"The Enlightened One.\" Gautama Buddha\nis represented to have taught that he was only one of a long series of\nBuddhas, who appear at intervals in the world, and who all teach the\nsame system. After the death of each Buddha his religion flourishes for\na time, but finally wickedness and vice again rule over the land. Then\na _new_ Buddha appears, who again preaches the lost _Dharma_ or truth.\nThe names of twenty-four of these Buddhas who appeared previous to\nGautama have been handed down to us. The _Buddhavansa_, or \"History of\nthe Buddhas,\" the last book of the _Khuddaka Nikaya_ in the second\nPitca, gives the lives of all the previous Buddhas before commencing its\naccount of Gautama himself; and the Pali commentary on the _Jatakas_\ngives certain details regarding each of the twenty-four.[426:1]\n\nAn _Avatar_ was expected about every six hundred years.[426:2] At the\ntime of Jesus of Nazareth an Avatar was expected, not by some of the\nJews alone, but by most every eastern nation.[426:3] Many persons were\nthought at that time to be, and undoubtedly thought themselves to be,\n_the_ Christ, and the only reason why the name of Jesus of Nazareth\nsucceeded above all others, is because the _Essenes_--who were expecting\nan Angel-Messiah--espoused it. Had it not been for this almost\nindisputable fact, the name of Jesus of Nazareth would undoubtedly not\nbe known at the present day.\n\nEpiphanius, a Christian bishop and writer of the fourth century, says,\nin speaking of the Essenes:\n\n     \"They who believed on Christ were called JESS\u00c6I (or Essenes),\n     _before they were called Christians_. These derived their\n     constitution from the signification of the name Jesus, which\n     in Hebrew signifies the same as _Therapeutes_, that is, a\n     saviour or physician.\"\n\nThus we see that, according to Christian authority, the Essenes and\nTherapeutes are one, and that the Essenes espoused the cause of Jesus of\nNazareth, accepted him as an Angel-Messiah, and became known to history\nas _Christians_, or believers in the Anointed Angel.\n\nThis ascetic _Buddhist_ sect called Essenes were therefore expecting an\nAngel-Messiah, for had not Gautama announced to his disciples that\nanother Buddha, and therefore another angel in human form, another organ\nor advocate of the wisdom from above, would descend from heaven to\nearth, and would be called the \"Son of Love.\"\n\nThe learned Thomas Maurice says:\n\n     \"From the earliest post-diluvian age, to that in which the\n     Messiah appeared, together with the traditions which so\n     expressly recorded the fall of the human race from a state of\n     original rectitude and felicity, there appears, from an\n     infinite variety of hieroglyphic monuments and of written\n     documents, to have prevailed, from generation to generation,\n     _throughout all the regions of the higher Asia_, an uniform\n     belief that, in the course of revolving ages, _there should\n     arise a sacred personage, a mighty deliverer of mankind from\n     the thraldom of sin and of death_. In fact, the memory of the\n     grand original promise, that the seed of the woman should\n     eventually crush the serpent, was carefully preserved in the\n     breasts of the _Asiatics_; it entered deeply into their\n     symbolic superstitions, and was engraved aloft amidst their\n     mythologic sculptures.\"[427:1]\n\nThat an Angel-Messiah was generally expected at this time may be\ninferred from the following facts: Some of the Gnostic sects of\nChristians, who believed that Jesus was an emanation from God, likewise\nsupposed that there were several _\u00c6ons_, or emanations from the Eternal\nFather. Among those who taught this doctrine was _Basilides_ and his\nfollowers.[427:2]\n\nSIMON MAGUS was believed to be \"He who should come.\" Simon was worshiped\nin Samaria and other countries, as the expected Angel-Messiah, as a God.\n\nJustin Martyr says:\n\n     \"After the ascension of our Lord into heaven, certain _men_\n     were suborned by demons as their agents, who said that they\n     were gods (_i. e._, _the_ Angel Messiah). Among these was\n     _Simon_, a certain Samaritan, whom nearly all the Samaritans\n     and a few also of other nations, worshiped, confessing him as\n     a Supreme God.\"[427:3]\n\nHis miracles were notorious, and admitted by all. His followers became\nso numerous that they were to be found in all countries. In Rome, in the\nreign of Claudius, a statue was erected in his honor. Clement of Rome,\nspeaking of Simon Magus, says that:\n\n     \"He wishes to be considered an exalted person, and to be\n     considered 'the Christ.' He claims that he can never be\n     dissolved, asserting that he will endure to eternity.\"\n\nMontanus was another person who evidently believed himself to be an\nAngel-Messiah. He was called by himself and his followers the\n\"Paraclete,\" or \"Holy Spirit.\"[428:1]\n\nSocrates, in his Ecclesiastical History, tells us of one _Buddhas_ (who\nlived after Jesus):\n\n     \"Who afore that time was called Terebynthus, which went to the\n     coasts of Babylon, inhabited by Persians, and there published\n     of himself many false wonders: that he was born of a virgin,\n     that he was bred and brought up in the mountains, etc.\"[428:2]\n\nHe was evidently one of the many fanatics who believed themselves to be\nthe Paraclete or Comforter, the \"Expected One.\"\n\nAnother one of these _Christs_ was _Apollonius_. This remarkable man was\nborn a few years before the commencement of the Christian era, and\nduring his career, sustained the role of a philosopher, religious\nteacher and reformer, and a worker of miracles. He is said to have lived\nto be a hundred years old. From the history of his life, written by the\nlearned sophist and scholar, Philostratus, we glean the following:\n\nBefore his birth a god appeared to his mother and informed her that he\nhimself should be born of her. At the time of her delivery, the most\nwonderful things happened. All the people of the country acknowledged\nthat he was the \"Son of God.\" As he grew in stature, his wonderful\npowers, greatness of memory, and marvelous beauty attracted the\nattention of all. A great part of his time was spent, when a youth,\namong the learned doctors; the disciples of Plato, Chrysippus and\nAristotle. When he came to man's estate, he became an enthusiastic\nadmirer and devoted follower of Pythagoras. His fame soon spread far and\nnear, and wherever he went he reformed the religious worship of the day.\nHe went to Ephesus, like Christ Jesus to Jerusalem, where the people\nflocked about him. While at Athens, in Greece, he cast out an evil\nspirit from a youth. As soon as Apollonius fixed his eyes upon him, the\ndemon broke out into the most angry and horrid expressions, and then\nswore he would depart out of the youth. He put an end to a plague which\nwas raging at Ephesus, and at Corinth he raised a dead maiden to life,\nby simply taking her by the hand and bidding her arise. The miracles of\nApollonius were extensively believed, _by Christians as well as others_,\nfor centuries after his time. In the fourth century Hierocles drew a\nparallel between the two Christs--Apollonius and Jesus--which was\nanswered by Eusebius, the great champion of the Christian church. In it\nhe admits the miracles of Apollonius, but attributes them to sorcery.\n\nApollonius was worshiped as a god, in different countries, as late as\nthe fourth century. A beautiful temple was built in honor of him, and he\nwas held in high esteem by many of the Pagan emperors. Eunapius, who\nwrote concerning him in the fifth century, says that his history should\nhave been entitled \"_The Descent of a God_ upon Earth.\" It is as Albert\nReville says:\n\n     \"The universal respect in which Apollonius was held by the\n     whole pagan world, testified to the deep impression which the\n     life of this _Supernatural Being_ had left indelibly fixed in\n     their minds; an expression which caused one of his\n     contemporaries to exclaim, '_We have a God living among us._'\"\n\nA Samaritan, by name Menander, who was contemporary with the apostles of\nJesus, was another of these fanatics who believed himself to be the\nChrist. He went about performing miracles, claiming that he was a\nSAVIOUR, \"sent down from above from the invisible worlds, _for the\nsalvation of mankind_.\"[429:1] He baptized his followers in his own\nname. His influence was great, and continued for several centuries.\nJustin Martyr and other Christian Fathers wrote against him.\n\nManes evidently believed himself to be \"the Christ,\" or \"he who was to\ncome.\" His followers also believed the same concerning him. Eusebius,\nspeaking of him, says:\n\n     \"He presumed to represent the person of Christ; he proclaimed\n     himself to be the Comforter and the Holy Ghost, and being\n     puffed up with this frantic pride, chose, as if he were\n     Christ, _twelve_ partners of his new-found doctrine, patching\n     into one heap false and detestable doctrines of old, rotten,\n     and rooted out heresies, _the which he brought out of\n     Persia_.\"[429:2]\n\nThe word Manes, says Usher in his Annals, has the meaning of Paraclete\nor Comforter or Saviour. This at once lets us into the secret--a new\nincarnation, an Angel-Messiah, a Christ--born from the side of his\nmother, and put to a violent death--flayed alive, and hung up, or\ncrucified, by a king of Persia.[429:3] This is the teacher with his\ntwelve apostles on the rock of Gualior.\n\nDu Perron, in his life of Zoroaster, gives an account of certain\nprophecies to be found in the sacred books of the _Persians_. One of\nthese is to the effect that, at successive periods of time, there will\nappear on earth certain \"Sons of Zoroaster,\" who are to be the result\nof _immaculate conceptions_. These virgin-born gods will come upon earth\nfor the purpose of establishing the law of God. It is also asserted that\nZoroaster, when on earth, declared that in the \"latter days\" a pure\nvirgin would conceive, and bear a son, and that as soon as the child was\nborn a _star_ would appear, blazing even at noonday, with undiminished\nsplendor. This Christ is to be called _Sosiosh_. He will redeem mankind,\nand subdue the Devs, who have been tempting and leading men astray ever\nsince the fall of our first parents.\n\nAmong the Greeks the same prophecy was found. The Oracle of Delphi was\nthe depository, according to Plato, of an ancient and _secret_ prophecy\nof the birth of a \"Son of Apollo,\" who was to restore the reign of\njustice and virtue on the earth.[430:1]\n\nThose who believed in successive emanations of \u00c6ons from the Throne of\nLight, pointed to the passage in the Gospels where Jesus is made to say\nthat he will be succeeded by the Paraclete or Comforter. Mahommed was\nbelieved by many to be this Paraclete, and it is said that he too told\nhis disciples that _another_ Paraclete would succeed him. From present\nappearances, however, there is some reason for believing that the\nMohammedans are to have their ancient prophecy set at naught by the\nmultiplicity of those who pretend to be divinely appointed to fulfill\nit. The present year was designated as the period at which this great\nreformer was to arise, who should be almost, if not quite, the equal of\nMahommed. His mission was to be to to purify the religion from its\ncorruptions; to overthrow those who had usurped its control, and to\nrule, as a great spiritual caliph, over the faithful. According to\naccepted tradition, the prophet himself designated the line of descent\nin which his most important successor would be found, and even indicated\nhis personal appearance. The time having arrived, it is not strange that\nthe man is forthcoming, only in this instance there is more than one\nclaimant. There is a \"holy man\" in Morocco who has allowed it to be\nannounced that he is the designated reformer, while cable reports show\nthat a rival pretender has appeared in Yemen, in southern Arabia, and\nhis supporters, sword in hand, are now advancing upon Mecca, for the\npurpose of proclaiming their leader as caliph within the sacred city\nitself.\n\nHistory then relates to us the indisputable fact that at the time of\nJesus of Nazareth an Angel-Messiah was expected, that many persons\nclaimed, and were believed to be, _the_ \"Expected One,\" and that the\nreason why _Jesus_ was accepted above all others was because the\nEssenes--a very numerous sect--believed him to be the true Messiah, and\ncame over to his followers in a body. It was because there were so many\nof these _Christs_ in existence that some follower of Jesus--but no one\nknows _who_--wrote as follows:\n\n     \"If any man shall say to you, Lo, _here is Christ_, or, lo, he\n     is _there_; believe him not; for _false Christs_ and false\n     prophets shall rise, _and shall show signs and wonders_ to\n     seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.\"[431:1]\n\nThe reasons why Jesus was not accepted as the Messiah by the _majority_\nof the Jews was because the majority expected a daring and irresistible\nwarrior and conqueror, who, armed with greater power than C\u00e6sar, was to\ncome upon earth to rend the fetters in which their hapless nation had so\nlong groaned, to avenge them upon their haughty oppressors, and to\nre-establish the kingdom of Judah; and this Jesus--although he evidently\nclaimed to be the Messiah--did not do.\n\nTacitus, the Roman historian, says:\n\n     \"The generality had a strong persuasion that it was contained\n     in the ancient writings of the priests, that at that very time\n     the east should prevail: and that some one, who should come\n     out of Judea, _should obtain the empire of the world_; which\n     ambiguities foretold Vespasian and Titus. But the common\n     people (of the Jews), according to the influence of human\n     wishes, appropriated to themselves, by their interpretation,\n     this vast grandeur foretold by the fates, nor could be brought\n     to change their opinion for the true, by all their\n     adversities.\"\n\nSuetonius, another Roman historian, says:\n\n     \"There had been for a long time all over the east a constant\n     persuasion that it was recorded in the fates (books of the\n     fates, or foretellings), that at that time some one who should\n     come out of Judea _should obtain universal dominion_. It\n     appears by the event, that this prediction referred to the\n     Roman emperor; but the Jews, referring it to themselves,\n     rebelled.\"\n\nThis is corroborated by Josephus, the Jewish historian, who says:\n\n     \"That which, chiefly excited them (the Jews) to war, was an\n     _ambiguous prophecy_, which was also found in the sacred\n     books, that at that time some one, within their country,\n     should arise, that should obtain _the empire of the whole\n     world_. For this they had received by tradition, that it was\n     spoken of one of their nation; and many wise men were deceived\n     with the interpretation. But, in truth, Vespasian's empire was\n     designed in this prophecy, who was created emperor (of Rome)\n     _in Judea_.\"\n\nAs the Rev. Dr. Geikie remarks, the central and dominant characteristic\nof the teaching of the rabbis, was the certain advent of a great\nnational _Deliverer_--the Messiah--but not a God from heaven.\n\nFor a time _Cyrus_ appeared to realize the promised Deliverer, or, at\nleast, to be the chosen instrument to prepare the way for him, and, in\nhis turn, _Zerubabel_ became the centre of Messianic hopes. In fact, the\nnational mind had become so inflammable, by constant brooding on this\none theme, that any bold spirit, rising in revolt against the Roman\npower, could find an army of fierce disciples who trusted that it should\nbe he who would redeem Israel.[432:1]\n\nThe \"_taxing_\" which took place under Cyrenius, Governor of Syria (A. D.\n7), excited the wildest uproar against the Roman power. The Hebrew\nspirit was stung into exasperation; the puritans of the nation, the\nenthusiasts, fanatics, the zealots of the law, the literal\nconstructionists of prophecy, appealed to the national temper, revived\nthe national faith, and fanned into flame the combustible elements that\nsmoldered in the bosom of the race. The Messianic hope was strong in\nthese people; all the stronger on account of their political\ndegradation. Born in sorrow, the anticipation grew keen in bitter hours.\nThat Jehovah would abandon them could not be believed. The thought would\nbe atheism. The hope kept the eastern Jews in a perpetual state of\ninsurrection. The cry \"Lo here, lo there!\" was incessant. Claimant after\nclaimant of the dangerous supremacy of the _Messiah_ appeared, pitched a\ncamp in the wilderness, raised the banner, gathered a force, was\nattacked, defeated, banished, or crucified; but the frenzy did not\nabate.\n\nThe last insurrection among the Jews, that of Bar-Cochba--\"Son of the\nStar\"--revealed an astonishing frenzy of zeal. It was purely a\n_Messianic_ uprising. Judaism had excited the fears of the Emperor\nHadrian, and induced him to inflict unusual severities on the people.\nThe effect of the violence was to stimulate that conviction to fury. The\nnight of their despair was once more illumined by the star of the east.\nThe banner of the Messiah was raised. Portents, as of old, were seen in\nthe sky; the clouds were watched for the glory that should appear.\n_Bar-Cochba_ seemed to fill out the popular idea of the deliverer.\nMiracles were ascribed to him; flames issued from his mouth. The vulgar\nimagination made haste to transform the audacious fanatic into a child\nof David. Multitudes flocked to his standard. The whole Jewish race\nthroughout the world was in commotion. The insurrection gained head. The\nheights about Jerusalem were seized and occupied, and fortifications\nwere erected; nothing but the \"host of angels\" was needed to insure\nvictory. The angels did not appear; the Roman legions did. The\n\"Messiah,\" not proving himself a conqueror, was held to have proved\nhimself an impostor, the \"son of a lie.\"[433:1]\n\nThe impetuous zeal with which the Jews rushed to the standard of this\nMessianic impostor, in the 130th year of the Christian era, demonstrates\nthe true Jewish character, and shows how readily any one who made the\nclaim, was believed to be \"He who should come.\" Even the celebrated\nRabbi Akiba sanctioned this daring fraud. Akiba declared that the\nso-called prophecy of Balaam,--\"_a star shall rise out of Jacob_,\"--was\naccomplished. Hence the impostor took his title of _Bar-Cochabas_, or\n_Son of the Star_; and Akiba not only publicly anointed him \"KING OF THE\nJEWS,\" and placed an imperial diadem upon his head, but followed him to\nthe field at the head of four-and-twenty thousand of his disciples, and\nacted in the capacity of master of his horse.\n\nThose who believed on the meek and benevolent Jesus--and whose number\nwas very small--were of that class who believed in the doctrine of the\n_Angel-Messiah_,[433:2] first heard of among them when taken captives to\nBabylon. These believed that just as Buddha appeared at different\nintervals, and as Vishnu appeared at different intervals, the avatars\nappeared among the Jews. Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and Elijah or Elias,\nmight in outward appearance be different men, but they were really the\nself-same divine person successively animating various human\nbodies.[433:3] Christ _Jesus_ was the _avatar_ of the ninth age, Christ\n_Cyrus_ was the _avatar_ of the eighth. Of the hero of the eighth age it\nis said: \"Thus said the Lord to his Anointed (_i. e._, his _Christ_),\nhis Messiah, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue\nnations.\"[434:1] The eighth period began about the Babylonish captivity,\nabout six hundred years before Christ _Jesus_. The ninth began with\nChrist Jesus, making in all eight cycles before Jesus.\n\n\"What was known in Judea more than a century before the birth of Jesus\nChrist cannot have been introduced among Buddhists by Christian\nmissionaries. It will become equally certain that the bishop and\nchurch-historian, Eusebius, was right when he wrote, that he considered\nit highly probable that the writings of the Essenic Therapeuts in Egypt\nhad been incorporated into our Gospels, and into some Pauline\nepistles.\"[434:2]\n\nFor further information on the subject of the connection between\nEssenism and Christianity, the reader is referred to Taylor's Diegesis,\nBunsen's Angel-Messiah, and the works of S. F. Dunlap. We shall now\nspeak of another powerful lever which was brought to bear upon the\npromulgation of Christianity; namely, that of FRAUD.\n\nIt was a common thing among the early Christian Fathers and saints to\nlie and deceive, if their lies and deceits helped the cause of their\nChrist. Lactantius, an eminent Christian author who flourished in the\nfourth century, has well said:\n\n     \"Among those who seek power and gain from their religion,\n     there will never be wanting an inclination to forge and lie\n     for it.\"[434:3]\n\nGregory of Nazianzus, writing to St. Jerome, says:\n\n     \"A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose on the\n     people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire. Our\n     forefathers and doctors have often said, not what they\n     thought, but what circumstances and necessity\n     dictated.\"[434:4]\n\nThe celebrated _Eusebius_, Bishop of C\u00c6SAREA, and friend of Constantine\nthe Great, who is our chief guide for the early history of the Church,\n_confesses that he was by no means scrupulous to record the whole truth\nconcerning the early Christians in the various works which he has left\nbehind him_.[434:5] Edward Gibbon, speaking of him, says:\n\n     \"The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius\n     himself, indirectly confesses that he has related what might\n     redound to the glory, and that he has suppressed all that\n     could tend to the disgrace of religion. Such an acknowledgment\n     will naturally excite a suspicion that a writer who has so\n     openly violated one of the fundamental laws of history, has\n     not paid a very strict regard to the observance of the other;\n     and the suspicion will derive additional credit from the\n     character of Eusebius, which was less tinctured with\n     credulity, and more practiced in the arts of courts, than that\n     of almost any of his contemporaries.\"[435:1]\n\nThe great theologian, Beausobre, in his \"Histoire de Manichee,\" says:\n\n     \"We see in the history which I have related, a sort of\n     hypocrisy, that has been perhaps, but too common at all times;\n     that churchmen not only do not say what they think, but they\n     do say the direct contrary of what they think. Philosophers in\n     their cabinets; out of them they are content with fables,\n     though they well know they are fables. Nay, more; they deliver\n     honest men to the executioner, for having uttered what they\n     themselves know to be true. How many atheists and pagans have\n     burned holy men under the pretext of heresy? Every day do\n     hypocrites consecrate, and make people adore the host, though\n     as well convinced as I am, that it is nothing but a bit of\n     bread.\"[435:2]\n\nM. Daille says:\n\n     \"This opinion has always been in the world, that to settle a\n     certain and assured estimation upon that which is good and\n     true, it is necessary to remove out of the way, whatsoever may\n     be an hinderance to it. _Neither ought we to wonder that even\n     those of the honest, innocent, primitive times made use of\n     these deceits, seeing for a good end they made no scruple to\n     forge whole books._\"[435:3]\n\nReeves, in his \"Apologies of the Fathers,\" says:\n\n     \"It was a Catholic opinion among the philosophers, that pious\n     frauds were good things, and that the people ought to be\n     imposed on in matters of religion.\"[435:4]\n\nMosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, says:\n\n     \"It was held as a maxim that it was not only lawful but\n     praiseworthy to _deceive_, and even to use the expedient of a\n     _lie_, in order to advance the cause of truth and\n     piety.\"[435:5]\n\nIsaac de Casaubon, the great ecclesiastical scholar, says:\n\n     \"It mightily affects me, to see how many there were in the\n     earliest times of the church, who considered it as a capital\n     exploit, to lend to heavenly truth the help of their own\n     inventions, in order that the new doctrine might be more\n     readily allowed by the wise among the Gentiles. _These\n     officious lies, they were wont to say, were devised for a good\n     end._\"[435:6]\n\nThe Apostolic Father, Hermas, who was the fellow-laborer of St. Paul in\nthe work of the ministry; who is greeted as such in the New Testament;\nand whose writings are expressly quoted as of divine inspiration, by the\nearly Fathers, ingenuously confesses that lying was the easily-besetting\nsin of a Christian. His words are:\n\n     \"O Lord, I never spake a true word in my life, but I have\n     always lived in dissimulation, and affirmed a lie for truth to\n     all men, and no man contradicted me, but all gave credit to my\n     words.\"\n\nTo which the holy angel, whom he addresses, condescendingly admonishes\nhim, that as the lie was up, now, he had better keep it up, and as in\ntime it would come to be believed, it would answer as well as\ntruth.[436:1]\n\nDr. Mosheim admits, that the Platonists and Pythagoreans held it as a\nmaxim, that it was not only lawful, but praiseworthy, to deceive, and\neven to use the expedient of a lie, in order to advance the cause of\ntruth and piety. The Jews who lived in Egypt, had learned and received\nthis maxim from them, before the coming of Christ Jesus, as appears\nincontestably from a multitude of ancient records, _and the Christians\nwere infected from both these sources, with the same pernicious\nerror_.[436:2]\n\nOf the fifteen letters ascribed to Ignatius (Bishop of Antioch after 69\nA. D.), _eight have been rejected by Christian writers as being\nforgeries_, having no authority whatever. \"_The remaining seven_\nepistles were accounted genuine by most critics, although disputed by\nsome, previous to the discoveries of Mr. Cureton, _which have shaken,\nand indeed almost wholly destroyed the credit and authenticity of all\nalike_.\"[436:3]\n\nPaul of Tarsus, who was preaching a doctrine which had already been\npreached to every nation on earth,[436:4] inculcates and avows the\nprinciple of deceiving the common people, talks of his having been\nupbraided by his own converts with being crafty and catching them with\nguile,[436:5] and of his known and willful lies, abounding to the glory\nof God.[436:6]\n\nEven the orthodox Doctor Burnet, an eminent English author, in his\ntreatise \"_De Statu Mortuorum_,\" purposely written in Latin, that it\nmight serve for the instruction of the clergy only, and not come to the\nknowledge of the laity, because, as he said, \"_too much light is hurtful\nfor weak eyes_,\" not only justified but recommended the practice of the\nmost consummate hypocrisy, and would have his clergy seriously preach\nand maintain the reality and eternity of hell torments, even though they\nshould believe nothing of the sort themselves.[437:1]\n\nThe incredible and very ridiculous stories related by Christian Fathers\nand ecclesiastical historians, _on whom we are obliged to rely for\ninformation on the most important of subjects_, show us how\nuntrustworthy these men were. We have, for instance, the story related\nby St. Augustine, who is styled \"the greatest of the Latin Fathers,\" of\nhis preaching the Gospel to people _without heads_. In his 33d Sermon he\nsays:\n\n     \"I was already Bishop of Hippo, when I went into Ethiopia with\n     some servants of Christ there to preach the Gospel. In this\n     country we saw many men and women without heads, who had two\n     great eyes in their breasts; and in countries still more\n     southly, we saw people who had but one eye in their\n     foreheads.\"[437:2]\n\nThis same holy Father bears an equally unquestionable testimony to\nseveral resurrections of the dead, of _which he himself had been an\neye-witness_.\n\nIn a book written \"towards the close of the second century, by some\nzealous believer,\" and fathered upon one Nicodemus, who is said to have\nbeen a disciple of Christ Jesus, we find the following:\n\n     \"We all know the blessed Simeon, the high priest, who took\n     Jesus when an infant into his arms in the temple. This same\n     Simeon had two sons of his own, _and we were all present at\n     their death and funeral_. Go therefore and see their tombs,\n     for these are open, and they are risen; and behold, _they are\n     in the city of Arimath\u00e6a, spending their time together in\n     offices of devotion_.\"[438:1]\n\nEusebius, \"the Father of ecclesiastical history,\" Bishop of C\u00e6sarea, and\none of the most prominent personages at the Council of Nice, relates as\ntruth, the ridiculous story of King Agbarus writing a letter to Christ\nJesus, and of Jesus' answer to the same.[438:2] And Socrates relates how\nthe Empress Helen, mother of the Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem\nfor the purpose of finding, if possible, \"the cross of Christ.\" This she\nsucceeded in doing, also the nails with which he was nailed to the\ncross.[438:3]\n\nBeside forging, lying, and deceiving for the cause of Christ, the\nChristian Fathers destroyed all evidence against themselves and their\nreligion, which they came across. Christian divines seem to have always\nbeen afraid of too much light. In the very infancy of printing, Cardinal\nWolsey foresaw its effect on Christianity, and in a speech to the\nclergy, publicly forewarned them, that, _if they did not destroy the\nPress, the Press would destroy them_.[438:4] There can be no doubt, that\nhad the objections of Porphyry,[438:5] Hierocles,[438:6] Celsus,[438:7]\nand other opponents of the Christian faith, been permitted to come down\nto us, the plagiarism in the Christian Scriptures from previously\nexisting Pagan documents, is the specific charge they would have\npresented us. But these were ordered to be burned, by the prudent piety\nof the Christian emperors.\n\nIn Alexandria, in Egypt, there was an immense library, founded by the\nPtolemies. This library was situated in the Alexandrian Museum; the\napartments which were allotted for it were beautifully sculptured, and\ncrowded with the choicest statues and pictures; the building was built\nof marble. This library eventually comprised four hundred thousand\nvolumes. In the course of time, probably on account of inadequate\naccommodation for so many books, an additional library was established,\nand placed in the temple of Serapis. The number of volumes in this\nlibrary, which was called the daughter of that in the museum, was\neventually three hundred thousand. There were, therefore, _seven hundred\nthousand volumes in these royal collections_.\n\nIn the establishment of the museum, Ptolemy Soter, and his son\nPhiladelphus, had three objects in view: 1. The perpetuation of such\nknowledge as was then in the world; 2. Its increase; 3. Its diffusion.\n\n1. _For the perpetuation of knowledge._ Orders were given to the chief\nlibrarian to buy, at the king's expense, whatever books he could. A body\nof transcribers was maintained in the museum, whose duty it was to make\ncorrect copies of such works as their owners were not disposed to sell.\n_Any books brought by foreigners into Egypt_ were taken at once to the\nmuseum, and when correct copies had been made, the transcript was given\nto the owner, and the original placed in the library. Often a very large\npecuniary indemnity was paid.\n\n2. _For the increase of knowledge._ One of the chief objects of the\nmuseum was that of serving as the home of a body of men who devoted\nthemselves to study, and were lodged and maintained at the king's\nexpense. In the original organization of the museum the residents were\ndivided into four faculties,--Literature, Mathematics, Astronomy, and\nMedicine. An officer of very great distinction presided over the\nestablishment, and had general charge of its interests. Demetius\nPhalareus, perhaps the most learned man of his age, who had been\nGovernor of Athens for many years, was the first so appointed. Under him\nwas the librarian, an office sometimes held by men whose names have\ndescended to our times, as Eratosthenes and Apollonius Rhodius. In\nconnection with the museum was a botanical and a zoological garden.\nThese gardens, as their names imply, were for the purpose of\nfacilitating the study of plants and animals. There was also an\nastronomical observatory, containing armillary spheres, globes,\nsolstitial and equatorial armils, astrolabes, parallactic rules, and\nother apparatus then in use, the graduation on the divided instruments\nbeing into degrees and sixths.\n\n3. _For the diffusion of knowledge._ In the museum was given, by\nlectures, conversation, or other appropriate methods, instruction in all\nthe various departments of human knowledge.\n\n_There flocked to this great intellectual centre, students from all\ncountries._ It is said that at one time not fewer than fourteen thousand\nwere in attendance. Subsequently even the Christian church received from\nit some of the most eminent of its Fathers, as Clemens Alexandrinus,\nOrigen, Athanasius, &c.\n\nThe library in the museum was burned during the siege of Alexandria by\nJulius C\u00e6sar. To make amends for this great loss, the library collected\nby Eumenes, King of Pergamus, was presented by Mark Antony to Queen\nCleopatra. Originally it was founded as a rival to that of the\nPtolemies. It was added to the collection in the Serapion, or the temple\nof Serapis.[440:1]\n\nIt was not destined, however, to remain there many centuries, as this\nvery valuable library was willfully destroyed by the Christian\nTheophilus, and on the spot where this beautiful temple of Serapis\nstood, in fact, on its very foundation, was erected a church in honor of\nthe \"noble army of martyrs,\" who had never existed.\n\nThis we learn from the historian Gibbon, who says that, after this\nlibrary was destroyed, \"the appearance of the empty shelves excited the\nregret and indignation of every spectator, whose mind was not totally\ndarkened by religious prejudice.\"[440:2]\n\nThe destruction of this library was almost the death-blow to\nfree-thought--wherever Christianity ruled--for more than a thousand\nyears.\n\nThe death-blow was soon to be struck, however, which was done by _Saint\nCyril_, who succeeded _Theophilus_ as Bishop of Alexandria.\n\n_Hypatia_, the daughter of Theon, the mathematician, endeavored to\ncontinue the old-time instructions. Each day before her academy stood a\nlong train of chariots; her lecture-room was crowded with the wealth and\nfashion of _Alexandria_. They came to listen to her discourses on those\nquestions which man in all ages has asked, but which have never yet been\nanswered: \"What am I? Where am I? What can I know?\"\n\nHypatia and Cyril; philosophy and bigotry; they cannot exist together.\nAs Hypatia repaired to her academy, she was assaulted by (Saint) Cyril's\nmob--_a mob of many monks_. Stripped naked in the street, she was\ndragged into a _church_, and there killed _by the club of Peter the\nReader_. The corpse was cut to pieces, the flesh was scraped from the\nbones with shells, and the remnants cast into a fire. _For this\nfrightful crime Cyril was never called to account. It seemed to be\nadmitted that the end sanctified the means. So ended Greek philosophy in\nAlexandria_, so came to an untimely close the learning that the\nPtolemies had done so much to promote.\n\nThe fate of Hypatia was a warning to all who would cultivate profane\nknowledge. _Henceforth there was to be no freedom for human thought.\nEvery one must think as ecclesiastical authority ordered him_; A. D.\n414. In Athens itself philosophy awaited its doom. Justinian at length\nprohibited its teaching and caused all its schools in that city to be\nclosed.[441:1]\n\nAfter this followed the long and dreary _dark ages_, but the _sun of\nscience_, that bright and glorious luminary, was destined to rise again.\n\nThe history of this great Alexandrian library is one of the keys which\nunlock the door, and exposes to our view the manner in which the Hindoo\nincarnate god _Crishna_, and the meek and benevolent _Buddha_, came to\nbe worshiped under the name of _Christ Jesus_. For instance, we have\njust seen:\n\n1. That, \"orders were given to the chief librarian to buy at the king's\nexpense _whatever books he could_.\"\n\n2. That, \"one of the chief objects of the museum was that of serving as\nthe home of a _body of men_ who devoted themselves to study.\"\n\n3. That, \"any books brought by foreigners into Egypt were taken at once\nto the museum and correct copies made.\"\n\n4. That, \"there flocked to this great intellectual centre students from\nall countries.\"\n\n5. That, \"the Christian church received from it some of the most eminent\nof its Fathers.\"\n\nAnd also:\n\n6. That, the chief doctrines of the Gnostic Christians \"had been held\nfor centuries before their time in many of the cities in Asia Minor.\nThere, it is probable, they first came into existence as 'Myst\u00e6,' _upon\nthe establishment of a direct intercourse with India_ under the\nSeleucid\u00e6 and the Ptolemies.\"\n\n7. That, \"the College of ESSENES at Ephesus, the Orphics of Thrace, the\nCuretes of Crete, _are all merely branches of one_ antique and common\nreligion, _and that originally Asiatic_.\"\n\n8. That, \"_the introduction of Buddhism into Egypt and Palestine\naffords the only true solution of innumerable difficulties in the\nhistory of religion_.\"\n\n9. That, \"_Buddhism_ had actually been planted in the dominions of the\nSeleucid\u00e6 and Ptolemies (Palestine belonging to the former) _before the\nbeginning of the third century_ B. C. and is proved to demonstration by\na passage in the edicts of Asoka.\"\n\n10. That, \"it is very likely that the commentaries (Scriptures) which\nwere among them (the _Essenes_) were the Gospels.\"\n\n11. That, \"the principal doctrines and rites of the _Essenes_ can be\nconnected with the East, with Parsism, and especially with _Buddhism_.\"\n\n12. That, \"among the doctrines which the _Essenes_ and _Buddhists_ had\nin common was that of the _Angel-Messiah_.\"\n\n13. That, \"they (the _Essenes_) had a flourishing university or\ncorporate body, established at _Alexandria, in Egypt_, long before the\nperiod assigned for the birth of Christ.\"\n\n14. That, \"the _very ancient_ and Eastern doctrine of the\n_Angel-Messiah_ had been applied to Gautama Buddha, _and so it was\napplied to Jesus Christ by the Essenes of Egypt and Palestine_, who\nintroduced this new Messianic doctrine into Essenic Judaism and Essenic\nChristianity.\"\n\n15. That, \"we hear very little of them (the _Essenes_) after A. D. 40;\nand there can hardly be any doubt that the _Essenes_ as a body must have\nembraced Christianity.\"\n\nHere is the solution of the problem. The sacred books of Hindoos and\nBuddhists were among the _Essenes_, and in the library at Alexandria.\nThe _Essenes_, who were afterwards called _Christians_, applied the\nlegend of the _Angel-Messiah_--\"the very ancient Eastern doctrine,\"\nwhich we have shown throughout this work--to Christ Jesus. It was simply\na transformation of names, _a transformation which had previously\noccurred in many cases_.[442:1] After this came _additions_ to the\nlegend from other sources. Portions of the legends related of the\nPersian, Greek and Roman Saviours and Redeemers of mankind, were, from\ntime to time, added to the already legendary history of the Christian\nSaviour. Thus history was repeating itself. Thus the virgin-born God\nand Saviour, worshiped by all nations of the earth, though called by\ndifferent names, was but one and the same.\n\nIn a subsequent chapter we shall see _who_ this One God was, and _how_\nthe myth originated.\n\nAlbert Revill\u00e9 says:\n\n     \"_Alexandria_, the home of Philonism, and Neo-Platonism (and\n     we might add _Essenism_), was naturally the centre _whence\n     spread the dogma of the deity of Jesus Christ_. In that city,\n     through the third century, flourished a school of\n     transcendental theology, afterwards looked upon with suspicion\n     by the conservators of ecclesiastical doctrine, but not the\n     less the real cradle of orthodoxy. It was still the Platonic\n     tendency which influenced the speculations of Clement, Origen\n     and Dionysius, and the theory of the Logos was at the\n     foundation of their theology.\"[443:1]\n\nAmong the numerous gospels in circulation among the Christians of the\nfirst three centuries, there was one entitled \"The Gospel of the\n_Egyptians_.\" Epiphanius (A. D. 385), speaking of it, says:\n\n     \"Many things are proposed (in this Gospel of the Egyptians) in\n     a hidden, _mysterious manner_, as by our Saviour, as though he\n     had said to his disciples, that the Father was the same\n     person, the Son the same person, and the Holy Ghost the same\n     person.\"\n\nThat this was one of the \"_Scriptures_\" of the Essenes, becomes very\nevident when we find it admitted by the most learned of Christian\ntheologians that it was in existence \"_before either of the canonical\nGospels_,\" and that it contained the doctrine of the _Trinity_, a\ndoctrine not established in the Christian church until A. D. 327, but\nwhich was taught by this Buddhist sect in Alexandria, in Egypt, which\nhas been well called, \"Egypt, the land of Trinities.\"\n\nThe learned Dr. Grabe thought it was composed by _some Christians in\nEgypt_, and that it was published _before either of the canonical\nGospels_. Dr. Mill also believed that it was composed _before either of\nthe canonical Gospels_, and, what is more important than all, _that the\nauthors of it were Essenes_.\n\n_These \"Scriptures\" of the Essenes were undoubtedly amalgamated with the\n\"Gospels\" of the Christians, the result being the canonical Gospels as\nwe now have them._ The \"Gospel of the Hebrews,\" and such like, on the\none hand, and the \"Gospel of the Egyptians,\" or Essenes, and such like,\non the other. That the \"Gospel of the Hebrews\" spoke of Jesus of\nNazareth as the son of Joseph and Mary, _according to the flesh_, and\nthat it taught _nothing_ about his miracles, his resurrection from the\ndead, and other such prodigies, is admitted on all hands. That the\n\"Scriptures\" of the Essenes contained the whole legend of the\nAngel-Messiah, which was afterwards added to the history of Jesus,\n_making him a_ CHRIST, _or an Anointed Angel_, is a probability almost\nto a certainty. Do we now understand how all the traditions and legends,\noriginally _Indian_, escaping from the great focus through _Egypt_, were\nable to reach Judea, Greece and Rome?\n\nTo continue with our subject, \"why Christianity prospered,\" we must now\nspeak of another great support to the cause, _i. e._, _Persecution_.\nErnest de Bunsen, speaking of Buddha, says:\n\n     \"His religion has never been propagated by the sword. It has\n     been effected entirely by the influence of peaceable and\n     persevering devotees.\"\n\nCan we say as much for what is termed \"the religion of Christ?\" No! this\nreligion has had the aid of the sword and firebrand, the rack and the\nthumb-screw. \"_Persecution_,\" is to be seen written on the pages of\necclesiastical history, from the time of Constantine even to the present\nday.[444:1] This Christian emperor and saint was the first to check\nfree-thought.\n\n     \"We search in vain,\" (says M. Renan), \"in the collection of\n     Roman laws _before Constantine_, for any enactment aimed at\n     free thought, or in the history of the emperors, for a\n     persecution of abstract doctrine. Not a single _savant_ was\n     disturbed. Men whom the Middle Ages would have burned--such as\n     Galen, Lucian, Plotinus--lived in peace, protected by the\n     law.\"[444:2]\n\nBorn and educated a pagan, Constantine embraced the Christian faith from\nthe following motives. Having committed horrid crimes, in fact, having\ncommitted murders,[444:3] and,\n\n     \"When he would have had his (Pagan) priests purge him by\n     sacrifice, of these horrible murders, and could not have his\n     purpose (for they answered plainly, it lay not in their power\n     to cleanse him)[444:4] he lighted at last upon an _Egyptian_\n     who came out of Iberia, and being persuaded by him that the\n     Christian faith was of force to wipe away every sin, were it\n     ever so heinous, he embraced willingly at whatever the\n     Egyptian told him.\"[444:5]\n\nMons. Dupuis, speaking of this conversion, says:\n\n     \"Constantine, soiled with all sorts of crimes, and stained\n     with the blood of his wife, after repeated perjuries and\n     assassinations, presented himself before the heathen priests\n     in order to be absolved of so many outrages he had committed.\n     He was answered, that amongst the various kinds of expiations,\n     there was none which could expiate so many crimes, and that no\n     religion whatever could offer efficient protection against the\n     justice of the gods; and Constantine was emperor. One of the\n     courtiers of the palace, who witnessed the trouble and\n     agitation of his mind, torn by remorse, which nothing could\n     appease, informed him, that the evil he was suffering was not\n     without a remedy; that there existed in the religion of the\n     Christians certain purifications, which expiated every kind of\n     misdeeds, of whatever nature, and in whatsoever number they\n     were: that one of the promises of the religion was, that\n     whoever was converted to it, as impious and as great a villain\n     as he might be, could hope that his crimes were immediately\n     forgotten.[445:1] From that moment, Constantine declared\n     himself the protector of a sect which treats great criminals\n     with so much lenity.[445:2] He was a great villain, who tried\n     to lull himself with illusions to smother his remorse.\"[445:3]\n\nBy the delay of baptism, a person who had accepted the _true_ faith\ncould venture freely to indulge their passions in the enjoyment of this\nworld, while they still retained in their own hands the means of\nsalvation; therefore, we find that Constantine, although he accepted the\nfaith, did not get baptized until he was on his death-bed, as he wished\nto continue, as long as possible, the wicked life he was leading. Mr.\nGibbon, speaking of him, says:\n\n     \"The example and reputation of Constantine seemed to\n     countenance the delay of baptism. Future tyrants were\n     encouraged to believe, that the innocent blood which they\n     might shed in a long reign would instantly be washed away in\n     the waters of regeneration; and the abuse of religion\n     dangerously undermined the foundations of moral\n     virtue.\"[445:4]\n\nEusebius, in his \"Life of Constantine,\" tells us that:\n\n     \"_When he thought that he was near his death_, he confessed\n     his sins, desiring pardon for them of God, and was baptized.\n\n     \"Before doing so, he assembled the bishops of Nicomedia\n     together, and spake thus unto them:\n\n     \"'Brethren, the salvation which I have earnestly desired of\n     God these many years, I do now this day expect. It is time\n     therefore that we should be sealed and signed with the badge\n     of immortality. And though I proposed to receive it in the\n     river Jordan, in which our Saviour for our example was\n     baptized, yet God, knowing what is fittest for me, hath\n     appointed that I shall receive it in this place, _therefore\n     let me not be delayed_.'\"\n\n     \"And so, after the service of baptism was read, they baptized\n     him with all the ceremonies belonging to this mysterious\n     sacrament. So that Constantine was the first of all the\n     emperors who was regenerated by the new birth of baptism, and\n     that was signed with the sign of the cross.\"[446:1]\n\nWhen Constantine had heard the good news from the Christian monk from\nEgypt, he commenced by conferring many dignities on the Christians, and\nthose only who were addicted to Christianity, he made governors of his\nprovinces, &c.[446:2] He then issued edicts against heretics,--_i. e._,\nthose who, like Arius, did not believe that Christ was \"_of one\nsubstance with the Father_,\" and others--calling them \"enemies of truth\nand eternal life,\" \"authors and councillors of death,\" &c.[446:3] He\n\"_commanded by law_\" that none should dare \"to meet at conventicles,\"\nand that \"all places where they were wont to keep their meetings should\nbe _demolished_,\" or \"confiscated to the Catholic church;\"[446:4] _and\nConstantine was emperor_. \"By this means,\" says Eusebius, \"_such as\nmaintained doctrines and opinions contrary to the church, were\nsuppressed._\"[446:5]\n\nThis Constantine, says Eusebius:\n\n     \"Caused his image to be engraven on his gold coins, in the\n     form of prayer, with his hands joined together, and looking up\n     towards Heaven.\" \"And over divers gates of his palace, he was\n     drawn praying, and lifting up his hands and eyes to\n     heaven.\"[446:6]\n\nAfter his death, \"effigies of this blessed man\" were engraved on the\nRoman coins, \"sitting in and driving a chariot, and a hand reached down\nfrom heaven to receive and take him up.\"[446:7]\n\nThe hopes of wealth and honors, the example of an emperor, his\nexhortations, his irresistible smiles, diffused conviction among the\nvenal and obsequious crowds which usually fill the apartments of a\npalace, and as the lower ranks of society are governed by example, the\nconversion of those who possessed any eminence of birth, of power, or of\nriches, _was soon followed by dependent multitudes_. Constantine passed\na law which gave freedom to all the slaves who should embrace\nChristianity, and to those who were not slaves, he gave a white garment\nand twenty pieces of gold, upon their embracing the Christian faith. The\ncommon people were thus _purchased_ at such an easy rate that, in one\nyear, _twelve thousand men were baptised at Rome_, besides a\nproportionable number of women and children.[447:1]\n\nTo suppress the opinions of philosophers, which were contrary to\nChristianity, the Christian emperors published edicts. The respective\ndecrees of the emperors Constantine and Theodosius,[447:2] generally ran\nin the words, \"that all writings adverse to the claims of the Christian\nreligion, in the possession of whomsoever they should be found, should\nbe committed to the fire,\" as the pious emperors would not that those\nthings tending to provoke God to wrath, should be allowed to offend the\nminds of the piously disposed.\n\nThe following is a decree of the Emperor Theodosius of this purport:\n\n     \"We decree, therefore, that all writings, whatever, which\n     Porphyry or anyone else hath written against the Christian\n     religion, in the possession of whomsoever they shall be found\n     should be committed to the fire; for we would not suffer any\n     of those things so much as to come to men's ears, which tend\n     to provoke God to wrath and offend the minds of the\n     _pious_.\"[447:3]\n\nA similar decree of the emperor for establishing the doctrine of the\nTrinity, concludes with an admonition to all who shall object to it,\nthat,\n\n     \"Besides the condemnation of divine justice, they must expect\n     to suffer the severe penalties, which _our_ authority, guided\n     by heavenly wisdom, may think proper to inflict upon\n     them.\"[447:4]\n\nThis orthodox emperor (Theodosius) considered every heretic (as he\ncalled those who did not believe as he and his ecclesiastics\n_professed_) a rebel against the supreme powers of heaven and of earth\n(he being one of the supreme powers of earth), _and each of the powers_\nmight exercise their peculiar jurisdiction _over the soul and body of\nthe guilty_.\n\nThe decrees of the Council of Constantinople had ascertained the _true_\nstandard of the faith, _and the ecclesiastics, who governed the\nconscience of Theodosius, suggested the most effectual methods of\npersecution_. In the space of fifteen years he promulgated at least\nfifteen severe edicts against the heretics, _more especially against\nthose who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity_.[448:1]\n\n_Arius_ (the presbyter of whom we have spoken in Chapter XXXV., as\ndeclaring that, in the nature of things, _a father must be older than\nhis son_) was _excommunicated_ for his so-called _heretical_ notions\nconcerning the Trinity. His followers, who were very numerous, were\ncalled Arians. Their writings, _if they had been permitted to\nexist_,[448:2] would undoubtedly contain the lamentable story of the\npersecution which affected the church under the reign of the impious\nEmperor _Theodosius_.\n\nIn Asia Minor the people were persecuted by orders of Constantius, and\nthese orders were more than obeyed by Macedonius. The civil and military\npowers were ordered to obey his commands; the consequence was, he\ndisgraced the reign of Constantius. \"The rites of baptism were conferred\non women and children, who, for that purpose, had been torn from the\narms of their friends and parents; the mouths of the communicants were\nheld open by a wooden engine, while the consecrated bread was forced\ndown their throats; the breasts of tender virgins were either burned\nwith red-hot egg-shells, or inhumanly compressed between sharp and heavy\nboards.\"[448:3] The principal assistants of Macedonius--the tool of\nConstantius--in the work of persecution, were the two bishops of\nNicomedia and Cyzicus, who were esteemed for their virtues, and\nespecially for their charity.[448:4]\n\nJulian, the successor of Constantius, has described some of the\ntheological calamities which afflicted the empire, and more especially\nin the East, in the reign of a prince who was the slave of his own\npassions, and of those of his eunuchs: \"Many were imprisoned, and\npersecuted, and driven into exile. Whole troops of those who are styled\n_heretics_ were massacred, particularly at Cyzicus, and at Samosata. In\nPaphlagonia, Bithynia, Gallatia, and in many other provinces, towns and\nvillages were laid waste, and utterly destroyed.\"[449:1]\n\nPersecutions in the name of Christ Jesus were inflicted on the heathen\nin most every part of the then known world. Even among the Norwegians,\nthe Christian sword was unsheathed. They clung tenaciously to the\nworship of their forefathers, and numbers of them died real martyrs for\ntheir faith, after suffering the most cruel torments from their\npersecutors. It was by sheer compulsion that the Norwegians embraced\nChristianity. The reign of Olaf Tryggvason, a Christian king of Norway,\nwas in fact entirely devoted to the propagation of the new faith, by\nmeans the most revolting to humanity. His general practice was to enter\na district at the head of a formidable force, summon a _Thing_,[449:2]\nand give the people the alternative of fighting with him, or of being\nbaptized. Most of them, of course, preferred baptism to the risk of a\nbattle with an adversary so well prepared for combat; and the recusants\nwere tortured to death with fiend-like ferocity, and their estates\nconfiscated.[449:3]\n\nThese are some of the reasons \"why Christianity prospered.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNOTE.--The learned Christian historian Pagi endeavors to smoothe over\nthe crimes of Constantine. He says: \"As for those few murders (which\nEusebius says nothing about), had he thought it worth his while to refer\nto them, he would perhaps, with Baronius himself have said, that the\nyoung Licinius (his infant nephew), although the fact might not\ngenerally have been known, had most likely been an accomplice in the\ntreason of his father. That as to the murder of his son, the Emperor is\nrather to be considered as unfortunate than as criminal. And with\nrespect to his putting his wife to death, he ought to be pronounced\nrather a just and righteous judge. As for his numerous friends, whom\nEutropius informs us he put to death one after another, we are bound to\nbelieve that most of them deserved it, and they were found out to have\nabused the Emperor's too great credulity, for the gratification of their\nown inordinate wickedness, and insatiable avarice; and such no doubt was\nthat SOPATER the philosopher, who was at last put to death upon the\naccusation of Adlabius, and that by the righteous dispensation of God,\nfor his having attempted to alienate the mind of Constantine from the\ntrue religion.\" (_Pagi Ann._ 324, quoted in Latin by Dr. Lardner, vol.\niv. p. 371, in his notes for the benefit of the _learned_ reader, but\ngives no rendering into English.)\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[419:1] \"Numerous bodies of ascetics (Therapeut\u00e6), especially near Lake\nMareotis, devoted themselves to discipline and study, abjuring society\nand labor, and often forgetting, it is said, the simplest wants of\nnature, in contemplating the hidden wisdom of the _Scriptures_. Eusebius\neven claimed them as _Christians_; and some of the forms of monasticism\nwere evidently modeled after the _Therapeut\u00e6_.\" (Smith's Bible\nDictionary, art. \"_Alexandria_.\")\n\n[420:1] Comp. Matt. vi. 33; Luke, xii. 31.\n\n[420:2] Comp. Matt. vi. 19-21.\n\n[420:3] Comp. Matt. xix. 21; Luke, xii. 33.\n\n[420:4] Comp. Acts, ii. 44, 45; iv. 32-34; John, xii. 6; xiii. 29.\n\n[420:5] Comp. Matt. xx. 25-28; Mark, ix. 35-37; x. 42-45.\n\n[420:6] Comp. Matt. xxiii. 8-10.\n\n[420:7] Comp. Matt. v. 5; xi. 29.\n\n[420:8] Comp. Mark, xvi. 17; Matt. x. 8; Luke, ix. 1, 2; x. 9.\n\n[420:9] Comp. Matt. v. 34.\n\n[420:10] Comp. Matt. x. 9, 10.\n\n[421:1] Comp. Luke, xxii. 36.\n\n[421:2] Comp. Matt. xix. 10-12; I. Cor. viii.\n\n[421:3] Comp. Rom. xii. 1.\n\n[421:4] Comp. I. Cor. xiv. 1, 39.\n\n[421:5] The above comparisons have been taken from Ginsburg's \"Essenes,\"\nto which the reader is referred for a more lengthy observation on the\nsubject.\n\n[421:6] Ginsburg's Essenes, p. 24.\n\n[421:7] \"We hear very little of them after A. D. 40; and there can\nhardly be any doubt that, owing to the great similarity existing between\ntheir precepts and practices and those of primitive Christians, the\nEssenes _as a body_ must have embraced Christianity.\" (Dr. Ginsburg, p.\n27.)\n\n[422:1] This will be alluded to in another chapter.\n\n[422:2] It was believed by some that the order of _Essenes_ was\ninstituted by Elias, and some writers asserted that there was a regular\nsuccession of hermits upon Mount Carmel from the time of the prophets to\nthat of Christ, and that the hermits embraced Christianity at an early\nperiod. (See Ginsburgh's Essenes, and Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p.\n358.)\n\n[422:3] King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. 1.\n\n[422:4] Ibid. p. 6.\n\n[422:5] King's Gnostics, p. 23.\n\n[422:6] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii.\n\n[423:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii.\n\n[423:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. vii. \"The New Testament is the\nEssene-Nazarene Glad Tidings! Adon, Adoni, Adonis, style of worship.\"\n(S. F. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. iii.)\n\n[423:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 747; vol. ii. p. 34.\n\n[423:4] \"In this,\" says Mr. Lillie, \"he was supported by philosophers of\nthe calibre of Schilling and Schopenhauer, and the great Sanscrit\nauthority, Lassen. Renan also sees traces of this Buddhist propagandism\nin Palestine before the Christian era. Hilgenfeld, Mutter, Bohlen, King,\nall admit the Buddhist influence. Colebrooke saw a striking similarity\nbetween the Buddhist philosophy and that of the Pythagoreans. Dean\nMilman was convinced that the Therapeuts sprung from the 'contemplative\nand indolent fraternities' of India.\" And, he might have added, the Rev.\nRobert Taylor in his \"_Diegesis_,\" and Godfrey Higgins in his\n\"Anacalypsis,\" have brought strong arguments to bear in support of this\ntheory.\n\n[424:1] Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. vi.\n\n[424:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 121.\n\n[424:3] Ibid. p. 240.\n\n[425:1] \"The Essenes abounded in Egypt, especially about Alexandria.\"\n(Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii.)\n\n[425:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 255.\n\n[426:1] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 179.\n\n[426:2] This is clearly shown by Mr. Higgins in his Anacalypsis. It\nshould be remembered that Gautama Buddha, the \"Angel-Messiah,\" and\nCyrus, the \"Anointed\" of the Lord, are placed about six hundred years\nbefore Jesus, the \"Anointed.\" This cycle of six hundred years was called\nthe \"_great year_.\" Josephus, the Jewish historian, alludes to it when\nspeaking of the patriarchs that lived to a great age. \"God afforded them\na longer time of life,\" says he, \"on account of their virtue, and the\ngood use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries,\nwhich would not have afforded the time for foretelling (the periods of\nthe stars), unless they had lived _six hundred years_; for the _great\nyear_ is completed in that interval.\" (Josephus, Antiq., bk. i. c. iii.)\n\"From this cycle of _six hundred_,\" says Col. Vallancey, \"came the name\nof the bird Phoenix, called by the Egyptians Phenu, with the well-known\nstory of its going to Egypt to burn itself on the altar of the Sun (at\nHeliopolis) and rise again from its ashes, at the end of a certain\nperiod.\"\n\n[426:3] \"Philo's writings prove the probability, almost rising to a\ncertainty, that already in his time the Essenes did expect an\nAngel-Messiah as one of a series of divine incarnations. Within about\nfifty years after Philo's death, Elkesai the Essene probably applied\nthis doctrine to Jesus, and it was promulgated in Rome about the same\ntime, if not earlier, by the Pseudo-Clementines.\" (Bunsen: The\nAngel-Messiah, p. 118.)\n\n\"There was, at this time (_i. e._, at the time of the birth of Jesus), a\nprevalent expectation that some remarkable personage was about to appear\nin Judea. The Jews were anxiously looking for the coming of the\n_Messiah_. By computing the time mentioned by Daniel (ch. ix. 23-27),\nthey knew that the period was approaching when the Messiah should\nappear. This personage, _they supposed_, would be a temporal prince, and\nthey were expecting that he would deliver them from Roman bondage. _It\nwas natural that this expectation should spread into other countries._\"\n(Barnes' Notes, vol. i. p. 27.)\n\n[427:1] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 273.\n\n[427:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. p. 353.\n\n[427:3] Apol. 1, ch. xxvi.\n\n[428:1] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. p. 593.\n\n[428:2] Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. i. ch. xvii.\n\n[429:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 3, ch. xxiii.\n\n[429:2] Ibid. lib. 7, ch. xxx.\n\n[429:3] The death of Manes, according to Socrates, was as follows: The\nKing of Persia, hearing that he was in Mesopotamia, \"made him to be\napprehended, flayed him alive, took his skin, filled it full of chaff,\nand hanged it at the gates of the city.\" (Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xv.)\n\n[430:1] Plato in Apolog. Anac., ii. p. 189.\n\n[431:1] Mark, xiii. 21, 22.\n\n[432:1] Geikie: Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 79.\n\n[433:1] Frothingham's Cradle of the Christ.\n\n[433:2] \"The prevailing opinion of the Rabbis and the people alike, in\nChrist's day, was, that the Messiah would be simply a great prince, who\nshould found a kingdom of matchless splendor.\" \"With a few, however, the\nconception of the Messiah's kingdom was pure and lofty. . . . Daniel,\nand all who wrote after him, painted the 'Expected One' as a _heavenly\nbeing_. He was the 'messenger,' the 'Elect of God,' appointed from\neternity, to appear in due time, and _redeem_ his people.\" (Geikie's\nLife of Christ, vol. i. pp. 80, 81.)\n\nIn the book of _Daniel_, by some supposed to have been written during\nthe captivity, by others as late as Antiochus Epiphanes (B. C. 75), the\nrestoration of the Jews is described in tremendous language, and the\nMessiah is portrayed as a supernatural personage, in close relation with\nJehovah himself. In the book of Enoch, supposed to have been written at\nvarious intervals between 144 and 120 (B. C.) and to have been completed\nin its present form in the first half of the second century that\npreceded the advent of Jesus, the figure of the Messiah is invested with\nsuperhuman attributes. He is called \"The Son of God,\" \"whose name was\nspoken before the Sun was made;\" \"who existed from the beginning in the\npresence of God,\" that is, was pre-existent. At the same time his human\ncharacteristics are insisted on. He is called \"Son of Man,\" even \"Son of\nWoman,\" \"The Anointed\" or \"The Christ,\" \"The Righteous One,\" &c.\n(Frothingham: The Cradle of the Christ, p. 20.)\n\n[433:3] This is clearly seen from the statement made by the Matthew\nnarrator (xvii. 9-13) that the disciples of Christ Jesus supposed John\nthe Baptist was Elias.\n\n[434:1] Isaiah, xlv. 1.\n\n[434:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 17.\n\n[434:3] Quoted in Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 51.\n\n[434:4] Hieron ad Nep. Quoted Volney's Ruins, p. 177, _note_.\n\n[434:5] See his Eccl. Hist., viii. 21.\n\n[435:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. pp. 79, 80.\n\n[435:2] \"On voit dans l'histoire que j'ai rapport\u00e9e une sorte\nd'hypocrisie, qui n'a peut-\u00eatre \u00e9t\u00e9 que trop commune dans tous les tems.\nC'est que des eccl\u00e9siastiques, non-seulement ne disent pas ce qu'ils\npensent, mais disent tout le contraire de ce qu'ils pensent. Philosophes\ndans leur cabinet, hors del\u00e0, ils content des fables, quoiqu'ils sachent\nbien que ce sont des fables. Ils font plus; ils livrent au bourreau des\ngens de biens, pour l'avoir dit. Combiens d'ath\u00e9es et de profanes ont\nfait br\u00fbler de saints personnages, sous pr\u00e9texte d'h\u00e9r\u00e9sie? Tous les\njours des hypocrites, consacrent et font adorer l'hostie, bien qu'ils\nsoient aussi convaincus que moi, que ce n'est qu'un morceau de pain.\"\n(Tom. 2, p. 568.)\n\n[435:3] On the Use of the Fathers, pp. 36, 37.\n\n[435:4] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 170.\n\n[435:5] Mosheim: vol. 1, p. 198.\n\n[435:6] \"Postremo illud quoque me vehementer movet, quod videam primis\necclesi\u00e6 temporibus, quam plurimos extitisse, qui facinus palmarium\njudicabant, c\u00e6lestem veritatem, figmentis suis ire adjutum, quo facilius\nnova doctrina a gentium sapientibus admitteretur Officiosa h\u00e6c mendacia\nvocabant bono fine exeogitata.\" (Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 44, and\nGiles' Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 19.)\n\n[436:1] See the Vision of Hermas, b. 2, c. iii.\n\n[436:2] Mosheim, vol. i. p. 197. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 47.\n\n[436:3] Dr. Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 99.\n\n[436:4] \"Continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved\naway from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was\npreached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made\na minister.\" (Colossians, i. 23.)\n\n[436:5] \"Being crafty, I caught you with guile.\" (II. Cor. xii. 16.)\n\n[436:6] \"For if the truth of God had more abounded _through my lie_ unto\nhis glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner.\" (Romans, iii. 7.)\n\n[437:1] \"Si me tamen audire velis, mallem te p\u00e6nas has dicere\nindefinitas quam infinitas. Sed veniet dies, cum non minus absurda,\nhabebitur et odiosa h\u00e6c opinio quam transubstantiatio hodie.\" (De Statu\nMort., p. 304. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 43.)\n\n[437:2] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 52.\n\nAmong the ancients, there were many stories current of countries, the\ninhabitants of which were of peculiar size, form or features. Our\nChristian saint evidently believed these tales, and thinking thus,\nsought to make others believe them. We find the following examples\nrelated by _Herodotus_: \"Aristeas, son of Caystrobius, a native of\nProconesus, says in his epic verses that, inspired by Apollo, he came to\nthe Issedones; that beyond the Issedones dwell the Arimaspians, _a\npeople that have only one eye_.\" (Herodotus, book iv. ch. 13.) \"When one\nhas passed through a considerable extent of the rugged country (of the\nSeythians), a people are found living at the foot of lofty mountains,\n_who are said to be all bald from their birth_, both men and women\nalike, and they are flat-nosed, and have large chins.\" (Ibid. ch. 23.)\n\"These bald men say, what to me is incredible, that _men with goat's\nfeet_ inhabit these mountains; and when one has passed beyond them,\nother men are found, _who sleep six months at a time_, but this I do not\nat all admit.\" (Ibid. ch. 24.) In the country westward of Libya, \"there\nare enormous serpents, and lions, elephants, bears, asps, and asses with\nhorns, and monsters with dog's heads and without heads, _who have eyes\nin their breasts_, at least, as the Libyans say, and wild men and wild\nwomen, and many other wild beasts which are not fabulous.\" (Ibid. ch.\n192.)\n\n[438:1] Nicodemus, Apoc., ch. xii.\n\n[438:2] See Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xiv.\n\n[438:3] Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xiii.\n\n[438:4] In year 1444, Caxton published the first book ever printed in\nEngland. In 1474, the then Bishop of London, in a convocation of his\nclergy, said: \"_If we do not destroy this dangerous invention, it will\none day destroy us._\" (See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 4.) The\nreader should compare this with Pope Leo X.'s avowal that, \"_it is well\nknown how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us_;\" and\nArchdeacon Paley's declaration that \"_he could ill afford to have a\nconscience_.\"\n\n[438:5] _Porphyry_, who flourished about the year 270 A. D., a man of\ngreat abilities, published a large work of fifteen books against the\nChristians. \"His objections against Christianity,\" says Dr. Lardner,\n\"were in esteem with Gentile people for a long while; and the Christians\nwere not insensible of the importance of his work; as may be concluded\nfrom the several answers made to it by Eusebius, and others in great\nrepute for learning.\" (Vol. viii. p. 158.) There are but fragments of\nthese _fifteen_ books remaining, _Christian magistrates_ having ordered\nthem to be destroyed. (Ibid.)\n\n[438:6] _Hierocles_ was a Neo-Platonist, who lived at Alexandria about\nthe middle of the fifth century, and enjoyed a great reputation. He was\nthe author of a great number of works, a few extracts of which alone\nremain.\n\n[438:7] _Celsus_ was an Epicurean philosopher, who lived in the second\ncentury A. D. He wrote a work called \"The True Word,\" against\nChristianity, but as it has been destroyed we know nothing about it.\nOrigen claims to give quotations from it.\n\n[440:1] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 18-21.\n\n[440:2] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 146.\n\n[441:1] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 55, 56. See also, Socrates'\nEccl. Hist., lib. 7, ch. xv.\n\n[442:1] We have seen this particularly in the cases of Crishna and\nBuddha. Mr. Cox, speaking of the former, says: \"If it be urged that the\nattribution to Crishna of qualities or powers belonging to the other\ndeities is a mere device by which _his_ devotees sought to supersede the\nmore ancient gods, _the answer must be that nothing has been done in his\ncase which has not been done in the case of almost every other member of\nthe great company of the gods_.\" (Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 130.)\nThese words apply to the case we have before us. Jesus was simply\nattributed with the qualities or powers which _had been previously\nattributed to other deities_. This we hope to be able to fully\ndemonstrate in our chapter on \"_Explanation_.\"\n\n[443:1] \"Dogma of the Deity of Jesus Christ,\" p. 41.\n\n[444:1] Adherents of the old religion of Russia have been persecuted in\nthat country within the past year, and even in enlightened England, a\ngentleman has been persecuted by government officials because he\nbelieves in neither a personal God or a personal Devil.\n\n[444:2] Renan, Hibbert Lectures, p. 22.\n\n[444:3] The following are the names of his victims:\n\n     Maximian,      His wife's father,        A. D. 310\n     Bassianus,     His sister's husband,     A. D. 314\n     Licinius,      His nephew,               A. D. 319\n     Fausta,        His wife,                 A. D. 320\n     Sopater,       His former friend,        A. D. 321\n     Licinius,      His sister's husband,     A. D. 325\n     Crispus,       His own son,              A. D. 326\n\nDr. Lardner, in speaking of the murders committed by this Christian\nsaint, is constrained to say that: \"The death of Crispus is altogether\nwithout any _good_ excuse, so likewise is the death of the young\nLicinianus, who could not have been more than a little above eleven\nyears of age, and appears not to have been charged with any fault, and\ncould hardly be suspected of any.\"\n\n[444:4] The Emperor Nero could not be _baptized_ and be initiated into\nPagan Mysteries--as Constantine was initiated into those of the\nChristians--on account of the murder of his mother. And he did not dare\nto _compel_--which he certainly could have done--the priests to initiate\nhim.\n\n[444:5] Zosimus, in Socrates, lib. iii. ch. xl.\n\n[445:1] \"The sacrament of baptism was supposed to contain a full and\nabsolute expiation of sin; and the soul was instantly restored to its\noriginal purity and entitled to the promise of eternal salvation. Among\nthe proselytes of Christianity, there were many who judged it imprudent\nto precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be repeated. By the\ndelay of their baptism, they could venture freely to indulge their\npassions in the enjoyments of this world, while they still retained in\ntheir own hands the means of a sure and speedy absolution.\" (Gibbon: ii.\npp. 272, 273.)\n\n[445:2] \"Constantine, as he was praying about noon-tide, God showed him\na vision in the sky, which was the sign of the cross lively figured in\nthe air, with this inscription on it: 'In hoc vince;' that is, 'By this\novercome.'\" This is the story as related by Eusebius (Life of\nConstantine, lib. 1, ch. xxii.), but it must be remembered that Eusebius\nacknowledged that he told falsehoods. That night Christ appeared unto\nConstantine in his dream, and commanded him to make the figure of the\ncross which he had seen, and to wear it in his _banner_ when he went to\nbattle with his enemies. (See Eusebius' Life of Constantine, lib. 1, ch.\nxxiii. See also, Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. ii.)\n\n[445:3] Dupuis, p. 405.\n\n[445:4] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 373. The Fathers, who censured this\ncriminal delay, could not deny the certain and victorious efficacy even\nof a death-bed baptism. The ingenious rhetoric of Chrysostom (A. D.\n347-407) could find only three arguments against these prudent\nChristians. 1. \"That we should love and pursue virtue for her own sake,\nand not merely for the reward. 2. That we may be surprised by death\nwithout an opportunity of baptism. 3. That although we shall be placed\nin heaven, we shall only twinkle like little stars, when compared to the\nsuns of righteousness who have run their appointed course with labor,\nwith success, and with glory.\" (Chrysostom in Epist. ad Hebr\u00e6os. Homil.\nxiii. Quoted in Gibbon's \"Rome,\" ii. 272.)\n\n[446:1] Lib. 4, chs. lxi. and lxii., and Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2,\nch. xxvi.\n\n[446:2] Eusebius: Life of Constantine, lib. 2, ch. xliii.\n\n[446:3] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxii.\n\n[446:4] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxiii.\n\n[446:5] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxiv.\n\n[446:6] Ibid. lib. 4, ch. xv.\n\n[446:7] Ibid. ch. lxiii.\n\nPlato places the ferocious tyrants in the Tartarus, such as Ardiacus of\nPamphylia, who had slain his own father, a venerable old man, also an\nelder brother, and was stained with a great many other crimes.\nConstantine, covered with similar crimes, was better treated by the\nChristians, who have sent him to heaven, and _sainted_ him besides.\n\n[447:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 274.\n\n[447:2] \"Theodosius, though a professor of the orthodox Christian faith,\nwas not baptized till 380, and his behavior after that period stamps him\nas one of the most cruel and vindictive persecutors who ever wore the\npurple. His arbitrary establishment of the Nicene faith over the whole\nempire, the deprivation of civil rites of all apostates from\nChristianity and of the Eunomians, the sentence of death on the\nManicheans, and Quarto-decimans all prove this.\" (Chambers's Encyclo.,\nart. Theodosius.)\n\n[447:3] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 54.\n\n[447:4] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 81.\n\n[448:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 91, 92.\n\n[448:2] All their writings were ordered to be destroyed.\n\n[448:3] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 359.\n\n[448:4] Ibid. note 154.\n\n[449:1] Julian: Epistol. lii. p. 436. Quoted in Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii.\np. 360.\n\n[449:2] \"_Thing_\"--a general assembly of the freemen, who gave their\nassent to a measure by striking their shields with their drawn swords.\n\n[449:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 180, 351, and 470.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\nTHE ANTIQUITY OF PAGAN RELIGIONS.\n\n\nWe shall now compare the great antiquity of the sacred books and\nreligions of Paganism with those of the Christian, so that there may be\nno doubt as to which is the original, and which the copy. Allusions to\nthis subject have already been made throughout this work, we shall\ntherefore devote as little space to it here as possible.\n\nIn speaking of the sacred literature of India, Prof. Monier Williams\nsays:\n\n     \"Sanskrit literature, embracing as it does nearly every branch\n     of knowledge is entirely deficient in one department. It is\n     wholly destitute of trustworthy historical records. Hence,\n     little or nothing is known of the lives of ancient Indian\n     authors, and the dates of their most celebrated works cannot\n     be fixed with certainty. A fair conjecture, however, may be\n     arrived at by comparing the most ancient with the more modern\n     compositions, and estimating the period of time required to\n     effect the changes of structure and idiom observable in the\n     language. In this manner we may be justified in assuming that\n     the hymns of the Veda were probably composed by a succession\n     of poets at different dates between 1500 and 1000 years B.\n     C.\"[450:1]\n\nProf. Wm. D. Whitney shows the great antiquity of the Vedic hymns from\nthe fact that,\n\n     \"The language of the Vedas is an _older_ dialect, varying very\n     considerably, both in its grammatical and lexical character,\n     from the classical Sanscrit.\"\n\nAnd M. de Coulanges, in his \"Ancient City,\" says:\n\n     \"We learn from the hymns of the _Vedas_, which are certainly\n     very ancient, and from the laws of Manu,\" \"what the Aryans of\n     the east thought nearly thirty-five centuries ago.\"[450:2]\n\nThat the _Vedas_ are of very high antiquity is unquestionable; but\nhowever remote we may place the period when they were written, we must\nnecessarily presuppose that the Hindostanic race had already attained\nto a comparatively high degree of civilization, otherwise men capable of\nframing such doctrines could not have been found. Now this state of\ncivilization must necessarily have been preceded by several centuries of\nbarbarism, during which we cannot possibly admit a more refined faith\nthan the popular belief in elementary deities.\n\nWe shall see in our next chapter that these very ancient Vedic hymns\ncontain the _origin_ of the legend of the Virgin-born God and Saviour,\nthe great benefactor of mankind, who is finally put to death, and rises\nagain to life and immortality on the third day.\n\nThe _Geetas_ and _Puranas_, although of a comparatively modern date,\nare, as we have already seen, nevertheless composed of matter to be\nfound in the two great epic poems, the _Ramayana_ and the _Mahabharata_,\nwhich were written many centuries before the time assigned as that of\nthe birth of Christ Jesus.[451:1]\n\nThe Pali sacred books, which contain the legend of the virgin-born God\nand Saviour--Sommona Cadom--are known to have been in existence 316 B.\nC.[451:2]\n\nWe have already seen that the religion known as Buddhism, and which\ncorresponds in such a striking manner with Christianity, has now existed\nfor upwards of twenty-four hundred years.[451:3]\n\nProf. Rhys Davids says:\n\n     \"There is every reason to believe that the _Pitakas_ (the\n     sacred books which contain the legend of 'The Buddha'), now\n     extant in Ceylon, are substantially identical with the books\n     of the Southern Canon, as settled at the Council of Patna\n     about the year 250 B. C.[451:4] As no works would have been\n     received into the Canon which were not _then_ believed to be\n     very old, the _Pitakas_ may be approximately placed in the\n     _fourth century_ B. C., and parts of them possibly reach back\n     very nearly, if not quite, to the time of Gautama\n     himself.\"[451:5]\n\nThe religion of the ancient _Persians_, which corresponds in so very\nmany respects with that of the Christians, was established by\nZoroaster--who was undoubtedly a Brahman[451:6]--and is contained in\nthe _Zend-Avesta_, their sacred book or Bible. This book is very\nancient. Prof. Max M\u00fcller speaks of \"the sacred book of the\nZoroastrians\" as being \"older in its language than the cuneiform\ninscriptions of Cyrus (B. C. 560), Darius (B. C. 520), and Xerxes (B. C.\n485) those ancient Kings of Persia, who knew that they were kings by the\ngrace of _Auramazda_, and who placed his sacred image high on the\nmountain-records of Behistun.\"[452:1] That ancient book, or its\nfragments, at least, have survived many dynasties and kingdoms, and is\nstill believed in by a small remnant of the Persian race, now settled at\nBombay, and known all over the world by the name of Parsees.[452:2]\n\n\"The Babylonian and Phenician sacred books date back to a fabulous\nantiquity;\"[452:3] and so do the sacred books and religion of Egypt.\n\nProf. Mahaffy, in his \"Prolegomena to Ancient History,\" says:\n\n     \"There is indeed hardly a great and fruitful idea in the\n     Jewish or Christian systems which has not its analogy in the\n     Egyptian faith, and _all these theological conceptions pervade\n     the oldest religion of Egypt_.\"[452:4]\n\nThe worship of Osiris, the Lord and Saviour, must have been of extremely\nancient date, for he is represented as \"Judge of the Dead,\" in\nsculptures contemporary with the building of the Pyramids, centuries\nbefore Abraham is said to have been born. Among the many hieroglyphic\ntitles which accompany his figure in those sculptures, and in many other\nplaces on the walls of temples and tombs, are, \"Lord of Life,\" \"The\nEternal Ruler,\" \"Manifester of Good,\" \"Revealer of Truth,\" \"Full of\nGoodness and Truth,\" etc.\n\nIn speaking of the \"Myth of Osiris,\" Mr. Bonwick says:\n\n     \"This great mystery of the Egyptians demands serious\n     consideration. Its antiquity--its universal hold upon the\n     people for over five thousand years--its identification with\n     the very life of the nation--_and its marvellous likeness to\n     the creed of modern date_, unite in exciting the greatest\n     interest.\"[452:5]\n\nThis myth, and that of Isis and Horus, were known before the Pyramid\ntime.[453:1]\n\nThe worship of the Virgin Mother in Egypt--from which country it was\nimported into Europe[453:2]--dates back thousands of years B. C. Mr.\nBonwick says:\n\n     \"In all probability she was worshiped three thousand years\n     before Moses wrote. 'Isis nursing her child Horus, was\n     represented,' says Mariette Bey, 'at least six thousand years\n     ago.' We read the name of Isis on monuments of the fourth\n     dynasty, and she lost none of her popularity to the close of\n     the empire.\"\n\n     \"The Egyptian Bible is by far the most ancient of all holy\n     books.\" \"Plato was told that Egypt possessed hymns dating back\n     ten thousand years before his time.\"[453:3]\n\nBunsen says:\n\n     \"The origin of the ancient prayers and hymns of the 'Book of\n     the Dead,' is anterior to Menes; it implies that the system of\n     Osirian worship and mythology was already formed.\"[453:4]\n\nAnd, says Mr. Bonwick:\n\n     \"Besides opinions, we have facts as a basis for arriving at a\n     conclusion, and justifying the assertion of Dr. Birch, that\n     the work dated from a period long anterior to the rise of\n     Ammon worship at Thebes.\"[453:5]\n\nNow, \"this most ancient of all holy books,\" establishes the fact that a\nvirgin-born and resurrected Saviour was worshiped in Egypt thousands of\nyear before the time of Christ Jesus.\n\nP. Le Page Renouf says:\n\n     \"The _earliest monuments_ which have been discovered present\n     to us the _very same_ fully-developed civilization and the\n     _same religion_ as the later monuments. . . . The gods whose\n     names appear in the _oldest tombs_ were worshiped down to the\n     Christian times. The same kind of priesthoods which are\n     mentioned in the tablets of Canopus and Rosetta in the\n     Ptolemaic period are as ancient as the pyramids, and more\n     ancient than any pyramid of which we know the date.\"[453:6]\n\nIn regard to the doctrine of the _Trinity_. We have just seen that \"the\ndevelopment of the One God into a Trinity\" pervades the oldest religion\nof Egypt, and the same may be said of India. Prof. Monier Williams,\nspeaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"It should be observed that the native commentaries on the\n     Veda often allude to thirty-three gods, which number is also\n     mentioned in the Rig-Veda. This is a multiple of _three_,\n     which is a sacred number constantly appearing in the Hindu\n     religious system. It is probable, indeed, that although the\n     Tri-murti is not named in the Vedic hymns,[454:1] yet the\n     Veda is the real source of this Triad of personifications,\n     afterwards so conspicuous in Hindu mythology. This much, at\n     least, is clear, that the Vedic poets exhibited a tendency to\n     group all the forces and energies of nature under three heads,\n     and the assertion that the number of the gods was\n     thirty-three, amounted to saying that each of the three\n     leading personifications was capable of eleven\n     modifications.\"[454:2]\n\nThe great antiquity of the legends referred to in this work is\ndemonstrated in the fact that they were found in a great measure on the\ncontinent of America, by the first Europeans who set foot on its soil.\nNow, how did they get there? Mr. Lundy, in his \"Monumental\nChristianity,\" speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"So great was the resemblance between the two sacraments of\n     the Christian Church (viz., that of Baptism and the Eucharist)\n     and those of the ancient Mexicans; so many other points of\n     similarity, also, in _doctrine_ existed, as to the unity of\n     God, the Triad, the Creation, the Incarnation and Sacrifice,\n     the Resurrection, etc., that Herman Witsius, no mean scholar\n     and thinker, was induced to believe that Christianity had been\n     preached on this continent by some one of the apostles,\n     perhaps St. Thomas, from the fact that he is reported to have\n     carried the Gospel to India and Tartary, whence he came to\n     America.\"[454:3]\n\nSome writers, who do not think that St. Thomas could have gotten to\nAmerica, believe that St. Patrick, or some other saint, must have, in\nsome unaccountable manner, reached the shores of the Western continent,\nand preached their doctrine there.[454:4] Others have advocated the\ndevil theory, which is, that the devil, being jealous of the worship of\nChrist Jesus, set up a religion of his own, and imitated, nearly as\npossible, the religion of Christ. All of these theories being untenable,\nwe must, in the words of Burnouf, the eminent French Orientalist, \"learn\none day that all ancient traditions disfigured by emigration and legend,\n_belong to the history of India_.\"\n\nThat America was inhabited by Asiatic emigrants, and that the American\nlegends are of _Asiatic origin_, we believe to be indisputable. There is\nan abundance of proof to this effect.[454:5]\n\nIn contrast to the great antiquity of the sacred books and religions of\nPaganism, we have the facts that the Gospels were not written by the\npersons whose names they bear, that they were written many years after\nthe time these men are said to have lived, and that they are full of\ninterpolations and errors. The first that we know of the four gospels\nis at the time of Iren\u00e6us, who, in the second century, intimates that he\nhad received four gospels, as authentic scriptures. This pious forger\nwas probably the author of the _fourth_, as we shall presently see.\n\nBesides these gospels there were many more which were subsequently\ndeemed apocryphal; the narratives related in them of Christ Jesus and\nhis apostles were stamped as forgeries.\n\n\"The Gospel according to Matthew\" is believed by the majority of\nbiblical scholars of the present day to be the oldest of the four, and\nto be made up principally of a pre-existing one, called \"The Gospel of\nthe Hebrews.\" The principal difference in these two gospels being that\n\"_The Gospel of the Hebrews_\" commenced with giving the genealogy of\nJesus from David, through Joseph \"_according to the flesh_.\" The story\nof Jesus being born of a virgin _was not to be found there_, it being an\nafterpiece, originating either with the writer of \"_The Gospel according\nto Matthew_,\" or some one after him, and was evidently taken from \"The\nGospel of the Egyptians.\" \"_The Gospel of the Hebrews_\"--from which, we\nhave said, the _Matthew_ narrator copied--_was an intensely Jewish\ngospel_, and was to be found--in one of its forms--among the Ebionites,\nwho were the narrowest Jewish Christians of the second century. \"_The\nGospel according to Matthew_\" is, therefore, the most Jewish gospel of\nthe four; in fact, the most Jewish book in the New Testament, excepting,\nperhaps, the _Apocalypse_ and the _Epistle of James_.\n\nSome of the more conspicuous Jewish traits, to be found in this gospel,\nare as follows:\n\nJesus is sent _only_ to the lost sheep of the house of _Israel_. The\ntwelve are forbidden to go among the _Gentiles_ or the _Samaritans_.\nThey are to sit on twelve thrones, _judging the twelve tribes of\nIsrael_. The genealogy of Jesus is traced back to _Abraham_, and there\nstops.[455:1] The works of the _law_ are frequently insisted on. There\nis a superstitious regard for the _Sabbath_, &c.\n\nThere is no evidence of the existence of the Gospel of Matthew,--_in its\npresent form_--until the year 173, A. D. It is at this time, also, that\nit is first ascribed to Matthew, by Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis.\nThe original oracles of the Gospel of the Hebrews, however,--which were\nmade use of by the author of our present Gospel of Matthew,--were\nwritten, likely enough, not long before the destruction of Jerusalem,\nbut the Gospel itself dates from about A. D. 100.[456:1]\n\n\"_The Gospel according to Luke_\" is believed to come next--in\nchronological order--to that of Matthew, and to have been written some\nfifteen or twenty years after it. The author was a _foreigner_, as his\nwritings plainly show that he was far removed from the events which he\nrecords.\n\nIn writing his Gospel, the author made use of that of Matthew, the\nGospel of the Hebrews, and Marcion's Gospel. He must have had, also,\nstill other sources, as there are parables peculiar to it, which are not\nfound in them. Among these may be mentioned that of the \"_Prodigal\nSon_,\" and the \"_Good Samaritan_.\" Other parables peculiar to it are\nthat of the two debtors; the friend borrowing bread at night; the rich\nman's barns; Dives and Lazarus; the lost piece of silver; the unjust\nsteward; the Pharisee and the Publican.\n\nSeveral miracles are also peculiar to the Luke narrator's Gospel, the\nraising of the widow of Nain's son being the most remarkable. Perhaps\nthese stories were delivered to him _orally_, and perhaps _he is the\nauthor of them_,--we shall never know. The foundation of the legends,\nhowever, undoubtedly came from the \"_certain scriptures_\" of the Essenes\nin Egypt. The principal _object_ which the writer of this gospel had in\nview was to reconcile _Paulinism_ and the _more Jewish_ forms of\nChristianity.[456:2]\n\nThe next in chronological order, according to the same school of\ncritics, is \"The Gospel according to Mark.\" This gospel is supposed to\nhave been written within ten years of the former, and its author, as of\nthe other two gospels, is unknown. It was probably written at _Rome_, as\nthe Latinisms of the author's style, and the apparent motive of his\nwork, strongly suggest that he was a Jewish citizen of the Eternal City.\nHe made use of the Gospel of Matthew as his principal authority, and\nprobably referred to that of Luke, as he has things in common with Luke\nonly.\n\nThe object which the writer had in view, was to have a neutral\ngo-between, a compromise between Matthew as too Petrine (Jewish), and\nLuke as too Pauline (Gentile). The different aspects of Matthew and Luke\nwere found to be confusing to believers, and provocative of hostile\ncriticism from without; hence the idea of writing a shorter gospel, that\nshould combine the most essential elements of both. Luke was itself a\ncompromise between the opposing Jewish and universal tendencies of\nearly Christianity, but Mark endeavors by avoidance and omission to\neffect what Luke did more by addition and contrast. Luke proposed to\nhimself to open a door for the admission of Pauline ideas without\noffending Gentile Christianity; Mark, on the contrary, in a negative\nspirit, to publish a Gospel which should not hurt the feelings of either\nparty. Hence his avoidance of all those disputed questions which\ndisturbed the church during the first quarter of the second century. The\ngenealogy of Jesus is omitted; this being offensive to Gentile\nChristians, and even to some of the more liberal Judaizers. The\nsupernatural birth of Jesus is omitted, this being offensive to the\nEbonitish (extreme Jewish) and some of the Gnostic Christians. For every\nJudaizing feature that is sacrificed, a universal one is also\nsacrificed. Hard words against the Jews are left out, but with equal\ncare, hard words about the Gentiles.[457:1]\n\nWe now come to the fourth, and last gospel, that \"_according to John_,\"\nwhich was not written until many years after that \"according to\nMatthew.\"\n\n\"It is impossible to pass from the Synoptic[457:2] Gospels,\" says Canon\nWestcott, \"to the fourth, without feeling that the transition involves\nthe passage from one world of thought to another. No familiarity with\nthe general teachings of the Gospels, no wide conception of the\ncharacter of the Saviour, is sufficient to destroy the contrast which\nexists in form and spirit between the earlier and later narratives.\"\n\nThe discrepancies between the fourth and the Synoptic Gospels are\nnumerous. If Jesus was the _man_ of Matthew's Gospel, he was not the\n_mysterious being_ of the fourth. If his ministry was only _one_ year\nlong, it was not _three_. If he made but _one_ journey to Jerusalem, he\ndid not make _many_. If his method of teaching was that of the\nSynoptics, it was not that of the fourth Gospel. If he was the _Jew_ of\nMatthew, he was not the _Anti-Jew_ of John.[457:3]\n\nEverywhere in John we come upon a more developed stage of Christianity\nthan in the Synoptics. The scene, the atmosphere, is different. In the\nSynoptics Judaism, the Temple, the Law and the Messianic Kingdom are\nomnipresent. In John they are remote and vague. In Matthew Jesus is\nalways yearning for _his own_ nation. In John he has no other sentiment\nfor it than _hate and scorn_. In Matthew the sanction of the Prophets is\nhis great credential. In John his dignity can tolerate no previous\napproximation.\n\n\"Do we ask,\" says Francis Tiffany, \"who wrote this wondrous Gospel?\nMysterious its origin, as that wind of which its author speaks, which\nbloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof and canst\nnot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. As with the Great Unknown\nof the book of Job, the Great Unknown of the later Isaiah, the ages keep\nhis secret. _The first absolutely indisputable evidence of the existence\nof the book dates from the latter half of the second century._\"\n\nThe first that we know of the _fourth_ Gospel, for certainty, is at the\ntime of Iren\u00e6us (A. D. 179).[458:1] We look in vain for an express\nrecognition of the _four_ canonical Gospels, or for a _distinct mention_\nof any one of them, in the writings of St. Clement (A. D. 96), St.\nIgnatius (A. D. 107), St. Justin (A. D. 140), or St. Polycarp (A. D.\n108). All we can find is incidents from the life of Jesus, sayings, etc.\n\nThat Iren\u00e6us is the author of it is very evident. This learned and pious\nforger says:\n\n     \"John, the disciple of the Lord, wrote his Gospel to confute\n     the doctrine _lately_ taught by Cerinthus, and a great while\n     before by those called Nicolaitans, a branch of the Gnostics;\n     and to show that there is one God who made all things by his\n     WORD: and not, as they say, that there is one the Creator, and\n     another the Father of our Lord: and one the Son of the\n     Creator, and another, even the Christ, who descended from\n     above upon the Son of the Creator, and continued impassible,\n     and at length returned to his pleroma or fulness.\"[458:2]\n\nThe idea of God having inspired _four_ different men to write a history\nof the _same transactions_,--or rather, of many different men having\nundertaken to write such a history, of whom God inspired _four only_ to\nwrite correctly, leaving the others to their own unaided resources, and\ngiving us no test by which to distinguish the inspired from the\nuninspired--certainly appears self-confuting, and anything but natural.\n\nThe reasons assigned by Iren\u00e6us for there being _four_ Gospels are as\nfollows:\n\n     \"It is impossible that there could be more or less than\n     _four_. For there are _four_ climates, and _four_ cardinal\n     winds; but the Gospel is the pillar and foundation of the\n     church, and its breath of life. _The church therefore was to\n     have four pillars, blowing immortality from every quarter, and\n     giving life to man._\"[459:1]\n\nIt was by this Iren\u00e6us, with the assistance of Clement of Alexandria,\nand Tertullian, one of the Latin Fathers, that the four Gospels were\nintroduced into _general_ use among the Christians.\n\nIn these four spurious Gospels, and in some which are considered\n_Apocryphal_--because the bishops at the Council of Laodicea (A. D. 365)\nrejected them--we have the only history of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, if\nall accounts or narratives of Christ Jesus and his Apostles were\nforgeries, as it is admitted that all the _Apocryphal_ ones were, what\ncan the superior character of the received Gospels prove for them, but\nthat they are merely superiorly executed forgeries? The existence of\nJesus is implied in the New Testament outside of the Gospels, _but\nhardly an incident of his life is mentioned, hardly a sentence that he\nspoke has been preserved_. Paul, writing from twenty to thirty years\nafter his death, has but a single reference to anything he ever said or\ndid.\n\nBeside these four Gospels there were, as we said above, many others,\nfor, in the words of Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian:\n\n     \"Not long after Christ's ascension into heaven, several\n     histories of his life and doctrines, full of _pious frauds_\n     and _fabulous wonders_, were composed by persons whose\n     intentions, perhaps, were not bad, but whose writings\n     discovered the greatest superstition and ignorance. Nor was\n     this all; _productions appeared, which were imposed upon the\n     world by fraudulent men, as the writings of the holy\n     apostles_.\"[459:2]\n\nDr. Conyers Middleton, speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"There never was any period of time in all ecclesiastical\n     history, in which so many rank heresies were publicly\n     professed, _nor in which so many spurious books were forged_\n     and published by the Christians, under the names of Christ,\n     and the Apostles, and the Apostolic writers, as in those\n     primitive ages. _Several of these forged books are frequently\n     cited and applied to the defense of Christianity, by the most\n     eminent fathers of the same ages, as true and genuine\n     pieces._\"[459:3]\n\nArchbishop Wake also admits that:\n\n     \"It would be useless to insist on all the spurious pieces\n     which were attributed to St. Paul alone, in the primitive ages\n     of Christianity.\"[460:1]\n\nSome of the \"spurious pieces which were attributed to St. Paul,\" may be\nfound to-day in our canonical New Testament, and are believed by many to\nbe the word of God.[460:2]\n\nThe learned Bishop Faustus, in speaking of the authenticity of the _New\nTestament_, says:\n\n     \"It is certain that the New Testament was not written by\n     Christ himself, nor by his apostles, but a long while after\n     them, _by some unknown persons_, who, lest they should not be\n     credited when they wrote of affairs they were little\n     acquainted with, affixed to their works the names of the\n     apostles, or of such as were supposed to have been their\n     companions, asserting that what they had written themselves,\n     was written according to these persons to whom they ascribed\n     it.\"[460:3]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"Many things have been inserted by our ancestors in the\n     speeches of our Lord, which, though put forth under his name,\n     agree not with his faith; especially since--_as already it has\n     been often proved_--these things were not written by Christ,\n     nor his apostles, but a long while after their assumption, by\n     I know not what sort of half Jews, not even agreeing with\n     themselves, who made up their tale out of reports and opinions\n     merely, and yet, fathering the whole upon the names of the\n     apostles of the Lord, or on those who were supposed to follow\n     the apostles, they mendaciously pretended that they had\n     written their lies and conceits according to them.\"[460:4]\n\nWhat had been said to have been done in _India_, was said by these\n\"half-Jews\" to have been done in _Palestine_; the change of names and\nplaces, with the mixing up of various sketches of the Egyptian, Persian,\nPhenician, Greek and Roman mythology, was all that was necessary. They\nhad an abundance of material, and with it they built. The foundation\nupon which they built was undoubtedly the \"_Scriptures_,\" or Diegesis,\nof the Essenes in Alexandria in Egypt, which fact led Eusebius, the\necclesiastical historian--\"without whom,\" says Tillemont, \"we should\nscarce have had any knowledge of the history of the first ages of\nChristianity, or of the authors who wrote in that time\"--to say that the\nsacred writings used by this sect were none other than \"_Our Gospels_.\"\n\nWe offer below a few of the many proofs showing the Gospels to have\nbeen written a long time after the events narrated are said to have\noccurred, and by persons unacquainted with the country of which they\nwrote.\n\n\"He (Jesus) came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the\ncoasts of Decapolis,\" is an assertion made by the Mark narrator (vii.\n31), when there were no coasts of Decapolis, nor was the name so much as\nknown before the reign of the emperor Nero.\n\nAgain, \"He (Jesus) departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of\nJudea, beyond Jordan,\" is an assertion made by the Matthew narrator\n(xix. 1), when the Jordan itself was the eastern boundary of Judea, and\nthere were no coasts of Judea beyond it.\n\nAgain, \"But when he (Joseph) heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea, in\nthe room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither,\nnotwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into\nthe parts of Galilee, and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth;\nthat it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets, he shall\nbe called a Nazarene,\" is another assertion made by the Matthew narrator\n(ii. 22, 23), when--1. It was a son of Herod who reigned in Galilee as\nwell as Judea, so that he could not be more secure in one province than\nin the other; and when--2. It was impossible for him to have gone from\nEgypt to Nazareth, without traveling through the whole extent of\nArchelaus's kingdom, or making a peregrination through the deserts on\nthe north and east of the Lake Asphaltites, and the country of Moab; and\nthen, either crossing the Jordan into Samaria or the Lake of Gennesareth\ninto Galilee, and from thence going to the city of Nazareth, which is no\nbetter geography, than if one should describe a person as _turning\naside_ from Cheapside into the parts of Yorkshire; and when--3. There\nwere no prophets whatever who had prophesied that Jesus \"_should be\ncalled a Nazarene_.\"\n\nThe Matthew narrator (iv. 13) states that \"He departed into Galilee, and\nleaving Nazareth, came and dwelt in Capernaum,\" as if he imagined that\nthe city of Nazareth was not as properly in Galilee as Capernaum was;\nwhich is much such geographical accuracy, as if one should relate the\ntravels of a hero, who departed into Middlesex, and leaving London, came\nand dwelt in Lombard street.[461:1]\n\nThere are many other falsehoods in gospel geography beside these,\nwhich, it is needless to mention, plainly show that the writers were not\nthe persons they are generally supposed to be.\n\nOf gospel statistics there are many falsehoods; among them may be\nmentioned the following:\n\n\"Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto\nJohn the son of Zacharias in the wilderness,\" is an assertion made by\nthe Luke narrator (Luke iii. 2); when all Jews, or persons living among\nthem, must have known that there never was but _one_ high priest at a\ntime, as with ourselves there is but one mayor of a city.\n\nAgain we read (John vii. 52), \"Search (the Scriptures) and look, for out\nof Galilee ariseth no prophet,\" when the most distinguished of the\nJewish prophets--Nahum and Jonah--were both Galileans.\n\nSee reference in the Epistles to \"_Saints_,\" a religious order, owing\nits origin to the popes. Also, references to the distinct orders of\n\"_Bishops_,\" \"_Priests_,\" and \"_Deacons_,\" and calls to a monastic life;\nto fasting, etc., when, the titles of \"Bishop,\" \"Priest,\" and \"Deacon\"\nwere given to the Essenes--whom Eusebius calls Christians--and, as is\nwell known, _monasteries_ were the abode of the Essenes or Therapeuts.\n\nSee the words for \"_legion_,\" \"_aprons_,\" \"_handkerchiefs_,\"\n\"_centurion_,\" etc., in the original, not being Greek, but Latin,\nwritten in Greek characters, a practice first to be found in the\nhistorian Herodian, in the third century.\n\nIn Matt. xvi. 18, and Matt. xviii. 17, the word \"_Church_\" is used, and\nits _papistical_ and infallible authority referred to as then existing,\nwhich is known not to have existed till ages after. And the passage in\nMatt. xi. 12:--\"From the days of John the Baptist until _now_, the\nkingdom of heaven suffereth violence,\" etc., could not have been written\ntill a very late period.\n\nLuke ii. 1, shows that the writer (whoever he may have been) lived long\nafter the events related. His dates, about the fifteenth year of\nTiberius, and the government of Cyrenius (the only indications of time\nin the New Testament), are manifestly false. The general ignorance of\nthe four Evangelists, not merely of the geography and statistics of\nJudea, but even of its language,--their egregious blunders, which no\nwriters who had lived in that age could be conceived of as\nmaking,--prove that they were not only no such persons as those who have\nbeen willing to be deceived have taken them to be, but that they were\nnot Jews, had never been in Palestine, and neither lived at, or at\nanywhere near the times to which their narratives seem to refer. The\nablest divines at the present day, of all denominations, have yielded as\nmuch as this.[463:1]\n\nThe Scriptures were in the hands of the clergy only, and they had every\nopportunity to insert whatsoever they pleased; thus we find them full of\n_interpolations_. Johann Solomo Semler, one of the most influential\ntheologians of the eighteenth century, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"The Christian doctors never brought their sacred books before\n     the common people; although people in general have been wont\n     to think otherwise; during the first ages, they were in the\n     hands of the clergy only.\"[463:2]\n\nConcerning the _time_ when the canon of the New Testament was settled,\nMosheim says:\n\n     \"The opinions, or rather the _conjectures_, of the learned\n     concerning the _time_ when the books of the New Testament were\n     collected into one volume; as also about the authors of that\n     collection, are extremely different. This important question\n     is attended with great and almost insuperable difficulties to\n     us in these later times.\"[463:3]\n\nThe Rev. B. F. Westcott says:\n\n     \"It is impossible to point to any period as marking the date\n     at which our present canon was determined. When it first\n     appears, it is presented not as a novelty, but as an ancient\n     tradition.\"[463:4]\n\nDr. Lardner says:\n\n     \"Even so late as the middle of the _sixth century_, the canon\n     of the New Testament had not been settled by any authority\n     that was decisive and universally acknowledged, but Christian\n     people were at liberty to judge for themselves concerning the\n     genuineness of writings proposed to them as apostolical, and\n     to determine according to evidence.\"[464:1]\n\nThe learned Michaelis says:\n\n     \"No manuscript of the New Testament now extant is prior to the\n     _sixth century_, and what is to be lamented, various readings\n     which, as appears from the quotations of the Fathers, were in\n     the text of the Greek Testament, are to be found in none of\n     the manuscripts which are at present remaining.\"[464:2]\n\nAnd Bishop Marsh says:\n\n     \"It is a certain fact, that several readings in our common\n     printed text are nothing more than _alterations_ made by\n     Origen, whose authority was so great in the Christian Church\n     (A. D. 230) that emendations which he proposed, though, as he\n     himself acknowledged, they were supported by the evidence of\n     no manuscript, were very generally received.\"[464:3]\n\nIn his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius gives us a list of what books at\nthat time (A. D. 315) were considered canonical. They are as follows:\n\n     \"The four-fold writings of the Evangelists,\" \"The Acts of the\n     Apostles,\" \"The Epistles of Peter,\" \"after these the _first_\n     of John, and that of Peter,\" \"_All these are received for\n     undoubted._\" \"The Revelation of St. John, _some disavow_.\"\n\n     \"The books which are _gainsaid_, though well known unto many,\n     are these: the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude, the\n     _latter_ of Peter, the _second_ and _third_ of John, _whether\n     they were John the Evangelist, or some other of the same\n     name_.\"[464:4]\n\nThough Iren\u00e6us, in the second century, is the first who mentions the\nevangelists, and Origen, in the third century, is the first who gives us\na catalogue of the books contained in the New Testament, Mosheim's\nadmission still stands before us. We have no grounds of assurance that\nthe mere mention of the _names_ of the evangelists by Iren\u00e6us, or the\narbitrary drawing up of a particular catalogue by Origen, were of any\nauthority. It is still unknown _by whom_, or _where_, or _when_, the\ncanon of the New Testament was settled. But in this absence of positive\nevidence we have abundance of negative proof. We know when it was _not_\nsettled. We know it was not settled in the time of the Emperor\nJustinian, nor in the time of Cassiodorus; that is, not at any time\n_before the middle of the sixth century_, \"by any authority that was\ndecisive and universally acknowledged; but Christian people were at\nliberty to judge for themselves concerning the genuineness of writings\nproposed to them as apostolical.\"\n\nWe cannot do better than close this chapter with the words of Prof. Max\nM\u00fcller, who, in speaking of Buddhism, says:\n\n     \"We have in the history of Buddhism an excellent opportunity\n     for watching the process by which a canon of sacred books is\n     called into existence. We see here, _as elsewhere_, that\n     during the life-time of the teacher, no record of events, no\n     sacred code containing the sayings of the Master, was wanted.\n     His presence was enough, and thoughts of the future, and more\n     particularly, of future greatness, seldom entered the minds of\n     those who followed him. It was only after Buddha had left the\n     world to enter into _Nirv\u00e2na_, that his disciples attempted to\n     recall the sayings and doings of their departed friend and\n     master. At that time, everything that seemed to redound to the\n     glory of Buddha, however extraordinary and incredible, was\n     eagerly welcomed, while witnesses who would have ventured to\n     criticise or reject unsupported statements, or to detract in\n     any way from the holy character of Buddha, had no chance of\n     ever being listened to. And when, in spite of all this,\n     differences of opinion arose, they were not brought to the\n     test by a careful weighing of evidence, but the names of\n     '_unbeliever_' and '_heretic_' were quickly invented in India\n     _as elsewhere_, and bandied backwards and forwards between\n     contending parties, till at last, when the doctors disagreed,\n     the help of the secular power had to be invoked, and kings and\n     emperors assembled councils for the suppression of schism, for\n     the settlement of an orthodox creed, and for the completion of\n     a _sacred canon_.\"[465:1]\n\nThat which Prof. M\u00fcller describes as taking place in the religion of\nChrist Buddha, is exactly what took place in the religion of Christ\nJesus. That the miraculous, and many of the non-miraculous, events\nrelated in the Gospels never happened, is demonstrable from the facts\nwhich we have seen in this work, that nearly all of these events, had\nbeen previously related of the gods and goddesses of heathen nations of\nantiquity, more especially of the Hindoo Saviour _Crishna_, and the\nBuddhist Saviour _Buddha_, whose religion, with less alterations than\ntime and translations have made in the Jewish Scriptures, may be traced\nin nearly every dogma and every ceremony of the evangelical mythology.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNOTE.--The _Codex Sinaiticus_, referred to on the preceding page,\n(_note_ 2,) was found at the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, by\nTischendorf, in 1859. He _supposes_ that it belongs to the 4th cent.;\nbut Dr. Davidson (in Kitto's Bib. Ency., Art. MSS.) thinks different. He\nsays: \"_Probably_ it is of the 6th _cent._,\" while he states that the\n_Codex Vaticanus_ \"is _believed_ to belong to the 4th cent.,\" and the\n_Codex_ Alexandrinus to the 5th cent. McClintock & Strong's Ency. (Art.\nMSS.,) relying probably on Tischendorf's conjecture, places the _Codex\nSinaiticus_ first. \"It is _probably_ the oldest of the MSS. of the N.\nT., and of the 4th cent.,\" say they. The _Codex Vaticanus_ is considered\nthe next oldest, and the _Codex Alexandrinus_ is placed third in order,\nand \"was _probably_ written in the first half of the 5th cent.\" The\nwriter of the art. N. T. in Smith's _Bib. Dic._ says: \"The _Codex\nSinaiticus_ is probably the oldest of the MSS. of the N. T., and of the\n4th cent.;\" and that the _Codex Alexandrinus_ \"was _probably_ written in\nthe first half of the 5th cent.\" Thus we see that in determining the\ndates of the MSS. of the N. T., Christian divines are obliged to resort\nto _conjecture_; there being no certainty whatever in the matter. But\nwith all their \"suppositions,\" \"probabilities,\" \"beliefs\" and\n\"conjectures,\" we have the words of the learned Michaelis still before\nus, that: \"No MSS. of the N. T. now extant are prior to the _sixth\ncent._\" This remark, however, does not cover the _Codex Sinaiticus_,\nwhich was discovered since Michaelis wrote his work on the N. T.; but,\nas we saw above, Dr. Davidson does not agree with Tischendorf in regard\nto its antiquity, and places it in the 6th cent.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[450:1] Williams' Hinduism, p. 19. See also, Prof. Max M\u00fcller's Lectures\non the Origin of Religion, pp. 145-158, and p. 67, where he speaks of\n\"the Hindus, who, thousands of years ago, had reached in Upanishads the\nloftiest heights of philosophy.\"\n\n[450:2] The Ancient City, p. 13.\n\n[451:1] See Monier Williams' Hinduism, pp. 109, 110, and Indian Wisdom,\np. 493.\n\n[451:2] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 576, for the authority of Prof.\nMax M\u00fcller.\n\n[451:3] \"The religion known as Buddhism--from the title of 'The Buddha,'\nmeaning 'The Wise,' 'The Enlightened'--has now existed for 2400 years,\nand may be said to be the prevailing religion of the world.\" (Chambers's\nEncyclo.)\n\n[451:4] This Council was assembled by Asoka in the eighteenth year of\nhis reign. The name of this king is honored wherever the teachings of\nBuddha have spread, and is reverenced from the Volga to Japan, from\nCeylon and Siam to the borders of Mongolia and Siberia. Like his\nChristian prototype Constantine, he was converted by a miracle. After\nhis conversion, which took place in the tenth year of his reign, he\nbecame a very zealous supporter of the new religion. He himself built\nmany monasteries and dagabas, and provided many _monks_ with the\nnecessaries of life; and he encouraged those about his court to do the\nsame. He published edicts throughout his empire, enjoining on all his\nsubjects morality and justice.\n\n[451:5] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 10.\n\n[451:6] See Chapter VII.\n\n[452:1] M\u00fcller: Lectures on the Science of Religion, p. 235.\n\n[452:2] This small tribe of Persians were driven from their native land\nby the Mohammedan conquerors under the Khalif Omar, in the seventh\ncentury of our era. Adhering to the ancient religion of Persia, which\nresembles that of the _Veda_, and bringing with them the records of\ntheir faith, the _Zend-Avesta_ of their prophet Zoroaster, they settled\ndown in the neighborhood of Surat, about one thousand one hundred years\nago, and became great merchants and shipbuilders. For two or three\ncenturies we know little of their history. Their religion prevented them\nfrom making proselytes, and they never multiplied within themselves to\nany extent, nor did they amalgamate with the Hindoo population, so that\neven now their number only amounts to about seventy thousand.\nNevertheless, from their busy, enterprising habits, in which they\nemulate Europeans, they form an important section of the population of\nBombay and Western India.\n\n[452:3] Movers: Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 261.\n\n[452:4] Prolegomena, p. 417.\n\n[452:5] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 162.\n\n[453:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 163.\n\n[453:2] Ibid. p. 142, and King's Gnostics, p. 71.\n\n[453:3] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, pp. 135, 140, and 143.\n\n[453:4] Quoted in Ibid. p. 186.\n\n[453:5] Ibid.\n\n[453:6] Renouf: Religion of Ancient Egypt, p. 81.\n\n[454:1] That is, the Tri-murti Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, for he tells\nus that the three gods, Indra, Agni, and Surya, constitute the _Vedic_\nchief triad of Gods. (Hinduism, p. 24.) Again he tells us that the idea\nof a Tri-murti was _first_ dimly shadowed forth in the Rig-Veda, where a\ntriad of principal gods--Agni, Indra and Surya--is recognized. (Ibid. p.\n88.) The worship of the three members of the Tri-murti, Brahma, Vishnu\nand Siva, is to be found in the period of the epic poems, from 500 to\n308 B. C. (Ibid. pp. 109, 110, 115.)\n\n[454:2] Williams' Hinduism, p. 25.\n\n[454:3] Monumental Christianity, p. 890.\n\n[454:4] See Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi.\n\n[454:5] See Appendix A.\n\n[455:1] The genealogy which traces him back to _Adam_ (Luke iii.) makes\nhis religion not only a Jewish, but a _Gentile_ one. According to this\nGospel he is not only a Messiah sent to the Jews, but to all nations,\nsons of Adam.\n\n[456:1] See The Bible of To-Day, under \"_Matthew_.\"\n\n[456:2] See Ibid. under \"_Luke_.\"\n\n[457:1] See the Bible of To-Day, under \"_Mark_.\"\n\n[457:2] \"_Synoptics_;\" the Gospels which contain accounts of the same\nevents--\"parallel passages,\" as they are called--which can be written\nside by side, so as to enable us to make a general view or _synopsis_ of\nall the three, and at the same time compare them with each other. Bishop\nMarsh says: \"The most eminent critics are at present decidedly of\nopinion that one of the two suppositions must necessarily be adopted,\neither that the three Evangelists copied from each other, or that all\nthe three drew from a common source, and that the notion of an absolute\nindependence, in respect to the composition of the three first Gospels,\nis no longer tenable.\"\n\n[457:3] \"On opening the New Testament and comparing the impression\nproduced by the Gospel of Matthew or Mark with that by the Gospel of\nJohn, the observant eye is at once struck with as salient a contrast as\nthat already indicated on turning from the _Macbeth_ or _Othello_ of\nShakespeare to the _Comus_ of Milton or to Spenser's _Faerie Queene_.\"\n(Francis Tiffany.)\n\n\"To learn how far we may trust them (the Gospels) we must in the first\nplace compare them with each other. The moment we do so we notice that\nthe _fourth_ stands quite alone, while the _first three form a single\ngroup_, not only following the same general course, but sometimes even\nshowing a verbal agreement which cannot possibly be accidental.\" (The\nBible for Learners, vol. ii. p. 27.)\n\n[458:1] \"Iren\u00e6us is the first person who mentions the four Gospels by\nname.\" (Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 328.)\n\n\"Iren\u00e6us, in the second century, is the first of the fathers who, though\nhe has nowhere given us a professed catalogue of the books of the New\nTestament, intimates that he had received four Gospels, as authentic\nScriptures, the authors of which he describes.\" (Rev. R. Taylor:\nSyntagma, p. 109.)\n\n\"The authorship of the _fourth_ Gospel has been the subject of much\nlearned and anxious controversy among theologians. _The earliest, and\nonly very important external testimony we have is that of_ IREN\u00c6US (A.\nD. 179.)\" (W. R. Grey: _The Creed of Christendom_, p. 159.)\n\n[458:2] Against Heresies, bk. ii. ch. xi. sec. 1.\n\n[459:1] Against Heresies, bk. iii. ch. xi. sec. 8.\n\n[459:2] Mosheim: vol. i. p. 109.\n\n[459:3] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 59.\n\n[460:1] Genuine Epist. Apost. Fathers, p. 98.\n\n[460:2] See Chadwick's Bible of To-Day, pp. 191, 192.\n\n[460:3] \"Nec ab ipso scriptum constat, nec ab ejus apostolis sed longo\npost tempore a quibusdam incerti nominis viris, qui ne sibi non\nhaberetur fides scribentibus qu\u00e6 nescirent, partim apostolorum, partim\neorum qui apostolos secuti viderentur nomina scriptorum suorum frontibus\nindiderunt, asseverantes secundum eos, se scripsisse qu\u00e6 scripserunt.\"\n(Faust, lib. 2. Quoted by Rev. R. Taylor: Diegesis, p. 114.)\n\n[460:4] \"Multa enim a majoribus vestris, eloquiis Domini nostri inserta\nverba sunt; qu\u00e6 nomine signata ipsius, cum ejus fide non congruant,\npr\u00e6sertim, quia, ut jam s\u00e6pe probatum a nobis est, nec ab ipso h\u00e6c sunt,\nnec ab ejus apostolis scripta, sed multo post eorum assumptionem, a\nnescio quibus, et ipsis inter se non concordantibus SEMI-JUD\u00c6IS, per\nfamas opinionesque comperta sunt; qui tamen omnia eadem in apostolorum\nDomini conferentes nomina vel eorum qui secuti apostolos viderentur,\nerrores ac mendacia sua secundum eos se scripsisse mentiti sunt.\"\n(Faust.: lib. 88. Quoted in Ibid. p. 66.)\n\n[461:1] Taylor's Diegesis.\n\n[463:1] Says Prof. Smith upon this point: \"All the earliest external\nevidence points to the conclusion _that the synoptic gospels are\nnon-apostolic digests of spoken and written_ apostolic tradition, and\nthat the arrangement of the earlier material in orderly form took place\nonly gradually and by many essays.\"\n\n_Dr. Hooykaas_, speaking of the four \"Gospels,\" and \"Acts,\" says of\nthem: \"Not one of these five books was really written by the person\nwhose name it bears, and they are all of more recent date than the\nheading would lead us to suppose.\"\n\n\"We cannot say that the \"Gospels\" and book of \"Acts\" are _unauthentic_,\nfor not one of them professes to give the name of its author. _They\nappeared anonymously._ The titles placed above them in our Bibles owe\ntheir origin to a later ecclesiastical tradition which deserves no\nconfidence whatever.\" (Bible for Learners, vol. iii. pp. 24, 25.)\n\nThese Gospels \"can hardly be said to have had authors at all. _They had\nonly editors or compilers._ What I mean is, that those who enriched the\nold Christian literature with these Gospels did not go to work as\nindependent writers and compose their own narratives out of the accounts\nthey had collected, but simply took up the different stories or sets of\nstories which they found current in the _oral_ tradition or already\nreduced to writing, _adding here_ and _expanding there_, and so sent out\ninto the world a very artless kind of composition. These works were\nthen, from time to time, somewhat enriched by _introductory matter or\ninterpolations_ from the hands of later Christians, and perhaps were\nmodified a little here and there. Our first two Gospels appear to have\npassed through more than one such revision. The third, whose writer says\nin his preface, that 'many had undertaken to put together a narrative\n(Gospel),' before him, appears to proceed from a single collecting,\narranging, and modifying hand.\" (Ibid. p. 29.)\n\n[463:2] \"Christiani doctores non in vulgus prodebant libros sacros,\nlicet soleant plerique aliteropinari, erant tantum in manibus\nclericorum, priora per s\u00e6cula.\" (Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48.)\n\n[463:3] Mosheim: vol. i. pt. 2, ch. ii.\n\n[463:4] General Survey of the Canon, p. 459.\n\n[464:1] Credibility of the Gospels.\n\n[464:2] Marsh's Michaelis, vol. ii. p. 160. The Sinaitic MS. is believed\nby Tischendorf to belong to the fourth century.\n\n[464:3] Ibid. p. 368.\n\n[464:4] Eusebius: Ecclesiastical Hist. lib. 3, ch. xxii.\n\n[465:1] The Science of Religion, pp. 30, 31.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIX.\n\nEXPLANATION.\n\n\nAfter what we have seen concerning the numerous virgin-born, crucified\nand resurrected Saviours, believed on in the Pagan world for so many\ncenturies before the time assigned for the birth of the Christian\nSaviour, the questions naturally arise: were they real personages? did\nthey ever exist in the flesh? whence came these stories concerning them?\nhave they a foundation in truth, or are they simply creations of the\nimagination?\n\nThe _historical_ theory--according to which _all_ the persons mentioned\nin mythology were once real human beings, and the legends and fabulous\ntraditions relating to them were merely the additions and embellishments\nof later times--which was so popular with scholars of the last century,\nhas been altogether abandoned.\n\nUnder the historical point of view the gods are mere deified mortals,\neither heroes who have been deified after their death, or\nPontiff-chieftains who have passed themselves off for gods, and who, it\nis gratuitously supposed, found people stupid enough to believe in their\npretended divinity. This was the manner in which, formerly, writers\nexplained the mythology of nations of antiquity; but a method that\npre-supposed an historical Crishna, an historical Osiris, an historical\nMithra, an historical Hercules, an historical Apollo, or an historical\nThor, was found untenable, and therefore, does not, at the present day,\nstand in need of a refutation. As a writer of the early part of the\npresent century said:\n\n     \"We shall never have an ancient history worthy of the perusal\n     of men of common sense, till we cease treating poems as\n     history, and send back such personages as Hercules, Theseus,\n     Bacchus, etc., to the heavens, whence their history is taken,\n     and whence they never descended to the earth.\"\n\nThe historical theory was succeeded by the _allegorical_ theory, which\nsupposes that all the myths of the ancients were _allegorical_ and\n_symbolical_, and contain some moral, religious, or philosophical truth\nor historical fact under the form of an allegory, which came in process\nof time to be understood literally.\n\nIn the preceding pages we have spoken of the several virgin-born,\ncrucified and resurrected Saviours, as real personages. We have\nattributed to these individuals words and acts, and have regarded the\nwords and acts recorded in the several sacred books from which we have\nquoted, as said and done by them. But in doing this, we have simply used\nthe language of others. These gods and heroes were not real personages;\n_they are merely personifications of the_ SUN. As Prof. Max M\u00fcller\nobserves in his Lectures on the Science of Religion:\n\n     \"One of the earliest objects that would strike and stir the\n     mind of man, and for which a _sign_ or a _name_ would soon be\n     wanted, is surely the _Sun_.[467:1] It is very hard for us to\n     realize the feelings with which the first dwellers on the\n     earth looked upon the Sun, or to understand fully what they\n     meant by a morning prayer or a morning sacrifice. Perhaps\n     there are few people who have watched a sunrise more than once\n     or twice in their life; few people who have ever known the\n     meaning of a morning prayer, or a morning sacrifice. But think\n     of man at the very dawn of time. . . . think of the Sun\n     awakening the eyes of man from sleep, and his mind from\n     slumber! Was not the sunrise to him the first wonder, the\n     first beginning of all reflection, all thought, all\n     philosophy? Was it not to him the first revelation, the first\n     beginning of all trust, of all religion? . . . .\n\n     \"Few nations only have preserved in their ancient poetry some\n     remnants of the natural awe with which the earlier dwellers on\n     the earth saw that brilliant being slowly rising from out of\n     the darkness of the night, raising itself by its own might\n     higher and higher, till it stood triumphant on the arch of\n     heaven, and then descended and sank down in its fiery glory\n     into the dark abyss of the heaving and hissing sea. In the\n     hymns of the _Veda_, the poet still wonders whether the Sun\n     will rise again; he asks how he can climb the vault of heaven?\n     why he does not fall back? why there is no dust on his path?\n     And when the rays of the morning rouse him from sleep and call\n     him back to new life, when he sees the Sun, as he says,\n     stretching out his golden arms to bless the world and rescue\n     it from the terror of darkness, he exclaims, 'Arise, our life,\n     our spirit has come back! the darkness is gone, the light\n     approaches.'\"\n\nMany years ago, the learned Sir William Jones said:\n\n     \"We must not be surprised at finding, on a close examination,\n     that the characters of all the Pagan deities, male and female,\n     melt into each other, and at last into one or two; for it\n     seems as well founded opinion, that the whole crowd of gods\n     and goddesses of ancient Rome, and modern Varanes, mean only\n     the powers of nature, and principally those of the SUN,\n     expressed in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of fanciful\n     names.\"[467:2]\n\nSince the first learned president of the Royal Asiatic Society paved\nthe way for the science of _comparative mythology_, much has been\nlearned on this subject, so that, as the Rev. George W. Cox remarks,\n\"recent discussions on the subject seem to justify the conviction that\nthe foundations of the science of _comparative mythology_ have been\nfirmly laid, and that its method is unassailable.\"[468:1]\n\nIf we wish to find the gods and goddesses of the ancestors of our race,\nwe must look to the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the earth, the\nsea, the dawn, the clouds, the wind, &c., _which they personified and\nworshiped_. That these have been the gods and goddesses of all nations\nof antiquity, is an established fact.[468:2]\n\nThe words which had denoted the sun and moon would denote not merely\nliving things but living persons. From personification to deification\nthe steps would be but few; and the process of disintegration would at\nonce furnish the materials for a vast fabric of mythology. All the\nexpressions which had attached a living force to natural objects would\nremain as the description of personal and anthropomorphous gods. Every\nword would become an attribute, and all ideas, once grouped around a\nsimple object, would branch off into distinct personifications. The sun\nhad been the lord of light, the driver of the chariot of the day; he had\ntoiled and labored for the sons of men, and sunk down to rest, after a\nhard battle, in the evening. But now the lord of light would be Phoibos\nApollon, while Helios would remain enthroned in his fiery chariot, and\nhis toils and labors and death-struggles would be transferred to\nHercules. The violet clouds which greet his rising and his setting would\nnow be represented by herds of cows which feed in earthly pastures.\nThere would be other expressions which would still remain as floating\nphrases, not attached to any definite deities. These would gradually be\nconverted into incidents in the life of heroes, and be woven at length\ninto systematic narratives. Finally, these gods or heroes, and the\nincidents of their mythical career, would receive each \"a local\nhabitation and a name.\" _These would remain as genuine history, when the\norigin and meaning of the words had been either wholly or in part\nforgotten._\n\nFor the proofs of these assertions, the Vedic poems furnish indisputable\nevidence, that such as this was the origin and growth of Greek and\nTeutonic mythology. In these poems, the names of many, perhaps of most,\nof the Greek gods, indicate natural objects which, if endued with life,\nhave not been reduced to human personality. In them Daphne is still\nsimply the morning twilight ushering in the splendor of the new born\nsun; the cattle of Helios there are still the light-colored clouds which\nthe dawn leads out into the fields of the sky. There the idea of\nHercules has not been separated from the image of the toiling and\nstruggling sun, and the glory of the life-giving Helios has not been\ntransferred to the god of Delos and Pytho. In the Vedas the myths of\nEndymion, of Kephalos and Prokris, Orpheus and Eurydike, are exhibited\nin the form of detached mythical phrases, which furnished for each their\ngerm. The analysis may be extended indefinitely: but the conclusion can\nonly be, that in the Vedic language we have the foundation, not only of\nthe glowing legends of Hellas, but of the dark and sombre mythology of\nthe Scandinavian and the Teuton. Both alike have grown up chiefly from\nnames which have been grouped around the sun; but the former has been\ngrounded on those expressions which describe the recurrence of day and\nnight, the latter on the great tragedy of nature, in the alternation of\nsummer and winter.\n\nOf this vast mass of solar myths, some have emerged into independent\nlegends, others have furnished the groundwork of whole epics, others\nhave remained simply as floating tales whose intrinsic beauty no poet\nhas wedded to his verse.[469:1]\n\n\"The results obtained from the examination of language in its several\nforms leaves no room for doubt that the general system of mythology has\nbeen traced to its fountain head. We can no longer shut our eyes to the\nfact that there was a stage in the history of human speech, during which\nall the abstract words in constant use among ourselves were utterly\nunknown, when men had formed no notions of virtue or prudence, of\nthought and intellect, of slavery or freedom, but spoke only of the man\nwho was strong, who could point the way to others and choose one thing\nout of many, of the man who was not bound to any other and able to do as\nhe pleased.\n\n\"That even this stage was not the earliest in the history of language is\nnow a growing opinion among philologists; but for the _comparison_ of\nlegends current in different countries it is not necessary to carry the\nsearch further back. Language without words denoting abstract qualities\nimplies a condition of thought in which men were only awakening to a\nsense of the objects which surrounded them, and points to a time when\nthe world was to them full of strange sights and sounds, some beautiful,\nsome bewildering, some terrific, when, in short, they knew little of\nthemselves beyond the vague consciousness of their existence, and\nnothing of the phenomena of the world without. _In such a state they\ncould but attribute to all that they saw or touched or heard, a life\nwhich was like their own in its consciousness, its joys, and its\nsufferings._ That power of sympathizing with nature which we are apt to\nregard as the peculiar gift of the poet was then shared alike by all.\nThis sympathy was not the result of any effort, it was inseparably bound\nup with the words which rose to their lips. It implied no special purity\nof heart or mind; it pointed to no Arcadian paradise where shepherds\nknew not how to wrong or oppress or torment each other. We say that the\nmorning light rests on the mountains; they said that the sun was\ngreeting his bride, as naturally as our own poet would speak of the\nsunlight clasping the earth, or the moonbeams as kissing the sea.\n\n\"We have then before us a stage of language corresponding to a stage in\nthe history of the human mind _in which all sensible objects were\nregarded as instinct with a conscious life_. The varying phases of that\nlife were therefore described as truthfully as they described their own\nfeelings or sufferings; and hence every phase became a picture. But so\nlong as the conditions of their life remained unchanged, they knew\nperfectly what the picture meant, and ran no risk of confusing one with\nanother. Thus they had but to describe the things which they saw, felt,\nor heard, in order to keep up an inexhaustible store of phrases\nfaithfully describing the facts of the world from their point of view.\nThis language was indeed the result of an observation not less keen than\nthat by which the inductive philosopher extorts the secrets of the\nnatural world. Nor was its range much narrower. Each object received its\nown measure of attention, and no one phenomenon was so treated as to\nleave no room for others in their turn. They could not fail to note the\nchanges of days and years, of growth and decay, of calm and storm; _but\nthe objects which so changed were to them living things, and the rising\nand setting of the sun, the return of winter and summer, became a drama\nin which the actors were their enemies or their friends_.\n\n\"That this is a strict statement of facts in the history of the human\nmind, philology alone would abundantly prove; but not a few of these\nphrases have come down to us in their earliest form, and point to the\nlong-buried stratum of language of which they are the fragments. _These\nrelics exhibit in their germs the myths which afterwards became the\nlegends of gods and heroes with human forms, and furnished the\ngroundwork of the epic poems, whether of the eastern or the western\nworld._\n\n\"The mythical or mythmaking language of mankind had no partialities; and\nif the career of the _Sun_ occupies a large extent of the horizon, we\ncannot fairly simulate ignorance of the cause. Men so placed would not\nfail to put into words the thoughts or emotions roused in them by the\nvarying phases of that mighty world on which we, not less than they,\nfeel that our life depends, although we may know something more of its\nnature.\n\n\"Thus grew up a multitude of expressions which described the sun as the\nchild of the night, as the destroyer of the darkness, as the lover of\nthe dawn and the dew--of phrases which would go on to speak of him as\nkilling the dew with his spears, and of forsaking the dawn as he rose in\nthe heaven. The feeling that the fruits of the earth were called forth\nby his warmth would find utterance in words which spoke of him as the\nfriend and the benefactor of man; while the constant recurrence of his\nwork would lead them to describe him as a being constrained to toil for\nothers, as doomed to travel over many lands, and as finding everywhere\nthings on which he could bestow his love or which he might destroy by\nhis power. His journey, again, might be across cloudless skies, or amid\nalternations of storm and calm; his light might break fitfully through\nthe clouds, or be hidden for many a weary hour, to burst forth at last\nwith dazzling splendor as he sank down in the western sky. He would thus\nbe described as facing many dangers and many enemies, none of whom,\nhowever, may arrest his course; as sullen, or capricious, or resentful;\nas grieving for the loss of the dawn whom he had loved, or as nursing\nhis great wrath and vowing a pitiless vengeance. Then as the veil was\nrent at eventide, they would speak of the chief, who had long remained\nstill, girding on his armor; or of the wanderer throwing off his\ndisguise, and seizing his bow or spear to smite his enemies; of the\ninvincible warrior whose face gleams with the flush of victory when the\nfight is over, as he greets the fair-haired Dawn who closes, as she had\nbegun, the day. To the wealth of images thus lavished on the daily life\nand death of the Sun there would be no limit. He was the child of the\nmorning, or her husband, or her destroyer; he forsook her and he\nreturned to her, either in calm serenity or only to sink presently in\ndeeper gloom.\n\n\"So with other sights and sounds. The darkness of night brought with it\na feeling of vague horror and dread; the return of daylight cheered them\nwith a sense of unspeakable gladness; and thus the Sun who scattered\nthe black shade of night would be the mighty champion doing battle with\nthe biting snake which lurked in its dreary hiding-place. But as the Sun\naccomplishes his journey day by day through the heaven, the character of\nthe seasons is changed. The buds and blossoms of spring-time expand in\nthe flowers and fruits of summer, and the leaves fall and wither on the\napproach of winter. Thus the daughter of the earth would be spoken of as\ndying or as dead, as severed from her mother for five or six weary\nmonths, not to be restored to her again until the time for her return\nfrom the dark land should once more arrive. But as no other power than\nthat of the Sun can recall vegetation to life, this child of the earth\nwould be represented as buried in a sleep from which the touch of the\nSun alone could arouse her, when he slays the frost and cold which lie\nlike snakes around her motionless form.\n\n\"_That these phrases would furnish the germs of myths or legends teeming\nwith human feeling, as soon as the meaning of the phrases were in part\nor wholly forgotten, was as inevitable as that in the infancy of our\nrace men should attribute to all sensible objects the same kind of life\nwhich they were conscious of possessing themselves._\"\n\nLet us compare the history of the _Saviour_ which we have already seen,\nwith that of the _Sun_, as it is found in the _Vedas_.\n\nWe can follow in the _Vedic_ hymns, step by step, the development which\nchanges the _Sun_ from a mere luminary into a \"_Creator_,\"\n\"_Preserver_,\" \"_Ruler_,\" and \"_Rewarder of the World_\"--in fact, into a\n_Divine or Supreme Being_.\n\nThe first step leads us from the mere light of the Sun to that light\nwhich in the morning wakes man from sleep, and seems to give new life,\nnot only to man, but to the whole of nature. He who wakes us in the\nmorning, who recalls all nature to new life, is soon called \"_The Giver\nof Daily Life_.\"\n\nSecondly, by another and bolder step, the Giver of Daily Light and Life\nbecomes the giver of light and life in general. _He who brings light and\nlife to-day, is the same who brought light and life on the first of\ndays._ As light is the beginning of the day, so light was the beginning\nof creation, and the Sun, from being a mere light-bringer or life-giver,\nbecomes a Creator, and, if a Creator, then soon also a Ruler of the\nWorld.\n\nThirdly, as driving away the dreaded darkness of the night, and likewise\nas fertilizing the earth, the Sun is conceived as a \"Defender\" and kind\n\"Protector\" of all living things.\n\nFourthly, the Sun sees everything, both that which is good and that\nwhich is evil; and how natural therefore that the evil-doer should be\ntold that the sun sees what no human eye may have seen, and that the\ninnocent, when all other help fails him, should appeal to the sun to\nattest his guiltlessness!\n\nLet us examine now, says Prof. M\u00fcller, from whose work we have quoted\nthe above, a few passages (from the _Rig-Veda_) illustrating every one\nof these perfectly natural transitions.\n\n     \"In hymn vii. we find the Sun invoked as '_The Protector of\n     everything that moves or stands, of all that exists_.'\"\n\n     \"Frequent allusion is made to the Sun's power of seeing\n     everything. The stars flee before the all-seeing Sun, like\n     thieves (R. V. vii.). He sees the right and the wrong among\n     men (Ibid.). He who looks upon the world, knows also all the\n     thoughts in men (Ibid.).\"\n\n     \"As the Sun sees everything and knows everything, he is asked\n     to forget and forgive what he alone has seen and knows (R. V.\n     iv.).\"\n\n     \"The Sun is asked to drive away illness and bad dreams (R. V.\n     x.).\"\n\n     \"Having once, and more than once, been invoked as the\n     life-bringer, the Sun is also called the breath or life of all\n     that moves and rests (R. V. i.); and lastly, he becomes _the\n     maker of all things_, by whom all the worlds have been brought\n     together (R. V. x.), and . . . Lord of man and of all living\n     creatures.\"\n\n     \"He is the God among gods (R. V. i.); he is the divine leader\n     of all the gods (R. V. viii.).\"\n\n     \"He alone rules the whole world (R. V. v.). The laws which he\n     has established are firm (R. V. iv.), and the other gods not\n     only praise him (R. V. vii.), but have to follow him as their\n     leader (R. V. v.).\"[473:1]\n\nThat the history of _Christ_ Jesus, the Christian Saviour,--\"the true\n_Light_, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,\"[473:2]--is\nsimply the history of the _Sun_--the real Saviour of mankind--is\ndemonstrated beyond a doubt from the following indisputable facts:\n\n1. _The birth of Christ Jesus_ is said to have taken place at _early\ndawn_[473:3] on the 25th day of December. Now, this is the _Sun's\nbirthday_. At the commencement of the sun's apparent annual revolution\nround the earth, he was said to have been born, and, on the first moment\nafter midnight of the 24th of December, all the heathen nations of the\nearth, as if by common consent, celebrated the accouchement of the\n\"_Queen of Heaven_,\" of the \"_Celestial Virgin of the Sphere_,\" and the\nbirth of the god _Sol_. On that day the sun having fully entered the\nwinter solstice, the _Sign of the Virgin_ was rising on the eastern\nhorizon. The woman's symbol of this stellar sign was represented first\nby ears of corn, then with a new-born male child in her arms. Such was\nthe picture of the _Persian_ sphere cited by Aben-Ezra:\n\n     \"The division of the first decan of the Virgin represents a\n     beautiful virgin with flowing hair, sitting in a chair, with\n     two ears of corn in her hand, and suckling an infant called\n     IESUS by some nations, and _Christ_ in Greek.\"[474:1]\n\nThis denotes the _Sun_, which, at the moment of the winter solstice,\nprecisely when the Persian magi drew the horoscope of the new year, was\nplaced on the bosom of the Virgin, rising heliacally in the eastern\nhorizon. On this account he was figured in their astronomical pictures\nunder the form of a child suckled by a chaste virgin.[474:2]\n\nThus we see that Christ Jesus was born on the same day as Buddha,\nMithras, Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis and other\n_personifications of the_ SUN.[474:3]\n\n2. _Christ Jesus was born of a Virgin._ In this respect he is also the\n_Sun_, for 'tis the sun alone who can be born of an immaculate virgin,\nwho conceived him without carnal intercourse, and who is still, after\nthe birth of her child, a virgin.\n\nThis Virgin, of whom the Sun, the true \"Saviour of Mankind,\" is born, is\neither the bright and beautiful _Dawn_,[474:4] or the dark\n_Earth_,[474:5] or _Night_.[474:6] Hence we have, as we have already\nseen, the _Virgin_, or _Virgo_, as one of the signs of the\nzodiac.[474:7]\n\nThis Celestial Virgin was feigned to be a mother. She is represented in\nthe Indian Zodiac of Sir William Jones, with ears of corn in one hand,\nand the lotus in the other. In Kircher's Zodiac of Hermes, she has corn\nin both hands. In other planispheres of the Egyptian priests she carries\nears of corn in one hand, and the infant Saviour _Horus_ in the other.\nIn Roman Catholic countries, she is generally represented with the\nchild in one hand, and the lotus or lily in the other. In Vol. II. of\nMontfaucon's work, she is represented as a female nursing a child, with\nears of corn in her hand, and the legend IAO. She is seated on clouds, a\nstar is at her head. The reading of the Greek letters, from right to\nleft, show this to be very ancient.\n\nIn the Vedic hymns Aditi, _the Dawn_, is called the \"_Mother of the\nGods_.\" \"She is the mother with powerful, terrible, with _royal sons_.\"\nShe is said to have given birth to the _Sun_.[475:1] \"As the _Sun_ and\nall the _solar deities_ rise from the _east_,\" says Prof. Max M\u00fcller,\n\"we can well understand how Aditi (the Dawn) came to be called the\n'Mother of the Bright Gods.'\"[475:2]\n\nThe poets of the Veda indulged freely in theogonic speculations without\nbeing frightened by any contradictions. They knew of Indra as the\ngreatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god of gods, they knew of\nVaruna as the ruler of all; but they were by no means startled at the\nidea that their Indra had a mother, or that Varuna was nursed in the lap\nof Aditi. All this was true to nature; for their god was the _Sun_, and\nthe mother who bore and nursed him was the _Dawn_.[475:3]\n\nWe find in the _Vishnu Purana_, that Devaki (the virgin mother of the\nHindoo Saviour Crishna, whose history, as we have seen, corresponds in\nmost every particular with that of Christ Jesus) _is called\nAditi_,[475:4] which, in the _Rig-Veda_, is the name for the _Dawn_.\nThus we see the legend is complete. Devaki is Aditi, Aditi is the Dawn,\nand the Dawn is the Virgin Mother. \"The Saviour of Mankind\" who is born\nof her is the Sun, the Sun is Crishna, and Crishna is Christ.\n\nIn the _Mahabharata_, Crishna is also represented as the \"Son of\n_Aditi_.\"[475:5] As the hour of his birth grew near, the mother became\nmore beautiful, and her form more brilliant.[475:6]\n\n_Indra_, the sun, who was worshiped in some parts of India as a\n_Crucified God_, is also represented in the Vedic hymns as the _Son of\nthe Dawn_. He is said to have been born of Dahana, who is Daphne, a\npersonification of the Dawn.[475:7]\n\nThe _humanity_ of this SOLAR GOD-MAN, this demiurge, is strongly\ninsisted on in the _Rig-Veda_. He is the son of God, but also the son\nof Aditi. He is Purusha, the man, the male. Agni is frequently called\nthe \"Son of man.\" It is expressly explained that the titles Agni, Indra,\nMitra, &c., all refer to _one Sun god_ under \"many names.\" And when we\nfind the name of a mortal, _Yama_, who once lived upon earth, included\namong these names, the humanity of the demiurge becomes still more\naccentuated, and we get at the root idea.\n\n_Horus_, the Egyptian Saviour, was the son of the virgin _Isis_. Now,\nthis Isis, in Egyptian mythology, is the same as the virgin Devaki in\nHindoo mythology. She is the _Dawn_.[476:1] _Isis_, as we have already\nseen, is represented suckling the infant Horus, and, in the words of\nProf. Renouf, we may say, \"in whose lap can the _Sun_ be nursed more\nfitly than in that of the _Dawn_?\"[476:2]\n\nAmong the goddesses of Egypt, the highest was Neith, who reigned\ninseparably with Amun in the upper sphere. She was called \"Mother of the\ngods,\" \"Mother of the sun.\" She was the feminine origin of all things,\nas Amun was the male origin. She held the same rank at Sais as Amun did\nat Thebes. Her temples there are said to have exceeded in colossal\ngrandeur anything ever seen before. On one of these was the celebrated\ninscription thus deciphered by Champollion:\n\n     \"I am all that has been, all that is, all that will be. No\n     mortal has ever raised the veil that conceals me. _My\n     offspring is the Sun._\"\n\nShe was mother of the _Sun_-god _Ra_, and, says Prof. Renouf, \"is\ncommonly supposed to represent _Heaven_; but some expressions which are\nhardly applicable to heaven, render it more probable that she is one of\nthe many names of the _Dawn_.\"[476:3]\n\nIf we turn from Indian and Egyptian, to Grecian mythology, we shall also\nfind that their _Sun-gods_ and _solar heroes_ are born of the same\nvirgin mother. Theseus was said to have been born of Aithra, \"_the pure\nair_,\" and OEdipus of Iokaste, \"_the violet light of morning_.\"\nPerseus was born of the virgin Danae, and was called the \"_Son of the\nbright morning_.\"[476:4] In I\u00f4, the mother of the \"sacred bull,\"[476:5]\nthe mother also of Hercules, we see the _violet-tinted morning_ from\nwhich the sun is born; all these gods and heroes being, like _Christ_\nJesus, _personifications of the Sun_.[476:6]\n\n\"The Saviour of Mankind\" was also represented as being born of the\n\"_dusky mother_,\" which accounts for many Pagan, and so-called\nChristian, goddesses being represented _black_.[477:1] This is the _dark\nnight_, who for many weary hours travails with the birth of her child.\nThe Sun, which scatters the darkness, is also the child of the darkness,\nand so the phrase naturally went _that he was born of her_. Of the two\nlegends related in the poems afterwards combined in the \"Hymn to\nApollo,\" the former relates the birth of Apollo, the _Sun_, from Leto,\nthe _Darkness_, which is called his mother.[477:2] In this case, Leto\nwould be _personified_ as a \"black virgin,\" either with or without the\nchild in her arms.\n\nThe _dark earth_ was also represented as being the mother of the god\nSun, who apparently came out of, or was born of her, in the East,[477:3]\nas Minos (the sun) was represented to have been born of Ida (the\nearth).[477:4]\n\nIn Hindoo mythology, the _Earth_, under the name of _Prithivi_, receives\na certain share of honors as one of the primitive goddesses of the Veda,\nbeing thought of as the \"_kind mother_.\" Moreover, various _deities_\nwere regarded as the progeny resulting from the fancied union of the\nEarth with Dyaus (_Heaven_).[477:5]\n\nOur Aryan forefathers looked up to the _heavens_ and they gave it the\nname of _Dyaus_, from a root-word which means \"_to shine_.\" And when,\nout of the forces and forms of nature, they afterwards fashioned other\ngods, this name of Dyaus became _Dyaus pitar_, the _Heaven-father_, or\nLord of All; and in far later times, when the western Aryans had found\ntheir home in Europe, the _Dyaus pitar_ of the central Asian land became\nthe _Zeupater_ of the Greeks, and the _Jupiter_ of the Romans, and the\nfirst part of his name gave _us_ the word _Deity_.\n\nAccording to Egyptian mythology, Isis was also the Earth.[477:6] Again,\nfrom the union of Seb and Nut sprung the mild Osiris. Seb is the\n_Earth_, Nut is _Heaven_, and Osiris is the _Sun_.[477:7]\n\nTacitus, the Roman historian, speaking of the Germans in A. D. 98, says:\n\n     \"There is nothing in these several tribes that merit\n     attention, except that they all agree in worshiping the\n     goddess _Earth_, or as they call her, _Herth_, whom they\n     consider as the common mother of all.\"[477:8]\n\nThese virgin mothers, and virgin goddesses of antiquity, were also, at\ntimes, personifications of the _Moon_, or of Nature.[478:1]\n\nWho is \"God the _Father_,\" who overshadows the maiden? The overshadowing\nof the maiden by \"God the Father,\" whether he be called Zeus, Jupiter or\nJehovah, is simply the _Heaven_, the _Sky_, the \"_All-father_,\"[478:2]\nlooking down upon with love, and overshadowing the maiden, the broad\nflushing light of _Dawn_, or the _Earth_. From this union the _Sun_ is\nborn without any carnal intercourse. The _mother_ is yet a _virgin_.\nThis is illustrated in Hindoo mythology by the union of Pritrivi,\n\"_Mother Earth_,\" with Dyaus, \"Heaven.\" Various deities were regarded as\ntheir progeny.[478:3] In the Vedic hymns the _Sun_--the Lord and\nSaviour, the Redeemer and Preserver of Mankind--is frequently called the\n\"_Son of the Sky_.\"[478:4]\n\nAccording to Egyptian mythology, Seb (the _Earth_) is overshadowed by\nNut (_Heaven_), the result of this union being the beneficent Lord and\nSaviour, Osiris.[478:5] The same thing is to be found in ancient Grecian\nmythology. Zeus or Jupiter is the _Sky_,[478:6] and Danae, Leto,\nIokaste, Io and others, are the _Dawn_, or _the violet light of\nmorning_.[478:7]\n\n     \"The _Sky_ appeared to men (says Plutarch), to perform the\n     functions of a _Father_, as the _Earth_ those of a _Mother_.\n     The sky was the father, for it cast seed into the bosom of the\n     earth, which in receiving them became fruitful, and brought\n     forth, and was the mother.\"[479:1]\n\nThis union has been sung in the following verses by Virgil:\n\n     \"Tum pater omnipotens fecundis imbribis \u00e6ther\n      Conjugis in grenium l\u00e6t\u00e6 descendit.\"\n\n                                                 (Geor. ii.)\n\nThe _Phenician_ theology is founded on the same principles. _Heaven_ and\n_Earth_ (called Ouranos and Gh\u00e8) are at the head of a genealogy of \u00e6ons,\nwhose adventures are conceived in the mythological style of these\nphysical allegorists.[479:2]\n\nIn the Samothracian mysteries, which seem to have been the most\nanciently established ceremonies of the kind in Europe, the _Heaven_ and\nthe _Earth_ were worshiped as a male and female _divinity_, and as the\n_parents of all things_.[479:3]\n\nThe Supreme God (the _Al-fader_), of the ancient _Scandinavians_ was\n_Odin_, a personification of the _Heavens_. The principal goddess among\nthem was _Frigga_, a personification of the _Earth_. It was the opinion\namong these people that this Supreme Being or Celestial God had united\nwith the Earth (Frigga) to produce \"Baldur the Good\" (the Sun), who\ncorresponds to the Apollo of the Greeks and Romans, and the Osiris of\nthe Egyptians.[479:4]\n\n_Xiuletl_, in the Mexican language, signifies _Blue_, and hence was a\nname which the Mexican gave to _Heaven_, from which _Xiuleticutli_ is\nderived, an epithet signifying \"_the God of Heaven_,\" which they\nbestowed upon _Tezcatlipoca_, who was the \"Lord of All,\" the \"Supreme\nGod.\" He it was who overshadowed the Virgin of Tula, Chimelman, who\nbegat the Saviour Quetzalcoatle (the Sun).\n\n3. _His birth was foretold by a star._ This is the bright _morning\nstar_--\n\n     \"Fairest of stars, last in the train of Night,\n      If better, thou belongst not to the Dawn,\n      Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn\n      With thy bright circlet\"--\n\nwhich heralds the birth of the god _Sol_, the beneficent Saviour.\n\nA glance at a geography of the heavens will show the \"chaste, pure,\nimmaculate Virgin, suckling an infant,\" preceded by a _Star_, which\nrises immediately preceding the Virgin and her child. This can truly be\ncalled \"_his Star_,\" which informed the \"Wise Men,\" the\n\"Magi\"--_Astrologers and Sun-worshipers_--and \"the shepherds who watched\ntheir flocks by night\" that the Saviour of Mankind was about to be born.\n\n4. _The Heavenly Host sang praises._ All nature smiles at the birth of\nthe Heavenly Being. \"To him all angels cry aloud, the heavens, and all\nthe powers therein.\" \"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,\ngood will towards men.\" \"The quarters of the horizon are irradiate with\njoy, as if moonlight was diffused over the whole earth.\" \"The spirits\nand nymphs of heaven dance and sing.\" \"Caressing breezes blow, and a\nmarvelous light is produced.\" For the Lord and Saviour is born, \"to give\njoy and peace to men and Devas, _to shed light in the dark places_, and\nto give sight to the blind.\"[480:1]\n\n5. _He was visited by the Magi._ This is very natural, for the Magi were\n_Sun-worshipers_, and at early dawn on the 25th of December, the\nastrologers of the Arabs, Chaldeans, and other Oriental nations, greeted\nthe infant Saviour with gold, frankincense and myrrh. They started to\nsalute their God long before the rising of the Sun, and having ascended\na high mountain, they waited anxiously for his birth, facing the East,\nand there hailed his first rays with incense and prayer.[480:2] The\nshepherds also, who remained in the open air watching their flocks by\nnight, were in the habit of prostrating themselves, and paying homage to\ntheir god, the Sun. And, like the poet of the Veda, they said:\n\n     \"Will the powers of darkness be conquered by the _god of light_?\"\n\nAnd when the Sun rose, they wondered how, just born, he was so mighty.\nThey greeted him:\n\n     \"Hail, Orient Conqueror of Gloomy Night.\"\n\nAnd the human eye felt that it could not bear the brilliant majesty of\nhim whom they called, \"The Life, the Breath, the Brilliant Lord and\nFather.\" And they said:\n\n     \"Let us worship again the _Child of Heaven_, the Son of\n     Strength, Arusha, the Bright Light of the Sacrifice.\" \"He\n     rises as a mighty flame, he stretches out his wide arms, he is\n     even like the wind.\" \"His light is powerful, and his (virgin)\n     mother, the Dawn, gives him the best share, the first worship\n     among men.\"[480:3]\n\n6. _He was born in a Cave._ In this respect also, the history of\n_Christ_ Jesus corresponds with that of other Sun-gods and Saviours,\nfor they are nearly all represented as being born in a cave or dungeon.\nThis is the dark abode from which the wandering _Sun_ starts in the\nmorning.[481:1] As the Dawn springs fully armed from the forehead of the\ncloven Sky, so the eye first discerns the blue of heaven, as the first\nfaint arch of light is seen in the East. This arch is the cave in which\nthe infant is nourished until he reaches his full strength--in other\nwords, until the day is fully come.\n\nAs the hour of his birth drew near, the mother became more beautiful,\nher form more brilliant, while the dungeon was filled with a heavenly\nlight as when Zeus came to Danae in a golden shower.[481:2]\n\nAt length the child is born, and a halo of serene light encircles his\ncradle, just as the Sun appears at early dawn in the East, in all its\nsplendor. His presence reveals itself there, in the dark cave, by his\nfirst rays, which brightens the countenances of his mother and others\nwho are present at his birth.[481:3]\n\n6. _He was ordered to be put to death._ All the Sun-gods are fated to\nbring ruin upon their parents or the _reigning monarch_.[481:4] For this\nreason, they attempt to prevent his birth, and failing in this, seek to\ndestroy him when born. Who is the dark and wicked Kansa, or his\ncounterpart Herod? He is _Night_, who reigns supreme, but who must lose\nhis power when the young prince of glory, the Invincible, is born.\n\nThe _Sun_ scatters the _Darkness_; and so the phrase went that the child\nwas to be the destroyer of the reigning monarch, or his parent, _Night_;\nand oracles, and magi, it was said, warned the latter of the doom which\nwould overtake him. The newly-born babe is therefore ordered to be put\nto death by the sword, or exposed on the bare hillside, as the Sun seems\nto rest on the Earth (Ida) at its rising.[481:5]\n\nIn oriental mythology, the destroying principle is generally\nrepresented as a serpent or dragon.[482:1] Now, the position of the\nsphere on Christmas-day, the birthday of the Sun, shows the Serpent all\nbut touching, and certainly aiming at the woman--that is, the figure of\nthe constellation _Virgo_--who suckles the child Iessus in her arms.\nThus we have it illustrated in the story of the snake who was sent to\nkill Hercules, when an infant in his cradle;[482:2] also in the story of\nTyphon, who sought the life of the infant Saviour Horus. Again, it is\nillustrated in the story of the virgin mother Astrea, with her babe\nbeset by Orion, and of Latona, the mother of Apollo, when pursued by the\nmonster.[482:3] And last, that of the virgin mother Mary, with her babe\nbeset by Herod. But like Hercules, Horus, Apollo, Theseus, Romulus,\nCyrus and other _solar heroes_, _Christ_ Jesus has yet a long course\nbefore him. Like them, he grows up both wise and strong, and the \"old\nSerpent\" is discomfited by him, just as the sphynx and the dragon are\nput to night by others.\n\n7. _He was tempted by the devil._ The temptation by, and victory over\nthe evil one, whether Mara or Satan, is the victory of the _Sun_ over\nthe clouds of storm and darkness.[482:4] Growing up in obscurity, the\nday comes when he makes himself known, tries himself in his first\nbattles with his gloomy foes, and _shines_ without a rival. He is rife\nfor his destined mission, but is met by the demon of storm, who runs to\ndispute with him in the duel of the storm. In this struggle against\ndarkness the beneficent hero remains the conqueror, the gloomy army of\nMara, or Satan, broken and rent, is scattered; the Apearas, daughters of\nthe demon, the last light vapors which float in the heaven, try in vain\nto clasp and retain the vanquisher; he disengages himself from their\nembraces, repulses them; they writhe, lose their form, and vanish.\n\nFree from every obstacle, and from every adversary, he sets in motion\nacross space his disk with a thousand rays, having avenged the attempts\nof his eternal foe. He appears then in all his glory, and in his\nsovereign splendor; the god has attained the summit of his course, it is\nthe moment of triumph.\n\n8. _He was put to death on the cross._ The Sun has now reached his\nextreme Southern limit, his career is ended, and he is at last overcome\nby his enemies. The powers of _darkness_, and of _winter_, which had\nsought in vain to wound him, have at length won the victory. The bright\nSun of summer is finally slain, _crucified in the heavens_, and pierced\nby the arrow, spear or thorn of winter.[483:1] Before he dies, however,\nhe sees all his disciples--his retinue of light, and the _twelve_ hours\nof the day, or the twelve months of the year--disappear in the\nsanguinary m\u00eal\u00e9e of the clouds of the evening.\n\nThroughout the tale, the _Sun-god_ was but fulfilling his doom. These\nthings must be. The suffering of a violent death was a necessary part of\nthe mythos; and, when his hour had come, he must meet his doom, as\nsurely as the Sun, once risen, must go across the sky, and then sink\ndown into his bed beneath the earth or sea. It was an iron fate from\nwhich there was no escaping.\n\nCrishna, the crucified Saviour of the Hindoos, is a personification of\nthe Sun crucified in the heavens. One of the names of the Sun in the\nVedic hymns is _Vishnu_,[483:2] and Crishna is Vishnu in human\nform.[483:3]\n\nIn the hymns of the _Rig-Veda_ the _Sun_ is spoken of as \"_stretching\nout his arms_,\" in the heavens, \"to bless the world, _and to rescue it\nfrom the terror of darkness_.\"\n\nIndra, the crucified Saviour worshiped in Nepal and Tibet,[484:1] is\nidentical with Crishna, the Sun.[484:2]\n\nThe principal Phenician deity, El, which, says Parkhurst, in his Hebrew\nLexicon, \"was the very name the heathens gave to their god SOL, their\nLord or Ruler of the Hosts of Heaven,\" was called \"_The Preserver_ (or\n_Saviour_) of _the World_,\" for the benefit of which _he offered a\nmystical sacrifice_.[484:3]\n\nThe crucified _Iao_ (\"Divine Love\" personified) is the crucified Adonis,\nthe Sun. The Lord and Saviour Adonis was called _Iao_.[484:4]\n\n_Osiris_, the Egyptian Saviour, was crucified in the heavens. To the\nEgyptian the cross was the symbol of immortality, an emblem of the\n_Sun_, and the god himself was crucified to the tree, which denoted his\nfructifying power.[484:5]\n\n_Horus_ was also crucified in the heavens. He was represented, like\nCrishna and Christ Jesus, with _outstretched arms in the vault of\nheaven_.[484:6]\n\nThe story of the crucifixion of _Prometheus_ was allegorical, for\nPrometheus was only a title of the SUN, expressing _providence_ or\n_foresight_, wherefore his being _crucified_ in the extremities of the\nearth, signified originally no more than the restriction of the power of\nthe SUN during the winter months.[484:7]\n\nWho was _Ixion_, bound on the wheel? He was none other than the god\n_Sol_, crucified in the heavens.[484:8] Whatever be the origin of the\nname, _Ixion_ is the \"_Sun of noonday_,\" crucified in the heavens, whose\nfour-spoked wheel, in the words of Pindar, is seen whirling in the\nhighest heaven.[484:9]\n\nThe _wheel_ upon which Ixion and criminals were said to have been\nextended _was a cross_, although the name of the thing was dissembled\namong Christians; it was a St. Andrew's cross, of which two spokes\nconfined the arms, and two the legs. (See Fig. No. 35.)\n\nThe allegorical tales of the triumphs and misfortunes of the _Sun_-gods\nof the ancient Greeks and Romans, signify the alternate exertion of the\ngenerative and destructive attributes.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 35]\n\n_Hercules_ is torn limb from limb; and in this catastrophe we see the\n_blood-red sunset_ which closes the career of Hercules.[485:1] The\nSun-god cannot rise to the life of the blessed gods until he has been\nslain. The morning cannot come until the E\u00f4s who closed the previous day\nhas faded away and died in the black abyss of night.\n\n_Achilleus_ and _Meleagros_ represent alike the _short-lived Sun_, whose\ncourse is one of toil for others, ending in an early death, after a\nseries of wonderful victories alternating with periods of darkness and\ngloom.[485:2]\n\nIn the tales of the Trojan war, it is related of Achilleus that he\nexpires at the Skaian, or _western gates of the evening_. He is slain by\nParis, who here appears as the Pani, or dark power, who blots out the\nlight of the Sun from the heaven.[485:3]\n\nWe have also the story of _Adonis_, born of a virgin, and known in the\ncountries where he was worshiped as \"The Saviour of Mankind,\" killed by\nthe wild _boar_, afterwards \"rose from the dead, and ascended into\nheaven.\" This Adonis, Adonai--in Hebrew \"My Lord\"--is simply the _Sun_.\nHe is crucified in the heavens, put to death by the wild boar, _i. e._,\n_Winter_. \"Babylon called Typhon or Winter _the boar_; they said he\nkilled Adonis or the fertile _Sun_.\"[485:4]\n\nThe _Crucified Dove_ worshiped by the ancients, was none other than the\ncrucified Sun. Adonis was called the _Dove_. At the ceremonies in honor\nof his resurrection from the dead, the devotees said, \"Hail to the Dove!\nthe Restorer of Light.\"[485:5] Fig. No. 35 is the \"Crucified Dove\" as\ndescribed by Pindar, the great lyric poet of Greece, born about 522 B.\nC.\n\n     \"We read in Pindar, (says the author of a learned work\n     entitled \"Nimrod,\") of the venerable bird Iynx bound to the\n     wheel, and of the pretended punishment of Ixion. But this\n     rotation was really no punishment, being, as Pindar saith,\n     _voluntary_, and prepared _by himself_ and _for himself_; or\n     if it was, it was appointed in derision of his false\n     pretensions, whereby he gave himself out as _the crucified\n     spirit of the world_.\" \"The four spokes represent St. Andrew's\n     cross, adapted to the four limbs extended, and furnish perhaps\n     the oldest _profane_ allusion to the crucifixion. The same\n     cross of St. Andrew was the _Taw_, which Ezekiel commands them\n     to mark upon the foreheads of the faithful, as appears from\n     all Israelitish coins whereon that letter is engraved. The\n     same idea was familiar to Lucian, who calls T _the letter of\n     crucifixion_. Certainly, the veneration for the cross is very\n     ancient. Iynx, the bird of Mautic inspiration, bound to the\n     four-legged wheel, gives the notion of _Divine Love\n     crucified_. The wheel denotes the world, of which she is the\n     spirit, and the cross _the sacrifice made for that\n     world_.\"[486:1]\n\nThis \"_Divine Love_,\" of whom Nimrod speaks, was \"_The First-begotten\nSon_\" of the Platonists. The crucifixion of \"_Divine Love_\" is often\nfound among the Greeks. I\u00f6nah or Juno, according to the _Iliad_, was\nbound with fetters, and _suspended in space_, between heaven and earth.\nIxion, Prometheus, Apollo of Miletus, (anciently the greatest and most\nflourishing city of Ionia, in Asia Minor), were all crucified.[486:2]\n\nSemi-Ramis was both a queen of unrivaled celebrity, and also a goddess,\nworshiped under the form of a Dove. Her name signifies the _Supreme\nDove_. She is said to have been slain by the last survivor of her sons,\nwhile others say, she flew away as a bird--a Dove. In both Grecian and\nHindoo histories this mystical queen Semiramis is said to have fought a\nbattle on the banks of the Indus, with a king called Staurobates, in\nwhich she was defeated, and from which she flew away in the form of a\nDove. Of this Nimrod says:\n\n     \"The name Staurobates, the king by whom Semiramis was finally\n     overpowered, _alluded to the cross on which she perished_,\"\n     and that, \"_the crucifixion was made into a glorious mystery\n     by her infatuated adorers_.\"[486:3]\n\nHere again we have the crucified Dove, the _Sun_, for it is well known\nthat the ancients personified the Sun _female_ as well as male.\n\nWe have also the fable of the Crucified Rose, illustrated in the jewel\nof the _Rosicrucians_. The jewel of the Rosicrucians is formed of a\ntransparent red stone, with a red _cross_ on one side, and a red _rose_\non the other--thus it is a _crucified rose_. \"The Rossi, or\nRosy-crucians' idea concerning this emblematic red cross,\" says Hargrave\nJennings, in his _History of the Rosicrucians_, \"probably came from the\nfable of _Adonis_--_who was the Sun whom we have so often seen\ncrucified_--being changed into a red rose by Venus.\"[487:1]\n\nThe emblem of the _Templars_ is a red rose on a cross. \"When it can be\ndone, it is surrounded with a glory, and placed on a calvary (Fig. No.\n36). This is the Naurutz, Natsir, or Rose of Isuren, of Tamul, or\nSharon, or the Water Rose, the Lily Padma, Pena, Lotus, _crucified in\nthe heavens for the salvation of man_.\"[487:2]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 36.]\n\nChrist Jesus was called the ROSE--the Rose of Sharon--of Isuren. He was\nthe renewed incarnation of _Divine Wisdom_. He was the son of Maia or\nMaria. He was the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley, which\nbloweth in the month of his mother Maia. Thus, when the angel Gabriel\ngives the salutation to the Virgin, he presents her with the lotus or\nlily; as may be seen in hundreds of old pictures in Italy. We see\ntherefore that Adonis, \"the Lord,\" \"the Virgin-born,\" \"the Crucified,\"\n\"the Resurrected Dove,\" \"the Restorer of Light,\" is one and the same\nwith the \"Rose of Sharon,\" the crucified Christ Jesus.\n\nPlato (429 B. C.) in his _Pim\u00e6us_, philosophizing about the Son of God,\nsays:\n\n     \"The _next power_ to the Supreme God was decussated or figured\n     _in the shape of a cross on the universe_.\"\n\nThis brings to recollection the doctrine of certain so-called Christian\n_heretics_, who maintained that Christ Jesus was crucified in the\nheavens.\n\nThe _Chr\u00e8stos_ was the Logos, the _Sun_ was the manifestation of the\nLogos or Wisdom to men; or, as it was held by some, it was his peculiar\nhabitation. The Sun being crucified at the time of the winter solstice\nwas represented by the young man slaying the _Bull_ (_an emblem of the\nSun_) in the Mithraic ceremonies, and the slain _lamb_ at the foot of\nthe cross in the Christian ceremonies. The Chrest was the Logos, or\nDivine Wisdom, or a portion of divine wisdom incarnate; in this sense\nhe is really the Sun or the solar power incarnate, and to him everything\napplicable to the Sun will apply.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 37]\n\nFig. No. 37, taken from Mr. Lundy's \"Monumental Christianity,\" is\nevidently a representation of the Christian Saviour _crucified in the\nheavens_. Mr. Lundy calls it \"Crucifixion in Space,\" and believes that\nit was intended for the Hindoo Saviour Crishna, who is also represented\ncrucified in space (See Fig. No. 8, Ch. XX.). This (Fig. 37) is exactly\nin the form of a Romish crucifix, _but not fixed to a piece of wood_,\nthough the legs and feet are put together in the usual way. There is a\nglory over it, _coming from above_, not shining _from the figure_, as is\ngenerally seen in a Roman crucifix. It has a pointed _Parthian coronet_\ninstead of a crown of thorns. All the avatars, or incarnations of\nVishnu, are painted with Ethiopian or Parthian coronets. For these\nreasons the Christian author will not own that it is a representation of\nthe \"True Son of Justice,\" for he _was not_ crucified in space; but\nwhether it was intended to represent Crishna, Wittoba, or Jesus,[488:1]\nit tells a secret: it shows that some one was represented _crucified in\nthe heavens_, and undoubtedly has something to do with \"The next power\nto the Supreme God,\" who, according to Plato, \"was decussated or figured\n_in the shape of a cross on the universe_.\"\n\nWho was the crucified god whom the ancient Romans worshiped, and whom\nthey, according to Justin Martyr, represented as _a man on a cross_? Can\nwe doubt, after what we have seen, that he was this same _crucified\nSol_, whose birthday they annually celebrated on the 25th of December?\n\nIn the poetical tales of the ancient _Scandinavians_, the same legend is\nfound. Frey, _the Deity of the Sun_, was fabled to have been killed, at\nthe time of the winter solstice, by the same boar who put the god Adonis\nto death, therefore a boar was annually offered to him at the great\nfeast of Yule.[489:1] \"Baldur the Good,\" son of the supreme god Odin,\nand the virgin-goddess Frigga, was also put to death by the sharp thorn\nof winter.\n\nThe ancient _Mexican_ crucified Saviour, Quetzalcoatle, another\npersonification of the Sun, was sometimes represented as crucified in\nspace, _in the heavens_, in a circle of nineteen figures, the number of\nthe metonic cycle. A _serpent_ (the emblem of evil, darkness, and\nwinter) is depriving him of the organs of generation.[489:2]\n\nWe have seen in Chapter XXXIII. that Christ Jesus, and many of the\nheathen saviours, healers, and preserving gods, were represented in the\nform of a Serpent. This is owing to the fact that, _in one of its\nattributes_, the Serpent was an emblem of the _Sun_. It may, at first,\nappear strange that the Serpent should be an emblem of evil, and yet\nalso an emblem of the beneficent divinity; but, as Prof. Renouf remarks,\nin his _Hibbert Lectures_, \"The moment we understand the nature of a\nmyth, all impossibilities, contradictions, and immoralities disappear.\"\nThe serpent is an emblem of evil when represented with his _deadly\nsting_; he is the emblem of eternity when represented _casting off his\nskin_;[489:3] and an emblem of the Sun when represented _with his tail\nin his mouth_, thus forming a circle.[489:4] Thus there came to be, not\nonly good, but also bad, serpents, both of which are referred to in the\nnarrative of the Hebrew exodus, but still more clearly in the struggle\nbetween the good and the bad serpents of Persian mythology, which\nsymbolized Ormuzd, or Mithra, and the evil spirit Ahriman.[489:5]\n\nAs the Dove and the Rose, emblems of the Sun, were represented on the\ncross, so was the Serpent.[489:6] The famous \"Brazen Serpent,\" said to\nhave been \"set up\" by Moses in the wilderness, is called in the Targum\n(the general term for the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament) the\nSAVIOUR. It was probably a serpentine crucifix, as it is called a\n_cross_ by Justin Martyr. The crucified serpent (Fig. No. 38) denoted\nthe _quiescent Phallos_, or the Sun after it had lost its power. It is\nthe Sun in winter, crucified on the tree, which denoted its fructifying\npower.[490:1] As Mr. Wake remarks, \"There can be no doubt that both the\nPillar (Phallus) and the Serpent were associated with many of the\n_Sun-gods_ of antiquity.\"[490:2]\n\nThis is seen in Fig. No. 39, taken from an ancient medal, which\nrepresents the serpent with rays of glory surrounding his head.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 38]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 39]\n\nThe Ophites, who venerated the serpent as an emblem of Christ Jesus, are\nsaid to have maintained that the serpent of Genesis--who brought\n_wisdom_ into the world--was Christ Jesus. The brazen serpent was called\nthe WORD by the Chaldee paraphrast. The Word, or Logos, was _Divine\nWisdom_, which was crucified; thus we have the cross, or Linga, or\nPhallus, with the serpent upon it. Besides considering the serpent as\nthe emblem of Christ Jesus, or of the Logos, the Ophites are said to\nhave revered it as the cause of all the arts of civilized life. In\nChapter XII. we saw that several illustrious females were believed to\nhave been selected and impregnated by the Holy Ghost. In some cases, a\nserpent was supposed to be the form which it assumed. This was the\nincarnation of the Logos.\n\nThe serpent was held in great veneration by the ancients, who, as we\nhave seen, considered it as the symbol of the beneficent Deity, and an\nemblem of eternity. As such it has been variously expressed on ancient\nsculptures and medals in various parts of the globe.\n\nAlthough generally, it did not always, symbolize the god _Sun_, or the\npower of which the Sun is an emblem; but, invested with various\nmeanings, it entered widely into the primitive mythologies. As Mr.\nSquire observes:\n\n     \"It typified wisdom, power, duration, the _good_ and _evil_\n     principles, life, reproduction--in short, in Egypt, Syria,\n     Greece, India, China, Scandinavia, America, everywhere on the\n     globe, it has been a prominent emblem.\"[491:1]\n\nThe serpent was the symbol of Vishnu, the preserving god, the Saviour,\nthe _Sun_.[491:2] It was an emblem of the _Sun_-god Buddha, the\nAngel-Messiah.[491:3] The Egyptian _Sun_-god Osiris, the Saviour, is\nassociated with the snake.[491:4] The Persian Mithra, the Mediator,\nRedeemer, and Saviour, was symbolized by the serpent.[491:5] The\nPhenicians represented their beneficent _Sun_-god Agathodemon, by a\nserpent.[491:6] The serpent was, among the Greeks and Romans, the emblem\nof a _beneficent genius_. Antipator of Sidon, calls the god Ammon, the\n\"Renowned Serpent.\"[491:7] The Grecian Hercules--the Sun-god--was\nsymbolized as a serpent; and so was \u00c6sculapius and Apollo. The Hebrews,\nwho, as we have seen in Chapter XI., worshiped the god Sol, represented\nhim in the form of a serpent. This is the _seraph_--spoken of above--as\nset up by Moses (Num. xxi. 3) and worshiped by the children of Israel.\nSE RA PH is the singular of seraphim, meaning _Semilic\u00e9_--_splendor_,\n_fire_, _light_--emblematic of the fiery disk of the Sun, and which,\nunder the name of _Nehush-tan_, \"Serpent-dragon,\" was broken up by the\nreforming Hezekiah.\n\nThe principal god of the _Aztecs_ was _Tonac_-atlcoatl, which means the\n_Serpent Sun_.[491:8]\n\nThe Mexican virgin-born Lord and Saviour, Quetzalcoatle, was represented\nin the form of a serpent. In fact, his name signifies \"_Feathered\nSerpent_.\" Quetzalcoatle was a personification of the _Sun_.[491:9]\n\nUnder the aspect of the _active principle_, we may rationally connect\nthe _Serpent_ and the _Sun_, as corresponding symbols of the\n_reproductive_ or _creative power_. Figure No. 40 is a symbolical sign,\nrepresenting the disk of the _Sun_ encircled by the serpent _Uraeus_,\nmeaning the \"KING SUN,\" or \"ROYAL SUN,\" as it often surmounts the\npersons of Egyptian monarchs, confirmed by the _emblem of_ LIFE\ndepending from the serpent's neck.[492:1]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 40]\n\nThe mysteries of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, in _Egypt_; Atys and Cybele,\nin _Phrygia_; Ceres and Proserpine, at _Eleusis_; of Venus and Adonis,\nin _Phenicia_; of Bona Dea and Priapus, in _Rome_, are all susceptible\nof one explanation. They all set forth and illustrated, by solemn and\nimpressive rites, and _mystical symbols_, the grand phenomenon of\n_nature_, especially as connected with the creation of things and the\nperpetuation of life. In all, it is worthy of remark, the SERPENT was\nmore or less conspicuously introduced, and always as symbolical of the\ninvigorating or active energy of nature, the SUN.\n\nWe have seen (in Chapter XX.) that in early Christian art Christ Jesus\nalso was represented as a _crucified Lamb_. This crucified lamb is \"the\nLamb of God taking away the sins of the world, and slain from the\nfoundation of the world.\"[492:2] In other words, the crucified lamb\ntypifies the _crucified Sun_, for the lamb was another symbol of the\nSun, as we shall presently see.\n\nWe find, then, that the stories of the crucifixions of the different\nso-called SAVIOURS of mankind _all melt into ONE_, and that they are\n_allegorical_, for \"_Saviour_\" was only a title of the _Sun_,[492:3] and\nhis being put to death on the cross, signifies no more than the\nrestriction of the power of the Sun in the winter quarter. With Justin\nMartyr, then, we can say:\n\n     \"There exists not a people, whether Greek or barbarian, or any\n     other race of men, by whatsoever appellation or manners they\n     may be distinguished, however ignorant of arts or agriculture,\n     whether they dwell under the tents, or wander about in\n     crowded wagons, among whom prayers are not offered up in the\n     name of A CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR[493:1] to the Father and creator\n     of all things.\"[493:2]\n\n9. \"_And many women were there beholding afar off._\"[493:3] The tender\nmother who had watched over him at his birth, and the fair maidens whom\nhe has loved, will never forsake him. They yet remain with him, and\nwhile their tears drop on his feet, which they kiss, their voices cheer\nhim in his last hour. In these we have the _Dawn_, who bore him, and the\nfair and beautiful lights which flush the Eastern sky as the Sun sinks\nor dies in the West.[493:4] Their tears are the tears of dew, such as\nE\u00f4s weeps at the death of her child.\n\nAll the Sun-gods forsake their homes and virgin mothers, and wander\nthrough different countries doing marvellous things. Finally, at the end\nof their career, the mother, from whom they were parted long ago, is by\ntheir side to cheer them in their last hours.[493:5]\n\nThe ever-faithful women were to be found at the last scene in the life\nof _Buddha_. Kasyapa having found the departed master's feet soiled and\nwet, asked Nanda the cause of it. \"He was told that a weeping woman had\nembraced Gautama's feet shortly before his death, and that her tears had\nfallen on his feet and left the marks on them.\"[493:6]\n\nIn his last hours, _OEdipous_ (the Sun) has been cheered by the\npresence of Antigone.[493:7]\n\nAt the death of _Hercules_, Iole (_the fair-haired Dawn_) stands by his\nside, cheering him to the last. With her gentle hands she sought to\nsoothe his pain, and with pitying words to cheer him in his woe. Then\nonce more the face of Hercules flushed with a deep joy, and he said:\n\n     \"Ah, Iole, brightest of maidens, thy voice shall cheer me as I\n     sink down in the sleep of death. I saw and loved thee in the\n     bright _morning time_, and now again thou hast come, _in the\n     evening_, fair as the soft clouds which gather around the\n     _dying Sun_.\"\n\nThe _black mists_ were spreading over the sky, but still Hercules sought\nto gaze on the fair face of Iole, and to comfort her in her sorrow.\n\n     \"Weep not, Iole,\" he said, \"my toil is done, and now is the\n     time for rest. I shall see thee again in the bright land which\n     is never trodden by the feet of night.\"\n\nThe same story is related in the legend of _Apollo_. The Dawn, from\nwhom he parted in the early part of his career, comes to his side at\n_eventide_, and again meets him when his journey on earth has well nigh\ncome to an end.[494:1]\n\nWhen the Lord _Prometheus_ was crucified on Mt. Caucasus, his especially\nprofessed friend, Oceanus, the fisherman, as his name, Petr\u00e6us,\nindicates,[494:2] being unable to prevail on him to make his peace with\nJupiter, by throwing the cause of human redemption out of his\nhands,[494:3] \"forsook him and fled.\" None remained to be witnesses of\nhis dying agonies, but the chorus of ever amiable and ever-faithful\nwomen, which also bewailed and lamented him, but were unable to subdue\nhis inflexible philanthropy.[494:4]\n\n10. \"_There was darkness all over the land._\"[494:5] In the same manner\nends the tale of the long toil and sorrows of other Sun-gods. The last\nscene exhibits a manifest return to the spirit of the solar myth. He\nmust not die the common death of all men, for no disease or corruption\ncan touch the body of the brilliant Sun. After a long struggle against\nthe dark clouds who are arrayed against him, he is finally overcome, and\ndies. Blacker and blacker grow the evening shades, and finally \"there is\ndarkness on the face of the earth,\" and the din of its thunder clashes\nthrough the air.[494:6]\n\nIt is the picture of a sunset in wild confusion, of a sunset more awful,\nyet not more sad, than that which is seen in the last hours of many\nother _Sun_-gods.[494:7] It is the picture of the loneliness of the\n_Sun_, who sinks slowly down, with the ghastly hues of death upon his\nface, while none is nigh to cheer him save the ever-faithful women.\n\n11. \"_He descended into hell._\"[494:8] This is the _Sun's_ descent into\nthe _lower regions_. It enters the sign Capricornus, or the Goat, and\nthe astronomical winter begins. The days have reached their shortest\nspan, and the _Sun_ has reached his extreme southern limit. The winter\nsolstice reigns, and the Sun seems to stand still in his southern\ncourse. For three days and three nights he remains in hell--the lower\nregions.[495:1] In this respect _Christ_ Jesus is like other\nSun-gods.[495:2]\n\nIn the ancient sagas of Iceland, the hero who is the Sun personified,\ndescends into a tomb, where he fights a vampire. After a desperate\nstruggle, the hero overcomes, and rises to the surface of the earth.\n\"This, too, represents the Sun in the northern realms, descending into\nthe tomb of winter, and there overcoming the power of darkness.\"[495:3]\n\n12. _He rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven._\nResurrections from the dead, and ascensions into heaven, are generally\nacknowledged to be _solar_ features, as the history of many solar heroes\nagree in this particular.\n\nAt the _winter solstice_ the ancients wept and mourned for _Tammuz_, the\nfair Adonis, and other Sun-gods, done to death by the boar, or\ncrucified--slain by the thorn of winter--and on the _third day_ they\nrejoiced at the resurrection of their \"Lord of Light.\"[495:4]\n\nWith her usual policy, the Church endeavored to give a Christian\nsignificance to the rites which they borrowed from heathenism, and in\nthis case, the mourning for Tammuz, the fair Adonis, became the mourning\nfor Christ Jesus, and joy at the rising of the natural Sun became joy at\nthe rising of the \"Sun of Righteousness\"--at the resurrection of Christ\nJesus from the grave.\n\nThis festival of the Resurrection was generally held by the ancients on\nthe 25th of March, when the awakening of _Spring_ may be said to be the\nresult of the return of the Sun from the lower or far-off regions to\nwhich he had departed. At the equinox--say, the vernal--at _Easter_,\nthe Sun has been below the equator, and suddenly rises above it. It has\nbeen, as it were, dead to us, but now it exhibits a resurrection.[496:1]\nThe Saviour rises triumphant over the powers of darkness, to life and\nimmortality, on the 25th of March, when the Sun rises in Aries.\n\nThroughout all the ancient world, _the resurrection of the god Sol_,\nunder different names, was celebrated on March 25th, with great\nrejoicings.[496:2]\n\nIn the words of the Rev. Geo. W. Cox:\n\n     \"The wailing of the Hebrew women at the death of Tammuz, the\n     crucifixion and resurrection of Osiris, the adoration of the\n     Babylonian Mylitta, the Sacti ministers of Hindu temples, the\n     cross and crescent of Isis, the rites of the Jewish altar of\n     Baal-Peor, wholly preclude all doubt of the real nature of the\n     great _festivals_ and _mysteries_ of Phenicians, Jews,\n     Assyrians, Egyptians, and Hindus.\"[496:3]\n\nAll this was _Sun_ and Nature worship, symbolized by the _Linga_ and\n_Yoni_. As Mr. Bonwick says:\n\n     \"The philosophic theist who reflects upon the story, known\n     from the walls of China, across Asia and Europe, to the\n     plateau of Mexico, cannot resist the impression that no\n     _materialistic_ theory of it can be satisfactory.\"[496:4]\n\n_Allegory_ alone explains it.\n\n     \"The Church, at an early date, selected the heathen festivals\n     of _Sun worship_ for its own, ordering the _birth at\n     Christmas_, a fixed time, and the _resurrection at Easter_, a\n     varying time, as in all Pagan religions; since, though the Sun\n     rose directly after the vernal equinox, the festival, to be\n     correct in a _heathen_ point of view, had to be associated\n     with the new moon.\"[496:5]\n\nThe Christian, then, may well say:\n\n     \"When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of winter, thou didst\n     open the kingdom of heaven (_i. e._, bring on the reign of\n     summer), to all believers.\"\n\n13. _Christ Jesus is Creator of all things._ We have seen (in Chapter\nXXVI.) that it was not God the Father, who was supposed by the ancients\nto have been the _Creator_ of the world, but God the Son, the Redeemer\nand Saviour of Mankind. Now, this Redeemer and Saviour was, as we have\nseen, the Sun, and Prof. Max M\u00fcller tells us that in the _Vedic_\nmythology, the Sun is not the bright Deva only, \"who performs his daily\ntask in the sky, but he is supposed to perform much greater work. He is\nlooked upon, in fact, as the _Ruler_, as the _Establisher_, as the\n_Creator of the world_.\"[496:6]\n\nHaving been invoked as the \"Life-bringer,\" the Sun is also called--in\nthe Rig-Veda--\"the Breath or Life of all that move and rest;\" and lastly\nhe becomes \"_The Maker of all things_,\" by whom all the worlds have been\nbrought together.[497:1]\n\nThere is a prayer in the _Vedas_, called _Gayatree_, which consists of\nthree measured lines, and is considered the holiest and most efficacious\nof all their religious forms. Sir William Jones translates it thus:\n\n     \"Let us adore the supremacy of that spiritual Sun, the\n     godhead, who illuminates all, who re-creates all, from whom\n     all proceed, to whom all must return; whom we invoke to direct\n     our undertakings aright in our progress toward his holy seat.\"\n\nWith Seneca (a Roman philosopher, born at Cordova, Spain, 61 B. C.)\nthen, we can say:\n\n     \"You may call the Creator of all things by different names\n     (Bacchus, Hercules, Mercury, etc.), but they are only\n     different names of the same divine being, the _Sun_.\"\n\n14. _He is to be Judge of the quick and the dead._ Who is better able\nthan the Sun to be the judge of man's deeds, seeing, as he does, from\nhis throne in heaven, all that is done on earth? The Vedas speak of\nS\u00fbrya--the pervading, irresistible luminary--as seeing all things and\nhearing all things, _noting the good and evil deeds of men_.[497:2]\n\nAccording to Hindoo mythology, says Prof. Max M\u00fcller:\n\n     \"The Sun sees everything, both what is good and what is evil;\n     and how natural therefore that (in the Indian Veda) both the\n     evil-doer should be told that the sun sees what no human eye\n     may have seen, and that the innocent, when all other help\n     fails him, should appeal to the sun to attest his\n     guiltlessness.\"\n\n     \"Frequent allusion is made (in the Rig-Veda), to the sun's\n     power of seeing everything. The stars flee before the\n     all-seeing sun, like thieves. He sees the right and the wrong\n     among men. He who looks upon the world knows also the thoughts\n     in all men. As the sun sees everything and knows everything,\n     he is asked to forget and forgive what he alone has seen and\n     knows.\"[497:3]\n\nOn the most ancient Egyptian monuments, Osiris, the Sun personified, is\nrepresented as Judge of the dead. The Egyptian \"Book of the Dead,\" the\noldest Bible in the world, speaks of Osiris as \"seeing all things, and\nhearing all things, noting the good and evil deeds of men.\"\n\n15. _He will come again sitting on a white horse._ The \"second coming\"\nof Vishnu (Crishna), _Christ_ Jesus, and other Sun-gods, are also\n_astronomical allegories_. The _white horse_, which figures so\nconspicuously in the legend, was the universal symbol of the Sun among\nOriental nations.\n\nThroughout the whole legend, _Christ_ Jesus is the toiling Sun, laboring\nfor the benefit of others, not his own, and doing hard service for a\nmean and cruel generation. Watch his sun-like career of brilliant\nconquest, checked with intervals of storm, and declining to a death\nclouded with sorrow and derision. He is in constant company with his\n_twelve_ apostles, the _twelve signs of the zodiac_.[498:1] During the\ncourse of his life's journey he is called \"The God of Earthly Blessing,\"\n\"The Saviour through whom a new life springs,\" \"The Preserver,\" \"The\nRedeemer,\" &c. Almost at his birth the Serpent of darkness attempts to\ndestroy him. Temptations to sloth and luxury are offered him in vain. He\nhas his work to do, and nothing can stay him from doing it, as nothing\ncan arrest the Sun in his journey through the heavens. Like all other\nsolar heroes, he has his faithful women who love him, and the Marys and\nMartha here play the part. Of his toils it is scarcely necessary to\nspeak in detail. They are but a thousand variations on the story of the\ngreat conflict which all the Sun-gods wage against the demon of\ndarkness. He astonishes his tutor when sent to school. This we might\nexpect to be the case, when an incomparable and incommunicable wisdom is\nthe heritage of the Sun. He also represents the wisdom and beneficence\nof the bright Being who brings life and light to men. As the Sun wakens\nthe earth to life when the winter is done, so Crishna, Buddha, Horus,\n\u00c6sculapius, and _Christ_ Jesus were raisers of the dead. When the leaves\nfell and withered on the approach of winter, the \"daughter of the earth\"\nwould be spoken of as dying or dead, and, as no other power than that of\nthe Sun can recall vegetation to life, this child of the earth would be\nrepresented as buried in a sleep from which the touch of the Sun alone\ncould rouse her.\n\n_Christ_ Jesus, then, is the Sun, in his short career and early death.\nHe is the child of the Dawn, whose soft, violet hues tint the clouds of\nearly morn; his father being the Sky, the \"Heavenly Father,\" who has\nlooked down with love upon the Dawn, and overshadowed her. When his\ncareer on earth is ended, and he expires, the loving mother, who parted\nfrom him in the morning of his life, is at his side, looking on the\ndeath of the Son whom she cannot save from the doom which is on him,\nwhile her tears fall on his body like rain at sundown. From her he is\nparted at the beginning of his course; to her he is united at its close.\nBut _Christ_ Jesus, like Crishna, Buddha, Osiris, Horus, Mithras,\nApollo, Atys and others, _rises again_, and thus the myth takes us a\nstep beyond the legend of Serpedon and others, which stop at the end of\nthe eastward journey, when the night is done.\n\nAccording to the Christian calendar, the birthday of John the Baptist is\non the day of the summer solstice, when the sun begins to decrease. How\ntrue to nature then are the words attributed to him in the fourth\nGospel, when he says that he must _decrease_, and Jesus _increase_.\n\nAmong the ancient Teutonic nations, fires were lighted, on the tops of\nhills, on the 24th of June, in honor of the WENDING SUN. This custom is\nstill kept up in Southern Germany and the Scotch highlands, and it is\nthe day selected by the Roman Catholic church to celebrate the nativity\nof John the Baptist.[499:1]\n\nMosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, speaking of the uncertainty of\nthe time when _Christ_ Jesus was born, says: \"The uncertainty of this\npoint is of no great consequence. We know that the _Sun of\nRighteousness_ has shone upon the world; and although we cannot fix the\nprecise period in which he arose, this will not preclude us from\nenjoying the direction and influence of his vital and salutary beams.\"\n\nThese sacred legends abound with such expressions as can have no\npossible or conceivable application to any other than to the \"God of\nday.\" He is \"a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory (or\nbrightness) of his people.\"[499:2] He is come \"a light into the world,\nthat whosoever believeth in him should not abide in darkness.\"[499:3] He\nis \"the light of the world.\"[499:4] He \"is light, and in him no darkness\nis.\"[499:5]\n\n     \"Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, Adonai, and by thy\n     great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this\n     night.\"--_Collect, in Evening Service._\n\n     God of God, light of light, very God of very God.\"--_Nicene\n     Creed._\n\n     \"Merciful Adonai, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of\n     light upon thy Church.\"--_Collect of St. John._\n\n     \"To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens, and all the powers\n     therein.\"\n\n     \"Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory\" (or\n     brightness).\n\n     \"The glorious company of the (_twelve months_, or) apostles\n     praise thee.\"\n\n     \"Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!\"\n\n     \"When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou passest\n     through the constellation, or zodiacal sign--the Virgin.\"\n\n     \"When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of winter, thou didst\n     open the kingdom of heaven (_i. e._, bring on the reign of the\n     summer months) to all believers.\"\n\n\"All are agreed,\" says Cicero, \"that Apollo is none other than the SUN,\nbecause the attributes which are commonly ascribed to Apollo do so\nwonderfully agree thereto.\"\n\nJust so surely as Apollo is the Sun, so is the Lord _Christ_ Jesus the\nSun. That which is so conclusive respecting the Pagan deities, applies\nalso to the God of the Christians; but, like the Psalmist of old, they\ncry, \"Touch not MY Christ, and do my prophets no harm.\"\n\nMany Christian writers have seen that the history of their Lord and\nSaviour is simply the history of the Sun, but they either say nothing,\nor, like Dr. Parkhurst and the Rev. J. P. Lundy, claim that the Sun is a\ntype of the true Sun of Righteousness. Mr. Lundy, in his \"Monumental\nChristianity,\" says:\n\n     \"Is there no bright Sun of Righteousness--no _personal_ and\n     loving Son of God, _of whom the material Sun has been the type\n     or symbol, in all ages and among all nations_? What power is\n     it that comes from the Sun to give light and heat to all\n     created things? If the symbolical Sun leads such a great\n     earthly and heavenly flock, what must be said to the _true_\n     and only begotten Son of God? If Apollo was adopted by early\n     Christian art as a _type_ of the Good Shepherd of the New\n     Testament, _then this interpretation of the Sun-god among all\n     nations must be the solution of the universal mythos, or what\n     other solution can it have_? To what other _historical_\n     personage but Christ can it apply? _If this mythos has no\n     spiritual meaning, then all religion becomes mere idolatry, or\n     the worship of material things._\"[500:1]\n\nMr. Lundy, who seems to adhere to this once-upon-a-time favorite theory,\nillustrates it as follows:\n\n     \"The young _Isaac_ is his (Christ's) Hebrew type, bending\n     under the wood, as Christ fainted under the cross; _Daniel_ is\n     his type, stripped of all earthly fame and greatness, and cast\n     naked into the deepest danger, shame and humiliation.\" \"_Noah_\n     is his type, in saving men from utter destruction, and\n     bringing them across the sea of death to a new world and a new\n     life.\" \"_Orpheus_ is a type of Christ. _Agni_ and _Crishna_ of\n     India; _Mithra_ of Persia; _Horus_ and _Apollo_ of Egypt, are\n     all types of Christ.\" \"_Samson_ carrying off the gates of Gaza\n     and defeating the Philistines by his own death, was considered\n     as a type of Christ bursting open and carrying away the gates\n     of Hades, and conquering His and our enemies by his death and\n     resurrection.\"[501:1]\n\nAccording to this theory, the whole Pagan religion was typical of Christ\nand Christianity. Why then were not the Pagans the Lord's _chosen_\npeople instead of the children of Israel?\n\nThe early Christians were charged with being a sect of _Sun\nworshipers_.[501:2] The ancient Egyptians worshiped the god _Serapis_,\nand Serapis was the _Sun_. Fig. No. 11, page 194, shows the manner in\nwhich Serapis was personified. It might easily pass for a representation\nof the Sun-god of the Christians. Mr. King says, in his \"Gnostics, and\ntheir Remains\":\n\n     \"There can be no doubt that the head of Serapis, marked as the\n     face is by a grave and pensive majesty, _supplied the first\n     idea for the conventional portraits of the Saviour_.\"[501:3]\n\nThe Imperial Russian Collection _boasts_ of a head of Christ Jesus which\nis said to be very ancient. It is a fine intaglio on emerald. Mr. King\nsays of it:\n\n     \"It is in reality a head of _Serapis_, seen in front and\n     crowned with Persia boughs, easily mistaken for thorns, though\n     the bushel on the head leaves no doubt as to the real\n     personage intended.\"[501:4]\n\nIt must not be forgotten, in connection with this, that the worshipers\nof Serapis, or the Sun, were called _Christians_.[501:5]\n\nMrs. Jameson, speaking on this subject, says:\n\n     \"We search in vain for the lightest evidence of his (Christ's)\n     human, individual semblance, in the writing of those disciples\n     who knew him so well. In this instance the instincts of\n     earthly affection seem to have been mysteriously overruled. He\n     whom all races of men were to call brother, was not to be too\n     closely associated with the particular lineaments of any one.\n     St. John, the beloved disciple, could lie on the breast of\n     Jesus with all the freedom of fellowship, but not even he has\n     left a word to indicate what manner of man was the Divine\n     Master after the flesh. . . . Legend has, in various form,\n     supplied this natural craving, but it is hardly necessary to\n     add, that all accounts of pictures of our Lord taken from\n     Himself are without historical foundation. _We are therefore\n     left to imagine the expression_ most befitting the character\n     of him who took upon himself our likeness, and looked at the\n     woes and sins of mankind through the eyes of our\n     mortality.\"[501:6]\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Geikie says, in his \"Life of Christ\":\n\n     \"No hint is given in the New Testament of Christ's\n     _appearance_; and the early Church, in the absence of all\n     guiding facts, had to fall back on imagination.\"\n\n     \"In its _first_ years, the Christian church fancied its\n     Lord's visage and form _marred more than those of other men_;\n     and that he must have had no attractions of personal beauty.\n     Justin Martyr (A. D. 150-160) speaks of him as _without beauty\n     or attractiveness_, and of _mean appearance_. Clement of\n     Alexandria (A. D. 200), describes him as of an _uninviting\n     appearance_, and _almost repulsive_. Tertullian (A. D.\n     200-210) says he had not even _ordinary human beauty_, far\n     less heavenly. Origen (A. D. 230) went so far as to say that\n     he was '_small in body and deformed_', as well as low-born,\n     and that, '_his only beauty was in his soul and\n     life_.'\"[502:1]\n\nOne of the favorite ways finally, of depicting him, was, as Mr. Lundy\nremarks:\n\n     \"Under the figure of a beautiful and adorable youth, of about\n     fifteen or eighteen years of age, beardless, with a sweet\n     expression of countenance, _and long and abundant hair flowing\n     in curls over his shoulders_. His brow is sometimes encircled\n     by a diadem or bandeau, _like a young priest of the Pagan\n     gods_; that is, in fact, the favorite figure. On sculptured\n     sarcophagi, in fresco paintings and Mosaics, Christ is thus\n     represented as a graceful youth, _just as Apollo was figured\n     by the Pagans_, and as angels are represented by\n     Christians.\"[502:2]\n\nThus we see that the Christians took the paintings and statues of the\nSun-gods Serapis and Apollo _as models_, when they wished to represent\n_their_ Saviour. That the former is the favorite at the present day need\nnot be doubted when we glance at Fig. No. 11, page 194.\n\nMr. King, speaking of this god, and his worshipers, says:\n\n     \"There is very good reason to believe that in the _East_ the\n     worship of _Serapis_ was at first combined with\n     _Christianity_, and gradually merged into it with an entire\n     change of name, _not substance_, carrying with it many of its\n     ancient notions and rites.\"[502:3]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n     \"In the second century the syncretistic sects that had sprung\n     up in _Alexandria_, the very hotbed of Gnosticism, found out\n     in _Serapis_ a prophetic _type_ of Christ, or the Lord and\n     Creator of all.\"[502:4]\n\nThe early _Christians_, or worshipers of the Sun, under the name of\n\"_Christ_,\" had, as all Sun-worshipers, _a peculiar regard to the\nEast_--the quarter in which their god rose--_to which point they\nordinarily directed their prayers_.[502:5]\n\nThe followers of Mithra always turned towards the East, when they\nworshiped; the same was done by the Brahmans of the East, and the\nChristians of the West. In the ceremony of baptism, the catechumen was\nplaced with his face to the West, the symbolical representation of the\nprince of darkness, in opposition to the East, and made to spit towards\nit at the evil one, and renounce his works.\n\nTertullian says, that Christians were taken for worshipers of the Sun\nbecause they prayed towards the East, after the manner of those who\nadored the Sun. The Essenes--whom Eusebius calls Christians--always\nturned to the east to pray. The Essenes met once a week, and spent the\nnight in singing hymns, &c., which lasted till sun-rising. As soon as\ndawn appeared, they retired to their cells, after saluting one another.\nPliny says the Christians of Bithynia met before it was light, and sang\nhymns to Christ, as to a God. After their service they saluted one\nanother. Surely the circumstances of the two classes of people meeting\nbefore daylight, is a very remarkable coincidence. It is just what the\nPersian Magi, who were Sun worshipers, were in the habit of doing.\n\nWhen a Manich\u00e6an Christian came over to the orthodox Christians, he was\nrequired to curse his former friends in the following terms:\n\n     \"I curse Zarades (Zoroaster?) who, Manes said, had appeared as\n     a god before his time among the Indians and Persians, _and\n     whom he calls the Sun_. I curse those who say _Christ is the\n     Sun_, and who make prayers to the _Sun_, and who do not pray\n     to the true God, only towards the East, but who turn\n     themselves round, following the motions of the Sun with their\n     innumerable supplications. _I curse those person who say that\n     Zarades and Budas and Christ and the Sun are all one and the\n     same._\"\n\nThere are not many circumstances more striking than that of Christ Jesus\nbeing originally worshiped under the form of a LAMB--the actual \"Lamb of\nGod, which taketh away the sins of the world.\" As we have already seen\n(in Chap. XX.), it was not till the Council of Constantinople, called\n_In Trullo_, held so late as the year 707, that pictures of Christ Jesus\nwere ordered to be drawn in the form of a man. It was ordained that, in\nthe place of the figure of a LAMB, the symbol used to that time, the\nfigure of a man nailed to a cross, should in future be used.[503:1] From\nthis decree, the identity of the worship of the _Celestial Lamb_ and the\nChristian Saviour is certified beyond the possibility of doubt, and the\nmode by which the ancient superstitions were propagated is\nsatisfactorily shown. Nothing can more clearly prove the general\npractice than the order of a council to regulate it.\n\nThe worship of the constellation of _Aries_ was the worship of the Sun\nin his passage through that sign. \"This constellation was called by the\nancients the _Lamb of God_. He was also called the _Saviour_, and was\nsaid to save mankind from their sins. He was always honored with the\nappellation of _Dominus_ or _Lord_. He was called _The Lamb of God which\ntaketh away the sins of the world_. The devotees addressed him in their\nlitany, constantly repeating the words, '_O Lamb of God, that taketh\naway the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Grant us thy peace._'\"\n\nOn an ancient medal of the _Phenicians_, brought by Dr. Clark from\nCitium (and described in his \"Travels,\" vol. ii. ch. xi.) this _Lamb of\nGod_ is described with the CROSS and the ROSARY, which shows that they\nwere both used in his worship.\n\nYearly the SUN-GOD, as the zodiacal horse (Aries) was supposed by the\nVedic Aryans _to die to save all flesh_. Hence the practice of\nsacrificing horses. The \"guardian spirits\" of the prince Sakya Buddha\nsing the following hymn:\n\n     \"Once when thou wast the _white horse_,[504:1]\n      In pity for the suffering of man,\n      Thou didst fly across heaven to the region of the evil demons,\n      _To secure the happiness of mankind_.\n      Persecutions without end,\n      Revilings and many prisons,\n      _Death and murder_;\n      These hast thou suffered with love and patience,\n      _Forgiving thine executioners_.\"[504:2]\n\nWe have seen, in Chapter XXXIII., that Christ Jesus was also symbolized\nas a _Fish_, and that it is to be seen on all the ancient Christian\nmonuments. But what has the Christian Saviour to do with a _Fish_? Why\nwas he called a _Fish_? The answer is, _because the fish was another\nemblem of the_ SUN. Abarbanel says:\n\n     \"The sign of his (Christ's) coming is the junction of Saturn\n     and Jupiter, _in the Sign Pisces_.\"[504:3]\n\nApplying the astronomical emblem of _Pisces_ to Jesus, does not seem\nmore absurd than applying the astronomical emblem of the Lamb. They\napplied to him the monogram of the Sun, IHS, the astronomical and\nalchemical sign of Aries, or the ram, or Lamb [Symbol: Aries]; and, in\nshort, what was there that was _Heathenish_ that they have not applied\nto him?\n\nThe preserving god Vishnu, the Sun, was represented as a fish, and so\nwas the Syrian Sun-god Dagon, who was also a Preserver or Saviour. The\nFish was sacred among many nations of antiquity, and is to be seen on\ntheir monuments. Thus we see that everything at last centres in the SUN.\n\nConstantine, the first Christian emperor, had on his _coins_ the figure\nof the Sun, with the legend: \"To the Invincible Sun, my companion and\nguardian,\" as being a representation, says Mr. King, \"either of the\nancient Phoebus, _or the_ new _Sun of Righteousness_, equally acceptable\nto both Christian and Gentile, from the double interpretation of which\nthe type was susceptible.\"[505:1]\n\nThe worship of the Sun, under the name of Mithra, \"long survived in\nRome, _under the Christian emperors_, and, doubtless, much longer in the\nremoter districts of the semi-independent provinces.\"[505:2]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 41]\n\n_Christ_ Jesus is represented with a halo of glory surrounding his head,\na florid complexion, long golden locks of hair, and a flowing robe. Now,\nall _Sun_-gods, from Crishna of India (Fig. No. 41) to Baldur of\nScandinavia, are represented with a halo of glory surrounding their\nheads, and the flowing locks of golden hair, and the flowing robe, are\nnot wanting.[505:3] By a process of metaphor, the rays of the Sun were\nchanged into golden hair, into spears and lances, and robes of light.\nFrom the shoulders of Phoibus Lyk\u00eagenes, the light-born, flow the sacred\nlocks over which no razor might pass. On the head of Nisos, as on that\nof Samson, they became a palladium invested with a mysterious power.\nFrom Helios, the Sun, who can scorch as well as warm, comes the robe of\nMedeia, which appears in the poisoned garments of Deianeira.[506:1]\n\nWe see, then, that _Christ_ Jesus, like _Christ_ Buddha,[506:2] Crishna,\nMithra, Osiris, Horus, Apollo, Hercules and others, is none other than a\npersonification of the Sun, and that the Christians, like their\npredecessors the Pagans, are really Sun worshipers. It must not be\ninferred, however, that we advocate the theory that no such person as\n_Jesus of Nazareth_ ever lived in the flesh. The _man_ Jesus is\nevidently an historical personage, just as the Sakaya prince Buddha,\nCyrus, King of Persia, and Alexander, King of Macedonia, are historical\npersonages; but the _Christ_ Jesus, the _Christ_ Buddha, the mythical\nCyrus, and the mythical Alexander, _never lived in the flesh_. The\n_Sun-myth_ has been added to the histories of these personages, in a\ngreater or less degree, just as it has been added to the history of many\nother real personages. If it be urged that the attribution to Christ\nJesus of qualities or powers belonging to the Pagan deities would hardly\nseem reasonable, the answer must be that nothing is done in his case\nwhich has not been done in the case of almost every other member of the\ngreat company of the gods. The tendency of myths to _reproduce\nthemselves_, with differences only of _names_ and _local coloring_,\nbecomes especially manifest after perusing the legendary histories of\nthe gods of antiquity. It is a fact demonstrated by history, that when\none nation of antiquity came in contact with another, _they adopted each\nother's myths without hesitation_. After the Jews had been taken\ncaptives to Babylon, around the history of _their King Solomon_\naccumulated the fables which were related of _Persian heroes_. When the\nfame of Cyrus and Alexander became known over the then known world, the\npopular _Sun-myth_ was interwoven with their true history. The mythical\nhistory of Perseus is, in all its essential features, the history of the\nAttic hero Theseus, and of the Theban OEdipus, and they all reappear\nwith heightened colors in the myths of Hercules. We have the same thing\nagain in the mythical and religious history of Crishna; it is, in nearly\nall its essential features, the history of Buddha, and reappears again,\nwith heightened colors, in the history of _Christ_ Jesus. The myths of\nBuddha and Jesus differ from the legends of the other virgin-born\nSaviours only in the fact that in their cases it has gathered round\nunquestionably historical personages. In other words, an old myth has\nbeen added to names undoubtedly historical. But it cannot be too often\nrepeated that from the _myth_ we learn nothing of their history. How\nmuch we really know of the man Jesus will be considered in our next, and\nlast, chapter.[507:1] That his biography, as recorded in the books of\nthe New Testament, contains some few grains of actual history, is all\nthat the historian or philosopher can rationally venture to urge. But\nthe very process which has stripped these legends of all value as a\nchronicle of actual events has invested them with a new interest. Less\nthan ever are they worthless fictions which the historian or philosopher\nmay afford to despise. These legends of the birth, life, and death of\nthe Sun, present to us a form of society and a condition of thought\nthrough which all mankind had to pass before the dawn of history. Yet\nthat state of things was as real as the time in which we live. They who\nspoke the language of these early tales were men and women with joys and\nsorrows not unlike our own. In the following verses of Martianus\nCapella, the universal veneration for the Sun is clearly shown:\n\n     \"Latium invokes thee, _Sol_, because thou alone art in honor,\n     _after the Father_, the centre of light; and they affirm that\n     thy sacred head bears a golden brightness in twelve rays,\n     because thou formest that number of months and that number of\n     hours. They say that thou guidest four winged steeds, because\n     thou alone rulest the chariot of the elements. For, dispelling\n     the darkness, thou revealest the shining heavens. Hence they\n     esteem thee, Phoebus, the discoverer of the secrets of the\n     future; or, because thou preventest nocturnal crimes. Egypt\n     worships thee as Serapis, and Memphis as Osiris. Thou art\n     worshiped by different rites as Mithra, Dis, and the cruel\n     Typhon. Thou art alone the beautiful Atys, and the fostering\n     son of the bent plough. Thou art the Ammon of arid Libya, and\n     the Adonis of Byblos. _Thus under a varied appellation the\n     whole world worship thee._ Hail! thou true image of the gods,\n     and of thy father's face! thou whose sacred name, surname, and\n     omen, three letters make to agree with the number 608.[507:2]\n     Grant us, oh Father, to reach the eternal intercourse of mind,\n     and to know the starry heaven under this sacred name. May the\n     great and universally adorable Father increase these his\n     favors.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[467:1] \"In the _Vedas_, the _Sun_ has twenty different names, not pure\nequivalents, but each term descriptive of the Sun in one of its aspects.\nIt is brilliant (S\u00fbrya), the friend (Mitra), generous (Aryaman),\nbeneficent (Bhaga), that which nourishes (P\u00fbshna), the Creator\n(Tvashtar), the master of the sky (Divaspati), and so on.\" (Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 150.)\n\n[467:2] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 267.\n\n[468:1] Preface to \"Tales of Anct. Greece.\"\n\n[468:2] See Appendix B.\n\n[469:1] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. pp. 51-53.\n\n[473:1] M\u00fcller: Origin of Religions, pp. 264-268.\n\n[473:2] John, i. 9.\n\n[473:3] The Christian ceremonies of the Nativity are celebrated in\nBethlehem and Rome, even at the present time, _very early in the\nmorning_.\n\n[474:1] Quoted by Volney, Ruins, p. 166, and _note_.\n\n[474:2] See Ibid. and Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 236.\n\n[474:3] See Chap. XXXIV.\n\n[474:4] The _Dawn_ was _personified_ by the ancients--a _virgin mother_,\nwho bore the _Sun_. (See Max M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 137. Fiske's\nMyths and Mythmakers, p. 156, and Cox: Tales of Ancient Greece, and\nAryan Mytho.)\n\n[474:5] In Sanscrit \"Id\u00e2\" is the _Earth_, the wife of Dyaus (the Sky),\nand so we have before us the mythical phrase, \"the _Sun_ at its birth\nrests on the earth.\" In other words, \"the Sun at birth is nursed in the\nlap of its mother.\"\n\n[474:6] \"The moment we understand the _nature_ of a myth, all\nimpossibilities, contradictions and immoralities disappear. If a\nmythical personage be nothing more than a name of the _Sun_, his birth\nmay be derived from ever so many different mothers. He may be the son of\nthe _Sky_ or of the _Dawn_ or of the _Sea_ or of the _Night_.\" (Renouf's\nHibbert Lectures, p. 108.)\n\n[474:7] \"The sign of the _Celestial Virgin_ rises above the horizon at\nthe moment in which we fix the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n(Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 314, and Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p.\n147.)\n\n\"We have in the first decade the _Sign of the Virgin_, following the\nmost ancient tradition of the Persians, the Chaldeans, the Egyptians,\nHermes and \u00c6sculapius, a young woman called in the Persian language,\n_Seclinidos de Darzama_; in the Arabic, _Aderenedesa_--that is to say, a\nchaste, pure, immaculate virgin, suckling an infant, which some nations\ncall _Jesus_ (_i. e._, Saviour), but which we in Greek call _Christ_.\"\n(Abulmazer.)\n\n\"In the first decade of the Virgin, rises a maid, called in Arabic,\n'Aderenedesa,' that is: 'pure immaculate virgin,' graceful in person,\ncharming in countenance, modest in habit, with loosened hair, holding in\nher hands two ears of wheat, sitting upon an embroidered throne, nursing\na BOY, and rightly feeding him in the place called _Hebraea_. A boy, I\nsay, names IESSUS by certain nations, which signifies Issa, whom they\nalso call _Christ_ in Greek.\" (Kircher, OEdipus \u00c6gypticus.)\n\n[475:1] Max M\u00fcller: Origin of Religions, p. 261.\n\n[475:2] Ibid. p. 230.\n\n[475:3] \"With scarcely an exception, all the names by which the _Virgin\ngoddess_ of the Akropolis was known point to this mythology of the\n_Dawn_.\" (Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. i. p. 228.)\n\n[475:4] We also read in the Vishnu Purana that: \"The Sun of Achyuta\n(God, the Imperishable) _rose in the dawn of Devaki_, to cause the lotus\npetal of the universe (_Crishna_) to expand. On the day of his birth the\nquarters of the horizon were irradiate with joy,\" &c.\n\n[475:5] Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. iii. pp. 105, and 130, vol. ii.\n\n[475:6] Ibid. p. 133. See Legends in Chap. XVI.\n\n[475:7] Fiske: Myths and Mythmakers, p. 113.\n\n[476:1] Renouf: Hibbert Lectures, p. 111 and 161.\n\n[476:2] Ibid. p. 161 and 179.\n\n[476:3] Ibid. pp. 179.\n\n[476:4] See Tales of Ancient Greece, pp. xxxi. and 82.\n\n[476:5] The _Bull_ symbolized the productive force in nature, and hence\nit was associated with the SUN-gods. This animal was venerated by nearly\nall the peoples of antiquity. (Wake: Phallism in Anct. Religs., p. 45.)\n\n[476:6] See Aryan Myths, vol. i. p. 229.\n\n[477:1] See Chap. XXXII.\n\n[477:2] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xviii.\n\n[477:3] \"The idea entertained by the ancients that these god-begotten\nheroes were engendered without any carnal intercourse, and that they\nwere the sons of Jupiter, is, in plain language, the result of the\nethereal spirit, _i. e._, the Holy Spirit, operating on the virgin\nmother _Earth_.\" (Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 156.)\n\n[477:4] Cox: Aryan Myths, p. 87.\n\n[477:5] See Williams' Hinduism, p. 24, and M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. pp.\n277 and 290.\n\n[477:6] See Bulfinch, p. 389.\n\n[477:7] See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, pp. 110, 111.\n\n[477:8] Manners of the Germans, p. xi.\n\n[478:1] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 81, 99, and 166.\n\nThe Moon was called by the ancients, \"The Queen;\" \"The Highest\nPrincess;\" \"The Queen of Heaven;\" \"The Princess and Queen of Heaven;\"\n&c. She was Istar, Ashera, Diana, Artemis, Isis, Juno, Lucina, Astart\u00ea.\n(Goldzhier, pp. 158. Knight, pp. 99, 100.)\n\nIn the beginning of the eleventh book of Apuleius' Metamorphosis, Isis\nis represented as addressing him thus: \"I am present; I who am _Nature_,\nthe parent of things, queen of all the elements, &c., &c. The primitive\nPhrygians called me _Pressinuntica, the mother of the gods_; the native\nAthenians, Ceropian Minerva; the floating Cyprians, Paphian Venus; the\narrow-bearing Cretans, Dictymian Diana; the three-tongued Sicilians,\nStygian Proserpine; and the inhabitants of Eleusis, the ancient goddess\nCeres. Some again have invoked me as _Juno_, others as _Beliona_, others\nas Hecate, and others as Rhamnusia: and those who are enlightened by the\nemerging rays of the rising _Sun_, the Ethiopians, Ariians and\nEgyptians, powerful in ancient learning, who reverence my divinity with\nceremonies perfectly proper, call me by a true appellation, '_Queen\nIsis_.'\" (Taylor's Mysteries, p. 76.)\n\n[478:2] The \"God the Father\" of all nations of antiquity was nothing\nmore than a personification of the _Sky_ or the _Heavens_. \"The term\n_Heaven_ (pronounced _Thien_) is used everywhere in the Chinese classics\nfor the _Supreme Power_, ruling and governing all the affairs of men\nwith an omnipotent and omniscient righteousness and goodness.\" (James\nLegge.)\n\nIn one of the Chinese sacred books--the Shu-king--_Heaven_ and _Earth_\nare called \"Father and Mother of all things.\" Heaven being the Father,\nand Earth the Mother. (Taylor: Primitive Culture, pp. 294-296.)\n\nThe \"God the Father\" of the Indians is _Dyaus_, that is, the _Sky_.\n(Williams' Hinduism, p. 24.)\n\nOrmuzd, the god of the ancient Persians, was a personification of the\nsky. Herodotus, speaking of the Persians, says: \"They are accustomed to\nascend the highest part of the mountains, and offer sacrifice to Jupiter\n(Ormuzd), _and they call the whole circle of the heavens by the name of\nJupiter_.\" (Herodotus, book 1, ch. 131.)\n\nIn Greek iconography Zeus is the _Heaven_. As Cicero says: \"The\nrefulgent Heaven above is that which all men call, unanimously, Jove.\"\n\nThe Christian God supreme of the nineteenth century is still _Dyaus_\nPitar, the \"Heavenly Father.\"\n\n[478:3] Williams' Hinduism, p. 24.\n\n[478:4] M\u00fcller: Origin of Religions, pp. 261, 290.\n\n[478:5] Renouf: Hibbert Lectures, pp. 110, 111.\n\n[478:6] See Note 2.\n\n[478:7] See Cox: Tales of Ancient Greece, pp. xxxi. and 82, and Aryan\nMythology, vol. i. p. 229.\n\n[479:1] Quoted by Westropp: Phallic Worship, p. 24.\n\n[479:2] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 66. \"In Phenician Mythology Ouranos\n(Heaven) weds Ghe (the Earth) and by her becomes father of Oceanus,\nHyperon, Iapetus, Cronos, and other gods.\" (Phallic Worship, p. 26.)\n\n[479:3] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 64.\n\n[479:4] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 80, 93, 94, 406, 510,\n511.\n\n[480:1] See Chap. XIV.\n\n[480:2] See Dupuis: Orig. Relig. Belief, p. 234. Higgins' Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. pp. 96, 97, and Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 272.\n\n[480:3] Extracts from the Vedas. M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. pp. 96 and\n187.\n\n[481:1] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 153.\n\n[481:2] Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 133.\n\n[481:3] When Christ Jesus was born, on a sudden there was a great light\nin the cave, so that their eyes could not bear it. (Protevangelion,\nApoc. ch. xiv.)\n\n[481:4] \"Perseus, Oidipous, Romulus and Cyrus are doomed to bring ruin\non their parents. They are exposed in their infancy on the hill-side,\nand rescued by a shepherd. _All the solar heroes begin life in this\nway._ Whether, like Apollo, born of the dark night (Leto), or like\nOidipous, of the violet dawn (Iokaste), they are alike destined to bring\ndestruction on their parents, as the Night and the Dawn are both\ndestroyed by the Sun.\" (Fiske: p. 198.)\n\n[481:5] \"The exposure of the child in infancy represents the long rays\nof the morning sun resting on the hill-side.\" (Fiske: Myths and\nMythmakers, p. 198.)\n\nThe Sun-hero Paris is exposed on the slopes of Ida, Oidipous on the\nslopes of Kithairon, and \u00c6sculapius on that of the mountain of Myrtles.\nThis is the rays of the newly-born sun resting on the mountain-side.\n(Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. i. pp. 64 and 80.)\n\nIn Sanscrit _Ida_ is the Earth, and so we have the mythical phrase, the\nSun at its birth is exposed on Ida--the hill-side. The light of the sun\nmust rest on the hill-side long before it reaches the dells beneath.\n(See Cox: vol. i. p. 221, and Fiske: p. 114.)\n\n[482:1] Even as late as the seventeenth century, a German writer would\nillustrate a thunder-storm destroying a crop of corn, by a picture of a\ndragon devouring the produce of the field with his flaming tongue and\niron teeth. (See Fiske: Myths and Mythmakers, p. 17, and Cox: Aryan\nMythology, vol. ii.)\n\n[482:2] The history of the Saviour Hercules is so similar to that of the\nSaviour Christ Jesus, that the learned Dr. Parkhurst was forced to say,\n\"The labors of Hercules seem to have been originally designed as\nemblematic memorials of what the REAL Son of God, the Saviour of the\nworld, was to do and suffer for our sakes, _bringing a cure for all our\nills_, as the Orphic hymn speaks of Hercules.\"\n\n[482:3] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, pp. 158, 166, and 168.\n\n[482:4] In ancient mythology, all heroes of light were opposed by the\n\"Old Serpent,\" the Devil, symbolized by Serpents, Dragons, Sphinxes and\nother monsters. The Serpent was, among the ancient Eastern nations, the\nsymbol of _Evil_, of _Winter_, of _Darkness_ and of _Death_. It also\nsymbolized the _dark cloud_, which, by harboring the _rays of the Sun_,\npreventing its shining, and therefore, is apparently _attempting to\ndestroy it_. The Serpent is one of the chief mystic personifications of\nthe _Rig-Veda_, under the names of _Ahi_, _Suchna_, and others. They\nrepresent the _Cloud_, the enemy of the _Sun_, keeping back the\nfructifying rays. Indra struggles victoriously against him, and spreads\nlife on the earth, with the shining warmth of the Father of Life, the\nCreator, _the Sun_.\n\nBuddha, the Lord and Saviour, was described as a superhuman organ of\nlight, to whom a superhuman organ of darkness, Mara, the Evil Serpent,\nwas opposed. He, like _Christ_ Jesus, resisted the temptations of this\nevil one, and is represented sitting on a serpent, as if its conqueror.\n(See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 39.)\n\nCrishna also overcame the evil one, and is represented \"bruising the\nhead of the serpent,\" and standing upon it. (See vol. i. of Asiatic\nResearches, and vol. ii. of Higgins' Anacalypsis.)\n\nIn Egyptian Mythology, one of the names of the god-_Sun_ was _R\u00e2_. He\nhad an adversary who was called _Apap_, represented in the form of a\nserpent. (See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, p. 109.)\n\nHorus, the Egyptian incarnate god, the Mediator, Redeemer and Saviour,\nis represented in Egyptian art as overcoming the Evil Serpent, and\nstanding triumphantly upon him. (See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 158,\nand Monumental Christianity, p. 402.)\n\nOsiris, Ormuzd, Mithras, Apollo, Bacchus, Hercules, Indra, OEdipus,\nQuetzalcoatle, and many other _Sun-gods_, overcame the Evil One, and are\nrepresented in the above described manner. (See Cox's Tales of Ancient\nGreece, p. xxvii. and Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 129. Baring-Gould's\nCurious Myths, p. 256. Bulfinch's Age of Fable, p. 34. Bunsen's\nAngel-Messiah, p. x., and Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi.\np. 176.)\n\n[483:1] The crucifixion of the Sun-gods is simply the power of Darkness\ntriumphing over the \"Lord of Light,\" and Winter overpowering the Summer.\nIt was at the _Winter_ solstice that the ancients wept for Tammuz, the\nfair Adonis, and other Sun-gods, who were put to death by the boar,\nslain by the thorn of winter. (See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p.\n113.)\n\nOther versions of the same myth tell us of Eurydike stung to death by\nthe hidden serpent, of Sifrit smitten by Hagene (the Thorn), of\nIsfendiyar slain by the thorn or arrow of Rustem, of Achilleus\nvulnerable only in the heel, of Brynhild enfolded within the dragon's\ncoils, of Meleagros dying as the torch of doom is burnt out, of Baldur,\nthe brave and pure, smitten by the fatal mistletoe, and of Crishna and\nothers being crucified.\n\nIn Egyptian mythology, Set, the destroyer, triumphs in the _West_. He is\nthe personification of _Darkness_ and _Winter_, and the Sun-god whom he\nputs to death, is Horus the Saviour. (See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, pp.\n112-115.)\n\n[483:2] \"In the _Rig-Veda_ the god _Vishnu_ is often named as a\nmanifestation of the _Solar_ energy, or rather as a form of the Sun.\"\n(Indian Wisdom, p. 322.)\n\n[483:3] Crishna says: \"I am Vishnu, Brahma, _Indra_, and the source as\nwell as the destruction of things, the creator and the annihilator of\nthe whole aggregate of existences.\" (Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p.\n131.)\n\n[484:1] See Chap. XX.\n\n[484:2] _Indra_, who was represented as a crucified god, is also the\n_Sun_. No sooner is he born than he speaks to his mother. Like Apollo\nand all other Sun-gods he has _golden locks_, and like them he is\npossessed of an inscrutable wisdom. He is also born of a virgin--the\nDawn. Crishna and Indra are one. (See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. pp.\n88 and 341; vol. ii. p. 131.)\n\n[484:3] Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 55.\n\n[484:4] See Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 113.\n\n[484:5] Ibid. pp. 115 and 125.\n\n[484:6] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 157.\n\n[484:7] Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 88.\n\nA great number of the Solar heroes or Sun-gods are forced to endure\nbeing bound, which indicates the tied-up power of the sun in winter.\n(Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 406.)\n\n[484:8] The Sun, as climbing the heights of heaven, is an arrogant\nbeing, given to making exorbitant claims, who must be bound to the fiery\ncross. \"The phrases which described the Sun as revolving daily on his\nfour-spoked _cross_, or as doomed to sink in the sky when his orb had\nreached the zenith, would give rise to the stories of _Ixion_ on his\nflaming wheel.\" (Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 27.)\n\n[484:9] \"So was Ixion bound on the fiery wheel, and the sons of men see\nthe flaming spokes day by day as it whirls in the high heaven.\"\n\n[485:1] Cox: Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xxxii.\n\n[485:2] Ibid. p. xxxiii.\n\n[485:3] \"That the story of the Trojan war is almost wholly mythical, has\nbeen conceded even by the stoutest champions of Homeric unity.\" (Rev. G.\nW. Cox.)\n\n[485:4] See M\u00fcller's Science of Religion, p. 186.\n\n[485:5] See Calmet's Fragments, vol. ii. pp. 21, 22.\n\n[486:1] Nimrod: vol. i. p. 278, in Anac., i. p. 503.\n\n[486:2] At Miletus was the crucified Apollo--Apollo, who overcome the\nSerpent or evil principle. Thus Callimachus, celebrating this\nachievement, in his hymn to Apollo, has these remarkable words:\n\n     \"Thee thy blest _mother_ bore, and pleased assign'd\n      The willing SAVIOUR of distressed mankind.\"\n\n[486:3] These words apply to _Christ_ Jesus, as well as Semiramis,\naccording to the Christian Father Ignatius. In his Epistle to the Church\nat Ephesus, he says: \"Now the virginity of Mary, and he who was born of\nher, was kept in secret from the prince of this world, as was also the\ndeath of our Lord: _three of the mysteries the most spoken of throughout\nthe world, yet done in secret by God_.\"\n\n[487:1] The Rosicrucians, p. 260.\n\n[487:2] Ibid.\n\n[488:1] The Sun-gods Apollo, Indra, Wittoba or Crishna, and Christ\nJesus, are represented as having their feet pierced with nails (See Cox:\nAryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 23, and Moor's Hindu Pantheon.)\n\n[489:1] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., pp. 87, 88.\n\n[489:2] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 32.\n\n[489:3] \"This notion is quite consistent with the ideas entertained by\nthe Phenicians as to the Serpent, which they supposed to have the\nquality of putting off its old age, and assuming a second youth.\"\nSanchoniathon: (Quoted by Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 43.)\n\n[489:4] Une serpent qui tient sa queue dans sa gueule et dans le circle\nqu'il decrit, ces trois lettres Greques {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}, qui sont le nombre 365. Le\nSerpent, qui est d'ordinaire un embl\u00e8me de l'eternet\u00e8 est ici celui de\n_Soleil_ et des ses revolutions. (Beausobre: Hist. de Manich. tom. ii.\np. 55. Quoted by Lardner, vol. viii. p. 379.)\n\n\"This idea existed even in _America_. The great century of the Aztecs\nwas encircled by _a serpent grasping its own tail_, and the great\n_calendar stone_ is entwined by serpents bearing human heads in their\ndistended jaws.\"\n\n\"The annual passage of the Sun, through the signs of the zodiac, being\nin an oblique path, resembles, or at least the ancients thought so, the\ntortuous movements of the Serpent, and the facility possessed by this\nreptile of casting off his skin and producing out of itself a new\ncovering every year, bore some analogy to the termination of the old\nyear and the commencement of the new one. Accordingly, all the ancient\nspheres--the Persian, Indian, Egyptian, Barbaric, and Mexican--were\nsurrounded by the figure of a serpent _holding its tail in its mouth_.\"\n(Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 249.)\n\n[489:5] Wake: Phallism, p. 42.\n\n[489:6] See Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 128.\n\n[490:1] Being the most intimately connected with the reproduction of\nlife on earth, the _Linga_ became the symbol under which the _Sun_,\ninvoked with a thousand names, has been worshiped throughout the world\nas the restorer of the powers of nature after the long sleep or death of\nWinter. In the brazen _Serpent_ of the Pentateuch, the two emblems of\nthe _Cross_ and _Serpent_, the quiescent and energizing _Phallos_, are\nunited. (Cox: Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. pp. 113-118.)\n\n[490:2] Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 60.\n\n[491:1] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 155.\n\n[491:2] Wake: Phallism in Anct. Religs., p. 72.\n\n[491:3] Ibid. p. 73. Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 195.\n\n[491:4] Faber: Orig. Pagan Idol., in Squire, p. 158.\n\n[491:5] Ibid.\n\n[491:6] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 375.\n\n[491:7] Ibid.\n\n[491:8] Squire: p. 161.\n\n[491:9] Ibid. p. 185.\n\n[492:1] Squire: p. 169.\n\n[492:2] Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 185.\n\n[492:3] \"SAVIOUR was a common title of the SUN-gods of antiquity.\"\n(Wake: Phallism in Anct. Religs., p. 55.)\n\nThe ancient Greek writers speak of the Sun, as the \"Generator and\nNourisher of all Things;\" the \"Ruler of the World;\" the \"First of the\nGods,\" and the \"Supreme Lord of all Beings.\" (Knight: Ancient Art and\nMytho., p. 37.)\n\nPausanias (500 B. C.) speaks of \"The Sun having the surname of SAVIOUR.\"\n(Ibid. p. 98, _note_.)\n\n\"There is a very remarkable figure copied in Payne Knight's Work, in\nwhich we see on a man's shoulders a _cock's_ head, whilst on the\npediment are placed the words: \"THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD.\" (Inman: Anct.\nFaiths, vol. i. p. 537.) This refers to the SUN. The cock being the\nnatural herald of the day, he was therefore sacred, among the ancients,\nto the Sun.\" (See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 70, and Lardner: vol.\nviii. p. 377.)\n\n[493:1] The name _Jesus_ is the same as _Joshua_, and signifies\n_Saviour_.\n\n[493:2] Justin Martyr: Dialog. Cum Typho. Quoted in Gibbon's Rome, vol.\ni. p. 582.\n\n[493:3] Matt. xxvii. 55.\n\n[493:4] The ever-faithful woman who is always near at the death of the\nSun-god is \"the fair and tender light which sheds its soft hue over the\nEastern heaven as the Sun sinks in death beneath the Western waters.\"\n(Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. i. p. 223.)\n\n[493:5] See Ibid. vol. i. p. 80.\n\n[493:6] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 49.\n\n[493:7] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 223.\n\n[494:1] See Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xxxi.\n\n[494:2] PETR\u00c6US was an interchangeable synonym of the name Oceanus.\n\n[494:3] \"Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far\nfrom thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.\" (Matt. xvi. 22.)\n\n[494:4] See Potter's \u00c6schylus.\n\n[494:5] Matt. xxvii. 45.\n\n[494:6] As the Sun dies, or sinks in the West, blacker and blacker grows\nthe evening shades, till there is darkness on the face of the earth.\nThen from the high heavens comes down the thick clouds, and the din of\nits thunder crashes through the air. (Description of the death of\nHercules, Tales of Ancient Greece, pp. 61, 62.)\n\n[494:7] It Is the battle of the clouds over the dead or dying Sun, which\nis to be seen in the legendary history of many Sun-gods. (Cox: Aryan\nMythology, vol. ii. p. 91.)\n\n[494:8] This was one of the latest additions of the Sun-myth to the\nhistory of _Christ_ Jesus. This has been proved not only to have been an\ninvention after the Apostles' time, but even after the time of Eusebius\n(A. D. 325). The doctrine of the descent into hell was not in the\nancient creeds or rules of faith. It is not to be found in the rules of\nfaith delivered by Iren\u00e6us (A. D. 190), by Origen (A. D. 230), or by\nTertullian (A. D. 200-210). It is not expressed in those creeds which\nwere made by the Councils as larger explications of the Apostles' Creed;\nnot in the Nicene, or Constantinopolitan; not in those of Ephesus, or\nChalcedon; not in those confessions made at Sardica, Antioch, Selencia,\nSirmium, &c.\n\n[495:1] At the end of his career, the Sun enters the _lowest regions_,\nthe bowels of the earth, therefore nearly all Sun-gods are made to\n\"descend into hell,\" and remain there for three days and three nights,\nfor the reason that from the 22d to the 25th of December, the Sun\napparently remains in the same place. Thus Jonah, a personification of\nthe Sun (see Chap. IX.), who remains three days and three nights in the\nbowels of the earth--typified by a fish--is made to pay: \"Out of the\nbelly of hell cried I, and thou heardst my voice.\"\n\n[495:2] See Chapter XXII.\n\n[495:3] Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p. 260.\n\n\"The mighty Lord appeared in the form of a man, and enlightened those\nplaces which had ever before been in darkness; and broke asunder the\nfetters which before could not be broken; and with his _invincible\npower_ visited those who sat in the deep darkness by iniquity, and the\nshadow of death by sin. Then the King of Glory trampled upon Death,\nseized the Prince of Hell, and deprived him of all his power.\"\n(Description of _Christ's_ Descent into Hell. Nicodemus: Apoc.)\n\n[495:4] \"The women weeping for Tammuz was no more than expressive of the\nSun's loss of power in the winter quarter.\" (King's Gnostics, p. 102.\nSee also, Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 113.)\n\nAfter remaining for three days and three nights in the lowest regions,\nthe Sun begins to ascend, thus he \"rises from the dead,\" as it were, and\n\"ascends into heaven.\"\n\n[496:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 174.\n\n[496:2] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 100.\n\n[496:3] Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 125.\n\n[496:4] Egyptian Belief, p. 182.\n\n[496:5] Ibid.\n\n[496:6] Origin of Religions, p. 264.\n\n[497:1] Origin of Religions, p. 268.\n\n[497:2] Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 384.\n\n[497:3] Origin of Religion, pp. 264-268.\n\n[498:1] The number twelve appears in many of the Sun-myths. It refers to\nthe twelve hours of the day or night, or the twelve moons of the lunar\nyear. (Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 165. Bonwick: Egyptian Belief,\np. 175.)\n\nOsiris, the Egyptian Saviour, had twelve apostles. (Bonwick, p. 175.)\n\nIn all religions of antiquity the number _twelve_, which applies to the\ntwelve signs of the zodiac, are reproduced in all kinds and sorts of\nforms. For instance: such are the _twelve_ great gods; the _twelve_\napostles of Osiris; the _twelve_ apostles of Jesus; the _twelve_ sons of\nJacob, or the _twelve_ tribes; the _twelve_ altars of James; the\n_twelve_ labors of Hercules; the _twelve_ shields of Mars; the _twelve_\nbrothers Arvaux; the _twelve_ gods Consents; the _twelve_ governors in\nthe Manichean System; the _adectyas_ of the East Indies; the _twelve_\nasses of the Scandinavians; the city of the _twelve_ gates in the\nApocalypse; the _twelve_ wards of the city; the _twelve_ sacred\ncushions, on which the Creator sits in the cosmogony of the Japanese;\nthe _twelve_ precious stones of the _rational_, or the ornament worn by\nthe high priest of the Jews, &c., &c. (See Dupuis, pp. 39, 40.)\n\n[499:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 505.\n\n[499:2] Luke, ii. 32.\n\n[499:3] John, xii, 46.\n\n[499:4] John, ix. v.\n\n[499:5] I. John, i. 5.\n\n[500:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 117.\n\n[501:1] See Monumental Christianity, pp. 189, 191, 192, 238, and 296.\n\n[501:2] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 283.\n\n[501:3] King's Gnostics, p. 68.\n\n[501:4] Ibid. p. 137.\n\n[501:5] See Chapter XX.\n\n[501:6] Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. i. p. 31.\n\n[502:1] Geikie: Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 151.\n\n[502:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 231.\n\n[502:3] King's Gnostics, p. 48.\n\n[502:4] Ibid. p. 68.\n\n[502:5] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 13.\n\n[503:1] Following are the words of the decree now in the Vatican\nlibrary: \"In quibusdam sanctorum imaginum picturis agnus exprimitur, &c.\nNos igitur veteres figuras atque umbras, et veritatis notas, et signa\necclesi\u00e6 tradita, complectentes, gratiam, et veritatem anteponimus, quam\nut plenitudinem legis acceptimus. Itaque id quod perfectum est, in\npicturis etiam omnium oculis subjiciamus, agnum illum qui mundi peccatum\ntollit, Christum Deum nostrum, loco veteris Ayni, human\u00e2 form\u00e2 posth\u00e6\nexprimendum decrevimus,\" &c.\n\n[504:1] \"The _solar horse_, with two serpents upon his head (the\nBuddhist Aries) is Buddha's symbol, and Aries is the symbol of Christ.\"\n(Arthur Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 110.)\n\n[504:2] Quoted by Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 93.\n\n[504:3] Quoted by King: The Gnostics &c., p. 138.\n\n[505:1] Quoted by King: The Gnostics, &c., p. 49.\n\n[505:2] Ibid. p. 45.\n\n[505:3] _Indra_, the crucified Sun-god of the Hindoos, was represented\nwith golden locks. (Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. i. p. 341.)\n\n_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, was represented with long flowing locks.\n\n_Izdubar_, the god and hero of the Chaldeans, was represented with long\nflowing locks of hair (Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 193), and\nso was his counterpart, the Hebrew Samson.\n\n\"The S\u00e2kya-prince (Buddha) is described as an Aryan by Buddhistic\ntradition; his face was reddish, his hair of light color and curly, his\ngeneral appearance of great beauty.\" (Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 15.)\n\n\"Serapis has, in some instances, long hair formally turned back, and\ndisposed in ringlets hanging down upon his breast and shoulders like\nthat of a woman. His whole person, too, is always enveloped in drapery\nreaching to his feet.\" (Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 104.)\n\n\"As for _yellow hair_, there is no evidence that Greeks have ever\ncommonly possessed it; but no other color would do for a solar hero, and\nit accordingly characterizes the entire company of them, wherever\nfound.\" (Fiske: Myths and Mythmakers, p. 202.)\n\nHelios (the Sun) is called by the Greeks the \"yellow-haired.\"\n(Goldzhier: Hebrew Mytho., p. 137.)\n\nThe Sun's rays is signified by the flowing golden locks which stream\nfrom the head of Kephalos, and fall over the shoulders of Bellerophon.\n(Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. i. p. 107.)\n\nPerseus, son of the virgin Danae, was called the \"Golden Child.\" (Ibid.\nvol. ii. p. 58.) \"The light of early morning is not more pure than was\nthe color on his fair cheeks, and the golden locks streamed bright over\nhis shoulders, like the rays of the sun when they rest on the hills at\nmidday.\" (Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 83.)\n\nThe Saviour Dionysus wore a long flowing robe, and had long golden hair,\nwhich streamed from his head over his shoulders. (Aryan Mythology, vol.\nii. p. 293.)\n\nIxion was the \"Beautiful and Mighty,\" with golden hair flashing a glory\nfrom his head, dazzling as the rays which stream from Helios, when he\ndrives his chariot up the heights of heaven; and his flowing robe\nglistened as he moved, like the vesture which the Sun-god gave to the\nwise maiden Medeia, who dwelt in Kolchis. (Tales of Ancient Greece, p.\n47.)\n\nTheseus enters the city of Athens, as Christ Jesus is said to have\nentered Jerusalem, with a long flowing robe, and with his _golden hair_\ntied gracefully behind his head. His \"soft beauty\" excites the mockery\nof the populace, who pause in their work to jest with him. (Cox: Aryan\nMythology, vol. ii. p. 63.)\n\nThus we see that long locks of golden hair, and a flowing robe, are\nmythological attributes of the Sun.\n\n[506:1] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 49.\n\n[506:2] We have already seen (in Chapter XX.) that the word \"_Christ_\"\nsignifies the \"Anointed,\" or the \"Messiah,\" and that many other\npersonages beside Jesus of Nazareth had this _title_ affixed to their\nnames.\n\n[507:1] The theory which has been set forth in this chapter, is also\nmore fully illustrated in Appendix C.\n\n[507:2] These three letters, _the monogram of the Sun_, are the\ncelebrated I. H. S., which are to be seen in Roman Catholic churches at\nthe present day, and which are now the monogram of the Sun-god _Christ_\nJesus. (See Chapter XXXVI.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL.\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nWe now come to the last, but certainly not least, question to be\nanswered; which is, what do we really know of the man Jesus of Nazareth?\nHow much of the Gospel narratives can we rely upon as fact?\n\nJesus of Nazareth is so enveloped in the mists of the past, and his\nhistory so obscured by legend, that it may be compared to footprints in\nthe sand. We know _some one_ has been there, but as to what manner of\nman he may have been, we certainly know little as fact. The Gospels,\n_the only records we have of him_,[508:1] have been proven, over and\nover again, unhistorical and legendary; to state _anything as positive_\nabout the man is nothing more nor less than _assumption_; we can\ntherefore _conjecture_ only. Liberal writers philosophize and wax\neloquent to little purpose, when, after demolishing the historical\naccuracy of the New Testament, they end their task by eulogizing the man\nJesus, claiming for him the _highest_ praise, and asserting that he was\nthe _best_ and _grandest_ of our race;[508:2] but this manner of\nreasoning (undoubtedly consoling to many) _facts_ do not warrant. We may\nconsistently revere his name, and place it in the long list of the great\nand noble, the reformers and religious teachers of the past, all of whom\nhave done their part in bringing about the freedom we now enjoy, but to\ngo beyond this, is, to our thinking, unwarranted.\n\nIf the life of Jesus of Nazareth, as related in the books of the New\nTestament, be in part the story of a man who really lived and suffered,\nthat story has been so interwoven with images borrowed from myths of a\nbygone age, as to conceal forever any fragments of history which may lie\nbeneath them. Gautama Buddha was undoubtedly an historical personage,\nyet the Sun-god myth has been added to his history to such an extent\nthat we really know nothing positive about him. Alexander the Great was\nan historical personage, yet his history is one mass of legends. So it\nis with Julius Cesar, Cyrus, King of Persia, and scores of others. \"The\nstory of Cyrus' perils in infancy belongs to _solar_ mythology as much\nas the stories of the magic slipper, of Charlemagne and Barbarossa. His\ngrandfather, Astyages, is purely a mythical creation, his name being\nidentical with that of the night demon, Azidahaka, who appears in the\nShah-Nameh as the biting serpent.\"\n\nThe actual Jesus is inaccessible to scientific research. His image\ncannot be recovered. He left no memorial in writing of himself; his\nfollowers were illiterate; the mind of his age was confused. Paul\nreceived only traditions of him, how definite we have no means of\nknowing, apparently not significant enough to be treasured, nor\nconsistent enough to oppose a barrier to his own speculations. As M.\nRenan says: \"The Christ who communicates private revelations to him _is\na phantom of his own making_;\" \"it is _himself_ he listens to, _while\nfancying that he hears Jesus_.\"[509:1]\n\nIn studying the writings of the early advocates of Christianity, and\nFathers of the Christian Church, where we would naturally look for the\nlanguage that would indicate the real occurrence of the facts of the\nGospel--if real occurrences they had ever been--we not only find no such\nlanguage, but everywhere find every sort of sophistical ambages,\nramblings from the subject, and evasions of the very business before\nthem, as if on purpose to balk our research, and insult our skepticism.\nIf we travel to the very sepulchre of Christ Jesus, it is only to\ndiscover that he was never there: _history_ seeks evidence of his\nexistence as a man, but finds no more trace of it than of the shadow\nthat flits across the wall. \"The Star of Bethlehem\" shone not upon _her_\npath, and the order of the universe was suspended without _her_\nobservation.\n\nShe asks, with the Magi of the East, \"Where is he that is born King of\nthe Jews?\" and, like them, finds no solution of her inquiry, but the\nguidance that guides as well to one place as another; descriptions that\napply to \u00c6sculapius, Buddha and Crishna, as well as to Jesus;\nprophecies, without evidence that they were ever prophesied; miracles,\nwhich those who are said to have seen, are said also to have denied\nseeing; narratives without authorities, facts without dates, and records\nwithout names. In vain do the so-called disciples of Jesus point to the\npassages in Josephus and Tacitus;[510:1] in vain do they point to the\nspot on which he was crucified; to the fragments of the true cross, or\nthe nails with which he was pierced, and to the _tomb_ in which he was\nlaid. Others have done as much for scores of _mythological personages_\nwho never lived in the flesh. Did not Damus, the beloved disciple of\nApollonius of Tyana, while on his way to India, see, on Mt. Caucasus,\nthe identical chains with which Prometheus had been bound to the rocks?\nDid not the Scythians[510:2] say that Hercules had visited their\ncountry? and did they not show the print of his foot upon a rock to\nsubstantiate their story?[510:3] Was not his _tomb_ to be seen at Cadiz,\nwhere his _bones_ were shown?[510:4] Was not the _tomb_ of Bacchus to be\nseen in Greece?[510:5] Was not the _tomb_ of Apollo to be seen at\nDelphi?[510:6] Was not the _tomb_ of Achilles to be seen at Dodona,\nwhere Alexander the Great honored it by placing a crown upon it?[510:7]\nWas not the _tomb_ of \u00c6sculapius to be seen in Arcadia, in a grove\nconsecrated to him, near the river Lusius?[510:8] Was not the _tomb_ of\nDeucalion--he who was saved from the Deluge--long pointed out near the\nsanctuary of Olympian Jove, in Athens?[510:9] Was not the _tomb_ of\nOsiris to be seen in Egypt, where, at stated seasons, the priests went\nin solemn procession, and covered it with flowers?[510:10] Was not the\ntomb of Jonah--he who was \"swallowed up by a big fish\"--to be seen at\nNebi-Yunus, near Mosul?[510:11] Are not the _tombs_ of Adam, Eve, Cain,\nAbel, Seth, Abraham, and other Old Testament characters, to be seen even\nat the present day?[510:12] And did not the Emperor Constantine dedicate\na beautiful church over the _tomb_ of St. George, the warrior\nsaint?[510:13] Of what value, then, is such evidence of the existence of\nsuch an individual as Jesus of Nazareth? The fact is, \"the records of\nhis life are so very scanty, and these have been so shaped and colored\nand modified by the hands of ignorance and superstition and party\nprejudice and ecclesiastical purpose, that it is hard to be sure of the\noriginal outlines.\"\n\nIn the first two centuries the professors of Christianity were divided\ninto many sects, but these might be all resolved into two divisions--one\nconsisting of Nazarenes, Ebionites, and orthodox; the other of\n_Gnostics_, under which all the remaining sects arranged themselves. The\nformer are supposed to have believed in Jesus crucified, in the common,\nliteral acceptation of the term; the latter--believers in the _Christ_\nas an _\u00c6on_--though they admitted the crucifixion, considered it to have\nbeen in some _mystic_ way--perhaps what might be called _spiritualiter_,\nas it is called in the Revelation: but notwithstanding the different\nopinions they held, they all denied that _the Christ_ did really die, in\nthe literal acceptation of the term, on the cross.[511:1] The Gnostic,\nor Oriental, Christians undoubtedly took their doctrine from the _Indian\ncrucifixion_[511:2] (of which we have treated in Chapters XX. and\nXXXIX.), as well as many other tenets with which we have found the\nChristian Church deeply tainted. They held that:\n\n     \"To deliver the soul, a captive in darkness, the 'Prince of\n     Light,' the 'Genius of the Sun,' charged with the redemption\n     of the intellectual world, of which the Sun is the type,\n     manifested itself among men; that the light appeared in the\n     darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not; that, in fact,\n     light could not unite with darkness; it put on only the\n     appearance of the human body; that at the crucifixion Christ\n     Jesus only _appeared_ to suffer. His person having\n     disappeared, the bystanders saw in his place a cross of light,\n     over which a celestial voice proclaimed these words; 'The\n     Cross of Light is called Logos, Christos, the Gate, the Joy.'\"\n\nSeveral of the texts of the Gospel histories were quoted with great\nplausibility by the Gnostics in support of their doctrine. The story of\nJesus passing through the midst of the Jews when they were about to cast\nhim headlong from the brow of a hill (Luke iv. 29, 30), and when they\nwere going to stone him (John iii. 59; x. 31, 39), were examples not\neasily refuted.\n\nThe Manichean Christian Bishop Faustus expresses himself in the\nfollowing manner:\n\n     \"Do you receive the gospel? (ask ye). Undoubtedly I do! Why\n     then, you also admit that Christ was born? Not so; for it by\n     no means follows that in believing the gospel, I should\n     therefore believe that Christ was born! Do you then think that\n     he was of the Virgin Mary? Manes hath said, 'Far be it that I\n     should ever own that Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . . . . .'\"\n     etc.[512:1]\n\nTertullian's manner of reasoning on the evidences of Christianity is\nalso in the same vein, as we saw in our last chapter.[512:2]\n\nMr. King, speaking of the Gnostic Christians, says:\n\n     \"Their chief doctrines had been held for centuries before\n     (their time) in many of the cities in _Asia Minor_. There, it\n     is probable, they first came into existence as _Myst\u00e6_, upon\n     the establishment of direct intercourse with _India_, under\n     the Seleucid\u00e6 and Ptolemies. The college of _Essenes_ and\n     _Megabyz\u00e6_ at Ephesus, the _Orphics_ of Thrace, the _Curets_\n     of Crete, _are all merely branches of one antique and common\n     religion, and that originally Asiatic_.\"[512:3]\n\nThese early Christian Mystics are alluded to in several instances in the\nNew Testament. For example:\n\n     \"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come _in\n     the flesh_ is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not\n     that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.\"[512:4]\n     \"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess\n     not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.\"[512:5]\n\nThis is language that could not have been used, if the reality of Christ\nJesus' existence as a man could not have been denied, or, it would\ncertainly seem, if the apostle himself had been able to give any\nevidence whatever of the claim.\n\nThe quarrels on this subject lasted for a long time among the early\nChristians. _Hermas_, speaking of this, says to the brethren:\n\n     \"Take heed, my children, that your dissensions deprive you not\n     of your lives. How will ye instruct the elect of God, when ye\n     yourselves want correction? Wherefore admonish one another,\n     and be at peace among yourselves; that I, standing before your\n     father, may give an account of you unto the Lord.\"[512:6]\n\n_Ignatius_, in his Epistle to the Smyrn\u00e6ans, says:[512:7]\n\n     \"Only in the name of Jesus Christ, I undergo all, to suffer\n     together with him; he who was made a perfect man strengthening\n     me. _Whom some, not knowing, do deny_; or rather have been\n     denied by him, being the advocates of death, rather than of\n     the truth. Whom neither the prophecies, nor the law of Moses,\n     have persuaded; _nor the Gospel itself even to this day_, nor\n     the sufferings of any one of us. _For they think also the\n     same thing of us_; for what does a man profit me, if he shall\n     praise me, and blaspheme my Lord; _not confessing that he was\n     truly made man_?\"\n\nIn his Epistle to the Philadelphians he says:[513:1]\n\n     \"I have heard of some who say, _unless I find it written in\n     the originals_, I will not believe it to be written in the\n     Gospel. And when I said, It is written, they answered what lay\n     before them in their corrupted copies.\"\n\n_Polycarp_, in his Epistle to the Philippians, says:[513:2]\n\n     \"Whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the\n     flesh, he is Antichrist: _and whosoever does not confess his\n     sufferings upon the cross_, is from the devil. And whosoever\n     perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts; and says\n     that there shall neither be any resurrection, nor judgment, he\n     is the first-born of Satan.\"\n\n_Ignatius_ says to the Magnesians:[513:3]\n\n     \"Be not deceived with strange doctrines; nor with old fables\n     which are unprofitable. For if we still continue to live\n     according to the Jewish law, we do confess ourselves _not_ to\n     have received grace. For even the most holy prophets lived\n     according to Jesus Christ. . . . Wherefore if they who were\n     brought up in these ancient laws came nevertheless to the\n     newness of hope; no longer observing Sabbaths, but keeping the\n     Lord's Day, in which also our life is sprung up by him, and\n     through his death, _whom yet some deny_. By which _mystery_\n     we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait that\n     we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only\n     master. . . . . These things, my beloved, I write unto you,\n     not that I know of any among you _that be under this error_;\n     but as one of the least among you, I am desirous to forewarn\n     you that ye fall not into the snares of vain doctrine.\"\n\nAfter reading this we can say with the writer of Timothy,[513:4]\n\"Without controversy, great is the MYSTERY of godliness.\"\n\nBeside those who denied that Christ Jesus had ever been manifest _in the\nflesh_, there were others who denied that _he_ had been\ncrucified.[513:5] This is seen from the words of Justin Martyr, in his\n_Apology_ for the Christian Religion, written A. D. 141, where he says:\n\n     \"As to the _objection_ to _our_ Jesus's being crucified, I\n     say, suffering was common to all the Sons of Jove.\"[513:6]\n\nThis is as much as to say: \"_You_ Pagans claim that _your_ incarnate\ngods and _Saviours_ suffered and died, then why should not _we_ claim\nthe same for _our_ Saviour?\"\n\nThe _Koran_, referring to the _Jews_, says:\n\n     \"They have not believed in Jesus, and have spoken against Mary\n     a grievous calumny, and have said: 'Verily we have slain\n     Christ Jesus, the son of Mary' (the apostle of God). _Yet they\n     slew him not, neither crucified him, but he was represented by\n     one in his likeness. And verily they who disagreed concerning\n     him were in a doubt as to this matter, and had no sure\n     knowledge thereof, but followed only an uncertain\n     opinion._\"[514:1]\n\nThis passage alone, from the Mohammedan Bible, is sufficient to show, if\nother evidence were wanting, that the early Christians \"disagreed\nconcerning him,\" and that \"they had no sure knowledge thereof, but\nfollowed only an uncertain opinion.\"\n\nIn the books which are _now_ called _Apocryphal_, but which _were_ the\nmost quoted, and of equal authority with the others, and which were\n_voted not_ the word of God--for obvious reasons--and were therefore\ncast out of the canon, we find many allusions to the strife among the\nearly Christians. For instance; in the \"First Epistle of Clement to the\nCorinthians,\"[514:2] we read as follows:\n\n     \"Wherefore are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and\n     schisms, and wars, among us? . . . Why do we rend and tear in\n     pieces the members of Christ, and raise seditions against our\n     own body? and are come to such a height of madness, as to\n     forget that we are members one of another.\"\n\nIn his Epistle to the Trallians, Ignatius says:[514:3]\n\n     \"I exhort you, or rather not I, but the love of Jesus Christ,\n     that ye use none but Christian nourishment; abstaining from\n     pasture which is of another kind. I mean _Heresy_. For they\n     that are heretics, confound together the doctrine of Jesus\n     Christ with their own poison; whilst they seem worthy of\n     belief. . . . Stop your ears, therefore, as often as any one\n     shall speak contrary to Jesus Christ, who was of the race of\n     David, of the Virgin Mary. Who was _truly_ born, and did eat\n     and drink; was _truly_ persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was\n     _truly_ crucified and dead; both those in heaven and on earth,\n     and under the earth, being spectators of it. . . . But if, as\n     some who are atheists, that is to say, infidels, pretend,\n     _that he only seemed to suffer_, why then am I bound? Why do I\n     desire to fight with beasts? Therefore do I die in vain.\"\n\nWe find St. Paul, the very first Apostle of the Gentiles, expressly\navowing that _he was made a minister of the gospel, which had already\nbeen preached to every creature under heaven_,[514:4] and preaching _a\nGod manifest in the flesh_, who had been _believed on in the\nworld_,[514:5] therefore, _before the commencement of his ministry_; and\nwho could not have been the man of Nazareth, who had certainly not been\npreached, _at that time_, nor generally believed on in the world, till\nages after that time.[514:6] We find also that:\n\n1. This Paul owns himself a _deacon_, the lowest ecclesiastical grade\nof the _Therapeutan_ church.\n\n2. The Gospel of which these Epistles speak, had been extensively\npreached and fully established before the time of Jesus, by the\nTherapeuts or Essenes, who believed in the doctrine of the\nAngel-Messiah, the \u00c6on from heaven.[515:1]\n\nLeo the Great, so-called (A. D. 440-461), writes thus:\n\n     \"Let those who with impious murmurings find fault with the\n     Divine dispensations, and who complain about the _lateness_ of\n     our Lord's nativity, cease from their grievances, as if what\n     was _carried out_ in later ages of the world, had not been\n     impending _in time past_. . . .\n\n     \"What the Apostles preached, the prophets (in Israel) had\n     announced before, and what has _always been (universally)\n     believed_, cannot be said to have been _fulfilled_ too late.\n     By this delay of his work of salvation, the wisdom and love of\n     God have only made us more fitted for his call; so that, _what\n     had been announced before by many Signs and Words and\n     Mysteries during so many centuries_, should not be doubtful or\n     uncertain in the days of the gospel. . . God has not provided\n     for the interests of men by a _new council_ or by a _late\n     compassion_; but he had instituted from the beginning for all\n     men, _one and the same path of salvation_.\"[515:2]\n\nThis is equivalent to saying that, \"God, in his '_late compassion_,' has\nsent his Son, Christ Jesus, to save _us_, therefore do not complain or\n'murmur' about 'the lateness of his coming,' for the Lord has already\nprovided for those who _preceded us_; he has given them '_the same path\nof salvation_' by sending to _them_, as he has sent to _us_, a\n_Redeemer_ and a _Saviour_.\"\n\nJustin Martyr, in his dialogue with Typho,[515:3] makes a similar\nconfession (as we have already seen in our last chapter), wherein he\nsays that there exists not a people, civilized or semi-civilized, who\nhave not offered up prayers in the name of a _crucified Saviour_ to the\nFather and Creator of all things.\n\nAdd to this medley the fact that St. Iren\u00e6us (A. D. 192), one of the\nmost celebrated, most respected, and most quoted of the early Christian\nFathers, tells us on the authority of his master, Polycarp, who had it\nfrom St. John himself, and from all the old people of Asia, that Jesus\nwas not crucified at the time stated in the Gospels, but that he lived\nto be nearly _fifty_ years old. The passage which, most fortunately, has\nescaped the destroyers of all such evidence, is to be found in Iren\u00e6us'\nsecond book against heresies,[515:4] of which the following is a\nportion:\n\n     \"As the chief part of thirty years belongs to youth, and\n     every one will confess him to be such till the fortieth year:\n     but from the fortieth year to the fiftieth he declines into\n     old age, _which our Lord (Jesus) having attained he taught us\n     the Gospel, and all the elders who, in Asia, assembled with\n     John, the disciple of the Lord, testify; and as John himself\n     had taught them_. And he (John?) remained with them till the\n     time of Trajan. And some of them saw not only John but other\n     Apostles, _and heard the same thing from them, and bear the\n     same testimony to this revelation_.\"\n\nThe escape of this passage from the destroyers can be accounted for only\nin the same way as the passage of Minucius Felix (quoted in Chapter XX.)\nconcerning the Pagans worshiping a crucifix. These two passages escaped\nfrom among, probably, hundreds destroyed, of which we know nothing,\nunder the decrees of the emperors, yet remaining, by which they were\nordered to be destroyed.\n\nIn John viii. 56, Jesus is made to say to the Jews: \"Your father Abraham\nrejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad.\" Then said the Jews\nunto him: \"Thou art not yet _fifty_ years old, and hast thou seen\nAbraham?\"\n\nIf Jesus was then but about _thirty_ years of age, the Jews would\nevidently have said: \"thou art not yet _forty_ years old,\" and would not\nhave been likely to say: \"thou art not yet _fifty_ years old,\" unless he\nwas past forty.\n\nThere was a tradition current among the early Christians, that _Annas_\nwas high-priest when Jesus was crucified. This is evident from the\n_Acts_.[516:1] Now, Annas, or Ananias, _was not high-priest until about\nthe year 48 A. D._;[516:2] therefore, if Jesus was crucified at that\ntime he must have been about _fifty_ years of age;[516:3] but, as we\nremarked elsewhere, there exists, outside of the New Testament, no\nevidence whatever, in book, inscription, or monument, that Jesus of\nNazareth was either scourged or crucified under Pontius Pilate.\nJosephus, Tacitus, Plinius, Philo, nor any of their contemporaries, ever\nrefer to the fact of this crucifixion, or express any belief\nthereon.[516:4] In the Talmud--the book containing Jewish\ntraditions--Jesus is not referred to as the \"crucified one,\" but as the\n\"hanged one,\"[516:5] while elsewhere it is narrated he was _stoned_ to\ndeath; so that it is evident they were ignorant of the manner of death\nwhich he suffered.[516:6]\n\nIn _Sanhedr. 43 a_, Jesus it said to have had five disciples, among\nwhom were Mattheaus and Thaddeus. He is called \"That Man,\" \"The\nNazarine,\" \"The Fool,\" and \"The Hung.\" Thus Aben Ezra says that\nConstantine put on his _labarum_ \"a figure of the hung;\" and, according\nto R. Bechai, the Christians were called \"Worshipers of the Hung.\"\n\nLittle is said about Jesus in the _Talmud_, except that he was a scholar\nof Joshua Ben Perachiah (who lived a century before the time assigned by\nthe Christians for the birth of Jesus), accompanied him into Egypt,\nthere learned magic, and was a seducer of the people, and was finally\nput to death by being stoned, and then hung as a blasphemer.\n\n\"The conclusion is, that no clearly defined traces of the personal Jesus\nremain on the surface, or beneath the surface, of Christendom. The\nsilence of Josephus and other secular historians may be accounted for\nwithout falling back on a theory of hostility or contempt.[517:1] The\n_Christ_-idea cannot be spared from Christian development, but the\npersonal Jesus, in some measure, can be.\"\n\n\"The person of Jesus, though it may have been immense, is indistinct.\nThat a great character was there may be conceded; but precisely wherein\nthe character was great, is left to our _conjecture_. Of the eminent\npersons who have swayed the spiritual destinies of mankind, none has\nmore completely disappeared from the critical view. The ideal image\nwhich Christians have, for nearly two thousand years, worshiped under\nthe name of Jesus, has no authentic, distinctly visible, counterpart in\nhistory.\"\n\n\"His followers have gone on with the process of idealization, placing\nhim higher and higher; making his personal existence more and more\nessential; insisting more and more urgently on the necessity of private\nintercourse with him; letting the Father subside into the background, as\nan 'effluence,' and the Holy Ghost lapse from individual identity into\nimpersonal influence, in order that he might be all in all as\nRegenerator and Saviour. From age to age the personal Jesus has been\nmade the object of an extreme adoration, till now _faith_ in the living\nChrist is the heart of the Gospel; philosophy, science, culture,\nhumanity are thrust resolutely aside, and the great teachers of the age\nare extinguished in order that _his_ light may shine.\" But, as Mr.\nFrothingham remarks, in \"The Cradle of the Christ\": \"In the order of\nexperience, historical and biographical truth is discovered by stripping\noff layer after layer of exaggeration, and going back to the statements\nof contemporaries. As a rule, figures are _reduced_, not enlarged, by\ncriticism. The influence of admiration is recognized as distorting and\nfalsifying, while exalting. The process of legend-making begins\nimmediately, goes on rapidly and with accelerating speed, and must be\nliberally allowed for by the seeker after truth. In scores of instances\nthe historical individual turns out to be very much smaller than he was\npainted by his terrified or loving worshipers. In no single case has it\nbeen established that he was greater, or as great. It is, no doubt,\nconceivable that such a case should occur, but it never has occurred, in\nknown instances, and cannot be presumed to have occurred in any\nparticular instance. The presumptions are against the correctness of the\nglorified image. The disposition to exaggerate is so much stronger than\nthe disposition to underrate, that even really great men are placed\nhigher than they belong oftener than lower. The historical method works\nbackwards. Knowledge shrinks the man.\"[518:1]\n\nAs we are allowed to _conjecture_ as to what is true in the Gospel\nhistory, we shall now do so.\n\nThe death of Herod, which occurred a few years before the time assigned\nfor the birth of Jesus, was followed by frightful social and political\nconvulsions in Judea. For two or three years all the elements of\ndisorder were abroad. Between pretenders to the vacant throne of Herod,\n_and aspirants to the Messianic throne of David_, Judea was torn and\ndevastated. Revolt assumed the wildest form, the higher enthusiasm of\nfaith yielded to the lower fury of _fanaticism_; the celestial visions\nof a kingdom of heaven were completely banished by the smoke and flame\nof political hate. _Claimant after claimant of the dangerous supremacy\nof the Messiah appeared, pitched a camp in the wilderness, raised the\nbanner, gathered a force, was attacked, defeated, banished or\ncrucified_; but _the frenzy did not abate_.\n\nThe popular aspect of the Messianic hope was _political_, not religious\nor moral. The name _Messiah_ was synonymous with _King of the Jews_; it\nsuggested _political designs and aspirations_. The assumption of that\ncharacter by any individual drew on him the vigilance of the police.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 42]\n\n[Illustration: Fig. No. 43]\n\nThat Jesus of Nazareth assumed the character of \"_Messiah_,\" as did many\nbefore and after him, and that his crucifixion[520:1] was simply an act\nof the law on _political grounds_, just as it was in the case of other\nso-called _Messiahs_, we believe to be the truth of the matter.[520:2]\n\"He is represented as being a native of _Galilee_, the _insurgent\ndistrict of the country_; nurtured, if not born, in Nazareth, one of its\nchief cities; reared as a youth amid traditions of patriotic devotion,\nand amid scenes associated with heroic dreams and endeavors. The\nGalileans were restless, excitable people, beyond the reach of\nconventionalities, remote from the centre of power, ecclesiastical and\nsecular, simple in their lives, bold of speech, independent in thought,\nthoroughgoing in the sort of radicalism that is common among people who\nlive 'out of the world,' who have leisure to discuss the exciting topics\nof the day, but too little knowledge, culture, or sense of social\nresponsibility to discuss them soundly. Their mental discontent and\nmoral intractability were proverbial. They were belligerents. The Romans\nhad more trouble with them than with the natives of any other province.\n_The Messiahs all started out from Galilee, and never failed to collect\nfollowers round their standard._ The Galileans, more than others, lived\nin the anticipation of the Deliverer. The reference of the Messiah to\nGalilee is therefore already an indication of the character he is to\nassume.\"\n\nTo show the state the country must have been in at that time, we will\nquote an incident or two from Josephus.\n\nA religious enthusiast called the Samaritans together upon Mount\nGerizim, and assured them that he would work a miracle. \"So they came\nthither _armed_, and thought the discourse of the man probable; and as\nthey abode at a certain village, which was called Tirathaba, they got\nthe rest together of them, and desired to go up the mountain in a great\nmultitude together: but Pilate prevented their going up, by seizing upon\nthe roads by a great band of horsemen and footmen, who fell upon those\nwho were gotten together in the village; and when it came to an action,\nsome of them they slew, and others of them they put to flight, and took\na great many alive, the principal of whom, and also the most potent of\nthose that fled away, Pilate ordered to be slain.\"[521:1]\n\nNot long before this Pilate pillaged the temple treasury, and used the\n\"sacred money\" to bring a current of water to Jerusalem. The _Jews_ were\ndispleased with this, \"and many ten thousands of the people got together\nand made a clamor against him. Some of them used reproaches, and abused\nthe man, as crowds of such people usually do. So he habited a great\nnumber of his soldiers in their habits, who carried daggers under their\ngarments, and sent them to a place where they might surround them. So he\nbade the Jews himself go away; but they boldly casting reproaches upon\nhim, he gave the soldiers that signal which had been beforehand agreed\non; who laid upon them with much greater blows than Pilate had commanded\nthem, and equally punished those that were tumultuous, and those that\nwere not; nor did they spare them in the least: and since the people\nwere unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for what they were about,\nthere were a great number of them slain by this means, and others ran\naway wounded. And thus an end was put to this sedition.\"[522:1]\n\nIt was such deeds as these, inflicted upon the Jews by their oppressors,\nthat made them think of the promised Messiah who was to deliver them\nfrom bondage, and which made many zealous fanatics imagine themselves to\nbe \"He who should come.\"[522:2]\n\nThere is reason to believe, as we have said, that Jesus of Nazareth\nassumed the title of \"_Messiah_.\" His age was throbbing and bursting\nwith suppressed energy. The pressure of the Roman Empire was required to\nkeep it down. \"The Messianic hope had such vitality that it condensed\ninto moments the moral result of ages. The common people were watching\nto see the heavens open, interpreted peals of thunder as angel voices,\nand saw divine potents in the flight of birds. Mothers dreamed their\nboys would be Messiah. The wildest preacher drew a crowd. The heart of\nthe nation swelled big with the conviction that the hour of destiny was\nabout to strike, that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. _The crown was\nready for any kingly head that might assume it._\"[522:3]\n\nThe actions of this man, throughout his public career, we believe to be\nthose of a zealot whose zeal overrode considerations of wisdom; in fact,\na Galilean fanatic. Pilate condemns him reluctantly, feeling that he is\na harmless visionary, but is obliged to condemn him as one of the many\nwho persistently claimed to be the \"_Messiah_,\" or \"_King of the Jews_,\"\nan enemy of C\u00e6sar, an instrument against the empire, a pretender to the\nthrone, a bold inciter to rebellion. The death he undergoes is the death\nof the traitor and mutineer,[522:4] the death that was inflicted on many\nsuch claimants, the death that would have been decreed to Judas the\nGalilean,[522:5] had he been captured, and that was inflicted on\nthousands of his deluded followers. _It was the Romans, then, who\ncrucified the man Jesus, and not the Jews._\n\n\"In the Roman law the _State_ is the main object, for which the\nindividual must live and die, with or against his will. In Jewish law,\nthe _person_ is made the main object, for which the State must live and\ndie; because the fundamental idea of the Roman law is power, and the\nfundamental idea of Jewish law is justice.\"[523:1] _Therefore Caiaphas\nand his conspirators did not act from the Jewish standpoint._ They\nrepresented _Rome_, her principles, interest, and barbarous\ncaprices.[523:2] Not one point in the whole trial agrees with Jewish\nlaws and custom.[523:3] It is impossible to save it; it must be given up\nas a transparent and unskilled invention of a _Gentile Christian_, who\nknew nothing of Jewish law and custom, and was ignorant of the state of\ncivilization in Palestine, in the time of Jesus.\n\nJesus had been proclaimed the \"_Messiah_,\" the \"_Ruler of the Jews_,\"\nand the restorer of the kingdom of heaven. No Roman ear could understand\nthese pretensions, otherwise than in their rebellious sense. That\nPontius Pilate certainly understood under the title, \"_Messiah_,\" the\nking (the political chief of the nation), is evident from the\nsubscription of the cross, \"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,\" which\nhe did not remove in spite of all protestations of the Jews. There is\nonly one point in which the _four_ Gospels agree, and that is, that\nearly in the morning Jesus was delivered over to the _Roman governor_,\nPilate; that he was accused of high-treason against _Rome_--having been\nproclaimed King of the Jews--and that in consequence thereof he was\ncondemned first to be scourged, and then to be crucified; all of which\nwas done in hot haste. _In all other points the narratives of the\nEvangelists differ widely_, and so essentially that one story cannot be\nmade of the four accounts; nor can any particular points stand the test\nof historical criticism, and vindicate its substantiality as a fact.\n\nThe Jews could not have crucified Jesus, _according to their laws_, if\nthey had inflicted on him the highest penalty of the law, since\ncrucifixion was _exclusively Roman_.[524:1] If the priests, elders,\nPharisees, Jews, or all of them wanted Jesus out of the way so badly,\nwhy did they not have him quietly put to death while he was in their\npower, and done at once. The writer of the fourth Gospel seems to have\nunderstood this difficulty, and informs us that they could not kill him,\n_because he had prophesied what death he should die_; so he could die no\nother. It was dire necessity, that the heathen symbol of life and\nimmortality--the cross[524:2]--should be brought to honor among the\nearly Christians, and Jesus had to die on the cross (the Roman Gibbet),\n_according to John_[524:3] simply because it was so _prophesied_. The\nfact is, the crucifixion story, like the symbol of the crucifix itself,\n_came from abroad_.[524:4] It was told with the avowed intention of\nexonerating the Romans, and criminating the Jews, so they make the Roman\ngovernor take water, \"and wash his hands before the multitude, saying,\n_I_ am innocent of the blood of this _just person_: see _ye_ to it.\" To\nbe sure of their case, they make the Jews say: \"_His blood be on us, and\non our children._\"[524:5]\n\n\"Another fact is this. Just at the period of time when misfortune and\nruination befell the Jews most severely, in the first post-apostolic\ngeneration, the Christians were most active in making proselytes among\nGentiles. To have then preached that _a crucified Jewish Rabbi of\nGalilee_ was their Saviour, would have sounded supremely ridiculous to\nthose heathens. To have added thereto, that the said Rabbi was crucified\nby command of a Roman Governor, because he had been proclaimed 'King of\nthe Jews,' would have been fatal to the whole scheme. In the opinion of\nthe vulgar heathen, where the Roman Governor and Jewish Rabbi came in\nconflict, the former must unquestionably be right, and the latter\ndecidedly wrong. To have preached a Saviour who was justly condemned to\ndie the death of a slave and villain, would certainly have proved fatal\nto the whole enterprise. Therefore it was necessary to exonerate Pilate\nand the Romans, and to throw the whole burden upon the Jews, in order to\nestablish the innocence and martyrdom of Jesus in the heathen mind.\"\n\nThat the crucifixion story, as related in the synoptic Gospels, was\nwritten _abroad_, and _not_ in the Hebrew, or in the dialect spoken by\nthe Hebrews of Palestine, is evident from the following particular\npoints, noticed by Dr. Isaac M. Wise, a learned Hebrew scholar:\n\nThe _Mark_ and _Matthew_ narrators call the place of crucifixion\n\"_Golgotha_,\" to which the Mark narrator adds, \"which is, being\ninterpreted, _the place of skulls_.\" The Matthew narrator adds the same\ninterpretation, which the John narrator copies without the word\n\"_Golgotha_,\" and adds, _it was a place near Jerusalem_. The Luke\nnarrator calls the place of crucifixion \"_Calvary_,\" which is the LATIN\n_Calvaria_, viz., \"_the place of bare skulls_.\" Therefore the name does\nnot refer to the form of the hill, _but to the bare skulls upon\nit_.[525:1] Now \"_there is no such word as GOLGOTHA anywhere in Jewish\nliterature, and there is no such place mentioned anywhere near Jerusalem\nor in Palestine by any writer_; and, in fact, there was no such place;\nthere could have been none near Jerusalem. The Jews buried their dead\ncarefully. Also the executed convict had to be buried before night. No\nbare skulls, bleaching in the sun, could be found in Palestine,\nespecially not near Jerusalem. _It was law, that a bare skull, the bare\nspinal column, and also the imperfect skeleton of any human being, make\nman unclean by contact, and also by having either in the house._ Man,\nthus made unclean, could not eat of any sacrificial meal, or of the\nsacred tithe, before he had gone through the ceremonies of purification;\nand whatever he touched was also unclean (Maimonides, Hil. Tumath Meth.,\niii. 1). Any impartial reader can see that the object of this law was to\nprevent the barbarous practice of heathens of having human skulls and\nskeletons lie about exposed to the decomposing influences of the\natmosphere, as the Romans did in Palestine after the fall of Bethar,\nwhen for a long time they would give no permission to bury the dead\npatriots. This law was certainly enforced most rigidly in the vicinity\nof Jerusalem, of which they maintained \"Jerusalem is more holy than all\nother cities surrounded with walls,\" so that it was not permitted to\nkeep a dead body over night in the city, or to transport through it\nhuman bones. Jerusalem was the place of the sacrificial meals and the\nconsumption of the sacred tithe, which was considered very holy\n(Maimonides, Hil. Beth Habchirah, vii. 14); there, and in the\nsurroundings, skulls and skeletons were certainly never seen on the\nsurface of the earth, and consequently there was no place called\n\"_Golgotha_,\" and there was no such word in the Hebrew dialect. It is a\nword coined by the Mark narrator to translate the Latin term\n\"_Calvaria_,\" which, together with the crucifixion story, _came from\nRome_. But after the Syrian word was made, nobody understood it, and the\nMark narrator was obliged to expound it.\"[526:1]\n\nIn the face of the arguments produced, the crucifixion story, as related\nin the Gospels, cannot be upheld as an historical fact. There exists,\ncertainly, no rational ground whatever for the belief that the affair\ntook place _in the manner the Evangelists describe it_. All that can be\nsaved of the whole story is, that after Jesus had answered the first\nquestion before Pilate, viz., \"Art thou the King of the Jews?\" which it\nis natural to suppose he was asked, and also this can be supposed only,\nhe was given over to the Roman soldiers to be disposed of as soon as\npossible, before his admirers and followers could come to his rescue, or\nany demonstration in his favor be made. He was captured in the night, as\nquietly as possible, and guarded in some place, probably in the\nhigh-priest's court, completely secluded from the eyes of the populace;\nand early in the morning he was brought before Pilate as cautiously and\nquietly as it could be done, and at _his_ command, disposed of by the\nsoldiers as quickly as practicable, and in a manner not known to the\nmass of the people. All this was done, most likely, while the multitude\nworshiped on Mount Moriah, and nobody had an intimation of the tragical\nend of the Man of Nazareth.\n\nThe bitter cry of Jesus, as he hung on the tree, \"My God, my God, why\nhast thou forsaken me?\" disclosed the hope of deliverance that till the\nlast moment sustained his heart, and betrayed the anguish felt when the\nhope was blighted; the sneers and hooting of the Roman soldiers\nexpressed their conviction that he had pretended to be what he was not.\n\nThe miracles ascribed to him, and the moral precepts put into his mouth,\nin after years, are what might be expected; history was simply repeating\nitself; the same thing had been done for others. \"The preacher of the\nMount, the prophet of the Beatitudes, does but repeat, with persuasive\nlips, what the law-givers of his race proclaimed in mighty tones of\ncommand.\"[527:1]\n\nThe martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth has been gratefully acknowledged by\nhis disciples, whose lives he saved by the sacrifice of his own, and by\ntheir friends, who would have fallen by the score had he not prevented\nthe rebellion ripe at Jerusalem.[527:2] Posterity, infatuated with Pagan\napotheoses, made of that simple martyrdom an interesting legend, colored\nwith the myths of resurrection and ascension to that very heaven which\nthe telescope has put out of man's way. It is a novel myth, made to suit\nthe gross conceptions of ex-heathens. Modern theology, understanding\nwell enough that the myth cannot be saved, seeks refuge in the greatness\nand self-denial of the man who died for an idea, as though Jesus had\nbeen the only man who had died for an idea. Thousands, tens of thousands\nof Jews, Christians, Mohammedans and Heathens, have died for ideas, and\nsome of them were very foolish. But Jesus did not die for an idea. He\nnever advanced anything new, that we know of, to die for. He was not\naccused of saying or teaching anything _original_. Nobody has ever been\nable to discover anything new and original in the Gospels. He evidently\ndied to save the lives of his friends, and this is much more meritorious\nthan if he had died for a questionable idea. But then the whole fabric\nof vicarious atonement is demolished, and modern theology cannot get\nover the absurdity that the Almighty Lord of the Universe, the infinite\nand eternal cause of all causes, had to kill some innocent person in\norder to be reconciled to the human race. However abstractly they\nspeculate and subtilize, there is always an undigested bone of man-god,\ngod-man, and vicarious atonement in the theological stomach. Therefore\ntheology appears so ridiculous in the eyes of modern philosophy. The\ntheological speculation cannot go far enough to hold pace with modern\nastronomy. However nicely the idea may be dressed, the great God of the\nimmense universe looks too small upon the cross of Calvary; and the\nhuman family is too large, has too numerous virtues and vices, to be\nperfectly represented by, and dependent on, one Rabbi of Galilee.\nSpeculate as they may, one way or another, they must connect the Eternal\nand the fate of the human family with the person and fate of Jesus. That\nis the very thing which deprives Jesus of his crown of martyrdom, and\nbrings religion in perpetual conflict with philosophy. It was not the\nreligious idea which was crucified in Jesus and resurrected with him, as\nwith all its martyrs; although his belief in immortality may have\nstrengthened him in the agony of death. It was the idea of duty to his\ndisciples and friends which led him to the realms of death. This\ndeserves admiration, but no more. It demonstrates the nobility of human\nnature, but proves nothing in regard to providence, or the providential\nscheme of government.\n\nThe Christian story, _as the Gospels narrate it_, cannot stand the test\nof criticism. You approach it critically and it falls. _Dogmatic\nChristology_ built upon it, has, therefore, a very frail foundation.\nMost so-called lives of Christ, or biographies of Jesus, are works of\nfiction, erected by imagination on the shifting foundation of meagre and\nunreliable records. There are very few passages in the Gospels which can\nstand the rigid application of honest criticism. In modern science and\nphilosophy, orthodox _Christology_ is out of the question.\n\n\"This 'sacred tradition' has in itself a glorious vitality, which\nChristians may unblameably entitle immortal. But it certainly will not\nlose in beauty, grandeur, or truth, if all the details concerning Jesus\nwhich are current in the Gospels, and all the mythology of his person,\nbe forgotten or discredited. Christianity will remain without Christ.\n\n\"This formula has in it nothing paradoxical. Rightly interpreted, it\nsimply means: _All that is best in Jud\u00e6o-Christian sentiment, moral or\nspiritual, will survive, without Rabbinical fancies, cultured by\nperverse logic; without huge piles of fable built upon them: without the\nOriental Satan, a formidable rival to the throne of God; without the\nPagan invention of Hell and Devils_.\"\n\nIn modern criticism, the Gospel sources become so utterly worthless and\nunreliable, that it takes more than ordinary faith to believe a large\nportion thereof to be true. The _Eucharist_ was not established by\nJesus, and cannot be called a sacrament. The trials of Jesus are\npositively not true: they are pure inventions.[528:1] The crucifixion\nstory, _as narrated_, is certainly not true, and it is extremely\ndifficult to save the bare fact that Jesus was crucified. What can the\ncritic do with books in which a few facts must be ingeniously guessed\nfrom under the mountain of ghost stories,[528:2] childish\nmiracles,[529:1] and dogmatic tendencies?[529:2] It is absurd to expect\nof him to regard them as sources of religious instruction, in preference\nto any other mythologies and legends. That is the point at which modern\ncritics have arrived, therefore, the Gospels have become books for the\nmuseum and arch\u00e6ologist, for students of mythology and ancient\nliterature.\n\nThe spirit of dogmatic Christology hovers still over a portion of\ncivilized society, in antic organizations, disciplines, and hereditary\nforms of faith and worship; in science and philosophy, in the realm of\ncriticism, its day is past. The universal, religious, and ethical\nelement of Christianity has no connection whatever with Jesus or his\napostles, with the Gospel, or the Gospel story; _it exists independent\nof any person or story_. Therefore it needs neither the Gospel story nor\nits heroes. If we profit by the example, by the teachings, or the\ndiscoveries of men of past ages, to these men we are indebted, and are\nin duty bound to acknowledge our indebtedness; but why should we give to\n_one_ individual, Jesus of Nazareth, the credit of it _all_? It is true,\nthat by selecting from the Gospels whatever portions one may choose, a\n_common practice among Christian writers_, a noble and grand character\nmay be depicted, _but who was the original of this character_? We may\nfind the same individual outside of the Gospels, and before the time of\nJesus. The moral precepts of the Gospels, also, were in existence before\nthe Gospels themselves were in existence.[529:3] Why, then, extol the\nhero of the Gospels, and forget all others?\n\nAs it was at the end of Roman Paganism, so is it now: the masses are\ndeceived and fooled, or do it for themselves, and persons of vivacious\nfantasies prefer the masquerade of delusion, to the simple sublimity of\nnaked but majestic truth. The decline of the church as a political power\nproves beyond a doubt the decline of Christian faith. The conflicts of\nChurch and State all over the European continent, and the hostility\nbetween intelligence and _dogmatic Christianity_, demonstrates the death\nof _Christology_ in the consciousness of modern culture. It is useless\nto shut our eyes to these facts. Like rabbinical Judaism, dogmatic\nChristianity was the product of ages without typography, telescopes,\nmicroscopes, telegraphs, and power of steam. \"These right arms of\nintelligence have fought the titanic battles, conquered and demolished\nthe ancient castles, and remove now the d\u00e9bris, preparing the ground\nupon which there shall be the gorgeous temple of humanity, one universal\nrepublic, one universal religion of intelligence, and one great\nuniversal brotherhood. This is the new covenant, the gospel of humanity\nand reason.\"\n\n     \"----Hoaryheaded selfishness has felt\n      Its death-blow, and is tottering to the grave:\n      A brighter morn awaits the human day;\n      War with its million horrors, and fierce hell,\n      Shall live but in the memory of time,\n      Who, like a penitent libertine, shall start,\n      Look back, and shudder at his younger years.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[508:1] \"For knowledge of the man Jesus, of his idea and his aims, and\nof the outward form of his career, the _New Testament_ is our only hope.\nIf this hope fails, the pillared firmament of his starry fame is\nrottenness; the base of Christianity, so far as it was personal and\nindividual, is built on stubble.\" (John W. Chadwick.)\n\n[508:2] M. Renan, after declaring Jesus to be a \"_fanatic_,\" and\nadmitting that, \"his friends thought him, at moments, beside himself;\"\nand that, \"his enemies declared him possessed by a devil,\" says: \"The\nman here delineated merits a place at the summit of human grandeur.\"\n\"This is the Supreme man, a sublime personage;\" \"to call him divine is\nno exaggeration.\" Other liberal writers have written in the same strain.\n\n[509:1] \"The Christ of Paul was not a person, but an _idea_; he took no\npains to learn the facts about the individual Jesus. He actually boasted\nthat the Apostles had taught him nothing. _His_ Christ was an ideal\nconception, evolved from his own feeling and imagination, and taking on\nnew powers and attributes from year to year to suit each new emergency.\"\n(John W. Chadwick.)\n\n[510:1] This subject is considered in Appendix D.\n\n[510:2] _Scythia_ was a name employed in ancient times, to denote a\nvast, indefinite, and almost unknown territory north and east of the\nBlack Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral.\n\n[510:3] See Herodotus, book 4, ch. 82.\n\n[510:4] See Dupuis, p. 264.\n\n[510:5] See Knight's Anct. Art and Mythology, p. 96, and Mysteries of\nAdoni, p. 90.\n\n[510:6] See Dupuis, p. 264.\n\n[510:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 7.\n\n[510:8] See Ibid. vol. i. p. 27.\n\n[510:9] Ibid.\n\n[510:10] Ibid. vol. i. p. 2, and Bonwick, p. 155.\n\n[510:11] See Chambers, art. \"Jonah.\"\n\n[510:12] See Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 152, and Goldzhier, p. 280.\n\n[510:13] See Curious Myths, p. 264.\n\n[511:1] \"Whilst, in one part of the Christian world, the chief objects\nof interest were the _human_ nature and _human_ life of Jesus, in\nanother part of the Christian world the views taken of his person\nbecause so _idealistic_, that his humanity _was reduced to a phantom\nwithout reality_. The various _Gnostic_ systems generally agreed in\nsaying that the Christ was an _\u00c6on_, the redeemer of the _spirits_ of\nmen, and that he had little or no contact with their corporeal nature.\"\n(A. R\u00e9ville: Hist. of the Dogma of the Deity of Jesus.)\n\n[511:2] Epiphanius says that there were TWENTY heresies BEFORE CHRIST,\nand there can be no doubt that there is much truth in the observation,\nfor most of the rites and doctrines of the Christians of all sects\nexisted before the time of Jesus of Nazareth.\n\n[512:1] \"Accipis avengelium? et maxime. Proinde ergo et natum accipis\nChristum. Non ita est. Neque enim sequitur ut si evangelium accipio,\nidcirco et natum accipiam Christum. Ergo non putas cum ex Maria Virgine\nesse? Manes dixit, Absit ut Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum per naturalia\npudenda mulieris de scendisse confitear.\" (Lardner's Works, vol. iv. p.\n20.)\n\n[512:2] \"I maintain,\" says he, \"that the Son of God was _born_: why am I\nnot ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why! because it is itself a\nshameful thing--I maintain that the Son of God _died_: well, _that_ is\nwholly credible because it is monstrously absurd. I maintain that after\nhaving been buried, _he rose again_: and _that_ I take to be absolutely\ntrue, _because it was manifestly impossible_.\"\n\n[512:3] King's Gnostics, p. 1.\n\n[512:4] I. John, iv. 2, 3.\n\n[512:5] II. John, 7.\n\n[512:6] 1st Book Hermas: Apoc., ch. iii.\n\n[512:7] Chapter II.\n\n[513:1] Chapter II.\n\n[513:2] Chapter III.\n\n[513:3] Chapter III.\n\n[513:4] I. Timothy, iii. 16.\n\n[513:5] Iren\u00e6us, speaking of them, says: \"They hold that men ought not\nto confess him who _was crucified_, but him who came in the form of man,\n_and was supposed to be crucified_, and was called Jesus.\" (See Lardner:\nvol. viii. p. 353.) They could not conceive of \"the first-begotten Son\nof God\" being put to death on a cross, and suffering like an ordinary\nbeing, so they thought Simon of Cyrene must have been substituted for\nhim, as the ram was substituted in the place of Isaac. (See Ibid. p.\n857.)\n\n[513:6] Apol. 1, ch. xxi.\n\n[514:1] Koran, ch. iv.\n\n[514:2] Chapter XX.\n\n[514:3] Chapter II.\n\n[514:4] Col. i. 23.\n\n[514:5] I. Timothy, iii. 16.\n\n[514:6] The authenticity of these Epistles has been freely questioned,\neven by the most conservative critics.\n\n[515:1] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, and Chapter XXXVII., this work.\n\n[515:2] Quoted by Max M\u00fcller: The Science of Relig., p. 228.\n\n[515:3] Ch. cxvii.\n\n[515:4] Ch. xxii.\n\n[516:1] Ch. iv. 5.\n\n[516:2] Josephus: Antiq., b. xx. ch. v. 2.\n\n[516:3] It is true there was another Annas high-priest at Jerusalem, but\nthis was when _Gratus_ was procurator of Judea, some twelve or fifteen\nyears before Pontius Pilate held the same office. (See Josephus: Antiq.,\nbook xviii. ch. ii. 3.)\n\n[516:4] See Appendix D.\n\n[516:5] See the Martyrdom of Jesus, p. 100.\n\n[516:6] According to Dio Cassius, Plutarch, Strabo and others, there\nexisted, in the time of Herod, among the Roman Syrian heathens, a\nwide-spread and deep sympathy for a \"_Crucified King of the Jews_.\" This\nwas the youngest son of Aristobul, the heroic Maccabee. In the year 43\nB. C., we find this young man--_Antigonus_--in Palestine claiming the\ncrown, his cause having been declared just by Julius C\u00e6sar. Allied with\nthe Parthians, he maintained himself in his royal position for six years\nagainst Herod and Mark Antony. At last, after a heroic life and reign,\nhe fell in the hands of this Roman. \"_Antony now gave the kingdom to a\ncertain Herod, and, having stretched Antigonus on a cross and scourged\nhim, a thing never done before to any other king by the Romans, he put\nhim to death._\" (Dio Cassius, book xlix. p. 405.)\n\nThe fact that all prominent historians of those days mention this\nextraordinary occurrence, and the manner they did it, show that it was\nconsidered one of Mark Antony's worst crimes: and that the sympathy with\nthe \"Crucified King\" was wide-spread and profound. (See The Martyrdom of\nJesus of Nazareth, p. 106.)\n\nSome writers think that there is a connection between this and the\nGospel story; that they, in a certain measure, put Jesus in the place of\nAntigonus, just as they put Herod in the place of Kansa. (See Chapter\nXVIII.)\n\n[517:1] Canon Farrar thinks that Josephus' silence on the subject of\nJesus and Christianity, was as deliberate as it was dishonest. (See his\nLife of Christ, vol. i. p. 63.)\n\n[518:1] Many examples might be cited to confirm this view, but the case\nof _Joseph Smith_, in our own time and country, will suffice.\n\nThe Mormons regard him very much as Christians regard Jesus; as the\nMohammedans do Mohammed; or as the Buddhists do Buddha. A coarse sort of\nreligious feeling and fervor appears to have been in Smith's nature. He\nseems, from all accounts, to have been cracked on theology, as so many\nzealots have been, and cracked to such an extent that his early\nacquaintances regarded him as a downright fanatic.\n\nThe common view that he was an impostor is not sustained by what is\nknown of him. He was, in all probability, of unbalanced mind, a\nmonomaniac, as most prophets have been; but there is no reason to think\nthat he did not believe in himself, and substantially in what he taught.\nHe has declared that, when he was about fifteen, he began to reflect on\nthe importance of being prepared for a future state. He went from one\nchurch to another without finding anything to satisfy the hunger of his\nsoul, consequently, he retired into himself; he sought solitude; he\nspent hours and days in meditation and prayer, after the true manner of\nall accredited saints, and was soon repaid by the visits of angels. One\nof these came to him when he was but eighteen years old, and the house\nin which he was seemed filled with consuming fire. The presence--he\nstyles it a personage--had a pace like lightning, and proclaimed himself\nto be an angel of the Lord. He vouchsafed to Smith a vast deal of highly\nimportant information of a celestial order. He told him that his\n(Smith's) prayers had been heard, and his sins forgiven; that the\ncovenant which the Almighty had made with the old Jews was to be\nfulfilled; that the introductory work for the second coming of Christ\nwas now to begin; that the hour for the preaching of the gospel in its\npurity to all peoples was at hand, and that Smith was to be an\ninstrument in the hands of God, to further the divine purpose in the new\ndispensation. The celestial stranger also furnished him with a sketch of\nthe origin, progress, laws and civilization of the American aboriginals,\nand declared that the blessing of heaven had finally been withdrawn from\nthem. To Smith was communicated the momentous circumstance that certain\nplates containing an abridgment of the records of the aboriginals and\nancient prophets, who had lived on this continent, were hidden in a hill\nnear Palmyra. The prophet was counseled to go there and look at them,\nand did so. Not being holy enough to possess them as yet, he passed some\nmonths in spiritual probation, after which the records were put into his\nkeeping. These had been prepared, it is claimed, by a prophet called\nMormon, who had been ordained by God for the purpose, and to conceal\nthem until he should produce them for the benefit of the faithful, and\nunite them with the Bible for the achievement of his will. They form the\ncelebrated Book of Mormon--whence the name Mormon--and are esteemed by\nthe Latter-Day Saints as of equal authority with the Old and New\nTestaments, and as an indispensable supplement thereto, because they\ninclude God's disclosures to the Mormon world. These precious records\nwere sealed up and deposited A. D. 420 in the place where Smith had\nviewed them by the direction of the angel.\n\nThe records were, it is held, in the reformed Egyptian tongue, and Smith\ntranslated them through the inspiration of the angel, and one Oliver\nCowdrey wrote down the translation as reported by the God-possessed\nJoseph. This translation was published in 1830, and its divine origin\nwas attested by a dozen persons--all relatives and friends of Smith.\nOnly these have ever pretended to see the original plates, which have\nalready become traditional. The plates have been frequently called for\nby skeptics, but all in vain. Naturally, warm controversy arose\nconcerning the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and disbelievers have\nasserted that they have indubitable evidence that it is, with the\nexception of various unlettered interpolations, principally borrowed\nfrom a queer, rhapsodical romance written by an eccentric ex-clergyman\nnamed Solomon Spalding.\n\nSmith and his disciples were ridiculed and socially persecuted; but they\nseemed to be ardently earnest, and continued to preach their creed,\nwhich was to the effect that the millennium was at hand; that our\naboriginals were to be converted, and that the New Jerusalem--the last\nresidence and home of the saints--was to be near the centre of this\ncontinent. The Vermont prophet, later on, was repeatedly mobbed, even\nshot at. His narrow escapes were construed as interpositions of divine\nprovidence, but he displayed perfect coolness and intrepidity through\nall his trials. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was\nfirst established in the spring of 1830 at Manchester, N. Y.; but it\nawoke such fierce opposition, particularly from the orthodox, many of\nthem preachers, that Smith and his associates deemed it prudent to move\nfarther west. They established themselves at Kirtland, O., and won there\nmany converts. Hostility to them still continued, and grew so fierce\nthat the body transferred itself to Missouri, and next to Illinois,\nsettling in the latter state near the village of Commerce, which was\nrenamed Nauvoo.\n\nThe Governor and Legislature of Illinois favored the Mormons, but the\nanti-Mormons made war on them in every way, and the custom of \"sealing\nwives,\" which is yet mysterious to the Gentiles, caused serious\noutbreaks, and resulted in the incarceration of the prophet and his\nbrother Hiram at Carthage. Fearing that the two might be released by the\nauthorities, a band of ruffians broke into the jail, in the summer of\n1844, and murdered them in cold blood. This was most fortunate for the\nmemory of Smith and for his doctrines. It placed him in the light of a\nholy martyr, and lent to them a dignity and vitality they had never\nbefore enjoyed.\n\n[520:1] When we speak of Jesus being _crucified_, we do not intend to\nconvey the idea that he was put to death on a cross of the _form_\nadopted by Christians. This cross was the symbol of _life_ and\n_immortality_ among our heathen ancestors (see Chapter XXXIII.), and in\nadopting _Pagan religious symbols_, and baptizing them anew, the\nChristians took this along with others. The crucifixion was not a symbol\nof the _earliest_ church; no trace of it can be found in the Catacombs.\nSome of the earliest that did appear, however, are similar to figures\nNo. 42 and No. 43, above, which represent two of the modes in which the\nRomans crucified their slaves and criminals. (See Chapter XX., on the\nCrucifixion of Jesus.)\n\n[520:2] According to the Matthew and Mark narrators, Jesus' head was\n_anointed_ while sitting at table in the house of Simon the leper. Now,\nthis practice was common among the kings of Israel. It was the sign and\nsymbol of royalty. The word \"_Messiah_\" signifies the \"Anointed One,\"\nand none of the kings of Israel were styled the Messiah unless anointed.\n(See The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth, p. 42.)\n\n[521:1] Josephus: Antiquities, book xviii. ch. iv. 1.\n\n[522:1] Josephus: Antiquities, book xviii. chap. iii. 2.\n\n[522:2] \"From the death of Herod, 4 B. C., to the death of Bar-Cochba,\n132 A. D., no less than _fifty_ different enthusiasts set up as the\nMessiah, and obtained more or less following.\" (John W. Chadwick.)\n\n[522:3] \"There was, at _this time_, a prevalent expectation that some\nremarkable personage was about to appear in Judea. The Jews were\nanxiously looking for the coming of the MESSIAH. This personage, they\nsupposed, would be a _temporal prince_, and they were expecting that he\nwould deliver them from Roman bondage.\" (Albert Barnes: Notes, vol. i.\np. 7.)\n\n\"The central and dominant characteristic of the teaching of the Rabbis,\nwas the certain advent of a great national Deliverer--the MESSIAH. . . .\nThe national mind had become so inflammable, by constant brooding on\nthis one theme, _that any bold spirit rising in revolt against the Roman\npower, could find an army of fierce disciples who trusted that it should\nbe he who would redeem Israel_.\" (Geikie: The Life of Christ, vol. i. p.\n79.)\n\n[522:4] \"The penalty of _crucifixion_, according to Roman law and\ncustom, was inflicted on slaves, and in the provinces _on rebels only_.\"\n(The Martyrdom of Jesus, p. 96.)\n\n[522:5] Judas, the _Gaulonite_ or _Galilean_, as Josephus calls him,\ndeclared, when Cyrenius came to tax the Jewish people, that \"this\ntaxation was no better than an introduction to slavery,\" and exhorted\nthe nation to assert their liberty. He therefore prevailed upon his\ncountrymen to revolt. (See Josephus: Antiq., b. xviii. ch. i. 1, and\nWars of the Jews, b. ii. ch. viii. 1.)\n\n[523:1] The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth, p. 30.\n\n[523:2] \"That the High Council did accuse Jesus, I suppose no one will\ndoubt; and since they could neither wish or expect the Roman Governor to\nmake himself judge of _their sacred law_, it becomes certain that their\naccusation was _purely political_, and took such a form as this: 'He has\naccepted tumultuous shouts that he is the legitimate and predicted _King\nof Israel_, and in this character has ridden into Jerusalem with the\nforms of state understood to be _royal_ and _sacred_; with what purpose,\nwe ask, if not to overturn _our_ institutions, and _your_ dominion?' If\nJesus spoke, at the crisis which Matthew represents, the virulent speech\nattributed to him (Matt. xxiii.), we may well believe that this gave a\nnew incentive to the rulers; for it is such as no government in Europe\nwould overlook or forgive: _but they are not likely to have expected\nPilate to care for any conduct which might be called an ecclesiastical\nbroil_. The assumption of _royalty_ was clearly the point of their\nattack. Even the mildest man among them may have thought his conduct\ndangerous and needing repression.\" (Francis W. Newman, \"What is\nChristianity without Christ?\")\n\n_According to the Synoptic Gospels_, Jesus was completely innocent of\nthe charge which has sometimes been brought against him, _that he wished\nto be considered as a God come down to earth_. His enemies certainly\nwould not have failed to make such a pretension the basis and the\ncontinual theme of their accusations, if it had been possible to do so.\n_The two grounds upon which he was brought before the Sanhedrim were,\nfirst, the bold words he was supposed to have spoken about the temple;\nand, secondly and chiefly, the fact that he claimed to be the Messiah_,\ni. e., \"_The King of the Jews_.\" (Albert R\u00e9ville: \"The Doctrine of the\nDogma of the Deity of Jesus,\" p. 7.)\n\n[523:3] See The Martyrdom of Jesus, p. 30.\n\n[524:1] See _note_ 4, p. 522.\n\n[524:2] See Matt. xx. 19.\n\n[524:3] John xviii. 31, 32.\n\n[524:4] That is, the crucifixion story _as related in the Gospels_. See\n_note_ 1, p. 520.\n\n[524:5] Matthew xxvii. 24, 25.\n\n[525:1] Commentators, in endeavoring to get over this difficulty, say\nthat, \"it _may_ come from the look or form of the spot itself, bald,\nround, and skull-like, and therefore a mound or hillock,\" but, if it\nmeans \"_the place of bare skulls_,\" no such construction as the above\ncan be put to the word.\n\n[526:1] The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth, pp. 109-111.\n\n[527:1] O. B. Frothingham: The Cradle of the Christ, p. 11.\n\nThe reader is referred to \"Judaism: Its Doctrines and Precepts,\" by Dr.\nIsaac M. Wise. Printed at the office of the \"American Israelite,\"\nCincinnati, Ohio.\n\n[527:2] If Jesus, instead of giving himself up quietly, had _resisted_\nagainst being arrested, there certainly would have been bloodshed, as\nthere was on many other similar occasions.\n\n[528:1] If what is recorded In the Gospels on the subject was true, no\nhistorian of that day could fail to have noticed it, but instead of this\nthere is _nothing_.\n\n[528:2] See Matthew, xxvii. 51-53.\n\n[529:1] See Matt. xiv. 15-22: Mark, iv. 1-3, and xi. 14; and Luke, vii.\n26-37.\n\n[529:2] See Mark, xvi. 16.\n\n[529:3] This fact has at last been admitted by the most orthodox among\nthe Christians. The Rev. George Matheson, D. D., Minister of the Parish\nof Innellan, and a member of the Scotch Kirk, speaking of the precept\nuttered by Confucius, five hundred years before the time assigned for\nthe birth of Jesus of Nazareth (\"Whatsoever ye would not that others\nshould do unto you, do not ye unto them\"), says: \"That Confucius is the\n_author_ of this precept is undisputed, _and therefore it is\nindisputable that Christianity has incorporated an article of Chinese\nmorality_. It has appeared to some as if this were to the disparagement\nof Christianity--as if the originality of its Divine Founder were\nimpaired by consenting to borrow a precept from a heathen source. _But\nin what sense does Christianity set up the claim of moral originality?_\nWhen we speak of the religion of Christ as having introduced into the\nworld a purer life and a surer guide to conduct, what do we mean? Do we\nmean to suggest that Christianity has, _for the first time_, revealed to\nthe world the existence of a set of self-sacrificing precepts--that\nhere, _for the first time_, man has learned that he ought to be meek,\nmerciful, humble, forgiving, sorrowful for sin, peaceable, and pure in\nheart? The proof of such a statement would destroy Christianity itself,\nfor an _absolute original code of precepts_ would be equivalent to a\nforeign language. _The glory of Christian morality is that it is_ NOT\nORIGINAL--that its words appeal to something which _already exists\nwithin the human heart_, and on that account have a meaning to the human\near: _no new revelation can be made except through the medium of an old\none_. When we attribute originality to the ethics of the Gospel, we do\nso on the ground, _not that it has given new precepts_, but that it has\ngiven us a new impulse to obey the moral instincts of the soul.\nChristianity itself claims on the field of morals this originality, _and\nthis alone_--'A new commandment give I unto you, that you love one\nanother.\" (St. Giles Lectures, Second Series: The Faiths of the World.\nReligion of China, by the Rev. George Matheson, D. D., Minister of the\nParish of Innellan. Wm. Blackwood & Sons: Edinburgh, 1882.)\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX A.\n\n\nAmong the ancient Mexicans, Peruvians, and some of the Indian tribes of\nNorth and South America, were found fragments of the _Eden Myth_. The\nMexicans said that the primeval mother was made out of a _man's bone_,\nand that she was the mother of _twins_.[533:1]\n\nThe Cherokees supposed that heavenly beings _came down_ and made the\nworld, after which they made a man and woman of _clay_.[533:2] The\nintention of the creators was that men should live always. But the Sun,\nwhen he passed over, told them that there was not land enough, and that\npeople had better die. At length, _the daughter of the Sun_ was bitten\nby a _Snake_, and died. The Sun, however--whom they worshiped as a\ngod--consented that human beings might live always. He intrusted to\ntheir care a _box_, charging them that they should not open it. However,\nimpelled by curiosity, they opened it, contrary to the injunction of the\nSun, and the _spirit_ it contained escaped, _and then the fate of all\nmen was decided, that they must die_.[533:3]\n\nThe inhabitants of the New World had a legend of a _Deluge_, which\ndestroyed the human race, excepting a few who were saved in a boat,\nwhich landed on a _mountain_.[533:4] They also related that _birds_ were\nsent out of the ark, for the purpose of ascertaining if the flood was\nabating.[533:5]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans had the legend of the _confusion of tongues_, and\nrelated the whole story as to how the gods destroyed the tower which\nmankind was building so as to reach unto heaven.[533:6]\n\nThe Mexicans, and several of the Indian tribes of North America, believe\nin the doctrine of _Metempsychosis_, or the transmigration of souls from\none body into another.[533:7] This, as we have already seen,[533:8] was\nuniversally believed in the Old World.\n\nThe legend of _the man being swallowed by a fish_, and, after a three\ndays' sojourn in his belly, coming out safe and sound, was found among\nthe Mexicans and Peruvians.[534:1]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans, and some Indian tribes, practiced _Circumcision_,\nwhich was common among all Eastern nations of the Old World.[534:2]\n\nThey also had a legend to the effect that one of their holy persons\ncommanded _the sun to stand still_.[534:3] This, as we have already\nseen,[534:4] was a familiar legend among the inhabitants of the Old\nWorld.\n\nThe ancient Mexicans were _fire-worshipers_; so were the ancient\nPeruvians. They kept a fire continually burning on an altar, just as the\nfire-worshipers of the Old World were in the habit of doing.[534:5] They\nwere also _Sun-worshipers_, and had \"temples of the Sun.\"[534:6]\n\nThe _Tortoise-myth_ was found in the New World.[534:7] Now, in the Old\nWorld, the Tortoise-myth belongs especially to _India_, and the idea is\ndeveloped there in a variety of forms. The tortoise that holds the world\nis called in Sanscrit Kura-mraja, \"King of the Tortoises,\" and many\nHindoos believe to this day that the world rests on its back. \"The\nstriking analogy between the Tortoise-myth of North America and India,\"\nsays Mr. Tyler, \"is by no means a matter of new observation; it was\nindeed remarked upon by Father Lafitau nearly a century and a half ago.\nThree great features of the Asiatic stories are found among the North\nAmerican Indians, in the fullest and clearest development. The earth is\nsupported on the back of a huge floating tortoise, the tortoise sinks\nunder the water and causes a deluge, and the tortoise is conceived as\nbeing itself the earth, floating upon the face of the deep.\"[534:8]\n\nWe have also found among them the belief in an Incarnate God born of a\nvirgin;[534:9] the One God worshiped in the form of a Trinity;[534:10]\nthe crucified _Black_ god;[534:11] the descent into hell;[534:12] the\nresurrection and ascension into heaven,[534:13] all of which is to be\nfound in the oldest Asiatic religions. We also found monastic\nhabits--friars and nuns.[534:14]\n\nThe Mexicans denominated their high-places, sacred houses, or \"_Houses\nof God_.\" The corresponding sacred structures of the Hindoos are called\n\"_God's House_.\"[535:1]\n\nMany nations of the _East_ entertained the notion that there were _nine\nheavens_, and so did the ancient Mexicans.[535:2]\n\nThere are few things connected with the ancient mythology of _America_\nmore certain than that there existed in that country before its\ndiscovery by Columbus, extreme veneration for the _Serpent_.[535:3] Now,\nthe Serpent was venerated and worshiped throughout the East.[535:4]\n\nThe ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, and many of the Indian tribes,\nbelieved the Sun and Moon not only to be brother and sister, but man and\nwife; so, likewise, among many nations of the Old World was this belief\nprevalent.[535:5] The belief in were-wolves, or man-wolves, man-tigers,\nman-hyenas, and the like, which was almost universal among the nations\nof Europe, Asia and Africa, was also found to be the case among South\nAmerican tribes.[535:6] The idea of calling the earth \"mother,\" was\ncommon among the inhabitants of both the Old and New Worlds.[535:7] In\nthe mythology of Finns, Lapps, and Esths, Earth-Mother is a divinely\nhonored personage. It appears in China, where _Heaven_ and _Earth_ are\ncalled in the _Shuking_--one of their sacred books--\"Father and Mother\nof all things.\"\n\nAmong the native races of _America_ the Earth-Mother is one of the great\npersonages of mythology. The Peruvians worshiped her as _Mama-Phacha_,\nor Earth-Mother. The Caribs, when there was an earthquake, said it was\ntheir mother-earth dancing, and signifying to them to dance and make\nmerry likewise, which they accordingly did.[535:8]\n\nIt is well-known that the natives of Africa, when there is an eclipse of\nthe sun or moon, believe that it is being devoured by some great\nmonster, and that they, in order to frighten and drive it away, beat\ndrums and make noises in other ways. So, too, the rude Moguls make a\nclamor of rough music to drive the attacking Arachs (R\u00e2hu) from Sun or\nMoon.[535:9]\n\nThe Chinese, when there is an eclipse of the Sun or Moon, proceed to\nencounter the ominous monster with gongs and bells.[535:10]\n\nThe ancient Romans flung firebrands into the air, and blew trumpets, and\nclanged brazen pots and pans.[535:11] Even as late as the seventeenth\ncentury, the Irish or Welsh, during eclipses, ran about beating kettles\nand pans.[536:1] Among the native races of America was to be found the\nsame superstition. The Indians would raise a frightful howl, and shoot\narrows into the sky to drive the monsters off.[536:2] The Caribs,\nthinking that the demon Maboya, hater of all light, was seeking to\ndevour the Sun and Moon, would dance and howl in concert all night long\nto scare him away. The Peruvians, imagining such an evil spirit in the\nshape of a monstrous beast, raised the like frightful din when the Moon\nwas eclipsed, shouting, sounding musical instruments, and beating the\ndogs to join their howl to the hideous chorus.[536:3]\n\nThe starry band that lies like a road across the sky, known as the\n_milky way_, is called by the Basutos (a South African tribe of\nsavages), \"The Way of the Gods;\" the Ojis (another African tribe of\nsavages), say it is the \"Way of Spirits,\" which souls go up to heaven\nby. North American tribes know it as \"the Path of the Master of Life,\"\nthe \"Path of Spirits,\" \"the Road of Souls,\" where they travel to the\nland beyond the grave.[536:4]\n\nIt is almost a general belief among the inhabitants of Africa, and was\nso among the inhabitants of Europe and Asia, that monkeys were once men\nand women, and that they can even now really speak, but judiciously hold\ntheir tongues, lest they should be made to work. This idea was found as\na serious matter of belief, in Central and South America.[536:5] \"The\nBridge of the Dead,\" which is one of the marked myths of the Old World,\nwas found in the New.[536:6]\n\nIt is well known that the natives of South America told the Spaniards\nthat inland there was to be found a fountain, the waters of which turned\nold men back into youths, and how Juan Ponce de Leon fitted out two\ncaravels, and went to seek for this \"Fountain of Youth.\" Now, the\n\"Fountain of Youth\" is known to the mythology of India.[536:7]\n\nThe myth of foot-prints stamped into the rocks by gods or mighty men, is\nto be found among the inhabitants of Europe, Asia, and Africa.\nEgyptians, Greeks, Brahmans, Buddhists, Moslems, and Christians, have\nadopted it as relics each from their own point of view, and _Mexican_\neyes could discern in the solid rock at Tlanepantla the mark of hand and\nfoot left by the mighty Quetzalcoatle.[536:8]\n\nThe Incas, in order to preserve purity of race, married their own\nsisters, as did the Kings of Persia, and other Oriental nations.[537:1]\n\nThe Peruvian embalming of the royal dead takes us back to _Egypt_; the\nburning of the wives of the deceased Incas reveals _India_; the\nsingularly patriarchical character of the whole Peruvian policy is like\nthat of _China_ in the olden time; while the system of espionage, of\ntranquillity, of physical well-being, and the iron-like immovability in\nwhich their whole social frame was cast, bring before us _Japan_--as it\nwas a very few years ago. In fact, there is something strangely Japanese\nin the entire cultus of Peru as described by all writers.[537:2]\n\nThe dress and costume of the Mexicans, and their sandals, resemble the\napparel and sandals worn in early ages in the East.[537:3]\n\nMexican priests were represented with a Serpent twined around their\nheads, so were Oriental kings.[537:4] The Mexicans had the head of a\nrhinoceros among their paintings,[537:5] and also the head of an\nelephant on the body of a man.[537:6] Now, these animals were unknown in\nAmerica, but well known in Asia; and what is more striking still is the\nfact that the man with the elephant's head is none other than the Ganesa\nof India; the God of Wisdom. Humboldt, who copied a Mexican painting of\na man with an elephant's head, remarks that \"it presents some remarkable\nand apparently _not accidental_ resemblances with the Hindoo Ganesa.\"\n\nThe horse and the ass, although natives of America,[537:7] became\nextinct on the Western Continent in an early period of the earth's\nhistory, yet the Mexicans had, among their hieroglyphics,\nrepresentations of both these animals, which show that it must have been\nseen in the old world by the author of the hieroglyph. When the Mexicans\nsaw the horses which the Spaniards brought over, they were greatly\nastonished, and when they saw the Spaniards on horseback, they imagined\nman and horse to be _one_.\n\nCertain of the temples of _India_ abound with sculptural representations\nof the symbols of _Phallic Worship_. Turning now to the temples of\n_Central America_, which in many respects exhibit a strict\ncorrespondence with those in India, _we find precisely the same symbols,\nseparate and in combination_.[537:8]\n\nWe have seen that many of the religious conceptions of _America_ are\nidentical with those of the _Old World_, and that they are embodied or\nsymbolized under the same or cognate forms; and it is confidently\nasserted that a comparison and analysis of her primitive systems, in\nconnection with those of other parts of the globe, philosophically\nconducted, would establish the grand fact, that in ALL their leading\nelements, and in many of their details, they are essentially the\nsame.[538:1]\n\nThe _architecture_ of many of the most ancient buildings in South\nAmerica resembles the Asiatic. Around Lake Titicaca are massive\nmonuments, which speak of a very ancient and civilized nation.[538:2]\n\nE. Spence Hardy, says:\n\n     \"The ancient edifices of Chi Chen, in Central America, bear a\n     striking resemblance to the topes of India. The shape of one\n     of the domes, its apparent size, the small tower on the\n     summit, the trees growing on the sides, the appearance of\n     masonry here and there, the style of the ornaments, and the\n     small doorway at the base, are so exactly similar to what I\n     had seen at Anur\u00e1dhapura, _that when my eye first fell upon\n     the engravings of these remarkable ruins, I supposed that they\n     were presented in illustration of the d\u00e1gobas of\n     Ceylon_.\"[538:3]\n\nE. G. Squire, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"The Bud'hist temples of Southern India, and of the islands of\n     the Indian Archipelago, as described to us by the learned\n     members of the Asiatic Society, and the numerous writers on\n     the religion and antiquities of the Hindoos, correspond, with\n     great exactness, in all their essential and in many of their\n     minor features, with those of _Central America_.\"[538:4]\n\nStructures of a _pyramidal_ style, which are common in India, were also\ndiscovered in Mexico. The pyramid tower of Cholula was one of\nthese.[538:5]\n\nSir R. Kir Porter writes as follows:\n\n     \"What striking analogies exist between the monuments of the\n     old continents and those of the Toltecs, who, arriving on\n     Mexican soil, built several of these colossal structures,\n     truncated pyramids, divided by layers, like the temple of\n     Belus at Babylon. _Whence did they take the model of these\n     edifices? Were they of the Mongolian race? Did they descend\n     from a common stock with the Chinese, the Hiong-nu, and the\n     Japanese?_\"[538:6]\n\nThe similarity in _features_ of the Asiatic and the American race is\nvery striking. Alexander de Humboldt, speaking of this, says:\n\n     \"There are striking contrasts between the Mongol and American\n     races.\"[538:7] \"Over a million and a half of square leagues,\n     from the Terra del Fuego islands to the River St. Lawrence and\n     Behring's Straits, we are struck at the first glance with the\n     general resemblance in the features of the inhabitants. _We\n     think we perceive that they all descended from the same\n     stock_, notwithstanding the enormous diversity of language\n     which separates them from one another.\"[538:8]\n\n     \"This analogy is particularly evident in the color of the\n     skin and hair, in the defective beard, high cheek-bones, and\n     in the direction of the eyes.\"[539:1]\n\nDr. Morton says:\n\n     \"In reflecting on the aboriginal races of America, we are at\n     once met by the striking fact, that their physical characters\n     are wholly independent of all climatic or known physical\n     influences. Notwithstanding their immense geographical\n     distribution, embracing every variety of climate, it is\n     acknowledged by all travellers, that there is among this\n     people a prevailing type, around which all the tribes--north,\n     south, east and west--cluster, though varying within\n     prescribed limits. With trifling exceptions, all our American\n     Indians bear to each other some degree of family resemblance,\n     quite as strong, for example, as that seen at the present day\n     among full-blooded Jews.\"[539:2]\n\nJames Orton, the traveler, was also struck with the likeness of the\nAmerican Indians to the Chinese, including the flatted nose. Speaking of\nthe Zaparos of the Napo River, he says:\n\n     \"The Zaparos in physiognomy somewhat resemble the Chinese,\n     having a middle stature, round face, small eyes set angularly,\n     and a broad, flat nose.\"[539:3]\n\nOscar Paschel says:\n\n     \"The obliquely-set eyes and prominent cheek-bones of the\n     inhabitants of Veragua were noticed by Monitz Wagner, and\n     according to his description, out of four Bayano Indians from\n     Darien, three had thoroughly Mongolian features, including the\n     flatted nose.\"\n\nIn 1866, an officer of the Sharpshooter, the first English man-of-war\nwhich entered the Paran\u00e1 River in Brazil, remarks in almost the same\nwords of the Indians of that district, that their features vividly\nreminded him of the Chinese. Burton describes the Brazilian natives at\nthe falls of Cachauhy as having thick, round Kalmuck heads, flat Mongol\nfaces, wide, very prominent cheek bones, oblique and sometimes\nnarrow-slit Chinese eyes, and slight mustaches.\n\nAnother traveler, J. J. Von Tschudi, declares in so many words that he\nhas seen Chinese whom at the first glance he mistook for Botocudos, and\nthat since then he has been convinced that the American race ought not\nto be separated from the Mongolian. His predecessor, St. Hilaire,\nnoticed narrow, obliquely-set eyes and broad noses among the Malali of\nBrazil. Reinhold Hensel says of the Coroados, that their features are of\nMongoloid type, due especially to the prominence of the cheek-bones, but\nthat the oblique position of the eyes is not perceptible. Yet the\noblique opening of the eye, which forms a good though not an essential\ncharacteristic of the Mongolian nations, is said to be characteristic of\nall the Guarani tribes in Brazil. Even in the extreme south, among the\nHiullitches of Patagonia, King saw a great many with obliquely set\neyes. Those writers who separate the Americans as a peculiar race fail\nto give distinctive characters, common to them all, which distinguish\nthem from the Asiatic Mongols. All the tribes have stiff, long hair,\ncylindrical in section. The beard and hair of the body is always scanty\nor totally absent. The color of the skin varies considerably, as might\nbe expected in a district of 110\u00b0 of latitude; it ranges from a light\nSouth European darkness of complexion among the Botocudos, of the\ndeepest dye among the Aymara, or to copper red in the Sonor tribes. But\nno one has tried to draw limits between races on account of these shades\nof color, especially as they are of every conceivable gradation.[540:1]\n\nCharles G. Leland says:\n\n     \"The Tunguse, Mongolians, and a great part of the Turkish race\n     formed originally, according to all external organic tokens,\n     as well as the elements of their language, but one people,\n     closely allied with the Esquimaux, the _Skr\u00e4ling_, or dwarf of\n     the Norseman, and the races of the New World. This is the\n     irrefutable result to which all the more recent inquiries in\n     anatomy and physiology, as well as comparative philology and\n     history, have conduced. All the aboriginal Americans have\n     those distinctive tokens which forcibly recall their neighbors\n     dwelling on the other side of Behring's Straits. They have the\n     four-cornered head, high cheek-bones, heavy jaws, large\n     angular eye-cavities, and a retreating forehead. The skulls of\n     the oldest Peruvian graves exhibit the same tokens as the\n     heads of the nomadic tribes of Oregon and California.\"[540:2]\n     \"It is very certain that thousands of American Indians,\n     especially those of small stature or of dwarfish tribes, bear\n     a most extraordinary likeness to Mongols.\"[540:3]\n\nJohn D. Baldwin, in his \"_Ancient America_,\" says:\n\n     \"I find myself more and more inclined to believe that the wild\n     Indians of the North came originally from _Asia_, where the\n     race to which they belong seems still represented by the\n     _Koraks_ and _Cookchees_, found in that part of Asia which\n     extends to Behring's Straits.\"[540:4]\n\nHon. Charles D. Poston, late commissioner of the United States of\nAmerica in Asia, in a work entitled, \"_The Parsees_,\" speaking of an\nincident which took place \"beyond the Great Wall,\" says:\n\n     \"A Mongolian came riding up on a little black pony, followed\n     by a servant on a camel, rocking like a windmill. He stopped a\n     moment to exchange pantomimic salutations. He was full of\n     electricity, and alive with motion; the blood was warm in his\n     veins, and the fire was bright in his eye. I could have sworn\n     that he was an _Apache;_ every action, motion and look\n     reminded me of my old enemies and neighbors in _Arizona_. They\n     are the true descendants of the nomadic Tartars of Asia and\n     preserve every instinct of the race. He shook hands friendlily\n     but timidly, keeping all the time in motion like an\n     Apache.\"[540:5]\n\nThat the continents of Asia and America were at one time joined\ntogether by an isthmus, at the place where the channel of Behring's\nstraits is now found, is a well known fact. That the severance of Asia\nfrom America was, geologically speaking, very recent, is shown by the\nfact that not only the straits, but the sea which bears the name of\nBehring, is extraordinarily shallow, so much so, indeed, that whalers\nlie at anchor in the middle of it.[541:1] This is evidently the manner\nin which America was peopled.[541:2]\n\nDuring the _Champlain_ period in the earth's history the climate of the\nnorthern portion of the American continent, instead of being frigid, and\nthe country covered with sheets of ice, was more like the climate of the\nMiddle States of the present day. Tropical animals went North, and\nduring the Terrace period--which followed the Champlain--the climate\nchanged to frigid, and many of these tropical animals were frozen in the\nice, and some of their remains were discovered centuries after.\n\nIt was probably during the time when the climate in those northern\nregions was warm, that the aborigines crossed over, and even if they did\nnot do so at that time, we must not be startled at the idea that Asiatic\ntribes crossed over from Asia to America, when the country was covered\nwith ice. There have been nations who lived in a state of nudity among\nice-fields, and, even at the present day, a naked nation of fishermen\nstill exist in Terra del Fuego, where the glaciers stretch down to the\nsea, and even into it.[541:3]\n\nChas. Darwin, during his voyage round the world in H. M. S. Beagle, was\nparticularly struck with the hardiness of the Fuegians, who go in a\nstate of nudity, or almost entirely so. He says:\n\n     \"Among these central tribes the men generally have an\n     otter-skin, or some small scrap, about as large as a\n     pocket-handkerchief, to cover their nakedness, which is barely\n     sufficient to cover their backs as low down as their\n     loins.\"[541:4]\n\nOne day while going on shore near Wollaston Island, Mr. Darwin's party\npulled alongside a canoe which contained six Fuegians, who were, he\nsays, \"quite naked, and even one full-grown woman was absolutely so. It\nwas raining heavily, and the fresh water, together with the spray,\ntrickled down her body. In another harbor not far distant, a woman, who\nwas suckling a recently-born child, came one day alongside the vessel,\nand remained there out of mere curiosity, whilst the sleet fell and\nthawed on her naked bosom, and on the skin of her naked baby!\"[542:1]\n\nThis was during the winter season.\n\nA few pages farther on Mr. Darwin says that on the night of the 22d\nDecember, a small family of Fuegians--who were living in a cove near the\nquarters--\"soon joined our party round a blazing fire. We were well\nclothed, and though sitting close to the fire were far from too warm;\nyet these naked savages, though further off, were observed, to our great\nsurprise, to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a\nscorching. They seemed, however, very well pleased, and all joined in\nthe chorus of the seamen's songs; but the manner in which they were\ninvariably a little behind was quite ludicrous.\"[542:2]\n\nThe Asiatics who first crossed over to the American continent were\nevidently in a very barbarous stage, although they may have known how to\nproduce fire, and use bows and arrows.[542:3] The tribe who inhabited\nMexico at the time it was discovered by the Spaniards was not the first\nto settle there; they had driven out a people, and had taken the country\nfrom them.[542:4]\n\nThat Mexico was visited by Orientals, who brought and planted their\nreligion there, in a comparatively recent period, is very probable. Mr.\nChas. G. Leland, who has made this subject a special study, says:\n\n     \"While the proofs of the existence or residence of Orientals\n     in America are extremely vague and uncertain, and while they\n     are supported only by coincidences, the antecedent probability\n     of their having come hither, or having been able to come, is\n     stronger than the Norse discovery of the New World, or even\n     than that of Columbus himself would appear to be. Let the\n     reader take a map of the Northern Pacific; let him ascertain\n     for himself the fact that from Kamtschatka, which was well\n     known to the old Chinese, to Alaska the journey is far less\n     arduous than from China proper, and it will be seen that there\n     was in all probability intercourse of some kind between the\n     continents. In early times the Chinese were bold and skillful\n     navigators, to whom the chain of the Aleutian Islands would\n     have been simply like stepping-stones over a shallow brook to\n     a child. For it is a well ascertained fact, that a sailor in\n     an open boat might cross from Asia to America by the Aleutian\n     Islands in summer-time, and hardly ever be out of sight of\n     land, and this in a part of the sea generally abounding in\n     fish, as is proved by the fishermen who inhabit many of these\n     islands, on which fresh water is always to be found.\"[543:1]\n\nColonel Barclay Kennon, formerly of the U. S. North Pacific surveying\nexpedition, says:\n\n     \"From the result of the most accurate scientific observation,\n     it is evident that the voyage from China to America can be\n     made without being out of sight of land more than a few hours\n     at any one time. To a landsman, unfamiliar with long voyages,\n     the mere idea of being 'alone on the wide, wide sea,' with\n     nothing but water visible, even for an hour, conveys a strange\n     sense of desolation, of daring, and of adventure. But in truth\n     it is regarded as a mere trifle, not only by regular seafaring\n     men, but even by the rudest races in all parts of the world;\n     and I have no doubt that from the remotest ages, and on all\n     shores, fishermen in open boats, canoes, or even coracles,\n     guided simply by the stars and currents, have not hesitated to\n     go far out of sight of land. At the present day, natives of\n     many of the South Pacific Islands undertake, without a\n     compass, and successfully, long voyages which astonish even a\n     regular Jack-tar, who is not often astonished at anything. If\n     this can be done by savages, it hardly seems possible that the\n     Asiatic-American voyage was not successfully performed by\n     people of advanced scientific culture, who had, it is\n     generally believed, the compass, and who from an early age\n     were proficient in astronomy.\"[543:2]\n\nProf. Max M\u00fcller, it would seem, entertains similar ideas to our own,\nexpressed as follows:\n\n     \"In their (the American Indians') languages, as well as in\n     their religions, traces may possibly still be found, before it\n     is too late, _of pre-historic migrations of men from the\n     primitive Asiatic to the American Continent, either across the\n     stepping-stones of the Aleutic bridge in the North, or lower\n     South, by drifting with favorable winds from island to island,\n     till the hardy canoe was landed or wrecked on the American\n     coast, never to return again to the Asiatic home from which it\n     had started_.\"[543:3]\n\nIt is very evident then, that the religion and mythology of the Old and\nNew Worlds, have, in part, at least, a common origin. Lord Kingsborough\ninforms us that the Spanish historians of the 16th century were not\ndisposed to admit that America had ever been colonized from the West,\n\"chiefly on account of the state in which religion was found in the new\ncontinent.\"[543:4]\n\nAnd Mr. Tylor says:\n\n     \"Among the mass of Central American traditions . . . there\n     occur certain passages in the story of an early emigration of\n     the Quich\u00e9 race, which have much the appearance of vague and\n     broken stories derived in some way from high Northern\n     latitudes.\"[543:5]\n\nMr. McCulloh, in his \"Researches,\" observes that:\n\n     \"In analyzing many parts of their (the ancient Americans')\n     institutions, especially those belonging to their cosmogonal\n     history, their religious superstitions, and astronomical\n     computations, we have, in these abstract matters, found\n     abundant proof to assert that there has been formerly a\n     connection between the people of the two continents. Their\n     communications, however, have taken place at a very remote\n     period of time; for those matters in which they more decidedly\n     coincide, are undoubtedly those which belong to the earliest\n     history of mankind.\"\n\nIt is unquestionably from _India_ that we have derived, partly through\nthe Persians and other nations, most of our metaphysical and theological\ndoctrines, as well as our nursery tales. Who then can deny that these\nsame doctrines and legends have been handed down by oral tradition to\nthe chief of the Indian tribes, and in this way have been preserved,\nalthough perhaps in an obscure and imperfect manner, in some instances\nat least, until the present day? The facts which we have before us, with\nmany others like them which are to be had, point with the greatest\nlikelihood to a common fatherland, the cradle of all nations, from which\nthey came, taking these traditions with them.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[533:1] Baring-Gould's Legends of the Patriarchs, p. 46.\n\n[533:2] Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 67.\n\n[533:3] Ibid. Here we see the parallel to the _Grecian_ fable of\nEpimetheus and Pandora.\n\n[533:4] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 203. Higgins: Anacalypsis,\nvol. ii. p. 27.\n\n[533:5] Ibid.\n\n[533:6] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204.\n\n[533:7] See Chapter V.\n\n[533:8] See Ibid. and Chambers's Encyclo., art. \"Transmigration.\"\n\n[534:1] See Chapter XI.\n\n[534:2] See Chapter X.\n\n[534:3] See Chapter XI.\n\n[534:4] Ibid.\n\n[534:5] See Early Hist. Mankind, p. 252; Squire's Serpent Symbol; and\nPrescott: Con. Peru.\n\n[534:6] See Ibid., and the Andes and the Amazon, p. 454.\n\n[534:7] See Early Hist. Mankind, p. 842.\n\n[534:8] Ibid.\n\n[534:9] See Chapter XII.\n\n[534:10] See Chapter XXV.\n\n[534:11] See Chapter XX.\n\nMr. Prescott, speaking of the Pyramid of Cholula, in his Mexican\nHistory, says: \"On the summit stood a sumptuous temple, in which was the\nimage of the mystic deity (_Quetzalcoatle_), with _ebon_ features,\nunlike the fair complexion which he bore upon earth.\" And Kenneth R. H.\nMackenzie says (in Cities of the Ancient World, p. 180): \"From the\nwoolly texture of the hair, I am inclined to assign to the Buddha of\nIndia, the Fuhi of China, the Sommonacom of the Siamese, the Xaha of the\nJapanese, and the Quetzalcoatle of the Mexicans, the same, and indeed an\nAfrican, or rather Nubian, origin.\"\n\n[534:12] See Chapter XXII.\n\n[534:13] See Chapter XXIII.\n\n[534:14] See Chapter XXVI.\n\n[535:1] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 77.\n\n[535:2] Ibid. p. 109.\n\n[535:3] See Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, and Squire's Serpent\nSymbol.\n\n[535:4] See Ibid.\n\n[535:5] See Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 361, and Squire's\nSerpent Symbol.\n\n[535:6] Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 280, and Squire's Serpent Symbol.\n\n[535:7] Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 294, and Squire's Serpent Symbol.\n\n[535:8] Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. pp. 295, 296.\n\n[535:9] Ibid. p. 300.\n\n[535:10] Ibid.\n\n[535:11] Ibid. p. 301.\n\n[536:1] Tylor; Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 101.\n\n[536:2] Ibid. p. 291.\n\n[536:3] Ibid.\n\n[536:4] Ibid. p. 234.\n\n[536:5] Ibid. p. 240 and 243.\n\n[536:6] Early Hist. Mankind, pp. 357 and 361.\n\n[536:7] Ibid. p. 361.\n\nThe legend of the \"Elixir of Life\" of the Western World, was well-known\nin _China_. (Buckley: Cities of the Ancient World, p. 167.)\n\n[536:8] Ibid. p. 118, and Squire's Serpent Symbol.\n\n[537:1] Fusang, p. 56.\n\n[537:2] Ibid. p. 55.\n\n[537:3] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 181.\n\n[537:4] Ibid., and Squire's Serpent Symbol.\n\n[537:5] Mexican Antiq., vol. vi. p. 180.\n\n[537:6] Early Hist. Mankind, p. 311.\n\n[537:7] The traveler, James Orton, found fossil bones of an extinct\nspecies of the horse, the mastodon, and other animals, near Punin, in\nSouth America, all of which had passed away before the arrival of the\nhuman species. This native American horse was succeeded, in after ages,\nby the countless herds descended from a few introduced with the Spanish\ncolonists. (See the Andes and the Amazon, pp. 154, 155.)\n\n[537:8] Serpent Symbol, p. 47.\n\n[538:1] Serpent Symbol, p. 193.\n\n[538:2] The Andes and the Amazon, p. 454.\n\n[538:3] Eastern Monachism, p. 222.\n\n[538:4] Serpent Symbol, p. 43.\n\n[538:5] See Ibid.\n\n[538:6] Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 284.\n\n[538:7] New Spain, vol. i. p. 136.\n\n[538:8] Ibid. p. 141.\n\n[539:1] New Spain, vol. i. p. 153.\n\n[539:2] Types of Mankind, p. 275.\n\n[539:3] The Andes and the Amazon, p. 170.\n\n[540:1] Paschel: Races of Man, pp. 402-404.\n\n[540:2] Fusang, p. 7.\n\n[540:3] Ibid. 118.\n\n[540:4] Quoted in Ibid.\n\n[540:5] Quoted In Ibid. p. 94.\n\n[541:1] Paschel: Races of Man, pp. 400, 401.\n\n[541:2] To those who may think that the Old World might have been\npeopled from the new, we refer to Oscar Paschel's \"Races of Man,\" p. 32.\nThe author, in speaking on this subject, says: \"There at one time\nexisted a great continent, to which belonged Madagascar and perhaps\nportions of Eastern Africa, the Maldives and Laccadives, and also the\nIsland of Ceylon, which was never attached to India, perhaps even the\nisland of Celebes in the far East, which possesses a perplexing fauna,\nwith semi-African features.\" On this continent, which was situated in\nthe now Indian Ocean, must we look for the _cradle of humanity_.\n\n[541:3] Paschal: Races of Man, p. 31.\n\n[541:4] Darwin's Journal, p. 213.\n\n[542:1] Darwin's Journal, p. 213.\n\n[542:2] Ibid. pp. 220, 221.\n\n[542:3] This is seen from the fact that they did not know the use of\niron. Had they known the use of this metal, they would surely have gone\nto work and dug into their mountains, which are abundantly filled with\nore, and made use of it.\n\n[542:4] The Aztecs were preceded by the Toltecs, Chichimecks, and the\nNahualtecs. (Humboldt's New Spain, p. 133, vol. i.)\n\n\"The races of barbarians which successively followed each other from the\nnorth to the south always murdered, hunted down, and subdued the\nprevious inhabitants, and formed in course of time a new social and\npolitical life upon the ruins of the old system, to be again destroyed\nand renewed in a few centuries, by a new invasion of barbarians. The\nlater native conquerors in the New World can, of course, no more be\nconsidered in the light of original inhabitants than the present races\nof men in the Old World.\"\n\n[543:1] Fusang, p. 56.\n\n[543:2] Quoted in Fusang, p. 71.\n\n[543:3] Science of Religion, p. 121.\n\n[543:4] Mexican Antiq., vol. vi. p. 161.\n\n[543:5] Early Hist. Mankind, p. 307.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX B.\n\n\nCommencing at the farthest East we shall find the ancient religion of\n_China_ the same as that which was universal in all quarters of the\nglobe, viz., an adoration of the Sun, Moon, Stars and elements.[544:1]\nThat the Chinese religion was in one respect the same as that of India,\nis seen from the fact that they named successive days for the same seven\nplanets that the Hindoos did.[544:2] The ancient books of the Chinese\nshow that astronomy was not only understood by them at a very early\nperiod, but that it formed an important branch of state policy, and the\nbasis of public ceremonies. Eclipses are accurately recorded which\noccurred twenty centuries before Jesus; and the Confucian books refer\ncontinually to observations of the heavenly bodies and the rectification\nof the calendar. The ancient Chinese astronomers seem to have known\nprecisely the excess of the solar year beyond 365 days. The _religion_\nof China, under the emperors who preceded the first dynasty, is an\nenigma. The notices in the only authentic works, the _King_, are on this\npoint scanty, vague, and obscure. It is difficult to separate what is\nspoken with reference to the science of _astronomy_ from that which may\nrelate to _religion_, properly so called. The terms of reverence and\nrespect, with which the _heavenly bodies_ are spoken of in the\n_Shoo-King_, seem to warrant the inference that those terms have more\nthan a mere astronomical meaning, _and that the ancient religion_ of\n_China partook_ of _star-worship, one of the oldest heresies in the\nworld_.[545:1]\n\nIn _India_ the Sun, Moon, Stars and the powers of Nature were worshiped\nand personified, and each quality, mental and physical, had its emblem,\nwhich the Brahmans taught the ignorant to regard as realities, till the\nPantheon became crowded.\n\n\"Our Aryan ancestors learned to look up to the sky, the Sun, and the\ndawn, and there to see the presence of a living power, half-revealed,\nand half-hidden from their senses, those senses which were always\npostulating something beyond what they could grasp. They went further\nstill. In the bright sky they perceived an _Illuminator_, in the\nall-encircling firmament an _Embracer_, in the roar of the thunder or in\nthe voice of the storm they felt the presence of a _Shouter_ and of\nfurious _Strikers_, and out of the rain they created an _Indra_, or\ngiver of rain.\"[545:2]\n\nProf. Monier Williams, speaking of \"the hymns of the _Veda_,\" says:\n\n     \"To what deities, it will be asked, were the prayers and hymns\n     of these collections addressed? The answer is: They worshiped\n     _those physical forces_ before which _all nations_, if guided\n     solely by the light of nature, have in the early period of\n     their life, instinctively bowed down, and before which even\n     the most civilized and enlightened have always been compelled\n     to bend in awe and reverence, if not in adoration.\"[545:3]\n\nThe following sublime description of _Night_ is an extract from the\n_Vedas_, made by Sir William Jones:\n\n     \"Night approaches, illumined with stars and planets, and,\n     looking on all sides with numberless eyes, overpowers all\n     meaner lights. The immortal goddess pervades the firmament,\n     covering the low valleys and shrubs, the lofty mountains and\n     trees, but soon she disturbs the gloom with celestial\n     effulgence. Advancing with brightness, at length she recalls\n     her sister _Morning_; and the nightly shade gradually melts\n     away. May she at this time be propitious! She, in whose early\n     watch we may calmly recline in our mansions, as birds repose\n     upon the trees. Mankind now sleep in their towns; now herds\n     and flocks peacefully slumber, and the winged creatures, swift\n     falcons, and vultures. O Night! avert from us the she-wolf\n     and the wolf; and, oh! suffer us to pass thee in soothing\n     rest! Oh, morn! remove in due time this black, yet visible\n     overwhelming darkness, which at present enfolds me, as thou\n     enablest me to remove the cloud of their dells. _Daughter of\n     Heaven_, I approach thee with praise, as the cow approaches\n     her milker; accept, O Night! not the hymn only, but the\n     oblation of thy suppliant, who prays that his foes may be\n     subdued.\"\n\nSome of the principal gods of the Hindoo Pantheon are, Dyaus (the Sky),\nIndra (the Rain-giver), S\u00fbrya (the Sun), the Maruts (Winds), Aditi, (the\nDawn), Parvati (the Earth),[546:1] and Siva, her consort. The worship of\nthe SUN is expressed in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of\nfanciful names. One of the principal of these is _Crishna_. The\nfollowing is a prayer addressed to him:\n\n     \"Be auspicious to my lay, O Chrishna, thou only God of the\n     seven heavens, who swayest the universe through the immensity\n     of space and matter. O universal and resplendent Sun! Thou\n     mighty governor of the heavens; thou sovereign regulator of\n     the connected whole; thou sole and universal deity of mankind;\n     thou gracious and Supreme Spirit; my noblest and most happy\n     inspiration is thy praise and glory. Thy power I will praise,\n     for thou art my sovereign Lord, whose bright image continually\n     forces itself on my attention, eager imagination. Thou art the\n     Being to whom heroes pray in perils of war; nor are their\n     supplications vain, when thus they pray; whether it be when\n     thou illuminest the eastern region with thy orient light, when\n     in thy meridian splendor, or when thou majestically descendest\n     in the West.\"\n\nCrishna is made to say:\n\n     \"I am the light in the Sun and Moon, far, far beyond the\n     darkness. I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance in all\n     that's radiant, and the light of lights.\"[546:2]\n\nIn the _Maha-bharata_, Crishna, who having become the son of Aditi (the\nDawn), is called _Vishnu_, another name for the Sun.[546:3] The demon\n_Putana_ assaults the child Crishna, which identifies him with Hercules,\nthe Sun-god of the Greeks.[546:4] In his Solar character he must again\nbe the slayer of the Dragon or Black-snake _Kulnika_, the \"Old Serpent\"\nwith the thousand heads.[546:5] Crishna's amours with the maidens makes\nhim like Indra, Phoibus, Hercules, Samson, Alpheios, Paris and other\nSun-gods. This is the hot and fiery Sun greeting the moon and the dew,\nor the Sun with his brides the _Stars_.[546:6]\n\nMoore, in his Hindu Pantheon, observes:\n\n     \"Although all the Hindu deities partake more or less remotely\n     of the nature and character of Surya, or the SUN, and all more\n     or less directly radiate from, or merge in, him, yet no one\n     is, I think, so intimately identified with him as Vishnu;\n     whether considered in his own person, or _in the character of\n     his most glorious Avatara of_ CRISHNA.\"\n\nThe ancient religion of EGYPT, like that of Hindostan, was founded on\nastronomy, and eminently metaphysical in its character. The Egyptian\npriests were far advanced in the science of astronomy. They made\nastronomy their peculiar study. They knew the figure of the earth, and\nhow to calculate solar and lunar eclipses. From very ancient time, they\nhad observed the order and movement of the stars, and recorded them with\nthe utmost care. Ramses the Great, generally called Sesostris, is\nsupposed to have reigned one thousand five hundred years before the\nChristian era, about coeval with Moses, or a century later. In the tomb\nof this monarch was found a large massive circle of wrought gold,\ndivided into three hundred and sixty-five degrees, and each division\nmarked the rising and setting of the stars for each day.[547:1] This\nfact proves how early they were advanced in astronomy. In their great\ntheories of mutual dependence between all things in the universe was\nincluded a belief in some mysterious relation between the Spirits of the\nStars and human souls, so that the destiny of mortals was regulated by\nthe motions of the heavenly bodies. This was the origin of the famous\nsystem of Astrology. From the conjunction of planets at the hour of\nbirth, they prophesied what would be the temperament of an infant, what\nlife he would live, and what death he would die. Diodorus, who wrote in\nthe century preceding Christ Jesus, says:\n\n     \"They frequently foretell with the greatest accuracy what is\n     about to happen to mankind; showing the failure or abundance\n     of crops, and the epidemic diseases about to befall men or\n     cattle. Earthquakes, deluges, rising of comets, and all those\n     phenomena, the knowledge of which appears impossible to common\n     comprehensions, they foresee by means of their long continued\n     observation.\"\n\nP. Le Page Renouf, who is probably the best authority on the religion of\nancient Egypt which can be produced, says, in his Hibbert\nLectures:[547:2]\n\n     \"The Lectures on the Science of Language, delivered nearly\n     twenty years ago by Prof. Max M\u00fcller, have, I trust, made us\n     fully understand how, among the _Indo-European_ races, the\n     names of the _Sun_, of _Sunrise_ and _Sunset_, and of other\n     such phenomena, come to be talked of and considered as\n     _personages_, of whom wondrous legends have been told.\n     _Egyptian_ mythology not merely admits, but imperatively\n     _demands, the same explanation_. And this becomes the more\n     evident when we consider the question how these mythical\n     personages came to be invested with the attributes of divinity\n     by men who, like the Egyptians, had so lively a sense of the\n     divine.\"\n\nKenrick, in his \"History of Egypt,\" says:\n\n     \"We have abundant evidence that the Egyptian theology had its\n     origin in the personification of the powers of nature, under\n     male and female attributes, and that this conception took a\n     sensible form, such as the mental state of the people\n     required, by the identification of these powers with the\n     elements and the heavenly bodies, fire, earth, water, the sun\n     and moon, and the Nile. Such appears _everywhere_ to be the\n     origin of the objective form of polytheism; and it is equally\n     evident among the nations most closely allied to the Egyptians\n     by position and general character--the Phenicians, the\n     Babylonians, and in remote connection, the Indians on the one\n     side and the Greeks on the other.\"\n\nThe gods and goddesses of the ancient PERSIANS were also\npersonifications of the Sun, Moon, Stars, the elements, &c.\n\n_Ormuzd_, \"The King of Light,\" was god of the _Firmament_, and the\n\"Principle of Goodness\" and of Truth. He was called \"The Eternal Source\nof Sunshine and Light,\" \"The Centre of all that exists,\" \"The First-born\nof the Eternal One,\" \"The Creator,\" \"The Sovereign Intelligence,\" \"The\nAll-seeing,\" \"The Just Judge.\" He was described as \"sitting on the\nthrone of the good and the perfect, in regions of pure light,\" crowned\nwith rays, and with a ring on his finger--a circle being an emblem of\ninfinity; sometimes as a venerable, majestic man, seated on a Bull,\ntheir emblem of creation.\n\n\"_Mithras the Mediator_\" was the god-Sun. Their most splendid\nceremonials were in honor of Mithras. They kept his birth-day, with many\nrejoicings, on the twenty-fifth of December, when the Sun perceptibly\nbegins to return northward, after his long winter journey; and they had\nanother festival in his honor, at the vernal equinox. Perhaps no\nreligious festival was ever more splendid than the \"_Annual Salutation\nof Mithras_,\" during which _forty days_ were set apart for thanksgiving\nand sacrifice. The procession to salute the god was formed long before\nthe rising of the Sun. The High Priest was followed by a long train of\nthe Magi, in spotless white robes, chanting hymns, and carrying the\nsacred fire on silver censers. Then came three hundred and sixty-five\nyouths in scarlet, to represent the days of the year and the color of\nfire. These were followed by the Chariot of the Sun, empty, decorated\nwith garlands, and drawn by superb _white horses_ harnessed with pure\ngold. Then came a white horse of magnificent size, his forehead blazing\nwith gems, in honor of Mithras. Close behind him rode the king, in a\nchariot of ivory inlaid with gold, followed by his royal kindred in\nembroidered garments, and a long train of nobles riding on camels richly\ncaparisoned. This gorgeous retinue, facing the East, slowly ascended\nMount Orontes. Arrived at the summit, the High Priest assumed his tiara\nwreathed with myrtle, and hailed the first rays of the rising Sun with\nincense and prayer. The other Magi gradually joined him in singing hymns\nto Ormuzd, the source of all blessing, by whom the radiant Mithras had\nbeen sent to gladden the earth and preserve the principle of life.\nFinally, they all joined in one universal chorus of praise, while king,\nprinces and nobles, prostrated themselves before the orb of day.\n\nThe HEBREWS worshiped the Sun, Moon, Stars, and \"all the host of\nheaven.\"[549:1] _El-Shaddai_ was one of the names given to the god Sun.\nParkhurst, in his \"Hebrew Lexicon,\" says, \"_El_ was the very name the\nheathens gave to their god _Sol_, their Lord or Ruler of the hosts of\nheaven.\" _El_, which means \"the strong one in heaven\"--the Sun, was\ninvoked by the ancestors of all the Semitic nations, before there were\nBabylonians in Babylon, Phenicians in Sydon and Tyrus, before there were\nJews in Mesopotamia or Jerusalem.[549:2]\n\nThe Sun was worshiped by the Hebrews under the names of Baal, Moloch,\nChemosh, &c.; the Moon was Ashtoreth, the \"Queen of Heaven.\"[549:3]\n\nThe gods of the ancient GREEKS and ROMANS were the same as the gods of\nthe Indian epic poems. We have, for example: Zeupiter (Jupiter),\ncorresponding to Dyaus-pitar (the Heaven-father), Juno, corresponding to\nParvati (the Mother Goddess), and Apollo, corresponding to Crishna (the\nSun, the Saviour).[549:4] Another name for the Sun among those people\nwas _Bacchus_. An Orphic verse, referring to the Sun, says, \"he is\ncalled Dionysos (a name of Bacchus) because he is carried with a\ncircular motion through the immensely extended heavens.\"[549:5]\n\nDr. Prichard, in his \"Analysis of Egyptian Mythology,\"[549:6] speaking\nof the ancient Greeks and Romans, says:\n\n     \"That the worship of the _powers of nature_, mitigated,\n     indeed, and embellished, constituted the foundation of the\n     Greek and Roman religion, will not be disputed by any person\n     who surveys the fables of the Olympian Gods with a more\n     penetrating eye than that of a mere antiquarian.\"\n\nM. De Coulanges, speaking of them, says:\n\n     \"The _Sun_, which gives fecundity; the _Earth_, which\n     nourishes; the _Clouds_, by turns beneficent and\n     destructive,--_such were the different powers of which they\n     could make gods_. But from each one of these elements\n     thousands of gods were created; because the same physical\n     agent, _viewed under different aspects_, received from men\n     different names. The Sun, for example, was called in one place\n     _Hercules_ (the glorious); in another, _Phoebus_ (the shining);\n     and still again, _Apollo_ (he who drives away night or evil);\n     one called him _Hyperion_ (the elevated being); another,\n     _Alexicacos_ (the beneficent); and in the course of time\n     groups of men, who had given these various names to the\n     brilliant luminary, _no longer saw that they had the same\n     god_.\"[549:7]\n\nRichard Payne Knight says:\n\n     \"The primitive religion of the _Greeks_, like that of all\n     other nations not enlightened by _Revelation_, appears to have\n     been _elementary_, and to have consisted in an indistinct\n     worship of the SUN, the MOON, the STARS, the EARTH, and the\n     WATERS, or rather, the spirits supposed to preside over these\n     bodies, and to direct their motions, and regulate their modes\n     of existence. Every river, spring or mountain had its local\n     genius, or peculiar deity; and as men naturally endeavored to\n     obtain the favor of their gods by such means as they feel best\n     adapted to win their own, the first worship consisted in\n     offering to them certain portions of whatever they held to be\n     most valuable. At the same time, the regular motions of the\n     heavenly bodies, the stated returns of summer and winter, of\n     day and night, with all the admirable order of the universe,\n     taught them to believe in the existence and agency of such\n     superior powers; the irregular and destructive efforts of\n     nature, such as lightnings and tempests, inundations and\n     earthquakes, persuaded them that these mighty beings had\n     passions and affections similar to their own, and only\n     differed in possessing greater strength, power, and\n     intelligence.\"[550:1]\n\nWhen the Grecian astronomers first declared that the Sun was not a\nperson, but a huge hot ball, instantly an outcry arose against them.\nThey were called \"_blaspheming atheists_,\" and from that time to the\npresent, when any new discovery is made which seems to take away from\nman his god, the cry of \"_Atheist_\" is instantly raised.\n\nIf we turn from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and take a look still\nfarther West and North, we shall find that the gods of all the TEUTONIC\nnations were the same as we have seen elsewhere. They had Odin or\nWoden--from whom we have our _Wednesday_--the Al-fader (the Sky),\nFrigga, the Mother Goddess (the Earth), \"Baldur the Good,\" and\nThor--from whom we have our Thursday (personifications of the Sun),\nbesides innumerable other _genii_, among them Freyja--from whom we have\nour Friday--and as she was the \"Goddess of Love,\" we eat _fish_ on that\nday.[550:2]\n\nThe gods of the ancient inhabitants of what are now called the \"British\nIslands\" were identically the same. The _Sun_-god worshiped by the\nAncient Druids was called _Hu_, _Beli_, _Budd_ and _Buddu-gre_.[550:3]\n\nThe same worship which we have found in the Old World, from the farthest\nEast to the remotest West, may also be traced in AMERICA, from its\nsimplest or least clearly defined form, among the roving hunters and\nsqualid Esquimaux of the North, through every intermediate stage of\ndevelopment, to the imposing systems of Mexico and Peru, where it took a\nform nearly corresponding that which it at one time sustained on the\nbanks of the Ganges, and on the plains of Assyria.[550:4]\n\nFather Acosta, speaking of the Mexicans, says:\n\n     \"Next to Viracocha, or their Supreme God, that which most\n     commonly they have, and do adore, is the _Sun_; and after,\n     those things which are most remarkable in the celestial or\n     elementary nature, as the Moon, Stars, Sea, and Land.\n\n     \"Whoso shall merely look into it, shall find this manner which\n     the Devil hath used to deceive the Indians, to be the same\n     wherewith he hath deceived the Greeks and Romans, and other\n     ancient Gentiles, giving them to understand that these notable\n     creatures, the Sun, Moon, Stars, and elements, had power or\n     authority to do good or harm to men.\"[551:1]\n\nWe see, then, that the gods and heroes of antiquity were originally\npersonifications of certain elements of Nature, and that the legends of\nadventures ascribed to them are merely mythical forms of describing the\nphenomena of these elements.\n\nThese legends relating to the elements of Nature, whether they had\nreference to the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, or a certain natural\nphenomenon, became, in the course of time, to be regarded as accounts of\nmen of a high order, who had once inhabited the earth. Sanctuaries and\ntemples were erected to these heroes, their bones were searched for, and\nwhen found--which was always the case--were regarded as a great source\nof strength to the town that possessed them; all relics of their stay on\nearth were hallowed, and a form of worship was specially adapted to\nthem.\n\nThe idea that heavenly luminaries were inhabited by spirits, of a nature\nintermediate between God and men, first led mortals to address prayers\nto the orbs over which they were supposed to preside. In order to\nsupplicate these deities, when Sun, Moon, and Stars were not visible,\n_they made images of them_, which the priests consecrated with many\nceremonies. Then they pronounced solemn invocations to draw down the\nspirits into the statues provided for their reception. By this process\nit was supposed that a mysterious connection was established between the\nspirit and the image, so that prayers addressed to one were thenceforth\nheard by the other. This was probably the origin of image worship\neverywhere.\n\nThe _motive_ of this worship was the same among all nations of\nantiquity, _i. e._, _fear_. They supposed that these deities were\nirritated by the sins of men, but, at the same time, were merciful, and\ncapable of being appeased by prayer and repentance; for this reason men\noffered to these deities sacrifices and prayers. How natural that such\nshould have been the case, for, as Abb\u00e9 Dubois observes: \"To the rude,\nuntutored eye, the 'Host of Heaven,' clothed in that calm beauty which\ndistinguishes an Oriental night, might well appear to be instinct with\nsome divine principle, endowed with consciousness, and the power to\ninfluence, from its throne of unchanging splendor on high, the fortunes\nof transitory mortals.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[544:1] \"All Paganism is at bottom _a worship of nature_ in some form or\nother, and in all Pagan religions the deepest and most awe-inspiring\nattribute of _nature_ was its power of reproduction.\" (Encyclo. Brit.,\nart. \"Christianity.\")\n\n[544:2] In Montfaucon's L'Antiquit\u00e9 Expliqu\u00e9e (vol. i.), may be seen a\nrepresentation of the seven planets _personified_. It was by such\npersonifications that the real objects worshiped became unknown. At\nfirst the real Sun, Moon, Stars, &c., would be worshiped, but as soon as\nman personified them, other terms would be introduced, and peculiar\nrites appropriated to each, so that in time they came to be considered\nas so many different deities.\n\n[545:1] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. pp. 14, 49 and 50.\n\n[545:2] Max M\u00fcller: The Science of Religion, p. 298.\n\n[545:3] Indian Wisdom, p. 10.\n\n[546:1] The emblem of Parvati, the \"Mother Goddess,\" was the YONI, and\nthat of her consort Siva, the LINGHAM.\n\n[546:2] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.\n\n[546:3] See Cox: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. pp. 105 and 130.\n\n[546:4] Ibid. p. 135.\n\n[546:5] Ibid. p. 137.\n\n[546:6] See Ibid. p. 88, and Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p. 63.\n\n[547:1] \"According to Champollion, the tomb of Ramses V. at Thebes,\ncontains tables of the constellations and of their influence (on human\nbeings) for every hour of every month of the year.\" (Kenrick's Egypt,\nvol. i. p. 456.)\n\n[547:2] P. 118.\n\n[549:1] See Chapter XI.\n\n[549:2] M\u00fcller: The Science of Relig., p. 190.\n\n[549:3] See Chapter XI.\n\n[549:4] See Indian Wisdom, p. 426.\n\n[549:5] Taylor's Mysteries, p. 163.\n\n[549:6] Page 239.\n\n[549:7] The Ancient City, p. 162.\n\n[550:1] Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 1.\n\n[550:2] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities. Though spoken of in Northern\nmythology as distinct, Frigga and Freyja are _originally_ ONE.\n\n[550:3] See Myths of the British Druids, p. 116.\n\n[550:4] See Squire's Serpent Symbol.\n\n[551:1] Acosta: vol. ii. pp. 303-305.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX C.\n\n\nAll the chief stories that we know so well are to be found in all times,\nand in almost all countries. _Cinderella_, for one, is told in the\nlanguage of every country in Europe, and the same legend is found in the\nfanciful tales related by the Greek poets; and still further back, it\nappears in very ancient Hindoo legends. So, again, does _Beauty and the\nBeast_; so does our familiar tale of _Jack, the Giant-Killer_; so also\ndo a great number of other fairy stories, each being told in different\ncountries and in different periods, with so much likeness as to show\nthat all the versions came from the same source, and yet with enough\ndifference to show that none of the versions are directly copied from\neach other. \"Indeed, when we compare the myths and legends of one\ncountry with another, and of one period with another, we find out how\nthey have come to be so much alike, and yet in some things so different.\nWe see that there must have been _one origin_ for all these stories,\nthat they must have been invented by _one people_, that this people must\nhave been afterwards divided, and that each part or division of it must\nhave brought into its new home the legends once common to them all, and\nmust have shaped and altered these according to the kind of place in\nwhich they came to live; those of the North being sterner and more\nterrible, those of the South softer and fuller of light and color, and\nadorned with touches of more delicate fancy.\" And this, indeed, is\nreally the case. All the chief stories and legends are alike, because\nthey were first made by _one people_; and all the nations in which they\nare now told in one form or another tell them because they are all\ndescended from this one common stock, the _Aryan_.\n\nFrom researches made by Prof. Max M\u00fcller, the Rev. George W. Cox, and\nothers, in England and Germany, in the science of _Comparative\nMythology_, we begin to see something of these ancient forefathers of\nours; to understand what kind of people they were, and to find that _our\nfairy stories_ are really made out of _their religion_.\n\nThe mind of the Aryan peoples in their ancient home was full of\nimagination. They never ceased to wonder at what they saw and heard in\nthe sky and upon the earth. Their language was highly figurative, and so\nthe things which struck them with wonder, and which they could not\nexplain, were described under forms and names which were familiar to\nthem. \"Thus, the thunder was to them the bellowing of a mighty beast, or\nthe rolling of a great chariot. In the lightning they saw a brilliant\nserpent, or a spear shot across the sky, or a great fish darting swiftly\nthrough the sea of cloud. The clouds were heavenly cows, who shed milk\nupon the earth and refreshed it; or they were webs woven by heavenly\nwomen who drew water from the fountains on high and poured it down as\nrain.\" Analogies which are but fancy to us, were realities to these men\nof past ages. They could see in the waterspout a huge serpent who\nelevated himself out of the ocean and reached his head to the skies.\nThey could feel, in the pangs of hunger, a live creature gnawing within\ntheir bodies, and they heard the voices of the hill-dwarfs answering in\nthe echo. The _Sun_, the first object which struck them with wonder,\nwas, to them, the child of Night; the Dawn came before he was born, and\ndied as he rose in the heavens. He strangled the serpents of the night;\nhe went forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber, and like a giant, to\nrun his course.[553:1] He had to do battle with clouds and\nstorms.[553:2] Sometimes his light grew dim under their gloomy veil, and\nthe children of men shuddered at the wrath of the hidden Sun.[553:3]\nSometimes his ray broke forth, only, after brief splendor, to sink\nbeneath a deeper darkness; sometimes he burst forth at the end of his\ncourse, trampling on the clouds which had dimmed his brilliancy, and\nbathing his pathway with blood.[553:4] Sometimes, beneath mountains of\nclouds and vapors, he plunged into the leaden sea.[553:5] Sometimes he\nlooked benignly on the face of his mother or his bride who came to greet\nhim at his journey's end.[553:6] Sometimes he was the lord of heaven and\nof light, irresistible in his divine strength; sometimes he toiled for\nothers, not for himself, in a hard, unwilling servitude.[553:7] His\nlight and heat might give light and destroy it.[553:8] His chariot might\nscorch the regions over which it passed, his flaming fire might burn up\nall who dared to look with prying eyes into his dazzling\ntreasure-house.[553:9] He might be the child destined to slay his\nparents, or to be united at the last in an unspeakable peace, to the\nbright Dawn who for a brief space had gladdened his path in the\nmorning.[553:10] He might be the friend of the children of men, and the\nremorseless foe of those powers of darkness who had stolen away his\nbride.[553:11] He might be a warrior whose eye strikes terror into his\nenemies, or a wise chieftain skilled in deep and hidden\nknowledge.[554:1] Sometimes he might appear as a glorious being doomed\nto an early death, which no power could avert or delay.[554:2] Sometimes\ngrievous hardships and desperate conflicts might be followed by a long\nseason of serene repose.[554:3] Wherever he went, men might welcome him\nin love, or shrink from him in fear and anguish.[554:4] He would have\nmany brides in many lands, and his offspring would assume aspects\nbeautiful, strange or horrible.[554:5] His course might be brilliant and\nbeneficent; or gloomy, sullen, and capricious.[554:6] As compelled to\ntoil for others, he would be said to fight in quarrels not his own; or\nhe might for a time withhold the aid of an arm which no enemy could\nwithstand.[554:7] He might be the destroyer of all whom he loved, he\nmight slay the Dawn with his kindling rays, he might scorch the Fruits,\nwho were his children; he might woo the deep blue sky, the bride of\nheaven itself, and an inevitable doom might bind his limbs on the\nblazing wheel for ever and ever.[554:8] Nor in this crowd of phrases,\nall of which have borne their part in the formation of mythology, is\nthere one which could not be used naturally by ourselves to describe the\nphenomena of the outward world, and there is scarcely one, perhaps,\nwhich has not been used by our own poets. There is a beauty in them,\nwhich can never grow old or lose its charm. Poets of all ages recur to\nthem instinctively in times of the deepest grief or the greatest joy;\nbut, in the words of Professor Max M\u00fcller, \"it is impossible to enter\nfully into the thoughts and feelings which passed through the minds of\nthe early poets when they formed names for that far East from whence\neven the early Dawn, the Sun, the Day, their own life seemed to spring.\nA new life flashed up every morning before their eyes, and the fresh\nbreezes of the Dawn reached them like greetings wafted across the golden\nthreshold of the sky from the distant lands beyond the mountains, beyond\nthe clouds, beyond the dawn, beyond the immortal sea which brought us\nhither! The Dawn seemed to them to open golden gates for the Sun to pass\nin triumph; and while those gates were open, their eyes and their minds\nstrove, in their childish way, to pierce beyond the limits of this\nfinite world. That silent aspect wakened in the human mind the\nconception of the Infinite, the Immortal, the Divine; and the names of\nthe Dawn became naturally the names of higher powers.[554:9]\n\n\"This imagery of the Aryans was applied by them to all they saw in the\nsky. Sometimes, as we have said, the clouds were cows; they were also\ndragons, which sought to slay the Sun; or great ships floating across\nthe sky, and casting anchor upon earth; or rocks, or mountains, or deep\ncaverns, in which evil deities hid the golden light. Then, also, they\nwere shaped by fancy into animals of various kinds--the bear, the wolf,\nthe dog, the ox; and into giant birds, and into monsters which were both\nbird and beast.\n\n\"The winds, again, in their fancy, were the companions or ministers of\nIndia, the sky-god. The spirits of the winds gathered into their host\nthe souls of the dead--thus giving birth to the Scandinavian and\nTeutonic legend of the Wild Horseman, who rides at midnight through the\nstormy sky, with his long train of dead behind him, and his weird hounds\nbefore.[555:1] The Ribhus, or Arbhus, again, were the sunbeams or the\nlightning, who forged the armor of the gods, and made their\nthunderbolts, and turned old people young, and restored out of the hides\nalone the slaughtered cow on which the gods had feasted.\"[555:2]\n\nAryan myths, then, were no more than poetic fancies about light and\ndarkness, cloud and rain, night and day, storm and wind; and when they\nmoved westward and southward, _the Aryan race brought these legends with\nit_; and out of these were shaped by degrees innumerable gods and demons\nof the Hindoos, the devs and jinns of the Persians; the great gods, the\nminor deities, and nymphs, and fauns, and satyrs of Greek mythology and\npoetry; the stormy divinities, the giants, and trolls of the cold and\nrugged North; the dwarfs of the German forests; the elves who dance\nmerrily in the moonlight of an English summer; and the \"good people\" who\nplay mischievous tricks upon stray peasants among the Irish hills.\n_Almost all, indeed, that we have of a legendary kind comes to us from\nour Aryan forefathers_--sometimes scarcely changed, sometimes so altered\nthat we have to puzzle out the links between the old and the new; but\nall these myths and traditions, and old-world stories, when we come to\nknow the meaning of them, take us back to the time when the Aryan race\ndwelt together in the high lands of central Asia, and they all mean the\nsame things--that is, the relation between the Sun and the earth, the\nsuccession of night and day, of winter and summer, of storm and calm, of\ncloud and tempest, and golden sunshine, and bright blue sky. And this is\nthe source from which we get our fairy stories, and tales of gods and\nheroes; for underneath all of them there are the same fanciful meanings,\nonly changed and altered in the way of putting them by the lapse of ages\nof time, by the circumstances of different countries, and by the fancy\nof those who kept the wonderful tales alive without knowing what they\nmeant.\n\nThousands of years ago, the Aryan people began their march out of their\nold country in mid-Asia. From the remains of their language, and the\nlikeness of their legends to those among other nations, we know that\nages and ages ago their country grew too small for them, so they were\nobliged to move away from it. Some of them turned southward into India\nand Persia, and some of them went westward into Europe--the time,\nperhaps, when the land of Europe stretched from the borders of Asia to\nthe islands of Great Britain, and when there was no sea between them and\nthe main land. How they made their long and toilsome march we know not.\nBut, as Kingsley writes of such a movement of an ancient tribe, so we\nmay fancy these old Aryans marching westward--\"the tall, bare-limbed\nmen, with stone axes on their shoulders and horn bows at their backs,\nwith herds of gray cattle, guarded by huge lap-eared mastiffs, with\nshaggy white horses, heavy-horned sheep, and silky goats, moving always\nwestward through the boundless steppes, whither or why we know not, but\nthat the Al-Father had sent them forth. And behind us (he makes them\nsay) the rosy snow-peaks died into ghastly gray, lower and lower, as\nevery evening came; and before us the plains spread infinite, with\ngleaming salt-lakes, and ever fresh tribes of gaudy flowers. Behind us,\ndark lines of living beings streamed down the mountain slopes; around\nus, dark lines crawled along the plains--all westward, westward ever.\nWho could stand against us? We met the wild asses on the steppe, and\ntamed them, and made them our slaves. We slew the bison herds, and swam\nbroad rivers on their skins. The python snake lay across our path; the\nwolves and wild dogs snarled at us out of their coverts; we slew them\nand went on. Strange giant tribes met us, and eagle visaged hordes,\nfierce and foolish; we smote them, hip and thigh, and went on, westward\never.\"[556:1] And so they went on, straight toward the West, or, as they\nturned North and South, and thus overspread new lands, _they brought\nwith them their old ways of thought and forms of belief_, and the\nstories in which these had taken form; _and on these were built up the\ngods and heroes_, and all wonder-working creatures and things, and the\npoetical fables and fancies which have come down to us, and which still\nlinger in our customs and our fairy tales; bright and sunny and\nmany-colored in the warm regions of the South, sterner and wilder and\nrougher in the North, more homelike in the middle and western countries;\nbut always alike in their main features, and always having the same\nmeaning when we come to dig it out, and these forms and their meaning\nbeing the same in the lands of the West Aryans as in those still peopled\nby the Aryans of the East.\n\nThe story of _Cinderella_ is one of the many fairy tales which help us\nto find out their meaning, and take us straight back to the far-off land\nwhere fairy legends began, and to the people who made them. This\nwell-known fairy tale has been found among the myths of our Aryan\nancestors, and from this we know that it is the story of the _Sun_ and\nthe _Dawn_. Cinderella, gray and dark and dull, is all neglected when\nshe is away from the Sun, obscured by the envious clouds, her sisters,\nand by her step-mother, the Night. So she is Aurora, the Dawn, and the\nFairy Prince is the Morning Sun, ever pursuing her, to claim her for his\nbride. This is the legend as it is found in the ancient Hindoo books;\nand this explains at once the _source_ and the _meaning_ of the fairy\ntale.[557:1]\n\nAnother tale which helps us in our task is that of _Jack the\nGiant-Killer_, who is really one of the very oldest and most widely\nknown characters in wonder-land. Now, who is this wonderful little\nfellow? He is none other than the hero who, in all countries and ages,\nfights with monsters and overcomes them; like Indra, the ancient Hindoo\nSun-god, whose thunderbolts slew the demons of drought in the far East;\nor Perseus, who, in Greek story, delivers the maiden from the\nsea-monster; or Odysseus, who tricks the giant Polyphemus, and causes\nhim to throw himself into the sea; or Thor, whose hammer beats down the\nfrost giants of the North. \"The gifts bestowed upon Jack are found in\nTartar stories, Hindoo tales, in German legends, and in the fables of\nScandinavia.\"\n\nStill another is that of _Little Red Riding-Hood_. The story of Little\nRed Riding Hood, as we call her, or Little Red-Cap, as she is called in\nthe German tales, also comes from the same source, and (as we have seen\nin Chapter IX.), refers to the _Sun_ and _Night_.\n\n\"One of the fancies in the most ancient Aryan or Hindoo stories was that\nthere was a great dragon that was trying to devour the Sun, to prevent\nhim from shining upon the earth, and filling it with brightness and life\nand beauty, and that Indra, the Sun-god, killed the dragon. Now, this is\nthe meaning of Little Red Riding-Hood, as it is told in our nursery\ntales. Little Red Riding-Hood is the Evening _Sun_, which is always\ndescribed as red or golden; the old grandmother is the _Earth_, to whom\nthe rays of the Sun bring warmth and comfort. The wolf--which is a\nwell-known figure for the _Clouds_ and blackness of _Night_ (in\nTeutonic mythology)[558:1]--is the dragon in another form. First, he\ndevours the grandmother; that is, he wraps the earth in thick clouds,\nwhich the Evening Sun is not strong enough to pierce through. Then, with\nthe darkness of Night, he swallows up the Evening Sun itself, and all is\ndark and desolate. Then, as in the German tale, the night-thunder and\nthe storm winds are represented by the loud snoring of the wolf; and\nthen the huntsman, the _Morning Sun_, comes in all his strength and\nmajesty, and chases away the night clouds and kills the wolf, and\nrevives old grandmother Earth and Little Red Riding Hood to life again.\"\n\nNor is it in these stories alone that we can trace the ancient Hindoo\nlegends, and the Sun-myth. There is, as Mr. Bunce observes in his \"Fairy\nTales, their Origin and Meaning,\" scarcely a tale of Greek or Roman\nmythology, no legend of Teutonic or Celtic or Scandinavian growth, no\ngreat romance of what we call the middle ages, no fairy story taken down\nfrom the lips of ancient folk, and dressed for us in modern shape and\ntongue, that we do not find, in some form or another, in these Eastern\npoems, _which are composed of allegorical tales of gods and heroes_.\n\nWhen, in the Vedic hymns, Kephalos, Prokris, Hermes, Daphne, Zeus,\nOuranos, stand forth as simple names for the Sun, the Dew, the Wind, the\nDawn, the Heaven and the Sky, each recognized as such, yet each endowed\nwith the most perfect consciousness, we feel that the great riddle of\nmythology is solved, and that we no longer lack the key which shall\ndisclose its most hidden treasures. When we hear the people saying, \"Our\nfriend the Sun is dead. Will he rise? Will the Dawn come back again?\" we\nsee the death of Hercules, and the weary waiting while Leto struggles\nwith the birth of Phoibos. When on the return of day we hear the cry--\n\n     \"Rise! our life, our spirit has come back, the darkness is\n     gone, the light draws near!\"\n\n--we are carried at once to the Homeric hymn, and we hear the joyous\nshout of all the gods when Phoibos springs to life and light on\nDelos.[558:2]\n\nThat the peasant folk-lore of modern Europe still displays episodes of\nnature-myth, may be seen in the following story of _Vassalissa, the\nBeautiful_.\n\nVassalissa's stepmother and two sisters, plotting against her life, send\nher to get a light at the house of _B\u00e0ba Yag\u00e0_, the witch, and her\njourney contains the following history of the _Day_, told, as Mr. Tylor\nsays, in truest mythic fashion:\n\n     \"Vassalissa goes and wanders, wanders in the forest. She goes,\n     and she shudders. Suddenly before her bounds a rider, he\n     himself white, and clad in white, and the trappings white.\n     _And Day began to dawn._ She goes farther, when a second rider\n     bounds forth, himself red, clad in red, and on a red horse.\n     _The Sun began to rise._ She goes on all day, and towards\n     evening arrives at the witch's house. Suddenly there comes\n     again a rider, himself black, clad in all black, and on a\n     black horse; he bounded to the gates of the _B\u00e0ba Yag\u00e0_, and\n     disappeared _as if he had sunk through the earth_. _Night\n     fell._ After this, when Vassalissa asks the witch, 'Who was\n     the white rider?' she answered, 'That is my clear _Day_;' 'Who\n     was the red rider?' 'That is my red _Sun_;' 'Who was the black\n     rider?' 'That is my black _Night_. They are all my trusty\n     friends.'\"[559:1]\n\nWe have another illustration of allegorical mythology in the Grecian\nstory of Heph\u00e6stos splitting open with his axe the head of Zeus, and\nAthene springing from it, full armed; for we perceive behind this savage\nimagery Zeus as the bright _Sky_, his forehead the _East_, Heph\u00e6stos as\nthe young, not yet risen _Sun_, and Athene as the _Dawn_, the daughter\nof the Sky, stepping forth from the fountain-head of light,--with eyes\nlike an owl, pure as a virgin; the golden; lighting up the tops of the\nmountains, and her own glorious Parthenon in her own favorite town of\nAthens; whirling the shafts of light; the genial warmth of the morning;\nthe foremost champion in the battle between night and day; in full\narmor, in her panoply of light, driving away the darkness of night, and\nawakening men to a bright life, to bright thoughts, to bright\nendeavors.[559:2]\n\nAnother story of the same sort is that of Kronos. Every one is familiar\nwith the story of Kronos, who devoured his own children. Now, Kronos is\na mere creation from the older and misunderstood epithet Kronides or\nKronion, the ancient of days. When these days or time had come to be\nregarded as a person the myth would certainly follow that he devoured\nhis own children, as Time is the devourer of the Dawns.[559:3] Saturn,\nwho devours his own children, is the same power whom the Greeks called\nKronos (Time), which may truly be said to destroy whatever it has\nbrought into existence.\n\nThe idea of a _Heaven_, the \"Elysian fields,\" is also born of the sky.\n\nThe \"_Elysian plain_\" is far away in the _West_, where the sun goes\ndown beyond the bonds of the earth, when Eos gladdens the close of day\nas she sheds her violet tints over the sky. The \"Abodes of the Blessed\"\nare golden islands sailing in a sea of blue,--_the burnished clouds\nfloating in the pure ether_. Grief and sorrow cannot approach them;\nplague and sickness cannot touch them. The blissful company gathered\ntogether in that far _Western land_ inherits a tearless eternity.\n\nOf the other details in the picture the greater number would be\nsuggested directly by these images drawn from the phenomena of sunset\nand twilight. What spot or stain can be seen on the deep blue ocean in\nwhich the \"Islands of the Blessed\" repose forever? What unseemly forms\ncan mar the beauty of that golden home, lighted by the radiance of a\n_Sun_ which can never set? Who then but the pure in heart, the truthful\nand the generous, can be suffered to tread the violet fields? And how\nshall they be tested save by judges who can weigh the thoughts and the\ninterests of the heart? Thus every soul, as it drew near that joyous\nland, was brought before the august tribunal of Minos, Rhadamanthys, and\nAiakos; and they whose faith was in truth a quickening power, might draw\nfrom the ordeals those golden lessons which Plato has put into the mouth\nof Socrates, and some unknown persons into the mouths of Buddha and\nJesus. The belief of earlier ages pictured to itself the meetings in\nthat blissful land, the forgiveness of old wrongs, and the\nreconciliation of deadly feuds,[560:1] just as the belief of the present\nday pictures these things to itself.\n\nThe story of a _War in Heaven_, which was known to all nations of\nantiquity, is allegorical, and refers to the battle between light and\ndarkness, sunshine and storm cloud.[560:2]\n\nAs examples of the prevalence of the legend relating to the struggle\nbetween the co-ordinate powers of good and evil, light and darkness, the\nSun and the clouds, we have that of Phoibos and Python, Indra and\nVritra, Sigurd and Fafuir, Achilleus and Paris, Oidipous and the Sphinx,\nOrmuzd and Ahriman, and from the character of the struggle between Indra\nand Vritra, and again between Ormuzd and Ahriman, we infer that a myth,\npurely _physical_, in the land of the Five Streams, assumed a moral and\nspiritual meaning in Persia, and the fight between the co-ordinate\npowers of good and evil, _gave birth to the dualism which from that time\nto the present has exercised so mighty an influence through the East and\nWest_.\n\nThe Apocalypse exhibits Satan with the physical attributes of Ahriman;\nhe is called the \"dragon,\" the \"old serpent,\" who fights against God and\nhis angels. The _Vedic myth_, transformed and exaggerated in the Iranian\nbooks, _finds its way through this channel_ into Christianity. The idea\nthus introduced was that of the struggle between Satan and Michael,\nwhich ended in the overthrow of the former, and the casting forth of all\nhis hosts out of heaven, but it coincides too nearly with a myth spread\nin countries held by all the Aryan nations to avoid further\nmodification. Local tradition substituted St. George or St. Theodore for\nJupiter, Apollo, Hercules, or Perseus. It is under this disguise that\nthe Vedic myth has come down to our own times, and has still its\nfestivals and its monuments. Art has consecrated it in a thousand ways.\nSt. Michael, lance in hand, treading on the dragon, is an image as\nfamiliar now as, _thirty centuries ago_, that of Indra treading under\nfoot the demon Vritra could possibly have been to the Hindoo.[561:1]\n\nThe very ancient doctrine of a TRINITY, three gods in one, can be\nexplained, rationally, by allegory only. We have seen that the Sun, in\nearly times, was believed to be the _Creator_, and became the first\nobject of adoration. After some time it would be observed that this\npowerful and beneficent agent, the solar fire, was the most potent\n_Destroyer_, and hence would arise the first idea of a Creator and\nDestroyer united in the same person. But much time would not elapse\nbefore it must have been observed, that the destruction caused by this\npowerful being was destruction only in appearance, that destruction was\nonly reproduction in another form--_regeneration_; that if he appeared\nsometimes to destroy, he constantly repaired the injury which he seemed\nto occasion--and that, without his light and heat, everything would\ndwindle away into a cold, inert, unprolific mass. Thus, at once, in the\nsame being, became concentrated, the creating, the preserving, and the\ndestroying powers--the latter of the three being at the same time both\nthe _Destroyer_ and _Regenerator_. Hence, by a very natural and obvious\ntrain of reasoning, arose the _Creator_, the _Preserver_, and the\n_Destroyer_--in India _Brahma_, _Vishnu_, and _Siva_; in Persia\n_Oromasdes_, _Mithra_, and _Arimanius_; in Egypt _Osiris_, _Horus_, and\n_Typhon_: in each case THREE PERSONS AND ONE GOD. And thus undoubtedly\narose the TRIMURTI, or the celebrated Trinity.\n\nTraces of a similar refinement may be found in the Greek mythology, in\nthe Orphic _Phanes_, _Ericapeus_ and _Metis_, who were all identified\nwith the _Sun_, and yet embraced in the first person, _Phanes_, or\nProtogones, the Creator and Generator.[562:1] The invocation to the Sun,\nin the Mysteries, according to Macrobius, was as follows: \"O all-ruling\n_Sun_! _Spirit_ of the world! _Power_ of the world! _Light_ of the\nworld!\"[562:2]\n\nWe have seen in Chap. XXXV, that the _Peruvian_ Triad was represented by\nthree statues, called, respectively, \"Apuinti, Churiinti, and\nIntihoaoque,\" which is, \"Lord and Father _Sun_; Son _Sun_; and Air or\nSpirit, Brother _Sun_.\"[562:3]\n\nMr. Faber, in his \"Origin of Pagan Idolatry,\" says:\n\n     \"The peculiar mode in which the Hindoos identify their _three\n     great gods_ with the _solar orb_, is a curious specimen of the\n     physical refinements of ancient mythology. At night, in the\n     west, the Sun is _Vishnu_; he is _Brahma_ in the east and in\n     the morning; and from noon to evening he is _Siva_.\"[562:4]\n\nMr. Moor, in his \"Hindu Pantheon,\" says:\n\n     \"Most, if not all, of the gods of the Hindoo Pantheon will, on\n     close investigation, resolve themselves into the _three\n     powers_ (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva), and those powers into _one\n     Deity_, Brahm, _typified by the Sun_.\"[562:5]\n\nMr. Squire, in his \"Serpent Symbol,\" observes:\n\n     \"It is highly probable that the triple divinity of the Hindoos\n     was originally no more than a personification of the _Sun_,\n     whom they called _Three-bodied_, in the triple capacity of\n     _producing_ forms by his general _heat_, _preserving_ them by\n     his _light_, or _destroying_ them by the counteracting force\n     of his _igneous_ matter. _Brahm\u00e1_, the _Creator_, was\n     indicated by the _heat of the Sun_; _Vishnu_, the _Preserver_,\n     by the _light of the Sun_, and _Siva_, the _Reproducer_, by\n     the _orb of the Sun_. In the morning the Sun was _Brahma_, at\n     noon _Vishnu_, at evening _Siva_.\"[562:6]\n\n\"He is at once,\" says Mr. Cox, in speaking of the Sun, \"the 'Comforter'\nand 'Healer,' the 'Saviour' and 'Destroyer,' who can slay and make alive\nat will, and from whose piercing glance no secret can be kept\nhid.\"[562:7]\n\nSir William Jones was also of the opinion that the whole Triad of the\nHindoos were identical with the Sun, expressed under the mythical term\nO. M.\n\nThe idea of a _Tri-murti_, or triple personification, was developed\ngradually, and as it grew, received numerous accretions. It was first\ndimly shadowed forth and vaguely expressed in the _Rig-Veda_, where a\ntriad of principal gods, _Agni_, _Indra_, and _Surya_ is recognized. And\nthese three gods are _One_, the SUN.[562:8]\n\nWe see then that the religious myths of antiquity and the fireside\nlegends of ancient and modern times, have a common root in the mental\nhabits of primeval humanity, and that they are the earliest recorded\nutterances of men concerning the visible phenomena of the world into\nwhich they were born. At first, thoroughly understood, the _meaning_ in\ntime became unknown. How stories originally told of the Sun, the Moon,\nthe Stars, &c., became believed in as facts, is plainly illustrated in\nthe following story told by Mrs. Jameson in her \"History of Our Lord in\nArt:\" \"I once tried to explain,\" says she, \"to a good old woman, the\nmeaning of the word _parable_, and that the story of the _Prodigal Son_\nwas not a fact; she was scandalized--she was quite sure that Jesus would\nnever have told anything to his disciples that was not true. Thus she\nsettled the matter in her own mind, and I thought it best to leave it\nthere undisturbed.\"\n\nProf. Max M\u00fcller, in speaking of \"the comparison of the different forms\nof Aryan religion and mythology in India, Persia, Greece, Italy and\nGermany,\" clearly illustrates how such legends are transformed from\nintelligible into unintelligible myths. He says:\n\n\"In each of these nations there was a tendency to change the original\nconception of divine powers, to misunderstand the many names given to\nthese powers, and to misinterpret the praises addressed to them. In this\nmanner some of the divine names were changed into half-divine,\nhalf-human heroes, and at last the myths which were true and\nintelligible as told originally of the _Sun_, or the _Dawn_, or the\n_Storms_, were turned into legends or fables too marvelous to be\nbelieved of common mortals. This process can be watched in India, in\nGreece, and in Germany. The same story, or nearly the same, is told of\ngods, of heroes, and of men. The divine myth became an heroic legend,\nand the heroic legend fades away into a nursery tale. Our nursery tales\nhave well been called the modern _patois_ of the ancient mythology of\nthe Aryan race.\"[563:1]\n\nIn the words of this learned author, \"we never lose, we always gain,\nwhen we discover the most ancient intention of sacred traditions,\ninstead of being satisfied with their later aspect, and their modern\nmisinterpretations.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[553:1] This picture would give us the story of Hercules, who strangled\nthe serpent in his cradle, and who, in after years, in the form of a\ngiant, ran his course.\n\n[553:2] This would give us St. George killing the Dragon.\n\n[553:3] This would give us the story of the monster who attempted to\ndevour the Sun, and whom the \"untutored savage\" tried to frighten away\nby making loud cries.\n\n[553:4] This would give us the story of Samson, whose strength was\nrenewed at the end of his career, and who slew the Philistines--who had\ndimmed his brilliance--and bathed his path with blood.\n\n[553:5] This would give us the story of Oannes or Dagon, who, beneath\nthe clouds of the evening sky, plunged into the sea.\n\n[553:6] This would give us the story of Hercules and his bride I\u00f4le, or\nthat of Christ Jesus and his mother Mary, who were at their side at the\nend of their career.\n\n[553:7] This would give us the story of the labors of Hercules.\n\n[553:8] This is the Sun as _Seva_.\n\n[553:9] Here again we have the Sun as Siva the _Destroyer_.\n\n[553:10] Here we have Apollo, Achilleus, Bellerophon and Odysseus.\n\n[553:11] This would give us the story of Samson, who was \"the friend of\nthe children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of\ndarkness\" (the Philistines), who had stolen away his bride. (See Judges,\nch. xv.)\n\n[554:1] This would give us the stories of _Thor_, the mighty warrior,\nthe terror of his enemies, and those of Cadmus, Romulus or Odin, the\nwise chieftains, who founded nations, and taught their people knowledge.\n\n[554:2] This would give us the story of Christ Jesus, and other\nAngel-Messiahs; Saviours of men.\n\n[554:3] This would give us the stories of spellbound maidens, who sleep\nfor years.\n\n[554:4] This is Hercules and his counterparts.\n\n[554:5] This again is Hercules.\n\n[554:6] This would depend upon whether his light was obscured by clouds,\nor not.\n\n[554:7] This again is Hercules.\n\n[554:8] This is Apollo, Siva and Ixion.\n\n[554:9] Rev. G. W. Cox.\n\n[555:1] Who has not heard it said that the howling or whining of a dog\nforebodes death?\n\n[555:2] Bunce: Fairy Tales, Origin and Meaning.\n\n[556:1] Quoted by Bunce: Fairy Tales.\n\n[557:1] See Bunce: Fairy Tales, p. 34.\n\n[558:1] \"The _Sun_,\" said _Gaugler_, \"speeds at such a rate as if _she_\nfeared that some one was pursuing her for her destruction.\" \"And well\nshe may,\" replied _Har_, \"for he that seeks her is not far behind, and\nshe has no way to escape but to run before him.\" \"And who is he,\" asked\n_Gaugler_, \"that causes her this anxiety?\" \"It is the _Wolf_ Sk\u00f6ll,\"\nanswered _Har_, \"who pursues the Sun, and it is he that she fears, for\nhe shall one day overtake and devour her.\" (Scandinavian _Prose Edda_.\nSee Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 407). This Wolf is, as we have\nsaid, a personification of _Night_ and _Clouds_, we therefore have the\nalmost universal practice among savage nations of making noises at the\ntime of eclipses, to frighten away the monsters who would otherwise\ndevour the Sun.\n\n[558:2] Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 103.\n\n[559:1] Tylor: Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 308.\n\n[559:2] M\u00fcller: The Science of Religion, p. 65.\n\n[559:3] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 1.\n\n[560:1] As the hand of Hector is clasped in the hand of the hero who\nslew him. There, as the story ran, the lovely Helen \"pardoned and\npurified,\" became the bride of the short-lived, yet long-suffering\nAchilleus, even as Iole comforted the dying Hercules on earth, and Hebe\nbecame his solace in Olympus. But what is the meeting of Helen and\nAchilleus, of Iole and Hebe and Hercules, but the return of the violet\ntints to greet the Sun in the _West_, which had greeted him in the East\nin the morning? The idea was purely physical, yet it suggested the\nthoughts of trial, atonement, and purification; and it is unnecessary to\nsay that the human mind, having advanced thus far, must make its way\nstill farther. (Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 822.)\n\n[560:2] The black storm-cloud, with the flames of lightning issuing from\nit, was the original of the dragon with tongues of fire. Even as late as\nA. D. 1600, a German writer would illustrate a thunder-storm destroying\na crop of corn by a picture of a dragon devouring the produce of the\nfield with his flaming tongue and iron teeth. (Baring-Gould: Curious\nMyths, p. 342.)\n\n[561:1] M. Br\u00e9al, and G. W. Cox.\n\n[562:1] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 59.\n\n[562:2] Ibid.\n\n[562:3] Ibid. p. 181.\n\n[562:4] Book iv. ch. i. in Anac., vol. i. p. 137.\n\n[562:5] P. 6.\n\n[562:6] Squire: Serpent Symbol, p. 33.\n\n[562:7] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 33.\n\n[562:8] Williams' Hinduism, p. 88.\n\n[563:1] M\u00fcller's Chips, vol. ii. p. 260.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX D.\n\n\nWe maintain that not so much as one single passage purporting to be\nwritten, _as history_, within the first hundred years of the Christian\nera, can be produced to show the existence _at_ or before that time of\nsuch a person as Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ, or of such a set\nof men as could be accounted his disciples or followers. Those who would\nbe likely to refer to Jesus or his disciples, but who have not done so,\nwrote about:\n\n     A. D. 40 Philo.[564:1]\n           40 Josephus.\n           79 C. Plinius Second, the Elder.[564:2] }\n           69 L. Ann. Seneca.                      } Philosophers.\n           79 Diogenes Laertius.                   }\n           79 Pausanias.   } Geographers.\n           79 Pompon Mela. }\n           79 Q. Curtius Ruf. }\n           79 Luc. Flor.      }\n          110 Cornel Tacitus. } Historians.\n          123 Appianus.       }\n          140 Justinus.       }\n          141 \u00c6lianus.        }\n\nOut of this number it has been claimed that one (Josephus) spoke of\nJesus, and another (Tacitus) of the Christians. Of the former it is\nalmost needless to speak, as that has been given up by Christian divines\nmany years ago. However, for the sake of those who still cling to it we\nshall state the following:\n\nDr. Lardner, who wrote about A. D. 1760, says:\n\n     1. It was never quoted by any of our Christian ancestors\n     before _Eusebius_.\n\n     2. Josephus has nowhere else mentioned the name or word\n     _Christ_, in any of his works, except the testimony above\n     mentioned,[564:3] and the passage concerning James, the Lord's\n     brother.[564:4]\n\n     3. It interrupts the narrative.\n\n     4. The language is quite Christian.\n\n     5. It is _not_ quoted by Chrysostom,[564:5] though he often\n     refers to Josephus, and could not have omitted quoting it, had\n     it been _then_, in the text.\n\n     6. It is _not_ quoted by Photius, though he has three articles\n     concerning Josephus.\n\n     7. Under the article _Justus of Tiberius_, this author\n     (Photius) expressly states that this historian (Josephus),\n     being a Jew, _has not taken the least notice of Christ_.\n\n     8. Neither Justin, in his dialogue with Typho the Jew, nor\n     Clemens Alexandrinus, who made so many extracts from ancient\n     authors, nor Origen against Celsus, _have even mentioned this\n     testimony_.\n\n     9. But, on the contrary, Origen openly affirms (ch. xxxv., bk.\n     i., against Celsus), that Josephus, who had mentioned John the\n     Baptist, _did not acknowledge Christ_.[565:1]\n\nIn the \"Bible for Learners,\" we read as follows:\n\n     \"Flavius Josephus, the well-known historian of the Jewish\n     people, was born in A. D. 37, only two years after the death\n     of Jesus; but though his work is of inestimable value as our\n     chief authority for the circumstances of the times in which\n     Jesus and his Apostles came forward, yet he does not seem to\n     have ever mentioned Jesus himself. At any rate, the passage in\n     his '_Jewish Antiquities_' that refers to him is certainly\n     spurious, and was inserted by a later and a _Christian hand_.\n     The _Talmud_ compresses the history of Jesus into a single\n     sentence, and later Jewish writers concoct mere slanderous\n     anecdotes. The ecclesiastical fathers mention a few sayings or\n     events, the knowledge of which they drew from oral tradition\n     or from writings that have since been lost. The Latin and\n     Greek historians just mention his name. This meager harvest is\n     all we reap from sources outside the Gospels.\"[565:2]\n\nCanon Farrar, who finds himself _compelled_ to admit that this passage\nin Josephus is an interpolation, consoles himself by saying:\n\n     \"The single passage in which he (Josephus) alludes to Him\n     (Christ) is interpolated, if not wholly spurious, and no one\n     can doubt that his silence on the subject of Christianity was\n     as deliberate as it was dishonest.\"[565:3]\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Giles, after commenting on this subject, concludes by\nsaying:\n\n     \"_Eusebius_ is the first who quotes the passage, and our\n     reliance on the judgment, _or even the honesty_, of this\n     writer _is not so great as to allow of our considering\n     everything found in his works as undoubtedly genuine_.\"[565:4]\n\nEusebius, then, is the first person who refers to these passages.[565:5]\nEusebius, \"_whose honesty is not so great as to allow of our considering\neverything found in his works as undoubtedly genuine_.\" Eusebius, who\nsays that _it is lawful to lie and cheat for the cause of\nChrist_.[565:6] This Eusebius is the sheet-anchor of reliance for most\nwe know of the first three centuries of the Christian history. What then\nmust we think of the _history_ of the first three centuries of the\nChristian era?\n\nThe celebrated passage in Tacitus which Christian divines--and even\nsome liberal writers--attempt to support, is to be found in his\n_Annals_. In this work he is made to speak of _Christians_, who \"had\ntheir denomination from _Christus_, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was\nput to death as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate.\"\n\nIn answer to this we have the following:\n\n1. This passage, which would have served the purpose of Christian\nquotation better than any other in all the writings of Tacitus, or of\nany Pagan writer whatever, _is not quoted by any of the Christian\nFathers_.\n\n2. It is not quoted by Tertullian, though he had read and largely quotes\nthe works of Tacitus.\n\n3. And though his argument immediately called for the use of this\nquotation with so loud a voice (Apol. ch. v.), that his omission of it,\nif it had really existed, amounts to a _violent improbability_.\n\n4. This Father has spoken of Tacitus in a way that it is absolutely\nimpossible that he should have spoken of him, had his writings contained\nsuch a passage.\n\n5. It is not quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, _who set himself entirely\nto the work of adducing and bringing together all the admissions and\nrecognitions which Pagan authors had made of the existence of Christ\nJesus or Christians before his time_.\n\n6. It has been nowhere stumbled upon by the laborious and all-seeking\nEusebius, who could by no possibility have overlooked it, and whom it\nwould have saved from the labor of forging the passage in Josephus; of\nadducing the correspondence of Christ Jesus and Abgarus, and the\nSibylline verses; of forging a divine revelation from the god Apollo, in\nattestation of Christ Jesus' ascension into heaven; and innumerable\nother of his pious and holy cheats.\n\n7. Tacitus has in no other part of his writings made the least allusion\nto \"_Christ_\" or \"_Christians_.\"\n\n8. The use of this passage as part of the evidences of the Christian\nreligion, is absolutely modern.\n\n9. There is no vestige nor trace of its existence anywhere in the world\nbefore the 15th century.[566:1]\n\n10. No reference whatever is made to this passage by any writer or\nhistorian, monkish or otherwise, before that time,[567:1] which, to say\nthe least, is very singular, considering that after that time it is\nquoted, or referred to, in an endless list of works, which by itself is\nall but conclusive that it was not in existence till the fifteenth\ncentury, which was an age of imposture and of credulity so immoderate\nthat people were easily imposed upon, believing, as they did, without\nsufficient evidence, whatever was foisted upon them.\n\n11. The interpolator of the passage makes Tacitus speak of \"_Christ_,\"\nnot of Jesus _the_ Christ, showing that--like the passage in\nJosephus--it is, comparatively, a modern interpolation, for\n\n12. The word \"_Christ_\" is _not a name_, but a TITLE;[567:2] it being\nsimply the Greek for the Hebrew word \"_Messiah_.\" Therefore,\n\n13. When Tacitus is made to speak of Jesus as \"Christ,\" it is equivalent\nto my speaking of Tacitus as \"Historian,\" of George Washington as\n\"General,\" or of any individual as \"Mister,\" without adding a _name_ by\nwhich either could be distinguished. And therefore,\n\n14. It has no sense or meaning as he is said to have used it.\n\n15. Tacitus is also made to say that the _Christians_ had their\ndenomination from _Christ_, which would apply to any other of the\nso-called _Christs_ who were put to death in Judea, as well as to Christ\nJesus. And\n\n16. \"The disciples were _called_ Christians first at Antioch\" (Acts xi.\n26), not because they were followers of a certain Jesus who claimed to\nbe the Christ, but because \"Christian\" or \"Chrestian,\" was a name\napplied, at that time, to any good man.[567:3] And,\n\n17. The worshipers of the Sun-god, _Serapis_, were also called\n\"Christians,\" and his disciples \"Bishops of Christ.\"[568:1]\n\nSo much, then, for the celebrated passage in Tacitus.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNOTE.--Tacitus says--according to the passage attributed to him--that\n\"those who confessed [to be Christians] were first seized, and then on\ntheir evidence _a huge multitude_ (_Ingens Multitudo_) were convicted,\nnot so much on the charge of incendiarism as for _their hatred to\nmankind_.\" Although M. Renan may say (_Hibbert Lectures_, p. 70) that\nthe authenticity of this passage \"cannot be disputed,\" yet the absurdity\nof \"a huge multitude\" of Christians being in Rome, in the days of Nero,\nA. D. 64--about thirty years' after the time assigned for the\ncrucifixion of Jesus--has not escaped the eye of thoughtful scholars.\nGibbon--who saw how ridiculous the statement is--attempts to reconcile\nit with common sense by supposing that Tacitus knew so little about the\nChristians that he confounded them with the Jews, and that the hatred\nuniversally felt for the latter fell upon the former. In this way he\nbelieves Tacitus gets his \"huge multitude,\" as the Jews established\nthemselves in Rome as early as 60 years B. C., where they multiplied\nrapidly, living together in the Trastevere--the most abject portion of\nthe city, where all kinds of rubbish was put to rot--where they became\n\"old clothes\" men, the porters and hucksters, bartering tapers for\nbroken glass, hated by the mass and pitied by the few. Other scholars,\namong whom may be mentioned Schwegler (_Nachap Zeit._, ii. 229); K\u00f6stlin\n(_Johann-Lehrbegr._, 472); and Baur (_First Three Centuries_, i. 133);\nalso being struck with the absurdity of the statement made by some of\nthe early Christian writers concerning the wholesale prosecution of\nChristians, said to have happened at that time, suppose it must have\ntaken place during the persecution of Trajan, A. D. 101. It is strange\nwe hear of no Jewish martyrdoms or Jewish persecutions till we come to\nthe times of the Jewish war, and then chiefly in Palestine! But fables\nmust be made realities, so we have the ridiculous story of a \"huge\nmultitude\" of Christians being put to death in Rome, in A. D. 64,\nevidently for the purpose of bringing Peter there, making him the first\nPope, and having him crucified head downwards. This absurd story is made\nmore evident when we find that it was not until about A. D. 50--only 14\nyears before the alleged persecution--that the first Christians--a mere\nhandful--entered the capitol of the Empire. (See Renan's _Hibbert\nLectures_, p. 55.) They were a poor dirty set, without manners, clad in\nfilthy gaberdines, and smelling strong of garlic. From these, then, with\nothers who came from Syria, we get our \"huge multitude\" in the space of\n14 years. The statement attributed to Tacitus is, however, outdone by\nOrosius, who asserts that the persecution extended \"through all the\nprovinces.\" (Orosius, ii. 11.) That it was a very easy matter for some\nChristian writer to interpolate or alter a passage in the _Annals_ of\nTacitus may be seen from the fact that the MS. was not known to the\nworld before the 15th century, and from information which is to be\nderived from reading Daill\u00e9 _On the Right Use of the Fathers_, who shows\nthat they were accustomed to doing such business, and that these\nwritings are, to a large extent, unreliable.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[564:1] The Rev. Dr. Giles says: \"Great is our disappointment at finding\nnothing in the works of Philo about the Christians, their doctrines, or\ntheir sacred books. About the _books_ indeed we need not expect any\nnotice of these works, but about the Christians and their doctrines his\nsilence is more remarkable, seeing that he was about sixty years old at\nthe time of the crucifixion, and living mostly in Alexandria, so closely\nconnected with Judea, and the Jews, could hardly have failed to know\nsomething of the _wonderful events_ that had taken place in the city of\nJerusalem.\" (Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 61.)\n\nThe Rev. Dr. assumes that these \"wonderful events\" really took place,\nbut, if they did not take place, of course Philo's silence on the\nsubject is accounted for.\n\n[564:2] Both these philosophers were living, and must have experienced\nthe immediate effects, or received the earliest information of the\nexistence of Christ Jesus, had such a person as the Gospels make him out\nto be ever existed. Their ignorance or their willful silence on the\nsubject, is not less than _improbable_.\n\n[564:3] Antiquities, bk. xviii. ch. iii. 3.\n\n[564:4] Ibid. bk. xx. ch. ix. 1.\n\n[564:5] John, Bishop of Constantinople, who died....\n\n[565:1] Lardner: vol. vi. ch. iii.\n\n[565:2] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 27.\n\n[565:3] Life of Christ, vol. I. p. 63.\n\n[565:4] Hebrew and Christ. Rec. vol. ii. p. 62.\n\n[565:5] In his Eccl. Hist. lib. 2. ch. xii.\n\n[565:6] Ch. 31, bk. xii. of Eusebius _Pr\u00e6 paratio Evangelica_ is\nentitled: \"How far it may be proper to use falsehood as a medium for the\nbenefit of those who require to be deceived;\" and he closes his work\nwith these words: \"I have repeated whatever may rebound to the glory,\nand suppressed all that could tend to the disgrace of our religion.\"\n\n[566:1] The original MSS. containing the \"Annals of Tacitus\" were\n\"discovered\" in the fifteenth century. Their existence cannot be traced\nback further than that time. And as it was an age of imposture, some\npersons are disposed to believe that not only portions of the _Annals_,\nbut the whole work, was forged at that time. Mr. J. W. Ross, in an\nelaborate work published in London some years ago, contended that the\n_Annals_ were forged by Poggio Bracciolini, their professed discoverer.\nAt the time of Bracciolini the temptation was great to palm off literary\nforgeries, especially of the chief writers of antiquity, on account of\nthe Popes, in their efforts to revive learning, giving money rewards and\nindulgences to those who should procure MS. copies of any of the ancient\nGreek or Roman authors. Manuscripts turned up as if by magic, in every\ndirection; from libraries of monasteries, obscure as well as famous; the\nmost out-of-the-way places,--the bottom of exhausted wells, besmeared by\nsnails, as the History of Velleius Paterculus, or from garrets, where\nthey had been contending with cobwebs and dust, as the poems of\nCatullus.\n\n[567:1] A portion of the passage--that relating to the manner in which\nthe Christians were put to death--is found in the _Historia Sacra_ of\nSulpicius Severus, a Christian Father, who died A. D. 420; but it is\nevident that this writer did not take it from the _Annals_. On the\ncontrary, the passage was taken--as Mr. Ross shows--from the _Historia\nSacra_, and bears traces of having been so appropriated. (See Tacitus &\nBracciolini, the Annals forged in the XVth century, by J. W. Ross.)\n\n[567:2] \"_Christ_ is a name having no spiritual signification, _and\nimporting nothing more than an ordinary surname_.\" (Dr. Giles: Hebrew\nand Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 64.)\n\n\"The name of _Jesus_ and _Christ_ was both known and honored among the\nancients.\" (Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. iv.)\n\n\"The name _Jesus_ is of Hebrew origin, and signifies _Deliverer_, and\n_Savior_. It is the same as that translated in the Old Testament\n_Joshua_. The word _Christ_, of Greek origin, is properly _not a name_\nbut _a title_, signifying _The Anointed_. The whole name is therefore,\n_Jesus the Anointed_ or _Jesus the Messiah_.\" (Abbott and Conant; Dic.\nof Relig. Knowledge, art. \"_Jesus Christ_.\")\n\nIn the oldest Gospel extant, that attributed to Matthew, we read that\nJesus said unto his disciples, \"Whom say ye that I am?\" whereupon Simon\nPeter answers and says: \"Thou art THE CHRIST, the Son of the living God.\n. . . Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he\nwas Jesus THE Christ.\" (Matt. xvi. 15-20.)\n\nThis clearly shows that \"_the Christ_\" was simply a _title_ applied to\nthe man Jesus, therefore, if a _title_, it cannot be a _name_. All\npassages in the New Testament which speak of _Christ_ as a _name_,\nbetray their modern date.\n\n[567:3] \"This name (Christian) occurs but three times in the New\nTestament, and is never used by Christians of themselves, only as spoken\nby or coming from those without the Church. The general names by which\nthe early Christians called themselves were 'brethren,' 'disciples,'\n'believers,' and 'saints.' The presumption is that the name _Christian_\nwas originated by the _Heathen_.\" (Abbott and Conant: Dic. of Relig.\nKnowledge, art. \"Christian.\")\n\n\"We are called Christians (_not_, we call ourselves Christians). So,\nthen, _we are the best of men_ (Chrestians), and it can never be just\nto hate what is (Chrest) _good and kind_;\" [or, \"therefore to hate what\nis _Chrestian_ is unjust.\"] (Justin Martyr: _Apol._ 1. c. iv.)\n\n\"Some of the ancient writers of the Church have not scrupled expressly\nto call the Athenian _Socrates_, and some others of the _best_ of the\nheathen moralists, by the name of _Christians_.\" (Clark: Evidences of\nRevealed Relig., p. 284. Quoted in Ibid. p. 41.)\n\n\"Those who lived according to the Logos, (_i. e._, the _Platonists_),\nwere really _Christians_.\" (Clemens Alexandrinus, in _Ibid._)\n\n\"Undoubtedly we are called _Christians_, for this reason, _and none\nother_, than because _we are anointed with the oil of God_.\" (Theophilus\nof Antioch, in Ibid. p. 399.)\n\n\"Christ is the Sovereign Reason of whom the whole human race\nparticipates. _All those who have lived comformably to a right reason,\nhave been Christians_, notwithstanding that they have always been looked\nupon as Atheists.\" (Justin Martyr: _Apol._ 1. c. xlvi.)\n\nLucian makes a person called Triephon answer the question, whether the\naffairs of the _Christians_ were recorded in heaven. \"All nations are\nthere recorded, since Chrestus exists even among the Gentiles.\"\n\n[568:1] \"Egypt, which you commended to me, my dearest Servianus, I have\nfound to be wholly fickle and inconsistent, and continually wafted about\nby every breath of fame. The worshipers of SERAPIS (here) are called\n_Christians_, and those who are _devoted_ to the god Serapis (I find),\ncall themselves _Bishops of Christ_.\" (The Emperor _Adrian_ to\nServianus, written A. D. 134. Quoted by Dr. Giles, vol. ii. p. 86.)\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n     A.\n\n     _Abraham_, story of, 38;\n       Hindoo parallel, 39;\n       other parallels, 39, 40;\n       the foundation of, 103;\n       his birth announced by a star, 144;\n       supposed to have had the same soul as Adam, David, and the\n           Messiah, 504.\n\n     _Absolution_ from sin by sacrifice of ancient origin, 181;\n       by baptism, 316;\n       refused to Constantine by Pagan priests, 444.\n\n     _Abury_, the temple at, 180.\n\n     _Achilleus_, a personification of the Sun, 485.\n\n     _Adam_, was reproduced in Noah, Elijah, and other Bible\n           celebrities, 44;\n       no trace of the story of the fall of, in the Hebrew Canon, after\n           the Genesis account, 99.\n\n     _Aditi_, \"Mother of the Gods,\" 475;\n       a personification of the Dawn, 475;\n       is identified with Devaki, 475.\n\n     _Adonis_, is born of a Virgin, 191;\n       has title of \"Saviour,\" 191, 217;\n       is slain, 191;\n       rises from the dead, 218;\n       is creator of the world, 249;\n       his temple at Bethlehem, 220;\n       his birth on December 25th, 364;\n       a personification of the Sun, 484;\n       in Hebrew \"My Lord,\" 485.\n\n     _\u00c6olus_, son of Jupiter, 125.\n\n     _\u00c6on_, Christ Jesus an, 427;\n       there have been several, 427;\n       the Gnostics believed Christ Jesus to have been an, 511;\n       the Essenes believed in the doctrine of an, 515.\n\n     _\u00c6schylus'_ Prometheus Bound, 192.\n\n     _\u00c6sculapius_, a son of Jove, 128;\n       worshiped as a God, 128;\n       is called the \"Saviour,\" 194;\n       the \"Logos,\" 374;\n       Death and Resurrection of, 217.\n\n     _Agni_, represented with seven arms, 32;\n       a Hindoo God, 32;\n       the Cross a symbol of, 340.\n\n     _Agnus Dei_, the, succeeded the Bulla, 405;\n       worn by children, 405.\n\n     _Agony_, the, on Good Friday, is the weeping for Tammuz, the fair\n         Adonis, 226.\n\n     _Akiba_, Rabbi, believed Bar-Cochaba to be the Messiah, 433.\n\n     _Alcmena_, mother of Hercules, 124.\n\n     _Alexander_, divides the Pamphylian Sea, 61;\n       believed to be a divine incarnation, 127;\n       visits the temple of Jupiter Ammon, 127;\n       and styles himself \"Son of Jupiter Ammon,\" 127.\n\n     _Alexandria_, the library of, 438;\n       the great intellectual centre, 440;\n       and the cradle of Christianity, 219, 442.\n\n     _Allegorical_, the, interpretation of the Scriptures practiced by\n         Rabbis, 100;\n       the historical theory succeeded by, 466, 552, 563.\n\n     _Allegory_, the story of the \"Fall of Man\" an, 100.\n\n     _All-father_, the, of all nations, a personification of the Sky, 478.\n\n     _Alpha and Omega_, Jesus believed to be, 250;\n       Crishna, 250;\n       Buddha, 250;\n       Lao-Kiun, 250;\n       Ormuzd, 251;\n       Zeus, 251;\n       Bacchus, 251.\n\n     _Ambrose, St._, affirms that the Apostles made a creed, 385.\n\n     _America_, populated from Asia, 540;\n       was at one time joined to Asia, 541.\n\n     _American Trinity_, the, 378.\n\n     _Americans_, their connection with the old world, 533.\n\n     _Ammon_, Jupiter, his temple visited by Alexander, 127.\n\n     _Amphion_, son of Jove, 124.\n\n     _Amulets_ and Charms, worn by the Christians, 405;\n       are relics of Paganism, 405.\n\n     _Ananda_, and the Matangi Girl, 294.\n\n     _Andrew's, St._, Cross, of Pagan origin, 339.\n\n     _Angel Messiah_, Buddha an, 116;\n       Crishna an, 196;\n       Christ an, 196;\n       the Essenes applied the legend of, to Jesus, 442.\n\n     _Angels_, the fallen, 386;\n       believed in by all nations of antiquity, 386-388.\n\n     _Animals_, none sacrificed in early times, 182.\n\n     _Antiquity_, the, of Pagan religions, compared with Christianity, 451.\n\n     _Apis_, or the Bull, worshiped by the children of Israel, 107;\n       symbolized the productive power in Nature, 476, _note_ 5.\n\n     _Apollo_, a lawgiver, 61;\n       son of Jove, 125;\n       has the title of \"Saviour,\" 194;\n       is put to death, 191;\n       resurrection of, 218;\n       a type of Christ, 500;\n       is a personification of the Sun, 500-506.\n\n     _Apostles_, the, 500.\n\n     _Apostles' Creed_, the, not written by them, 385.\n\n     _Apotheosis_, the, of Pagans, 126.\n\n     _Apollonius_, considered divine, 126;\n       cured diseases, 261;\n       raised a dead maiden to life, 262;\n       his life written by Flavius Philostratus, 264.\n\n     _Arabia_, \"wise men\" came from, 150, _note_ 1.\n\n     _Arabs_, the, anciently worshiped Saturn, 393;\n       celebrated the birth of the Sun on December 25th, with offerings\n           of gold, frankincense and myrrh, 480.\n\n     _Ararat_, Mount, Noah's ark landed on, 21.\n\n     _Arcas_, a son of Jove, 125.\n\n     _Architecture_, the, of India same as Mexico, 538.\n\n     _Aries_, the sign of a symbol of Christ, 503;\n       personified and called the \"Lamb of God,\" 504;\n       the worship of, the worship of the Sun, 504.\n\n     _Arimanes_, the evil spirit, according to Persian legend, 3.\n\n     _Arion_, a Corinthian harper, 78.\n\n     _Arjoon or Arjuna_, the cousin and beloved disciple of Crishna, 247.\n\n     _Ark_, the, of Noah, 20;\n       and others, 22-27.\n\n     _Armenian_, the, tradition of \"Confusion of Tongues,\" 35.\n\n     _Aroclus_, son of Jove, 125.\n\n     _Artemon_, denied the divinity of Jesus, 135.\n\n     _Ascension_, of Jesus, 215;\n       of Crishna, 215;\n       of Rama, 216;\n       of Buddha, 216;\n       of Lao-Kiun, 216;\n       of Zoroaster, 216;\n       of \u00c6sculapius, 217;\n       of Osiris, 222;\n       Atys, 222;\n       Mithras, 222.\n\n     _Asceticism_, as practiced among the Christians, of great\n         antiquity, 400.\n\n     _Ashera_, the, or upright emblem, stood in the Temple at Jerusalem,\n         47.\n\n     _Asia_, the continent of, at one time joined to America, 541;\n       America inhabited from, 454, 533.\n\n     _Asia Minor_, the people persecuted in by orders of Constantius, 448.\n\n     _Asita_, the holy Rishi, visits Buddha at his birth, 151.\n\n     _Asoka_, the council of, 303.\n\n     _Assyrian Dove_, the, a symbol of the Holy Ghost, 400.\n\n     _Assyrians_, the, worshiped a sun-god called Sandon, 74;\n       had an account of a war in Heaven, 388;\n       kept the seventh day holy, 393.\n\n     _Astaroth_, the goddess, saved the life of a Grecian maiden, 39.\n\n     _Astarte_, or Mylitta, worshiped by the Hebrews, 108.\n\n     _Astrology_, practiced by the ancients, 141, 142.\n\n     _Astronomers_, the ancient Egyptians great, 547.\n\n     _Astronomy_, understood by the ancient Chinese, 544.\n\n     _Athanasian Creed_, the, 381.\n\n     _Athens_, the Parthenon of, 333.\n\n     _Atlas_, a personification of the sun, 83.\n\n     _Atonement_, the doctrine of, taught before the time of Christ\n         Jesus, 181.\n\n     _Atys_, the Crucified, 190;\n       is called the \"Only-begotten Son,\" and \"Saviour,\" 190;\n       rose from the dead, 223.\n\n     _Augustine, St._, saw men and women without heads, 437.\n\n     _Aurora placida_, made into St. Aura and St. Placida, 399.\n\n     _Avatar_, Jesus considered an, 111;\n       a star at birth of every, 143, 479;\n       an \"Angel-Messiah,\" a \"Christ,\" 196;\n       an, expected about every 600 years, 426.\n\n\n     B.\n\n     _Baal_, and Moloch, worshiped by the children of Israel, 108.\n\n     _Baal-peor_, the Priapos of the Jews, 47.\n\n     _Babel_, the tower of, 33;\n       literally \"the Gate of God,\" 34;\n       built at Babylon, 34;\n       a parallel to in other countries, 35;\n       built for astronomical purposes, 35.\n\n     _Babylonian Captivity_, the, put an end to Israel's idolatry, 108.\n\n     _Bacab_, the Son, in the Mexican Trinity, 378.\n\n     _Bacchus_, performed miracles, 50;\n       passed through the Red Sea dry-shod, 51;\n       divided the waters of the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, 51;\n       drew water from a rock, 51;\n       was a law-giver, 52;\n       the son of Jupiter, 124;\n       was born in a cave, 156;\n       torn to pieces, 193, 209;\n       was called the \"Saviour,\" 193;\n       \"Only-begotten Son,\" 193;\n       \"Redeemer,\" 193;\n       the sun darkened at his death, 208;\n       ascended into heaven, 208;\n       rose from the dead, 228;\n       a personification of the sun, 492.\n\n     _Baga_, the, of the cuneiform inscriptions a name of the Supreme\n         Being, 391;\n       is in English associated with an ugly fiend, 391.\n\n     _Balaam_, his ass speaks, 91;\n       parallels to in Egypt, Chaldea and Greece, 91.\n\n     _Bala-rama_, the brother of Crishna, 74;\n       the Indian Hercules, 74.\n\n     _Baldur_, called \"The Good,\" 129;\n       \"The Beneficent Saviour,\" 129;\n       Son of the Supreme God Odin, 129;\n       is put to death and rises again, 224;\n       a personification of the sun, 479.\n\n     _Bambino_, the, at Rome is black, 336.\n\n     _Baptism_, a heathen rite adopted by the Christians, 317;\n       practiced in Mongolia and Thibet, 317;\n       by the Brahmins, 317;\n       by the followers of Zoroaster, 318;\n       administered in the Mithraic mysteries, 319;\n       performed by the ancient Egyptians, 319.\n\n     _Baptismal fonts_, used by the Pagans, 406.\n\n     _Bar-Cochba_, the \"Son of a Star,\" 144;\n       believed to be the Messiah, 432.\n\n     _Beads_ (see Rosary).\n\n     _Beatitudes_, the, the prophet of, 527.\n\n     _Belief_, or faith, salvation by, existed in the earliest times, 184.\n\n     _Bellerophon_, a mighty Grecian hero, 75.\n\n     _Belus_, the tower of, 34.\n\n     _Benares_, the Hindoo Jerusalem, 296.\n\n     _Berosus_, on the flood, 22.\n\n     _Bible_, the Egyptian, the oldest in the world, 24.\n\n     _Birth_, the Miraculous, of Jesus, 111;\n       Crishna, 113;\n       Buddha, 115;\n       Codom, 118;\n       Fuh-he, 119;\n       Lao-Kiun, 120;\n       Yu, Hau-Ki, 120;\n       Confucius, 121;\n       Horus, 122;\n       Zoroaster, 123;\n       and others, 123-131.\n\n     _Birth-day_, the, of the gods, on December 25th, 364.\n\n     _Birth-place_, the, of Christ Jesus, in a cave, 154;\n       the, of other saviours, in a cave, 155-158.\n\n     _Black God_, the, crucified, 201.\n\n     _Black Mother_, the, and child, 336.\n\n     _Bochia_, of the Persians, performed miracles, 256.\n\n     _Bochica_, a god of the Muyscas, 130.\n\n     _Bodhisatwa_, a name of Buddha, 115.\n\n     _Books, sacred_, among heathen nations, 61.\n\n     _Brahma_, the first person in Hindoo Trinity, 369.\n\n     _Brahmins_, the, perform the rite of baptism, 317.\n\n     _Bread and Wine_, a sacrifice with, celebrated by the Grand Lama of\n         Thibet, 306;\n       by the Essenes, 306;\n       by Melchizedek, 307;\n       by those who were initiated into the mysteries of Mithras, 307.\n\n     _Blind Man_, cured by Jesus, 268;\n       by the Emperor Vespasian at Alexandria, 268.\n\n     _Brechin_, the fire tower of, 199;\n       a crucifix cut upon, 198.\n\n     _Buddha_, born of the Virgin Maya, 115;\n       his birth announced by a star, 143;\n       demonstrations of delight at his birth, 147;\n       is visited by Asita, 151;\n       was of royal descent, 163;\n       a dangerous child, 168;\n       tempted by the devil, 176;\n       fasted, 176;\n       died and rose again to life, 216;\n       ascended into heaven, 216;\n       compared with Jesus, 289.\n\n     _Buddhism_, the established religion of Burmah, Siam, Laos, Pega,\n         Cambodia, Thibet, Japan, Tartary, Ceylon, and Loo-Choo, 297.\n\n     _Buddhist religion_, the, compared with Christianity, 302.\n\n     _Buddhists_, the monastic system among, 401.\n\n     _Bull_, the, an emblem of the sun, 476.\n\n     _Bulla_, the, worn by Roman children, 405;\n       and now a lamb, the Agnus Dei, 405.\n\n\n     C.\n\n     _Cabala_, the, had its Trinity, 376.\n\n     _Cadiz_, the gates of, 70.\n\n     _C\u00e6sar_ (Augustus), was believed to be divine, 126.\n\n     _C\u00e6sar_ (Julius), was likened to the divine, 126.\n\n     _Calabrian Shepherds_, the, a few weeks before Winter solstice,\n         came into Rome to play on the pipes, 365.\n\n     _Cam-Deo_, the God of Love, 216.\n\n     _Capricorn_, when the planets met in, the world was deluged with\n         water, 102.\n\n     _Cardinals_, the, of Rome, wear the robes once worn by Roman\n         senators, 400.\n\n     _Carmelites_, the, and Essenes the same, 422.\n\n     _Canon_, the, of the New Testament, when settled, 463.\n\n     _Carne-vale_, a farewell to animal food, 227.\n\n     _Carnutes_, the, of Gaul, 198;\n       the Lamb of, 199.\n\n     _Castles_, Lord, a ring found on his estate, 199.\n\n     _Catholic_ rites and ceremonies are imitations of those of the\n         Pagans, 384.\n\n     _Catholic theory_, the, of the fall of the angels, 386.\n\n     _Cave_, Jesus born in a, 154;\n       Crishna born in a, 156;\n       Abraham born in a, 156;\n       Apollo born in a, 156;\n       Mithras born in a, 156;\n       Hermes born in a, 156.\n\n     _Caves_, all the oldest temples were in, 286.\n\n     _Celibacy_, among Pagan priests, 400-404.\n\n     _Celts_, the, Legend of the Deluge found among, 27.\n\n     _Cerinthus_, denied the divinity of Jesus, 136.\n\n     _Ceylon_, never believed to have been the Paradise, 13.\n\n     _Chaldean_, the, account of the Deluge, 22.\n\n     _Chaldeans_, the, Legend of the Deluge borrowed from, 101;\n       worshiped the Sun, 480.\n\n     _Champlain period_, the, 28.\n\n     _Chandragupta_, a dangerous child, 171.\n\n     _Chastity_, among Mexican priests, 404.\n\n     _Charlemagne_, the Messiah of medieval Teutondom, 239.\n\n     _Cherokees_, the, had a priest and law-giver called Wasi, 130.\n\n     _Cherubim_, the, of Genesis, a dragon, 14.\n\n     _Child_, the dangerous, 165.\n\n     _Chiliasm_, the thousand years when Satan is bound, 242.\n\n     _Chimalman_, the Mexican virgin, 334.\n\n     _Chinese_, the, have their Age of Virtue, 14;\n       have a legend of a deluge, 25;\n       worship a Virgin-born God, 119;\n       worship a \"Queen of Heaven,\" 327;\n       worship a Trinity, 371;\n       have \"Festivals of gratitude to Tien,\" 392;\n       have monasteries for priests, friars and nuns, 401;\n       identified with the American race, 539.\n\n     _Cholula_, the tower of, 36.\n\n     _Chrest_, the, 568.\n\n     _Christ_ (Buddha), compared with Jesus, 289.\n\n     _Christ_ (Crishna), compared with Jesus, 278.\n\n     _Christ_ (Jesus), born of a Virgin, 111;\n       a star heralds his birth, 140;\n       is visited by shepherds and wise men, 150;\n       is born in a cave, 154;\n       is of royal descent, 160;\n       is tempted by the devil, 175;\n       fasts for forty days, 175;\n       is put to death, 181;\n       no early representations of, on the cross, 201;\n       descends into hell, 211;\n       rises from the dead, 215;\n       ascends into heaven, 215;\n       will come again, 233;\n       will be judge of the dead, 245;\n       as creator, 246;\n       performs miracles, 252;\n       compared with Crishna, 278;\n       compared with Buddha, 289;\n       his birth-day not known, 359;\n       a personification of the Sun, 498;\n       not identical with the historical Jesus, 506.\n\n     _Christian_, the name, originated by Heathens, 567, _note_ 3.\n\n     _Christianity_, identical with Paganism, 384;\n       why it prospered, 419.\n\n     _Christians_, the disciples first called, at Antioch, 567;\n       the worshipers of Serapis called, 568;\n       heathen moralists called by the name of, 568.\n\n     _Christian Symbols_, of Pagan origin, 339.\n\n     _Christening_, a Pagan rite, 320.\n\n     _Circumcision_, the universal practice of, 85.\n\n     _Claudius_, Roman Emperor, 126;\n       considered divine, 126.\n\n     _Cobra_, the, or hooded snake, held sacred in India, 199.\n\n     _Codom_, the Siamese Virgin-born Saviour, 118.\n       The legend of, contained in the Pali books, 316 B. C., 451.\n\n     _Comets_, superstitions concerning, 144, 210.\n\n     _Coming_, the second, of Christ Jesus, 233;\n       of Vishnu, 236;\n       of Buddha, 237;\n       of Bacchus, 238;\n       of Arthur, 238;\n       of Charlemagne, 239;\n       of Quetzalcoatle, 239.\n\n     _Commandments_, the ten, of Moses, and of Buddha, 59.\n\n     _Conception_, the immaculate, of Jesus, 111;\n       of Crishna, 113;\n       of Buddha, 115;\n       of Codom, 118;\n       of Salivahana, 119;\n       of Fuh-he, 119;\n       of Fo-hi, 119;\n       of Xaca, 119;\n       of Lao-kiun, 120;\n       of Yu, 120;\n       of Hau-ki, 120;\n       of Confucius, 121;\n       of Horus, 122;\n       of Raam-ses, 123;\n       of Zoroaster, 123;\n       of Hercules, 124;\n       of Bacchus, 125;\n       of Perseus, 125;\n       of Mercury, 126;\n       Apollo, 126;\n       of Quetzalcoatle, 129.\n\n     _Confession_, the, of sins, of Pagan origin, 403.\n\n     _Confirmation_, the, of children, of Pagan origin, 319.\n\n     _Confucius_, was of supernatural origin, 121;\n       had seventy-two disciples, 121;\n       author of the \"Golden Rule,\" 415.\n\n     _Confusion of Tongues_, the \"Scripture\" account of, 33;\n       the Armenian tradition, 35;\n       the Hindoo legend of, 35;\n       the Mexican legend of, 36.\n\n     _Constantine_ (Saint), the first Roman emperor to check free\n         thought, 444;\n       accepts the Christian faith, 444;\n       commits murders, 444;\n       baptized on his death-bed, 445;\n       the first Roman emperor who embraced the Christian faith, 446;\n       his edicts against heretics, 446;\n       his effigies engraved on Roman coins, 446;\n       conferred dignities on the Christians, 446.\n\n     _Coronis_, the mother of \u00c6sculapius, 128;\n       impregnated by a god, 128.\n\n     _Creation_, the, Hebrew legend of, 1;\n       two different and contradictory accounts of, 5;\n       Bishop Colenso on, 5;\n       Persian legend of, 7;\n       Etruscan legend of, 7;\n       Hebrew legend of, borrowed from Chaldeans, 98.\n\n     _Creator_, the, Jesus considered, 247;\n       Crishna, according to the Hindoos, 247;\n       Lauther, according to the Chinese, 248;\n       Iao, according to the Chaldeans, 248;\n       Ormuzd, according to the Persians, 249;\n       Narduk, according to the Assyrians, 249;\n       Adonis and Prometheus believed to be, 249.\n\n     _Creed_, the Apostles', 385;\n       compared with the Pagan, 385;\n       not known before the fourth century, 385;\n       additions to since A. D. 600, 385.\n\n     _Crescent_, the, an emblem of the female generative principle, 328.\n\n     _Cr\u00e8stos_, the, was the Logos, 487.\n\n     _Crishna_, born of the Virgin Devaki, 113;\n       the greatest of all the Avatars, 113;\n       is \"Vishnu himself in human form,\" 113;\n       his birth announced in the heavens by a star, 278;\n       spoke to his mother shortly after birth, 279;\n       adored by cowherds, 279;\n       presented with gifts, 279;\n       was of royal descent, 280;\n       performed miracles, 281;\n       was crucified, 280;\n       descended into hell, 282;\n       rose from the dead, 282;\n       a personification of the sun, 483.\n\n     _Cross_, the, used as a religious symbol before the Christian era,\n         338;\n       adored in India, 340;\n       adored by the Buddhists of Thibet, 340;\n       found on Egyptian monuments, 342;\n       found under the temple of Serapis, 342;\n       universally adored before the Christian era, 339-347.\n\n     _Crucifixes_, the earliest Christian, described, 203-205.\n\n     _Crucifixion_, the, of Jesus, 180;\n       of \"Saviours\" before the Christian era, 181-193;\n       of all the gods, explained, 484, 485.\n\n     _Crux Ansata_, the, of Egypt, 341.\n\n     _Cuneiform Inscriptions_, the, of Babylonians, relate the legends\n         of creation and fall of man, 9, 98.\n\n     _Cybele_, the goddess, called \"Mother of God,\" 333.\n\n     _Cyril, St._, caused the death of Hypatia, 440.\n\n     _Cyrus_, king of Persia, 127;\n       considered divine, 127;\n       called the \"Christ,\" 127, 196;\n       believed to be the Messiah, 433;\n       sun myth added to the history of, 506.\n\n\n     D.\n\n     _Dag_, a, Hercules swallowed up by, 78.\n\n     _Dagon_, a fish-god of the Philistines, 82;\n       identical with the Indian fish Avatar of Vishnu, 82.\n\n     _Danae_, a \"Virgin Mother,\" 124.\n\n     _Dangerous_ Child, the, myth of, 165.\n\n     _Daphne_, a personification of the morning, 469.\n\n     _Darkness_, at crucifixion of Jesus, 206;\n       parallels to, 206-210;\n       the, explained, 494.\n\n     _David_, killed Goliath, 90;\n       compared with Thor, 91.\n\n     _Dawn_, the, personified, and called Aditi, the \"Mother of the\n         Gods,\" 475.\n\n     _Day_, the, swallowed up by night, 79.\n\n     _December_ 25th, birth-day of the gods, 359.\n\n     _Delphi_, Apollo's tomb at, 510.\n\n     _Deluge_, the, Hebrew legend of, 19;\n       parallels to, 20-30.\n\n     _Demi-gods_, the, of antiquity not real personages, 467.\n\n     _Demons_, cast out, by Jews and Gentiles, 269.\n\n     _Denis, St._, is Dionysus, 399.\n\n     _Deo Soli_, pictures of the Virgin inscribed with the words, 338.\n\n     _Derceto_, the goddess, represented as a mermaid, 83.\n\n     _Deucalion_, the legend of, 26;\n       derived from Chaldean sources, 101.\n\n     _Devaki_, a virgin mother, 326.\n\n     _Devil_, the, counterfeits the religion of Christ, 124;\n       formerly a name of the Supreme Being, 391.\n\n     _Diana_, called \"Mother,\" yet famed for her virginity, 333.\n\n     _Dionysus_, a name of Bacchus, 51.\n\n     _Divine incarnation_, the idea of redemption by a, was general and\n         popular among the Heathen, 183.\n\n     _Divine incarnations_, common before the time of Jesus, 112.\n\n     _Divine Love_, crucified, 484;\n       the sun, 487.\n\n     _Divus_, the title of, given to Roman emperors, 125.\n\n     _Docetes_, Asiatic Christians who invented the phantastic system, 136.\n\n     _Dove_, the, a symbol of the Holy Ghost among all nations of\n         antiquity, 357;\n       the, crucified, 485.\n\n     _Dragon_, a, protected the garden of the Hesperides, 11;\n       the cherub of Genesis, 14.\n\n     _Drama_ of Life, the, 29.\n\n     _Druids_, the, of Gaul, worshiped the Virgo-Paritura as the Mother\n         of God, 333.\n\n     _Durga_, a fish deity among the Hindoos, 82.\n\n     _Dyaus_, the Heavenly Father, 478;\n       a personification of the sky, 478.\n\n\n     E.\n\n     _East_, turning to in worship, practiced by Christians, 503.\n\n     _Easter_, origin of, 226;\n       observed in China, 227;\n       controversies about, 227;\n       dyed eggs on, of Pagan origin, 228;\n       the primitive was celebrated on March 25th, 335.\n\n     _Eating_, the forbidden fruit, the story of, figurative, 101.\n\n     _Ebionites_, the first Christians called, 134.\n\n     _Ecclesiastics_, the Essenes called, 424.\n\n     _Eclectics_, the Essenes called, 424.\n\n     _Eclipse_, an, of the Sun, occurred at the death of Jesus, 206;\n       of Romulus, 207;\n       of Julius C\u00e6sar, 207;\n       of \u00c6sculapius, 208;\n       of Hercules, 208;\n       of Quirinius, 208.\n\n     _Edda_, the, of the Scandinavians speaks of the \"Golden\" Age, 15;\n       describes the deluge, 27.\n\n     _Egypt_, legend of the Deluge not known in, 23;\n       the Exodus from, 48;\n       circumcision practiced in, 85;\n       virgin-born gods worshiped in, 122;\n       kings of considered gods, 123;\n       Virgin Mother worshiped in, 329, 330;\n       the cross adored in, 341.\n\n     _Egyptian faith_, hardly an idea in the Christian system which has\n         not its analogy in the, 414.\n\n     _Egyptian kings_ considered gods, 123.\n\n     _Egyptians_, the, had a legend of the \"Tree of Life,\" 12;\n       received their laws direct from God, 60;\n       practiced circumcision at an early period, 85;\n       were great astrologers, 142;\n       were familiar with the war in heaven, 387.\n\n     _El_, the Phenician deity, 484;\n       called the \"Saviour,\" 484.\n\n     _Elephant_, the, a symbol of power and wisdom, 117;\n       cut on the fire tower at Brechin, in Scotland, 198;\n       in America, 537.\n\n     _Eleusinian_, the, Mysteries, 310.\n\n     _Eleusis_, the ceremonies at, 310.\n\n     _Elijah_ ascends to heaven, 90;\n       its parallel, 90.\n\n     _Elohistic_, the, narrative of the Creation and Deluge differs from\n         the Jehovistic, 93.\n\n     _Elysium_, the, of the Greeks, 11;\n       meaning of, 101.\n\n     _Emperors_, the, of Rome considered divine, 126.\n\n     _Eocene period_, the, 29.\n\n     _Eostre_, or _Oster_, the Saxon Goddess, 226, 227.\n\n     _Epimetheus_, the first man, brother of Prometheus, 10.\n\n     _Equinox_, at the Spring, most nations set apart a day to implore\n         the blessings of their gods, 492.\n\n     _Esdras_, the apocryphal book of, 95.\n\n     _Essenes_, the, and the Therapeut\u00e6 the same, 419;\n       the origin of not known, 419;\n       compared with the primitive Christians, 420;\n       their principal rites connected with the East, 423;\n       the \"Scriptures\" of, 443.\n\n     _Etruscan_, baptism, 320;\n       Goddess, 330.\n\n     _Etruscans_, the, had a legend of creation similar to Hebrew, 75;\n       performed the rite of baptism, 320;\n       worshiped a \"Virgin Mother,\" 330.\n\n     _Eucharist_, the, or Lord's Supper, 305;\n       instituted before the Christian era, 305;\n       performed by various ancient nations, 305-312.\n\n     _Eudes_, the, of California, worshiped a mediating deity, 131.\n\n     _Eusebius_, speaks of the Ebionites, 134;\n       of Easter, 226;\n       of Simon Magus, 265;\n       of Menander the \"Wonder Worker,\" 266;\n       of an \"ancient custom\" among the Christians, 316;\n       the birth of Jesus, 361;\n       calls the Essenes Christians, 422.\n\n     _Eve_, the first woman, 3.\n\n     _Evil_, origin of, 4.\n\n     _Exorcism_, practiced by the Jews before the time of Jesus, 268.\n\n     _Explanation_, the, of the Universal Mythos, 466.\n\n     _Ezra_, added to the Pentateuch, 94.\n\n\n     F.\n\n     _Faith_, salvation by, taught before the Christian era, 184.\n\n     _Fall of Man_, the, Hebrew account of, 4;\n       parallels to, 7-16;\n       hardly alluded to outside of Genesis, 99;\n       allegorical meaning of, 101.\n\n     _Fall of the Angels_, the, 386.\n\n     _Fasting_, for forty days, a common occurrence, 179;\n       at certain periods, practiced by the ancients, 177, 392.\n\n     _Father, Son and Holy Ghost_, the, of Pagan origin, 369.\n\n     _Females_, the, of the Orinoco tribes, fasted forty days before\n         marriage, 179.\n\n     _Festivals_, held by the Hindoos, the Chinese, the Egyptians, and\n         others, 392.\n\n     _Fifty_, Jesus said to have lived to the age of, 515.\n\n     _Fig-tree_, the, sacred, 13.\n\n     _Fijians_, the, practiced circumcision, 86.\n\n     _Fire_, worshiped by the Mexicans and Peruvians, 532.\n\n     _Fire Tower_, the, of Brechin, 199.\n\n     _Firmicius_ (Julius), says the Devil has his Christs, 183.\n\n     _Fish_, the, a symbol of Christ Jesus, 355;\n       meaning of, 504.\n\n     _Fleur de Lis_, or Lotus, a sacred plant, 329.\n\n     _Flood_, the, Hebrew legend of, 19;\n       parallels to, 22-27.\n\n     _Flower_, Jesus called a, 487.\n\n     _Fo-hi_, of China, born of a Virgin, 119.\n\n     _Forty_, a sacred number, 179.\n\n     _Fraud_, practiced by the early Christians, 434.\n\n     _Frey_, the deity of the Sun, 488;\n       killed at the time of the winter solstice, 488.\n\n     _Freyga_, the goddess, of the Scandinavians, transformed into the\n         Virgin Mary, 399;\n       a personification of the earth, 479.\n\n     _Friday_, fish day, why, 354.\n\n     _Frigga_ (see Freyga).\n\n     _Fuh-he_, Chinese sage, 119;\n       considered divine, 119.\n\n     _Future Life_, the doctrine of, taught by nearly all nations of\n         antiquity, 388.\n\n\n     G.\n\n     _Gabriel_, the angel, salutes the Virgin Mary, 111.\n\n     _Galaxy_, the, souls dwell in, 45.\n\n     _Galilee_, Jesus a native of, 520;\n       the insurgent district of the country, 520;\n       the Messiahs all started out from, 521.\n\n     _Galli_, the, now sung in Christian churches, was once sung by the\n         priests of Cybele, 333.\n\n     _Ganesa_, the Indian God of Wisdom, 117.\n\n     _Ganges_, the, a sacred river, 318.\n\n     _Garden_, the, of Eden, 2;\n       of the Hesperides, 11;\n       identical, 11;\n       hardly alluded to outside of Genesis, 99.\n\n     _Gaul_, the worship of the Virgo-Paritura in, 334.\n\n     _Gautama_, a name of Buddha, 297.\n\n     _Geetas_, the, antiquity of, 451.\n\n     _Genealogy_, the, of Jesus, 160;\n       of Crishna, 163;\n       of Buddha, 163;\n       of Rama, 163;\n       of Fo-hi, 163;\n       of Confucius, 163;\n       of Horus, 163;\n       of Hercules, 163;\n       of Bacchus, 164.\n\n     _Genesis_, two contradictory accounts of the Creation in, 2.\n\n     _Gentiles_, the, religion of, adopted by Christians, 384;\n       celebrate the birth of god Sol on December 25th, 363.\n\n     _Germans_, the ancient, worshiped a Virgin-goddess under the name\n         of Hertha, 334, 477.\n\n     _Germany_, the practice of baptism found in, by Boniface, 322.\n\n     _Ghost_, the Holy, impregnates the Virgin Mary, 111;\n       and the Virgin Maya, 117;\n       is one with the Father and the Son, 368;\n       is symbolized by the Dove among Heathen and Christian nations, 357.\n\n     _Giants_, fossil remains of animals supposed to have been those of,\n         19;\n       the Rakshasas of the Hindoos the origin of all, 19.\n\n     _Glacial period_, the, 24.\n\n     _Gnostic_, the, heresy, 135.\n\n     _Gnostics_, the, maintained that Jesus was a mere man, 135;\n       the Essenes the same as, 422;\n       their doctrine, 511.\n\n     _God_, a, believed in by nearly all nations of antiquity, 384.\n\n     _Godhead_, the, a belief in the Trinitarian nature of, before the\n         Christian era, 368.\n\n     _God of Israel_, the, same as the Gentiles, 87-88.\n\n     _Gods_, the, created the heaven and earth, 4, _note_ 1;\n       descended from heaven and were made incarnate in men, 112.\n\n     _God's first-born_, applied to Heathen Virgin-born gods, 195.\n\n     _God the Father_, the, of all nations, a personification of the\n         sky, 478.\n\n     _Golden Age_, the, of the past, believed in by all nations of\n         antiquity, 8-16.\n\n     _Goliath_, killed by David, 90.\n\n     _Good Friday_, the, \"Agonie\" at Rome on, same as the weeping for\n         Adonis, 226.\n\n     _Gospel_, the, of the Egyptians, 443.\n\n     _Gospels_, the, were not written by the persons whose names they\n         bear, 454;\n       full of interpolations and errors, 454.\n\n     _Greece_, the gods and goddesses of, personifications of natural\n         objects, 467.\n\n     _Greeks_, the ancient, boasted of their \"Golden Age,\" 10;\n       had a tradition of the \"Islands of the Blessed,\" and the \"Garden\n           of the Hesperides,\" 11;\n       had records of a Deluge, 26;\n       considered that the births of great men were announced by\n           celestial signs, 207;\n       had the rite of baptism, 320;\n       worshiped the virgin mother, and child, 342;\n       adored the cross, 344;\n       celebrated the birth of their gods on December 25th, 364;\n       worshiped a trinity, 374.\n\n     \"_Grove_,\" the, of the Old Testament, is the \"Ashera\" of the\n         Pagans, 47.\n\n     _Gruter_ (inscriptions of), 397.\n\n     _Gymnosophists_, the, and the Essenes, the same, 423.\n\n\n     H.\n\n     _Hair_, long, attributes of the sun, 71;\n       worn by all sun-gods, 71, 72.\n\n     _H\u00e2u-Ki_, Chinese sage, of supernatural origin, 120.\n\n     _Heathen_, the, the religion of, same as Christian, 384.\n\n     _Heaven_, all nations believed in a, 389;\n       is born of the sky, 391, 559.\n\n     _Heavenly host_, the, sang praises at the birth of Jesus, 146;\n       parallels to, 146-149.\n\n     _Hebrew people_, the, history of, commences with the Exodus, 52-55.\n\n     _Hebrews_, the gospel of the, 455.\n\n     _Hell_, Christ Jesus descended into, 211;\n       Crishna descended into, 213;\n       Zoroaster descended into, 213;\n       Osiris, Horus, Adonis, Bacchus, Hercules, Mercury, all descended\n           into, 213;\n       built by priests, 391.\n\n     _Hercules_, compared with Samson, 66-72;\n       a personification of the Sun, 73, 485;\n       all nations had their, 76;\n       was the son of Jupiter, 124;\n       was exposed when an infant, 170;\n       was called the \"Saviour,\" 193;\n       the \"Only begotten,\" 193;\n       is put to death, 485;\n       is comforted by Iole, 493.\n\n     _Heretics_, the first, 134;\n       denied the crucifixion of \"the Christ,\" 511;\n       denied that \"the Christ\" ever came in the flesh, 512.\n\n     _Heri_, means \"Saviour,\" 112;\n       Crishna so called, 112.\n\n     _Hermes_, or Mercury, the son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, 125;\n       is born in a cave, 156;\n       was called the \"Saviour,\" 195;\n       the \"Logos\" and \"Messenger of God,\" 195.\n\n     _Herod_, orders all the children in Bethlehem to be slain, 166;\n       the Hindoo parallel to, 166-167;\n       a personification of Night, 481.\n\n     _Herodotus_, speaks of Hercules, 69;\n       speaks of circumcision, 86;\n       relates a wonderful miracle, 261.\n\n     _Hesione_, rescued from the sea monster, 78.\n\n     _Hesperides_, the apples of, the tree of knowledge, 11-12.\n\n     _Hieroglyphics_, the Mexican, describe the crucifixion of\n         Quetzalcoatle, 199.\n\n     _Hilkiah_, claimed to have found the \"Book of the Law,\" 94.\n\n     _Himalayas_, the, the Hindoo ark rested on, 27.\n\n     _Hindoos_, the, had no legend of the creation similar to the\n         Hebrew, 13;\n       believe Mount Meru to have been the Paradise, 13;\n       had a legend of the Deluge, 24;\n       had a legend of the \"Confusion of Tongues,\" 35;\n       had their Samson or Strong Man, 73;\n       worshiped a virgin-born god, 113;\n       adored a trinity, 371;\n       have believed in a soul from time immemorial, 388.\n\n     _Historical_ theory, the, succeeded by the allegorical, 466.\n\n     _Histories_, the, of the gods are fabulous, 466.\n\n     _Holy Ghost_, the, impregnates the Virgin Mary, 111;\n       and the Virgin Maya, 117;\n       is one with the Father and the Son, 368;\n       is symbolized by the dove among Heathen nations, 357.\n\n     _Holy One_, the, of the Chinese, 190.\n\n     _Holy Trinity_, the, of the Christians, the same as that of the\n         Pagans, 370.\n\n     _Homa_, or Haoma, a god of the Hindoos, called the \"Benefactor of\n         the World,\" 306.\n\n     _Horus_, the Egyptian Saviour, 122;\n       born of the Virgin Isis, 122;\n       is put to death, 190;\n       descended into hell, 213;\n       rose from the dead, 222;\n       performed miracles, 256;\n       raised the dead to life, 256;\n       is represented as an infant on the lap of his virgin mother, 327;\n       is born on December 25th, 363;\n       a personification of the sun, 476;\n       crucified in the heavens, 484.\n\n     _Hydaspus_, the river, divided by Bacchus, 51.\n\n     _Hypatia_, put to death by a Christian mob, 440.\n\n\n     I.\n\n     _Iamos_, left to die among the bushes and violets, 170;\n       received from Zeus the gift of prophecy, 171.\n\n     _Iao_, a name sacred in Egypt, 49;\n       probably the same as Jehovah, 49;\n       the crucified, 484.\n\n     _Ida_, the earth, 481.\n\n     _Idolatry_, practiced by the Hebrews, 107;\n       adopted by the Christians, 384.\n\n     _Idols_, the worship of, among Christians, 397.\n\n     _I. H. S._, formerly a monogram of the god Bacchus, and now the\n         monogram of Christ Jesus, 351.\n\n     _Images_, the worship of, among Christians, 397.\n\n     _Immaculate Conception_, the, of Jesus, 111;\n       Crishna, 113;\n       Buddha, 115;\n       Codom, 118;\n       Fo-hi, 119;\n       and others, 119-130.\n\n     _Immortality of the Soul_, the, believed in by all nations of\n         antiquity, 385.\n\n     _Incas_, the, of Peru, married their own sisters, 537.\n\n     _India_, a virgin-born god worshiped in, 113;\n       the story of Herod and the infants of Bethlehem from, 166;\n       the crucified god in, 186;\n       the Trinity in, 370;\n       our religion and nursery tales from, 544.\n\n     _Indians_, the, no strangers to the doctrine of original sin, 189;\n       they believe man to be a fallen being, 189.\n\n     _Indra_, worshiped as a crucified god in Nepaul, 187;\n       his festival days in August, 187;\n       is identical with Crishna, 484;\n       a personification of the sun, 484.\n\n     _Infant Baptism_, practiced by the Persians, 318;\n       by the Etruscans, 320;\n       by the Greeks and Romans, 321;\n       by the Scandinavians, 321;\n       by the New Zealanders, 322;\n       by the Mexicans, 322;\n       by the Christians, 323;\n       all identical, 323.\n\n     _Innocents_, the, slain at the time of birth of Jesus, 165;\n       at the birth of Crishna, 166;\n       at the birth of Abraham, 169.\n\n     _Inscriptions_, formerly in Pagan temples, and inscriptions in\n         Christian churches compared, 397.\n\n     _Incense_, burned before idols or images in Pagan temples, 406.\n\n     _Iona_, or Yoni, an emblem of the female generative powers, 199.\n\n     _I\u00f6nah_, or Juno, suspended in space, 486.\n\n     _Iren\u00e6us_, the fourth gospel not known until the time of, 458;\n       reasons given by, for there being four gospels, 458.\n\n     _Iroquois_, the, worshiped a god-man called Tarengawagan, 131.\n\n     _Isaac_, offered as a sacrifice by Abraham, 38;\n       parallels to, 39-41.\n\n     _Isis_, mother of Horus, 122;\n       a virgin mother, 327;\n       represented on Egyptian monuments with an infant in her arms, 327;\n       she is styled \"Our Lady,\" \"Queen of Heaven,\" \"Mother of God,\"\n           &c., 327.\n\n     _Islands of the Blessed_, 11;\n       meaning of, 101, 559, 560.\n\n     _Islands of the Sea_, Western countries called the, by the Hebrews,\n         103.\n\n     _Israel_, the religion of, same as the Heathen, 107, 108.\n\n     _Italy_, effigies of a black crucified man, in, 197;\n       the cross adored in, before Christian era, 345.\n\n     _Ixion_, bound on the wheel, is the crucified Sun, 484.\n\n     _Izdubar_, the Lion-killer of the Babylonians, 74;\n       the foundation for the Samson and the Hercules myths, 105;\n       the cuneiform inscriptions speak of, 105.\n\n\n     J.\n\n     _Jacob_, his vision of the ladder, 42;\n       explained, 42, 104.\n\n     _Janus_, the keys of, transferred to Peter, 399.\n\n     _Japanese_, the American race descended from the same stock as the,\n         538.\n\n     _Jason_, a dangerous child, 171;\n       brought up by Cheiron, 171;\n       the same name as Jesus, 196.\n\n     _Jehovah_, the name, esteemed sacred among the Egyptians, 48;\n       the same as Y-ha-ho, 48;\n       well known to the Heathens, 49.\n\n     _Jehovistic writer_, the, of the Pentateuch, 93.\n\n     _Jemshid_, devoured by a great monster, 18.\n\n     _Jerusalem_, Jews taken at the Ebionite sack of, were sold to the\n         Grecians, 103.\n\n     _Jesuits_, the, in China, appalled at finding, in that country, a\n         counterpart to the Virgin of Judea, 119.\n\n     _Jesus_, not born of a Virgin according to the Ebionites or\n         Nazarenes, 134;\n       the day, month or year of his birth not known, 359;\n       was an historical personage, 506;\n       no clearly defined traces of, in history, 517;\n       his person indistinct, 517;\n       assumed the character of \"Messiah,\" 520;\n       a native of Galilee, 520;\n       a zealot, 522;\n       is put to death by the Romans, 522;\n       not crucified by the Jews, 524;\n       the martyrdom of, has been gratefully acknowledged, 527;\n       nothing original in the teachings of, 529.\n\n     _Jews_, the, where their history begins, 54;\n       driven out of Egypt, 52;\n       worshiped Baal and Moloch, 108;\n       their religion the same as other nations, 108;\n       did not crucify Jesus, 524.\n\n     _John_, the same name as Jonah, 83;\n       the gospel according to, 457;\n       Iren\u00e6us the author of, 458.\n\n     _John the Baptist_, his birth-day is on the day of the Summer\n         Solstice, 499.\n\n     _Jonah_, swallowed by a big fish, 77;\n       parallels to, 78, 79;\n       the meaning of, 79;\n       the Sun called, 80;\n       identified with Dagon and Oannes, 82, 83;\n       the same as John, 84;\n       the myth of, explained, 105.\n\n     _Jordan_, the river, considered sacred, 318.\n\n     _Josephus_, does not speak of Jesus, 564.\n\n     _Joshua_, arrests the course of the Sun, 91;\n       parallel to, 91.\n\n     _Jove_, the Sons of, numerous, 125;\n       the Supreme God, 125.\n\n     _Judea_, the Virgin of, 111;\n       a counterpart to, found by the first Christian missionaries in\n           China, 119.\n\n     _Judaism_, its doctrine and precepts, by I. M. Wise, referred to, 527.\n\n     _Judge of the Dead_, Jesus, 244;\n       Sons of God, 244;\n       Buddha, 244;\n       Crishna, 245;\n       Osiris, 245;\n       Aeacus, 245;\n       no examples of Jesus as, in early Christian art, 246.\n\n     _Julius C\u00e6sar_ (see C\u00e6sar).\n\n     _Juno_, the \"Queen of Heaven,\" 333;\n       was represented standing on the crescent moon, 333;\n       considered the protectress of woman, 333;\n       often represented with a dove on her head, 357;\n       suspended in space, 486.\n\n     _Jupiter_, the Supreme God of the Pagans, 125;\n       a statue of, in St. Peter's, Rome, 397.\n\n     _Justin Martyr_, on the work of the Devil, 124, 265.\n\n\n     K.\n\n     _Kadmus_, king of Thebes, 124.\n\n     _Kaffirs_, the, practice circumcision, 86.\n\n     _Kama_, attempts the life of Crishna, 166;\n       is a personification of Night, 481.\n\n     _Ke-lin_, the, appeared at the birth of Confucius, 121.\n\n     _Key_, the, which unlocks the door to the mystery, 441.\n\n     _Knichahan_, the Supreme God of the Mayas of Yucatan, 130.\n\n     _Kings_, the, of Egypt considered divine, 122.\n\n     _Kronos_, the myth of, explained, 559.\n\n     _Kung-foo-tsze_ (see Confucius).\n\n\n     L.\n\n     _Labarum_, the, of Constantine, inscribed with the monogram of\n         Osiris, 350.\n\n     _Ladder_, the, of Jacob, 42;\n       explained, 42-47.\n\n     _Lama_, the, of Thibet, considered divine, 118;\n       the high priest of the Tartars, 118;\n       the Pope of Buddhism, 118.\n\n     _Lamb_, the, of God, a personification of the Sun, 492.\n\n     _Lamb_, the oldest representation of Christ Jesus was the figure of\n         a, 202, 503.\n\n     _Lamps_, feast of, 392.\n\n     _Lanthu_, born of a pure spotless Virgin, 248;\n       the creator of the world, 248.\n\n     _Lao-Kiun_, born of a Virgin, 120;\n       believed in one God, 120;\n       formed the Tao-tsze, or sect of reason, 120.\n\n     _Lao-tse_ (see Lao-Kiun).\n\n     _Latona_, the mother of Apollo, 125.\n\n     _Law-giver_, Moses a, 59;\n       Bacchus a, 59;\n       Zoroaster a, 59;\n       Minos a, 60;\n       Thoth a, 60;\n       Lycurgus a, 61;\n       Apollo a, 61.\n\n     _Lazarus_, raised from the grave, 273.\n\n     _Leto_, a personification of darkness, 477.\n\n     _Libations_, common among all nations of antiquity, 317.\n\n     _Library_, the, of Alexandria, 438.\n\n     _Lights_, are kept burning before images in Pagan temples, 406.\n\n     _Lily_, the, or Lotus, sacred among all Eastern nations, 529;\n       put into the hands of all \"Virgin Mothers,\" 329.\n\n     _Linga_, the, and Yoni, adored by the Jews, 47;\n       the symbol under which the sun was worshiped, 47, 496.\n\n     _Logos_, the, an Egyptian feature, 373;\n       Apollo called, 373;\n       Marduk of the Assyrians, called, 374;\n       the, of Philo, 374;\n       the, of John, 374;\n       identical, 374.\n\n     _Loretto_, the Virgin of, 338;\n       black as an Ethiopian, 338.\n\n     _Lotus_, the, or Lily, sacred among all Eastern nations, 329.\n\n     _Luke_, the Gospel \"according\" to, 456.\n\n     _Lycophron_, says that Hercules was three nights in the belly of a\n         fish, 78.\n\n\n     M.\n\n     _Madonna_, the, and child, worshiped by all nations of Antiquity, 326.\n\n     _Magi_, the religion of, adopted by the Jews, 109.\n\n     _Magic_, Jesus learned, in Egypt, 272.\n\n     _Magician_, Jesus accused of being a, 273.\n\n     _Mahabharata_, the, quotations from, 415-417.\n\n     _Mahomet_, the miracles of, 269.\n\n     _Maia_, the mother of Mercury, 125;\n       the same name as Mary, 332.\n\n     _Man_, the Fall of, 4;\n       parallels to, 4-16;\n       the antiquity of, 29.\n\n     _Manco_ Capac, a god of the Peruvians, 130.\n\n     _Manes_, believed himself to be the \"Christ,\" 429;\n       the word, has the meaning of \"Comforter\" or \"Saviour,\" 429.\n\n     _Manetho_, an Egyptian priest, gives an account of the sojourn of\n         the Israelites in Egypt, 53.\n\n     _Manicheans_, the, transferred pure souls to the Galaxy, 45;\n       their doctrine of the divinity of Christ Jesus, 511.\n\n     _Manu_, quotations from, 415.\n\n     _March_ 25th, the primitive Easter solemnized on, 225, 495;\n       celebrated throughout the ancient world in honor of the \"Mother\n           of God,\" 335;\n       appointed to the honor of the Christian Virgin, 335.\n\n     _Maria_, the name, same as Mary, 332.\n\n     _Mark_, the Gospel according to, 456.\n\n     _Matangi girl_, the, and Ananda, the disciple of Buddha, 294.\n\n     _Martianus Capella_, his ode to the Sun, 507.\n\n     _Martyr_ (Justin), compares Christianity with Paganism, 124.\n\n     _Mary_, the mother of Jesus, 111;\n       same name as Maya, Maria, &c., 332;\n       called the \"Mother of God,\" 398.\n\n     _Masons' Marks_, conspicuous among Christian symbols, 358.\n\n     _Mass_, the, of Good Friday, of Pagan origin, 226.\n\n     _Mastodon_, the remains of, found in America, 19.\n\n     _Mathura_, the birth-place of Crishna, 113.\n\n     _Matthew_, the \"Gospel according to,\" 455.\n\n     _May_, the month of, dedicated to the Heathen Virgin Mothers, 335;\n       is now the month of Mary, 335.\n\n     _Maya_, the same name as Mary, 332.\n\n     _Mayus_, the, of Yucatan, worship a Virgin-born god, 130.\n\n     _May-pole_, the, of moderns, is the \"Ashera\" of the ancients, 47;\n       an emblem of the male organ of generation, 47;\n       the Linga of the Hindoos, 47.\n\n     _Mecca_, the Mohammedans' Jerusalem, 296.\n\n     _Mediator_, the title of, applied to Virgin-born gods before the\n         time of Jesus, 195.\n\n     _Melchizedek_, the Kenite King of Righteousness, brought out _bread_\n         and _wine_ as a sign or symbol of worship, 307.\n\n     _Menander_, called the \"Wonder Worker,\" performed miracles, 266;\n       believed himself to be the Christ, 429.\n\n     _Mendicants_, among the Buddhists in China, 400-403.\n\n     _Menes_, the first king of Egypt, 122;\n       considered divine, 122.\n\n     _Menu_, Satyavrata the Seventh, 25.\n\n     _Mercury_, the Son of Jupiter and a mortal mother, 125;\n       called \"God's Messenger,\" 195.\n\n     _Meru_ (Mount), the Hindoo Paradise, out of which went four rivers,\n         13.\n\n     _Messiahs_, many, before the time of Jesus, 196, 519, 521, 522.\n\n     _Metempsychosis_, or transmigration of souls, 42;\n       the doctrine taught by all the Heathen nations of antiquity, 43;\n       by the Jews and Christians, 43.\n\n     _Mexicans_, the, had their semi-fish gods, 83;\n       practiced circumcision, 86;\n       compared with the inhabitants of the old world, 533.\n\n     _Mexico_, the architecture of, compared with that of the old world,\n         538.\n\n     _Michabou_, a god of the Algonquins, 131.\n\n     _Michael_, the angel, the story of, borrowed from Chaldean sources,\n         109;\n       fought with his angels against the dragon, 386.\n\n     _Miletus_, the crucified god of, 191.\n\n     _Millennium_, doctrine of the, 239.\n\n     _Minos_, the Lawgiver of the Cretans, 60;\n       receives the Laws from Zeus, 60.\n\n     _Minutius Felix_, on the crucified man, 197.\n\n     _Miracles_, the, of Jesus, 252;\n       of Crishna, 253;\n       of Buddha, 254, 255;\n       of Zoroaster, 256;\n       Bochia, 256;\n       Horus, 256;\n       Osiris, 256;\n       Serapis, 257;\n       Marduk, 257;\n       Bacchus, 257;\n       \u00c6sculapius, 257;\n       Apollonius, 261;\n       Simon Magus, 264;\n       Menander, 266;\n       Vespasian, 268.\n\n     _Miraculous Conception_, the, of, Jesus, 111;\n       parallels to, 112-131.\n\n     _Mithras_, a \"Mediator between God and Man,\" 194;\n       called the \"Saviour,\" and the \"Logos,\" 194;\n       is put to death, and rises again to life, 223;\n       a personification of the Sun, 507.\n\n     _Mohammed_ (see Mahomet).\n\n     _Molech_, the god, worshiped by the Heathen nations, and the\n         children of Israel, 108.\n\n     _Monad_, a, in the Egyptian Trinity, 373.\n\n     _Monasteries_, among Heathen nations, 400.\n\n     _Monasticism_, a vast and powerful institution in Buddhist\n         countries, 403.\n\n     _Monks_, were common among Heathen nations before the Christian\n         era, 400-404.\n\n     _Montanus_, believed himself an Angel-Messiah, 428.\n\n     _Months_, the twelve, compared with the Apostles, 500.\n\n     _Moon_, the, was personified among ancient nations, and called the\n         \"Queen of Heaven,\" 478.\n\n     _Moral Sentiments_, the, of the New Testament, compared with those\n         from Heathen Bibles, 415.\n\n     _Mosaic_ history, the so-called, a myth, 17.\n\n     _Moses_, divides the Red Sea, 50;\n       is thrown into the Nile, 89.\n\n     _Mother_, the, of God, worshiped among the ancients, 326.\n\n     _Mother Night_, the 24th of December called, 365.\n\n     _Mother of the Gods_, the, Aditi called, 475.\n\n     _Mount Meru_, the Hindoo paradise on, 13.\n\n     _Mummy_, a cross on the breast of an Egyptian, in the British\n         Museum, 341.\n\n     _Muscovites_, the, worshiped a virgin and child, 333;\n       worshiped a Trinity, 378.\n\n     _Mylitta_, the goddess, worshiped by the Hebrews, 108.\n\n     _Myrrha_, the mother of Bacchus, 332;\n       same as Mary, 332.\n\n     _Myth_, a, the theology of Christendom built upon, 17.\n\n     _Mythology_, all religions founded upon, 563.\n\n     _Mythos_, the universal, 505.\n\n\n     N.\n\n     _Nganu_, the Africans of Lake, had a similar story to the \"Confusion\n         of Tongues,\" 36.\n\n     _Nakshatias_, the, of the Indian Zodiac, are regarded as deities, 142.\n\n     _Nanda_, the foster-father of Crishna, 158.\n\n     _Nared_, a great prophet and astrologer, 143;\n       pointed out Crishna's stars, 143.\n\n     _Nazarenes_, the, saw in Jesus nothing more than a mere man, 135.\n\n     _Nebuchadnezzar_, repaired the tower of Babel, 85.\n\n     _Necromancer_, Jesus represented as a, 273.\n\n     _Nehush-tan_, the Sun worshiped under the name of, 491.\n\n     _Neith_, the mother of Osiris, 364;\n       called the \"Holy Virgin,\" 364;\n       the \"Mother of the Gods,\" and \"Mother of the Sun,\" 476;\n       a personification of the dawn, 476.\n\n     _Nepaul_, the crucified God found in, 187.\n\n     _Nicaragua_, the inhabitants of, called their principal God\n         Thomathoyo, 130.\n\n     _Nice_, the Council of, 381;\n       anathematized those who say that there was a time when the Son of\n           God was not, 381.\n\n     _Nile_, the temples on the north bank of the river dedicated to the\n         kings of Egypt, 122;\n       a sacred river, 318.\n\n     _Nimrod_, built the tower of Babel, 34.\n\n     _Ninevah_, Jonah goes to, 81;\n       cylinders discovered on the site of, contained the legend of the\n           flood, 101.\n\n     _Niparaga_, the Supreme Creator of the Endes of California, 131.\n\n     _Nisan_, the angel, borrowed from the Chaldeans, 109.\n\n     _Noah_, the ark of, 119.\n\n     _Noel_, Christmas in French called, 365.\n\n     _Nut_, a personification of Heaven, 477.\n\n     _Nutar Nutra_, the, of the Egyptians, corresponds to the Hebrew\n         El-Shaddai, 49.\n\n\n     O.\n\n     _Oannes_, Chaldean fish-god, 82;\n       the same as Jonah, 83.\n\n     _Odin_, the Supreme God of the Scandinavians, 479;\n       a personification of the Heavens, 479.\n\n     _OEdipus_, the history of, resembles that of Samson and Hercules,\n         72;\n       tears out his eyes, 72;\n       is a dangerous child, 170;\n       cheered in his last hours by Antigone, 493;\n       a personification of the Sun, 493.\n\n     _Offerings_ (Votive) made to the Heathen deities, 259.\n\n     _Olympus_, the, of the Pagans, restored, 398.\n\n     _O. M._, or _A. U. M._, a sacred name among the Hindoos, 372;\n       an emblem of the Trinity, 352.\n\n     _Omphale_, the amours of Hercules with, 71.\n\n     _One_, the myths of the crucified gods melt into, 492.\n\n     _One God_, worshiped by the ancestors of our race, 384.\n\n     _Only Begotten Son_, common before the Christian era, 193.\n\n     _Oort, Prof._, on the sacred laws of ancient nations, 61.\n\n     _Ophites_, the, worshiped serpents as emblems of Christ, 355.\n\n     _Orders_, religious among all nations of antiquity, 400-404.\n\n     _Origen_, declared the story of creation and fall of man to be\n         allegorical, 100.\n\n     _Original_ Sin, the doctrine of, of great antiquity, 184;\n       the Indians no strangers to, 189.\n\n     _Ormuzd_, the Supreme God of the Persians, 7;\n       divided the work of creation into six parts, 7.\n\n     _Orontes_, the river, divided by Bacchus, 81.\n\n     _Osiris_, confined in a chest and thrown into the Nile, 90;\n       a Virgin-born God, 190;\n       suffers death, 190;\n       rose from the dead, 222;\n       the judge of the dead, 245;\n       performed miracles, 256;\n       the worship of, of great antiquity, 452;\n       a personification of the Sun, 484.\n\n     _Oude_, the crucified God Bal-li worshiped at, 188.\n\n     _Ovid_, describes the doctrine of Metempsychosis, 43.\n\n\n     P.\n\n     _Pagan Religion_, the, adopted by the Christians, 384;\n       was typical of Christianity, 501.\n\n     _Pan_, had a flute of seven pipes, 81.\n\n     _Pandora_, the first woman, in Grecian mythology, 10.\n\n     _Pantheon_, the, a niche always ready in, of the ancients, for a\n         new divinity, 123.\n\n     _Paraclete_, Simon Magus claimed to be the, 164.\n\n     _Paradise_, all nations believed in a, 389, 390.\n\n     _Parsees_, the, direct descendants of the Persians, 25;\n       say that man was once destroyed by a deluge, 25.\n\n     _Parnassus_, Mount, the ark of Deucalion rested on, 26.\n\n     _Parthenon_, the, at Athens, sacred to Minerva, 333.\n\n     _Passover_, the, celebrated by the Jews on the same day that the\n         Heathens celebrated the resurrections of their Gods, 226;\n       the Jews used eggs in the feast of, 228.\n\n     _Patriarchs_, the, all stories of, unhistorical, 54.\n\n     _Paul, St._, a minister of the Gospel which had been preached to\n         every creature under heaven, 514.\n\n     _Pentateuch_, the, never ascribed to Moses in the inscriptions of\n         Hebrew manuscripts, 92;\n       ascribed to Moses after the Babylonian captivity, 92;\n       origin of, 93, 96.\n\n     _Perictione_, a Virgin mother, 127.\n\n     _Perseus_, shut up in a chest, and cast into the sea, 89;\n       the son of Jupiter by the Virgin Danae, 124;\n       a temple erected to him in Athens, 124;\n       a dangerous child, 169.\n\n     _Persia_, pre-Christian crosses found in, 343, 344.\n\n     _Persians_, the, denominate the first man Adama, 7;\n       had a legend of creation corresponding with the Hebrew, 8;\n       had a legend of the war in heaven, 387.\n\n     _Peru_, crosses found in, 349;\n       worship of a Trinity found in, 378.\n\n     _Peruvians_, the, adored the cross, 349;\n       worshiped a Trinity, 378.\n\n     _Peter, St._, has the keys of Janus, 399.\n\n     _Phallic tree_, the, is introduced into the narrative in Genesis, 47.\n\n     _Phallic worship_, the story of Jacob setting up a pillar alludes\n         to, 46;\n       practiced by the nations of antiquity, 46, 47.\n\n     _Phallic Emblems_, in Christian churches, 358.\n\n     _Phallus_, the, a \"Hermes,\" set up on the road-side, was the symbol\n         of, 46.\n\n     _Pamphylian Sea_, the, divided by Alexander, 55.\n\n     _Pharaoh_, his dreams, 88;\n       parallel to, 89.\n\n     _Phenician deity_, the principal, was El, 484.\n\n     _Philo_, considered the fictions of Genesis allegories, 100;\n       says nothing about Jesus, or the Christians, 564.\n\n     _Philosophers_, the, of ancient Greece, called Christians, 409.\n\n     _Philosophy_, the Christian religion called a, 567.\n\n     _Phoedrus_, the river, dried up by Isis, 55.\n\n     _Phoenicians_, the, offered the fairest of their children to the\n         gods, 41.\n\n     _Phoenix_, the, lived 600 years, 426.\n\n     _Phrygians_, the, worshiped the god Atys, 190.\n\n     _Pilate_, pillaged the temple treasury, 521;\n       crucified Jesus, 526.\n\n     _Pillars_ of Hercules, the, 79.\n\n     _Pious Frauds_, 231.\n\n     _Pisces_, the sign of, applied to Christ Jesus, 355-504.\n\n     _Plato_, believed to have been the son of a pure virgin, 127.\n\n     _Platonists_, the, believed in a Trinity, 375.\n\n     _Pole, or Pillar_, a, worshiped by the ancients, 46, 47.\n\n     _Polynesian Mythology_, in, a fish is emblematic of the earth, 80.\n\n     _Pontius Pilate_ (see Pilate).\n\n     _Poo-ta-la_, the name of a Buddhist monastery found in China, 401.\n\n     _Pope_, the, thrusts out his foot to be kissed as the Roman Emperors\n         were in the habit of doing, 400.\n\n     _Portuguese_, the, call the mountain in Ceylon, Pico d' Adama, 13.\n\n     _Porus_, the troops of, carried on their standards the figure of a\n         man, 198.\n\n     _Prayers_, for the dead, made by Buddhist priests, 401.\n\n     _Priests_, the Buddhist, have fasting, prayers for the dead, holy\n         water, rosaries of beads, the worship of relics, and a monastic\n         habit resembling the Franciscans, 401.\n\n     _Priestesses_, among the ancients, similar to the modern nuns, 403,\n         404.\n\n     _Primeval male_, the, offered himself a sacrifice for the gods, 181.\n\n     _Prithivi_, the Earth worshiped under the name of, by the Hindoos,\n         477.\n\n     _Prometheus_, a deity who united the divine and human nature in one\n         person, 124;\n       a crucified Saviour, 192;\n       an earthquake happened at the time of the death of, 207;\n       the story of the crucifixion of, allegorical, 484;\n       a title of the Sun, 484.\n\n     _Prophet_, the, of the Beatitudes, does but repeat the words of\n         others, 526.\n\n     _Protogenia_, mother of Aethlius, 125.\n\n     _Ptolemy_ (Soter), believed to have been of divine origin, 127.\n\n     _Puranas_, the, 451.\n\n     _Purgatory_, the doctrine of, of pre-Christian origin, 389.\n\n     _Purim_, the feast of, 44;\n       the book of Esther written for the purpose of describing, 44.\n\n     _Pyrrha_, the wife of Deucalion, 26;\n       was saved from the Deluge by entering an ark with her husband, 26.\n\n     _Pythagoras_, taught that souls dwelt in the Galaxy, 45;\n       had divine honors paid to him, 128;\n       his mother impregnated through a spectre, 128.\n\n\n     Q.\n\n     _Quetzalcoatle_, the Virgin-born Saviour, 129;\n       was tempted and fasted, 178;\n       was crucified, 199;\n       rose from the dead, 225;\n       will come again, 239;\n       is a personification of the Sun, 489.\n\n     _Queen of Heaven_, the, was worshiped by all nations of antiquity\n         before the Christian era, 326-336.\n\n     _Quirinius_, a name of Romulus, 126;\n       educated among shepherds, 208;\n       torn to pieces at his death, 208;\n       ascended into heaven, 208;\n       the Sun darkened at his death, 208.\n\n\n     R.\n\n     _R\u00e2_, the Egyptian God, born from the side of his mother, 122.\n\n     _Raam-ses_, king of Egypt, 123;\n       means \"Son of the Sun,\" 123.\n\n     _Rabbis_, the, taught the allegorical interpretation of Scripture,\n         100;\n       performed miracles, 267;\n       taught the mystery of the Trinity, 376.\n\n     _Rakshasas_, the, of our Aryan ancestors, the originals of all\n         giants, ogres or demons, 19;\n       are personifications of the dark clouds, 19;\n       fought desperate battles with Indrea, and his spirits of light, 387.\n\n     _Ram_ or _Lamb_, the, used as a symbol of Christ Jesus, 202;\n       a symbol of the Sun, 503, 504.\n\n     _Rama_, an incarnation of Vishnu, 143;\n       a star at his birth, 143;\n       is hailed by aged saints, 152.\n\n     _Rayme_, a Mexican festival held in the month of, answering to our\n         Christmas celebration, 366.\n\n     _Rays_ of glory, surround the heads of all the Gods, 505.\n\n     _Real Presence_, the, in the Eucharist, borrowed from Paganism,\n         305-312.\n\n     _Red Riding-Hood_, the story of, explained, 80.\n\n     _Red Sea_, the, divided by Moses, 50;\n       divided by Bacchus, 51.\n\n     _Religion_, the, of Paganism, compared with Christianity, 384.\n\n     _Religions_, the, of all nations, formerly a worship of the sun,\n         moon, stars and elements, 544.\n\n     _Resurrection_, the, of Jesus, 215;\n       parallels to, 216, 226.\n\n     _Rhea-Sylvia_, the Virgin mother of Romulus, 126.\n\n     _Rivers_, divided by the command of Bacchus, 51.\n\n     _Rivers_ (sacred), 318.\n\n     _Romans_, the, deified their emperors, 125.\n\n     _Rome_, the Pantheon of, dedicated to \"Jove and all the Gods,\" and\n         reconsecrated to \"the Mother of God and all the Saints,\" 396.\n\n     _Romulus_, son of the Virgin Rhea-Sylvia, 126;\n       called Quirinius, 126;\n       a dangerous child, 172;\n       put to death, 308;\n       the sun darkened at time of his death, 208.\n\n     _Rosary_, the Buddhist priests count their prayers with a, 401;\n       found on an ancient medal of the Phenicians, 504.\n\n     _Rose_, the, of Sharon, Jesus called, 487.\n\n     _Rosicrucians_, the, jewel of, a crucified rose, 487.\n\n     _Ruffinus_, the \"Apostles' creed\" first known in the days of, 385.\n\n     _Russia_, adherents of the old religion of, persecuted, 444.\n\n\n     S.\n\n     _Sabbath_, the, kept holy by the ancients, 392, 393.\n\n     _Sacrament_, the, of the Lord's Supper instituted many centuries\n         before the Christian era, 305-312.\n\n     _Sacred Books_, among heathen nations, 61.\n\n     _Sacred Heart_, the, a great mystery among the ancients, 404.\n\n     _Sacrifices_, or offerings to the Gods, at one time, almost\n         universal, 40, 41;\n       human, for atonement, was general, 182.\n\n     _Saints_, the, of the Christians, are Pagan Gods worshiped under\n         other names, 398, 399.\n\n     _Sais_, the \"Feast of Lamps,\" held at, 392.\n\n     _Saktideva_, swallowed by a fish and came out unhurt, 77.\n\n     _Sakya-Muni_, a name of Buddha, 300.\n\n     _Salivahana_, the ancient inhabitants of Cape Comorin worshiped a\n         Virgin-born Saviour called, 118, 119.\n\n     _Salvation_, from the death of another, of great antiquity, 181;\n       by faith, existed among the Hindoos, 184.\n\n     _Sammael_, the proper name of Satan according to the Talmud, 386.\n\n     _Samothracian_ mysteries, in the Heaven and Earth were worshiped, 479.\n\n     _Samson_, his exploits, 62-66;\n       compared with Hercules, 60-70;\n       a solar god, 71-73.\n\n     _Satan_, the proper name of, is Sammael, 386;\n       a personification of storm-clouds and darkness, 482.\n\n     _Saturday_, or the seventh day, kept holy by the ancients, 393.\n\n     _Saturn_, worshiped by the ancients, 393.\n\n     _Saturnalia_, the, of the ancient Romans, 365.\n\n     _Satyavrata_, saved from the deluge in an ark, according to the\n         Hindoo legend, 24,25.\n\n     _Scandinavians_, the, worshiped a \"Beneficent Saviour,\" called\n         Baldur, 129;\n       the heaven of, described, 390;\n       consecrated one day in the week to Odin, 393;\n       worshiped Frey, the deity of the Sun, 489.\n\n     _Scriptures_, the, of the Essenes, the ground work of the gospels,\n         443-460.\n\n     _Seb_, a personification of the Earth, 477.\n\n     _Second Coming_, the, of Jesus, 233;\n       of Vishnu, 236;\n       of Buddha, 237;\n       of Bacchus, 238;\n       of Kalewipoeg, 238;\n       of Arthur, 238;\n       of Quetzalcoatle, 239.\n\n     _Seed of the Woman_, the, bruised the head of the Serpent, according\n         to the mythology of all nations, 482.\n\n     _Semele_, the mother of Bacchus, 124\n\n     _Semi-ramis_, the Supreme Dove crucified, 486.\n\n     _Senators_, the Cardinals of Roman Christianity wear the robes once\n         worn by Romans, 400.\n\n     _Serapis_, the god, worshiped in Alexandria in Egypt, 342;\n       a cross found in the temple of, 342.\n\n     _Serpent_, the, seduced the first woman, 3;\n       in Eden, an Aryan story, 99;\n       an emblem of Christ Jesus, 355;\n       Moses set up, as an object of worship, 355;\n       worshiped by the Christians, 355;\n       symbolized the Sun, 490;\n       called the Word, or Divine Wisdom, 490.\n\n     _Seven_, the number, sacred among all nations of antiquity, 31.\n\n     _Seventh-day_, the, kept sacred by the ancients, 392, 393.\n\n     _Seventy-two_, Confucius had, disciples, 121.\n\n     \"_Shams-on_,\" the Sun in Arabic, 73.\n\n     _Sharon_, the Rose of, Jesus called, 486.\n\n     _Shepherds_, the infant Jesus worshiped by, 150.\n\n     _Shoo-king_, the, a sacred book of the Chinese, 25;\n       speaks of the deluge, 25.\n\n     _Siamese_, the, had a virgin-born god, 118.\n\n     _Simon Magus_, believed to be a god, 129;\n       his picture placed among the gods in Rome, 129;\n       professed to be the \"Word of God,\" the \"Paraclete,\" or\n           \"Comforter,\" 164;\n       performed great miracles, 125.\n\n     _Sin-Bearer_, the, Bacchus called, 193.\n\n     _Sin, Original_, the doctrine of, believed in by Heathen nations,\n         181, 184.\n\n     _Siva_, the third god in the Hindoo Trinity, 369;\n       the Hindoos held a festival in honor of, 392.\n\n     _Skylla delivers_ Nisos into the power of his enemies, 72;\n       a Solar Myth, 72.\n\n     _Slaughter_, the, of the innocents at the time of Jesus, 165;\n       parallels to, 166-172.\n\n     _Sochiquetzal_, mother of Quetzalcoatle, 129;\n       a Virgin Mother, 129;\n       called the \"Queen of Heaven,\" 129.\n\n     _Socrates_, visited at his birth by Wise Men, and presented with\n         gifts, 152.\n\n     _Sol_, crucified in the heavens, 484.\n\n     _Soma_, a god of the Hindoos, 306;\n       gave his body and blood to man, 306.\n\n     _Sommona Codom_ (see Codom).\n\n     _Son of a Star_ (see Bar-Cochba).\n\n     _Son of God_, the Heathen worshiped a mediating deity who had the\n         title of, 111-129.\n\n     _Son of the Sun_, the name Raam-ses means, 123.\n\n     \"_Sons of Heaven_,\" the virgin-born men of China called, 122.\n\n     _Song_, the, of the Heavenly Host, 147;\n       parallels to, 148-150.\n\n     _Soul_, the, immortality of, believed in by nations of antiquity, 385.\n\n     _Sosiosh_, the virgin-born Messiah, 146;\n       yet to come, 146.\n\n     _Space_, crucifixion in, 488.\n\n     _Spanish monks_, the first, who went to Mexico were surprised to\n         find the crucifix there, 199.\n\n     _Spirit_, the Hebrew word for, of feminine gender, 134.\n\n     _Standards_, the, of the ancient Romans, wore crosses gilt and\n         beautiful, 345.\n\n     _Star_, the, of Bethlehem, 140;\n       parallels to, 142-145.\n\n     _Staurobates_, the King by whom Semiramis was overpowered, 486.\n\n     _Stone pillars_, set up by the Hebrews were emblems of the Phallus,\n         46.\n\n     \"_Strong Rama_,\" the, of the Hindoos, a counterpart of Samson, 73.\n\n     _Suddho-dana_, the dreams of, compared with Pharaoh's two dreams, 88.\n\n     _Sun_, the, nearly all the Pagan deities were personifications of,\n         467;\n       Christ Jesus said to have been born on the birth-day of, 473;\n       Christ Jesus a personification of, 500;\n       universally worshiped, 507.\n\n     _Sun-day_, a pagan holiday adopted by the Christians, 394-396.\n\n     _Sun-gods_, Samson and Hercules are, 71-73.\n\n     _Sun-myth_, the, added to the histories of Jesus of Nazareth,\n         Buddha, Cyrus, Alexandria and others, 506.\n\n     _Sweden_, the famous temple at Upsal in, dedicated to a triune\n         deity, 377.\n\n     _Symbolical_, the history of the gods, 466.\n\n     _Synoptic Gospels_, the discrepancies between the fourth and the,\n         numerous, 457.\n\n\n     T.\n\n     _Tacitus_, the allusion to Jesus in, a forgery, 566-568.\n\n     _Tables of Stone_, the, of Moses, 58;\n       of Bacchus, 59.\n\n     _Talmud_, the books containing Jewish tradition, 95;\n       in the, Jesus is called the \"hanged one,\" 516.\n\n     _Tammuz_, the Saviour, after being put to death, rose from the\n         dead, 217;\n       worshiped in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, 222.\n\n     _Tanga-tanga_, the \"Three in One, and One in Three,\" or the Trinity\n         of the ancient Peruvians, 378.\n\n     _Tao_, the \"one god\" supreme, worshiped by Lao-Kiun, the Chinese\n         sage, 120.\n\n     _Tao-tse_, the, or \"Sect of Reason,\" formed by Lao-Kiun, 120.\n\n     _Tau_, the cross, worshiped by the Egyptians, 341.\n\n     _Temples_, all the oldest were in caves, 286.\n\n     _Temptation_, the, of Jesus, 175;\n       of Buddha, 176;\n       of Zoroaster, 177;\n       of Quetzalcoatle, 177;\n       meaning of, 482.\n\n     _Temples_, Pagan, changed into Christian churches, 396, 397.\n\n     _Ten Commandments_, the, of Moses, 59;\n       of Buddha, 59.\n\n     _Ten_, the, Zodiac gods of the Chaldeans, 102.\n\n     _Tenth_, the, Xisuthrus, King of the Chaldeans, 23;\n       Noah, patriarch, 23.\n\n     _Tezcatlipoca_, the Supreme God of the Mexicans, 60.\n\n     _Testament_, the New, written many years later than generally\n         supposed, 454.\n\n     _Therapeut\u00e6_, the, and Essenes the same, 423.\n\n     _Thor_, a Scandinavian god, 75;\n       considered the \"Defender\" and \"Avenger,\" 75;\n       the Hercules of the Northern nations, 76;\n       the Sun personified, 76;\n       compared with David, 90, 91;\n       the son of Odin, 129.\n\n     _Thoth_, the deity itself, speaks and reveals to his elect among\n         men the will of God, 60.\n\n     _Thibet_, the religion of, similar to Christianity, 400.\n\n     _Three_, a sacred number among all nations of antiquity, 368-378.\n\n     _Thursday_, sacred to the Scandinavian god, Thor, 32.\n\n     _Tibet_, the religion of, similar to Roman Christianity, 400.\n\n     _Tien_, the name of the Supreme Power among the Chinese, 476.\n\n     _Titans_, the, struggled against Jupiter, 388.\n\n     _Tombs_, the, of persons who never lived in the flesh were to be\n         seen at different places, 510.\n\n     _Tower_, the, of Babel, 33;\n       parallels to, 35-37;\n       story of, borrowed from Chaldean sources, 102;\n       nowhere alluded to outside of Genesis, 103.\n\n     _Transmigration of Souls_, the, represented on Egyptian sculptures,\n         45;\n       taught by all nations of antiquity, 42-45.\n\n     _Transubstantiation_, the Heathen doctrine of, became a tenet of\n         the Christian faith, 313, 314.\n\n     _Tree_, the, of Knowledge, 2, 3;\n       parallels to, 3-16;\n       a Phallic tree, 101;\n       Zoroaster hung upon the, 195.\n\n     _Trefoil_, the, a sacred plant among the Druids of Britain, 353.\n\n     _Trimurti_, the, of the Hindoos, 369;\n       the same as the Christian Trinity, 369, 370.\n\n     _Trinity_, the, doctrine of, the most mysterious of the Christian\n         church, 368;\n       adored by the Brahmins of India, 369;\n       the inhabitants of China and Japan, 371;\n       the Egyptians, 373;\n       and many other nations of antiquity, 373-378;\n       can be explained by allegory only, 561.\n\n     _Twelve_, the number which applies to the twelve signs of the\n         Zodiac, to be found in all religions of antiquity, 498.\n\n     _Twins_, the Mexican Eve the mother of, 15.\n\n     _Types_ of Christ Jesus, Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus, Hercules,\n         Adonis, Osiris, Horus, &c., all of them were, 408;\n       all the sun-gods of Paganism were, 500.\n\n     _Typhon_, the destroying principle in the Egyptian Trinity,\n         corresponding to the Siva of the Hindoos, 561.\n\n\n     U.\n\n     _Upright Emblem_, the, or the \"Ashera,\" stood in the temple at\n         Jerusalem, 47.\n\n     _Uriel_, the angel, borrowed from Chaldean sources, 109.\n\n     _Ushas_, the flame-red chariot of, compared to the fiery chariot of\n         Elijah, 90.\n\n     _Utsthala_, the island of, 78.\n\n\n     V.\n\n     _Valentine, St._, formerly the Scandinavian god Vila, 399.\n\n     _Valhalla_, the Scandinavian Paradise, 390.\n\n     _Vasudeva_, a name of Crishna, 114.\n\n     _Vedas_, the, antiquity of, 450.\n\n     _Vedic Poems_, the, show the origin and growth of Greek and\n         Teutonic mythology, 468.\n\n     _Venus_, the Dove was sacred to the goddess, 357.\n\n     _Vernal equinox_, the, festivals held at the time of, by the\n         nations of antiquity, 392.\n\n     _Vespasian_, the Miracles of, 268, 269.\n\n     _Vestal Virgins_, the, were bound by a solemn vow to preserve their\n         chastity for a space of thirty years, 403.\n\n     _Vicar_ of God on Earth, the Grand Lama of the Tartars considered\n         to be the, 118.\n\n     _Vila_, the god, of the Scandinavians, changed to St. Valentine, 399.\n\n     _Virgin_, the worship of a, before the Christian era, 326.\n\n     _Virgo_, the, of the Zodiac personified as a Virgin Mother.\n\n     _Vishnu_, appeared as a fish, at the time of the Deluge, 25;\n       the mediating or preserving God in the Hindoo Trinity, 369.\n\n     _Votan_, of Guatemala, 130.\n\n     _Votive_ offerings, given by the Heathen to their gods, and now\n         practiced by the Christians, 258, 259.\n\n     _Vows of Chastity_, taken by the males and females who entered\n         Pagan monasteries, 402, 403.\n\n\n     W.\n\n     _War in Heaven_, the, believed in by the principal nations of\n         antiquity, 368.\n\n     _Wasi_, the priest and law-giver of the Cherokees, 130.\n\n     _Water_, purification from sin by, a Pagan ceremony, 317-323.\n\n     _Wednesday_, Woden's or Odin's day, 393.\n\n     _Welsh_, the, as late as the seventeenth century, during eclipses,\n         ran about beating kettles and pans, 536.\n\n     _West_, the sun-gods die in the, 493.\n\n     _Wisdom_, Ganesa the god of, 117.\n\n     _Wise Men_, worshiped the infant Jesus, 150;\n       worshiped the infant Crishna, 151;\n       worshiped the infant Buddha, 151;\n       and others, 151, 152.\n\n     _Wittoba_, the god, crucified, 185.\n\n     _Wodin_, or Odin, the supreme god of the Scandinavians, 393.\n\n     _Wolf_, the, an emblem of the Destroying power, 80.\n\n     _Word_, or Logos, the, of John's Gospel, of Pagan origin, 374.\n\n     _World_, the, destroy by a deluge, whenever all the planets met in\n         the sign of Capricorn, 103.\n\n\n     X.\n\n     _Xaca_, born of a Virgin, 119.\n\n     _Xelhua_, one of the seven giants rescued from the flood, 37.\n\n     _Xerxes_, the god of, is the _devil_ of to-day, 391;\n       the Zend-avesta older than the inscriptions of, 452.\n\n     _Xisuthrus_, the deluge happened in the days of, 22;\n       was the tenth King of the Chaldeans, 23;\n       had three sons, 23;\n       was translated to heaven, 90.\n\n     _X-P_, the, was formerly a monogram of the Egyptian Saviour Osiris,\n         but now the monogram of Christ Jesus, 350.\n\n\n     Y.\n\n     _Yadu_, Vishnu became incarnate in the House of, 113.\n\n     _Yao_, or Jao, a sacred name, 49.\n\n     _Yan_-hwuy, the favorite disciples of Confucius, 121.\n\n     _Yar_, the angel, borrowed from Chaldean sources, 109.\n\n     _Yen-she_, the mother of Confucius, 121.\n\n     _Y-ha-ho_, a name esteemed sacred among the Egyptians, 48;\n       the same as Jehovah, 48.\n\n     _Yezua_, the name Jesus is pronounced in Hebrew, 196.\n\n     _Yoni_, the, attached to the head of the crucified Crishna, 185;\n       symbolized nature, 496.\n\n     _Y\u00f4s\u00ear_, the term (Creator) first brought into use by the prophets\n         of the Captivity, 99.\n\n     _Yu_, a virgin-born Chinese sage, 120.\n\n     _Yucatan_, the Mayas of, worshiped a virgin-born god, 130;\n       crosses found in, 201.\n\n     _Yule_, the old name for Christmas, 365.\n\n     _Yumna_, the river, divided by Crishna, 57.\n\n\n     Z.\n\n     _Zama_, the only-begotten Son of the Supreme God, according to the\n         Mayas of Yucatan, 130.\n\n     _Zarathustra_ (see Zoroaster).\n\n     _Zend-Avesta_, the sacred writings of the Parsees, 7;\n       signifies the \"Living Word,\" 59;\n       older than the cuneiform inscriptions of Cyrus, 452.\n\n     _Zephyrinus_, the truth corrupted by, 135.\n\n     _Zeru-akerene_, the Supreme God of the Persians, 245.\n\n     _Zerubabel_, supposed to be the Messiah, 432.\n\n     _Zeupater_, the Dyaus-pitar of Asia, became the, of the Greeks, 477.\n\n     _Zeus_, the Supreme God of the Greeks, 477;\n       visited Danae in a golden shower, 481.\n\n     _Zome_, a supernatural being worshiped in Brazil, 130.\n\n     _Zoroaster_, the Law giver of the Persians, 59;\n       receives the \"Book of the Law\" from Ormuzd, 59;\n       the Son of Ormuzd, 123;\n       a dangerous child, 169;\n       a \"Divine Messenger,\" 194;\n       the \"First-born of the Eternal One,\" 195;\n       performed miracles, 256;\n       the religion of the Persians established by, 451.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\n\nThe abbreviations B. C. and A. D. have been spaced throughout the text\nfor consistency.\n\nThe anchors for footnotes [44:3] and [112:2] are missing in the original\nand have been added by the Transcriber.\n\nFootnote [288:5] reads as follows: \"Williams' Hinduism, pp. 119-110.\"\nThe page references are in error, but Transcriber has left the note as\nprinted.\n\nSome of the words in Footnote [560:2] are cut off in the page scan.\nUnclear words have been extrapolated from context.\n\nFootnote [564:5] is printed \"John, Bishop of Constantinople, who died\".\nWhatever text is intended to follow is missing from the original.\nTranscriber has added an ellipsis to indicate missing text.\n\nIn Chapter XXXIX., there are two consecutive sections numbered 6. They\nhave been left as in the original.\n\n     6. _He was born in a Cave._\n     6. _He was ordered to be put to death._\n\nThe following corrections have been made to the text:\n\n     Page xii, under Bell (J.): in 2 vols. London: J. Bell,\n     1790.[period missing in original]\n\n     Page xii, under Blavatsky (H. P.): by H. P.\n     Blavatsky,[original has period] in 2 vols.\n\n     Page xv, under Hardy (R. S.): A Manual of Buddhism in its\n     Modern Development.[period missing in original]\n\n     Page xvi, under Higgins (Godfrey): London: Longman,\n     Rees,[comma missing in original] Orne, Brown & Longman.\n\n     Page xviii, under Lillie (Arthur): London: Tr\u00fcbner[original\n     has Trubner] & Co.\n\n     Pave xviii, under Mary (Apoc.): The Gospel of the Birth of\n     Mary, attributed to St. Matthew.[original has comma]\n\n     Page xviii, under Maurice (Thomas): compared with those of\n     Persia, Egypt[original has Egyp-]\n\n     Page xviii, under Montfaucon (B.): Second edit.[period missing\n     in original] Paris: 1722.\n\n     Page xxii, under Taylor (Robert): Evidences, and Early History\n     of Christianity[original has Chiristianity]\n\n     Page xxii, under Taylor (Robert): Boston:[original has\n     semi-colon] J. P. Mendum\n\n     Page xxiii: Beausobre's[original has Beausobres'] _Histoire\n     Critique de Manich\u00e9e et du Manicheisme_\n\n     Page xxiii: Sir John Malcolm's[original has Malcom's] _History\n     of Persia_\n\n     Page 3: closed up the flesh instead thereof.\"[closing\n     quotation mark missing in original]\n\n     Page 10: it was in a gentle slumber.\"[closing quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Page 11: the power of the resurrection.\"[closing quotation\n     mark missing in original]\n\n     Page 23: in his \"Ancient Fragments,\" the[original has \"The]\n     history\n\n     Page 32: Agni, the[original has the the] Hindoo god\n\n     Page 52: \"[quotation mark missing in original]The whole\n     multitude of the people\n\n     Page 55: Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia[original has Encylop\u00e6dia]\n\n     Page 82: this founder of civilization[original has\n     cizilization] has a _Solar character_\n\n     Page 89: as Pharaoh's[original has Pharoah's] daughter did\n     with the child\n\n     Page 107: \"[original has single quote]The student of Pagan\n     religion\n\n     Page 109: (Joel,[original has period] iii. 6)\n\n     Page 136: Xisuthrus[original has Xisthrus] (who is the\n     Chaldean hero)\n\n     Page 141: birth of great men[original has greatmen], such as\n     Abraham\n\n     Page 146: mankind by persuading[original has pursuading] them\n     to eat\n\n     Page 149: apocryphal Gospel called \"[quotation mark missing in\n     original]_Protevangelion_\"\n\n     Page 176: applied himself to practice asceticism[original has\n     ascetcism]\n\n     Page 181: folly it is to expect salvation[original has\n     savlation]\n\n     Page 182: temple of the Laphystian[original has Laphystan]\n     Jupiter\n\n     Page 245: who appear before him as the judge.[original has\n     extraneous quotation mark]\n\n     Page 247: _all things were created by him_.\"[original has\n     single quote]\n\n     Page 282: Jesus was pierced with a spear.[282:4][period and\n     footnote anchor missing in original]\n\n     Page 283: 36. \"[quotation mark missing in original]And after\n     six days\n\n     Page 284: fix his heart and thoughts on God alone.\"[closing\n     quotation mark missing in original]\n\n     Page 287: Aristotle[original has Aristote] a picker-up of\n     ethics\n\n     Page 298: [original has extraneous quotation mark]Well\n     authenticated records establish\n\n     Page 299: \"[quotation mark missing in original]When the time\n     came\n\n     Page 300: Gautama Buddha taught that all men are\n     brothers;[semi-colon missing in original]\n\n     Page 301: before the practice of shaving the head[original has\n     dead]\n\n     Page 302: \"[quotation mark missing in original]_We know_ that\n     the _Fo-pen-hing_ was translated\n\n     Page 302: \"[quotation mark missing in original]These G\u00e2thas\n     were evidently composed\n\n     Page 302: \"[quotation mark missing in original]It would be a\n     natural inference\n\n     Page 303: around the idea of a _Chakravarti_[original has\n     Chakrawarti]\n\n     Page 308: \"[quotation mark missing in original]For you either\n     know, or can know\n\n     Page 312: the flesh and bones of _Vitziliputzli_[original has\n     Vitzilipuzlti]\n\n     Page 313: It suggests itself to our mind that[original has\n     that that] this style\n\n     Page 321: he saw some one undergoing baptism by\n     aspersion.[original has extraneous colon]\n\n     Page 322: blessing from the _Saviour_ Quetzalcoatle[original\n     has Quetzacoatle]\n\n     Page 330: worshiped a Virgin Mother and Son,[original has\n     period] who was represented\n\n     Page 334: title of \"Queen of Heaven.\"[closing quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Page 340: It is placed by M\u00fcller[original has Muller]\n\n     Page 342: it is the hieroglyph[original has hierogylph] of\n     goodness\n\n     Page 343: also the symbol[original has symobl] of the\n     Babylonian god Bal\n\n     Page 351: I. E. E. S.[period missing in original], was a\n     monogram of Bacchus\n\n     Page 393: no work should be undertaken.\"[quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Page 399: Thames River god officiates[original has officates]\n     at the baptism\n\n     Page 405: Cardinal Baronius[original has Baronias]\n\n     Page 405: emblems of either the Linga[original has Lingha] or\n     Yoni\n\n     Page 407: \"[quotation mark missing in original]To the\n     emperor,--a mere worldling\n\n     Page 416: unruly evil, full of deadly poison.\"[quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Page 443: Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always\n     right.\"[closing quotation mark missing in original]\n\n     Page 447: crowds which usually[original has unsually] fill the\n     apartments\n\n     Page 449: doubt was that SOPATER the philosopher[original has\n     philospher]\n\n     Page 459: for there[original has their] being _four_ Gospels\n\n     Page 460: may be found to-day[original has to day] in our\n     canonical New Testament\n\n     Page 464: concerning the genuineness[original has genuiness]\n     of writings\n\n     Page 467: the light approaches.'[single quote missing in\n     original]\"\n\n     Page 479: birth of the god _Sol_, the beneficent[original has\n     benificent] Saviour\n\n     Page 487: _crucified in the heavens for the salvation of\n     man_.\"[quotation mark missing in original]\n\n     Page 507: Thus under a varied appellation[original has\n     appelation]\n\n     Page 510: Did not Damus[original has Damis], the beloved\n     disciple of Apollonius\n\n     Page 512: \"[quotation mark missing in original]For many\n     deceivers are entered\n\n     Page 535: [original has extraneous quotation mark]In the\n     mythology of Finns\n\n     Page 538: the Hiong-nu, and the Japanese?\"[quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Page 540: \"[quotation mark missing in original]The Tunguse,\n     Mongolians, and a great part\n\n     Page 540: \"[quotation mark missing in original]It is very\n     certain that thousands\n\n     Page 552: Max M\u00fcller, the[original has The] Rev. George W. Cox\n\n     Page 557: most widely known[original has extraneous comma]\n     characters\n\n     Page 559: Heph\u00e6stos[original has Hesph\u00e6stos] as the young, not\n     yet risen _Sun_\n\n     Page 564: our Christian ancestors before _Eusebius_[original\n     has Esuebius]\n\n     Page 569: \u00c6olus[original has \u00c6olis]\n\n     Page 570, under Ascension: of Zoroaster, 216[comma and page\n     number missing in original]\n\n     Page 570, Atonement: the doctrine of,[comma missing in\n     original] taught before the time\n\n     Page 571, under Black God: the, crucified, 201.[original has\n     comma]\n\n     Page 572, under Carnutes: the, of Gaul, 198;[original has\n     comma] the Lamb of, 199.\n\n     Page 572, under Christ (Jesus): not identical with the\n     historical Jesus, 506.[period missing in original]\n\n     Page 573, under Claudius: Roman Emperor, 126;[original has\n     comma] considered divine, 126.\n\n     Page 573, under Conception: of Fo-hi[hyphen missing in\n     original], 119\n\n     Page 575, under Eclipse: of Julius C\u00e6sar,[comma missing in\n     original] 207\n\n     Page 575, under Essenes: and the Therapeut\u00e6[original has\n     Therapeute]\n\n     Page 575, under Females: fasted forty days before marriage,\n     179.[original has semi-colon]\n\n     Page 576, under Germans: under the name of Hertha,\n     334,[original has hyphen] 477\n\n     Page 577: H\u00e2u-Ki[original has Han-Ki]\n\n     Page 578, under I\u00f6nah: Juno[original has Juna], suspended in\n     space\n\n     Page 579, under John the Baptist: the day of the\n     Summer[original has Sumner] Solstice\n\n     Page 579: under Judge of the Dead, Aeacus[original has \u00c6eacus]\n\n     Page 580, under March 25th: honor of the Christian[original\n     has Christain] Virgin\n\n     Page 581, under Messiahs: time of Jesus, 196,[original has\n     semi-colon] 519\n\n     Page 582: Nebuchadnezzar[original has Nebuchadonazar]\n\n     Page 582: Nutar[original has Nuter] Nutra\n\n     Page 583, under Parthenon, the, at Athens[original has Atheas]\n\n     Page 584, under Portuguese: mountain in Ceylon, Pico[original\n     has Peco] d' Adama\n\n     Page 584: under Protogenia, mother of Aethlius[original has\n     \u00c6thlius]\n\n     Page 584, under R\u00e2: born from the side of his mother[original\n     has mothe.]\n\n     Page 584: Raam-ses[original has Raam-sees]\n\n     Page 585: Rosicrucians[original has Rosi-crucians]\n\n     Page 585, under Scandinavians, Beneficent[original has\n     Benificent] Saviour\n\n     Page 585, under Second Coming: of Kalewipoeg[original has\n     Kalewipeog]\n\n     Page 586, under Simon Magus: professed to be the \"Word of\n     God,[original has semi-colon]\" the \"Paraclete,\" or\n     \"Comforter,\" 164\n\n     Page 586, under Tacitus, the allusion to Jesus in, a forgery,\n     566-568.[page number references missing in original]\n\n     Page 587, under Tao-tse: formed by Lao-Kiun[original has\n     Lao-Kuin]\n\n     Page 588: under Yadu: Vishnu[original has Vishna] became\n     incarnate in the House of, 113\n\n     Page 589: _Zarathustra_[original has Zarathrustra] (see\n     Zoroaster).\n\n     Page 589, under Zend-Avesta, signifies the \"Living\n     Word,[original has semi-colon]\" 59\n\n     Page 589: Zerubabel[original has Zeru-babel]\n\n     Page 589, under Zeupater[original has Zeu-pater]: the\n     Dyaus-pitar[original has Dyans-pitar] of Asia\n\n     Footnote [23:6] Bhat, Maha and Thamaz.[original has extraneous\n     quotation mark]\n\n     Footnote [28:1] the Deluge of Noah and Xisuthrus[original has\n     Xisuthus]\n\n     Footnote [45:5] Indian Antiquities[original has Antiqities]\n\n     Footnote [45:8] See Child's Prog.[period missing in original]\n     Relig. Ideas\n\n     Footnote [46:4] vol.[original has extraneous comma] i. pp. 175,\n     276.\n\n     Footnote [70:4] See Chambers's Encyclop\u00e6dia, Art.[period\n     missing in original] \"Hercules.\"\n\n     Footnote [80:2] En Gallois _Jon_, le Seigneur[original has\n     Seignenr], Dieu, la cause pr\u00e9mi\u00e8re.\n\n     Footnote [82:7] (Rev. S. Baring-Gould: Curious Myths, p.\n     367.)[closing parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [92:5] vol. ii. ch. v. and vi.)[closing parenthesis\n     missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [98:1] by the Rev. Dr. Giles, 2[original has\n     extraneous period] vols.\n\n     Footnote [98:1]  \"The Bible for Learners\" (vols. i. and ii.),\n     by Prof. Oort[original has Oot]\n\n     Footnote [101:2] See Westropp[original has Westopp] & Wakes,\n     \"Phallic Worship.\"\n\n     Footnote [119:1] See Asiatic[original has Asiastic] Res., vol.\n     x.\n\n     Footnote [134:3] to which[original has Which] the reader is\n     referred.\n\n     Footnote [167:2] Anacalypsis, vol. i. 130, 13-,[dash represents\n     a digit missing in original--original also has period instead\n     of comma]\n\n     Footnote [177:2] Chambers's Encyclo.[original has Enclyclo.]\n     art. \"Zoroaster.\"\n\n     Footnote [183:2] redeeming love, _pays it all_.\"[original has\n     single quote]\n\n     Footnote [192:3] See \u00c6schylus' \"Prometheus Chained.[original\n     has comma]\"\n\n     Footnote [195:2] Malcolm[original has Malcom]: Hist. Persia,\n     vol. i.\n\n     Footnote [199:3] Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship.)[closing\n     parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [229:1] receive the reward (_of heaven_).\"[quotation\n     mark missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [249:1] \"[quotation mark missing in original]In the\n     beginning was the WORD\n\n     Footnote [251:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas,[original has period] ii.\n     p. 267.\n\n     Footnote [271:2] Contra Celsus[original has Celus], bk. 1, ch.\n     lxviii.[period missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [281:11] Matt. xxvi. 6-7[hyphen missing in original].\n\n     Footnote [283:13] the second member of the Tri-murti[original\n     has Tri-mutri]\n\n     Footnote [284:17] Quoted from Williams' Hinduism,[comma missing\n     in original] pp. 217-219.\n\n     Footnote [293:2] See Bunsen's[original has B\u00fcnsen's]\n     Angel-Messiah\n\n     Footnote [308:5] \"[quotation mark missing in original]De\n     Tinctione, de oblatione panis\n\n     Footnote [319:5] (Aug.[original has comma] Temp. Ser. ci.)\n\n     Footnote [319:7] stipatum me religiosa cohorte,[original has\n     period] deducit ad proximas balucas\n\n     Footnote [321:4] De-l\u00e0-vint[original has De-la-vint]\n                      de l'Ilissus[original has l'ilissus] le candidat\n                      et l'eau de la[original has lar] mer\n                      le couronnoit[original has couronoit] de fleurs\n                      le plongeoit[original has pongeoit] dans le fleuve\n                          [original has fleure]\n\n     Footnote [328:4] pp. 47, 48,[comma missing in original] and\n     Higgins' Anacalypsis\n\n     Footnote [332:6] Fergusson's[original has Ferguson's] Tree and\n     Serpent Worship\n\n     Footnote [332:9] Stuckley: Pal. Sac. No. 1,[comma missing in\n     original] p. 34\n\n     Footnote [338:2] In Montfaucon[original has Montefaucon], vol.\n     i. plate xcv.\n\n     Footnote [342:4] See Colenso's Pentateuch Examined,[comma\n     missing in original] vol.\n\n     Footnote [349:9] See Basnage[original has Basuage] (lib. iii.\n     c. xxxiii.)\n\n     Footnote [362:5] (Encyclop\u00e6dia Brit., art.\n     \"Christmas.\")[closing parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [373:3] I. John, v. 7. John,[comma missing in\n     original] i. 1.\n\n     Footnote [376:4] Monumental Christianity, p. 65,[original has\n     period] and Ancient\n\n     Footnote [392:2] See Prog.[period missing in original] Relig.\n     Ideas, vol. i. p. 216.\n\n     Footnote [393:1] (Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 35, 36.)[closing\n     parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [410:3] (Mosheim, vol. i. cent. 2, p. 202.)[closing\n     parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [419:1] (Smith's Bible Dictionary, art.\n     \"_Alexandria_.\")[closing parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [420:4] John, xii.[original has comma] 6; xiii. 29.\n\n     Footnote [423:4] indolent fraternities' of India.\"[original has\n     single quote]\n\n     Footnote [425:1] (Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch.\n     xvii.)[closing parenthesis missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [435:2] non-seulement[original has non-sulement] ne\n                          disent pas ce qu'ils pensent\n                      mais disent[original has desent] tout le contraire\n                      sachent bien[original has bein] que ce sont des\n                          fables\n                      ont fait br\u00fbler[original has bruler] de saints\n                          personnages\n                      que ce n'est[original has cen'est]\n                      morceau de pain.\"[original has single quote]\n\n     Footnote [435:6] Giles' Hebrew and Christian Records,[comma\n     missing in original] vol. ii.\n\n     Footnote [478:1] (Goldzhier, pp. 158[original has 158, 158].\n     Knight, pp. 99, 100.)\n\n     Footnote [483:3] whole aggregate of existences.\"[quotation mark\n     missing in original]\n\n     Footnote [486:3] three of[original has o] the mysteries\n\n     Footnote [489:3] ([parenthesis missing in original]Quoted by\n     Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 43.)\n\n     Footnote [505:3] over the shoulders of Bellerophon[original has\n     Bellerphon]\n\n     Footnote [507:2] are the celebrated I. H. S.[original has I. S.\n     H.]\n\n     Footnote [517:1] thinks that Josephus'[apostrophe missing in\n     original] silence on the subject\n\n     Footnote [529:3] in what sense does[original has dose]\n     Christianity\n\n     Footnote [535:3] See Fergusson's[original has Ferguson's] Tree\n     and Serpent Worship\n\n     Footnote [546:2] Williams'[apostrophe missing in original]\n     Hinduism\n\n     Footnote [547:2] P.[original has p.] 118.\n\n     Footnote [562:4] Book iv.[period missing in original] ch. i. in\n     Anac.\n\n     Footnote [562:5] P.[original has p.] 6.\n\n     Footnote [563:1] M\u00fcller's[original has M\u00fbller's] Chips, vol.\n     ii. p. 260.\n\n     Footnote [566:1] writers of antiquity, on account[original has\n     acount] of\n\n     Either a period has been added or a comma has been changed to\n     a period after the word \"Ibid\" in the following footnotes:\n     [36:9], [73:7], [74:8], [91:6], [91:10], [94:2], [94:3],\n     [94:6], [96:6], [99:1], [170:5], and [193:11].\n\n     Either a period has been added or a comma has been changed to\n     a period after the word \"vol\" in the following footnotes:\n     [145:1], [215:6], [403:10], [435:6], [469:1], and [505:3].\n\n     Either a period has been added or a comma has been changed to\n     a period after \"p\" or \"pp\" in the following footnotes: [12:1],\n     [145:1], and [478:1].","title":"Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions: Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and Meaning","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":284728}